324  Echinacea— Reply  to  Dr.  Beal.       j  Am'i°aUy  m\rm' 
As  a  result  of  this  study  we  find  that  ethyl  nitrite  is  easily  dis- 
sipated from  an  alcoholic  solution;  that  the  action  of  direct  sunlight 
is  very  destructive  to  it  in  flint  glass  containers ;  that  partly  filled 
containers  are  objectionable,  and  that  it  is  bad  practice  to  dispense 
numerous  orders  from  the  same  container.  The  ideal  method  of 
storage^  is  in  small  completely  filled,  amber  bottles,  kept  in  a  refrig- 
erator or  ice-box. 
Note. — Credit  is  to  be  given  to  Mr.  T.  R.  Singer,  for  his  valuable  assist- 
ance in  securing  much  of  the  experimental  data  herewith  recorded. 
Analytical  Laboratory  of  Smith,  Kline  &  French 
Company. 
ECHINACEA— A  REPLY  TO  DR.  BEAL. 
The  benefit  to  the  scientific  world  which  accompanies  a  wide 
discussion  of  experimental  data  can  hardly  be  overestimated.  Such 
debate  uncovers  many  diverse  opinions  and  often  develops  new  and 
important  avenues  of  thought.  It  stimulates  the  deductive  .facul- 
ties and  should  result  in  increased  logical  power.  Facts  are  facts ; 
they  stubbornly  resist  controversion;  but  conclusions  which  may  be 
drawn  from  facts  are  quite  a  different  matter  and  too  often  depend 
upon  the  a  priori  considerations  and  unconscious  prejudices  of  the 
one  who  is  considering  the  data  in  question.  This  is,  of  course,  a 
well-recognized  danger  among  scientific  workers  and  one  against 
which  every  precaution  is  taken.  In  spite  of  safeguard,  however, 
it  may  happen  that  the  same  set  of  data  will  indicate  quite  different 
underlying  truths  to  two  different  observers  and  this  is  especially 
to  be  expected  in  cases  where  the  data  is  considered  by  men  of  dif- 
ferent training  or  different  methods  of  arriving  at  experimental 
results. 
The  comment  of  Dr.  Beal1  upon  our  "Experimental  Study  of 
Echinacea  Therapy,"2  opens  a  discussion  of  the  data  which  we 
obtained  and  the  conclusions  which  we  drew  from  them.    Dr.  Beal 
1  This  Journal,  93,  229  (1921). 
Agric.  Res.,  20,  63  (1920). 
