SCIENCE 



Friday, December 9, 1910 



CONTE'NTS 

 Ehrlich's Chemotherapy — A New Science: 

 DB. H. SCHfl'EITZEB 809 



Ths Instruction of Large University Classes: 

 Pbofessok a. p. Cabmen, Pbofessob F. R. 

 Watson 823 



The Agricultural Production of the United 

 States 825 



The Minneapolis Meeting of the American 

 Association 830 



Scientific Notes and Neus 833 



University and Educational News . , 835 



Discussion and Correspondence: — 



Effects of Parasitic Castration in Insects: 

 H. H. Bbindley and F. A. Potts. Mono- 

 and Di-basic Phosphates: R. E. B. McKen- 

 NET. The Loan of Lantern Slides to Illus- 

 trate Lectures on Hookworm Disease: Dr. 

 C. W. Stiles 836 



Sc~entifio Books: — 



Pringsheim on Die Variabilitat niederer Or- 

 ganismen: Pbofessob H. S. Jennings. 

 Blatchley's The Coleoptera or Beetles of 

 Indiana: Db. Feedebick Knab. Von 

 Gregor's Leitfadcn der experinientellen Psy- 

 chopathologie : Db. Fbedeeic Lyman Wells 837 



Scientific Journals and Articles 841 



Special Articles: — 



The Sargasso Sea: Pbofessob John J. 

 Stevenson. Is there Determinate Varia^ 

 tionf Pbofessob Vebnon L. Kellogg .... 841 



Societies and Academies: — 



The Biological Society of Washington: D. 

 E. Lantz. The Anthropological Society of 

 Washington: J. M. C.^sanowicz 846 



M^.s. iriifuUed for publication and Dool£s, etc, intended (oi 

 review should be se:;! to the Editor oi Science. Gorrison-oo- 

 IfudsoD, K. Y. 



■^ EHRLICH'S CHEMOTHERAPY— A NEW 



SCIENCE 1 



Hardly at any time in the history of 

 modern medicine has there existed a more 

 intense excitement and a more absorbing 

 interest among the medical fraternity than 

 at present. One of the greatest scourges 

 of humanity — perhaps the most insidious 

 and cruel of all, since it so often places its 

 victims beyond the pale of human sympa- 

 thy, to be loathed rather than pitied — is on 

 the point of being eradicated. So abhor- 

 rent is the disease in the public mind that 

 the press of the United States, which 

 chronicled at great length the daily events 

 in the life of Evelyn and Harry Thaw, 

 feels constrained not to offend its readers 

 by mentioning its name "syphilis," but 

 hypocritically refers to it as a "blood dis- 

 ease. ' ' 



The man to whom humanity is indebted 

 for this achievement is Professor Ehrlieh, 

 of Frankfort-on-the-Main. This scientist 

 is no stranger to chemists. As far back 

 as thirty years ago Ehrlieh employed 

 organic substances, mainly coal tar colors, 

 in his physiological studies. He discov- 

 ered that methylenblue and its congeners 

 were the only colors which stained the live 

 nerve tissue, and in order to determine 

 whether this remarkable property was due 

 to the peculiar constitution of methylen- 

 blue or to the presence of the sulfur in it, 

 he desired to experiment with an analogous 

 substance in which the sulfur, however, 

 was replaced by oxygen. He applied to 

 Dr. Caro. who, alas for our science, 



' Read before the Iscw England Section of So- 

 ciety of Chemical Industry, Boston, October 7, 



lino. 



