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SCIENCE 


A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISH- 
ING THE OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN 
ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 


NEW SERIES. VOLUME XXIV. 


J ULY-DECEMBER, 1906. 


NEW YORK 
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 


1906 


AO LSS 


THE NEW ERA PRINTING COMPANY, 
41 NORTH QUEEN STREET, 
LANCASTER, Pa, 


CONTHNTS AND INDEX. 


N.S. VOL. XXIV.—JULY TO DECEMBER, 1906. 


The Names of Contributors are printed in Small Capitals. 


A., H. A., The Frog, S. J. Holmes, 112 

ABBE, C., An Unusual Meteor, 340 

Aberdeen, Degrees conferred at, 602 

Acceleration, Uniform, A. W. Durr, 538 

Agricultural, Appropriation Bill, 58; Chemists, 
HK. B. VoorHEeEs, 385; Science, Soc. for Pro- 
motion of, 553 

Agriculture, Promotion of, H. P. ArmMssy, 673 

Air, Liquid, Cheaper, 346 

ALLEN, J. A., California Mammals, F. Stephens, 
496; Types of Genera, 773, 858 

American Assoc. for the Advancement of Sci., Re- 
port of General Secretary, 33; Address of 
Welcome and Reply, 35; Section D, 71, 261, 
405; Section I, 257, 519; Section G, 268; 
Section F, 293; Section E, 365; Section B, 
609; New York Meeting, 635, and National 
Scientific Societies, 753, 826; Address of the 
President, C. M. Woopwarp, 833 

Americanists, Congress of, 417 

AmEs, J. S., Miller’s Physics, 552 

ANDREWS, E. A., Crayfish Industry, 48 

Anti-malaria Work, L. O. Howarp, 744 

Areas of U. S., States and Territories, 506 

Armssy, H. P., Agricultural Science, 673 

Artemia, A New, V. L. Kettoae, 594 

Astronomer, Aims of an, E. C. PICKERING, 65 

Astronomical Notes, 8. I. Barney, 182, 569. 

Athletics and Scholarship, W. T. Foster, 21 


Bacteria, Shipping, H. A. Harpine, 122 

Bacterial Flora of Animals, C. A. Herter, 859 

Bailey, E. H. S., Sanitary and Applied Chemistry, 
i. H. RicHarps, 338 

Bainry, S. I., Astronomical Notes, 182, 569 

Banks, N., Notes on Entomology, 866 

Bargour, HE. H., Coal in Nebraska, 51; New Mio- 
cene Diceratherium Arikarence, 780; and H. 
B. Warp, Early Type of Man, 628 

BARKER, H. C., Some Definitions of the Dyne, 341 

Barus, C., Nucleation of Dust-free Air, 180; Vul- 
canism, 400 

Basketry, O. T. Mason, 779 

Batuer, F. A., Fixing Genotypes, 809 

Brepg, J. W., A Correction, 594 

Beit, Alfred, Will of, 125 

Berlese, A., Gli Insetti, L. O. Howarp, 685 

Bernthsen, A., Organic Chemistry, W. A. Noysrs, 
340 

Bessey, C. E., Botanical Notes, 283, 411, 571, 601, 
868 

Bessey, E. A., Kiister’s Vermehrung und Sexuali- 
tit bei den Pflanzen, 619 

Bicetow, S. L., Zsigmondy’s Kolloide, 372 

Binet, H., Les Révélations de l’écriture, P. FRAZER, 
431 

Biological Soc. of Washington, M. C. Marsu, 850 

Biology and Medicine, Exper., Soc. for, W. J. Gizs, 
763 

Birds, Migrating, Speeds of, J. Sressins, E. H. 
Fata, 49 


Buack, F. C., and J. B. TinetE, Notes on Organic 
Chemistry, 821 

BLACKWELDER, E., Chamberlin and Salisbury’s 
Geology, 856 

BLAKE, W. P., Montezuma’s Well, Ariz., 568 

BLAKESLEE, A. F., Zygospores in Bread Mold, 118 

Boremeyrr, C. J., St. Louis Chemical Society, 
115, 530, 773 

Botanic Society of London, 155 

Botanical, Notes, C. E. Brssry, 283, 411, 571, 601, 
868; Seminar of Uniy. of Nebr., 629 

Botany at the Amer. Assoc., D. T. MacDoueat, 
268; in England, F. W. Oxiver, 321 

Brachiopod Nomenclature, S. S. Buckman, 742 

Brain Investigation, 26 

Brannepr, J. C., Chamberlin and Salisbury’s Geol- 
ogy, 462; the U. S. Geological Survey, 722 

BRASHEAR, J. A., The University and the World’s 
Great Workshop, 641 

British Association, Inaugural Address, E. R. 
LANKESTER, 225; York Meeting, G. N. Cat- 
KINS, 280; Grants for Scientific Research, 444 

Buckman, 8. S., Brachiopod Nomenclature, 742 

Bulimulus Dormani Binney, E. H. SELLaRps, 469 

Burr, W. H., Panama Canal, 71; The Technical 
School and the University, 513 

Bussry, W. H., Amer. Math. Soe., 654 

Butter, N. M., Address, Rockefeller Institute, 12 


C., G. C., Kobold on Der Bau des Fixsternsystems, 
270 


Capy, H. P., and D. F. McFartanp, Helium in 
Natural Gas, 344 

CaLkins, G. N., Fritz Schaudinn, 154; British 
Association, 289 

Cannon, G. L., Sauropodan Gastroliths, 116 

Carnegie, Foundation, 59; Institution, Publica- 
tions of, 472 

Castiz, W. E., Yellow Mice and Gametic Purity, 
275 

Catalogue, of Scientific Literature, 218 

Cats as Plant Investigators, D. FarrcHIp, 498 

CaTTELL, J. McK., Presidency of Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology, 537; Statistical 
Study of Amer. Men of Science, 658, 699, 732 

Census, German, 157 

Cerebral Localization, E. A. SprtzKa, 444 

Chalfant, F. H., Chinese Writing, E. S. Morsr, 758 

CHAMBERLIN, T. C., The Ice Age, 531 

Chamberlin, T. C., and R. D. Salisbury, Geology, 
J. C. BRANNER, 462; E. BLACKWELDER, 856 

Cuant, C. A., An Unusual Meteor, 594 

Chemical, Soc., Amer., N. Y. Section, F. H. Poucu, 
19; Ithaca Meeting, G. R. Wurtz, 193, 238; 
C. M. Joycr, 691, 844; St. Louis, C. J. Bore- 
MEYER, 115, 530, 773; Abstracts, 572 

Chemistry, Organic, Notes on, J. B. TIneLE, 54, 
707, and F. C. BLack, 821 

Christensen, C., Index Filicum, L. M. UNDERWooD, 
762 


lv SCIENCE. 


CHURCHILL, W. W., Surface Condenser Tubes, 405 

Criapp, I. G., Glacial Stages in N. E. New Eng- 
land, 499 

CLARK, J. J., The Correspondence School, 327 

Coal, in Nebraska, E. H. Barsour, 51; Tar In- 
dustry, H. Scuwerrzer, 481 

Cotz, F. N., Amer. Math. Soc., 420 

Colluvial and Clay Deposits, O. VEatcu, 782 

Condenser Tubes, Surface, W. W. CHURCHILL, 405 

ConkKLIN, E. G., Montgomery on Racial Descent, 
173 

Convocation Week Meetings of Scientific Societies, 
708, 746 

Cook, M. T., Herbarium Type Specimens, 217; 
Gall-insects and Insect- -galls, 312 

Cook, O. F., Evolution, 303 

Corals, Rugose, J. i. DUERDEN, 246 

Correspondence School, J. J. CLARK, 327 

Cotton Cultures, Dried, G. T. Moore, 376 

Crayfish Industry, E. H. ANDREws, 48 

Crook, H. R., Nature in Magazines, 779 

CROWELL, J. EF, Economie and Social Science at 
the Amer. ‘Assoc., 519 

Cryptobranchus, Ypsiloid Apparatus of, B. G. 
SMITH, 23 

Crystallography, A. F. Rogers, 620; E. H. Kraus, 

855 


CuTLerR, C. W., The Eye, E. E. Gibbons, 465 
Cyclones, D. T. Smirn, 247 


D., T., Fischer’s Animal Mechanics, 339 

D., W. M., Hatch and Corstorphine’s Geology of 
S. Africa, 684 

DAVENPORT, C. B., The Mutation Theory in Ani- 
mal Evolution, 556 

Davis, E. E., An Unusual Meteor, 150 

Desmostylus, Marsh, J. C. Merriam, 151 

De Vries and his Critics, Cc. S. GacER, 81 

Dew-point and Humidity Chart, J. F. ‘WoopHutt, 
92 


Diceratherium, Marsh, O. A. PETERSON, 281; Ari- 
karense, New Miocene, 1B, JBL. BARBOUR, 780 
Discussion and Correspondence, 21, 48, 81, 115, 
148, 177, 214, 246, 273, 301, 340, 374, 399, 439, 
466, 498, 531, 553, 592, 620, 655, 692, 722, 773, 
8U9, 855 

Distribution of Students, R. Tomso, Jr., 166, 405 

Doctorates conferred by American Universities, 
206 

D’Oocr, M. L., and W. P. Lomearp, Israel Cook 
Russell, 426 

Doppler Effect, P. R. Heyt, 250; H. C. Ricwarps, 
466 

Doverass, E. S., Merycoidodonts, 565 

DUANE, W., Electricity and Radium Products, 48 

DUERDEN, els E., Rugose Corals, 246 

Durr, A. W., Uniform Acceleration, 538 

DUNLAP, K., Jastrow’s The Subconscious, 848 

Dyne, The, H. ©. BARKER, 341 


arth, Rigidity of, L. M. Hosxrns, 403, 780; T. 
Ti. SEE, 558; A. C, LANE, 404 

Earthquake and Professor Larkin, DY Sh ds: ‘178 

Eastman, C. R., Disputed Vesuvian Eruptions, 
284; ‘Notes on History of Natural Science, 822 

Economie and Social Science at the Amer. Assoc. i 
J. F. CROWELL, 519 

Economics as a Science, I. FisHmr, 257 


CONTENTS AND 
INDEX 


Education, Development, C. G. WASHBURN, 97; 
Society for Promotion of, 603; and Science, 
C. M. Woopwarp, 833 

KIGENMANN, C. H., The Smithsonian Institution 
and Research, 553 

Elimination and Types of Genera, W. STonE, 560; 
J. A. ALLEN, 773, 858; in Fixing Genotypes, 
F. A. BatuHEr, 809 

Exiot, C. W., Address, Rockefeller Institute, 13; 
The Future of Medicine, 449 

Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc., 531, A. S. WHEELER, 773 

Engineer as a Citizen, A. C. HUMPHREYS, 583 

Entomology, Notes, N. BANKS, 866 

Erdmann, H., Inorganic Chemistry, E. R., 619 

Evolution, Nature of, O. F. Cook, 303; and Muta- 
tion, A. E. ORTMANN, 728 


Farrcuinp, D., Cats as Plant Investigators, 498 

FARRINGTON, O. C., Professor Henry A. Ward, 153 

Fatu, E. A., and J. STEBBINS, Speeds of Migra- 
ting Birds, 49 

Fernow, B. E., Graves on Forest Mensuration, 760 

Fine, H. B., College Algebra, J. H. Wricut, 18 

Fischer, O., Animal Mechanics, T. D., 339 

Fisuer, I., Economics as a Science, 257 

Fishery Congress, H. M. Smiru, 57 

Fishes, Unusual New Jersey, H. W. Fowimr, 596 

Fluid, A Definition of, O. W. WiLLcox, 592 

Folsom, J. W., Entomology, J. G. N., 589 

Fondule of Carbonnier an Umbra, T. Gini, 818 

Food Bill, Pure, 185 

Fossil Seal, J. L. WortTMAn, 89 

Foster, W. T., Athletics and Scholarship, 21 

Fowier, H. W., Unusual New Jersey Fishes, 596 

FRANKLIN, W. S8., Notes on Physies, 819 

Frazer, P., Binet’s Les Révélations de l’écriture, 
431 

Futter, M. L., Glacial Stages in New England; 
467 


Gacer, C. S., de Vries and his Critics, 81; Tor- 
rey Botanical Club, 21, 721, 770, 852 

Gall-insects and Insect-galls, M. T. Cook, 312° 

Galloway, T. W., Zoology; C. W. H., 719 

Gasteropoda of U. 8., J. Lrmpy, JR., 779 

Gastroliths, Sauropodan, G. L. Cannon, 116 

Geodetic Conference, O. H. Tirrmann, J. F. Hay- 
FORD, 713 

Geological, Expedition, Harvard, 471; Survey of 
N. Y., 633; U. S. Geological Survey, W. H. 
Hosgs, 655; and its Relations with other 
Geological Surveys, C. D. WatcorT, 692; and 
its Bearing upon Science and Education, J. 
C. BRANNER, 722; Excursion, Intercollegiate, 
634 

Geology, and Geog. at Amer. Assoc., E. O. Hovey, 
356; of South Brazil, I. C. Wuitr, 377 

Geometry, Non-Euclidean, I. E. Rasrnoyiren, 440 

Gibbons, E. E., The Eye, C. W. CuTLER, 465 

Gigs, W. J., Soc. for Exper. Biol. and Medicine, 
763 

Gitt, T., Le Fondule of Carbonnier an Umbra, 818 

Glacial, Stages, in New England, M. L. FULLER, 
467; IF. G. Cuapp, 499; Epoch, J. M. Sciar- 
BERLE, 695 

Glaciation in S. Ariz. and N. Sonora, F. J. H. 
MERRILL, 116; W J McGes, 177 

Gorr, J. H., Hallock and Wade’s Weights and 
Measures, 652 


New SERIES, 
VoL. XXIV. 


Grapau, A. W., Geology and Mineralogy, N. Y. 
Acad. of Sciences, 691 

GratacaP, L. P., The Edinburgh Museum, 422 

Graves, H. S., Forest Mensuration, B. KE, Fernow, 
760 

GREENBERG, O., Pyknometer, 314 

Grecory, W. K., Hailstorm, 115 

Grirritus, E. H., Math. and Physics at British 
Assoe., 353 

Gulls, Herring, H. L. Warp, 593 

GuTHRIE, C. C., and F. H. Pike, Coronary Vessels 
and Activity of Heart, 52 


H., C. W., Galloway’s Zoology, 719; Laboratory 
Notes, T. H. ScHErrer, 847 

Hailstorm, W. K. Grecory, 115 

Hallock, W., and H. T. Wade, Weights and Meas- 
ures, J. H. GoRE, 652 

Harpine, H. A., Shipping Bacteria, 122 

Hartman, C. V., Archeological Researches in Costa 
Rica, G. G. McCurpy, 78 

Harvard, Medical School, F. B. Mattory, 334; 
University, Honorary Degrees, 445 

Hatch and Corstorphine’s Geol. of S. Africa, W. 
M. D., 684 

Hayrorp, J. F., Report of Gen. Sec. of Amer. 
Assoc., 33; and O. H. Tirrmann, Geodetic 
Association, 713 

Hayford, J. F., and T. W. Wright, Adjustment of 
Observations, S. A. MitcHELy, 551 

Health, Public, Defence League, H. W., 731 

Heat, Voleanic, E. Tomson, 161; T. J.J. Ser, 301 

Hemprin, A., Pelée Obelisk, 25; Volcanic and 
Seismic Phenomena, 545 

Helium in Natural Gas, H. P. Capy, D. M. Mc- 
FAarLanp, 344 

Herbarium Type Specimens, M. T, Coox, 217 

Herrick, C. J., Zoology at the Amer. Assoc., 293; 
Johnston’s Nervous System of Vertebrates, 845 

Herter, C. A., Bacterial Flora of Animals, 859 

Hey, P. R., The Doppler Effect, 250 

Hinearp, EK. W., Mississippi Delta, 861 

Hilgard, E. W., Soils, F. H. Kine, 681 

Hiyricus, G. D., The Smithsonian Institution, 273 

Hosss, W. H., U. S. Geological Survey, 655; 
Kraus on Essentialsvof Crystallography, 807 

Hofmeister, F., Practical Chemistry for Physi- 
cians, J. MARSHALL, 245 

Holmes, 8. J., The Frog, E. A. A., 112 

Hott, L. E., Rockefeller Institute, 1 

Hoskins, L. M., Rigidity of the Earth, 403, 780 

Hovey, E. O., Geology and Geog. at the Amer. 
Assoe., 356 

Howagp, L. O., Berlese’s Gli Insetti, 685; Anti- 
malaria Work, 744; Polyembryony, 810 

Humpureys, A. C., The Engineer as a Citizen, 583 

Hussery, W. J., Moulton’s Astronomy, 397 


Ice Age, J. M. ScHAEBERLE, 439; T. C. CHAMBER- 
LIN, 531 

Insanity in England and Wales, 474 

Investigator, University, and Teaching, D. S. 
JORDAN, 129 

Towa, Acad. of Sci., L. S. Ross, 213; State Col- 
lege, L. H. PAMMEL, 413 


J., D. S., The Earthquake and Professor Larkin, 
178 


SCIENCE. Vv 


Jade, Bishop Collection of, G. F. Kunz, 23 

Jastrow, J., The Subconscious, KX. DUNLAP, 848 

JEFFERSON, M. S. W., Norton’s Geology, 590 

Johnston’s Nervous System of Vertebrates, C. J. 
Herrick, 845 

Jorpan, D. S., The University Investigator, 129; 
Discontinuous Variation and Pedigree Cul- 
ture, 399; Stephens’s California Mammals, 


439 
Joycr, C. M., N. Y. Sect. of Amer. Chem. Soc., 
691, 844 


Keitoge, V. L., A New Artemia, 594; Deter- 
minate Variation, 621; Assortative Mating, 
665; Variation in Parthenogenetic Insects, 


695 
Keyes, C. R., Term Permian in American Geol- 
ogy, 181 


Kine, F. H., Hilgard on Soils, 681 
Kobold, H., Der Bau des Fixsternsystems, G. C. 
C., 270 

KRAEMER, H., Winton’s Microscopy of Vegetable 
Foods, 806 

Kraus, E. H., Teaching Crystallography, 855 

Kraus, E. H., Crystallography, W. H. Hopss, 807 

Kunz, G. F., Bishop Collection of Jade, 23 

Kiister, E., Vermehrung bei den Pflanzen, HE. A. 
Brssry, 619 


LANE, A. C., Interior of the Earth, 404 

LANKESTER, E. R., Inaugural Address before 
British Assoec., 225 

Left-handedness, O. T. Mason, 560 

Leipy, JRr., J., Gasteropoda of U. 8., 779 

Library, Perkin, 540 

Lightning-rod, A. L. Rorcu, 374; and Franklin’s 
Kite Experiment, A. L. Rorcn, 780 

Lodge, O., Easy Mathematics, G. A. Minter, 114 

Loeb, J., Dynamics of Living Matter, S. J. MELt- 
ZER, 145 

Lomparp, W. P., and M. L. D’Ooer, Israel Cook 
Russell, 426 

Lowell Lectures, 476 

Lucas, F. A., Paleontological Notes, 316 

Lyon, G. A., Alimentary Parasites of Felis Do- 
mestica, 313 

Lyon, Jr., M. W., Mutation of the Pine Marten, 
341 


McM., J. P., Metcalf on Evolution, 805 

McAtrEr, W. L., Economie Ornithology, 308 

McCatiiz, 8. W., Intermittent Flowing Well, 694 

McCurpy, G. G., Hartman’s Archeological Re- 
searches in Costa Rica, 78 

MacDoueat, D. T., Botany at the Amer. Assoc., 
268; Discontinuous Variation, 730 

McFartanp, D. F., and H. P. Capy, Helium in 
Natural Gas, 344 

McGeer, W J, Glaciation in the Sonoran Province, 
igen 

Macruper, W. T., Mech. Sci. and Engineering at 
the Amer. Assoc., 261 

Mattory, F. B., Harvard Medical School, 334 

Mammals, Quaternary; in S. California, J. C. 
Merriam, 248; Stephens on California, D. 8. 
JORDAN, 439 

Man, Early Type of, E. H. Barsour, H. B. Warp, 
628; C. W., 779 

Marsh, M. C., Biol. Soc. of Washington, 850 


V1 SCIENCE. 


MarsHAtt, J., Hofmeister’s Chemistry for Physi- 
cians, 245 

Marten, Pine, Mutation of, M. W. Lyon, JR., 341 

Mason, O. T., Left-handedness, 560; Malay and 
Filipino Basketry, 779 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, J. McK. 
CarTeLL, 537; Laboratory of Physical Chem., 
540 

Mathematical, Soc., Amer., Colloquium, J. Pirr- 
pont, P. F. SmirH, H. Mascuge, H. &. 
Wuitr, F. N. Cots, 251, 420; W. H. Bussey, 
654; Instruction, G. A. Minter, 493 

Mathematics and Physics at British Assoc., E. H. 
GRIFFITHS, 353 

Mating, Assortative, V. L. KeLioce, 665 

MattHEws, W. D., Paleontological Notes, 786 

Merap, G. H., Teaching of Science, 390 

Mechanical Sci. and Engineering at the Amer. 
Assoc., W. T. MAGRUDER, 261 

Medical, Societies in London, Union of, 346 

Medicine, Future of, C. W. ExioT, 449; Science of, 
W. H. Wetcu, 454 

MetrTzer, S. J., Loeb’s Dynamics of Living Mat- 
ter, 145 

Merriam, J. C., Desmostylus, Marsh, 151; Qua- 
ternary Mammals in S. Cal., 248 

Merritt, F. J. H., Glaciation in 8. Ariz. and N. 
Sonora, 116 

Merritt, G. P., Stony Meteorite, 23 

Mereirt, E., Amer. Physical Soc., 808 

Merycoidodonts, E. S. DouGuass, 565 

Metealf, M. M., Organie Evolution, J. P. McM., 
805 

Meteor, Unusual, EH. E. Davis, 150; C. Appz, 340; 
C. A. CHANT, 594 

Meteorite, Stony, G. P. MERRILL, 23 

Meteorology, Notes on, R. DEC. Warp, 314, 344, 
410, 443, 501, 539, 600, 743, 785, 823, 866 

Mice, Yellow, and Gametie Purity, W. E. CASTLE, 
275 

Micro-projection Apparatus, A. B. PLOWMAN, 342 

Mitier, D. C., Physics at the Amer. Assoc., 609 

Miller, F. C. G., Teaching of Physics, J. 8S. AMEs, 

552 

Mitier, G. A., Lodge’s Hasy Mathematics, 114; 

Reform in Mathematical Instruction, 493 

Minot, C. S., Elizabeth Thompson Science Fund, 93 

Mississippi Delta, E. W. Hitcarp, 861 

MircuHett, 8. A., Wright and Hayford’s Adjust- 

ment of Observations, 551 

Montezuma’s Well, W. P. BLAKE, 568 

Montgomery, Jr., T. H., Descent in Animals, E. 

G. ConkKLIN, 173 

Moorz, G. T., Cotton Cultures, 376 

Morat, J. P., The Nervous System, E. A. SPITZKA, 


497 
Morse, E. L., Mars and its Mystery, W. H. Picxk- 
ERING, 719 


Morss, BH. S., Chalfant on Chinese Writing, 758 

Mortier, D. M., The Smithsonian Institution, 116 

Moulton, F. R., Astronomy, W. J. Hussey, 397 

Museum, Edinburgh, L. P. GRATAcap, 422 

Mutation Theory, A. E. ORTMANN, 214; in Ani- 
mal Evolution, C. B. DAvENPoRT, 556 


N., J. G., Folsom’s Entomology, 589 

National Academy of Sciences, 686 

Nature, Misrepresentation of, A. R. Crook, 779 
Ner, J. U., von Baeyer’s Gesammelte Werke, 211 


CONTENTS AND 
INDEX. 


New York Acad. of Sci., Geology and Mineralogy, 
A. W. GRABAU, 691 

Nomenclature, Anatomic, B. G. WILDER, 559 

Norton, W. H., Geology, M. S. W. JEFFERSON, 590 

Noyes, W. A., Bernthsen’s Organic Chemistry, 340 

Nutrition, Physiological Economy in, 631 


OBERHOLSER, H. C., Genera Avium, 438 

Observatories and Astronomers of the World, 93 

Observatory, Aero-physical, in Japan, S. T. Ta- 
MURA, 148 

Otiver, F, W., Botany in England, 321 

Ornithology, Economic, W. L. McATEE, 308 

OrTMANN, A. E., The Mutation Theory, 214; Evo- 
lution and Mutation, 728 

Osgporn, H. F., Recent Vertebrate Paleontology, — 

. 55, 184 res 

PALACHE, C., Sommerfeldt’s Geometrische Kristal- 
lographie, 301 

Paleontological Notes, F. A. Lucas, 316; W. D. 
MatTTHEWS, 786 

Paleontology, Recent Vertebrate, H. F. Ossorn, 
55, 184 

PamMMEL, L. H., Northern Limit of Papaw Tree, 
48; Central Building of lowa State College, 
413 

Panama Canal, W. H. Burr, 71 

Papaw Tree, Northern Limit of, L. H. PAMMEL, 48 

Parasites, Alimentary, of Felis Domestica, G. A. 
Lyon, 313 

Paviov, I. P., Psychical Faculties in Higher Ani- 
mals, 613 

Peirce, James Mills, J. K. Wuittemore, 40 

Pelée Obelisk, A. HrrLprin, 25 

Penfield, Samuel Lewis, H. L. W., 252 

Pennsylvania Univ. Engineering Building, 577, 583 

Perkin, Sir William, and American Jubilee of 
Coal Tar Industry, 413; Address of, 488 

‘Permian’ in American Geology, C. R. Keyss, 181 

PETERSON, O. A., Diceratherium Marsh, 281 

Ph.D., Honorary, New Variety of, X., 693 

Philosophical Soc., Amer., 553, 620; of Washing- 
ton, C. K. WeEap, 768 

Physical Society, American, E. Merritt, 808 

Physics, at the Amer. Assoc., D. C. MILLER, 609; 
Notes on, W. S. FranxKuin, 819 

PICKERING, E. C., Aims of an Astronomer, 65 

sae W. H., Morse on Mars and its Mystery, 

PIERPONT, J., and P. F. Smirn, H. Mascuxe, H. 
S. Waite, F. N. Cote, Colloquium of Amer. 
Math. Soe., 251 

PriKE, F. H., and C. C. Gururir, Coronary Vessels 
and the Heart, 52 

PLowMAN, A. B., Object-finder for Micro-projec- 
tion Apparatus, 342 

Yolarization, Sugar, G. W. Roure, 307 

Polyembryony, L. O. Howarp, 810 

Povueu, F. H., N. Y. See. of Am. Chem. Soc., 19 

Psychical Faculties in Higher Animals, J. P. Pav- 
Lov, 613 

Pyknometer, Improved, O. GREENBERG, 314 


Quotations, 92, 124, 152, 182, 409, 470, 568, 597, 
782 


R., E., Erdmann’s Inorganic Chemistry, 619 
Rasinovircu, I. E., Non-Euclidean Geometry, 440 


NEw SERIES. 
VoL. XXIV. 


Radium, 347; Radium and Electricity, W. DUANE, 
48 

Reese, A. M., The Smithsonian Institution, 274 

Research, Scientific, 505 

Ricuarps, E. H., Bailey’s Sanitary Chemistry, 338 

RicHarps, H. C., The Déppler Effect, 466 

Ricuarps, J. W., Wiechmann’s Electrochemistry, 
652 

Rockefeller Institute, L. E. Hontt, 1; W. H. 
WE cH, 6; N. M. Butter, 12; C. W. EtoT, 13 

Rocers, A. F., Teaching Crystallography, 620 

Rotre, G. W., Sugar Polarization, 307 

Ross, L. S., Iowa Acad. of Sci., 213 

Rorcnu, A. L., Franklin and the Lightning-rod, 
374; The Lightning-rod and Franklin’s Kite 
Experiment, 780 

Royal Society of London, Proceedings of, 58 

Russell, Israel Cook, W. P. Lomsparp, M. L. 
D’OocE, 426 


Salaries of Professors, 666 

Salisbury, R. D., and T. C. Chamberlin, Geology, 
J. C. BRANNER, 462; EK. BLACKWELDER, 856 

SCHAEBERLE, J. M., Ice Age, 439; The Glacial 
Epoch, 695 

Sehaudinn, Fritz, G. N. Caixins, 154 

Scheffer, T. H., Laboratory Notes, W. H., 847 

ScHWEITZER, H., Coal-tar Industry, 481 

Science, Teaching, G. H. Mean, 390, and Educa- 
tion, C. M. Woopwarp, 833. 

Scientific, Books, 18, 78, 112, 145, 173, 211, 245, 
270, 299, 338, 372, 397, 4381, 462, 496, 529, 
551, 589, 619, 652, 681, 719, 758, 805, 845; 
Notes and News, 28, 60, 94, 125, 189, 
220, 253, 286, 317, 349, 381, 414, 446, 477, 
507, 541, 5738, 604, 636, 671, 709, 747, 788, 
829, 870; Journals and Articles, 81, 147, 
176, 246, 271, 301, 374, 399, 439, 466, 498, 
530, 553, 591, 653, 686, 721, 763, 808, 849; 
Societies, National, and Amer. Assoc., 753 

Sedgwick, William T., Festschrift Celebration, 27 

Sez, T. J. J., Voleanic Heat, 301; Rigidity of 
the Earth, 558 

SELLARDS, E. H., Bulimulus Dormani Binney, 469 

SHREVE, F., Whitford on the Vegetation of Lamao 
Forest Reserve, 529 

Silliman Lectures at Yale, 445 

Smith, A., Inorganic Chemistry, H. L. WELLS, 398 

SmitH, B. G., Ypsiloid Apparatus of Crypto- 
branchus, 23 

Smiru, D. T., Cyclones, 247 

SmirH, H. M., Fishery Congress, 57 - 

Smithsonian Institution, D. M. Morrirr, 116; C. 
H. EIGENMANN, 553; G. D. Htnricus, 273; 
A. M. Reese, 274; Secretaryship of, and Pro- 
fessor Osborn, 825 

Societies and Academies, 19, 115, 213, 530, 553, 
620, 654, 686, 721, 763, 808, 850 

Sociology, Internat. Inst. of, 156 

Sommerfeldt, E., Geometrische Kristallographie, 
C. PALACHE, 301 

Special Articles, 23, 48, 89, 116, 151, 180, 217, 248, 
275, 308, 341, 377, 405, 441, 467, 499, 538, 560, 
594, 621, 658, 695, 732, 780, 810, 859 

Spencer, Herbert, Memorial to, 505 

SPILLMAN, W. J., Color Coat in Swine, 441 

SprtzKsa, E. A., Cerebral Localization, 444; 
Morat’s Physiology of Nervous System, 497 

Stanford University, Appointments at, 380 


SCIENCE. 


vil 


Statistical Study of Amer. Men of Science, J. 
McK. CatTTEty, 658, 699, 732 

Srepsins, J., and E. A. Fats, Speeds of Migra- 
ting Birds, 49 

Stephens, F., California Mammals, J. A. ALLEN, 
496 

Sronr, W., Fixing Types of Genera, 560 

Stuart, ©. J,, The Wireless Telegraph and 
Aurora, 694. 

Swine, Color Coat in, W. J. SprILLMAN, 441 


Tamura, §. T., Aero-physical Observatory in 
Japan, 148 

Taytor, F. W., University and Industrial Meth- 
ods, 577 

Technical, School and the University, W. H. Burr, 
513; Courses, Evening, at Columbia Univ., 
824 

Thompson, Elizabeth, Science Fund, C. 8. Mrvor, 
93 


THomson, E., Volcanic Heat, 161 

THORNDIKE, KE. L., Ward’s Applied Sociology, 299 

TinecLE, J. B., Notes on Organic Chemistry, 54, 
707, and F. C. Brack, 821 

TitTMANN, O. H., and J. F. Hayrorp, Internat. 
Geodetic .Assoc., 713 

Tomso, JR., R., Distribution of Students, 166, 405; 
University Registration Statistics, 793 

Torrey Botanical Club, C. S. Gacrr, 21, 721, 770, 
852 


Uganda, Forest Districts of, 379 
Sousa eae L. M., Christensen’s Index Filicum, 
62 
University, and Educational News, 31, 64, 96, 127, 
160, 192, 224, 256, 288, 320, 351, 384, 416, 448, 
480, 511, 544, 576, 608, 639, 672, 712, 752, 792, 
832, 872; Methods, F. W. Taytor, 577; and 
the World’s Great Workshop, J. A. BRASHEAR, 
be Registration Statistics, R. Tomso, Jr., 
93 


Variation, Discontinuous, and Pedigree Culture, 
D. 8. Jorpan, 399; D. T. MacDoucat, 730; 
Determinate, V. L. KEttoae, 621; in Par- 
thenogenetic Insects, V. L. Ketioce, 695 

VeAtcH, O., ‘Colluvial’ as applied to Clay De- 
posits, 782 

Vesuvian Eruptions, C. R. EASTMAN, 284 

Voleanic and Seismic Phenomena, A. HEILPRIN, 
545 

Von Baeyer, A., Gesammelte Werke, J. U. Ner, 211 

VoorHEES, E. B., Agricultural Chemists, 385 

Vulcanism, C. Barus, 400 


W., C., Early Types of Man, 779 

W., H., Public Lealth Defence League, 731 

W., H. L., Samuel Lewis Penfield, 252 

Wade, H. T., and W. Hallock, Weights and 
Measures, J. H. Gore, 652 

Watcott, C. D., The U. S. Geological Survey and 
its Relations with other Geological Surveys, 
692 

Ward, Professor Henry A., O. C. FARRINGTON, 153 

Warp, H. B., and E. H. Barzour, Early Type of 
Man, 628 

Warp, H. L., Herring Gulls, 593 

Ward, L. F., Applied Sociology, E. L. THorn- 
DIKE, 299 


Vill 


Warp, R. DEC., Notes on Meteorology, 314, 344, 
410, 448, 501, 539, 600, 743, 785, 823, 866 
WASHBURN, C. G., Technical Education in Rela- 

tion to Industrial Development, 97 
Wetcu, W. H., The Endowment of Research, 6; 
Unity of the Medical Sciences, 454 
Well, Intermittent Flowing, 8S. W. McCattiz, 694 
WELts, H. L., Smith’s Inorganic Chemistry, 398 
Wueeter, A. S., Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soe., 773 
Wuitr, G. R., Ithaca Meeting of Amer. Chem. 
Soe., 193, 238 
Wuitt, I. C., Geology of South Brazil, 377 
Whitford, H. N., Vegetation of Lamao Forest Re- 
serve, F. SHREVE, 529 
WHITTEMORE, J. K., James Mills Peirce, 40 
Wiechmann, F. G., Electrochemistry, J. W. RicH- 
ARDS, 652 
Wiper, B. G., Anatomic Nomenclature, 559 
Wixtcox, O. W., A Definition of Fluid, 592 


SCIENCE. 


CONTENTS AND 
INDEX. 


Winton, A. L., Microscopy of Vegetable Foods, H. 
KRAEMER, 806 

Wireless Telegraph and Aurora, C. J. STUART, 694 

WoopHULL, J. I'., Dew-point and Humidity Chart, 
92 

Woopwakrp, C. M., Science and Hducation, 833 

Worrman, J. L., New Fossil Seal, 89 

WricHt, J. H., Fine’s College Algebra, 18 

Wright, T. W., and J. F. Hayford, Adjustment of 
Observations, S. A. MircHrLy, 551 


X., New Variety of Honorary Ph.D., 693 

Yale University, 502 

Zoology at the Amer. Assoc., C. J. HERRICK, 293 
Zsigmondy, R., Zur Erkenntnis der Kolloide, S. 


L. BigELow, 372 
Zygospores in Bread Mold, A. F. BLaKxestes, 118 


SCIENCE 


A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 
OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 


Fripay, Juuy 6, 1906. 


CONTENTS. 


The Formal Opening of the Laboratory of the 
Rockefeller Institute for Medical Re- 
search :— 


A Sketch of the Development of the Rocke- 
feller Institute for Medical Research: DR. 
APE VENETO TAT): esa eae ye eaten lee eaves il 


JEL; WHY TOIL GES AAR SEES RIEL ea aE aga ae a 6 
Address by President Nicholas Murray 

SU GLC Tanets Ohne ics ihe Nalatets Personen ete leteksners tne 12 
Address by President Charles W. Eliot.... 138 


Scientific Books :-— 


Fine’s College Algebra: PRroressor J. Ep- 
VIGNE AVR GELER WIN iP Via ctiae ayer lal ak Ny 18 


Societies and Academies :— 


The New York Section of the American 
Chemical Society: Dr. F. H. Poueu. The 
Torrey Botanical Club: C. Stuart GAGER.. 19 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
Intercollegiate Athletics and Scholarship: 
PROFESSOR WILLIAM TRUFANT FOSTER. 
Note on the Ypsiloid Apparatus of Crypto- 
branchus: B. G. SmitH. A Newly-found 
Stony Meteorite: Dr. G. P. MERRILL...... 21 


Special Articles :— 


The Great Catalogue and Scientific Investi- 
gation of the Heber R. Bishop Collection 
of Jade: DR. GEORGE FREDERICK Kunz. The 
Rock of the Pelée Obelisk and the Condition 
of the Volcano in February, 1906: Dr. 


PAIN GIO ETRTEP REN ie) u cialis aly YON 23 
The Commission for Brain Investigation.... 26 
WY linen Rew Neagartchsacs ed Ni hs ON NS ook 27 
Scientific Notes and News................. 28 
University and Educational News........ ‘sonal 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 
review should be sent to the Editor of Sctmncr, Garrison-on- 
Hudson, N. Y. fsa f 


THE FORMAL OPENING OF THE LABORA- 
TORY OF THE ROCKEFELLER INSTITUTE 
FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH? 

A SKETCH OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE 
ROCKEFELLER INSTITUTE FOR 
MEDICAL RESHARCH. 


Five years ago there were in France, 
Germany, England, Russia and Japan well- 
equipped and endowed institutions for re- 
Search in medicine. In this country not 
one existed. For pure and applied science, 
all our higher institutions of learning had 
their laboratories, their corps of instructors 
and fellowships, and both opportunity and 


encouragement were given to students to 


take up original work. But how great the 
contrast when we turn to medicine, whose 
problems are related not only to the health 
but even the life of the race. The poverty 
of the resources of the medical institutions 
was truly pitiful. Their laboratories were 
for the instruction of students and pos- 
sessed but little equipment beyond what 
was necessary for this end. 

It was at this time that a group of five 
men met in the Arlington Hotel at Wash- 
ington just five years ago last week, at the 
request of the founder of this institute, to 
consider the question of the establishment 
of an institution to promote research in 
medicine. There could be but one opinion, 
and, at the conference only one was ex- 
pressed, viz., That the most urgent need 
existed and that the time was ripe for the 
foundation of such an institution in «nis 
country. 


1May 11, 1906. 


i) 


Never was a suggestion more warmly 
welcomed nor an offer more heartily appre- 
ciated by the profession and the medical 
press from one end of the country to the 
other. 

To this group of five, two others were 
added a few weeks later, and on June 14, 
1901, the institution was formally inecor- 
porated as The Rockefeller Institute for 
Medical Research, with the seven men re- 
ferred to as its board of directors. They 
were William H. Welch, T. Mitchell Prud- 
den, Christian A. Herter, Theobald Smith, 
Hermann M. Biggs, Simon Flexner and L. 
Emmett Holt. The same board has been 
continued up to the present time. At this 
first meeting a pledge of $200,000 was made 
to the board to be drawn upon at their dis- 
eretion during a period of ten years, it 
being understood that this was for prelim- 
inary work. 

In considering what use should be made 
of the funds placed at its disposal to make 
them immediately productive of some sci- 
entific results, and at the same time to get 
a general view of the field, the board de- 
cided not to centralize work in a single 
place, but to create a number of scholar- 
ships or fellowships to be distributed in 
existing laboratories throughout the coun- 
try. In this way it was hoped several ends 
might be attained: first, to enlist the coop- 
eration of various investigators in different 
places; secondly, to aid some promising 
lines of research which could not be con- 
tinued for lack of funds; and, finally, to 
discover who and where were the persons 
who desired to undertake research work 
and what were their qualifications. 

From a large number of applications re- 
ceived, twenty-three grants were made to 
eighteen different laboratories in this coun- 
try, and three men were sent abroad to 
pursue special investigations, two in Ehr- 
lich’s laboratory in Frankfurt and one in 
Koch’s Institute in Berlin. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 601. 


At the end of the first year’s work, it 
was evident to the directors that while 
much could be accomplished by individual 
workers carrying on their investigations in 
separate laboratories, widely scattered, the 
highest results in research could not be 
secured in this manner. Existing institu- 
tions did not afford adequate facilities for 
many phases of investigation which were 
of the greatest importance. Again, the 
heads of these institutions, although in 
many instances men of great ability, were 
so taken up with their duties as teachers as 
to leave comparatively little of either time 
or energy to devote to research work. It 
was eratifying to find that there were a 


large number of earnest men and women 


in America anxious to devote themselves 
to this branch of science; but it was quite 
clear that very few possessed the breadth 
of education combined with the technical 
training requisite for independent work. 
The directors, therefore, were united in the 
conviction that, although many important 
investigations might be fostered by contin- 
uing the plan of foreign grants, great prog- 
ress was not possible in this way, and that 
this could be secured only by centralizing 
the most important lines of work in a fixed 
place, under a competent head or series of 
heads, and with special equipment. In 
other words, the institute must have a lab- 
oratory of its own with its own staff of 
workers who should devote their entire time 
to research. 

These conclusions and the considerations 
upon which they were based were, there- 
fore, placed before the founder, who at the 
second annual meeting, in June, 1902, made 
another and larger gift to the institute, to 


enable the board of directors to acquire 


land and erect a laboratory building in 
which. to begin the work of organization 
along the broader lines contemplated. 

The first question to be decided was 
where such an institute should be located. 


ee ee er ee 


JuLyY 6, 1906.] 


After due consideration of the advantages 
offered in other cities, New York was unani- 
mously selected as possessing greater ad- 
vantages than were elsewhere to be found 
in America. The next step was to find a 
suitable site; one which should be ade- 
quate, not only to present needs, but for 
future expansion; near enough to the cen- 
ter of the city to be accessible, and yet 
sufficiently removed to secure for its work- 
ers the freedom from needless interrup- 
tions and the quiet necessary for scientific 
pursuits. 

After a prolonged search, the committee 
on site reported in October, 1902, in favor 
of the Schermerhorn property, fronting 
Hast River at East 66th and 67th Streets, 
as meeting to a remarkable degree all the 
requirements. This entire property was 
purchased by Mr. Rockefeller a few months 
later, and a plot comprising twenty-six and 
a half city lots, upon which the present 
building stands, was deeded to the insti- 
tute. Work was immediately begun upon 
plans for a laboratory building. 

The next great question was the choice 
of a scientific director. After looking over 
the entire field in America and Europe, the 
board could find no one possessing the 
qualifications to so high a degree as one of 
its own members, Dr. Simon Flexner, who 
was prevailed upon to resign his position 
as professor of pathology in the University 
of Pennsylvania, and assume the director- 
ship of the scientific work in the new lab- 
oratory. Dr. Flexner began his work July 
1, 1903, and spent the following year in 
Europe, studying various questions con- 
nected with institutions for research, espe- 
cially those of organization, construction 
and equipment. 
nucleus of a library for the institute. 

Highteen months and much careful 
thought were spent in completing the plans 
for the present laboratory building. Dur- 
ing this time five of the directors visited 


He also acquired the 


SCIENCE. 3 


Europe, in order to profit by the experi- 
ence of other institutions of a similar char- 
acter. Final plans were adopted June 13, 
1904; and a few weeks later contracts were 
let, ground was broken for the new build- 
ing and December 3 of the same year the 
cornerstone was laid. 

It was quite clear to the directors that 
it was unwise to delay commencing work 
until the new laboratory was completed. 
It was decided to take steps at once to get 
together a nucleus of a future laboratory 
staff; that it was best that a beginning 
should be made with a small program, a 
few problems, in a small building, so that 
the institute should be in a position for a 
natural organic growth and development 
and avoid the dangers incident to rapid 
expansion. A building at the corner of 
Lexington Avenue and 50th Street was 
leased and fitted up for temporary use. In 
that place, in October, 1904, work was be- 
sun and continued for eighteen months 
until the completion of the new building a 
few weeks ago. 

The staff at first consisted only of the 
director and four other workers. It has, 
however, been gradually increased until, at 
the time of removal, it numbered nine 
persons. 

One of the most difficult problems pre- 
sented to the board has been to secure a 
staff of scientific workers. Heads of lab- 
oratories and their assistants in this coun- 
try are, almost without exception, men 
trained for the work of instruction rather 
than that of investigation. Many applica- 
tions for positions in the institute have 
been received from England, France and 
Germany, but the feeling of the directors 
has been that it was the American type of 
mind, with its genius for practical results, 
that was wanted, and this has made the 
board doubtful as to the wisdom of choos- 


ing European heads for any of its de- 


partments. Many young men and women 


4 SCIENCE. 


were found in this country with evident 
capacity, yet few possessed necessary train- 
ing which should fit them to work inde- 
pendently. With each year’s experience 
the conviction has steadily grown that the 
institute must in large measure train its 
own staff, selecting from the promising 
young applicants such as gave evidence of 
a special fitness and giving them subse- 
quently such training both here and abroad 
as would fit them for their special work. 

To get in close touch with such a class, 
a number of resident scholarships and fel- 
lowships have been created. For these 
thirty-one applications were received dur- 
ing the present year and five have been 
awarded. This plan, if successful, will be 
continued and from this corps, from time 
to time, will be recruited the future work- 
ers of the institute. 

The present organization provides for 
the following departments: pathology, bac- 
teriology, physiological and pathological 
chemistry, physiology, comparative zool- 
ogy. To these it is expected that a depart- 
ment of pharmacology and experimental 
therapeutics will soon be added. 

The fully organized staff will consist of 
a chief director and a head for each of the 
different departments. Each head will 
have his associate and corps of assistants. 
The heads of departments, associates and 
first assistants, it is expected, will constitute 
the permanent staff of the institute. The 
other workers will be less closely attached. 
Besides, there are contemplated scholar- 
ships and fellowships for workers who may 
come for a limited period; and finally, it 
is expected to provide for a limited number 
of voluntary workers who will be given the 
facilities of the institute for working out, 
under supervision, their own problems. 

While the purpose of the institute will 
be research, not instruction, it can not fail 
to exert a considerable influence in medical 
education, since many of those who will 


’ 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 601. 


receive their training within its walls will, 
doubtless, go elsewhere to assume positions 
of responsibility in teaching institutions. 

The present scientific staff consists of 
fourteen persons; the laboratory building, 
when fully equipped, will furnish facili- 
ties for about fifty workers. 

Much work must always be done in the 
fundamental subjects of chemistry, biology, 
physiology and pathology, for upon these 
basic sciences future discoveries in medical 
science must largely rest. While fully 
realizing the importance of these and lib- 
erally providing for them in its laboratory, 
the institute aims at the same time to keep 
close to the practical side, and will en- 
deavor to apply the latest discoveries in 
science to problems connected with the pre- 
vention and cure of disease. In order that 
the greatest good can be accomplished 
along these lines, the board realizes that a 
hospital closely affiliated with the institute 
is indispensable. Only in this way is it 
possible for those who work in the labora- 
tory to appreciate the relation of their re- 
sults to the problems of practical medicine. 
The hospital need not be large, but should 
be fully equipped. Such a hospital it is 
hoped may soon be added to the institute, 
in which the closest kind of scientific study 
may be given to obscure diseased condi- 
tions. 

From the very beginning, the institute 
has sought not to monopolize the field, but 
to cooperate in all possible ways with exist- 
ing agencies for medical research in this 
country. It has cooperated with the Health 
Department of New York in the study of 
the conditions surrounding the production 
and distribution of the milk supply of the 
city, and the effects of milk upon the health 
of the children in the tenements; also with 
the commission appointed by the city in 
1904, to study the prevalence of the acute 
respiratory diseases, and with that appoint- 
ed in 1905 to investigate cerebro-spinal 


JuLY 6, 1906.] 


meningitis. It has united with Harvard 
University in sending a man to Manila to 
study certain phases of smallpox. With 
the same end in view, also, it has made 
erants each year to assist important in- 
vestigations which were being carried on 
in various places. 

While it has been impossible to aid more 
than a small proportion of the even suit- 
able ones asking for assistance, still an 
average of twenty grants has been made 
each year, and much excellent work done 
which otherwise could not have been under- 
taken. 

With the opening of a central laboratory 
for research in New York, these foreign 
grants will necessarily become a less impor- 
tant part of the work. It is not, however, 
the intention of the institute to discontinue 
them altogether. The board hopes always 
to be ready, with a grant of money or by 
sending a trained man, to assist in the solu- 
tion of any important emergency problem 
which may arise in connection with the 
public health in any part of the country. 

The work done entirely or in part under 
the auspices of the institute and published 
in various scientific journals has been col- 
lected in volumes of reprints; four such 
volumes of about five hundred pages each 
having already been issued, two in 1904 
and two in 1905; a fifth volume is now in 
press. The need of a special organ of pub- 
lication was early felt by the board and in 
1904 negotiations were opened with the 
editor of the Journal of Experimental 
Medicine with a view to transferring its 
control to the institute. This has been 
accomplished. 

In February, 1905, the institute took 
charge of the publication of this journal, 
under whose auspices it has since been is- 
sued. In it are published not only the 
work of the institute, but also other scien- 
tific contributions of a similar nature. 

In the five volumes of reprints appear 


SCIENCE. 5 


137 original papers; they may be classified 


_ under the following heads: There were 50 


papers relating to etiology, or the causation 
of disease; 28 relating to pathology; 12 to 
bacteriology; 22 to physiology; 8 to chem- 
istry; 9 to. toxicology; 7 to experimental 
therapeutics, and 1 to pathological anat- 
omy. 

Among the most important researches 
in point of the attention which has been 
given to them may be mentioned: 21 papers 
upon dysentery and diarrheeal diseases; 
5 papers upon milk; 4 papers upon small- 
pox; 12 upon various pathological condi- 
tions of the blood; 3 upon diabetes; 5 upon 
trypanosomiasis, and 6 upon snake venom. 
The other topics are widely distributed 
over the field of scientific medicine. 

To many, five years may seem a long time 
to be taken up with the work of prelimi- 
nary organization. Many difficulties have 
been encountered and many perplexing 
questions have come up for decision. It 
has been the policy of the board of direct- 
ors to proceed deliberately, and no step 
has been taken until a conviction regarding 
the wisdom of it was practically unan- 
imous. 

To outline the development of an insti- 
tution which should secure the highest pos- 
sible efficiency has been no easy task. 
European models have aided greatly, but 
it was believed that what was needed in 
America was an institution different in 
many important respects from those of 
Europe. While many years will be re- 
quired for the full development of the 
institute, the board has felt that the general 
policy should be reflected from the outset. 
Throughout it has striven to keep con- 
stantly in mind the intention of the 
founder,. expressed in his letter of gift, 
that the trust was to be administered in 
such a way as ‘to accomplish the most for 
humanity and science.’ 


6 SCIENCE. 


The present staff of the institute is com- 
posed of the following persons: 

Department of Pathology and Bacteriology— 
Dr. Simon Flexner, Dr. E. L. Opie, Dr. H. 
Noguchi, Dr. J. E. Sweet, Dr. H. S. Houghton. 

Department of Physiology—Dr. S. J. Meltzer, 
Dr. John Auer. 

Department of Chemistry—Dr. P. A. Levene, 
Dr. W. Beatty. 

Resident Fellows and Scholars—B. F. Terry, 
zoology; R. D. MacLaurin, chemistry; Chas. A. 
Rouiller, chemistry; E. H. Schorer, bacteriology; 
Bertha I. Barker, bacteriology. 


L. Emuetrr Hout. 


THE ENDOWMENT OF RESEARCH. 


THE support of hospitals has always made 
a strong appeal to the philanthropy of the 
state and of individual citizens, and the 
importance to the community of educated 
physicians has been appreciated, although 
in this country until recent years most in- 
adequately, but the recognition of medical 
science as a rewarding object of public and 
private endowment is almost wholly the re- 
sult of discoveries in this department of 
knowledge made during the last quarter of 
a century. An eloquent witness to the 
awakening of this enlightened and _ bene- 
ficent sentiment is the establishment, in 
1901, of the Rockefeller Institute for Med- 
ical Research with its laboratories formally 
opened to-day. 

While the scientifie study of infectious 
diseases is, of course, not of recent origin 
and had been pursued as a part of the 
functions of health departments and of 
university laboratories of hygiene and of 
pathology, the first provision of a special 
laboratory for this purpose was made by 
the German government in 1880, in the 
Imperial Health Office in Berlin, and to the 
directorship of this laboratory was called 
from his country practise Robert Koch, 
who four years before had startled the 
scientific world by his memorable investiga- 
tions of anthrax. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 601. 


The supremacy of Germany in science 
is due above all to its laboratories, and no 
more fruitful record of scientific discov- 
eries within the same space of time can be 
found than that afforded by this laboratory 
during Koch’s connection with it, from 
1880 to 1885. Thence issued in rapid suc- 
cession, the description of those technical 
procedures which constitute the foundation 
of practical bacteriology and have been the 
chief instruments of all subsequent discov- 
eries in this field, the determination of cor- 
rect principles and methods of disinfection, 
and the announcement of such epochal dis- 
coveries as the causative germs of tubercu- 
losis—doubtless the greatest discovery in 
this domain—of typhoid fever, diphtheria, 
cholera, with careful study of their prop- 
erties. 

The leading representative, however, of 
the independent laboratory devoted to 
medical science is the Pasteur Institute in 
Paris, founded in 1886, and opened in 
1888. The circumstances which led to the 
foundation of this institute made probably 
a stronger appeal to popular sympathy and 
support than any others which have ever 
occurred in the history of medicine. 

There stood in the first place, the per- 
sonality and the work of that great genius, 
Louis Pasteur, of noble and lovable char- 
acter, one of the greatest benefactors of 
his kind the world has known, who for 
forty years had been engaged, often under 
adverse conditions, in investigations which 
combined the highest scientific interest with 
important industrial and humanitarian ap- 
plications. Pasteur’s revelation of the 
world of microscopic organisms in our en- 
vironment—the air, the water and the soil 
—and his demonstration of their relation 
to the processes of fermentation and putre- 
faction, had led Lister in the late sixties, 
even before anything was definitely known 
of the causative agency of bacteria in hu- 
man diseases, to make the first and most 


JuLy 6, 1906.] 


important application of bacteriology to 
the prevention of disease by the introduc- 
tion of the principles of antiseptic surgery, 
whereby untold thousands of human lives 
have been saved. 

In 1880, came the most momentous of 
Pasteur’s contributions to medical science 
and art in the introduction of the method 
of active immunization by the use of the 
living parasites of the disease attenuated 
in virulence, a method which until this 
date had remained without further appli- 
cation since its employment by Edward 
Jenner in 1796 in vaccinating against 
smallpox. Pasteur’s researches in this 
field of immunity, marvelous in their orig- 
inality, ingenuity and fertility of resource, 
culminated in 1885 in the announcement 
of his successful method of protective in- 
oculation against that dread disease, rabies, 
and most of those here present will recall 
the enthusiasm with which this great 
triumph of experimental medicine was 
hailed throughout the civilized world. 

It was under the immediate impression 
and the incentive of this discovery, and 
as a mark of gratitude to Pasteur, that 
over two and one half million franes were 
raised within a short time by international 
subseription for the construction and en- 
dowment of an institute to bear his name, 
where the Pasteur treatment was to be 
carried out and ample facilities afforded 
for investigations of microorganisms and 
the problems of infectious diseases. This 
model institute, much enlarged since its 
foundation and after the death of Pasteur 
under the directorship, first of Duclaux, 
and now of Roux, and in one of its most 
important divisions, of Metchnikoff,. has 
been a fruitful center of productive research 
and through its contributions to knowledge 
affords a signal illustration of the benefits 
to science and to humanity of the endow- 
ment of laboratories for the advancement 
of medical science. 


SCIENCE. ii 


It was under much the same influences 
that the important Imperial Institute for 
Experimental Medicine in St. Petersburg, 
with even wider scope than the Pasteur In- 
stitute, was founded and munificently en- 
dowed by Prince Alexander of Oldenburg 
in 1890. 

In the following year the Prussian goy- 
ernment established in Berlin, under the 
directorship of Professor Koch, the ad- 
mirably organized and equipped Institute 
for Infectious Diseases, to which is at- 
tached, as to the Pasteur Institute, a hos- 
pital for infectious diseases. This and the 
excellent Institute for Experimental Thera- 
peuties, in Frankfort, under Professor 
Ehrlch’s direction, founded also by the 
Prussian government in 1896, are unsur- 
passed in their scientific activities and in 
the number and value of their contribu- 
tions to our knowledge of infection and 
immunity. 

In 1891, was founded in London the 
British, later the Jenner, and now the 
Lister, Institute of Preventive Medicine, 
designed to be a national institute similar 
in character and purpose to the Institut 
Pasteur, in Paris. The funds were con- 
tributed by the public, and subsequently 
increased by Lord Iveagh’s generous gift 
of two hundred and fifty thousand pounds. 

Within less than a year after the founda- 
tion of the Rockefeller Institute for Med- 
ical Research, the Memorial Institute for 
Infectious Diseases was founded in Chi- 
eago, by Mr. and Mrs. Harold F. McCor- 
mick, and placed under the capable direc- 
tion of Professor Hektoen. 

The Institute for the Study, Treatment 
and Prevention of Tuberculosis, which 
bears the name of its beneficent founder, 
Henry Phipps, was incorporated in Phila- 
delphia in 1903, and, while devoted to a 
single disease, it must be ranked among 
those of wide scope, when we consider the 
magnitude and surpassing importance of 


8 SCIENCE. 


the problems pertaining to this disease. 

It may also be noted that the Carnegie 
Institution in Washington, with its un- 
equaled endowment of ten million dollars, 
includes within its scope the support of 
biological and chemical investigations of 
creat importance to medical science, so 
that our country now stands in line with 
Germany, France and Great Britain in the 
opportunities afforded for research in 
medical and other sciences. 

These various institutions have been men- 
tioned as typifying the general aims and 
character of the Rockefeller Institute for 
Medical Research, rather than to afford any 
eomplete picture of the material aid now 
available for the advancement of scientific 
medicine. If the latter were the purpose, 
it would be necessary to travel far afield 
so as to include independent medical labo- 
ratories of more restricted scope, such as 
those for the study of cancer, the labora- 
tories connected with departments of 
health, so well exemplified in our own 
country by those of the state board of 
health of Massachusetts, and of the de- 
partment of health of the city of New 
York, hospitals and the laboratories con- 
nected with them, the medical laboratories 
of the universities and medical schools, 
such as the Thompson Yates and Johnston 
laboratories in Liverpool, and the splendid 
new laboratories of the Harvard Medical 
School, laboratories established in recent 
years for the study of tropical diseases, 
such as our government laboratories in 
Manila, and funds available for special 
erants to investigators. 

Impressive and encouraging as is this 
remarkable growth within recent years of 
laboratories devoted to the medical sciences, 
no one who has any knowledge of the vast 
field to be covered, of the difficulty and 
complexity of the problems, of the expendi- 
ture of money required, and of the returns 
in inereased knowledge and benefits to 


[N. S. Von. XXIV. No. 601. 


mankind which have been attained and 
which may be expected in increasing meas- 
ure, can for a moment suppose that the 


existing opportunities, considerable as they 


are, are adequate to meet the present and 
the future needs of scientific medicine. 

_ és I have already stated, the wider rec- 
ognition of medical science as a rewarding 
object of endowment is a result of dis- 
coveries made during the last quarter of a 
century, and it is of interest to inquire 
why this increased knowledge should have 
borne such abundant fruit. The result is 
not due to any change in the ultimate aims 
of medicine, which have always been what 
they are to-day and will remain, the pre- 
vention and the cure of disease, nor to the 
application to the solution of medical prob- 
lems of any higher intellectual ability and 
skill, than were possessed by physicians of 
past generations, nor to the growth of the 
scientific spirit, nor to the mere fact of a 
ereat scientific advance in medicine, for 
the most important contribution ever made 
to our understanding of the processes of 
disease was the discovery by Virchow, in 
the middle of the last century, of the prin- 
ciples and facts of cellular pathology, the 
foundation of modern pathology. 

The awakening of this wider public in- 
terest in scientific medicine is attributable 
mainly to the opening of new paths of in- 
vestigation which have led to a deeper and 
more helpful insight into the nature and 
the modes of prevention of a group of dis- 
eases—the infectious diseases—which stand 
in a more definite and intimate relation to 
the social, moral and physical well-bemg 
of mankind than any other class of dis- 
eases. The problems of infection which 
have been solved, and kindred ones which 
sive promise of solution, are among the 
most important relating to human society. 
The dangers arising from the spread of 
contagious and other infectious diseases, 
threaten, not the individual only, but in- 


Juty 6, 1906.] 


dustrial life and the whole fabric of 
modern society. Not medicine only, but 
all the forces of society are needed to com- 
bat these dangers, and the agencies which 
furnish the knowledge and the weapons 
for this warfare, are among the most 
powerful for the improvement of human 
society. 

Great as was the material, intellectual 
and social progress of the world during 
the past century, there is no advance which 
compares in its influence upon the happi- 
ness of mankind with the increased power 
to lessen physical suffering from disease 
and accident, and to control the spread of 
pestilential diseases. Were we to-day as 
helpless as the physicians of past centuries 
in the face of plague, smallpox, typhus 
fever, cholera, yellow fever and other 
epidemic diseases, even if the existence of 
our modern crowded cities were possible, 
which may be doubted, the people would sit 
continually in the shadow of death. Great 
industrial activities of modern times, ef- 
forts to colonize and to reclaim for civil- 
ization vast tropical regions, the immense 
undertaking to construct the Panama 
Canal, are all in the first instance de- 
pendent upon the successful application to 
sanitary problems of knowledge, much of it 
gained in recent years, concerning the 
causation and propagation of epidemic and 
endemic diseases. 

And yet probably a fair measure of the 
general realization of these facts is the 
provision by Congress that of the seven 
members of the Isthmian Canal Commis- 
sion, four shall be engineers without a word 
concerning a sanitarian on the commission. 
There could hardly be a more impressive 
opportunity to demonstrate to the world the 
practical value of our new knowledge con- 
cerning the mode of conveyance of malaria 
and yellow fever, the two great scourges 
of Panama, than that afforded by the dig- 
ging of the Isthmian Canal. The sanitary 


SCIENCE. 9 


problem is not surpassed in difficulty by 
the engineering problem, but we may feel 
reasonable assurance that with the sanitary 
control in hands as trained and capable as 
those of Colonel Gorgas, the ghastly experi- 
ences of the old French Panama Canal 
Company and in the construction of the 
railway will not be repeated. 

To comprehend fully the degree and the 
character of the progress of modern medi- 
cine requires a kind of knowledge and a 
breadth of vision not’ possessed by the aver- 
age man. He is concerned mainly with 
the prompt relief of his own ailments or 
those of his family. Of the triumphs of 
preventive medicine he knows little or 
nothing. With such dull matters as the 
decline in the death rate by one half, and 
the increase in the expectation of life by 
ten or twelve years during the last cen- 
tury, he does not concern himself. He 
takes no account of the many perils which 
have been removed from his pathway since 
his birth, and indeed at the time of his 
birth, nor does he know that had he lived 
a little over a century ago and survived 
these perils, he would probably be marked 
with smallpox. 

While it is true that in the relief of phys- 
ical suffering and in the treatment of dis- 
ease and accident the progress has been 
great and the physician and the surgeon 
can do more, far more to-day than was pos- 
sible to his predecessors, and while im- 
provement in this direction must always be 
a chief aim of medicine, still it is in the 
prevention of disease that the most bril- 
hant advances have been made. The one 
line of progress, that with which the daily 
work of the physician is concerned, affects 
the individual, the unit; the other, like all 
the greater movements in evolution, affects 
the race. It has been argued, with a cer- 
tain measure of plausibility, that the inter- 
ference with the law of the survival of 
the fittest, assumed to be a result of the 


10 SCIENCE. 


suecess of preventive medicine, will bring 
about deterioration of the race. I believe 
the argument to be fallacious, and that we 
already have sufficient experience to show 
that there need be no serious apprehension 
of such a result. 

Before some accurate knowledge of the 
causation of infectious diseases was Se- 
cured, preventive medicine was a blunder- 
ing science, not, however, without its one 
great victory of vaccination against small- 
pox, whereby one of the greatest scourges 
of mankind can be controlled and could be 
eradicated, if the measure were universally 
and efficiently applied. The establishment 
upon a firm foundation of the germ doc- 
trine of infectious diseases, the discovery 
of the parasitic organisms of many of 
these diseases, the determination by experi- 
ment of the mode of spread of certain 
others, and the experimental studies of in- 
fection and immunity, have transformed 
the face of modern medicine. The recogni- 
tion, the forecasting, the comprehension of 
the symptoms and lesions, the treatment 
of a large number of infectious diseases, 
have all been illuminated and furthered, 
but the boon of supreme import to the 
human race has been the lesson that these 
diseases are preventable. 

Typhus fever, once wide-spread, and of 
all diseases the most dependent upon filth 
and overcrowding, has fled to obscure, un- 
sanitary corners of the world before the 
face of modern sanitation. 

In consequence of the knowledge gained 
by Robert Koch and his coworkers, Asiatic 
cholera, to the modern world the great rep- 
resentative of a devastating epidemic, will 
never again pursue its periodical, pandemic 
journey around the world, even should it 
make a start. 

Of bubonic plague, the most dreaded of 
all pestilences, which disappeared mysteri- 
ously from the civilized world over two 
centuries ago, we know the germ and the 


[N. 8. Voz. XXIV. No. 601. 


manner of propagation, and, although it 
has ravaged India for the last ten years 
with appalling severity, it can be and has 
been arrested in its spread when suitable 
measures of prevention are promptly ap- 
pled. 

Typhoid fever, the most important in- 
dex of the general sanitary conditions of 
towns and cities, has been made practically 
to disappear from a number of cities where 
it formerly prevailed. That this disease 
is still so prevalent in many rural and 
urban districts of this country, is due to 
a disgraceful neglect of well-known meas- 
ures of sanitation. 

To Major Walter Reed and his colleagues 
of the army commission, this country and 
our neighbors to the south owe an inesti- 
mable debt of gratitude for the discovery of 
the mode of conveyance of yellow fever by 
a species of mosquito. On the basis of 
this knowledge, the disease, which has been 
long such a menace to lives and commercial 
interests in our southern states, has been 
eradicated from Cuba, and ean be con- 
trolled elsewhere. 

Another army surgeon, Major Ross, act- 
ing upon the suggestion of Sir Patrick 
Manson, had previously demonstrated a 
similar mode of incubation and transporta- 
tion of the parasite of malaria, discovered 
by Laveran, and it is now possible to at- 
tack intelligently and in many localities, 
as has already been proven, with good 
promise of success, the serious problem of 
checking or even eradicating a disease 
which renders many parts of the world al- 
most uninhabitable by the Caucasian race 
and, even where less severe, hinders, as does 
no other disease, intellectual and industrial 
activities of the inhabitants. It is gratify- 
ing that one of our countrymen and a mem- 
ber of the board of directors of this insti- 
tute, Dr. Theobald Smith, by his investiga- 
tions of Texas cattle fever, led the way in 


* 
A 


OM 2 eS eee 


JuLY 6, 1906.] 


the discovery of the propagation of this 
class of disease through an insect host. 

The deepest impress which has been 
made upon the average death rate of cities 
has been in the reduction of infant mortal- 
ity through a better understanding of its 
eauses. The Rockefeller Institute, by the 
investigations which it has supported of 
the questions of clean milk and of the 
causes of the summer diarrhceas of infants, 
has already made important contributions 
to this subject, which have borne good fruit 
in this city and elsewhere. 

No outcome of the modern science of 
bacteriology has made a more profound im- 
pression upon the medical profession and 
the public, or comes into closer relation to 
medical practise than Behring’s discovery 
of the treatment of diphtheria by antitoxic 
serum, whereby in the last twelve years the 
mortality from this disease has been re- 
duced to nearly one fifth of the former 
rate. 

The most stupendous task to which the 
medical profession has ever put its hands 
is the crusade against tuberculosis, whose 
preeminence as the leading cause of death 
in all communities is already threatened. 
Sufficient knowledge of the causation and 
mode of spread of this disease has been 
gained within the last quarter of a century, 
to bring within the possible bounds of real- 
ization the hopes of even the most en- 
thusiastic, but it will require a long time, 
much patience and a combination of all 
the forces of society, medical, legislative, 
educational, philanthropic, sociological, to 
attain this goal. 

Time forbids further rehearsal, even 
in this meager and fragmentary fashion, 
of the victories of preventive medicine. 
Enough has been said to make clear that 
man’s power over disease has been greatly 
increased in these latter days. But great 
and rapid as the progress has been, it is 
small in comparison with what remains to 


SCIENCE. Ts 


be done. The new fields which have been 
opened have been explored only in rela- 
tively small part. There still remain im- 
portant infectious diseases whose secrets 
have not been unlocked. Even with some 
whose causative agents are known, notably 
pneumonia and other acute respiratory 
affections, and epidemic meningitis, very 
little has yet been achieved by way of pre- 
vention. The domain of artificial im- 
munity and of the treatment of infections 
by specific sera and vaccines, so auspi- 
ciously opened by Pasteur and by Behring, 
is still full of difficult problems, the solu- 
tion of which may be of immense service 
in the warfare against disease. Of the 
cause of cancer and other malignant tu- 
mors nothing is known, although many 
workers with considerable resources at their 
disposal are engaged in its study. With 
the change in the incidence of disease, due 
at least in large part to the repression of 
the infections of early life, increased im- 
portance attaches to the study of the circeu- 
latory, renal and nervous diseases of later 
life, of whose underlying causes we are 
very imperfectly informed. There are and 
will arise medical problems enough of 
supreme importance to inspire workers for 
generations to come and to make demands 
upon all available resources. 

In directing attention, as I have done, 
to some of the practical results of scientific 
discovery in medicine, and in indicating 
certain of the important problems awaiting 
solution, there is always the danger of giv- 
ing to those unfamiliar with the methods 
and history of such discovery a false im- 
pression of the way in which progress in 
scientific knowledge has been secured and 
is to be expected. The final victory is 
rarely the result of an immediate and direct 
onslaught upon the position ultimately se- 
eured. The advance has been by many 
and devious and gradual steps, leading 
often, it might appear, in quite different 


120) SCIENCE. 


directions, and mounted more frequently 
than not to secure a wider prospect, but 
without any thought of the final goal. The 
army contains a multitude of recruits 
drawn from the most various fields, the 
biologist, the chemist, the physiologist con- 
tributing their share to medical triumphs 
just as truly as the pathologist, the bac- 
teriologist, the hygienist, the clinician. 
The inspiration has been the search for 
truth and joy in the search far more than 
any utilitarian motive. In the fullness of 
time comes the great achievement; the 
leader is hailed, but he stands upon the 
shoulders of a multitude of predecessors 
whose contributions to the result are often 
lost from view. 

In full recognition of the dependence of 
success in the warfare with disease upon 
increase of knowledge, the Rockefeller In- 
stitute for Medical Research was founded 
by the enlightened munificence of Mr. John 
D. Rockefeller, to whom we make grateful 
acknowledgment. Likewise to the broad 
sympathies and active interest of his son, 
Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., the origin 
and development of this institution are 
largely indebted. 

What has already been accomplished, as 
well as the general scope and aims of the 
institute, have just been concisely indicated 
to you by Dr. Holt. My purpose has been 
to show, although of necessity most inade- 
quately, that these aims relate to matters 
of the highest significance to human so- 
ciety, that the present state of medical 
science and art requires large resources for 
its advancement, and that the returns in 
benefits to mankind have been and will con- 
tinue to be great out of all proportion to 
the money expended. 

May the hopes of the founder and of 
those who have planned this institute be 
abundantly fulfilled! May it contribute 
largely to the advancement of knowledge, 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 601. 


and may the streams of knowledge which 
flow from it be ‘for the healing of the 
nations.’ 

WiutiAm H. WELCH. 


It seems to me significant that this home 
of scientific research is placed amid the 
teeming population of a great city. Sci- 
ence has for its end service, and there will 
be no quicker or more useful application 
of the discoveries made here than among 
the tens of thousands who live just outside 
these walls. 

In no way has knowledge more com- 
pletely revealed its power than in the tri- 
umphs of modern engineering and of mod- 
ern medicine. Engineering and medicine 
have conspired together to make human 
life pleasanter and happier, and to relieve 
it from a large amount of suffering and 
pain. The transmission of energy over 
long distances and in new forms and the 
discoveries of the modern pathologists have 
changed the conditions and even the aspect 
of life more than we realize. 

These buildings are dedicated to the re- 
lief of human disease and human suffering 
by the application of scientific method to 
the study of a conerete body of facts. 
They will exert their influence in three 
ways: they will add to the sum total of 
human knowledge in respect to medicine; 
they will aid in developing a company of 
trained scientific observers; and they will 
help spread abroad in the public mind a 
respect for science and for scientific 
method. Hach of these services is a public 
service, but the last named is perhaps the 
oreatest. 

Pasteur, whose name will often be spoken 
here and always with reverence, understood 
this. In 1870, when his country was 
crushed under overwhelming disaster and 
staggering under blow upon blow, he found 
voice to say that neglect of science and of 
scientific research was a powerful cause of 


JuLy 6, 1906.] 


the moral and the military humiliation of 
France. Said Pasteur: 

France has done nothing to keep up, to propa- 
gate and to develop the progress of science in our 
country. * * * She has lived on her past, think- 
ing herself great by the scientific discoveries to 
which she owed her material prosperity, but not 
perceiving that she was imprudently allowing the 
sources of those discoveries to become dry. * * * 
While Germany was multiplying her universities, 
establishing between them the most salutary 
emulation, bestowing honors and consideration on 
the masters and doctors, creating vast labora- 
tories amply supplied with the most perfect in- 
struments, France enervated by evolutions, ever 
seeking vainly for the best form of government, 
was giving but careless attention to her establish- 
ments for higher education. 

Each year shows more clearly how true 
this view is, and how fully it applies to the 
triumphs both of peace and of war. Japan 
has even more profoundly impressed the 
world by her knowledge of scientific fact 
and by her rigid application of that knowl- 
edge than by the valor and military skill 
of her soldiers and sailors. No people are 
more in need than our own of learning the 
all-important lesson that the modern Ger- 
mans and the modern Japanese have to 
teach. Respect for the man who knows and 
loyalty to demonstrated truth are char- 
acteristics of civilization that is founded 
on rock. Our American happy-go-lucky, 
wasteful way of approaching a serious 
problem, our naive egotism and our exalta- 
tion of the man who does things, no matter 
how, must sooner or later give way to more 
patient study, to more respect for the ex- 
perience and wisdom of other countries 
than our own, and to more regard for cor- 
rectness and sound principle, than for a 
superficial costly ‘efficiency,’ if we are to 
hold the place in the world’s esteem for 
which we are rightfully ambitious. 

This institution is to be welcomed, then, 
not alone for what it will do for medicine, 
and not alone for what it will do indirectly 
for the relief of suffering human beings. 


SCIENCE. 13 


It is to be welcomed still more for the les- 
sons it will teach to our public opinion; 
for the guidance it will offer toward a 
juster appreciation of the relations be- 
tween theory and practise, between ob- 
servation and reasoning; and for the as- 
surance it affords that generous support is 
to be had in this dear country of ours from 
men of affairs for research of the highest 
and most severe type. 

Of the subjects with which the institute 
is to deal, when we reflect upon their va- 
riety, their far-reaching importance and 
their manifold relationships, can we say 


less than Faraday once wrote to Tyndall: 

Our subjects are so glorious that to work at 
them rejoices and encourages the feeblest, delights 
and enchants the strongest. 


NicHoutas Murray BUTLER. 


THE educated public needs to obtain a 
clearer idea than it now has of scientific 
research, of its objects and results, and of 
the character and capacity of the men who 
devote themselves to it. The educated 
classes have a tolerably accurate concep- 
tion of research in such subjects as history 
including antiquities, economics, philology, 
law and government; for research in these 
subjects relates chiefly to the past, remote 
or near. The public has also been long 
interested in the inventor’s resourceful and 
persevering habit of mind—the inventor 
who is trying to make some new applica- 
tion of acquired knowledge, or to discover 
a new fact or principle which can be put 
to commercial use. But scientific research 
is somewhat different from these other 
kinds of research. It has deep roots in the 
past; but its object is never to demonstrate 
merely what has been done or said, or to 
obtain a monopolistic profit. Invariably 
its object is to extend the boundaries of 
knowledge, and to win new power over 
nature. It is not chiefly concerned to en- 
large records of the past, or to make them 


14 SCIENCE. 


more accurate, but rather to use all the 
powers the past has conferred on the hu- 
man spirit to win new power. ‘The past 
gives the scientific investigator his lever 
and the present his fulerum; but his work 
is to take effect on the future, and is to 
give him or his successors a stronger lever 
and a better placed fulerum. As a rule, 
scientific research is carried on with no 
public observation, and as silently as nature 
elaborates and throws out the mantling 
verdure of spring; but on an exceptional 
occasion like this, and in a country which 
has already reaped great benefits from the 
endowment of institutions of education and 
charity by public-spirited persons, it is 
fitting that the beneficent work of the 
scientific investigator should be accurately 
described, and commended to the favor of 
an enlightened public opinion. 

Let us first consider what mental habits 
and powers the scientific investigator needs 
to have acquired and to keep in exercise, 
or in other words what sort of a mind the 
investigator ought to have. In the first 
place, he needs the faculty and the habit 
of determining and grasping facts, and 
then verifying and digesting them. He 
must next be capable of conceiving hy- 
potheses which will connect his facts, or 
explanations that will group them or ar- 
range them in a series. These hypotheses 
or explanations will come to him as results 
of reflection or of imaginative scheming; 
in the common phrase, ideas will occur to 
him. A preconceived idea may be a great 
power in experimental researches; but the 
inquirer must have the habit of pursuing 
to verification or disproof all such ideas. 
He must test them by new experiments 
contrived for that purpose. He must ex- 
haust all the adverse hypotheses which 
come to his mind. He must always keep 
in the road that leads to truth, although 
he does not know just where the truth lies. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 601. 


If through the play of his imagination he 
gets off the right road, his rigorous experi- 
mentation must bring him back to the safe 
path of the inductive method. He must 
possess patience and reserve, but also en- 
thusiasm and a capacity for eager specula- 
tion. Science has often profited by a sug- 


gestive theory, which was far from being 


true. Indeed, the history of scientific 
progress is full of these profitable theories, 
which have been abandoned one after the 
other; and in all probability the series of 
such theories will prove to be infinite. 
Sometimes theories long forgotten are taken 
up again after the defeat of the later the- 
ories which caused the forgetting of the 
earlier. However it may be in theology, 
it is quite certain that in science there is 
as yet no such thing as final truth. Ac- 
cordingly, investigators in any science need 
an unusual perspicacity or clear-sighted- 
ness in regard to its theories; they need, 
each in his own field, a full knowledge of 
the work already done, and a clear percep- 
tion of the bearings of the most recent dis- 
coveries. This perspicacity is in some 
measure a natural gift; but it is also a 
faculty capable of a high degree of train- 
ing. It sees clearly the approximate truth 
already discovered, and goes forward to 
obtain a closer approximation. 

The general features of scientific re- 
search are similar in all fields, although 
each kind has its peculiar difficulties. The 
field of the individual inquirer need not 
necessarily be wide; although the progress 
of many sciences is often contributory to 
the progress of one, and that investigator 
has a great advantage who is capable of 
seeing clearly the bearings of new discoy- 
eries in kindred sciences on the particular 
inquiry he has in hand. It is all-impor- 
tant, however, in all fields, that the investi- 
gator should be capable of seizing on the 
essential parts of the inquiry—that is, on 


JuLy 6, 1906./ 


its causative elements, rather than on those 
parts which relate to identification, classi- 
fication and nomenclature. The pioneers 
of science, like the pioneers in exploration 
and colonization, must find their way 
through pathless regions. It is only later 
generations that build smooth roads and 
railways for the transportation of inatten- 
tive multitudes where the pioneer trod 
alone and watchful. The investigator must 
be watchful over minor details and for ap- 
parently insignificant differences and simil- 
itudes. He must know how to find his 
elues in trifling circumstances and illusive 
changes of condition. In these days of 
germs and spores, when micro-organisms 
have been proved to be infinitely important 
in the economy of nature, the investigator, 
and especially the biologist, will probably 
have a peculiar conception of the great 
and the small, or the gross and the minute. 
The infinitely little may often seem to him 
of highest importance, his seale of values 
having no connection with spacial magni- 
tude or gravity. On the other hand, the 
investigator must be keen to discern rela- 
tionships among facts—first among facts 
easily classed as kindred, but then among 
facts which to the common mind are un- 
eonnected or disconnected. The intellec- 
tual tastes of the true investigator will 
usually include a liking for the elucidation 
of mysteries, and a liking for new and 
adventurous problems. These tastes are 
manifested by men whose walks of life and 
objects of interest are very different; but 
they are not common tastes, any more than 
the faculties needed in such inquiries are 
common. The scientific investigator wins 
pleasure or satisfaction where most men 
and women would find only vexation and 
futile effort. He finds fascinating what 
most men and women would find repellent. 

After a new discovery has been made, 
another and quite different task awaits the 


SCIENCE. 15 


successful investigator. He desires and 
needs to procure the acceptance of his dis- 
covery by the learned world, and in some 
cases by the commercial world. This is a 
process different from the process of dis- 
covery, and yet kindred. It involves dem- 
onstrations; but these demonstrations re- 
quire a somewhat different sort of imag- 
ining and contriving from that which led 
to the discovery. The discovery was made 
in private; the demonstrations must be 
public. The discovery needed solitary re- 
flection; to procure the acceptance of the 
discovery needs a power of public exposi- 
tion, accompanied by debate and even con- 
troversy. The discovery required indom- 
itable patience and energy in pursuing and 
verifying in rapid succession the concep- 
tions or fancies of genius; the demonstra- 
tion requires skill in discussion, courage in 
accepting public tests, and in taking re- 
sponsibility for risking the property or 
lives of others. 

The history of scientific research amply 
illustrates the stimulating value of con- 
troversy, and the contribution which free 
discussion makes to real progress. Free- 
dom of thought and speech promotes prog- 
ress towards truth in science just as effect- 
ively as it does the gradual attainment of 
truth and justice in government, industries 
and social structure. Time frequently 
shows that both sides were measurably 
right in honest scientific controversies, al- 
though one side win a temporary or even 
an ultimate victory. 

The conditions under which research is 
necessarily performed deprive the investi- 
gators of the stimulus which numbers of 
students give to popular teachers. The 
laboratories of research contain but few 
students; and they are for the most part 
silent and absorbed. Nevertheless, the 
younger investigators have two great satis- 
factions in their work: they follow leaders 


16 SCIENCE. 


with hearty enthusiasm and loyalty, and 
the generous ones among them also main- 
tain a stimulating comradeship with con- 
temporaries in the same fields. Their num- 
ber is very small in all the contemporane- 
ous fields of inquiry put together; but it is 
on this small number that the real prog- 
ress of any nation in the arts and sciences, 
and, therefore, in civilization and happi- 
ness, ultimately depends. Their Herculean 
labors are self-imposed, and they must set 
their own standards of excellence; for so- 
ciety can not supply men capable of super- 
vising, regulating or stimulating them. 
The ordinary grades of public instruction 
ean be supervised and disciplined; but the 
scientific investigator must be a law unto 
himself. The utmost that governments or 
universities can do for him is to provide 
suitable facilities and conditions for his 
work, and to watch for results. 

Among the numerous varieties of scientific 
research such as chemical, physical, physio- 
graphical, astronomical and_ biological, 
medical research occupies a peculiar place. 
While it avails itself to the utmost of all 
the exact weighings and measurings of the 
other natural sciences, it is forced to deal 
with innumerable materials and conditions 
which are complicated and made obscure 
by vital forces. It has to deal with objects 
which are alive and with processes of or- 
ganic growth or change. Its evidence can 
not always be exact; its experiments must 
often be complicated and obscured by vital 
reactions; and its results of highest value 
are often incapable of complete demonstra- 
tion in the mathematical, physical or chem- 
ical sense; because dense shades of igno- 
rance darken the environs of the practical 
result. Thus, preventive measures against 
a familiar and definite disease may succeed, 
while the promoting cause of the disease 
remains unknown, and the method of its 
transmission from one victim to another is 
but imperfectly understood. Vaccination 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 601. 


succeeded when the cause or promoting 
condition of smallpox was unknown. ‘The 
microbe of rabies is unknown, and yet pro- 
tective inoculation against rabies has been 
invented and successfully applied. The 
mere mention of some of the contributory 
inventions and discoveries of the past fifty 


years, such as the principles of fermenta- 


tion, artificial culture solutions, gelatine 
plate cultures, selective cultivation, the 
variety of sterilization conditions for dif- 
ferent organic substances, staining tech- 
nique, immunity through the use of a toxic 
organism that can be cultivated, increasing 
or diminishing at pleasure the virulence 
of a toxic organism, and testing toxins and 
vaccines on living animals, will readily 
satisfy even a sceptical mind that medical 
research has great difficulties of its own to 
encounter in addition to the usual diffi- 
culty of scientific inquiry in general. Bio- 
logical research is, therefore, more arduous 
than physical, chemical or other morganic 
research, because vital processes are diffi- 
cult to observe accurately, and all the con- 
ditions of experimentation are harder to 
control. The medical investigator must 
often fish in troubled waters; and some- 
times he can not find again the promising 
fishing ground he has once visited, because 
unexpected fog prevents him from seeing 
the intersecting bearings of his desired 
ground. 

Again, medical research habitually strives 
to arrive at something beyond abstract 
truth. It seeks to promote public and pri- 
vate safety and happiness, and the material 
welfare of society. Its devotees have in 
mind the discovery of means of remedy- 
ing misery or warding off calamity; and 
they also know that whatever contributes 
to health and longevity in any community 
or nation contributes to its industrial pros- 
perity ; so that they are justified in hoping 
for results from their work which will pro- 
mote human welfare. In short, medical 


JULY 6, 1906.] 


research is research in science which is both 
pure and applied. Some genuine scientists 
affect to despise applied science; and cer- 
tainly it is not discreditable to men of sci- 
ence that they are apt to value discoveries 
which have no popular quality or commer- 
cial utility more highly than those which 
immediately attract the favor of the multi- 
tude by their industrial effects, or by their 
striking novelty combined with intelligibil- 
ity; but all scientists recognize the fact 
that medical research is directly related to 
the largest material interests of the com- 
munity, such as manufacturing, transpor- 
tation, sanitation and the methods of pro- 
viding light, heat and shelter, and of de- 
fending the community against frauds in 
foods, drinks and drugs. Many of its prob- 
lems are economic as well as medical, and 
require in those who study them sound 
judgment in money matters as well as 
knowledge of natural law and skill in sci- 
entific methods of inquiry. Medical re- 
search, therefore, requires in its devotees a 
combination of theoretical power with prac- 
tical power—a capacity for both abstract 
science and applied science. This combina- 
tion is rare but by no means unattainable. 
Indeed, abstruse speculation is almost al- 
ways attractive to masters of the experi- 
mental method. The investigator abso- 
lutely needs a powerful imagination; but 
this imagination must be checked by the 
most rigorous experimentation. 

In spite of the fact that medical re- 
search involves the suffering and death of 
many of the lower animals used for pur- 
poses of study, the work of medical re- 
search is in reality the most humane work 
now done in the world; for its secondary 
objects are to prevent disease in: men and 
animals, to defeat the foes of life, to pre- 
vent the industrial losses due to sickness 
and untimely death among men and do- 
mestic animals, and to lessen the anxieties, 
terrors and actual calamities which impair 


SCIENCE. 17 


or crush out human happiness. The pri- 
mary object in medical research, as indeed 
in all research, is the ascertaining of truth; 
but these secondary objects are ever before 
the mind of the investigator, and through 
them come his greatest satisfactions. These 
satisfactions ought to be shared by men 
who, like the founder of this institute, pro- 
mote medical research by the exercise of 
their sound judgment and good will and 
by their money. 

The achievements of medical research 
since Jenner have been marvelous.  See- 


ing what has been done within a ecen- 


tury to diminish the mental and _ bodily 
sufferings of mankind from smallpox, 
diphtheria, rabies, tuberculosis, malaria, 
yellow fever, puerperal fever and typhoid 
fever, and to give surgery safe access 
to every part of the body, we may 
reasonably believe that equal triumphs, 
and even greater, await it in the future. 
May we not hope that America will con- 
tribute her full share to the progress of 
scientific research, finding no obstacle, but 
rather means of furtherance, in her demo- 
cratic institutions? May not we democrats 
find encouragement in the humble origin 
of Franklin, Faraday and Pasteur, and in 
the contributions democratic America has 
already made to anesthesia, surgery, the 
improvement of public water supplies and 
the control of Texas fever, malaria, puer- 
peral fever and yellow fever? May we not 
reasonably expect our country to produce 
many men like Louis Pasteur’s father, a 
private soldier of the first empire and a 
hard-working tanner? In the dedication 
of his best book the great son said to his 
father: ‘‘The efforts I have devoted to 
these investigations and their predecessors 
are the fruit of thy example and thy 
counsel.’’ Let American parents take that 
sentence to heart! And let all Americans 
reflect on another utterance of this greatest 
of contributors to medical science, this ar- 


18 SCIENCE. 


dent patriot, this independent and indom- 
itable worker, this genuine democrat— 


Pasteur: ‘‘The true democracy is that 


which permits each individual to put forth 
his maximum of effort.’’ 
CHARLES W. HLIOT. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


A College Algebra. By Henry Burcuarp 

Fine. Ginn & Company. 1905. 

The present day is remarkable for its pro- 
duction of large numbers of mathematical 
text-books. In most cases the aim of the 
writers of these books seems to be to convince 
the student that the subject treated is devoid 
of any element of interest, that it possesses 
no logical sequence, and that memory of a 
large assortment of unconnected facts is the 
only requisite for a sound mathematical train- 
ing. One meets with proofs of theorems 
divided into first, second, ete., steps—an obvi- 
ous attempt to burden the memory at the 
expense of the reasoning faculty, and stress 
is laid on the fact that all problems are ‘ easy,’ 


in fact on examination they appear scarcely | 


worth the name of problems. There is not 
the slightest doubt that these harmful books 
are one of the causes of the decrease in mathe- 
matical students at our colleges and univer- 
sities. The books are, unfortunately, given 
a trial somewhere, no matter how bad they 
may be, and one can conceive of no surer way 
of destroying the interest of the young stu- 
dent in the subject. For those who are 
merely general students they are equally de- 
fective. In the forefront of an author’s mind 
should be a desire to develop the reasoning 
faculties. Let us have easy exercises by all 
means, but let us also have exercises which 
will make students think for themselves. Let 
us develop our subject along the easiest se- 
quence, but let us develop it logically. 
Professor Fine’s ‘College Algebra’ is in 
refreshing contrast to such books as I have 
mentioned. He aims at giving an exposition 
at once logical and easy to understand. The 
result is a book that must make the subject 
interesting to the ordinary college student. 
The work is divided into two parts. The first 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 601. 


consists of 78 pages devoted to the ideas at 
the base of the notion of number, a develop- 
ment of those ideas which are associated with 
the names of Cantor, Dedekind and others. 
This difficult subject has been handled by the 
author with conspicuous clearness, and every 
student of it should make himself familiar 
with these first 78 pages. It is questionable, 
however, whether, even with Professor Fine’s 
exposition, it is possible to make this subject 
really understood by a student who is just 
beginning his college algebra course, and pos- 
sibly the author in later editions may decide 
to present this section as a separate book, 
under a separate title. 

The second part, some 500 pages, is con- 
cerned with algebra proper. It is ‘meant to 
contain everything relating to algebra that a 
student is likely to need during his school and 
college course.’ Even this wide ideal is given 
a wide interpretation, and the last chapter, 
Properties of Continuous Functions, is a fit- 
ting introduction to the caleulus. The chap- 
ters on the solution of equations are of special 
interest. The author makes much use of 
graphs, the only way to make clear to the 
student what is implied by the solution of a 
set of equations. It would have been of ad- 
vantage to give a brief account of the gen- 
eralization of the use of graphs to the case of 
three variables, and thus to prepare the mind 
for the idea of a space of more than three 
dimensions. Particularly noteworthy in con- 
nection with graphs is the discussion of in- 
equalities. The idea of a graph as dividing 
the plane into two regions, in one of which 
f(z, y) > 0 in the other < 0, should certainly 
be emphasized in ordinary algebra, before the 
introduction of analytic geometry, as alge- 
braic questions, otherwise unintelligible to the 
learner, become almost intuitive. Observe, 
for instance, the illuminating example on 
page 341. 

