514
T O ~ N A on L CHEMICAL
EoucATroN
MAY. 192.5
ago, that by the year 2000 Yale would be best known to the world for having produced Willard Gibbs. In conclusion, may I apply to Gibbs his own very apt words to be found in his obituary notices of Clausius (one of the founders of thermodynamics) and of his colleague and friend Hubert Anson Newton (Yale 1850; Professor of Mathematics 18551896): "The constructive power thus exhibited, this ability to bring order out of confusion, this breadth of view which could apprehend one truth without losing sight of another, this nice discrimination to separate truth from error-these are qualities which place the possessor in the first rank of scientific men . . . But such work as that of Clausius is not measured by counting titles or pages. His true monument lies not in the shelves of libraries, but in the thoughts of men, and in the history of more than one science. "But these papers show more than the type of mind of the author; they give no uncertain testimony concerning the character of the man. In all these papers we see a love of honest work, an aversion to shams, a distrust of rash generalities and speculations based on uncertain premises. He was never anxious to add one more guess on doubtful matters in the hope of hitting the truth, or what might pass as such for a time, but was always willing t o take infinite pains in the most careful test of every theory. To these qualities was joined a modesty which forbade the pushing of his claims, and desired no reputation except the unsought tribute of competent judges." May I express the hope that we may endeavor humbly to follow in his footsteps? Vitamin in Cod's Eggs Aids Development of Young. Vitamin D, widely known as a preventive of rickets, may play an additional and equally important part in the normal development of the egg and the young, Dr. Alfred F. Hess of Bellewe Hospital announced a t the recent meeting of the American Philosophical Society. Cod-liver oil is one of the richest known sources of this vitamin used for the protection and cure of rickets, yet i t is evident, said Dr. Hess, that this cannot be its function in the cod and other fish, the livers of which contain this factor in varying amounts. Investigation of the problem showed that eggs of all fish, and bens' and snakes' eggs as well, contain the valuable antirachitic factor. Although present in the hen's egg, i t does not occur in the livers of young chicks. "In other words," explained Dr. Hess, "this 'vitamin' has been utilized and used up in the course of the development of the chick. The same is true in regard t o fish. Although fish eggs are rich in the antirachitic factor, the fish fry are devoid of it. A consideration of all these data, together with others, makes it evident that the socalled antirachitic vitamin has one or mare functions in addition to the protection and cure of rickets. It may have several functions. Evidently, however, one is closely associated with the normal development of the egg and of the young. "Whether this fact can be applied to mammals is a question which ha5 not been investigated."-ScienceService
