THE DETECTION OF PREGNANCY 475 



preparation-makers. Physicists unfortunately too often have 

 no proper knowledge even of the elements of chemistry let 

 alone of the higher walks of organic chemistry, so that they are 

 unable to appreciate the methods of the chemist and the progress 

 that is being made by his persistent efforts to discover new 

 paths by which the infinitely difficult problems of physiological 

 chemistry can be approached. We can put up with a very 

 large amount of dull work, if occasionally a discovery be made 

 so useful as that under notice is likely to prove. If special 

 colour tests applicable to particular diseases — syphilis and 

 tuberculosis, for example — could be devised, they would be of 

 the greatest value; as it is more than probable that different 

 diseases are attended with chemical changes special to each 

 disease, it is to be expected that simple tests may ultimately 

 be found that will at least facilitate diagnosis, if they do not 

 make it certain. 



THE BLEACHING OF FLOUR 



Satisfactory as is the increasing amount of interest taken by 

 legislative bodies in the purity of manufactured foods, it is to be 

 regretted that expert and scientific advice is not more often 

 sought before framing restrictive regulations ; in consequence, 

 measures not infrequently become law which are either un- 

 workable in practice or impose a grievous restriction on the 

 honest manufacturer ; and even, as in the case of milk and 

 butter, legally debase what was previously, in most cases, an 

 article of high quality. Our own Local Government Board 

 should be free from this criticism, since it is at pains to 

 anticipate legislation by reports prepared either by its own or 

 by co-opted experts. Admirable, however, as this plan should 

 be in theory, it has proved somewhat disappointing in practice. 

 There is an increasing tendency to take certain conclusions as 

 proved, even against the weight of scientific evidence and 

 contrary to the canons of scientific research. Such action can 

 only be regarded as a deplorable subversion of intelligence ; 

 taken in conjunction with the present-day exploitation of 

 science by company promoters and by advertisers of proprietary 

 foods and medicines, it is undoubtedly producing an adverse 

 effect on the public attitude towards science. 



