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accommodation for these cases, and arranging forteaching to medical students and practitioners thespecial -measures needed.

THE POPULAR LECTURE." Many Men, One Aim."

Prof. W. W. JAMESON said that with some justicewe spoke of ourselves as pioneers in public health, butthat, with our record of past achievements, we wereinclined to be just a little complacent, and to giveinsufficient heed to the doings of other nations. Bystudying other peoples’ methods we should be ableeither to improve our own, or to feel assured that wewere working on the best lines possible. Dr. Jamesonwent on to give a most interesting account of the workof the public health services in Germany, in Poland,and in the U.S.A., and concluded with a quotationfrom a speech of Dr. Vincent, the president of theRockefeller Foundation, describing an ideal inter-nationalism that can hardly be bettered, in which" a generous national rivalry plays an even largerpart without weakening true patriotic feeling. Tocontribute to a common world fund of knowledge,skill, and idealism becomes the ambition of eachnation. Patriotism gains a nobler significance."

LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE ANDTROPICAL MEDICINE.

THE OPENING OF THE NEW BUILDING.

THE new building of the London School of Hygieneand Tropical Medicine was formally opened on

Thursday, July 18th, by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales.The building was fully described in THE LANCET lastweek (July 20th, p. 149), with illustrations showingthe important facades on Gower-street and Keppel-street, and the splendid library, and at the same timethe origin of the school, the part played by Britishworkers in its organisation, and the immense debtincurred to the Rockefeller Foundation were recorded.The proceedings commenced with the reception of

the Prince of Wales at the main, or Keppel-streetentrance, by Lord Melchett, Chairman of the Boardof Management, Sir Holburt Waring, Chairman of theCourt of Governors, and Sir Gregory Foster, Vice-Chancellor of the University of London. The Directorof the School, Dr. Andrew Balfour, was presented to hisRoyal Highness, as were the architects of the building,Mr. Morley Horder and Mr. Verner 0. Rees, who offeredthe Prince of Wales the key of the building.

The Address of Welcome.In the beautiful library a large and representative

group of visitors were assembled to hear an addressof welcome to the Prince, offered by Lord Melchett.The speaker pointed out that those responsible forthe management of the School had embarked uponan enterprise made possible only by the benefactionof the trustees of the Rockefeller Foundation, whichhad realised that the claims of London as a centre forthe teaching of hygiene and tropical medicine wereunparalleled, and that assistance to provide thebuilding of a central institute was therefore urgent.Lord Melchett reminded the audience that whenthree years ago the foundation-stone of the buildingin which they stood was laid by Mr. NevilleChamberlain, then Minister of Health, the Americanflag was flying side by side with the Union Jackabove their heads, and the same was occurring to-dayas a fitting reminder of their debt to Americangenerosity. The absence from the ceremony of anyrepresentative of the Rockefeller Foundation was, hesaid, characteristic of the self-effacing policy of thatestablishment, while the Ambassador of the UnitedStates unfortunately had another engagement whichcould not be cancelled. Lord Melchett continued :-" The gift of the Foundation followed immediatelyupon, even if it was not the direct consequence of, therecommendations of a committee which met in 1921under the presidency of a distinguished relative ofyour Royal Highness, the Earl of Athlone. The

committee found the arrangements for teaching forthe Diploma of Public Health in London scatteredand inadequate. The great post-graduate teachingcentre which the Athlone Committee visualised as anecessity at once became possible by the fact that thetrustees of the Rockefeller Foundation offered themunificent gift of$2,000,000 for carrying out theproject which the Athlone Committee recommended.In this way it became possible that hygiene andpublic health should have a university institution ofits own. And when further in the course of ourdeliberations the Seamen’s Hospital Society expressedtheir willingness that the old School of TropicalMedicine should become merged in the institution, wefelt indeed that these great twin subjects of hygieneand tropical medicine had at last their long-soughtopportunity, and that a new epoch in the history ofmedicine and related sciences, and in hygiene, wasabout to be opened. Mr. Chamberlain at the founda-tion-stone laying, reminded us of the distinguishedpart which his father, Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, hadplayed in founding, at the instance of Sir PatrickManson, the School for the study of diseases of thetropics, and it is a pleasure again to recall this fact.We shall continue to be indebted to the Seamen’sHospital Society for clinical and pathologicalfacilities for the study of these diseases, now that wehave entered into our new home." The speaker wenton to point out that to-day the presence at theirgathering of Mr. Chamberlain, the ex-Minister, andMr. A. Greenwood, the present Minister of Health,was evidence that the School which, in union with theUniversity of London, would be partly maintained byParliamentary grants, and be open to all nations,would be in a position where party politics played noshare, a position that was necessary for the establish-ment of the laws of health. It was, he concluded, thefuture duty of the British public and British Govern-ment to see that the School was adequately maintained.

