CEXtVOL. 103 Friday, June 21, 1946 NO. 2686

In This IssuePages 717-738

Physical Thinking and Social Problems

Gregory Bateson

- Technical Pape

Letters to the Edil

Forum

Why H.R. 6448 Is the Better BillHomer W. Smith

Why S. 1850 Is the Better BillHenry A. Wallace

Why I Am Biased in Favor of S. 1850Howard A. Meyerhoff

rs Science Legislation 1

tor In the Laboratory

Complete Tabl of Contests Page 2

News and Notes

Book Reviews

Published by the

American Association for the Advancement of Science

~~ ~1

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SCIENCE-ADVERTISEMENTS

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HARROW'S Textbook of

BIOCHEMISTRYRecognized as one of the leading biochemistry texts in

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A Few HighlightsMost significant is the inclusion throughoutthe book of the results of experimental workwith radioactive isotopes, so-called tracerelements.New material will be found on the pro-teinaceous character of genes and chromo-somes, on essential amino acids and on thecomparison of animal and vegetable proteins.The chapter on foods has been revised tocover the effects of food processing, warresearch, the European food problem, etc.

There has been thorough revision of thevitamin chapter.The section on gastric analysis has beencompletely revised.There is an extensively revised discussionBy BENJAMIN HARROW, PH.D., Professor ofChemistry, The City College; College of the

of the Revisionof blood plasma fractionation, blood pro-teins, the "blood bank" and blood clotting.

The material on the sulfanilamides has beenbrought up to date and enlarged, and peni-cillin and other new antibiotics are fullycovered.The discussion of the chemistry of muscularcontraction has been revised.

A new section on cholesterol in blood hasbeen included.

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June 21, 1946 1

SCIENCEEditor: Willard L. Valentine

Assistant Editor: Mildred Atwood Advertising Manager: Theo. J. ChristensenPolicy Committee: Malcolm H. Soule, Roger Adams, Walter R. Miles and Kirtley F. Mather

VOL. 103 FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 1946 No. 2686

Contents

Physical Thinking and Social Problems:Gregory Bateson ....................................................................................... 717

TECHNICAL PAPERS

An Intestinal Antiseptic: 2-Sulfanilamido-5-Car-boxythiazole: Philip S. Winnek ............................. 719

Pectoral Girdles vs. Hyobranchia in the SnakeGenera Liotyphlops and Anomalepis:

RosemaryWarner ............................. 720

Interrelations Between Choline, Betaine, and Me-thionine: H. J. Almquist ......... ........................ 722

SCIENCE LEGISLATIONForumWhy H.R. 6448 Is the Better Bill:

HomerW. Smith ......... ........................ 724; 728

Why S. 1850 Is the Better Bill:HenryA.Wallace ................................. 724;725;729

Why I Am Biased in Favor of S. 1850:HowardA.Meyerhoff ................................. 725

A United Front for S. 1850:Robert Cha'mbers ..... ............................ 726

NEWSAND NOTES .... ............................. 727

IN THE LABORATORYA Modification of the Ergograph:

F.W.KinardandC. D. Coleman ................................. 731

Use of Wetting Agents in Histological Fixatives:Ralph L. Chermock and Hugh E. Muller ..................... 731

SCIENCE: A Weekly Journal, since 1900 the official organof the American Association for the Advancement of Science.Published by the American Association for the Advancementof Science every Friday at Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Communications relative to articles offered for publicationshould be addressed to Editor, Massachusetts and NebraskaAvenues, Washington 16, D. C.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Relative to the B.S. Degree: J. C. Jensen ..................... 733

The Metric System and the Historical Record:George W. Hervey 733

A Dangerous Postwar Development in ScienceTeaching:John R. Sampey ............................. .............. 734

Death-rate Study on a High Molecular QuaternaryAmmonium Compound With Bacillus metiens:Adrien S. DuBois and Diana Dibblee ........................... 734

Aspergillus or What?:Charles Thom and Kenneth B. Raper ........................... 735

BOOK REVIEWS

Chromosome atlas of cultivated plants:C. D. Darlington and E. K. Janaki Ammal.

Reviewed by JohnFogg, Jr ........................................... 736

Die Methoden der Fermentforschung:Eugen Bamann and Karl Myrback.