The general theory of the solution of equa- 
tions is developed in very effective form; in 
particular the treatment of symmetric equa- 
tions. The important idea is the taking of 
the various simple symmetric functions as 
new auxiliary variables and, after solving for 
these, finding the solutions of a set such as, 


JuLY 6, 1906.] 


for example, xt+y=a, vy=b. Here it 
would be of use to point out that w and y 
are the roots of the quadratic X°—aX +b 
=o, and similarly in the more general ease. 
The chapter on convergence of infinite series 
leaves little to be desired. But the author 
might have given Cauchy’s condensation the- 
orem that under certain conditions 


3S f(n) and 3, ay) 


converge or diverge together. This has been 
used to discuss the well-known case 

Shan t 

nea nF? 
and is fundamental in the construction of 
the De Morgan criteria. The result of § 953 
may well be obtained by comparison with the 
series 

1 

> ne 
and a more useful form is: The series con- 
verges or diverges according as 
Th ( us —1)20. 


n= Un+1 


Dr. Fine has, unfortunately, been com- 
pelled to leave the exponential theorem to the 
last few pages of the book, and it would be 
an advantage if more space could be given to 
it in a later edition. Also the more logical 
development in the indicial, binomial and ex- 
ponential theorems, and that of De Moivre 
would be to first prove that if f(x) is any 
function of x which satisfies f(x) X f(y) = 
f(a@+y), for all values of x and y, then 
f(#) =[fC)]” for all values of x; and then 
to apply this in turn to each of the particular 
theorems. 

The book as a whole is admirably complete, 
and for this reason many parts might with 
advantage be omitted on a first reading. 
These parts could be indicated in some man- 
ner, for example by means of asterisks. 

J. EnpMunp WRicHT. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES, 
THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 
SECTION. 


Tue last regular meeting of the New York 
Section of the American Chemical Society was 


NEW YORK 


SCIENCE. 19 


held at the Chemists’ Club, 108 West Fifty- 
fifth Street, on Friday, June 8. The chair- 
man, Dr. F. D. Dodge, presided. The follow- 
ing papers were read: 


The Chemical Work of the Bureau of Stan- 
dards: W. A. Novss. 

The chemical laboratories of the bureau of 
standards were ready for the beginning of 
work in March, 1905. There are at present 
five chemists working in these laboratories. 

Dr. Stokes and Mr. Cain have been working 
upon the standards of purity for chemical re- 
agents, Good progress has been made in se- 
curing cooperation of the chemical manufac- 
turers in this work, and some progress has 
been made in the laboratory in the develop- 
ment of methods for testing for impurities in 
reagents, especially work of this character has 
been done with methods for determining 
traces of iron and work is being conducted 
upon the common acids and alkalies. 

Dr. Waters has worked chiefly with Dr. 
Wolff upon the purification and testing of 
materials for the preparation of standard elec- 
trical cells. He also carried out last year the 
analysis of the argillaceous limestone which 
was distributed for the purpose of improving 
the analytical methods taught in our colleges 
and universities. 

Dr. Weber has analyzed a sample of sulphide 
ore, a zinc ore, some agricultural samples for 
sulphur and some samples of white metal. 
These have been distributed chiefly among 
technical or agricultural chemists by different 
societies. 

The bureau has taken over the standard 
samples of iron which heretofore have been 
distributed by the American Foundrymen’s 
Association, and very careful analyses of these 
samples were made at the bureau by Mr. Cain. 

Arrangements have been partially completed 
with the American Steel Manufacturers’ Asso- 
ciation for the preparation of a series of 
samples of standard steels of the three types, 
Bessemer, basic open hearth and acid open 
hearth. 

Dr. Noyes has been working on the ratio 


between the atomic weights of oxygen and 


hydrogen, and recently he has taken up, in 


20 SCIENCE, 


conjunction with Dr. Weber, some work upon 
the atomic weight of chlorine. 


Silver Platinum Alloys: J. ¥. THompson and 

Epmunp H. MILuer. 

The authors have investigated the cooling 
curves and micro structure and determined 
the electrical conductivity and specific gravity 
of alloys containing up to 57 per cent. of 
platinum. 

Several series of experiments on the effect 
of parting with nitric or sulphuric acid on 
platinum silver alloys have been run, showing 
(1) that the separation of platinum from 
iridium, gold, etc., in one operation by means 
of alloying with silver and parting in nitric 


acid is impossible, and (2) that analytical 


results on platinum silver alloys based on 
parting with concentrated sulphuric acid are 
incorrect on alloys containing 20 per cent. or 
more of platinum, unless corrected for silver 
retained by the platinum residue. 


Chemical and Physiological Examination of 
the Fruit of Chailletia Toxicaria: F. B. 
Power and F. Turin. 

The Chailletia Toxicaria grows abundantly 
in West Africa and South America, and be- 
longs to the natural order of Chailletiacee. 
It is known in Sierra Leone as ratsbane. It 
contains a poisonous substance which is fre- 
quently used by the natives of the districts 
where it grows for poisoning one another. 

Domestic animals poisoned by it become 
paralyzed in the hind limbs; subsequently the 
fore limbs and chest muscles are also par- 
alyzed, and death results from paralysis of 
the respiratory center. 

The results of the examination of well- 
authenticated material were as follows: 

No alkaloid, cyano-genetic glucoside, or 
soluble proteid, with poisonous properties, 
could be isolated. 

About two per cent. of fat is present in the 
fruit, in which were found (1) oleo-di-stearin, 
of m.p. 438°; (2) phyto-sterol, C,,H,,O, m.p. 
135°-148° (8) stearic and oleic acids; (4) 
small amounts of formic and butyric acids. 

The alcoholic extract, free from fat, yielded 
a resinous mixture (2.5 per cent. of fruit), 


[N. S. Vou. XXIV. No. 601. 


from which nothing erystalline could be ob- 
tained. 

By successive extraction with chloroform, 
ethyl acetate and alcohol it was, however, re- 
solved into products differing in their physi- 
ological action. 

The chloroform extract had a narcotic or 
paralytic effect: the ethyl acetate extract pro- 
duced delirium and convulsions, the alcoholic 
extract was not distinctly toxic. 

The aqueous extract, free from resin and 
tannin, contained much glucose and was ex- 
tremely poisonous. 2 

All attempts to separate the sugar from the 
poison were without result. 

The physiological experiments led to the 
following deductions: (1) The fruit contains 
at least two active principles, one of which 
causes cerebral narcosis, and the other cerebral 
excitation, leading to epileptiform convulsions. 
(2) The poison which causes convulsions is 
very slowly excreted, so that a cumulative 
effect is produced by the administration of a 
series of individually innocuous doses. 


Quinazolines from 4-Amino-1, 8-Xylene: J. 

E. Sincuarr and M. T. Bocrrt. 

The xylidine was converted into its acetyl 
derivative, and this then oxidized to the acet- 
amino isophthalic acid. The latter yielded an 
anthranil when boiled with excess of acetic 
anhydride, and by condensing this anthranil 


with various primary amines, quinazolines 


were obtained carrying a carboxyl group on 
the benzene nucleus. The amines used were 
ammonia, methylamine, ethylamine and ani- 
line. 


Quinazolines from 8-Amino-1, 4-Xylene: J. 

D. Wicern and M. T. Bocsrt. 

By a process similar to that outlined above, 
this xylidine was oxidized to the acetamino 
terephthalic acid, which was then changed to 
the anthranil, and the latter condensed with 
primary amines to quinazolines. The quin- 
azolines thus produced differ from those men- 
tioned above in the location of the carboxyl 
group on the benzene nucleus. The amines 
used were ammonia, methylamine, ethylamine 
and aniline. Other quinazolines were ob- 


JuLy 6, 1906.] 


tained by heating the amino terephthalic acid 
with formamide, urea, etc. 


Condensation with p-Diamino Terephthalre 
Ester: J. M. Neuson and M. T. Bogert. 
p-Diamino terephthalic ester was condensed 

with phenyl isocyanate, phenyl isothiocyanate, 

and with formamide, giving various complex 
heterocycles. From these substances various 
derivatives were prepared and studied, many 
of which were found to be strongly fluorescent. 
Officers of the section for the year 1906-07 
were elected as follows: 
Chairman—A. A. Breneman. 
Vice-chairman—H. C. Sherman. 
Secretary-Treasurer—C. M. Joyce. 


Executive Committee—G. C. Stone, C. H. 
Kiessig, V. Coblentz, D. Woodman. 
18.) Jel Towers 
Secretary. 


THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB. 


On May 23, 1906, the club held a special 
meeting in commemoration of the tenth anni- 
versary of the commencement of work in 
the development of the New York Botanical 
Garden. 

The meeting was held in the lecture hall of 
the museum building at the garden, with 
President Rusby presiding. 

After the election of new members the club 
listened to an illustrated lecture by its presi- 
dent on ‘ The History of Botany in New York 
City,’ 

Dr. Rusby presented a historical sketch of 
the development of botany in the city of New 
York, giving special attention to the history 
of local botanical gardens, of the botanical 
department of Columbia College and of the 
Torrey Botanical Club. The earliest local 
work related to the botanical gardens of Col- 
den, Michaux and Hosack, and to the publica- 
tion of local catalogues and floras. The second 
period was that of text books, manuals and 
other educational works. Out of the associa- 
tions resulting from local work, the Torrey 
Botanical Club developed so gradually that it 
is impossible to fix the date of its actual be- 
ginning. Portraits of its early members were 
exhibited and brief biographical sketches pre- 


SCIENCE. 21 


sented. Out of the activity of the club and 
of the botanical department of Columbia grew 
the demand for a great botanical garden, 
which was satisfied by the establishment of 
the present New York Botanical Garden. The 
contemporary botanical forces at work in the 
city were briefly described, and their most im- 
portant present needs outlined. The com- 
plete address will be published in Jorreya for 
June and July, 1906. 

The lecture was followed by an informal 
reception in the library, and by an inspection 
of the library, laboratories, herbaria and the 
museum exhibits. C. Stuart Gacer, 

Secretary. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS AND SCHOLARSHIP. 


To begin with, and to end with, I have no 
opinions to offer, no theory to defend, no pur- 
pose to dispose of a broad and complicated 
problem with a few general sweeps of rhetorie. 
Without such credentials, I dare not appear 
in public under so weary and worn a topic. 
Intercollegiate athletics has had so much 
talking about it and one must be bold in- 
deed—usually too bold—who ventures more 
mere opinion. On whatever phase of educa- 
tion the organization of contemporary experi- 
ence can yield facts, it is an old and perni- 
cious habit to guide practise by mere opinion. 
On such subjects one man’s opinion is about 
as good as that of another, and neither is 
worth much. The quantity of opinion on the 
subject of football is to the quantity of fact 
in about the same relation as the forty thou- 
sand yelling spectators to the little pile of 
men on the gridiron. My present purpose is 
to contribute a body of facts to one single 
phase of the problem. 

Athletics are denounced in arguments as 
numerous and as varied as those recklessly 
put forth on the other side. On both sides 
of the question we hear some reason and much 
exaggeration, some fact and much opinion. 
Those who oppose football as played last fall 
in American schools and colleges hold that the 
game is injurious to healthful student life on 
account of the large number of injuries re- 


ahs SCIENCE. . IN.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 601. 


ceived in play and practise, on account of ex- 
treme publicity, absurd exaltation of the hero, 
large amounts of money spent, immoral tend- 
encies inherent in the game itself, profes- 
sionalism, and finally because of the harmful 
influences on scholarship. On the last of these 
alleged evils at least, facts are available. 

To aver that trustworthy conclusions on the 
relation of scholarship and athletics can be 
drawn only from hundreds of cases covering 
a number of years would seem a trite observa- 
tion, if one were not daily confronted with 
opinions based on absurdly insufficient data, 
and stoutly maintained. Mrs. A. is perfectly 
sure that all athletics should be abolished, 
because, forsooth, her boy played on a football 
team and failed to pass his examinations. 
Mr. B. regards such an opinion as absurd, 
because he knows of a whole team which failed 
not of promotion. Both are equally firm in 
their opinions and equally regardless of the 
fact that the whole question is a relative one, 
and that general truths can not be established 
by exceptional data. 

It seems, on the other hand, that conclu- 
-sions concerning the effect of athletics on 
scholarship might be creditable if based on 
years of experience, scores of studies, hundreds 


of students and thousands of grades, recorded’ 


by a large number of teachers in several insti- 
tutions. Such conclusions I have gathered 
with great care, and I now offer them for 
what they are worth. 

At Bates College, Lewiston, Me., I exam- 
ined the records in all studies for the past five 
years of the 132 men who have played on the 
baseball and football teams. These records I 
compared with those of all the other male 
students, 620 in number, in all studies for the 
same period. The averages thus reached are 
drawn from 2,030 grades for athletes and 9,320 
grades for others. These grades. were made 
up by twenty-five instructors. The table shows 
that in no year is the difference of rank more 
than eight per cent. or less than four per cent., 
and that the average difference is 5.6 per cent., 
always in favor of the men who have not taken 
part in intercollegiate games. 


BATES COLLEGE. 


Athletes. Non-athletes. 
1900-1901 ......... 77 81 
1901-1902 ......... 75 80 
T9OZ=NGOS i aaa eye 74 80 
1903-1904 ......... 73 79 
1904-1905 ......... 71 79 
LNIEEIRE, S55 4S 5ola.o4 6 74 79.6 
No. of grades....... 2,030 9,320 
No. of men......... 132 620 


For Bowdoin College a similar table has 
just been compiled by students in education 
at that college, showing the ranks attained by 
all students in all courses for the past five 
years. The averages only are here given. 
The first table represents the ranks of all men 
who played regularly on the football and base- 
ball teams; the second table includes the ranks 
of all other students. The averages are se- 
eured from 18,750 individual ranks, represent- 
ing each year the scholarship records of 280 
men. The tables show that each year the 
rank of the baseball and football players was 
lower than that of the other students, the 
difference varying from one per cent. to five 
per cent. For the whole five years the average 
rank of all athletes in all studies was 77.57; 
that of ‘all other students was 80.37. 


BOWDOIN COLLEGE. 


Athletes. 
1899-1900 °00-’01 ’01-’02 ’02-’03 ’03-’04 Aver. 


Seniors 85.2 76.43 79.2 78.14 80. 79.79 
Juniors @Oe 1 (82.1715 OeA Oo Ose Wi Gaeae 
Sophomores 78.67 79.14 77. 71.57 78.5 76.97 
Freshmen 10:3) BAT 78 OO (LO Ose 


Whole college 81.1 79.16 76.68 73.67 77.2 77.57 
Non-athletes. 

Seniors 82.6 81.51 82.09 82.09 84.5 82.5 

Juniors °86. 80.07 79. 79.8 83. 81.51 

Sophomores 82. 79.47 78.20 78.74 79. 79.5 

Freshmen 79.7 81. 75.97 74.98 80.5 82.4 

Whole college 82.05 80.51 78.59 78.88 81.7 80.37 


All the varied secondary schools for which 
I have adequate returns show similar records. 
At Bridgton Academy, a rural school of the 
old type, the ranks for four years show that 
the athletes are one per cent. below the other 
students. At Thomaston, a typical high 
school for small cities, the athletes for four 
years fell three per cent. below the others. 


JULY 6, 1906.] 


At Westbrook Seminary, a private city school, 
the athletes are slightly below the others. At 
Hebron Academy, the largest in Maine, the 
athletes, for a period of three years, fell five 
per cent. below the non-athletes. In all the 
secondary schools for which I have trust- 
worthy records, the athletes fall lower, but 
never more than five per cent. lower, than 
other students. 

These facts regarding the relative scholar- 
ship of athletes and non-athletes cover the 
records of about two thousand students in six 
institutions for five years. The facts were 
gathered by twenty men of varied opinions on 
the question, who were not endeavoring to 
make the figures prove any theory or support 
any opinion. So far as the facts go, they are 
authentic. They overthrow two thirds of the 
@ priort assumptions regarding the excessive 
injury of intercollegiate games to the scholar- 
ship of the men who play. 

WituiamM TRUFANT Foster. 

BowbDoIn COLLEGE, 

BRUNSWICK, MAINE. 


NOTE ON THE YPSILOID APPARATUS OF 
CRYPTOBRANCHUS. 


A DESCRIPTION of this cartilage in a recent 
article by Whipple (‘ The Ypsiloid Apparatus 
of Urodeles,’ Biol. Bull., May, 1906) differs 
radically from the description by Reese (‘ The 
Anatomy of Cryptobranchus, American Nat- 
uralist, April, 1906). According to Whipple 
the cartilage has the typical Y-shape common 
to urodeles, being bifurcated at the anterior 
end; according to Reese it is rod-shaped. 
Having an abundance of material at my dis- 
posal, I examined this apparatus in a number 
of specimens. In every case the cartilage is 
Y-shaped, but with a marked difference in the 
structure of the anterior and posterior regions: 
the posterior portion, forming the stem of the 
Y, consists of a stout rod of cartilage; the 
expanded V-shaped anterior portion is very 
thin. In a dry preparation this thin expanded 
anterior portion would probably shrivel up 
and might be easily detached and hence over- 
looked; the remaining portion would then 
- answer the description given by Reese. It is 


'seum of Art, May, 1906, pp. 1-8. 


SCIENCE. 23 


evident that in its entirety this apparatus has 
the typical urodele form. 
B. G. SmirH. 
ZOOLOGICAY, LABORATORY, 
UNIVERSITY oF MICHIGAN, 
ANN ARporR, MicH. 


A NEWLY-FOUND STONY METEORITE, 


THE writer has received notice from a cor- 
respondent in Alabama of the finding, near 
Selma, in that ‘state, of a heretofore unde- 
scribed meteorite. The mass is reported as 
weighing upwards of 300 pounds, and is of 
Brezina’s kugel chondrite type, much resem- 
bling the well-known stone from Tieschitz, in 
Moravia. It will be known as the Selma, 
Alabama, stone. A detailed description will 
be published later. 

Gro. P. Merritt. 


SPECIAL ARTICLES. 


THE GREAT CATALOGUE AND SCIENTIFIC INVESTI- 
GATION OF THE HEBER R. BISHOP 
COLLECTION OF JADE.” 


THREE years ago, on January 3, 1903, 
it was my sad duty to read before this section 
of the American Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science, at its meeting in Washing- 
ton, a notice of the death of Mr. Heber R. 
Bishop, accompanied by a brief description of 
his remarkable collection of jade objects (see 
Amer. Anthropologist, N. S., Vol. 5, January- 
March, 1903, pp. 111-117). See also the 
Metropolitan Museum Bulletin for May, 1906.’ 

Since that time this magnificent collection, 
which was presented by Mr. Bishop during his 
lifetime to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 
in New York, has been arranged and installed. 
He made a large donation for this purpose, 
and had had prepared and fitted up for its 
suitable exhibition the northeast room on the 
second floor of the new wing of the museum 


Read before the American Association for the 
Advancement of Science, New Orleans meeting, 
December 31, 1905. 

2See the printed catalogue of the Heber R. 
Bishop Collection of Jade. By George F. Kunz. 
Occasional Notes No. 2, Bull. Metropolitan Mu- 
8vo. Three 
illustrations. 


24 SCIENCE. 


building, to be known as Bishop Hall. This 
room he had arranged and decorated by the 
noted firm of Allard Fréres, of Paris, to make 
it the finest example on this continent of the 
style of Louis XV. The collection is here 
placed in some fifteen elegant cases, of gilt 
bronze and plate glass, all in Louis XV. style, 
which with the decorations of the room, illus- 
trate a permanence and richness of material 
never excelled in the time of the artistic 
French monarch himself. 

In my notice before mentioned, reference 
was made to the remarkable volume describing 
this collection, and to the studies and re- 
searches in connection with it provided for 
and sustained by Mr. Bishop. It is a pleasure 
to me to be able to state that at the present 
time the entire edition of this unique work, 
limited to one hundred copies, is not only 
printed but bound. The two copies required 
by law, in order to secure the copyright, are 
already placed in the National Library; and 
by January 2 the whole edition of this sump- 
tuous publication, so valuable from both a 
scientific and an artistic standpoint, will be 
distributed, or at least on its way, to the 
erowned heads and the important public insti- 
tutions that are to receive copies by the terms 
of Mr. Bishop’s will. In no ease will the 
book go to any private individual, and in no 
case will it be sold. 

The two volumes (stately folios)* are print- 
ed on the finest quality of linen paper, and 
weigh respectively 69 and 55 pounds, or 124 
pounds together. They contain 570 pages 
(Vol. L., 277 pp.; Vol. IL., 293 pp.), measuring 
19-15/16 by 26-1/4 inches. There are 150 
full-page illustrations, in the highest style 
of execution—water-color, etching and litho- 
graph, and nearly 300 pen-and-ink sketches 
in the text. In cost, this great work is double 
that of the monumental folio of Audubon’s 
‘Birds of America,’ amounting to about 
$2,000 a copy, and stands alone as perhaps the 
greatest volume ever issued, and certainly the 
greatest catalogue of a collection in any 


*“Catalog and Investigations in Jade,’ pub- 
lished by Heber R. Bishop (folio), New York, 
1906. 


[N. 8. Von. XXIV. No. 601. 


branch of science or art. The total expense 
of 100 copies being $185,000. 

The preparation of this great work was 
made possible by the princely liberality of 
Mr. Bishop, who had planned it fully since 
about 1886. To carry out these plans to their 


_ completion in the final distribution now to be 


made, has taken, therefore, just about twenty 
years. No expense nor care was spared in the 
execution; some thirty scientific men and art 
specialists, both in Europe and America, were 
engaged to contribute their views upon vari- 
ous aspects of the whole subject; and the 
illustrations were prepared in the finest pos- 
sible manner, Chinese and Japanese artists 
being employed to execute many of them, and 
color experts being freely consulted, with the 
supervision of Mr. Bishop himself. 

The catalogue has, moreover, a special value 
from the fact that all the scientific investiga- 
tions described therein were made upon ma- 
terial taken from specimens in the collection 
itself. These studies were in charge of the 
writer, assisted by a number of scientific 
specialists of the highest standing, and deal 
with all the physical properties of the dif- 
ferent varieties of jade. 

A full list of collaborators is as follows: 


Dr. George Frederick Kunz, in charge of the 
mineralogical and archeological articles and de- 
scriptions. 

Dr. Stephen W. Bushell, G.M.G. (Chinese arti- 
cle). 

Dr. Robert Lilley (editor). 

Tadamasa Hayashi (Chinese and Japanese). 

Dr. William Hallock, professor of physics in 
Columbia University, New York. 

Dr. S. L. Penfield, M.A., professor of mineral- 
ogy, Yale University. 

Dr. Henry W. Foote, Sheffield Scientific School 
at Yale University. 

Dr. Joseph P. Iddings, professor of petrology at 
University of Chicago. 

Professor F. W. Clarke, chief chemist, U. S. 
Geological Survey. 

Mr. Ira Harvey Woolson, adjunct professor of 
engineering at Columbia University. 

Mr. Logan Waller Page, expert in charge of 
physical tests, Division of Chemistry, Department 
of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 


JuLY 6, 1906.] 


Dr. Charles Palache, professor of petrography, 
Harvard University. 

Mr. Louis V. Pirsson, professor of petrography, 
Yale University. 

Dr. Henry S. Washington, petrographer. 

Professor L. von Jaczewski, professor of min- 
eralogy and geology at the University of Ekater- 
inoslav, St. Petersburg. 

Herrn Geheimrath Dr. A. B. Meyer, director 
Konigliches Zoologisches und Anthropologisch- 
Ethnographisches Museum, Dresden. 

Herrn Dr. Max Bauer, director Mineralogisches 
Institut der Konigliches Universitét, Marburg 
(Hessen). 

Mr. Robinson, artist. 

Dr. Thomas Wilson, late curator, Division of 
Prehistoric Archeology, Smithsonian Institution, 
U. §. National Museum, Washington. 

Dr. Joseph Edkins, of Shanghai. 

Professor A. Damour, of Paris. 

Dr. Ludwig Leiner, curator of Rosegarten Mu- 
seum, Constance. 

Mrs. Zella Nuttall, Peabody Museum, 
bridge, Mass. 

Miss Eliza Scidmore. 

Dr. F. Berwerth, Mineralogisches Abtheilung, 
Hof Museum, Vienna. 

Ernst Weinschenk, 
petrography at the Mineralogisches 
Munich. 

The Field Columbian Museum, Chicago. 

The Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. 

The Museum of Natural History, New York. 


Cam- 


Professor professor of 


Institut, 


The following French etchers were repre- 
sented: Sulpis, Guerard, Richard, Piquet, 
Le Rat, Coutry and a number of plates by 
Smillie of the United States. 

The lithographs are by Prang & Co., and 
Forbes & Co., of Boston. 

Name of maker of paper, the finest hand- 
made linen paper, especially made by the L. L. 
Brown Paper Co., Adams, Mass. 

Name of printer, Theo. L. De Vinne & Oo., 
Lafayette Place, New York. It is the most 
important work that has ever come from the 
De Vinne press. 

Name of binders, Stikeman & Co., New 
York. Bound in full Levant with exquisite 
tooling. No hundred volumes have ever re- 
ceived such stately bindings of green Levant 
as was produced by Stikeman & Co. 


SCIENCE. 25 


The tools for the decorations by George W. 
De Lacey. 

A series (twelve full-page) of water-color 
sketches of all the processes of working jade 
in every possible manner was made in China 
by Chinese artists. 

The original lithographic color plates were 
laid out on the lines of ‘Gems and Precious 
Stones of North America.’ 

Among great illustrated books there are, 
Audubon’s folio of birds, Svenegrodzkoi, 
‘Byzantine Animals,’ published in Russia, 
Gould’s ‘ Birds of Many Lands,’ the great il- 
lustrated catalogue of Chinese porcelain of 
the Walters collection, issued by Mr. Henry 
Walters, the treasures of Tzarkoe Zelo, by the 
Russian governor, catalogue of the J. P. 
Morgan collection of Oriental porcelains. 
Magnificent as these all are, each in its own 
way, none of them possesses the great variety 
of artistic illustrations as does the great Heber 
R. Bishop catalogue. 

This whole work, from its inception by Mr. 
Bishop in 1886 to the final distribution of the 
volumes, has required about twenty years. 
It is a cause for much satisfaction that the 
enterprise has been so fully and successfully 
completed, along the lines which he laid down; 
but it is also a source of profound regret that 
he could not himself have lived to witness its 
final place. 

This whole cost has been met by the lb- 
erality of Mr. Bishop’s provision, carried out 
by the care and thoughtfulness of his three 
executors, Messrs. Moses Taylor, Frank C. 
Bishop and Alexander James Patterson. 

I must here express my thanks and appre- 
ciation to Mr. Alexander James Patterson, who 
has been untiring in his zeal and carefulness 
throughout the entire carrying out of Mr. 
Bishop’s wishes, both written and unwritten, 
and to whose courtesy I am indebted for many 
of these facts, furnished me for the prepara- 
tion of this article. 

GroRGE FREDERICK KUNz. 


THE ROCK OF THE PELEE OBELISK AND THE CON- 
DITION OF THE VOLCANO IN FEBRUARY, 1906. 
THE measure of doubt which has all along 

attached to the character and constitution of 


26 SCIENCE. 


the rock-mass which built up the great Pelean 
monolith may probably now be considered re- 
moved. A period of many months’ quietude 
into which the voleano has entered has also 
permitted of a closer approach to its center 
theater of activity than has hitherto been pos- 
sible, and given access to parts the study of 
which can now be made directly rather than 
inferentially. The Pelée obelisk exists to-day 
only in its basal wreck, the jagged crest which 
still protrudes in a partially severed connec- 
tion from the summit of the supporting dome, 
and in a wilderness of débris, composed of 
small and giant fragments, which covers much 
of the surface of the dome and fills in a con- 
siderable part of the circumvallating hollow 
(rainure) that separates the dome from the 
bounding wall of the ancient crater-basin. 
On the twenty-seventh of February of this 
year, following an: unusually easy ascent of 
the voleano, I succeeded in gaining the floor 
of the old crater by climbing over the sharp 
aréte of the northeast wall, and was soon 
among the boulder-masses of the destroyed 
obelisk. Fragments from two to three feet 
in diameter to others measuring ten, twenty 
or thirty feet, were everywhere, and they all 
showed practically the same _ construction. 
The rock is a compact, light-gray, and vir- 
tually holocrystalline hypersthene-andesite, 
devoid of vesicles or of any vesicular or ob- 
sidian-like structure, and having a fine-grained 
base. So far as an absolute reference is made 
possible, it seems to belong to Lacroix’s type 
IV. (quartzitic andesites) of the ejected ma- 
terial from the voleano.* Of course, it can 
be that in parts of the débris that are now 
covered up and no longer accessible fragments 
might occur that are more or less vesicular 
or scoriaceous in character, but in the very 
large number of blocks that were examined 
by me and my associate none having this char- 
acter was detected. 

Climbing over the boulders, somewhat in 
the form of stepping-stones, we gained a con- 


1Professor L. V. Pirsson, of the Sheffield Scien- 
tific School, has kindly looked over some of the 
material for me. A more detailed study of the 
rock will be made at a future day. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 601. 


siderable height on the dome itself, passing a 
number of fumarolic vents from which the 
disengagement of vapor was still fairly active. 
Clumps of diminutive fern are now beginning 
to grow about these. The partially free flows 
of lava which enter as ribbed-structures into 
the mass of the dome appear likewise as 
compact andesite. JI may remark here that 
the sound of the falling masses which has 
been likened to that produced by the breaking 
of glass and porcelain, and from which a 
possible vesicular structure was inferred, is 
that given out by the compact andesite. 

As regards the origin and method of forma- 
tion of the extruded andesite monolith, while 
recognizing that the criteria for distinguish- 
ing between a newly-made rock and one of 
ancient date are not necessarily apparent or 
of a nature to yield positive evidence, I have 
no reason to change the view that I have else- 
where expressed’ that it represented an ancient 
plug or core that had been lifted up in the 
manner of the giant granite mass (and 
domite?) of the Puy Chopine, of the Auvergne. 

For the benefit of vulecanologists and seis- 
mologists who are preparing catalogues of 
eruptions and general volcanic disturbances it 
may be proper to add that, despite reports to 
the contrary, Pelée had not been in activity in 
the early part of this year, and it took no part, 
so far as outward appearances were concerned, 


in the events which were associated with the 


earthquakes in St. Lucia and Martinique on 
February 16. The dome in its upper parts is 
still quietly disengaging vapor. 


ANGELO HEILPRIN, 


THH COMMISSION FOR BRAIN INVESTI- 
GATION. 

On May 27 the third meeting of the Com- 
mission for Brain Investigation was held at 
Vienna. This commission is one of several 
established by the International Association 
of Academies and has for its purpose the 
advancement of neurological research, espe- 
cially by the establishment of central insti- 
tutes in the various countries, as well as by 


*In ScreNcE and in my ‘Tower of Pelée.’ 


hi a alee og get Sei 


ee 


sal aN sant n On Tag pene SNe 


JuLY 6, 1906.] 


the coordination of investigations in the field 
of neurology. 

The first session was held in the Imperial 
Academy of Sciences. Professor Waldeyer 
presided and there were present: 

Donaldson (Philadelphia), Ehlers (Géttingen), 
Flechsig (Leipsic), Langley (Cambridge),  v. 
Monakow (Ziirich), Munk (Berlin), Obersteiner 
(Vienna), Retzius (Stockholm). 


The members of the commission unable to 
attend were: 

Bechteren (St. Petersburg), Edinger (Frank- 
furt-am-Main), van Gehuchten (Louvain), Golgi 
(Pavia), Mall (Baltimore), Minot (Boston), 
Ramon y Cajal (Madrid), Raymond (Paris), 
Sherrington (Liverpool). 


The first session was devoted to the further 
organization of the commission and to the 
presentation of reports on the scientific and 
financial resources of the several institutes 
and laboratories there represented. Steps were 
taken also to facilitate intercommunication 
between the various institutes. 

May 28 the second session was held in the 
Neurological Laboratory directed by Professor 
Obersteiner. The commission was enlarged 
by making the number of members from each 
country more nearly representative of the ex- 
tent of the neurological work. 

At the suggestion of Professor Langley a 
committee on the revision of some points in 
the neurological nomenclature was formed, 
with Professor Waldeyer as chairman. 

It was decided to make English, French, 
German or Italian the official language of the 
commission—according to the place of meet- 
ing. 

The commission then adjourned to meet 
three years hence at the call of the academy 
in charge. 


WILLIAM T. SEDGWICK. 
FESTSCHRIFT CELEBRATION. 


TuHurspay, June 14, at the Hotel West- 
minster, Boston, a dinner was given to Pro- 
fessor W. T. Sedgwick, by his former students 
in the biological department of the Massa- 
chusetts Institute of Technology, of which he 
has been the head since 1883. The occasion 


SCIENCE. ya | 


was the twenty-fifth anniversary of the receipt 
of his doctor’s degree from Johns Hopkins 
University. 

Sixty former students of Professor Sedg- 
wick’s at the institute were present, in- 
cluding, among others, Professor E. O. 
Jordan and Professor A. P. Mathews, of 
the University of Chicago; Professor Sey- 
erance Burrage, of Purdue University; 
Professor G. N. Calkins, of Columbia Uni- 
versity, and Messrs. G. W. Fuller, G. C. 
Whipple and Allen Hazen, of New York; 
M. O. Leighton, of the United States Geolog- 
ical Survey; Dr. E. C. Levy, city bacteriolo- 
gist of Richmond, Va.; F. F. Longley, su- 
perintendent of the Washington filter plant; 
W. S. Johnson, of the Massachusetts State 
Board of Health; B. R. Rickards, city bac- 
teriologist of Boston; Dr. Augustus Wads- 
worth, of the College of Physicians and Sur- 
geons, New York; Dr. F. S. Hollis, of the 
Yale Medical School; E. E. Lochridge, engi- 
neer of the Springfield water department; 
Dr. F. W. White, of Boston; Dr. J. A. Rock- 
well, Jr., of Cambridge; Edward G. Gardiner 
and Robert S. Weston, of Boston; Dr. Robert 
P. Bigelow; Professor Theodore Hough, of 
Simmons College; Professor B. E. Stone, of 
Amherst; S. D. Gage, of the Lawrence Ex- 
periment Station, and Professor S. C. Pres- 
cott, Professor C.-E. A. Winslow and Earle 
B. Phelps of the institute. 

There were also present as guests, former 
President D. C. Gilman, of Johns Hopkins 
University; Professor §S. F. Clarke, of 
Williams College; President Henry Lefavour, 
of Simmons College; Dr. L. P. Kinnicutt, of 
the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Dr. 
Francis H. Williams, of the corporation of 
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

Dr. Calkins acted as toastmaster. President 
Gilman, who conferred Professor Sedgwick’s 
doctor’s degree in 1881, and Professor Clarke, 
who was a student with him, spoke of the 
early days of Johns Hopkins University, to 
which the biological department of the Insti- 
tute, through Professor Sedgwick, owes its 
inspiration. Mr. G. W. Fuller, Professor E. 
O. Jordan, Professor A. P. Mathews, Mrs. 


28 SCIENCE. 


Stanley McCormick and Professor C.-E. A. 
Winslow made brief addresses expressing the 
regard and affection of the former students 
of the department for its head. 


The evening closed with a speech by Pro-: 


fessor Sedgwick himself in which he expressed 
his appreciation of the occasion, and spoke of 
his connection with the great university at 
Baltimore and the great technical school in 
Boston, and of the duty which now rests upon 
the biological department of the institute, to 
train men for the conduct of the sanitary 
reforms which are spreading so rapidly all 
over the union. 

The chief event of the occasion was the 
presentation of a volume of biological studies, 
‘dedicated by his pupils to William Thompson 
Sedgwick, to express their regard and admira- 
tion for him as a friend, teacher, investigator 
and public-spirited citizen, and also to affirm 
their loyalty to the ideals for which he has 
always stood.’ The volume, which has been 
prepared in secret and was a complete surprise 
to its recipient, has been published at the 
University of Chicago press under the editor- 
ship of Professor E. O. Jordan. It contains 
nineteen original contributions to biology and 
sanitary science, the authors and titles being 
as follows: 


Gary N. CaLxins: ‘Paramecium aurelia and 
Paramecium caudatum.’ 

Harrison G. Dyar: ‘The Life-History of a 
Cochlidian Moth, Adoneta bicaudata Dyar.’ 

GrorRGE W. FULLER: ‘ Experimental Methods as 
Applied to Water- and Sewage-Works for large 
Communities.’ 

MarsHatt O. Lerenron: ‘The Futility of a 
Sanitary Water Analysis as a Test of Potability.’ 

GrorcE C. WHIPPLE: ‘The Value of a Pure 
Water.’ 

A. P. Matnews: ‘A Contribution to the Gen- 
eral Principles of the Pharmacodynamics of Salts 
and Drugs.’ 

Percy G. STILES and Cart S. MinurKken: ‘ An 
Instance of the Apparent Antitoxiec Action of 
Salts.’ 

Epwin O. Jorpan: ‘Experiments with Bac- 
terial Enzymes.’ 

C.-K. A. WINSLow and ANNE F. Rocrers: ‘A 
Statistical Study of Generic Characters in the 
Coceacez.’ 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 601. 


SAMUEL C. Prescorr: ‘The Occurrence of Or- 

ganisms of Sanitary Significance on Grains.’ 
- SrepHEN DEM. Gace: ‘A Study of the Numbers 
of Bacteria Developing at Different Temperatures 
and of the Ratios between Such Numbers with 
Reference to Their Significance in the Interpre- 
tation of Water Analysis.’ 

C.-E. A. Winstow and E. E. Locuripce: ‘The 
Toxie Effect of Certain Acids upon Typhoid and 
Colon Bacilli in Relation to the Degree of Their 
Dissociation.’ 

Earte B. Pueups: ‘The Inhibiting Effect of 
Certain Organic Substances upon the Germicidal 
Action of Copper Sulphate.’ 

DanieL D. Jackson: ‘A New Solution for the 
Presumptive Test for Bacillus Coli.’ 

Henry S. Ayers: ‘B. Coli in Market Oysters.’ 

AvuGUSTUS WADSWORTH: ‘Studies on Simple 
and Differential Methods of Staining Encapsu- 
lated Pneumococci in Smear and Section.’ 

Artuur I. Kenpaui: ‘An Apparatus for Test- 
ing the Value of Fumigating Agents.’ 

THEODORE HoucH and Ciara HE. Ham: ‘The 
Effect of Subcutaneous Injections of Water, Ring- 
ers Fluid, and Ten Per Cent. Solution of Ethyl 
Alcohol upon the Course of Fatigue in the Ex- 
cised Muscles of the Frog.’ 

Burt R. Rickarps: ‘ Notes on a Case of Ap- 
parent Pulmonary Tuberculosis Associated with 
the Constant Presence of Diphtheria-Like Organ- 
isms in the Sputum.’ 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


Yate University has conferred the degree 
of doctor of science on Professor Henry H. 
Donaldson, head of the department of neurol- 
ogy of the Wistar Institute of Anatomy, of 
the University of Pennsylvania, and on Dr. 
Francis Bacon, professor of surgery in the 
Yale Medical School; and the degree of doe- 
tor of laws on Dr. William W. Keen, pro- 
fessor of surgery at Jefferson Medical College, 
Philadelphia. 


AMUERST COLLEGE conferred its doctorate 
of science on Dr. James Furman Kemp, pro- 
fessor of geology at Columbia University, and 
its doctorate of laws on Dr. Walter F. Will- 
cox, professor of political economy and sta- 
tisties at Cornell University. 

WesLeyan University has conferred the de- 


gree of doctor of science on Dr. Ch. Wardell 
Stiles, of the Public Health and Marine Hos- 


JuLy 6, 1906.] 


pital Service; on Edward Dennett Rowe, of 
the National Bureau of Standards, and on 
Dr. A. C. True, of the Office of Experiment 
Stations, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 


Harvarp University has conferred its doc- 
torate of laws on Professor G. H. Palmer, 
professor of ethics at the university. 

At the recent commencement of the Uni- 
versity of Michigan the honorary degree of 
doctor of science was conferred upon Professor 
William A. Locy, of Northwestern University. 

Proressor Ernest RutHerrorp has received 
the degree of doctor of laws from the Univer- 
sity of Wisconsin. 

DartMoutTH CoLLEGE has conferred the de- 
gree of doctor of science on Dr. Warren 
Upham, librarian of the Minnesota Historical 
Society. 

Me. F. C. S. Scumuer, tutor at Corpus 
Christi College, has received the degree of 
D.Se. from Oxford University. 


Tue University of Dublin will confer the 
honorary degree of Se.D. on Colonel David 
Bruce, C.B., professor of tropical medicine at 
the Army Medical College; Professor J. H. 
Poincaré, professor of mathematics and as- 
tronomy at the Sorbonne; Mr. EK. T. Whit- 
taker, F.R.S., fellow of Trinity College, Cam- 
bridge, astronomer royal of Ireland; and Dr. 
A. E. Wright, F.R.S., pathologist and bac- 
teriologist at St. Mary’s Hospital, London. 


THE University of Manchester will confer 
the degree of D.Sc. on Dr. Emil Fischer, pro- 
fessor of organic chemistry in the University 
of Berlin, and on Dr. Adolf von Baeyer, pro- 
fessor of organic chemistry in the University 
of Munich. 


Proressor Stuon Newcoms has been elected 
a member of the board of overseers of Har- 
vard College. 


Dr. Wm. McMurtrin, vice-president of the 
American Association for the Advancement of 
Science in 1895 and president of the American 
Chemical Society in 1900, has been elected a 
trustee of Lafayette College. 


During commencement week at Harvard 
University, the research students of Professor 


EK. H. Hall presented him with a silver loving 
/ 


SCIENCE. 29 


cup. The occasion was the completion of 
twenty-five years of service in the department 
of physics of the university. The cup bore 
the following inscription: 


ee To 
Edwin Herbert Hall 
From his research students 
In testimony 
of their esteem and gratitude; 
In appreciation 
of his work in the field of discovery; 

his quarter-century of service 

in behalf of Harvard University. 


His life an inspiration.” 


Dr. Grorce Macktoskiz, from 1875 pro- 
fessor of biology at Princeton University, has 
been appointed professor emeritus. 


THE prize of the Peter Wilhelm Miiller 
foundation at Frankfort, consisting of a gold 
medal and 9,000 Marks, and awarded for the 
most important contributions to science, has 
been given to Dr. Ludwig Boltzmann, pro- 
fessor of theoretical physics at Vienna. 

Dr. StutTzerR, assistant in the geological in- 
stitute of the Freiburg (Saxony) Mining 
School, has been awarded a grant of 2,000 
Marks by the committee of the Carnegie fund, 
to enable him to continue his investigations 
on iron deposits in Lapland. 

Proressor F. B. Crocker, of Columbia 
University, has sailed for England. He will 
attend the meeting of the Institution of Elec- 
trical Engineers of Great Britain. 


Dr. ALEXANDER Hitt, master of Downing 
College, Cambridge, has gone to West Aus- 
tralia to give university extension courses and 
to awaken interest in the establishment of a 
university in the colony. 

Proressor A. Beret has been made acting 
director of the Leipzig Museum of Ethnology, 
in the room of the late Professor Obst. 


Dr. Francesco Porro, professor at the Uni- 
versity of Genoa, has been appointed director 
of the National Observatory at La Plata. 


At the Institute for the Experimental In- 
vestigation of Cancer at Heidelberg, Freiherr 
von Dungern, M.D., has been appointed head 
of the scientific department, and Privatdocent 


30 SCIENCE. 


von Wasielewski, head of the department of 
parasitological research. 

Proressor Epwarp C. PICKERING, director 
of the Harvard College Observatory, was se- 
lected to deliver the Phi Beta Kappa oration 
at Harvard University on June 28. 

Accorpine to the London Times an opinion 
has been widely expressed, both in Oxford and 
elsewhere, that the services rendered to arche- 
ology by Dr. Arthur John Evans should be 
commemorated by a portrait to be deposited 
in the Ashmolean Museum, of which he has 
for nearly a quarter of a century been keeper. 
The discoveries at Knossos are alone more 
than sufficient to justify this step; but Dr. 
Evans’s achievements as a numismatist, his- 
torian and traveler have also earned for him 
the admiration of scholars. 
over, that no more appropriate place for a 
memorial of him could be selected than the in- 
stitution which has been raised, in the period 
during which he has presided over it, and 
mainly as the result of his energy, generosity 
and tact, to a place in the front rank amongst 
European museums. A committee, of which 
Dr. G. A. Maemillan (St. Martin’s Street, 
London, W. C.) is the honorary treasurer, has 
been formed to promote the object in view. 
The portrait will be painted by Sir W. B. 
Richmond, and a reproduction in _ photo- 
gravure will be sent to every subscriber. 


WE regret to record the death of Lieutenant 
Forbes Tulloch, R.A.M.C., which occurred in 
the Queen Alexandra Military Hospital, Mill- 
bank, on June 20. Lieutenant Tulloch con- 
tracted sleeping sickness in Uganda, where he 
had been sent under the auspices of, the 
Colonial Office as a member of a commission 
appointed to investigate the causes of the dis- 
ease and the means of prevention. 


THE death, at the age of seventy-nine years, 
is announced of Sir George Thomas Brown, 
C.B., who was for many years chief of the 
Veterinary Department of the Privy Council 
and afterwards of the Board of Agriculture. 

Nature reports the death of M. Edouard 
Piette, the distinguished archeologist, in his 
eightieth year. ‘M. Piette was well known for 
his discoveries of prehistoric remains, among 


It is felt, more- 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 601. 


which may be mentioned those in the caverns 
of Mas d’Azil (Ariége) and of Brassempouy 
(Landes). Before his death M. Piette pre- 
sented his invaluable collections to the Mu- 
seum of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. 

THE senate committee on foreign relations 
has authorized Senator Bacon to report favor- 
ably the protocol providing for the establish- 
ment of an international institute of agricul- 
ture at Rome, Italy. There are about forty 
governments party to the arrangement. Stud- 
ies will be made of all kinds of plant life and 
means of extermination of insects and other 
pests. The institute will receive the reports 
of the agricultural bureaus and societies of all 
countries. The Italian government will sup- 
ply the buildings and the cost to other gov- 
ernments will be about $5,000 a year each. 


THE annual general meeting of the Royal 
Statistical Society was held on June 19 under 
the presidency of Major Craigie, C.B. Sir 
Richard Martin was elected president of the 
society for the ensuing session. The society’s 
Guy medal in silver was awarded to Dr. W. 
N. Shaw, F.R.S., for his paper, entitled ‘ The 
Seasons in the British Isles since 1878,’ read 
before the society in March, 1905. The sub- 
ject of the essays for the Howard medal com- 
petition, 1906-7, was announced to be ‘ The 
Reformative Effect in Criminality of Recent 
Prison Administration.’ This competition is 
open to the public. Professor Edgeworth 
afterwards read a paper on ‘ The Generalized 
Law of Error.’ 


We learn from Nature that at the seventy- 
eighth meeting of the Association of German 
Men of Science and Physicians, which will be 
held this year on September 16-22 in Stutt- 
gart, there will be an exhibition of scientific 
and medical appliances and subjects as in 
previous years. The Konig Karls Hall of the 
K6niglicher Landesgewerbemuseum has been 
set apart for the purpose. All announcements 
and communications may be addressed to the 
president of the exhibition committee, Dr. 
Lampert, Archivstrasse 3, Stuttgart, from 
whom further particulars may be obtained. 


A CORRESPONDENT of the London Times 
writes from Si-ning, in the province of Kan- 


JULY 6, 1906.] 


su, under date of April 6: “ Dr. Albert Tafel, 
the eminent German geologist and explorer, 
who has traveled in many parts of Asia, and 
who took part in the expedition to Tibet in 
1904 with Lieutenant Filchreer, when they 
barely escaped with their lives, has again just 
left this border city for the Tsaidam and 
Tibet. In January last he visited the Koko 
Nor in order to ascertain the depths of the 
lake at different places. His camp was at- 
tacked one evening by Tibetan robbers, and a 
hand-to-hand fight ensued. In trying to 
rescue one of his men Dr. Tafel received a 
sword wound in the forehead, and the attack 
was not repulsed without some difficulty. In 
Shan-si Dr. Tafel found some very interesting 
and rare fossils, and he has also secured some 
good photographs of a large waterfall on the 
Yellow River in the north of that province.” 

Nature states that the Society of German 
Engineers, which with its 20,000 members is 
now the largest technical society in the world, 
celebrated on June 11-14 the completion of 
the fiftieth year of its existence. The opening 
ceremony was held in the Reichstag building 
in Berlin, under the presidency of Dr. A. 
Slaby. Congratulatory addresses were deliv- 
ered by the Prussian Home Secretary, the 
Prussian Minister of Education, the Ober- 
biirgermeister of Berlin and the rector of the 
Berlin Technical School, as well as by nu- 
merous representatives of kindred societies in 
Germany and other countries, Mr. Bennet 
Brough (Iron and Steel Institute) speaking 
for the British societies and Professor K. E. 
Hilgard (American Society of Civil Engi- 
neers) for the American. The proceedings 
terminated with a lecture by Dr. W. von 
Oechelhauser on technical work past and pres- 
ent, in which he compared the engineering 
works of the ancients with those of modern 
times, and endeavored to forecast what the 
future of engineering would be. On June 12 
a lecture was given by Dr. A. Riedler, on the 
development and present importance of the 
steam turbine; and on June 13 papers were 
read by Professor Muthmann, on methods of 
dealing with atmospheric nitrogen; and by 
Dr. Hoffmann, on the utilization of power in 
mines and metallurgical works. Throughout 


SCIENCE. ol 


the week an elaborate program of visits, ex- 
cursions and social functions was arranged 
for the 1,281 members and 464 ladies who took 
part in the meeting. The German Emperor 
honored the society by accepting the Grashof 
gold medal, and by conferring decorations on 
the president and other prominent members. 
An interesting history of the society is given 
in Engineering of June 8. The growth of the 
society has certainly been remarkable. It was 
founded in 1856 at Alexisbad, in the Hartz, 
by twenty-three young engineers. Friedrich 
Kuler was elected the first president, and 
Franz Grashof the first secretary and editor, 
the work of the society being carried on in the 
secretary’s private study. The society now has 
a stately house of its own and a staff of forty- 
seven officials. Its weekly journal last year 
cost £26,162 for publishing and £6,425 for 


postage. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


Av the recent alumni meeting at Harvard 
University, it was stated that during the year 
graduates had contributed $1,801,539.89 to the 
productive funds of the university, and that 
$88,116.09 had been received for immediate 
use, making a total of $1,889,655.98. This 
sum does not include the more than $113,000 
that the class of ’81 has given to the univer- 
sity to be used as the corporation sees fit. It 
was also announced that through an anony- 
mous gift of $60,000 from a graduate and the 
cooperation of the city of Boston, a boulevard 
100 feet wide with a forty-foot drive and broad 
park space and walks, will be laid out from the 
Fenway to Longwood Avenue as an approach 
to the new Harvard Medical School buildings. 


It was announced by President Hadley at 
the Yale Alumni dinner that the total of the 
alumni fund for the year amounted to $129,237 
as compared with the $53,500 announced a 
year ago. 


A Funp of $150,000, of which Mr. Carnegie 
contributed $75,000, has been raised at Am- 
herst College and will be used to provide for 
the work in geology and biology. It is planned 
to spend $100,000 on a building and to use the 
balance of the money as an endowment fund. 


o2 SCIENCE. 


Av the Radcliffe College commencement 
President Briggs announced that the requisite 
sum of $75,000 to secure Mr. Andrew Car- 
negie’s gift for a college library had been 
secured. 

Mrs. Louisa N. Buuarp has given Harvard 
University Medical School $52,000 to establish 
a chair of neuropathology. 

We learn from the Journal of the American 
Medical Association that the University of 
California has transferred from San Fran- 
cisco to Berkeley all instruction in the first 
two years of the college of medicine. Stu- 
dents desiring admission to the medical de- 
partment of the university must have com- 
pleted certain studies in physics, chemistry, 
zoology, German and French, which ordinarily 
require two years of residence at a university 
or college of good standing. The first two 
years of the strictly professional work is de- 
voted to anatomy, physiology and pathology. 
As heretofore, the work of the last two years 
of the medical course will be carried on in 
San Francisco. 


ForEIGN papers state that the council of the 
University of Paris has definitely approved of 
the scheme for the extension of the university. 
This will include the construction of an insti- 
tute of chemistry covering an area of 9,000 
square meters. Here will be established the 
various departments of chemistry belonging 
to the faculty of science and the department 
of applied chemistry which, since its creation, 
have been provisionally installed in some 
sheds. The cost of this will be 3,000,000 
frances, which will be divided between the city 
of Paris and the state. The extension scheme 
also includes the acquisition by the university, 
in view of future necessities, of a plot of land 
of 14,000 square meters. Towards the cost of 
this land the university will pay 1,900,000 
francs and the city 700,000 frances, to which 
will be added the donation from the Prince 
of Monaco. On a portion of this area will be 
erected the Institute of sour naet ae founded 
by the Prince of Monaco. 

At the meeting of the University Court of 
Edinburgh on June 17 an addition was made 
to the teaching staff of the university by the 


‘ training of teachers. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 601. 


establishment of an independent lectureship 
in general and experimental psychology in 
connection with the philosophical department. 
The funds for the lecturer’s salary are mainly 
supplied by the Combe trustees, who have also 
contributed £300 towards the equipment of a 
laboratory. In consideration of this generous 
assistance the court resolved that the lecture- 
ship should be called the George Combe lec- 
tureship. George Combe, known as the au- 
thor of ‘The Constitution of Man,’ was the 
chief representative of phrenology in Great 
Britain in the first half of last century. He 
left funds, which have considerably increased 
since his death, for promoting the knowledge 
of man’s mental and organic constitution in 
relation to the external universe and its laws, 
and for diffusing that knowledge as widely as 
possible. Besides experimental teaching and 
research, it is expected that the lectureship 
will be largely utilized in connection with the 
An appointment will be 
made in time for work to begin next session. 

Dr. G. H. Parker has been promoted to a 
full professorship of zoology at Harvard Uni- 
versity. 

Proressor Epwarp Octavius Sisson, Ph.D., 
who has recently been elected head of the de- 
partment of education in the University of 
Washington, is a native of England. He re- 
ceived his education in schools of this country. 
In 1886 he received the degree of bachelor of 
science in the Kansas Agricultural College. 
From 1886-91 he was teacher and principal in 
publie schools. 

Dr. VatpEMAR Kocu has been appointed to 
the chair of physiological chemistry in the 
University of Chicago. 

At Bowdoin College, Dr. Walter T. Tobie, 
of Portland, has been elected professor of 
anatomy and Dr. Thomas J. Burrage, also of 
Portland, assistant demonstrator of histology. 

Dr. George A. Fatkiner Nurrauu, F.R.S., 
has been appointed reader in hygiene for five 
years in Cambridge University. 

Proressor Hans Cuairi, of Prague, has been 
appointed professor of pathology in the Uni- 
versity of Strasburg as successor to Professor 
von Recklinghausen. 


ee 


SaCLENCE — 


A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 
OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 


IDAY Ly 13. 1906. of Pressure in the Coronary Vessels to the 
Bs , Ju Z Activity of the Isolated Heart: Dr. C. C. 


Cigsmeana anal 15 tel IRES Gs Gee wooo ca cos ce 48 
CONTENTS. : , 
: . : Notes on Organic Chemistry :— 
The Ithaca Meeting of the American Associa- Esterification of Tertiary and Unsaturated 
tion for the Advancement of Science:— Alcohols: Dr. J. BISHOP TINGLE.......... 54 
Report of the General Secretary: JouHN F. 
HEAR VEO RD Ree aed eye tees lnc die opens aes we nackte 83 Recent Vertebrate Paleontology: PROFESSOR 
ee Weleonetby President id. @ ELE NR. Bis OSBORNE wy. niera ale aieicnaiepe! siteralater ates 55 
Schurman and Mayor Bradford Almy and The International Fishery Congress: Dr. H. 
Reply by President William H. Welch..... 35 SIV St SS TADS ree UVR ocr nek arta Mea ip crt 57 
James Mills Peirce: Dr. J. L. WHITTEMORE.. 40 The Proceedings of the Royal Society of 
Discussion and Correspondence ped LOUK arc es PEO HO CORN S OG Oto 6. O8ol0 Ooo Od 58 
Northern Limit of the Pawpaw Tree: PRo- The Agricultural Appropriation Bill........ 58 
FessoR L. H. PammMen. The Crayfish In- : ‘ 
dustry: Proressor E. A. ANDREWS........ 4g The Carnegie Foundation for the Advance- 
Pe iiic MCNUNOf UCOCHING se aie Serchlite ee 59 
pecial Articles :-— abn 
Emission of Electricity from the Radium Scientific Notes and News................-. 60 
Products: PROFESSOR WILLIAM DUANE. University and Educational News.......... 64 
The Use of Astronomical Telescopes in De- 
termining the Speeds of Migrating Birds: 
Dr. JOEL STEBBINS, Epwarp A. FatH. A MSS. intended for publication*and books, etc., intended for 
Workable Bed of Coal in Nebraska: PRo- review should be sent to the Editor of ScleNcE, Garrison-on- 


FESSOR HRwWIN H. Barsour. The Relation Hudson, N. Y. 


THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENTZ OF SCIENCE. 
ITHACA, N. Y., JUNE 28 TO JULY 3, 1906. 


REPORT OF THE GENERAL SECRETARY. 


Tue fifty-sixth meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science 
was held at Ithaca, New York, June 28—July 3, 1906. This meeting was peculiar in 
being an extra meeting in the summer, the winter meeting at New Orleans having been 
held only six months before, and a winter meeting being planned for New York six 
months later. As a consequence of the fact that it was an extra meeting, there were no 
presidential addresses, no election of officers, except to fill vacancies, and there was but 
little action of any kind taken by the council. 

The registered attendance of the association members was 232, and 94 members of the 
American Chemical Society were known to be present who were not registered as members 
of the association, making a clearly ascertained total attendance of 326. Other informa- 
tion, derived from the registration of four affiliated societies, indicates that the total 
attendance was about 400. As to attendance, the meeting was intermediate between the 
two meetings next preceding, namely, at New Orleans and at Philadelphia. 

The following table shows the registered attendance by sections, and the affiliated 
societies which met at Ithaca : 


ot | SCIENCE. 


Section A, 1. (No meeting of section was 
held.) 

Section B, 50. American Physical Society. © 

Section C, 45. American Chemical Society and 
the New York Chapter of the Society for Chem- 
ical Industry. 

Section D, 23. Society for the Promotion of 
Engineering Education. 

Section E, 14. 

Section F, 42. 

Section G, 30. 

Section H, 6. 
held.) 

Section I, 14. 

Section K, 3. 
held.) 


American Microscopical Society. 


(No meeting of the section was 


(No meeting of the section was 


Four persons registered indicated no 
preference as to section. 

Section B and the American Physical 
Society had a joint program of 29 papers, 
in which no distinction was made between 
the papers furnished by the two organiza- 
tions, the papers being arranged according 
to topics. 

Section C held no formal meeting. Its 
secretary aided the representatives of the 
American Chemical Society im preparing 
the program of their Ithaca meeting, and 
in making preparations for a joint meeting 
in New York. This society had a program 
of more than 80 papers, and its meetings 
were divided into sections. 

The chemists constituted about one third 
of the total attendance at Ithaca. The 
chemists and physicists together consti- 
tuted about one half of the total attend- 
ance. 

It is interesting to note further that of 
the 231 members of the association regis- 
tered, about one half, or 121 to be exact, 
are members of the affiliated societies meet- 
ing at this time and place. 

The geographical distribution of the 
members in attendance can be computed 
only for the 231 registered members of the 
association; of these, 94 come from New 
York State; 20 from Massachusetts; 17 
from Pennsylvania; 16 from the District 


[N.S. Voz. XXIV. No. 602. 


of Columbia; 12 from Ohio; 10 from Illi- 
nois; 7 from Michigan; 5 from Indiana; 
5 from New Jersey; 4 from Canada, Ken- 
tuecky and California; 3 from New Hamp- 
shire, Minnesota, Missouri, Connecticut 
and Virginia; 2 from Iowa, Nebraska and 
Maryland; and 1 each from Tennessee, 
North Carolina, Alabama, South Carolina, 
Mississippi, Vermont, Rhode Island, Wis- 
consin and Kansas. 

The meetings of Section D were held on 
Friday and Saturday. They were fol- 
lowed by those of the Society for the Pro- 
motion of Engineering Education in the 
same room on Monday and Tuesday, with 
an attendance about 50 per cent. greater 


than that of Section D. 


Section E held two sessions on one day 
for the reading of papers, and devoted the 
remaining three days to excursions to 
points of interest from a geological point 
of view, near the northern end of Cayuga 
Lake, near the southern end of Cayuga 
Lake and at Enfield Glen. 

Section F and the American Microscop- 
ical Society had a joint program. 

Section G spent two and a half days in 
excursions to points of special interest 
from the botanical point of view, including 
a visit to Enfield Gorge. One day was 
spent in informal discussion of matters ob- 
served on the excursions. The Fern Chap- 
ter and the Society for Horticultural Sci- 
ence met at Ithaca just before the meeting 
of the association. 

The attendance at the meetings of Sec- 
tion I was 25 to 40, considerably in excess 
of the registered number of members of 
that section (14). 
presented. 

The relations between sections and affili- 
ated societies were entirely harmonious in 
every case, the officers cooperating cor- 


‘ dially in a common cause. 


Cornell University placed its buildings 
at the disposal of the association, and each 


ee 


Nineteen papers were 


eae er et ee ee a 


\ 
Pe ee ed ee ge 


—_ 


SF eT Og Te oe a oe 


JULY 13, 1906.] 


day furnished a mid-day lunch to the mem- 
bers. An appropriate resolution of thanks 
was adopted. : 

The following general events added 
ereatly to the meeting: 

1. The informal smoker at the Town and 
Gown Club on Thursday evening. 

2. The formal opening and dedication of 
Rockefeller Hall, the magnificent new Phys- 
ical Laboratory of Cornell University, on 
Friday afternoon, with short addresses by 
President J. G. Schurman, Professor HE. L. 
Nichols, Dr. Elihu Thomson, Dr. W. H. 
Welch (the president of the association) 
and a letter from Professor W. A. An- 
thony, read by Professor E. Merritt. 

3. An address on Saturday evening by 
Professor Henry 8. Carhart, of the Univer- 
sity of Michigan, on ‘The South African 
Meeting of the British Association for the 
Advancement of Science,’ illustrated by a 
most excellent series of lantern slides. 

4. A reception on Monday afternoon by 
Dr. and Mrs. Andrew D. White at their 
residence on East Avenue. 

5. A public address on the recent Cali- 
fornia earthquake by Professor J. C. Bran- 
ner, vice-president of Stanford University, 
given under the auspices of the local chap- 
ter of Sigma Xi in commemoration of the 
twentieth anniversary of the founding of 
the society. This was immediately followed 
by a Sigma Xi banquet, which was largely 
attended. 

There were during the meeting, both 
within and outside of the council, various 
discussions of the relations of the associa- 
tion and of the affiliated societies. The 


only resolutions passed by the council bear- ~ 


ing directly upon this matter follow: 
Resolved, That the secretary of each sec- 
tion be required to prepare for the New 
York meeting a program of general interest 
for at least one session of his section. 
Resolved, That the secretaries of the sec- 
tions be requested to confer with each 


SCIENCE. 30 


other, and with the secretaries of affiliated 
societies, regarding the relation of programs 
for the New York meeting, and 

Further, That the sectional committees 
be empowered to turn over technical papers 
to the technical societies, and 

On motion, the permanent secretary was 
instructed to prepare a list of members of 
the association who belong to the affiliated 
societies accepted as possessing proper 
qualifications, and to submit these names 
to the council at the New York meeting, 
with the recommendation that they be 
elected as fellows. 

The social features of the meeting were 
unusually pleasant; and, although there 
was no central rallying point for all the 
scientific people in attendance, except the 
luncheon place at 1 o’clock, the opportuni- 
ties for social converse were many. 

The Ithaca meeting will be remembered 
by those who attended it as one of moderate 
size, thoroughly successful as to number 
and quality of papers presented, character- 
ized throughout by harmonious relations, 
especially notable for pleasant and profit- 
able excursions, and given a tone of pe- 
culiar charm by scenic surroundings un- 
rivaled by those of any other college campus 
in the United States. 

The addresses made at the opening gen- 
eral session in Barnes Hall on Friday, 
June 28, are appended to this report. 

JOHN F. Hayrorp, 
General Secretary. 


The first general session of the associa- 
tion was held in Barnes Hall, Cornell Uni- 
versity, at 10 o’clock on Friday morning, 
June 29, 1906. The president of the asso- 
ciation, Dr. William H. Welch, after call- 
ing the meeting to order, introduced Dr. J. 
G. Schurman, president of Cornell Uni- 
versity, who delivered the following ad- 
dress of welcome: 


Ladies and Gentlemen: I have very 


36 SCIENCE. 


much pleasure, on behalf of the university 
under whose auspices you meet, to extend 
a cordial welcome to the members of the 
American Association for the Advancement 
of Science, to the affiliated societies and to 
the friends who accompany them here. We 
feel it a great honor to have under our roof 
so large a gathering of distinguished sci- 
entists from all parts of the country. 

I notice that you have timed your meet- 
ings so that you may be home by the Fourth 
of July to properly celebrate that day. I 
was thinking that if you practised on this 
occasion the scientific habit of analysis, 
and asked yourselves what was especially 
worthy of celebration in the day, you would 
perhaps sum it up under two or three heads. 
One of them undoubtedly would be the fact 
of a great nation of freemen governing 
themselves. The second, I think, would be 
the splendid mechanisms for the produc- 
tion and transportation of economic com- 
modities which this republie has developed 
since the first Declaration of Independence. 
And I think the third would be the unusu- 
ally high level of material comfort which 
the great majority of our population enjoy. 
You see I have made a close connection 
between the third of July and the fourth. 
If I am right in the analysis I have made, 
and have described correctly the three most 
important things that this republic has to 
celebrate as each fourth of July returns, 
we can recognize that two of them, at least, 
are the results of the labors of scientists. 
We can not, perhaps, attribute to scientists 
a larger share than we attribute to other 
citizens in the bringing out and maintain- 
ing of a free government, but if we have 
our splendid system of economic produc- 
tion, and if the tide of material comfort 
runs higher here than anywhere else on the 
elobe, it is due, first of all, to the abundant 
resources of our country, and secondly to 
the discoveries and investigations for which 
scientific men are responsible. And when 


[N.S. Vox. XXIV. No. 602. 


I say that scientific men have in this way 
helped to produce two out of the three 
most important things which characterize 
our own republic, I do not feel that I have 
exhausted their highest work, for science 
has during the last hundred years revolu- 
tionized the civilization of the world. It 
has in other countries, as in our own, in- 
creased material comforts, multiplied in- 
ventions and extended knowledge. It has 
introduced new modes of thought and new 
standards of evidence. The civilization of 
the earlier centuries was colored and mold- 
ed by hearsay and tradition, whereas one 
of the most splendid achievements that 
has comé to our age through the advance 
of science is the resting of knowledge on 
evidence, and on theory and hypothesis 
only as they are maintained by it. No one 
who has studied the thought and considered 
the progress of the world in its highest 
spiritual aspects ean feel that I have stated 
the fact too strongly in saying that science 
has revolutionized the civilization of the 
past—first of all, that of Europe and of 


America, and later that of Asia also. 


So, ladies and gentlemen, we at Cornell 
University feel it a great honor to have in 
our midst for a number of days the repre- 
sentatives of those men and women who by 
the achievements of their labors and intel- 
leets are really shaping the advance of 
nations and molding the eivilization of 
mankind. I am not certain that we can 
adequately show you the honor which we 
feel. We labor under a certain disadvan- 
tage, for it is now vacation and many mem- 
bers of our faculty have left their homes, 
but what it was in our power to do we have 
done. We have placed the facilities of the 
university here freely at your disposal. 
Ithaca is not as well provided with hotels 
as some of the larger cities, and so to sup- 
plement our local resources in that regard 
we have opened Sage College, and the 
eraduates and undergraduates who control 


ey a ee EY ae 


ee 


JuLy 13, 1906.] 


fraternity houses have also thrown them 
open. Our members will be ready, as the 
announcement explains, to take excursions 
to different parts of the surrounding coun- 
try. We believe that we have here the 
most beautiful and most romantic college 
or university campus in the world. What 
lies in our power we are anxious to do. 
Our trustees have arranged for a luncheon 
to be served to you daily in the University 
Armory during your stay. I hope, Mr. 
President, you will not expect too much of 
us. We have done the most we could in 
the way of entertainment, and we hope you 
will accept the will for the larger deed 

- which might have been possible in Wash- 
ington, Baltimore or New York. 

Ladies and gentlemen, once more I ex- 
press the great pleasure we feel in having 
you with us, and in the name and on behalf 
of Cornell University I put what we have 
at your free disposal. 

President Welch then introduced the 
Hon. Bradford Almy, mayor of Ithaca, 
who welcomed the association to the city in 
the following address: 

Mr. President, and Ladies and Gentle- 
men: The people of this city rightfully 
feel that this is an important event with 
them. They feel that Cornell University, 
the institution in which they take so much 
pride, is the cause of their having the pleas- 
ure of your visit to our city at this time. 
That an organization so eminently distin- 
guished as the American Association for 
the Advancement of Science, composed of 
individual leaders in thought, labor and 
achievement along all the lines that lead 
to the progress, welfare and happiness of 
our people, should assemble in Ithaca for 
their deliberations is a compliment which 
-we sincerely appreciate and for which we 
are very glad. 

_ The profound sense of gratitude which 
we all feel for the heroes, self-sacrificing in 
their labors as pioneers of science, who 


> 


SCIENCE. oT 


caused a ray of light to shine here and 
there in the utter darkness, may perhaps 
be a measure of the feelings which we have 
for you men and you women who are labor- 
ing along lines of work so persistently fol- 
lowed and so diligently wrought out for 
the benefit of mankind and the civilization 
of the world. We ean all remember, for it 
was not so very long ago, when science and 
religion were believed to be at war with 
each other. That thought delayed its prog- 
ress for a time, but science has made great 
advance during the years since that idea 
has left the minds of men. Happily, those 
times are past, and to-day science is re- 
garded as more than the handmaid of re- 
ligion. In bidding you the hearty welcome 
to our little city, which J have the honor 
and pleasure of extending to you on behalf 
of our people, I bid you Godspeed in the 
noblest work that can engage the thoughts 
and energies of mankind. At the same 
time, while we are conscious that the ad- 
vancement in the last fifty years has been 
so great and so strengthens the courage and 
inspires the zeal for future work, we realize 
how diminutive are the regions of the 
known compared with the vast, untrodden 
wilderness on the border land of which you 
stand. 

In closing, let me express the wish that 
you may have as prosperous a congress 
here as you have expected, that you may 
enjoy your visit as much as we hope you 
will and that you may go away with pleas- 
ant recollections of us and of Ithaca. 

President Welch made response to the 
addresses of welcome, as follows: 

Ladies and Gentlemen: In behalf of the 
members of the association, of our guests 
and all here present, I wish to express to 
you, President Schurman and Mayor Almy, 
our very cordial appreciation of the words 
of welcome which you have given us. This 
is the first meeting of the association in 
Ithaca. It is also a renewal of an old 


38 | SCIENCE. 


custom of holding a midsummer meeting, 
and I do not know where that renewal, 
somewhat experimental, of the old custom 
could be inaugurated under more favorable 
conditions than in this place. Where could 
this association feel more at home than here 
at this home of learning and of science? 
It must, I think, be a satisfaction to the 
members at Cornell University to be en- 
abled to show to their fellow members in 
this association the splendid opportunities 
which exist and the evidences of the great 
work done here, and it is equally a pleasure 
and source of profit to us to enjoy this 
privilege. We know that this is-one of the 
great and leading universities of the coun- 
try; that when it was founded Cornell Uni- 
versity was enabled to do a work that was 
highly distinctive and significant and which 
marked a great advance in higher educa- 
tion in America, and that this position of 
leadership it has never lost. It is a great 
delight to come at this time of the year to 
this charming town and enjoy the wonder- 
ful beauties of nature in this region. They 
appeal not only to lovers of science, but to 
lovers of nature as well, and it would seem 
that the study of natural history must be 
stimulated by such surroundings as exist 
here. So, I say, we are particularly for- 
tunate in coming to Ithaca and to Cornell 
University at this time. 

The American Association for ine Ad- 
vancement of Science has had a very useful 
and honorable history. At the time it was 
founded and for many years afterward it 
was possible for a single association to rep- 
resent in a very definite and concrete way 
all the existing natural and physical sci- 
ence in this country. During this period 
the scientific activities of the country were 
represented more adequately and compre- 
hensively in this association than in any 
other body. But as time went on, science 
in its various branches extended and grew, 
conditions changed, and it became evident 


.[N. 8. Vou. XXIV. No. 602. 


that it was necessary for the association to _ 


adjust itself to those new conditions, the 
main one being the specialization of scien- 
tifie work. That specialization has been a 
great instrumentality in the progress of 
science throughout the world, but never- 
theless it has certain disadvantages and 
even dangers of its own. I believe that the 
highest function of this association is to 
try to minimize to the greatest possible ex- 
tent the dangers that may arise from the 
minute subdivision of scientific research. 
As its name implies, this association repre- 
sents a central body for the advancement, 
and, it may be added, the diffusion and the 
organization of science in America. It may 
be at times a little burdensome for active 
workers in one department of science to 
feel interested in the central organization, 
but I conceive it to be their highest duty 
to do so. They should consider the inter- 
ests of science as a whole in this country, 
as well as those of their particular branch 
of science, for unless the whole tree of sci- 
ence flourishes the branches will suffer. 
This association represents, as it were, an 
association of various special scientific so- 
cieties, perhaps more than an association 
of various scientific workers. It is neces- 
sary to have this coordination of societies 
in order to bring together the great body 
of scientific workers throughout the coun- 
try, but in the plan of our organization the 
affiliated societies in no sense lose their 


autonomy and it is essential that they 


should not. The centers of scientific ac- 
tivity in this country are not concentrated 
in a few points, as in most European coun- 
tries, and it is believed that this plan of 
organization best meets the special condi- 
tions of science in America. 

It is very important, under our form of 
government, that there should be a central 
authoritative voice which speaks for sci- 
ence. How many questions there are, as 
has been suggested by President Schurman, 


JULY 13, 1906.] 


relating to the highest welfare of society 
which can be solved only by science, and 
how important it is that workers in kindred 
subjects should be brought into contact 
with each other! There are matters of 
education, matters of public policy and 
matters of research in all departments of 
the government and of national life that 
sustain very close relations to the opinions 
of scientific men, and it is, therefore, of 
first importance that there should be a body 
which can express in an authoritative and 
representative way the scientific opinion 
of the country. 

This experiment of renewing the mid- 
summer meeting indicates in a measure the 
great growth in membership and in influ- 
ence of this association. In so doing, of 
course there is no intention of abandoning 
the meetings in the winter. It was neces- 
sary, in bringing about a proper adjust- 
ment of the work and aims of the associa- 
tion to the specialization of science as rep- 
resented in the various affiliated societies, 
to adopt the plan of a winter meeting, but 
the association while gaining much un- 
doubtedly lost something by it. Certain 
members, desirable to have with us, were 
unable to attend, and the more popular side 
of the work may have suffered somewhat 
because of the more special and technical 
character of the papers presented at the 
meetings in the winter. There are many, 
such as school teachers, amateurs and 
others intelligently interested in natural 
and physical seience, but not actively en- 
gaged in research, whose support and in- 
terest it is desirable that the association 
should secure and who formerly attended 
the summer meetings. It is to be hoped 
that this effort to renew that kind of work 
and influence of the association which was 
expressed in the old days by the midsum- 
mer meeting will be successful and this ex- 
tension of influence can be secured without 
any impairment of strictly scientific aims. 


SCIENCE. og 


As I have said, we certainly could not in- 
augurate the movement under better con- 
ditions than at this time and in this place. 

This is the first opportunity that I have 
had to appear in my official capacity before 
the association, and I wish to express my 
appreciation of the distinguished honor 
which was conferred on me at the meeting 
in New Orleans. The honor is not merely 
a personal one, but I interpret it as a recog- 
nition of medical science as an integral, co- 
ordinate part of the natural science of this 
country ; and medical science, in my judg- 
ment, fully merits this recognition on ac- 
count of the paths which it has opened up 
and followed and the great advance which 
it has made in recent years. 

President Schurman has indicated to us 
the intimate relations which science sus- 
tains to the highest interests of society 
throughout the world, and this condition 
has been brought about largely through 
scientific discoveries and their application 
to useful purposes. It is the glory of medi- 
cine that in these later days it has been able 
to contribute its share, a share not un- 
worthy of its rank among the sciences of 
man and of nature, toward the advance- 
ment of useful knowledge. It has done so 
partly by recognizing the fact that a large 
part of medical science is essentially biolog- 
ical science, and that this is not only true 
of normal anatomy and physiology, but 
that pathology, the science of disordered 
structure and function, may be considered 
and cultivated to a large extent as biolog- 
ical science. This has been one of the rea- 
sons for the great advance in medicine. 
The scientific method, the method of ob- 
servation, experiment and reasoning, in 
contrast with the dogmatism, speculation 
and reliance on authority which for cen- 
turies dominated the history of medicine, 
is recognized to-day by medicine as fully 
as by any science as the only source of 
fruitful progress. 


40 SCIENCE. 


But above all, it has been discoveries re- 
sulting from the opening up of new paths 
of investigation which have impressed both 
the scientific and the popular mind with 
the importance of medical science. In the 
last three decades medicine has advanced 
to a position where it stands as never be- 
fore in the very closest relations to the 
highest interests of human society. When 
you consider the vast accumulations of 
population in eities, the great industrial 
activities of modern times, the efforts to 
colonize and to reclaim for civilization 
tropical countries and waste lands, such a 
stupendous undertaking as the digging of 
the Panama Canal, all dependent in a very 
direct manner upon our power to control 
the spread of epidemic and endemic dis- 
eases, and that this power has come from 
the discovery of parasitic microorganisms 
and the study of their properties and of 
the manner of propagation of agents of 
infection, it must be clear to you that medi- 
cine, especially preventive medicine, is most 
intimately related to the progress of civil- 
ization and the advancement of human so- 
ciety. So the time has fully come for 
medical science to stand side by side with 
other sciences and to be represented with 
them in this association. 

I was expected on this occasion not to 
make a formal address but simply to reply 
to the cordial words of weleome which have 
been extended to us on behalf of the univer- 
sity and of the city. The evil day, fortu- 
nately for you and for me, seems by the 
plan of organization to be put far off, when 
the incoming president is expected to make 
his formal address to the association. ° 

I now have pleasure in declaring this 
fifty-sixth session of the American Associa- 
tion for the Advancement of Science open, 
and I trust that the sessions of the associa- 
tion and the meetings of the several sec- 
tions and affiliated societies will be full of 
interest and profit to all in attendance. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 602. 


After announcements by the general, 
permanent and local secretaries, the gen- 
eral session of the association was ad- 
journed. 


JAMES MILLS PEIRCE. 


ONE summer morning nearly forty years 
ago the boys who were to take their exam- 
inations for admission to Harvard College 
were assembling in Harvard Hall to meet 
the officer in charge of the examinations, 
Professor James Mills Peirce. As the room 
filled he walked slowly up and down the 
platform, his hands clasped behind his 
back in a manner very familiar to all his 
friends, looking now at the boys, now out 
of a window, but saying not a word. One 
of the boys, now himself a professor in 
the university, leaning over, whispered in 
Greek to his friend an adapted line of 
Homer—‘Behold him as he walks, the 
shortest of them all, but kingliest of men.’ 
Such was the impression made then and 
always by James Peirce on those who were 
fortunate enough to meet and know him. 
It is the purpose of the following sketch to 
give some account of his life together with 


a short description of the changes which, 


during his fifty years of service, took place 
in Harvard University. 

James Mills Peirce was born in Cam- 
bridge on May 1, 1834. He was the son of 
Benjamin Peirce, the great mathematician, 
and Sarah Mills Peirce. The father of 
Benjamin Peirce, also named Benjamin, 
was librarian and the first historian of 
Harvard College. James Peirce’s maternal 
erandfather was a representative in con- 
eress, later senator from Massachusetts, 
and a colleague of Daniel Webster. James 
Peirce graduated from Harvard College in 
1853. The next year he spent at the Law 
School. In 1854 he gave up the study of 
law to become a tutor in mathematics in 
Harvard College. In 1857 he entered the 
Divinity School, retaining his position as 


JuLy 13, 1906.] mn 


tutor, however, until 1858. After gradu- 
ating in 1859 from the Divinity School, he 
spent the next two years preaching in the 
Unitarian churches in New Bedford, Mass., 
and in Charleston, S. C. In 1861 he gave 
up the ministry to return to Harvard as 
assistant professor of mathematics, and re- 
mained in the service of the university 
until his death. In 1869 he was made 
professor of mathematics, and in 1885 ap- 
pointed to the Perkins professorship of 
mathematics and astronomy. He served 
as secretary of the Academie Council from 
its establishment in 1872 until 1889, as 
dean of the graduate school from its foun- 
dation in 1890 until 1895, and as dean of 
the faculty of arts and sciences from 1895 
until 1898. His resignation from the fae- 
ulty, to take effect in March, 1907, on the 
completion of fifty years’ service as a 
teacher in the university, was accepted by 
the president and fellows only a few weeks 
before his death. He died suddenly of 
pneumonia on March 21, 1906, in the sev- 
enty-second year of his life and in the 
fiftieth year of his service as a teacher in 
the university. It is a curious coincidence 
that his father also died in the seventy- 
second year of his life and in the fiftieth 
of his service in the university. 

The period from 1860 to 1880 was a 
time of great changes in the university, 
the development of the elective system, 
and the beginning of the graduate school. 
With these changes James Peirce had much 
to do. It may justly be said that the great 
work of his life was the development of 
sraduate instruction in Harvard Univer- 
sity. Accordingly I purpose to give some 
account of the condition of the mathemat- 
ical instruction at Harvard at the begin- 
ning of his academic career, and to show 
by following its development the growth of 
the elective system, the beginning of grad- 
uate instruction, and to trace, as far as 


SCIENCE. 41 


possible, his influence in this period of 
transition. 

In 1853 when he graduated from college 
the mathematical instruction was given by 
his father, Professor Benjamin Peirce, and 
by a single tutor, Mr. C. F. Choate. The 
course consisted of required freshman work 
in plane and solid geometry, algebra and 
plane trigonometry ; of required sophomore 
work in algebra, spherical trigonometry 
and analytic geometry; of elective courses 
for juniors and seniors in ‘imaginary, in- 
tegral and residual calculus,’ in mechanics, 
and in astronomy. All college work in the 
freshman and sophomore years, and in the 
junior and senior years three fifths of the 
work, was required. The elective system, 
though undeveloped, had already had its 
beginning. About 1849 this small privilege 
of election was in danger of being with- 
drawn by the faculty; at one time a ma- 
jority of this body actually favored making 
the whole course required. The elective 
system was saved at that time by the de- 
termined fight of a few liberal-minded men, 
prominent among whom was Benjamin 
Peirce. 

In 1854 Tutor Choate resigned and in 
his place James Peirce was appointed. In 
the same year his classmate, Charles W. 
Eliot, was also appointed tutor in mathe- 
matics, the teaching force of the depart- 
ment being thus increased to three. The 
tutors hereafter carried on the freshman 
and sophomore work, leaving Professor 
Benjamin Peirce free for more advanced 
work. James Peirce, having the first ap- 
pointment, had the choice between fresh- 
man and sophomore work. With a modesty 
which always characterized him, he decided 
to teach the freshmen, believing himself not 
so well qualified to give the sophomore in- 
struction as to teach the more elementary 
freshman subjects. 

At this time examinations in all college 


42 


courses were conducted orally by the in- 
structors acting with examining commit- 
tees appointed by the overseers. _ These ex- 
aminations, far from being severe, were 1n 
some cases almost farcical. Some pro- 
fessors held rehearsals of the examinations 
prior to the visits of the overseers’ commit- 
tees; others gave the examinations in such 
a manner that a student might without 
difficulty discover just what question would 
be asked him, and prepare himself accord- 
ingly. Furthermore, the time for exam- 
ining a student on one subject could not be 
extended beyond two or three minutes. It 
may be imagined that the passing of ex- 
aminations was not a difficult matter. In- 
deed, it was not necessary for a student to 
pass even these examinations. For the 
faculty could not be prevailed upon to re- 
fuse its degree to a student, however bad 
his scholarship, if his conduct during his 
residence at the university had not in- 
curred serious censure. It happened once 
in the early fifties that the faculty was 
almost persuaded not to vote a degree to a 
student of greater than usual incapacity, 
when it was discovered that the candidate 
had not once during his four years ab- 
sented himself from prayers. The degree 
was granted without further debate. 
Tutors Peirce and Eliot, dissatisfied with 
these oral examinations, introduced, dur- 
ing their first year, occasional written hour 
examinations in place of the regular recita- 
tions. These examinations were used by 
the instructors in making their reports, but 
did not replace the annual oral examina- 
tion held in the presence of the overseer’s 
committees. Other instructors, notably 
the teachers of the classics, followed the 
lead of the mathematical department. This 
new system of examination, requiring real 
knowledge on the part of the student, 
proved disastrous to the lazy and incom- 
petent, and though bad reports of a stu- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 602. 


dent’s scholarship did not at first prevent 
his obtaining a degree, the results soon 
made evident the impracticability of re- 
quiring every man to do the same work. 
There was resistance on the part of both 
faculty and overseers to the introduction 
of written examinations, and a still greater 
resistance to the abandonment of a system 
of required studies. But before very long 
even the most conservative members of the 
faculty were forced to admit that the real 
examination must be a written one. Ata 
conference held by committees of the fac- 
ulty and overseers were passed five resolu- 
tions concerning examinations, which were 
unanimously adopted by the faculty on 
March 9, 1857. Of these resolutions the 
most important were the following: 

1. Examinations in all courses shall be 
annual and in writing. 

2. All marking shall be done by the in- 
structors. 

3. All examinations shall be prepared 
and printed by the instructors, and shall 
be submitted to the several (overseers’) 
committees previous to the examinations. 

The introduction of written examinations 
was largely due to James Peirce and 
Charles W. Eliot. It made apparent the 
necessity of giving students a greater field 
of choice in their studies, but it did not by 
any means bring with it the modern elect- 
ive system. For the next ten years, almost 
to the time when Mr. Eliot became presi- 
dent of the university, there was in the 
faculty a struggle between the advocates 
and the opponents of the elective system. 
The faculty at that time consisted of about 
fifteen members. The younger members 
and one or two of the elder ones were in 
favor of giving the college the elective sys- 
tem. But not till 1868 was any change 
made in the required mathematics for 
freshman and sophomores. For the first 
time in the academic year 1868-69 sopho- 


JuLY 13, 1906.] 


mores. were not required to study mathe- 
matics. Under the administration of Presi- 
dent Eliot the elective system developed 
rapidly, but no further change in the 
mathematical requirement appears until 
1884, when the freshman requirement was 
dropped. From the autumn of that year 
the study of mathematics in Harvard Col- 
lege has been wholly elective. Just what 
part James Peirce played in the develop- 
ment of the elective system is uncertain. 
He was active always for the freeing of 
students from restrictions, and for any 
movement which seemed to him likely to 
promote true scholarship. He was an ad- 
voecate of the elective system, and was al- 
ways, in the faculty, a staunch supporter 
of every step in the direction of greater 
liberty to the student. 

He was absent from Cambridge from 
1859 to 1861. In 1861 he returned to the 
university as assistant professor of mathe- 
matics. In the previous year Mr. Eliot 
had been made assistant professor of math- 
ematics, but in this year he was called to 
take charge of the work of the scientific 
school. The mathematical teachers in Har- 
vard College were then Professor Benja- 
min Peirce, James Peirce and a single 
tutor, Solomon Lincoln. In the courses of 
instruction offered in that year the only 
change from the list of 1853 is the addi- 
tion of an elective in quaternions, given by 
the elder Peirce. 

In 1863, at the request of a number of 
professors, the corporation ordered that— 

The president, with the (full) professors in all 
departments of the university, be authorized to 
meet and associate themselves in one body for the 
consideration of its educational interests, and for 
the arrangement of such courses of lectures as 
may be thought expedient for the benefit of the 
members of the professional schools, graduates of 


this or other colleges, teachers of the public schools 
of the commonwealth, and other persons. 


This body was known as the university 
senate. The establishment of the senate 


SCIENCE. 43 


laid the foundation of the graduate school, 
in the development of which James Peirce, 
though not a member of the senate, played 
a prominent part. This body instituted 
various courses of ‘university lectures,’ 
including, in the words of James Peirce, 
‘many of high value and interest in all de- 
partments of learning.’ These courses 
were generally short, consisting each of 
not more than five or six lectures. In 
1863-4, the first year of the lectures, three 
courses were given on mathematical sub- 
jects: ‘The Theory of Space developed by 
Quaternions’ and ‘The Connection of the 
Physical and Mathematical Sciences,’ by 
Benjamin Peirce, and ‘Special Investiga- 
tions in Dynamics,’ by William Watson. 
In the following year these courses were 
repeated with the addition of a fourth on 
‘Determinants’ by James Oliver. Appar- 
ently the courses in mathematics did not 
meet with a very cordial reception, for in 
the third year only one mathematical 
course was offered, ‘The Development of 
the Universe,’ by Benjamin Peirce. In- 
deed, it may be supposed that this course 
was philosophical as much as mathematical. 
In 1866-7 this course was repeated, and 
Thomas Hill, the president of the univer- 
sity, gave courses on ‘Methods of Teaching 
Elementary Mathematies,’ and on ‘A Con- 
stant Product.’ In 1867-8 Benjamin 
Peirce gave for the first time a course of 
university lectures on ‘Linear Calculus.’ 
It is probable that this course dealt with 
the linear associative algebras invented and 
developed by him. In that year James 
Oliver gave a course on ‘Geometry of Three 
Dimensions.’ In the following year there 
were no courses of university lectures in 
mathematics, but in the catalogue of the 
scientific school, which was at that time an 
institution especially intended for advanced 
study and research, is printed this note: 
‘Private instruction in the various branches 


44 SCIENCE. 


of mathematics will be given to those de- 
sirous of receiving it by competent in- 
structors residing at the university.’ These 
instructors were Professor Benjamin and 
James Peirce. 

In the autumn of 1869 Charles W. Eliot 
became president of the university, and at 
once occupied himself with the develop- 
ment of the advanced instruction. Various 
short courses in related subjects were com- 
' bined; many new and longer courses were 
offered. To quote again the words of 
James Peirce, ‘a settled purpose was mani- 
fested to establish the instruction of ad- 
vanced special students on a permanent 
and efficient footing.’ In addition to cer- 
tain university lectures there were offered 
that year two ‘university courses of in- 
struction,’ one in philosophy and one in 
modern literature, each consisting of three 
lectures a week throughout the year, and 
each given by several instructors. The 
university lectures in mathematics were 
‘Linear Algebra,’ thirty-five lectures by 
Benjamin Peirce; ‘Algebraic, Periodic and 
Double Periodic Functions,’ thirty-five lec- 
tures, and ‘Higher Geometry,’ eighteen lec- 
tures by James Peirce. This was the first 
year in which James Peirce gave university 
lectures. It was, too, the first time that 
any branch of the theory of functions was 
taught at Harvard. In this year the 
reoular elective courses in: mathematics 
were greatly increased in number, and 
James Peirce was then and thereafter en- 
tirely freed from giving freshman instruc- 
tion. He taught that year four elective 
courses, each of two hours a week, on an- 
alytic geometry, differential calculus, in- 
tegral calculus and elementary mechanics. 
Four electives were offered also by his 
father, consisting each of from one to three 
lectures a week, on mechanics, astronomy, 
quaternions and linear algebra. 

During the next ten years there were no 


[N. 8S. Von. XXIV. No. 602. 


~ 


important changes made in the regular” 


courses offered in mathematics. Benjamin 
Peirce, who was in 1869 sixty years of age, 
withdrew somewhat from active academic 
work, giving after 1870 not more than two 
courses a year, those generally on ‘Quater- 
nions, Mechanics and Linear Algebras.’ 
The teaching of the elective courses was 
taken over almost wholly by James Peirce. 
He gave a great variety of courses, usu- 
ally giving about twelve lectures a week. 
In 1870-1 he gave for the first time a regu- 
lar course on ‘The Theory of Functions,’ 
in 1874-5 a course on ‘Elliptic Functions,’ 
in 1876-7 a course on the ‘Functions of a 
Complex Variable,’ following Briot and 
Bouquet. In 1878-9 he gave for the first 
time an elementary course on quaternions, 
his father giving the second course. In 
the following year James Peirce gave the 
advanced course, his father giving the first 
course. This plan of giving courses of two 
years on one subject, with two instructors 
alternating, has since that time been often 
followed at Harvard. 

In 1870-1 the mathematical university 
lectures consisted of two courses, one on 
‘Celestial Mechanies,’ two lectures a week 
for half the year by Benjamin Peirce, and 
a course of the same length on ‘Modern 
Methods in Geometry’ by James Peirce. 
The latter course has now become a fixture 
in the elective courses given every year, 
and, under the name of mathematics 3, is 
known to almost all students of mathemat- 
ics who have been at Harvard during the 
last thirty years. In this year the number 
of courses of university lectures offered 
was thirty-three. The number of persons 
recorded in the catalogue as attending 
them is twenty-six. 

Whether or not on account of the small 
attendance, it was found that the univer- 
sity lecture system was not satisfactory, 
and in 1872 these lectures were abandoned. 


; 
* 
; 
‘ 
nt 
; 
: 


—— 


Se ee ae ee 


ee 


Poe ee 


JULY 13, 1906.] 


