448 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XL VI. No. 1193 



vary in density from about 2.5 for tiie 

 lightest stone, to more tlian eight for the 

 heaviest iron meteorites, the increase in 

 density is not brought about by an increase 

 in tlie abundance of what have been de- 

 fined as the heavy atoms, but only by a 

 shift in the relative abundance of the light 

 atoms. Thus in the less dense stone 

 meteorites the average atomic percentage 

 of oxygen, atomic weight 16, is 54.7 per 

 cent., while that of iron, atomic weight 

 55.84, is 10.6 per cent. In the more dense 

 iron meteorites, on the other hand, the per- 

 centage of oxygen is practically negligible, 

 while that of iron has risen to 90.6 per 

 cent.* A study of the densities of the ele- 



At-mB' 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 <99 SO 91 



Fig. 4. 



ments and their compounds shows that the 

 abundance of the elements does not seem to 

 lEor niekel, atomic weight 58.68, it is 8.5 per 

 cent. 



be related to this property. In fact the 

 only apparent relation is to the atomic 

 number, which indicates that the abun- 

 dance relations are the result of evolution, 

 that is of the factors involved in the forma- 

 tion and disintegration of the atoms. 



William D. Haekins 

 Universitt op Chicago 



Note: Since the presentation of the 

 above paper it has been pointed out by 

 Norris F. Hall that both the isotopic com- 

 plexity, and the nuniber of predominant 

 radiation of the radio-active elements show 

 a sharp alternation with increasing atomic 

 number, and that this alternation is strictly 

 in accord with the general hydrogen helium 

 theory of atomic structure. The variation 

 of these properties is illustrated in Figure 

 4 and it wiH be seen that the general form 

 of these figures is the same as that of 

 Figures 2 and 3 which represent the abun- 

 dance of the elements. 



THE CARE OF WOUNDED SOLDIERS 



Many matters of importance touching upon 

 American cooperative effort and activity along 

 medical and surgical lines were developed 

 during the past week in Chicago, when the 

 general medical board and the State activi- 

 ties committee of the medical section of the 

 Council of ISTational Defense held stated 

 meetings in conjunction with the annual 

 meeting of the Clinical Congress of Surgeons 

 of North America. Secretary of the Navy 

 Daniels discussed the activities of the Navy 

 directed toward the moral and intellectual 

 welfare of the naval personnel, and Surgeon 

 Generals Gorgas, Braisted, and Blue spoke 

 for the Army, Navy, and Public Health Serv- 

 ice, outlining the medical work in these re- 

 spective branches. 



Surgeon General Gorgas at a meeting of 

 the general medical board, which preceded 

 the clinical congress, outlined the efforts now 

 being directed toward meeting medical needs 

 on the fields of battle, at home, and also in 