Reviewed byRobertD. Coghill ........................................... 736

A textbook of bacteriology and immunology:Joseph M. Dougherty and Anthony J. Lamberti.

ReviewedbyKenneth L. Burdon .......................................... 738

The Svedberg, 1884-1944:A. Tiselius and Kai 0. Pedersen. (Eds.)

Reviewedby A. J. Carlson ........................ ................... 738

Communications relatives to advertising should be addressedto THEO. J. CHRISTENSEN, Massachusetts and Nebraska Ave- -nues, Washington 16, D. C.

Communications relative to membership in the Associationand to all matters of business of the Association should beaddressed to the Permanent Secretary, A.A.A.S., SmithsonianInstitution Building, Washington 25, D. C.Annual subscription, $6.00 Single copies, 15 cents

Entered as second-class matter July 18, 1923 at the Post Office at Lancaster, Pa., under the Act of March 3, 1879.

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6 Vol. 103, No. 2686

Vol. 103, No. 2686

(2) The social scientist often has to deal with sys-tems of reciprocal causation. In their incipientstages such systems may give simple autocatalyticcurves, e.g. when the rate of propagation of a givenpolitical tenet is proportional to the number of con-verts. But such systems rapidly become more com-plicated. The unconverted may become aware of theheretics in their midst and may behave in such a wayas to reduce the activity of the converts-or they mayactually stimulate that activity. In any case, we havehere a type of system which is familiar to the physi-cist. He can guess at the significance of any system-atic change or oscillation in the resulting equilibrium,and he knows what questions should be asked aboutthe time factors inherent in the process.'

(3) The social scientist must deal with the problemof "purpose." In the past, our analyses have toooften have been phrased in either crudely causal orelse crudely teleological terms. Too often we havepostulated some sort of Maxwell's Demon (e.g. the"ego"), who should control the switchboard of thecentral nervous system, and then we have attemptedto analyse this creature's character. Within the lastfew years it is mainly from the electronic physicistsand mathematicians that we have obtained clues whichwill probably resolve the dilemma between crudecausalism and teleology. It now appears that all self-correcting behavior and possibly all types of learningmust be based on circular or "feed-back" systems suchthat effects of behavior at a given moment are fedback to modify the causal system which will shapebehavior at a later moment (A. Rosenblueth, N.Wiener, and J. Bigelow, Phil. Sci., 1943, 10, 18).The whole of our teleological phrasings must now berevised, and new and more searching questions must

1 For analysis of systems of this kind, see G. Bateson'sNaven (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1936, Chap. XIII) and L. F.Richardson's "Generalized foreign politics" (Brit. J. psychol.Monogr., 1939). It is worth calling special attention to thispaper in which a physicist has made important contributionsto the social sciences.

be asked of all apparently adaptive behavior. Manyof these questions will be of kinds which occur mosteasily to minds trained in modern physics.

(4) Recorded human behavior is significant onlywhen the record includes the context. For example,stamping the foot can only be rated as "assertive"in a certain type of context. But we still lack anysatisfactory system for classifying such contexts. Abeginning has been made in this field by applicationof topological analysis (Kurt Lewin) to the temporaland spatial relations of preceding and expected events.It has further been argued that acquiring greaterfacility in learning in a particular type of context,i.e., learning to learn, may be equated with learningto "expect" this type of context. This would implythat learning to learn (deuterolearning) is equivalentto the process of character formation. Further ad-vances in the field of character formation and theclassification of contexts could be expected frommathematicians and designers of computing machines,who handle problems of this order.

This series of examples could be multiplied almostindefinitely by referring to such matters as: condi-tioned reflexes, goal gradients, rote learning, inter-pretation of psychological tests, interpersonal rela-tions, systems of value and conflicting incentives,systems of libidinal symbolism, and problems of socialmanipulation. In all of these fields the first stepshave been taken toward logicomathematical analysis.Enough has been said to indicate that the social

sciences have plenty of work for physicists and othernatural scientists to do. In conclusion, it is worthstressing that "the elimination of war as a means ofsettling international differences" is a project re-quiring basic and applied research ranging fromlearning experiments on rats, through comparativestudies of simple communities, up to analysis of themost complex phenomena of contact between contrast-ing cultures.