The university senate was reorganized as 
the academic council. The new body con- 
sisted of all professors, assistant professors 
and adjunct professors in all departments 
of the university. The degrees of Ph.D. 
and §.D. were instituted. The principal 
functions of the academic council were the 
administration of these degrees and the 
degree of A.M., and the superintendence 
of the advanced instruction. James Peirce 
was elected secretary of the council at the 
first meeting and continued to hold this 
position until 1889, when the chief func- 
tions of the body were transferred to the 
administrative board of the graduate 
school. In this capacity he practically 
had charge of the graduate instruction. 
He was behind every movement for giving 
the student greater privileges, as he was in 
favor of every change calculated to im- 
prove the quality or to raise the standard 
of instruction. In 1873-4 there were at 
the university forty candidates for the 
higher degrees. In 1894-5, the last year 
of his official connection with the graduate 
school, there were 255 resident graduate 
students, and 17 non-resident graduate 
students. The courses intended for ad- 
vanced students were after 1872 regular 
elective courses and appear in the catalogue 
with the other electives... In the catalogue 
for 1875-6 appears for the first time a 
separate list of courses, twenty-five in num- 
ber, intended especially for graduate stu- 
dents. In 1894-5 there were given 774 
courses intended primarily for graduates, 
1013 intended for graduates and under- 
graduates. The development of the grad- 
uate instruction from 1872 to 1895 was 
steady but marked by no striking change. 
Of interest in this connection are the 
closing words of the last report made to 
the president of the university by James 
Peirce as dean of the graduate school. He 
writes in 1895: 


SCIENCE. 


45 


I account it a high privilege that I have held 
the position of executive officer of our graduate 
department since it was first established in Janu- 
ary, 1872. TI have seen it struggle for years against 
the coldness and scepticism of many members of 
our own faculty and against untoward conditions 
in its constitution and in outward circumstances; 
and I now have the happiness of beholding it the 
acknowledged representative of the best culture, 
the most advanced science and the highest liberal 
learning of the university. I am fully conscious 
that I can claim nothing for myself in this prog- 
ress, beyond a faithful service and an earnest en- 
deavor to rivet attention to the highest ideals of 
intellectual work as furnishing the only true 
basis of the development of such a school. The 
graduate school is a genuine outgrowth of the 
demands of a generation of students now coming 
forward in America; and it is destined within a 
few years, as I confidently believe, to an expansion 
which will make its present prosperity look small. 
To this university it is already rapidly becoming 
the much needed regenerator of the motives and 
principles of student life; the open door which is 
admitting to us a national constituency; the 
western window letting in a flood of warmth and 
light to dissolve academic selfishness and narrow- 
ness, and to quicken us in the discharge of our 
highest duty, that of devotion to the service of 
our country and our time. When its own rela- 
tions to the college proper have been satisfactorily 
established, through a wise readjustment of the 
grounds of our several degrees, it will gather 
into one bright focus the influence and authority 
of the scholarship of this university, and will 
carry on the name of Harvard to be still a con- 
spicuous symbol of light and power to the com- 
ing century, as it has been to that which is near- 
ing its close. 


From the time of his father’s death, in 
1880, James Peirce was at the head of the 
mathematical instruction of the university. 
At the beginning of his service the teach- 
ing force was composed of one professor 
and two tutors; at the time of his death 
there were in the department of mathe- 
matics five professors, one assistant pro- 
fessor and two instructors. In 1854 the 
instruction offered embraced the required 
elementary freshman and sophomore work, 
and three elective courses. In 1905-6 


46 SCIENCE. 


there were offered five and a half courses 
primarily for undergraduates, of which two 
are of as advanced a nature as the electives 
offered in 1854; six courses intended for 
graduates and undergraduates; seven and 
a half courses of lectures primarily for 
eraduates, and six courses of reading and 
research : in addition many other courses 
are named and described in the catalogue 
which are to be given in following years. 
As chairman of his department James 
Peirce was a most liberal-minded and con- 
scientious administrator. He favored. al- 
ways the introduction of new courses, he 
was always desirous that the younger 
teachers should have an opportunity to 
give advanced instruction, he was scru- 
pulously careful and painstaking in the 
details of administrative work. He seldom 
tried to impress his own opinion on the 
department, but preferred to be guided by 
the wish of the majority. 

He gave himself a great variety of 
courses. Although his chief interest lay 
along the lines followed by his father, qua- 
ternions and other linear associative alge- 
bras, he was also much interested in geom- 
etry and in mechanics. In 1904—5 he re- 
turned to the teaching of mechanics after 
having laid the subject aside for many 
years. The course in which he is best 
known to the present generation of stu- 
dents are the two courses on ‘Quaternions,’ 
mathematies 6 and 9, and courses on ‘Al- 
gebraic Curves and Surfaces,’ mathematics 
7a, 7b and 7c. These courses were well 
attended, especially those on ‘Quaternions,’ 
the number of students in mathematics 6 
ranging from ten to twenty-five. He gave 
usually a course or two half courses each 
year, to a small number of students, on 
‘Linear Associative Algebras’ or on the 
‘Algebra of Logic.’ He never fell into the 
narrowing habit of giving year after year 
the same courses, but was eager always to 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 602. 


undertake the teaching of some new 
branch of mathematics. In the last year 
of his life he gave a new half-course, an 
‘Introduction to Higher Plane Curves,’ to 
serve as a preparation for his other courses 
on that topic. Indeed, so anxious was he 
to avoid falling into a rut that he made 
very slight notes for his lectures, prefer- 
ring, in repeating a course, to work it out 
anew. ‘This method resulted in a continual 
freshness and variety of presentation in 
his teaching. His courses were conducted 
by lectures, but his students had always 
opportunity for questions and discussion. 
His lectures were extremely clear and ex- 
cellent in form. He loved to develop a 
subject with great generality without, how- 
ever, sacrificing detail. In his courses he 
covered the ground slowly, and a younger 
generation of students have occasionally 
felt some impatience with his very careful 
and methodical discussions. He was not a 
ereat believer in the ‘problem method’ of 
teaching and he gave almost no home-work 
to his students. He was a mathematician 
of wide and varied learning. His life was 
given to his teaching, and to administrative 
work, rather than to research. He pub- 
lished little. In 1857, at the age of twenty- 
three, he published an ‘ Analytic Geometry,’ 
based on a part of his father’s famous 
work called ‘Curves and Functions.’ This 
‘Analytic Geometry’ was used for many 
years as a text-book at Harvard, and was 
considered an admirable treatise. Of it 
Joseph Henry Allen, writing in the Har- 
vard Register in 1881, says: ‘I call (it) 
the very best text-book I ever used, and I 
never cease to bewail (that it) has gone 
out of print if not out of use.’ This book, 
of 228 pages, contains a development of 
the elements of the subject with the usual 
applications to the study of conic sections. 
Written- in a very attractive style, it is 
much more interesting reading, though it 


peak Sec ra pinie 


Juty 13, 1906.] 


would, perhaps, not be so useful in the 
elass-room, than the modern text-book. It 
contains some explanation of the applica- 
tions of conic sections to physical problems, 
and some sections which are in the author’s 
own words ‘speculative.’ In 1873 he pub- 
lished a book of 83 pages on ‘The Elements 
of Logarithms’; in 1888 a pamphlet of 67 
pages called ‘An Outline of the Elements 
of Analytic Geometry.’ This is something 
more than a syllabus; it is rather a sum- 
mary of the principles of the subject with 
short explanations. He published several 
books of mathematical tables, of which the 
last, ‘Mathematical Tables Chiefly to Four 
Figures,’ was published in 1879. These 
tables are well arranged and are widely 
used. He wrote few articles for scientific 
periodicals, the last one being ‘On Certain 
Systems of Quaternion Expressions and on 
the Removal of Metric Limitations from 
the Calculus of Quaternions,’ printed in 
the Transactions of the American Mathe- 
matical Society for October, 1904. He 
was the author of a few other short ar- 
ticles, one of which is ‘A Rule Relating 
to the Calendar,’ which appeared in the 
Harvard Register in 1881. He edited in 
1881 a course of Lowell lectures given in 
1877-8 by his father, to which he added 
certain appendices. In the course of his 
administrative work he wrote, as dean of 
the graduate school and as dean of the 
faculty, numerous reports to the president 
of the university, remarkable for their 
clearness and even more so for the richness 
and dignity of his style. 

Professor Peirce was interested always 
in the social side of mathematics. When 
he began to teach at Harvard there was a 
mathematical club which held weekly meet- 
ings during the term in the lecture room 
of Professor Benjamin Peirce in Univer- 
sity Hall. The club was small and not 
confined to members of the university. At 


SCIENCE. 47 


the meetings James Peirce sometimes spoke. 
In later years a ‘Mathematical Conference,’ 
established by the department, has held 
fortnightly or monthly meetings, at which 
papers were presented by the students and, 
less often, by members of the teaching 
force. James Peirce was usually present 
at these meetings, attending them probably 
oftener than any other member of the 
faculty. Once or twice he presented 
papers, among the last, one of great in- 
terest on the history of mathematical teach- 
ing in Harvard University. Two years ago 
these conferences were discontinued, and 
were replaced by a mathematical club to 
which belonged both the teachers and the 
students of mathematics. In this club, too, 
Professor Peirce took the greatest interest, 
and at its first meeting read a paper on 
‘The Analytic Geometry of Descartes.’ 
In 1881 was founded by the teachers of 
mathematics and physics of Harvard and 
of the Massachusetts Institute of Technol- 
ogy a club known as the M. P. Club, the 
purpose of which was to bring together the 
teachers and advanced students of these 
subjects at both institutions as well as 
other people interested, to hear-and discuss 
short papers, and to provide pleasant so- 
cial intercourse. James Peirce was elected 
its president, and continued to serve in 
this office until his death. He gave the 
club much thought and time, and took a 
deep interest in its welfare. One meeting 
each year was usually held at his house 
and that meeting was generally the pleas- 
antest of the year. Of late years he felt 
that he had served too long as the club’s 
president, and on several occasions offered 
his resignation, but in his own phrase, he 
always returned to his home ‘unresigned.’ 
He was a very regular attendant and a 
most modest and charming presiding offi- 
cer. The first subject discussed by this 
club was ‘Can there be a discontinuous 


48 SCIENCE. 


function?’ It was voted after debate that 
no discontinuous function exists. 

At the time of his last illness plans had 
already been made for an anniversary din- 
ner of the club, at which a loving cup was 
to have been presented to him as a token 
of the appreciation, felt by the members, 
of his quarter century of service as presi- 
dent. 

No man could have been more closely 
identified with Harvard University than 
was James Mills Peirce. Born and edu- 
cated in Cambridge, he spent there nearly 
every winter of his life. From the time 
of his entrance into Harvard College as a 
freshman in 1849 until the death of his 
father in 1880 he lived in the college yard 
as student, tutor and professor. 

He was a man of most sweet and friendly 
disposition, kind to all with whom he came 
in contact, slow to anger, aroused only by 
injustice; a man of wide acquaintance and 
of many friends, most hospitable in his 
own home, fond of society and given to 
sociability. A lover of music and widely 
read in English literature, he was a man 
of the broadest intellectual interests. 

What marked him most was a great 
faithfulness. He never faltered in his 
work, he never lost interest, indeed his 
enthusiasm grew greater from year to year. 
The welfare and the usefulness of the uni- 
versity were his dearest concern, and for 
their advancement was given the whole of 
a long and active life. He died, as we 
must suppose he would have chosen to die, 
working to the end. 

J. K. WHITTEMORE. 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
NORTHERN LIMIT OF THE PAPAW TREE. 
SoME years ago I was surprised to receive 
from a correspondent, Mr. Kennyon, of Mc- 
Gregor, Ia., a specimen of the papaw tree 
found native in the vicinity of McGregor. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 602. 


Below McGregor on the Mississippi, between 
Dubuque and Specht’s Ferry, quite a number 
of specimens of this plant were observed. 
Some years later, while botanizing in the 
vicinity of Clinton, Ia., the species was found 
in flower. I have never seen any fruit at any 
point near here, but feel warranted in saying 
that the plants are perfectly hardy and do 
bear fruit. Im all of these cases the plants 
were found growing on the sides of limestone 
hills. It may be of interest also to note in 
this connection that the pecan also occurs on 
the Mississippi at Savannah, IIl., which is 
somewhat north of the latitude usually given 
for it. While it is true that the Indian may 
have been an agent in the dissemination of 
the seed of the papaw, it was probably also 
disseminated in other ways. 
L. H. PaMMEL. 


THE CRAYFISH INDUSTRY. 


In my recent article on ‘The Future of the 
Crayfish Industry,’ in Sctence, June 29, two 
errors appear on page 984. The value $420 
in line fourteen should be $4,200 and the 
amount of 165,000 in line twenty-two should 
be 116,400, as correctly stated in the statistics 
of the Bureau of Fisheries. 

E. A. ANDREWS. 


SPECIAL ARTICLES. 


EMISSION OF ELECTRICITY FROM THE RADIUM 
PRODUCTS.” 


Hiruerto, the rate of decay of the induced 
activity produced by radium, has not been 
studied by means of the charge carried away 
from the active body by the a and B rays. 

The following is a brief report of the results 
of two series of experiments on the charge of 
electricity carried by these rays. 

In the first series of experiments, a metal 
wire was made active by immersion in radium 
emanation; and immediately after removal 
from the emanation vessel, was placed inside 
a small hard rubber tube, with very thin walls. 
The outside of the tube was surrounded by 

1 An abstract of a paper read before a meeting 
of scientists, at the University of Colorado, on 
May 5, 1906. 


eee En Ted oe 


= et 


ee ee ea 


Jury 13, 1906.] 


mercury connected metallically to the earth; 
and the wire on the inside of the tube was 
connected to a quadrant electrometer. Under 
these conditions, positive electricity was dis- 
charged from the wire, for five or six minutes, 
and the electrometer indicated the accumula- 
tion of a negative charge. After the expira- 
tion of ten minutes, the electrometer indicated 
the accumulation of a positive charge, and the 
emission from the wire of negative electricity. 
This is in accord with the accepted views as 
to the charges carried by the a and £ rays. 
Radium A radiates a rays only, and radium 
C, both a and B rays. Further, radium A 
disappears in ten minutes, so that the a rays, 
coming from radium A and radium C, passing 
through the rubber, caused a negative charge 
to appear on the wire for the first few minutes. 
After ten minutes radium A disappeared, and 
the positive charge appearing at that time was 
due to the 8 rays of radium C, the B rays 
passing through the rubber more easily than 
the a rays. 


In the second series of experiments, a wire 


was made radioactive as before, and placed 
inside of and coaxial with a metal tube, the 
diameter of which was very slightly greater 
than that of the wire. The metal tube was 
made air-tight, and the air within it rapidly 
exhausted to a pressure of about one tenth of 
a millimeter of mercury. The wire being 
connected to the electrometer, and the tube to 
earth, the deflections of the electrometer indi- 
cated a continual accumulation of a positive 
charge from the very start. A series of care- 
ful measurements were made of the rate of 
discharge of negative electricity from the wire 
at different instants of time after the wire 
had been taken out of the emanation. These 
measurements showed plainly that the rate of 
discharge of negative electricity was not pro- 
portional to the ordinary ionization effect of 
the induced activity; that is, was not propor- 
tional to the quantity of radium A and C 
present on the wire. The curves, represent- 
ing the decay of the rate of emission of elec- 
tricity, are much steeper than those represent- 
ing the rate of decay of the ionization cur- 
rents, except for the first ten minutes. They 


SCIENCE. 49 


agree, approximately, with the theoretical 
curves, given by Rutherford, representing the 
sum of the quantities of radium B and radium 
C on the wire. From this we may conclude 
that radium B, which hitherto has been con- 
sidered non-radioactive, emits, approximately, 
as much negative electricity as does radium C. 

If the tube and wire are placed in a mag- 
netic field, so that the lines of force of the 
field are parallel to the axis of the tube, the 
rate of emission of electricity is considerably 
decreased. Further, an electromotive force 
of a few volts will stop a portion of the dis- 
charge of electricity. From these two experi- 
ments, it appears, using the usual formulas, 
that the ratio of the charge to the mass of the 
carriers of this negative electricity is, at least 
roughly, equal to that of the B rays. The 
experiments, however, give only the order of 
magnitude of this ratio. The velocity, too, 
of the carriers is very much smaller than that 
of the 8 rays, which explains the fact that the 
rays do not pass through the thin rubber tube, 
and do not produce a sufficient ionizing effect, 
to have been discovered by the ionization of 
gases. The small velocity indicates that the 
carriers are probably similar to those called 
by J. J. Thomson § rays. 

A much more detailed account of the ex- 
periments will be published as soon as the 
absolute quantity of electricity emitted by a 
given quantity of induced activity has been 
measured. 

WILLIAM DUANE. 


THE USE OF ASTRONOMICAL TELESCOPES IN DE- 
TERMINING THE SPEEDS OF MIGRATING BIRDS. 


Durine the spring and fall of 1905 there 
was developed at the University of Illinois 
Observatory a method of determining the 
heights of migrating birds. Two observers 
watched the moon’s disk at night through 
small telescopes placed some distance apart, 
and from the different paths seen projected 
against the moon from the two stations, it 
was possible to compute the height and direc- 
tion of flight for each bird. These methods 
and results are given in papers by Messrs. 


50 SCIENCE. 


Stebbins* and Carpenter.’ It was found that 
the migrating birds flew much lower than has 
hitherto been supposed, most of them being 
less than 1,500 feet from the ground at the 
time of observation. 

The writers of the present article have re- 
cently used the same instruments for the 
purpose of measuring the speeds of migrating 
birds. The theory of the method is simple 
enough. Observer F. with a three-inch tele- 
scope, was stationed 200 feet south of S., who 
used a four-inch instrument. On seeing a 
bird, F. would call ‘time’ when it left the 
disk, and S. estimated the interval in seconds 
until the bird had passed off the moon’s edge 
from his point of view. By drawing a figure 
it may easily be seen that in the observed in- 
terval, the bird had crossed a space not less 
than the distance between the stations. The 
lines joining the two observers with the moon 
were parallel and 200 feet apart, measured 
horizontally from south to north. From the 
time required to pass 200 feet, the speed of the 
bird in miles per hour was derived. 

We were successful with this method on 
only one night during the last migrating sea- 
son, May 18, 1906. FF. at the south station 
called ‘time’ for ten different birds, of which 
three were seen by S. At the signal ‘time,’ 
S. would count seconds to himself: ‘and, one, 
and, two, and,’ ete, the first ‘and’ being a 
half second after ‘time,’ another half second 
interval to ‘one’ and so on. Both of us have 
had some years’ experience in observing 
transits of stars by the ‘eye and ear method,’ 
and we believe these results more accurate 
than could be obtained with a stop watch. 

Two birds crossed the space of 200 feet in 
one second, and the third in a second and a 
quarter. The data and results may be summed 
up in the following table where a correc- 
tion of 0.2 second has been added to the ob- 
served interval to allow for the velocity of 
sound. 


1 Stebbins, Joel, ‘A Method of Determining the 
Heights of Migrating Birds, Popular Astronomy, 
14, 65, February, 1906. 

*Carpenter, F. W., ‘An Astronomical Deter- 
mination of the Heights of Birds during Nocturnal 
Migration, The Auk, 23, 2, April, 1906. 


[N.S. Voz. XXIV. No. 602. 


MAY 11, 1906. WIND S.W., 14 MILES PER HOUR. 


ESB eo PA eee EAIRS Dale ep NS Gti aR I 2 3 
Time of observation......... 11.30 11.38 11.50 
Time to travel 200 ft. (in see.) 1.0 125 1.0 
Corrected time.............. 1.2 145 1.2 
Speed in miles per hour..... 114 94 114 


It should be remembered that these are 
minimum speeds, for if the birds were not 
traveling due north they passed over more 
than 200 feet between observations. From 
the directions of their projected paths we 
would conclude that they were actually flying 
northeast, but we devoted nearly all of our 
attention to the estimate of times. We con- 
sider these results to be correct within ten or 
fifteen per cent., and, therefore, place the ob- 
served minimum speeds between 80 and 130 
miles per hour. To obtain the actual motion 
through the air, these quantities should per- 
haps be reduced by fourteen miles per hour, 
the velocity of the wind as shown by an 
anemometer. The birds were flying nearly 
with the wind. 

To one who has not tried this method, the 
question at once presents itself: How was it 
known that both observers saw the same bird? 
When one has kept his eye fixed at the end 
of a telescope for five or ten minutes seeing 
nothing but the moon, and a bird appears 
within a second after his companion calls 
‘time,’ there is no doubt in his mind that one 
and the same bird was seen. Moreover, it is 
possible to show that the path seen by the 
second observer was in prolongation of that 
recorded by the first. 

It is unfortunate that we did not secure 
more observations. The observers inter- 
changed places and watched for another half 
hour, but no more birds were seen from both 
stations. In all F. saw about thirty-five birds 
and S. fifteen during the period 11220™ to 
125 90™ on the above night. We tried on the 
two succeeding nights, but there were passing 
clouds, and apparently fewer birds were flying. 

So far as we know this is the first time that 
two telescopes have been used to determine the 
speed of birds at night. Professor F. W. 
Very, working at the Ladd Observatory, 

3 Very, F. W., ‘ Observations of the Passage of 
Migrating Birds across-the Lunar Disk on the 


et 
* 
4 
Nia 
a 
e 
x 


JuLty 13, 1906.] 


Providence, R. I., deduced from the time re- 
quired to pass across the moon’s disk, a speed 
of about 130 miles per hour for some birds. 
Our results agree closely with his, although 
the methods are very different. He had to 
assume the size of the birds in order to com- 
pute their distances and speeds, while with 
two telescopes the results are independent of 
any assumption as to size or distance. On 
the other hand, it is possible to secure many 
more observations with a single instrument 
than with two, so there are disadvantages in 
both methods. 

With three telescopes it would be possible to 
measure both the heights and speeds of birds 
as they fly across the moon. ‘Two observers 
about ten feet apart in an east-and-west line 
could obtain data for the heights, while the 
speeds could be determined by a third observer 
situated a hundred yards north or south of 
the others. In short, given a clear night, 
the moon about full, plenty of birds in flight, 
and a battery of telescopes, the conditions are 
perfect for an easy solution of the problem 
of the heights and speeds of migrating birds; 
but it will be seldom that all of these require- 
ments are fulfilled at the same time. 


JOEL STEBBINS, 
Epwarp A. Fata. 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS OBSERVATORY, 


SCIENCE. 51 


of a twenty-six-inch bed of workable coal, and 
five thousand for a thirty-six-inch bed, it is 
only within the past few days that any one 
has filed with the governor legitimate claims 
for the bounty. The bed of coal recently ex- 
posed, near Peru, Neb., extending some forty- 
two feet along the sides of a tunnel back from 
the banks of Honey Creek, seems to be fully 
thirty-four inches in thickness, as measured 
by the writer. This is known as the Honey 
Creek or Peru coal mine. The seam is level 
and readily accessible; the mine, being ten 
feet above the creek, is easily drained and 
transportation is at hand. While the extent 
of the newly discovered bed is a matter of 
conjecture, the farms near and adjacent to the 
Peru coal bed are likewise underlaid probably 
with the same seam of coal, judging from 
seattered surface indications. It is reason- 
ably certain that a resource of local interest 
will be developed, and for a time at least 
Nebraska may lose its distinction ‘the state 
without a mine.’ As to the quality of the coal, 
whether good or bad, matters little, for any 
coal is good in a state supposed to be destitute 
of natural fuel. Analyses of the Honey 
Creek coal made by Mr. L. J. Pepperberg, a 
fellow in the department of geology in the 
University of Nebraska are given in the table. 

It must be remembered that the following 


May, 1906. analyses are made from samples which are 

ae on 5 Bax 5 

ce ese Nae g8 | Bea) Bes 

3 Sg Pe a eS oe BHS| sag 

£ eS Ao a 2 a) os Be 

3 oS BS <I eB ah B02) 304 

5 ie © oh 6| €88| HSB 

ene 

Sample No. I., air-dried...............0..+6 10 45.25 | 36.28 8.47 | 100 12,621 55.50] 44.50 

Sample No. II., water-soaked as mined..) 32.22 | 28.54 | 19.38 | 19.86 | 100 7,492 | 54.80} 45.20 
Sample No. III., lignitie coal, Cumber- 3 

land, Wyo., for comparison.............. 8.65 | 44.27 | 46.18 5.90 | 100 14,100 54.90 | 45.10 


A WORKABLE BED OF COAL IN NEBRASKA. 
AutHouGcH for years past the state legisla- 
ture of Nebraska has offered a bounty amount- 
ing to four thousand dollars for the discovery 


Nights of September 23 and 24, 1896, ScrENcE, 
N. S., 6, 409, September 10, 1897. 


presumably be of better quality. 


close to the surface, badly weathered, there- 
fore representing the worst rather than the 
best of this coal. 

By the time the tunnel has been extended 
one hundred feet the overlying shales will be 
about fifty feet in thickness and the coal will 
Across the 


52 SCIENCE. 


valley of the Missouri in Iowa a bed of coal, 
similar in all respects to this one, occurs, and 
is probably a part of the same bed. The evi- 
dence from deep wells at Omaha, Nebraska 
City, Beatrice and Lincoln, the last named 
well being 2,463 feet deep, points to beds of 
coal but a few inches in thickness and thin- 
ning rapidly to the westward. 

For a number of years coal has been mined 
in various places in the southeastern, or 
carboniferous portion of this state, as at 
Nebraska City, Rulo, South Fork and else- 
where, but the thickness of coal in each case 
scarcely equaled eighteen inches and there 
was no profit in mining such coal. The best 
efforts of a Lincoln company headed by Mr. 
Bullock, a man of ability and experience, 
failed to make the mine at Rulo profitable, 
and the undertaking, like that of others, was 
abandoned at the end of two years as un- 
profitable. 

Although considerable amounts of coal 
were furnished at one time by the South Fork 
Mine to the neighboring towns, Table Rock, 
Humboldt, Salem, Dawson and Seneca, the 
bulk of coal mined thus far has been used by 
those mining it. Farmers and others often 
dig out their own supply of winter sila wat 
vigorous effort was made to develop a bed, 
said to be eighteen inches thick, in north- 
eastern Nebraska, it being a lignitic coal in 
the Cretaceous and in no way related to the 
coal recently discovered. Simultaneously 
with the discovery of coal at Peru come re- 
ports not yet verified of a bed equally thick 
at Falls City. It has certainly been the 
opinion of geologists at large that commercial 
coal was not to be expected in Nebraska, and 
the occurrence of a workable bed in Peru does 
not materially change this opinion, for at the 
best it must be local, as shown by surround- 
ing deep wells. Though limited to a square 
mile or so it is of importance to this com- 
monwealth. 

The owner of the land on which the bed of 
coal was found leased the mine at the rate of 
fifty cents on every ton of coal sold for three 
dollars, and one dollar on every ton sold at 


[N. S. Vou. XXIV. No. 602. 


four dollars, which may be an item of inter- 
est to those regularly engaged in mining. 


Erwin H. Barpour. 
THE UNIVERSITY oF NEBRASKA, LINCOLN, 
April 5, 1906. 


THE RELATION OF PRESSURE IN THE CORONARY 
VESSELS TO THE ACTIVITY OF THE ISO- 
LATED HEART, AND SOME CLOSELY 
RELATED PROBLEMS.” 


THE data recorded in this note were ob- 
tained in a series of experiments on the ex- 
cised hearts of turtles, and on the hearts of 
guinea-pigs, rabbits, cats and dogs, both ex- 
cised and in situ. The object was to study 
the effect of various artificial nutrient solu- 
tions under different conditions of tempera- 
ture and pressure with a view of determining 
their efficiency in restoring cardiac activity. 
By efficiency is meant the capability of the 
heart of maintaining an adequate blood pres- 
sure. 

Defibrinated blood, blood dilutions, Locke’s, 
Ringer’s, Howell and Greene’s two solutions, 
0.9 per cent. sodium chloride, paraffin oil and 
hydrogen gas were employed. 

The animals were etherized and rapidly bled 
to death, and the blood collected and defibrin- 
ated. In isolated preparations, the hearts 
were rapidly removed and suspended by the 
base. Cannule were inserted and the peri- 
cardium removed. Ventricular tracings were 
made by connecting this portion of the heart 
to a simple lever which recorded the contrac- 
tions on a drum. Auricular tracings also 
were made in some experiments. In all cases 
of isolated preparations, before the injection 
was begun, the hearts were bathed in the solu- 
tions to be employed. With all the solutions 
except blood, or blood dilutions, oil and hydro- 
gen, a short series of more or less rhythmical 
contractions, similar to those evoked by sim- 
ple mechanical stimulation, promptly followed 
their application to the heart. In the course 
of the experiments with the hearts in situ, a 
constant parallelism was observed between the 
aortic pressure and the rate of the heart. In 
order to determine whether this result was 

1All references to literature have been pur- 


-posely omitted. 


= 


JuLy 13, 1906.] 


due to intraventricular or to coronary pres- 
sure, the heart was excised and the ventricles 
slit open; injections under pressures varying 
from 44 mm. to 200 mm. of mercury were then 
raade through the aorta and also directly into 
the anterior coronary artery. On cessation 
of the contractions following the external ap- 
plication of the solution to the heart, per- 
fusion through the coronary arteries was be- 
gun, and with blood and its mixtures, oil, 
hydrogen gas, and all solutions, rhythmical 
beats followed, the magnitude and rate of 
which varied with the pressure. The evi- 
dence seems conclusive that there exists for 
each solution a certain optimum pressure 
which produces the maximum rate without a 
diminution of the amplitude, and that this 
optimum changes with the condition of the 
heart. With hearts from the same species 
of animals, the optimum pressure for each 
solution may vary widely at corresponding 
periods of the experiment. The actual change 
in rate for a given change in pressure may not 
be constant for different hearts under similar 
conditions; nor for the same heart under dif- 
ferent conditions. The rate may change 
three hundred per cent. within the limits of 
the pressure used, variations occurring when 
the pressure is changed (1) from low to high, 
or (2) from high to low. Increase in pressure 
may be considered as a stimulation in the ordi- 
nary sense of the term, for the reason that an 
increase above the optimum causes an increase 
in rate, and that delirium cordis may be pro- 
duced if the pressure be raised sufficiently 
high. If the pressure now be gradually low- 
ered a regular rhythm returns, which becomes 
slower concomittantly with the fall in pres- 
sure. With the same heart, several successive 
increases and decreases of pressure may cause 
nearly identical rhythms at corresponding 
pressures, the gradual increase or decrease of 
pressure being attended by a fairly constant 
change in rate for corresponding changes in 
pressure. A sudden and profound fall in 
pressure may cause either (1) an immediate 
increase in rate succeeded by a decrease to the 
rate previously observed for that pressure, or 
(2) a slowing of the rate, even to total cessa- 
tion, succeeded by a return to the rate pre- 


SCIENCE. 53 


viously observed for that pressure. The first 
phenomenon bears some resemblance to that 
following a sudden fall of blood pressure in 
the intact animal, 7. e., acceleration, and the 
second bears a striking resemblance to vagus 
inhibition in the intact heart. In the pre- 
liminary experiments with the heart in situ 
the higher cardiac nerve centers were inactive. 
When the animal is under light anesthesia, 
the changes in rate produced by changing the 
pressure, both before and after section of the 
cardiac nerves, are not the same as in the 
isolated heart, or in the resuscitated heart in 
situ. The changes in the rhythm are not due 
to alterations in intraventricular pressure. If, 
in the turtle, the cannula is introduced di- 
rectly into the ventricle the beat may be prac- 
tically stopped, owing, presumably, to disten- 
tion of the ventricle. Free incision of the 
ventricles in the excised mammalian heart 
precluded any distention. 

With hearts in situ, and in good condition, 
following injection of blood dilutions into the 
aorta, the left ventricle got up a pressure 
greater than that used for injecting. In no 
instance were efficient contractions obtained by 
injecting artificial solutions alone. Their use 
appears to cause a rapid deterioration of 
cardiac tissue as regards its susceptibility to 
restoration and efficiency, though complete 
loss of irritability may not occur for a long 
time; e. g., from strips of cats’ ventricles 
bathed in Locke’s solution, tracings were 
taken showing contractions for a period of 
more than six hours, at which time the experi- 
ment was discontinued. Efficient contrac- 
tions, maintained for relatively long periods, 
followed the injection of defibrinated blood or 
blood dilutions. If the perfusion with arti- 
ficial solutions had not been too prolonged, 
the hearts could be restored to fairly good con- 
dition by perfusion with blood mixtures. The 
optimum pressure for blood and its dilutions 
was considerably higher than that for the 
artificial solutions. This difference may be 
due in part to a difference in viscosity, but it 
is also possible that artificial solutions increase 
the excitability of the preparation by direct ac- 
tion primarily on the vessel walls. Two facts 
lend some support to this view: (1) bathing 


x 


54 SCIENCE. 


the hearts with artificial solutions is attended 
by contractions, while blood and its mixtures 
produce no such effect; and (2) if two strips 
of cat's ventricle, one cut so as to include a 
considerable part of the anterior coronary 
artery, and the other cut from the anterior 
lateral margin of the right ventricle so as to 
include no large vessels, be suspended and irri- 
gated with the artificial solutions, the strip 
containing the coronary artery soon exhibits 
strong tonus upon which contractions may be 
superposed, while a little later the other strip 
begins to contract more or less irregularly and 
without any change in tonus. It may be ob- 
served in this connection that a strip of 
thoracic aorta may exhibit a deportment simi- 
lar to that of the ventricular strip containing 
the coronary artery. 

From these observations we conclude that, 
with hearts under the conditions of our 
experiments: (1) It is highly improbable 
that the production of a rhythmical beat is 
dependent solely upon the constituents of any 
one of the artificial solutions employed; that 
these solutions alone are not sufficient to 
initiate or sustain efficient beats of the heart. 
It has been shown in this and other labora- 
tories that such solutions are inadequate to 
restore or even to sustain the activities of the 
reflex nervous centers of mammals. We have 
found the addition of a certain amount of 
blood necessary to render these solutions effi- 
cient. (2) For the production of the effi- 
cient rhythmical beat of the isolated heart, 
pressure or circulation of a suitable me- 
dium in the coronary vessels is necessary. 
Injection of blood or its dilutions into the 
coronary veins is attended by much the same 
phenomena as have been recorded for injec- 
tions into the coronary artery, the principal 
differences being the somewhat lower optimum 
pressure and the lower pressure necessary for 
the production of delirium cordis. The char- 
acter of the beat may differ somewhat in the 
two cases. As the pressure in the veins neces- 
sary to produce rhythmical beats is in all 
probability higher than that normally present, 
the mechanism which initiates the normal 
rhythmical beat must be sought elsewhere. In 
further support of this view may be men- 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 602. 


tioned the fact, as determined by inspection, 
that, on injecting into the coronary artery, 
the beat begins before much blood appears in 
the coronary vein, although the beats are weak 
before the complete establishment of the 
coronary circulation. In suitable prepara- 
tions, in which the rhythm is slow, the 
coronary artery, or the tissue immediately sur- 
rounding it, has been observed to pulsate, 
and the beat to spread from the coronary ves- 
sels over the heart. 
C. C. GutTHrig, 
hla ee catia ob 
HuLL PHYSIOLOGICAL LABORATORY, 
THE UNIVERSITY oF CHICAGO, 
May 25, 1906. 


NOTES ON ORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 


ESTERIFICATION OF TERTIARY AND UNSATURATED 
ALCOHOLS, 

Not long ago there was given, in this 
journal, an account of some recent improve- 
ments in the methods of preparing esters. 
Although these are of undoubted value, yet 
the subject, as a whole, can not be said to be 
in a very satisfactory state because there are 
no methods, of general applicability, capable of 
furnishing a good yield of the esters of ter- 
tiary and unsaturated alcohols. The primary 
cause of the difficulty is the greater sensitive- 
ness of these classes of alcohols, which results 
in the production from them of other com- 
pounds, such as unsaturated hydrocarbons or 
tarry products, in relatively large quantity. 
This behavior is further accentuated by the 
fact that the velocity of their reaction and 
their equilibrium points are both very low. 
Whereas, in the case of propyl alcohol, if 46.5 
per cent. is esterified in one hour and 66.8 per 


cent. is esterified before equilibrium is at- 
~ tained, these values become 26.5 and 60.5 per 


cent., respectively, for secondary propyl al- 
cohol, and for tertzarybuty] alcohol, 1.5 and 6.6 
per cent. The figures speak for themselves 
and demonstrate how great, relatively, is the 
opportunity for change to take place in the 
tertiary alcohol by the action of the high 
temperature or of the mineral acid or other 
‘catalyst’ that may be present. 


*ScleNcE, XXIII., 712 (1906). 


a ee ee a 


Jury 13, 1906.] 


The Grignard reaction, since its discovery 
a few years ago, has been extremely productive 
of valuable results and appears to be capable 
of rendering service in this case also. An 
ingenious application of it, described recently 
by J. Houben, constitutes an important ad- 
vance towards the solution of the general prob- 
lem described above. The process consists 
of the following stages: Magnesium, an alkyl 
haloid and absolute ether are allowed to react 
in the ordinary manner, to give the Grignard 
reagent; if ethyl chloride is employed the 
action may be represented by the equation: 
Mg + C,H,Cl—> MgCIC,H,. The ethylmag- 
nesium chloride is mixed with the alcohol to 
be experimented with and there results a 
hydrocarbon and magnesium alkyloxy chlo- 
ride; with tertzarybutyl alcohol the reac- 


tion would be: C,H,MgCl-—+ (CH,),COH => - 


(CH,),COMg01+ ©,H,. The ethane, of 
course, escapes. The last step consists in 
adding acetic anhydride to the above product, 
which results in the formation of tertiary- 
butyl acetate and magnesium acetochloride: 


(CH,),COMg + (CH,CO),0 > 
(CH,),COCOCH, + CH,COOMeCl. 


The preceding method has already led to 
the synthesis of a variety of acetates of 
geraniol and of terpin series, such as terpin 
diacetate; the resulting compounds are closely 
allied with some of the odoriferous materials 
of plants, and their further study promises re- 
sults of importance and value. The method 
also gives good service in the esterification of 
phenols. 

Benzylmagnesium chloride, C,H,CH,Mg(Cl, 
may be used in place of the ethyl derivative, 
but curiously enough, the corresponding bro- 
mides or iodides can not be employed; with 
the former the yield is poor and with the 
latter the reaction is practically inhibited, ex- 
cept in the case of saturated alcohols, for 
which, however, the bromides are preferable. 


The results of a more extended investigation | 


of this subject will be awaited with interest. 


J. BisHop TINGLE. 
JOHNS HoPpKINS UNIVERSITY. 


* Ber. d. Chem. Ges., 39, 1736 (1906). 


SCIENCE. 5d 


RECENT VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY. 


Extinct Mammals of Patagonia.—The third 
part of the first volume of the Annales de 
Paléontologie under the direction of Dr. Mar- 
cellin Boule, professor of paleontology in the 
Museum of Natural History of Paris, has 
just been received. It contains the conclusion 
of Professor Albert Gaudry’s review of the 
fossils of Patagonia, in which this distin- 
guished paleontologist presents the most clear 
and interesting account of the mammalian 
life, especially in the Eocene, Oligocene and 
Lower Miocene. Summaries of the geolog- 
ical results obtained by Hatcher, Ortmann, 
Tournouer, are given, together with a discus- 
sion of the environment of the remarkable 
succession of mammalian life. This is by far 
the clearest and most interesting presentation 
we have yet had of the development of this 
peculiar fauna. The author is a strong be- 
liever in the existence of an Antarctic conti- 
nent; in fact he regards this fauna as the 
fauna of such a continent. He observes that 
Patagonia serves to give us a clear idea of its 
geographical extent by its climate, remarking 
‘that if Patagonia is not a part of an Ant- 
arctic continent its paleontological history is 
altogether incomprehensible.’ It is interesting 
to contrast this statement with one recently 
made to the writer by Sir John Murray to 
the effect that he found no evidence whatever 
sufficient to convince him even of the existence 
of such a continent. 

Hocene Mammalia of Northern Africa.— 
By far the most important paleontological 
event of recent times was the discovery in 
1900 of the ancient fauna of the Fayim. 
This is the lake province of Egypt, a district 
occupying a depression in the desert to the 
west of the Nile Valley opposite Wasta, a 
small town about fifty-seven miles south of 
Cairo. From time to time since this dis- 
covery Messrs. Beadnell, of the Egyptian Geo- 
logical Survey; Dames, of Berlin; Stromer, 
of Munich; Fraas, of Stuttgart, and especially 
Andrews, of the British Museum of Natural 
History, have been presenting short contribu- 
tions to our knowledge of this fauna. We 
have now received ‘A Descriptive Catalogue 


56 SCIENCE. 


of the Tertiary Vertebrata of the Faytm, 
Egypt, based on the collection of the Egyptian 
government in the Geological Museum, Cairo, 
and on the collection in the British Museum 
(Natural History), London,’ by Charles Will- 
iam Andrews. The volume is a fine quarto 
of 324 pages, with twenty-six plates, and a 
large number of text figures, including several 
restorations. It is no exaggeration to say 
that it marks a turning point in the history 
of the mammalia of the world. 

First and foremost is the fact that the an- 
eestors of three great orders of mammals, 
namely, the Hyracoidea, Sirenia and Pro- 
boseidea, are definitely carried back to the 
Upper Eocene, and the birthplace of these 
orders appears to be firmly established on the 
great continent of Africa, which was espe- 
cially distinguished through a very long geo- 
logical period as a land mass much less af- 
fected by submergence than the other conti- 
nents, and, therefore, a peculiarly favorable 
theater for the evolution of terrestrial mam- 
mals. 

Second, the problematical order of Zeuglo- 
dontia, aberrant whale-like forms, are defi- 
nitely carried back to the Middle Eocene and 
apparently connected firmly with the land- 
living primitive Carnivores known as Creo- 
donts. This demonstration we owe to a dis- 
covery by Professor Eberhard Fraas, of Stutt- 
gart, a fact which is fully set forth in the 
present work. 

Third, we have established here the occur- 
rence of two entirely distinct and extremely 
aberrant forms of mammals, both of which 
possibly represent new and distinct orders, 
namely, Arsinditheritum and Barytherium. 
Arsinoitherium is now fully known and differs 
from every other mammal both in its denti- 
tion and in the anatomy of the skull, a most 
remarkable feature of which is a very large 
and forwardly pointed pair of horns. The 
limbs are analogous to those of the Proboscidea 
and Dinocerata. 

Fourth, mingled with these aberrant and 
peculiarly African forms in the Upper Eocene 
are the only carnivorous types thus far found, 
namely, the primitive Creodonta, resembling 


_[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 602. 


those of France and North America, and sug- 
gesting a land connection and mammalian in- 
vasion from Europe. Certain of the Artio- 
dactyl Ungulates characteristic of the Upper 
Eocene of Europe also appear here, namely, 
the Anthracotheres. 

We may, therefore, consider the hypothesis 
which was advanced more or less fully and 
independently in 1900 by Osborn, Stehlin and 
Tullberg, that Africa was a very important 
center in the evolution of mammalian life 
firmly established as a fact; further, that 
Africa contributed the Hyracoidea, the Sirenia 
and the Proboscidea to the continents of 
Europe, Asia and in part to North America. 

Some confirmation is also found for the 
hypothesis which dates back to De Blainville, 
namely, that widely separated as the Sirenia 
and Proboscidea are to-day, they may have 


_ had a community of origin in Lower Eocene 


times. 

Dr. Andrews is also inclined to regard the 
evidence which he has now brought together 
as lending additional support to the theory 
that in late Mesozoic times Africa and South 
America were still connected by land. He 
concludes: ‘It appears certain that the final 
separation of the two continents did not take 
place till Eocene times,’ and that there may 
have been a chain of islands between the 
northern part of Africa and Brazil which 
persisted even till the Miocene. This rests on 
much more slender evidence than the well- 
established land connection between Patagonia 
and Australia, but the résumé which the au- 
thor gives of the anomalies of distribution 
which would be explained by such a connec- 
tion is well worth quoting in full (pp. xxvi- 
XXVil) : 

On the assumption that this series of events 
did happen, there is little difficulty in accounting 
for most of the peculiarities in the distribution 
of the various groups. Thus, to mention only a 
few instances, the presence in both continents of 
the Hystricomorphine rodents, of chelonians of 
the family Pelomeduside, and of the fishes of the 
family Cichlid is at once accounted for. So also 
is the presence in the Santa Cruz beds of 
Necrolestes, apparently a close ally of the Cape 
Golden moles, and of the Sparassodonta, which, 


JuLy 13, 1906.] 


after all, seem to be creodonts and not marsupials. 
Furthermore, light is also thrown on the nu- 
merous points of similarity between Struthiones 
and the Rhez, especially when it is remembered 


that a large ratite bird, Hremopezus, existed in- 


the Eocene of Africa. As to the ungulates, it 
seems likely that the separation of the two areas 
took place when the main divisions were only just 


beginning to be differentiated, and that groups 


like the Pyrotheria and the Archeohyracide are 
not ancestral to the Proboscidea and Hyracoidea 
of the old world, but more probably represent 
terms of partly parallel series which had a com- 
mon ancestry on the common land-surface before 
the separation of the two regions took place. If 
this were so, we should expect to meet with a 
general resemblance between the various groups 
rather than a close similarity of structure, and 
this, in fact, is what we find. In the case of the 
occurrence of the primitive sirenian Prorastomus 
in the West Indies, and of the water-snake 
Pterosphenus in the Hocene beds of Alabama, it 
seems likely that these animals passed either 
along the southern coast of the Eocene Atlantic 
or across the bridge of shallow water between the 
chain of islands above referred to as probably 
lying between West Africa and Brazil. 


The work is admirably printed and illus- 
trated, and includes reference to all of the 
Literature; and the author as well as the di- 
rectors and trustees of the British Museum 
are greatly to be congratulated. 


Henry F. Osporn. 
THE INTERNATIONAL FISHERY CONGRESS, 
1908. 

At the Paris universal exposition of 1900 
there was held an international congress of 
fisheries and pisciculture, a permanent com- 
mittee on international fishery congresses was 
formed, and plans were laid for holding such 
congresses regularly in various countries. The 
first congress was under the presidency of 
Professor Edmond Perrier, director of the 
National Museum of Natural History in 
Paris. The second congress met in St. Peters- 
burg in 1902, under the presidency of Hon. 
Vladimir Weschniakow, secretary of state and 
president of the Russian Imperial Fishery So- 
ciety. The last congress convened at Vienna 
in 1905 and was presided over by Professor 


SCIENCE. 57 


Dr. Franz Steindachner, director of the Im- 
perial Museum of Natural History in Vienna. 
I attended that congress as the representative 
of the United States, and extended an official 
invitation to hold the next meeting in America 
in 1908, the invitation being unanimously 
accepted. The place of meeting is Washing- 
ton, D. C., and the time is September 22 to 
26 inclusive. It is a source of gratification 
to announce that the president of the next 
congress is Dr. Hermon C. Bumpus, director 
of the American Museum of Natural History. 

In connection with the congress there have 
been arranged a number of competitive awards 
for the best or most important investigations, 
discoveries, inventions, etc., relative to fish- 
eries, aquiculture, ichthyology, fish pathology 
and related subjects during the years 1906, 
1907 and 1908. The awards will be in the 
form of money; and, although the individual 
amounts are not large, it is hoped that the 
conferring of the awards by so representative 
a body will induce many persons to compete 
and will result in much benefit to the fisheries 
and fish culture. The following awards have 
thus far been provided, and others may be 
announced later: ~ 

By the American Fisheries Society: For a 
paper embodying the most important original ob- 
servations and investigations regarding the cause, 
treatment and prevention of a disease affecting 
a species of fish under cultivation. $100. 

By the American Museum of Natural History: 
For an original paper describing and illustrating 
by specimens the best method of preparing fish 
for museum and exhibition purposes. $100. 

By Forest and Stream: For the best paper 
giving description, history and methods of ad- 
ministration of a water, or waters, stocked and 
preserved as a commercial enterprise, in which 
angling is open to the public on payment of a 
fee. $50. 

By the Museum of the Brooklyn Institute of 
Arts and Sciences: For the best paper setting 
forth a plan for an educational exhibit of fishes, 
the species and specimens that should be shown, 
the method of arrangement, and suggestions for 
making such an exhibit instructive and attractive. 
$100. 

By the New York Aquarium: For an exposition 
of the best methods of combating fungus disease 
in fishes in captivity. $150. 


58 SCIENCE. 


By the New York Botanical Garden: For the 
best essay on any interrelation between marine 
plants and animals. $100. 

By the Smithsonian Institution: For the best 
essay or treatise on ‘International regulations of 
the fisheries on the high seas, their history, ob- 
jects and results.’ $200. 

By the Fisheries Company, New York City: 
For the best essay treating of the effects of fish- 
ing on the abundance and movements of surface- 
schooling fishes, particularly the menhaden and 
Similar species, and the influence of such fishing 
on the fishes which may prey on such species. 
$250. 

By the United States Bureau of Fisheries: 
For a report describing the most useful new and 
original. principle, method or apparatus to be em- 
ployed in fish culture or in transporting live 
fishes (competition not open to employees of the 
bureau). $200. 

By the Wolverine Fish Company, Detroit, Mich- 
igan: For the best plan to promote the whitefish 
production of the Great Lakes. $100. 

By Mr. Hayes Bigelow, Brattleboro, Vermont, 
member of the American Fisheries Society: For 
the best demonstration, based on original investi- 
gations and experiments, of the commercial pos- 
sibilities of growing sponges from eggs or cut- 
tings. $100. 

By Hon. George M. Bowers, United States Com- 
missioner of Fisheries: For the best demonstra- 
tion of the efficacy of artificial propagation as ap- 
plied to marine fishes. $100. 

By Dr. H. C. Bumpus: For an original and 
practical method of lobster culture. $100. 

By Mr. John K. Cheney, Tarpon Springs, 
Florida, member of the American Fisheries So- 
ciety: For the best presentation treating of the 
methods of the world’s sponge fisheries, the in- 
fluence of such methods on the supply of sponges, 
and the most effective means of conserving the 
sponge grounds. $100. 

By Professor Theodore Gill, Smithsonian Insti- 
tution: For the best methods of observing the 
habits and recording the life histories of fishes, 
with an illustrative example. $100. 

By Dr. F. M. Johnson, Boston, Mass., member 
of the American Fisheries Society: For the best 
demonstration of the comparative value of dif- 
ferent kinds of foods for.use in rearing young 
salmonoids, taking into consideration cheapness, 
availability and potentiality. $150. 

By the New York Academy of Sciences: For 
that contribution presented at the congress and 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 602. 


not provided for in the foregoing awards which is 
adjudged to be of the greatest practical impor- 
tance to the fisheries or to fish-culture. $100. 

Further information concerning this mat- 
ter will be furnished on application to the 
undersigned general secretary. 


H. M. Smiru. 


U. S. BUREAU oF FISHERIES, 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 


THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY 
OF LONDON. 

Or the Proceedings of the Royal Society of 
London, as divided about a year ago into two 
series, Vols. 76-77 of series ‘A,’ containing 
papers of a mathematical and physical char- 
acter, and Vols. 76-77 of series ‘B, contain- 
ing papers of a biological character, have now 
appeared, each running to about 600 pages 
royal octavo, with illustrations. A main ob- 
ject of this new arrangement was to render 
the proceedings more accessible to workers by 
placing the two groups of subjects on sale 
separately, at a stated price attached to each 
separate part of a volume when it first appears. 
Moreover, with a view to promoting the cir- 
culation of the complete series, it has been 
directed that a subscription paid in advance 
to the publishers at the reduced price of 15s. 
per volume for either series, shall entitle sub- 
seribers to receive the parts as soon as pub- 
lished, or else the volumes when completed, in 
boards or in paper covers, as they may prefer. 

With a view to further increasing the acces- 
sibility of the various publications of the 
Royal Society, each number of proceedings 
now contains an announcement on the cover, 
of the more recent memoirs of the Philosoph- 
ical Transactions as published separately in 
wrappers and the prices at which they can be 
obtained. 

It is hoped that by this arrangement the 
difficulties which have been found to impede 
the prompt circulation of the journals of the 
society, which are of necessity published in a 
somewhat different manner from a regular 
periodical, may be finally removed. 


THE AGRICULTURAL APPROPRIATION BILL. 


THE agricultural appropriation bill for the 
fiseal year ending June 30, 1907, as finally 


JULY 13, 1906.] 


_ passed bythe recent session of congress car- 
ries an appropriation of $9,932,940. Of this 
amount the sums appropriated for what may 
be termed work in applied science are dis- 
tributed as follows: 

The Bureau of Animal Industry receives 
$4,029,460, but of this amount $3,000,000 are 
to be devoted to the meat inspection, the dis- 
cussion of which has occupied so much of the 
time of congress and of the public press dur- 
ing the past few weeks; Weather Bureau, 
$1,439,240; Bureau of Plant Industry, $1,024,- 
740; Forest Service, $1,017,500; Agricultural 
Experiment Stations, including the Depart- 
ment Office of Experiment Stations, $974,860; 
Bureau of Entomology, $262,100; Division of 
Publications, $248,520; Bureau of Soils, $221,- 
460; Bureau of Statistics, $210,560; Bureau 
of Chemistry, $174,180; Office of Public 
Roads, $70,000; Bureau of Biological Survey, 
$52,000; Library, $25,880. 

The growth of this great government de- 
partment has been marvelous during the past 
decade, and the value of its administration to 
the country at large seems, by results, to have 
justified this increase in its appropriations. 


CARNEGIE FOUNDATION FOR THE AD- 
VANCEMENT OF TEACHING. 

Tue following list of forty-six institutions 
is announced by the executive committee of 
the Carnegie Foundation for the Advance- 
ment of Teaching as a first provisional list of 
colleges and universities admitted to the bene- 
fits of the Carnegie Foundation for the Ad- 
vancement of Teaching. _ 

To professors in these institutions the privi- 
leges of the retiring allowances are extended, 
under the rules of the foundation, as a regular 
part of the academic compensation and 
through their own institutions. That is to 
say, the professors in these institutions receive 
the allowances which their services earn, im- 
mediately upon the request of their institu- 
tion, as a matter of right. 

From this list are omitted all institutions 
having formal denominational connections, or 
which require their trustees or officers to be- 
long to a specified denomination. A number 
of these institutions may in time make clear 


SCIENCE. 


59 


to the trustees their right to a place in the list. 

Similarly are omitted all institutions con- 

trolled and supported by a state, province or 
municipality. The question of the admission 
of such institutions to the benefits of the Car- 
negie Foundation will be decided at a meet- 
ing of the trustees in November, at which time 
the representatives of state institutions will 
have a full opportunity to present any state- 
ment they may desire. 
_ All institutions are omitted from this list 
which fall below the academic standard of a 
college which the trustees have adopted. Many 
of these will in time be able to claim places in 
the list of accepted institutions by raising 
their standards of entrance or of work. To 
all three of these classes of institutions there 
can be no hardship in such delay as may be 
necessary to enable the trustees to deal thor- 
oughly and fairly with the questions of edu- 
cational standard and of denominational and 
state control. 

It is not to be understood that the institu- 
tions named below are the only ones in which 
teachers will be granted retiring allowances 
even at the present time, but to professors in 
institutions not on the accepted list retiring 
allowances thus voted will be individual grants 
in recognition of unusual or distinguished 
service as a teacher. The trustees have sought 
to recognize in a generous way individual 
scholars and the list of those to whom retiring 
allowances have already been voted includes a 
number of the most eminent names among 
American teachers. 

The Carnegie Foundation does not give out 
an official list of those to whom retiring allow- 
ances have been granted, but among those 
whose names have been published in the daily 
papers are the following: Henry Pickering 
Bowditch, professor of physiology at Harvard 
University; George Trumbull Ladd, professor 
of philosophy at Yale University; Francis A. 
March, professor of English and comparative 
philology at Lafayette College; Edward W. 
Morley, professor of chemistry at Western 
Reserve University; John Krom Rees, pro- 
fessor of astronomy at Columbia University; 
Charles Augustus Young, professor of astron- 
omy at Princeton University. 


60 


INSTITUTIONS: IN THE UNITED STATES. 


Amherst College, Amherst, Mass. 
Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin. 
Carleton College, Northfield, Minn. 


Case School of Applied Science, Cleveland, Ohio. 


Clark University, Worcester, Mass. 


Clarkson School of Technology, Potsdam, N. Y. 


Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colo. 
Columbia University, New York City. 
Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. 
Dartmouth College, Hanover, N. H. 


George Washington Uniy., Washington, D. C. 


Hamilton College, Clinton, N. Y. 
Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 
Hobart College, Geneva, N. Y. 

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. 
Knox College, Galesburg, Ik 

Iowa College, Grinnell, Lowa. 

Lawrence University, Appleton, Wis. 
Lehigh University, S. Bethlehem, Pa. 


Leland Stanford Univ., Stanford Univ., Cal. 


Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio. 
Mass. Inst. Tech., Boston, Mass. 
Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vt. 
Mt. Holyoke College, S. Hadley, Mass. 
New York University, New York City. 
Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio. 
Polytechnic Institute, Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Princeton University, Princeton, N. J. 
Radcliffe College, Cambridge, Mass. 
Ripon College, Ripon, Wisconsin. 
Smith College, Northampton, Mass. 


Stevens Institute Technology,’ Hoboken, N. J. 


Trinity College, Hartford, Conn. 
Tulane University," New Orleans, La. 
Union College, Schenectady, N. Y. 


University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa. 


University of Vermont, Burlington, Vt. 
Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 
Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Ind. 
Washington University, St. Louis, Mo. 
Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass. 
Wells College, Aurora, N. Y. 


Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. 


Williams College, Williamstown, Mass. 
Western Univ. of Penn., Pittsburg, Pa. 
Yale University, New Haven, Conn. 


INSTITUTIONS IN CANADA, 


Dalhousie University, Halifax, N. S. 
McGill University, Montreal, Canada. 


*On the basis of entrance requirements of 1907. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 602. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


Dr. Ernst Macu, of Vienna, has been 
awarded the Bavarian Maximilian order for 
selence and art. 

Oxrorp UNIversiTy conferred, on June 20, 
the honorary degree of doctor of science on 
Dr. John Milne, F.R.S., known for his re- 


searches in seismology. 


Tue Technical Institute of Berlin has con- 
ferred on Mr. George Westinghouse the de- 
gree of doctor of engineering. 

THE University of Vermont has conferred 
the degree of doctor of science on Mr. C. G. 
Pringle, keeper of the herbarium of the uni- 
versity. ; 

Dr. Wittiam W. KEEN, professor of surgery 
in the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, 
has been elected a trustee of Vassar College 
to fill the vacaney caused by the death of 
Dr. Edward Lathrop. 

M. Cuartes Tréprep, director of the As- 
tronomical Observatory of Algiers, has been 
elected a corresponding member of the Paris 
Academy of Sciences. 


Dr. E. Lupwic, professor of medical chem- 
istry in the University of Vienna, has been 
elected an active member, and Dr. J. Herzig, 
professor of chemistry, a corresponding mem- 
ber, of the Vienna Academy of Sciences. 


Dr. Cannizzaro, professor of chemistry at 
Rome, and director Dr. H. Th. Bottinger, of 
Elberfeld, have been elected honorary mem- 
bers of the German Bunsen Society. 


Dr. G. Kraatz, the Berlin entomologist, has 
celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his doc- 
torate. 

Dr. T. P. AnpERson Stuart has been elected 
president of the Royal Society of New South 
Wales. 

THE international celebration of the Coal- 
Tar Color Jubilee will be held on July 26 and 
27. There will be a meeting at the Royal 
Institution at 11 o’clock on July 26 for the 
presentation to Dr. Perkin of the portrait, 
bust and addresses, and there will be a ban- 
quet at the Whitehall Rooms at 7 o’clock, at 
which many distinguished guests are expected 
to be present. On July 27 a visit will be paid 


JuLy 13, 1906.] 


to the original works at Greenford-green 
where mauve was first manufactured, and 
there will be a garden party at Dr. Perkin’s 
house. At 8:30 there will be a soirée at the 
Leathersellers’ Hall, at the invitation of Dr. 
and Mrs. Perkin. The subscriptions to the 
memorial fund already received amount to 
over £2,000. Dr. Perkin was elected an hon- 
orary member of the American Chemical So- 
ciety at the Ithaca meeting. 

Dr. D. E. Satmon, from 1884 to 1905 chief 
of the Bureau of Animal Industry, has ac- 
cepted the offer of the government of Uruguay 
to organize a Bureau of Animal Industry for 
that country. Dr. Salmon, who is at present 
engaged in scientific work in Montana, will 
start for South America about December 1. 

Accorpine to a press despatch from Wash- 
ington, Secretary Wilson, of the Department 
of Agriculture, has decided not to enter upon 
his annual vacation until he has completed 
the organization necessary to put into opera- 
tion the new meat inspection law. He will 
give practically his entire time to this work 
for the next two months. The new pure food 
law also will require attention, but he intends 
to leave this almost wholly to Dr. H. W. 
Wiley, chief of the Bureau of Chemistry. 

Sik Freperick NICHOLSON is at present in 
the United States in order to study our fish- 
eries on behalf of the government of India. 


WE learn from Nature that Sir Daniel Mor- 
ris, K.C.M.G., the British commissioner of 
agriculture for the West Indies, has arrived 
in England on a short visit, and will attend 
the forthcoming International Conference on 
Hybridization and Plant Breeding to be held 
in London under the auspices of the Royal 
Horticultural Society at the end of July. 

W. J. Morss, assistant professor of bac- 
teriology at the University of Vermont, has 
accepted the position of state botanist at the 
Maine experiment station in Orono. 

Mr. W. J. Meap, of Plymouth, Wis., has 
been awarded the Science Club medal at the 
University of Wisconsin for the best bacca- 
laureate thesis on a scientific subject. His 
thesis was on ‘ The redistribution of elements 
involved in the formation of sedimentary 


“Agassiz. 


SCIENCE. ; 61 


rocks.’ The Science Club medal is of bronze, 
and has been executed by Mr. T. Moring, 
London. 


Mr. E. Mascuxe, of the geological depart- 
ment of Gottingen University, is desirous of 
obtaining fossil cephalopods, from all forma- 
tions, especially from the paleozoic of North 
America. He wishes to exchange or to pur- 
chase them, offering in exchange German 
fossils and minerals. Secondarily, he wishes 
to obtain erinoids and trilobites. 


Dr. Henry A. Warp, president of Ward’s 
Natural History Establishment at Rochester, 
N. Y., was killed by an automobile on July 4. 
He was born at Rochester in 1834, and, after 
studying at Williams College and Rochester 
University, became an assistant of Louis 
From 1860 to 1865 he was professor 
of natural sciences at Rochester University. 
Dr. Ward’s establishment rendered an impor- 
tant service to science by supplying specimens 
to museums and other institutions, and in it 
were engaged a number of assistants who sub- 
sequently became eminent men of science. 


Dr. Fritz ScHAuDINN, recently appointed 


head of the parasitological department of the 


Institute for Tropical Diseases of Hamburg 
and well known for his work on the protozoa, 
died on June 22 from septic infection at the 
age of thirty-six years. 


Tue deaths are announced of Dr. Ludwig: 
Brakebusch, professor of geology at Hanover, 
at the age of fifty-seven years; of Dr. Ledebur, 
professor of metallurgy at the School of Mines 
at Freiburg, at the age of sixty-nine years; 
of Dr. Robert Craik, for many years professor 
of hygiene and dean of the medical faculty of 
McGill University, on June 28, at the age of 
seventy-seven years, and of Dr. Willham 
Ramsden, lecturer on sanitary chemistry at 
Manchester University, on June 29, at the age 
of 29 years. 


Sm Joun Brunner, M.P., has given £5,000 
towards the completion and equipment of the 
additional buildings for engineering, metrol- 
ogy and metallurgy now in course of erection 
at the National Physical Laboratory, Ted- 
dington. 


62 SCIENCE. 


A NATIONAL dairy congress is to be held at 
The Hague, in 1907. Among the subjects to 
be discussed are unification of chemical meth- 
ods for the examination of milk, butter and 
cheese, and of milk, butter and cheese control, 
ete. 


Nature states that a banquet was given by 
the Institution of Electrical Engineers on 
June 25 in honor of the delegates from kin- 
dred institutions in Canada, France, Ger- 
many, Italy, Switzerland and the United 
States who were visiting England. Mr. John 
Gavey, C.B., president of the institution, pre- 
sided, and there were about 450 guests and 
delegates present. The toast of the visiting 
delegates, proposed by the president, was re- 
sponded to by Professor J. L. Farny, repre- 
senting the Association Suisse des Electri- 
ciens; Mr. P. J. B. E. Auzépy, consul-general 
of France; Professor E. Budde, president, 
Verband Deutscher Elektrotechniker; Dr. 
Emil Naglo, representing the president of the 
Elektrotechnischer Verein; Mr. S. S. Wheeler, 
president of the American Institute of Elec- 
trical Engineers; and Mr. Guido Semenza, 
honorable general secretary of the Associa- 
zione Klettrotecnica Italiana, who during his 
response presented to the institution, in the 
mame of the Associazione Elettrotecnica, a 
bust of Alessandro Volta. A conversazione 
in honor of the visitors was held at the Nat- 
ural History Museum on the evening of the 
twenty-sixth. 


THe third International Conference on 
Plant Breeding will be held in London, from 
July 380 to August 3, under the auspices of 
the Royal Horticultural Society. Conferences 
on this subject were held in London in 1899 
and New York in 1902. The president of the 
forthcoming conference will be Mr. W. Bate- 
son, F.R.S. 


Tue Royal Institute of Public Health has 
fitted up a laboratory for the study of para- 
sitology. Dr. Sambon has been appointed 
director of the parasitological department, and 
Dr. Giordani and Dr. Bonelli are working 
with him. Systematic investigations have 
already been started, and many interesting 
specimens of parasites can be seen at the 


[N.S. Vox. XXIV. No. 602. 


laboratory. Attention is in particular being 
given to parasites conveyed by domestic ani- 
mals, by cattle and by rats. 


We learn from the Scottish Geographical 
Journal that an Oceanographical Museum has 
been established at Berlin in connection with 
the Institut fiir Meereskunde. The formal 
opening took place on March 5, in the presence 
of the Emperor and the Prince of Monaco, 
just five months after the death of Baron von 
Richthofen, to whose initiative the new mu- 
seum owes its origin. The museum is 
divided into four sections: (1) A collection 
illustrating the imperial navy, containing 
pictures and models of warships, and speci- 
mens of guns, torpedoes, ete.; (2) a popular 
and historical collection illustrating the prog- 
ress of navigation, with models of modern and 
primitive vessels, life-saving apparatus, and 
so forth; (38) a collection of instruments, etc., 
used in the study of the ocean and its con- 
tents, with numerous models showing the 
height of the continents and the depth of the 
ocean, the weight and volume of land and sea, 
respectively, in relation to those of the whole 
earth, the amount of salt in the sea, and so 
forth; (4) a collection illustrating the biology 
of the ocean and the fisheries, with examples 
of the products of economic value. 


THE second International Congress of the 
Association for the Promotion of Hygiene 
and Salubrity in Dwellings will be held at 
Geneva from September 4 to 11. The pro- 
gram of the congress is as follows: A, dwelling 
houses; B, lodgings and places of assembly; 
C, movable and temporary dwellings; D, art 
and decoration in relation to the wholesome- 
ness of houses; EK, sanitary administration. 
The general secretary is M. Albert Waurin, 
1 Rue des Moulins, Geneva. 


At the meeting of the London Zoological 
Society, held on June 21, the report of the 
council for the month of May was read by 
the secretary (Dr. P. Chalmers Mitchell), in 
which it was stated that 391 additions had 
been made to the society’s menagerie during 
that month, of which 169 had been acquired 
by presentation, 14 by purchase, 25 by birth 
in the gardens, four received in exchange, and 


1 


JuLy 13, 1906.] 


179 received on deposit. The report further 
stated that the number of visitors to the 
society’s gardens during the month of May 
had been 61,692, making the total for the first 
five months of the year 255,280, or an increase 
of 33,418 visitors as compared with the cor- 
responding period in 1905. 


We learn from The British Medical Journal 
that at the last meeting of the Paris Academy 
of Sciences, MM. Calmette and Guérin made 
a communication on a new method of vaccina- 
tion against tuberculosis, with good hopes of 
its ultimate applicability to the human sub- 
ject. From numerous experiments, conducted 
with another object in view, they found that 
tubercle bacilli killed by heat or treated by 
different reagents pass through the intestinal 
wall with the same ease as living bacilli, and 
are found in the mesenteric ganglia, and even 
in the lungs. They therefore experimented 
to see if young animals (calves and kids), 
given by the mouth, at an interval of forty-five 
days, two doses of 5 and 25 centigrams of 
bacilli, either dead or modified in their vitality 
and virulence by various methods, could with 
impunity support a meal of 5 centigrams of 
fresh bovine tubercle, certainly infective for 
control animals. They have been able to con- 
vince themselves that bovine tubercle bacilli, 
killed by five minutes’ boiling or simply heated 
for five minutes at 70° C. and ingested in 
given conditions, protect completely for four 
months at least against virulent infection by 
the digestive passages; how long the protection 
endures is not yet possible to state. Details 
of the actual experiments will shortly be pub- 
lished, but at the present time MM. Calmette 
and Guérin have proof that young calves can 
be vaccinated by simple intestinal absorption 
of bacilli modified by heat, and that this 
method of vaccination does not present any 
kind of danger. The experiments must be re- 
peated in a sufficient number of animals to 
justify the application of the system to the 
prophylaxis of bovine tuberculosis. M. Roux, 
after this communication, announced that he 
is conducting experiments in collaboration 
with M. Vallée of Alfort on the same lines 
as MM. Calmette and Guérin, and that the 


SCIENCE. 


63 


results obtained agree in a remarkable way 
with those of the experiments of MM. Calmette 
and Guérin. 


We learn from Nature that in the course of 
an address before the annual meeting of the 
Linnean Society of New South Wales, held 
in March 28, Mr. T. Steel, the president, al- 
luded to a proposed method of destroying 
rabbits by means of an infectious disease, the 
precise nature of which is not yet disclosed. 
The idea, it appears, originated in Paris, and 
since the necessary funds have been subscribed 
by stock-owners and agriculturists it is pro- 
posed to commence the experiment on a small 
island selected for the purpose. After dis- 
cussing the arguments for and against the 
proposal, the president considered it highly 
undesirable that any such disease should be 
wilfully communicated to any species of ani- 
mal, by means of which it might be dissemi- 
nated throughout the country. As to the ex- 
termination of the rabbit, that is considered 
an impossible contingency; but means ought, 
and can, be found to keep the species in check 
without recourse to infectious diseases, which 
may be a danger to the community. In the 
course of the same address Mr. Steel alluded 
to the necessity of special efforts if the native 
Australian fauna and flora are to be saved 
from destruction. Poison spread for rabbits 
is responsible for the destruction of a large 
number of indigenous mammals and birds. 


AccorpING to the report in the London 
Times Mr. C. B. Marlay presided on June 22 
at a meeting of the Royal Botanic Society, 
held in the museum of the society. Mr. J. S. 
Rubinstein protested against the system of 
reelecting members of the council as a matter 
of course; it was the result of that system 
that the society was in so unsatisfactory a 
state. The management of the society was 
deplorable, and he instanced the inadequate 
way in which its féte had been advertised. 
There ought, he urged, to be a properly quali- 
fied superintendent of the gardens. Preben- 
dary Barker also spoke. He said that the 
chairman had not kept his promise, made at 
the last meeting, to send an official reply to 
the report drawn up by the committee ap- 


64 | SCIENCE. 


pointed at the meeting held on January 24. 
The council had not wished the committee to 
receive the reply. The chairman said there 
had been a misunderstanding in the matter, 
as he had not made such promise. After a 
long discussion, Mr. Pembroke Stephens, K.C., 
announced that the reply would be sent on 
condition that it was kept secret until the 
meeting, and, on the suggestion of Mr. Cecil 
Raleigh, the meeting was fixed for the follow- 
ing Friday at 4:30, when the council met the 
committee. The chairman, on being asked 
whether the fellows were liable for the debts 
of the society, stated that the question was 
open to doubt, but he believed that in any case 
the liability of the individual would not be 
more than £15. Mr. Cecil Raleigh asked that 
legal opinion should be taken on the subject; 
at present the position was so bad that the 
society could not meet a demand for £500 for 
debentures, which had for sixteen days been 
ignored. The situation was precarious and 
serious, not only for the fellows, but for those 
who in the future might be elected. The ac- 
counts ought to be made up and placed upon 
the table. The chairman, in reply, said that 
the money was in the bank to meet the present 
eall, and promised that a financial statement 
should be presented at the next meeting. Mr. 
Goodsall stated that but for the action of 
Prebendary Barker, Mr. Cecil Raleigh and 
Mr. Rubinstein, the extra guinea subscription 
would have been passed, and the society’s 
finances put on a satisfactory basis. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


Tue extensive and valuable collection of 
fossils and minerals made by James Hall, for 
more than fifty years state geologist of New 
York, has been presented to the University of 
Chicago by Mr. John D. Rockefeller. 


At the annual meeting of the alumni of 
Hamilton College, Clinton, N. Y., $20,000 was 
raised for the completion of New South 
College. Towards this sum Secretary Root, 
Chauncey A. Truax and Henry Harper Bene- 
dict, of New York, each contributed $3,000. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 602. 


Art the Johns Hopkins University the fol- 
lowing appointments have been made: Joseph 
©. W. Frazer, Ph.D., now assistant, to be 
associate in chemistry; Solomon F. Acree, 
Ph.D., now Johnston scholar, to be associate 
in chemistry; Edward W. Berry, to be as- 
sistant in paleontology; August H. Pfund, 
Ph.D., to be assistant in physics; Arthur S. 
Loevenhart, M.D., now associate, to be asso- 
ciate professor of pharmacology and physiolog- 
ical chemistry; William W. Ford, M.D., now 


associate, to be associate professor of bac- 


teriology and lecturer on hygiene; Max 
Broedel, now instructor, to be associate pro- 
fessor of art in its relation to medicine; 
Arthur W. Meyer, M.D., now assistant, to be 
instructor in anatomy; Robert Retzer, M.D., 
now assistant, to be instructor in anatomy; 
George H. Whipple, M.D., now assistant, to be 
instructor in pathology; J. A. English Eyster, 
M.D., now assistant, to be instructor in physi- 
ology; Ralph Stayner Lillie, Ph.D., Johnston 
scholar in physiology, and Robert Ervin 
Coker, Ph.D., Bruce fellow in biology. 


Tue following appointments have been 
made at the University of Wisconsin: Seth E. 
Moody, instructor in analytical chemistry; 
Dr. Caleb A. Fuller, instructor in bacteriol- 
ogy; A. R. Johnson, assistant in organic chem- 
istry; Charles T. Vorhies, assistant in zoology. 


By the resignation of Professor E. H. 
Gregory, who has been the head of the depart- 
ment, the chair of anatomy in the North- 
western University Medical School has been 
recently made vacant. It is likely that this 
professorship, which embraces embryology and 
histology, will be filled during the summer. 


Dr. WituiAM SuHirteEyY Bayuy has resigned 
his position as instructor in geology at Lehigh 
University, to accept the position of assistant 
professor of geology in the University of 
Illinois. 


On account of the resignation of Professor 
L. C. Hodson, who has accepted a position in 
the Iowa State College, the position of asso- 
ciate professor of mining at the University of 
Kansas is vacant. 


eae ee ee 


POCLBNCE 


A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 
OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 


Fripay, Juuy 20, 1906. 


CONTENTS. 


The Aims of an Astronomer: PRoFESSOR ED- 
WARD MC WPT CKGRENG ates ato g ui ue tey hay a 65 


Some Aspects of the Panama Canal: Pro- 


HHS SORW WAM Ey) BURR) se )g cua Gis gue Ma lale 71 


Scientific Books :— 


Hartman's Archeological Researches im 
Costa Rica: Proressor Grorce GRANT 
DVI CURING care ine Me cs di NaN UES Se Be 78 
A 
Scientific Journals and Articles............ 81 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 


De Vries and his Oritics: PRoFessor C. 


PS UNUTAVRITIR GUAGEER SE hp nie thal a Aen ak ents ia Mea, 81 
Special Articles :— 

A New Fossil Seal from the Marine Miocene 

of the Oregon Coast Region: Dr. J. L. 

WorRTMAN. Dew-point and Humidity 

Chart: PRorESSoR JOHN F. WooDHULL.... 89 
Quotations :— 


The Most Important Work in the World.. 92 
Observatories and Astronomers of the World. 938 


Elizabeth Thompson Science Fund: PRorEssor 


CEIABTE ST Son VEL OM aise beni at cna bey fate 93 
Scientific Notes and News................. 94. 
University and Educational News.......... 96 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 
review should be sent to the Editor of SctENcr, Garrison-on- 
Hudson, N. Y. j 


THE AIMS OF AN ASTRONOMER, 

Two titles have suggested themselves for 
my address of this morning, ‘The Aims of 
a Man of Science’ and ‘The Aims of an 
Astronomer.’ The objections to the more 
restricted title are, that those of you who 
do not know me might think that I was 
about to discourse upon the inhabitants of 
Mars, or give you a technical paper inter- 
spersed with mathematical formule of ap- 
palling length. From both of these courses 
I solemnly promise to abstain. The broad- 
er title might lead me into domains outside 
of my own studies, which are always par-~ 
ticularly tempting to a specialist. The 
early aims of an astronomer must be passed 
over briefly to reach the more alluring field 
when they become, or should become, the 
alms of astronomy. 

The first aim of a boy when he reaches 
manhood, and becomes an independent unit 
in the community, is generally to acquire 
money or its equivalent. This aim for a 
time is perfectly legitimate. He is entitled 
to support, food, lodging and clothing. 
Unfortunately, the savage has here a great 
advantage over civilized man. As socn as 
he attains his full strength and physical 
development, he becomes an 
member of his tribe. He can hunt and 
fish, and can live in even greater comfort 
than his elders. The complex wants of civ- 
ilization have changed all this. With us, a 
boy must get his education, and for years 
must be dependent on others when he should 


* Address before the Harvard Chapter of Phi 
Betta Kappa. 


important 


GO ; SCIENCE. 


be self-supporting. Many of the evils of 
socialism, hatred of the rich and fear of 
powerful organizations, are due to this cause. 

If a man never gets beyond the money- 
- making stage, he can hardly be called a 
student of science. Let us assume that he 
is intellectually a success and attains a 
college position. He will never be rich, 
but since he is as well off as his associates 
he is not poor. His next aim is likely to 
be personal fame—a better object than 
wealth, but still a purely selfish one. In 
this stage of his development he tries to 
obtain honorary membership in societies, 
‘degrees or other honors, instead of waiting 
for them to come to him unsolicited. He 
makes reclamations of priority, and de- 
‘posits sealed packages in the safe of the 
French Academy, so that if any one else 
‘should make the same discovery he can eall 
for his package and prove that he is en- 
titled to the entire credit, since he was first. 
if he is young, he attacks the work of some 
‘older man, and thus gains notoriety, even 
if his charges are disproved or ignored. 
The specious plea, ‘I feel obliged, in the 
interests of science, to point out that my 
friend, Mr. A., is entirely wrong,’ seldom 
conceals the true motive. 

The next aim is higher and is for fame, 
not for himself but for his college, his city 
cr his country. Enthusiasm for his state 
is dampened when the latter attempts to 
tax scientific institutions, instead of aiding 
them as is done in all other civilized coun- 
tries. For years nearly all English mathe- 
maticians, following Newton, dealt with 
fluents and fluxions, while the continental 


mathematicians, following Leibnitz, used’ 


differential coefficients. The astronomers 
who gave the principal credit to Adams for 
the discovery of Neptune were nearly all 
Englishmen, while few Frenchmen admit- 
ted the claims of any one but Le Verrier. 

This brings us to what should be the true 
aim of the student of science, the advance- 


[N.S. Vox. XXIV. No. 603. 


ment of human knowledge and the de- 
termination of the laws regulating the 
physical universe. His sole object should 
be to secure the best possible results, and 
he must be ready to make any sacrifice of 
his personal wishes for this end. Astron- 
omy thus becomes international, and wholly 
impersonal. To how many of us is this the 
one and only aim, regardless of all selfish 
considerations? We must not expect too 
much of poor human nature, and yet it can 
do no harm to make our ideal a high one. 
No man is likely to surpass his ideal, and 
even if it is so high that he can not hope 
to reach it, he may go further than if he 
tries only to attain money or fame. The aims 
of the astronomer thus become the aims 
of astronomy, and there is no subject to 
which he can better give careful attention. 

No man can hope to advance science now, 
as has been done in the past. Think of 
writing a book which not only would sur- 
vive and be useful for two thousand years, 
but which for fourteen centuries should be 
the great work, and practically the only 
authority, of its kind. Yet this is the posi- 
tion held by the Almagest of Ptolemy. 
During the greater portion of this time it 
was reproduced again and again by labori- 
ous hand-made copies into which errors 
crept, were repeated and multipled. By 
far the best copy bridges more than half 
the interval, since it was clearly written in 
the uncial characters of the ninth century. 
It is deposited in the Bibliothéque Nation- 
ale in Paris, and in 1883 was kept in one 
of the show eases of that institution. It 
contains a catalogue of more than a thou- 
sand stars, which is perhaps that pre- 
pared by Hipparchus, nearly two centuries 
earlier. It not only gives the positions, 
but the brightness, of all of these stars, and 
shows that at the beginning of the Chris- 
tian era the appearance of the heavens was 
nearly the same as at present. Even a 
careful observer, without instruments, 


JuLy 20, 1906.] 


would have difficulty in detecting any dif- 
ferences during these two thousand years. 


But for the errors in copying mentioned - 


above, the Almagest would still give us 
valuable information regarding the secular 
changes in the stars. No worker in science 
knows whether his results will have any 
value a century hence. The work of the 
older astrologers was supposed, at that 
time, to be as valuable as that of the as- 
tronomers. No one could tell that the 
work of the early chemists was of more 
importance than that of the alchemists. 
Until within a century, the estimates of 
the light of the stars as given in the Al- 
magest were considered as of little scien- 
tific value. One man of genius, Sir Will- 
iam Herschel, recognized the value of accu- 
rate determinations of stellar brightness, 
and from 1796 to 1799 he published four 
catalogues of 1,905 stars, covering two 
thirds of the northern sky. It was my 
great good fortune, when visiting his 
erandson in 1883, to discover the manu- 
script of two other catalogues, which when 
published rendered the work complete for 
the entire portion of the sky visible in Eng- 
land. For eighty years they had lain on 
the shelf, unknown to astronomers, and 
their existence was not even suspected. 
Although the observations had been made 
with the greatest care, the six catalogues 
were not in a form that could be used. 
The necessary reductions and publications 
of the results were made at the Harvard 
Observatory, and thus we were enabled to 
present to astronomers a catalogue of near- 
ly three thousand stars, showing their 
brightness a century ago and determined 
with an accuracy which has only been 
equaled within the last few years. 

These are examples of great successes by 
clear-sighted men of genius who little sus- 
pected how highly their work would be ap- 
preciated after they were dead. To offset 
this, there are whole generations of astron- 


SCIENCE. 67 


omers whose life work is now of little or no 
value. Let each man ask himself to which 
class his own work belongs. Only the 
future can decide with certainty, but we 
ean at least improve methods, which will 
certainly do good and can do no harm. 

Unfortunately, astronomical research has 
now become so expensive that large sums 
are required to carry it a step beyond what 
has already been accomplished. A word 
must, therefore, be said to men and women 
of wealth who desire to aid this science by 
gift. Many persons have learned how to 
accumulate great fortunes, but few have 
succeeded in giving away wisely large sums 
of money for scientific work of the highest 
grade. It is strange that a shrewd busi- 
ness man, who by life-long labor has ac- 
cumulated a fortune, if he wishes to give 
it away, should not use the same skill that 
he did in acquiring it. When buying a 
mine he sends experts to examine it, and 
assures himself that he will obtain an ade- 
quate return. When converting his money 
into scientific results he should similarly 
satisfy himself that his plan is a good one, 
and that it will fill a real want. 

Let us, therefore, hereafter have no need- 
less duplication of observatories, no great 
telescopes that are idle, no costly expedi- 
tions which, owing to insufficient prepara- 
tion and lack of proper organization, will 
surely bring no adequate return. Money 
placed in the hands of a suitable committee 
would doubtless be spent to great advan- 
tage. The Rumford Fund of the American 
Academy and the Elizabeth Thompson 
Fund are thus well and wisely adminis- 
tered. But it is pitiful to hear from men 
of the greatest ability their needs for ap- 
paratus, assistants, or means for publica- 
tion, which can not be supplied by the few 
hundred dollars thus available. 

One of the greatest needs of the physical 
sciences at the present time is a liberal 
fund for research, administered solely in 


68 SCIENCE. 


the interests of science, and by scientific 
men. Some of the members of such a com- 
mittee should be active workers in science, 
some of them older investigators, still able 
to advise and judge, but lacking the energy 
of youth required to undertake research 
themselves. We have striking examples 
around us, even in this gathering, of suit- 
able men who have passed the usual age of 
retirement. Some of them are still so ac- 
tive that they appear to accomplish even 
more than when they were younger. A 
fixed age of compulsory retirement some- 
times leads to curious results. A Wash- 
ington astronomer, when retired ten years 
ago, had all his work taken away from him 
and was not allowed to complete it, even 
at his own expense. His life is still full 
of work and original suggestions. An army 
engineer from Cambridge, too old to serve 
the government, has been for years, since 
his retirement, engaged in the greatest 
problems of his profession, including the 
Panama Canal. The thanks of Congress 
lengthens a man’s professional career by 
ten years. An admiral came near having 
his usefulness prolonged for four years, 
since he was so fortunate as to be born on 
the twenty-ninth of February. One of the 
greatest and most active of living astron- 
omers will soon be retired just as he has 
completed and has ready for his use the 
most perfect apparatus yet contrived for 
measuring the places of the stars. When 
the plan for compulsory retirement was in- 
troduced at Harvard I hoped that the ob- 
servatory might profit by it. Any man 
can complete his own work much more 
economically than another. I pointed out 
that at the observatory we had much un- 
finished work, the time for my retirement 
was approaching, and I suggested that an 
appropriation should be made at once to 
complete it. The time is now much shorter, 
the work is still unfinished, and the appro- 
priation has not yet been made. 


[N. S. Vor. XXIV. No. 603. 


A committee constituted as described 
above, and having liberal funds at their 
command, could advance astronomy in sev- 
eral different ways. My sympathy goes 
out to the young man who has taken a post- 
graduate course in astronomy, has studied 
abroad at a great and active observatory, 
and comes home to teach in a little country 
college. He wishes to continue his work in 
astronomical research with the new instru- 
ments and by the same methods he has just 
learned. His college has no money for 
such purposes, his associates do not sym- 
pathize with his wishes, and his time and 
strength are fully occupied with instruc- 
tion. He writes a pathetic letter stating 
that if he had only a few hundred dollars 
for a certain instrument he would gladly 
give his own time to the proposed work. 
Last month I received a letter from a Jesuit 
priest in Buluwayo, a thousand miles from 
the civilization of Capetown, giving me cer- 
tain definite meteorological facts resulting 
from a year’s careful observation in that 
wonderful climate. He described some 
important observations he wished to make 
if he only had five hundred dollars to pur- 
chase a mounting for his telescope. The 
committee would not only give such a man 
the required aid, but also the encourage- 
ment which is often still more highly 
prized. The man of genius is, in many 
cases, Sensitive, retiring, unable to promise 
results, or to make known his needs. He 
must be sought, treated with tact and en- 
couraged. If transplanted to other sur- 
roundings, or even if supplied with better 
appliances, his usefulness may cease. No 
amount of organization would help him, in 
fact any interference with his plans is 
likely to spoil them. 

On the other hand, a great observatory 
should be as carefully organized and ad- 
ministered as a great railroad. Every ex- 
penditure should be watched, every real 
improvement introduced, advice from ex- 


Juty 20, 1906.] 


perts welcomed and, if good, followed, and 
every care taken to secure the greatest pos- 
sible output for every dollar expended. A 
large part of the income is used for salaries, 
heating, lighting and repairs. According- 
ly, a small increase in the resources will 
produce a disproportionate increase in the 
scientific results obtained. Much of the 
work of a large observatory is routine, 
studying thousands of stars in the same 
way, the work extending, in some cases, 
over many years. A great saving may be 
effected by employing unskilled and there- 
fore inexpensive labor, of course under 
careful supervision. In this way a great 
inerease in the results can be obtained from 
a moderate expenditure, and the amount 
ean be closely estimated in advance. 

The clerical work is largely copying 
numbers on prearranged forms, and com- 
puting in which only a knowledge of the 
four rules of arithmetic is needed. Such 
work must always be checked by an ex- 
perienced assistant, and all errors detected 
by duplicate or triplicate computations. 
For such routine work we pay from 
twenty-five to thirty cents an hour, which 
is much above commercial rates for similar 
work. Prices are much lower in Europe, 
and supervision would also be cheaper 
there. An exhibition of wood-carving and 
embroidery has recently been held in Ber- 
lin. Some beautiful specimens were shown 
which had been paid for at the rate of half 
a cent to three cents an hour. Less skill 
would be required for much of the routine 
work needed in an observatory. If Asiatic 
labor could be employed, the prices would 
be still less, although the cost of supervision 
would be greater. In India, when tiger- 
hunting, the beaters go into the jungle 
armed only with a tin pan, which they beat 
violently with a stick. They thus frighten 
the tiger and chase him towards the tree in 
the top of which the bold hunter is safely 
seated, armed with a rifle. The beaters are 


SCLENCE. 69 


paid the liberal sum of three to four cents 
a day, which is increased to six cents if the 
work is done properly and the tiger is 
killed. The family of the beater would 
probably prefer that he should engage in 
almost any department of astronomical 
research. The most savage despotism ‘of 
modern times was overthrown, and peace 
and comfort brought for the first time to 
the millions of inhabitants of Central 
Africa, by soldiers, the greater portion of 
whom were paid at the rate of five cents a 
day. 

It is not unusual for the unsuccessful to 
eriticize those who are richer and more 
powerful than themselves. In some coun- 
tries this is done with the aid of dynamite 
bombs. In others (I mention no names) it 
takes the form of newspaper attacks on 
wealthy men, corporations, trusts, imsur- 
ance companies and railroads. When we 
begrudge the hundreds of millions acquired 
by Standard Oil, should we not remember 
how much of it was earned by the genius 
of the men who evolved the most perfect 
business organization the world has ever 
known? If wesay that Mr. Carnegie ought 
to distribute his millions among his work- 
men, let us recall the fact that he was able 
to sell three pounds of steel for two cents, 
by giving to the Bethlehem Steel Works 
an administration and management of 
every detail, superior to that of any similar 
corporation in existence. A great railway 
system may misuse a large sum of money, 
and yet this is a trifle compared with the 
thousands of millions of dollars it brings 
to the country by supporting a vast com- 
munity of farmers who are enabled by its 
aid. to send the products of their farms to 
the markets of the world. If we apply 
these principles to astronomy we may ex- 
pect the same advance that has been accom- 
plished in commerce, agriculture and 
manufacture. 

Who would object to a trust whose sole 


70 SCIENCE. 


objects would be increased production, re- 
duced cost to the public, and no profit to 
those forming it? The advantages of care- 
ful administration in scientific work are 
illustrated in a plan I detailed at the 
Franklin bicentenary, a few weeks ago, 
A telescope of the largest size entails great 
expense, but might produce a collection of 
photographs which would furnish useful 
material for study to half the astronomers 
of the world. My plan proposed that a 
reflecting telescope of seven feet aperture 
should be mounted in the best possible loca- 
tion, probably in South Africa, and kept 
at work photographing the sky throughout 
every clear night. An international com- 
mittee of astronomers would decide to what 
special work the instrument should be de- 
voted, and the photographs, or copies of 
them, would be distributed throughout the 
world to any astronomers who would make 
proper use of them. Copies of any or all 
of the photographs would-be sold at cost 
to whoever wished for them. An astron- 
omer of any country, prepared to under- 
take a particular research, would be fur- 
nished with the best photographic material 
that could be obtained in the present con- 
dition of science. Means would also be 
provided him for making suitable measure- 
ments, for reduction of the results, and 
finally for publication. Any competent 
astronomer, however isolated, would thus 
be enabled to carry on his researches amid 
his own surroundings, as well as if he were 
at the greatest observatory in the world. 
The man best qualified to discuss the results 
often has very little skill, even if he has the 
time, to take the photographs. Conditions 
would thus be provided which would give 
the best results for each portion of the 
work, as in any well-organized industrial 
enterprise. The donor would be assured 
that he had supplied material for study for 
the most expert astronomers of all coun- 
tries, instead of for those at a single insti- 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 603. 


tution. A careful estimate of the cost of 
carrying out this plan showed that it would 
be less than half a million dollars, or about 
one third ofthat of establishing an observa- 
tory of the first class, like those now ex- 
isting. 

The greatest problem of all for the com- 
mittee to consider, and that which would 
really include all the others, would be to 
determine which departments of astronomy 
were being neglected, and which were re- 
ceiving attention that could better be ap- 
plied to other subjects. A committee with- 
out money could accomplish little, but if a 
moderate sum were placed at its disposal, 
with the promise of more if it were well 
expended, astronomical science might be 
lifted to a new and higher plane. Suppose 
the subject selected were double stars. 
Many men of genius have done excellent 
work with small telescopes and poor mi- 
erometers. Such men would be supplied 
with the best instruments they could use 
to advantage, and money for recorders, 
computers, and publication, if they de- 


’ sired it. 


