VOL.3, No. 5
Tsacnr~oTK@ HISTORY OW CHEMISTRY
561
certain amount of the inflections and grammatical order of words characteristic of the language, but after that has been done and a comparatively small vocabulary acquired, the remainder of the knowledge of the language should be mostly obtained by the extensive reading of books and periodicals. Somewhat the same principles apply in the study of the history of chemistry. The student should acqnire a clear understanding of the broad outlines of historical development for the subject, and especially he should learn how men have built on previous knowledge, and have slowly found their way to a better understanding of the principles of chemistry. Having secured this general outline of the development of the subject, i t is desirable that each student should read and become interested in the history of individuals who have contributed to the growth of chemistry. In carrying out these principles I have been accustomed to lecture one day each week, giving the story of the development of chemistry in as interesting a manner as possible. It is, of course, essential that students entering such classes should know the fundamental outlines of the science. I n order to develop the second principle, I assign to individual students in the class, names of important chemists and ask them to report about these chemists those items which are of most interest, and require these students to make their report from the basis of brief notes and not by reading a prepared manuscript. This is done for two reasons. It is extremely desirable that men who are to follow the profession of chemistry should acquire the ability to give clear, interesting reports before an audience, and in the second place, those items which a student will remember and can give in this manner, are far more likely to be the sort of items that would be interesting to the class, and from which the class will receive benefit. Members of the class are, of course, encouraged to read from various books in connection with the study.
Sugar M a y Help Resist Infection of Joints. The sugar we eat may have a definite hearing on the ability of our joints t o resist infection. Dr. Ralph Pemherton, of Philadelphia, reported recently to the Section of the American Medical Association on Diseases of the Bones and Joints, t h a t the amount ot sugar digested in the body has a well-defined relationship to inflammation of the joints. I n more than sixty persons with dis+hances of the joints he found a low tolerance for sugar. Dr. Pemherton believes thar control of sugar digestion is a factor in the healing of such diseases. The condition is not the same as that which occurs in diahetes hut seems to depend on some changes in the circulation of the hlood. Low sugar tolerance was produced experimentally in individuals by changing the circulation through the administration of drugs. By these studies it was determined that sugar taken in through the mouth passes by way of the blood to the fluid of the joints a n d there is evidence indicating that i t aids their resistance toinfection.-Scimre Srrvirp
