March 5, 1920] 



SCIENCE 



245 



observations to be recorded elsewhere indicate 

 that this is the case and that many times, 

 eggs were deposited where they were unable to 

 survive. 



F. E. Chidester 

 U. S. Public Health Service 



A PARAFFINE RULER FOR DRAWING CURVES 



Sinuous lines of almost any form can be 

 drawn with the aid of a ruler constructed in 

 the following manner. Points are plotted on 

 a sheet of paper which is then placed on a 

 smooth board and slender nails somewhat 

 larger than pins are driven into the wood at 

 each point. A strip of any flexible material 

 such as whalebone, metal or bristol board is 

 bent around to fit the uprights and held in 

 place by other nails. The edges of the paper 

 are then turned up and melted parafiine 

 poured in to a depth of about a quarter of an 

 inch. When the parafiine is thoroughly hard- 

 ened the nails are draw out, their spaces filled 

 up by means of a hot metal point and the 

 sheet of solid parafiine broken in two along 

 the strip which is in the form of the line to 

 be drawn. 



Such a ruler, of course, must be made for 

 each curve, although for a symmetrical one 

 only one half need be made. This method 

 gives an evenly modulated curvature which 

 can be trimmed if necessary. When several 

 graphs are to be grouped together as many 

 trials as necessary can be made in a short 

 time until a good arrangement of them is 

 drawn. 



A practical point of importance is to have 

 the liquid as cool as possible before pouring 

 otherwise it will penetrate the paper and be- 

 come fastened to the substratum. After a 

 little experience a mold can be made quickly, 

 although it requires some time for the east 

 to harden. For those who do not have 

 occasion to draw many arcuations a device of 

 this kind produces fairly satisfactory restilts 

 and takes the place of rather expensive 

 splines. 



D. F. Jones 



Connecticut Agriculturai Experiment 

 Station 



THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALLS 

 OF UNIVERSITIES 



A correspondent sends us the following ex- 

 tract from Dt. Geoffrey Martin's popular ex- 

 position of " Modern Chemistry and its Won- 

 ders" (1915), suggesting that as it applies 

 very largely to American universities also, it 

 may be advisable to reprint it in Science. 



The color industry started in England some fifty 

 years ago, flourished immensely for twenty years 

 and then passed away to Germany, where now gi- 

 gantic factories control the world's markets. 



This loss of supremacy in a world-industry is a 

 fact to make Englishmen sad and thoughtful, and 

 those who have lived, as I have lived, in Grermany, 

 and have seen her numerous universities and great 

 technical schools filled with eager students, know 

 perfectly well the reason of this disaster. It is not 

 so much the fault of our practical men — who in 

 energy and judgment and general sagacity are, 

 despite all critics, splendid, full of bold enterprise 

 — as the fcmlt of our universities, who have failed 

 entirely to get into touch with practical men. In- 

 stead of encouraging research — and it was this 

 that laid the basis of the German chemical indus- 

 try — our university senates have done their level 

 best by legislation to keep ous best students off it, 

 or to make it so unprofitable that they prefer to 

 enter some other form of activity. Let me give an 

 instance of how the greatest difiiculties are placed 

 by the universities before students attempting to 

 undertake scientific research. 



When a student enters an English, and still 

 more a Scottish, university, he sees before him a 

 long series of oncoming examinations. Almost 

 every year he has to pass an examination of in- 

 creasing difliculty, and the only subjects that count 

 are the stereotyped ones, on which questions may be 

 asked at some forthcoming examination. In an 

 atmosphere of examinations he lives, breathes, and 

 has his being. Finally, after some four to sii 

 years' hard work, he passes the B.Sc. examination, 

 which is an examination of considerable difficulty. 

 Now mark, up to this point he has only been 

 learning what others have done before him. At 

 no time has he reached the confines of knowledge, 

 or advanced it in any way. His parents now step 

 in. The father says, "My son, we have given you 

 a good education; for four to six years we have 

 maintained you at a university, and you have shown 

 your ability by passing innumerable examinations 



