SCIENCE 



Friday, April 7, 1911 



CONTENTS 



The Lost Arts of Chemistry : Dr. W. D. Eich- 

 ARDSON 513 



The Elisabeth Thompson Science Fund: Pro- 

 fessor Charles S. Minot 520 



Harvard Exchange of Teachers with Colleges 

 in the Middle West 521 



Scientific Notes and News 522 



University and Educational News 526 



Discussion and Correspondence: — 



The Acoustical Engineer: Professor G. W. 

 Stewart. Academic Efficiency: Professor 

 B. B. Brackett. Laboratory Table Tops: 

 Professor Eaymond H. Pond. Totemism: 

 A. A. GoLDENWEiSER. Evidence of the 

 Zebra in the Pleistocene Fauna of France: 

 Professor Spencer Trotter 527 



Scientific Boohs: — 



Eschericli's Termitenleben auf Ceylon: 

 Professor W. M. Wheeler 530 



Scientific Journals and Articles 534 



Special Articles: 



The Origin of Five Mutations in Eye Color 

 in Drosophila and their Modes of Inherit- 

 ance: Professor T. H. Morgan. Heredity 

 in Insanity : Dr. A. J. Eosanoff 534 



The Texas California Arc of Primary Tri- 

 angulation : William Bowie 538 



The Ithaca Meeting of the Society of Amer- 

 ican Bacteriologists: Dr. Charles E. 

 Marshall 539 



Societies and Academies: — 



The Philosophical Society of Washington: 

 E. L. Paris. The Geological Society of 

 Washington: Edson S. Bastin. The Bo- 

 tanical Society of Washington: W. W. 

 Stockberger. The Anthropological Society 

 of Washington: I. M. Oasanowicz. The 

 American Philosophical Society 549 



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

 review should be Be:?t to the Editor oi Sciehcb, Garriaon-on- 

 Eudson, N. Y. 



THE LOST ABTS OF CHEMISIS¥^ 

 In addition to chronicling past and pres- 

 ent events merely, it pleases the historian 

 from time to time to ascertain, as nearly 

 as he can, by a comparison of present with 

 past conditions and present knowledge and 

 practise with past knowledge and practise, 

 the present condition of mankind of any 

 particular society, in comparison with past 

 conditions. Thus are compared present 

 systems of government with past systems, 

 new religious beliefs with old, modern sci- 

 ence with ancient science, present-day arts 

 and manufactures with those of old. 



Progress never takes a straight course 

 for any considerable length of time. Nor 

 does it even follow an undulating course in 

 one general direction. But there are ad- 

 vancements and retrogressions, repeated 

 endlessly. And again progress as recorded 

 by history does not represent necessarily 

 the progress of the whole human race. On 

 the contrary, it does not represent even a 

 large part of the human race, but at most 

 an isolated portion of it, and in this iso- 

 lated portion the progress is recorded not 

 of the whole but of the most advanced in- 

 dividuals only. When we say that the 

 present age is one of great business, scien- 

 tific and manufacturing or artistic achieve- 

 ments in comparison with the fourteenth 

 century, for example, we mean that a few 

 individuals, very few in fact compared 

 with the total number, have contrived to 

 bring about great results in those fields of 

 human activity. But we must remember 

 at the same time that the majority of indi- 

 'An address delivered before the Minneapolis 

 meeting of the American Chemical Society, De- 

 cember 28, 1910. 



