SCIENCE 
Fray, DeceMBER 20, 1918 
CONTENTS 
National Prestige in Scientific Achievement: 
BPE rt Gr DVUTRENG oie cic ca nsltiecewstiewee mere 
The Criteria in the Declaration of Chemical 
Independence in the United States: Dr. I. 
NEWTON KUGELMASS ............--..2.4. 608 
Charles Richard Van Hise ............+++0:: 612 
Scientific Events :— 
The Production of Marble in 1917; The 
British National Union of Scientific Work- 
ers; The DeLamar Bequests for Medical Re- 
MENTE «fa os) Monica sha ete aie ein aie aa hte winielel oe 613 
Scientific Notes and News ................. 615 
University and Educational News .......... 619 
Discussion and Correspondence :— 
Synthesis of Paleontology and Medical His- 
tory: Dr. Roy L. Mooprr. A Recently Dis- 
covered Art Cavern in France: N. C. NEt- 
UMRiots ab Sib oretipuae tayhis apr s' A qian eB op ins Bible 1 619 
Scientific Books :— 
Arrhenius on The Destinies of the Stars; 
Hastings on Modern Navigation: PRoressor 
SEARS TERE CKEE « Grab ss son's aretx qhaceulan 621 
Special Articles :— 
Rhineodon Typus, the Whale Shark— 
Further Notes on its Habits and Distribu- 
Riopeerertiae W. GUDGER «<< ce peesnescscee 622 
The Baltimore Meeting of the American Asso- 
ciation for the Advancement of Science.... 627 
MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 
review should be sent to The Editor of Science, Garrison-on- 
Hudson, N. Y. 
NATIONAL PRESTIGE IN SCIENTIFIC 
ACHIEVEMENT? 
In our development and application of sci- 
entific principles, the intensive factor of pub- 
licity is by no means to be ignored. It may 
be magnanimous to give others full credit for 
what they have done and to belittle our own 
achievements, but it is hardly fair to the na- 
tion as a whole so long as public opinion con- 
tinues to be so strongly influenced by pub- 
licity. We are familiar with the prestige in 
pure and applied science enjoyed by Germany 
prior to the war and many of us are familiar 
with her methods, some of them entirely 
legitimate by every standard, others entirely 
indefensible by any standard. We envied 
Germany her diligent, productive scientists, 
smiled at her many false claims to superiority 
and originality, contributed rather freely to 
German scientific literature, with some qualms 
of conscience and pretty generally despised 
German technologists for their piratical meth- 
ods. “ How do they ever get away with it?” 
we asked ourselves and let it go at that. It 
never occurred to many of us to assert our 
scientific independence as a matter of national 
duty and Germany was rapidly attaining the 
leadership she craved. In penance we now 
burn our German books and studiously avoid 
reading anything in that language. We are 
surprised to find how well we can get along 
without anything in that language and for 
how little we are really indebted to that nation. 
Still it is well worth while to trace out the 
underlying principles and to apply them to the 
enhancement of our national welfare. In her 
1 Since this article was prepared (in September) 
there has appeared in Scrence a letter by Pro- 
fessor E. B. Wilson on ‘‘Insidious Scientific Con- 
trol.’’ It appears highly desirable to give this 
matter immediate and careful consideration to the 
end that our technical and scientific societies may 
take effective action in the near future. 
