July 12, 1901.] 



SCmNGE, 



63 



Archelaus E. Turner, President of Waynesburg 

 College, Waynesburg, Pa. 



Professor Albert H. Tuttle, University of Virginia, 

 Charlottesville, Va. 



"William B. Vansize, Solicitor of Patents, 253 

 Broadway, New York City. 



Benjamin M. "Watson, Bussey Institution, Jamaica 

 Plain, Mass. 



"Ulysses G. "Weatherly, Prof, of Economics, Univer- 

 sity of Indiana, Bloomingto'n, lud. 



Edwin R. "Weeks, Electrical Engineer, 3408 Harri- 

 son Street, Kansas City, Mo. 



Henry L. "Wheeler, Chemistry, Sheffield Labora- 

 tory, New Haven, Conn. 



Schuyler S. "Wheeler, Ampere, IST. J. 



"William H. "Wiley, Civil and Electiical Engineer, 

 43 East 19th Street, New York City. 



Julius T. "Willard, Director of Exper. Sta. and 

 Teacher of Chemistry, 1211 Moro Street, Manhattan, 

 Kan. 



Dr. Robert Lee Wilson, Surgeon, U. S. Marine 

 Hospital Service, Box 274, Honolulu, H. I. 



Tyler R. Woodbridge, Civil Engineer, care Taylor 

 & Brunton Sampling Co., Victor, Colo. 



George McK. Wood worth, Asst. Exam. Elec. Div. 

 Patent Office, 1424 S. Street, N. W., Washington, 

 D. C. 



Alexander J. W^urts, Westinghouse Elec. & Mfg. 

 Co., Allegheny, Pa. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

 Les prohlemes de la vie. 1 ''" Partie. La Sub- 

 stance vivante et la cytodierese. Par Dr. 

 Ermanno GriGLio-Tos. Turin. 1900. 

 Atitle, suchastheauthorof thepresentvolume 

 has selected, is apt to excite suspicion by suggest- 

 ing a discussion of phenomena for the explana 

 tion of which the data at our disposal seem at 

 present hardly sufficient. The time when the 

 biologist was content with an ignoramus or 

 with the endeavor to conceal his ignorance 

 under cover of vital force has passed away, and 

 a school has arisen which pins its faith on the 

 investigation of Entwicklungsmechanik, but 

 which, it must be confessed, still subsists on the 

 substance of things hoped for. The pendulum 

 has swung from the predication of a special 

 force to the application of the fundamental 

 principles of physics and mechanics, but with- 

 out as yet yielding the desired explanation of 

 protoplasmic activity, possibly because the new 

 position has not yet been sufficiently exploited. 



Professor Giglio-Tos, however, believes that 

 the lack of conclusive results is due to the 

 pendulum having swung too far ; the basis of 

 an explanation of the phenomena of life is to 

 be sought, in his opinion, not so much in the 

 physical as in the chemical principles involved. 

 The most fundamental of all the vital functions 

 is assimilation and this he believes is exclusively 

 a chemical phenomenon, perfectly analogous to 

 the changes which organic chemical compounds 

 may be made to undergo in our laboratories, 

 acetic acid, for instance, if supplied with the 

 proper food in the way of reagents, assimilating 

 these and producing with their aid additional 

 molecules of acetic acid. The example which 

 he gives in illustration of the chemical nature 

 of assimilation is so suggestive that it may be 

 repeated here. 



(i: 



Acetic 

 acid. 



CH3 



COOH 



COOH 

 I • 

 CH3 



Acetyle 

 chloride. 



CH, 



Phosphorns 



pentachlor- 



ide. 



+ PCl5 = 



Acetic 

 chlori : 



CH, 



Phosphorus 

 oxyehloride. 



Hydro- 

 chloric 

 acid. 



+ PCl5 = 



COCl 

 CH, 



-f PCI3O -f HCl 



COCl 



-f PCI3O + HCl 



Zinc 

 ethyl. 



CH. 



Methyl-ethyl 

 ketone. 



CH, 



Zinc 

 chlo.ide. 



COCl CH2 



(2) + Zn< 



COCl CH, 



CH, 



CH, 



CH^ 



CO 



I 

 CH3 + ZnCl., 



CH3 



I 

 CO 



I 



CH, 



