224 



NA TURE 



[August i 2, 1922 



formylacetic acid, both of which are solid, and discusses 

 the curious property of the /i-form of combining with 

 methyl alcohol. 



It was not, however, in this field only that the experi- 

 mental skill and keen insight of Wislicenus found scope. 

 His activities in other branches of the science, too 

 numerous to mention in a short monograph such as 

 this, find expression in upwards of one hundred com- 

 munications, published chiefly in the Annalen and 

 in the Berichte. Nevertheless, some of these cannot 

 be passed over without comment. For example, in 

 1892 he discovered a new and simple method for the 

 preparation of hydrazoic acid by causing ammonia 

 and nitrous oxide to react in the presence of sodium. 

 Later, in 1905, in conjunction with Otto Dimroth, he 

 utilised the sodium azide thus formed for the prepara- 

 tion ol the simplest organic azide, methylazide (CH 3 N 3 ), 

 by causing it to react with methyl sulphate. 



One of the most frequently occurring phenomena 

 met with during the course of organic chemical reac- 

 tions is that which involves the movement of groups, 

 such as the hydrocarbon radicals, from one element 

 to another, a change which appears to be closely related 

 to that which is associated with the movement of a 

 hydrogen atom within a tautomeric system. Numerous 

 well-known reactions, such as, for example, the Hofmann 

 synthesis of primary amines, the Beckmann rearrange- 

 ment, and so forth, involve a transference of this kind, 

 and it is, therefore, of interest to note that Wislicenus 

 was able to discover certain typical examples of the 

 migration of an alkyl group from oxygen to nitrogen, 

 and to study the conditions under which the change 

 occurred. Thus, in 1900, he showed, in conjunction 

 with M. Goldschmidt, that phenylformiminoethyl 

 ether, OEt . CH = NPh, is converted, to the extent of 

 about 40 per cent., into the isomeric methylformanilide, 

 when it is heated at 230-240 . Later he was able to 

 prove that the C-methyl ether of caffeine is readily 

 converted into the N-methyl derivative. 



Wilhelm Wislicenus was the distinguished son of a 

 distinguished father. His name will always occupy 

 a foremost place in the front rank of the organic- 

 chemists of his time J. F. T. 



Dr. A. G. .Mayor. 



The death of Alfred Goldsborough Mayor, at the 

 comparatively early age of fifty-four, deprives the 

 scientific world of a worker whose experience in tropical 

 marine biology was unrivalled. Mayor stood in the 

 direct historical succession of American participa- 

 tion in this field, for as the mantle of Louis Agassiz 

 fell on his son Alexander, so did Alexander's mantle 

 fall on the shoulders of Alfred Mayor, who accompanied 

 him "as assistant on many of his wanderings in the 

 Pacific. When, in 1904, Mayor was appointed director 

 of the Marine Biological Department of the newly 

 founded Carnegie Institution of Washington, he really 

 entered into his inheritance, and though so many of 

 the projects of his fruitful brain will never mature, 

 the work which has been accomplished at his laboratory 

 in the Tortugas, Florida, and during man}' expeditions, 

 forms his imperishable monument. 



This laboratory, where Mayor died on June 24, is 

 situated at the southernmost point of the United 



NO. 2754, VOL. I io] 



States, 70 miles west of Key West, on a tiny island 

 (Loggerhead Key) which is surrounded by the purest 

 ocean water. It was selected for this especial reason, 

 Ini' Mayor felt that nowhere else in Florida could the 

 proper conditions for the experimental investigation of 

 marine animals be secured. The position is not with- 

 out disadvantage, and it is generally considered advis- 

 able to close down for the autumn hurricane season 

 and for the winter, during which Mayor carried out his 

 expeditions to other seas and islands. The Tortugas 

 Laboratory was generally only available between early 

 May and the end of July. This, however, is the most 

 suitable time for the university research workers of 

 the United States, from whom Mayor drew his in- 

 vestigators by personal invitation. These invitations, to 

 work free of all expense and with payment of travelling 

 expenses, were freely issued to all those whom he felt 

 had some problem which could be favourably attacked 

 at the Tortugas, and until that problem was, as nearly 

 as possible, solved, no pressure embarrassed the research, 

 but season after season it was his custom to reinvite 

 those who had studied with him before and put in 

 their way opportunities which he felt they might have 

 missed before. 



The success of his policy is to be seen in the splendid 

 list of researches which stands to the credit of the 

 Tortugas Laboratory. His own publications range 

 widely over systematic zoology (" The Medusae of the 

 World," published in 1911), comparative physiology 

 (especially the series of studies on the jelly-fish Cas- 

 siopea), the physicochemical properties of oceanic 

 water, and biological problems like the growth rate 

 of corals, and reflect his many-sided personality and 

 his abounding energy. The work of his colleagues in 

 whatever subject shows his direct interest and influence 

 and the pains which he took to provide the most com- 

 plete and satisfactory equipment. Whatever novel 

 line of investigation was likely to throw light on 

 marine work was certain of his most enthusiastic 

 co-operation, and in this connexion may be mentioned 

 the encouragement given to workers on the bacterio- 

 logy of sea-water, like Harold Drew and Lipman, and 

 the development of scientific under-water photography 

 by W. H. Longley. 



The expeditions which Mayor organised and carried 

 out are too numerous to mention, but those to Murray 

 Island, on the Great Barrier Reef, in 1913, and to 

 Tutuila, in American Samoa, in 1915-20, really 

 broke fresh ground in the investigation of tropical 

 marine faunas. At both places he made an intensive 

 study of the coral reefs and was able to demonstrate 

 certain very interesting relations between the physio- 

 logical characteristics of the different reef corals and 

 their position and development on the reef. These 

 and many other problems of importance were attacked 

 by Mayor and his co-workers, but all the results are 

 not yet published. 



Mayor was as faithful in friendship as he was fascinat- 

 ing as a companion. The energy and vitality of his 

 body and mind, his dramatic sense, the tenacity of 

 his memories of men and countries, the range and 

 grasp of his knowledge, all never failed to rouse the 

 admiration of his friends. Something has been said 

 of the zeal with which he furthered the efforts of those 

 who worked with him. It could even be stated that 