The Prince’s Speech.The Prince replied to the address of welcome by

formally declaring the building open in the followingwords :-

" You have right to be proud of the magnificentbuilding in which we are, and if the museums andtheatre and laboratories make good the promise ofthis library, you are to be congratulated upon abuilding that will be a notable addition to the homesof learning in London. While the part played byAmerica has been described to you, the dutylies on both the British Government and the Britishpeople to see that this School is worthily endowedand maintained. The building is a sign that post-graduate education in medicine is about to come intoits own. The establishment and endowment of thiscentre of teaching in preventive medicine is a signalexample of the bond between the two great English-speaking races of the world. The chairman has rightlysaid that there are no territorial frontiers in hygiene.The instruction in the class rooms and laboratoriesof this building will be conveyed by medical practi-tioners of every nationality to the far corners of theearth. This research will find its results whereverman lives and moves and has his being.

" Three periods in medical science are stampeddefinitely, each with its own characteristics. Thefirst, from 1870 to 1900, was a period of sanitaryreform. The next period was marked by growingconcern for the protection of the individual, which hadbeen the basis of recent legislation, as evidenced bymaternity and child welfare, the treatment of tuber-culosis and National Health Insurance. We standnow in the early days of an era of preventive medicinein which the progress made in sanitation and care ofthe individual will be developed, and fresh researchwill lead to the solution of problems not yet solved andto the prevention of much ill-health. The establish-ment of this school is of special importance to theBritish Empire, and it has undertaken great responsi-bilities. In my travels I have learned personally theappallingloss of life and effort due to tropical diseases,

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and I realised the great need for research in tropicalmedicine and hygiene. In the cause of hygienegenerally the school will help and develop the growingwork that has already been done. For these reasonsI believe that the establishment of this school providesa great opportunity for this country and for the wholeworld.

" If its work is properly conceived and carried out,there should follow a special development and interest,and a quickening of the public conscience, which willlead to a steady decrease in preventible diseases,suffering and death. By its work in this connectionthe school will be judged."

The Addresses of Thanks.A fanfare of trumpets sounded by the Coldstream

Guards followed, when an address of thanks waspresented by Sir Holburt Waring. Sir Holburtpointed out that throughout the erection of the build-ing, and in every stage of its rise, the notion of a work-shop had been kept clearly in view all the time. Hesaid that the London School of Hygiene and TropicalMedicine was intended to be a centre of Imperial effort,and alluded to the pertinent fact that already theCourt of Governors, as part of a policy of futuredevelopment, had taken over from the Governmentof Southern Rhodesia the research station there. Itwould, he knew, be the policy of the School to estab-lish a chain of such research stations throughout theEmpire as adequate funds were forthcoming, and tosend out expeditions from time to time to the tropics.As Chairman of the building committee he recalledthat at the conception it had been decided that thefirst condition laid down for competing architectsshould be " Let there be Light," and in the employ-ment of half a million sterling real concern he believedand hoped had been shown to make the expenditurewide and judicious. The Director of the School, theprofessors, and the departmental heads had throughoutbeen consulted in the construction of their laboratoriesand workshops, and it had not been found necessary,thanks to the generous measure of the Rockefellergift, to refuse a single request for any piece of essentialequipment. He associated the Director, professors, andstaff with the governors and the board of managementin thanking His Royal Highness for the encouragementand inspiration of his presence.

