cases, located in the posterior half of the animals. In a few individuals one extra vacuole was found in the anterior end.

5. It was tentatively suggested that this new character might have been the result of heat, as the animals in the original culture had been used in temperature experiments.

The last statement now seems doubtful, for since the appearance of these papers I have heard from other investigators of similar paramecia being observed in widely separated parts of the country. They have been reported in Wisconsin, Indiana, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Those discovered in Indiana pos sessed either three or four vacuoles.

This note was prepared in hope that attention might be attracted to the vacuole numbers so that more data on this variation may be obtained. The possession of extra contractile vacuoles makes this race of paramecia exceedingly important, not only because it is a variation of the common type but because the sensitive response of the vacuole number to changes in the environment may make these individuals useful as indicators in certain classes of experiments.

ZOOLOGICAL LABORATORY,

ROBERT T. HANCE

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

MATHEMATICAL INSTRUCTION AND THE WAR In view of the evident desirability of establishing a central agency for the gathering and dissemination of information pertaining to mathematical instruction in relation to the war, the American Mathematical Monthly is opening a new department, entitled "Collegiate Mathematics for War Service." Any reader of SCIENCE in possession of suitable information is urged to send it in at once. If the information is of sufficient importance, and in the opinion of the editorial staff of the Monthly, delay in publication might greatly diminish its value, preprints will be made for the earliest possible distribution. Already preprints of several articles dealing, in the main, with mathematical training for naval service, are in the course of preparation. The chief consideration relative to the new department is maximum

SCIENCE AND THE CIVIL SERVICE

THE great technical developments of the nineteenth century, which were due in a large measure to the influence and progress of science, have undoubtedly introduced not only a great transformation in the internal affairs of the country, but also an altered outlook in the external relations of the state. In consequence, many and extensive have been the changes gradually brought about, during the past century, in the duties and responsibilities of the civil service. Every government department has been affected to some extent; in some of them there have come into existence innovations which are of a very far-reaching character. The outstanding feature of this evolution is that the work of government departments has to-day entirely ceased to be of a purely administrative order, whether it be in relation to legislative measures referred thereto for preparation, revision, or criticism, or to the operations conducted therein, or to the sphere of human activity superintended, controlled, or managed thereby. The business of every government department is to-day to some extent technical or scientific; in the case of some departments the administrative aspect predominates; in others it is the technical or scientific aspect that plays the more important rôle.

What, then, has the state done to ensure that the personnel of the civil service, through whom its responsibilities must be largely exercised, shall be properly qualified and equipped for dealing, under present-day conditions, with the social, industrial and commercial problems which must come before it for legislative, executive, or other action?

One important step has been taken in relation to this matter: it has been definitely laid down that candidates for the civil service shall, before appointment, be required to undergo some test as to their knowledge and capacity. To give effect to this decision the Civil Service Commission was, by an order in council dated May 21, 1855, appointed to organize a system of examination; the Commission continues to be charged to the present day with the duty of providing suitable candidates for the public services. In 1870 the principle of open competition was introduced for the purpose of filling certain specified situations in the civil service, without, however, entirely abolishing "patronage" appointments. Afterwards, in 1876, the clerical establishment of the civil service was divided into a higher and a lower division; in 1890 the name "lower division was altered to "second division," and a provision introduced making it possible for a "second division" clerk to be promoted to a higher division clerkship. It is the clerical establishments of the civil service which have alone received attention in the foregoing legislation.

olized by men whose learning is entirely literary. Further, the technical officers-that is, those in whose education science has played the preponderating rôle, and on whose skill and knowledge the welfare of many of the public services very largely depends-are almost entirely excluded from a share in the important administrative posts; needless to say, much to the injury of the public services.

Could it be shown that a purely classical or literary education really tends to develop or to produce administrative talent in an individual superior to that which can be obtained by means of a scientific education and technical training, as is sometimes claimed, there might indeed be some excuse for the retention of the principle of selection adopted; but there is none in actual fact. There exists, on the contrary, abundant evidence to prove conclusively that administrative talent is no exclusive privilege or quality of those who have received a purely classical or literary education: the names are familiar, in wide circles, to high and low, of men who have proved themselves capable administrators of the highest order; men, possessing the capacity of a Cromer or of a Kitchener, in whose education instruction in science also occupied a very prominent place; men whose early years were, too, spent in technical spheres.

The opinion has been gaining ground for some time past that the administrative system of government departments is unsatisfactory. The extracts from the reports of the Exchequer and Audit Department published from time to time, wherein publicity is given to the defects in the administrative arrangements in connection with the public services, have provided, in relation to such matters, authentic evidence tending to confirm, in the public mind, the unfavorable opinions that prevail so widely as to the unbusinesslike methods of the civil service and the general lack of capacity shown by a large majority of its members. Other authentic evidence is available-some recorded, some not; some public property, some not-which provides an indication that scientific knowledge and technical experience are held in disrepute in many, happily not in all, government

departments; and, further, that the professional opinions of technical officers too frequently are not given the due weight which they deserve. Science has done much for the civil service; it has not, in return, received the recognition which it merits.-Nature.

