144 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. LVI, No. 1440 



accelerates or inhibits some vital process. In 

 either case a ditfieulty arises when the proba- 

 bility of a single or even small number of 

 molecules reaching the necessary cells is con- 

 sidered. 



Ratmond L. Steele 

 McGiLL University, 

 Montreal 



THE PERIODICAL CICADA 



To THE Editor of Science: It is probably 

 desirable to record the appearance, in accord 

 with expectation, of brood XIII of the peri- 

 odical cicada or seventeen-year locust (Tibicina 

 septendecim) in the Chicago area this year. 

 Reference to Marlatt's excellent paper^ en- 

 ables one to satisfactorily identify the present 

 insects as those of the compact brood described 

 by Fitch as brood 6, hy Walsh-Riley as brood 

 III, by Riley as brood V and by Marlatt as 

 brood XIII. In Dr. Gideon B. Smith's manu- 

 script chronology the present brood was listed 

 as appearing "in "Winnebago, Monard County, 

 and neighborhood in 1854; again in 1871." 



The writer tirst noted the larva3 April 29 of 

 this year, at which time they were present in 

 great numbers at Tlossmoor, occupying their 

 characteristic "chimneys." The adults emerged 

 May 28 in enonnous num'bers, distributed from 

 at least Batavia and Wheeling to Flossmoor 

 and to Crown Point. Two weeks ago oviposi- 

 tion seemed to be past its crest and at the 

 present time in localities visited the adults 

 have practically disappeared. 



The precision of appearance of this brood 

 over a period of seventy years is an interesting 

 instance of the uniformity of developmental 

 tempo under natural conditions. 



James Nelson Govtanlock 



The University of Chicago, 

 June 30, 1922 



SOME SIDELIGHTS ON THE LIFE OF 

 RUSSIAN PROFESSORS 



It has been noted on various occasions that 

 the Russian professors and the research men 



1 Marlatt, C. L. : 1907, "The Periodical 

 CScada, " Buremi of Entomology Bulletin No. 71, 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



are "book-hungry." Being shut of£ from the 

 remainder of the civilized world for nearly 

 eight years, they have but verry little and very 

 fragmentary knowledge of what has been and 

 is being done in western Europe and America. 

 To work under such conditions is at least very 

 inconvenient. But in reality the situation is 

 much worse. The Russian men of science lit- 

 erally have been "bread hungry" for the past 

 several years. Every one of us who had a 

 chance to talk to Russian refugees heard of 

 stories of bread hunting for four or five hours 

 at a time. Those days, let us hope, have 

 passed. The conditions in Russia are becom- 

 ing better. But even the so-called "better con- 

 ditions" are very far from good, as one can 

 judge from the following extracts from a letter 

 which the writer received from a Russian pro- 

 fessor in Petrograd : 



Notwithstanding the fact that the salaries are 

 regulated by associations of professionals and 

 continuously raised in parallel with the value of 

 the ruble, yet the highest paid specialist in vari- 

 ous departments will receive in May, 1922, nearly 

 40,000,000 rubles in Soviet paper money, plus 

 the food ration of 36 pounds of flour, 7 pounds 

 of fish and a pound each of salt, sugar and fat, 

 plus (in exceptional cases) special academic por- 

 tion (a little in excess of one mentioned above). 

 Meantime, according to quotation of Government 

 Bank for May, $100 is equal to $193,000,000 

 Soviet paper rubles. 



But even this meager portion and the pack 

 of worthless money do not come on time, add- 

 ing further to the discomfort of professional 

 people in Russia. 



On account of shortage of funds at the govern- 

 ment 's disposal, the personnel in all departments 

 is systematically decreasing, the salaries come 

 late as well as the food rations. As a matter of 

 fact, the salaries in our division (of an agricul- 

 tural experiment station) have not been received 

 for March, while the food ration is just being 

 received for April. [The letter was dated May 

 27, 1922.] 



In the same way, the allowances for current 

 expenses of the experiment station are being 

 decreased and delayed. 



In spite of all these conditions, of which I do 

 not think it advisable to talk in detail, we are still 

 alive and continue our research, although, of 



