Deoembee 24, 1920] 



SCIENCE 



597 



fessor Torke and Mr. Southwell had charge 

 of hekninthology. 



Four days were spent at the meeting of the 

 British Medical Association which was held 

 in Cambridge on June 29 to July 2. This was 

 a well conducted and well attended meeting 

 and the members were enthusiastic about their 

 work and very much in earnest. The parasito- 

 logical section was in charge of Professor G. 

 H. F. Nuttall. Papers were read and thor- 

 oughly discussed and many interesting dem- 

 onstrations were provided. Dr. Nuttall ex- 

 hibited his extensive collection of specimens 

 and illustrations of ticks and insects and a 

 large series of photographs of men who have 

 helped to build up the science of parasitology. 

 He also had arranged for inspection the plans 

 for the new institute of parasitology that is 

 now being erected at Cambridge. Dr. Leiper 

 demonstrated new and rare parasitic worms; 

 Dr. Christopherson showed specimens illus- 

 trating bilharziasis; Colonel Stewart demon- 

 strated stages in the migration of ascaris 

 throTigh the tissues of the body; Colonel 

 James exhibited his travelling malaria labora- 

 tory; Dr. Gaskell showed pathological speci- 

 mens of malaria, and Sir Leonard Rogers 

 demonstrated with drawings some recent re- 

 markable cures of leprosy. Working on med- 

 ical zoology at Cambridge are Professor Nut- 

 tall, Professor A. E. Shipley, Professor J. F. 

 Gaskell, Professor Graham^Smith, and Dr. 

 Keilin. Many of the men I had met in Lon- 

 don, Liverpool and on the continent attended 

 this meeting and were present at the various 

 luncheons, receptions and dinners tendered to 

 the members and foreign guests. 



Four days were also spent at the meeting of 

 the British Association for the Advancement 

 of Science at Cardiff. The zoological section 

 was well attended, but very few young men 

 were in the audience, the supply either having 

 been wiped out during the war or directed into 

 other lines of work. The usual sectional meet- 

 ings and social events made up the daily pro- 

 grams. Opportunity was afforded to become 

 acquainted with many British scientists whose 

 names are well known to all zoologists. 



My last week before sailing back to A merica 



was spent at the Marine Biological Labora- 

 tory at Plymouth, England. Here is situated 

 a well equipped laboratory devoted almost en- 

 tirely to problems in marine biology. Work 

 on microorganisms is being carried on by the 

 director. Dr. E. J. Allen. Among the mem- 

 bers of the staff is Dr. Lebour, who has pub- 

 lished investigations on helminthology. 



One can not take such a trip as that briefly 

 outlined above without being impressed by the 

 importance of medical zoology, both as a sub- 

 ject for pure scientific research and as a nec- 

 essary foundation for work in medicine and 

 public health. Countries like England, 

 France, Belgium and Italy that are situated or 

 have colonies in tropical and subtropical re- 

 gions find it necessary to investigate the rela- 

 tions of parasitic animals to man because of 

 the prevalence of these organisms in the 

 warmer countries. The war, however, in spite 

 of the stimulus it has given certain phases of 

 medical zoology, has so depleted the supply of 

 young men and so reduced the funds available 

 for scientific work that many years will be re- 

 quired for these countries to regain their 

 former productivity. The result seems in- 

 evitable that the United States must assume 

 the leadership in this as well as in other 

 branches of science. 



E. W. Hegner 



The Johns Hopkins IJNiVERSiry 



THE PROBLEM OF THE INTRO- 

 DUCTORY COURSE IN BOTANY 



T■^^•o years ago a committee of the Division 

 of Biology and Agriculture, National Re- 

 search Council, sent to a number of botanists 

 in the United States and Canada requests for 

 outlines of what they would plan as the best 

 type of introductory course in botany. There 

 was at that time a particular reason for the 

 enquiry because of the problems introduced 

 by the curriculum of the Student Army 

 Training Corps. 



The response was generous and the com- 

 mittee ■ soon had in its possession some forty 

 replies. These presented such divergence of 

 opinion as to material and method in relation 