SCIENTIFIC BOOKS

The Physical Chemistry of the Proteins. By T. BRAILSFORD ROBERTSON. New York, Longmans, Green and Co. Pp. 483. $5.00. The limiting adjective "physical" might be omitted from the title of Robertson's new edition, so completely does it cover the field of protein chemistry. Part I., including the first third of the book, is devoted to the chemical

constitution of the proteins, their preparation, methods of estimation, and the various types of compounds which they form with each other and with acids, bases, salts, heavy metals, etc. Part II. is devoted to the electro-chemistry of the proteins; Part III. to their physical properties, such as gelatinization, swelling, coagulation, viscosity and surface tension, not included under Part II.; and Part IV. to the hydrolytic and synthetic actions of enzymes on proteins. Throughout the work statements and discussions are placed on a quantitative basis by the use of mathematical treatment wherever data sufficiently complete and accurate to justify it are available. Biological applications are kept continually in view. Despite the fact that he covers so wide a field and thoroughly reviews the literature, the author seldom fails to augment the interest of his material by presenting it from a view-point developed from his own experimental and intellectual researches.

DONALD D. VAN SLYKE

SPECIAL ARTICLES UNLIKE REACTION OF DIFFERENT INDIVIDUALS TO FRAGRANCE IN VERBENA FLOWERS

IN classifying the floral colors in a certain pedigree of verbenas, the writer noticed a considerable difference in the amount of fragrance evident in their flowers. Some plants appeared to have flowers devoid of odor while

the flowers of others were strongly fragrant. One with pale pink flowers, which may be called plant A, was especially pleasing in this respect. In showing it to my assistant, Mr. B. T. Avery, Jr., I remarked that it should be called an arbutus verbena since the flowers resembled the arbutus in both color and odor. To my surprise he failed to find any fragrance at all in the flowers of this plant. Moreover, when he arranged the pedigree according to the strength of fragrance which they gave to him it was roughly in the reverse order from that in which I should have arranged them. The most fragrant of all to him was a redflowered plant the flowers of which to me were absolutely without fragrance. This for convenience we may call plant B. The flowers of plant B then were fragrant to him but not to me while those of plant A were fragrant to me but not to him. Each of us agreed that the other's favorite had a very slight odor that could be best described as a leafy or plant odor which apparently was the same as that of the foliage. Moreover, he described the fragrance from plant B as of a spicy nature resembling that from a carnation flower to which I am not insensible, while the fragrance of plant A seemed to me to closely resemble that of arbutus, with which he is also familiar. It did not seem to be the case that we both perceived the same odors but, having different preferences, dignified the one which we liked with the term fragrant. Rather the facts indicated that he was insensible to the odors in the flowers of A while I was insensible to odors in those of B. We repeated the tests many times under various conditions with the same results. He never was able to perceive any fragrance from A while, except upon a few occasions when I detected a slight odor such as he had described, I was unable to find any fragrance in his favorite.

In addition to ourselves, others in the community were tested for their reaction to fragrance in our plants A and B. The later tests were made in October. Due perhaps to the lateness of the season or to other conditions, the few remaining flower clusters then produced by plant A were not always fragrant.

In making the tests, an A flower cluster that was fragrant to me was used in contrast with a B flower cluster that was adjudged fragrant by Mr. Avery or by one who had been found to react to it in the same manner in which he did. The person to be tested was asked to decide which of the two was the more fragrant. There was an amusing uniformity in the manner of response. The subject would generally say he feared he was not smelling well that day, would then blow his nose and almost at once pick out either A or B and wonder how any one could think the other fragrant. When questioned as to fragrance in the flowers that were not preferred, he would generally say they were not fragrant but had a slight odor variously described as being a plant odor or an odor like a dead leaf.

The pleasure obtained from odors is often closely bound up with other associated perceptions. For this reason, in some cases the individuals tested were asked to smell the flowers with their eyes closed. Color associations were shown to have no controlling influence in the reaction. In some instances the tests were repeated but without affecting the results.

Of the men, 17 preferred the flowers of A while 9 preferred those of B-a ratio of 2 to 1. Of the women, 9 preferred A while 4 preferred B. In general the results were clear-cut and the individuals tested found fragrance in one of the two flowers and not in the other. A few, however, found a slight fragrance in the flowers that they did not prefer and two women found fragrance in both and could not decide between them.

Flowers from the two plants were exhibited at a staff meeting of the Carnegie Station and were repeatedly smelled by the seven members present. Five found fragrance in A and not in B and two showed a reversed reaction.

