118 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LI. No. 1309 



to iter supreme national selfishness. Un- 

 fortunately, some of the nations which have 

 condemned her so unsparingly are not free 

 from the same fault. 



As so often happens, Professor Ostwald is 

 very much better in his conduct as a man 

 than his philosophy might lead us to expect. 

 In these days of international bitterness and 

 hatred, it is worth while to recall an incident 

 of the St. Louis Congress of Arts and 

 Sciences. Professor van't HofE gave an ad- 

 dress in which he presented a masterful sketch 

 of the historical development of chemistry, 

 especially from the point of view of the 

 atomic and molecular theories. In the course 

 of the address he wrote on the blackboard the 

 names of some of the great leaders in chem- 

 istry — such names as Dalton, Dulong and 

 Petit, Pasteur, La Bel, Guldberg and Waage, 

 Curie and others. At the close of the address 

 Professor Bancroft, who was in the chair, 

 called on Professor Ostwald. Those were the 

 days when Ostwald and some others wished 

 to find some way to get on without the atomic 

 theory. He began his talk with a very kindly 

 criticism of the address in which he proposed 

 to substitute "energy " for " atoms " and sug- 

 gested that at the hands of the Curies atoms 

 had " exploded." Then he picked up a piece 

 of chalk and saying " I have still another 

 correction to make " he wrote in the name of 

 van't Hoff at three different places among the 

 great names on the board and in each case 

 those who were present recognized instantly 

 that van't Hoff, in three widely separated 

 fields, had done work of the same fundamental 

 and far-reaching importance as the work of 

 the other men. It is the kindly, generous 

 spirit shown in this incident which endeared 

 Professor Ostwald to his students and to 

 many others with whom he came in personal 

 contact. 



The suggestions with regard to students 

 helping each other with their tasks are novel 

 and striking. "It is considered at present 

 one of the worst oilenses for one child to help 

 another solve its task. Is, then, mutual will- 

 ingness to help a characteristic so exceedingly 

 general that it must he systematically done 



away with in school? Is not, rather, egoism 

 and narrowmindedness a fault under which 

 we suffer severely? I do not hesitate to 

 express the conviction that a considerable 

 amomit of this illiberality is imparted to our 

 growing youth in school by the prevalent 

 notions regarding this mutual help and the 

 usual treatment of it." So far, good, and 

 worthy of consideration in our treatment of 

 children and of students. But the corollary 

 is not so good — " others learn at an early age 

 that in their advancement they have need of 

 the assistance of better endowed ones, and, 

 what is the best thing for all of them, they 

 learn subordination and how to work in rank 

 and file" — a picture of a world where some 

 are born to rule and others to be ruled. How 

 different from the democratic ideal, where 

 these same differences still exist and always 

 will exist, but where men should work to- 

 gether, not as superior and subordinate, but 

 each according to his ability, for the common 

 good. 



"We can not take the space for a more 

 detailed criticism of the addresses. While 

 the author of this review dissents most 

 earnestly from a part of the philosophy which 

 lies at the foundation of the papers, there is 

 very much in them which is sound and worthy 

 of most careful study. 



William A. N'oyes 



SPECIAL ARTICLES 



DROUGHT AND THE ROOT-SYSTEM OF 

 EUCALYPTUS 



In the fall of 1913 the eucalyptus trees, 

 especially the Eucalyptus globulus in the 

 Arboretum of Stanford University, were evi- 

 dently dying. Various persons questioned the 

 members of the Department of Botany here 

 as to the reason for the grave appearance of 

 these large trees and none of us was able to 

 give an answer satisfying to himself. For 

 this reason we undertook to determine the 

 cause of the trouble. 



By permission of the business office we 

 tapped various trees with an auger to the 

 heart and found that the wood and bark were 

 entirely free from disease of any sort. The 



