SCIENCE 



Fkiday, August 30, 1912 



CONTENTS 



The Besins and their Chemical Relations to the 

 Terpenes: Peofessoe G. B. Feankfortbe . 257 



The Metaphor in Science: Peofessoe D. 

 Feaseb TTabrts 263 



A New French Cavern, with Paleolithic Mural 

 Engravings: Peofessoe Geoege Geant 

 MacCuedt 269 



International Congress of Entomology 270 



Scientific Notes and News 271 



University and Educational News 274 



Discussion and Correspondence: — 



A Nexo Fossiliferous Horizon on Blueherry 

 Mouniain, in Littleton, New Hampshire: 

 Dr. Fredeeick H. Lahee. A Puzzling 

 Photograph: Peofessoe Wm. H. Dall. 

 Terms used to denote the Abundance or 

 Parity of Birds: Francis H. Allen. Pop- 

 ular "Science" again: Professor Ernst 

 A Bessey 274 



Quotations : — 



The Medical Man and Besearch 279 



Scientific BooTcs: — 



Jordan's The Principles of Human Nutri- 

 tion: Peofessoe E. V. McCollum. Fer- 

 gusson's Percentage Unit of Angular Meas- 

 urement : H. J 279 



Special Articles: — 



Human Leprosy: De. Chaeles W. Duval. 

 The Lagomorphs an Independent Order: 

 James W. Gidley. Note on the Dinosaur- 

 Turtle Analogy: Professor G. E. Wieland 281 



MSS. intended for publication and beoks, etc., intended for 

 review should be sent to the Editor of Sqekce, Garrij50B-«n- 

 HudsoB, N. Y. 



THE BESINS AND THEIB CHEMICAL 

 BELATIONS TO THE TEBPENES^ 



The closing years of the eighteenth and 

 the beginning of the nineteenth centuries 

 found chemists engaged in the study of 

 chemical problems related to both plant 

 and animal life. Organic chemistry during 

 this early chemical epoch was exactly what 

 its name implied, a study of those sub- 

 stances which are produced through life 

 processes, either plant or animal. During 

 this early epoch, the problems in plant 

 chemistry were more inviting to the chem- 

 ist than those in animal life, first, because 

 the compounds appeared to be simpler sub- 

 stances and, second, because they crystal- 

 lized more readily and were therefore more 

 readily obtained in pure form. As a result 

 of these characteristics, early organic chem- 

 istry was largely confined to plant life, 

 consisting, however, of little more than the 

 simple preparation of the substances them- 

 selves. 



Seheele was the first to point out that the 

 plant and animal world is made up of defi- 

 nite compounds, just as is the inorganic 

 world. He proved the assertion by iso- 

 lating a number of organic substances, 

 among them tartaric, citric, malic and uric 

 acids. He even went so far in his study of 

 the organic compounds as to suggest what 

 the modern physiological chemist calls 

 metabolism, as a means of explaining cer- 

 tain physiological processes. Owing, how- 

 ever, to the extreme difficiilty in obtaining 

 physiological compounds in crystalline 



' A part of the address of the vice-president and 

 chairman of Section C, American Association for 

 the Advancement of Science, Washington, Decem- 

 ber, 1912. 



