Science: Agreeable Surprise

In Stockholm last week the Nobel Prize award committee announced prizes in Physiology & Medicine for 1938 (deferred from last year) and for 1939. The physiologist honored for 1938 was Professor Corneille Heymans of Belgium, who showed that breathing is affected by chemical changes and pressure variations in the blood acting through nerve impulses. These discoveries have been of great value in treating respiratory disorders.

The 1939 prize was ticketed for Professor Gerhard Domagk of Germany, who first showed the efficacy of prontosil (forerunner of the miracle-drug sulfanilamide) in treating streptococcal infections. The Nobel committee thus serenely ignored Adolf Hitler’s ban on Nobel Prizes for Germans, wrathfully decreed by the Führer after the 1935 Peace Prize was awarded to tuberculous Pacifist Carl von Ossietsky, whom the Nazis had under heel in a concentration camp. Last week Professor Domagk discreetly referred to his Government the question of what to do about his award, murmured: “Even if I don’t receive the money, the honor of being named is a most agreeable surprise.” A less agreeable surprise to a half-dozen other scientists who had their hopes was the Nobel committee’s announcement that, on account of World War II, the other 1939 prizes were withheld — possibly until next year, probably for good.