April 29, 1920] 



NATURE 



279 



bonds of 15. each, the interest upon which will be 

 foun4 in the enrichment of the whole life of the 

 people served by the work of the University. The 

 faculty of technology carried on in the Municipal 

 College of Technology is also issuing an appeal for 

 150,000/., more than half of which has already been 

 subscribed, for the extension of its building and for 

 new equipment. The great and lasting benefit of the 

 work of the University ought to rouse the active sym- 

 pathy of the numerous municipalities and district 

 councils, together with that of the County Council 

 itself, and to induce these bodies to levy a rate which, 

 if as low as \d,. in the pound, would annually produce 

 a sum equal to the interest upon the half-million it 

 seeks to raise. 



Courses on the History of Science. 



GERM.'\N and American universities long ago recog- 

 nised the importance of the history of science 

 as a subject of academic study. In British universi- 

 ties the subject is only just beginning to receive atten- 

 tion. In the University of London last year the 

 Faculty of Arts passed a resolution in favour of in- 

 cluding the history of science among the subjects for 

 the B.A. degree, and, although the Senate has not 

 yet dealt with the question, the inclusion of the sub- 

 ject in the curriculum for the new diploma in 

 journalism has helped to advance matters. Univer- 

 sity College undertook to provide the necessary 

 courses. During the first and second terms of the 

 session 1919-20 Dr. Wolf delivered a course of 

 elementary lectures on the general history and develop- 

 ment of science until the end of the eighteenth cen- 

 tury. During the present (summer) term Sir W. H. 

 Bragg and others will deal with the history of physical 

 science during the nineteenth century, and Dr. Singer 

 will lecture on the history of medicine. A more 

 elaborate programme will be provided next session. 

 Sir W. H. Bragg and Dr. Wolf will repeat their 

 courses. Prof. J. P. Hill and Dr. Singer will deal 

 with the history of the biological and medical sciences, 

 Prof. Filon will lecture on the history of astronomy, 

 and Mr. Wren on the history of mathematics. The 

 history of other sciences will also be dealt with as 

 opportunity offers. 



The primary aim of the elementary courses on the 

 history of science is to provide an essential part of 

 the history of culture. The modern treatment of 

 history is marked by the attention paid to the daily 

 life and habits of the people, as well as to the romance 

 of Court life and the adventures of warriors. The 

 kind of houses which our forefathers inhabited, the 

 kind of dress they wore, and similar matters are 

 receiving due attention in order to fill in the historic 

 picture. All this is as it should be, but the picture 

 can scarcely be complete without the realisation 

 of the mental make-up of the ages, especially 

 so in view of the important r6\e played by 

 scientific ideas in carrying forward the torch of 

 civilisation. 



Over and above its value as an essential part of 

 human history, a course on the history of science 

 should also have the moral and disciplinary value of 

 inculcating a scientific frame of mind — the kind of 

 attitude on which the future of mankind will depend 

 more than ever now that the age of faith seems to 

 be a thing of the long ago. 



Such are some of the benefits that may be expected 

 even by those who are not, and do not intend to be, 

 scientific workers, to say nothing of the scientific 

 knowledge which even such students are bound to 

 acquire in following an elementary course on the 



NO. 2635, VOL. 105] 



history of science. . More . advanced courses for 

 scientific students can scarcely fail to confer the addi- 

 tional advantage of illuminating the methods and 

 results of the makers of science, and so stimulating 

 the latent originality of. the student of science. 



Marine Biological Structures and Functions. 



V 



OL. XIII. of Paf>ers from the Department of Marine 

 Biology of the Carnegie Institution of Washing- 

 ton, which has lately reached us, contains some con- 

 tributions of considerable interest. Dealing with 

 gland-cells of internal secretion in the spinal cord of 

 the skates, C. C. Speidel describes large irregular cells 

 of peculiar structure present to the number of some 

 hundreds in the anterior horn. The nucleus is 

 lobular and branched, and the cytoplasm of the 

 resting cell is homogeneous, but in active stages 

 granules of a protein substance are formed in it and 

 discharged into the tissues of the spinal cord, where 

 they persist for some time. These cells develop from 

 neuroblast tissue, and cells homologous with them 

 have been found in various other fishes. The author 

 discusses their function, and concludes that they are 

 gland-cells of internal secretion. He is unable to find 

 that they are necessary to the life of the skate, or 

 to show what their function may be. In a paper on 

 the spermatophores of Octopus antericana, G. A. 

 Drew shows that these structures, while they are 

 built on a similar plan to those of the squid, are 

 adapted to act quite differently, being less com- 

 plicated, under less tension, and suited for less rapid 

 service, in correspondence with the less active life of 

 the species. H. L. Clark finds in the distribution of 

 littoral Echinoderms of the West Indies evidence of 

 a much closer relationship between that region and 

 thie western coast of tropical America than between it 

 and the Mediterranean, while the fauna of Tobago 

 contains an e'ement derived from the Brazilian 

 coast. Studies on the chemistry of light production 

 in luminous organisms by E. N. Harvey reveal that 

 the substance formerly called photophelein by that 

 author includes two bodies, one — luciferin — oxidisable 

 by luciferase with production of light and formation 

 of oxyluciferin, which can again be reduced to luci- 

 ferin, the other — protophelein proper — assisting in the 

 promotion of the luciferin-luciferase reaction. E. W. 

 Gudger describes the ovary of Felichthys felts, the 

 gaff-topsail catfish, the male of which carries the eggs 

 and larvae in his mouth. 



The Propagation of Flame in Gaseous 

 Mixtures. 



ALTHOUGH the large-scale experiments for which 

 the Home Office Experimental Station at 

 Eskmeals was designed have been discontinued since 

 the outbreak of the war, the laboratories have con- 

 tinued to do good work under the direction of Dr. 

 R. V. Wheeler, the chief chemist. In addition to 

 Dr. Wheeler's own researches on the initiation of 

 flame and its propagation through gaseous mixtures, 

 Mr. W. Payman, a member of his staff, has recently 

 published in the Journal of the Chemical Society a 

 series of papers on the propagation of flame in com- 

 plex gaseous mixtures (vols. cxv. and cxvii.). 



Mr, Payman has determined the upper and lower 

 "limits " of methane that will just propagate a flame 

 along a horizontal glass tube 25 cm. in diameter when 

 mixed with an atmosphere containing oxygen and 

 nitrogen in which the oxygen varies from 13-7 to 

 100 per cent. He finds the speed of such flames 



