December 30, 1920] 



NATURE 



565 



Recent Advances in Organic Chemistry. By Prof. 

 A. VV. Stewart. With an introduction by Prof. 

 J. N. Collie. Fourth edition. Pp. xvi + 359. 

 (London : Longmans, Green, and Co., 1920.) 

 Price 2 IS. net. 



Although the previous edition of this book was 

 reviewed in Nature so recently as in the issue 

 for February 20, 1919, Prof. Stewart has written 

 one new chapter, and made several additions to 

 those already existing. The former directs atten- 

 tion to some of the problems which are still open 

 to solution, such as the reason why carbon among 

 all the elemeints is pre-eminent in its capacity for 

 forming long atomic chains ; the addition reactions 

 of the aldehydes ; molecular stability, etc. The 

 chapter on f)olypeptides has received the addition 

 of a section which attempts to trace in outline the 

 connection between the synthetic materials and 

 the naturally occurring proteins and their deriva- 

 tives. A number of sections have also been added 

 to various chapters with the object of bringing 

 the book up to date. 



Letters to the Editor. 



\The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 

 opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 

 can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 

 the writers of. rejected manuscripts intended for 

 this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 

 taken of anonymous communications.] 



The British Association. 



Like- Prof. .Xrmstrong, I have followed with much 

 inlerest the discussion about the British .\ssociation. 

 I have had a lonf:; and intimate acquaintance with it, 

 and have a strong affection for it. For one thinj;, 

 it i-j so truly British — so far from perfect, yet so 

 adaptable, lam not sure that my most earnest prayer 

 for it is not that it may be saved from the reformer, 

 especially the type of post-war reformer .who 

 threatens to organise, systematise, advertise, and 

 Teutonise ewr\- British institution on which he can 

 lav hands. It is surprising that no one has suggested 

 the .Association should be put under the Department 

 of Scientific and Industrial Research. 



I have heard the British .Association abused all my 

 life ; my own Section has always been the worst that 

 ever was and hopelessly mismanaged, except in the 

 vear when I was its president — at least, so I have 

 always been assured. But all the time the British 

 Association has been bringing me — a rustic — into the 

 poss<-ssion of troops of friends in all quarters of this 

 countrv and of foreign lands. I have gaine<l more 

 scientific help from it than I can well acknowledge, 

 and I am sure a vast number of my contemporaries 

 will say the same. 



.\s to the intelligent public, I doubt whether the 

 .Association ever <lid so much as some people afTirm. 

 It does .a little, if only in letting a hospitable 

 bourgeoisie see that men of science are well-meaning 

 human beings, more like themselves than you would 

 have supposed. .At one (jeriod the .Aosociation flut- 

 tered the theological dovecotes and (fave excellent 

 copv for the Press. There has scarcely been a year 

 in mv time when the newspapers have not remarked 

 ruefullv that the president's address lacked the inlerest 

 of Tyndall's at Belfast. It is not easy to see how the 

 .Afwociation ran gi\'e scientific enlightenment to thoM 



NO. 2670, VOL. 106] 



who have not even the elements of scientific know- 

 ledge. In these days it can scarcely hope to appeal 

 to the Press except by its indiscretions. 



I should be sorry to be open to any just taunt of 

 unprogressiveness, and, indeed, I have read carefully 

 and reflected upon all that has been said by your 

 correspondents. But it is difficult to discern agree- 

 ment on any clear and practicable plan of reform. The 

 British .Association is an organism, not a machine. It 

 seems to me to have grown, and growi^well — not over- 

 grown. I would say : " Let it grow, my friends ; most 

 of you have had fair fruit from it. Let us be chary of 

 root-and-branch reform." The .Association is very 

 flexible ; a great deal must depend on the personali- 

 ties of the men in charge. To be a local secretary at 

 the elbow of the late Mr. George Griffith when he 

 was arranging a meeting and managing his superior 

 officers was a memorable and impressive experience. 

 Everyone will be able to recall a run of success in a 

 Section when an exceptional man had a spell of office 

 as recorder. I am sanguine enough to believe that 

 exceptional men, capable and disinterested, will still 

 be found ; and that if, as I am not prepared to admit, 

 we are unfortunate at present, we may safely count 

 on recovery. 



Lastly, as to the masses, it should be remembered 

 that science is not the novelty it was. It is astonish- 

 ing how many of them have seen phosphorus bum in 

 oxygen. .Anyone who has been in the trade knows 

 that the old type of science lecture for the people, 

 when a serious effort was made to illustrate the 

 methods and topics of science, is a drug on the 

 market. You find yourself as powder among the jam 

 of overt or covert entertainers. In this direction let 

 us hope the Workers' Educational .Association may 

 bring about results that can never be attained by 

 isolated popular lectures during a British .Association 

 week. 



I trust that nothing in the foregoing may appear 

 disrespectful to those who have expressed opinions 

 on the same subject. It is, no doubt, of great value 

 to have comments and suggestions from such com- 

 petent observers. I have onh- intervened because it 

 seemed to me that bare justice has scarcely been done 

 to what is undoubtedly good and great in the .Asso- 

 ciation as it stands, and to the ruling powers who 

 have an exceedingly difficult task to perform. 



.Arthur Smithrlls. 



December ig. 



Science and Fisheries. 



No one will gainsay Mr. H. G. Maurice's funda- 

 mental premise (Nature, November 25, p. 419) that 

 scientific fislicries investigation is ])rimarily a matter 

 for the State — if the authorities have a due sense of 

 their responsibility in selecting for the task scientific 

 men whose training and ability spi'ciallv fit them for 

 the complex work. It has long been advised that the 

 three centres of the kingdom should have an adequate 

 scientific fisheries staff, at the heiid of which a trained 

 scientific expert of wide views should be placed. 



Lender Mr. Maurice's second head it is asserted 

 that statistics could not be secured, say by the 

 Marine Biological .Association at Grimsby or at any 

 other port ; but whilst there is no doubt that the 

 best channel for these, as in the rase of the 

 Fishery BoanI for Scotland, is, the fishery officers 

 of the Government, Mr. Holt's work alone at 

 Grimsby shows that the statement needs qualification. 

 The excellent inefhod of the Scottish Board, which 

 was in 1884 inaugurated by IjOr<I Dathousie. 

 should be followed. It would also be well that 

 returns by nil fishing crews shouM be sent to 



