April 26, 1918] 



SCIENCE 



419 



Series"; "Pattern in Color Variation"; 

 " Striped Varieties and Bud Variation " ; '' The 

 Effect of Outside Factors on Color Varia- 

 tion " ; " Connection Between Color and Other 

 Plant Clusracters " ; and "The Chemical In- 

 terpretation of Factors for Flower Color;" 

 all discussed from the standpoint of the gene- 

 ticist In addition there is appended a bibli- 

 ography of 645 titles, to the majority of which 

 Miss Wheldale has added a short descriptive 

 notice indicating the nature of the contents 

 of the paper. 



To any one who has followed Miss Whel- 

 dale's researches it is needless to add that the 

 work is thoroughly done. Apparently as much 

 space has been given to the papers of her 

 critics as to her own work, so that the reader 

 can draw his own conclusions as to the facta 

 involved. If there is any one fault to find 

 with the work it would seem to the writer 

 to be that the author has not drawn upon her 

 imagination sufficiently to formulate theories 

 which would appear to be warranted by the 

 facts which she presents. This is not a com- 

 mon fault in works of this nature where chem- 

 ical and biological phenomena are involved and 

 perhaps the author is correct in being ex- 

 tremely conservative. At any rate she can 

 not be accused of attempting, by publishing 

 this monograph, to further any pet hypothesis. 

 Ross Aiken Gortner 



UXIVEBSITY OF MINNESOTA 



DR. KEEN ON MEDICAL RESEARCH 



Dr. W. W. Keen, the Nestor of the American 

 medical profession, has given us a delightful 

 little book on " Medical Research and Human 

 Welfare," being the Colver Lectures of Brown 

 University for 1917. 



Dr. Keen is peculiarly fitted for his task, as 

 he was trained in the old septic era of surgery 

 before the civil war, and was a part and parcel 

 of the war with all its attendant horrors, its 

 infections and gangrenous wounds with mag- 

 gots, and its enormous jiercentage mortality, 

 and yet has lived not only to witness but to 

 promote the new era of antiseptics and to enjoy 

 the phenomenal changes thus wrought in his 

 own work and that of his colleagues. 



This interesting little book has a twofold 

 value, it will attract the lay public asking for 

 a conspectus of the progress of the last forty 

 years in charming readable non-technical 

 terms; it will also interest doctors, who will 

 enjoy a brief historic retrospect of profes- 

 sional achievements told in just such simple 

 terms as they themselves are apt to use over a 

 fireside conversation when the older men are 

 .prone to indulge in reminiscences and com- 

 parisons. 



A further use is to furnish material for 

 those who wish to forestall interference on the 

 part of the anti-research people (who call them- 

 selves "antivivisectionists"), with medical 

 progress. 



The medical profession in our day has 

 stepped forward into an era of medical states- 

 manship, and now needs constantly to appeal to 

 the public for moral support and cooperation 

 in many matters of vital interest to the whole 

 body politic. It would be well for this reason 

 if this book were widely read and the facts kept 

 well in mind and often used in arousing the 

 sympathy of the public in one of the greatest 

 of all causes — medical progress, the saving of 

 life and health. Howard A. Kelly 



THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE NA- 

 TIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



The program of the scientific sessions of the 

 meeting held in Washington beginning on April 22 

 was as follows: 



MONDAY, APRIL 22 



Morning Session 

 The effects of a prolonged reduced diet ou 

 twenty-five college men: 



I. On basal metabolism and nitrogen excretion, 

 by Francis G. Benedict. 



II. On neuromuscular processes and mental con- 

 dition (illustrated), by Walter B. Miles (intro- 

 duced by F. G. Benedict). 



III. On etficiency during muscular work and 

 general muscular condition (motion pictures), by 

 H. Monmouth Smith (introduced by F. G. Bene- 

 dict). 



The partial occlusion of great arteries in man 

 and animals (illustrated), by W. S. Halsted. 

 Three papers (illustrated) : 

 (a) The favorable effect of subcutaneous injec- 



