622 



NATURE 



[January 13, 1921 



been g-uaranteed a quasi-permanent tenure and 

 adequate salaries. A letter from Prof. Stanley 

 Gardiner, which we publish elsewhere, shows that 

 the Commissioners' attitude to this question in 

 relation to fishery research has not been produc- 

 tive of satisfaction. Our correspondent's letter 

 raises an issue of great importance. No State- 

 aided scheme of research will be productive unless 

 it attracts as well as retains men of the highest 

 academic attainments. 



In one chapter of the report the general 

 economic position of agriculture at the present day 

 is contrasted with that which followed the Napo- 

 leonic wars. The conclusion is drawn that agri- 

 culturists must be itp and doing if disaster is to 

 be averted. We hope that if the adequacy of 

 future efforts as tillers of the soil is dependent 

 on our reaching the standard of hard work at- 

 tained by our ancestors in the period 1816 on- 

 wards, we shall be encouraged by what their 

 successors achieved in other fields in the period 

 1914-18. 



In conclusion, we may pay a tribute of respect 

 * to those who have formed the varying and co- 

 operative personnel of the Commission and of the 

 Ministry of Agriculture during the last ten years. 

 There can be no doubt that as pioneers in the 

 field of the deliberate encouragement of scientific 

 research by the State they have fully justified the 

 prescience of the founders of the Development 

 Fund. 



The Critic in Physiology. 



Warjare in the Human Body : Essays on Method, 

 Malignity, Repair, and AUi-ed Subjects. By 

 Morley Roberts. With an introduction by Prof. 

 Arthur Keith. Pp. xiii-f286. (London: Eve- 

 leigh Nash Co., Ltd., 1920.) Price 185. net. 



THE author of this book, although well known 

 in the fields of literature and art, astonishes 

 us by the amount and depth of his knowledge of 

 the biological sciences. A great service is done 

 by the subjection to criticism of current views, 

 especially when the critic is one not actually en- 

 gaged in the investigations on which they are 

 based. Owing to the wide extent of his outlook, 

 he is often able to throw light on questions which 

 those who, by the exigencies of research, are com- 

 pelled to an intensive study of a narrow field are 

 apt to miss. We may not entirely agree with his 

 criticisms, but they always make us consider what 

 we really mean by the statements we make. It is 

 not to be understood, however, that the book 

 before us consists merely of criticism. There is 

 NO. 2672, VOL. 106] 



much in it of constructive and helpful sugges- 

 tion. 



Although in form consisting of apparently 

 separate essays on such problems as cancer, re- 

 pair, inhibition, immunity, heredity, cannibalism, 

 bathing, consciousness, and .so on, there may be 

 said to be a common thread running through 

 them, and this thread is the belief that much 

 assistance may be given in the comprehension ( f 

 biological problems by bringing them into rela- 

 tion with analogous cases in the sociological 

 sciences. In the first essay, "On Method in 

 Science," a powerful defence is given of the use 

 of analogy. The author is well aware of the 

 caution necessary to avoid pitfalls. Thus a similar 

 result is not always due to a similar cause, while 

 the metaphorical use of words is no real advance. 

 As an illustration the author refers to Adami'.s 

 " habit of growth " acquired by cancer cells. 

 Moreover, an analogy suggests different things 

 to different people. .\s to the way in which it may 

 be used with profit, the original must be read. 



Owing to the variety of topics discussed, ihi^ 

 review is almost of necessity somewhat discon- 

 nected. Furthermore, when the reviewer brings 

 forward objections to certain statements, the im- 

 pression is apt to be given that he is less in sym- 

 pathy with the work as a whole than is actually 

 the case. The proportion of statements not 

 agreed with to the rest of the book, with which 

 the reviewer is almost entirely in agreement, must 

 be kept in mind. 



A consideration suggested by the title needs 

 a few words at this point, and illustrates a re- 

 mark made above. Owing to the limitations of 

 language, it is probable that the author's meaning 

 has not been quite correctly grasped, and if this 

 be so we may hope for more essays from his pen 

 in order to make things clear. The word " war- 

 fare " will almost certainly not be understood by 

 every reader in the same way. If offensive war- 

 fare is implied, it is doubtful whether a true im- 

 pression is given of physiological processes. 

 Indeed, even the conception of defensive warfare 

 is liable to misinterpretation. If we may regard 

 the components of a reversible chemical reaction 

 as being at war with one another, we may let tlie 

 name pass, and the remarks of the author on 

 p. 30 seem to imply that this is the way in which 

 he looks at the matter. But is it correct to speak 

 of immunisation as "active warfare"? (p. 13S). 

 It cannot be denied that the acts of war "tend 10 

 develop all the logical and mental faculties of 

 man" (p. 169), but it does not follow that this 

 is the only way to do this, or the most effective 

 way. It might, not unreasonably, be held that 

 certain valuable qualities are not so developed. 