Various systematic examinations of all 
stars In certain regions, and brighter than 
a given magnitude, have been made for the 
discovery of new doubles. This work 
should be completed for the entire sky, 
both north and south, according to the 
same system, and with similar instruments 
and conditions. A certain minimum num- 
ber of accurate measures should be obtained 
of all double stars. Computers of orbits 
complain that many important objects are 
neglected, while numerous superfluous ob- 
servations are made of other less interesting 
pairs. The committee would communicate 
with observers, offering aid if they would 
supply this want. If not, owners of large 
telescopes would be asked to allow them to 
be used for this work, the committee fur- 
nishing the necessary micrometers and em- 
ploying young astronomers as observers 


Wa 
RY i: 
b 
wt 
qi 
i 
: 
y) 


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i 
il 
4 
i 
i 
+ 
' 
ay 


ee, 


JuLy 20, 1906.] 


who would get their training, if possible, 
from experienced specialists in this class of 
work. Computers of orbits would be aided 
in the same way, and their work might thus 
be greatly improved in quality and in- 
creased in quantity. Directors of observa- 
tories could get most valuable advice and 
help from the committee, and when a new 
observatory was established its plan for 
work could thus be greatly improved. The 
Harvard Observatory would gladly wel- 
come and profit by such advice. 

The committee should not stop with ex- 
isting problems. When a new line of re- 
search, like measuring the heat of the stars, 
is proposed, they should at once investigate 
it and, if the results are promising, test it. 
If it prove successful, they should carry it 
as far as present means permit. In this, 
as in securing the cooperation of existing 
observatories for any of the great problems 
now before us, there seems to be no limit 
to the results obtainable by a wise adminis- 
tration. 

_The donor, as well as the astronomer, 
must be asked to consider first the interests 
of science. His name would necessarily 
always be associated with his gift, and 
would he not prefer a world-wide, to a 
- local, immortality? There must now be 
’ many wealthy men trying to find some good 
use for the money they can not take with 
them out of this life. The hardest problem 
will be to find an active committee with no 
taint of selfish dross. This taint exists 
even among astronomers. There is no more 
permanent, economical and efficient trustee 
than a great university with long continued 
and honorable traditions. As with any 
other wish of the donor, it could secure and 
enforce unselfish management, as well as 
efficiency. 

Industrial enterprises half a century ago 
were in nearly the same condition that 
Science is in to-day. May we not expect 
in astronomy the same advance by coopera- 


SCIENCE. 71 


tion and organization? If donors, trustees 
and astronomers can thus be led to work 
for scientific results alone, regardless of 
country or personal considerations, it will 
be the best return I can make for the great 
privilege of addressing the Harvard Chap- 
ter of Phi Beta Kappa. 


Epwarp C. PICKERING. 
HARVARD COLLEGE OBSERVATORY. 


SOME ASPECTS OF THE PANAMA CANAL 

AFTER approximately six years of in- 
vestigation, the selection of both route and 
type for a ship canal across the Isthmus of 
Panama is nearly completed. Although the 
report of the board of consulting engineers 
already made public is not final, it leads 
to the final consideration of the question in 
congress so that on the conclusion of con- 
gressional’ consideration work can _ be 
promptly begun under the adopted plan. 
Whether the final plan be that of a lock 
or a sea-level canal, the route will be the 
same, practically that of the Panama Rail- 
road running between Colon on the Carib- 
bean side of the isthmus and a point called 
La Boca on the Pacific side, a mile and a 
half west of the city of Panama. 

The length of the Panama Canal is about 
49 miles between 40-foot contours at low 
water at its termini, but the length be- 
tween shore lines will be not more than 42 
miles. 

The topography of the Isthmus at the 
Panama crossing is well adapted to the 
construction of this ship canal, the original 
summit of the divide on the line of the 
canal being but about 330 feet above sea 
level. This has now been reduced to about 
170 feet above mean sea level by the French 
excavation at Culebra. About one half of 
the length of the canal lies along low 
marshy ground on either side of the 


*Read at the Ithaca, N. Y., meeting of the 
American Association for the Advancement of 
Science, June 30, 1906, before Section D, Mechan- 
ical Science and Engineering. 


72 SCIENCE. 


isthmus, making two natural sea-level sec- 
tions, one about eighteen miles long on the 
northerly side of the isthmus, and the other 
about seven miles long on the southerly 
side; that on the northerly side running 
for the greater part of its length generally 
along the course of the Chagres River. 
This river has been one of the main fea- 
tures in the consideration of the canal work 
since the beginning of operations by the old 
Panama Canal Company in 1881. It is not 
a large river, as it has not more than about 
800 square miles of watershed above Bohio, 
where in its flow toward the sea it leaves 
the rising ground and enters what may be 
termed the coastal plain, through which 
it meanders along a sinuous course to the 
ocean. It has even changed its course 
in the past at various locations in this 
marshy ground. 

That portion of the canal route lying in 
the higher ground of the divide is but about 
24 miles long, and but little more than three 
quarters of a mile of it had an original 
surface elevation exceeding 200 feet. The 
surface material is largely clay of ordinary 
character, slippery and easily moved when 
wet, but holding well in place when pro- 
tected from the entrance of water. Below 
this covering of clay lies material of irregu- 
lar character, as the entire isthmus is of 
voleanie origin. In the continental divide, 
at a depth varying from twenty to forty 
or fifty feet below the surface, an indurated 
clay, classed for purposes of excavation as 
soft rock, is found. This material gives 
place irregularly to hard rock at greater 
depths. Much of the rock of the isthmus 
is soft, although there is hard basalt in ‘a 
number of places and, in one locality on 
the Panama slope of the divide, columnar 
basalt is found. 

The work performed by the old and new 
Panama canal companies amounted in the 
aggregate to not far from eighty million 
cubic yards of all classes of excavation, of 


which possibly forty million eubic yards 
at most will be found available for the 
American construction of the canal, 
whether a lock plan or a sea-level plan be 


adopted.- This work extends practically 


over the entire canal route, with the ex- 
ception of the approach channels in the 
two terminal harbors, and it is nearly con- 
tinuous. Over considerable stretches of 
the higher ground it is little more than 
shallow cuts through the softer surface 
materials, but at the great Culebra cut 
the material which has been excavated 
varies from the surface clay, readily re- 
moved by steam shovels, to hard basaltic 
rock, requiring blasting by high explosives 
before it can be removed. All the ma- 
terial, even the indurated clay, below the 
softer covering, requires blasting before it 
ean be excavated, although the softer por- 
tions need the action of black powder only. 

Except the deep cutting at Culebra, 
through the summit of the continental 
divide, the most marked work done by the 


old French company was the dredging 


through the low marshy lands from Colon 
to Bohio. There is at present a strip of 
partially completed canal about 14 miles 
long with a bottom width of seventy-two 
feet, which may be navigated by vessels 
drawing twelve to fourteen feet, with the 
exception of a short distance near Colon. 
Indeed, so much excavation was completed 
in this portion of the canal, intersecting 
the Chagres at a number of places, that 
the waters of that river have abandoned 
the old bed and now flow through the par- 
tially completed canal prism. 

In the execution of any plan of canal 
one of the principal problems involved is 
the control of the Chagres River during 
seasons of flood. This problem has been 
considered so formidable in the past that 
some experienced engineers have hazarded 
the opinion that the Panama Canal could 
never be successfully completed in conse- 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 603. . 


JuLY 20, 1906.] 


quence of the uncontrollable destruction 
that would be caused by the Chagres 
floods. The regimen of that river in con- 
nection with the rainfall on the isthmus 
has been a subject of such extensive and 
eareful investigation that the elements en- 
tering the problem of control are now com- 
paratively well known. Instead of the 
floods of the Chagres playing such a de- 
structive part in the history of the canal, 
there have now been devised a number of 
methods of effective control, so that it can 
be actually demonstrated that such floods 
are not to be feared in any respect what- 
ever. Indeed, if a lock plan should be 
adopted for construction, it would be im- 
possible to feed the locks with sufficient 
water for navigation were it not for the 
supply offered by the Chagres River. In 
other words, the Chagres would play the 
part of a friendly agent rather than that 
of a vicious enemy in the maintenance and 
operation of the canal. While this river is 
subject to rapid variations of discharge, so 
that within a period.of twenty-four or 
forty-eight hours it may change its char- 
acter from that of a quiet, inoffensive 
mountain stream to a literally raging tor- 
rent, the range between low water and 
flood elevations is much less than in many 
of our American rivers. Nor are the ex- 
treme floods so formidable in character as 
they have sometimes been supposed. While 


many small floods occur every season, a 


high flood is a rarity, as but five have oc- 
eurred within fifty years, and in no ease 
have these high flood effects lasted more 
than about forty-eight hours. One of the 
prominent characteristics of the Chagres 
floods is the rapidity with which they rise, 
the short period of highest water and the 
short time required for recession to the 
condition before the flood began. 

Records of accurate daily observations, 
both self-recording and otherwise, of the 
discharge of the Chagres under all condi- 


SCIENCE. 13 


tions of flow have been kept for nearly 
twenty years, and more or less complete 
observations for a much longer period, so 
that what may be reasonably expected of 
the river at all seasons of the year is now 
fairly well known. 

In addition to the discharge observations 
along the Chagres River, accurate rainfall 
records have for many years been kept for 
all portions of the isthmus. The amount 
of rainfall varies greatly both from cer- 
tain portions of the year to other portions, 
and from one year to another. The 
isthmian year is divided into two parts, 
the wet season and the dry season. The 
former begins about the latter part of De- 
cember and usually extends to the latter 
part of April, the remainder of the year 
constituting the dry season. During the 
dry season but very little rain falls; some- 
times none at all for long periods. An 
erroneous impression may easily be re- 
ceived from the term wet season, which 
does not mean that rain falls daily, or that 
it often rains all day. In reality, some of 
the most enjoyable weather of the entire 
year is found in the rainy season, when 
there is no dust and the general tem- 
perature is agreeable. The rain falls 
mostly in showers, although there are con- 
tinuous rain storms extending over several 
days. The latter, however, are not com- 
mon. The average annual rainfall is not 
far from 130 inches at Colon and on the 
Caribbean side of the isthmus, but on the 
Pacifie side at Panama the annual precipi- 
tation is only about one half as much. 

These excessive rainfalls and the prox- 
imity of the two oceans produce at nearly 
all times an atmosphere of high humidity. 
The trying character of the isthmian cli- 
mate is due chiefly to this feature. The 
temperature usually runs from 70° to 75° 
F. in the morning, and to 82° to 86° F. in 
the hottest part of the afternoon. Occa- 
sionally the temperature rises to 96° or 98° 


74 SCIENCE. 


F., but such periods of extreme heat are 
rare. 

During the greater portion of the year 
the northeast trade winds blow steadily 
across the Caribbean Sea, so that Colon re- 
ceives the benefit of the resulting winds. 
In fact, during the greater part of the 
year strong breezes are of daily occurrence 
in the vicinity of Colon, although these are 
interrupted during some portions of the 
rainy season. 

The winds are much more gentle and far 
less in amount in Panama than on the 
northerly side of the isthmus. There are 
periods of gentle breezes from the north 
and also from southerly directions, but 
they are never high winds. The Bay of 
Panama, on which is located the city, and 
into which the canal will lead from the 
north, is so free from high winds that 
shipping at anchor in it never needs the 
protection of breakwaters or similar struc- 
tures. A real wind storm of high intensity 
- in that vicinity is practically unknown. 
This condition is so strongly characteristic 
of the Bay of Panama that many of the 
opponents of the Panama route have 
strongly argued against it for the reason 
that the prolonged calms and general ab- 
sence of winds would make it difficult for 
sailing vessels either to approach that end 
of the canal or to leave it after having 
passed through the waterway. 

The harbor of Colon, completely open to 
the north, is of a radically different char- 
acter. While it is frequently visited by 
breezes and winds of ordinary intensity, 
there are not, on the average, more than 
three or four days at most-1n the year when 
winds are high enough to be troublesome 
to shipping lying there. During those 
three or four exceptional days, how- 
ever, wind storms of great violence, called 
‘northers,’ may blow. At such times no 
ship can safely lie at anchor in Limon Bay, 
on which Colon is located, nor can they he 


[N. 8. Vou. XXIV. No. 603. 


berthed alongside of the piers. In both 
cases they are in grave danger of being 
wrecked. It is the universal custom dur- 
ing the period of ‘northers’—November, 
December and January—for every ship 
fitted with power quickly to leave the Bay 
of Limon and either put to sea while the 
storm lasts or seek the small naturally pro- 
tected harbor of Porto Bello, about eight- 
een miles to the northeast from Colon. 
This characteristic of the harbor of Colon 
will make necessary the construction of 
great breakwaters or other similar works, 
in order to transform it into a suitable 
terminal harbor for the Panama Canal. — 

The report of the board of consulting 
engineers discloses a radical divergence in 
the views of its members. A majority of 
eight of thirteen members, including the 
five foreign members, have reported un- 
qualifiedly in favor of a-sea-level canal, 
having a bottom width not less than 150 
feet in ordinary section, a minimum depth 
of water of 40 feet, and a top width in 
ordinary section of 270 feet except for a — 
distance of seven miles in the great Culebra 
Cut, where the canal prism would be in 
rock with a width of 200 feet. All sides in 
rock excavation would be vertical. Inas- 
much as the maximum range of tide in the 
Bay of Colon is never more than about two 
feet no tidal lock would be required at the 
Caribbean entrance of the canal. In the 
Bay of Panama the maximum range of tide 
may reach nearly twenty-one feet. The 
board, therefore, assumed that a tidal lock 
would be required, or at least should be 
planned and estimated for at or near the 
Panama end of the canal. This lock is to 
be located near the easterly side of Sosa 
Hill, not more than one half mile from 
the shore of Panama Bay. It is designed 
to have a usable length of 1,000 feet and a 
usable width of 100 feet. 

The control of the floods of the Chagres 
River would be effected in the majority 


JuLy 20, 1906.] 


plan by a dam across the Chagres River at 
Gamboa, about thirty-one miles from Colon, 
near the point where the Chagres River in 
its downward course first euts the canal 
line. At that point bed rock is about fifty- 
five feet below the surface of the water in 
the river, affording a comparatively easy 
masonry construction resting directly upon 
bed rock, and thus securing an undoubted 
foundation fora dam. The maximum ele- 
vation of water surface in this lake would 
be about 120 feet above the present surface 
of the water in the river at Gamboa, or 
about 170 feet above mean tide. The dam 
would be fitted with suitable controlling 
gates of sufficient capacity to meet the re- 
quirements of the highest floods. The 
available storage volume created by this 
lake would be sufficient to take in quick 
succession two of the greatest floods which 
have ever occurred in the Chagres River, 
so far as is known either by exact records 
or by reliable report. 

It would be the purpose in this system 
of control to allow flood waters of the 
Chagres River to escape through the con- 
trolling gates into the canal prism at a 
maximum rate not exceeding 15,000 cubic 
feet per second, producing a current in the 
canal, if all flow should be in one direction 
only, of about one and one quarter miles 
per hour, a neghgible quantity as far as 
its effects on navigation are concerned. It 
would require but two or three days after 
high floods in the Chagres to depress the 
surface of water in the lake so as to be in 
readiness for another fiood whenever it 
might occur. 

_ The only other stream of magnitude, dis- 
charging into the Chagres River within 
limits affecting the canal, is the Gatun 
River, which joins the Chagres near the 
little native town of Gatun, seven miles 
from Colon. The discharge of this river, 
however, would be carried into Manzanillo 
Bay entirely outside of the canal in an 


SCIENCE. 70 


independent artificial channel on which 
much work was done by the old Panama 
Canal Company. The other and much 
smaller streams intersecting the canal line 
throughout its entire course would be either 
kept out of the canal altogether by dams 


high enough to reverse their flow into other 


drainage basins than their own, or received 
into settling basins outside of the canal and 
quietly discharge their small flows into the 
canal prism over wiers in the usual manner. 
All streams of this latter class, however, are 
extremely small. By these means all sen- 
sible amounts of silt or other heavy ma- 
terial carried in floods would practically 
be kept out of the canal, thus reducing the 
cost of maintenance in this respect to a 
small annual amount. 

A minority of five of the consulting 
board reported their judgment in favor of 
a lock canal with two terminal lakes and 
with a summit level eighty-five feet above 
the mean level of the ocean. In this plan 
it is proposed to construct a great earth 
dam 135 feet high across the Chagres River 
at Gatun. This dam would retain a large 
lake backing the water in the river up to 
Alhajuela, a point over thirty miles from 
the site of the dam. The surface of the 
water in this lake constitutes the summit 
level of the lock plan. Three locks in 
series or flight, each with a clear length of 
900 feet and a clear width of 95 feet, 
would be built at the site of the dam, each 
with a lift between 28 and 29 feet to pass 
vessels up from the approach channel lead- 
ing to the locks from the harbor of Colon 
to the summit level. The southern ex- 
tremity of the summit level of this plan 
would be at Pedro Miguel on the southerly 
side of the continental divide where the 
channel issues from the Culebra cut. At 
this point, between thirty-nine and forty 
miles from Colon, there would be located 
a lock with a lift of about thirty feet, con- 
necting with the terminal lake at the 


76 SCIENCE. 


Panama end of the canal, which would 
have a water level of about fifty-five feet 
above mean tide in Panama Bay. This 
terminal lake would extend to another earth 
dam, or rather two earth dams in the vicin- 
ity of the present railroad terminus at La 
Boca and one embankment easterly of this 
location. That portion of the dam at La 
Boea would be built directly across the 
mouth of the Rio Grande River, which is 
chiefly a tidal estuary. A hill known as 
Sosa Hill would separate the two earth 
dams already alluded to, and in this hill 
would be two locks in series connecting the 
terminal lakes with tide water in Panama 
Bay. All the locks required by this plan 
would be built on the twin system, so that 
one set would always be in use if the other 
should be disabled or be out of use for 
repairs. All ships passing across the isth- 
mus in such a canal would have to be lifted 
up to an elevation of 85 feet at one end of 
the canal and dropped down the same 
amount at the other. 

The control of the Chagres River in the 
lock plan would be effected by the lake 
formed by the dam at Gatun. Its volume 
would be so large that the waters of the 
highest floods could be received into it and 
discharged through suitable controlling 
gates constructed in the dam without vary- 
ing the elevation of the lake more than two 
or three feet at most. Also, the lake would 
act as a reservoir for the water required to 
feed the locks during their operation. 

There are at present being built ocean 
steamers for the traffic between Liverpool 
and New York about eight hundred feet 
long. This fact coupled with the rapid 
increase in ocean steamship dimensions dur- 
ing the past fifteen or twenty years caused 
the board by an almost unanimous vote to 
record its judgment that locks proposed for 
the isthmian canal should have a usable 
length of not less than one thousand feet 
and a usable width of not less than one 


hundred feet, but the minority abandoned 


this position in their plan and recommend- 
ed the smaller locks which have already 
been mentioned. 

The total estimated cost of the sea-level 
eanal is about $247,000,000, including a 
twenty-per-cent. allowance for contingen- 
cies, administration and engineering. ‘The 
estimated cost of the lock plan with the re- 
duced size of locks is about $140,000,000, 
including the same twenty-per-cent. allow- 
ance found in the above estimate of cost of 
the sea-level plan. 

In the recent examination before the 
Senate Committee on Interoceanic Canals, 
however, it was brought out that the mi- 
nority allowance for the cost of lands sub- 
merged by the terminal lakes of its plan 
was entirely inadequate. It was shown 
that on the basis cf prices already paid by 
the United States government, and by the 
new Panama Canal Company for somewhat 
similar lands, and in view of the claims al- 
ready made by alleged owners, this amount 
of land damage might reach an additional 
sum of $15,000,000 to $18,000,000, and that 
if the excess of annual cost of maintenance 
and operation of the lock plan over the sea- 
level plan be capitalized at prevailing rates 
of government interest the real cost of the 
lock plan might approximate not less than 
$175,000,000 to $180,000,000. 

The question of the selection of ultimate 
type of canal to be adopted for construction 
has been submitted by the President to 
Congress, and the Senate Committee on 


-Interoceanic Canals has been conducting an 


extended examination of the entire ques- 
tion. That committee has called for evi- 
dence in detail from the advocates of both 
types of canals, but its report has not yet 
been made.? 

The advocates of the sea-level plan con- 


" 2Since preparing the MSS. for this article the 
Senate Committee has reported in favor of the sea- 
level plan, but Congress has adopted the lock 
canal. 


[N.S. Vor. AXIV. No. 603. 


. 
4 
i 
j 
, 
qt 


JULY 20, 1906.] 


tend that the only suitable canal across the 
Isthmus of Panama, commensurate with 
the great interests involved, especially those 
of the United States, is one which will per- 
mit the safest and freest passage of traffic. 
It is contended that there should be prac- 
tically no obstruction to a free transit 
across the isthmus; that any canal now con- 
structed should accommodate conveniently 
and freely the greatest ships afloat, and be 
of such a character as to admit of the 
easiest and most economical enlargement in 
the future if it should ever be required, and 
that the sea-level plan only fulfills all these 
fundamental requisites. Although there 
would be a tidal lock at the Panama end of 
the canal, Inasmuch as the range of neap 
tides may not exceed seven or eight feet, 
the gates of that lock would be wide open 
at least one half of the time. There are 
hydraulic engineers of repute, who even 
believe that this lock would not be neces- 
sary. The majority of the board further 
contends that the operation of three locks in 
series would be a source of grave danger, 
indeed, a continual menace to the safety of 
the large ships passing them. Serious acci- 
dents caused by ships ramming the gates 
of both the Manchester Canal in England 
and at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., show that it 
would be possible, and even probable, that 
some ship approaching the upper of these 
gates might ram them out of position and 
plunge down through the entire series. 

Although the minority claim an annual 
capacity of sixty to seventy million tons 
of traffic for its lock plan, this claim has 
been strongly contested, and evidence 
brought out before the senate committee 
indicated that it would be more reasonable 
to place the maximum annual capacity at 
one half that amount or less. 

Again the safety or stability of the earth 
dams, on which the very existence of the 
minority plan is based, has been most seri- 


SCIENCE. Ae 


ously questioned. A considerable number 
of borings made into the material on which 
it is proposed to place the Gatun dam show 
that the maximum depth of that material 
is not less than 258 feet; that it is largely 
sandy, and in some places gravelly and 
freely water bearing, 7. e., permeable at 
various depths from thirty-two feet below 
the surface down to nearly two hundred 
and fifty. These conditions, it is alleged, 
might lead to dangerous percolation un- 
der the dam, and so bring its stability into 
grave question. Somewhat similar criti- 
cisms have been made regarding the earth 
dam across the tidal estuary of the Rio 
Grande. 

Although the capacity of the sea-level 
canal has been also criticized or questioned, 
that capacity was shown to be practically 
unlimited. Although most serious conges- 
tions of ships arriving in groups or fleets 
at either end of the lock canal might lead 
to long delays in some cases with a lock 
canal, it was shown that no such congestion 
could occur with the sea-level canal, even 
at the Panama end, for the half of any 
tidal period would permit any group of 
ships to pass into the canal while the gates 
were open. 

The one hundred and fifty feet bottom 
width of the sea-level plan exceeds the 
width of even the turning out or passing 
places in the Suez Canal. In other words, 
the Panama sea-level canal would be a con- 
tinuous passing place throughout its entire 
line. The total curvature of the sea-level 
plan was also shown to be less than that of 
the lock plan, and but little different from 
the total curvature of the Suez Canal. 
The lock plan with the large terminal lakes 
has the further serious disadvantage of 
possessing a minimum adaptability to 
transformation to a sea-level canal in the 
future. While this transformation is a 
possibility, the great difficulties attending 
it, and the excessive cost of that trans- 


78 SCIENCE. 


formation, were considered by the board as 
a whole to make transformation of this plan 
essentially not feasible. 

Again, inasmuch as the canal would 
probably not be completed and opened 
within less than ten years on any plan the 
locks of the minority plan would not be 
large enough to accommodate ships then 
afloat if the rate of increase of ships’ di- 
mensions during the past ten years should 
be nearly reached during the next ten. 

The time estimated by the majority to be 
required for the building of the sea-level 
canal is from twelve to thirteen years after 
making the most abundant allowances for 
the effects of climate, of the rainy seasons, 
of the necessary repairs and renewals of 
plant, of the eight-hour labor day, of the 
low efficiency of available labor, and with- 
out working more than one shift of labor 
within twenty-four hours. It is believed 
that the investigations of the majority 
show, however, that there is a reasonable 
probability of a _ sea-level canal being 


opened in from one to two years less time 


than their estimate. 

The time estimated by the minority as 
necessary for the construction of their lock 
plan was ten to eleven years. As the con- 
struction of this plan involves a much 
higher grade of labor, and a far larger 
amount of so-called works of art, such as 
the locks, involving the making and putting 
in place of about 3,500,000 cubie yards of 
concrete, than the sea-level plan, the writer 
believes that a lock plan with a summit 
level eighty-five feet above mean tide can 
be executed in little if any less time than 
a sea-level plan. 

The recent dreadful earthquake disaster 
at San Francisco constitutes the gravest 
warning in human experience of the ad- 
visability of constructing this canal in such 
a way as to give it the greatest degree of 
immunity from the results of any convul- 
sion of nature. The isthmus of Panama.§is 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 603. 


a region of rather frequent earthquakes, 
but they are not often severe. It would be 
an act of folly, however, to ignore the les- 
son of such an appalling catastrophe. The 
canal which is to be constructed across the 
Isthmus of Panama should be of such a 
type as to give the minimum of obstruction, 
either natura! or artificial, the greatest de- 
gree of safety not only in operation, but 
from the effects of earthquakes, against the 
severity of which there is absolutely no in- 
surance whatever, and the sea-level is the 
only type which fulfills these imperative 
requisites. ‘Wo. H. Burr. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


Archeological Researches in Costa Rica. By 
C. V. Hartman. Stockholm, Ivar Haegg- 


stroms Boktryckeri, A.B., 1901. 4°, 195 pp., - 


488 text illus.. 1 map and LXXXVII pls. 

Museum collections and special publications 
derive their value from the character of the 
field-work on which they are based. It is with 
such material as Mr. Hartman has furnished 
and by means of the methods he employed that 
we may hope to raise American archeology to 
the dignity of a real science. 

In the growth or decay of art, industry, cus- 
toms, religion, there must of necessity enter 
the time element. For this reason, systems 
of relative chronology play a most important 
part in prehistoric archeology. <A careful, in- 
telligent, thorough study, therefore, of the con- 
tents of graves is absolutely indispensable. 
‘ Archeological Researches in Costa Rica’ is 
by no means confined to a study of burial 
places, yet it describes fully more than 400 
graves. 

Mr. Hartman’s field investigations were car- 
ried on during the years 1896-97. He began 
his researches on the east coast with the great 
mound and walled enclosure at Mercedes. The 
mound is about 300 meters west of Rio 
Novillo; is truncated, with diameters at base 
and top of 30 and 20 meters, respectively. The 
height, 6.5 m., is the same as that of the sur- 
rounding wall. The purpose of the mound 
‘seems to have been to serve as a platform, or 
temple, for the large statues, which were 


a ee eS ee en ee Se ae ee TS 


JuLy 20, 1906.] 


placed with faces towards the rising sun.’ 
The author suggests that a wooden structure 
with thatched roof may have covered the 
mound, while the ‘ flat stone walls apparently 
only served for enclosures. Four human 
figures and one of an alligator were found at 
the base of the large mound. A small mound 
at the end of the northern stone wall was also 
investigated, but neither it nor the large 
mound was completely explored. 

In the thick forest near the enclosure there 
were graves that had previously been opened. 
They were all of an oval or rectangular shape. 
Only after careful search in the ‘thorny thicket, 
beneath the gigantic forest trees’ were hitherto 
‘undisturbed graves discovered. ‘“ They were 
arranged in small groups inside a common and 
almost circular platform, or enclosure, usually 
about half a meter in height.” Each enclosure 
was bounded by a margin of stones of various 
sizes. The groups, each containing from three 
to five graves, are described. As regards con- 
struction the graves at Mercedes all belong to 
one class. The walls are still in perfect condi- 
- tion except when interfered with by the roots 
of trees. Partially chipped limestone slabs 
form roof and floor. 

Only one grave contained traces of bone. 
In most of them pottery was found. “The 
majority of these vessels show signs of wear 
and are covered with soot proving that they 
were employed as cooking utensils.” Other 
objects found were: Charred corn and corn- 
cobs, two stone celts and a bead of blue glass. 
This latter being of European manufacture, 
gives a clue to the age of the burials (not 
earlier than the sixteenth century). In these 
regions it has been the custom to bury the 
dead inside the houses, so that in all proba- 
bility the low platform enclosures, containing 
the graves described, were primarily founda- 
tions for the huts of the living. 

A curious discovery was made about 100 m. 
from the temple mound, where the ‘ rains had 
swept away the humus and uncovered a small 
portion of the roof of a stone chamber, con- 
taining a lot of pottery, but no proof that it 
had been used as a grave.’ The construction 
of the chamber, which differed in several re- 
spects from the graves and the amount of 


SCIENCE. 19 


pottery contained therein, leads the author to 
look upon it as a cache. 

Not the least interesting find made in the 
neighborhood of Mercedes was a stone-cutter’s 
workshop. It was discovered by chance while 
opening forest paths in search of graves. 
“ Over a surface of some 20 square meters and 
to a depth of about one meter, the soil was 
intermingled with chips and partly finished 
idols.” * “ 

Rains making work on the Atlantic low- 
lands practically impossible the highland val- 
leys of the interior were chosen as a field of 
exploration, but not before investigating a 
number of sites known to the occupants of 
the neighboring haciendas. These included a 
stone enclosure at Williamsburg and graves at 
Siquirres, Sta. Rosa, Guasimo and Jiminez. 

As to work in the highlands, the valley of 
Cartago was selected as the most promising. 
Near Santiago, twelve stone cists and as many 
grave-pits were found in a flat elliptical 
mound, the cists being arranged in the eastern 
half and the pits in the western half. The 
latter differ in construction from the cists, 
being -bowl-shaped and formed of cobblestones. 
The cists were all quadrangular, with ‘roof, 
sides and bottom composed of thin slabs of 
limestone.’ In both forms of grave, a number 
of objects, chiefly pottery, were found. 

There were no traces of bones. The graves 
were not long enough to admit of adult burial 
at full length. It is presumed that these 
graves were used as repositories of the bones 
only after removal by decomposition or other- 
wise of the soft parts, a presumption strength- 
ened by the fact that ‘quite small stone cists 
were found in several places to contain rem- 
nants of skeletons, which had been apparently 
deposited in them in bundles.’ 

The vessels in the Santiago stone cists were, 
as a rule, well preserved; few bore marks of 
use. In fact only a few are large enough to 
admit of practical use. They are probably 
symbols of larger vessels. Later researches on 


*Tt was for his work on the east coast that the 
Loubat prize was awarded to Mr. Hartman by the 
Swedish Academy of Literature, History and 
Antiquities. 


80 SCIENCE. 


the Pacific coast brought to light a quantity 
of diminutive mortuary vessels. 

At Chircot, a suburb of Cartago, the ancient 
capital of Costa Rica, was found ‘a really ex- 
tensive ancient burial ground, which had been 
left almost undisturbed.’ The superficial part 
only of the enclosing stone-circle had been re- 
moved by cultivators of the soil. Here were 
‘crowded together in a small oblong space’ 20 
meters long by 15 in breadth, 205 graves. 
They were arranged in three layers. The cists 
of the lower, or oldest, layer were in three 
groups; those of the middle layer, in four 
groups; while the cists of the top layer were 
fairly evenly distributed over the whole burial 
ground. 

The Chireot cists were in shape like those 
at Santiago and many were diminutive in size. 
In most of the cists that were of sufficient 
length, the ‘skeletons lay stretched out on 
their backs at full length.’ In the small cists, 
the bones, when present, were in heaps or 
bundles and often did not represent the entire 
skeleton. The skulls were dolichocephalic. 

The mortuary vessels were not always in the 
cists. Many were found just outside, usually 
at the head end and, in a few cases, on the 
roof. Of the relics deposited inside the cists, 
the majority were in the vicinity of the head 
and trunk; a few were near the feet. 

Objects in stone were rare. Of large, crude 
vesse!s intended for household purposes, none 
were found; nor any object of European origin. 
While the burial place must have been in use 
a considerable length of time, there were no 
cultural differences between the graves and 
contents of the lowest layer of burials and 
those of the highest. A majority of the cists 
eontained no relics at all. In each of the 
others from one to five were found. 

About 50 meters east of the first burying- 
ground a sczond, somewhat smaller, was found. 
It had been, in part, demolished. The cists 
that remained were similar to those of the 
first field and arranged in two or three layers. 
In the small cists were ‘ fragments of skeletons 
deposited in bundles, usually one in each cist; 
but in some, two or three.’ 

At Los Limones, 6 kilometers from Cartago, 
two elliptical mounds were found. They were 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 603. 


not more than a meter high at the center, and 
the stone margins, if they ever existed, had 
disappeared. 

There were 26 cists in the first mound and 
39 in the second. The graves were of the 
same construction as those at Chircot, and 


were, for the most part, without artifacts. 


Stone objects were especially rare. 

Orosi, the next site investigated, is in the 
mountains some 10 kilometers southeast of 
Cartago. It is an ancient dwelling-place 
selected because of a desirable water supply and 
adjacent stone quarries. The general ground- 
plan shows a number of circles and semicircles, 
bordered by stones and varying in size from 
8 or 10 to 20 meters in diameter. In the 
midst of these is a rectangular space 27 m. 
long by 17 broad, surrounded by low embank- 
ments—probably an open courtyard. 

Five of the stone enclosures containing 
graves were excavated by Mr. Hartman. It 
was here he found an obsidian flake— the only 
object of obsidian met with during all the 
excavations in the highlands.’ Obsidian is 
also rare on the Pacific side, the author finding 
‘not even a single chip of obsidian’ during 
his excavations there. One of the stone circles 
at Orosi was the richest in relics of any of the 
highland mounds. 

About 1,000 stone objects were collected 
from a neighboring coffee plantation, where a 
number of partially demolished stone circles 
were still visible.. In one of the cists opened, 
a golden bell was found; in another, two small 
tubes of rolled copper. Here stood, also, an 
upright stone slab with petroglyphs. 

The volume represents the results of a year’s 
scientific investigations carried on first along 


‘the Atlantic lowlands and later among the 


highlands of the interior. The culture is 
everywhere “that of a Stone Age people of 
high standing, possessed of ornaments of gold 
and copper, but with no tools or weapons of 
metal at all.” No date can be fixed for the 
beginnings of this culture, but that it con- 
tinued to exist after the arrival of the Span- 
iards is attested by the presence of glass beads 
in some of the graves. 

Of native artifacts, only two implements 
of bone were found. The remainder were of 


| 
a 
i 
3 
; 


JuLY 20, 1906.] 


clay, stone or metal (gold and copper orna- 
ments only). The great majority of the clay 
vessels were evidently intended for mortuary 
purposes only. They testify to a ‘highly 
elaborated technique and cultivated taste, but 
do not include any types that come up to the 
best there is in Chiriqui ceramics. 

Two types of ornamentation are particularly 
noticeable: (1) Incised geometric designs; and 
(2) punctate knobs resembling raised tattoo 
marks, or scarifications. The author observes 
‘that certain classes of ornament seem to have 
been allotted to certain classes of vessels.’ 

The ancient Guétares of Costa Rica seem to 
have excelled in the manufacture of large 
multicolored bowls, a number of which have 
been reproduced in color, thus adding attract- 
iveness to what even without them would be 
a superb series of plates. 

This large quarto volume is published at the 
sole expense of Mr. Ake Sjogren, who has also 
given the collection on a part of which the 
work is based, to the Royal Ethnological Mu- 
seum in Stockholm. 


GrorGE Grant MacCurpy. 
YALE UNIverRSITY MUsEum, 
New HaAvEN, Conn. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 


The Botanical Gazette for June contains the 
following papers: K. M. Wiegand publishes 
an account of his researches on the conditions 
of buds and twigs in winter, his observations 
leading to many conclusions entirely in vari- 
ance with accepted notions. §. Yamanouchi 
publishes a preliminary account of his investi- 
gation of the cytology of Polysiphonia vio- 
lacea, showing definitely the alternation of 
generations. H. F. Weiss describes in detail 
the structure and development of the bark in 
sassafras. E. J. Hill gives an account of the 
distribution and habits of the common oaks 
of the Lake region. 


We learn from The Botanical Gazette that 
a new journal, bearing the title Annales de 
Biologie Lacustre, is to be published under 
the editorship of Dr. Ernest Rousseau, with 
the cooperation of a large board of editors. 
The first fascicle is announced to contain 192 
pages, with figures and maps. Publication is 


SCIENCE. 81 


to be in German, English, French and Italian. 
Each volume will contain 400 to 500 pages, 
and the subscription price will be twenty to 
thirty franes. The address of the editor is 
Musée Royal d’Histoire Naturelle, rue Vau- 
tier, 31, Brussels. 


Science Progress, published from 1894 to 
1898 under the editorship of Professor Bret- 
land Farmer and the general direction of Sir 
Henry Burdett, has been revived under the 
name Science Progress in the Twentieth Cen- 
tury. The editors are Dr. N. H. Alcock, lec- 
turer on physiology at St. Mary’s Hospital 
Medical School, and Mr. W. G. Freeman, F.R.S. 
The journal is published quarterly by Mr. 
John Murray. The contents of the first num- 
ber are as follows: ‘A Science of Commerce 
and some Prolegomena,’ by W. J. Ashley; 
‘Chloroform a Poison,’ by B. J. Collingwood, 
‘ Physical Geography as an Educational Sub- 
ject,’ by J. E. Marr; ‘On the Occurrence of 
Prussic Acid and its Derivatives in Plants,’ 
by T. A. Henry; ‘The Solvent Action of 
Roots upon the Soil Particles,’ by A. D. Hall; 
‘Some Notable Instances of the Distribution 
of Injurious Insects by Artificial Means,’ by 
Fred. V. Theobald; ‘The Blood-Platelets, by 
G. A. Buckmaster; ‘Some Recent Progress 
in Chemical and Structural Crystallography,’ 
by A. E. H. Tutton; ‘The Geological Plans 
of some Australian Mining Fields,’ by J. W. 
Gregory; ‘The Corn Smuts and their Propa- 
gation,’ by T. Johnson; ‘ Nehemiah Grew and 
the Study of Plant Anatomy,’ by Agnes Rob- 
ertson;-and ‘The Utilization of Proteids in 
the Animal, by F. G. Hopkins. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
DE VRIES AND HIS CRITICS. 


THE followers of Darwin in the early sixties 
had two difficult tasks to accomplish. One 
was to induce people to give the theory of 
natural selection an unbiased consideration; 
the other, and more difficult one, was to get 
them to understand it. 

“T have often found the most extraordinary 
difficulty,” wrote Darwin to Carpenter,’ “ 
making able men understand at what I was 


;  litesand sWetterss; Vol.) l.; Gosts: 


in 


82 SCIENCE. 


driving.” And as the display of mental den- 
sity increased with time, he wrote to Hooker,’ 
“T am inclined to give up the attempt as 
hopeless. Those who do not understand, it 
seems, can not be made to understand.” 

The scientific world has largely learned the 
first lesson—that of cpen-mindedness—but 
two recent articles in SciENcE’ suggest that we 
have not learned the other. 

It is not my intention here to pose as an 
advocate of de Vries, nor as a self-appointed 
interpreter of the mutation theory. The 
writings of its author are too clear to need 
any additional elucidation. But it is impor- 
tant, before we discuss the theory, to be sure 
that we thoroughly understand it. A perusal 
of the articles just cited makes it difficult to 
believe that their authors have given the 
writings of de Vries a very thoughtful reading. 

Calling attention at the outset to the im- 
portance of understanding the terms used by 
de Vries, the author of the first article says: 
“ What we systematists have been in the habit 
of calling spontaneous variations or ‘ sports’ 
he calls ‘ mutations.” This is doubtless one 
of the commonest, and at the same time most 
fatal, errors to a correct understanding of mu- 
tation. ‘Mutations’ and ‘sports’ are by no 
means synonymous terms, as used by de Vries, 
and, after he has devoted several pages to 
carefully defining these terms, and to showing 
that, while mutations are a kind of ‘sport,’ 
not all sports are mutations, it seems difficult 
to understand how one who had gotten his 
notions of the theory at first hand could per- 
sist in the former loose usage of the terms. 
The distinction drawn by de Vries is clear. 
For example, he says,’ “in order to avoid 
confusion as far as possible, with the least 
change in existing terminology, I shall use 
the term ‘ever-sporting varieties’ for such 
forms as are regularly propagated by seed, 
and of pure and not hybrid origin, but which 

Die NOlsall., p.2109. 

’Merriam, C. Hart, ‘Is Mutation a Factor in 
the Evolution of the Higher Vertebrates?’ Sct- 
ENCE, February 16, 1906. Ortmann, A. E., “The 
Fallacy of the Mutation Theory,’ Scimncn, May 
11, 1906. 

** Species and Varieties,’ p. 310. 


[N.S. von. XXIV. No. 603. 


sport in nearly every generation.” Citing the 
striped variety of the larkspur as the first il- 
lustration, he continues: “Such deviations 
are usually called sports. But they occur 
yearly and regularly,’” and for this and other 
reasons they are not mutations.© Of these 


later. 


Again our critic tells us that, “What we 
call individual variations he ealls ‘ fluctua- 
tions.” And yet on page 77 of ‘Species and 
Varieties’ we read, “ From a broad point of 
view, fluctuating variability falls under two . 
heads. They obey quite the same laws and 
are,- therefore, easily confused, but with re- 
spect to questions of heredity they should be 
carefully separated. They are designated by 
the terms individual and partial fluctuation.” 
Individual variation and fluctuation, then, are 
not synonyms, for some fluctuations are ‘ par- 
tial’ and not ‘individual,’ and this difference 
is explained and illustrated in the following 
twenty-three pages.” 

On page 242° we are told that de Vries “ ap- 
pears to have been carried away with enthu- 
siasm over his discovery and jumps to the 
conclusion that species in general originate 
by mutation—and in no other way!” ® 

‘Species and Varieties’ does not profess” 
to treat at length the problem of hybridiza- 
tion, yet lecture IX. deals with the subject, 
and on page 266 the author refers to the fact 
that “ Kerner von Marilaun pointed out the 
fact long ago that many so-called species, of 
rare occurrence, may be considered to have 
originated by a cross,” and nearly a score of 
well-authenticated illustrative examples fol- 
low, with the sanction of de Vries as to the 
hybrid origin of the species. 

“And has any reason been brought forward 
to justify—much less necessitate—a change in 
this belief?” ™ (2. e., that differences in char- 


Pils Gy Oe lle 

* Mutations are distinguished from other kinds 
of sports, among other ways, by being ‘of very 
rare occurrence. JU. c., p. 191. 

“See also pp. 190 and 191, and lecture XXVIII. 

8 Merriam, J. ce. 

® Italics mine. 

o Olea 250. 

“ Merriam, p. 247. 


JULY 20, 1996.] 


acter can be explained by the slow and gradual 
accumulation of individual variations). The 
whole book, ‘Species and Varieties,’ and the 
two German volumes of ‘Die Mutationsthe- 
orie’ at once furnish, to one who understands 
them aright, more than sufficient reason that 
the old theory must, to say the least, stand 
the test of the most rigid re-examination, and 
the crucial test of verification by experiment. 

And what, pray, has ‘ the practically unani- 
mous belief of zoologists and botanists the 
world over’ to do with the merits of a new 
theory? Did they not practically all, previous 
to Lamarck, believe in special creation? “The 
old saying, Vox populi, vox Dei,’ wrote Dar- 
win, “as every philosopher knows, can not be 
trusted in science.” ; 

In the same paragraph, this: ‘* *.* a spe- 
cies appears [sic] to have arisen in a slightly 
different way,’ ete. (Of course it is an ele- 
mentary species for which such a claim is 
made.) Why question the veracity of the 
author of the mutation theory by using the 
word ‘appears’? When, since the publica- 
tion of Darwin’s ‘Origin,’ has a scientific 
fact been supported by a greater amount of 
experimentation, more carefully and more 
fully recorded, and not by one man only, but 
by several workers? 

And if the critic asks, “ How does it follow 
that ‘then in truth Darwinism can afford to 
lose the individual variations as a basis’?”™ 
the answer is: because the bottom does not 
fall out of the theory by such a loss. Other 
material remains for natural selection to work 
on. ‘If it can be proved that a man eats beef- 
steak for breakfast’** it does not follow that, 
‘of course he could not have eaten bread.’ 
But, if it were demonstrated by reiterated ex- 
periments that bread can do for a man all that 
beefsteak does, then the man ‘can afford’ to 
do without the steak. Or, to make a more 
relevant application, some men may breakfast 
on steak, and others secure the same ends with 
bread alone. 

Referring to his extended field studies of 


%* Origin,’ 6th Am. ed., p. 143, 1883. 
*% Merriam, l. c., p. 243. 
“Merriam, I. ¢., p. 243. 


SCIENCE. 83 


plants, the critic says, “ These studies have 
convinced me that with plants, as with ani- 
mals, the usual way in which new forms (sub- 
species and species) are produced is by the 
gradual progressive development of minute 
variations.” ” Several pages of ‘Species and 
Varieties® are devoted to examples illustra- 
ting that ‘long-continued selection, alone, has 
absolutely no appreciable effect’ in changing 
the inner nature of a species or of a race, 
whereas there is experimental evidence of an- 
other factor by means of which such a change 
is accomplished. The beauty of experiment 
is that it convinces all, because given results 
may be produced by all alike at will, and 
‘experiments are a repetition of things occur- 
ring in nature.’ ™ 

When one says he has ‘passed in review 
more than a thousand species,’ we are con- 
strained to ask, ‘which, of at least three or 
more commonly recognized kinds of species?’ 
Obviously, for example, the intergrading spe- 
cies of a genus like Crategus (hawthorn), 
would prove nothing germane to the subject. 
And if the best result of this laborious exam- 
ination of species is, ‘ without finding a single 
one which appears to have originated in this 
way,’ one recalls the fascinating account in 
‘Species and Varieties’ of ‘the first experi- 
mental mutation of a normal into a peloric 
race.” “The step from the ordinary toad- 
flax to the peloric form is short, and it appears 
[note the word] as if it might be produced by 
slow conversion.” ” What a fine pseudo series 
one might arrange with the normal Linaria 
vulgaris and the L. vulgaris peloria at the 
extremes, connected by the ordinary fluctua- 
ting peloric variations!” The beauty of de 
Vries’s method is that it is possible ‘to ar- 
range things so as to be present when nature 
produces * * * these rare changes.’~ In this 
way it is known (not a matter of opinion) 

*® Merriam, l. ¢., p. 243. 

*P. 790 et seq. 

“ “Species and Varieties, p. 430. 

Pp. 464. 

“Species and Varieties,’ p. 473. 

0< Species and Varieties,’ p. 465. Italics mine. 

** Cf. also ‘Species and Varieties,’ p. 249. 

2° Species and Varieties,’ p. 465. 


34 SCIENCE. 


that “The mutation took place at once. * * * 


No intermediate steps were observed. * * * 
Not a single flower on the mutated plant re- 
verted to the previous type.” 

“ According to degree of development at 
the time of their first appearance they [varia- 
tions] may be designated ordinary individual 
variations, or sport variations. This is an old 
story.” Exactly! The new story is de 
Vries’s very careful distinction between dif- 
ferent kinds of sports. 

And when one reads that “his [de Vries’s] 
studies of plants have been mainly with spe- 
cies as modified by man rather than with spe- 
cies in a state of nature,” ™ one can not help 
wondering if lectures II., XII., XVI, XX. 
and XXIII. have been read at all. 

And again when it is stated that “ As a mat- 
ter of fact, subspecies in nature do not occupy 
the same ground with the parent form, but 
an adjacent area,” one can only wonder why 
a statement that may be quite true of a given 
eroup of animals (e. g., birds). is made so 
general as to include the entire plant king- 
dom. In what sense, we may ask, is the term 
subspecies used? If by it is meant geographic 
variety,’ then, of course, groups that do not 
occupy the same region do not occupy the 
same region. But the term is not used in this 
sense in systematic botany. 

And if the mutation theory seems to any 
one ‘burdened’ ‘with the additional require- 
ment that in giving off new forms the old is 
not altered,’ relief will come to him by in- 
dulging in a little pedigree-culture experi- 
mentation, and then digesting what ‘ Species 
and Varieties’ has to say about the destruction 
of the unfit and the survival of the fittest 
(elementary) species in ‘intra-specific selec- 
ova 

Can it be possible that, after reading ‘ Spe- 
cies and Varieties’ and the larger German 
work, the only source of an adequate explana- 
tion of interspecific gaps is unlimited and 


8 Merriam, l. ¢., p. 245. 

*4 Merriam, l. ¢., p. 247. 

* Cf. the map, p. 256. 

«Species and Varieties, pp. 741, 744, 749, 
751, 800, 801, 802, 805, 825. 


[N.S. Vout. XXIV. No. 603. 


favorable field experience, and unlimited ex- 
perience in handling specimens, ete. ?~ 

“Tnasmuch as sudden or sport variations 
are exceedingly rare’ while slight variations 
are exceedingly common, does it not follow 
that the vast majority of species must orig- 
inate from slight variations?” ” Possibly, if 
it can be shown that the origination of new 
species is an exceedingly common affair, and 
a matter of frequent observation. So far as 
the records show, no one, up to the time of 
de Vries, had ever knowingly observed the 
origin of a new species or natural variety. 

And when we read that “ One might spend 
a lifetime in studying animals and plants in 
the interior of almost any of the faunal [and 
‘floral,’ we suppose is to be understood] areas 
without encountering transitional forms or 
intergrades,” ” it almost seems as though we 
were reading de Vries. The mutation theory 
not only offers a possible explanation of this 
fact, but would even lead one to expect such a 
condition. 

Some ten years before the publication of 
‘Species and Varieties’ Bateson inquired,” 
“Ts it not then possible that the discontinuity 
of species may be a consequence and expres- 
sion of the discontinuity of variation?” and 
then added: 

Upon the received hypothesis it is supposed 
that variation is continuous and that the discon- 
tinuity of species results from the operation of 
selection. For reasons given above (pp. 15 and 
16) there is an almost fatal objection in the 
way of this belief, and it can not be supposed that 
all variation is continuous and also that the dis- 
continuity of species is the result of selection. 
With evidence of the discontinuity of variation 
this difficulty would be removed. 

It will be noted that it is impossible to sup- 
pose that the perfection of a variety, discontin- 


7" Merriam, l. c., p. 256. 

*Jonoring again the continuous sporting of 
‘ever-sporting varieties, and the distinctions be- 
tween different kinds of sports. 

*®In the northern states white people are more 
common than black. Therefore, all the people in 
the northern states have originated from the 
whites. Q. H. D. 

*° Merriam, l. c., p. 256. 

*\* Materials for the Study of Variation,’ p. 62. 


JuLY 20, 1806.] 


uously and suddenly occurring, is the result of 
selection. * * * This consideration of course 
touches only the part that selection may have 
played in the first building up of the type and 
does not affect the view that the perpetuation of 
the type, once constituted, may- have been achieved 
by selection.” 


To say the least, the declaration that ‘so 
far as known,’ the theory of the origin of spe- 
cies by mutation is ‘not applicable in the case 
of animals,’ seems a rather arbitrary statement 
in the face of the mass of contrary evidence 
that exists in recent literature.” 

Considering the volume of evidence in zool- 
ogy” that ‘ distinct and perfect varieties may 
come into existence discontinuously,’ the ques- 
tion forces itself, ‘may not the discontinuity 
of species have had a similar origin?’ At 
least the strong “ presumption is created that 
the discontinuity of which species is an expres- 
sion has its origin not in the environment,” 
which is continuous, “‘ nor in any phenomenon 
of adaptation, but in the intrinsic nature of 
organisms themselves, manifested in original 
discontinuity of variation.” ” 


By a strange chance the article by Dr. Ort- 
mann, in ScieNcE for May 11, 1906, imme- 
diately precedes one entitled ‘ Misrepresenta- 
tions of Nature in Popular Magazines.’ The 
history of science furnishes all too many in- 
stances of misinterpretations of scientific the- 
ory in scientific magazines. We do not recall 
an instance in which Darwinism (Darwin’s 
Darwinism) has been more twisted out of 
shape than has the mutation theory in this 
latest exposure of its ‘fallacy.’ It would be 
interesting to know if the mutation theory 
itself would meet with such an ‘emphatic’ 
and wholesale ‘condemnation’ as does this 
misinterpretation of it. 

We are told that “de Vries claims that the 
process of mutation forms new species, and 
that individual mutations (mutants) are spe- 
cies.” The ttle of the English volume is 


* Bateson, J. c., p. 69. 

*H. g., Bateson, 1. ¢., Vernon, ‘ Variation in 
Animals and Plants.’ 

*' Space forbids citation of specific illustrations. 

2 Dabesone (6: ps OO. 


SCIENCE. 85 


‘Species and Varieties, their Origin by Muta- 
tion,’ and one has to read only as far as the 
ninth page to learn that the author intends 
“to give a review of the facts obtained from 
plants which go to prove the assertion that 
species and varieties have originated by mu- 
tation, and are at present not known to orig- 
inate in any other way,” and on page 16 
“Retrograde varieties and elementary [note 
the adjective] species may both be seen to be 
produced by sudden mutations.” 

And why beat about the bush and say that 
de Vries ‘tries to show that mutations breed 
true’? Why not frankly acknowledge the 
fact, so magnificently established by twenty 
odd years of painstaking experiment, and veri- 
fied by other workers elsewhere, that the varia- 
tions classed by de Vries as mutants do breed 
true ? 

If it is really true that de Vries ‘ does not 
know what constitutes a species,’ then, in- 
deed, do we find our faith in his work thereby 
increased. Who indeed, except the makers of 
dictionaries, does ‘know what constitutes a 
species’? The author of the mutation theory 
does know, however, that ‘genera and species 
are, at the present time, for a large part arti- 
ficial, or stated more correctly, conventional 
groups, and that, ‘every systematist is free 
to delimit them in a wider or in a narrower 
sense, according to his judgment.’ 

Is it possible that one who can write, 
“What distinguishes species” from varieties 
is the fact that the species is not connected 
by: intermediate or transitional forms with 
the closely allied species,’ has ever come 
into contact with a group like the hawthorns 
(Crategus), or Aster, or the violets in bot- 
any, or the earwig (Forficula) in zoology? 
Whether this distinction ‘is the one made use 
of exclusively (if possible)” by systematists, 
botanists as well as zoologists,’ is, we believe, 
quite open to question. Jt was a considera- 
tion of the earwigs (Forficula) and crab (Car- 
cinus) that led Vernon to state: “It is obvi- 
ous, indeed, that between two absolutely dis- 


“The meaning of the parenthesis is not clear. 
* Meaning the systematic groups of specific 
value. 


86 SCIENCE. 


tinct varieties or species, and between pure 
monomorphic forms, all intermediate stages 
may exist.”“ Even Darwin considered that 
species, in the early stages of their history, 
were connected ‘ by intermediate gradations. 
Bicknell” has well said, ‘The current ruling, 
more especially in vertebrate zoology, which, 
in view of * * * intermediates reduces to 
subspecies widely diverse organic forms, may 
well be suspected of being artificial and of 
attaching a fictitious importance to the mere 
evidences of origin which chance, perhaps, 
has allowed to remain unobliterated.’ 

Farlow concludes his paper on species by a 
sage remark: “I think we shall agree that in 
discussing the work of botanists in other de- 
partments than our own, it would not be wise 
to exact a rigid conformity to our individual 
conceptions of species, ete.” It is another 
critic of mutation who tells us* that ‘at the 
peripheries or borders’ of faunal areas ‘ inter- 
grades’ between species’ occur. : 

One who says that “de Vries has failed en- 
tirely to take notice of this fundamental [!] 
principle,” surely can not have read that “ new 
species and new varieties are seen to be quite 
free from their ancestors, and not linked to 
them by intermediates,” and that the links 
between elementary species “ often apparently 
overlap and can only in rare cases be deter- 
mined on the sole ground of field observa- 
but that ‘pedigree-culture is the 
method required,’ etc.* Has the critic read: 
“Transitions are wholly wanting, although 
fallaciously apparent in some instances,” as 
they appeared to be to Merriam,” “owing to 
the wide range of fluctuating variability of 


tions,” 


8 Vernon, l. ¢., p. 41. 

® Darwin, J. c., p. 426. 

“'Torreya, 6: 94, 1906. Cf. also SCIENCE, 
February 16, 1906, p. 257, where Cook reduces 
three species and three varieties of Utethesia to 
one species because of the intergradations. 

“Merriam, J. ¢., p. 256. 

* Or should we say ‘ subspecies’? 

45° Species and Varieties,’ p. 18. 
species plainly from the context. 

*“°Species and Varieties,’ p. 18. 

* Merriam, l. c., p. 243. 


‘ Elementary ’ 


9 39 


‘LN. S. Von. XXIV. No. 603. 


the forms concerned, or the occurrence of 
hybrids and subvarieties.” “ 

If it is stated that de Vries “has failed 
* * * to show that his elementary species 
and his mutations ” (other mutations, we sup- 
pose is meant) “are not connected by inter- 
mediate forms with each other,” then we can 
not believe the writer has read the lucid defi- 
nition: “any form which remains constant 
and distinct from its allies in the garden is 
to be considered as an elementary species,” ” 
and that ‘their limits often apparently over- 
lap,’ but may be determined by the method of 
pedigree-culture, though seldom ‘on the sole 
ground of field observations.” The experi- 
mental facts were the source of the definition. 

‘Such intermediate forms are (indeed) re- 
corded by de Vries himself,’ together with his 
clear explanation of their significance. Bate- 
son wrote over ten years ago: “ We are con- 
cerned not with the question whether or no 
all intermediate gradations are possible or 
have ever existed, but with the wholly differ- 
ent question whether or no the normal form 
has passed through all these intermediate con- 
ditions.” “ One of the greatest values of de 
Vries’s work lies in the fact that he was pres- 
ent when the transition took place, and gives, 
not a theory at all, but the record of a fact 
observed again and again. 

If one is unable to see how de Vries can 
maintain that the mutations have bred true, 
as is stated on page 539 of ‘ Species and Varie- 
ties, he has only to repeat the experiment 
himself to be convinced; and if it is implied, 
as it clearly is,® that all the mutants “ were 
throwing off, in each generation, additional 
mutants,” then the facts as recorded by de 
Vries are ignored. That mutation, however, 
may be a constant character,” just as truly as 
the shape of a leaf that constantly varies 

“Species and Varieties,’ p. 249. 

47¢ Species and Varieties,’ p. 12. 

** Materials for the Study of Variation,’ p. 42. 

* Ortmann, p. 747. 

°° During the mutation period of the species, if 
the theory of mutation periods (‘Species and 
Varieties,’ Lecture XIV.) shall finally become es- 
tablished, and excepting, of course, the ‘ stray mu- 
tations’ (‘Species and Varieties,’ pp. 704-706). 


JuxLy 20, 1906.] 


(fluctuating variation), is clearly brought out 
by the author of the mutation theory. And 
if, in speaking of ‘de Vries’s contention that 
mutations are species,’ one has in mind the 
units of the systematist, then it must be in- 
sisted that such is not de Vries’s contention 
at all, nor can such a statement be wrested 
from the book, ‘Species and Varieties,’ if the 
context is always considered. 

“However, if de Vries had claimed that 
species might be made out of mutations, noth- 
ing could be objected to this view.” * Exactly! 
Then why the dissenting critique? Read, on 
page 13 of ‘Species and Varieties,’ the fol- 
lowing: 

Linneus himself knew, that in some cases all 
subdivisions of a species are of equal rank, to- 
gether constituting the group called species. No 
one of them outranks the others; it is not a 
species with varieties, but a group consisting only 
of varieties. A closer inquiry into the cases 
treated in this manner by the great master of 


systematic science, shows that here his varieties. 


were exactly what we now call elementary species. 


And this on page 558: “ The first law [of 
mutation] 1s, that new elementary species 
appear suddenly, without intermediate steps.” 

Finally (page 459), “ Hence we have dis- 
tinguished between elementary species and 
varieties proper. THE FIRST ARE COMBINED 
INTO SPECIES ” (of the systematist), ete. Could 
a clearer statement be conceived? 

There is, indeed, a sense in which this is 
‘no new idea,’ ” but the recognition of it, and 
of its bearing upon theories of descent seems 
to be not only new, but difficult at the present 
day of being clearly recognized and under- 
stood. De Vries does not claim the credit of 
originating the idea. He proposes to found 
his theory, in part, upon “a critical survey of 
the facts of agricultural and horticultural 
breeding, as they have accumulated since the 
time of Darwin.” ™ 

Says our critic: “ The breeding of domestic 
races has always (!!) been regarded as a proc- 
ess analogous to the one in nature by which 
new species are produced.” When, we may be 

1 Ortmann, p. 747. 


* Ortmann, l. c., p. 747. 
= *Species and Varieties,’ p. 9. 


SCIENCE. 87 


allowed to ask, previous to the appearance of 
the ‘ Origin,’ had such an idea been seriously 
or at all generally held. If we have not access 
to the original, we may even learn from ‘ Spe- 
cies and Varieties,’ if we read carefully, that 
Linnezus looked upon species as the result of 
special creation.” 

The failure to take some of his statements 
at their face value, or at least to distinguish 
clearly when he is recording a fact and when 
he is elaborating a theory, is a peculiar feature 
of the criticisms of de Vries, as in the present 
critique, where it is stated that he ‘ finally 
obtained more or less pure strains.”” An 
equally peculiar and persistent feature of 
these criticisms is the insistence with which 
the author’s carefully defined terms, represent- 
ing equally careful and long-needed distinc- 
tions, are entirely ignored, thus giving to his 


‘statements a wholly different color than they 


possess in the original. J#. g., “ Before he 
[de Vries] began this process of selecting and 
segregating, the mutations were by no means 
species, but only varieties.” Where, from 
cover to cover, of ‘Species and Varieties,’ is 
any other claim made? The point is that the 
author very carefully states what kind of 
varieties they are, and applies to this kind the 
term ‘ elementary-species.’ 

Thus again, in the next sentence, “de Vries 
further maintains that it is the mutations 
and not the variations, that give rise to new 
species, and he thinks [sic] that there is a 
fundamental difference between them.” A clear 
conception of the mutation theory would have 
resulted in some such changes as the follow- 
ing in that sentence: “de Vries further gives 
experimental evidence that it is the muta- 
tions, and not the other types of variation, 
that give rise to new species, and between 
these kinds of variation there is a fundamental - 
difference.” The critic might have added 
here, also, the statement, ‘but this no new 
idea,’ and might have quoted from Bateson: 

The existence of discontinuity in variation is, 
therefore, a final proof that the accepted hypothesis 
is inadequate. If the evidence went no further 
than this the result would be of use, though 

5° Species and Varieties,’ p. 34. 

% Ortmann, I. c., p. 747. Italics mine. 


Sane: SCIENCE. 


its use would be rather to destroy than to build 
up. But besides this negative result there is a 
positive result too, and the same discontinuity 
which in the old structure had no place may be 
made the framework round which a new structure 
may be built.” 

And the following cautious statement from 
Darwin: ‘ We are led to conclude that species 
have generally originated by the natural selec- 
tion, not of abrupt modifications, but of ex- 
tremely slight differences.’ Their origina- 
tion by the natural selection of the ‘ abrupt 
modifications’ is rejected, among other rea- 
sons, because “we have no evidence of the 
appearance, or at least of the continued pro- 
creation, under nature, of abrupt modifica- 
tions of structure.” Since the work of de 
Vries the last statement no longer holds true. 

The critic “is unable to see where he [de 
Vries| draws the line between variations * * * 
and mutations.” The following quotation seems 
written in anticipation of that statement: 
“The relation between mutability and fluctu- 
ating variability has always been one of the 
chief difficulties of the followers of Darwin.” 
The majority assume that species arise by the 
slow accumulation of slight fluctuating devia- 
tions, and the mutations are only to be con- 
sidered as extreme fluctuations, obtained, in 
the main, by a continuous selection of small 
differences in a constant direction.” 

“My cultures show that quite the opposite is 
the fact. * * * Oscillating changes have noth- 
ing in common with the mutations.” ” “ Muta- 
tions are going on in all directions, producing, 
if they are progressive” (they are not all 
alike), “something quite new every time. 
Fluctuations are limited to increase and de- 
crease of what is already available.” ® 

One point is stated with terse accuracy: 
de Vries has not only not ‘solved the old 
sophistic problem of how much must be added 

** Bateson, 1. ¢., p. 568, 1894. 

“Animals and Plants Under Domestication,’ 
p. 495. Italics mine. 

Darwin, l. ¢., p. 495. 

“Species and Varieties,’ 
had this difficulty. Ibid. 

«Species and Varieties,’ 
715, 718 and 459. 

“Species and Varieties,’ p. 719. 


p. 7. Even Wallace 


pp. 568-569. Cf. pp. 


[N.S. \or. XXIV. No. 603. 


to a small thing to make it a large one,’ but has 
clearly demonstrated, in his lecture on ‘ The 

Origin of the Peloric Toad-Flax’ that, so far 
as the origin of species is concerned, the 
problem is incapable of solution. 

The discoverer of ‘ the fallacy of the muta- 
tion theory’ tells us that mutations have been 
observed chiefly among domestic forms. If 
this were true, the suggestion is, not to reject 
mutation on this account, but to initiate ex- 
tensive experiments among a wide systematic 
range of wild plants (and of animals also), and 
see if what now appears to be the case is in 
reality a general truth, or only an expression 
of limited experience. 

- We are told” that if de Vries should ‘ claim 
that species could be made out of mutations, 
he would be right.’ Well and good. ‘The 
quotation™ has already been given. Elemen- 
tary species ‘ are combined into species * * */ 

If the rarity of mutations” seems to be a 
stumbling-block toward accepting them as the 
material on which natural selection may oper- 
ate, it will be wholesome to recall that the 
formation of new specific groups (species of 
the systematists) is far more rare in nature 
than in the writings of systematic botanists 
and zoologists. 

Mutation has, indeed, ‘ always been re- 
garded as a special form of variation, and so 
it is in ‘Species and Varieties,’ notably in 
lecture I., and throughout the entire book. 
But if ‘Consequently, nothing is left of de 
Vries’s mutation theory but the bare facts 
represented by his experiments,’ science has 
been munificently enriched thereby, to say 
nothing of the new method of research in the 
study of evolution, entirely ignored by the 
above statement, and the contribution for 
which science is de Vries’s greatest debtor. 

“To my mind,” says de Vries, “the real 

value of the discovery of the mutability of the 
evening-primrose lies in its Userulmess as a 
guide for further work.” 

I may repeat, in closing, what was ated in 


9 65 


* Ortmann, J. c., p. 747. 

% From ‘Species and Varieties,’ p. 459. 

* Ortmann, l. c., p. 747. 

* That is, since the process has been recognized 
and described. 


JULY 20, 1906.] 


the beginning. I have not attempted to de- 
fend the mutation theory of de Vries, but only 
to emphasize the fact that, before we criticize 
it, or lend to it either our dissent or assent, 
we must first understand it. The ink that was 
spilled in discussing misinterpretations of 
Darwinism far exceeds that poured out in re- 
cording constructive studies in evolution. Let 
us not make the same mistake and waste of 
energy in the present case. 

The mutation ‘theory’ is still largely a 
working hypothesis. It is founded almost 
entirely upon experiment, and can be verified 
only by the same means. ‘The beauty of it is 
that it is already reduced to a question of fact. 
For mere opinion and inference, and a priort 
impressions and prejudice, and inductions 
from field studies and comparative morphology 
there is absolutely no place. If one doubts 
the facts, let him repeat the experiments of 
de Vries and MacDougal and others. If he 
doubts that they represent a general truth, 
a fundamental principle in biology, then let 
him await the fullness of time, for it is by 
repeated experiment, among a wide range of 
groups, and by experiment only, that the gen- 
eral application must stand or fall. 

And I bespeak also a candid acceptance 
of the facts, after they are clearly distin- 
guished from the. inferences. The latter are 
open to debate, but not so the former. And 
when a careful worker says that he obtained 
a given form that breeds absolutely true, and 
which, for reasons fully explained, he calls an 
‘elementary species, by means of a certain 
definite and clearly explained kind of varia- 
tion which he defines and names ‘ mutation,’ 
let us not refer to him as ‘ claiming to’ have 


done so, or to the mutant as ‘seeming to’. 


breed true. 

Pregnant with significance as the mutation 
theory is for the systematic botanist and zool- 
ogist, its truth can never be established nor 
disproved by the methods of taxonomy. Com- 
parative studies may offer worlds of evidence 
and multitudes of problems to test the hy- 
pothesis, but experimentation is the only pos- 
sible means for the final solution. 

How do species originate? A mass of 
facts suggests that the method is.by the 


SCIENCE. 89 


natural selection of fluctuating variations, 
combined with geographical isolation, in- 
fluence of environment, and other factors. 
But, after all has been written, the undeniable 
fact remains that no one has yet ever actually 
observed the origin of a single species in this 
way. 

On the other hand, the fact is just as un- 
deniable that a definite and clearly defined 
type of variation, called an ‘elementary 
species,’ has been actually observed, not once, 
but often and by many, to arise by a process, 
equally well defined and definite, and known 
as ‘mutation.’ Mutations do furnish material 
for the operation of natural selection and all 
other influences that tend to establish a unit 
group known in taxonomy as a ‘species.’ 

The case seems perfectly plain that the 
burden of proof rests with the adherents of 
fluctuation. 


C. Stuart GaAGeEr. 
New YorK BOTANICAL GARDEN. 


SPECIAL ARTICLES. 


A NEW FOSSIL SEAL FROM THE MARINE MIOCENE 
OF THE OREGON COAST REGION. 


In a bulletin recently issued by the Oregon 
State University, Professor Thomas Condon 
has given a description of an unusually inter- 
esting fossil pinniped, which was obtained by 
him from the Marine Miocene of the Oregon 
coast. It is, indeed, a happy coincidence that 
this nestor of Oregon geology should cele- 
brate his eighty-fourth birthday by so inter- 
esting and important a discovery. This does 
not quite equal the record of the great chemist, 
Chevreul, before the French Academy, it is 
true, but it is one sufficiently rare in paleontol- 
ogy. 

Professor Condon has kindly permitted me 
to make a careful study of this unique speci- 
men, and I do not hesitate to pronounce it 
easily the most important find that has yet 
been made in this group. As far as I am 
aware the specimen represents an entirely new 
and hitherto unknown genus, intermediate in 
many respects between the sea lions and seals, 
with perhaps the most pronounced affinities 
with the latter, and at the same time exhibit- 


90 


ing a number of primitive or ancestral char- 
acters not found in the skeleton of any 
modern pinniped. He has appropriately 
named the new genus Desmatophoca oregon- 
ensis. 

The age of the horizon in which this fossil 
was found is determined by Professor Condon 
to be Miocene from the association of a large 
number of characteristic genera of marine 
shells. Whether it represents the entire series 
of fresh-water deposits included in the Oligo- 
cene and Miocene of the interior continental 
region or whether it is equivalent to only a 
part of them can not now be determined. I 
think it may be safely assumed, however, to be 
the equivalent of the entire series, although 
its vertical thickness is considerably less than 
the contemporary fresh-water beds. The 
position of the fossil within the deposit was 
not accurately recorded but there is reason to 
believe that it comes from a layer which would 
suggest a Middle Oligocene age if referred to 
the interior series. 

The point of greatest interest and impor- 
tance in connection with the fossil under con- 
sideration is to be found in the light which 
it throws upon the broader question of the 
origin of this highly modified and almost ex- 
clusively aquatic branch of the carnivorous 
mammals. Hitherto an understanding of the 
more exact genetic connections between the 
Pinnipedia and the land Carnivora has proven 
a very obscure and perplexing problem to the 
morphologist, and as a result various opinions 
have been expressed concerning its solution. 
There seems, however, to have been entire 
unanimity of opinion in the hypothesis that 
the pinnipeds are descendants of some mem- 
ber of the land Carnivora and that their ex- 
treme modification has been due to the assump- 
tion of an aquatic habit with the attendant 
changes in structure necessitated by this en- 
vironment. 

Huxley held that the seals (using this term 
in its broader sense) have been derived from 
the bears and he attempted to point out 
similarities of structure between the two 
groups. In this view Mivart entirely con- 
curred. The chief objections to this hypoth- 


SCIENCE, 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 603. 


esis are the following: The bears have now 
been pretty thoroughly proven by Schlosser to 
be descendants of the canoid or dog phylum, 
through Amphicyon, dating no further back 
than the later Oligocene or earlier Miocene. 
In the fossil seal before us we have a very 
distinct pinniped, at least equivalent in age © 
to Amphicyon exhibiting no approach what- 
ever to the dog or bear groups. This hy- 
pothesis may, therefore, be dismissed as wholly © 
untenable. 

The next expression of opinion on this sub- 
ject was made by myself in describing the 
osteology of Patriofelis. In this publication 
I pointed out the large assemblage of creodont 
characters to be found in the skeletons of 
modern pinnipeds and from a careful analysis 
of these features in comparison with those 
of certain members of the Creodonta I was 
led to the conclusion that the seals are the 
direct descendants of the creodonts. I fur- 
ther held that the particular family among 
the latter which exhibits the closest approxi- 
mation and furnishes the most likely ancestral 
beginnings thus far known is the Oxyenidz. 

Osborn, followed by Matthew and Scott, 
has dissented from this view and failed to dis- 
cover any relationship between the creodonts 
and pinnipeds. Osborn’s argument against 
the hypothesis was based wholly upon an 
effort to disprove the supposed aquatic or 
semiaquatic habits of certain of the Oxyzenids, 
which he concluded were preeminently ter- 
restrial or arboreal. Matthew’s argument 
consists of a simple denial of the alleged re- 
lationship of the two groups. It now re- 
mains to reexamine the subject in the light 
of this newly acquired evidence and test the 
hypothesis of a creodont ancestry by this old- 
est and most primitive pinniped thus far 
discovered. . 

The specimen consists of a fairly well pre- 
served skull in which the larger part of the 
dentition, especially that of the upper jaw, 
is present. The most important feature of 
the teeth is the evidence they afford of their 
derivation from a former more complex or 
tubercular condition. This is_ especially 
marked not only by the two- and three-rooted 


JuxLy 20, 1906.] 


manner of their implantation, but by the more 
complex structure of the crown of the fourth 
superior premolar as compared with that of 
the modern seals. This tooth may be said to 
be implanted by three roots, of which the one 
supporting the inner cusp is not entirely dis- 
tinct at the base, at least. The crown ex- 
hibits the remains of three distinct cusps 
corresponding in every way to those of the 
less specialized sectorial of many of the 
ereodonts. It is somewhat simpler in struc- 
ture than the corresponding tooth of Patrio- 
felis, but its derivation from a tooth of that 
character is clearly evident. The single molar, 
both above and below, is missing from the 
specimen, so that the organization of the 
crowns can not be determined. They were 
each implanted by two distinct roots. The 
dental formula is I. 3/2, ©. 1/1, PM. 4/4, 
Mie 1/1, 

One character which is most unusual for a 
seal is the deep heavy horizontal ramus of the 
lower jaw, together with a relatively power- 
ful symphysis reminding one at once of the 
corresponding parts of Oxyena and Patriofelis 
among the creodonts. The impression which 
one immediately receives upon examination 
of the specimen is that of a short heavy-jawed 
animal. J mention this character in partic- 
ular for the reason that the heavy jaw and 
powerful symphysis of Patriofelis was made 
the basis of an especial objection, on the part 
of Osborn, to any possibility of affinity be- 
tween the two. The jaws of the modern seals 
are relatively weak and slender. 

In the cranium the more important char- 
acters to be noted are the rudimental post- 
orbital processes, the marked constriction of 
the postorbital region, the relatively heavy 
zygomatic arches and the peculiarly distinctive 
ereodont organization of the otic region of 
the skull. The mastoid is of moderate pro- 
portions and the widely separated paroccipital 
process is unusually large and massive and 
projects outwards and backwards. This ar- 
rangement and unusual size of the paroccipital 
is one of the most distinctive characters of the 
ereodont skull and is one not found in any of 
the modern Carnivora. I may add likewise 


SCIENCE. 91 


that its condition in this ancient seal is al- 
most identical with that seen in Patriofelis 
and Oxyena. 

The base of the skull had not been sufii- 
ciently freed from the inclosing matrix to 
permit of an accurate determination of the 
characters of this region, but I think the 
presence of a small rugged uninflated bulla 
and an alisphenoid canal may be assumed. 
The occipital crest is low and inconspicuous 
and does not overhang the occiput as in the 
creodonts. The brain case is large and roomy 
and the brain was considerably convoluted. 
In fact the brain case and occipital region of 
the skull resemble that of the modern Phoca 
closely. 

From a consideration of the foregoing char- 
acters of this important specimen the follow- 
ing conclusions appear to be firmly and con- 
clusively established: (1) the seals have been 
derived from ancestors in which the molars 
were tritubercular; (2) in which there were 
but two pairs of incisors in the lower jaw; 
(3) in which the true molars were early re- 
duced; (4) in which the lower jaw was stout 
and heavy with a strong, heavy symphysis; 
(5) in which the mastoid region of the skull 
was identical with that of certain of the creo- 
donts; (6) in which the postorbital process 
was rudimentary or wanting. 

Less firmly established characters of the 
ancestors of the seals may be enumerated as 
follows: (1) Double tongue and groove articu- 
lations of the lumbar vertebre; (2) early de- 
velopment of aquatic habits with consequent 
modification of limbs. 

If next we direct our attention to the appli- 
cation of these characters to the known fossil 
Carnivora which preceded them in time, we 
find that it is only among the ereodonts that 
these characters are to be met with. It, there- 
fore, follows that a creodont ancestry is the 
only possible or logical solution of the prob- 
lem. As to the particular family of creodonts 
from which the seals have been derived the 
evidence is by no means so clear nor con- 
elusive. As far as now known the choice 
seems to be restricted to either the Hyzenodon- 
tide or the Oxyeenide. Of these the latter are 


92 SCIENCE. 


much the more likely, for the reason that all 
the conditions are more completely satisfied. 
No hyznodont is known in which the molars 
are reduced, whereas among the Oxyznidze 
molar reduction is one of the most pronounced 
characters. In fact all the primitive char- 
acters are identical with those of this group. 
I take this occasion, therefore, to reaffirm the 
opinion I expressed on this subject some 
twelve years ago and I do so without modi- 
fication or emendation. 


J. L. WorTMAN. 


McMUuRVILLE, OREGON, 
June 6, 1906. 


DEW-POINT AND HUMIDITY CHART. 


THE chart shows dew-point and relative hu- 
midity in a room whose temperature is kept 
at about 68°. These are readily calculated 
from the readings of a wet-bulb thermometer 
kept in the room. So long as the tempera- 
ture is kept near 68°—say between 66° and 


DEW i= 2 Ou NT 
AND 
HUMIDITY 


gry—bulbd 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 603. 


70°—the difference between the readings of 
the dry-bulb thermometer and the dew-point is 
always about 1.8 times the difference between 
the readings of the dry- and wet-bulb ther- 
mometers. The percentage of humidity, 
which corresponds approximately to these 
readings, is shown in the curved line below. 
JoHN F. WoopHULL. 
TEACHERS COLLEGE, 
CoLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 


QUOTATIONS. 
THE MOST IMPORTANT WORK IN THE WORLD. 


Tue bringing of scientific agriculture into 
general practise is, we presume, the most 1m- 
portant economic task that awaits us; and it 
is more than an economic task. In labora- 
tories and on small experimental areas, meth- 
ods have already been worked out which, if 
universally applied, would so increase the 
yield and the quality of our great crops, and 
consequently the profit of growing them, that 
the culture of the earth would become more 
profitable than commerce and manufactures. 
The ambitious young men have left the farms 
for the cities, from Abraham’s day, if they 
had cities then, till our own, because they 
could make more money in trade and in sim- 
ilar pursuits; and the farmer, as a rule, has 
been the left-over man; and he will be so, till 
this economie situation is changed. 

Great hopes were entertained a generation 
ago that the agricultural colleges would teach 


men scientific farming; and so they have; but > 


most of the men who have thus been taught 
have themselves become teachers and have 
taught others who in turn have become teach- 
ers; and the man on the soil has, as a rule, 
not yet been reached with the new knowledge 
and with new methods. 

Agricultural bulletins, too, have done good, 
but they have instructed those who least need- 
ed instruction; for the typical farmer does 
not learn farming by reading about it. Ex- 
periment stations have had a more direct in- 
fluence and have caused better methods to be 
used in their neighborhoods. 

But all these good agencies have yet failed 
to reach the mass of men who till the earth, 
the thousands and hundreds of thousands of 


JuLy 20, 1906.] 


farmers who plow and sow and reap as their 
fathers did and who are suspicious of innova- 
tions, of book-farming, and of new ideas in 
general. 

It remained for the National Agricultural 
Department, by a stroke of that common sense 
which we call genius, to begin the work of 
‘demonstration’ on the farms of farmers who 
themselves work them. A report has been 
published by the Bureau of Plant Industry 
which explains the ‘ farmers’ cooperative dem- 
onstration work’ done in Texas and Louisiana 
under the direction of Dr. S. A. Knapp; and 
that is a pamphlet which seems likely to show 
a new hope for mankind. 

The method of instructing farmers is sim- 
plicity itself. A demonstrator goes to a farm- 
er and persuades him to do two or three such 
simple new things as to prepare his land in 
the fall or winter, to plow it deep, to practise 
intensive farming—that is, to cultivate it bet- 
ter—and to select his seed. This pamphlet is 
made up of reports from these ‘ demonstra- 
tors. Wherever one farmer has once done 
these things on a small area under the direc- 
tion of a demonstrator, the results have caused 
a change in the general agricultural practise 
of the neighborhood. The whole problem is 
to do such work in every neighborhood. These 
reports contain such remarks as these: 

Six years ago an average yield of 30 per cent. 
of lint cotton was considered very good. Now we 
often have cotton that yields as high as 38 per 
cent. of lint. That alone in the cotton crop of the 
South means a profit of about $30,000,000. (From 
Palestine, Texas.) 

The seed we gave out last season produced 
from a third to three times as much as the old 
varieties. At Grosbeck, where 7,000 acres of cot- 
ton will be planted this year, a good season will 
produce 1,000 more bales than the same acre- 
age would have yielded planted in the old way. 
(From Houston, Texas.) 

In 1904 I had to be very careful how I ap- 
proached a farmer. He would say he cared 
nothing about our book farming. Now they in- 
sist on my going to see them. There is 50 per 
cent. improvement in our agriculture as com- 
pared with a few years ago. (From Shreveport, 
La.) 


The area over which this kind of instruction 
is carried on has this year been greatly ex- 


SCIENCE. | 93 


tended. If this be not education that tells, 
then what is? One philosophical observer of 
this movement has called it ‘the most impor- 
tant work in the world.—The World’s Work. 


OBSERVATORIES AND ASTRONOMERS OF 

THE WORLD. 

THe Committee of Bibliography and of 
Astronomical Sciences of the Royal Observa- 
tory of Belgium has undertaken to publish a 
list of the observatories and astronomers of 
the world. A request for information, in the 
form of a list of questions, with a model reply 
relating to the astronomical service at the 
Uccle Observatory, Belgium, has been ad- 
dressed to all the directors of observatories. 
In addition the list will include such astron- 
omers (university professors, amateurs, etc.) 
who are not attached to any observatory, but 
are, nevertheless, actively engaged in astro- 
nomical research. The information already 
sent will enable the committee to draw up not 
only a list of observatories, with their geo- 
graphical coordinates and the members of the 
staff, but also a table showing the astronomical 
activity of the world, thanks to the facts given 
as to the instruments at the disposal of each 
institution, the pieces of research undertaken, 
and the papers published. The directors of 
those observatories who have not received the 
question-form, or who have not yet forwarded 
a reply, as well as unattached astronomers, 
are requested to send the information desired, 
as soon as possible, addressed to the chairman 
of the committee, Professor P. Stroobant, 
astronomer at the Royal Observatory of Bel- 
gium, Uccle, Belgium. 


ELIZABETH THOMPSON SCIENCE FUND. 

Tue 31st meeting of the board of trustees 
was held at the Harvard Medical School, Bos- 
ton, Mass., on June 25. The following officers 
were elected: 

President—Henry P. Bowditch. 


Treasurer—Charles S. Rackemann. 
Secretary—Charles S. Minot. 


Professor Bowditch offered his resignation 
as trustee, since he had now withdrawn from 
active participation in scientific work. The 


94 


trustees expressed their reluctance to accept 
this resignation, because of the long and val- 
ued service of Professor Bowditch, yet they 
desired to relieve him of burdensome responsi- 
bility. It was voted to accept the resignation 
to take effect when through correspondence a 
successor has been elected. 

The secretary reported that on December 12, 
1905, a grant of $1,000 had been awarded to 
Professor Angelo Mosso for the establishment 
of an American table at the International 
Mountain Laboratory, founded by Professor 
Mosso under the auspices of the Italian gov- 
ernment, on the Col d’Olen of Monte Rosa. 
It was specified that appointments to this 
table should be made by the trustees of the 
Elizabeth Thompson Science Fund. Of the 
sum granted, $500 was received as a special 
contribution for this purpose from the Bache 
Fund of the National Academy of Sciences in 
Washington. 

It was voted to close the records of the fol- 
lowing grants, the work having been com- 
pleted and publications made: No. 60, F. 
Kruger; No. 110, H. S. Grindley; No. 114, W. 
Rosenthal; and to close upon receipt of publi- 
cation grant 113, made to S. P. Fergusson. 

Reports of progress from the following hold- 
ers of grants were received: 


No. 94. A. M. Reese. 

“ 96. H. E. Crampton. 
“98. J. Weinzirl. 

“ 101. T. A. Jaggar, Jr. 
“103. EH. Anding. 
“105. H. Kronecker. 
“106. W. Valentiner. 

“ 107. M. Travers. 
«108. B. L. Seawell. 
“109. <A. Nicolas. 
“lll. R. Hiirthle. 
Foe ieense Carhart: 
«116. W. Bateson. 
“117. E. Salkowski. 
ees tneth: Boveri. 

“ 119. J. P. MeMurrich. 
« 120. E. H. Archibald. 
«121. <A. Debierne. 

“< 122. J. J. Frié and Fr. Nusl. 
* 123. BL C. Jeffrey. 


No report was received from Professor P. 
Bachmetjew concerning grant 124. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 603. 


The treasurer announced that $1,300 was 
available for new grants. It was necessary to 
decline several applications which the trustees 
would have favored if the resources had per- 
mitted. The following new grants were made: 

No. 126. $250 to Professor L. Cuénot, Nancy, 
France, for researches on heredity in mice. 

No. 127. $250 to Professor EH. Wiedemann, 
Erlangen, Germany, to study the behavior of gases 
at high temperatures for astrophysical purposes, 
and to determine their illuminating value. 

No. 128. $50 to Dr. L. J. Henderson, Boston, 
Mass., to study the compressibility of muscle. 

No. 129. $50 to Dr. G. W. Hall, Boston, Mass., 
to investigate the oxidation of glucose and allied 
substances in the organism. 

No. 130. $125 to B. G. Smith, Esq., Ann Arbor, 
Mich., for the study of the embryology of Crypt- 
obranchus. 

No. 131. $100 to Dr. F. W. Thyng, Boston, 
Mass., to complete the study of a human embryo of 
13.6 mm. 

No. 132. $200 to Professor W. G. Cady, Middle- 
town, Conn., to investigate the electric are between 
metallic electrodes. 


Final action regarding the application of 
Dr. H. H. Field, concerning the card catalogue 
for physiology, was postponed. 


Cares S. Minot, 
Secretary. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 
Proressor vAN’T Horr, of Berlin, was 
elected an honorary member of the German 
Chemical Society at the recent meeting at 
Nuremberg. 


Linut.-CotoneL D, Prain, F.R.S., director 
of the Royal Gardens, Kew, and late director 
of the Botanical Survey of India, has been ap- 
pointed a Companion of the Order of the In- 
dian Empire. ; 


M. GeERNEZ, professor of general chemistry 
in the School of Arts and Manufactures, 
Paris, has been elected a member of the 
Academy of Sciences, to succeed the late M. 
Curie. 


JESSE B. Mowry, B.S., has been appointed, 
by Governor Utter, commissioner of forestry 


for Rhode Island. 


JuLy 20, 1906.] _ 


Dr. E. ANpInG, professor in the University 
of Munich, has been appointed director of the 
Ducal Observatory in Gotha. 


M. JANSSEN, director of the Astrophysical 
Observatory of Meudon, Paris, will represent 
the Paris Academy of Sciences on the occa- 
sion of the celebration of the fourth centenary 
of the University of Aberdeen, on Septem- 
ber 25. 

Proressor Noan K. Davis, who is now 
seventy-six years of age, has retired from the 
active duties of the chair of moral philosophy 
in the University of Virginia. 

Av an assembly of the faculties of Univer- 
sity College, London, on July 4, Dr. Carey 
Foster, emeritus professor of physics and 
former principal of the college, was presented 
with his portrait, painted by Mr. Augustus 
John. 


Tue former pupils of Dr. Hallaran Bennett, 
professor of surgery in the School of Physic, 
Trinity College, Durham, and for forty-five 
years a member of the teaching staff, have 
established a medal to be awarded in his honor, 
and will place a bronze life-size relief portrait 
in the school and in Sir Patrick Dun’s Hos- 
pital. 

AT a meeting of the officers and council 
of the Norwegian Geographical Society, in 
Christiania, on May 19, the gold medal of the 
society was awarded to Dr. Carl Lumbholtz for 
his scientific explorations. The medal will be 
presented to Dr. Lumholtz in September, on 
his arrival in Christiania. 


Tue Longstaff medal of the London Chem- 
ical Society has been awarded to Professor 
W. N. Hartley, F.R.S., in recognition of his 
spectrochemical investigations. 


Sir Lauper Brunton, Dr: J. C. MeVail, 
medical officer of health for the counties of 
Stirling and Dumbarton, Dr. A. Macfadyen, 
of the Lister Institute, and Dr. T. A. Starkey, 
professor of hygiene, McGill University, have 
been elected fellows of the Royal Sanitary 
Institute. 

The Journal of the American Medical Asso- 
ciation states that Professor C. F. Schatz, the 
eminent German obstetrician and professor 


SCIENCE. 95 


of gynecology at Rostock, was accused of mis- 
appropriating several thousand dollars of hos- 
pital funds. He insisted on a thorough in- 
vestigation, and the trouble was found to be 
the result of a clerical error in auditing the. 
accounts of the hospital. He has resigned 
his connection with the university and will 
devote himself to private practise. 


Dr. C. S. Prineie, keeper of the herbarium 
of the University of Vermont, has started on 
his twenty-sixth annual journey to Mexico for 
botanical exploration. He expects to return 
to the university in the autumn and make a 
distribution of the plants collected during the 
past year. 


AN expedition has been sent by the Peabody 
Museum of Archeology of Harvard University 
to northern New York to explore an ancient 
Troquois site, in continuation of the work of 
the past two years in that state. Mr. M. R. 
Harrington, of Columbia University, who re- 
ceived his archeological training under Pro- 
fessor Putnam, will be in charge of the expedi- 
tion. Mr. Irwin Hayden, a graduate student 
in the division of anthropology, will be Mr. 
Harrington’s assistant. Mr. Ernest Volk will 
be engaged for a portion of this season to con- 
tinue the investigations relating to the an- 
tiquity of man in the Delaware Valley, where 
a careful examination will be made of the 
glacial deposits near Trenton, N. J. For the 
past seventeen years Mr. Volk has been asso- 
ciated with Professor Putnam in carrying on 
this research. 


Nature announces that it is proposed to 
establish some permanent memorial of the late 
Professor W. F. R. Weldon, not only of the 
man himself, but also of the movement with 
which his name is especially associated, the 
application, that is, of exact methods of statis- 
tical inquiry to the study of variation and 
kindred problems in zoology. It has been 
suggested that the memorial should consist of 
a portrait—medallion or bust—in the museum 
at Oxford, a cast of which might be placed 
in University College, London, and of a prize 
to be awarded periodically to the author of the 
most valuable biometric publication of recent 
date. The committee will arrange that sub- 


96 SCIENCE. 


seribers may eventually purchase a reproduc- 
tion of the portrait. Contributions may be 
sent to Dr. G. C. Bourne, Savile House, Ox- 
ford; Dr. G. H. Fowler, 58 Bedford Gardens, 
W.; Professor Karl Pearson, F.R.S., Univer- 
sity College, W.C.; Mr. Adam Sedgwick, 
F.R.S., Trinity College, Cambridge; or to the 


Weldon Memorial Account, at the Old Bank, 


Oxford. 


A MONUMENT in memory of Professor 
Nocard was unveiled recently in the Veteri- 
nary School of Alfort by M. Ruan, minister of 
agriculture. 


