208 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XL. No. 1023 



direction, by the recognized giants of science. 

 It is axiomatic that a clear conception of what 

 a problem really is is a prerequisite to its suc- 

 cessful solution. I ask to be permitted to offer 

 the following enunciation : 



Neither a quest for an " explanation " of the 

 cause or nature of gravity, on the one hand, 

 nor a mere non-logical acceptance of the fact 

 as a matter of belief or blind faith, on the 

 other, but the evolutionary development in the 

 minds of men of a scientific satisfaction not 

 only with not Jcnowing hut with not ever 

 heing able to find out any rational and con- 

 sistent theory or explanation for the attraction 

 influence among all portions of matter which 

 is called gravity and which is the essential, 

 universal and unalterable attribute of all ma- 

 terial things whatsoever. 



Obviously such a conception involves rather 

 more of philosophy and psychology than of so- 

 called physical science. 



John Millis 



a simple method for filling an osmometer 

 In setting up the type of apparatus ordi- 

 narily used in elementary classes to demon- 

 strate osmosis, the thistle-tube is filled with 

 molasses or strong sugar solution. If this ia 

 done before the membrane is tied on, the appa- 

 ratus becomes sticky and the difficulty in- 

 creased. If, on the other hand, the tube is 

 filled after the membrane is secure, it is very 

 difficult to force the liquid down the narrow 

 stem. 



For the last two years I have found the 

 following to be a simple and effective method 

 for filling the tube. Take a perfectly dry 

 thistle-tube, fill it with dry granulated sugar 

 to the flare at the top, and then tie on the wet 

 membrane with a waxed thread. When the 

 tube is inverted the sugar will fill the bulb. 

 "With the solution of the lowest layer of sugar 

 in the water of the membrane, the osmotic 

 action is started and the liquid rises in the 

 tube. First observations may be taken when 

 a saturated solution has been formed and no 

 dry sugar remains. 



Laetitia M. Snow 

 Wellesley College 



QUOTATIONS 

 the proposed union of scientific tvorkers 

 We continue to receive replies to our notice 

 regarding the emoluments of scientific work- 

 ers; and they emphasize the opinions which 

 have already been expressed in the leading 

 article of the April number of this Quarterly. 

 For example, one worker, a London graduate 

 with first-class honors, who has published orig- 

 inal research work and is now a demonstrator 

 working two or three days a week, and who 

 also gives two courses of post-graduate lectures 

 with demonstrations, and does other work, re- 

 ceives the generous salary of fifty pounds per 

 annum — much less than most unskilled la- 

 borers will work for. We hear that in one 

 British university, out of two hundred mem- 

 bers of the junior staff in all departments 

 (that is all members of the teaching staff who 

 are not full professors), not more than six re- 

 ceive a stipend greater than two hundred and 

 fifty pounds a year. There appears also to be 

 some fear amongst junior staff workers that if 

 they divulge particulars of their salaries they 

 will lose their posts; and in one case we are 

 informed that some highly specialized work- 

 ers seem even to have lost the ambition ever to 

 earn a reasonable wage. In addition to the 

 poorness of the pay, complaints are made re- 

 garding the entire absence of any provision 

 for adequate pension and also regarding the 

 state of serfdom in which men of science are 

 kept under boards and committees composed 

 of persons who frequently have no qualifica- 

 tions for the exercise of such authority. The 

 whole picture is a melancholy not to say a dis- 

 graceful one for so wealthy a country, which 

 also imagines that it possesses the hegemony 

 of the world. On the other hand, much sym- 

 pathy is expressed on behalf of any endeavors 

 that may be made to remedy these evils, and 

 men of science appear to be awakening to the 

 fact that they should attempt some combined 

 effort in this direction. We note especially an 

 excellent article on the " Income and Prospects 

 of the Mathematical Specialist," by Professor 

 G. H. Bryan, F.R.S., in the April number of 

 the Cornhill Magazine, and an admirable lec- 

 ture on the " Place of Science in Modern 



