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SCIENCE 



[N. 8. Vol. XXVII. No. 



were no sucli palaces of learning nor such 

 armies of students as now characterize uni- 

 versity life in Germany. His doctor's thesis 

 presented in 1856 was upon the subject " Con- 

 tributions to the Circulation of Nitrogen in 

 the Animal Organism." In 1860 Voit was 

 made professor extraordinarius in physiology, 

 and in 1863, at the age of thirty-two, was 

 created professor ordinarius and conservator 

 of the physiological institute at Munich, posi- 

 tions which he held until his death. 



At the age of twenty-sis Voit had demon- 

 strated that the nitrogen in the excreta of an 

 animal could be used as a measure of the 

 animal's proteid metabolism. At the age of 

 thirty-five (1866) his ideas had led to the con- 

 struction of the Pettenkofer respiration appa- 

 ratus, and with Pettenkofer he had deter- 

 mined the amount of metabolism in a healthy 

 person on various diets, during fasting and 

 during work, and also the metabolism in 

 patients suffering from diabetes and leukaemia. 

 These experiments established once for all the 

 principles of nutrition upon a scientific basis. 

 "Waves of criticism have broken upon them 

 and left them untouched. Then in his after- 

 life more and more details upon the subject 

 were given to the world. These are to be 

 found throughout the fifty volumes of the 

 Zeitschrift fur Biologie, of which he was one 

 of the founders. He said last summer : " If 

 I spent my time answering those publications 

 which are only rediscoveries of what I have 

 already shown, I would have nothing else to 

 do." 



Voit was always keenly interested in his 

 lectures and his teaching. His joy at a new 

 discovery by any one in his laboratory was in- 

 spiring to all who worked there. He was con- 

 scientious in every relation in life. An as- 

 sistant once addressed some flattering remarks 

 to him and received the sharp rejoinder " Es 

 macht nichts war Eeeht hat, nur dass die 

 Wahrheit herauskommt." 



The clinicians Friedrich Miiller, F. Moritz, 

 and a son Fritz Voit received their early sci- 

 entific training in Voit's laboratory, and have 

 carried this knowledge to a wide scope of use- 

 fulness in clinical medicine. 



Of the physiologists and hygienists who 



have belonged to the " Munich school " of 

 Voit may be mentioned Eubner, Lindemann, 

 Straub, Ellinger, Otto Frank, Erwin Voit, 

 Prausnitz, Max Gruber, Cremer, Weinland, 

 Heilner, Atwater and Yandell Henderson. 



In the midst of conflict among others con- 

 cerning his views Voit was always calm, and 

 assumed a waiting attitude, trusting to time 

 for his justification. He deprecated hurried 

 publication of results. His last article gave 

 to the world work accomplished seventeen 

 years before. 



Voit was honored as among the highest in 

 his own land, but he would have been a great 

 man in any country. He was one of those 

 spirits whose lives are the heritage of man- 

 kind. It only requires knowledge of his work 

 to realize that his fame will grow greater as 

 the years pass by. Graham Lusk 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 

 The council of the senate of Cambridge 

 University has reported the opinion that 

 the university should hold a Darwin celebra- 

 tion in the course of the year 1909. The 

 senate is reminded that Charles Darwin was 

 born on February 12, 1809; and that "The 

 Origin of Species " was published on Novem- 

 ber 24, 1859. The one hundredth anniversary 

 of the former event and the fiftieth anni- 

 versary of the latter will, therefore, fall in the 

 course of the year 1909. The council does not 

 think it advisable, so long beforehand, to enter 

 into any details; but suggests that representa- 

 tives of universities and other learned bodies, 

 together with distinguished individuals, should 

 receive invitations to visit the university on 

 the occasion. Should this report be con- 

 firmed by the senate, the council will appoint 

 a committee to consider the details of the 

 proposed celebration. The week beginning 

 June 20, 1909, appears to the council to be 

 the most suitable time for the celebration. 



Dr. Egbert Koch, the eminent German 

 bacteriologist, expects to visit this country 

 during the spring of the present year. He 

 proposes to rest for a year from his scientific 

 work and has refused all invitations to lecture 

 while in the United States. 



