April 18, 1919] 



SCIENCE 



381 



public, but the treatment of a vast and com- 

 plex subject which approves itself to one 

 thougrhtful man can not be expected to satisfy 

 all his readers. If, then, we dwell upon points 

 of disagreement, we arc not the less conscious 

 that Sir Frank's paper compares favorably 

 with the lucubrations of most administrators. 



In the earlier part of his paper he empha- 

 sized the novelty of the departure made by the 

 government in 1915, and, without the assertion 

 in so many words, rather implied that our 

 government has handled the problem of na- 

 tional research with more courage and on more 

 satisfactory lines than did that of the Ger- 

 mans. WTiile we agree that the course fol- 

 lowed here since 1915 was the best in the cir- 

 cumstances, we are emphatically of opinion 

 that tliis is only true in consequence of past 

 errors; that the idea inspiring the memoran- 

 dum of V. Humboldt, quoted by Sir Frank 

 Heath, is correct, and that the system of the 

 German government was in principle thor- 

 oughly soimd. 



The German ruling caste appreciated the 

 importance of scientific knowledge a century 

 before ours, and conceived that the best way 

 to foster research was to create a number of 

 adequately equipped university departments; 

 they believed that the multiplication of oppor- 

 tunities for disinterested investigation would 

 lead to the production of trained minds 

 capable, in Sir Frank Heath's words, " of ex- 

 tending the powers and capacities of man in 

 relation to the world in which he lives." They 

 had their reward; all that scientific ingenuity 

 and foresight could do to safeguard the Teu- 

 tonic hegemony was done there was no need 

 of hasty improvisations. The Gennan state 

 system has perished in scenes of death and 

 disaster, but of the many crimes and blunders 

 committed by its makers, the neglect of sci- 

 ence is not one. In this country, generations 

 of neglect have compelled us to adopt in our 

 hour of need an expedient which would not 

 have found a single defender if proposed as a 

 normal method of evolution. The courage of 

 the government in 1915, which Sir Frank 

 Heath extols, was the courage of despair; we 

 could not then, we can not now, escape the 



penalty of a hundred years' sloth. It is too 

 late to build from the ground on the German 

 model, but we need not pretend that we have 

 discovered for ourselves a better model, but 

 should, with humble and contrite hearts, try 

 gradually to improve our temporary struc- 

 ture into something like a real university sys- 

 tem, keeping it free from such defects and 

 abuses as in Germany that system revealed 

 in practise; of these the worst was the prosti- 

 tution of scientific appointments and scholarly 

 reputations to the uses of jwlitical propaganda. 

 — British Medical Journal. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 



Bastardierung ah Ursaclie der Apogamie im 

 Pflanzenreicli. Fine Hyiwthese zur experi- 

 menteller Vererbungs- und Abstammungs- 

 lelire. By Alfred Ernst, professor of bot- 

 any in Ziirich. Jena, Fischer. 1918. Pp. 

 650, with 172 figures and 2 plates. 

 The ultimate practical aim of the theory of 

 mutation is avowedly to discover the means of 

 producing new qualities in plants and animals 

 at will and in arbitrarily chosen directions. 

 Some investigators assume that one of the 

 chief causes of mutation is to be looked for 

 in crossing, whereas others think that crosses 

 are far too rare in nature to have had any 

 appreciable effect in the production of species, 

 except for the polymorphous genera. Ob- 

 viously the best way to decide between these 

 two opinions is to study the influence of hy- 

 bridizing on the origin of a new character. 

 The author of this book has attacked this 

 problem from a special side, proixDsing to try 

 to induce a definite character, viz., apogamy, 

 or the production of seeds and spores without 

 fecundation, by means of artificial crosses. 

 The book does not bring any new results, but 

 a collection and discussion of the facts, avail- 

 able for the choice of the material and the 

 method of experimentation to be used. 



From this point of view it may be com- 

 mended to the student of rich questions. It 

 gives a full description of all known cases of 

 apogamy, including algse and fimgi on one 

 hand, Marsilia, Antennaria, Alchetnilla and 



