SCIENC 



Friday, June 15, 1917 



CONTENTS 

 Tlie Relation of War to Chemistry in Amer- 

 ica: Professor James E. Withrow 595 



Scientific Events: — 

 The Journal of the American Medical Asso- 

 ciation; Appropriations for Cornell Univer- 

 sity; An Institute of Applied Optics for 

 France; The Croher Land Expedition 608 



Scientific Notes and News 610 



University and Educational News 612 



Discussion and Correspondence: — 



Tlie Central Illinois Tornado: 3. P. Caret. 613 



Scientific Boohs: — 

 Nernst's Theoretical Chemistry: Professor 

 Wilder D. BANCROrT 615 



Special Articles: — 



The Measurement of Light in Some of its 

 more Important Fhysiological Aspects: 

 Drs. T>. T. MacDougai and H. A. Spoehr. 616 



Societies and Academies: — 



The Biological Society of Washington: Dr. 

 M. W. Lton, Jr 618 



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

 review should be sent to Professor J. McKeen Cattell, Garriaon- 

 On-Hudson, N. Y. 



THE RELATION OF WAR TO CHEMIS- 

 TRY IN AMERICA' 



"War is an evil beyond the power of lan- 

 guage to express. To kill one 's neighbor or 

 one's enemy is so repellent a thought that 

 one cries out in horror at the idea and in- 

 stinctively wants to refuse to have any part 

 in action or government which involves 

 such baseness irrespective of the provoca- 

 tion. It is only with the greatest difficulty 

 that we persuade ourselves to act together 

 in any such capacity except in spontaneous 

 defense. Were it not for the religious 

 emphasis upon our duty to support the 

 civil magistrate in the execution of right- 

 eous law, and therefore to resist aggression 

 against such law, we would find little 

 ground to stand upon in our present crisis, 

 except it be the desire to bring annihilation 

 upon the philosophy which gave rise to this 

 world war. 



It has become more and more apparent 

 that we have been dealing with a power in 

 the case of Germany that is as unscrupu- 

 lous as her acts are unmanly and cruel, and 

 that the complaints of her opponents 

 against her since 1870 have probably not 

 been overdrawn. The pall of horror and 

 indignation which fell upon us during the 

 invasion of Belgium and France was re- 

 lieved when the Marne gave hope that there 

 was still power enough in the world to frus- 

 trate the dream of the bully. This pall has 

 been slowly growing upon us again, how- 

 ever, in spite of the persistent efforts of the 

 German propaganda amongst us to conceal 

 and belie the reports of the damnable con- 

 duct of their armies and government at 



1 The annual address before the Ohio Academy 

 of Science, Columbus meeting, April 6, 1917. 