Senor Manuret Garora, the well-known 
teacher of music, and eminent for the inven- 
tion of the laryngoscope, died in London, on 
June 30. It will be remembered that the 
hundredth birthday of Sefior Garcia was cele- 
brated on March 17, 1905. 


Tue death is announced of M. Rayet, di- 
rector of the observatory and professor in the 
University of Bordeaux. 

Dr. Puitie OssIANNIKOW, professor of anat- 
omy and physiology at the University of St. 
Petersburg, died on June 11, at the age of 
seventy-nine years. 


A Nationa AcADEMY oF ScrENCES has been 
established in Japan. It will contain forty 
members, of whom fifteen are to be nominated 
by the government and twenty-five elected. 


THERE will be an international conference 
on cancer research in connection with the 
opening of the Institute for Cancer Research 
at Heidelberg, on September 24. 


THE offer of the New York Zoological So- 
ciety to the government to provide a herd of 
buffaloes for the Wichita Forest Reserve, in 
southwestern Oklahoma, has been accepted. 
The society will supply a herd of between fif- 
teen and twenty buffaloes, and the govern- 
ment will fence in a suitable range on the 
game reserve. For this purpose an appro- 
priation of $15,000 was included in the agri- 
cultural bill. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


Mr. Cuarence H. Mackay and Mrs. John 
W. Mackay have given $100,000 to the Uni- 


[N. S. Vor. XXIV. No. 603. 


versity of California, to endow the chair of 
electrical engineering. It will be known as 
the John W. Mackay, Jr., professorship, in 
memory of Mr. Mackay’s brother, and will be 
filled by Professor C. L. Cory, head of the de- 
partment of mechanical and electrical engi- 
neering. 


THE newly-organized School of Forestry of 
Colorado College will begin work at the open- 
ing of the college term in September. The 
courses in engineering, chemistry, physics, 
geology and biology will be given at the col- 
lege in Colorado Springs. The instruction 
in forestry proper will be given partly in 
Colorado Springs and partly in Manitou Park, 
a forested area of 13,000 acres, situated in the 
mountains at a distance of twenty miles from 
the city. This tract has been recently pre- 
sented to the college for the use of the School 
of Forestry, and a number of cottages have 
been provided for the instructors and students. 


Dr. Grorce E. FrELiows, president of the 
University of Maine, has declined the offer 
of the presidency of the Pennsylvania State 
College. 


Dr. James Loupon has, on the ground of ill 
health, resigned the principalship of the Uni- 
versity of Toronto. 


Dr. Raymonp PEarRL, instructor in zoology 
at the University of Michigan, has been ap- 
pointed instructor in zoology at the University 
of Pennsylvania. 


Louis M. Terman, Ph.D. (Clark, 1905), prin- 
cipal of the San Bernardino High School, 
California, has been appointed professor of 
pedagogy at the State Normal College at Los 
Angeles. 


C. S. Myerrs, M.A., M.D., has been ap- 
pointed professor of psychology at King’s Col- 
lege, London. At the same institution H. S. 
Allen, B.A., B.Se., has been appointed senior 
lecturer in physics. 


ProFessor ALBERT Naratu, of Utrecht, has 
been appointed professor of surgery in the 
University of Heidelberg, to succeed Professor 
Ozerny, who has retired to take charge of 
the new Cancer Institute. 


Se oe eee ae 


SCIENCE 


A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 
OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 


Fripay, Juty 27, 1906. 


CONTENTS. 
Technical Education in Relation to Industrial 
Development: CHARLES G. WASHBURN... 97 


Scientific Books :— 


Holmes on the Biology of the Frog: HE. 
A. A. Lodge's Hasy Mathematics: Pro- 
Fessok G. A. MILLER........... ween eee 112 


Societies and Academies :— 
The St. Louis Chemical Society: ©. J. 
BES OE GINDH VIE Bear) cele) sycteevca eyo iabes sitana eee neiones arses ave 115 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
The Hatlstorm of June 28: W. K. 
GREGORY. Sauwropodan Gastroliths: Gro. 
L. CANNON. 
an Institute of Research: PRoressor Davin ~ 
LiL) MIO DDT eee Pe dat oat aa ee 115 


The Smithsonian Institution 


Special Articles :— 
Evidences of Glaciation in Southern Arizona 
Dr. FREDERICK J. 


and Northern Sonora: 


_H. MERRILL. Zygospores and Sexual 


Strains in the Common Bread Mould, 
Rhizopus Nigricans: Dr. A. F. BLAKESLEE. 
Resulis from Moore’s Method of Shipping 


Bacteria on Cotton: H. A. HarpiIneg...... 116 


Quotations :-— 
Zoological Gardens and Scientific Research 124 


ihe Wil of Aljred: Bets... .3s2).); ia a takes 125 
Scientific Notes and News................. 125 
University and Educational News.......... 127 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 
review should be sent to the Editor of SclIENCE, Garrison-on- 


Hudson, N. Y. 


THCHNICAL EDUCATION IN RELATION TO 
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT. 
THE industrial development of the 


United States has created a demand for 
men with a technical education. The pres- 
ence in the community of men with a tech- 
nical education contributes to the more 
rapid development of our industrial enter- 
prises. Hach factor is at once a cause and 
a result and neither could be most effective 
without the other. 

The history of industrial development 
and of industrial education are naturally 
inseparable. They must be treated to- 
gether if one would understand their inter- 
dependence. It was never intended by the 
mother country that her New England col- 
ony should ever engage in manufacturing. 

The Earl of Chatham once said that the 

Colonists had no right to manufacture so much 
as a single horse shoe nail. 

In 1750 a law was passed by parliament 
which prohibited the ‘erection or continu- 
ance of any mill or other engine for slitting 
or rolling iron, or any plating forge to 
work with a tilthammer, or any furnace 
for making steel in the colonies under pen- 
alty of two hundred pounds.’ Every such 
mill, engine, forge or furnace was declared 
a common nuisance which the governors of 
the province were bound to abate. The 
real cause of the revolution is to be found 
in the discontent of the colonies with such 
legislative oppression. 

The war of the revolution, stopping all 

*Commencement address, June 14, 1906, at the 


Worcester Polytechnic Institute, by Mr. Charles 
G. Washburn, president of the corporation. 


93 SCIENCE. 


imports from Great Britain, revived such 
domestic industries as had formerly existed. 

Upon the return of peace in 1783, the 
influx of foreign goods threatened our 
manufacturing industries with ruin. The 
revolution had been successful, but had 
failed of its ultimate purpose. The estab- 
lishment of a national government was 
essential to the maintenance of manufac- 
tures, the division of the powers of gov- 
ernment among thirteen sovereign states 
made a uniform revenue system impossible. 
The manufacturers, mechanics and trades- 
people wanted a federal constitution and 
their influence compelled its adoption by 
Massachusetts. The event was celebrated 
by processions all over the country and on 
one of the banners in Philadelphia was in- 
seribed the motto: % 

May the union government protect the manu- 
facturers of America. 

The first Congress justified this hope by 
imposing duties which should pretect man- 
ufacturing enterprises, which may be con- 
sidered as the result partly of the revenue 
laws of 1789, partly of the embargo in 
1807, and of the restrictive measures and 
of the war of 1812 that followed. How 
little the idea that we should ever become 
a great manufacturing nation was held by 
our people may be gathered from corre- 
spondence between Benjamin Franklin and 
John Adams in 1780, in which Franklin 
said: 

America will not make manufactures enough 
for her own consumption this thousand years. 
and Adams replied: _ 

The principal interest of America for many 

centuries to come will be landed and our chief 
oecupation agriculture. Manufactures and com- 
merce will be but secondary objects and always 
subservient to the other. 
The feeling of skepticism in regard to 
the introduction of mechanical and other 
improvements was not confined to this 
country. 


[N.S. Von. aXIV. No. 604. 


Admiral Sir Charles Napier fiercely op- 
posed the introduction of steam power into 
the royal navy, and one day exclaimed in 
the House of Commons, 

Mr. Speaker, when we enter her Majesty’s naval 
service and face the chances of war, we go pre- 
pared to be hacked in pieces by cutlasses, to be 
riddled with bullets, or to be blown to bits by 
shots and shell; but Mr. Speaker, we do not go 
prepared to be boiled alive. 


Yet in a few years Sir Charles Napier 
found himself in command of the largest 
steam navy that the world had ever seen. 

George Stephenson, the eminent engi- 
neer, spoke of the probability of steamships 
crossing the Atlantic. ‘Good heavens! 
what do you say?’ exclaimed Lord Stanley, 
rising from his seat. ‘If steamships cross 
the Atlantic I will eat the boiler of the 
first boat.’ 

In more recent years a lord chancellor, 
even after he had seen a theater illuminated 
without candle or oil, poured ridicule on a 
scheme for ‘supplying every house in Lon- 
don with gas in the same manner as they 
are now supphed with water by the New 
River Co.’ Again, so eminent a chemist 
and gas specialist as Sir Humphry Davy 
himself is alleged to have said on one ocea- 
sion that it was as reasonable to talk of 
ventilating London with windmills as of 
lighting it with gas. 

The Academy of Sciences in France when 
consulted by Napoleon at the beginning of 
the century as to the steamboat spoke of it 
as a ‘mad idea, a gross error, an absurdity.’ 
When Fulton’s first steamboat made the 
trip from New York to Albany in 1807, it 
happened to be the seventeenth of August, 
which caused many preachers to curse the 
machine, on the ground that seventeen was 
the total of the horns and the seven heads 
of the beast of the Apocalypse. 

It was not until after 1830 that our 
manufactures developed, for it was not 
until 1835 that the construction of our 


JuLY 27, 1906.] 


railways was vigorously commenced or that 
steam was availed of to any considerable 
extent for motive power. Meantime and 
from the first the cause of education had 
never been neglected in New England. In 
1636 the general court of Massachusetts 
Bay, which met in September of that year, 
appropriated £400 towards a ‘school or 
college,” and in 1638 John Harvard left 
half of his property, amounting to about 
£780, and all of his books, about 300 vol- 
umes, to the institution which thereafter 
was known as Harvard College. 

For many years, indeed as late as 1850, 
the common school, the academies, high 
schools and colleges were the only instru- 
mentalities of education in this country. 

But it must not be thought that the need 
for a different training had not been early 
recognized. It was pointed out as early 
as 1830 that instruction in natural science 
could only be found in the colleges which 
were designed to educate those who were 
intended for the professional life of the 
ministry, the bar and medicine, and regret 
was expressed that no educational training 
had been provided for those who proposed 
- to oecupy themselves with practical affairs, 
and it was pointed out that those who had 
signalized themselves by making great in- 
ventions had been self-educated men. The 
inventive faculty of our people had already 
been at work. John Fitch, Oliver Evans 
and Robert Fulton had long since demon- 
strated that steam was to be the great 
motive force for land and water vehicles. 

Amos Whittemore had produced the 
earding machine; Eli Whitney, a Wor- 
eester County boy, had invented the cotton 
gin. Thomas Blanchard, of Millbury, had 
invented, among many other ingenious and 
useful devices, a lathe for turning irregular 
Shapes. Erastus Bigelow, born in West 
_ Boylston, invented, before he was fourteen, 
a hand loom and machine for making 
piping cords, and the first power loom for 


SCIENCE. 99 


making counterpanes, coach lace, Brussels 
and Wilton carpets and wire cloth, and 
laid the foundation of the prosperity of 
the neighboring town of Clinton. 

Elias Howe, of Spencer, invented the 
sewing machine, and Morse had invented 
the electric telegraph. 

In view of all these and scores of other 
inventions, it is not surprising that the 
attention of thoughtful men was directed 
to the fact that the development of our 
industrial enterprises was a matter of 
prime importance to the prosperity of the 
country, and that some special training 
should be provided for those who were to 
‘engage in such occupations. It is true that 
under the patronage of our colleges, scien- 
tific schools had been established through 
the generosity of private individuals. 
Abbot Lawrence, of Boston, founded the 
Lawrence Scientific School of Cambridge 
in 1848. Joseph EH. Sheffield, of New 
Haven, endowed the Sheffield Scientific 
School of Yale in 1847, and Abiel Chan- 
dler, of Walpole, N. H., endowed a separate 
department of technology at Dartmouth in 
1852. These schools, however, all taught 
pure science. It was left for the poly- 
technic school as later developed to teach 
applied science. Such, in a general way, 
were the conditions in 1860. 

July 2, 1862, Congress passed a bill 
granting to each state 30,000 acres of land 
for each senator and representative in 
Congress for the purpose of endowing in- 
stitutions for teaching such branches of 
learning as are related to agriculture and 
the mechanic arts, and this, too, at a time 
when the failure of the peninsular cam- 
paign against Richmond had left the people 
of the country in a state of deep depression. 
This gave a great impetus to the cause of 
technical education. 

The Massachusetts Institute of Technol- 
ogy was opened to students in 1865. 


100 


The foundation of our own school came 


about in this way. In the year 1865 John 
Boynton, of Templeton, in this state and 
county, placed in the hands of his former 
partner, David Whitcomb, of Worcester, 
the sum of one hundred thousand dollars 
for the endowment of a free school, which 
was to be located in Worcester if the citi- 
zens of Worcester should provide the land 
and suitable buildings. This condition was 
complied with by a gift of the land and of 
$61,111 contributed by two hundred and 
thirty-two individual names and from 
twenty shops and factories. The institute 
was incorporated May 9, 1865, under the 
descriptive and perhaps prolix title of Wor- 
eester County Free Institute of Industrial 
Science, which was changed in 1887 to the 
name which the institute now bears. 

December 2, 1865, Ichabod Washburn, 
of Worcester, offered to establish a machine 
shop as one of the departments of instruc- 
tion of the institute. 

The selection of the location of the school 
was an appropriate one. Worcester, then 
a city of 30,000, had long been famed for 
her industries and for the intelligence 
and public spirit of her citizens. Her in- 
dustrial growth had taken place since 1830, 
prior to which time her manufactures had 
been of the most primitive sort. The Rev. 
Edward Everett Hale, whose life work, 
happily not yet coneluded, has been so 
productive of good to his fellow-men, told 
me that Judge Merrick, a resident of Wor- 
cester, once met Samuel Slater, the pioneer 
cotton manufacturer, on the street in Wor- 
eester. Judge Merrick said to Mr. Slater: 


We shall never be a manufacturing town in 
Worcester because we have so little water power. 


Mr. Slater said in reply: 


Judge Merrick, you may live to see the time 
when Worcester will need all the water of Mill 
Brook to provide the steam for her steam engines. 


This conversation must have occurred at 


SCIENCE. 


1 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 604. 


some time prior to 1835 and perhaps about 
1830. 

It is difficult to realize that William A. 
Wheeler, of Worcester, who is credited 
with having installed in 1825 the first 
steam engine in the state west of Boston, 
should have discarded it and used horse 
power until 1840, when he put in another 
engine. William T. Merrifield at the same 
time put in an engine of from four to six 
horse power. These were probably the first 
efficient steam engines in Worcester. 

An indication that this was congenial 
soil in which to plant an institution like 
ours is found in the formation of the 
Mechanics’ Association, first attempted in 
1819, and successful in 1841. The object 
of the association was: 


The moral, intellectual and social improvement 
of its members, the perfection of the mechanic 
arts, and the pecuniary assistance of the needy. 
Another object was the holding of an an- 
nual fair for the exhibition of the mechan- 
ical products of the city, and the first fair 
was held in September, 1848. 

In July, 1854, in commenting upon the 
association and its work, the statement was 
made that: 

Notwithstanding the inadequate supply of 
water power which is everywhere deemed so 
essential for the successful development of the 
mechanic arts, without the: aid of a single act 
of incorporation, mechanical business has increased 
in this city by individual enterprise alone more 
than tenfold. 

The mechanics as a class are more enlightened 
than formerly, their course is onward and upward; 
they are not only increased in numbers, but con- 
tinually expanding in influence and usefulness. 


Ichabod Washburn was very much inter- 
ested in this association, and eight or ten 
years before the founding of the institute 
had discussed with the Rev. Dr. Sweetser 
the feasibility of establishing a school in 
connection with the Mechanics’ Association 
for giving scientific instruction to mechan- 
ies in the fundamental principles of me- 


JULY 27, 1906.] 


chanics and chemistry. It was expected 
that funds for the enterprise would be con- 
tributed by the prosperous mechanics and 
manufacturers of Worcester. The financial 
panie of 1857 prevented the execution of 
this plan, and Mr. Washburn later decided 
to carry out his earlier conceived purpose 
in connection with the institute. 

Fortunate, thus in its foundation and its 
location, the institute began its life under 
the happiest auspices. In one particular 
its scheme for education was unique in 
combining with the studies ordinarily pur- 
sued in technical schools, manual labor in 
a shop, run upon a commercial scale and 
producing articles to be sold in the market. 

Unsuccessful experiments in thus com- 
bining the practical with the theoretical 
had previously been made in Germany and 
Austria. 

At this point I am led to inquire just 
what sort of a school this was in 1865, and 
what its founders expected of it. I un- 
derstand that in the definition of the pres- 
ent day a trade school aims to give the 
pupil a thorough, practical knowledge of 
some handicraft. In the manual training 
school instruction is given in various kinds 
of work with tools for educational dis- 
cipline. In the technical or engineering 
school the sciences are taught in their prac- 
tical application to the various industries. 

Mr. Boynton, in his letter of gift which 
was prepared under the advice of the Rev. 
Seth Sweetser, of Worcester, and Judge 
Emory Washburn, of Cambridge, adopted 
in most comprehensive form the curriculum 
of the scientific school as then known, with 
the addition of some subjects not ordinarily 
included. 

Mr. Washburn’s final letter of gift and 
instruction, dated March 6, 1866, discloses 
a purpose to establish a trade school as we 
now understand it, excepting that in addi- 
tion to learning a trade the apprentice was 


SCIENCE. 


101 


to be instructed in the principles of science. 

Dr. Charles O. Thompson, the first presi- 
dent of the faculty, of brilliant accomplish- 
ments and magnetic personality, in his in- 
augural address delivered at the institute 
November 11, 1868, said, among other 
things: 

Add to these considerations the fact that boys 
whose faculties are kept constantly alert by the 
training of the school are in a condition to learn 
faster than others the practical application of 
science and that the time spent in the shop will 
serve the double purpose of instruction and phys- 
ical exercises and it will be admitted that this 
form of a manual labor school is at least an 
experiment worth trying. 

The late Senator George F. Hoar, one of 
the charter members of the board of trus- 
tees, always untiring in his efforts in behalf 
of the institute, and whose memory should 
always be held in most grateful remem- 
brance by us, in addressing a committee of 
the Massachusetts Legislature, February 
11, 1869, urging an appropriation of $50,- 
000, said, among other things: 

You can not find an instance of a boy who has 
been educated in the Scientific School at Har- 
vard College going back to the bench of the work- 
man or the farm, and so of the Institute of Tech- 
nology. Theirs will be a different, and in many 
particulars a higher education than ours. * * * 
You will not find there any boys who, having 
studied for two or three years, are going back 
to work in the shop * * * and there they will 
work their way up from the journeyman to the 
foreman and then the master mechanic. 


All this testimony leads, I think, to the 
conclusion that the institute in 1865 was 
what would now be considered a combina- 
tion of a scientifie school and a trade school, 
and of a grade not as high in some respects 
as either the Scientific School at Harvard 
or the Institute of Technology in Boston. 

It was frankly admitted that it was an 
experiment, and attention was called at the 
time to the fact that at Berlin the workshop 
connected with the school had been tried 
and abandoned twice. But the experiment 


102 


succeeded here, and the combination has 
now taken the permanent form of an engi- 
neering school of the first rank, peculiar in 
this respect, in which we believe it to be 
superior to all others, that the practise not 
only illustrates the scientific principles 
taught in the school, but also gives the 
students considerable experience in the use 
of tools and a practical knowledge of the 
workings of a commercial shop. 

Since the founding of the institute, tech- 
nical schools have been springing into ex- 
istence with great rapidity in response to a 
constantly increasing demand for trained 
engineers. In speaking of this fact, Presi- 
dent Eliot said in 1905: 

It is also true that separate schools have been 
set up in many parts of the country to train 
young men for the technical and scientific profes- 
sions, but in time these schools are likely to be 
transferred to neighboring universities or to con- 
tent themselves with training men for the lower 
grades of these professions, the universities all over 
the country being sure to appropriate the training 
of young men for the higher walks of the scientific 
professions and of business. * * * It is obvious 
that the policy of the American universities now 
under consideration has had, and is going to have, 
a strong effect to uplift the relatively new pro- 
fessions, like those of engineering, applied chem- 
istry, architecture, music, mining, forestry, the 
public service and large scale manufacturing. 
These are highly intellectual occupations not yet 
universally recognized as on a level with divinity, 
law and medicine. The American universities 
will in a few generations put them all in their 
higher grades absolutely on a level with the older 
callings. 

This is an interesting prophecy, but so 
far as it relates to the absorption of exist- 
ing independent technical schools by the 
universities is not likely to be immediately 
fulfilled. 

That the Worcester Polytechnic should 
have developed into an engineering school 
is a cause of great satisfaction. Progress 
and growth characterize all successful edu- 
cational institutions. Listen to this state- 
ment: 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XXIV. No. 604. 


After God had carried us safe to New England 
and we had builded our houses, provided neces- 
saries for our livelihood, reared convenient places 
for God’s worship and settled the civil govern- 
ment, one of the next things we longed for and 
looked after was to advance learning and perpetu- 
ate it to posterity, dreading to leave an illiterate 
ministry to the churches when the present min- 
isters shall be in the dust. 


Such was the modest purpose of the 
founders of Harvard College. If the 
founders of this school should have the 
power to see us, as perhaps they have, how 
small their surprise compared with that of 
the fathers who behold Harvard University 
with an endowment of $18,000,000, and a 
student body of 4,000 being trained for 
most of the occupations, professional and 
industrial, necessary to the progress and 
prosperity of the nation. Contrast the first 
graduating class of seven with the last 
commencement, when 1,073 degrees were 
conferred. Compare the sphere of useful- 
ness of the first president of Harvard with 
that of the distinguished educator who now 
occupies that position and who is sought to 
take part in the discussion of the rights of 
capital and labor, the proper management 
of corporations and kindred practical ques- 
tions, to the great profit of his countrymen. 

During a period of thirty years there has 
been a steady development in all of the de- 
partments of the institute, and the enlarge- 
ment and the enrichment of the various 
courses has kept pace with rapidly in- 
creasing demands. . 

In the field of mechanical engineering 
this development has usually been in re- 
sponse to some special requirement. 

The demands for power for the genera- 
tion of electricity and for marine work 
have led to the present efficient and well- 
developed high-pressure steam boilers and 
engines, together with all the auxiliary 
power-house apparatus. This has also re- 
sulted in the perfecting of the steam tur- 


‘bine for commercial purposes, while cheap- 


JuLy 27, 1906.] 


er power has been provided by the gas 
engines and producers, and, with the aid 
of electrical transmission, water power is 
also the basis of great power plants. Large 
wheels, higher speeds, better regulation and 
more efficient results are some of the new 
requirements which are being met in hy- 
draulic work. 

The problems in connection with the 
handling and transportation of materials 
have made great demands on the mechan- 
ical engineer and have resulted in improved 
hoisting machinery, conveyors, cranes, ele- 
vators, larger and more efficient locomotives 
and ears. 

On the manufacturing side the demands 
have been fully as great, competition re- 
quiring more rapid and economical meth- 
ods of production. These have been met 
by better and more powerful machine tools, 
automatic machinery, jigs and interchange- 
able parts, and within the last few years 
the introduction of high-speed steels for 
rapid work and surface grinding. Rolling- 
mill machinery has kept pace with the re- 
quirements for structural steel, while the 
response to the calls for strong and light 
parts for the bicycle and automobile has 
made possible the present perfection of 
these machines. The rapid development of 
machine molding in the foundry has come 
from the demand for cheaper and better 
castings. The further reduction of factory 
costs has led to the study of shop manage- 
ment, where every movement of worker 
and material is considered with an idea of 
reducing the cost of production. 

While there have been no startling dis- 
coveries along mechanical engineering 
lines, there has been a continual evolution 
toward greater and more efficient produc- 
tion of power and of commercial products. 

As illustrations of practical results at- 
tained may be mentioned the fact that an 
indicated horse-power can be produced to- 


SCIENCE. 


1038 


day with one third the coal consumption 
of thirty years ago. 

While in the important art of wire rod 
rolling, in the development of which the 
oldest and a most highly respected member 
of our board of trustees and graduates from 
this school have had a very conspicuous 
part, the tonnage output has been increased 
twentyfold and the cost per ton for rolling 
has been greatly reduced. In the year in 
which the first board of trustees was organ- 
ized, wire manufacturers in Worcester were 
importing Swedish iron billets which were 
rolled in South Boston at a cost of $1 per 
100 pounds. To-day steel billets can be 
rolled for 124 cents per 100 pounds. 

In the department of civil engineering 
the training in 1870 was confined to pure 
mathematics, surveying and a very limited 
application of theory to practise; what 
would now be regarded as rudimentary. 

To-day the student must receive a thor- 
ough training in mathematics, physics, 
theoretic and applied mechanics; he must 
be well grounded in the elements of chem- 
istry; and familiar with all the principles 
of bridge construction, and the framing of 
great buildings; he must possess intimate 
knowledge of materials, stone, brick, ce- 
ments, mortars, conerete and reinforced 
concrete; he must know what has been 
done and is being done in actual construc- 
tion in the several lines of his profession. 
And that he may be fitted to eventually 
direct large undertakings, he must be 
familiar with the principles of power de- 
velopment and transmission in all its 
modern forms. 

The work of the civil engineer of to-day 
consists largely in the design, construction 
and maintenance of fixed structures. 
Streets, bridges, water supply systems, 
sewers, conduits, subways, elevated tram- 
ways, docks and wharfs in our cities; em- 
bankments, deep cuts, bridging, tunnels and 


104 SCIENCE. 


terminals for the-.railroad systems; dams, 
reservoirs, canals, penstocks, powerhouses 
for the great hydraulic developments, and 
for the reclaiming of the arid lands; ship 
canals, locks and dry docks for shipping; 
steel frames, foundations for the modern 
skyseraper; these are some of the subjects 
which occupy the attention of the civil 
engineer to-day. 

The magnitude of these works, their 
cost, and the rapidity with which they must 
be designed and built, have enormously in- 
creased in the past thirty years. A more 
exact knowledge of the properties of all 
kinds of structural material and of the laws 
which govern the forces of nature, with 
which the engineer must work, are de- 
manded for the economical treatment of 
these large projects. The percentage of 
error and the factor of ignorance must be 
reduced to the lowest terms. 

In physics many important discoveries 
have been made. Prominent among them 
has been the establishment of the theory 
_ that light consists of electric and magnetic 
vibrations. 

The discovery of electromagnetic waves 
which led to the invention of wireless teleg- 
raphy, by which means within a few weeks 
a message has been sent across the ocean. 

Discoveries regarding the connection be- 
tween the all-pervading ether and matter. 

The discovery of the peculiarities of the 
discharge of electricity through gases which 
led to the discovery of X-rays. 

The liquefaction of air and gases which 
led to discoveries regarding the properties 
of bodies at very low temperatures. 

The discovery of radium and other radio- 
active bodies and the investigation of their 
properties which has produced profound 
changes in our views regarding the con- 
struction of matter. 

Discoveries of the process of conduction 
of electricity through gases, liquids and 
solids. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 604. 


Developments in electrical engineering 
have been almost spectacular in their num- 
ber and importance, revolutionizing, as 
they have, means of transportation and for 
the transmission of speech and power, and 
for lighting. 

The telephone in 1876. The incandescent 
lamp in 1879. The commercial develop- 
ment of dynamo machinery and electric 
motors. The commercial application of 
electricity to street railway work, which 
had its beginning less than twenty years 
ago. The transmission of power over great 
distances made possible by the develop- 
ment of the alternating current trans- 
former. A catalogue of discoveries and 
inventions in this field is not necessary, as 
one sees them on every hand. It may be 
truthfully said that the department of elec- 
trical engineering has been created within 
a comparatively few years. It was not. 
until 1896 that our department of elec- 
trical engineering was separated from the 
department of physies within which it had 
its beginning. Now it is one of our great 
departments, attracting large numbers of 
students. 

In 1868 the demand for trained chemists 
in this country was very small. At that 
time even the iron and steel industries did 
not perceive the advantage of controlling 
their various processes by careful and ac- 
curate analyses. 

Andrew Carnegie was the first steel man- 
ufacturer who saw the importance of hav- 
ing trained chemists in his works, and in a 
short address made several years ago he 
said that one important cause contributing 
largely to his success was this fact. Such 
being the case, there was, at the time the in- 
stitute was opened, little inducement for 
students to take up the subject of chem- 
istry with the idea of following it as a pro- 
fession, and though in the first catalogue 
issued the courses of study announced were 
mechanical engineering, civil engineering 


JuLy 27, 1906.] 


and chemistry, the only difference in the 
work of the mechanical engineering depart- 
ment and the chemical department was that 
the time devoted to shop practise by stu- 
dents in mechanical engineering was spent 
in the chemical laboratory by those who 
had taken up the chemical course, and the 
time in the chemical laboratory was de- 
voted entirely to analytical work. Such 
important subjects as organic chemistry, 
industrial chemistry and physical chem- 
istry received no attention. All the work 
of the department was done in one room, 
which was also used for the little laboratory 
work that was given to the students in 
other courses. 

As an illustration of the slight demand 
there was for chemists, the catalogues show 
that in the first six classes that graduated 
from the institute there is only one grad- 
uate who followed in after years the pro- 
fession of chemistry. 

Starting in 1868 with only one instructor 
in chemistry, and only one room for the 
laboratory, the department of chemistry, 
at the present time, 1906, has six instruct- 
ors and separate laboratories for general 
chemistry, analytical chemistry, organic 
chemistry, industrial chemistry, sanitary 
chemistry and biological chemistry. 

The work of the department has in- 
ereased in a like manner. Where in 1868 
instruction was only given in two main sub- 
jects, general and analytical chemistry, in- 
struction is now given in fourteen different 
branches of chemistry. The cause of this 
increase, besides the increase demanded 
by the growth of the institute, is due to the 


difference in the positions now opened to - 


chemists. In the early years of the insti- 
tute the position offered to the graduate 
from the chemical department were prac- 
tically that of the analyst, one who could 
make an examination of iron and steel. 
No knowledge of organic chemistry, or 


SCIENCE. 


105 


physical chemistry, or industrial chemistry, 
or sanitary chemistry was expected and 
electrochemistry was an unknown science. 
If the graduate from the chemical depart- 
ment could make a chemical analysis, that 
was all that was demanded or desired. To- 
day, this is very different, for the positions 
offered to chemists require at least a funda- 
mental knowledge of the various branches 
of chemistry, and one who is only fitted 
for an analyst has very little prospect of 
ever rising to any prominent or satisfactory 
position. This is due to the fact that there 
is hardly a large manufacturing company 
that does not now require a chemist, not 
merely to make analyses, but for the study 
and the improvement of processes. 

Sanitary science in all its branches, 
agricultural chemistry and _ electrochem- 
istry all demand chemists, and in every one 
of these branches will be found men trained 
in chemistry at the institute. 

America is also beginning to follow the 
German plan, namely, to have connected 
with the most important manufacturing 
processes a research laboratory where chem- 
ists are employed in strictly research work, 
not with the work that is being done day 
by day in the factory, but on problems 
that, starting from theoretical ideas, may 
be tested to prove their commercial worth. 

An interesting statement in a recent ad- 
dress by James M. Dodge, then president 
of the American Society of Mechanical En- 
gineers, which is confirmed by the experi- 
ence of our own graduates, reveals the fact 
that the average annual salary of the tech- 
nical trained man is over $2,150, and for 
the nontechnical, but trade trained man, 
$790, so that the gain in average annual 
income due to a technical training is over 
$1,360. This amount capitalized at 4 per 
cent. gives to a man receiving a technical 
training a potential increase in value of 
$34,000. There are over one thousand liv- 


106 


ing graduates of the institute, to make no 
mention of an equal number who have 
spent more or less time at the institute, 
but who have not taken a degree, so that 
at the lowest computation the work of the 
institute since its incorporation, if meas- 
ured in dollars and cents alone, would 
represent a capitalization of over $34,000,- 
000. This represents merely a capitaliza- 
tion of the increased earning power of our 
eraduates and takes no account of the en- 
terprises which they have developed and 
which they direct, which would easily make 
the pecuniary measure of the contribution 
of our graduates to the world’s assets a 
sum not less than $50,000,000. 

Let us see if on this basis the state, the 
county and the city have not been great 
gainers by reason of the work of this in- 
stitution. 

The commonwealth from the earliest 
time has aided the cause of education, but 
has now withdrawn pecuniary aid from all 
the higher institutions of learning except- 
ing from the three schools within her 
borders which are occupied with the prob- 
lem of technical education, namely, the 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the 
Agricultural College at Amherst and the 
Polytechnic Institute at Worcester. To 
this school the commonwealth has given the 
sum of $200,000 in cash and makes an an- 
nual payment of $10,000 in consideration 
of which the institute educates 40 students 
who pay no tuition, at an expense to the 
institute of over $12,000 annually. But 
this by no means measures the benefit con- 
ferred by the school upon the state. 

There are now engaged in active life in 
this commonwealth 397 of our graduates 
which represents directly and indirectly a 
wealth-creating power represented by a 
capitalization of approximately $20,000,- 
000, against which may be set the $225,000 
which has been received from the common- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 604. 


wealth during the period, making the bal- 
ance against the commonwealth a consider- 
able one. There are now engaged in 
active life in this county 214 of our grad- 
uates who represent directly and indirectly 
a wealth-creating power represented by a 
capitalization of $10,000,000. Certainly 
Mr. Boynton’s gift of $100,000 for the 
benefit of the youth of Worcester County 
has borne fruit at least an hundred fold. 
There are now engaged in active life in the 
city of Worcester 173 of our graduates, 
representing upon the basis we have 
adopted a capitalization of $8,750,000. 
Including the recent gift and bequest of 
Mr. Salisbury, the value of all our prop- 
erty, real and personal, is in round num- 
bers $1,300,000, of which $1,000,000 has 
been contributed by citizens of Worcester. 
What a rich return upon the investment! 
In addition to this, the institute, at an 
annual expense of about $300 per student, 
is educating at the present time over 100 
Worcester boys a year, for which is paid 
the regular tuition of $160 per year, which 
equals but little more than one half of the 
cost, so that the institute is contributing to 
the youth of the city educational advan- 
tages which cost it $15,000 annually. Is 
there not abundant reason for the belief 
that when the need arises the citizens of 
Worcester will contribute generously to the 
funds of the institute? 
Worcester is peculiarly dependent upon 
the brains of her people for her prosperity, 
much of which is due to our technically 
trained men who are directing the indus- 
trial affairs of the city, and upon whom the 
eity must largely depend for future pros- 
perity. Such in brief is the debt of the 
state, the county and the city to the school. 
Since its organization something over 
two thousand students have been members 
of the institute. Eliminating from con- 
sideration all who did not graduate, the cost 


JuLy 27, 1906.] 


to the institute of educating the 1,095 stu- 
dents who graduated has been $1,037,834, 
and there has been received from these 
students in the form of tuition fees the 
sum of $273,483. In other words the cost 
of education of the graduates has exceeded 
by $764,351 the amount received from 
them. In this computation no account is 
taken of the investment in plant and equip- 
ment which would increase the amount by 
about $400,000. In good time, I doubt not, 
the alumni who are able to do so will be 
glad to treat this as an obligation which 
they will take pleasure in discharging, 
though the facts are not mentioned here 
for the purpose of unduly emphasizing 
what might perhaps be regarded as a dis- 
quieting suggestion. 

The application of science to the useful 
arts has had a controlling influence upon 
the political as well as the economic history 
of the world. 

In 1814 Mr. Calhoun favored double 
‘duties as a protective measure. Mr. Web- 
ster, then senator from Massachusetts, op- 
posed this policy. How strange his words 
sound to-day: 

I am not in haste to see Sheffields and Birming- 
hams in America. J am not anxious to accelerate 
the approach of the period when the great mass 


of American labor shall not find its employment 
in the field. 


In 1828, when a large investment had 
been made in manufacturing industries in 
Massachusetts, Mr. Webster had changed 
his position and favored the tariff. But 
the tariff was resisted by South Carolina, 
and the legislature of that state put forth 
the famous ‘exposition and protest’ con- 
taining Mr. Calhoun’s doctrine of nullifi- 
eation. Thus was the position of these 
great men entirely reversed upon the ques- 
tion of the tariff. The explanation is very 
simple. 

In 1791 our cotton was all imported, and 
the south wanted a duty to encourage its 


SCIENCE. 


107 


domestic production. The invention of the 
cotton gin by Eli Whitney, in 1793, a Wor- 
cester County boy, already referred to, 
which made it easy to separate the green 
cotton seed from the staple, revolutionized 
the cotton industry and made the south in- 
dependent of the tariff. The invention of 
the cotton gin compelled the enunciation of 
the doctrine of nullification. The doctrine 
of nullification compelled the civil war. 

Knowledge of engineering makes possible 
such great works as the building of the 
Suez Canal, which has revolutionized the 
trade relations between Europe and the 
east; the building of the great dam at 
Assouan to store the surplus water of the 
Nile; the construction now fairly begin- 
ning of the Panama Canal. 

Another striking illustration is found in 
the policy adopted by the national govern- 
ment in the act of Congress of June 17, 
1902, appropriating the receipts from the 
sale and disposal of public lands in certain 
states and territories to the construction 
of irrigation works for the reclamation of 
arid lands which cover about two fifths of 
the area of the United States. This fund 
now amounts to about $30,000,000, and 
projects under consideration in fourteen 
states contemplate the irrigation of 1,441,- 
000 acres of land at an average cost of $25 
per acre. A single example may be found 
in the work now under way in Wyoming 
in the portion of the Big Horn basin on 
the north side of the Shoshone River 
seventy-five miles east of Yellowstone Park. 

This involves the construction of a dam 
seventy-five feet wide at the bottom of the 
channel and 200 feet wide at an elevation 
of 240 feet, the proposed height of the dam 
above the river bed, and the building of a 
spill-way connecting with a tunnel through 
the solid granite of the mountain. The 
canyon is so narrow that it is regarded as 
feasible to enclose the entire area covered 


108 | SCIENCE. 


by the dam so that the enclosure may be 
heated and the work carried on during the 
winter. It is anticipated that 175,000 acres 
of land will thus be reclaimed, and that a 
population of 50,000 people will be added 
to a community now thinly settled. This 
great work, primarily of the civil engineer, 
is contributed to by almost all departments 
of applied science. Suitable foundations 
for the dam must first be found. The me- 
chanical engineer explores with his drills; 
the geologist and the chemist determine the 
character of soil and rock; the civil engi- 
neer plans and constructs; the electrical 
engineer takes power developed from 
storage reservoirs and transmits it elec- 
trically to pumping areas and installs a 
telephone service so that the system may 
be safely and efficiently administered. 
The once naked savage, who, perhaps, 
almost dying of hunger and thirst, feebly 
directed his tottering steps over these lone- 
ly and unfruitful regions, now at daily 
wages, which ensure him every comfort, 
participates as a citizen of the United 
States in this beneficent undertaking. In 
place of desolation will be found a large 
and intelligent population busily engaged 
in agricultural pursuits and all the attend- 
ant industries, while the church, the school, 
the college—companions of the highest type 
of civilization—create and minister to the 
noblest aspirations of a prosperous com- 
munity. Thus does applied science con- 
tribute to the advancement of mankind. 
One most potent influence in our indus- 
trial development has been. our system of 
patent law. The patent office was created 
by the act of 1836. Up to January, 1861, 
31,000 patents had been issued. 
January, 1906, something more than 800,- 
000. Under the stimulus of these laws the 
inventive faculty of our people has ex- 
ceeded that of any other country. In the 
administration of these laws within the 


LOhrayy oy 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 604. 


patent office and in the practise under them 
without, there are now engaged more than 
thirty of our own graduates who are pe- 
culiarly fitted because of their training to 
succeed in this important field. 

The industrial development of the world 
has been stimulated by the great exposi- 
tions which have been held from time to 
time in different countries. That of Eng- 
land in 1851; at New York in 1853; at 
Paris in 1855; again in England in 1862; 
in Paris in 1867, greatest of all up to that 
time; at Vienna in 1873; at Philadelphia 
in 1876; at Paris in 1878; at Chicago in 
1893; and at St. Louis in 1904. 

I have recently seen the statement that 
modern technical education is the direct re- 
sult of the London exhibition of 1851, 
where for the first time was given an op- 
portunity to see side by side the industrial 
products of all nations. However this may 
be, it is certainly true that the event was 
one of great importance to the industrial 
world. 

In February, 1850, the first of the great 
public meetings on the subject was held in 
England. France, Prussia, America .and 
Belgium were represented. Lord Morpeth, 
who presided at the meeting, in closing his 
speech, said: 

I can not better sum all that may be said than 
in words written nearly a century and a half ago. 


Listen, ladies and gentlemen, and see if Pope was 
not almost as good a prophet as he was a poet: 


The time shall come, when, free as seas or wind, 
Unbounded Thames shall flow for all mankind, 
Whole nations enter with each swelling tide 

And seas but join the regions they divide; 
Earth’s distant ends our glories shall behold 
And the new world launch forth to seek the old. 


The Prince Consort, to whom the chief 
eredit is due for the inception and manage- 
ment of the great enterprise, made a speech 
at the Mansion House in March, 1850, in 
which he said of the purpose of the exhibi- 
tion that it was to 


4 
it 
( 
‘ 
i 
a 
|, 
I 
, 
“ 
4 


JuLY 27, 1906.] 


give the world a true test, a living picture, of the 
point of individual development at which the 
whole of mankind has arrived, and a new start- 
ing point from which all nations will be able to 
direct their future exertions. 

How well it served its purpose is demon- 
strated by the fact that at the exposition 
in Paris in 1867 England found that while 
in 1851 her supremacy had been undis- 
puted, in 1867 out of 90 departments she 
had superiority in only 10. An investiga- 
tion led to the conclusion that the cause of 
this was the better scientific instruction 
given to artisans on the Continent. 
France, Prussia, Austria, Belgium and 
Switzerland possessed good systems of in- 
dustrial education for the masters and man- 
agers of factories and workshops, while 
England possessed none. 

An Englishman, a judge in the class of 
woolen textile fabrics, said, speaking of the 
continental workmen : 

Brains sit at the loom and intelligence stands 
at the spinning wheel. 

At this exposition the progress of France 
and Germany was especially commented 
upon. 

Sir Lyon Playfair, speaking some years 
ago of the influence of technical education 
upon the industrial prosperity of Switzer- 
land, said: 

The Coventry ribbon trade, which has deserted 
England, has settled in the valleys of Switzerland. 
The polytechnic institute has aided in this result, 
because it turns out seventy or more persons an- 
nually, trained in the science and art requisite to 
conduct such a manufacture successfully. 

This single branch of manufacture so trans- 
ferred from England to Switzerland employs in 
the latter thirty thousand weavers and other col- 
lateral workers, such as dyers and superintend- 
ents. The value of the annual export of this 
manufacture from Switzerland is eight million 
dollars, while the trade has languished at 
Coventry in England until the annual export is 
little more than three hundred thousand dollars. 

“The difference,” says Lord Lyon, between the 
Swiss trade and the Coventry trade, “is very 
simple; it is involved in the answer given by 


SCIENCE. 


109 


Opie, the painter, to a youth who asked him how 
he mixed his colors— I mix them with my brains, 


SI gin 

It is a striking fact that England, which 
has produced Arkwright, Watt, Stephen- 
son and Bessemer and others equally dis- 
tinguished, should have been unable to keep 
pace with other nations in the application 
and development of the principles which 
these men first disclosed. It may be ac- 
counted for in some degree at least by an- 
other surprising fact, that in industrial 
education England is excelled by all the 
leading nations of the world. 

There is undoubtedly a demand in this 

country at the present time for the educa- 
tion of those in our industries who need 
the skill of the mechanic and an order of 
intelligence superior to that of the ordinary 
workman. This has long been recognized 
and has been met in some slight degree 
both within and without this common- 
wealth. This need is more apparent than 
ever at the present time when the special- 
ization of industries has reached a point 
where the old-fashioned all-around me- 
chanic is becoming more and more difficult 
to find. 
_ While there is no great dearth of engi- 
neers, there is a short supply of skilled 
workmen of intelligence. This is a depart- 
ment of industrial education that can not 
be safely neglected. Germany has appre- 
ciated this fact, and leads all the countries 
of the world in this as in all other depart- 
ments of technical education, and owes to 
this, very largely, her present industrial 
position. 

President Alderson, of the Colorado 
School of Mines, in a recent article, speaks 
as follows of present conditions: 

There are six building and mechanical trade 
schools in New York and Brooklyn, three in Bos- 
ton, two in San Francisco, and two in Philadel- 
phia. New York has two brewing academies; 


Chicago and Milwaukee one each. Philadelphia, 
Lowell, New Bedford and Atlanta have textile 


110 SCIENCE. 


schools. Chicago, St. Louis, Omaha, Peoria, 
Waltham, Winona and LaPorte have watch ma- 
kine and engravers’ schools. The universities of 
Wisconsin and Minnesota, and the Iowa College 
of Agriculture have schools of dairying. For 
dressmaking, millinery and the domestic arts 
and science, schools exist in Boston, New York, 
Brooklyn, St. Louis and Philadelphia. Hight 
cities contain schools to teach barbering. St. 
Louis has a school for railway telegraphers; 
Effingham, Illinois, a college of photography, and 
New York an academy for shipbuilders. 

Still another extension of technical education 
is to be noticed in our large cities, where technical 
schools have opened their doors in the evening 
and have invited students, employed during the 
day, to enter and learn what they can. These 
night schools are exceedingly common in England, 
so common that they have undermined the in- 
fluence of the regular day schools and have im- 
planted the erroneous idea in the mind of the 
average young Englishman that he can work all 
day, go to school at night, and still be successful 
in each case. Such we know to be fallacious. 
The true conception of night school work is that 
it is only a means of securing essential facts, 
but is not education in its truest sense. The 
Germans have not made this mistake and em- 
phasize the necessity of giving undivided atten- 
tion either to educational work or to industrial 
work, but not to combine the two. Interesting 
in connection with evening instruction by technical 
schools is the use of local centers or technical 
clubs, with home-rule organization, but with the 
same end in view. 

At the end of this list must be added the edu- 
cational work of the Y. M. C. A., which quietly 
but effectually reaches thousands of students. All 
these influences combined reach an industrial 
army that can be counted in the millions. The 
movement for more technical education is cer- 
tainly far-reaching and important. 


He also expresses the opinion that at 
one time or another not less than two mil- 
lion in the United States have taken one 
or more courses in some correspondence 
school. 
Tuskegee is another indication of the great 
value placed upon it as an essential part 
of education and possesses additional in- 
terest and importance from the fact that it 
is regarded as the most efficient manner in 


The industrial training given at - 


[N.S. Von. XXTV. No. 604. 


which to permanently improve the condi- 
tion of the negro in the south. 

In our own state, the Lowell Textile 
School opened in October, 1897; that in 
New Bedford in October, 1899, and that in 
Fall River in 1900. These, in Massachu- 
setts, are trade schools of a pure type, and 
serving a most useful purpose, supported 
in part by the commonwealth in the inter- 
ests of the textile industries which from 
the earhest times have been so important 
to our people. 

This need was recognized by the advisory 
committee invited by the trustees of the 
Carnegie gift to present a plan for the 
technical school to be established at Pitts- 
burg. They recommended the establish- 
ment of the (1) Carnegie Technical Col- 
lege; (2) Carnegie Technical High School, 
where is to be taught engineering prin- 
ciples, steam engine practise, pattern ma- 
king, tool making, ete.; (3) Carnegie day 
and evening classes for artisans. The two 
latter recommendations attempt to provide 
for the need of which I have spoken. This 
plan seems to be modeled upon that of Nor- 
way, proposed in 1868, involving Sunday 
and evening schools for mechanics, elemen- 
tary technical schools of a practical char- 
acter and a polytechnic institute of the 
highest grade. 

The subject of industrial and technical 
education in this commonwealth has been 
recently considered in the report of a com- 
mittee appointed under the authority of 
the legislature of which our accomplished 
fellow townsman, Dr. Carroll D. Wright, 
president of Clark College, is the chairman. 
His attainments in industrial economics 
make this report of authoritative value. 
In it the need in this country is recognized 
of more skilled workmen, of those possess- 
ing not so much manual dexterity as ‘in- 
dustrial intelligence,’ by which is meant— 
and I now quote from the report— 


Sw 


ts 
4 
re 
Ks 


ea ay Ne 


JuLy 27, 1906.] 


Mental power to see beyond the task which oc- 
cupies the hands for the moment to the operations 
which have preceded and to those which will 
‘follow it—power to take in the whole process, 
knowledge of materials, ideas of cost, ideas of 
organization, business sense, and a conscience 
which recognizes obligations. 


This need the committee believes should 
be met by industrial education in the public 
schools and through independent industrial 
schools; such instruction is, of course, de- 
signed for students younger than those with 
whom we have to deal here, and is of an 
entirely different grade and character, but, 
nevertheless, is of very great importance. 
In this report the Massachusetts Institute 
and the Worcester Polytechnic are spoken 
of as institutions which train mechanical 
and electrical engineers, manufacturing 
chemists and architects—men in the highest 
ranks of productive industrial life; institu- 
tions which have fully justified all that 
they have cost and of world-wide fame. 

If I may borrow further from this inter- 
esting report, I will add that the system of 
industrial and technical education in the 
German empire is held up as an example, 
and a comparison is made which shows that 
if Massachusetts were to maintain a system 
of industrial schools of proportionate de- 
velopment with that of the kingdom of 
Prussia, we should need three hundred 
such schools with a total enrollment of 
twenty thousand. 

It would be idle to assert that the indus- 
trial supremacy of the United States is due 
primarily to our system of industrial edu- 
cation, because, as a matter of fact, we are 
inferior in this respect at least to Germany, 
France and Switzerland. But the time is 
certainly fast approaching when we must 
take heed of the industrial competition 
from other countries which are adopting 
our machinery and methods, stimulated by 
what they learn at the great expositions. 
It is certain that without great effort we 


SCIENCE. 


111 


can not retain our supremacy undisputed ; 
and for this reason it behooves us to pay 
particular attention to the industrial edu- 
cation of our people. 

Just as in agriculture, after the virgin 
soil begins to be exhausted by wasteful 
methods of cultivation, scientific methods 
must be employed if the quantity and qual- 
ity of crops are to be maintained; so in 
other industrial pursuits—as competition 
forces prices down, the labor must be more 
intelligent, the scientific knowledge more 
exact, if satisfactory results are to be se- 
cured. 

It is a mistake to think, as is often said 
in this country, that the ‘pauper labor’ of 
Europe is a menace to us. It is rather the 
educated labor of European competitors of 
which we should stand in fear. 

I believe it to be true to-day that in a 
large number of our industries in which 
labor-saving machinery is used to any con- 
siderable extent, the cost of labor per unit 
is less than in any country in the world, 
and for the reason that our labor is so much 
more efficient. 

As men with a technical education are 
the ones who will manage our railways and 
great manufacturing plants, they naturally 
have a deep interest in, and should have an 
intelligent knowledge of, the changing con- 
ditions under which business is being done, 
information which our own students ac- 
quire in the department of political science. 

The factory system was a product of the 
close of the eighteenth century—the trust, 
so-called, of the close of the nineteenth; 
and great abuses have attended each 
change, which are quite independent and 
separable from the system which they ac- 
companied. 

The great cruelties attendant upon the 
labor of women and children were a blot 
upon the former. These have happily 
largely disappeared before the corrective 


112 SCIENCE. 


of intelligent legislation—and the same 
remedy will no doubt be efficiently applied 
in due time to the evils attendant upon the 
latter, to which the attention of the whole 
country is now directed. 

To consolidation as such, I think there 
ean be no rational objection, and I will 
hazard the opinion that competent young 
men who are obliged to stand absolutely on 
their own merits have a better chance to 
succeed to-day than ever before in the his- 
tory of the country. The time at my com- 
mand—already, I fear, exhausted, as well 
as your patience—does not admit here of 
any extended discussion of this interesting 
question. 

The ‘good old times’ were not as good as 
these, and I believe that these are not as 
good as those that are to come. Macaulay, 
who so richly embellishes every subject he 
touches, uses the following illustration: 

In truth, we are under a deception similar to 
that which misleads the traveler in the Arabian 
desert. Beneath the caravan all is dry and bare; 
but far in advance and far in the rear is the 
semblance of refreshing waters. The pilgrims 
hasten forward, and find nothing but sand where, 
an hour before, they had seen a lake; they turn 
their eyes, and see a lake where, an hour before, 
they were toiling through sand. A _ similar 
illusion seems to haunt nations through every 
stage of the long progress from poverty and bar- 
barism to the highest degrees of opulence and 
civilization. But, if we resolutely chase the 
mirage backward, we shall find it recede before 
us into the regions of fabulous antiquity. 


At no time has the question of the rights 
of the people, as against those of the so- 
called vested interests, been as prominent, 
I may say as all-absorbing, as at this mo- 
ment. Forty years ago the government 
was encouraging the building of railroads 
by enormous grants of land. The chief 
desire of the nation and the states was to 
get the means of transportation at any cost. 
The recent session of Congress has been 
largely devoted to devising means for regu- 
lating railroad rates—already at a lower 


[N.o. Von. XXIV. No. 604. 


point than any one twenty years ago would 
have dared to predict. I have no quarrel 
with this wholesome legislation. J merely 
use the incident as an illustration. This 
is the day of the reasonable control of busi- 
ness and of the elimination of abuses which 
have imevitably sprung up alongside and 
been dwarfed by an industrial development 
more rapid and more stupendous than any 
that the world has ever seen. In this im- 


portant work, educated men and, above all, — 


technically educated men, should take the 
lead, if it is to be well done, and done it 
will be. The conscience of the country has 
been quickened as never before, largely, I 
believe, through the initiative of the presi- 
dent of the United States, who only needs 
to see a wrong to exert all the prerogatives 
of his great office to remedy it. 

Happy that land where the people gov- 
ern; where education is not for the clois- 
tered few but within the reach of every 
child; where the limits to ambition are only 
those prescribed by the ability and disposi- 
tion of the individual, and which advances 
from generation to generation to better and 
better things. 

CHARLES G. WASHBURN.’ 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


The Biology of the Frog. By Samugu J. 
Houmes, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Zool- 
ogy in the University of Wisconsin. New 
York, The Macmillan Co. 1906. $1.60 net. 
A most useful addition to our text-books on 

the frog. It presents not only the anatomy 
and embryology but also the physiology and 
natural history of the frog; so that for the 
first time a single book covering the whole 
ground of the biology of the frog is accessible 
to teacher and student. 

The text of 358 pages is divided into nine- 
teen chapters. The first places the particular 
kind of frog (the leopard frog, Rana pipiens), 
which is the chief subject of the volume, in 
proper relation to other kinds of frogs and to 
the salamanders by a brief consideration of 


JuLy 27, 1906.] 


the classification of the amphibia with special 
reference to the common American forms and 
their habits. The second is one of the most 
interesting of all and considers in some three 
dozen pages the life and habits of this common 
frog; recounting its methods of locomotion 
and of feeding; describing its voice, enemies, 
parasites, as well as its breeding habits and 
its responses to changes in temperature, ete. 

The succeeding two chapters briefly describe 
the exterior of the frog and the main features 
of its internal structure, reserving for later 
chapters detailed descriptions of anatomy and 
physiology. The fifth chapter devotes some 
38 pages to the embryology of the frog from 
the time the egg is laid through the meta- 
morphosis into the adult shape, and includes 
a brief historical introduction. Chapter six 
presents a brief outline of vertebrate histology 
as illustrated in the frog, while chapter seven 
takes up the digestive organs rather fully, 
with special emphasis upon glandular activity. 
The eighth chapter deals with organs of voice 
and of respiration from a physiological stand- 
point and leads to the ninth chapter, which is 
devoted entirely to the skin, an undue amount 
of space being devoted to its color changes. 

The excretory organs and the reproductive 
organs each receive a chapter descriptive of 
their anatomy and functions. 

The devotion of an entire chapter to the 
subject of internal secretions is timely and the 
restriction of the treatment of the skeleton to 
a single chapter of fifteen pages shows com- 
mendable restraint, considering the large 
amount of detail that might so readily have 
been retained here. 

From the point of view of the student the 
ten pages devoted to the muscles might well 
have been made fewer. 

The fifteenth chapter describes the micro- 
scopic structure of the blood, the anatomy and 
action of the heart, the distribution of the 
veins and arteries and the circulation as seen 
in the web of the foot, with also a brief con- 
sideration of the lymph system. 

The sixteenth chapter gives a good descrip- 
tion of the anatomy of the nervous system 
and considers reflex actions and the conflict- 
ing evidence as to the functions of the various 


SCIENCE. 


113 


parts of the brain: so that 35 pages are needed. 

The structure and uses of the sense organs 
are adequately treated of in some 20 pages. 

The last two chapters deal with the in- 
stincts, tropisms and intelligence of the frog 
as known from the works of Yerkes, Parker 
and others. Probably the presentation given 
will give the student a just conception of the 
rather confused and tentative nature of the 
results thus far gained by the experimental 
study of the psychology of the frog. 

The author has prepared the book as the 
outcome of six years of lectures given to stu- 
dents who had studied some general biology. 
As a compilation it gives the gist of the anat- 
omy and histology of Gaupp’s ‘ Ecker,’ and 
enough of the embryology of Marshall and 
deserves great praise for bringing together in 
attractive form much of the scattered knowl- 
edge of the natural history and physiology of 
the frog. To be commended is the list of 
authors at the end of each chapter and the 
impression conveyed that the conclusions 
reached in the physiology and psychology of 
the frog are complex balancings of diverse 
facts and opinions while suspended judgment 
is often imperative. 

The 94 illustrations are, with few excep- 
tions, the familiar figures of Ecker, Howe and 
Marshall and while one need not expect many 
iulustrations for a physiological presentation 
of the subject yet one could wish that the 
excellent photographs used as a frontispiece 
might have been followed by others illustra- 
ting the natural history of the frog. 

While the book is easily read and the au- 
thor’s meaning clear, some hypothetical stu- 
dent punctilious as to English but ignorant of 
natural history, might be misled in reading 
of the feeding habits of the toad, page 14: 
‘angleworms are seized by the jaws and stuffed 
into the mouth by the fore legs.’ 

Every teacher of vertebrate zoology will 
need a copy of the book and many college 
students will find it a valuable text-book. But 
while the central idea of adding physiology 
and natural history to anatomy and embryol- 
ogy is a good one, it almost necessarily leads 
to putting too much knowledge before the 
student. In a second edition, for which we 


114 SCIENCE. 


hope there soon may be demand, the author 
might perhaps better satisfy a larger number 
of students by a thoroughly digested epitome 
of the present book, while the teacher should 
welcome another volume that would still fur- 
ther elaborate all but the anatomical part of 
the present book. For the teacher there might 
be added a consideration of the geographical 
distribution of frogs, with maps; a full dis- 
cussion of the remarkable breeding and brood- 
ing habits of some exotic frogs; more ample 
reference to the field of regeneration in frogs; 
an account of the genesis of the egg and the 
sperm; and original illustrations. He would 
then haye a fit complementary volume to 
Gaupp’s ‘ Hecker.’ BE. A. A. 


Hasy Mathematics, chiefly arithmetic; being a 
collection of hints to teachers, parents, self- 
taught students and adults, and containing 
most things in elementary mathematics use- 
ful to be known. By Sir Ottver Lopce, 
F.R.S. Macmillan and Co. 1905. Pp. 
xv + 436. 

When a man like Sir Oliver Lodge writes 
on arithmetic we naturally expect an unusually 
high motive. In the present case this motive 
is set forth in such forceful terms as follow: 

The mathematical ignorance of the average edu- 
cated person has always been complete and shame- 
less, and recently I have become so impressed with 
the unedifying character of much of the arithmet- 
ical teaching to which ordinary children are liable 
to be exposed that I have ceased to wonder at the 
widespread ignorance, and have felt impelled to 
try and take some steps towards supplying a 
remedy. The object in writing the book has been 
solely the earnest hope that the teaching of this 
subject may improve and may become lively and 
interesting. Dulness and bad teaching are 
synonymous terms. A few children are born 
mentally deficient, but a number are gradually 
made so by the efforts made to train their grow- 
ing faculties. 


To read an arithmetic written in a breezy 
style yet thoroughly sane from cover to cover 
is a surprisingly interesting experience for 
most people who try-it. While those who are 
familiar with elementary mathematics may not 
learn any new facts by reading this book, yet 
there will probably be few who will not have 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 604. 


a more cordial attitude towards the subject. 
It works a change of feeling and clearness of 
vision rather than a deeper insight into the 
more abstruse parts. 

The charm of many illustrations lies in their 
extreme simplicity. For instance: 

It is very often a mistake for teachers to sup- 
pose that some things are easy and other things 
are hard; it all depends on the way they are pre- 
sented and on the stage at which they are intro- 
duced. To ascend to the first floor of a house is 
difficult if no staircase is provided, but with a 
proper staircase it only needs a little patience to 
ascend to the roof. The same sort of steps are 
met with all the way, only there are more of them. 
To people who live habitually on the third floor 
it is indeed sometimes easier to go on the roof 
than to descend into the basement. Educators 
should see that they do not forcibly drive children 
in shoals up an unfinished or ill-made stairway, 
which only the athletic ones can climb.* 

The first part of the volume is partly his- 
torical. In some of this the imagination is 
explicitly allowed to wander beyond the estab- 
lished facts. In addition to most of the ques- 
tions which are met in arithmetic and ele- 
mentary algebra, there are chapters on Hasy 
Mode of Treating Problems that require a 
Inttle Thought, dealing with Very Large or 
Very Small Numbers; Pumps and Leaks, Dif- 
ferentiation, etc. The work is divided into 
forty-seven brief chapters and throughout im- 
presses one with the fact that the greatness of 
a man is perhaps most strikingly exhibited by 
his treatment of common subjects. The au- 
thor with a narrow outlook would not make 
such a wise choice of subject matter and would 
not be apt to refresh the reader with such 
broad views as ‘ Real living arithmetic is the 
same in any country; and most important of 
all is that which must necessarily be the same 
on any planet,’ and ‘ An equation is the most 
serious and important thing in mathematics.’ 

While the book naturally appeals most 
strongly to the teacher, yet it seems to be 
eminently suitable for those who desire -to 
get a clear view of the subject matter which 
has been employed in their early training. 
The sub-title has a quaint eighteenth century 
flavor, but the book itself is thoroughly modern 

+ Page 13. 


hese 


pn let 


i Aa a 


PO ag en eee ee 


JULY 27, 1906.] 


and may be regarded as one of the best ex- 
pressions of the spirit of the recent reform 
movement in mathematical instruction. 


G. A. Miner. 


STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CALIFORNIA. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


THE ST. LOUIS CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 

At the regular meeting of the society on 
Monday, June 11, Mr. W. R. Lamar presented 
a paper entitled ‘ Recent Investigations on the 
Constitution of Certain Alkaloids. After a 
few preliminary remarks on the difficulties 
encountered in determining the molecular con- 
stitution of these substances and on the meth- 
ods employed for the purpose, the paper was 
devoted to four substances: namely, conine, 
nicotine, atropine and cocaine. ‘The society 
was treated to an exceedingly comprehensive 
and condensed account of the investigations 
into the constitution of each of these bodies, 
indicating the failures as well as the partial 
and complete successes. This was followed in 
the case of each substance by a similar account 
of the efforts at producing the same substances 
synthetically. C. J. BoraMeyer, 

Corresponding Secretary. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 


THE HAILSTORM OF JUNE 23. 

To tHE Epiror or Science: During the 
storm which swept the Atlantic coast on Sat- 
urday, June 23, the hailstones which fell at 
Perth Amboy, N. J., and vicinity were of such 
large size that the following observations from 
a house on the shore of Raritan Bay may be 
worth recording. The hailstorm was preceded 
by the piling up of great masses of cumulus 
clouds, while out in the Lower Bay a tornado 
caused a waterspout; there was also consid- 
erable lightning and a brief heavy shower of 
rain, so that the usual conditions for a severe 
hailstorm were satisfied. About four o’clock 
big hailstones began to bombard the house, at 
first few in number and in a very slanting 
direction, then in a roaring downpour that 
made the bay spout up into thousands of 
white geysers. This lasted, perhaps, five 
minutes. 

We immediately gathered some of the hail- 


SCIENCE. 


115 


stones which thickly dotted the lawn. They 
ranged from the size of a cherry to that of a 
duck’s egg, the larger ones being very abun- 
dant. The smaller ones were more or less 
spherical, consisting internally of broad con- 
centric zones of softer, more snow-like, and 
of harder, darker ice, the broken surfaces re- 
minding one of polished sections of concre- 
tionary nodules of agate. The larger ones 
were oblate spheroids, oval in contour, with 
erater-like depressions in the center of each 
flattened side. The largest ones filled the 
palm of the hand, and upon being measured 
with great care proved to be not less than 
three and one eighth inches along the long 
diameter and eight inches in circumference. 
The surface was irregularly tuberculated, and 
the center, core or axis of the spheroid was 
always distinct, appearing in broken hailstones 
as a small white spot. None were observed in 
which the nuclei were formed of small pebbles. 
The hailstones seemed harder to crack in the 
teeth than ordinary ice. 

The impact of their fall caused circular 
depressions in the hard-packed tennis court, 
and later on the soft sand of the beach the 
still unmelted kernel of each hailstone was 
found in a depression containing a close coil 
or many concentric circles of sand. 

Mr. George H. Pepper, of the American 
Museum of Natural History, who also ob- 
served the same storm in Tottenville, at the 
southern end of Staten Island, appends the 
following notes: 

The first evidence of the storm in Totten- 
ville was a heavy rain accompanied by a 
shower of small hailstones about the size of a 
pea; these stones were similar to snow ice. 
The rain continued and after an interval of 
perhaps five minutes a second shower of hail- 
stones was noticed; these ranged from the 
size of hickory nuts to walnuts. The fall of 
these stones was followed by the larger ones, 
the intervals being, perhaps, two or three 
minutes. The shower carrying the large hail- 
stones lasted not more than three minutes, but 
during that time twenty-five glasses were 
broken in the house in which I happened to 
be. Over fifty glasses in memorial windows 


116 ) SCIENCE. 


of one of the churches were broken, and al- 
most every house having windows on the 
western side suffered from the stones. One 
of the largest stones was measured, the result 
showing a circumference of nine inches; it 
was irregular in form, one and a half inch 
thick and the edge was deeply indented in 
places. This was not an exceptional stone, as 
a great many of this size were found. 


_ W. K. Gregory. 


AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. 


SAUROPODAN GASTROLITHS. 


To tHe Eprror or Science: It may be of 
interest, in connection with Mr. G. R. Wie- 
land’s recent description of the gastroliths 
found with the sauropod remains in Montana, 
to call attention to an apparently unrecorded 
similar discovery at Morrison, Colo. In 1877, 
Professor O. C. Marsh’s party, in charge of 
Professor Arthur Lakes, obtained among the 
bones of the type specimen of Atlantosaurus 
ammanis Marsh, a number of rounded and 
highly polished siliceous pebbles whose sur- 
face peculiarities resembled those of the 
gastroliths described by Mr. Wieland. No 
material of similar size, form, surface mark- 
ings or composition occurs elsewhere in the 
Atlantosaurus clays of this vicinity. Pro- 
fessors B. F. Mudge and 8. W. Williston were 
with us when some of these pebbles were found 
and considered them as identical in origin 
with the stomach stones that they had recently 
found with plesiosaurian remains on the plains 
of Kansas. With the exception of one speci- 
men, now in the collection of fossils in the 
Denver High School, these specimens were 
probably sent to the Peabody Museum of the 
Yale University and might be found in the 
collections sent to Professor Marsh by Pro- 
fessors Lakes and Mudge from the neighbor- 
hood of Morrison during the years 1877 and 
1878. The field notes of Messrs. Lakes, Mudge 
and Williston, if obtainable, might afford addi- 
tional data and possibly confirm a suspicion of 
the writer that some gastroliths were also 
found in connection with the type specimen 
of the species formerly known as Apatosaurus 
ajax Marsh. Gro. L. Cannon. 

DENVER, CoLo. 


[N.S. Von. AXIV. No. 604. 


THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION AN INSTITUTE OF 
RESEARCH. 


To THE Epiror or Science: I desire to em- 
phasize the suggestion made by David Fair- 
child in Science for June 8, in which he 
advocates changing the Smithsonian Institu- 
tion from a museum to an institute of re- 
search. It seems to me that this idea ought 
to appeal strongly to men of science generally 
throughout the country. It can not be denied 
that the greatest impetus to research in pure 
science in the past has been the working to- 
gether of men earnestly engaged in special 
lines of research, and the value of such re- 
searches has been greater whenever the several 
investigators have been brought together in 
one institution or in one laboratory. Experi- 
ence has shown that under such conditions 
only as are found, for example, in the Biolog- 
ical Station at Naples, or in the laboratories 
of the greater German universities, does the 
most stimulating atmosphere of research exist. 

The elaborate and well-endowed scientific 
projects now in operation, although extremely 
valuable, ean not do for the progress of knowl- 
edge what such institutions as the above men- 
tioned are doing. We have in this country 
large and well-endowed museums that are 
amply able to care for the work that falls 
within their respective provinces, but there is 
no institution that can be looked upon as a 
common center of research to which the in- 
vestigator may go to pursue his studies with 
the necessary equipment and in an atmosphere 
whose vigor comes from the helpful sugges- 
tions and from the keen but friendly criticism 
of his many colleagues. 

Let the Smithsonian Institution, therefore, 
be the nucleus of such a great national or 
international institute of research. 

Davin M. Mortizr. 

INDIANA UNIVERSITY. 


SPECIAL ARTICLES. 
EVIDENCES OF GLACIATION IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA 
AND NORTHERN SONORA. 
In the spring of 1905, during a professional 
trip to Sonora the writer was interested in 
observing along the Sonora Railway, south of 


i On i lg 


JULY 27, 1906.] 


Nogales, frequent exposures of material re- 
sembling in every way, except in its com- 
ponent rocks, that of the terminal moraine of 
New York and New Jersey. These exposures 
were between Nogales and Imuris, occurring 
frequently in a distance of some fifty miles, 
and exhibited sections of till and boulder clay 
with large angular rock fragments and the 
occasional partial stratification characteristic 
of various portions of the terminal moraine 
in the northeast. 

Having then no opportunity to verify these 
observations, they were briefly noted, to be 
amplified on some future occasion. 

During the months of April and May of 
the present year, a further opportunity was 
afforded to traverse the same country and 
secure additional data bearing on the phe- 
nomena mentioned. 

These last observations have convinced me 
that there is, in the vicinity of Nogales, both 
in Arizona and in Sonora, and for a number 
of miles north and south of the national 
boundary, an area of some width in which 
land ice transportation has been operative and 
has resulted in the formation of morainal 
deposits of various types. 

A complete absence of detailed maps in 
northern Sonora makes it difficult, without 


extended study in the field, to form any gen- 


eralizations concerning the centers of accumu- 
lation from which the glacier or glaciers may 
have flowed. 

In Arizona, the publication, during 1905, 
of the Nogales, Patagonia and Tucson quad- 
rangles affords an opportunity to locate the 
more ‘important phenomena observed and de- 
termine the possible sources of ice action. 

Some ten miles north of Nogales rises from 


the general level of the surrounding desert. 


country a high range known as the Santa 
Rita Mountains. At the desert level, which 
is about 2,700 feet, this range has a base ap- 
proximately thirty miles long and from eight 
to fifteen miles wide. Its highest peak has an 
altitude of 9,400 feet and a considerable area 
of the range (perhaps twenty square miles) 
is above the six-thousand-foot level. Within 
a mile or two of the southeastern base of the 


SCIENCE. 


iN ty 


range passes the Sonora Railway, which, here 
as in Sonora, by its numerous cuts and bor- 
row pits, gives an opportunity to study the 
composition of a formation which has all the 
characteristics of a moraine deposit, but which, 
in the absence of sections, a casual observer 
might pass by as a terrane of volcanic material 
rotted in place. 

In connection with the structure exposed 
by the sections, one recognizes at many points 
the rolling topography and pitted surface of 
amoraine. At one or two points are observed 
depressions, similar to those which in the 
north have been formed by stagnant ice, sur- 
rounded by kame terraces and their concord- 
ant phenomena. One of these is just south 
of Huachuca Station. 

About three miles south of Nogales is a 
very extensive borrow pit, formed in the con- 
struction of the railroad, in which has been 
left a number of large rock fragments which 
are clearly of transported material. Among 
these, the writer noted several blocks of dark 
blue limestone which did not belong to the 
erystalline terrane beneath and which had 
evidently been transported some distance. 

A marked difference between the transport- 
ed material here and that in the north lies in 
the comparative absence of large boulders, for 
none were seen to exceed about two feet in 
diameter. This is probably due to the char- 
acter of the voleanie rocks and their manner 
of decay. A cliff of andesite or rhyolite does 
not in Arizona or Sonora seem to yield talus 
fragments of as large size as a cliff of granite 
or gneiss in New York. 

The total extent of these glacial formations 
could not be determined without an extended 
reconnoissance which the writer had not time 
to make, but they are apparently limited to 
the vicinity of the higher mountain ranges. 
About twenty miles west of the Santa Rita 
Mountains, between Sopori and Arivaca, on 
the west of the Atascosa Range, is a long 
stretch of low hills and rolling country, trend- 
ing southwesterly, which has a morainal ap- 
pearance; but in the absence of sections no 
decisive conclusion was reached. 

In northern Sonora, near the valley occu- 


118 SCIENCE. 


pied by the railroad and between Nogales and 
Imuris, one sees near the mountain bases low 
benches which have been eroded into overlap- 
ping oblique ridges of which the material 
seems to be all of morainal character. These 
overlapping ridges form prominent features 
in the landscape and are locally called by the 
Mexicans cordones, or ‘chains. They have 
not been observed by the writer south of 
Magdalena. 

In traveling eastward from Benson toward 
El Paso, at a few points, mountain masses 
were observed, rising from the desert plains, 
around the bases of which were slightly ele- 
vated benches corresponding in some measure 
to the bench of morainal material along the 
eastern base of the Santa Rita Mountains. 
Occasionally, also, the railroad cut through 
low rolling ridges of material, morainal in 
structure and clearly not formed by sheet flood 
erosion. 

On the Rock Island Railway, about a mile 
southwest of Santa Rosa, N. M., near the 
southeastern bank of the Pecos River, is a 
train of rolling hills which show morainal 
structure in the railroad cuts. 

These observations lead to the conclusion 
that the quaternary history of some portion 
of this region is more complex than has been 
supposed. Clearly before the present period 
of arid climate and periodic sheet flood ero- 
sion was a time of low temperature and accu- 
mulated precipitation in the form of land ice 
which resulted in the formation of extensive 
deposits of rock debris around the bases of at 
least the higher mountain ranges. Climatic 
conditions limited the extent of these moraines 
so that the present desert basin areas, in many 
cases, remained unglaciated. 

A further point of interest is the hypothesis, 
- suggested by the facts observed, that some of 
the quaternary conglomerates which are abun- 
dant in northern Sonora and are so puzzling 
in respect to their origin may in part be the 
result of glaciation. The writer has, so far, 
been unable to formulate any other theory of 
origin which will account for the presence, in 
some of these beds, of boulders as large as 
two feet in diameter, in a matrix of angular 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 604. 


fragments, of many different kinds, mingled 
with fine material. In a bed of true volcanic 
breccia one does not ordinarily find several 
different kinds of eruptive rock varying great- 
ly in composition. 
FREDERICK J. H. MERRILL. 
New YoRK CIty. 


ZYGOSPORES AND SEXUAL STRAINS IN THE COMMON 
BREAD MOULD, RHIZOPUS NIGRICANS. 


From the preliminary communication of J. 
I. Hamaker in the May 4 number of Sciences, 
entitled ‘A Culture Medium for the Zygo- 
spores of Mucor stolonifer’ (Rhizopus nigri- 
cans), one would be led to suppose that the 
method of obtaining the zygospores of this 
species by admixture of strains from different 
sources was unnecessarily troublesome and un- 
certain. After having obtained the zygo- 
spores frequently for three months, he is 
brought to the conclusion, which is printed in 
italics, that ‘with proper conditions of mois- 
ture and temperature, success is apparently 
dependent only on the nature of the sub- 
stratum.’ As a favorable substratum, a corn 
muffin bread is recommended and a detailed 
formula of the ingredients is given. 

In a preliminary summary of a study of the 
sexual conditions in the Mucorinex,’ the 
present writer has used this same common 
bread mould Rhizopus nigricans, as a type of 
the heterothallic (7. e., diccious) group in 
which each species is to be considered an 
aggregate of two distinct sexual strains the 
interaction of which is requisite to zygospore 
formation. In contrast to homothallic (2. e., 
hermaphroditic) species in which the mycelia 
are sexually all equivalent and which may 
produce zygospores from the sowing of a single 
sporangiospore, it is necessary in the hetero- 
thallic species, in order to obtain the zygo- 
spores in pure cultures, to sow spores together 
from both the sexually opposite strains which 
have been provisionally designated by the terms 


+This paper was written while working under 
a grant as research assistant to the Carnegie In- 
stitution. 

2* Zygospore Formation a Sexual Process,’ Sci- 
ENCE, N. S., 19: 864-866. 1904. 


JuLyY 27, 1906.] 


(+) and (—). The rarity of the zygospores 
of heterothallic species therefore may be ex- 
plained by assuming that when zygospores 
fail to form under conditions which of them- 
selves are not unfavorable to zygospore forma- 
tion, only one of the two sexual strains is 
present. 

Eyer since de Bary® discovered the zygo- 
spores of Rhizopus in 1865—now forty years 
ago—various and conflicting theories, based 
many of them upon the character of the 
substratum upon which the zygospores were 
accidentally found, have been brought for- 
ward to account for the rarity of their occur- 
rence. The writer has attempted to show 
the insufficiency of the assumption that ex- 
ternal conditions are of more than secondary 
importance, and has given at the same time 
a rather full account of cultural experiments 
with the strains of Rhizopus.” It is not the 
purpose of the. present article to repeat the 
details there given. It seems not inappro- 
priate on this occasion, however, to say a few 
' words regarding the occurrence in nature of 
the strains of this species based upon recent 
investigations as well as upon those already 
published. For the sake of comparison, a 
list of those species the thallic condition of 
which has been determined, will be given ar- 
ranged according to the type of their sexual 
reproduction, and something will be said con- 
cerning the cultivation of Rhizopus for class 
purposes. 

In Table I. are listed the zygosporic cul- 
tures from which the sexual strains have been 
isolated by the writer. In making the separa- 
tions, a large number of cultures were neces- 
sary as indicated in the table. Tests with 
both the standard (+-) and (—) strains were 
not made for all the cultures listed, but no 
strains were found which alone in pure cul- 
tures could be brought to zygospore formation. 

In the preparation of Table II., the indi- 
vidual strains obtained through the kindness 
of the writer’s correspondents were tested in 


** Beitrige zur Morphologie und Physiologie der 
Pilze,’ II., 1866. 

** Sexual Reproduction in Mucorinex,’ Proc. Am. 
Acad., 40: 205-319, pls. 1-4. 1904. 


SCIENCE. 


a) 


separate cultures against standard (+) and 

(—) strains. Each strain therefore listed as 

(+) or (—) produced zygospores in contrast 

with the test strain of opposite sign and failed 

to produce them in cultures with the test 

strain of the same sign. Those strains which 

would form zygospores with neither the (+) 

nor the (—) test strain on the substratum 

used were provisionally listed as neutral. 

Judging from the possibility of inducing tem- 

porary neutrality in the strains of Mucor 

Mucedo by cultivation under unfavorable 

temperatures, one might suppose the neutrality 
in these strains of Rhizopus to be likewise 
but a temporary condition. With their ex- 

ception, all of the 48 individual strains tested 
are either (+) or (—). To the 11(++) and 
19(—) strains in Table II., should be added 
the 8(-++) and 8(—) strains isolated from the 
zygosporic cultures of Table I. We shall 
then have from the strains tested 19(-+), 
27(—) and 13 apparently neutral. Out of 
this total of 58 individual strains, none have 
been found which will yield zygospores when 
grown alone in pure cultures. As may be 
seen by a glance at the tables, strains have 
been collected from various parts of the world, 
and the conclusion seems irresistible that the 
common bread mould, Rhizopus nigricans, is 
heterothallic and that the interaction of the 
two sexually opposite strains is necessary to 
the formation of their zygospores. 


TABLE I. STRAINS IN SPONTANEOUS ZYGOSPORIC 
CULTURES. 

Number of 

. | Substratum on Which Pure 
Source of Zygosporic Cultures 

“rilieress the Zygospores Were Tested 

5 First Discovered. ued ce Seat EM 

(a) itary) 


Shells of almond nuts 
on sterilized paste. | 1 | 29 
Shells of almond nuts 
on sterilized paste. | 2 6 
Newton, Mass. (a)..| Shells of almond nuts 
on sterilized paste. | 3 | 18 
Newton, Mass. (a)..| Shells of almond nuts 
on sterilized paste. | 1 
Newton, Mass. (6)../ Shells of almond nuts 


Boston, Mass......... 


Brookline, Mass...... 


on bread. 3 | 18 
Cambridge, Mass....| Decayed potato. il 6 
Chapel Hill, S. C....| Bread. 6 6 
Stanford Univ., Cal.| Squash. 5 2 
Raleigh, N. C......... Sweet potato. 19 1 
8 zygosporic cultures} Totals, 107 strains. | 38 | 69 


120 SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 604. 


TABLE II. INDIVIDUAL STRAINS ARRANGED ACCORDING TO SEXUAL CHARACTER. 


(25) Neutral. (+) 


Boston, Mass. 

Jamaica Plain, Mass. (2) 
New Haven, Conn. 
Cazenovia, N. Y. 
Chicago, Ills. 

Lansing, Mich, (2) 
Austin, Texas. 
Columbia, South Carolina. 
Nassau, Bahamas. 
Progreso, Yucatan. 
Cambridge, England. 
Paris, France. 

Nancy, France. 

Bern, Switzerland. 
Berlin, Germany. 
Hisenach, Germany. 
Manila, P. I. 


Brookline, Mass. (2) 
Winthrop, Mass. 
Middletown, Conn. 
Granville, Ohio. 
Breslau, Germany. 
Leipzig, Germany. 
Halle, Germany. 
Honolulu, H. I. 
Margarita, Venezuela. (2) 
Caracas, Venezuela. 
Port au Prince, Haiti. 


Brookline, Mass. 
Worcester, Mass. 
New Haven, Conn. 
Storrs, Conn. 
Washington, D. C. 
Ithaca, N. Y. 
Delaware, Ohio. 
Madison, Wisconsin. 
St. Louis, Mo. 
Paris, France. 
Berlin, Germany. 


TABLE III. LIST OF SPECIES, THE THALLIC CONDITION OF WHICH HAS BEEN DETERMINED, AR- 
RANGED ACCORDING TO THE TYPE OF THEIR SEXUAL REPRODUCTION. 


Homothallic. Heterothallic. (—) Neutral. (+) 
1. Sporodinia grandis. 1. Mucor Mucedo. 2 — 1 
2. Spinellus fusiger. 2-7. Mucors III.-VIII. 
3-4. Mucors I and II. 8. Rhizopus nigricans. 27 13 19 
Heterogamic. 9. Phycomyces nitens. 1 3 6 
5. Zygorhynchus Moelleri. 10. Circinella umbellata. - 2 — 2 
6. Zygorhynchus heterogamus. 11. Cunninghamella echinulata. 2 — 2 
7. Dicranophora. 12. Absidia caerulea. 3 2 } 
18. Absidia repens. 1 — 1 
14. Absidia sp. 1 — 1 
15. Helicostylum piriforme. il — 3 
16. Syncephalastrum. 2 _ 1 
17. Mucor N, n. gen. 1 — 1 


In Table III., which contains the species 
investigated by the writer, arranged according 
to their thallic character, the figures opposite 
the heterothallic forms indicate the number 
of different (+), (—) and neutral strains 
which have been tested of these species. In 
addition the writer has a considerable number 
of cultures which the hybridization reaction 
would indicate are unmated strains of hetero- 
thallic species. 

The sexual character of individual strains 
of all the heterothallic species investigated 
has remained unaffected when they are culti- 
vated vegetatively. Thus the (+) and (—) 
strains of Phycomyces and Mucor Mucedo 
have been cultivated separately for 92 and 90 
sporangiospore generations, respectively, and 
are as active sexually as when their zygo- 
spores were first discovered. Moreover, the 
two opposite strains of Rhizopus have by daily 


transfers of mycelia been brought to the 
seventieth generation and by transfers of spo- 
rangiospores to the thirtieth generation with- 
out the production of zygospores; yet it is 
only necessary to make sowings together on 
the proper substratum of spores from the 
(+) and (—) tubes at the end of the series 
in order to obtain zygospores in abundance. 
The homothallic species have also been culti- 
vated to many non-sexual generations, some of 
them for ten years and over, without change 
in their sexual behavior. Homothallism and 
heterothallism therefore seem to be fixed con- 
ditions in the forms in which the sexual char- 
acter has been determined. 

In view of the facts summarized, it would 
seem probable that Mr. Hamaker had been 
working with impure cultures rather than 
that he had discovered a new homothallic 
species of Rhizopus. This is further sug- 


f 
iL 


= 


et Re as ee ee 


JULY 27, 1906.] 


gested by experiments with zygosporic ma- 
terial which was part of a spontaneous growth 
on bread exposed in the laboratory of Leland 
Stanford University. Professor Campbell 
writes that he has almost always gotten zygo- 
spores in this way since 1892, yet an investi- 
gation showed that the culture contained but 
the two sexually opposite strains which were 
alone incapable of zygospore formation. 
Rhizopus shares with Penicillium the doubt- 
ful distinction of being the most common 
fungus weed in laboratory cultures, and it is 
almost impossible to keep a favorable sub- 


stratum such as bread in a moist atmosphere. 


for a week without obtaining an abundant 
growth of this characteristic ‘bread mould.’ 
When (-++) and (—) spores are in the labo- 
ratory, one is very likely to get in spontaneous 
cultures a growth producing zygospores from 
the germination of sexually opposite spores 
which may chance to be together on the bread 
and, if a mixed sporangial transfer is made 
from a culture already producing zygospores, 
one is almost certain to obtain them. That 
spontaneous zygosporic cultures thus often 
occur has frequently been experimentally dem- 
onstrated by the writer in the Harvard labo- 
ratory. 

The zygospore of the heterothallic species 
Phycomyces, in germinating, typically pro- 
duces a sporangium containing both male and 
female spores.” If the germ tube be forced 
to grow into a mycelium before the differen- 
tiation of sex in the germ sporangium, a homo- 
thallic mycelium results. The condition in 
these homothallic mycelia is unstable and the 


delayed segregation of sex takes place at the 


formation of spores in the sporangia which 
they eventually produce. Until this homo- 
thallic character becomes fixed, one can not 
speak of a homothallic race of Phycomyces; 
but the facts already obtained are such that 
one would not be justified in saying that, in 
other heterothallic forms, homothallic races 
may not exist. The experiments with 
Rhizopus, however, render it extremely im- 
probable that this species is other than strictly 
heterothallic. A few zygospore germinations 
of Rhizopus have been secured, but not as yet 


SCIENCE. 


171 


in a condition to enable one to analyze the 
sexual character of the germination. 
Although up to the time of the discovery of 
heterothallism in the mucors the zygospores 
of Rhizopus are found reported in the litera- 
ture but five times, they can hardly be rare. 
They are generally covered by the sporangial 
growth and, to one unfamiliar with their ap- 
pearance, are distinguishable only with the 
aid of a microscope. The writer has found 
them in spontaneous bread cultures in Hisen- 
ach and Halle, Germany, and Professor Lloyd 
and Miss Watterson have obtained them in the 
same manner in Teachers College, New York. 
Rhizopus is not so sensitive to the influence 
of external conditions in regard to the forma- 
tion of its zygospores as many other of the 
heterothallic mucors. The ordinary substrata 
used in the laboratory are few upon which 
zygospore formation ean not be induced if 
proper regard be had to conditions of mois- 
ture. Carbohydrates are especially favorable 
and bread makes an admirable culture me- 
dium. The writer has in progress a series of 
experiments to determine the conditions under 
which zygospore formation is possible in the 
various species. The fact that in agar cul- 
tures with 1 per cent. peptone zygospores have 
been obtained by the addition of varying 
amounts of grape sugar from 0.1 per cent. up 
to 40 per cent., will be sufficient to show that 
zygospore production in this species is not 
limited to any great extent by the composition 
of our ordinary culture media. The tem- 
perature is not a very important factor in this 
instance. Up to at least 27° C., an increase 
in temperature accelerates the growth and 
inereases the production of zygospores. More 
or less moisture in the surrounding air, on 
the other hand, is necessary to the formation 
of zygospores and, as the writer has already 
shown (Il. c.), their production may be sup- 
pressed before that of sporangia by sufficient 
desiccation. 
The writer’ has already described the 
°* Zygospore Germinations in the Mucorinez,’ 
Annales Mycologici, 4: 1-28, pl. 1. 1906. 
_ §*Two Conidia-bearing Fungi, Cunninghamella 
and Thamnocephalis, Bot. Gazette, 40: 161-170, 
pl. 6. 1905. 


122 | SCIENCE. 


method of obtaining the zygospores of Cun- 
ninghamella by contrasting in cultures dif- 
ferent strains of this species. By a sufficient 
accumulation of material from different 
sources, one might expect eventually to ob- 
tain the two sexual strains and, by their syn- 
thesis, the zygospores as well of any form in 
which the sexes are separated on different 
mycelia. 

Undoubtedly a careful search below the 
sporangial growth would show that zygospores 
are more common in spontaneous cultures 
than is usually supposed. In searching for 
forms of the mucors, the writer had occasion 
to make cultures on sterilized paste and on 
bread of various substances among which the 
shells of different kinds of nuts were thus 
investigated. It may not have been a mere 
accident that in all the several instances in 
which shells of almond nuts were used, zygo- 
spores were produced, but failed to appear 
when shells from other kinds of nuts were 
employed. These almond nuts were obtained 
from different places in the neighborhood of 
Boston, though they all probably came from 
the same source originally. The writer would 
be glad to learn if others have a similar ex- 
perience with the shells of this species from 
other localities. 

In making cultures, the bread should be 
raised above the bottom of the culture dish 
by some convenient object, otherwise the bread 
is likely to become soggy and attacked by bac- 
teria. Layers of moistened filter paper on the 
sides and bottom of the dish, which should be 
covered, ensure a proper moist condition in 
the surrounding air. Those desiring to have 
absolutely pure cultures may first sterilize the 
bread dry and then allow it to soak up a suffi- 
cient amount of sterilized water to give it a 
spongy consistency, after which it may be 
sterilized with steam for about five minutes. 
Prolonged sterilization as well as too much 
water in the bread makes it soggy and less ad- 
vantageous for cultures. Sterilization is not 
necessary, however, for class work. Zygo- 
spores when present are likely to form in 
dense masses between the layers of moist filter 
paper lining the culture dish or in the folds 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 604. 


of crumpled pieces of filter paper placed in the 
culture as traps for their capture. Sporangia 
form where the air is dryer, and the habit of 
growth can be readily studied from the filter 
paper in the upper parts of the culture. The 
individual stolons can be more easily distin- 
guished if darkened paper be employed. When 
zygospores are once obtained, mass transfers 
of the mycelium may be made to new cultures 
and thus the Penicillium, which is a usual 
weed in spontaneous cultures, may be elimi- 
nated. A culture producing zygospores may 
be dried with its substratum and used from 
time to time as ‘seed’ whenever zygospores 
are needed. Zygosporic cultures of the ‘ Har- 
vard Strain’ have thus been kept running 
for nearly ten years. The sporangiospores of 
Rhizopus are comparatively short lived, how- 
ever, and generally do not retain their vitality 
for more than a year. 

For methods of separating out the two sex- 
ual strains from a zygosporic culture, which 
is often a tedious process, one may refer to 
the writer’s detailed experiments with this 
species already cited. 


A. EF. BLuAKESLEE. 
HALLE, GERMANY. 


RESULTS FROM MOORE’S METHOD OF SHIPPING 
BACTERIA ON COTTON. 

In Science of March 23, Messrs. Kellerman 
and Beckwith have called attention to the state- 
ment in Bulletin 270 of the New York Agri- 
cultural Experiment Station that [certain *] 
‘eultures of nodule-forming bacteria dried 
upon cotton were worthless for practical pur- 
poses and that the failure of such cultures was 
inherent in the method of their preparation.’ 
At the same time they presented some excel- 
lent data upon the effect of drying legume 
bacteria under various conditions. ‘Their 
most interesting experiment consisted in pla- 
cing a culture “on cotton half of which was 
placed in a sterile Petri dish, to make drying 
very slow, half was dried rapidly and kept 

* An important word omitted by Messrs. Keller- 


man and Beckwith in summarizing the statements 
contained in Bulletin 270. 


JvLY 27, 1906.] 


over calcium chloride. After 25 days the 
cotton in the Petri dish was sterile; the cot- 
ton from the desiccator was a pure culture in 
good condition, containing numberless organ- 
isms.” They also found that cultures prop- 
erly dried and then exposed to moist air died 
within a few days. 

