178 
NATURE 
[APRIL 15, 1915 

THE CARNEGIE TRUST.} 
HE Carnegie Trust for the Universities of 
Scotland has steadily pursued the policy of 
making quinquennial distributions of the funds 
at its disposal; and the present year finds the 
third of these schemes in operation. The total 
sum to be expended during the current five years 
was 203,250]. Of this, 21,2501. is to be applied 
towards providing books, ete., for the libraries 
of the universities; 160,750]. goes to supply new 
buildings and permanent equipment; while 
21,2501. is to be spent on endowing lectureships 
and upon other general purposes. 
With regard to that portion of the scheme 
which concerns itself with assisting students by 
paying their class fees, a sum of 41,789]. was 
paid on behalf of 3,900 beneficiaries in 1913-14. 
It is gratifying to note that in the same period 
6051. has been repaid to the trustees by bene- 
ficiaries who had been assisted under the scheme. 
The expenditure on research for the current 
twelve months is divided as usual under the heads 
of scholarships, fellowships, and grants, with the 
additional expenditure necessary to support the | 
laboratory of the Royal College of Physicians in 
Edinburgh. - 13921. has been spent upon the 
laboratory, while the fellowships, etc., have neces- 
sitated an outlay of 76521. 
These sums have not been expended without 
good return, as the present report shows. Special 
mention is made of the long and conspicuously 
successful investigations of Dr. Margaret B. 
Moir on the effect of temperature upon the mag- 
netic properties of steel; while the executive com- 
mittee point to the worl of Dr. Dougall on elas- 
ticity as a proof that their fellows do not relin- 
quish research with the termination of their 
fellowships, but continue to bring forward inves- 
tigations of first-class importance. 
- The scholars in the branches of chemistry and 
physics have published no fewer than thirteen 
papers during the session, and much unpublished 
work is still in process of completion. The re- 
search grants have aided in the production of 
twelve papers during the present year; and in this 
connection stress is laid upon the collaboration 
between the permanent staffs of the universities | 
and other beneficiaries of the trust, the cases of 
Profs. G. G. Henderson, J. C. Irvine, and Dr. 
T. S. Patterson being singled out as examples 
of success in this respect. 
In more than one direction, the war has had 
an effect upon the progress of the research 
scheme. Naturally, as far as materials go, the 
chemical field is the one most affected, owing to 
the difficulty of obtaining substances for some 
classes of work; but all branches have suffered 
owing to the enlistment of fellows and scholars 
in the army. No fewer than nine of the fellows 
and scholars have interrupted their scientific 
careers for this object; and it is satisfactory to 
learn that their positions are being kept open for 
them should they wish to resume research work 
1 Thirteenth Annual Report of the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of 
Scotland, 1913-14. 
NO. 2372, VOL. 95] 

after the war. A similar state of affairs is found 
in the Royal College of Physicians’ laboratory, 
from which no fewer than nine of the workers are 
absent on military duty; so that this institution 
has been heavily handicapped during the current 
year. 
Bearing these factors in mind, the results ob- 
tained in the operation of the trustees’ scheme 
during the period covered by the report cannot 
be said to fall below the high standard attained 
in previous years; and it must also be recalled 
that many of the beneficiaries of the trust have 
resigned their fellowships or scholarships in order 
to take up permanent positions either in the uni- 
versities or in other lines of professional work. 
During the academic year 1914-15, twenty 
fellows and forty-seven scholars have been at 
work, while grants have been given to seventy- 
eight applicants. The investigations of these 
beneficiaries are extended over so wide a field of 
knowledge that it is impossible even to mention 
the branches of science, medicine, history, and 
languages in which work is being carried out; 
but a perusal of the report leaves the impression 
that the operations of the trust are steadily open- 
ing out wider and wider fields. The success of 
the trust’s methods has never been in doubt, and 
the interest of observers becomes concentrated 
upon the developments which seem likely to flow 
from this vast machinery for enabling competent 
investigators to acquire a grasp of the methods 
of research, and to put the knowledge thus ob- 
tained into practice on a bigger scale than would 
otherwise be possible to them. 
INEXACT ANALOGIES IN BIOLOGY.!_ 
eee philosopher of the forum is notorious for 
the looseness of his analogical arguments 
from biology, and biologists themselves deserve 
castigation for their lax terminology. Even a 
Galton can write: “Parents are very indirectly 
and only partially related to their own children.” 
Every word has its halo, and may be regarded 
according to one’s point of view as either a 
potted poem or a tabloid theory. When the 
theory has been overturned, the use of the word 
in serious argument is dangerous. Then comes 
the critic to set us straight again, and so here 
is Dr. Johannsen putting such blessed words as 
“evolution,” “affinity,” ‘‘tradition,” and ‘inherit- 
ance” in their proper places. So far as he con- 
demns the use of inexact analogy, especially as 
a method of proof, we shall all agree with him— 
at least theoretically. But an analogy, strict in 
its application, may be falsified by its premisses. 
Many such are rejected by Dr. Johannsen as in- 
correct presentations of the facts of organic life 
and history. But here he often seems a little 
too certain that his interpretation of nature is 
the only right one. Belonging to the strictest 
sect of the Mendelians, he believes that, though 
the organism may respond variously to external 
1 Falske Analogier med Henblik paa Lighed, Slaegtskab, Arv, Tradition 
og Udvikling. By W. Johannsen. Svo, pp.z114. (Kgbenhavn, 1914). 
