482 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. LVI, No. 1452 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 



Aus meinem Lieben. Von Emil Fischer. 



Verlag von Julius Springer, Berlin. 201 



pages. 3 figs. Price $2 (about). 



Fischer -wrote this biographical sketch while 

 recuperating from the "flu." "Gesehrieben in 

 dem Ungliieksjahre 1918," he writes; and this 

 sentence gives us an idea of what Germany's 

 downfall meant to Germany's greatest chemist. 

 The sketch is an incomplete autobiography; he 

 died in the midst of writing it; but it gives us 

 a very intimate and, to me, fascinating picture 

 of one of the great ones in our field. Not much 

 is said of the chemistry of the sugars, fats and 

 purines, but very much is said of the labora- 

 tories in which the chemistry of these sub- 

 stances was elucidated, and very much more is 

 said of the men, aside from Fischer, who were 

 active in these laboratories. With this book in 

 our hands we need not cross the ocean to know 

 all about Munich, Strassburg, Erlangen, Wiirz- 

 burg and Berlin. Noteworthy pen pictures of 

 Fischer's intimates, such as Baeyer and Victor 

 Meyei', are also given us. 



Two paragraphs in the book that are of 

 peculiar interest to Americans must receive 

 comment here. We shall make a free transla- 

 tion of both these paragraphs : 



"One day an American professor of physi- 

 ology made his appearance. A rich man had 

 entrusted some money to him with the object 

 of founding a university in Worcester, U. S. A. 

 The professor had the rather romantic notion 

 of filling an entire ship with European pro- 

 fessors, assistants, apparatus, chemicals, etc., 

 and bringing the ship and baggage to America. 

 He opened his conversation with me by asking 

 me whether I would be willing to accompany 

 him to America, there to become one of the 

 professors at the new institution. I was too 

 amazed to reply, and thought the whole thing 

 a huge joke until he very carefully and very 

 earnestly outlined his entire plan to me. He 

 proved to be a worthy gentleman, and had 

 much of interest to tell me. 



"Soon after this an American lady, 'Miss 

 Helene Abott,' appeared on the scene. A per- 

 sonal attendant who accompanied her proved 

 to be a negress. The lady wanted to enroll as 

 a student, and was quite astounded to find that 

 women were not admitted to the 'courses. I 



showed her around the laboratory and intro- 

 duced her to the younger men, Knorr, Wisli- 

 cenus and Tafel. Her intelligent comment 

 showed that she possessed a sound theoretical 

 background. After her departure the discus- 

 sion arose among us as to whether we ought 

 to approach the university senate so as to get 

 the necessary permission ^to allow the girl to 

 work in the laboratory. One or two individuals 

 were very much for her, but it did seem to the 

 rest that the introduction of the female element 

 into the laboratory would disturb the other- 

 wise harmonious surroundings. Since the ma- 

 jority ruled against her, I wrote her to that 

 effect. Her letter in reply was courteous, but 

 it did not lack energy. She commented rather 

 severely upon the backwardness of Germany 

 in preventing women from getting a higher 

 education." 



The book is a treasure "for those who like 

 that kind of thing." Can he call himself a 

 chemist who does not? 



Benjamin Haeeow 



NOTES ON METEOROLOGY AND 



CLIMATOLOGY 



A NEW AEROLOGICAL SUMMARY 



Foe many years, the free air has been rec- 

 ognized as the abode of many interesting phe- 

 nomena, and much information has been gained 

 concerning the distribution of the meteorolog- 

 ical elements above the earth's surface. But, 

 in the United States, with the two exceptions 

 of the Blue Hill Observatory, associated with 

 Harvard College, and the Mount Weather Ob- 

 servatory, maintained for about seven years 

 by the United States Weather Bureau, there 

 had been only sporadic efforts at upper-air 

 investigation previous to the World War. 



Free-air data stand in close relation to aero- 

 nautical activities, but their usefulness is by 

 no means so restricted. The relation between 

 surface weather and conditions in the free air 

 is one that is coming to be recognized by the 

 weather forecaster to an increasing degree, 

 although the lack of aerological stations is a 

 serious obstacle to a comprehensive correla- 

 tive knowledge of these conditions. It is neces- 

 sary, therefore, to extend, as rapidly as pos- 

 sible, the network of aerological stations in the 