Scanning ScienceAt a recent meeting of the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan reductions

were made in some of the salaries, and several instructors ware dismissed. A resolution wasadopted that where any department has two or more full professors, only the senior by dateof appointment shall at any time receive a salary of more than $2,500. Law and medicalprofessors, if they practice their respective professions, are to receive $2,000, and if they donot, $2,500. The psychological laboratory has been discontinued for one year.

-12 June 1896

SCIENCE718

June 21, 1946

or not more than 10 or 20 per cent of total require-ments. In a recent study, evidence has been producedthat the choline requirement of the chick for any givenrate of growth on a homocystine-supplemented dietwas approximately two-thirds replaceable by betaine(17). For optimal gains, chicks required close to0.06 per cent betaine-irreplaceable choline and 0.14per cent replaceable choline in the diet. This figureof 0.06 per cent irreplaceable choline is in agreementwith an approximate figure of 0.05 per cent found inthe presence of surplus methionine or methionine plusbetaine (1).

Arsenocholine is an analogue of choline which doesnot methylate homocystine in the rat (18) or chick(3); however, it is effective in lipotropic activity andphospholipid synthesis (22, 23) and will promotegrowth and prevent choline-deficiency perosis in thechick (1, 15). Arsenocholine apparently replacescholine for all the.functions mentioned except for thatof methylation.The sparing action of arsenocholine on choline in

chicks was very distinct, although definitely limited.It is significant that while the choline-sparing effectsof betaine and of methionine were not additive to eachother, being of the same nature, i.e. methylating ca-

pacity, the effect of either one was qualitatively addi-tive to that of arsenocholine (1).A chick diet which is only mildly deficient in choline

(0.08 per cent) and approximately adequate inmethionine and cystine may be improved for growthand perosis prevention by the addition of betaine or

methionine (16). In such a diet the effect ofmethionine and betaine additions may be explainedby assuming that both supplements assisted the cholinein a methylating capacity, thereby augmenting thesupply of choline available for growth and perosis pre-vention. In other diets in which the choline level(0.03 per cent) was less than the level of essentialcholine, very little, if any, improvement was notedfrom methionine or betaine additions. In every case,choline additions elicited strong responses (16).A choline deficiency, like that of many other nu-

trients, is physiologically a multiple deficiency. Thisis due to the highly varied functions of choline, suchas tissue and lipid synthesis, lipotropic action, methyl-

ating action, and perosis prevention. Viewed fromthis standpoint of a multiple deficiency, it is more

comprehensible how a compound which can provideonly a part of the several functions of choline maystill exert a sparing action by releasing residual cho-line for its other functions.The results reviewed above furnish illustrations of

the principles of the sparing action, which may bebriefly summarized as follows:

(1) A sparing action takes place when a nonpre-cursor compound furnishes or reduces a portion, butnot all, of the physiological functions of a requirednutrient.

(2) While operating in the relief of one of thesedeficiencies, the effect of the sparing substance becomeslimited or may even be nullified if additional deficien-cies come into play.

(3) If several substances can be added which re-

lieve additional deficiencies, the individual sparing ac-

tions may be cumulative, at least in a qualitative way.

1.

2.

3.

4.5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.11.12.13.14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.22.23.

24.

ReferencesALMQUIST, H. J., and GRAU, C. R. J. Nutrition, 1944,

27, 263.ALMQUIST, H. J., and GRAU, C. R. J. Nutrition, 1945,

29, 219.ALMQUIST, H. J., and JUKES, T. H. Proc. Soc. eop. Biol.

Med., 1942, 51, 243.ARNOLD, A. J. biol. Ohem., 193G5,DUVIGNEAUD, V., CHANDLER, J. P., MOYER, A. W.- and

KEPPEL, D. M. J. biol. Chem., 1939, 131, 57.DuVIGNEAUD, V., KILMER, G. W., RACHELE, J. R.. aodCOHN, M. J. biol. Chem., 1944, 155, 645.

EVANS, H. M., and LEPKOVSKY, S. Science, 1928, 68.298.

FRITZ, J. C., HOOPER, J. H., and MOORE, H. P. PoultrySci., 1945, 24, 324.

GRAU, C. R., and ALMQUIST, H. J. J. Nutrition, 1943,26, 631.