Sir Gregory Foster, also, in thanking the Prince,said that the new School would rank as a part of theUniversity of the metropolis-the University of thecapital city of the Empire-and that its work wouldbe organised, not for London, and not even for theEmpire, but for the world. In alluding to the manygreat men who had been educated at the Universityof London, and who had gone forth to make theworld a better and happier place, he said he wouldmention one name only, that of Lord Lister, who wasa graduate of the University of London, and receivedhis education in London. The Vice-Chancellordescribed in humorous terms the curiosity that hadbeen aroused in the neighbourhood by the new build-ing, the reason for whose existence the local publichad not yet grasped, while he was certain that thenew School would increase the tradition of magnificentservice in the cause of humanity which the Universityof London possessed, by sending back students, whohad arrived from all parts of the world to be taught,as missionaries of health.

His Royal Highness then visited the museum, thelaboratories, and the lecture theatre, and before leavingthe building met the workmen employed in its con-struction who were having their mid-day meal in atent adjoining the premises. Here the health of theRoyal visitor was drunk in beer with musical honours.A large number of those who were invited to be

present at the opening ceremony remained to luncheonas the guests of Lord Melchett, and afterwards, underthe supervision of the Director, professors andmembers of the staff were shown around the building,and were present at cinematograph displays in thelecture theatre.

Reviews and Notices of Books.ENZYME ACTIONS AND PROPERTIES.

By ERNST WALDSC111%11DT-LEITZ, Institut furBiochemie, Deutsche Technische Hochschule,Prag. Translated and extended by ROBERT P.WALTON, Department of Organic Chemistry,Columbia University. London: Chapman andHall, Ltd. New York: John Wiley and Sons,Inc. 1929. Pp. 255. 20s.

THERE are many books upon enzymes. Some ofthem are almost entirely theoretical and physico-chemical ; others are laboratory handbooks givingmethods for the preparation of active ferments fromtheir natural sources ; others are largely cataloguesof facts. This volume falls into none of these classes,but sets out to describe enzymes and their actionsfrom a definite point of view-that of the Willstatterschool. Prof. E. Waldschmidt-Leitz has played aconsiderable part in the brilliant series of researcheson enzymes carried out during the last ten yearsby Prof. Willstatter and his associates at Munich,and his book has the value to be found only in thework of one who has himself had practical experienceof the problems involved. In order to appraise thebook it is necessary to consider in what respects thework of Willstatter differs from that of his -Drede-cessors. In the first place, he has set out to placethe preparation of enzymes on a quantitative basis,such as is customary in experiments in syntheticorganic chemistry, for example, and he has consideredin all cases the number of units of enzyme activityrecovered after purification as well as the unit-weight of the enzyme preparation. This outlookled to a greatly increased efficiency in the varioussteps used in purification. Many of the methodsemployed by Willstatter are based on selectiveadsorption of the enzyme on to various substancessuch as alumina and kaolin, and subsequent removal(elution), usually by alteration of the reaction of themedium. Such processes are not new, but in thehands of Willstatter and his colleagues they haveled to some remarkable results, such as the separa-tion of enzymes from their closely associated con-

taminants, from activators, and from other enzymes.Willstatter considers that the enzymes are composedof a colloidal bearer and a specific, active group,which enables them to be bound to the substrate,and the composition of the active group at the sametime conditions the colloidal nature of the entirecomplex. One of the most striking facts which haveemerged from Willstatter’s researches is that theproperties of the enzyme are often profoundly modi-fied by their intensive purification. Thus the con-ventional view regarding the higher protein fissionproducts as the specific substrate of trypsin, whichonly hydrolyses these substances in the presence ofthe activator enterokinase, has received a rude blowfrom some recent work of this school. Trypsinprepared by adsorptive methods did not attackordinary peptides when activated by enterokinase ;on the other hand, certain basic proteins, such asthe protamines and also the products of pepticdigestion, are rapidly broken down even by the non-activated enzyme. In other respects the conven-

tional views receive short shrift from Prof. Wald-schmidt-Leitz. Most text-books, even quite modernones, state unequivocally that the gastric proteolytic,

enzyme is secreted as an inactive zymogen known as, pepsinogen or pro-pepsin, which is converted to the: active form by the action of the hydrochloric acid

in the stomach. This view is based on the observed: effect of acid (which may more logically be regarded. as a pH effect), and the varying stability to alkali. of the active and inactive forms. This variation of. stability may, however, be due to different amount, of associated substances in the enzyme solutions! under comparison. In any case the evidence infavour of a zymogen precursor is very small.