720 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



He believes that he has proved that cell-proliferation is normally due to certain 

 chemical substances which he has isolated and consequently that he is able to 

 cause and control cell-division. These, with the causes of cancer and healing, 

 are among the most important of his numerous claims to discoveries. 



The author begins by assuming that no selective power exists in living cells 

 with regard to the absorption of dissolved substances from the solution in 

 which they are immersed. The whole process of absorption by living cells is, 

 according to him, governed by the simple laws of fluid diffusion. Basing the 

 whole of his work upon this fundamental fallacy, he goes on to describe what he 

 calls the " coefficient of diffusion " of different classes of living cells. For the 

 purpose of determining this " coefficient " he evolves an equation which decides 

 the composition of the medium in which the cells, almost invariably leucocytes, 

 are placed for microscopical observation. This medium is an agar jelly con- 

 taining certain arbitrary " units " of stain, salts, alkali and, as far as can be 

 ascertained from the text, of time and heat also. Having postulated that the 

 penetration of the stain into the leucocytes depends directly or inversely upon 

 each of the other units contained in the jelly, instead of multiplying together 

 the values of those factors to which diffusion is directly proportional and 

 dividing by those to which it is inversely proportional, the author proceeds by 

 the more easy mathematical process of addition and subtraction. In attributing 

 to any one so unprecedented a method as adding together such dissimilar 

 quantities as cubic-centimeters of solutions, degrees of temperature and minutes 

 of time, it is only fair to him to quote enough to show that no mistake has 

 been made. In the equation given cf represents " coefficient of diffusion." 



stain alkali heat time salts 



"^=(5i--l-3a+3/i-|-2/)-(c-t-2 «)." 



" A letter by itself means one unit of a factor ; a number before a letter means 

 that there is that number of units of the factor : c means a unit of sodium 

 citrate, 3^ would mean three units of it, and so on" (p. 58). " The unit of heat is 

 5° C. ; unity is 10° C, because one cannot conveniently work at a temperature 

 below this point ; 20° C. is three units, etc." (p. 60). " One unit of time is ten 

 minutes " (p. 60). " The unit of alkali is o"i cc. of a 3 per cent, solution of sodium- 

 bicarbonate " (p. 60). 



This is reminiscent of the schoolboy, who, when told that he could not add 

 6 pecks of carrots to 4 lb. of butter, replied, " Perhaps not ; but I know that I can 

 take 4 quarts of milk from i cow." 



It is possible, however, that a man, even holding Mr. Ross's views with regard 

 to diffusion and whose mathematical attainments were less than his, might make 

 observations of considerable value upon living cells. 



Mr. Ross says " there is no doubt that the observation of the living cell is 

 a new study" (p. 10). Similar statements to this effect are frequent and em- 

 phatic in his book. Unfortunately for him, cytologists know that the study of 

 the living cell is almost as old as the cell theory itself. He makes it very 

 clear that the careful search he says he has made in the literature of his 

 subject has been a most unsuccessful one, for he is obviously ignorant of 

 elementary facts which have been the common property, not only of cytologists 

 but of zoologists and botanists for many years. That he should proclaim as 

 something new, demonstrated by his methods, that the nucleus is not flat 

 but more or less spherical (p. 10), is in itself sufficient to illustrate his very slight 



