

SCIENCE 



Friday, February 6, 1920 



CONTENTS 

 Botanical Achievement: Professor William 

 Trelease 121 



The Biochemist on the Hospital Staff: Dr. 

 Frederick S. Hammett 131 



Charles BucTcman Goring: Dr. J. Arthur 

 Harris 133 



Scientific Events: — 



The Department of Scientific and Industrial 

 Sesearch of Great Britain; Natural Gas 

 Conference ; The Steinhart Aquarium; Bes- 

 ignation of Dean Baker of the New Yorh 

 State College of Forestry 134 



Scientific Notes and News 136 



University and Educational News 139 



Discussion and Correspondence : — 



Unreliable Experimental Methods of Deter- 

 mining the Toxicity of Alkali Salts: F. B. 

 Headlet. On High-Altitude Besearch: Dr. 

 Egbert H. Goddard 140 



Scientific Books: — 



Crampton's Studies on the Variation, Dis- 

 tribution a/iid Evolution of the Genus Par- 

 tula: A. G. M 142 



Gravity and Aerostatic Pressure on Fast Ships 

 and Airplanes: Professor Alexander Mc- 

 Adie 144 



State Bernards for Medical Discoveries 145 



Special Articles: — 

 A Pocono Brachiopod Fauna: Dr. W. Arm- 

 strong Price 145 



Tlie American Association for tlie Advance- 

 ment of Science: — 



Section F — Zoology: Professor H. V. 

 Neal 147 



The Paleontological Society of America 148 



MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 

 review should be sent to The Editor of Science, Garrison-on- 

 Hudson, N. Y. 



BOTANICAL ACHIEVEMENTi 



Twenty-five years ago The Botanical So- 

 ciety of America imposed on me the task of 

 preparing a presidential address. To-day I 

 meet a similar obligation laid on me by the 

 somewhat more democratized society which 

 continues to bear that name. 



For my subject then, I took botanical oppor- 

 tunity — moved, you may say, by the hopeful- 

 ness of youth which looks forward and plans 

 optimistically. To-day I wish to speak of bo- 

 tanical achievement — moved, you may say, by 

 the observed tendency of age to live in the 

 past. Possibly, later, you may not be sure that 

 in choosing complementary subjects I have 

 not wanted to extract much the same hopeful 

 anticipatory lesson from both. 



As one looks back over the past, he some- 

 times finds it difficult to pick out the signifi- 

 cance of individual components of the con- 

 glomeration that forms the present super- 

 structure of our science, and its foundations 

 are buried in obscurity. Perhaps the most sig- 

 nificant observation that he makes is that a 

 person who is minded to add to it has each 

 year to climb to a greater height before his 

 own work can be commenced — unless he turn 

 his attention to repairing the weaknesses and 

 filling the crevices and pointing-up what has 

 been done by others. 



Work of this kind really makes the structure 

 stronger, really keeps it from crumbling at 

 some weak point under the weight that has 

 been added above, and gives it an appearance 

 of finish that must be secured at some time 

 and by some one's labor before it can meet 

 with final approval under critical inspeetioiL 

 Undertaking it may bring to light, even, 

 wholly faulty workmanship or the incorpora- 

 tion of materials that have already begun to 



1 Address of retiring president of the Botanica?. 

 Society of America, given at the Botanists ' dinner, 

 St. Louis, December 31, 1919. 



