6i0 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XL. No. 1035 



expect. Experiment is the only possible test, and 

 the date of the crucial trial is still far distant. 



This, liowever, does not prevent the author 

 from indulging in an interesting speculation: 



Suppose that this new protoplasm had proper- 

 ties slightly different from those types which we 

 know; its accidental discovery might involve us 

 in very serious consequences. Assume that it 

 had great powers of assimilation and reproduc- 

 tion, and we might find it rather a dangerous 

 neighbor, so that finally the new discovery might 

 end in the rapid extirpation of the long-sought- 

 for product. Even more serious, however, would 

 be the state of things if the synthetic creature 

 resembled our ordinary bacteria, and was capable 

 of lodging in animals, and there liberating new 

 forms of toxins against which we are not immun- 

 ized. It is just a possibility, but it would cer- 

 tainly be a most awkward end to an experiment. 



The further career of this future Franken- 

 stein may be left to the speculations of H. G. 

 "Wells. 



The essays on chemical research may well 

 be commended to every one interested in the 

 future of those industries which are in any 

 way connected with the applications of chem- 

 istry. While written from an English stand- 

 point, they are none the less applicable in 

 America. In both these countries the future 

 held out to the student of chemistry is by 

 no means attractive and the expectation of 

 adequate remuneration for a life work is less 

 than in many other fields. Yet the future of 

 these industries is bound up with chemical 

 research, and that not merely in the field of 

 the direct applications of chemistry, but even 

 more especially in the field of pure science, 

 and here it is that there is the least hope of 

 adequate remuneration. The outlook is never- 

 theless not without hope, both in Britain and 

 in America. The foundation of the Carnegie 

 Trust for the Universities of Scotland and 

 the Science Research Scholarships of the 

 Royal Commission for the International Ex- 

 hibition of 1851 are dwelt on at length, as 

 steps in the right direction, and in an appendix 

 is set forth the Outline of a Scheme for the 

 Improvement of Research Conditions, worthy 

 careful perusal, however much one may dis- 

 agree with some of the suggestions. 



The book is well written and comparatively 

 free from errors, though exception might be 

 taken to the accuracy of occasional state- 

 ments. We object seriously to the use, un- 

 fortunately far too frequent here and else- 

 where, of " body " where " substance " or 

 " compound " is meant, and we wonder if the 

 word " researcher," for one engaged in re- 

 search, has come to stay. 



Jas. Lewis Howe 



Washington and Lee University, 

 Lexington, Virginia 



Nucleic Acids. Their Chemical Properties 

 and Physiological Conduct. By Walter 

 Jones, Ph.D. Longmans, Green & Co. 

 1914. Pp. viii-f 118. 



Nucleic acids and their components have 

 held, for more than a century, the interest of 

 the chemist, of the biologist, of the physician, 

 of the pharmacologist, and of the physiologist. 

 The first acquaintance with the derivatives 

 of nucleic acid was made through the discovery 

 of uric acid by Scheele in the year 1776. The 

 name given to the substance betrays the scanty 

 information of the discoverer concerning the 

 chemical structure of the acid, hence of its 

 exact place in the economy of the organism. 

 The constant occurrence in the urine of ap- 

 preciable quantities of uric acid may have led 

 one to the conclusion that it belonged to the 

 class of final products of metabolism. What 

 was the mother substance of uric acid? The 

 question could not be answered when informa- 

 tion concerning the chemistry of the tissue 

 components, or of food stuffs, was lacking. 



Nucleic acids were discovered much later 

 by Altman, a cell biologist. He was in search 

 for an explanation of the staining properties 

 of cell nuclei. The problem, as far as Altman 

 was concerned, was solved by the demonstra- 

 tion of the presence in the cell nuclei of a 

 substance with the properties of an acid. The 

 substance was named nucleic acid. Altman 

 little thought of the possible relationship of 

 the new substance to the uric acid of the 

 urine. On the other hand, the chemists and 

 physicians engaged in researches on uric acid 



