SCIEN 
Fripay, Ocrosrr 11, 1918 
CONTENTS 
A Geometric Basis for Physical and Organic 
Phenomena: CoLONEL JOHN MILLIs ....... 353 
Scientific Events :— 
Manganese Ore in Georgia; British Elec- 
trical Industries after the War; The De- 
partment of Chemistry of the College of the 
City of New York; The Chemical Warfare 
Service; The American College of Sur- 
geons; The American Agricultural Com- 
wt 71 ee Rei Se Le te, te ee A ee i 360 
Scientific Notes and News .........c.eee08 365 
University and Educational News ........... 367 
Discussion and Correspondence :— 
Erroneous Generic Determinations of Bees: 
Dr. CHartes Rospertson. The Necessity 
for Better Book and Newspaper Manufac- 
ture with respect to Materials used: 
Masor Rosert Winson SHuFeLpT. The 
Canons of Comparative Anatomy: Dr. W. P. 
PEMOMERUN fe ciate cise Ge tines sisie sso eles corse 368 
Quotations :— 
The Coordination of Scientific Publication 
UNCP OME LDING AI ls wei 5 2. ctleriele als Sieh d aye © 371 
Scientific Books :— 
Woodworth’s Dynamic Psychology: Pro- 
FESSOR MARGARET FLoy WASHBURN. Her- 
rick and Crosby’s Laboratory Outline of 
VIGNE GROG Da Gar EEG TPES Bee ails oclace, ow atc.ahe 372 
Special Articles :— 
Hygrometry in Terms of the Weight of a 
Film of Gelatine: Proressor Cart Barus. 
The Urine of Reptiles: Dr. Howarp B. 
LEwIs 
MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 
review should be sent to The Editor of Science, Garrison-on- 
Hudson, N. Y. 
A GEOMETRIC BASIS FOR PHYSICAL 
AND ORGANIC PHENOMENA 
Tue following notes refer to certain ideas 
which the writer has had in mind for many 
years, but in the form now submitted they are 
immediately suggested by a recent casual ex- 
amination of D’Arey W. Thompson’s “ Growth 
and Form” (Cambridge University Press, 
1917) and particularly by reading certain 
paragraphs in this book relating to the various 
possible divisions of space by systems of sur- 
faces or material films and membranes, in 
connection with a discussion of the internal 
structure of organic bodies. 
A number of years ago the present writer 
submitted a brief paper to the American Phys- 
ical Society under the title “A simple geo- 
metrical principle and its possible significance 
in connection with a general physical theory.” 
The principle was stated as follows: “In any 
aggregation of an indefinite number of equal 
spherical bodies an arrangement giving min- 
imum total volume occupied and perfect sym- 
metry throughout is impossible.” The quota- 
tions are from memory. An abstract of the 
paper was published at the time in the 
Physical Review. 
Of course this principle might be dealt with 
by geometrical construction and mathematical 
analysis, but it can be demonstrated experi- 
mentally and in a simple and practical way by 
means of a number of balls of equal diameter 
like the hollow celluloid “ping-pong” balls, 
or the rubber balls sold as children’s play- 
things. Thick mucilage, varnish, collodion, 
sealing wax or any other available adhesive 
substance may be used for sticking the balls 
together. Perhaps what follows may seem at 
first too elementary to be regarded as some- 
thing of real scientific interest, but it is a 
matter of some surprise to find how many 
erroneous and confused ideas on so simple a 