It is a trite proverb that in matters of taste there can be no argument. The assumption is that though we differ in our preferences, our perceptions are essentially the same. In the case of the verbena flowers under discussion, however, it has been shown that preferences of different individuals in regard to fragrance are based upon radical differences in their percep

tion of odors. The condition suggests colorblindness, but those who are color-blind react to both of two colors when they are unable to distinguish between them. About two thirds of the individuals tested with the verbena flowers were "blind" to odors in the flowers of plant B while perceiving odors in A. On the other hand, about one third were "blind" to odors in A while perceiving odors in B. It is as if my black looked white and my white, black to Mr. Avery and his group; while from his viewpoint, I and the group that agreed with me were equally distorted in our vision.

It is well known that people differ considerably in their ability to hear tones of higher musical pitch. Many can not hear the notes of the cricket. Other insects produce sound vibrations of so high a pitch that they are inaudible to any human ear, though perceived by related insects. The peculiarity in the perception of the verbena fragrance might resemble the individual peculiarities in the powers of hearing if it were true that a large group of people could hear the extremely high musical notes and not the lowest tones while another group could hear the lowest and not the highest.

The acts brought out in the foregoing discussion furnish an added example of the difficulty in classifying characters studied in inheritance. A group of different individuals in investigating fragrance in our pedigree of verbenas would be classifying their own olfactory perceptions as well as the actual odors in the flowers. It is well for us to recognize the limitations of the personal equation. Discrepancies in conclusions reached by different investigators may not be due to any fault in logical reasoning or to lack of intellectual honesty. Their diverse conclusions may be inevitable, given only differences in their sensory reactions and in their mental experience.

A. F. BLAKESLEE CARNEGIE STATION FOR EXPERIMENTAL EVOLUTION

THE WHITE-SPOT DISEASE OF ALFALFA

FOR a number of years the writer has observed the white-spot disease of alfalfa, par

ticularly in the middle-western, intermountain and Pacific Coast states. Usually this disease is not considered serious by alfalfa growers, but in many instances the writer has noted that the disease may be more or less disastrous and may produce a very decided loss in yield. During the last few years particular attention has been paid to this disease because of its very great prevalence in the intermountain states. In the Salt Lake Valley, Utah, this disease has been considered by many of the farmers as being due entirely to the smoke from the smelters. However, the writer has found it to be quite as serious in districts far removed from the Salt Lake Valley where soil and climatic conditions are the same. Because of the importance of the disease the writer has made some studies of which a preliminary report is given below.

The

Reference to the literature indicates that very little has been done to determine the real cause of the disease. The earliest reference to the disease is that by Stewart, French and Wilson. These authors indicate that they believe this disease to be due to a physiological disorder of some kind. The next references are by Reed & Crabill2 and by Clinton. most recent reference is by Crabill, who believes that white spot is due to the wounding of the tissue of the crowns of the plants. His experiments indicate that by cutting away a portion of the tissues the typical white spot was produced. The occurrence in nature, he believes, is due to the fact that the injury to the plants is produced in the late fall or winter because of the fact that he has only observed the disease in the early spring. The wounding of the plants in cultivation, he believes permits the entrance of certain fungi which tend to rot the crowns and later the roots. Such plants, he has found, will show white spot in the early spring, shortly after the 1"Troubles of Alfalfa in New York," by F. C. Stewart, G. T. French and J. K. Wilson, Bulletin No. 305, November, 1908, New York Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, N. Y.

2 Va. Station Technical Bulletin, 2, 39, 1915. 8 Conn. Sta. Report, Report of the Station Botanist, 1915, 425.

4 Phytopathology, Vol. 6, No. 1, 1916, pp. 91.

plants have started to grow. Recently, however, Crabill indicates (letter of April 17, 1918) that he did not always find a crown rot of the affected plants and he thinks that crown rot may, therefore, be only a circumstance and, after all, not the true cause.

In carrying out some experiments on the treatment of soils with various water-soluble substances, the writer, to his surprise, found that white spot suddenly appeared in a large number of the treated plots. Each plot covers an area of 25 square feet, composed of fifty plants from two to three years old. The plants have been very carefully cultivated with a hoe and the crowns have never been injured in any way. In general the white spot appeared within sixty to seventy hours after the soil had been treated. In no case did a single specimen of white spot appear in the check plots. Furthermore, white spot did not appear in any of the plots where the total water-soluble substance applied was below a certain amount. Further experiments indicated that the "soil solution" alone would not produce white spot, but that the factors of soil temperature, atmospheric temperature, relative humidity of the atmosphere and light are important. In other words, it requires a certain coincidence of these various factors at what we shall term the optimum before an effect was produced upon the plants such as would cause white spot to appear.

It may be stated here that the experimental plants are growing in a sandy-loam soil and at no time previous to the experiment had white spot appeared.

The work has progressed to the point where the writer believes that the osmotic pressure of the soil solution is one of the important factors in the production of white spot, not only under experimental conditions but under field conditions as well. With conditions for transpiration at the optimum, lessening or preventing endosmose, by reason of a soil solution having a higher osmotic effect upon the cells of the transpiring organs. The degree of injury produced will depend upon the factors enumerated above, together with the time factor which is all important. If these factors are