NOVEMBEE 3, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



589 



bases and acids and life-destroying tem- 

 peratures. On the contrary, the methods 

 of physical chemistry are of such a nature 

 as to make it possible to investigate the 

 complete structure of many unstable sub- 

 stances of the organism, in statu quo, with- 

 out modifying the changeable equilibrium 

 of the often highly complex systems. This 

 will insure to physical chemistry for an 

 unlimited time to come a very important, 

 and, I dare say, together with structural 

 chemistry, a leading place in the medical 

 sciences. 



Par be it from me to underestimate the 

 great achievements of other auxiliary sci- 

 ences and methods of investigation in med- 

 ical research. However, they can not lead 

 us as far as does chemistry. 



Let us, for example, consider the investi- 

 gation of electric currents initiated by 

 some physiological processes. No one, cer- 

 tainly, would maintain that the registra- 

 tion of these currents is the final aim of 

 their investigation, even if this were done 

 with faultless technique. Rather would 

 not the question be raised, what chemical 

 processes underlie the curves received by 

 registration ? Likewise, it is chemistry 

 which we must expect to help us gain a 

 deeper insight into the nature of and lawa 

 governing the processes of gland secretion. 



Adapting an utterance of Mach, we may 

 say: "The problems of nature resemble a 

 manifoldly knotted thread, the course of 

 which we can follow now from this and 

 then from another loop which attracts our 

 attention." There is no doubt that in fu- 

 ture even more than now physical chemis- 

 try will furnish us the loop in our effort 

 to disentangle many an intricate problem. 



And the names of Hugo de Vries, Van't 

 Hoff and Arrhenius will forever have a 

 place of honor in the history of medical 

 sciences. H. J. Hambuegee 



Gkoningen 



THE COLLEGE MAN IN TEE PUBLIC 

 SERVICE 



With the growth and development of the 

 higher institutions of learning in the United 

 States, the Federal service is attracting and 

 securing an ever-increasing number of college- 

 trained men. The civil-service act of 1883, 

 providing for the gradual application of the 

 competitive-examination method of selecting 

 public officers and employees, opened the door 

 of opportunity in the executive civil service 

 to those whose merit api)ears from personal 

 demonstration without reference to political 

 affiliation. 



With a better qualified personnel, measur- 

 ing up to higher standards and guided by 

 nobler ideals, there has been a marked in- 

 crease in efficiency with greater dignity of 

 service as a natural corollary. This marks 

 the triumph of useful knowledge and disci- 

 pline acquired in schools and colleges, a re- 

 minder that " wisdom is justified of her chil- 

 dren " in the time and money spent in the 

 cause of education. 



It is hardly necessary to observe that the 

 proper performance of the duties of a large 

 number of employments in the public service 

 does not require collegiate training. The 

 lower grades are generally filled by those who 

 have acquired at least the rudiments of edu- 

 cation ordinarily obtained in the public 

 schools, and not a few positions are filled by 

 those who have had the advantages of training 

 in special courses for skilled occupations. 



Broadly stated, the largest sphere of use- 

 fulness in the public service for the college- 

 trained man is found in the mOitary, admin- 

 istrative, and technical offices of the executive 

 branch of the federal government, as well as 

 in legislative and judicial offices. 



Positions in the military service, being 

 filled principally by graduates of the govern- 

 ment collegiate institutions at West Point 

 and Annapolis, offer careers to comparatively 

 few graduates of other schools. However, 

 there are opportunities for appointment to 

 some places in the military and naval services 

 through competitive examinations held by the 

 respective departments. Among these may be 



