April ii, 191 8] 



NATURE 



109 



because these words are partly Greek and partly 

 ']>atin, and in the second on account of the significa- 

 tion given to them. A "thermostat" is an in- 

 strument for maintaining a constant temperature, 

 so that "thermostable" should apply to a condi- 

 tion in which the temperature remains constant, 

 such as that found when a piece of ide is floating 

 on ice-cold water. Yet the adjective "thermo- 

 stable" is used to mean "not affected by change 

 of temperature." The writers prefer the term 

 "acyclic" to "aliphatic." Indeed, "aliphatic" 

 is an unwieldy adjective, suggesting the inquiry 

 as to whether elephants are really fat. 



We are further told that in the writings of 

 biologists we may read that "un microbe cultive 

 sur pommes de terre," and that "un animal re- 

 produit en captivite," meaning in the first case 

 that the microbe "can be cultivated," and in the 

 second that the animal "reproduces itself," or, 

 rather, "produces its offspring," in captivity. 

 We learn also that the Latin genitive coli may 

 be found used as a substantive to represent 

 Bacterium coli or B. coli in such expressions as 

 "cette culture renferme du coli." 



We fear that the writings of English men. of 

 science are not free from the careless use of 

 expressions which the writers themselves would 

 not have employed had their attention been 

 directed to them. It is also to be noted that 

 many of the terms we have taken from the 

 German are, perhaps, too literally translated. 

 Why should " FarbstofT " always be rendered 

 "dyestuff" instead of using the shorter word 

 "dye"? Apparently there is no word for "dye" 

 in German, so that they are obliged in Germany 

 to use the cumbrous expression "colour-stuff." 



There is, we fear, little likelihood that scientific 

 workers will ever agree upon questions of nomen- 

 clature. About thirty years ago the British Asso- 

 ciation appointed a "Committee on Chemical 

 Nomenclature." So long as this committee con- 

 fined its considerations to the origin and history 

 of the various chemical terms, it carried. on its 

 labours in perfect harmony, but as soon as it 

 tackled the problem of laying down rules to guide 

 future writers in the forms of nomenclature they 

 should use, it was found that agreement was no 

 longer possible, so that further meetings of the 

 committee were abandoned. 



Although complete agreement in these matters 

 is not to be expected, we feel that there is some 

 reason fo^r the criticisms expressed by the authors 

 of the memorandum. 



NOTES. 



We rejrret to notice the death of Emile Yung, pro- 

 fessor of zoologry in the University of Geneva. A tvpical 

 and patriotic Swiss, Prof. Yung studied zoology under 

 the famous Carl Vogt, and after a period of assistant- 

 ship became his successor at Geneva some thirty years 

 ago. For many years the treatise on " Practical Com- 

 parative Anatomy," by Vogt and Yung, was a familiar 

 book in zoological laboratories. It contained minute 

 descriptions of a long series of types, and was un- 

 commonly well done. Prof. Yung was greatly in- 

 terested in the influence of environmental conditions 

 NO. 2528, VOL. lOl] 



on the organism, and made numerous experiments 

 bearing on this probU:'m. Thus he was one of the 

 early investigators of the determination of sex in tad- 

 poles, and supported the conclusion that the propor- 

 tions of the sexes could be greatly altered by changing 

 the diet. The value of this result was lessened, how- 

 ever, by the fact that the sex of the larvae that died 

 in the course of the experiments was not recorded. 

 In another investigation he showed that the growth 

 of tadpoles was modifiable by alterations of diet ; thus 

 tadpoles fed on beef grew three times as fast as those 

 fed on plants. The effect of diverse temperatures and 

 illuminations was also tested ; thus tadpoles reared 

 under violet light were emphatically longer than those 

 reared under white light, and very much longer than 

 those reared under green light. Prof. Yung took a 

 keen interest in the description of the fauna of Switzer- 

 land, and made many a study of the plankton of the 

 Lake of Geneva and its seasonal variations. Many 

 of his experimental investigations had a pleasant 

 quality of freshness. Thus we may recall how he took 

 a score of marked bees from a hive near the lake, 

 put them in a box, and liberated them in the country 

 six kilometres away. Seventeen returned, some in an 

 hour. Next day the seventeen were taken on a boat 

 to a distance of three kilometres on the lake. When 

 liberated, they flew about aimlessly, and none re- 

 turned. Throughout a vigorous life Emile Yung did 

 much, for science, and his genial personality will be 

 long remembered, 



The Revue Scientifique announces that Dr. Armand 

 Thevenin, of the Sorbonne, died on March 7, aged 

 forty-eight. He had been experimenting for some time 

 with poisonous gases for the use of the French Army, 

 and in the course of this w^ork contracted an illness 

 which unfortunately proved fatal. Geologists and 

 palaeontologists will lament Dr. Thevenin 's premature 

 loss, for he was one of the most accomplished mem- 

 bers of the French school, full of activity in important 

 research. For many, years he collaborated with the 

 Geological Survey of France on the south-westeru 

 margin of the central plateau, and did much valuable 

 work-in stratigraphy. He was, however, more espe- 

 cially interested in fossils, and both at the Paris 

 Museum of Natural History and (after 1913) at the 

 Sorbonne he was engaged in many researches of 

 which he published important results. His memoirs 

 on the Permian reptiles and amphibians of France and 

 on various fossils from Madagascar, contributed to the 

 Annates de Paldontologie, will be specially remem- 

 bered. Dr. Thevenin was president of the Geological 

 Society of France in 1914, and received from the 

 Academy of Sciences " le grand prix des sciences 

 physiques " in 1909. 



The death is announced of Dr. Friedrich August 

 Rothpletz, professor of geology and palaeontology in 

 the University of Munich. Born at Neustadt-a.-d.- 

 Haardt, Bavarian Palatinate, on April 25, 1853, he 

 graduated at Leipzig in 1882, and was engaged for 

 some time on the Geological Survey of Saxony. In 

 1884 he became privat-dozent at Munich, in 1895 he 

 was made extraordinary professor, and in 1904 he suc- 

 ceeded Prof. K. A. von Zittel as professor. Prof. 

 Rothpletz had a very wide interest in geology, and 

 wrote much on subjects so far apart as the structure 

 of calcareous algae and the folding of the rocks in 

 mountain ranges. He was, however, always particu- 

 larly fascinated by the geological problems presented 

 by the Alps, and to these he devoted two important 

 volumes, " Geotektonische Probleme " in 1894, and 

 "Geologische Alpenforschungen " in 1900-8. He also 

 studied the marine geological formations of the Canary 

 Islands, and co-operated with Dr. Simonelli in a 



