506 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLVI. No. 1195 



Any teacher of biological chemistry in a 

 medical school knows how flimsy a chemical 

 structure has been erected in the minds of the 

 students coming to him, and that the informa- 

 tion acquired is about as useful as is a cobweb 

 for catching fish. 



The causes of this are self-evident. Probably 

 the most satisfying reason lies in the newness 

 of the possibilities of the application of the 

 science of chemistry to diagnosis and treat- 

 ment. The collegiate instructor has failed to 

 appreciate the progressive utilization of chem- 

 istry by the biological sciences. There is a 

 chasm between what the instructor knows and 

 attempts to teach to the pre-medioal student 

 and what the pre-^nedical student needs. And 

 as a result the student falls into the chasm, 

 and is lost. It is the job of the collegiate in- 

 structor to bridge the gap through constructive 

 cooperation. The medical-school instructor has 

 not been sufficiently insistent on preliminary 

 requirements from a qualitative standpoint, 

 nor has he shown any special inclination to 

 relate the needs of the situation. These facts 

 when coupled with the disinclination of the 

 college teacher of chemistry to break away 

 from the classical and now obsolete methods of 

 teaching and inaugurate a system adapted to 

 the demands of the times give some explana- 

 tion of what at present confronts us. There is 

 at hand a supply of potential useful informa- 

 tion that lacks efficient assimilation because of 

 the lack of understanding of fundamental 

 principles. 



The remedies are obvious — an attempt by the 

 collegiate instructor in chemistry to learn 

 something of what chemistry is doing in biol- 

 ogy, a measure of cooperation between teachers 

 of biological chemistry and the pre-medical in- 

 structors, a willingness on the part of the lat- 

 ter to recognize the validity of the wishes of 

 the former, an outline of preparedness from the 

 qualitative point of view, and a realization 

 that true preparedness rests on understanding, 

 while understanding can only come when de- 

 tail is subordinated to principle. 



Frederick S. Hammett 

 Harvasd Medical School 



SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 



BRITISH EXPERIMENTAL STATION FOR FUEL 

 RESEARCH 



The Fuel Research Board of the Depart- 

 ment of Scientific and Industrial Research 

 has issued a report, signed by Sir George 

 Beilby, the director of fuel research, describ- 

 ing the scheme of research they have adopted 

 and their plan for the establishment of a fuel 

 research station on an industrial scale. 



It is stated in the London Times that in a 

 previous report, which has not been published, 

 they stated that they had in view two main 

 lines of research: (1) A survey and classifica- 

 tion of the coal seams in the various mining 

 districts by means of chemical and physical 

 tests in the laboratory, and (2) an investiga- 

 tion of the practical problems which must be 

 solved if any large proportion of the raw coal 

 at present burned in its natural state is to be 

 replaced by the various forms of fuel obtain- 

 able from coal by processes of carbonization 

 and gasification. 



At one time it was thought that the former 

 line of inquiry could be proceeded with in ad- 

 vance of the second, but further consideration 

 has shown them to be so interdependent that 

 they can be most satisfactorily dealt with side 

 by side. However, in preparation for the or- 

 ganization of the first line of inquiry, an ex- 

 perimental study of standard methods for the 

 examination of coal in the laboratory has been 

 made, and as the result of work carried out 

 for the board in the Fuel Laboratory of the 

 Imperial College of Science a test has been 

 elaborated which, by direct weighing and 

 measurement, gives the yields of gas, oil, 

 water and carbonaceous residue that result 

 from carbonization at any definite temperature. 



Among the problems to be investigated are: 



1. Can the 35 to 40 million tons of raw coal used 

 every year for domestic heating be replaced wholly 

 or partially by smokeless fuel, solid or gaseous, 

 prepared by the carbonization of this coal? 



2. Can adequate supplies of fuel for the Navy 

 be obtained by carbonizing the coal at present 

 used in its raw form for industrial and domestic 

 purposes ? 



3. Can supplies of town gas be obtained more 

 economically and conveniently by methods of car- 



