August 3, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



155 



search, and it is not too much to say that 

 Schaudinn's name has been connected with 

 every distinct advance that has been made in 

 protozoan pathology. In his work at the 

 Kaiserlichen'Gesundheitsamte on various forms 

 of human disease his experiments were most 

 ingenious and well conceived, while his inter- 

 pretations were a happy combination of liber- 

 ality of view and judicious conservatism. 

 While at this post he carried out experiments 

 showing the specific differences between the 

 harmless Entamoeha (Amoeha) coli and the 

 pernicious Entamce'ba histolytica, the cause of 

 amoebic dysentery. In connection with this 

 institution also, but at the Eovigno Labora- 

 tory, he worked out the full life history of 

 Plasmodium vivax, the cause of tertian fever, 

 and put the last missing link in the chain of 

 evidence connecting the mosquito with ma- 

 laria, by watching the penetration of human 

 blood corpuscles by sporozoites taken directly 

 from the mosquito's salivary gland. It was 

 from this laboratory also that he brought 

 out his much-discussed life history of Try- 

 panosoma noctuoe, which gave the first light 

 on these important organisms which are so 

 bound up with human affairs in the nagana 

 and surra, etc., of Africa and India, and Try- 

 panosomiasis and sleeping sickness in man. 

 It was while connected with the Berlin institu- 

 tion that he made his last important discovery 

 of Treponemal pallidum, the cause of syphilis, 

 an organism that has been sought for in vain 

 by biologists and pathologists since the germ 

 theory of disease was established. 



It was in the field of general biology, how- 

 ever, that Schaudinn's greatest and most far- 

 reaching work was done. The problems con- 

 nected with reduction, and maturation in gen- 

 eral, and of parthenogenesis, have been il- 

 lumined by his researches on the life history 

 of protozoa. He was the first to give a com- 

 plete account of the life history of protozoan 

 organisms, and his work on Coccidium schu- 

 hergi is a model of completeness of detail and 

 of scientific presentation. With it came the 

 stimulus for renewed and more careful obser- 

 vation on protozoa all over the world. With 

 this conception of the life cycle always in 



mind and its importance in protozoan study 

 always prominent, he studied many different 

 types of protozoa, and in whatever direction 

 he turned the science of protozoology was ad- 

 vanced. The life activities of Calcituba, of 

 Actinophrys, Sphoerastrum, Acanthocystis, 

 Paramceba, were worked out, and the full life 

 histories of Entamoeba, Geniropyxis, Hyalopus, 

 Polystomella, Trypanosoma noctuce, Spiro- 

 chceta ziem,anni and Plasmodium vivax were 

 established. 



In his writings Schaudinn was simple and 

 direct. Nothing was stated for effect, and there 

 is an absolute lack of the polemical spirit in 

 his work, which bears only the fair interpreta- 

 tion of his own work with never a thought of 

 priority or of personal advertisement. His 

 experimental work was conceived and executed 

 with a rare combination of skill and patience, 

 and in its very simplicity of statement his 

 writing had the merit of carrying conviction, 

 so that what he has done will remain as land- 

 marks in the field of protozoan research. 



Gary N. Calkins. 



TEE ROYAL BOTANIC SOCIETY OF LONDON} 

 The great revival in gardening which has 

 been taking place during the last few years 

 has not had such a beneficent effect on the 

 Royal Botanic as on other kindred societies. 

 Instead of increasing its membership by leaps 

 and bounds and thus improving its financial 

 position, it has found expansion impossible 

 and new enterprise cheeked by lack of funds. 

 The question as to whether any of the condi- 

 tions in its constitution and methods are at 

 fault has been under discussion for some 

 months. A committee of conference of fel- 

 lows was appointed and a report (or rather 

 two, as there was a minority one also) has been 

 presented to the council suggesting various 

 possible reforms. These have been vmder the 

 consideration of the council, who have just 

 issued their reply. It is evident that, although 

 there is willingness to meet the fellows' wishes 

 on several points, none of the sweeping changes 

 advocated will be adopted ; and it seems doubt- 

 ful to those outside the society who are com- 

 petent to judge whether the few changes will 

 ^ The London Times. 



