Septembek 26, 1919] 



SCIENCE 



311 



Schools whicli have enough free time avail- 

 able are — Leland Stanford, Yale. 



Schools permitting research but giving no 

 time are — Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Mis- 

 sissippi, Physicians and Surgeons (Columbia), 

 Texas, Virginia. 



In considering question five we find that a 

 large majority is of the opinion that under- 

 graduate research is justified by its educa- 

 tional value. The following medical schools 

 answer affirmatively — California, Colorado, 

 Cornell, Harvard, Illinois, Johns Hopkins, 

 Leland Stanford, McGill, Michigan, Minne- 

 sota, Oregon, Rush, Virginia, Washington 

 (St. Louis), Western Eeserve, Wisconsin, 

 Tale. 



The schools which do not believe that under- 

 graduate research is justified by its educa- 

 tional value — George Washington (Washing- 

 ton, D.C.), Maryland, Physicians and Sur- 

 geons (Columbia). The cause of the ob- 

 jection is the lack of time. 



Mississippi, which gives only two years, is 

 doubtful. 



Reasons for favoring the proposition are 

 given as follows: 



Illinois — "Anything which stimulates a student 

 to do independent thinking is justified." (Letter 

 of Dean A. C. Eyeleshymer. ) 



Michigan — "I know that those who have done 

 some research are better students than those who 

 have not." (Letter of Dr. V. C. Vaughan.) 



Bush — "Because it is by all odds the most effi- 

 cient pedagogic method." (Letter of Dr. J. M. 

 Dodson.) 



Virginia — "Where a man has the investigator's 

 mind and is a sufficiently apt student to acquire 

 his knowledge of the required subjects readily, 

 such a man should be encouraged to do all the 

 research possible and nothing in my judgment 

 could be of greater educational value to this man. ' ' 

 (Letter of Dean Theodore Hough.) 



Washington — "We believe emphatically that 

 undergraduate research is justified by its educa- 

 tional value to the student. In fact it is our be- 

 lief, held generally in this school, that a piece of 

 research may be of great value to a man in pre- 

 paring him for the future. It is our opinion that 

 the essential and most important object in med- 

 ical education is to turn out men who will be life- 

 long (N. B.) students of medicine, and there is 



nothing more valuable in cultivating this spirit 

 than the pursuit of first-hand knowledge along 

 some line of interest." (Letter of Dr. G. Canby 

 Eobinson, dean.) 



In view of these facts we conclude: 



1. The vast majority of Class A medical 

 schools approves of undergraduate research ia 

 theory. 



2. Many medical schools approve of it in 

 practise by conceding hours from their regular 

 course which may be devoted to research. 



3. The opportunity for undergTaduate re- 

 search has increased greatly since 1912. 



Isaac Staer, Jr., 

 Joseph Stokes, Jr., 

 Lyle B. West 

 University of Pennsylvania 



SPECIAL ARTICLES 



COMPLETE REVERSAL OF SEX IN HEMP 



The writer has been investigating the sexual 

 condition of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) for a 

 number of years and has obtained results so 

 remarkable that he thought it advisable to 

 present this preliminary note on certain phases 

 of the problem before the completion of all 

 the experiments and observations now in 

 progress. 



Common hemp was planted in the winter, 

 when light conditions were very low, on 

 shallow greenhouse benches heated mainly 

 from beneath. Aside from these three special 

 conditions, the environment was practically 

 normal. Under the stated conditions, the 

 hemp matures very early, sometimes having 

 not more than two pairs of leaves before the 

 terminal flower cluster appears and never 

 being more than a few inches high. 



The plants are staminate and carpellate 

 and are decidedly dimorphic. The main sex- 

 ual differences are as follows : Carpellate plant 

 — ^broad flat crown of leaves, vigorous appear- 

 ance but not so tall as the staminate plant, 

 large root system, large leaf blades, carpellate 

 flowers with the perianth a closed sheath and 

 with no vestigial stamens, and a long period 

 of life and growth. Staminate plant — slender 

 habit and taller than the carpellate plant, 

 delicate appearance, small root system, small 



