Pasteur centennial
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June, I922.] CURRENT ToPtcs. 859 Pasteur Centennial.mCommemoration of the centennial anni- versary of the birth of Pasteur will be the occasion of the erection of a statue facing the Strasbourg University, where as" a professor, he began his career. The inauguration ceremonies will take place on May I, I923, under the patronage of the Republic, and will consist principally in the unveiling of the statue and the opening of an exhibition of Hygiene and Bacteriology. This exhibition will be mainly arranged to show the advances made in these subjects as a result of Pasteur's work. A Congress of Hygiene and Bacteriology will be held at the same time. In estimating the work of Pasteur, his earlier investigations into the phenomena of racemism must not be forgotten. His later work in the study of pathogenetic organisms has overshadowed to a certain extent his lahors in physical science, but these were epoch-making. t~is investigations extended over many ),ears, the results appearing from time to time in French journals, with more or less extended abstracts in the journals of other countries, but in the early part of ,86~) he delivered, by request, before the Paris Chemical S~ciety, two lectures in which he smnmarized his labors, and set forth the interesting and highly important method of " mesotomization," that is, breaking up the racemic association so as to secure one of the active constituents. He also called attention to the curious asymmetry of the crystals of some of these compounds. His experiments were con- ducted on the tartrates. The two lectures have been printed in English as No. 14 of the " Alembic Club Reprints," with the title, " Researches on the Molecular Asymmetry of Natural Organic Prod- ucts." A translation into German has appeared as No. 28 of Ostwald's " Klassiker der exacten Wissenschaften." It is to be hoped that the orators to whom will fall the lot to deliver the addresses on the occasion of the dedication of the statue will not fail to lay some stress on the service which these early researches rendered to organic chemistry. H.L. The American Philosophical Society, at its annual meeting on April 22nd, awarded the Magellanic Premium, established in I786 by a friend of Benamin Franklin, to Paul R. Heyl and Lyman J. t~riggs, conjointly, for the invention of the Earth Inductor Compass. It will be recalled that Doctor Heyl was the recipient some years ago of a part of the Boyden Premium from The Franklin Institute, for his investigation of the light from Algol with a view to solving the question raised by the donor " whether all rays of light, and other physical rays are or are not transmitted with the same velocity." The close of the war left the air pilot without a compass that would function well under the adverse conditions of high speed, great acceleration, and sharp turns of direction prevailing in the aeroplane. The Bureau of Standards, therefore, at the request of the U. S. Air Service undertook the very practical problem of devising an adequate compass. As a result the two medallists have produced a
Transcript of Pasteur centennial
June, I922.] CURRENT ToPtcs . 859
Pas t eu r Centennia l .mCommemorat ion of the centennial anni- versary of the birth of Pasteur will be the occasion of the erection of a statue facing the Strasbourg University, where as" a professor, he began his career. The inauguration ceremonies will take place on May I, I923, under the patronage of the Republic, and will consist principally in the unveiling of the statue and the opening of an exhibition of Hygiene and Bacteriology. This exhibition will be mainly arranged to show the advances made in these subjects as a result of Pasteur 's work. A Congress of Hygiene and Bacteriology will be held at the same time.
In estimating the work of Pasteur, his earlier investigations into the phenomena of racemism must not be forgotten. His later work in the study of pathogenetic organisms has overshadowed to a certain extent his lahors in physical science, but these were epoch-making. t~is investigations extended over many ),ears, the results appearing from time to time in French journals, with more or less extended abstracts in the journals of other countries, but in the early part of ,86~) he delivered, by request, before the Paris Chemical S~ciety, two lectures in which he smnmarized his labors, and set forth the interesting and highly important method of " mesotomization," that is, breaking up the racemic association so as to secure one of the active constituents. He also called attention to the curious asymmetry of the crystals of some of these compounds. His experiments were con- ducted on the tartrates. The two lectures have been printed in English as No. 14 of the " Alembic Club Reprints," with the title, " Researches on the Molecular Asymmetry of Natural Organic Prod- ucts." A translation into German has appeared as No. 28 of Ostwald's " Klassiker der exacten Wissenschaften."
I t is to be hoped that the orators to whom will fall the lot to deliver the addresses on the occasion of the dedication of the statue will not fail to lay some stress on the service which these early researches rendered to organic chemistry. H . L .
The American Philosophical Society, at its annual meeting on April 22nd, awarded the Magellanic Premium, established in I786 by a friend of Benamin Franklin, to Paul R. Heyl and Lyman J. t~riggs, conjointly, for the invention of the Earth Inductor Compass. It will be recalled that Doctor Heyl was the recipient some years ago of a part of the Boyden Premium from The Franklin Institute, for his investigation of the light from Algol with a view to solving the question raised by the donor " whether all rays of light, and other physical rays are or are not transmitted with the same velocity."
The close of the war left the air pilot without a compass that would function well under the adverse conditions of high speed, great acceleration, and sharp turns of direction prevailing in the aeroplane. The Bureau of Standards, therefore, at the request of the U. S. Air Service undertook the very practical problem of devising an adequate compass. As a result the two medallists have produced a