GRIFFITH, W. H. J. Nutrition, 1941, 22, 239.JUKES, T. H. J. biol. Chem., 1940, 134, 789.JUKES, T. H. J. Nutrition, 1941, 20, 251.JUKES, T. H. J. Nutrition, 1941, 22, 315.JUKES, T. H., and OLESON, J. J. J. biol. Chem., 1945,

157, 419.JUKES, T. H., and WELCH, A. D. J. biol. Chem., 1942,

146, 19.

MCGINNIS, J., NORRIS, L. C., and HEUSER, G. F. Proc.Soc. eap. Biol. Med., 1944, 56, 197.

MCKITTRICK, D. S. Univ. California, 1945. (Unpub-lished.)

MOYER, A. W., and DUVIGNEAUD, V. J. biol. Chem.,1942, 143, 373.

NoWOTARSKI, J. S., and BIRD, H. R. Poultry Scd., 1943,22, 72.

RECORD, P. R., and BETHKE, R. M. Poultry Sci., 1942,21, 271.

STETTEN, DEWITT, JR. J. blol. Chem., 1941, 138, 437.WELCH, A. D. J. biol. Chem., 1941, 137, 173.WELCH, A. D., and LANDAU, R. L. J. biol. Chem., 1942,

144, 581.

WOMACK, M., and ROSE, W. C. J. biol. Chem., 1941,141, 375.

Scanning Science-Lord Kelvin's jubilee as professor of natural philosophy in the University

of Glasgow was celebrated 15 and 16 June at Glasgow. On the sixteenthLord Kelvin addressed a group of delegates from England and foreign uni-versity bodies.

-12 June 1896

SCIENCE. 723

June 21, 1946

Aspergillus or What?We have before us (Science, 1946, 103, 116) G. W.

Martin 's reproofs concerning our use of the generic nameAspergillus. We are quite familiar with the history ofthe names used for this group of molds. We are likewisequite aware that neither Wiggers in 1780 nor Link in1809 knew that the perithecia they were using to describeMucor herbariorum and Eurotium herbariorum, respec-tively, were developed on the same mycelium as the oldAspergillus which Micheli studied in his herbarium.speci-mens. It is equally certain that Fries never botheredto study this subject-he left it just as Link did. Bythe time DeBary (1854) showed that the perithecia ofEurotium developed from the same mycelium as theconidial heads of Aspergillus, the number of species in-volved was considerable, and naturally only a few ac-cepted the fantastic transfer of such strictly conidialforms as Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus, whichare cosmopolitan, to Eurotium Aspergillus niger andEurotium Aspergillus flavus! If the ascosporic formswere the only Aspergilli at stake, the advocation of astrict interpretation of the letter of the arbitrary rulerelating to the nomenclatorial precedence of the perfectstage might be tolerated.Nothing is lost to taxonomy if, instead of abandoning

nearly 100 years of study of the Aspergilli beforeEurotium was concocted, we simply amend Micheli 'sdescription to show that here and there among this multi-tude of species and strains a few groups actually produceascospores. No one who has examined as many herbariumspecimens as we have in our search of the beginnings ofthe study of the Aspergilli can fail to grasp the idea thatwe have merely completed Micheli 's diagnosis of hisgenus. We doubt if any worker has examined the treat-ment of these molds by Micheli, Wiggers, Persoon, Link,Fries, DeBary, and more recent workers any more closelythan we have. We equally doubt if any other mycologistshave examined half the number of strains of Aspergillusin laboratory culture, or from natural sources, that havebeen handled by us. We are convinced that more nomen-clatorial stability is to be attained by adding recogniza-tion of ascus formation in sections of Micheli 's genusAspergillus than could be reached by perpetuating themistakes of Link and the negligence of Fries.We do not defer to any man in our loyalty to the ideal

of stable nomenclature, but with a background of yearsof experience and the examination of thousands of natu-ral specimens and pure cultures, we stand by the conclu-sion that the general use of Eurotium, Sterigmatocystis,Diplostephanus, Emericella, etc. would only add confusionand difficulty without serving any constructive purpose.Why should the worker have to deal with multiple generawhen a single one, and the oldest, will suffice? Inter-national recognition of Aspergillus for both ascosporicand conidial forms would constitute the logical and, we

feel, correct solution.CHARLES THOM

Port Jefferson, Long Island, New YorkKENNETH B. RAPER

Northern Regional Research Laboratory, Peoria, Illinois

HANDBOOKOF LIZARDSBy Hobart Muir Smith

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735SCIENCE

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