Apeil 14, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



527 



meres, chromosomes and centrosomes, di- 

 vide into approximately equivalent halves; 

 in many cells and cell aggregates the di- 

 vision halves are not equivalent, though 

 they may later become so by regulation. 

 It seems probable that, apart from this dif- 

 ference, the causes of division of all grades 

 of individuals, from the simplest to the 

 most complex, will be found to be similar. 

 Individuals capable of independent exist- 

 ence arise either by equivalent division, as 

 in bacteria, ameba and the germ cells of 

 many-celled organisms, where subsequent 

 regulation is slight, or by non-equivalent 

 division followed by a large amount of reg- 

 ulation, as in the fission of many higher 

 protozoa and metazoa. The basis of indi- 

 viduality in the one case is division with 

 slight regulation, in the other division and 

 considerable regulation. 



Individuals, therefore, come into exist- 

 ence by the division of previously existing 

 individuals, though it is conceivable that 

 they may also be formed anew by the 

 synthesis of smaller units; the former is 

 what is known as biogenesis, the latter 

 abiogenesis. Likewise individuals go out 

 of existence by the division of one individ- 

 ual into two, with consequent loss of the 

 original individuality, that is in reproduc- 

 tion, and also by the disintegration of an 

 individual into its constituent units, 

 namely in death. Edwin G. Conklin 



Peinceton University 



RESOLUTIONS IN MEMORY OF RU- 

 DOLPH AUGUST WITTHAUS AND 

 CHARLES CLIFFORD BARROWS 



The faculty of the Cornell University Med- 

 ical College has adopted memorials on the 

 deaths of two of its members, Professor Witt- 

 haus and Professor Barrows. The memorials, 

 which were drawn up by "Warren Coleman, 

 W. Gilman Thompson and W. M. Polk, are 

 as follows : 



In the death of Dr. Eudolph August Witthaua, 

 emeritus professor of chemistry, on December 19, 

 1915, after a long illness, the medical faculty of 

 Cornell University sustained the loss of one of its 

 most famous men. 



Dr. Witthaus was graduated from Columbia 

 University in 1867 and received his Master's de- 

 gree in 1870. He continued his studies at the 

 Sorbonne and the College of France. In 1875 he 

 obtained the degree of M.D. from the University 

 Medical College (New York University). He oc- 

 cupied chairs of chemistry and toxicology, chem- 

 istry and physiology, and chemistry and physics 

 in the universities of Vermont, Buffalo and the 

 University Medical College (New York Univer- 

 sity). In 1898 he was called to the chair of chem- 

 istry and toxicology in Cornell University Med- 

 ical College and occupied this position until his 

 retirement, for age, in 1911. Since 1911, he had 

 been emeritus professor of chemistry in Cornell 

 University Medical College. 



Dr. Witthaus 's career was most notable per- 

 haps for two circumstances, the eminence to which 

 he rose and for th? fact that the subject in which 

 he acquired fame was, in his youth, the plaything 

 of a dilettante. His interest in chemistry dated 

 back to his college days when he converted a room 

 in his father's stable into a laboratory where he 

 amused himself with the study of chemical prob- 

 lems. Reverses in fortune soon compelled him to 

 seek a livelihood in what had been his hobby. 



In his riper years he was without a peer as a 

 medico-legal expert. His services were often 

 sought by the state in criminal trials involving 

 toxicological questions and his testimony was al- 

 ways an important, if not the leading factor, iu 

 the verdicts of the juries. He made what is prob- 

 ably the most complete catalogue of reported 

 cases of poisoning in existence. 



Dr. Witthaus was a prolific, as well as a con- 

 vincing, writer. His text books, "Essentials of 

 Chemistry," "General Medical Chemistry," 

 "Manual of Chemistry" and "Laboratory Guide 

 in Urine Analysis and Toxicology," were much in 

 demand and passed through numerous editions. 

 He contributed articles on toxicological subjects to 

 Wood's "Handbook of the Medical Sciences," 

 and edited "Witthaus and Becker's Medical 

 Jurisprudence" the fourth volume of which he 

 wrote. 



He was a Fellow of the American Association 

 for the Advancement of Science and the Academy 



