314 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVI. No. 923 



in artificial light the exact qualities of day- 

 light. 



T^E Inter-polar Commission will meet at 

 Eome during the meeting of the tenth Inter- 

 national Geographical Congress, on April 2, 

 1913. 



The sixth Congress of the International 

 Association for Testing Materials is meeting 

 this week in the Engineering Societies Build- 

 ing, New York City. 



UNIVEBSITT AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS 

 A BEQUEST of $100,000 to the University of 

 Manchester, made by Mr. J. E. Taylor, has 

 become payable by the death of his widow. 



Dr. Alan W. C. Menzies, assistant professor 

 of chemistry in the University of Chicago, has 

 been appointed head of the department of 

 chemistry at Oberlin College. 



On the recommendation of Dr. David Kin- 

 ley, dean of the Graduate School, the trustees 

 of the University of Illinois authorized a post- 

 doctorate fellowship for study abroad and Miss 

 Margaret L. Bailey has been awarded the 

 fellowship. 



Mr. F. J. Lewis, demonstrator in botany in 

 the University of Liverpool, has been ap- 

 pointed professor of biology in the University 

 of Alberta. 



Professor W. M. Bayliss, F.E.S., has been 

 appointed professor of general physiology in 

 University College, London. 



DISCUSSION AND COBBESPONDENCE 

 THE CORROSION OF IRON AND STEEL 



To THE Editor of Science: In a communi- 

 cation from Dr. Allerton S. Cushman, pub- 

 lished in Science for August 16, 1912, a cer- 

 tain paragraph in a review of Friend's " Cor- 

 rosion of Iron and Steel," written by myself 

 last spring, is severely criticized. Dr. Cush- 

 man states that this paragraph is, 



based upon an analysis of a single market sample 

 which was manufactured in the early days of a 

 new industry. 



And also that I should not 



have included a paragraph in a scientific review, 

 written in such a manner that it could be reprinted 

 and used in a commercial contest with the object 

 of producing a false impression. 



Dr. Cushman concludes his two-page com- 

 munication with a paragraph commencing, 



It would appear to the writer [Dr. Cushman] 

 that there is such a thing as professional ethics 

 in respect to the scientific treatment of scientific 

 books reviewed in a scientific journal, and that 

 such reviews should not be used to introduce false 

 impressions to be afterwards touted about the 

 country as "salesmen's arguments." 



Dr. Cuslmian is surely correct in his as- 

 sumption that there is such a thing as pro- 

 fessional ethics in respect to the scientific 

 treatment of scientific books, but why should 

 he limit such ethics to a review in a scientific 

 journal? Why not extend such ethics to the 

 treatment of scientific books in advertising 

 literature where such scientific books are so 

 quoted as " to introduce false impressions to 

 be afterwards touted about the country as 

 ' salesmen's arguments.' " 



The paragraph in the review so strenuously 

 objected to was written not to spread a false 

 impression, but to correct one; not in disre- 

 gard of professional ethics, but as a conse- 

 quence of following professional ethics. The 

 review was written for the readers of Science, 

 at the request of its editor, and if it has been 

 reprinted in whole or in part for any purpose 

 whatever I have been and am in entire igno- 

 rance of such fact. 



The paragraph which is objected to is as fol- 

 lows: 



It is a matter of regret that the author has 

 been misled, as have also the reviewer and others, 

 by giving credence to statements and data sup- 

 plied by the American Rolling Mill Co., of Middle- 

 town, Ohio, which he publishes on pages 114, 250, 

 276 and 351, regarding the purity of this firm's 

 product. For example, the material said to have 

 the analysis published on page 114, as containing 

 99.954 per cent, iron, and which on page 276 is 

 proposed as a standard for pure iron on which to 

 base a corrosion factor, was later found by the 

 author himself, much to his surprise, to contain 

 ,172 per cent, copper. 



The " author " here referred to is of course 

 Dr. Friend, and the analysis is one supplied 