' The experiment with cotton in the Petri 
dish was evidently intended as a repetition of 
similar experiments given in Bulletin 270 in 
which inoculated cotton placed in Petri dishes 
became practically sterile within a few days. 
The analytical results obtained at the two 
laboratories were practically identical and it 
may now be considered fairly established that 
legume bacteria placed upon cotton according 
to Moore’s method do not survive slow drying. 
The exact limits of the exposure which they 
will survive remains to be established. 

It should be kept in mind that the present 
discussion is restricted to certain packages of 
inoculated cotton which were offered to the 
public last season and to the methods by which 
these packages were produced. The point 
which should be made clear is which of the 
portions of cotton in the experiment of Messrs. 
Kellerman and Beckwith most nearly repre- 
sents these packages. The eighteen cultures 
discussed in Bulletin 270 were purchased in 
the market and were the product of a single 
commercial laboratory. They were repeatedly 
examined, six of them being tested in each of 
five different laboratories, and were found to 
contain extremely few or no living specimens 
of the desired germ. Their worthlessness for 
practical purposes was accordingly settled be- 
yond question. Hight other packages of in- 
oculated cotton put up by the same firm but 
obtained through other channels were examined 
with similar results. 

The method of preparation of these cul- 
tures, as stated by the manager of the com- 
pany to the writer, was to dip the rolls of 
absorbent cotton into the culture fluid and 
suspend them in a room until air dry. The 
cotton was then cut into squares and shipped 
in pasteboard boxes. Judging from the fact 
that the germs were practically all dead in 
the packages examined by us, either the cotton 
dried slowly or the germs were killed by being 


SCIENCE. 


123 


exposed to moist air. The chemicals accom- 
panying the cultures uniformly showed the 
presence of absorbed moisture. 

Since this commercial method of preparing 
cultures included both slow drying and ship- 
ment in a package which exposed the cotton 
to moist air and the germs were actually killed 
by this treatment, it is plain that it is the 
cotton in the Petri dish in the experiments 
by Kellerman and Beckwith which fairly rep- 
resents the commercial packages. 

A careful study of the facts leads to the con- 
clusion that the criticisms justified by our 
results with commercial cultures are equally 
applicable to the methods of the Bureau of 
Plant Industry up to the season of 1905 at 
least. Until a few months since, the member 
of the Bureau of Plant Industry then in charge 
of the legume-bacteria investigation was also 
in close touch with this commercial company. 
It was accordingly to be expected that the 
methods employed in both laboratories would 
be practically identical and any important 
criticism against the methods employed in, 
or the product of, one laboratory would apply 
to the other. For this reason an examination 
of the methods employed, and the packages of 
inoculated cotton put out, by the Bureau of 
Plant Industry during the past two seasons 
is both interesting and instructive. 

The earliest official description of the 
bureau’s method of preparing the cultures on 
cotton is given in Letters Patent No. 755,519, 
dated March 22, 1904, and signed by G. T. 
Moore. ‘These state that ‘absorbent cotton 
or other equivalent material is dipped into 
the water containing the organisms or the 
water containing the organisms is sprinkled 
upon the cotton or other material and the 
same thoroughly air dried in a chamber free 
from dust or contamination by mold” A 
more recent and detailed description of the 
method is given by L. P. Sprague in a thesis 
presented to the faculty of the University of 
Vermont on ‘The Fixation of Nitrogen by 
Leguminous Plants,’ dated May 1, 1905. Mr. 
Sprague served as an assistant to Dr. Moore 
in the Bureau of Plant Industry and gives the 
following detailed description of the method 
there employed. “Absorbent cotton of the 


124 SCIENCE. 


best grade, which has been sterilized by heat- 
ing, without unrolling, in the dry oven about 
four hours at 150° C., is unrolled and placed 
in a tin pail, the pail having been sterilized 
_ by rinsing in boiling water, and the culture 
poured over it. 
saturated with the culture solution, by press- 
ing and squeezing it with the hands. It is 
then hung up in the culture room, where it 
is nearly free from foreign organisms, and 
allowed to dry, drying taking place in twenty- 
four to forty-eight hours. It is then stored 
in pasteboard boxes in the laboratory until 
ready for use. Other methods for inocula- 
ting and drying have been attempted, but thus 
far they have been unsuccessful.” 

In a recent repetition of our experiments 
in Petri dishes as detailed in Bulletin 270 it 
was found that the inoculated cotton under 
such circumstances becomes air dry in ap- 
proximately twenty-four hours. Accordingly 
it is seen that the method of preparation em- 
ployed by the Bureau of Plant Industry not 
only is practically identical with that em- 
ployed by the commercial company above de- 
seribed, but also the rate of drying is prac- 
tically the same as that in our Petri dish ex- 
periments in which the germs placed upon the 
cotton died promptly. 

Our own examinations of the bureau cotton 
is limited to six packages. While the num- 


ber of packages is small, it is significant that. 


from none of these packages did we succeed 
in isolating a single specimen of P. radicicola 
although some of the packages were repeatedly 
examined. Similar laboratory tests of a num- 
ber of packages of bureau cotton were made 
at the agricultural experiment stations in 
Delaware and North Carolina with similar 
negative results. The results of pot and field 
tests at the agricultural experiment stations in 
Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Georgia, Maine, New 
York (Cornell) and Wisconsin as published 
fail to show any well-marked results from the 
use of inoculated cotton furnished by the 
bureau. Two other stations, Michigan and 
Virginia, have kindly furnished us with a 
summary of like unpublished tests which are 
also negative. 

Although such may exist it is a surprising 


The cotton is thoroughly ~ 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 604. 


fact that thus far we have not learned of a 
single experiment conducted at one of the 
many state agricultural experiment stations 
where the inoculated cotton put out by the 
Bureau of Plant Industry has given good re- 
sults. 

The marked exception to this wide record of 
failure is furnished by Bulletin 71, Bureau of 
Plant Industry. When considering the favor- 
able reports there presented we are forced to 
conclude that an explanation is to be looked 
for largely in the psychological, rather than in 
the biological, realm. 

When we consider the methods of prepara- 
tion, storage and shipment employed by the 
Bureau of Plant Industry as described by 
Sprague in connection with the data upon the 
effect of slow drying and moist air as given by 
Messrs. Kellerman and Beckwith, an utter fail- 
ure of the bureau’s cultures was the only re- 
sult which could be logically expected. 

H. A. Harpina. 

New YorK AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT 


STation, May 2, 1906. 


QUOTATIONS. 
ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. 


Dr. Gustav LoIsEL, who is a professor of 
zoology in the Sorbonne, is making persistent 
efforts to have the menagerie in the Jardin des 
Plantes adapted to the needs of experimental 
science. He would have it so transformed as 
to become a school of zoological research with- 
out at the same time ceasing to be a place of 
entertainment for the people. Such a plan 
has been partly carried out in Bronx Park, so 
that certain fauna are permitted to live and 
breed almost as if they were in ‘the wild’ 
The experimental stations in this country 
where marine animals and plants may be 
studied have proved of the highest value to 
science; and the laboratory in connection with 
the Naples Aquarium has long been a favorite 
resort for naturalists. Two of Dr. Loisel’s 
suggestions are not likely to meet with popular 
approval. One is to do away altogether with 
the monkey house, which he says is infected 
with tuberculosis, and the other is to diminish 
the number of the more formidable wild ani- 
mals to make room for beasts whose habits 


Ci 
eae Aa Ee 


JULY 27, 1906.] 


may be more conveniently studied. But in 
general there is no good reason why the zoolog- 
ical collections of the world should not be 
adapted to the needs of students of natural 
history who should have advantages analogous 
to those already enjoyed by workers in botany 
and in the fine arts.— The N. Y. Evening Post. 


THE WILL OF ALFRED BEIT. 


THE public bequests made by Alfred Beit, 
who died on July 16, were made public in 
London on July 20, and have been cabled to 
this country. 

The most notable bequest is $6,000,000 to 
his partners to constitute a fund, the income 
of which is to be devoted to the construction, 
equipment or furtherance of any such 
methods of communication or transportation 
in Rhodesia, Portuguese Southeast Africa or 
the German possessions, and any parts of 
Africa that may be traversed by the Cape-to- 
Cairo Railway. The trustees are to have 
absolute discretion, and if two thirds decide 
that the fund is no longer required for further- 
ing the work of communication or transporta- 
tion, they can apply the proceeds to educa- 
tional, charitable or other public purposes in 
Rhodesia. 

One million dollars is left to the University 
of Johannesburg to build and equip buildings 
on the land previously given by Mr. Beit; 
one million dollars for educational or charit- 
able purposes in Rhodesia and other territories 
within the field of the British South Africa 
Company; $125,000 to the Rhodes University, 
Grahamstown, Cape Colony; $100,000 for edu- 
cational or charitable purposes in the Trans- 
vaal, and $75,000 for similar purposes in 
Kimberley and in Cape Colony. 

To the College of Technology, London Uni- 
versity, the sum of $250,000 and 1,000 shares 
in the DeBeers Company are bequeathed, and 
to the research fund of London University 
$125,000. 

Two hundred thousand dollars is to be dis- 
tributed equally in London and Hamburg for 
educational or charitable purposes. To King’s 
Hospital and Guy’s Hospital, London, the 
sum of $100,000 each is given. Mr. Beit’s 


SCIENCE. 


125 


property near Hamburg, which was his birth- 
place, is left to that city, and his art collec- 
tions are left to the galleries in London, Berlin 
and Hamburg. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


Tue Lavoisier medal of the Chemical So- 
ciety of Paris and the Hofmann medal of the 
German Chemical Society are to be presented 
to Dr. W. H. Perkin, on the occasion of the 
celebration this week of the jubilee of the coal- 
tar industry. 

THE eightieth birthday of Dr. Georg von 
Neumayer, late director of the Deutsche See- 
warte, which occurred on June 21, was cele- 
brated at Neustadt, where he now lives. An 
address was presented by Dr. S. Giinther, of 
Munich. It is proposed to establish a founda- 
tion for the encouragement of research by 
geographical students, and arrangements may 
be made for the painting of a portrait of Dr. 
Neumayer, to be placed in the Historical Mu- 
seum at Speier. 


Professor Carl Vogel, director of the Astro- 
physical Observatory at Potsdam, has been 
elected a correspondent of the Paris Academy 
of Sciences, in succession to the late Dr. S. P. 
Langley. 

Proressor JULIUS FRANz, director of the 
Breslau Observatory, has been elected an asso- 
ciate of the Royal Astronomical Society. 

Dr. Emi Fiscuer, professor of chemistry at 
Berlin; Dr. Stanislao Canizzaro, professor of 
chemistry at Rome, and Dr. Daniel Oliver, 
lately keeper of the herbarium of the Royal 
Botanical Gardens, Kew, have been elected 
foreign members of the Royal Society of New 
South Wales. 


A NUMBER of foreign scholars and men of 
science have been invited to take part in the 
opening of the main building of the Carnegie 
Institute, Pittsburg, in April next. Among 
those who have accepted are Sir William Hug- 
gins and Sir William Preece. 

Mr. S. F. Emmons, geologist of the U. S. 
Geological Survey, in charge of the section 
of metalliferous deposits, will personally 
supervise investigations made this summer by 
members of the survey in various mining re- 


126 SCIENCE. 


gions in the west. He will visit Butte, Mont., 
and adjoining districts, Ely, Nev., and other 
camps. 


GEOLOGIC surveys in the crystalline rocks of 
northern New Jersey will be carried on this 
summer by Mr. W. 8S. Bayley of the U. S. 
Geological Survey. This work will extend 
into the Greenwood Lake and Ramapo quad- 
rangles. When it is completed, the entire 
state of New Jersey will have been surveyed. 


Tue granite deposits and granite quarrying 
industry of New England will be investigated 
this summer by Mr. T. Nelson Dale, geologist 
of the U. S. Geological Survey. 


Mr. Homer R. Diun, Gardiner, Me., the 
state taxidermist, has been appointed chief 
taxidermist in the new Museum of Natural 
History of the Iowa State University. 


ProFressor UHLENHUTH, of Greifswald, has 
been appointed director of the newly-estab- 
lished bacteriological department of the Im- 
perial Bureau of Health, Berlin. 


Dr. H. Rosensuscu, professor of mineralogy 
and geology at Heidelberg, celebrated, on June 
24, his seventieth birthday. 


Tur Mackinnon studentships for the year 
- 1906-1907 have been awarded by the Royal 
Society to Mr. W. G. Duffield, ‘for the study 
of are spectra of metals under high pres- 
sures’; and to Dr. F. H. Scott, ‘for the con- 
tinuation of studies on the nature of the 
process of excitation of nerve cells.’ 


Dr. J. Brsuop TINGLE, assistant in organic 
chemistry at the Johns Hopkins University, 
has received a grant from the C. M. Warren 
fund of the American Academy of Arts and 
Sciences, to aid in the purchase of chemicals 
for use in continuation. of his investigations 
of certain derivatives of camphor-oxalic acid. 


THe Prussian Academy of Sciences has 
made a grant of 5,000 Marks to Dr. F. Mer- 
tens, professor of mathematics at Vienna. 


Sir Danie Morris, commissioner of agri- 
culture for the West Indies, delivered a lecture 
at the West India Committee Rooms on July 
19, on ‘The Present Position and Prospects 
of the Sea-Island Cotton Industry.’ 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 604. 


Tue following popular lectures have been 
arranged by the Royal Society of New South 
Wales: 

June 21.— Some Results of Archeological Work 


in Jerusalem,’ by Professor Anderson Stuart, 
M.D., LL.D. 


July 19—‘ Our Water Supply from Source to 
Distribution, by J. M. Smail, M.Inst.C.E., engi- 
neer-in-chief, board of water supply and sewerage, 
and EH. S. Stokes, M.B., D.P.H., medical officer, 
board of water supply and sewage. 

August 16.—‘‘ Sir Joseph Banks, the ‘ Father of 
Australia,” by J. H. Maiden, F.L.S., director, 
Botanic Gardens. : 

September 20.—‘ Recent Developments in Long 
Distance Electrical Transmission,’ by T. Rooke, 
Assoc.M.Inst.C.E., city electrical engineer. 

November 15.— Chapters in Early Australian 
History, by F. M. Bladen, F.R.G.S., F.R.HLS. 
(Lond.). 

Nature states that a special meeting was 
held in the Great Hall of the University of 
Athens on May 20 to celebrate the fortieth 
anniversary of Dr. A. CO. Christomanos’s ap- 
pointment as professor of chemistry in the 
university. A large audience, including the 
Greek minister of education, the university 
professors and students and many of the 
general public, was present. Dr. A. C. Dam- 
bergis, the professor of pharmaceutical chem- 
istry, referring to the great work which Pro- 
fessor Christomanos has done in the forty 
years, asserted that the greatest has been the 
pioneer work in the introduction of scientific 


- chemistry into Greece with the provision for 


laboratory work in chemistry and the other 
sciences, and more particularly in organizing 
so successfully the large chemical department 
of the university with its laboratory accom- 
modation for 180 students. Professor Chris- 
tomanos was the recipient of numerous honors, 
including several from foreign countries. 

THE students and friends of the late Pro- 
fessor A. Kekulé, the eminent chemist, have 
contributed about $8,000 to establish a scholar- 
ship at the University of Bonn in his memory. 

THE death is announced of the Rey. John 
Frederick Blake, formerly professor of nat- 
ural science in University College, Notting- 
ham, and at one time president of the Geolog- 
ical Association. 


Juy 27, 1906.] 


Dr. A. HOrMann, professor in the Technical 
Institute at Charlottenburg, died on June 30, 
at the age of seventy-one years. 


JupGE Epovarp Pirettr, noted for his 
writings on prehistoric archeology, died at the 
Chateau de la Cour des Prés, Rumigny, Ar- 
dennes, on June 5, in his eightieth year. Some 
years ago he gave his valuable collection, 
chiefly from the caverns of southern France, 
to the Museum of National Antiquities at St. 
Germain-en-Laye, near Paris. 

THERE will be on August 8 an examination 
for the position of fish culturist in the Bureau 
of Fisheries at salaries ranging from $540 to 
$900. 

Tue Haperiment Station Record states that 
lands have been set aside at Hamakua, Hawaii, 
_ for a tobacco farm. Experiments to cover 
three years are planned, which will be carried 
out under the direction of the Federal station. 
The funds for carrying on the farm are to be 
supplied by private parties. 


As a result of the passage of the bill allowing 
the sale of alcohol without the internal revenue 
tax, the Department of Agriculture has decided 
to publish a bulletin on the first of January, 
1907, when this law goes into effect, giving the 
public a collection of the best obtainable data 
on the use of alcohol in small engines. For 
this purpose Professor Charles EK. Lucke, of 
Columbia University, has been retained by the 
department as expert to conduct these investi- 
gations in the laboratories of the university. 
This bulletin will contain all the work done on 
the subject, both here and abroad, a complete 
bibliography, together with the results of ex- 
periments and the conclusions drawn there- 
from on American engines. Those who have 
patents on the subject or vaporizers, carburet- 
tors or complete engines are invited to sub- 
mit them for tests. These tests will be con- 
ducted without expense, except the transporta- 
tion of the apparatus, and the reports will be 
published in the bulletin. 

Tue French government has undertaken to 
publish the results of Dr. Jean Charcot’s 
antarctic expedition. The Naval Department 
is to publish the following: (1) Narrative of 
the voyage; (2) hydrographical results, com- 


SCIENCE. 


127 


prising nautical instructions, description, with 
views and photographs, of the coasts surveyed, 
maps and charts; (38) astronomical observa- 
tions; (4) observations on terrestrial gravity; 
(5) analyses of samples of sea-water; (6) 
meteorology; (7) terrestrial magnetism; (8) 
atmospheric electricity; (9) medical report. 
Further, the Department for Public Instruc- 
tion is to guarantee the publication of reports 
on the geology, glaciology, zoology, bacteriol- 
ogy and botany of the expedition. The two 
parts will constitute one work, which will be 
entitled ‘The Cape Horn Scientific Mission.’ 


Dr. JosepH W. Ricuarps, of Lehigh Uni- 
versity, is making an extended journey through 
central Mexico and will later attend the Inter- 
national Geological Congress. 


We learn from Nature that arrangements 
have been completed for the erection of a com- 
modious laboratory for the study of marine 
biology at Cullereoats, on the Northumberland 
coast. A much smaller laboratory, which had 
been provided by Alderman Dent, the chair- 
man of the County Council’s fisheries com- 
mittee, was accidentally burnt down some few 
years ago, and the proposed building is de- 
signed to carry out, not only fishery research, 
but also general biological studies. The gift 
of the site and the cost of erection of the build- 
ing will be borne by Mr. Wilfrid Hudleston, 
F.R.S., the management being under the con- 
trol of the Armstrong College at Newcastle. 


The British Medical Journal states that the 
University of Vienna has delegated several of 
its geologists, together with two professors of 
chemistry, to join a body of men of science 
now at work at Carlsbad, to devise means for 
securing the springs against telluric and seis- 
mic disturbances. Once previously, in 1775, 
when the great earthquake in Lisbon occurred, 
the waters disappeared for three days, only to 
return turbid and changed in taste and tem- 
perature. But these changes soon passed off. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


ALL-YEAR-ROUND investigation of problems 
in fresh-water biology is made possible by a 
recent provision for a division of limnology 
in the department of invertebrate zoology in 


128 3 SCIENCE. 


Cornell University. Dr. James G. Needham, 
of Lake Forest College, has been appointed 
assistant professor of limnology to take 
charge of that work. He will enter upon his 
duties at Ithaca in February, 1907. A site 
for a biological field station has just been 
selected on the Renwick Lagoon at the head 
of Cayuga Lake. It is accessibly located at 
the end of a street-car line a mile from the 
university; it is surrounded by a rich fauna 
and flora, and is well adapted to the investiga- 
tions to be undertaken there. The necessary 
station building and equipment will be pro- 
vided in the spring. In the future a general 
course in limnology will be offered in the 
university, and provision will be made for 
research students from the beginning. 


Tue council of the Medical Alumni Asso- 
ciation of the Harvard Medical School has is- 
sued an appeal to the twenty-nine hundred 
living graduates for subscriptions to increase 
the salaries of instructors and assistants. 


Mr. S. F. Ler, president of the Board of 
Trustees of Stanford University, and Dr. 
David Starr Jordan, president of the univer- 
sity, have made public the following notice, 
under date of July 12: “ We desire to inform 
the students, alumni and friends of Stanford 
University that the work of the university will 
continue as usual in all departments for the 
coming term. ‘The buildings of the inner 
quadrangle were scarcely injured by the dis- 
aster of April. The work of restoration of the 
outer quadrangle is being pushed as rapidly as 
possible, and we feel certain that the buildings 
necessary for the actual work of the univer- 
sity, such as class-rooms, libraries, laboratories 
and dormitories, will be ready for use by 
August 23, the date of the entrance examina- 
tions for the new term, the registration of 
students beginning on August 28, and instruc- 
tion on August 30.” 


Furtuer details are now announced of the 
visit of English school teachers to the United 
States, arranged by Mr. Alfred Mosely. Five 
parties, each containing one hundred teachers, 
will come to this country, beginning in No- 
vember next. They will be given leave of 
absence with salary by the school, and the 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 604. 


steamship companies will give them return 
transportation for $25. It is expected that 
reduced rates will also be secured from Amer- 
ican railways and hotels. Each party will 
visit the schools of New York City, and of 
some section of the country. The parties 
will be only twelve days each in the United 
States. 


Dr. G. D. Harris, of Cornell University, 
has been elected to the chair of geology in the 
Louisiana State University, and will divide 
his time between university duties and the 
direction of the geological survey of Louisi- 
ana. 


Raymonp Lonetey, Ph.D. (Chicago), has 
been appointed instructor in mathematics and 
astronomy at Yale University. 


At Tulane University, Professor Henry F. 
Rugan has been advanced to be associate pro- 
fessor of mechanic arts and Dr. Joseph Ivey 
to be associate professor of mathematics and 
astronomy, 


Proressor W. A. Stockine, Jr., has been 
appointed assistant professor of dairy bac- 
teriology in the State College of Agriculture 
at Cornell University. Professor Stocking 
has been connected with the Connecticut Agri- 
cultural College and Experiment Station the 
past few years. 


At New Hampshire College, Instructor 
Charles Brooks has been made associate pro- 
fessor of botany. Mr. F. W. Putnam (Wor- 
cester, 99) has been made assistant professor 
of drawing and T. J. Headlee, Ph.D. (Indiana, 
706), assistant entomologist. In the chemical 
department Mr. Charles James, who obtained 
his training with Sir William Ramsay, has 
been appointed instructor. 


Mr. Paut Lancer, of Milwaukee, has been 
elected acting professor in the technical insti- 
tute at Aachen. 


The Experiment Station Record states that 
a chair of fishery and fish breeding has been 
established at the Agricultural High School 
of Berlin and will be occupied by Dr. P. 
Schiemenz, director of the Miiggelsee Biolog- 
ical Station, which now becomes a department 
of the Agricultural High School. 


et SS td 


a 


ee eee ee 2 ra 


Se eg ee a ee oY 


Pepa eee 


mCEBENCE |). 


A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 
OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, 


Fripay, Aueust 3, 1906. 


CONTENTS. 


To what Hatent should the University In- 
vestigator be freed from Teaching? PRESI- 
DENT DAVID STARR JORDAN............... 129 


Scientific Books :— 
Loeb on the Dynamics of Living Matter: 
ID as Shu des iM bn OnyAS IC ieig aie Aneta neha pacar 145 


Scientific Journals and Articles............ 147 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
Appeal for an Aero-physical Observatory in 
Japan: Dr. S. T. Tamura. An Unusual 
NC CEOM Eye EY DVASVIES Ea ejiiaiay aperetclelel aielcneiatshs 148 


Special Articles :— 
On the Occurrence of Desmostylus, Marsh: 


PROFESSOR JOHN C. MERRIAM............ 151 
Quotations :-— 
The Faculties in American Universities... 152 


Professor Henry A. Ward: Dr. OLIVER C. 
TEVAIDIEU DNC RORNG Ais ee a Aes Bie ee aT ey a AN Sa 158 


Frite Schaudinn: PRoressor GARY N. CAL- 


LESTINIS) 08s ADA SOE ats ese RN 1 ee PO ea 154 
The Royal Botanic Society of London....... 155 
The International Institute of Sociology.... 156 
Results of the German ‘Census... 2... ...5... 157 
Nelentufic NOveS) and INeias eerie Weiss cielo). 158 
University and Educational News.......... 160 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 
review should be sent to the Editor of SclENCE, Garrison-on- 


Hudson, N. Y. 


TO WHAT EXTENT SHOULD THE UNIVER- 
SITY INVESTIGATOR BE FREED FROM 
THACHIN G?* 

THERE can be no single, direct answer to, 
this question. The answer depends on the 
man; on what he is doing or how he is try- 
ing to do it. And if the man be really a 
capable investigator, he will be most com- 
petent to answer this question for himself. 
There is then no collective problem admit- 
ting of a single answer. The important 
element lies in the premise that the uni- 
versity must foster research as an integral 
part of its work, for its own sake as an 
institution, and for the good of humanity. 
It is research which has made universities 
possible, and they must provide for the 
continuance of the succession. Again, 
teaching without research is not university 
teaching. In this sense, we must give a 
broad definition to the word ‘research.’ 
Teaching from second-hand sources is 
never good teaching. 

It is the duty of the university to dis- 
cover, to coordinate and to disseminate 
truth; and with this, to train scholars and 
workers, and to develop personality and 
character. In this many-sided work all 
members of the university should take some 
part, but this part in the nature of things 
must be very unequal; not many men excel 
in all phases of university usefulness. 
Some rare men are useful in the highest 
degree—but in one line only. Around 
those preeminent in the discovery of truth, 
chairs of investigation may be built up. 


Read before the Seventh Annual Conference of 
the Association of American Universities, held at 
San Francisco, Berkeley and Palo Alto, Cali- 
fornia, March 14-17, 1906. 


150 SCIENCE. 


But the man should always come before 
the chair. It is futile to frame a chair of 
investigation, and then to seek a man to fill. 
it. In general, the investigator who can 
not teach at all is subject to some defect of 
temper or to some deficiency in health. 

As the world goes, with men of our 
breed, the primary value of research is in 
relation to teaching. ‘The real teacher is 
the man advancing in some direction’ (T. 
H. Morgan). Many sorts of mental effort 
go by the name of research, and properly 
so. These range from first-hand study of 
rwell-known problems through all phases of 
sgase-counting and hair-splitting—the rear- 
-rangement of old material and the descrip- 
~tion of new—up to competent and courage- 
“ous excursions into unknown realms of 
“thought and observation. Some may go 
far and bring back rich returns, some go 
“but a little way and bring back new aspects 
~of old surroundings, but all should go 
-somewhere and bring back something. It 
sis mot needful that all departments should 
adopt the same methods in research. I 
see no reason why Greek literature, for 
example, should be treated as though it 
were a branch of histology, and history 
need not be stated in terms of chemical 
reactions. It does not make work scientific 
to make it hard. All fresh work is de- 
sirable, all should be encouraged, though 
to most men, even university men, only the 
simpler forms of research can ever be pos- 
sible. A man of no great talent for scien- 
tific pioneering may be an effective teacher, 
but a man whose grasp of facts and prin- 
ciples is wholly second-hand can never be 
such. However old his conceptions and 
however often his thoughts have been ex- 
pressed, he must derive them afresh from 
nature if-he is to make them vital to others. 
To the extent that he does so, he is engaged 
in a form of research. It is his instinet 
for first-hand contact, the joy in dealing 
with realities, which is essential to the great 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 605. 


teacher, and these traits are primarily those 
of the investigator also. The instinct for 
research grows with practise. It is never 
safe to let it die. Hence the importance 
of. continuity in investigation and the need 
of it for the teacher at all stages of his 
development. A man capable of research 
will do something of it wherever he is and 
whatever his limitations. In Huxley’s 
phrase, it is ‘the breath of his nostrils.’ 
With time and appliances he will do more 
work and better work, but you may know 
the real university man by the fact that he 
does some work which is his own, even 
under the most untoward conditions. He 
is safe so long as he is growing. A grow- 
ing man incites growth, but not even mold 
will grow on a fossil. 

The American university is emphatically. 
a teaching university, to borrow the Eng- 
lish distinction of schools that teach from 
schools that examine. Its professors are 
teachers. They are not primarily exam- 
iners, as in the English universities of all 
classes, nor do they have the freedom from 
personal responsibility that is often as- 
sumed in the universities of Germany. 
For the rank and file of our university 
men, teaching is the main function, and 
investigation receives its first value from 
the fact that adequate teaching is impos- 
sible without it. 

In general, the university professor 
recognizes his double duty, his actual work 
as a teacher, and his duty as an investi- 
gator to become a better teacher. Some 
teaching in general aids investigation; it 
clarifies the mind, broadens the view and 
saves from vagaries. Teaching and investi- 
cation in a general way are mutually help- 
ful—if the combination is not carried too 
far beyond the fatigue point. This varies 
with different subjects and with different 
men. When the two conflict, investigation 
is likely to suffer. Research can be post- 
poned; teaching can not. Too much teach- 


i 


i 
, 


i I i eg 


Auaust 3, 1906.] 


ing breeds brain fag, which kills the joy 
of knowing and doing. Here again the 
personal equation comes in, and to a larger 
degree. Some men do their best work 


eregariously—directing, controlling and 
stimulating the interest of others. Some 


ean work well only when alone and undis- 
turbed. Some kinds of work demand un- 
interrupted attention for a period. Some 
require special visits to libraries, to mu- 
seums, or to distant lands. All these mat- 
ters should receive consideration by univer- 
sity authorities. The plan of giving each 
year, on full pay, absolute freedom to one 
or two professors engaged in research, the 
same privilege later to be extended to 
others, is one which deserves general adop- 
tion. This absence should mean a year for 
work, not for rest, nor travel, nor for 
writing text-books. The present sabbatical 
arrangement will serve for these, but the 
pursuit of science demands something more 
than half-pay furloughs. The university 
authorities should consider these things, 
and so should the competent worker who 
must be the final judge of his own work 
and his own needs. 

An obstacle in the way of this and vari- 
ous other forms of relief which inure to 
the gain of the university lies in the need 
of personal discrimination, to which goy- 
erning boards are painfully averse. The 
mediocre worker is with us, as well as the 
man who can not investigate at all. A 
form of senatorial courtesy obtains in all 
university faculties. Without it, team 
work, or work as a cooperative body of 
scholars, would be impossible. But this 
very fact forms an obstacle to the relief of 
those men who could make the best use of 
freedom. 

Among young men who have done a little 
work, there is too much conceit of research, 
and overmuch desire to secure at once its 
rewards. Research pays its own way and 


SCIENCE. 


131 


asks no reward. Moreover, overmuch cack- 
ling indicates that eggs are really small 
and few. Not all who talk of research, 
even in Germany, shall enter the kingdom. 
Perfunctory work, work done for the pur- 
pose of catching the attention of the easily 
deceived college president, work done to be 
heard from, all these count for very little. 
Freedom from teaching might only increase 
the quantity, making its badness more vis- 
ible. This fact the Carnegie Institution 
has served to make plain, in its dealings 
with some of our callow doctors of phi- 
losophy. 

Moreover, the real investigator will fol- 
low his own bent. The disposition of our 
young men ‘to paddle in the same pool,’ 
to rush toward each new field where some- 
thing is proposed, is a symptom of incom- 
petence. There are fads in investigation, 
and while the fad is on, the product is 
scanty. In general, all fields of research 
are open alike, and they have always been 
open. Hach excursion into one of them is 
rewarded according to its deserts. In this 
quest single-heartedness and broad-mind- 
edness are the elements which count for 
most. Cleverness, technique, speed, self- 
confidence, facility, versatility, perfection 
of method even—all these are matters of 
equipment of minor importance. Too often 
novelty in work is unduly exalted. Much 
which we call method is only the trick of 
making a very small discovery appear 
epoch-making through bolstering of bib- 
liography, philosophy and _ historical eriti- 
cism. 

In general, the investigator will wish to 
publish his results. The instinct of the 
teacher impels him to do this. Yet it is 
true that publication is a very poor test of 
research. Some men keep their results for 
years—for many years—holding them until 
their conclusions are ripened, their sup- 
positions verified. A voluminous bibliog- 


132 SCIENCE. 


raphy does not necessarily mean contribu- 
tion to knowledge. It does not even imply 
originality of thought or breadth of obser- 
vation. It is quality that counts, and a 
single fact well tested and set in orderly 
relation may outweigh volumes of argu- 
ment or theory. Under the stimulus to 
get into print, very much is now put forth 
which university men everywhere feel 
might be better dropped into the waste- 
basket. This would be its final fate, printed 
or not, were it not for the demands of 
blindly conscientious bibhographers. Some 
twenty years ago I used these words: 

I am well aware that there is a cant of in- 
vestigation, as of religion and of all other good 
things. Germany, for example, is full of young 
men who set forth to investigate, not because 
they ‘are called to explore truth,’ but because 
research is the popular fad, and inroads into 
new fields the pre-requisite to promotion. And so 
they burrow into every corner of science, philology, 
philosophy, and history, and produce pretty results 
in as automatic fashion as if they were so many 
excavating machines. Real investigators are born, 
not made, and this uninspired digging into old 
roots and ‘ Urquellen’ bears the same relation 
to the work of the real investigators that the 
Latin verses of Rugby and Eton bear to Virgil 
and Horace. Nevertheless, it is true that no 
second-hand man was ever a great teacher. I very 
much doubt if any really great investigator was 
ever a poor teacher. How could he be so? The 
very presence of Asa Gray was an inspiration to 
students of botany for years after he had left the 
class-room. Such a man leaves the stamp of his 
greatness on every student who comes within the 
range of his influence. 


University authorities must, therefore, 
not fear to become respecters of persons. 
They should give time, freedom, appliances, 
where these things can be used, while re- 
fusing them to the man who would thereby 
merely advertise his own insignificance. 

The valuation of research is, at best, a 
difficult problem. Much of the results of 
hard labor would be better left unpub- 
lished, and the valuations set by the au- 
thors will not be recognized by the workers 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 605. 


of the future. Spurious research is worse 
than nothing. The pressure to print some- 
thing is responsible for much of it; the 
leisure of fellowships for much more. Only 
a few men can make use of leisure. More- 
over, leisure without adequate salary avails 
little. The busy man under the pressure 


of poverty, edits texts, writes cyclopedias, ° 


throws out potboilers of every kind avail- 
able to his profession. This is not research. 
It may be respectable, but it does not de- 
velop originality nor mark progress. 

In the American university of to-day we 
teach too much, too many hours, too much 
that is not worth while, too much to people 
who do not care for this teaching. We 
teach at too low a tension, with too little 
enthusiasm, too little inspiration, throwing 
too little responsibility on the students, 
showing too great patience with those not 
worthy to accept responsibility. The men 
we call professors are paid too little, helped 
too much in their early preparation, pro- 
moted too rapidly and above all with too 
little discrimination. It would be better 
for our universities if half our teachers 
were in some other profession—if the best 
half were the ones who remained. ‘This 
will not be the case until our present scale 
of salaries is advanced. There is too much 
encouragement of ‘digs’—men with tech- 
nical accuracy but without personal force 
or originality or skill in interpretation of 
new material. There is too much tolera- 
tion of volatile versatility and of the meth- 
ods of the Sunday supplement. In our 
profession it is too easy to get into line for 
promotion, while promotion itself ought to 
carry more pay, more freedom, and with 
all this far higher responsibilities than 
those we now demand. 

Some large degree of freedom from 
teaching should, therefore, be accessible to 
the investigator, and this freedom can only 
be stated as a principle not reduced to rule 


a i a oR hg i ete > BE te 


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Se ee ee 


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5} 


+e 


ee 


FE en 


= 


a 


AuGust 3, 1906.] 


or set forth in terms of hours or percent- 
ages. But as teaching is itself dear to most 
rue investigators, there are other lines of 
freedom still more important than relief 
from class work. The work that kills is 
not teaching, but the routine which goes 
with teaching. When I accepted my pres- 
ent position, Governor Stanford told me 
that he thought the president of the uni- 
versity should do nothing he could hire 
some one else to do just as well. The uni- 
versity professor should be placed in just 
this position. Everything that can be just 
as well done by some one else should be 
taken from his shoulders. He should have 
a stenographer, a reader, an artist, an 
artisan, a ‘Diener,’ all the helpers who can 
save his time and add to the dignity and 
strength of his work. <A certain amount 
of executive work, even of committee work, 
he should be glad to retain—for the Amer- 
ican university is a corporation whose. af- 
fairs need constant vigilance on the part of 
somebody. In the long run, its greatest 
scholars are its wisest men, and in their 
hands its control should finally lie. The 
highest type of investigation demands 
many of the qualities which make a man 
successful as an administrator. Moreover, 
it would be a pity and a misfortune to have 
academic management fall into the hands 
of those not in sympathy with the highest 
functions of the university itself. It is not 
the business man, but the man of science, 
the man of learning, who should direct 
the internal management of the university. 
Those who do not understand the scholar’s 
business can not properly direct the schol- 
ar’s activities. It may be a matter of re- 
eret to use our scholars for executive pur- 
poses, but it will go hard with scholarship 
if the scholar loses control. It is surely a 
mistake to suppose that any scholarly 
gentleman who becomes a professor can 
train investigators. It is the master’s 


SCIENCE. 


133 


touch which awakens the latent instincts 
of the student. Only the university man 
can create the university atmosphere. 

It is not well that even the best of uni- 
versity men should be freed from respon- 
sibility for the welfare of the university 
in all its interests. Leisure without respon- 
sibility is dangerous to all save the greatest. 
This the English universities have demon- 
strated, though they have not acted on 
their knowledge. The fellows of Oxford 
and Cambridge are provided with life- 
stipends that they may devote themselves 
freely to teaching or to research. Half of 
these men are doing nothing even remotely 
connected with scholarship. With many of 
them, fox-hunting occupies a higher place 
than philosophy, and the drink from the 
Pierian spring is replaced by simpler and 
more familiar beverages. 

Among endowed investigators in Europe, 
it is no uncommon thing for a man to say, 
‘It is time for me to produce another 
paper; research is due this year again.’ 
Then the investigator hunts through the 
museum or the library for some topic which 
will yield the maximum of pages with the 
minimum of labor. 

I do not think that men have often suc- 
ceeded in research unless they have rejoiced 
in such work, unless it is the spontaneous 
expression of their natural activities. Such 
joy in production gives no guarantee that 
the work shall be good, but it gives the basis 
on which training can be made effective. 

I can not agree with those who regard 
university professorships for research alone 
as one of the primary essentials of the 
American university. We should not divide 
our men into research professors and teach- 
ing professors. It is not good for the uni- 
versities that among its varied helpers we 
should recognize distinctions of caste, nor 
should we try to develop one group of pro- 
fessors as higher than another or apart 


134 SCIENCE. 


from it. Professor N. S. Shaler has well 
said : 

I believe that no teacher should be so burdened 
with instruction that he can not do inquiry to a 
reasonable extent. If he accepts the office of 
teacher he must make that work his principal 
end. He should understand that inquiry is neces- 
sary to fit him for teaching. 

I think that the effect would be bad of having 
certain men set aside as inquirers even for a part 
of their time. It would tend to increase that 
already painful division of our instructors into 
men who are alive and men who are dead. A 
man should look upon research as he does on 
traveling—something that, if he is a breadwinner, 
he has to take by the way. Only a blessed few 
who have the rare combination of money and 
purpose can devote themselves to it. 


In the same vein, Professor James Perrin 
Smith observes : 


One teaches better by example than precept, and 
every university professor should be an investi- 
gator in the work that he teaches. But routine 
teaching must be done and the setting aside of 
a certain number of men as a sort of priesthood 
to do nothing but research will make the burden 
of teaching fall more heavily on the less favored 
ones, some of whom may contain the germs of real 
contributions to science or literature. In this way 
both the research and the teaching will tend to 
become poorer. 


Dr. John C. Branner says: 


I do not think that every one who is interested 


in or capable of carrying on investigation has, or 
should be encouraged to believe that he has, some 
sort of right to a professional position. Every 
professor (not emeritus) should be required to 
give an important part of his time to personal 
instruction or to the supervision and direction of 
instruction. At the same time, the professor who 
is not engaged in research of some kind is not a 
fit person to be a professor, though he may be a 
valuable man for giving certain kinds of instruc- 
tion. Such a person should not be promoted 
beyond a subordinate position. 


My final answer to the question before 
us is this: 

The university should recognize the 
necessity of research to university men and 
in a much greater degree than is now the 
case in any American university. It 


[N.S. VoL. XXIV. No. 605. 


should provide for this in the way of all 
needed appliances, material, books, clerical 
help, artists, assistants, leisure and free- 
dom. These needs can not be enumerated 
categorically, for they must vary with each 
individual man. Among them should be 
named provision from some source to en- 
sure adequate publication. The plan of 
eranting regularly to one or more pro- 
fessors each year a research leave of ab- 
sence or of freedom from all other duties 
is especially to be commended. Hach com- 
petent investigator can be trusted to indi- 
cate his own needs; the university authori- 
ties need concern themselves only as to his 
competence and their own ability to re- 
spond. Leisure without responsibility 
serves no useful purpose, and adequate pay 
is necessary to give fruitfulness to leisure 
or freedom. Men should not be encouraged 
to undertake research in order to gain pro- 
fessorships. Rather they should gain pro- 
fessorships in order to make research fruit- 
ful. A university need not provide for 
research fellowships or research professor- 
ships. If it possesses the man of a thou- 
sand who can be best used by such provi- 
sion, it can build a chair about him and his 
needs, this chair to be abolished at once 
when the incumbency shall cease. We 
should grant freedom from cheap and ster- 
ile activity—from reading papers, sharpen- 
ing knives and. copying letters; from su- 
perfluous committee meetings and from 
routine work any subaltern could do just 
as well; and, above all, from the thousand 
makeshifts of poverty. This relief is far 
more needed than relief from teaching. 


Once in a generation [says a correspondent], per- 
haps appears a man whose work is so important 
that he should be entirely freed from instruction, 
and as much as possible from administration; 
Darwin is an illustration. Otherwise, the impor- 
tance of bringing the men of first and second rate 
training and working power into contact with 
receptive pupils is so great as considerably to out- 
weigh the value of any scientific investigations 


Aucust 3, 1906.] 


they might make if left entirely free from teach- 
ing—Agassiz is a case in point. Anton de Bary 
was one of the ablest investigators of his genera- 
tion (he died in 1887). But all his brilliant work 
would sooner or later have been accomplished by, 
not one person, but a considerable number of other 
people, and as it lay in the then advanced field 
involving microscopical appliances and technique, 
the great improvement in modern methods has 
enabled inferior men to do some of his work 
better than he did it, and clear up difficulties he 
left unsolved. His influence, however, as a 
teacher can not be overestimated. The men who 
received inspiration and training in his laboratory 
are among the leaders, and what is better perhaps, 
are among the sanest influences in botanical work 
in their generation. Again the pupils of de 
Bary’s pupils are among the best influences of the 
younger generation. 


In his students the work of a great 
investigator is multiplied a hundred or a 
thousand fold. To be thus remembered, 
to live thus in the spirit and methods of 
the generations in science that follow after 
us, this is for us, as university teachers, as 
university investigators, as men who teach 
through the method of research, the noblest 
type of fame, the worthiest conception of 
personal immortality. 

In the preparation of this address I sent 
a circular note to about a hundred leading 


university men, and I have received a sin- © 


gularly valuable and suggestive series of 
answers. Most of them agree in a general 
way with my own views already stated, or 
more exactly, their agreement has helped 
me to form my own final opinions with 
more precision and more confidence. Some 
of them state recognized principles with 
novel force, while a few others hold views 
unlike my own on one or two phases of the 
question. A few are partially satisfied 
with present conditions, believing that 
these matters are self-regulating and that 
the universities are doing all that can be 
done under present conditions. <A few 
again place a higher value on the young 
enthusiast who thinks that he can investi- 


SCIENCE. 155 


gate what he can not teach, and others stil} 
are more tolerant towards the man who can 
teach what he can not investigate. One 
correspondent places especial emphasis on 
the value of leisure, even though for a time 
our university men may not know how to 
use it. He says: 

I think, in general, that the great lack in the 
American college and university is lack of leisure. 
The ideal seems to be that of ‘ keeping busy’ both 
the faculty and the students. More show of 
activity is thus made, and trustees are better 
satisfied. I believe, on the contrary, that a cer- 
tain amount of guaranteed unoccupied time every 
day should be a distinctive feature of the academic 
life, both for student and for professor. Of 


' course, if leisure were suddenly granted, we should 


neither of us know what to do with it and how 
to use it rightly. But we can’t learn how to use: 
leisure aright without having some little leisure: 
to use. Reform might come gradually. America,, 
it would seem, has combined the English way of 
keeping its instructors occupied all day with the 
German idea of extending the working year over 
three quarters or more of the solar year. But the 
English tutor gets more than six months of the 
year to himself; and the German professor lives 
a much more leisurely life than the ‘American 
professor can do. The consequence is, I think, 
that both the Englishman and the German are, at 
their best, better academic men than we American 
professors can be. 

This leisure I should give to everybody, and I 
believe that the granting of it would in essentials 
answer your question. But I add this: I do not 
think that the number of men capable of doing 
research work is anything like so great as one 
would gather from the scientific journals (Sct- 
ENCE, for instance), or from the general atmos- 
phere of faculties. The tacking-on of a graduate 
school to the college and the implicit idea that 
every holder of a chair can direct if he can not 
himself accomplish research work, I take to be 
wrong and mischievous in the extreme. In Eng- 
land, as there are among the students pass-men 
and class-men, with no jealousy or rivalry or 
thought of superiority or inferiority, so there are 
among the teachers men who are appointed mainly 
to teach and men who are appointed to research 
offices. I think that this division should be drawn 
in American faculties. It should be frankly 
recognized that the majority of professors, how- 
ever excellent their method of instruction and 


156 SCIENCE. 


however wide their knowledge, are not fitted or 
expected to carry on original investigation. 

Now to the definite answer to your question. 
If under existing circumstances a man is found 
who is capable of extended research—one who can 
attract young graduates to him, give and take 
fruitful ideas with them, found a ‘school’ of 
sound scientific inquiry—then I should think that 
such a man ought to be highly cherished and 
privileged; that he should be called upon to set 
his own amount of teaching work. Some teach- 
ing, especially to the very beginners in his sub- 
ject, he would probably always want to do. But 
he should, in my opinion, be freed from the inter- 
mediate work of imparting information to stu- 
dents in the mid-period of their training. That 
such a man should be required, day in and day 
out, to give his best hours to the routine of in- 
struction, has always seemed to me to be a bit of 
sheer folly on the part of university authorities. 

I am obliged to append a postscript. It is use- 
less to grant leisure, whether to all alike or to a 
favored few, unless an adequate salary goes with 
it. It is pitiful to see men who are able to do 
new work spend their summers in summer schools, 
or devote what scanty time they now have to 
routine work for the press, for cyclopedias, ete. 
Even the arrangement of the sabbatical year is 
really farcical for men who have only their pro- 
fessorial income to rely upon: to take it one 
must either have ‘married money’ or have written 
a successful text-book whose sale adds to one’s 
income. If professors engaged in research were 
relieved from the work of instruction, with no 
further change made, I am afraid that they would 
at once begin—most of them—to devote their 
leisure time to the acquisition of scholarly ap- 
purtenances and various comforts of living: I do 
not think that the output of research work would, 
at least for some time, materially increase. 


But leisure. without responsibility rapid- 
ly deteriorates, except with the superior 
man, to whom all things are possible. The 
fellowship system of Oxford and Cam- 
bridge in hundreds of cases has degener- 
ated to simple graft, with the same evil 
effect on English education that American 
forms of parasitism have had on our own 
local politics. The sinecure and the exam- 
ination paper are the two burdens borne by 
higher education in Great Britain—evil in- 
fluences from which the American univer- 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 605. 


sity is relatively free, though every land 
has its own troubles. There is, again, a 
distinction between instruction in a man’s 
own line of work and the so-called routine 
teaching of elementary facts to boys with- 
out interest in them. The doors of our 
universities ought to swing more freely 
both ways, and the student who doesn’t 
eare for his own education should find a 
way out more readily than he does now. 

A few of my correspondents emphasize 
the value of research professorships as cor- 
rective of the tendency to regard routine 
work as the whole function of the univer- 
sity. Without going quite so far as some 
others, one correspondent has the following 
suggestive words: 


The burdening sense of accountability under 
which the American professor suffers is to my 
mind the real danger point of the situation. * * * 
It is the advancement, even the rehabilitation of 
the academic career, that is concerned. To render 
that career an inviting one for the ablest minds, 
to give the career the recognition—social, finan- 
cial; in honor and dignity and general esteem— 
that it should have to serve the intellectual in- 
terests of the nation best, is the larger end in 
which your special problem finds a place. The 
present status of the professor lacks much that 
is desirable and possible; and part of his difficulty 
lies in the interpretation of his duties, and even 
more in the emphasis of that portion of his 
activities for which he is most esteemed, most 
rewarded. At present I should say that his ad- 
vance in most institutions depends upon his serv- 
iceability to the university on committees and in 
its general administrative business; and next upon 
his ability to achieve a certain sort of popularity 
amongst the students. To subordinate these modes 
of estimating his services to the far more essential 
traits that give worth to a man’s services, decided 
influences should be set into action. Among them 
I should attach high value to any emphasis of 
the value of research as an integral part of a 
professor’s life work, as one of the preeminent 
considerations that justify his place in the uni- 
versity faculty. Any such recognition seems to 
me a decided, and at the moment a much needed, 
step in advancing the academic career; and for 
this reason my view upon your special problem 
takes decided and emphatic shape. 


1 
Ki 
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4 


Se ee a 


Aveust 3, 1906.] 


I believe that a large measure of elasticity 
should enter into the definite assignment of duty, 
that the minimum requirements should be small. 
We can not accept either the German, French or 
English view of the situation. We hold a man to 
a far more rigorous task, leave less to his decision 
than do any of these foreign institutions. Our 
professors are more distinctly engaged to teach. 
Yet it seems to me so hopeless to look for the 
career of research in many departments of learn- 
ing outside of the universities, and its presence 
in the university is so helpful, that the wiser 
solution seems to me frankly to include the re- 
search program within the larger cultural and 
practical ends for which universities exist, and 
thus to afford the professors whose interests le 
that way the largest possible relief from teaching, 
to devote themselves to so integral a part of their 
function as investigation occupies. 

This should apply as well to the younger men. 
The great point that is made in favor of the 
German ‘ Docent’ system is that it leaves men free 
at the most energetic periods of their lives to 
pursue their own interests. They are accountable 
to no one; have acquired the privileges of teaching, 
but no duties other than those voluntarily as- 
sumed; they are to work out their careers as 
freely as they like, and frequently are given the 
facilities that they need. This again we can not 
do; but I believe it may stand as an emphasis of 
the influences that our universities can wisely 
cherish, though they must use other means to 
express their esteem of this part of the academic 
career. 

I do not see how the practical side of the issue 
raised can be met by any formula. Having ex- 
pressed the trend that seems to me to be worth 
favoring, the actual determination of ways and 
means involves a series of practical considerations, 
often of local considerations, that resist formula- 
tion. Taking the provisions that the most en- 
lightened of our universities make for research 
(and they are considerable), I am willing to ven- 
ture the opinion that these could be distinctly and 
liberally enlarged without, in my opinion, render- 
ing the universities open to the charge of over- 
emphasizing this portion of their functions, or of 
failing to interpret properly the functions of the 
professor and his duties towards the university 
from which he obtains his support. 


Another correspondent attacks one more 
phase of our difficulty, the waste of our 
resources through trying to do too many 
things. He says: 


SCIENCE. 


137 


The chief factor in determining from decade to 
decade the actual course of study in American 
universities has' been, as I think, the pressure of 
new subjects for recognition. This pressure 
changed the pressure of seventy-five years ago, 
with its slender list of subjects, into the cur- 
riculum of forty and twenty-five years ago, whose 
aim was to compress a bit of each sort of learn- 
ing into a four years’ course. When this became 
impossible, two courses of study were made and 
then three. The ground must be covered. No one 
student could cover the ground, but the catalogue 
must do so. { 

The same pressure, growing always greater, 
caused the so-called all-round course of study to 


blow up from within, leaving its debris in many 


new and strange forms of- educational prac- 
DISCS Ry in: 

Finally, the same pressure which has caused 
the multiplication of departments has caused the 
multiplication of specialties within departments. 
Science has developed such and such new fields of 
learning. They demand recognition. They are 
recognized at such and such institutions. We 
must recognize them here. We must cover the 
ground. No student can cover the ground, but 
the university must do so. 

If a university were rich enough to cover the 
whole ground of learning with first-rate intro- 
ductory courses on the freshman-sophomore level 
and then to cover the whole ground again on the 
junior-senior level, with a vast array of electives, 
and finally to support research in a correspond- 
ingly adequate measure, we might say let it be 
so; let this limitlessly rich university do by itself 
what it is really the business of all the universi- 
ties and learned societies combined to do. It is 
fine to imagine an institution where every science 
and every art might be studied upon every level, 
with no lack of money or of men, or of leisure for 
the men who do productive work. It is not sur- 
prising that this splendid conception, which must 
be the ideal of the university world as a whole, 
should be more or less consciously the ideal of 
particular universities. But in point of fact, the 
whole university world is not at present rich 
enough for the full realization of this ideal. And 
when a single university, even the richest, at- 
tempts to do everything on every level, the 
inevitable failure of the undertaking is sure to 
appear in some way. 

The failure does appear very generally in two 
well-known ways—first, in the cheapening of the 
elementary collegiate work; and second, in the 
restriction of productive research work. 


138 


It is said that in the American university there 
is a necessary internal conflict between the col- 
legiate interests and the university interests. My 
judgment is that in the larger American univer- 
sities generally, the greatest enemy of both these 
interests is the excessive expansion of the course 
of study. 

* * * * * * 

There are obviously two ways of cutting down 
the amount of work which the university shall 
offer. We may cut down the number of depart- 
ments, or we may cut down the number of courses 
offered by the several departments. 

The first of these methods is radical. It is a 
grave matter to abolish a university department— 
not really more grave, I think, than the establish- 
ment of a new department whose justification may 
be doubtful but for many and obvious reasons 
a procedure which university authorities must 
hesitate to adopt. Nevertheless, even such radical 
pruning may be justified. It can become a ques- 
tion between cutting off some large limbs and the 
languishing of the whole tree. I shall not be sur- 
prised if within the next generation the pressure 
of circumstances should force the universities to 
the adoption in a considerable degree of this ex- 
treme form of selection. 

Meanwhile, we have at hand a much gentler and 
yet scarcely less efficient method of selection if 
the departments will cut down the amount and 
range of work offered by them. Let me put this 
method of reorganizing and concentrating the 
course of study in the form of definite proposals. 
Let there be in each principal university depart- 
ment: 

1. A fundamental elementary course. 

2. A very strictly limited amount of under- 
graduate work beyond the introductory course. 

3. All the rest of the work offered by the de- 
partment strictly graduate or research work. 


* * * * * * 


Without affecting the number of majors or of 
groups or of departments, we may very decidedly 
reduce the number of undergraduate courses 
offered. Here, as I think, is the place for the 
pruning knife. The universities can cover the 
whole field of learning in typical introductory 
courses on the freshman-sophomore level. We can 
not each of us by any possibility cover the ground 
on all higher levels. We must select. We must 
reject, right and left, subjects which have every 
argument in their favor except that we can not do 
them all. We must weed out the suckers as a 
condition of having cornstalks. 

There would result apparent hardships for the 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 605. 


undergraduate and for some members of the 
faculty. The undergraduate would not be able, on 
the one hand, to take a large proportion of his 
college course within one narrow field, thus be- 
coming a specialist without becoming an educated 
man; and he would not be able on the other hand 
to browse far and wide over any and every field 
which modern learning has developed. He would 
find instead, however, an abundantly wide choice 
of majors or of groups each offering an austerely 
chosen list of representative courses arranged so 
as to make a substantial center for a college 
eourse. And this, whether or not he is to become 
a specialist, is, I believe, the best thing which the 
university of to-day can offer him. 

I have considered in this connection also the 
possible hardship to the younger professors who 
want to have each at least a small amount of 
advanced work to do. I do not wish to slight this 
consideration, for it is an essential feature of the 
university life that the younger men should have 
the door of hope open. I have not solved this 
problem to my own satisfaction, but I say this: 
If an instructor can do important productive 
work, the university should try to offer him as 
much leisure as the value of his work appears to 
warrant, whether he is doing the work with 
students or alone. What the university can not 
afford to do is to pay so dearly for elementary, 
non-productive junior and senior work. These 
courses are the suckers. 

3. Productive work. The freshman-sophomore 
fundamental courses should be the first gainers 
from the resources of money and leisure saved by 
cutting off excessive expansion. The second 
gainers should be the graduate and research 
courses. I wish to consider this second gain as it 
might affect the larger universities and then as it 
might affect the smaller ones. 

(a) Our greatest universities are very rich. They 
have great graduate schools. They have scholars 
who have proved to be productive men. And yet, 
when the total output of scholarly work done in 
them is compared with that done in Germany, for 
example, the result is generally conceded to be 
discouraging. In many cases, little is accom- 
plished beyond the comparatively elementary re- 
search work which has its terminus in the doctor’s 
degree. No explanation of this result seems so 
probable as the fact that the German professor 
has, as a rule, the leisure which the American 
professor only secures by exception. It is doubt- 
ful whether the German rule can or should become 
the American one while we have the college and 
the university united in one institution. We wish 


AuGustT 3, 1906.] 


our greatest scholar to surrender a little of his 
time to the freshman. But having asked this of 
him as a duty of religion, we should spare his 
leisure as the most precious asset of the univer- 
sity. We should count it a sin to require such 
a man to ‘cover the ground.’ We should sacrifice 
the catalogue, make it thin and full of holes, 
confine the students to a narrow range of typically 
good choices, and by these inconsequential sacri- 
fices preserve for the great man his chance to do 
the work which he alone can do. 

(b) There is an evil suggestion in the air that a 
university should not attempt to do advanced 
graduate and research work unless it is very rich. 
I know of nothing to justify such a counsel of 
discouragement. The history of learning, the 
history of the little universities of Europe, the 
current history of scholarly work in America, 
all show that the conditions which permit a man 
to do productive work may be created anywhere. 
At the worst, some men in the smaller univer- 
sities, in the little college’, and in whatever 
places may seem more unlikely, will continue to 
prove that creative work is free for all and is 
the one thing which can never be controlled by a 
monopoly. Wherever these men are, they prove 
also, directly through their pupils or indirectly 
through their colleagues, the vitalizing effect of 
research upon teaching, and so demonstrate the 
true bond of unity between the university and 
the college. No institutional conditions can 
wholly suppress these matters of the guild of 
scholars. It is, however, our main business to 
organize conditions which shall not tend to re- 
press them, but which shall enable them to give 
their whole service to society. 

In conclusion I will say that the problem of 
selecting from all the things which might be done 
the things which shall be done is the most diffi- 
cult and the most imperative problem confronting 
the whole school system. It is not an artificial 
problem. The school must represent civilization. 
When we have detected and dismissed the fads and 
frills, there remains the great circle of sciences 
and arts which will not suffer dismissal and yet 
for which our long and expensive school system 
has not yet found enough money nor enough time. 
This means simply that the school has forced 
upon it as never before the problem of selecting 
its course of study. 


Some of my correspondents plead for 
years or half years to be devoted exelu- 
sively to research. Others think that re- 


SCIENCE. 


139 


search and advanced instruction should go 
on simultaneously. Still others hold that 
the elementary student has a special claim 
on a little of the time of the master.. Mani- 
festly these are special cases to be treated 
each in its own way according to the man 
and the subject. 

In a recent address Professor George H. 
Nuttall calls attention to the utter inade- 
quateness of the provisions for research in 
universities or outside, in both England 
and America. Irrespective of the univer- 
sities there should be an open career of 
investigation and in all the various fields 
of science. Such opportunities exist to a 
limited degree in our scientific bureaus, 
surveys and experiment stations, but these 
should be greatly multiplied, at the same 
time leaving them open to real talent only. 

Says the London Times: 


In one way or another every branch of research 
loses promising men, who either go into practical 
affairs with what knowledge they have or make 
research itself subservient to money-getting by 
selling crude inventions, by self-advertisement, or 
by cooperation with financiers. We have no 
hierarchy of students on a living wage basis; and 
as a consequence we are very short of real teach- 
ers even for practical purposes. © For the real 
teacher must be an advanced student, not a mere 
parrot reciting other men’s work. 


Another correspondent believes in the 
exclusion of hack work, summer schools 


-and other matters of minor importance 


which tend to lower the intellectual tone 
of the university professor. He says: 


In cases where a chair is endowed for the ex- 
pressed object of research, I would go so far as to 
say that the professor should not only not be 
required to lecture, but should not even be allowed 
to lecture, except, if he desires, he might give a 
course of not more than a dozen lectures con- 
fined strictly to an exposition of the subject on 
which he is engaged in investigating. Such 
chairs are very few in number, but still there 
are some. My reason for prohibiting lecturing in 
such cases is that there is always a temptation 
in universities for a professor to create a follow- 
ing by appealing to an audience, and ‘the tend- 


140 | SCIENCE. 


ency is to lecture more and more, with a loss of 
time and energy which should be spent on re- 
search itself. 

Where it is not specified that the professorship 
is for research, my answer would be that the 
amount of relief from instruction ought to de- 
pend largely upon the qualifications of the pro- 
fessor himself. Some professors who are good 
lecturers and teachers and valuable as such are 
not by nature qualified to be investigators, except 
in a very limited sense. I see no reason why 
such persons should be relieved from doing what 
they can do well, on the chance that if relieved 
from lecturing they might do original work. At 
the present day there is connected with investiga- 
tion an idea of superiority over the mere exposi- 
tion of a subject, and most professors desire to be 
regarded as investigators. If, however, experience 
makes it probable that a professor is a good 
teacher but a poor investigator, I see no reason 
why he should be relieved of lecturing. 

There remains another and a large class of 
professors, some of whom are good lecturers and 
teachers, and some of whom are not, but who have 
a capacity for good, original work, if allowed time 
for it. It is te this class of students that your 
question, as I understand it, especially applies. 
In this case it seems to me that the nature of 
the subject in which the professor is an expert 
should -be considered. In the more special and 
technical subjects, those in which the largest addi- 
tions to the stock of the world’s knowledge is to 
be expected, but where that knowledge, when ob- 
tained, is such that it can be absorbed by a com- 
paratively few advanced students, my opinion is 
that the professor should be allowed at least 
half of his time—or, better still, more than half 
of his time—for his own special work, and have 
the amount of his lecturing and teaching corre- 
spondingly reduced. 

Other subjects, as, for instance, certain branches 
of political economy and history, and possibly 
branches of chemistry, physics and biology, are 
of such a nature that it may be expected that the 
results will be of immediate value.to a considerable 
number of students, who, furthermore, should be 
encouraged to become themselves investigators. 
In this case it is desirable that the professors 
should not be so pressed by the work of instructing 
and lecturing that they have not sufficient time 
and strength left for individual work in investi- 
gation. During the college term, it seems to me 
that such persons should be allowed at least one 
third of their time for their own original work, 
and, what is important, all their college vacations. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 605. 


This last point seems to me to be important, 
especially in subjects like biology. The tendency 
is to increase the number of courses in what are 
called ‘summer schools,’ as they attract students 
who increase the total enrollment of a college. I 
object strongly to having those whose whole time 
during the college year has been spent in lectur- 
ing and in original work, called upon to take 
classes in a summer school. By all professors 
who amount to anything the three months of 
summer vacation are not spent in idleness, but 
used for original investigation or preparation for 
the lectures of the year to come. 

A correspondent makes the useful sug- 
gestion of occasional research professor- 
ships to be held for one‘year. In such ap- 
pointments, work well under way should 
have precedence over work contemplated 
or merely begun. He says: 


It seems to me, also, that our great universities 
would find it a wise policy to have each a small 
number of highly paid research professorships, 
which might perhaps not be each for any specific 
subject, but be assigned from time to time to 
members of the faculty, somewhat as fellowships 
are now assigned to superior students. It would 
add greatly to the attractiveness of university 
life if professors could feel that there was a chance 
of having their salaries kept up while for a year 
or two they were left entirely to devote themselves 
to investigation. 


From others whose views in the main 
coincide with those of this paper I may 
quote a few well-put paragraphs. 

A correspondent says: 


I believe that the professor is, or ought to be, 
primarily a teacher, and that his first duty is 
toward his pupils. But I think that mere in- 
struction-giving is the lesser part of his calling. 
It is teaching by example that best takes root, 
and it is the leadership into fields of new truth, 
of the few who have the zeal to enter, that brings 
the largest and most permanent returns both to 
the professor and to his institution. The uni- 
versity has a right to expect of the professor that 
he will give the impress of his personality to both 
the administration and the teaching of his de- 
partment. But it has no moral right to demand 
that he spend all his time and energy in depart- 
mental drudgery. To what extent he should be 
relieved of this in order that he may engage in 
research will depend on many things—among 


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Aucust 3, 1906.] 


others the man, the state of his department, and 
the stage of his researches, an important work 
that is nearing completion being more worthy of 
concessions than one just beginning. 

The making of conditions for research is but 
a just acknowledgment of the debt the univer- 
sities owe the world of knowledge, and is the 
first step towards its repayment. 


Another says: 


Assuming the command of adequate resources, 
it seems to me that the extent to which professors 
engaged in research should be relieved from in- 
struction is essentially an individual question, 
the answer to which is dependent on the relative 
values of the professor’s work in research and in 
instruction. If the research is of exceptional 
value, the instruction should be limited to that 
which relates to the field of research or is tribu- 
tary to it. Thus much is usually helpful to the 
research. If on the other hand the instructional 
work has markedly the higher order of merit, the 
research work may well be limited to that which 
is helpful and tributary to the instruction, as a 
certain amount is assumed always to be. The 
intermediate cases may well be subjects of special 
adjustment on lines intermediate between these 
two, precedence being given to research when it is 
really productive. 


Another says: 


Men differ in regard to the relation between 
research and instruction. The true investigator 
is born, not made, and will work whether he must 
teach or not, but the quality and quantity of his 
work will be directly proportional to the time 
at his disposal. On the other hand, the investiga- 
tor who is the product of educational methods is 
likely to accomplish less as the time at his dis- 
posal increases. 

The character of the work differs in different 
cases. Some lines of work require longer ab- 
sences or longer uninterrupted periods than others. 

A man who has demonstrated his ability for 
research should be able to command a larger pro- 
portion of his time for this purpose as he ap- 
proaches mental maturity. 

A distinction should be made between elementary 
and advanced instruction. Class work with ad- 
vanced students along lines in which the instruct- 
or is personally interested as an investigator is 
often a great aid to research because it permits 
contact with other minds, discussion, and the 
statement in words of thoughts. The mental 


SCIENCE. 


141 


stimulus involved in this relation between in- 
structor and student is often of great value. 

On the other hand, the routine of general or 
elementary courses, largely attended, where the 
element of personal contact is mostly absent, often 
interferes seriously with research. 

As the investigator develops he should be more 
and more free from the routine work connected 
with instruction. 

To sum up: The point of greatest importance 
is that the investigator should have extended 
periods of time free from other duties. These 
should be regarded not as vacation, but as a part 
of his work. Certain hours in the day or cer- 
tain days in the week do not meet the needs of 
the investigator. 


Another says: 


My experience has convinced me that under the 
system commonly followed in our universities either 
the students suffer for lack of attention or re- 
search is neglected; and the more eminent the 
teacher the more surely is this the case. For as 
a teacher’s reputation grows, so does the number 
of his students increase; and the eminent investi- 
gator is forced to either lock himself into his 
study and neglect his students or devote his days 
to instruction and restrict his researches to 
nights, Sundays and vacations, when mind and 
body are worn out. In no field is it more true 
than in this that a man can not serve two 
masters. 

I believe that what may be termed the in- 
tensive system gives promise of affording relief to 
what is obviously a very undesirable situation. 
If the teacher will devote all of his energies for 
one half of the year to imparting instruction and 
directing the researches of his advanced students, 
the students will probably gain more, in most 
cases, than they do under the present system. 
And the conscientious teacher will be able to de- 
vote the other half year to research without being 
constantly oppressed with the feeling that he is 
neglecting students who have sacrificed much in 
order to gain the opportunity to study with him. 

Under the intensive system it would doubtless 
require a somewhat larger corps of teachers to 
care for the students than under the present sys- 
tem, where nominally every teacher is available 
for instruction all of the time. But a professor 
working under the intensive system would do 
very much more than half the amount of instruc- 
tion that he does under the present system; hence 
the necessary increase in teachers would be less 
than might appear at first sight. 


142 


A correspondent says: 


I hold that it is the duty of the university to 
advance knowledge as well as to supply instruc- 
tion. So far as possible professors should be per- 
mitted to do the work for which they are most 
competent. Ifa man is able to advance knowl- 
edge to an important extent—there are in fact 
not many such men—it seems to me that he should 
be required to give only so much instruction as 
would be fruitful for his research work. A pro- 
fessor can often do the most for his students by 
going on with his own work, thus imparting 
some of his spirit to them. 


Another says: 


I have always had definite convictions on this 
subject, which have come in part from personal 
inclination and in part from a remark you made 
to me during an impressionable period, in appre- 
ciation of a research man in a neighboring insti- 
tution: ‘He manages to use all of his time and 
energy for his own work. 

In every institution there are men who glory 
in their large classes and the popularity that 
comes with them, and there are others who would 
be just as happy in their own work without any 
students—as long as their salary came regularly. 
I see nothing inherently wrong in the position of 
either one of the men, and see no reason why one 
should look on the other with disdain or the other 
on the one with envy. 


Another says: 


In my opinion professors engaged in productive 
research should meet with every encouragement 
and assistance from the university authorities. 
They should be amply provided with the books, 
the materials and the implements needed in re- 
search, and a reasonable portion of their work- 
ing time should be set free for that purpose. 
What proportion should be thus set free may not 
admit of very definite statement, but it would 
seem that a well-endowed institution should so 
limit the scope of its work and the consequent 
amount of instruction offered that its productive 
scholars could apply at the least one half of their 
working time in advancing knowledge. It is my 
opinion that increase of knowledge considered by 
itself alone should be one of the definite aims of 
a university. But if this be not granted and the 
primary function of the university be considered 
the giving of instruction, it is just as essential 
that the professors should be investigators. Only 
those who are themselves engaged in research can 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 605. 


lead students beyond the elementary phases of 
their subjects. 


Another says: 


I should say that it is at the present time 
much more important that the general principle 
of granting time for research be recognized by 
the universities than that any special fraction 
of such time be agreed upon. The complexities 
of the various factors entering in to the particular 
exigencies or particular cases would in any event 
make it extremely difficult to settle wisely upon 
such a fraction and I certainly have no fixed 
opinion as to the amount which ought to be thus 
assigned. 

Where men are proved capable of profitable re- 
search and where institutions are able to make 
good the loss in the amount of instruction offered, 
I think a third of a man’s time every other year 
could with great profit to the university be set 
aside for investigation. In some cases this time 
would be best invested if scattered over the whole 
year. In other cases it would be more efficiently 
spent if concentrated within some given period 
of three to six months. In certain unusual cases 
it is undoubtedly judicious to give a larger 
amount of time than this proposal provides for. 
Moreover, in some cases research can be carried 
on with entire success in connection with advanced 
class work, e. g., certain forms of philological 
studies. In such instances there is obviously less 
propriety in setting aside special time for in- 
vestigation. But as I said at the outset, these 
complexities are too numerous for me to attempt 
handling. It will be a great step forward if the 
principle of recognition of research as an in- 
tegral part of a first-class instructor’s duties can 
be gained. 


Another says: 


In general I may say that the instructor who 
does not investigate is exceedingly likely to get 
into ruts and will soon become a ‘ back number.’ 
There is nothing like research to keep one posted 
on the work done by others. It is a constant in- 
centive to reading. It keeps one posted not only 
in his special field, but from the interrelationship 
of problems, it gives him constantly an outlook 
over what is occurring in other lines. 

To what extent the instructor should be re- 
lieved from instruction is another matter. If he 
be entirely relieved, the students of the institution 
receive practically no benefit from his researches, 
while he loses all influence over the student. In 
most cases to allow a professor to devote himself 


Aveust 3, 1906.] 


entirely to research would be a violation of trust 
funds supporting his chair. 

Certainly, in my opinion, every person connected 
with an educational institution should give some 
instruction, and I think it would be well if the 
heads of departments should have some hand in 
the teaching of at least one elementary class. 
It would tend to keep at least one foot on the 
earth. 


A correspondent says: 

There are many problems of research which re- 
quire a great deal of time-consuming work in the 
preparation of material for the study. I believe 
they ought to have help in the nature of assistants 
to do a great deal of this kind of work in pre- 
paring the material for study and investiga- 
tion. A professor of horticulture or agriculture 
is not required to plow his ground, cultivate and 
harvest his crops. He is given help to do this. 
He plans the research, oversees perhaps the 
preparation of the ground and the cultivation and 
the harvesting, but makes his study from the re- 
sults of this manual labor which has been done 
by others. I believe similar help should be 
given to professors engaged in research in some 
of the lines of biological work. 


Another says: 


Regarding the relation of research to instruc- 
tion, I feel very strongly that no instructor of 
upper classmen in a university should teach a 
subject if he has not come to know the values 
of its elements through testing some of them 
under new conditions. Even if the instructor be 
considered apart from his chosen field, simply as 
an instrument for the stimulation of the thinking 
power, he is not in a position to teach his sub- 
ject unless he has some acquaintance with creative 
work. If I am correct in this view, it would 
be true that professors engaged in research have 
also a very important work to perform in instruc- 
tion. 


_ Another says: 


I believe that at least half the time of every 
professor should be definitely set aside for re- 
search, provided said professor has shown the 
ability and energy to devote this time for such 
purpose. The enhanced reputation which pro- 
fessors engaged in research enjoy with their stu- 
dents, and the more comprehensive and critical 
value which it gives to their lectures and other 
forms of instruction, will more than compensate 
their institutions for the time set aside for this 
purpose. It is not men of routine, but men of 


SCIENCE. 


143 


original ideas, who are the most stimulating to 
students, and originality can only be generated 
and kept alive by research. Proof of this is found 
in the fact that the most inspiring teachers of all 
time have been investigators. Investigation can 
not be carried on with the brain fatigued by ex- 
cessive teaching and excessive hours of administra- 
tion. In many cases I believe the number of 
lectures and recitation hours could be substantially 
reduced with advantage both to the professors and 
to the students in institutions where owing to 
limited means a large corps can not be employed. 


Another says: a) 


An ideal research position, to my mind, would 
be one in which there was some teaching, but 
never enough to endanger the continuity of re- 
search. 


Another says: 


I should be very sorry to see our universities 
making any formal arrangements with their 
officers looking toward supporting them in re- 
search. In my judgment that would divert the 
universities from their own proper work and 
would give us a low grade of research. Hitherto 
research work has been the expression of the 
spontaneous interest and energy of the searcher, 
and I look with suspicion on any intrusion of 
the spirit of working for pay into this field. Yet 
I can see that in individual instances, where it 
is known that a man is engaged in an important 
research, it would be wise to relieve him of some 
portion of his other daily work. But I should 
hope such indulgence would never go to the point 
of making research the subject of contract. 


Another says: 


The scholarly men make the best teachers. I 
am not at all sure that the practise of teaching 
benefits the man of research. This would seem 
to be the case with the direction of the research 
of capable graduate students—but elementary 
teaching may be not only irrelevant to the 
scholarly interest, but distracting and fatiguing 
to the point of the exhaustion of energy and the 
atrophy of interest. I do feel, however, that the 
man of research is the safest person to whom to 
intrust the college student. Such a teacher is 
sure to win and to merit respect, for he measures 
himself by standards that are objective and in- 
telligible to all. 

The teacher who is not a scholar may be a win- 
ning and beneficent personality, but he is more 
likely to be a_ self-constituted oracle whose 


144 


dilettanteism is quite patent to the average under- 
graduate. 

It seems to me clear that no educational system 
can afford to be dependent upon the chances of 
genius and temperament, even where these do 
slightly favor the unscholarly man. But as a 
matter of fact the chances seem to favor the 
scholar. 

The great academic personalities seem, to my 
recollection, to have been men who enjoyed the 
dignity and the straightforwardness of scholars. 

I believe therefore, that it is to the advantage 
of the university to have the same men discover 
and teach the truth. Professors should not be 
relieved ,of instruction, if this is to result in the 
specialization of the teaching function and the 
research function. 

Furthermore, I do not see any possibility of 
fairly discriminating between individuals in this 
respect. The one or the other class (and under 
present conditions it is bound to be the teaching 
class, because of the recognition the scholar re- 
ceives from outside) will be a degraded class, 
and this I should imagine to be fruitful of discord 
and jealousy. 

I can not see that a moderate amount of instruc- 
tion can interfere with a man’s scholarship, and 
it is likely to afford him the sort of social service 
that he needs for his manhood. 

I should suppose, then, that it would be wisest 
to make the required amount of instruction uni- 
form and fix it at a moderate number of hours— 
say ten per week. 


Still another says: 


In many cases the complaints of professors 
that they have not sufficient time for research 
work, because of the undue amount of instruc- 
tional work required of them, are not well 
founded, but are rather due to an inherent in- 
capacity upon the part of the men to do effective 
research work, which they attribute to the large 
amount of teaching which they have to accom- 
plish rather than to a natural dislike of hard 
work. 


Another says: 


Roughly stated, it is the function of a univer- 
sity to discover and disseminate truth, to train 
scholars, and to develop character. The relative 
stress laid upon these competing ends must vary 
with the conditions surrounding the institution, 
and in a specific case must be affected by the char- 
acteristics of the teacher, of his subject, and of 
his students, and also by the public opinion in the 
constituency of the institution and in its faculty 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No- 605. 


and trustees. That public opinion seems to me 
to be adjusted into rough conformity with what 
average amount of instruction should be expected 
from the average teacher, and I should be dis- 
posed to regard this as the best basis available, 
to be deviated from in individual cases as circum- 
stances might indicate. 

In my own case, for example, I doubt that it 
would be wise for Cornell University to leave me 
more free from duties of instruction, with the 
deliberate purpose of letting me give more time 
to research. Such relief would make me less 
effective, I am convinced, as a teacher, and could 
be justified only if it was felt that my efficiency 
in research was greater than my efficiency as a 
teacher, or else that the need for research in my 
special field was greater. In some lines of work 
I believe it might be wise for the institution to 
provide a small group of junior appointees who 
might give all their time to research, and to allow 
ready transfer from the class of junior appointees 
whose main work was teaching to the class whose 
sole work was research, and the other way. 


Another says: 


I am strongly of the opinion that a university 
whichis aiming at the highest ideals of university 
work should, when it finds men of real and proved 
capacity for original research of a high order, 
relieve them as far as possible of educational and 
administrative drudgery, though there can be no- 
doubt that our universities probably could not 
afford, to do this in the case of a very large num- 
ber of their professors, nor perhaps would this be 
desirable. In point of fact, however, men of the 
type I have in mind are not numerous in any 
university. I believe that the activity of such 
men in a university brings in a very rich return 
through the atmosphere and example which it 
creates, and it seems to me that the best service 
of such men to their university lies in their own 
research work and that of the advanced students 
who come under their direction and influence. 

I believe that such a man, for example, as Bal- 
four did far more for his university in this way 
than through his lectures and other routine work, 
but I also think that to remove such men wholly 
from contact with the students would be.a mis- 
take from every point of view. My feeling is 
that such men should be relieved as far as pos- 
sible from the drudgery of class work, elementary 
laboratory instruction, and above all, from ad- 
ministrative detail, for which they are very often 
unfitted by taste and temperament. I do not 
have in mind so much the time that is given to 


Aveust 3, 1906.] 


these things, as the diversion of attention in direc- 
tions wholly foreign to that in which their 
original work lies, and the destruction of that 
unconscious cerebration which is one of the most 
important factors in working out scientific re- 
sults. 

At the same time I fully recognize that a uni- 
versity is also a body of students that must be 
systematically taught, and I do not think that the 
work of the effective teacher should be considered 
as in any way inferior to that of the investigator, 
nor should professors whose first instinct is that 
of the teacher, be led to feel that their advance- 
ment depends on the accomplishment of original 
work. 

You doubtless know better than I that investi- 
gation that is done under pressure of this kind 
is oftentimes a rather poor pretense. The tend- 
ency seems to me to be to differentiate these two 
types of university professors, and it is probably 
on the whole a good division of labor. 

One thing seems to me quite certain, and that 
is that our universities will not attain their real 
aim until they are prepared to give full oppor- 
tunities for research to men of the first type I 
have indicated. These are the men who form 
the real nucleus of the university, and their pres- 
ence and labors seem to me of more importance 
from the point of view of real university work 
than all the rest of our educational machinery 
put together. 


President Woodward, of the Carnegie 
Institution, says: 


The way I put it to myself is this: Can we ex- 
pect a college professor to do as good work of 
research for our institution as we might expect 
from him if he were taken over to the institution 
and had no work but that of research? Much ex- 
perience convinces me that work of instruction 
is very valuable to a man who is pursuing investi- 
gation. On the other hand, I find that most men 
who are pursuing at once work of instruction and 
investigation in the colleges are giving only the 
smaller fraction of their time to investigation. 
Their first duty is toward the institutions with 
which they are connected, and any man who is 
. efficient as an investigator is also likely to be 
efficient as an administrator and as a worker on 
the numerous committees essential to educational 
institutions. My personal experience and ob- 
servation would seem to show that here again the 
_work of investigation is commonly given second 
place. 

On one point there is little or no room for 


SCIENCE. 


145 


doubt, namely, that the work of investigation 
done by professors and instructors in our American 
universities has only lately come to be justly 
appreciated, especially by trustees and regents. 

From the point of view of an educational insti- 
tution, there is likewise another point quite clear 
to me, namely, that no man can be an instructor 
of the highest grade without he is also simul- 
taneously at work in some sort of research con- 
nected with his work of instruction. 


Here I must close my quotations, resist- 
ing all temptation to continue. For in fifty 
other letters I find important considera- 
tions pithily stated. But as these all agree 
more or less distinctly with my own thesis, 
I must suppress them for the present on 
the principle adopted some ten centuries 
ago in burning the library at Alexandria. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


The Dynamics of Living Matter. By Jacquzs 
Lors. (Columbia University Biological 
Series, VIII.) New York, The Columbia 
University Press. 1906. The Macmillan 
Company, agents. 

This interesting book owes its origin to a 
series of eight lectures delivered by the au- 
thor at Columbia University in the spring of 
1902. The aim of the lectures was to give 
a presentation of the author’s researches on 
the dynamics of living matter and the views 
to which they led him. JIn the present book, 
however, Loeb gives quite a complete survey 
of the modern problems of experimental biol- 
ogy, records a great many interesting facts 
and laws which were recently discovered in 
this field and discusses them from a broad 
point of view. The book still retains the 
division into lectures which are here extended 
to twelve. 

The following quotations from the intro- 
ductory remarks (lecture I.) inform us of 
the philosophical attitude of the author 
towards biological problems. “In these lec- 
tures,” he says, “we shall consider living 
organisms as chemical machines, consisting 
essentially of colloidal material, which possess 
the peculiarities of automatically developing, 
preserving, and reproducing themselves.” He 


146 


says further that we must admit “that noth- 
ing contradicts the possibility that the arti- 
ficial producion of living matter may one day 
be accomplished. It is the purpose of these 
lectures to state to what extent we are able 
to control the phenomena of development, 
self-preservation and reproduction. * * * We 
shall only go far enough to satisfy ourselves 
that no variables are found in the chemical 
dynamics of living matter which can not be 
found also in the chemistry of inanimate 
nature.” 

In lecture I. the author deals with the gen- 
eral chemistry of life phenomena. Ferments 
and oxidation are the chief subjects of dis- 
cussion. The idea of ‘ catalytic processes be- 
tween tissues and liquids’ was introduced by 
Berzelius, and Ostwald has shown that cat- 
alyzers do not initiate, but only accelerate 
reactions. The discovery by Crofton Hill 
and by Kastle and Loevenhart of the reversible 
action of enzymes is discussed; and also the 
observations by Neilsen of the reversibility of 
action by an inorganic catalyzer (platinum 
black) and that the effects of certain poisons 
are the same for both organic and inorganic 
catalyzers. Respiration as a catalytic process 
is considered. The possibility of two groups 
of oxidizing catalyzers is suggested: one, of 
the type of the peroxides, may be present in 
' the protoplasm; and the second, which can act 
indefinitely as oxidases, may be found in the 
nucleus. Loeb calls attention to the fact that 
oxygen not only supplies potential and kinetic 
energies, but is also important for cell division 
and growth, and acts as ‘protective’ agent. 
Lack of oxygen causes structural changes. 
Experiments which show the production of 
CO, by enzymes are reported. Concerning 
the theory of enzyme action Loeb gives a brief 
statement of the attempt in the stereochemical 
direction; but he is rather inclined to accept 
the theory of intermediary reaction. Every- 
thing seems to indicate that enzymes form un- 
stable combinations with the bodies whos 
reactions they accelerate. 

In lecture III. under the head of the general 
physical constitution of living matter are dis- 
cussed: the limits of divisibility of living 
matter; Biitschli’s views that living proto- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 605. 


plasm has the structure of a microscopic emul- 
sion; the colloidal character of living matter; 
the formation of semipermeable membranes. 
Loeb gives here the Meyer-Overton theory of 
anesthesia with which he does not fully agree. 
“The rapidity of the absorption of narcotics 
may be due to their solubility in oil, and yet 
the effect they produce may be due to some- 
thing entirely different.” With regard to the. 
role of osmotic pressure and the exchange of 
liquids between the cell and the surrounding 
liquid, to the discussion of which a few pages 
are devoted, it may be mentioned that Loeb 
says he now believes ‘that contractile phe- 
nomena inside the cell furnish at least part of 
the energy of secretion and absorption in those 
cases where the osmotic forces alone can not 
explain these phenomena.’ In the same lec- 
ture an account is given of Loeb’s extensive 
experiments on the antagonistic effects of salts. 

In lecture IV. some physical phenomena of 
life are discussed: the theories of muscular 
contraction, of protoplasmic motion, of cell 
division; the origin of radiant energy (phos- 
phorescence) and the electrical phenomena in 
living organisms. 

Lecture V. is on the role of electrolytes in 
the formation and preservation of living mat- 
ter. Loeb gives here among other things a 
condensed but clear account of the very ex- 
tensive and important studies by himself and 
his pupils on ion-proteid compounds and their 
relations to contractile tissues. The articles 
dealing with these subjects are very numerous 
and scattered in many publications, not all of 
which are easily accessible. The knowledge 
of these articles is quite indispensable for a 
student in general physiology. It is gratify- 
ing, therefore, to have an authoritative ac- 
count of the entire subject presented in only 
thirty pages. 

Lecture VI. deals with the effects of heat 
and radiant energy upon living matter. 

Lectures VII. and VIII. are devoted to a 
discussion of the different tropisms, to the 
knowledge of which in the animal world the 
author has, as is well known, contributed 
pioneer work. 

In lecture IX., on fertilization, the reader 
will find among other things a lucid account 


Avueust 3, 1906.] 


of the experiments which led up to and estab- 
lished the epoch-making discovery of artificial 
parthenogenesis. 

In lecture X., on heredity, the following 
subjects are discussed: the hereditary effects 
of the spermatozoon and eggs; Mendel’s im- 
portant experiments; the mutation theory of 
de Vries; the determination of sex; the rela- 
tion of egg structure to heredity; the observa- 
tions and experiments of Driesch and E. B. 
Wilson. It does not seem to Loeb ‘that a 
discussion as to the relative influence of proto- 
plasm and nucleus upon heredity will prove 
very fertile, but that it is necessary to transfer 
this problem as soon as possible from the field 
of histology to that of chemistry or physical 
chemistry.’ 

Lecture XI. is on regeneration. Here again 
the author has done a good deal of original 
investigation and in some parts, as on hetero- 
morphosis and on the influence of the central 
nervous system, Loeb has done pioneer work. 
He discusses the subject from the point of 
_ view of Sachs’s hypothesis of the formation of 
organs. Loeb here refers the reader to Mor- 
gan’s writings on regeneration. 

In his concluding remarks (lecture XII.) 
Loeb says among other things: “ There is, 
therefore, no reason to predict that abiogenesis 
is impossible, and I believe that it can only 
help science if the younger investigators real- 
ize that experimental abiogenesis is the goal 
of biology. On the other hand, * * * it is 
not sufficient for this purpose to make proteins 
synthetically, or to produce in gelatine or 
other colloidal material round granules which 
have an external resemblance to living cells.” 

It is a very interesting book which instructs 
and at the same time stimulates the reader to 
independent thinking. 

S. J. Meurzer. 


ROCKEFELLER INSTITUTE. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 


The American Naturalist for July contains 
but two articles, ‘Adaptive Modifications of 
Occipital Condyles in Mammalia,’ by Charles 
S. Mead, and ‘Living and Fossil Species of 
Comptonia,’ by Edward W. Berry. The 
former notes the general adaptations of the 


SCIENCE. 


147 


condyles to permit the movement of the head, 
the special modifications for carnivorous hab- 
its and the arrangement of the condyles in 
different orders. The second paper is an at- 
tempt to work out the relations of such forms 
as may be referred to Comptonia, discusses 
the succession of forms and includes desecrip- 
tions of the species admitted by the writer, 
with their synonymy. 


The Museums Journal of Great Britain for 
June has ‘Some Notes on a recent Trip to 
Greece and the Greek Islands,’ by Robert F. 
Martin, an article on ‘ National Art Patriot- 
ism,’ dealing with the purchase of a ‘ Venus 
and Cupid’ aseribed to Velasquez for £45,000, 
secured for the National Gallery through the 
National Art Collections Fund, and an ac- 
count of the ‘New Natural History Museum 
for Salford.’ The organization of the Amer- 
ican Museum Association is noticed, and it 
should be said that the Museums Association 
of Great Britain cabled its best wishes for the 
successful inauguration and future progress 
of the sister society. There is a very consid- 
erable instalment of the British Museums 
Directory, which includes such national insti- 
tutions as the British Museum, Victoria and 
Albert Museum and others. 


Tue leading article in the Journal of Nerv- 
ous and Mental Disease for July is a paper 
by Dr. Waldemar Heinrich Groszmann on 
‘The Position of the Atypical Child’ Dr. 
Groszmann defines his terms very carefully, 
giving in tabular form a survey of the entire 
range of child variation. He emphasizes the 
fact that the atypical condition is a transitive 
one and tends to become permanent either in 
the direction of abnormality or of some degree 
of typicality. He finds it impossible to edu- 
cate successfully such children in the ordinary 
public and private schools in conjunction with 
home environment, and believes that the solu- 
tion of the problem lies in the institution 
where the environment can be controlled and 
adapted to the end in view. Dr. Archibald 
Church reports a case illustrating the neuritic 
type of progressive muscular atrophy with a 
marked heredity, and a second on syringo- 
myelia with involvement of cranial nerves, 


148 


probably a syringobulbia. Both these papers 
are illustrated. Dr. Hugh T. Patrick pub- 
lishes a brief supplementary report and cor- 
rection to his paper on ‘ Hereditary Cerebellar 
Ataxia’ in the March issue of the Journal 
for the year 1902. The meeting of the Boston 
Society of Psychiatry and Neurology for Jan- 
uary 19, 1906, and that of the Chicago Neuro- 
logical Society for November 23, 1905, are 
reported. 


Tue first three numbers of the Philippine 
Journal of Science contain several papers 
which will not appear elsewhere. Among 
these may be mentioned the completed series 
on the cocoanut, its growth, the production of 
oil from the nuts, and the insects attacking 
the trees, by Messrs. Copeland, Walker and 
Banks; the monograph on tropical ulcers and 
the paper on plague vaccination, by Dr. 
Strong; the preliminary discussion of beriberi, 
by Dr. Herzog; the first of a series treating of 
the geology of the Philippine Islands, by W. 
D. Smith, ete. There have also been pub- 
lished the results of the investigations carried 
on in Manila by Drs. Brinkerhoff and Tyzzer, 
but these latter have also been given to the 
public elsewhere in somewhat different form. 
The fourth number of the Journal will con- 
tain the first of a series of articles on the 
composition of a tropical forest, by H. N. 
Whitford, the subject being taken up from an 
ecological standpoint; and the fifth, the be- 
ginning of a number of papers on Philippine 
fibers and fiber substances, with especial ref- 
erence to their availability for paper making, 
by George F. Richmond. In June there will 
also be published seven of the papers read at 
the third annual meeting of the Philippine 
Islands Medical Association, one of these be- 
ing by Professor Kitasato, of Tokyo, on com- 
bating plague in Japan, another by Professor 
Shiga on bacillary dysentery, one by Dr. 
Strong on questions relating to the aggres- 
sins, one by Dr. Stitt on dengue fever, one 
by Dr. Craig on malaria, and a monograph 
by Dr. Musgrave on ameebic dysentery and 
its complications, the subject of liver abscess 
being especially discussed by the latter. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 605. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 


APPEAL FOR AN AERO-PHYSICAL OBSERVATORY IN 
JAPAN. 


