SCIENCE 



Friday, June 28, 1918 



CONTENTS 

 A Surveii of American Biological Chemical 

 Literature: Dr. Clarence J. West 623 



The Age and Area Hypothesis: John C. 

 Willis 626 



The Selative Age of Endemic Species: Dr. 

 Hugo De Vries 629 



Scientific Events: — 



The Chicago Meeting of the American Med- 

 ical Association; The Production of Optical 

 Glass in the United States; The Source of 

 Trench Fever 630 



Scientific Notes and News 633 



University and Educational News 636 



Discussion and Correspondence: — 



Solution Tension and Inductivity : Horatio 

 Hughes. The True Soil Solution: Zae 

 NORTHBUP. Drawings on Lantern Slides: 

 Lancaster D. Burling. Celloidin-paraffin 

 Methods: Margaret B. Church. Alligators 

 as Food: Professor Albert M. Reese 636 



Scientific BooTcs: — 



Bdbcock and Clausen's Genetics in Selation 



to Agriculture: Dr. A. H. Sturtevant 641 



Special Articles: — 



A New Graphical Method for comparing 

 Performance with Program: R. VON HuHN. 

 The Specific Conductivity of Water Ex- 

 tracts of Wheat Flour: C. H. Bailey 642 



The North Carolina Academy of Science: De. 

 E. W. GuBGEE 647 



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

 review should be Bent to The Editor of Science, Garri»on-on- 

 BodaoD, N. Y. 



A SURVEY OF AMERICAN BIOLOGICAL 

 CHEMICAL LITERATURE' 



About a year ago Sparks and Noyes^ pre- 

 pared a census of the periodical literature of 

 chemistry published in the United States. 

 They selected for their study the five Ameri- 

 can chemical journals: 

 American Chemical Journal 

 Journal of the American Chemical Society 

 Journal of Biological Chemistry 

 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chem- 

 istry 

 Journal of Physical Chemistry 

 This study showed that during the five-year 

 period, 1909-1910 to 1914-1915, the Journal 

 of Biological Chemistry gained 150 per cent, 

 in the number of published pages ; the Journal 

 of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 78 

 per cent.; the Journal of the American Chem- 

 ical Society, 88 per cent.; while the Journal 

 of Physical Chemistry showed a loss in pub- 

 lished pages of only 2 per cent. {The Ameri- 

 can Chemical Journal was merged with the 

 Journal of the American Chemical Society 

 in 1914). 



"With this study as a model and an in- 

 centive, the writer has made a somewhat 

 similar investigation of the biological-chem- 

 ical literature during the period 1907-1916. 

 The question as to what properly belongs 

 under the heading biological chemistry is 

 probably open to discussion. It seems fair, 

 however, to accept the decision of the men 

 who are in charge of the various sections of 

 the Biological Chemical division of Chemical 

 Alstracts. All papers which are found in 



1 This study was presented before the Second 

 Annual Conference of Biological Chemists, held at 

 the Chemist Club, New York City, December 31, 

 1917. 



2 Sparks, Marion E., and Noyes, W. A., Science, 

 1917, 45, 168 (February 16). 



