Renal Function

This is presumably a play-by-play report of a scientific conference staged according to a peculiarly American pattern widely featured by the radio in its educational and informational programs. The sponsor, duly acknowledged by a spokesman, is in this case a philanthropic foundation. The symposium actually deals chiefly with the nature of ionic transfers across membranes in various organs of the body, rather than renal function per se. The text is divided into four parts. The first, Ion Exchanges Between Extracellular and Intracellular Fluids, contains relatively formal presentations by Robert F. Pitts, Roy C. Swan, William Wallace, and Daniel C. Darrow; the other three are devoted to more formal talks by Gilbert H. Mudge on Cation Exchanges in the Renal Equilibrium, Hans H. Ussing on Ion Transport Across Living Membranes, and Maurice B. Visscher on Water and Ion Movements Across Intestinal and Renal Epithelium. A distinguished company participates in the discussion of the papers. According to the opening remarks of the Medical Director, Frank Fremont-Smith, the ostensible purposes of the conference are "furthering knowledge in a particular field"-i.e., renal function-and "promotion of meaningful communication between scientific disciplines." One wonders whether in this era, when means of communication have been so greatly improved, multiplication of such conferences promotes the advance of science so much as it diverts the scientists from productive activities. Besides the three formal speakers named in the Table of