Hypothetical Formula Research Articles

Über Lyco-marasmin, den Welkstoff ausFusarium lycopersici Sacc

The effect of the wilt producing substance, lycomarasmine, isolated from cultures ofFus. lycopersici Sacc., is shown in three pictures. On hydrolysis lycomarasmine yields glycine, aspartic and (probably) pyruvic acid and ammonia. A hypothetical formula is given.

Chemical Constitution of the Follicular and Testicular Hormones

Follicular Hormone IN a paper published recently by Butenandt and his co-workers,1 the hypothetical formula (I) was developed for the follicle hormone. This formula attempted to correlate the X-ray measurements of J. D. Bernal,2 which made a three-ring system for the hormone probable, with the chemical evidence at that time in hand.

Science and Hypothesis

RECENT speculations in mathematical physics, and acquiescence in treatment in terms of unimaginable abstractions, have raised a general question about the use of hypothesis as a means of coordinating observations, stimulating experiment, and paving the way for a theory. It is possible to experiment not only in the laboratory with matter, but in the study also, with symbols; and a great deal of modern mathematics is of an experimental character. A hypothesis is boldly made, some indication of its plausibility having been detected by a flash of genius; it is then developed and its consequences worked out. If the consequences are evidently leading astray, it is abandoned; but if like Planck's, like de Broglie's, and like Bohr's—to go no further—they lead in a helpful direction, yielding results that can be compared with metrical determinations, then the hypothetical formula attracts attention and begins to be accepted as the basis of a partial theory, even though its full significance is not understood, the reasons for it only dimly apprehended, and though the agencies with their mode of working are in the main unknown.

The Origin of the Satellites of Mercury Lines

INTEREST in the complex structure of the important lines in the arc spectrum of mercury has been revived by the suggestion of Nagaoka, Sugiura, and Mishima (NATURE, March 29, 1924) that the satellites are due to isotopes of mercury. The suggestion is based on the agreement of the wave-lengths calculated according to a hypothetical formula (similar to Kratzer's formula for the spectrum of hydrogen chloride) with the measured wave-lengths. On the other hand, Ruark, Mohler, and Chenault attribute the fine structure of the lines to “transitions between components of complex spectral levels” (NATURE, Oct. 18, 1924). They are satisfied that in the great majority of cases it can be proved that fine structures are not due to isotopy.