It is well known that the progress of 
meteorology has seemed very slow. Within 
the past century the world has seen electricity, 
chemistry and other special branches of sci- 
ence emerge from their previous uncertain 
and indefinite condition, but dynamic meteor- 
ology is still wandering in fog and darkness. 
Thousands upon thousands of observations at 
the earth’s surface have told us much, but still 
the fundamental mechanical problems have 
not yet been solved. Although the importance 
of the exploration of the upper atmosphere 
has been recognized ever since the days of 
Pascal, yet very little is known of this vast 
mysterious ocean of air. Meteorologists are 
now fully convinced that the atmospheric phe- 
nomena at the earth’s surface depend, in great 
measure, upon the thermal and electrical, as 
well as the dynamic, conditions of the upper 
atmosphere. So long as this upper region 
remains unexplored, meteorology will not only 
be unable to enter into the group of exact 
sciences, but will fail to do its full service for 
Hence, a 
number of mountain observatories have been 
established in Europe and elsewhere, and 


the promotion of human welfare. 


‘many balloon and kite ascensions have been 


made for sounding the depths of the upper 
atmosphere. The balloon ascensions of Gay 
Lussae and Biot in 1804, of Barral and Bex 
in 1850, of Glaisher in 1862, and of Berson in 
1894, furnished many important facts relative 
to the physics of the atmosphere. Since this 
last date, unmanned balloons, carrying only 
very light self-registering apparatus, have 
been brought to great perfection, and extreme 
heights of eleven or twelve miles have been 
reached that would otherwise have been inac- 
cessible. By this mode of research Hermite, 
Besancon and Teisserenc de Bort in France, 
and Assmann, Berson and Hergesell in Ger- 
many, have done a great service to meteorol- 
ogy. Beginning with October, 1902, daily 
balloon and kite ascensions were made by 
Assmann and his associates at the Prussian 
Aeronautic Observatory, while Teisserenc de 


Aveust 3, 1906.] 


Bort’s great work in his famous observatory 
at Trappes, near Paris, dates back to 1890. 

The kite experiments in atmospheric elec- 
tricity made in America by Benjamin Frank- 
lin in 1758, and by Joseph Henry in 1840, are 
now classic. Most important contributions 
to meteorology by kite-flying have been made 
by Messrs. Rotch, Fergusson and Clayton, of 
Blue Hill Observatory. The United States 
Weather Bureau in 1898 temporarily main- 
tained seventeen kite stations, and is now 
completing the Mount Weather Research Ob- 
servatory, where the temperature, moisture 
and movement of the air at great heights will 
be ascertained by means of balloons and kites, 
while other researches on the sun’s heat, at- 
mospherie absorption, atmospheric electricity, 
terrestrial magnetism and seismic phenomena 
will be conducted. } 

In Japan, too, the importance of study of 
the upper air was recognized soon after the 
organization of our meteorological service in 
1875. Since that time the specialists at the 
Central Meteorological Observatory at Tokyo 
and at provincial stations have undertaken 
many technical expeditions to high mountains 
in order to investigate the phenomena of the 
higher strata of the atmosphere. For the 
establishment of the first Japanese mountain 
observatory we are indebted to our illustrious 
Prince Yamashina. For the site of this ob- 
servatory his imperial highness chose Mount 
Tsukuba, that remarkable mountain which 
stands alone on an extensive plain, and which, 
moreover, lies in the tracks of the cyclones of 
very intense character. Since its opening in 
1902 it has been of great service to observa- 
tional meteorology in Japan. 

It is evident, however, that the atmospheric 
data observed at mountain stations are very 
much affected by the local topography and the 
disturbing elements of the mountain mass and 
surface. A consideration of the observations 


made in the free upper air during balloon as- * 


cents from Munich, and those made simul- 
taneously at neighboring mountain stations, 
shows important differences between them. 
Hence it becomes vitally important for each 
eivilized country or nation to establish on its 
own soil an aero-physical observatory, like 


SCIENCE. 


149 


those at Trappes, Blue Hill, Berlin, Linden- 
berg and Mount Weather. 

The scientific problems to be investigated 
at such a research observatory are manifold, 
and include the following: 

1. The distribution of temperature in the 
upper atmosphere; the thermal conditions in 
cyclones and anticyclones; the distribution 
and condensation of atmospheric moisture; 
the distribution of pressure in the upper and 
the lower atmospheres. These are problems of 
paramount importance, and must be investi- 
gated by ascensions of balloons and kites. 

2. The absorption of solar heat by the at- 
mosphere, which must be measured by means 
of the pyrheliometer and actinometer; the dis- 
sipation of solar light and heat as determined 
by the polariscope; the detailed analysis of the 
sunbeams as carried out by means of the 
bolometer and spectrometer. To all these 
there should be added apparatus for studying 
the conductivity and emissivity of the land 
and water, the snow fields and the forests of 
the earth’s surface. 

3. The discovery of the remarkable proper- 
ties of radium has opened up a field of re- 
search relative to the ionization of gases, and 
this has led to a complete revolution in our 
ideas relative to atmospheric electricity. By 
means of an Exner’s electrometer and Benn- 
dorf’s self-registering apparatus the potential 
should be measured. To make systematic ob- 
servations of dissipation and radioactivity of 
the air under ground we need the Elster and 
Geitel instruments. Corresponding measure- 
ments of the ionization should be made with 
the Ebert ion-counter, and the Gerdien con- 
ductivity apparatus. 

Japan feels the direct influences of the 
Pacific Ocean and the Asiatic continent, and 
also those of the tropical and polar ocean cur- 
rents, so that meteorological as well as cli- 
matic conditions in Japan are very complex. 
Very often a continental cyclone, which ap- 
pears to originate in the Asiatic continent, 
and a typhoon, which comes from the tropics 
by way of the Philippines and Formosa, pass 
over Japan simultaneously, bringing great 
complexities in the weather. In spite of all 
these difficulties, however, the storm tracks 


150 


and other meteorological conditions have been 
very carefully investigated by eminent Jap- 
anese meteorologists. Japan has just estab- 
lished a new weather service in Korea and 
Manchuria, and is said to be intending to 
extend the service to southern China. These 
are all for immediate practical daily forecasts; 
but the exploration of the free upper atmos- 
phere by balloons and kites has not been 
touched. This vast upper ocean of atmos- 
phere, the study of which is exceedingly im- 
portant for further advances in the physics 
of the atmosphere, as well as in the prediction 
of the weather, must remain entirely unknown 
to Japanese meteorologists until they are able 
to investigate it. 

Japanese meteorologists do not generally 
possess all the expensive instruments and ap- 
paratus that are found in the United States 
and Europe. In the whole of Japan there is 
probably not a complete set of modern appa- 
ratus for the study of atmospheric electricity, 
such as those of Elster and Geitel, Ebert, 
Benndorf or Gerdien. Japanese physicists 
and meteorologists have relied on their own 
hands and brains, but we have now come to 
the age when international cooperation in 
science is progressing rapidly and our scien- 
tists should be provided with laboratories and 
observatories containing powerful instruments 
and apparatus. It is sad, indeed, to hear 
from Japanese meteorologists that they have 
no hope of establishing an aero-physical ob- 
servatory similar to those mentioned above. 

I have been asked if I can induce some 
worthy American patron of science or some 
institution to establish an aero-physical ob- 
servatory in Japan, or somewhere on the other 
side of the globe. What we should want at 
first would not necessarily be a great observa- 
tory, such as Mount Weather, but a small one, 
or several such, where we can observe with 
kites the conditions of the upper atmosphere, 
and can also study the atmospheric electrical 
phenomena by using the Ebert, Elster and 
Geitel and Benndorf apparatus. Such work 
is entirely new in Japan, but good physical 
assistants and materials can be obtained at 
small cost. It will require comparatively a 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 605. 


small sum of money to establish and maintain 
such an observatory in Japan. 

All Americans remember gratefully that 
the Smithsonian Institution, of Washington, 
which has done wonderful service for the in- 
crease and diffusion of scientific knowledge in 
America, was founded by a foreigner, an Eng- 
lishman, James Smithson, in the beginning of 
the nineteenth century. May not Japan re- 
ceive similar encouragement from foreign 
countries or institutions? Scientific research 
is becoming more and more international and 
cooperative; it soars far above the differences 
of race and national policy. The results of 
the meteorological investigations that are car- 
ried on in an aero-physical observatory in 
Japan will be directly beneficial to the whole 
human race as well as to that country. The 
world’s meteorology will receive far greater 
benefits indirectly than will Japan directly. 
Our atmosphere must be studied as a unit. 
When the atmospheric conditions in the upper 
and the lower strata become thoroughly known 
over America, Europe and Asia, then, and — 
only then, can meteorologists establish the 
true theories of cyclones, anticyclones, floods 
and droughts on a firm observational basis. 
We must remember, however, that at present 
the atmospheric conditions in the upper at- 
mosphere over the eastern hemisphere of the 
globe are entirely unknown, and the final solu- 
tion of our complex aero-physical and dynam- 
ical problem is still far away. 

All nations send their naval and merchant 
vessels to Japanese ports, where we do our 
best to forewarn them of dangerous storms. 
A storm-warning service blesses all nations 
alike. Its signals represent an international 
cooperation for the benefit of all mankind. 

For these reasons I appeal confidently to 
the American patrons of science for the funds 
necessary to establish a modern aero-physical 
observatory in Japan. 

S. T. Tamura. 


AN UNUSUAL METEOR. 


To tHE Epitor or Science: The recent 
descent of a meteor and its resultant im- 
pressed me as being so unusual and interest- 
ing that I am prompted to write about it. 


August 3, 1906.] 


SCIENCE. 


151 


ae ae yo, 
St Se a o- 
eS genes Shu ~ a Wadi \ 
NK, 
sinasead® —agaynarnd0” 4.9 pans 


At 5:30 p.m., October 13, 1905, shortly after 
leaving Cortland, N. Y., on a Lehigh Valley 
train for Elmira, N. Y., I observed to the 
south or southwest a meteor of great bril- 
liancy. Its first appearance was about thirty 
degrees from the zenith and descended very 
rapidly in an are to about the same distance 
from the horizon, when it burst like a sky- 
rocket. It left a narrow, smoky trail, which 
gradually increased in size and changed in 
form to a zigzag, becoming more cloud-like 
in appearance and growing fainter and fainter 
until it was entirely dissipated. The smoky 
trail in its transition was distinctly visible 
for ten minutes. The sketches indicate its 
gradual transition. 


EK. E. Davis. 
~ Norwicu, N. Y. 


SPECIAL ARTICLES. 

ON THE OCCURRENCE OF DESMOSTYLUS, MARSH. 

THE genus Desmostylus was described by 
Marsh* in 1888 from tooth fragments found 
in Alameda County, California. It was re- 
ferred to the Sirenia, and its nearest affinities 
were supposed to be with Metaxytherium. from 
the Tertiary of Europe. In 1899 and 1900 
additional specimens were examined by the 
writer, with a view to obtaining further in- 
formation as to its affinities, but no material 
was obtained which furnished more evidence 
than the type specimens described by Marsh. 

In 1902 Yoshiwara and Iwasiki’ described 
from the Miocene of Japan a number of speci- 
mens showing tooth structure almost identical 
with that of Desmostylus. This material also 

1Am. Jour. Sci., 1888, p. 94. 

2 Jour. of the Coll. of Science, Imperial Univ. 
of Tokyo, Vol. 16, Art. 6, 1902. 


furnished considerable evidence concerning 
the structure of the skull. The authors recog- 
nized the resemblances of this form to the 
Sirenia. . s 

Shortly after the appearance of the paper 
on the Japanese specimens a review of this 
article was published by Professor H. F. 
Osborn,’ who included a short note on recent 
studies of Desmostylus by Merriam. Pro- 
fessor Osborn considered the reference of the 
animal somewhat uncertain, very properly 
pointing out that both sirenian and probos- 
cidean characters were represented. 

During the past year two occurrences of 
Desmostylus have come to the notice of the 
writer. In both cases the reference of the 
specimens to this form seemed beyond ques- 
tion, and in both instances the occurrence 
furnished evidence of considerable importance 
regarding the possible habitat of the animals. 
The first specimen, consisting of two well-pre- 
served columns of a large Desmostylus tooth, 
came into my hands through the kindness of 
Professor Andrew ©. Lawson. It was ob- 
tained by Professor Lawson from Mr. W. L. 
Still, of La Panza, San Luis Obispo County, 
Calif. It was found in a cultivated field on 
Mr. Still’s ranch. This locality is stated by 
Professor Lawson to be in a belt of Monterey 
shale which extends through this part of the 
country for many miles. 

The second lot of material, including nu- 
merous tooth fragments, was presented to the 
university by Mr. CO. H. McCharles, of the 
University of California. It was obtained 
from a belt of shale six miles northeast of 
Santa Ana, Orange County, California, and 


3 Science, N. S., Vol. XVI, p. 713. 


152 SCIENCE. 


was found in association with a large number 
of shark teeth. 

In both instances the strata in which the 
Desmostylus remains occur are typical marine 
deposits, evidently of Miocene age. The 
fauna of these formations is in the main that 
of the open sea rather than of the shore, and 
it is difficult to conceive of proboscideans as 
occurring typically in these beds. The pre- 
sumptive evidence, therefore, points pretty 
definitely toward an aquatic type as the one 
from which these remains have come. 

Of the previously described American speci- 
mens we have known very little concerning 
the occurrence. The only one of which we 
have any definite information is in the collec- 
tion of Professor Thomas Condon, of the Uni- 
versity of Oregon, who informed me that it 
was ‘picked up on the Yaquina beach, which 
is throughout marine.’ Marsh states that the 
type specimen was found associated with the 
remains of a mastodon, a camel, a large eden- 
tate, and one or more species of horse, appar- 
ently indicating that the deposits were of 
alluvial or fresh-water origin. Unfortunately, 
there is no record to indicate exactly where 
or under what circumstances the material was 
obtained, The occurrence of the other three 
specimens from California is also very un- 
certain. 

Influenced by the statement of Marsh, the 
writer inclined originally to the view that 
Desmostylus was obtained in fresh-water de- 
posits. At the present moment, the only defi- 
nite evidence fails to lend support to this view. 
In the case of the Japanese material the evi- 
dence is of much the same character as that 
now available here. It was associated with 
the teeth of the shark, Carcharias japonicus, 
and with the marine shell Solen. Impressions 
of some land plants were also found, and the 
authors expressed the view that the deposits, 
though marine, were of shallow-water origin. 
Possibly the range extends from marine beds 
through estuary deposits in both America and 
Japan. 

Although the above notes do not give us 
very satisfactory information as to the habitat 


of Desmostylus, such evidence as is now be- ° 


fore us indicates that this form is an aquatic 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 605. 


animal and, therefore, probably a sirenian 
rather than a proboscidean. If Desmostylus 
were a typical proboscidean distributed from 
Japan to southern California, one would ex- 
pect to find it ranging some distance inland 


on both continents. While its non-appearance 


inland might be due to our having overlooked 
it in collecting, its appearance in the marginal 
marine deposits on both sides of the Pacifie 
suggests that its wide range was over the sea. 
JOHN C. Merriam. 


QUOTATIONS. 


THE FACULTIES IN AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. 

In discussing a paper by Professor Andrew 
F. West, of Princeton University, presented 
at the seventh annual conference of the Asso- 
ciation of American Universities, President 
Van Hise, of the University of Wisconsin, 
said: 

I believe that unity in a university is more im- 
portant than administrative efficiency, and just 
so sure as the president and deans and councils 
are made superior to the faculty the university 
will lose unity. Indeed, to control general uni- 
versity policies, I. believe in a single university 
faculty which includes every member of the in- 
structional force, so far as participation in debate 
is concerned, with every person of professorial 
rank as voting members. To that faculty the 
various administrative committees should be ac- 
countable, and while they may have full power 
in carrying out settled policies, important varia- 
tions of policy should be reviewed by the faculty. 
This proposal of course does not interfere with 
the power of the faculties of the several colleges 
to control their own affairs. It seems to me it 
would be a profound mistake for the president to 
depend upon his own initiative. If he is not 
in close fellowship with his faculty, so that they 
freely come to him,with their best suggestions, 
the institution will make educational progress 
very slowly indeed. It has been my privilege to 
receive suggestions freely from the Wisconsin 
faculty. For my own part, I would sooner see 
a measure in which I believe not passed, than to 
have it passed over the faculty. If I can not pre- 
sent the advantages of the measure so that it 
appeals to their reason, then, in all probability, 
I am wrong in my educational policy. It may be 
that in some cases the faculty may be wrong; edu- 
cational progress might have gone a little faster, 
had the faculty been overruled; but the grand 


te a ig tN 


—_- 


LS 


ene ae 


Avueust 3, 1906.] 


average will be much better by the thorough co- 
operation and harmonious relations which come 
from mutual respect and mutual acceptance of one 
another’s ideas. 

Possibly a president ought to have appeal to a 
corporation over the faculty. An emergency 
might arise in which this power might be neces- 
sary; but a president will be very wise to use that 
power rarely. I never have used it, and it would 
be an extreme case in which I should do so. If 
a measure were adopted by the faculty of which 
I thoroughly disapproved, which I could not carry 
before the trustees with my recommendation, I 
should ask the faculty to appoint a committee to 
present that subject to the trustees,.so that the 
faculty should have full representation of their 
view. I might be obliged to dissent from that 
view, and then the trustees must exercise their 
final responsibility. 

In conclusion, I think it is important that all 
the members of the instructional force shall know 
why a thing is done. If there is a senate above 
the men, and that senate takes the initiative and 
passes acts which have been opposed by the faculty 
as a whole, there is dissension; if, on the other 
hand, everybody has been given opportunity to 
express his views fully, then every man feels: 
“T had my opportunity to express what I had to 
say; the faculty has voted so and so; that stands 
as the university action and I will support it.” 
I may be in a somewhat extreme position in re- 
gard to this matter; I would have not only perfect 
liberty upon the part of all our members of a 
faculty, but I would have unity and concentration 
of power in a single faculty for general educa- 
tional policies. 


PROFESSOR HENRY A. WARD. 


WirHIn a little more than a year two great 
students of meteorites have passed away. Pro- 
fessor E. Cohen, of Greifswald, who died on 
April 13, 1905, made studies of the structure 
and composition of the iron meteorites which 
marked an important advance in our knowl- 
edge of these bodies, and his writings on 
meteorites in general were monumental in 
character. Professor Henry A. Ward, who 
died on July 4, 1906, was the world’s greatest 
collector of meteorites, and made also im- 
portant contributions to the science of the 
subject. Both left projected plans incomplete. 
Professor Cohen’s ‘ Meteoritenkunde’ was 
purposed to be a work of six volumes, of which 


SCIENCE. ASS 


only three were completed at the time of his 
death. Professor Ward had practically com- 
pleted a last great collection, but he had in 
preparation a large work in three volumes 
deseriptive of the collection and covering the 
subject of meteorites in general, which was 
only partially finished. Aside from his work 
as a collector Professor Ward had made im- 
portant contributions to our knowledge of 
meteorites which will always be of value. Per- 
haps his greatest service, and one which he 
rendered as no other could, was that of visit- 
ing remote corners of the earth to obtain exact 
and complete knowledge of meteorites whose 
existence had been hitherto only partially veri- 
fied. His latest work of this kind was per- 
haps one of the most important. This was a 
trip to Santa Rosa, United States of Colombia, 
to gain exact knowledge regarding an iron 
meteorite concerning which little was known 
since the mention of it in 1824 by Boussin- 
gault. This trip he had long had in mind and 
had partially undertaken at other times, but 
he had not been successful in carrying out 
his purpose until the present year. He ob- 
tained about 300 pounds of this meteorite and 
full information regarding both it and the 
adjoining meteorite of Rasgata, which had 
been much confused with it in literature. It 
is to be hoped that his notes regarding this 
meteorite are sufficiently preserved so that a 
record will be saved to science. Other im- 
portant meteorites which he ‘rescued’ in a 
similar manner were those of Bacubirito in 
Mexico and Veramin in Persia. The acquisi- 
tion of the latter meteorite required a visit to 
the Shah himself, for which Professor Ward’s 
native address and diplomacy served him in 
good stead. For tasks of this character Pro- 
fessor Ward was fitted as few others ever have 
been, for his wide knowledge of the world in a 
geographic sense enabled him to penetrate to 
the remotest regions and secure exact informa- 
tion. The meteorite catalogues which he has 
published from time to time have also been 
peculiarly useful in the accuracy of the loca- 
tions given, since this accuracy came from a 
personal knowledge of localities on the part 
of Professor Ward. This is a service to sci- 
ence which was especially needed, since the 


154 SCIENCE. 


localities of meteorites are an important fea- 
ture in the determination of their relations, 
and much confusion has often been caused by 
efforts to determine whether differently named 
meteorites belong to single falls. Professor 
Ward’s catalogues will long remain probably 
the best authority in these matters. Of his 
last great collection of meteorites, it is enough 
to say that it contains representatives of more 
falls than any other collection in the world, 
and its weight compares well with the largest. 
The collection thus is, as he desired it should 
be, the crowning achievement of his life in 
this direction, and other collectors can bear 
witness to the fact that he left little un- 
gathered. 

Aside from his contributions to science, 
Professor Ward will long be remembered for 
his charming personality. The writer’s ac- 
quaintanece with Professor Ward was con- 
fined to the later years of his life, but it 
was a privilege which he highly esteemed. 
As a raconteur Professor Ward had few 
equals. His many years of travel, his native 
humor, shrewdness and business sense gave 
him a wealth of observation and philosophy 
from which to draw tales that were of the 
most delightful and instructive character. A 
letter from Professor Ward, too, was always a 
delight. Few ever combined more humor and 
philosophy, shrewdness and science in a single 
epistle than Professor Ward was accustomed 
to do, and it is to be hoped that some col- 
lection of these writings of his may be made. 
Professor Ward’s knowledge of languages, ob- 
tained through years of travel, greatly facili- 
tated his work as a collector. He gained a 
knowledge of French in his early years through 
study in Paris, and later travel acquainted 
him with German, Spanish and several other 
languages. His knowledge of Spanish was 
sufficient on a recent visit to Chile to enable 
him to lecture in that language on the sub- 
ject of meteorites to the students of the School 
of Mines in Santiago. 

Professor Ward also rendered great service 
to science in his earlier years through the 
Natural Science Establishment which he 
founded. His work in this regard was epochal 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 605. 


in creating and developing an interest in 
natural history museums in this country. The 
value of the educational influences which he 
thus set in motion can only be seen in part 
as yet. While this work bore a more or less 
commercial aspect, this was by no means Pro- 
fessor Ward’s only interest in it, and that he 
was able throughout his life to serve the cause 
of pure science was a source of satisfaction 
to him and fortunate for the world. 


OLIveR C. FARRINGTON. 


FRITZ SCHAUDINN. 


THE untimely death of Dr. Fritz Schaudinn, 
at Hamburg on June 22, removes from service 
one of the most brilliant of the younger gen- 
eration of biologists, and one who, by careful 
and conscientious work, has made a name for 
himself that will endure. Neither an old nor 
a young man, Schaudinn has, before the age 
of thirty-five years, done more solid and last- 
ing work of a pioneer nature than any other 
of his generation, and so wide has been his 
range of activity that he will be equally missed 
in the fields of general biology, cytology, zool- 
ogy and pathology. 

Schaudinn’s work has been mainly on the 
unicellular organisms, the protozoa, although 
he did not confine his investigations to this 
field. We find his name, for example, in con- 
nection with strictly zoological work on 
Tasdigrades of the Arctic region, and Anky- 
lostoma in the mining regions of Westphalia. 
In another direction we find him bringing his 
keen observation and power of experimenta- 
tion to bear upon the problem of bacteria 
structure, while in general executive work his 
energy was given to editorial duties in con- 
nection with Das Tierreich and the Archiv 
fir Protistenkunde, of which he was the origi- 
nator and sole editor. 

In the field of pathology Schaudinn has be- 
come the foremost and final authority on the 
disease-causing protozoa. Beginning with the 
discovery of Leydenia gemmipara in the 
ascites fluid of patients suffering with malig- 
nant tumors, he has been one of the most 
careful and at the same time the most brilliant 
investigators in this most difficult field of re- 


Avueust 3, 1906.] 


search, and it is not too much to say that 
Schaudinn’s name has been connected with 
every distinct advance that has been made in 
protozoan pathology. In his work at the 
Kaiserlichen'Gesundheitsamte on various forms 
of human disease his experiments were most 
Ingenious and well conceived, while his inter- 
pretations were a happy combination of liber- 
ality of view and judicious conservatism. 
While at this post he carried out experiments 
showing the specific differences between the 
harmless Hntameba (Ameba) colt and the 
pernicious Entameba histolytica, the cause of 
amcebic dysentery. In connection with this 
institution also, but at the Rovigno Labora- 
tory, he worked out the full life history of 
Plasmodium vivax, the cause of tertian fever, 
and put the last missing link in the chain of 
evidence connecting the mosquito with ma- 
laria, by watching the penetration of human 
blood corpuscles by sporozoites taken directly 
from the mosquito’s salivary gland. It was 
from this laboratory also that he brought 
out his much-discussed life history of Try- 
panosoma noctue, which gave the first light 
on these important organisms which are so 
bound up with human affairs in the nagana 
and surra, ete., of Africa and India, and Try- 
panosomiasis and sleeping sickness in man. 
It was while connected with the Berlin institu- 
tion that he made his last important discovery 
of Treponema pallidum, the cause of syphilis, 
an organism that has been sought for in vain 
by biologists and pathologists since the germ 
theory of disease was established. 

It was in the field of general biology, how- 
ever, that Schaudinn’s greatest and most far- 
reaching work was done. The problems con- 
nected with reduction, and maturation in gen- 
eral, and of parthenogenesis, have been il- 
lumined by his researches on the life history 
of protozoa. He was the first to give a com- 
plete account of the life history of protozoan 
organisms, and his work on Coccidiwwm schu- 
bergt is a model of completeness of detail and 
of scientific presentation. With it came the 
stimulus for renewed and more careful obser- 
vation on protozoa all over the world. With 
this conception of the life cycle always in 


SCIENCE. 


155 


mind and its importance in protozoan study 
always prominent, he studied many different 
types of protozoa, and in whatever direction 
he turned the science of protozoology was ad- 
vanced. The life activities of Calcttuba, of 
Actinophrys, Spherastrum, Acanthocystis, 
Parameba, were worked out, and the full life 
histories of Hntameba, Centropyxis, Hyalopus, 
Polystomella, Trypanosoma noctue, Spvrro- 
cheta ziemanni and Plasmodiwm vivax were 
established. 

In his writings Schaudinn was simple and 
direct. Nothing was stated for effect, and there 
is an absolute lack of the polemical spirit in 
his work, which bears only the fair interpreta- 


“tion of his own work with never a thought of 


priority or of personal advertisement. His 
experimental work was conceived and executed 
with a rare combination of skill and patience, 
and in its very simplicity of statement his 
writing had the merit of carrying conviction, 
so that what he has done will remain as land- 
marks in the field of protozoan research. 
Gary N. CaALxIns. 


THE ROYAL BOTANIC SOCIETY OF LONDON- 

THE great revival in gardening which has 
been taking place during the last few years 
has not had such a beneficent effect on the 
Royal Botanie as on other kindred societies. 
Instead of increasing its membership by leaps 
and bounds and thus improving its financial 
position, it has found expansion impossible 
and new enterprise checked by lack of funds. 
The question as to whether any of the condi- 
tions in its constitution and methods are at 
fault has been under discussion for some 
months. A committee of conference of fel- 
lows was appointed and a report (or rather 
two, as there was a minority one also) has been 
presented to the council suggesting various 
possible reforms. These have been under the 
consideration of the council, who have just 
issued their reply. - It is evident that, although 
there is willingness to meet the fellows’ wishes 
on several points, none of the sweeping changes 
advocated will be adopted; and it seems doubt- 
ful to those outside the society who are com- 
petent to judge whether the few changes will 

+The London Times. 


156 SCIENCE. 


be sufficient to meet the present difficulties. 
_ The idea of admitting a certain number of 
fellows without the payment of entrance fees 
has not been accepted, on the ground that 350 
would have to be elected to bring in the same 
sum as 100 who paid the entrance fee. So 
this apparently simple inducement to get new 
members is to be put aside. Whether they 
continue to join at all with the five guineas 
entrance and two guineas annual subscription 
remains to be seen. It is clear, however, that 
the same sum will give more privileges in most 
horticultural societies. It has been suggested 
that the transactions of the society should be 
brought owt in a more pretentious form, and 
the eouncil certainly seems wise in rejecting 
this proposal at present, which is only likely 
to increase the expenses of the society without 
adequate compensation. Whether the plan of 
admitting nurserymen to the gardens and 
giving them space for growing the plants they 
offer for sale is the best way of insuring an 
improvement in the gardens may be open to 
question, but there is much to be said for the 
plan; and the plots need not occupy all the 
available space: anyhow this, too, is rejected. 
But no alternative alteration is contemplated 
by the council, who appeal to the opinion of 
four trustworthy experts, who have reported 
on the condition of the gardens. From the 
point of view of good gardeners they have no 
fault to find; the upkeep of both the open 
ground and the greenhouses reflects credit on 
the staff. 

But what strikes the outsider is that in this 
age of progress in horticulture, when people 
are constantly getting new ideas and studying 
fresh combinations, there are no opportunities 
to learn at the botanic gardens. There is 
nothing to stimulate, nothing to inspire. The 
gardens are not better than the park outside; 
so the inducements to become a fellow are few, 
although the club-room and library are a val- 
uable addition. Even at the shows many 
people feel there will not be so much that is 
novel, and the keenest horticulturists do not 
go, and the nurserymen, who admit that they 
are given every facility, and that every con- 
sideration is shown them, and they have more 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 605. 


room for display, yet take far fewer orders in 
three days there than they do in one elsewhere. 
The fact is, the gardens, although charming 
in many ways, are not up to date, and com- 
placent satisfaction in their present fitness 
will not mend matters. 

It is strange also that lectures should not 
have been well attended.’ Those given on 
botanical subjects at the Chelsea Physic Gar- 
den, which is not in a much more central 
position, had an average attendance of seventy, 
which shows there is room for work in this 
direction. 

It will be a great loss to science if this im- 
portant society, once the leading one, forfeits 
its high position by not pursuing a more for- 
ward policy at this critical moment in its 
history. 


THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF 
SOCIOLOGY. 

Tue Institut International de Sociologie 
was organized in 1893, with headquarters in 
Paris, where its congresses have hitherto been 
held. Its first president was Lord Avebury, 
the present president of the Sociological So- 
ciety. From the beginning, its international 
character has been maintained. Its member- 
ship has included Professors Kovalewsky and 
Novicow for Russia; Brentano, Biicher, Con- 
rad, Schmoller, Schaefile, Simmel and Wagner 
for Germany; Gumplowicz and Menger for 
Austria; Baldwin, Giddings, Small and Ward 
for America; and, besides Lord Avebury, Pro- 
fessors Foxwell, Nicholson, Tylor, Sidgwick 
and Mr. Frederic Harrison for Great Britain. 

The present congress came to London 
through the joint invitation of the Sociolog- 
ical Society and the University of London. 
All of the sessions were held in the Jehanghir 
Hall of the University Building, South Ken- 
sington. 

After the closing meeting, excursions to 
Oxford and Cambridge took place, which, it 
was hoped, could be arranged as motor car ex- 
eursions. <A visit to Edinburgh and Glasgow 
was planned to take place some time during 
the week following the congress. 

The provisional program was as follows: 


AvuGauST 3, 1906.] 


Tuesday, July 3, at 4 P.m—General opening 
meeting. Addresses by the president of the in- 
stitute, the president of the Sociological Society, 
and a representative of the University of London, 
Report of the secretary-general. 

8:30 p.m.—Conversazione given by the Univer- 
sity of London. 

Wednesday, July 4, at 10:30 a.m. Carac- 
téres généraux des luttes sociales’: M. J. Novicow, 
Professor Lester Ward, Professor Ludwig Gum- 
plowicz, Dr. Raoul de la Grasserie, M. 8S. Hal- 
périne. 

3:30 P.m.—Garden party given by Lord Ave- 
bury. 

Thursday, July 5, at 10:30 a.m.—Suite du 
débat.—‘ Les luttes sociales daprés Herbert 
Spencer’: Professor Ludwig Stein. ‘La guerre 
est-elle un facteur nécessaire?’: Professor A. D. 
Xénopol. 

2.30 p.m. Luttes sociales dérivées des prob- 
lémes industriels en Angleterre’: M. Frederic 
Harrison. 
employés’: Professor Loch. ‘ Etude comparée des 
luttes sociales contemporaines dans les principaux 
pays occidentaux, y compris Amérique du Nord’: 
Dr. Emil Reich. 

8 p.M.—Banquet given by the Sociological So- 
ciety. 

Friday, July 6, at 10:30 a.m. La sociologie 
des partis politiques’: Professor Lester Ward. 
‘L’évolution politique de V’Italie’: Senator Pro- 
fessor G. Arcoleo. ‘La foule et les meneurs’: 
M. K. J. Kochanowski. ‘Les luttes intermen- 
tales’: M. Emile Frey. 

2:30 p.m.—Closing meeting. 


RESULTS OF THE GERMAN CENSUS. 


THE results of the German census, which 
was taken on December 1, last, represent the 
total population of the home empire as 60,605,- 
183 persons, an increase of over 47 per cent. 
since 1871, and of 7.52 per cent. since the 
census of 1900. A study of the distribution 
of the increase among the various parts of the 
empire shows that Prussia, with nearly two 
thirds (87,278,820) of the total population, has 
grown at a greater rate than the rest of Ger- 
many, the increase in the number of its in- 
habitants during the past five years being 8.14 
per cent. Growth has been most rapid in the 
three western provinces in the valley of the 
middle Rhine—Westphalia (13.50 per cent.), 
Rhineland (11.74 per cent.), and Hesse-Nassau 


SCIENCE. 


‘La lutte pour le travail, et les in- 


157 


(9.07 per cent.)—which, with an area of less 
than one fifth of that of Prussia, contains 
nearly one third (12,124,052) of its population. 
In the county (Regierungs-Bezirke) of Pots- 
dam there has been an exceptionally rapid in- 
erease in the population the number of in- 
habitants being returned as 2,327,853, or 20.66 
per cent. more than in 1900. The city of 
Berlin, the population of which is enumer- 
ated separately, had last December 2,040,222 
inhabitants, an increase of 8.01 per cent. In 
no province or county of Prussia was there a 
decline in the population during the inter- 
censal period, but the growth in the eastern 
provinees, occupying the sandy North German 
plain, was below both the average for Prussia 
and the average for the German Empire. In 
the province of East Prussia the rate of in- 
crease was only 1.46 per cent. (in the previous 
five years, however, a decline had been regis- 
tered); in the province of West Prussia it 
was 5.01 per cent., in the county of Frankfurt 
(Brandenburg) 1.93 per cent., in the province 
of Pomerania 3.02 per cent., and in Posen, 
Silesia, and Prussian Saxony between 5 and 6 
per cent. In Hanover the rate of increase 
rose again to 6.52 per cent., while in German 
Jutland (Schleswig-Holstein) it exceeded the 
average, being 8.38 per cent. Outside of 
Prussia the population of the two great south- 
ern kingdoms, Bavaria and Wiirtemburg, com- 
prising much of the southwestern highlands 
as well as the alpine foreland of Germany, 
rose by 5.45 and 6.03 per cent., respectively, 
and amounted last December to 8,813,154, 
while the already densely populated kingdom 
of Saxony, with 4,502,350 inhabitants, had in- 
creased its population by 7.14 per cent. In 
the Grand Duchy of Baden (2,009,320 in- 
habitants), bordering the right bank of the 
upper Rhine, the rate of increase was precisely 
that of the German Empire—7.52 per cent., 
while in Hesse and Oldenburg it reached 8.14 
and 9.77 per cent., respectively, furnishing an- 
other instance of the rapidity with which the 
population is increasing in western and north- 
western Germany. Among the small states 
bunched together in the highlands of Central 
Germany, the rate of increase was compara- 


158 SCIENCE. 


tively small—mostly 3, 4 and 5 per cent. It 
is noticeable that in Alsace-Lorraine, the popu- 
lation of which declined from 1871 to 1885, 
there has been since the latter date a pro- 
gressive increase in population, the percentage 
of growth during the past five years being 5.53 
and the actual population last December 
1,814,626, or 265,000 more'than in 1871. The 
continued tendeney of population to accumu- 
late in large cities is illustrated by the returns 
for the Hanse towns, the increase in the case 
of Hamburg (free city and state) being 13.89 
per cent., in the case of Bremen 17.14 per cent., 
and in the case of Liibeck 9.38 per cent. The 
male population of Germany (29,868,096) is 
still slightly less than the female population 
(30,737,087); but, taking the empire as a 
whole, the proportional increase in the former 
(7.68 per cent.) has been slightly in excess of 
the increase in the latter (7.36 per cent.). 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


Proressor SEuBERT, hitherto the German 
member of the international committee on 
atomic weights, has resigned, and Professor 
Ostwald has been appointed his successor. The 
committee now consists of F. W. Clarke, 
United States, chairman; T. E. Thorpe, Great 
Britain; H. Moissan, France, and W. Ostwald, 
Germany. 

Mrs. W. P. FLemine, curator of astronom- 
ical photographs in the Harvard College Ob- 
servatory, has been elected an honorary mem- 
ber of the Royal Astronomical Society. Mrs. 
Fleming has also been appointed honorary 
fellow in the department of astronomy in 
Wellesley College, in recognition of her dis- 
tinguished work in astronomy and in grati- 
tude for her helpful cooperation in the estab- 
lishment of astronomical work in Wellesley 
College. 

Dr. CH. WarpdELL Stites, of the Public 
Health and Marine Hospital Service, has been 
elected correspondant étranger of the Société 
Centrale de Médeeine Veterinaire de France. 

Proressor EpMuND WEIss, professor of as- 
tronomy in the University of Vienna, has been 
elected a corresponding member of the Paris 
Academy of Sciences in the room of the late 
O. Struve: 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 605. 


Dr. A. WEISMANN, professor of zoology at 
Freiburg, celebrated, on July 9, the fiftieth an- 
niversary of his doctorate. 

Dr. ADoLF WULLNER, professor of physics at 
Aachen, has celebrated his seventieth birthday. 

Proressor Conway MacMinuan has resigned 
the chair of botany at the University of Min- 
nesota, and will, it is understood, go into busi- 
ness. 

Mr. Epwarp A. Faru, instructor in astron- 
omy in the University of Illinois, has been 
appointed fellow in the Lick Observatory. 

AccorDING to a press despatch from Wash- 
ington, the commission appointed by the Sec- 
retary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Com- 
merce and Labor and the Secretary of Agri- 
culture to formulate rules and regulations for 
the enforcement of the pure food law, held its 
first meeting on July 23 at the Department 
of Agriculture. Dr. H. W. Wiley, chemist 
of the Department of Agriculture, was elected 
president, and James L. Gerry, chief of the 
divisions of customs of the treasury, secretary. 
It was decided to begin work immediately 
upon the regulations, and the committee will 
meet from time to time for consultation as 
opportunities will be presented. Public hear- 
ings will be held, beginning in New York 
City, on September 17. 

A NuMBER of his old pupils have indicated 
their intention to join in the presentation of 
his portrait to Sir Henry Littlejohn, emeritus 
professor of forensic medicine in the Univer- 
sity of Edinburgh. 

Tue Cambridge Philosophical Society has 
awarded the Hopkins prize for the period 
1897-1900 to Mr. S. S. Hough, F.R.S., chief 
assistant at the Royal Observatory, Cape of 
Good Hope, for his work on the dynamical 
theory of the tides. 

THe London Chemical Society has awarded 
its Longstaff medal to Professor W. N. Hart- 
ley for his spectroscopical researches. 

THE Ceylon government has added a hos- 
pital to the pathological laboratory which it 
recently established at Colombo. Both insti- 
tutions are under the charge of Dr. Castellani. 

THE states of Maryland and North Carolina 
will cooperate this summer with the U. S. 


i 
: 
| 


ay a reg 


Ee es a ae 


Pe SS 


Aueust 3, 1906.] 


Geological Survey in the investigation of the 
geology of the Atlantic Coastal Plain forma- 
tions. This work will be done under the 
direction of Professor W. B. Clark, of the 
Maryland State Survey. 


Tue geology of the Wilmington, Phenixville 
and Honey Brook quadrangles in southeastern 
Pennsylvania will be mapped this summer by 
Miss Florence Bascom, assistant geologist of 
the U. S. Geological Survey and associate 
professor in Bryn Mawr College. She will 
complete the survey of the crystallines of the 
Wilmington and Phenixville quadrangles and 
make a preliminary survey of the Honey 
Brook quadrangle, with a view to gaining fur- 
ther light on the problem of the Piedmont 
gneisses. 

AREAL and economic surveys in Georgia, 
North Carolina, South Carolina and Ten- 
nessee will be made this summer by Mr. 
Arthur Keith, geologist, of the U. S. Geolog- 
ical Survey, assisted by Mr. D. B. Sterrett. . 


Mr. Wituiam L. Fintey met with a some- 
what serious accident by the fall of his horse 
while he was engaged in photographing bald 
eagle and osprey nests on San Clamente 
Island. 

Mr. E. G. Wooprurr, instructor in mineral- 
ogy at the Oklahoma State University, has 
been granted a year’s leave of absence to study 
at Harvard, where he has secured a scholar- 
ship. 

Mr. Joun G. Hatt, assistant in the Har- 
vard department of botany, has been elected 
to the position of assistant in plant pathology 
in the North Carolina Agricultural Experi- 
ment Station. 


At the general meeting of the British In- 
stitute of Hygiene, held last week, Sir, Will- 
iam Broadbent was elected president and Sir 
William Bennett, Surgeon-General Cleghorn, 
Sir Alfred Cooper, Mr. Mayo Robinson and 
Professor Sims Woodhead were elected as vice- 
presidents of the association. 

Dr. Paut Drupr, who last year went to 
Berlin as professor of physics and director of 
the physical laboratory, died by suicide on 
July 5, at the age of forty-two years. Dr. 
Drude was editor of the Annalen der Physik 


SCIENCE. 


159 


and was eminent for his theoretical and ex- 
perimental researches on the electromagnetic 
theory of light. 


Tue death is announced of Dr. Joseph 
Koroésy, director of the Statistical Bureau at 
Buda Pesth and the author of important 
studies on demography. 


TuHeE death is announced of Dr. George W. 
Atherton, since 1882 president of the Penn- 
sylvania State College. He was born in 
Massachusetts in 1837, and graduated from 
Yale University in 1863. 


THe U. S. Civil Service Commission an- 
nounces an examination, on August 29-30, to 
secure eligibles from which to make certifica- 
tion to fill at least ten vacancies in the posi- 
tion of assistant engineer, at salaries of $1,400 
to $1,600 per annum and two or more at a 
salary of $1,800 per annum each, in the Philip- 
pine Service, and similar vacancies as they 
may occur in that service. 


THE French Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science is holding its thirty-fifth 
meeting at Lyons this week, under the presi- 
dency of M. Gabriel Lippmann. 


An International Congress on Polar Ex- 
ploration will meet at Brussels, beginning on 
September 7. Further information may be 
obtained from M. Lecointe, director of the 
Brussels Observatory. 


THe International Committee on Aero- | 
nautics, of which M. Hergesell is president, 
will hold its fifth biennial congress at Milan 
at the beginning of September. M. Palazzo, 
director of the Italian Meteorological Service, — 
will be the president of the congress. 


Tue seventh annual meeting of the Amer- 
ican Conference of Pharmaceutical Faculties 
will meet at Indianapolis, Ind., on September 
5 at 3 p.M., under the presidency of Dr. Henry 
M. Whelpley, of St. Louis. 


By action of the legislature of Indiana, the 
Indiana University has been given the man- 
agement of the Donaldson farm, a tract of 
one hundred and eighty-two acres of timber 
land, on which are the openings to extensive 
caves and to the richest blind-fish localities 


160 


known. For the full year from September 
1, 1906, to September 1, 1907, the university 
offers a fellowship to the value of $500 to a 
graduate student desiring and able to conduct 
research work with cave animals. He must 
reside on the farm. The university has erect- 
ed a two-roomed shack, 15x30 feet, which 
serves temporarily as sleeping quarters and 
laboratory. The place is equipped with beds, 
kitchen and dining-room furniture, aquaria, 
microscope, ete. Applications and letters of 
enquiry should be addressed to C. H. Eigen- 
mann, Winona Lake, Indiana. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


THE sum of $50,000 has been given to Yale 
University by Mr. Edwin Milner, of Plain- 
field, Conn. The interest on the money is to 
be used to educate some resident of Plainfield. 


Tue State College of Physicians and Sur- 
geons of Indianapolis, Indiana, has entered 
into an affiliation. for educational purposes 
with Indiana University. By terms of the 
affiliation the first two years of the state col- 
lege will be given in the laboratories of Indi- 
ana University, in the medical department of 
which the first two years of medicine have 
been given for several years. The last two 
years of the course will be given at Indian- 
apolis, where a new hospital with a capacity 
of one hundred beds has been organized under 
the direct control of the state college, which 
will be used for clinical teaching. This will 
make it possible for students to follow cases 
throughout the entire course of the disease 
and assist in after-treatment of surgical cases. 
Graduates of the school will receive their 
medical degree and diploma from Indiana 
University. 


Kine Epwarp has approved the appointment 
of a Royal Commission for the purpose of 
holding an enquiry into Trinity College, Dub- 
lin, and the University of Dublin. The com- 
mission will consist of Sir Edward Fry (chair- 
man), the Chief Baron of the Exchequer, 
Ireland, Sir T. Raleigh, Sir A. W. Riicker, 
Dr. H. Jackson, Dr. Douglas Hyde, Professor 
D. J. Coffey and Mr. S. B. Kelleher. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 605, 


Tue following promotions and appointments 
have been made at Brown University: Asso- 
ciate Professor Alexander Meiklejohn, dean of 
the university, to become professor of logic 
and metaphysics; Assistant Professor W. H. 
Kenerson, to become associate professor of 
mechanical engineering; Assistant Professor 
A. H. Blanchard, to become associate professor 
of civil engineering; Assistant Professor H. 
P. Manning, to become associate professor of 
mathematics; T. M. Phetteplace, to become 
assistant professor of mechanical engineering; 
C. W. Brown, to become assistant professor 
of geology; F. S. Beattie, to become assistant 
in chemistry; M. L. Dolt, to become assistant 
in chemistry; H. E. Chandler, to become as- 
sistant in civil engineering; and Miss Alice 
W. Wilcox, to become instructor in biology 
and household economics at the Women’s 
College. 

At Lehigh University the following nomina- 
tions and appointments have been announced: 
P. A. Lambert and Arthur E. Meake have 
been advanced from assistant professorships 
to full professorships in mathematics; John H. 
Ogburn from an instructorship to an assistant 
professorship in mathematics and astronomy; 
John Duer Irving from an assistant professor- 
ship to a full professorship in geology; Barry 
MacNutt from an instructorship to an as- 
sistant professorship in physics. 

Mr. E. B. Hart, associate chemist of the 
New York Agricultural Experiment Station, 
has been chosen professor of agricultural 
chemistry and chemist of the Experiment Sta- 
tion of the University of Wisconsin. 


Mr. Cuas T. Kirk, A.M. (Oklahoma, ’05), 
was recently elected assistant professor of geol- 
ogy at the Montana School of Mines, Butte, 
Montana. 

Tue Alice Freeman Palmer fellowship at 
Wellesley College has been awarded to Miss 
Anna Johnson, B.A. (South Dakota), M.S._ 
(Iowa), A.M. and Ph.D. (Radcliffe), a student 
in mathematics. 


Dr. Max Le Buanc, professor of physical 
chemistry at Karlsruhe, has been called to 


the chair at Leipzig, vacant by the retirement 
of Professor Wilhelm Ostwald. 


SCIENCE 


A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 
OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, 


Fripay, Auaust 10, 1906. 


CONTENTS. 
The Nature and Origin of Volcanic Heat: 
DEY PRETEND) HOMSON Gee etdarlelsiclaiietetes eet 161 


The Geographical Distribution of the Student 
Body at a Number of Eastern and Western 
Universities and Colleges: PROFESSOR 
UD OMELOMBOM Ri lvalelisls) aie eas) a) sieves Nias alse 166 


Scientific Books :— 
Montgomery on the Analysis of Racial 
Descent in Animals: Proressor E. G. 
CONKLIN <...... Hdl iets esr ley cae gmln aI NC 173 


Scientific Journals and Articles............ 176 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
Glaciation in the Sonoran Province: Dr. 
W J McGee. The Harthquake and Pro- 
feScOtn Lankuis) DMS yids oes cetieen eles 177 


Special Articles :— 
Time Variation of the Initial Nucleation of 
Wet Dust-free Air: PRoressoR CaRL 
Barus. Use of the Term Permian-in 
American Geology: DR. CHARLES R. KryeEs. 180 


Quotations :— 

Professor M’Kendrick and the Progress of 
DPEERBELOLOUI | Nai Meco Da ieee anata ty el ai evaig ee lahat 182 
Astronomical Notes :— 

The System of Castor; Reflecting Telescopes 

of Short Focus; Some Considerations re- 

garding the Number of the Stars: Pro- 

FESSOR Soton I. Battey...... Pt a a RU 182 
Recent Vertebrate Paleontology: H. F. O..... 184 
PRICE UTE, ROOM) Path tate p-lietae aiare lice Merete tacs g 185 
NScientifie Notes and News................. 189 
University and Educational News.......... 192 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 
review should be sent to the Editor of ScieNcE, Garrison-on- 
Hudson, N. Y. 


THE NATURE AND ORIGIN OF VOLCANIC 
HEAT. 

THE hypothesis of a molten or more or 
less fluid interior, as possessed by the earth, 
may now be said to have been abandoned, 
and along with it the supposition that vol- 
canoes constitute vents for the escape, as 
a consequence of shrinkage and subsidenee, 
of a portion of the molten content lying 
everywhere under the solid crust. The 
hypothesis that the interior of the earth, 
while in the main solid, has eavities con- 
taining melted matter which occasionally 
is forced out in the form of eruptive out- 
bursts is a kindred one which has found 
some adherents. But a truly solid interior 
seems to be demanded by the accepted 
great rigidity of the body of the earth, and 
Mallet has put forward the idea that extra- 
ordinary pressures exerted to crush the 
rocks would result in their becoming 
heated and melted. Evidently, however, 


“mere pressure acting alone, however great, 


would not suffice for this. Incipient 
fluidity would substantially put an end 
to the crushing process and heat genera- 
tion would stop. The observed high tem- 
peratures attained by voleanie products 
during eruption would not be reached. 
More recently the thermal effects of vol- 
canoes, and the various results thereof, 
have been ascribed by one authority to the 
presence of radium, which, as is known, 
continuously gives out energy in its break- 
ing up. But voleanic lavas have not been 
found to be sources of radium or of 
uranium, the amount of which should be 


162 ha 


quite large if the supposition is to be given 
any serious consideration. 

The object of this paper is to present a 

view of the origin of voleanic heat which 
may possess some elements of novelty and, 
it is hoped, of rationality. According to 
this view, much of the heat manifested is 
due to mechanical work converted into 
heat, a theory based upon dynamical prin- 
ciples to be later pointed out. Primarily 
it will be admitted that any substance, gas, 
liquid or solid, upon which work is done 
acquires heat in proportion to the energy 
expended upon it, which heat, if prevented 
from escaping, at once results in an in- 
erease of temperature of the substance. If 
“the mechanical energy so converted be of 
‘known amount, we may ecaleulate from the 
“mass and specific heat of the substance or 
body upon which such energy is expended 
“the rise in temperature. Even if air at 
-ordinary temperature under high pressure 
-esecapes through a tortuous or frictional 
“passage surrounded by a good heat non- 
‘conductor, it emerges hot. The higher the 
wressure and the greater the friction met 
in the passage the greater the increase. 
The heating is directly related to the work 
done upon the mass. 

If a liquid be substituted for the air the 
general result is the same, and the liquid 
may be made to boil upon its escape. If 
a somewhat plastic solid like hard pitch be 
subjected to the process, the energy re- 
quired will be greatly increased, or the 
pressure required to force it through the 
tortuous passage of some length will be 
great. It may emerge hot and melted if 
the conditions be properly selected. 

If now it be assumed that any solid be 
subjected to a pressure such as to cause it 
to flow in a tortuous or restricted channel, 
it will, in so moving, rise in temperature, 
and continue so to rise until it has reached 
a degree of fluidity such as to lessen or 


SCIENCE. na 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 606. 


practically stop the absorption of energy 
in moving the mass; or until it escapes from 
the passage through which it is being im- 
pelled. The pressure is but one factor of 
the energy, the other being the distance 
through which the pressure acts. The 
pressure required depends upon the resist- 
ance to motion, which in turn is greater 
with more rigid bodies and greater with in- 
erease of distance through which friction 
is met and overcome. The pressure or 
force required will be at a maximum when 
the solid mass starts cold or nearly so and 
will diminish as the temperature is raised 
and consequent plasticity or fluidity 
brought about. A rock mass forced to 
move under great pressure over distances 
of thousands of feet must soon become 
melted in the process. It is not necessary 
to assume that the mass so heated starts 
cold. It may start at any temperature 
at which it possesses sufficient rigidity or 
viscosity to require the exertion of great 
force to move it in the assumed restricted 
or tortuous passage or channel. Great 
velocity of movement in such passage 
means of course great energy expenditure 
and rapid heating. The idea thus out- 
lined may now be applied as an explana- 
tion of voleanic phenomena. For example, 
a hot-water spring may be the result of the 
water having been forced by high pressure 
to traverse somewhat porous rock, or to 
pass through narrow but long fissures in 
which it is churned for a long time before 
escaping. In like manner any rock mass 
which, subjected to very high pressure, 
begins to flow must become heated. If its 
distance of traverse be great enough in a 
restricted fissure or channel, it must melt, 
or even become so heated as to partially 
vaporize when the pressure is relieved, as 
when it finally escapes. Let it be admitted 
that the flexures taking place in the earth’s 
erust or in the outer portions of its mass 


Oe eg Se Re a TO En a 


ht 
1‘; 


ee 


a, ee 


Avueust 10, 1906.] 


may bring to bear upon deep-seated and 
perhaps already heated solid rock masses 
a sufficient pressure to cause them to re- 
adjust their positions, and the condition 
demanded by the theory is present. Such 
a condition would mean movement of such 
masses over considerable distances at high 
pressures, with the final result of the 
formation of molten streams ready to es- 
‘cape upward from the pressure exerted 
upon them. A vent would at last form 
and the rush of the partially melted rocks 
towards and out of this vent would become 
alava flow. These actions would naturally 
oceur at places of flexure such as would 
tend to form a ridge, and the loading and 
sinking of sea bottoms as a consequence of 
sedimentary deposits would be favorable, 
-as is well known, to such flexure as would 
tend to heavily compress the rocks along 
the line of flexure deep down from the 
earth’s surface, while relieving or not in- 
creasing pressure near the surface. The 
compressed rock would in general tend to 
be shifted or made to flow outward at the 
line of flexure. This view accords well 
with the facts. Volcanoes exist along lines 
more or less parallel to or adjacent to sea 
coasts or along the weak lines in the earth’s 
surface. It will easily be seen that a single 
voleanie vent or pipe may serve to relieve 
or provide a point for outflow for the shift- 
ing of material over a great length of 
flexure deep down under the earth’s sur- 
face. As the fiow and fusion would be a 
somewhat gradual process it may well be 
that only when the vent is about to open 
will there be earthquakes and great sub- 
terranean noises, more or less local to the 
place of outbreak. Very probably erup- 
tions in which melted lava does not appear 
to have a part, but in which steam and 
gases, sand, or mud are ejected, are never- 
theless dependent upon an upthrust of lava 
or a subterranean lava stream, which never 


SCIENCE. 


163 


reaches the surface, but the temperature 
of which is such that, on its reaching 
hydrous rock strata, the water is evolved 
as steam at high pressure, which entering 
superincumbent layers gives rise to mud 
eruptions, or escapes from vents or fuma- 
roles. 

It would be expected that such rock 
masses as, under pressure, would yield most 
readily would be the ones to flow and form 
lavas. They would also be likely to be 
the more readily fusible masses, assuming 
that before the process of compression and 
extrusion begins they exist at a tempera- 
ture more or less elevated above that at 
the surface of the earth. The locus of the 
rock flow might, therefore, be in deep re- 
gions several miles down, so deep indeed 
that relief of pressure could not occur by 
folding of upper layers or strata, which 
would involve the bodily uplift of rocks 
above, which rocks, exerting an enormous 
downward pressure, may be of great rela- 
tive rigidity. 

The view of the origin of voleanic heat 
here advanced makes the paroxysmal na- 
ture of voleanic eruptions almost a neces- 
sity of the case. The rocks would resist 
an accumulation of pressure tending to 
cause them to flow, but finally, under con- 
tinued increase of force, they would begin 
to readjust themselves. This would result 
in heating, softening and fusion. <A vent 
might form and thus on account of the 
fluidity of the moving mass the accumulated 
pressure would for the time be relieved. 
But the original causes might still exist 
and continue, even after cooling of the 
heated material in the vents, to result in 
pressure accumulation, renewed flow and 
fresh outbreaks at periods more or less re- 
mote. The final decay of voleanic action 
in any region would result from such a 
permanent readjustment of strains as to 
entirely relieve the rock masses of any pres- 


164 SCIENCE. 


sures which could become critical and 
eause flow. 

During the cooling of a globe of heated 
and partly fused matter, such as the earth 
and moon are believed to have once been, 
the early voleanic outbursts on them would 
be without violence, and it seems likely that 
the materials ejected would have tempera- 
tures not greatly above that of the sur- 
rounding masses. An eruption at that 
time would be a welling up of great bodies 
of rather quiescent lava derived at once 
from the fluid contents below a but slightly 
cooled surface. As the further cooling 
made the body more solid and rigid, espe- 
cially at the outside surface, the mechanical 
energy spent in causing an eruption would 
lead to higher temperatures of erupted 
matter, which would escape with more 
violence, explosions of vapor or gas would 
occur, partly due to vapors evolved from 
the melted masses upon relief of pressure 
at the vent, and partly the result of contact 
of the hot lavas with colder surrounding 
rocks containing gases or water. Ashes 
and cinders would become a feature of the 
eruption. At still later stages eruptions 
would become less frequent and vents less 
numerous, but the violence of the out- 
bursts would increase, owing to the very 
high temperatures reached by the extruded 
matter during the journey towards ex- 
pulsion. 

It may seem somewhat paradoxical to 
hold that as a body, such as is the moon, 
cooled, the temperature of the ejected vol- 
canic matter would rise, but in the present 
view this would be a consequence of the 
necessary exertion of greater pressures to 
cause eruption, owing to the enormous 
amount of mechanical work or energy ex- 
pended, as the matter would be forced 
from greater depths. It happens that upon 
the earth much of the evidence of volcanic 
action in archaic or early geological times 
has been obliterated by erosion and sedi- 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 606. 


mentation, but we have in the moon’s sur- 
face a record which is not so modified or 
defaced. 

From the whitish streaks surrounding 
such craters as Tycho Brahe and Coper- 
nicus, a type of crater not very numerous 
on the moon, which streaks are most con- 
spicuous at the time of full moon, it is seen 
that there have been effects of eruptions of 
these great craters which extend over hun- 
dreds of miles from the craters. These 
whitish streaks are superimposed upon, 
and therefore later than, many of the other 
eraters and markings over which they 
spread. These streaks are probably the 
depositions from condensed vapors which 
left the craters in almost radial lines. In- 
asmuch as the moon has very little atmos- 
phere even at. its lower surface and much 
less at the heights from which these vapors 
escaped in leaving the craters, the straight 
line or radial direction taken by them is 
not surprising; in fact, it is necessary. 
Vaporous matter escaping into a vacuum 
moves in precisely that way. Had the 
earth no atmosphere, the ashes and vapors 
from a voleanic crater would move away 
from it in just the same manner, and 
would be scattered in radial streaks from 
the notches in the erater walls and to 
enormous distances. If again the surface 
of the moon, as seems likely owing to 
absence of water, be covered with loose 
masses, or be broken instead of smooth, or 
be covered with pieces of rock of varying 
size, it is easy to understand why these 
whitish streaks should require for visibility 
a high angle of solar illumination. The 
condensed deposits would fall in between 
the boulders or stones on the surface and 
at low solar elevations would be in the 


shade or shadow of the broken pieces on’ 


the surface. That the surface of the moon, 
in large part, may be covered with frag- 
ments of rock, boulders and stones is prob- 
able from the great part that volcanic ac- 


Avueust 10, 1906.] 


tion has played in giving configuration to 
its surface, and the absence of any in- 
fluences which would alter the aspect or 
general make-up of the surface outside of 
voleanic disturbanees. The markings 
alluded to as existing around such craters 
as Tycho and Copernicus, as well as the 
great depth and other marked character- 
istics of these and similar craters, declare 
them to be the more recent of the great 
voleanic outbursts on the lunar surface. 
They bear the impress of having been very 
violent, and the vapors indicate ejections 
hot up to the point of vaporization. If 
the view presented is correct, this is entirely 
natural, On the other hand, contrast these 
eraters with those called Archimedes and 
Plato, lava plains, surrounding which we 
see no vapor or fume streaks, and no evi- 


dence of great violence, and we are brought 


to infer that these latter are the results of 
more ancient action in the nature of more 
gentle welling up from below of fused mat- 
ter, not so greatly heated by the energy of 
expulsion. Such eraters are shallow and 
were probably more in the nature of quies- 
cent pools or lakes of lava than great relief 
vents from great depths traversed by ma- 
terials at high velocity and at the high 
temperatures brought about by the process 
of superheating while moving against re- 
sistance in voleanic pipes. So far then as 
the moon furnishes evidence on this sub- 
ject it may well repay further study, and 
its condition seems to confirm the position 
taken herein. It has sometimes been 
claimed that much of the explosive effect of 
gas and steam from voleanoes may be due 
to water entering or percolating through 
heated strata and being converted into 
steam at enormous pressures. But the pos- 
sibility of this is doubted. The very pres- 
sure of vapor would stop the process at its 
outset. No water would enter a hot stratum 
unless forced in by a pressure in excess of 


SCIENCE. 


165 


that which the steam would acquire upon 
its generation. A boiler can not be fed with 
water by a pump which yields less pressure 
than that carried by the boiler itself. 

If, however, the water be already present 
in a rock stratum which is invaded by hot 
lava rising in a voleanic fissure, then its 
conversion into steam and the violent emis- 
sion thereof may readily take place. 

It is conceivable too that considerable 
movement or shifting under pressure of any 
moist stratum over considerable distances, 
especially through a restricted channel, 
may result in heating it to a temperature 
sufficient to generate steam. Here again, 
as in the ease of the rock flow before re- 
ferred to, the work done in moving the 
particles against great resistance may un- 
der proper conditions cause an accumula- 
tion of heat energy sufficient to account for 
explosive effects when the material reaches 
a vent. Under such conditions also, the 
expulsion of hot mud or sand with steam 
may occur without the concurrence of lava 
flow. 

The considerations herein put forward 
seem to furnish a basis for a dynamical 
theory of voleanoes. Doubtless the action 
of heating a flowing rock by energy ex- — 
pended upon it may be, and perhaps is, 
often supplemented by other causes, such 
as chemical action brought about by hot 
contact of substances having affinity for 
each other. Gaseous products under high 
pressures may be the consequence of the 
reactions. Limestone or other carbonate 
may be decomposed by the contact of hot 
lava, and carbonic acid gas in great vol- 
umes be thus liberated. 

We certainly have no need of recourse 
to an assumption of the existence of large 
localized bodies and radium minerals to 
explain voleanie action. To say the least 
such an assumed store of this rare element 
is improbable. 


166 SCIENCE. 


The view here advanced, it is thought, 
presents far less difficulty. It is indeed 
an extension of Mallet’s idea to include 
other factors of energy besides pressure. 

The fact that the heated voleanie masses 
are in the earth, surrounded by materials 
of low heat-conducting power, makes the 
accumulation or retention of heat energy 
generated by mechanical work possible. 
The local character, as well as the varied 
nature of voleanic phenomena, is not diffi- 
eult to understand. Volcanic outbursts 
must continue so long as readjustments of 
the positions of rock masses under a critical 
condition of pressure occur with the deeper 
surface layers. 

If, as appears probable, the earth’s in- 
terior is metallic iron, surmounted by a 
covering of oxidized lighter material, slag- 
like in character but altered by water and 
sedimentation, ete., the interior tempera- 
ture or that of the metallic body is not 
likely to be very high, and it must be fairly 
uniform in spite of the gradual increase 
noted in the surface rocks at increasing 
depths. Such surface rocks or layers, being 
of relatively low heat conductivity, serve, 
so to speak, as a non-conducting blanket in 
which alone a considerable temperature 
gradient would be manifested. This con- 
dition does not forbid the possibility of the 
readjustments of masses herein regarded as 
the initial cause of superheating, even if 
those masses be quite hot but under such 
gravitational pressure of superincumbent 
masses as to forbid fusion. 


Evinu THOMSON. 


THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE 
STUDENT BODY AT A NUMBER OF 
EASTERN AND WESTERN UNI- 
VERSITIES AND EASTERN 
COLLEGES. 


THE accompanying table explains the 
geographical distribution of the student 
body of six of the leading universities of 


LN.iS. Vor. XXIV. No. 606. 


the east and of four western institutions, 
as well as of three New England and two 
Pennsylvania colleges for the academic year 
1905-06, summer session students being in 
every instance omitted. It was impossible 
to secure accurate figures for the academic 
year just closed in the case of the Univer- 
sity of California, and consequently the 
figures for 1904-05 were substituted. Com- 
paring the attendance by divisions of the 
six eastern universities (Columbia, Cornell, 
Harvard, Pennsylvama, Princeton, Yale) 
with the corresponding figures for the same 
universities included in a similar table 
published in Screncz, N. S. Vol. XXII, 
No. 562 (October 6, 1905), pp. 425-6, we 
note in the first place that there has been 
a gain for these universities taken as a 
whole in every division, the largest increase 
in actual number of students, leaving the 
north Atlantic division—in which all of 
these six universities are located—out of 
consideration, having been recorded in 
foreign countries, where there has been a 
gain of eighty-seven students, this being as 
large as the entire increase of the student 
clientele of these universities in the United 
States divisions (exclusive of the north At- 
lantic). In the south Atlantic states and 
in the insular possessions these eastern uni- 
versities have made only a slight gain; in 
the south central division all of them 
show an increase with the exception of 
Princeton; in the north central division 
the chief gains have been made by Colwm- 
bia, Princeton and Yale, in the western 
division by Columbia, Pennsylvania and 


Yale, and in foreign countries by Colum- 


bia, Cornell and Harvard. These figures 
bear out the statement made by the writer 
in earlier contributions to ScrENCE to the 
effect that the western and southern 
clientele of the prominent eastern uni- 
versities is not suffering any shrinkage. 
At Columbia the attendance from outside 


Avecust 10, 1906.] SCIENCE. 167 
RESIDENCES OF STUDENTS 
(A) UNITED STATES 
Bi & 
2 S&S 8 a <I ® q | | n qi 
a | a) = 3 = 2 2 | ry S 8 Be 
1905-1906 FSA EDU et MEV ON VES AME Ml abet Ase eer ale E sadlite 
; SA SI C=O Meee MGR) Een mI Re NCA She Ihe Ac ce 
| MAS ES eel Neral an neha mee pal nce wa alsey i ee NS 
Ay 
North Atlantic Division.) 387 9 (3486 2517 | 879 3494 | 26) 324) 509) 490 2517 | 955 348| 39 |2239 
Connecticut. <2. csc osss coe cedece 24 73\ 46) 22) 58 2 5 SP a LSM oneal 1057 
IW [era coe HOR SRE EOnES ieee 3 20; 13] 44] 116 il Go atl 3 6 28 
Massachusetts .........00.0s00+ 196 4| 78) 78) 418 |2383 5 A SOON Zane Osy 5| 188 
New Hampshire.............. 1 a 7| 243} 70 1 5| 14 2 4 2) 12 
New Jersey.......sscccoscseeees 12 2) 407| 143 8} 68 1) 65) 52) 13) 207) 277); 29 | 112 
Iai 7p eOrd eee baadecssoneescHone 110 8/2774 1911) 54) 501) 12) 23) 47) 248) 1380) 272) 173) 14| 608 
Rennsylvantal;.cs.cc-eccnces- 24 95} 301 6 | 169 6| 233) 392) 175 |2046| 357) 14) 11) 188 
Rhode Island................+- 8 11; 10 6| 99 1 5 a 2 il 1| 26 
INJERMIOM Geese ances c cclinsetas 9 21 8} 78) 30 1 12 4 3 9 Uy Dae 
South Atlantic Division.; 11 3/| 112) 180 7/110; 16; 11) 99) 40) 152) 95 3] 15) 98 
Delaware..... J ED pe Ais 1 9 1 3 3 32 5 13 
District of Columbia......... 4 2 6| 53 5| 38 3 By US) I TIA Bak aN 2 6] 27 
LOT ape te ee esesseeseecneeoes vie 6 D, 4 2 4 a 3 7 
IG CON elas sescecacia dave covroe +s 22) 12 9 3 5 8 3 3 7 
Meamylandy 2. c.cc-cccocs success 5 Wh TOI. 4/ 1; 18 1 3| 60 I axe AN) 1 Bi Ke 
North Carolina ............... 19} 11 8 3 1 3 8 6 if 9 
South Carolina...............0: 1 15 7 Wey alah Bi 1 1 5 3 il 9 
TGS aT SS Ra 20; 30 13 2 10 8| 16 8 10 
West Virginia................. 7 9 8 5 5| 16 5 al 6 
South Central Division.., 5 3| 73) 80 3| 92) 43 15; 63) 64) 63 2 8) 89 
VAN ABAMAY es ee i sahcceweesesooses 1 14; 16 9 il il ay it} 6 i 
INT Kansas sieuieodivs conics cas 5 7 8 3) 7 4 4 3 1 
Indian Territory.............. 1 2 3 2 2 1 1 
enti key a2. Sccsceteenececce oes 2 iy |) 3B 1| 36 7 AN DAN haha 23 1 30 
ME OUISTATIAs seuoeosaokeusecccecs 6 5 11 6 1 2 1 6 
IMIGGIGSIP PL o220... ce ekeaeccac. 1 7 7 2 6 1 1 3 5 4 
Okdahomaieescecsesessscboesese 1 i 6 2; 10 1 1 4 
MEMNESSCE iscsi eeesescusene ener: 1 10; 12 1 9 4 9 3 2 ) an 
Tes gS ee AIRE a ee 1 Di lealeale/ Bey aL py ea} TA Neb ae 1 My) pe 
North Central Division.... 43) 37) 287| 380' 91) 487 |3299 9 6 3380 | 1389) 219) 86|3120) 536 
MUTT IS eee aoe canes oes 10 8| 28) 121} 54] 106 |2872 4 1/ 313) 16] 59} 31/ 193) 147 
Waveney seo eck ea ee 1 1} 40/ 28 SO). VS 163) 13) 24 8| 24) 96 
MO Wid ene ce cn cetacucecaiiocnoeaae es 2 9; 10! 20 3| 42) 93 iit 88; 138} 20 7b By 
KEATISAS soa screehs wa saeacwercenee Sills 7 1 elton iL}, Syl 8 4 1 18 
WIG) cere nye ACR e Ann SHAME 5 A BS} | GD Mi O34 Sih 1 2 |2275 8} 13 SA all B3y/ 
Minnesota.........s0..ssceeceees DA) Bary 9 1) 30) 24 2 26 9; 10 8} 30) 45 
MMA SSOUT estes oes coceeseacee nes 16 Bi SRA ual Si) ae 83 67 8| 22 Gs as 
Nie bras lcaeapenee cnet eee sae 1 5 ee 3 6 Oy eelion melts 18 1 4 2 4 7 
North Dakota............0s000« 1 3 1 4 4 9 1 9 
@OUTON Se eee aes ea oas cane 6 2; 63} 128). 14) 137) 31 1 2| 341) 54) 45) 18! 16) 1385 
South Dakota...........s..s00. 1 3 1 D 2) 15 11 2 y 15 5 
WISCONSIN.........eccccecccseees 2 Ohi) OAT a1? 2} 29) 81 35 6| 16 8 \2731| 24 
Western Division........... 4/3202) 117) 75) 15) 124) 47 2 1) 149; 37) 31 d| 25) 93 
INI ZONA Eee eae ees 3 4 1 2; 3 1 1 
California .......2..06.c0.ss0ee: 1/3093; 30; 18 1} 45 5 25 7 6 1 AN iil 
Colorado ees eee: 3 7} 19} 19] 12) 28) 13 Al 8; 10 SL aps Ly) S83 
To CAMS yt ee Ge a Ae 2 G, 3 2 4 4 3 iL 
Montanale asic cecscescssses eas 5| 14 4 9 6 25 1 6 3 3 
ING Vaal eee eeaeee cee he 5 3 1 1 
News Miexicolsscercssessceceee 7 il 1 4 1 7 1 2 
Oregon) joss evecsneses sean osees 1} 35 Say da 11 5 1 1 7 2) 4 1 3/ 13 
OR ice naa es EE Ge A Oe We e2onleLO) 11 4 1 16 3 3 7 
Washington .........2.sseeeeeee 2| 38 8 8 Leyes 7 14; 12 1 1 I yal 
Wiyjornaini eee eee eleenec seer 2 2 1 7 1 il 2 
Insular Possessions....... 14 6| 23 12; 12 1 4) il 5 1 1 9 8 
Hawaiian Islands............. 9 3 5 9 1 1 1 1 6 
Philippine Islands... ........ 5 12 10 1 5 2 8 1 
Puerto) RICO. :ccceccse: oe seeee 3 6 3 il 4 5 2 1 1 1 
NOTA 453 |3268 |4083 |3255 | 995 |4819 '3447 | 347 | 634 14133 12914 '1364 | 445 3216 |3063 


168 SCIENCE. 


the north Atlantic division has increased 
from 15.07 per cent. to 17.65 per cent. dur- 
ing the last four years. 

Taking the UNIVERSITIES in the accom- 
panying table by divisions, we find that 
Harvard and Columbia have the largest 
representations in the north Atlantic divi- 
sion, Cornell and Pennsylvania, Yale and 
Princeton following in the order named. 
Michigan’s representation has increased 
from 394 to 490 in one year, the other west- 
ern (the term as thus used includes the 
north central and western divisions) uni- 
versities— California, Illinois, Wisconsin— 
attracting only a few students from this 
section of the country. Harvard leads in 
all of the New England states with the ex- 
ception of Connecticut, where Yale of 
course has the largest clientele. Columbia 
_ and Cornell naturally have the largest rep- 
resentation in New York state, Yale, Har- 
vard, Princeton and Michigan following in 
the order named, as they did last year. 
Michigan’s increase in this state—from 195 
to 248—is noteworthy. In New Jersey 
the order is also identical with that of last 
year, namely, Columbia, Princeton, Penn- 
sylvama, Cornell, Yale, Harvard. The 
Unwersity of Pennsylvania naturally leads 
in its own state, followed by Princeton, 
Cornell, Yale, Harvard, Columbia. Ex- 
amining the attendance at the COLLEGES 
from these states, we note that the order 
for the entire division is Dartmouth, Le- 
high, Amherst, Williams, Lafayette. Dart- 
mouth leads the colleges in Maine and 
Massachusetts—Harvard being the only 
one of the universities having a larger fol- 
lowing in these states than the New Eng- 
land college in question—as it does in New 
Hampshire and Vermont, where its fol- 
lowing is far in excess of that of any other 
college or university represented in the 
table. Only a few students from Rhode 
Island attend the colleges included in the 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 606. 


table, the students from this state being 
attracted in largest number to Brown and 
Harvard. In Connecticut the order is 
Amherst, Dartmouth, Williams, all of the 
eastern universities except Princeton hav- 
ing a larger representation in this state 
than any of the New England colleges here 
included. Lafayette and Lehigh have no 
following to speak of in any of the New 
England states, although they are well 
represented in New Jersey and New York. 
In the states just mentioned the order of 
the New England eolleges is Williams, Am- 
herst, Dartmouth, all three exceeding the 
two Pennsylvania colleges in New York 
and being surpassed by them in New 
Jersey. Of the eastern universities Penn- 
sylvama has the largest percentage of en- 
rolment from its own state, namely, 67 per 
cent.; of Columbia’s student body 66 per 
cent. come from New York state, of Cor- 


nell’s 56 per cent. hail from the same state, - 


of Harvard’s 54 per cent. are residents of 
Massachusetts, of Yale’s 33 per cent. have 
their permanent residence in Connecticut, 
and finally, of Princeton’s students only 
20 per cent. are residents of the state of 
New Jersey. Princeton and Yale are thus 
the only two of the eastern universities 
mentioned which attract more than half of 
their students from outside the states in 
which they are respectively located. Of 
the three New England colleges here in- 
eluded, 21 per cent. of the student enrol- 
ment of Williams hail from Massachusetts, 
24 per cent. of Dartmouth’s student body 
come from New Hampshire (32 per cent. 
from New Hampshire and Vermont), and 
43 per cent. of Amherst’s students have 
their permanent home in Massachusetts. 
All of these colleges therefore attract the 
larger percentage of their student body 
from outside of the states in which they 
are respectively located, while in the case 
of Lafayette and Lehigh the reverse is true, 


Aveust 10, 1906.] 


the percentage of Pennsylvania residents 
being 67 per cent. in the case of Lafayette 
and 60 per cent. in the case of Lelagh. 
It is also interesting to observe that Dart- 
mouth draws more students from Massa- 
chusetts than it does from New Hampshire, 
that Princeton draws more students from 
Pennsylvania than from New Jersey, and 
that Williams attracts more from New 
York than from Massachusetts. 

Coming next to the south Atlantic divi- 
sion, we see that the students from this 
section are attracted to the six eastern uni- 
versities in the same order as last year, 
namely, Cornell, Pennsylvania, Columbia, 
Harvard, Yale, Princeton. Michigan is 
the only one of the three western univer- 
sities here included that makes any show- 
ing in this division, being exceeded by all 
of the eastern universities, while of the col- 
leges Lehigh is the only one that is at all 
well represented, the south Atlantic fol- 
lowing of this institution being in excess 
even of that of Princeton. As far as the 
individual states are concerned, Pennsyl- 
vania leads in Delaware, Cornell in the 
District of Columbia and in Virginia, Penn- 
sylvama and Yale in Florida, Columbia in 
Georgia, North Carolina and South Caro- 
lina, Lehigh in Maryland, and Pennsyl- 
vania in West Virginia. 

In the south central division Harvard 


heads the list (92 as against 80 last year), 


with Yale (89-80), Cornell (80-76), Co- 
lumbia (75-72), Pennsylvania (64-44), 
Michigan (63-64), Princeton (63-72), 
Illinois (47-47) and Lehigh following in 
the order given, the representation from 
this section of the other institutions in the 
list being insignificant. The largest repre- 
sentation in the individual states is found 
at the following universities: Alabama— 
Cornell, Columbia, Pennsylvania; Arkan- 
sas—Harvard; Indian Territory—Ilinois; 
Kentucky— Harvard, Yale, Pennsylvania; 


SCIENCE. 


169 


Louisiana— Harvard; Mississippi—Colwm- 
bia and Cornell; Oklahoma—Michigan; 
Tennessee— Yale, Cornell, Columbia; and 
Texas— Yale, Cornell, Columbia and Penn- 
sylvania. Kentucky sends by far the 
largest delegation to the institutions in- 
cluded in the list. 

In the north central division the three 
universities of that section, Michigan, 
Illinois and Wisconsin, naturally head the 
list, ranking in the order named. Of the 
three institutions Michigan draws the 
largest percentage of students from out- 
side of its own state, 54 per cent. of its 
enrolment hailing from Michigan, the 
corresponding figures for Illinois and Wis- 
consin being 83 per cent. and 84 per cent., 
respectively. It is thus seen that the 
clientele of the Universities of Illinois and 
Wisconsin is much more local in character 
than that of any of the eastern colleges or 
universities included in the table, whereas 
Michigan attracts a larger percentage of 
students from outside its own state than do 
Pennsylvania, Columbia and Cornell or 
Lafayette and Lehigh, Harvard’s percent- 
age being just equal to that of the Unwer- 
sity of Michigan. Of the eastern univer- 
sities Yale has the largest clientele in this 
section of the country, followed by Har- 
vard, Cornell, Columbia, Princeton and 
Pennsylvama, in the order named, Yale 
and Harvard having exchanged rank since 
last year. Comparing the figures for the 
past academie year with those for 1904-05, 
we see that Yale’s representation has in- 
creased from 506 to 536, the greatest gain 
(119-135) having been made in the state 
of Ohio; Harvard has dropped from 526 to 
487, the largest loss (160-137) having been 
experienced in the same state; Cornell’s 
representation in this division has remained 
stationary, 381-380, Columbia’s has grown 
from 262 to 287, Princeton has 219 this 
year as against 209 in 1904-05, while Penn- 


170 SCIENCE. 


sylvania has the same number, 139. Of 
the New England colleges Dartmouth has 
the largest following in the north central 
division, with Williams a close second, the 
latter having twice as many students from 
this section as Amherst. The representa- 
tion of Lafayette and Lehigh in this as 
well as in the western division is insignifi- 
eant. Califorma has thirty-seven repre- 
sentatives from this division, which is less 
than that of any of the other universities 
or the New England colleges. Leaving the 
University of Illinots out of consideration, 
Michigan has the largest following in 
Tllinois, followed by Wisconsin, Yale, Cor- 
nell and Harvard, each of which has over 
one hundred students from this state. 
Michigan also leads in Indiana, followed 
by Illinois, Columbia, Harvard and Cor- 
mell. In Iowa the order is Illinovs, Mich- 
igan, Wisconsin, Harvard and Yale; in 
Kansas, Michigan, Illinois, Yale, Harvard, 
Columbia; in Michigan (leaving the state 
university out of consideration) Yale, Co- 
lumbia, Illinois, Harvard, Cornell; in Min- 
nesota, Yale, Harvard, Wisconsin, Coluwm- 
bia, Michigan; in Missouri, Michigan, Yale, 
Harvard, Illinois, Columbia; in Nebraska, 
Illinois and Michigan, Columbia and Har- 
vard; in North Dakota, Michigan and Wis- 
consin; in Ohio, Michigan, Harvard, Yale, 
Cornell, Columbia; in South Dakota, 
Illinois and Wisconsin, Michigan; in Wis- 
consin (leaving the state university out of 
consideration), Illinois, Michigan, Har- 
vard, Yale, Columbia. The largest num- 
ber of students attracted to Amherst from 
this section hail from Missouri, while the 
main strength of Dartmouth and Williams 
lies in Illinois. Excluding in each case 
the respective state university, the state of 
Illinois is represented by 1,091 students 
at the institutions mentioned in the list, 
Wisconsin by 240 and Michigan by 200, 
v. €., 72 per cent. of the state of Illinois 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 606. 


representatives at all of the institutions 
included in the table are enrolled at the 
state university, while the percentage for 
Michigan and Wisconsin is 92. 

In the western division (leaving Cali- 
fornia out of consideration) Michigan 
leads, as it did last year, with Harvard and 
Columbia, each of which attracts over one 
hundred students from this section, fol- 
lowing; then come Yale, Cornell, Illinois, 
Pennsylvama, Princeton. Amherst and 
Williams attract only a few students from 
this division, Dartmouth being well repre- 
sented only in Colorado. Michigan has 
grown from 134 to 149, its chief gain hav- 
ing been registered in Colorado; Harvard 
has dropped from 126 to 124, its main loss 
being in California; Columbia has grown 
from 111 to 117, the largest gain being in 
Utah; and Yale has grown from 78 to 93, 
the best gain being in Colorado. Colwmobia 
leads in Arizona, although the number is 
so small as to render the comparison of 
ttle value; in California Harvard still 
leads—leaving the state university out of 
consideration—with Columbia second; in 
Colorado the order is Michigan, Yale, Har- 
vard; in Idaho, Illinois and Michigan; in 
Montana, Michigan, Columbia, Harvard; 
in Nevada, Californa, Columbia; in New 
Mexico, California and Michigan, Harvard; 
in Oregon, California, Yale, Cornell and 
Harvard; in Utah, Columbia, Michigan; in 
Washington, Califorma, Michigan, Penn- 
sylvania; and in Wyoming, Michigan 
leads. Of the states in the western divi- 
sion Colorado and California send by far 
the largest delegations to the eastern insti- 
tutions in the list. The fact that the 
Californa figures are those for 190405 
somewhat mars the value of the compari- 
sons in this division, although the figures 
for the academic year just closed would 
probably show little change. The attend- 
ance of students from the state of Cali- 


| 
| 


9 a 


= 


ee ee 


Se 


Avueust 10, 1906.] 


SCIENCE. 


fornia at the eastern institutions will un- 
doubtedly suffer a considerable loss in the 


coming year. 


at 


Cornell again leads in the number of 
students from the insular possessions, with 
California second, and Harvard and Illinots 


(B) FOREIGN COUNTRIES 


1905-1906 


were ec cscesccesscece pees ee oon 


ee -eece sees ceca sescescscrn 


West Indies 
South America 
Argentine Republic 
Bra zlnrscnu Seno neestctecec ues 
Chili 
Colomibiay eee eds be 
Ecuador 
Peru 
Kurope 


pee eesccesnevcecsoces 
eevccoeotosces 


peta scceceeses cocesresceses 


ee resccosescccecsce 


Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Mernmanle.l se enasscscescesesee. 
France 
Germany 
Great Britain and Ireland. 


weceeseveceesse csccevese 


eer rec es cece see eosscecves 


mecee coeccces neccesces 
eee seccccrsnoavesccesscece 


sees cn cceccccccccesccses 
pecrearesecacccecccecens 


see eserosccscesascecsaceces 
sec c eset esceesccccesceces 


sec eee cesses sscre voseessee 
Pee eccccs secees oaecscessecseee 
wesc eccosresecesccccccsccce 
weeeesccn passes enacsceccce 


e Cer eescoscsereeces ceceacece 


eee ee cccccesccccs veseneeee 


Turkey (in Asia) 
Africa 


sen esceccedresccescesceces 


SouthAtricahsssssaeceessse 
Australasia 
IATIStralias soe Naseneee eto 
Friendly Islands.............. 
New Zealand 


Total (Foreign Countries) 


eeccrscescescosoes 


seecceceseccezecece 


Total (United States) 


Grand Total 


eee cceccesceces 


Amherst 


656 |4180 3044 1384 |448 |3242 


* Omitting 64 non-resident graduate students. 


3 
Gs 3 s o | a iz} 
Seva ey a sicg | ayliey | eh enlmenias 
ida ENA NSE cere Sea Ort Lee Vine Ne Cera dl nee 
mat = iS} = a = « Sy Ss a AS S| ca 
SEM MMe ave is oor | Si ae ia aie 
Ay 
_—— -— — -_— a 
7| 46; 48) 2; St] 10 17; 21) 30) 7% it) 2% 
6) 31) 26 1| 40 3 We eealt 8 4 1} 25 
1 4 1 13 1 
alee 2 9 7 2 1 
1 6 6 1 6 6 5 a 3 1 oleae 
1 3 | 2 1 6 ay al 
2; 9| 30 1 3 2; 9 5} (Oo 
1 2 7 i 4 
Jey dll 6 Lee! 
3 1 3 
2 1 1 1 
2 i! 
1 i 9 1 
5 oo 22; 1) 32) 6 1; 12 2 (| 4| 21 
1 il 
1 1 1 
il AL al 
8 1 6 16 i 3 
Mo ey 2 6 1 3 5) 5 2 
3) [ih dads 4 g 2} 10 ae 
1 2 1 2 1 
1 
2 3 1 4 
3 1 2 1 
1 
1 
6 2 a 
2 1 
2 2 1 1 
1 1 
2 4 i 5 4 1 1 12 
18} 38; 20 21 3 12; 14 2 2 6| 31 
9; 10 9 3 aL 1 1 4 
1 3 7 i 2 2 1 1 1 
8) 24 4 16 Cilia 4) 1 6; 24 
1 
1 iL 2 
4); 2 PH 1 1; 1 2 
1 
1 
1 
1 4 2 1 1 1 2 
6; 3) 8 5 1 21 3 
3 2 7 1 14 3 
i 
2 1 1 4 1 7 
39! 150; 130) 3) 112; 18) 3) 22) 4%) 130; 20; 3 | 26) 85 
3268 |4083 |3255 | 995 |4319 |3447 | 347 | 634 |4133 |2914 |1364 |445 |3216/3063 
330% |4233 |3385 | 998 |4431 |3465 | 350 


3148* 


172 


third. California leads in the Hawaiian 
Islands, and Cornell in the Philippines and 
in Puerto Rico. There is quite an increase 
in the total number of students from the 
Philippine Islands and Puerto Rico over 
last year at the universities included in 
both this and last year’s tables. Alaska 
is not represented this year at any of the 
institutions in the list. | 

As was pointed out in the introductory 
paragraph, the gain during the past year 
in the number of students from foreign 
countries has been quite marked, the in- 
erease for the six eastern universities in- 
eluded being one from 540 to 627, a growth 
of no less than 16 per cent., to which the 
various continents contributed as follows: 
North America’s representation has grown 
from 212 to 216; South America’s from 
37 to 50; Europe’s from 116 to 181; Asia’s 
from 107 to 129; Africa’s remained sta- 
tionary at 11, and Australasia’s has 
dropped from 57 to 40, this loss being 
attributable chiefly to the decrease of 15 
in the figures for the University of Penn- 
sylvania, which attracts the largest number 
of Australasians.t <A glance at the accom- 
panying table will show that Colwmbia has 
the largest foreign clientele, having ex- 
changed places with the Umversity of 
Pennsylvania, which this year is tied with 
Cornell for second place, Harvard occupy- 
ing fourth, as it did last year. The at- 
tendance from foreign countries at Colum- 
bia has grown from 117 to 150 during the 
past year, that of Cornell from 100 to 130, 
that of Pennsylvania from 126 to 130, that 
of Harvard from 94 to 112, that of Yale 
from 83 to 85, that of Michigan from 38 
to 47, and that of Princeton has remained 
stationary at 20. Of the western universi- 
ties Michigan attracts the largest number 
of students resident in foreign countries, 

*A portion of the information contained in this 


paragraph was published in the New York Evening 
Post of July 21, 1906. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 606. 


followed by California, Wisconsin and Illi- 
nots in the order named. It will also be 
noted that the attendance of foreigners is 
almost exclusively confined to the larger 
universities, although Lehigh during 1905- 
06 attracted 22, as against 7 for Amherst, 
and 3 each for Dartmouth, Lafayette and 
Williams. Lehigh’s excellent showing in 
this direction is explained by its reputation 
as a technological school, this particular 
field being the one that draws the majority 
of foreign students, although the foreign 
clientele in the non-professional graduate 
faculties of the larger universities is rap- 
idly on the increase. It is safe to predict 
that the growth in the number of foreign- 
ers attending our higher institutions of 
learning will be as uninterrupted in the 
immediate future as it has been during the 
past few years. Examining the represen- 
tation of the different institutions by con- 
tinents, we note that the order in North 
America is Harvard, Cornell, Columbia, 
Pennsylvania, Yale, Michigan; in South 
America, Cornell, Columbia and Pennsyl- 
vania, Wisconsin—Cornell being the only 
institution in the list that makes a respect- 
able showing; in Europe, Columbia, Penn- 
sylwania, Harvard, Cornell, Yale, Michigan; 
in Asia, Columbia, Yale, Harvard, Cornell, 
California, Pennsylvania; in Africa Co- 
lumbia leads, while in Australasia the order 
is Pennsylvania, Cornell, Califorma, Har- 
vard. Thetwo most interesting phenomena 
to be observed here are the rapidly in- 
creasing delegations from Europe on one 
hand, and on the other the comparatively 
meager showing made by South America. 
It certainly seems strange that the South 
American republics are not better repre- 
sented by students at the universities of the 
United States. As for individual coun- 
tries, Harvard leads in Canada, followed 
by Columbia, Cornell and Yale; Pennsyl- 
vania has the best Central American repre- 
sentation; Cornell attracts the largest num- 


Avucust 10, 1906.] 


ber of Cubans, Michigan the largest num- 
ber of Mexicans and Pennsylvania the 
largest number of West Indians. Of the 
North American countries, Canada sends 
the largest number of students—161— fol- 
lowed by Mexico with 48 and Cuba with 
40. Cornell leads in the Argentine Re- 
public, Brazil, Ecuador and Peru; Colum- 
bia in Colombia, and with Pennsylvania in 
Chili, although the representation in the 
last two countries is insignificant. Of the 
South American countries, Brazil sends the 
largest representation, namely, 20, followed 
by the Argentine Republic with 15 and 
Peru with 12. In the European countries 
that send ten or more students the order 
is as follows: France—Pennsylvania, Co- 
lumbia, Harvard; Germany—Columbuia, 
Harvard; Great Britain and Ireland—Co- 
lumbia, Pennsylvama, Harvard; Italy— 
Pennsylvama, Harvard; Russia— Pennsyl- 
vama, Columbia; Turkey—Yale, Harvard. 
Great Britain and Ireland sends the largest 
number, namely, 44, followed by Germany 
with 37, France with 35 and Turkey with 
30. Of the Asiatic countries, Japan sends 
110, China 38 and India 20, the represen- 
tation from the other countries being un- 
important. Columbia draws the largest 
number of students from China, leads with 
Yale in Japan, and follows Cornell in 
India. Of the Australasian countries, 
Australia sends 30 and New Zealand 16, 
Pennsylvania leading in both, followed by 
Cornell in the former and by Harvard in 
the latter. RupouF Tomso, JR. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


The Analysis of Racial Descent in. Animals. 
By Tuomas H. Montcomery, Jr., Professor 
of Zoology in the University of Texas. Pp. 
xi+ 311. Henry Holt & Co. $2.50. 

