VOL.7, No. 11 METHODOLOGY OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
2589
In conclusion, the writer wishes to stress the fact that the proper way to train scientists is not to overload the memory of students daily with information, in the belief that to develop a taste for science it is necessary above all to endow their intellectual faculties with a certain orientation and a certain diligence. This is an opinion formulated by the Greeks, for Plutarch said long ago, "The child's mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled." Recently the American e5ciency engineer, F. W. Taylor, repeated this same thought in a slightly different form: "The child's mind should not be considered a sponge that one is content merely to saturate indiscriminately and uselessly for the sole purpose of accumulating information." Rew Drugs by Thousands Await Discovery. Never in the history of the world have the possibilities of adding to the list of valuable drugs been so great as a t the present time, Dr. Reid Hunt, president of the United States Pharmacopeia Convention and professor of pharmacology a t Harvard Medical School, declared a t the opening session of the convention's recent decennial meeting in Washington, We may yet,get more drugs from the plant and animal kingdoms. There is no limit t o the number that the chemist and the pharmacologist may synthesize in their laboratories. But even more important is the possibility that new and important uses may be found for drugs which we already have, IX.Hunt said. Some of the saddest pages in the history of mankind have written on them the failure of physicians t o see the possibilities for treating disease with well-known chemicals. Ether was known t o dactors and chemists for nearly 300 years before i t was used ss an anesthetic. Another drup, . amvl . nitrite, a few drops of which relieves the frightful . agony of one form of heart disease, was well known t o chFmists for 23 years before i t was used to treat this condition. The same delayed application was r e ~ e a t e din the case of other anesthetics and many other drugs. They were well kno- chemically for years before any one tried them in the treatment of disease and for the relief of pain. "Today, relief may be obtained anywhere in the world for a few cents, which fifty years ago w a s beyond the reach of any potentate or Croesus." Research is needed to investigate the medical possibilities of the 258,000 organic compounds which chemists have already carefnUy described chemically and physically, Dr. Hunt said. New compounds are being added to the list a t the rate of about twenty a day. He declared America's facilities for studying the medical applications of these new compounds are very inadequate compared with research activity in Germany and other European countries.-Science Service Ethyl Gas Approved for Use in Britain. Ethyl gasoline has been given a good bill of health in Britain, provided its handling is attended by ordinary precautions. The questions raised regarding its safety have been investigated by a Departmental Committee an Ethyl Petrol, which has just issued its final report. The committee worked along lines somewhat similar to those followed in the earlier investigations in the United States, and they took into consideration the results of the American experiments as well. The aspects of the tetra ethyl lead problem on the committee's agenda included danger from lead in street fumes and dust, spillage on the skin, and evaporation and combustion fumes in closed garages. Danger of lead poisoning in the latter ease was considered as considerably less than the well-recognized menace of carbon monoxide.-Science Sem'ce
