416 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. L. No. 1296 



gone on to make comparison with allied Eu- 

 ropean forms as beautifully figured in Meyer 

 and Mobius' " Fauna der Kielerbucht " and 

 elsewhere, but he has stopped with a bare 

 record of facts from which he leaves others 

 to extract the conclusions. 



The feature of the paper which will excite 

 the most comment, though the least worthy of 

 it, is the savage onslaught on present-day 

 nomenclatorial methods, backed up by the 

 deliberate retention of the nom.enclature of 

 fifty years ago as seen in the classic " Binney's 

 Gould." Since the author expressly states 

 that he follows this particular work consist- 

 ently, and since that work is so important 

 that its names are included in the synonymy 

 of almost every modern list, no actual doubts 

 can arise from this course. It will be 

 easier for any student hereafter to ascer- 

 tain the correct name of any of Morse's 

 forms that it would have been if, for instance, 

 he had xised the 1915 nomenclature when he 

 ought to have followed the fashion of 1919. 

 Particularly is this true as to the generic 

 names, but it does seem a pity not to use a 

 certain discrimination as to specific names. 

 For instance, to call Gould's " Modiolaria 

 discors" a " ModiolaHa " can cause no doubt 

 or confusion even though " Modiolaria " has 

 suffered a recent dislocation very likely tem- 

 porary. But to call it " discors " when it is 

 really suhstriata Gray and widely distinct 

 from the strictly European discors for which 

 Gould mistook it, is to perpetuate a demon- 

 strated error of fact. 



As for the slashing attack on modern 

 nomenclatorial vagaries it probably will have 

 small effect; first because it covers a field al- 

 ready well debated and second because the 

 criticism is almost entirely destructive. It 

 may fairly be said that Professor Morse is as 

 much at fault for failing to recognize that 

 the old system had become nearly intolerable 

 as the perpetrators of the new system are for 

 failing to recognize that it is equally nearly 

 intolerable if not more so. It may serve a 

 useful purpose if it helps awaken the con- 

 scientious and learned but timid and un- 

 imaginative men who have made a mess of 

 modern nomenclature to the fact that while 



they are repelling young students and driv- 

 ing them to other fields on the one hand, they 

 are disgusting and irritating old masters to 

 the point of open rebellion on the other. 



The paper contains altogether too many 

 typographical errors; and a few slips on the 

 author's part — as where he says (p. 167) that 

 besides Glycimeris siliqua the only other form 

 he is acquainted with having the anal siphon 

 larger than the branchial is Anatina papyracea 

 and then (p. 190) both fig-ures and describes 

 Ceronia arctata as showing the same con- 

 dition. 



F. ]Sr. Balch 



Boston, Mass. 



SPECIAL ARTICLES 



RESEMBLANCES BETWEEN THE PROPERTIES 



OF SURFACE FILMS IN PASSIVE METALS 



AND IN LIVING PROTOPLASM, II. 



ACTION OF SALT SOLUTIONS AND ORGANIC 

 COMPOUNDS. ANTAGONISMS 



Pure solutions of the majority of neutral 

 salts activate passive iron, at a rate which 

 varies with the nature and concentration of 

 the salt. Both classes of ions are concerned 

 in the effect. 



In general the stability of the surface-film 

 in any solution — and hence the preservation 

 of the passive state — is intimately dependent 

 upon the oxidizing properties of the dissolved 

 substances. Many solutions whose oxidizing 

 power is insufficient to impart passivity to 

 active iron retard or prevent the spontaneous 

 return of the passive metal to the active state ; 

 this is true, e. g., of weak solutions of nitric 

 acid or bichromate (m/lO to m/50). Ob- 

 viously when a solution imparts passivity it 

 also preserves it, but the reverse is not always 

 true. In media with no definite oxidizing 

 action, e. g., distilled water, passivity soon 

 disappears; continued oxidation seems nec- 

 essary for its preservation. 



The following experiments have aimed at a 

 more precise determination of the conditions 

 under which the passive state is preserved or 

 destroyed in different solutions; evidently 

 such conditions correspond to the conditions 

 of stability of the surface-film. Iron wires 



