296 
eases, located in the posterior half of the 
animals. In a few individuals one extra 
vacuole was found in the anterior end. 
5. It was tentatively suggested that this 
new character might have been the result of 
heat, as the animals in the original culture 
had been used in temperature experiments. 
The last statement now seems doubtful, for 
since the appearance of these papers I have 
heard from other investigators of similar para- 
mecia being observed in widely separated parts 
of the country. They have been reported in 
Wisconsin, Indiana, Massachusetts and Con- 
necticut. Those discovered in Indiana pos- 
sessed either three or four vacuoles. 
This note was prepared in hope that at- 
tention might be attracted to the vacuole 
numbers so that more data on this variation 
may be obtained. The possession of extra 
contractile vacuoles makes this race of para- 
mecia exceedingly important, not only because 
it is a variation of the common type but be- 
cause the sensitive response of the vacuole 
number to changes in the environment may 
make these individuals useful as indicators in 
certain classes of experiments. 
Rosert T. Hance 
ZOOLOGICAL LABORATORY, 
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA 
MATHEMATICAL INSTRUCTION AND THE WAR 
In view of the evident desirability of estab- 
lishing a central agency for the gathering and 
dissemination of information pertaining to 
mathematical instruction in relation to the 
war, the American Mathematical Monthly is 
opening a new department, entitled “Collegiate 
Mathematics for War Service.” Any reader of 
ScIENCE in possession of suitable information 
is urged to send it in at once. If the informa- 
tion is of sufficient importance, and in the 
opinion of the editorial staff of the Monthly, 
delay in publication might greatly diminish 
its value, preprints will be made for the earliest 
possible distribution: Already preprints of sev- 
eral articles dealing, in the main, with mathe- 
matical training for naval service, are in the 
course of preparation. The chief consideration 
relative to the new department is maximum 
SCIENCE 
[N. 8. Von. XLVIIT. No. 1238 
possible service in our war program; other con- 
siderations, such as ideals of accuracy, com- 
pleteness and scholarship must be regarded as 
secondary. Suggestions for making the new 
department as useful as possible will be wel- 
come from all quarters. 
Henry BLuMBere 
810 W. OrzEGoN S7., 
URBANA, ILL. 
QUOTATIONS 
SCIENCE AND THE CIVIL SERVICE 
THE great technical developments of the 
nineteenth century, which were due in a large 
measure to the influence and progress of sci- 
ence, have undoubtedly introduced not only a 
great transformation in the. internal affairs of 
the country, but also an altered outlook in the 
external relations of the state. In conse- 
quence, many and extensive have been the 
changes gradually brought about, during the 
past century, in the duties and responsibilities 
of the civil service. Every government de- 
partment has been affected to some -extent; in 
some of them there have come into existence 
innovations which are of a very far-reaching 
character. The outstanding feature of this 
evolution is that the work of government de- 
partments has to-day entirely ceased to be of a 
purely administrative order, whether it be in 
relation to legislative measures referred thereto 
for preparation, revision, or criticism, or to 
the operations conducted therein, or to the 
sphere of human activity superintended, con- 
trolled, or managed thereby. The business of 
every government department is to-day to 
some extent technical or scientific; in the case 
of some departments the administrative aspect 
predominates; in others it is the technical or 
scientific aspect that plays the more important 
role. ; 
What, then, has the state done to ensure 
that the personnel of the civil service, through 
whom its responsibilities must be largely ex- 
ercised, shall be properly qualified and equip- 
ped for dealing, under present-day conditions, 
with the social, industrial and commercial 
problems which must come before it for legis- 
lative, executive, or other action ? 
