lENCE 



Friday, May 25, 1917 



CONTENTS 



Some Eelationships of Chemistry and Life: L. 

 Ghas. Eaiford 489 



Scientifio Events: — • 



English Vital Statistics; The Committee on 

 Coal Produotion of the Council of National 

 Defense; Food Exhiiit at the American Mu- 

 seum of Natural History 494 



Notes and News 496 



and Educational News 500 



Discussion and Correspondence: — 



Surface Tension, Capillarity and Petroleum 

 Pools: Dr. E. W. Shaw. Synchronous 

 Bhythmic Movements of Fall Web-worm 

 Larvw: L. M. Peairs. The Popular Names 

 of North American Plants: O. A. Stevens. 

 Faunal Conditions in South Georgia Is- 

 lands : I. A. Luke 00 



Scientifio BooJcs: — 

 Les Sciences Biologiques Appliquees a 

 I 'Agriculture : Dk. L. O. Howard 503 



Concerning the History of Finger Prints: B. 

 Laupeb 504 



Special Articles: — 



On the Colloid Chemistry of Fehling 's Test : 

 Professor Martin H. Fischer and Marian 

 O. Hooker. The Oil Content of Cotton 

 Seed : Lot E. East 505 



Dedication Exercises at the Brooklyn Botanic 

 Garden 509 



The Stanford Meeting of the Pacific Division 

 of the American Association for the Ad- 

 vancement of Science: Albert L. Barrows. 510 



Societies and Academies: — 



The Anthropological Society of Washington : 

 Frances Densmore 512 



ILLUSTRATED SUPPLEMENT 



Address of the President of the American As- 

 sociation for the Advancement of Science : — 

 The Nelulce: Dr. W. W. Campbell 513 



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

 review sbould be sent to Professor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison- 

 On-Hudson, N. Y. 



SOME RELATIONSHIPS OF CHEMISTRY 

 AND LIFE! 



About the middle of last century Hux- 

 ley and his co-workers clearly recognised 

 the place of science in education, and the re- 

 lation of both to life, and urged upon the 

 world the necessity of scientific knowledge. 

 Meanwhile, the schools and colleges have 

 tried the experiment and have been con- 

 vinced, but it has taken the present war 

 with its terrible toll of death and destruc- 

 tion to focus the attention of the masses in 

 a way which a century of reasoning has 

 failed to do. This is not the place to dis- 

 cuss either of these experiences in detail, 

 and I shall content myself by giving the 

 conclusions of one competent witness who 

 has watched the entire progress of the ex- 

 periment. 



After more than fifty years of continu- 

 ous study of the education problem, Ex- 

 President Eliot, of Harvard, concludes that 

 the present generation is characterized by 

 two strong desires. The first is a desire for 

 a sound knowledge of the facts, and the 

 second is an intense desire to be of service 

 to mankind. If these conclusions are well 

 founded, education must provide for their 

 realization if it is to be successful in the 

 broadest sense. This program, of course, 

 is but another way of stating the scriptural 

 text, "Know the truth, and the truth shall 

 make you free." For the purpose of this 

 address no better text could be found, for 

 these words sum up as clearly as can be 

 done the place of the scientific method in 

 the learning process, and the relation of 

 science to life as a whole. 



1 Address delivered on the occasion of the dedi- 

 cation of the chemical laboratory of the University 

 of Oklahoma, January 26, 1917. 



