SCIENCE 



Friday, April 4, 1919 



CONTENTS 

 iledidiie and Grotcth: Professor Henry H. 

 Donaldson 31 5 



William Erskine Eellicott: Professor Robert 

 A. BUWNGTON 322 



Scientific Events : — 



The Directorship of the British Natural His- 

 tory Museum; The Inyo Range and the 

 Mount Whitney Region; The Journal of 

 "Natural History"; Degrees in Public 

 Health 323 



Scientific Notes and News 326 



University and Educational Netcs 328 



Discussion and Correspondence: — 

 "Old Age" of Chemical Elements: Dr. Igno 

 W. D. Hackh. Desiccated Vegetables : Pro- 

 fessor Philip B. Hawk. Ncm-silverable 

 Containers for Silvering Mirrors: Dr. Her- 

 bert E. Ives. Ad Rem of a History of Sci- 

 ences in the United States: Dr. Felix 

 Neumann 328 



Scientific Boohs: — 



Smith on Electroanalysis : Dr. Colin G. 

 Fink 332 



Report of the Committee on Generic Types of 

 the Botanical Society of America: Pro- 

 fessor A. S. Hitchcock 333 



Special Articles: — 



Temperature and Vertebra; in Fishes: Dr. 

 David Stars Jordan 336 



The American Association of Petroleum Engi- 

 neers 337 



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

 review should bo sent to The Editor of Science, Garnson-OD- 

 Hudson, N. Y. 



MEDICINE AND GROWTHi 



Doubtless friends have con^atulated you 

 on the fact that you were " through." In one 

 sense — a strictly academic sense — that is true, 

 else you would not be here, subject to this 

 ordeal. But perhaps there is another way of 

 looking at the situation. The Greek philos- 

 opher, Pyrrho, contended that against every 

 statement the contradictory may be advanced 

 with equal reason, and following this estimable 

 skeptic, I feel justified in the assertion that, 

 as a matter of fact, you are not '' through," 

 but rather are just commencing doctor of 

 medicine, if one may give the word commence 

 its older meaning. 



Tou have qualified for a degree — a degree 

 which entitles you to membership in a learned 

 profession — that, like the church and the law, 

 has the distinguishing responsibility of deal- 

 ing with matters of life and death. 



A profession makes heavier claims on its 

 representatives than does a trade or an art, 

 for in the nature of the case it demands con- 

 tinued progress, and it is part of the un- 

 written law that those who enjoy the prestige 

 which such a position brings, should leave 

 their profession better than they foimd it. 



To do this implies progress — progress by 

 growth, and it is the idea of growtli that I 

 wish to use as a guiding thread for the con- 

 duet of this talk. It is my purpose then to 

 say a word concerning growth as it aflFects 

 that very important person, the patient; then 

 to speak of growth as it touches the body of 

 medical knowledge; and finally to consider 

 growth as it aflFects the physician in his riper 

 years. 



To follow an old time form let me announce 



1 Address to the graduates of the Medical De- 

 partmeut of New York University. Delivered at 

 the special commencement exercises, held at Uni- 

 versity Heights, New York, on Saturday, March 1, 

 1919. 