A general and comprehensive work on the 
methods of determining racial descent has not 
appeared within recent years and Haeckel’s 
“Generelle Morphologie, first published in 
1866, still remains the standard work on this 


SCIENCE. 


173 


subject. The insufficiency of some of the 
methods outlined by Haeckel has been repeat- 
edly pointed out, but there are few, if any, 
works which deal with these methods both 
critically and constructively. Recent an- 
alytical studies in biology have turned the 
interest and sympathies of many biologists 
away from the more general, if less exact, 
speculations of the older school, and have 
brought the study of phylogeny into a certain 
disrepute. Nevertheless, as the author says 
in his preface, “ many of the broader concepts 
of biology have been obtained from just such 
investigations. As to the degree of uncer- 
tainty in its conclusions, this results simply 
from the great extent of the phenomena to be 
explained and from their complexity.” 

The first chapter of this work deals with 
‘Environmental Modes of Existence.’ In 
addition to the general classification of organ- 
isms into the geobios, limnobtos and halobios 
of Haeckel, the author recognizes two other 
groups—the diplobios (organisms which spend 
part of their life in one medium, part in an- 
other) and the entobios (entoparasites); the 
first three of these modes of existence he 
groups together under the name monobios, the 
last two under heterobios. 

The question as to which of these modes of 
existence is the most primitive is interestingly 
discussed and the conclusion reached that the 
evidence favors the hypothesis of Simroth 
that ‘the sea beach from the region of high 
tidal limit to a short distance below the low 
tidal, is the probable point of origin of most 
animal groups.’ 

Regarding the seasonal migrations of vari- 
ous animals the author concludes that there is 
no evidence that the earliest environment of 
the young represents the ancestral home of the 
species. As to the method of origin of ento- 
parasites he concludes that where there are a 
number of different hosts in the life history 
of the parasite, e. g., Trematodes, the host in 
which the adult condition is reached is the 
primitive one, whereas the occurrence of 
younger stages in an intermediate host is a 
later adaptation. “ Here the ontogeny would 
be a reversal of the phylogeny with regard to 
the sequence of hosts.” 


174 


In the second chapter on ‘Heredity and 
Embryonic Differentiation’ the author gives 
a brief account of the statistical, and a more 
extended account of the cytological studies of 
heredity. He calls attention to the impor- 
tance of the nuclear linin in the preservation 
of the characteristic number and form of the 
chromosomes and he concludes that the linin 
should always be considered along with the 
chromatin and that both linin and chromatin 
constitute the germ-plasm. The hereditary 
significance of the conjugation of male and 
female chromosomes, and of their separation 
in the reduction division first discovered by 
the author, is discussed. In his treatment of 
embryonic differentiation the position is taken 
that the ability of egg fragments to give rise 
to whole embryos, no more indicates the un- 
differentiated character of the fragments than 


the similar ability on the part of adult pla- 


narians. 

The third chapter on the ‘ Relations of Modes 
of Reproduction and Conjugation’ is less con- 
vincing in its conclusions than the preceding 
ones. The evidence presented in favor of the 
view that fragmentation is more primitive 
than binary fission is not convincing; and the 
same is true of the conclusion that Geddes and 
Thompson’s theory of sex must be abandoned 
because sexuality is ‘the state of occurrence 
of dissimilar individuals,’ only one of which, 
the egg, has the power to reproduce. Sim- 
uarly the conclusion that the male is morpho- 
fogically and physiologically inferior to the 
female, while supported by many examples, 
meets with so many exceptions as to cast 
doubt upon its general applicability or value. 
The statement that ‘sexuality finds its expres- 
sion and origin in extra-chromosomal differ- 
ences’ does not accord with the recent careful 
work of Stevens and Wilson. And the state- 
ment that every Metazoan formed from a fer- 
tilized egg cell is initially a hermaphrodite, 
because formed by the fusion of male and fe- 
male germ cells, while an animal arising from 
an unfertilized egg is initially female, though 
it may later become male, seems to the re- 
viewer to confuse sex with sex cells and there- 
by to create many needless difficulties. Finally 
the evidence brought forward at the close of 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. VoL. XXIV. No. 606. 


the chapter in favor of the view that ‘ eventual 
hermaphroditism’ is a secondary condition 
and not primitive is not wholly satisfactory, 
for it does not necessarily follow that ‘ because 
of its [separate sexes] more general occur- 
rence it would seem to be more primitive.’ 

The fourth chapter contains an extensive 
treatment of ‘ Life Cycles and Polymorphism 
of Individuals.’ The author concludes that 
“all cases of metagenesis have originated from 
larval development, and that asexual repro- 
duction is limited to an immature or larval 
stage.’ Practically he makes no distinction 
between larval development with. metamor- 
phosis and metagenesis, or in his own words, 
‘ All discontinuous larval development is meta- 
genetic, in that the adult is formed asexually, 
by budding from the larva.’ This discussion 
is of service in showing that there is no hard 
and fast line between metagenesis and dis- 
continuous larval development, but there 
seems to be no good reason for changing the 
old definition of metagenesis, viz., ‘an alter- 
nation of a sexually produced generation or 
person with an asexually produced one,’ for 
this new definition, even though in some cases 
there may be no sharp line of demarcation 
between the alternation of ‘ persons’ in meta- 
genesis with the alternation of ‘organs’ in 
larval development. 

Under ‘ ekdytic development’ the author in- 
cludes those cases, commonly known as fetal 
development, in which special annexes are 
formed, which are later lost. He considers 
that Beard is right in classifying fetal devel- 
opment as discontinuous, but wrong in regard- 
ing it as a form of larval development. 

The fifth chapter deals with ‘ Variations 
and Mutations’ and represents in a brief form 
the relations of the mutation theory of de 
Vries to the germ-plasm theory of Weismann. 
The tabular classification (p. 135) of the con- 
ditions of variation and mutation, and of the 
resulting types of variants and mutants is a 
brief and useful summary. As to the cause 
of atypical forms he says (p. 146): ‘ Our con- 
clusion is that variation, progressive or re- 
gressive, and also mutation, in fact any in- 
herited modification of the race, is instituted 
by stimulus of the environment’; and again 


Aveust 10, 1906.] 


he says (p. 149): “It follows, accordingly, 
that in neither of the known kinds of bastard- 
ization, the Mendelian or the unisexual, is 
there any evidence that variations or muta- 
tions are produced by these processes. 
Parental qualities are transmitted according 
to more or less definite laws, but no new. ones 
are produced.” On the basis of such consid- 
erations he concludes that acquired characters 
are inherited. “Indeed the very postulation 
of the question, ‘are acquired characters in- 
herited?’ is absurd. It should read rather, 
‘what kinds of acquired characters become in- 
herited?’” Regarding the statement of de 
Vries that the answer to this question ‘de- 
pends to a great extent upon a word play; just 
according as one chooses his definition for 
acquired characters, he regards them as herit- 
able or not,’ Montgomery says: 

Here, however, de Vries himself makes a word 
play; acquired characters, according to him, are 
those only which do not arise suddenly, i. e., indi- 
vidual variations and not mutations. But ac 
cording to all essential ideas of his mutation 
theory the mutations are much more distinctly, 
even solely, steps in the formation of races, and 
a step in racial progress is surely nothing less 
than an acquisition. 

This is as striking an illustration as could 
be found of the need of clear definitions, and 
of the fact that long continued discussions in 
science more frequently arise from misunder- 
standings than from fundamental differences 
of opinion. For what Montgomery calls ‘ ac- 
quired characters’ or ‘steps in racial progress,’ 
would be called by Weismann or de Vries 
‘germinal characters,’ while the question of 
the transmissibility of ‘acquired characters’ 
in the sense of Weismann, 7. e., somatic char- 
acters which are, ex hypothesz, not represented 
in the germ, is not discussed by Montgomery. 
Weismann and many others use the term ‘ ac- 
quired character’ in a peculiar and specific 
sense, Montgomery with a general and col- 
loquial meaning. 

The sixth chapter deals with the ‘ Trans- 
mutation of Species.’ It begins with an ap- 
preciative account of the part of Lamarck in 
establishing the theory of evolution, and an 
interesting discussion of the question of the 


SCIENCE. 


175 


monophyletic or polyphyletic origin of organ- 
isms. The unfortunate prominence of hypo- 
thetical ancestors in many evolutionary: dis- 
cussions is excellently set forth in these words: 
“Fyom the casual inspection of certain wri- 
tings, and most unfortunately those intended 
for beginners, one might infer that the 
Moneron, the Gastrea, the Trochozoon, and 
the Bathybius were more important, if not 
more real, than the living animals around us.” 

He concludes that transmutations are 
definitely directed and that they may be. dis- 
continuous, by means of mutations, as de Vries 
has shown, or continuous, by means of varia- 
tions. As an illustration of the latter he 
considers the different geographical races or 
subspecies of the song sparrow, Melospiza 
cinerea, the geographical as well as morpho- 
logical intergradations of which indicate that 
these are not mutants but variants. He con- 
cludes, therefore, that ‘the mutation theory 
has not disproved the possibility of perfectly 
gradual transmutation of species, but has only 
shown that sometimes transmutation may not 
be a gradual process.’ The author takes an 
equally broad view with regard to the causes 
of mutation and variation, holding that ‘the 
factors are neither purely extrinsic, nor purely 
intrinsic, but a combination of the two. 

The chapter on the ‘Parallelism of the 
Ontogeny and the Phylogeny’ contains an ex- 
tremely interesting and valuable résumé of the 
‘recapitulation theory. This is followed by 
a eritical consideration of the whole question, 
and the conclusion is reached “that the 
embryology does not furnish any recapitula- 
tion of the phylogeny, not even a recapitula- 
tion marred at occasional points by secondary 
change. * * * An analysis of the stages 
during the life of one individual can in no 
way present a knowledge of its ancestry; and 
the method of comparing non-correspondent 
stages of two species is entirely wrong in prin- 
ciple.” 

In the chapter on ‘ Morphological Com- 
parisons’ the author argues that in compari- 
son of organisms the whole life cycle should 
be considered as well as all structural char- 
acters, and he strongly insists that only corre- 
sponding stages in the ontogeny can properly 


176 


be compared, the two stages, which can be 
most readily determined to be correspond- 
ent, being the first and the last. This, to- 
gether with the greater amount of differentia- 
tion found in the adult stage, leads him to 
the conclusion that end stages in the ontogeny 
are more important for purposes of compar- 
ison, than any other stages. The rigid ap- 
plication of this principle leads him to some 
very unusual conclusions; e. g., most zoologists 
will be astonished at the statement that Sac- 
culina is not a Crustacean, because in its 
adult condition it has lost the Crustacean 
characters which it possessed as a larva. Sim- 
ilarly the statement that the group Chordata 
is inadmissible because tunicates, Amphioxus 
and vertebrates are very unlike in the adult 
condition, though their larve show funda- 
mental resemblances, seems to the writer to 
be out of harmony with the broad and liberal 
method of comparison advocated in the clos- 
ing section of the chapter, viz., ‘to neglect 
nothing, to consider every property, kind of 
individual, every embryonic stage,’ ete. 

The chapter on the ‘ Relative Values of 
Morphological Characters’ deals with many 
interesting questions. The author concludes 
that types of symmetry—radial, spiral, bi- 
lateral—are of little phylogenetic significance, 
but that metameric segmentation is of great 
importance. An excellent review of the 
theories as to the origin of metamerism is fol- 
lowed by the author’s view that metamerism 
has arisen, not from asexual reproduction, but 
from division of organs, ‘Just as one cell 
gives rise to others by division, so one organ 
produces others by division.’ 

In general the conclusion is drawn that the 
raost important of all morphological char- 
acters for the purpose of comparison are those 
which relate to the relative position and con- 
nection of parts. 

In the tenth chapter the ‘ Criteria of Racial 
Advancement’ are discussed. Whether an or- 
ganism is to be regarded as ‘ high’ or ‘ low,’ is, 
according to the author, dependent entirely 
upon the length of its line of descent, irre- 
spective of its final complexity or simplicity. 
This again leads to some very unusual conclu- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XXIV. No. 606. 


sions and causes one to doubt the value of 
any such definition. 

Limits of space have made it necessary to 
consider only a few of the subjects treated in 
this work, and the author’s conclusions have 
been stated without presenting the cogent, if 
not always convincing, arguments by which 
these conclusions are reached, nevertheless 
this review will serve to show the great extent 
and importance of the subjects treated. The 
author’s intimate acquaintance with the great 
wealth of phenomena and with the extensive 
literature dealt with in this book, makes it 
one of particular importance and value to 
biological students. 

; EK. G. Conxkuin. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 


The Journal of Comparative Neurology and 
Psychology for July contains the following 
articles: Dr. G. E. Coghill describes the 
‘Cranial Nerves of Triton teniatus, compar- 
ing the microscopic anatomy and nerve com- 
ponents with Amblystoma and the forms de- 
seribed by Driiner. ‘ Retrograde Degenera- 
ton in the Spinal Nerves,’ by S. Walter Ran- 
son. An experimental study of the atrophic 
changes in both spinal nerves and the cells 
of the spinal ganglia and spinal cord with 
special reference to the differences between the 
typical Wallerian and the retrograde degenera- 
tion. ‘The Primitive Pores of Polydon 
spathula, by Herbert D. Kistler, describes 
with a plate the peculiar sense organs on the 
bill of the spoon-bill catfish. ‘The Reactions 
of Crayfish to Chemical Stimuli, by James 
Carleton Bell. A careful examination of the 
whole body surface to discover its sensitive- 
ness to various types of chemical solutions. 
An editorial on abnormal psychology and book 
notices complete the number. 

THe Botanical Gazette for July contains 
the following papers: E. C. Jeffrey and M. A. 
Chrysler discuss the Cretaceous Pityoxyla, de- 
scribing two new species, one from the Middle 
Cretaceous of Staten Island, the other from 
Massachusetts. Certain differences from 
modern pines are pointed out and regarded as 
ancestral. H. L. Shantz publishes a result of 
his study of the vegetation of the Mesa region 


Aueust 10, 1906.] 


east of Pikes Peak, discussing the Bouteloua 
formation as to its structure. Aven Nelson 
publishes 15 new species of seed plants from 
the Rocky Mountain region. George J. Peirce 
gives an account of Anthoceros and its Nostoc 
colonies, showing the fallacy of Prantl’s argu- 
ment that because cavities and hairs do not 
develop in the usual way except where the 
colonies are, the liverwort must profit by such 
an association. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
GLACIATION IN THE SONORAN PROVINCE. 

To tHe Epiror or Science: In the current 
number of Science’ Dr. Frederick J. H. Mer- 
rill directs attention to moraine-like accumu- 
lations of debris observed by him at a number 
of localities in northern Sonora and southern 
Arizona and New Mexico; of which accumu- 
lations part are well known to me—though my 
provisional interpretations differed from those 
of Dr. Merrill. The district is too extensive 
and too little known to warrant broad gen- 
eralizations or to justify negation of the sug- 
gestions offered by so acute an observer as 
Dr. Merrill; yet future observers may be aided 
by the alternative suggestions growing out of 
my own observations in half a dozen journeys 
in the saddle (with others by rail and stage) 
through the Sonoran province. 

So far as my observations go, the more ex- 
tensive debris accumulations of the type de- 
seribed by Dr. Merrill (including thosé in the 
borrow-pit near Nogales and thence south- 
ward to Imuris) are confined to districts of 
late Mesozoic or Cenozoic vuleanism; while 
in some cases the accumulations appear to 
pass both horizontally and vertically upward 
into undoubted volcanics, much as the tuft 
beds underlying each table mountain in Cali- 
fornia grade into more firmly lithified lava 
sheets. Concordantly, my interpretation of 
the debris accumulations was that they were 
originally, and sometimes are now, volcanic 
tuffs and breccias much like those found fur- 
ther northward along the Pacific coast save 
that the breeciated structure is more striking 
than I have seen elsewhere. Frequently the 
breccias and lava sheets overlie massive blue 

+ Volume XXIV., pp. 116-118. 


SCIENCE. 


MCR 


limestones undoubtedly equivalent to the vast 
Mesozoic (Cretaceous and Jurassic) limestone 
series of northeastern Mexico, and probably 
equivalent to the shale-mixed limestones of 
the Sierras, especially in southern California; 
and within a few miles of the borrow-pit south 
of Nogales (by which I once had occasion to 
eamp for three days while awaiting official 
documents from Mexico) there are consider- 
able exposures of this limestone, weathered 
as usual into the peculiar rugose surface— 
miniature mountain ranges and valleys— 
found by Hill and others to be characteristic 
of the Mesozoic limestones in the eastern 
Sierra Madre. The calcareous deposits are 
seen in places to rest (and probably every- 
where lie) unconformably on granites, which 
in western Sonora and southwestern Arizona 
are of wide extent; yet neither on the lime- 
stone nor on the granitic terranes have I ob- 
served such debris accumulations as those so 
characteristic of the Imuris or Opodepe valley. 
Certain of the accumulations in this valley 
seemed to me well worthy of critical study as 
breccias primarily voleaniec though accumu- 
lated in part by concurrent aqueous agencies, 
and recording in themselves a peculiarly com- 
plex voleanic history; for in several sections 
there are imbedded in the clay-like matrix 
angular boulders yards in dimensions, some- 
times containing included boulder-like masses 
feet across, themselves made up of brecciated 
constituents inches or less in diameter. A 
part of the heterogeneous accumulations both 
in Jmuris Valley and elsewhere were inter- 
preted by me as rearranged breccias trans- 
ported to limited distances and redeposited by 
sheetfloods or other freshets during the rather 
remote periods in which the lava sheets and 
tuff beds were newly exposed to surface ero- 
sion. In this connection it is to be noted that 
the province in question is the type region for 
sheetflooding, and that both the lower slopes 
of the sierras and the intervening plains are 
shaped by this agency; and also that sheet- 
flood deposits are normally heterogeneous and 
ill-assorted accumulations of coarse and fine 
material, seldom perceptibly stratified or 
graded from coarse to fine either horizontally 
or vertically in the single section. 


178 


My interpretations were influenced by what 
seemed to me negative evidence both in topo- 
graphic forms and in surficial materials 
throughout the lower ranges and intervening 
plains of western Sonora and southern Ari- 
zona. I have ridden over and camped on the 
country between Arivaca and Sopori (men- 
tioned by Dr. Merrill), where the erosion 
forms assumed by the widespread tuff beds 
often simulate morainal deposits in general 
landscape effects, without finding indications 
of glacial agency either in deposits or in 
minute topography; while over the more ele- 
vated remnants of eroded ranges and among 
the lower slopes of the more rugged sierras 
most of the topographic forms impressed me 
as not merely water-cut but carved in that 
peculiarly acute fashion characteristic of the 
margins of sheetflood plains. Some of these 
plains are indeed diversified, especially toward 
the mountain margins, with both basin-shape 
depressions and debris-heaps, the latter fre- 
quently near the valleyward extremities of the 
former—the basins having been originally 
places of concentrated flow of the (generally 
dwindling) sheetfloods, and the debris-heaps 
the delta-like accumulations by which the 
localized corrosion was originally checked; 
though the heaps usually outlast the basins, 
especially when composed largely of obdurate 
rock-fragments, and form a type or genetic 
class of those natural mounds which are of 
late attracting much attention. The region is 
one of distinctively significant geomorphy; 
for it is not only the type district of sheetflood 
erosion, but comprises an extensive area of 
retrogressive carving due to a southwestward 
tilting—an area in which the general divides 
seldom coincide with the axes of the sierras 
but run far out on the low-lying plains be- 
tween, circumscribing the head slopes of 
waterways (of which Rio Seco and Rio Bacu- 
ache are types) that have retrogressed north- 
eastward entirely through the ranges in which 
they originally headed. Several examples of 
this remarkable retrogression were surveyed 
and mapped in detail by Willard D. Johnson 


in connection with that expedition which ~ 


yielded his notable map of Seriland published 
in the National Geographic Magazine and also 


SCIENCE. 


é 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 606. 


in the Seventeenth Annual Report of the Bu- 
reau of American Ethnology; unfortunately, 
these surveys have not yet been published.- 
During this same expedition Mr. Johnson 
worked over most of the surface and ascended 
most of the crests along the valleys lying next 
west of that.of the Imuris;_but neither he nor 
I noted ice-shaped topography anywhere in the 
region. Of course, any negative inference is 
worth far less than the positive inductions of 
a geologist familiar, like Doctor Merrill, with 
such glacial topography and deposits as those 
of northeastern United States; yet it is worthy 
of consideration pending more extended sur- 
veys than have thus far been found practicable 
in the Sonoran province. 


W J McGee. 


Saint Louis PusLtic MUSEUM. 


THE EARTHQUAKE AND PROFESSOR LARKIN. 


In the Open Court for July, 1906, is a re- 
markable account of ‘The Great San Fran- 
cisco Earthquake,’ from the pen of Edgar L. 
Larkin, of the ‘Lowe Observatory on Echo 
Mountain,’ otherwise professor of astronomy 
and geology in the University of the Sunday 
Supplement. 

Professor Larkin came to San Francisco 
immediately after the earthquake of April 18. 
In a day or two he was able to discover a 
number of things which had escaped the notice 
of the local geologists, Lawson, Branner, Gil- 
bert, Campbell, Davidson and others, consti- 
tuting the official State Earthquake Commis- 
sion. 

Professor Larkin says: “ One of my objects 
in leaving the peace and quiet in the observa- 
tory on the mountain, to make a five-hundred- 
mile journey to the stricken city, was to study 
the action of the earthquake in the great 
cemeteries. The fallen columns write the 
history of the convulsion in stone.” To his 
surprise he found that “the half dead made 
their homes with the dead. Weak and wan 
girls played with the marble angels. * * * 
One desolate family found shelter in a beauti- 
ful sepulchre while the sufferers rested their 
heads on lowly graves.” This was the more 
remarkable, for, as Jerome Hart suggests in 
the same connection, there is in California a 


Avueust 10, 1906.] 


deep-rooted superstition that it is unlucky to 
be killed by a falling tomb during an earth- 
quake. Yet in this stress, superstitions fell 
away like dead leaves and the people slept 
through the long night with fallen angels 
among beds of violets. 

And this stress was, indeed, terrible. - “ The 
Pacific,” observes Professor Larkin, “was 
startled with the onrush of the terror-stricken. 
* * * The glorious poppies of California vied 
with each other in striving to attract atten- 
tion away from the appalling scene * * * but 
in vain.” 

“One of the most vivid, awe-inspiring and 
impressive facts * * * is this: the people in 
the city did not hear subterranean sounds! 
But the awful reason why was because of the 
terrible roar roundabout, from seething flames, 
tumbling walls, the crashing of glass and the 
hissing of sliding, rasping miles of wire. The 
literature of earthquakes does not present a 
more striking and startling fact, for the roar- 
ing of the city all aflame was louder than the 
thundering in caves of gloom below.” Other 
observers failed to note that the city was al- 
ready roaring with ‘seething flames’ in the 
forty-seven seconds through which the shock 
lasted. 

It is interesting to see how accurately the 
lower animals predicted the earthquake. In 
San José, eighteen minutes before the shock, 
“two mares with young colts were running 
and whinnying * * * in alarm as though dogs 
were after them. Dogs were there, but they, 
too, gave unusual warning of danger. * * * 
I have,” observes Professor Larkin, “a mass 
of facts that can not be mentioned in less 
space than a good-sized book.” It was in 
San José, also, three days before the earth- 
quake, so I am informed, that a cat was heard 
to utter three sounds sharp and high, these 
followed by a hiss as of escaping steam. A 
dog was present and appeared also agitated. 
It was noticed that the dog’s nose was cold, 
while the tail of the cat was rigidly erected. 
At Petaluma, it is said, a cock (white Leg- 
horn) crowed three times, on the morning 
before the shock. 

“Many fish,” continues Professor Larkin, 
“were killed along the coast and as far south 


SCIENCE. 


179 


as Los Angeles. And fish taken from the sea 
opposite Los Angeles had such a strong odor 
of sulphur that they could not be eaten.” This 
is the more remarkable as Los Angeles is five 
hundred miles from the point where the earth- 
quake rift leaves the sea. But it may be 
noted also that the shock went twice around 
the world, and that there were fishes in the 
market of Tokyo on April 18 that had also 
such a strong odor that they could not be 
eaten. It is not stated whether the odor was 
that of sulphur, a matter to be investigated. 
In or near London, two months later, an odor 
of sulphur, or sulphuretted hydrogen, was 
detected in certain suddenly opened eggs which 
had been laid on or near the eighteenth of 
April. This is given on the authority of a 
distinguished actor lately returned from a 
tour in the provinces. : 

Another ‘remarkable’ fact is this: “The 
immense bay of San Francisco is filled and 
emptied by tides. The volume of water is 
enormous, and if forced through the Golden 
Gate, the current would be rapid, indeed. No 
such velocity exists, hence there may be an 
underground connection with the ocean.” It 
is a singular fact that none of the local geol- 
ogists have ever seen San Francisco Bay 
emptied. Still it might happen under cover 
of dense fog. Im any case no great stress 
should be laid on this failure to observe, which 
has at most merely negative value. 

Professor Larkin notices that although no 
sun spots greater than twice the size of the 
earth were visible at that time, yet on April 
18 the sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, 
Jupiter and Saturn were massed within five 
hours twenty-eight minutes of right ascension. 
But, again, as the earthquake occurred at five 
o’clock thirteen minutes, this can not be held 
to prove anything; the seventeen minutes of 
discrepancy can not be overlooked. Moreover, 
Professor Larkin tells us the earth was at the 
time only 618,000 miles out of her usual orbit. 
This is not much for a globe which travels 
three hundred millions of miles a year and so 
is accustomed to deal with large figures. 

The display of blue flames before the on- 
slaught of the red ones, and their final yellow 
sequences was very remarkable. “ The appear- 


180 


ance of blue lights,” says Professor Larkin, 
“was over a wider area than at first thought. 
At Petaluma * * * blue flames eighteen inches 
in height played over a wide expanse of marsh 
land.” Before the earthquake only “a flick- 
ering ominous haze was seen playing above 
the ground.” “A dark funnel-shaped mass 
was seen in Fourth Street, San Francisco, 
suspended in the air, and it was illuminated 
by scintillating lights, like fire-flies.” “ Blue 
flames were seen hovering over the bases of 
foothills in western San Francisco.” In San 
José, on the street called the Alameda, look- 
ing eastward, at the time of the shock the 
whole street was seen “ablaze with fire, it 
being of a beautiful rainbow color but faint. 
This, no doubt,” observes Professor Larkin, 
“was an electrical display, for had gas been 
on fire all along the street the houses would 
have been ignited. And letters from a point 
north of San Francisco describe blue lights as 
flickering like an aurora over a wide area of 
marsh land with a troubled surface of adjoin- 
ing water. And can it be that the giant 
Electricity took part in the vast seismic tur- 
bulence? * * * The writer scarcely knows 
which one of the multitude of theories regard- 
ing the cause of earthquakes to adopt.” 

Later Professor Larkin grows more confi- 
dent and asserts that “the San Francisco 
earthquake was due to a readjustment of the 
edge of the layers once torn apart when the 
earth was young. * * * It appears that two 
faults were involved. * * * I do not wish to 
assert that the earth’s charge of electricity 
helped in the havoc, but believe that it did. 
That giant is able to do any vast work.” 

No wonder that in Professor Larkin’s mind 
‘great questions arise’ “Did man appear 
on earth before his dwelling was ready? Does 
nature care whether man exists? It is as- 
serted that she has slain thirteen million hu- 
man beings by convulsive force alone within 
the historic period.” 

‘Swing low, Sweet Chariot,’ sings Professor 
Larkin, with cheerful relevance. And, indeed, 
when we stop to think of it, why not? 


D. 8, J. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 606. 


SPHCIAL ARTICLES. 


TIME VARIATION OF THE INITIAL NUCLEATION OF 
WET DUST-FREE AIR. 

In the further development of the investi- 
gation* on the time variations of the efficient 
colloidal nucleation in filtered air, I find re- 
sults of the same character as those already 
discussed ; but the dependence of the nucleation 
on the fluctuations of the barometer shows 
itself even more obstrusively than before. 
The minima of atmospheric pressure coincide 
with maxima of the larger colloidal nuclea- 
tion and therefore (by inference but not neces- 
sarily) with minima of ionization of the dust- 
free air, both in the daily and in the weekly 
periods of observations. Maximum pressure 
would correspond to maximum ionization as 
if the radiant energy originated in the com- 
pression of the atmosphere, or were dependent 
on the mass of the atmosphere bearing on a 
given place. This would, if finally sub- 
stantiated, be an important result, but no more 
so than the correlative result that minimum 
pressure and maximum of the initial colloidal 
nucleation of dust-free air go together. The 
bearing of this on ‘ adsorption’ of atmospheric 
ionization will be stated presently. 

At the same time since the change of ab- 
solute temperature, ¢, due to sudden expansion 
equivalent to a drop §p at a barometric pres- 
sure p and vapor pressure 7 may be written 


t/t, = (1 — dp/(p—) )@— ole 


the correction for the changes of the barom- 
eter are in the same sense as the observed 
changes in nucleation. These corrections are 
found by varying the numerator of $p/(p — zm) 
and observing the effect on the angular diam- 
eter of the corona. While I see no room for 
error, it must nevertheless be acknowledged 
that the present method of small exhaustion 
(though possibly more sensitive) is not as 
straightforward as the method mentioned in 
my address where no variation could be de- 
tected, the terminal corona remaining un- 
changed. 

At the present stage of investigation, there- 
fore, the need of any cosmical radiation has 
ceased to be obvious and should be abandoned, 

‘SCIENCE, XXIII., p. 952, 1906. 


Aveust 10, 1906.] 


and the results, if they are not due to some 
obscure barometric effect which has escaped 
me, are most directly referable to changes of 
pressure within the atmosphere, the number 
of the colloidal nuclei specified being greatest 
when the pressure is least. This view, more- 
over, would not be incompatible with the per- 
sistence of terminal coronas referred to above. 
Tt is also compatible with the following. If 
among the initial nuclei entrapped ( which lie 
very near the region of ions) the ions actually 
preponderate, the observations would then 
mean that increased ionization accompanies 
the falling barometer. Under these condi- 
tions, however, radioactive emanation is known 
to be withdrawn from the stagnant air within 
the porous ground and the earth generally. 
Hence the data could now be interpreted as 
evidence of the necessary fluctuation of such 
emanation with the barometer. 

I may add that I have since installed a 
second apparatus side by side with the first 
and that the data, though differing in their 
details, show the same dependence on the 
barometer in their broader time variations. 


Cart Barus. 
Brown UNIVERSITY. 


USE OF THE TERM PERMIAN IN AMERICAN GEOLOGY. 

For over fifty years the Permian question 
has been one of the moot problems of Amer- 
ican geology. Of late it has been quite gen- 
erally agreed that the title should not, at 
least, be applied to any American formation 
having the taxonomic rank of period or sys- 
tem, coordinate with such terms as Carbonifer- 
ous or Cretaceous. 

Division is now upon the point whether 
the so-called Permian section as represented 
in Kansas should be ealled by Murchison’s 
title and given the rank of series, or whether 
the name should not be abandoned altogether 
as a designation for any American formation. 

Upon this point Professor Prosser has re- 
cently made a summary of opinion. Among 
the statements is this: “ There is still a dif- 
ference of opinion among American geologists 
in regard to the correlation of the Upper 
Paleozoic formations of Kansas with the Rus- 
sian Permian. The Journal of Geology, pub- 


SCIENCE. 


name ‘ Permian. 


181 


lished in 1898 ‘A Symposium on the Classifi- 
cation and Nomenclature of Geologic Time- 
divisions,’ in which Dr. Williston, Professor 
Calvin and Dr. Keyes reported adversely both 
as to the identification of the Permian in 
Kansas and as to its recognition as a period co- 
ordinate with the Carboniferous or Devonian; 
while Dr. William B. Clark stated that for the 
later divisions of the Paleozoic he should em- 
ploy the chronologic terms Carboniferous and 
Permian.” 

Professor Prosser further observes: “ No 
one has, perhaps, insisted as strenuously as 
Dr. Keyes that the name Permian should be 
dropped from American geology. In 1897 he 
attended the sessions of the International 
Congress of Geologists at St. Petersburg and 
participated in the excursions to the Carboni- 
ferous and typical Permian of Russia. Later 
he prepared a paper on the ‘ American Homo- 
taxial Equivalents of the Original Permian,’ 
and quotations from this can not be regarded 
as from one favoring the retention of the 
9 99 

It is quite manifest that Professor Prosser 
has objected to my usage of the title of 
‘Oklahoman series’ for the so-called Lower 
Permian of Kansas. My repeated use of the 
term Oklahoman has been made advisedly. It 
had been thought quite desirable to have the 
title of this section distinctive, irrespective 
of what age might be eventually assigned to it. 

The recent discovery in New Mexico and 
Texas of a great formation (Guadalupan 
series) having a thickness of more than 2,500 
feet, that appears to be intercalated between 
the Carboniferous Red Beds (Cimarronian 
series) and the equivalent of the Oklahoman 
series, indicates that the Kansas section of the 
latest part of the Paleozoic is not nearly so 
complete as it was thought to be. It also sug- 
gests that in Kansas there are no formations 
below the Red Beds that can be considered of 
late Carboniferous age, or that might be 
paralleled with the Permian at all. This, it 
would seem, would almost put an end to the 
contention for a Permian age of such Kansas 
beds as the Neosho, Chase and Marion forma- 
tions. 

Tschernychew, who is one of the best au- 


[N.S. VoL. XXIV. No. 606. 


182 SCIENCE. 
COMPARATIVE TABLE OF CARBONIFEROUS FORMATIONS. 

Agu. MISSISSIPPI PROVINCE. SOUTHWESTERN PROVINCE. URAL PROVINCE. 
mn Late Cimarronian Cimarronian Tataran (Upper P.) 
= t Wanting? Guadalupan L. and M. Permian 
a] 
3 Mid Oklahoman Maderan Artinsk 
= Missourian Manzanan Upper Carboniferous 
9 Des Moines Wanting Neve : 
& ; 
5 ee ar Tadeeaenae S Middle Carboniferous 
a Early Mississippian Socorran Lower Carboniferous 


thorities on the Russian Permian formation, 
and who has visited the Kansas localities, 
places the Marion beds, which are immediately 
beneath the Red Beds, on a level with the 
Russian Artinsk terrane. Personal observa- 


tions in both fields point strongly to the cor- 


rectness of this correlation. The Artinsk 
formation is older than any terrane of the 
original Permian sequence. Girty, who quite 
recently has also rather critically examined 
the Guadalupan section in Trans-Pecos Texas, 
concludes that if this fauna is Permian then 
certainly that of Kansas is not. 

It would seem then that our conceptions of 
the American Permian formations must un- 
dergo very radical changes. Our scheme of 
comparison with the original Permian section 
of Russia would then be about as in the table 
given above. CuHarLes R. Keyes. 

New Mexico STaTE ScHOOL oF MINES. 


QUOTATIONS. 


PROFESSOR M’KENDRICK AND THE PROGRESS OF 
PHYSIOLOGY. 

Tue valedictory address delivered by Pro- 
fessor J. G. M’Kendrick, at the close of the 
summer session of the University of Glasgow, 
on the occasion of his resignation of the pro- 
fessorship of physiology, provides a striking 
account of the progress of physiological sci- 
ence during the past thirty years. In 1861, 
when Professor M’Kendrick attended a course 
of lectures at Aberdeen, there was no attempt 
at demonstration except by diagrams and a 
few microscopes on a side-table. There were 
no experiments, and the only instrument dis- 
played was asphygmograph. But a little later 
Goodsir, of Edinburgh, brought from con- 
tinental schools of physiology to the Univer- 


sity of Edinburgh such instruments as myo- 
graphs, kymographs, electrical appliances and 
other apparatus, and the teaching of practical 
physiology was soon firmly established under 
Argyll Robertson. Professor M’Kendrick 
himself installed similar teaching in the Uni- 
versity of Glasgow in 1876, the date of his 
appointment to the chair of physiology. The 
requirements of modern physiological teaching 
are shown by a statement in the address that 
while Professor M’Kendrick has worked and 
taught for thirty years in five rooms, twenty- 
five are apportioned to physiological work in 
the new buildings. Reviewing the progress of 
physiology, Professor M’Kendrick detailed the 
advances made in histology and expressed the 
doubt whether much more progress can be 
expected. Graphic methods have been elabor- 
ated during the same period, and the action 
of electrical stimuli on muscle and nerve 
elaborately worked out. The study of the 
functions of living isolated organs, modern 
vivisectional methods, our knowledge of the 
nerve paths in the central nervous system, 
and the subject of internal secretions, are all 
among the triumphs of physiological science 
during the past thirty years, and were each 
passed in review. In conclusion, Professor 
M’ Kendrick indicated physiological chemistry 
as the direction in which progress will be 
made during the next few decades.—Nature. 


ASTRONOMICAL NOTES. 


THE SYSTEM OF CASTOR. 
CasToR was one of the first close double 
stars known and one of those which led Sir 
William Herschel to the belief that such stars 
form real binary systems. 


Aveust 10, 1906.] 


Belopolsky discovered, in 1896, that the 
fainter, preceding component of Castor, a, 
Geminorum, was a spectroseopic binary, hay- 
ing a period of about 2.9 days. In the June 
number of the Astrophysical Journal Dr. 
Heber D. Curtis gives an elaborate investiga- 
tion of this system, which has been made at 
the Lick Observatory. The refined results 
now obtained amply confirm the -general 
conclusions of Belopolsky. The final period 
found at the Lick Observatory is 2.928285 
days. 

Curtis has also discovered that the brighter, 
following component, a,, is a spectroscopic 
binary having a period of 9.218816 days. 
Ignoring the faint and distant companion 
which also exists, Castor thus becomes one of 
the most wonderful stellar systems known. 
While the elements of the spectroscopic sys- 
tems thus revealed are well known, less can be 
said of the visual components of Castor them- 
selves. These have been observed since the 
time of the elder Herschel, but their motion 
is slow, and Burnham considers that the prob- 
lem of finding the elements is indeterminate 
at present, and likely to remain so for a cen- 
tury. Different determinations of the period 
have varied from little more than 200 years 
to more than 1,000 years. 

An interesting phase of this quadruple sys- 
tem les in the fact that while the orbits of 
the components of a, are nearly circular, those 
of a, are very elliptical. The change in the 
mutual attractions of the components of so 
eccentric a system as that of a, must be great, 
and in other cases this has been found to be 
associated with variability in the light. On 
this account Mr. Curtis made some photo- 
metric determinations of! the light of a,, but 
no proof of variability was found. This need 
not cause surprise, however, since the physical 
condition of a star must determine whether 
such increased attractions would show them- 
selves in a change of luminosity. 


REFLECTING TELESCOPES OF SHORT FOCUS. 

H. C. Vocet, director of the Astrophysical 
Observatory at Potsdam, calls attention, in a 
communication to the Kgl. Akademie der 
Wissenschaften, Berlin, to the possibilities of 


SCIENCE. 


183 


short-focus reflecting telescopes. A transla- 
tion of this article appears in the June num- 
ber of the Astrophysical Journal. The com- 
petition, which has always existed between 
reflecting and refracting telescopes, is still 
keen, but at the present moment the reflector 
seems to occupy the center of the stage. Each 
form of instrument has certain limitations 
which are inherent, and each has distinct ad- 
vantages over the other for certain purposes. 
A good reflector brings all the colors perfectly 
to the same focus, while the best refractor is 
not really achromatic. Also, the loss of light 
by reflection is in general much less than that 
by absorption. The result is that for nearly 
all objects the action of a reflector is much 
more rapid than that of a refractor of equal 
size. The circles of chromatic aberration 
may also cause a distortion of the form of the 
image of certain objects, such as the Orion 
nebula, when photographed with a refractor. 
On the other hand, the field of good definition 
is very small, in the case of the reflector. The 
images are perfect only at the center, and 
sufficiently good for use only over a region 
half a degree in diameter, or even less. Cer- 
tain forms of the refractor, however, give 
good definition over a field ten, or even twenty, 
degrees in diameter. It is evident, therefore, 
that where a large field is required, as in 
making a photographic map of the sky, the 
refractor must be used. Over a small field, 
however, the reflector can photograph objects 
of such extreme faintness that they lie quite 
beyond the reach of the largest refractor. 
Schwarzschild has shown that an extension 


of the field of the reflecting telescope may be 


obtained by the use of a second mirror. It is 
possible that the diameter of the field may be 
extended to several degrees in this way. Prac- 
tically, this has not yet been done, but its 
successful accomplishment would mark an 
epoch in the history of the telescope. The 
power of the reflector evidently increases with 
the decrease of its focal length. Schaeberle 
has recently made some experiments to show 
how far this can be carried. He constructed 
a thirteen-inch reflector of twenty-inch focus, 
with which he was able to photograph stars of 
the seventeenth magnitude with an exposure 


184 SCIENCE. 


of only two minutes. The scale of the photo- 
graphs, however, is so small that great magni- 
fication is necessary, and many details must 
be obscured, although the definition at the 
center of the small plates used appears to be 
good. There must be some practical limit to 
the decrease in the ratio of focus to aperture, 
and Schaeberle has apparently been working 
near, if not beyond it. Vogel gives some won- 
derfully good results obtained with a Schmidt 
mirror, using an aperture of 24 em. which 
makes the ratio of aperture to focus 1:38.86. 
With the full aperture of 41 cm. and an ex- 
posure of ten minutes, many more stars were 
photographed than are visible in the great 
Lick refractor of more than 91 em. aperture. 


SOME CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING THE NUMBER 
OF THE STARS. 


THE above title is the subject of a paper in 
the May number of the Monthly Notices of 
the Royal Astronomical Society. It is writ- 
ten by Miss Winnifred Gibson, B.Se., and 
communicated by Professor Karl Pearson, 
F.R.S. . 

The problem is one of the deepest interest, 
but its solution is rendered difficult, if not 
impossible at the present time, by lack of 
fundamental data. The distribution of the 
stars would be readily determinable, if the 
parallaxes of a sufficient number had been de- 
termined. After confessing the lack of such 
materials, Miss Gibson, nevertheless, proceeds 
to an elaborate discussion of such data as 
exist. _ She arrives at the conclusion, for the 
brighter stars, that ‘There is no sensible rela- 
tion between magnitude and parallax” The 
chief trouble with this conclusion is that it 
is derived from entirely inadequate data. The 
stars, whose parallaxes are taken into consid- 
eration, are of the ninth magnitude, and 
brighter. Of such stars there are in the sky 
about 150,000. For obtaining any law of rela- 
tion between the magnitudes and distances of 
all these stars, the parallaxes of 72 stars, about 
one in 2,000, are available. Neither is there 
evidence that this small number is distributed 
by chance among the stars, nor that the par- 
allax in many eases is sufficiently exact. for 
purposes of discussion. Results based upon 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 606. 


such meager data must have little or no value, 
however skillful and elaborate the treatment 
may be. Not much more can be said of that 
part of the discussion relating to proper mo- 
tions and colors. 

The latter part of the paper is concerned 
with the relation of magnitudes and frequen- 
cies, and gives results. which are in substantial 
agreement with those of Professor EH. C. Pick- 
ering, recently published, although Miss Gib- 
son prefers a somewhat different formula. 
The author confines her attention to the 
brighter stars. The problem becomes at once 
more interesting and more dificult as it is 
extended to the fainter stars. Miss Gibson 
complicates the problem by assuming that 
magnitude is largely a physiological phenom- 
enon, and hence that ‘It is hardly conceivable 
that a scale of pure magnitudes could have 
any meaning in physical nature.” This is 
quite erroneous, since the determination of 
magnitudes, whether by visual or photographic 
methods, is simply the determination of the 
intensity of certain radiations, which surely 
have an objective reality based on physical 
conditions. 


Soton I. Batey. 
HARVARD COLLEGE OBSERVATORY. 


RECENT VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY. 


From the Brazilian Coal Commission, 
through Dr. I. C. White, state geologist of 
West Virginia, the American Museum of 
Natural History has just received the gift of 
a number of natural casts of a small Permian 
reptile closely related to the Mesosaurus of 
South Africa. These Brazilian remains have 
been carefully studied by J. H. McGregor 
for a memoir which will be published by the 
commission, and which for the first time gives 
us a complete knowledge of the anatomy of 
this extremely ancient reptile. It is related 
to the genus Stereosternum Cope, also from 
Brazil, which Baur made the type of the order 
Proganosauria, under the impression that these 
were very ancient and generalized reptiles. 
Jt is true they are very ancient but are not 
generalized, they are rather already consider- 
ably specialized for aquatic life, as shown in 
Dr. McGregor’s restoration of the skeleton and 


p 

P 
i! 
{ 
y 


August 10, 1906.] 


of the probable external form of this animal. 

In this connection Dr. R. Broom, of Victoria 
College, Stellenbosch, South Africa, writes, 
under date of July 3: “ An interesting point 
‘to remember is the horizon of Mesosaurus in 
South Africa. It is in the very lowest of the 
Permian beds—beds which the geologists are 
inclined to regard as Carboniferous, though I 
hold it is Permian. It is 5,000-6,000 feet be- 
low the Upper Permian beds, and perhaps the 
oldest true reptile known. Mesosaurus has 
nothing to do with the Plesiosauria.” 


ELA iO: 


AMERICAN Musztum or NAaTurRAL History, 
New York, July 30, 1906. 


THE PURE FOOD BILL. 


An Act preventing the manufacture, sale or 
transportation of adulterated or misbranded 
or poisonous or deleterious foods, drugs, medi- 
cines and liquors, and for regulating the foods, 
drugs, medicines and liquors, and for regu- 
lating traffic therein, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of 
Representatives of the United States of Amer- 
ica in Congress assembled: 

[ Public—No. 384.] 

Sec. 1. That it shall be unlawful for any 
person to manufacture within any territory or 
the District of Columbia any article of food 
or drug which is adulterated or misbranded, 
within the meaning of this act; and any per- 
son who shall violate any of the provisions of 
this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, 
and for each offense shall, upon conviction 
thereof, be fined not to exceed $500 or shall be 
sentenced to one year’s imprisonment, or both 
such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion 
of the court, and for each subsequent offense 
and conviction thereof shall be fined not less 
than $1,000 or sentenced to one year’s im- 
prisonment, or both such fine and imprison- 
ment, in the discretion of the court. 

Sec. 2. That the introduction into any state 
or territory or the District of Columbia from 
any other state or territory or the District of 
Columbia, or from any foreign country, or 
shipment to any foreign country of any article 

Text of the bill adopted at the last session of 
the congress, approved by the president on June 50. 


SCIENCE. 


185 


of food or drug which is adulterated or mis- 
branded, within the meaning of this act, is 
hereby prohibited; and any person who shall 
ship or deliver for shipment from any state or 
territory or the District of Columbia to any 
other state or territory or the District of 
Columbia, or to a foreign country, or who shall 
receive in any state or territory or the District 
of Columbia from any other state or territory 
or the District of Columbia, or foreign coun- 
try, and having so received, shall deliver, in 
original unbroken packages, for pay or other- 
wise, or offer to deliver to any other person, 
any such article so adulterated or misbranded 
within the meaning of this act, or any person 
who shall sell or offer for sale in the District 
of Columbia or the territories of the United 
States any such adulterated or misbranded 
foods or drugs, or export or offer to export the 
same to any foreign country, shall be guilty 
of a misdemeanor, and for such offense be 
fined not exceeding two hundred dollars for 
the first offense, and upon conviction for each 
subsequent offense not exceeding three hun- | 
dred dollars or be imprisoned not exceeding 
one year, or both, in the discretion of the 
court: Provided, That no article shall be 
deemed misbranded or adulterated within the 
provisions of this act when intended for ex- 
port to any foreign country and prepared or 
packed according to the specifications or direc- 
tion of the foreign purchaser when no sub- 
stance is used in the preparation or packing 
thereof in conflict with the laws of the foreign 
country, but this proviso shall not exempt said 
article from the operation of any of the other 
provisions of this act. 

Sec. 3. That the Secretary of the Treasury, 
the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secre- 
tary of Commerce and Labor shall make uni- 
form rules and regulations for carrying out 
the provisions of this act, including the col- 
lection and examination of specimens of foods 
and drugs manufactured or offered for sale in 
the District of Columbia, or in any territory 
of the United States, or which shall be offered 
for sale in unbroken packages in any state 
other than that in which they shall have been 
respectively manufactured or produced, or 
which shall be received from any foreign 


186 Sonne. 


country, or intended for shipment to any for- 
eign country, or which may be submitted for 
examination by the chief health, food, or drug 
officer of any state, territory, or the District 
of Columbia, or at any domestic or foreign 
port through which such product is offered for 
interstate commerce or for export or import 
between the United States and any foreign 
port or country. 

Sec. 4. That the examinations of specimens 
of foods and drugs shall be made in the Bu- 
reau of Chemistry of the Department of Agri- 
culture, or under the direction and supervision 
of such bureau, for the purpose of determin- 
ing from such examinations whether such 
articles are adulterated or misbranded within 
the meaning of this act; and if it shall appear 
from any such examination that any of such 
specimens is adulterated or misbranded within 
the meaning of this act, the Secretary of Agri- 
culture shall cause notice thereof to be given 
to the party from whom such sample was ob- 
tained. Any party so notified shall be given 
an opportunity to be heard, under such rules 
and regulations as may be prescribed as afore- 
said, and if it appears that any of the provi- 
sions of this act have been violated by such 
party, then the Secretary of Agriculture shall 
at once certify the facts to the proper United 
States district attorney, with a copy of the 
results of the analysis or the examination of 
such article duly authenticated by the analyst 
or officer making such examination, under the 
oath of such officer. After judgment of the 
court, notice shall be given by publication in 
such manner as may be prescribed by the rules 
and regulations aforesaid. 

Sec. 5., That it shall be the duty of each 
district attorney to whom the Secretary of 
Agriculture shall report any violation of this 
act, or to whom any health or food or drug 
officer or agent of any state, territory, or the 
District of Columbia shall present satisfactory 
evidence of any such violation, to cause appro- 
priate proceedings to be commenced and prose- 
cuted in the proper courts of the United 
States, without delay, for the enforcement of 
the penalties as in such case herein provided. 

Sec. 6. That the term ‘drug,’ as used in 
this act, shall include all medicines and 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 606. 


preparations recognized in the United States 
Pharmacopeia or National Formulary for in- 
ternal or external use, and any substance or 
mixture of substances intended to be used for 
the cure, mitigation, or prevention of disease 
of either man or other animals. The term 
‘food,’ as used herein, shall include all articles 
used for food, drink, confectionery, or condi- 
ment by man or other animals, whether simple, 
mixed, or compound. 

Sec. 7. That for the purposes of this act 
an article shall be deemed to be adulterated— 

In case of drugs: 

First. If, when a drug is sold under or by 
a name recognized in the United States Phar- 
macopeia or National Formulary, it differs 
from the standard of strength, quality, or 
purity, as determined by the test laid down in 
the United States Pharmacopeia or National 
Formulary official at the time of investiga- 
tion: Provided, That no drug defined in the 
United States Pharmacopeia or National For- 
mulary shall be deemed to be adulterated 
under this provision if the standard of 
strength, quality, or purity be plainly stated 
upon the bottle, box, or other container there- 
of, although the standard may differ from that 
determined by the test laid down in the United 
States Pharmacopeia or National Formulary. 

Second. If its strength or purity fall below 
the professed standard or quality under which 
it is sold. 

In the case of confectionery: 

If it contains terra alba, barytes, tale, 
chrome yellow, or other mineral substance or 
poisonous color or flavor, or other ingredient 
deleterious or detrimental to health, or any 
vinous, malt, or spirituous liquor or compound 
or narcotic drug. 

In the case of food: 

First. If any substance has been mixed and 
packed with it so as to reduce or lower or in- 
juriously affect its quality or strength. 

Second. If any substance has been substi- 
tuted wholly or in part for the article. 

Third. If any valuable constituent of the 
article has been wholly or in part abstracted. 

Fourth. If it be mixed, colored, powdered, 
coated, or stained in a manner whereby dam- 
age or inferiority is concealed. 


Aveust 10, 1906.] 


Fifth. If it contain any added poisonous or 
other added deleterious ingredient which may 
render such article injurious to health: Pro- 
vided, That when in the preparation of food 
products for shipment they are preserved by 
any external application applied in such man- 
ner that the preservative is necessarily re- 
moved mechanically, or by maceration in 
water, or otherwise, and directions for the re- 
moval of said preservative shall be printed on 
the covering or the package, the provisions of 
this act shall be construed as applying only 
when said products are ready for consumption. 

Sixth. If it consists in whole or in part of 
a filthy, decomposed, or putrid animal or vege- 
table substance, or any portion of an animal 
unfit for food, whether manufactured or not, 
or if it is the product of a diseased animal, 
or one that has died otherwise than by 
slaughter. 

Sec. 8. That the term ‘ misbranded,’ as used 
herein, shall apply to all drugs, or articles of 
food, or articles which enter into the composi- 
tion of food, the package or label of which 
shall bear any statement, design, or device re- 
garding such article, or the ingredients or sub- 
stances contained therein which shall be false 
or misleading in any particular, and to any 
food or drug product which is falsely branded 
as to the state, territory, or country in which 
it is manufactured or produced. 

That for the purposes of this act an article 
shall also be deemed to be misbranded: 

In case of drugs: 

First. If it be an imitation of or offered for 
sale under the name of another aiticle. 

Second. If the contents of the package as 
originally put up shall have been removed, in 
whole or in part, and other contents shall have 
been placed in such package, or if the package 
fail to bear a statement on the label of the 
quantity or proportion of any alcohol, mor- 
phin, opium, cocain, heroin, alpha or beta 
eucain, chloroform, cannabis indica, chloral 
hydrate, or acetanilid, or any derivative or 
preparation of any such substances contained 
therein. 

In the case of food: 

First. If it be an imitation of or offered 


SCIENCE. 


137 


for sale under the distinctive name of another 
article. 

Second. If it be labeled or branded so as to 
deceive or mislead the purchaser, or purport 
to be a foreign product when not so, or if the 
contents of the package as originally put up 
shall have been removed in whole or in part 
and other contents shall have been placed in 
such package, or if it fail to bear a statement 
on the label of the quantity or proportion of 
any morphin, opium, cocain, heroin, alpha or 
beta eucain, chloroform, cannabis indica, 
chloral hydrate, or acetanilid, or any deriva- 
tive or preparation of any such substances 
contained therein. 

Third. If in package form and the contents 
are stated in terms of weight or measure, they 
are not plainly and correctly stated on the 
outside of the package. 

Fourth. If the package containing it or its 
label shall bear any statement, design, or de- 
vice regarding the ingredients or the sub- 
stances contained therein, which statement, 
design, or device shall be false or misleading 
in any particular: Provided, That an article 
of food which does not contain any added 
poisonous or deleterious ingredients shall not 
be deemed to be adulterated or misbranded in 
the following cases: 

First. In the case of mixtures or com- 
pounds which may be now or from time to 
time hereafter known as articles of food, 
under their own distinctive names, and not an 
imitation of or offered for sale under the dis- 
tinetive name of another article, if the name 
be accompanied on the same label or brand 
with a statement of the place where said 
article has been manufactured or produced. 

Second. In the case of articles labeled, 
branded, or tagged so as to plainly indicate 
that they are compounds, imitations, or blends, 
and the word ‘compound,’ ‘imitation,’ or 
‘blend,’ as the case may be, is plainly stated 
on the package in which it is offered for sale: 
Provided, That the term ‘ blend’ as used here- 
in shall be construed to mean a mixture of 
like substances, not excluding harmless color- 
ing or flavoring ingredients used for the pur- © 
pose of coloring and flavoring only: and Pro- 
vided, further, That nothing in this act shall 


188 SCIENCE. 


be construed as requiring or compelling pro- 
prietors or manufacturers of proprietary foods 
which contain no unwholesome added ingredi- 
ents to disclose their trade formulas, except in 
so far as the provisions of this act may require 
to secure freedom from adulteration or mis- 
branding. 

Sec. 9. That no dealer shall be prosecuted 
under the provisions of this act when he can 
establish a guaranty signed by the wholesaler, 
jobber, manufacturer or other party residing 
in the United States, from whom he purchases 
such articles, to the effect that the same is not 
adulterated or misbranded within the meaning 
of this act, designating it. Said guaranty, to 
afford protection, shall contain the name and 
address of the party or parties making the sale 
of such articles to such dealer, and in such 
case Said party or parties shall be amenable to 
the prosecution, fines and other penalties 
which would attach, in due course, to the 
dealer under the provisions of this act. 

Src. 10. That any article of food, drug or 
liquor that is adulterated or misbranded within 
the meaning of this act, and is being trans- 
ported from one state, territory, district or 
insular possession to another for sale, or, hav- 
ing been transported, remains unloaded, unsold 
or in original unbroken packages, or if it be 
sold or offered for sale in the District of 
Columbia or the territories or insular posses- 
sions of the United States, or if it be imported 
from a foreign country for sale, or if it is 
intended for export to a foreign country, shall 
be liable to be proceeded against in any dis- 
trict court of the United States within the 
district where the same is found, and seized 
for confiscation by a process of libel for con- 
demnation. And if such article is condemned 
as being adulterated or misbranded, or of a 
poisonous or deleterious character, within the 
meaning of this act, the same shall be disposed 
of by destruction or sale, as the said court may 
direct, and the proceeds thereof, if sold, less 
the legal costs and charges, shall be paid into 
the treasury of the United States, but such 
goods shall not be sold in any jurisdiction con- 
trary to the provisions of this act or the laws 
of that jurisdiction: Provided, however, That 
upon the payment of the costs of such libel 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 606. 


proceedings and the execution and delivery of 
a good and sufficient bond to the effect that 
such articles shall not be sold or otherwise 
disposed of contrary to the provisions of this 
act or the laws of any state, territory, district 
or insular possession, the court may by order 
direct that such articles be delivered to the 
owner thereof. The proceedings of such libel 
eases shall conform, as near as may be, to the 
proceedings in admiralty, except that either 
party may demand trial by jury of any issue 
of fact joined in any such ease, and all such 
proceedings shall be at the suit of and in the 
name of the United States. 


Sec. 11. The Secretary of the Treasury. 
shall deliver to the Secretary of Agriculture, 


upon his request, from time to time, samples 
of foods and drugs which are being imported 
into the United States or offered for import, 
giving notice thereof to the owner or con- 
signee, who may appear before the Secretary 
of Agriculture and have the right to introduce 
testimony, and if it appear from the examina- 
tion of such samples that any article of food 
or drug offered to be imported into the United 
States is adulterated or misbranded within the 
meaning of this act, or is otherwise dangerous 
to the health of the people of the United 
States, or is of a kind forbidden entry into, 
or forbidden to be sold or restricted in sale 
in the country in which it is made or from 
which it is exported, or is otherwise falsely 
labeled in any respect, the said article shall be 
refused admission, and the Secretary of the 
Treasury shall refuse delivery to the consignee 
and shall cause the destruction of any goods 
refused delivery which shall not be exported 
by the consignee within three months from the 
date of notice of such refusal under such 
regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury 
may prescribe: Provided, That the Secretary 
of the Treasury may deliver to the consignee 
such goods pending examination and decision 
in the matter on execution of a penal bond for 
the amount of the full invoice value of such 
goods, together with the duty thereon, and on 
refusal to return such goods for any cause to 
the custody of the Secretary of the Treasury, 
when demanded, for the purpose of excluding 
them from the country, or for any other pur- 


ee 


Avucust 10, 1906.] 


pose, said consignee shall forfeit the full 
amount of the bond: and Provided, further, 
That all charges for storage, cartage and labor 
on goods which are refused admission or de- 
livery shall be paid by the owner or consignee, 
and in default of such payment shall consti- 
tute a lien against any future importation 
made by such owner or consignee. 

Sec. 12. That the term ‘territory,’ as used 
in this act, shall include the insular posses- 
sions of the United States. The word ‘ per- 
son,’ as used in this act, shall be construed to 
import both the plural and the singular, as the 
ease demands, and shall include corporations, 
companies, societies and associations. When 
construing and enforcing the provisions of 
this Act, the act, omission or failure of any 
officer, agent or other person acting for or 
employed by any corporation, company, society 
or association, within the scope of his employ- 
ment or office, shall in every case be also 
deemed to be the act, omission or failure of 
such corporation, company, society or associa- 
tion as well as that of the person. 

Sec. 18. That this act shall be in force and 
effect from and after the first day of January, 
1907. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


Sm Dav Git, H. M. astronomer at the 
Cape of Good Hope, will succeed Dr. E. Ray 
Lankester, director of the British Museum of 
Natural History, as president of the British 
Association for the Advancement of Science. 

A KNIGHTHOOD has been conferred on Dr. 
W. H. Perkin, F.R.S., the jubilee of whose 
discovery of the aniline dye mauve has re- 
cently been celebrated. 

Sik James Dewar, Jacksonian professor of 
experimental philosophy at Cambridge Uni- 
versity and Fullerian professor of chemistry 
at the Royal Institution, has received the Mat- 
teucci medal of the Italian Society of Sciences. 

Dr. A. E. Dotpnar, since 1874 professor of 
physics at Tufts College, has retired from ac- 
tive service under the provisions of the Car- 
negie Foundation. : 

Dr. A. G. RurHven has been appointed 
curator of the Museum of the University of 


SCIENCE. 


189 


Michigan. He is spending the summer in 
Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, collecting 
reptiles and studying their field relations for 
the American Museum of Natural History. 


Dr. Apert Ernest JENKS, formerly the 
chief of the Ethnological Survey of the Philip- 
pine Islands, has been engaged in the cata- 
loguing of the Philippine ethnological collec- 
tion, purchased by the American Museum of 
Natural History at the St. Louis Exposition. 

WE learn from the London Times that at a 
meeting of the master and fellows of Christ’s 
College, Cambridge, held on July 20, Mr. 
Francis Darwin was elected honorary fellow, 
and Dr. G. H. F. Nuttall, F.R.S., fellow of the 
society. Mr. Darwin is foreign secretary of 
the Royal Society. He was educated at 
Trinity College and for many years was reader 
in botany in the university and fellow of 
Christ’s. Dr. Nuttall, who has held teaching 
posts at Johns Hopkins University and at the 
University of Berlin, is now reader in hygiene 
at Cambridge. He is the chief editor of the 
Journal of Hygiene. 


Dr. A. L. Crampton, of Maryland, has been 
made chief of a division of the Bureau of In- 
ternal Revenue, established to carry out the 
provisions of the denatured alcohol act. In- 
ternal Revenue Commissioner Yerkes is in 
Europe making an inquiry into the operations 
of denatured alcohol laws in England, Ger- 
many and Holland. 


Proressor H. M. Savitte, of Columbia Uni- 
versity and the American Museum of Natural 
History, is this summer carrying on explora- 
tions in Eeuador and Colombia. 


Dr. AvucustinE Henry, known for his bo- 
tanical researches in China and elsewhere, is 
at present in the United States, with a view 
to studying forestry conditions. 

Proressor Souuas, of Oxford University, 
assisted by Professor Lugeon, has conducted 
a party of students on a geological trip 
through the Alps. 


Tue department of vertebrate paleontology 
of the American Museum of Natural history 
has three expeditions in the field this season. 
Mr. Barnum Brown is continuing the search 


190 


for dinosaurs in the Cretaceous beds of 
Montana; Mr. Walter Granger is searching 
for fossil mammals in the Eocene formations 
of Wyoming, and Mr. Albert Thomson is ex- 
ploring the later Tertiary formations of South 
Dakota. 

Mr. Atmon Harris THompson, geographer 
of the U. S. Geological Survey since 1882, and 
previously in charge of geographic work under 
Major Powell, died at Washington, on July 
31, at the age of sixty-seven years. 


Mr. Josep H. Barry, a well-known natural 
history collector and taxidermist, was killed 
by the accidental discharge of his gun, while 
on an expedition in Mexico for the American 
Museum of Natural History. 


Sir Water Buuuer, F.R.S., of Wellington, 
New Zealand, the author of important con- 
tributions to ornithology, died on July 19, at 
the age of sixty-eight years. 


The underground water investigations will 
be conducted by the United States Geological 
Survey in the eastern United States as usual 
this summer, notwithstanding the reduction 
of the hydrographic appropriation by congress. 
Work is under way in Maine, Connecticut, 
Virginia, Florida, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana 
and Iowa, and will be extended to New York, 
Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Caro- 
lina and Minnesota later in the season. Mr. 
M. L. Fuller will supervise the investigations 
in the states mentioned. 


Lorp Sesy will act as chairman of a Royal 
Commission which is to be appointed to con- 
sider the subject of experiments on living 
animals and the law relating thereto. Since 
the passing of the cruelty to animals act of 
1876, no inquiry into its working has been held. 
The terms of the commission’s reference will 
be “to inquire into and report upon the prac- 
tise of subjecting live animals to experiments, 
whether by vivisection or otherwise; and also 
to inquire into the law relating to that prac- 
tise and its administration, and to report 
whether any, and if so what, changes are de- 
sirable.” 


Nature states that the Natural History Mu- 
seum has just received an important collection 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 606. 


of bird and mammal skins from Mount Ru- 
wenzori, East Central Africa, obtained with 
the aid of subscriptions from a number of 
persons interested in natural history. The 
collection is said to include a number of new 
forms, or of forms previously known only by 
a single specimen or so of each. 


Puans have been filed in New York for a 
new museum to be built on Audubon Park 
Terrace, on 155th St., west of Broadway, for 
the American Numismatic and Archeological 
Society, of which Mr. Archer M. Huntington 
is president. The edifice will be 39.8 feet 
front and 63.3 feet deep, of concrete construc- 
tion. It will be three stories in the classic 
style, with Ionic columns. The main floor 
and the second story will be devoted to the 
library and the meeting halls and exhibition 
galleries. The building is to cost $55,000. 

THe foundation has been laid for the 
building of a new Bacteriological Institute 
at Constantinople, intended especially to pro- 
vide anti-toxic sera to the Turkish empire. 

WE learn from Nature that Mr. G. Monte- 
fiore-Levi, of Brussels, formerly a member of 
the Belgian senate and president of the Asso- 
ciation of Engineers, has bequeathed a portion, 
probably exceeding £100,000 in value, of his 
residuary estate, to be applied for the pre- 
vention of consumption. 


A PRESS despatch from Washington reports 
that negotiations have been in progress for 
some time in London between the American 
embassy and the British Foreign Office rela- 
tive to the protection of the seal herd in 
Bering Sea. Several years ago congress au- 
thorized the wholesale killing of all the seals 
on the Pribiloff Islands rookeries unless some 
arrangement could be made with the British 
government for the prevention of pelagic seal- 
ing. The award of the arbitrators in the 
Bering Sea case prescribing closed zones 
around the Pribiloff Islands, and a close sea- 
son in the seal waters has completely failed to 
meet the needs of the case, hence the direction 
of congress. There has been some desultory 
correspondence between the governments at 
Washington and London for several years; but 
only recently has the matter been taken up in 


yy etal « 


Aveust 10, 1906.] 


earnest, and it is now believed that the em- 
bassy has succeeded in reaching a working 
agreement with the British government on a 
plan for the protection of seals, though the 
details remain to be developed. In the ab- 
sence of exact information as to the scope of 
the agreement, it is believed here that its basis 
is a provision for the total suspension of seal- 
ing operations in Bering Sea for a term of 
years. 

Tue U. S. Civil Service Commission an- 
nounces an examination on August 29, to 
secure eligibles from which to make certifica- 
tion to fill a vacancy in the position of chem- 
ist, Bureau of Science, Manila, P. I., at $1,500 
per annum, and vacancies as they may occur 
in the Philippine Service requiring similar 
qualifications. It will not be necessary for 
applicants to appear at any place for examina- 
tion. Their eligibility for the position will 
be determined upon the evidence furnished 
concerning their education, training and ex- 
perience. It is desired to secure the services 
of a young man, energetic and capable, who 
has had several years of university training 
in a first-class institution, and this training 
should include a thorough foundation in all 
lines of the science, such as can be obtained 
by persons specializing in chemistry at any 
one of the first-class schools which make a 
specialty of giving chemical training. His 
main training should be in organic chemistry. 
The work required is of a routine nature and 
covers analytical methods and results, and 
the person appointed must be accurate and 
eareful and he should have a good technique. 
There are in the bureau, however, other shem- 
ical positions which are practically for pur- 
poses of research. There is a considerable 
number of positions the salaries of which 
range from $1,600 to $2,250 per annum, and 
even higher, so that the person appointed to 
the position for which this examination is 
held, if he proves himself capable of filling 
higher positions, will have promotions open to 
him as rapidly as vacancies occur, and it is 
stated that such vacancies will not be too long 
delayed. The person appointed must not only 
have the ability and technique, but he must 
have ambition to push his work in every way 


SCIENCE. 


191 


possible and to keep abreast of literature. 
The laboratory is thoroughly equipped for all 
classes of chemical work. 


Mr. F. G. Cuapp, of the United States Geo- 
logical Survey, has been engaged for several 
months in a study of the underground waters 
of the State of Maine, including both those 
in indurated rocks and in the drift. The 
investigation, which is now nearly completed, 
has brought out many points of interest in 
regard to the drift and has established the 
existence of deposits of several glacial and in- 
terglacial stages, including the equivalent of: 
(1) The supposed pre-Kansan till described 
by Fuller in southeastern Massachusetts, (2) 
the Jameco gravels (Kansan ?) found by 
Veatch and Fuller on Long Island, Marthas 
Vineyard, Cape Cod, ete, (3) the Montauk 
till (Uinoian ?) noted by Fuller on Long, 
Fishers and Block Islands, and in the drum- 
lins about Boston, (4) Manhasset gravels de- 
scribed by Woodworth on Long Island, (5) the 
thick clays and overlying sands (Iowan 2) of 
southern Maine, (6) sands and tills of the 
latest ice invasion. Marked unconformities 
occur between beds 4 and 5 and between beds 
5 and 6. There are indications that a still 
further subdivision of the drift may be pos- 
sible. 


Unper the supervision of Mr. C. R. Van 
Hise, geologist of the United States Geological 
Survey, in charge of the section of pre-Cam- 
brian and metamorphic geology, an economic 
investigation of iron ore deposits in Utah, 
Colorado and the Lake Superior region will 
be conducted during the coming year. Mr. 
Van Hise will be assisted by Messrs. C. K. 
Leith, E. C. Harder, F. Ward, A. C. Deming 
and W. Toellner. The mapping of the iron 
ores of the Iron Springs Special quadrangle 
of southern Utah was completed on July 1. 
A special topographic map on a scale of 
1:45000, with 50-foot contour intervals has 
been made of an area of 225 square miles. 
The ore deposits themselves were mapped on a 
still larger scale of 250 feet to the inch. The 
maps and the report on the district will be 
published during the coming winter. This 
work was directed by Mr. C. K. Leith, who 


192 SCIENCE. 


was assisted by Messrs. E. C. Harder, F. J. 
Katz and Freeman Ward. On July 1, this 
same party took up the detailed mapping of 
the iron ores at Ashcroft in Pitkin and Gun- 
nison counties and at White Pine in Gunnison 
County, Colo. These deposits are similar in 
character and geologic relationships to those 
already mapped in southern Utah. Study of 
them will aid in solving the general problem 
of the origin of the western iron ores. These 
deposits are also especially interesting, because 
they are likely to be of considerable commer- 
cial importance. It is hoped that during the 
year the final general monograph on Lake 
Superior geology, which Messrs. Van Hise and 
Leith have in hand, will be completed. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


Tue General Education Board, endowed by 
Mr. John D. Rockefeller with $10,000,000, has 
made appropriations to nine institutions on 
condition that three times the sum be appro- 
priated from other sources. The appropria- 
tions, which amount to $312,500, are as fol- 
lows: Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Ia., $50,000; 
Washburn College, Topeka, Kan., $25,000; 
Tulane University, New Orleans, $75,000; 
Wofford College, Spartanburg, S. C., $25,000; 
Furman University, Greenville, S. C., $25,000; 
Wake Forest College, Wake Forest, N. C., 
$37,500; Howard College, Birmingham, Ala., 
$25,000; Southwestern University, Jackson, 
Tenn., $25,000, and Mississippi College, Clin- 
ton, Miss., $25,000. 

THE late Dr. James Stewart, of Herts, has 
bequeathed about $135,000 to the University 
of Melbourne for a scholarship in anatomy, 
medicine and surgery, and an equal sum to 
other educational institutions in Melbourne. 


WE learn from the Journal of the American 
Medical Association that the new laboratory 
building for the use of the College of Medi- 
cine and Surgery, University of Minnesota, 
and the State Board of Health, will be ready 
for work at the beginning of the school year 
in September. The building is fireproof, and 
60 by 218 feet. Plans are also being prepared 
for a building for operative surgery and ex- 
perimental pharmacy, and for the new uni- 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 606. 


versity hospital, made possible by the recent 
bequest of $150,000 by the late Dr. A. F. 
Elliott. Beginning with the college year 
1907-08, the entrance requirement to the med- 
ical department will be two full years of col- 
lege work. For several years the requirement 
for entrance has been one year of college work, 
but in view of the fact that nearly 60 per cent. 
of the present student body have had two or 
more years’ college preparation, the regents 
felt justified in thus raising the standard for 
entrance. 


Proressor NorMAN SmiruH, of Glasgow Uni- 
versity, has accepted a call to the Stuart pro- 
fessorship of psychology, Princeton University. 

Dr. Warner Fire, adjunct professor of 
philosophy at the University of Texas, has 
been appointed junior professor of philosophy 
at Indiana University. 


Proressor R. B. Wyruisz, of Sioux City, Ia., 
resigns his position as professor of biology in 
Morningside College to become assistant pro- 
fessor of botany, in charge of morphology, at 
the State University of Iowa. 


Miss ALicE Ropertson, Ph.D. (California), 
for the last two years assistant in zoology at 
the University of California, has accepted an 
instructorship in zoology at Wellesley College. 


Dr. H. W. Maretrr Tims, demonstrator of 
anatomy in Cambridge University, has been 
appointed professor of biology at the Royal 
Veterinary College, London. 


THe Edinburgh University Court has ap- 
pointed Dr. W. G. Smith, of Liverpool Uni- 
versity, to the recently instituted George 
Combe lectureship in general and experimental 
psychology. 

Proressor F. S. Bouncer has accepted the 
post of honorary professor of natural history 
and external examiner for the diploma at the 
Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, in 
succession to the late Dr. Fream. 


Tue electors to the Linacre professorship of 
comparative anatomy at Oxford University, 
vacant by the death of Professor Weldon, have 
elected to the chair Dr. Gilbert C. Bourne, 
fellow and tutor of New College, and uni- 
versity lecturer in comparative anatomy. 


SCIENCE 


A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 
OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, 


Fray, Aueust 17, 1906. 


——————— 


CONTENTS. 
The Ithaca Meeting of the American Chemical 
Sociwig’ Go 1k \WEbite oh songboracoodded 193 


Doctorates Conferred by American Univer- 
SUES UO eerie ata calav ans Weseeicaen alee se seacanavel 206 


Scientific Books :— 
von Baeyer’s Gesammelte Werke: Pro- 
HES SOR Me W in gINI EY wat top beyajatets (olelenstalenccladotesions 211 


Societies and Academies :— 
The Iowa Academy of. Science: L. 8. Ross. 2138 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
The Mutation Theory again: Dr. A. HE. 


(CO EETINGAUNIN We clecepat ap Vane) ae cyesuena Siti aleudaaloit 214 
Special Articles :— 
Herbarium Type Specimens in Plant Mor- 
phology > Dr. Mun: A. (Cook... 35.25): Pcvctarer lif 
- The International Catalogue of Scientific 
IL UCPORLOTONSS So ETO S AGE AGRE CDG ese 218 
Scientific Notes and News................. 220 
University and Educational News........ 1 224 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 
review should be sent to the Editor of ScIENCE, Garrison-on- 
Hudson, N. Y. 


THE ITHACA MEETING OF THE AMERICAN 
CHEMICAL SOCIETY. I. 

THE thirty-fourth general meeting of the 
American Chemical Society met in the 
chemical laboratory of Cornell University, 
at Ithaca, N. Y., on June 28-30. The so- 
ciety met partly in general session and 
partly in sections as follows: 


Inorganic Chemistry: L. M. Dennis, chairman- 

Organic Chemistry: G. B. Frankforter, chair- 
man. 

Physical Chemistry: W. Lash Miller, chairman. 

Industrial Chemistry: J. D. Pennock, chairman. 

Biological Chemistry: Waldemar Koch, chair- 
man. 

Agricultural and Sanitary Chemistry: E. B. 
Voorhees, chairman. 


On Thursday evening there was a com- 
plimentary smoker given to the society by 
the Town and Gown Club. On Friday 
afternoon the members of the society at- 
tended the dedication of the Rockefeller 
Physical Laboratory. Following this, they 
left for an excursion to a hotel on Cayuga 
Lake, where dinner was served at 7:30. 
On Saturday morning Dr. KE. Haanel, of 
the Department of Mines, Ottawa, Canada, 
gave an address on ‘ Electric Smelting Ex- 
periments at Sault Ste. Marie.” One hun- 
dred and thirty-two members of the society 
were in attendance on the meeting, which 
was a most enjoyable and successful one. 
The following are abstracts of papers which 
were presented : 


GENERAL SESSION. 


AFTER a brief address of weleome by 
Dean T. F. Crane and a response by Presi- 
dent W. F. Hillebrand for the society, the 
following addresses were given: 

The Terpenes and Colophonium with Some 
of Their Industrial Chemical Problems = 
G. B. FRANKFORTER. 

The author in cooperation with students 
has been studying the terpenes and colo- 
phonium for a number of years. The pine 
family of the north and west has been 


194 SCIENCE. 


studied both from the strictly chemical 
and from the industrial standpoints. Large 
numbers of analyses of the wood of the 
Norway pine and the Douglas fir as to the 
amount of both the terpenes and colophon- 
ium were made. The stumps and roots of 
these species were likewise exhaustively 
studied. A chemical examination of the 
terpenes indicated that the common terpene 
present differed from the pinene of the 


southern pine, the boiling-point being 


lower, the optical properties and the com- 
pounds formed being different. A new 
series of compounds, the chlor-hydrochlo- 
rides, has been made both from the terpenes 
above mentioned and from common pinene. 
The colophonium from both the Norway 
pine and the Douglas fir has been shown 
to consist of two different acids. These 
acids are being carefully studied. 

Harcourt and Esson’s Method in Chemical 

Mechanics: W. Lass Miuuer. 

As the rate of a chemical change in a 
homogeneous solution depends on the tem- 
perature and on the concentrations of the 
dissolved substances, measurements of the 
rate are best made in solutions whose tem- 
peratures are kept constant by means of a 
thermostat and in which the concentrations 
are kept constant by dissolving quantities 
large in comparison with those generated 
or destroyed during the reaction. In 1866 
Hareourt and Hsson measured rates of 
change in solutions containing a large ex- 
cess of each of the reagents but one. Al- 
though they pointed out the advantages of 
this method of working, their example was 
not followed. Hood, in 1878, used in ex- 
cess each but two of the reagents; van’t 
Hoff (‘Etudes,’ 1884) used equivalent 
quantities and compared the results of ex- 
periments with different initial concentra- 
tions; while from 1885 to 1895 it was the 
eustom to work with more or less equivalent 
concentrations and to deduce the ‘order’ 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 607. 


of the reaction from a series of analyses. 
By this time the method of Harcourt and 
Esson was forgotten. In 1895 A. A. Noyes 
resuscitated van’t Hoff’s method; in 1901 
Ostwald proposed a method which some- 
what resembles Harcourt’s; and in the same 
year Harcourt and Esson’s way of work- 
ing was revived in the laboratory of: the 
speaker, where the principles of the method 
have been extended (method of constant 
rates) and applied to the study of chemical 
equilibrium (arsenic and iodine). The 
power of Harcourt and Esson’s method as 
a tool of research was illustrated by a num- 
ber of examples. 


Some Problems for Agricultural Chemists: 

E. B. VooRHEES. 

This paper is historical and suggestive, 
rather than containing the results of 
definite experiments. It points out the 
conditions heretofore existing in this coun- 
try, which have encouraged agricultural 
chemists to demonstrate the principles al- 
ready understood, rather than to investi- 
gate. Notwithstanding the larger use of 
commercial fertilizers in the east, and better 
farming methods in the west, there is an 
apparent exhaustion of soils, which calls 
for scientific investigation of those prob- 
lems connected with the soil and its fer- 
tility. 

The nitrogen question is supreme, not- 
withstanding the discoveries that have re- 
cently been made, in reference to both the 
symbiotic appropriation of nitrogen, and 
its abstraction from the air by electric 
means. . 


The Occurrence of Boracic Acid in Death 
Valley, California, and in Tuscany: Ep- 
WARD Hart. 

This was a description of two trips, one 
to Death Valley in 1902-3 and one to the 
soffoni of Tuscany in May, 1906. The 
borie acid occurs near Daggett, California, 
as colemanite, Ca,B,0,,, and as calcium 


a ees ee 


PO a See eee eee 


a 


ee Pe Os ee me 


. 
ee sa 7 = 


Avueust 17, 1906.] 


borate in borate mud. The colemanite is 
sent to Bayonne, N. J., and converted into 
borax. The borate mud is treated at 
Daggett with sulphur dioxid and the boric 
acid erystallized out and shipped. In 
Tuscany the boric acid vapors are passed 
into water which is then evaporated. The 
vapors from driven wells have a pressure 
sometimes of nine atmospheres and after 
purification are used for driving steam- 
ngines. Nearly pure ammonium sulphate 
1s also produced. 


AGRICULTURAL AND SANITARY CHEMISTRY. 
E. B. Voorhees, chairman. 


The Improved Refractometer Slide Rule 
and its Application: AuBERT EK. LEAcH 
and HerMANN C. LYTHGOE. 

The refractometer slide rule was first de- 
seribed in the Jour. Am. Chem. Soc., in 
1904. Since then it has been somewhat 
improved and is now on the market. It 
is designed for the use of oil and food 
chemists who have occasion to employ the 
butyro or the Abbé refractometer. It 
readily converts indices of refraction 
(which the Abbé instrument reads directly ) 
into degrees on the butyro-refractometer, 
and vice versa. It also enables one to 
transfer scale readings or refractive indices 
taken at any temperature into their equiva- 
lent at any other, thus avoiding trouble- 
some. calculations. 


Comparative Effect of Organic and Min- 
eral Matter in WSoil-extract Cultures: 
OSWALD SCHREINER. 

A series of experiments with wheat and 
other seedlings is reported in which the 
effect of the organic and inorganic con- 
stituents of the soil solution and of or- 
ganic manures are studied. It is shown 
that the toxic effect of certain soil extracts 
is not entirely overcome by fertilizer salts, 
but is more markedly affected by organic 
substances, such as pyrogallol, the organic 


SCIENCE. 


195 


matter from ordinary stable manure, etc., 
as well as by treatment with certain other 
non-nutrient substances, or even by mere 
boiling of the extract, indicating the pres- 
ence of volatile or thermolabile organic sub- 
stances. Results are obtained by separating 
the organic and inorganic portions of a 
stable manure extract and studying the 
effect of the various fractions on wheat 
seedlings. The results show that the or- 
ganic substances play a very large part 
in the effectiveness of the extract, and more 
especially through an action other than 
that of nutrition. 


Chemical and Bacteriological Factors in the 
Ammonification of Soil Nitrogen: Jacos 
G. LIPMAN. a 
It is well known that organic nitrogen, 

either as applied in manures and fertil- 

izers, or as forming a part of the soil 
humus, is utilized to an unequal extent in 
different soils. Since the crops growing 
on any soil do not derive their nitrogen 
food directly from the nitrogenous organic 
compounds, but make use of them only 
after they are changed into more simple 
substances in the processes of decay, it 
follows that the unequal utilization of the 
organic nitrogen, in different soils, is inti- 
mately related to the quantitative and 
qualitative differences in the development 
of certain classes of soil organisms. On 
the other hand, the soil bacteria are them- 
selves influenced in their growth by the 
chemical and physical constitution of the 
soil; and the simplification of organic com- 
pounds in arable lands is, therefore, a func- 
tion of both chemical and bacteriological 
activities. It is shown that when 100 e.c. 
of a ten per cent. solution of peptone is 
inoculated with ten grams of fresh soil 
the rapid transformation of the peptone 
nitrogen takes place. On distillation with 
excess of magnesia a large portion of this 
peptone nitrogen distils over as ammonia. 


196 SCIENCE. 


The amount of ammonia depends on the 
nature of the soil. The question arises as 
to the reason why one soil will lead to the 
formation of more ammonia than another 
soil under the same conditions. Are the 
differences due to the numbers or kind of 
bacteria or are they due to variations in the 
chemical composition of the soil? Experi- 
ment has demonstrated that the bacterio- 
logical factor has been found to play the 
predominant réle in the ammonification of 
soil nitrogen and that it is itself directly 
affected by the chemical composition of the 
soil. 

The detailed results of these studies will 
be reported in the Journal of the American 
Chemical Socrety. 


Composition of the Drainage Waters of 
Some Alkali Tracts: F. K. Cameron. 
It was shown how the analysis of a drain- 

age water could be used in interpreting 
the changes taking place in alkali soils 
under drainage. Illustrations were given, 
on the one hand, showing that the same 
salts present in the soil remain, though 
the total amount had been diminished, and 
on the other hand, illustrations were given 
where not only the amount of salts, but the 
particular kinds of salts, had changed. 


Nutrition Investigation of the Office of Ex- 
perrment Stations, and the Results of 
Some Recent Work: C. F. LANGworTHY. 


The purpose and scope of the human. 


nutrition investigation carried on under 
the auspices of the Office of Experiment 
Stations of the Department of Agriculture, 
were briefly outlined, particularly the work 
of the fiscal year 1905-6, and the results 
of some dietary studies with aged men and 
women were summarized. From the data 
presented and a summary of similar work, 
the factor nine tenths was proposed as rep- 
resenting the amount consumed by a man 
past middle life, as compared with a man 
in full vigor at moderate muscular work. 


[N.8. Vou. XXIV. No. 607. 


Keeping of Tobacco: J. M. Brut. 


This article has been published in full 
in ScieNcE, June 16, 1906. 


A Method for the Determination of the 
Lead Number in Maple Syrups and 
Maple Sugar: A. L. Winton and J. 
LEHN KREIDER. 

The method proposed is based on the 
well-known fact that lead subacetate pro- 
duces a voluminous precipitate in genuine 
maple products, whereas in products 
adulterated with refined cane sugar the 
amount is deficient. A solution of 25 
grams of the material is precipitated with 
25 ¢.c. of standard lead subacetate, made 
up to 100 «.c., filtered, and the lead deter- 
mined in 10 e.e. of the filtrate. The amount 
of lead consumed in forming the precipitate 
is found by difference. This expressed as 
per cent. of the material is the ‘lead num- 
ber.” The lead number in samples of 
maple syrups of known purity was not less 
than 1.20, but in adulterated samples it 
ranged from 0.02 to 0.92. 


The Application of Colorimetric and Other 
Delicate Analytical Methods to the Study 
of Agricultural Problems: OstTWALp 
SCHREINER and J. F. Breazmaue. (By 
title. ) 


Legume Bacteria and Soil Fertility: Karu 
KELLERMAN. (By title.) 


Toxicity of Some Ammonium Salts on 
Wheat Seedlings in Solution Cultures: 
CHARLES A. JENSEN. (By title.) 


A Preliminary Study of the Combinations 
of Acids with Casein as determined by 
Conductivity’: Measurements: Li. Li. VAN 
SLYKE. 

For more than half a century there has 
been at issue a question as to whether or 
not the coagulum formed when milk sours 
or is acted on by acids is a combination of 
casein and acid. As the result of work 
carried on in the Geneva Station Labora- 


ee OS 


Bin pe ie Fo ee >. 


Avueust 17, 1906.] 


tory by Mr. E. B. Hart and myself satis- 
factory evidence was produced to show that 
casein can and does combine with acids to 
form insoluble casein salts. An attempt 
was made to settle the quantitative side of 
the question by suspending free casein in 
a given amount of dilute acid of known 
strength, filtermg and determining the 
amount of acid left uncombined. This 
method was found to be inadequate. It 
then occurred to the writer that results 
might be obtained by suspending free casein 
in dilute acid and then testing the filtrate 
for changes of electrical conductivity. 
This work is being done largely by Mr. 
Donald D. Van Slyke. 

The conductivity method shows that the 
base-free casein forms an insoluble com- 
pound with dilute hydrochloric acid, which 
slowly combines with more acid forming 
a soluble compound. This soluble com- 
pound forms more readily with more con- 
centrated acid and is unstable, being readily 
decomposed by bases with precipitation of 
a compound probably pure casein, Fur 
ther the conductivity method shows that 
the amount of acid combined with casein is 
considerably in excess of that found by 
the method first used and that the low re 
sults are accounted for by the formation 
of this soluble compound. 

The work is still unfinished and many 
other phases will be studied. 


Movement of Water and Solutions in Soils: 

F’. K. CAMERON and J. M. BELL. 

It has been pointed out in Bulletin 30, 
Bureau of Soils, that the movement of 
water in capillary media is described by the 
empirical formula, 


. y” = Kt. 


Further experiments show that in case of 
the movement of water through a capillary 
tube n is equal to 2. A theoretical deduc- 
tion of this formula has been given. 


SCIENCE. 


197 


Relation of Sodium to Potassium in Soil 
and Solution Cultures: J. F. BREAZEALE. 
(By title.) 


The Distribution of Soluble Bodies between 
Water and Soils, or other Finely-dwided 
Solids: F. K. Cameron and H. E. 
PATTEN. 

It has been shown that the rate of absorp- 
tion generally follows the law expressed by 
the equation 


o! = K(C— 9), 

which is the equation describing a reaction 
of the first order. The distribution of sub- 
stances, both organic and inorganic, be- 
tween a soil or other absorbing material 
and the solvent was studied, and it was 
found in a majority of cases that the curves 
were of a logarithmic character, which ap- 


_ pears to be expressed by the empirical 


formula, 


log Gay 


Several cases were found, however, which 
were better expressed by a linear equation. 
It was shown that the soils and other ab- 
sorbing media have a maximum saturation 
capacity, C in the above formula, which 
has an important significance from an 
agricultural point of view, 


Abnormal Transpiration in relation to 
Growth in Wheat under Certain Condi- 
tions: OSwALD SCHREINER and CHARLES 
A. JENSEN. (By title.) 


Superphosphates: F. K. CAMERON and J. 

M. BELL. 

In the four-component system—lime, sul- 
phuric acid, phosphoric acid, water, which 
are the essential constituents of superphos- 
phates—five stable solids have been found 
at 25°, viz., monocaleium phosphate, 
dicaleium phosphate, anhydrite, gypsum 
and a series of solid solutions in phosphorie 
acid and lime, The inversion points and 


198 


the boundary lines of the fields have been 
determined. At 66°, however, the field 
for gypsum disappears. From these data 
there was shown the effect of leaching 
superphosphates by water at ordinary tem- 
peratures. 


A Simple Fat-extraction Apparatus: G. 8. 
FRAPS. 

The apparatus uses a mereury joint, and 
is simple and cheap. 

Flavoring Extracts, Natural and Artificial, 
in Food Products: Epwarp GUDEMAN. 
(By title.) ar 

A Colorimetric Method for the Determima- 


tion of Absorbed Oxygen in Water: G. 
B. FRANKFORTER and A. D. WILHOIT. 


The importance attached to the amount 


of absorbed oxygen in a sanitary analysis 
of water led the authors to search for a 
colorimetric method which would be in line 
with sanitary methods in general, and 
which would at the same time be rapid and 
accurate. A method using cuprous am- 
monium chloride was finally adopted. The 
advantages of the method, however, are 
largely in the construction of the appa- 
ratus. After various oils and even perfect 
rubber stoppers were found to be inefficient 
‘in protecting the colorless cuprous am- 
monium chloride from oxidation by air, a 
special glass stopper was devised. This 
stopper with a siphon was fitted into the 
top of one of the Hehner cylinders so as to 
protect. the water in the tube from the air 
and at the same time to be used as a 
colorimeter by making comparisons in the 
ordinary way. The manipulation is very 
simple. The glass cork is placed in the 
Hehner cylinder so that the lower end 
stands at 101 cc. Then 100 ce. of water 
under examination is allowed to flow in. 
By turning a three-way stop-cock 1 ¢.e. of 
cuprous ammonium chloride is added, when 
a blue color immediately appears depend- 
ing in intensity upon the amount of free 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 607. 


oxygen in the water. The color is matched 
in the second Hehner cylinder by cupric 
ammonium chloride of known strength and 
representing a known quantity of oxygen. 
With this apparatus very rapid and 
accurate determinations are possible. . 
The Estimation of Citral in Lemon Oil: 
E. Mackay CuHAce. (By title.) 


ORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 
G. B. Frankforter, chairman. 


The Fruit of Smilacina racemosa and tr- 
folia: NicHOLAS KNIGHT. 

The purpose of the work was, as far as 
possible, to determine the composition of 
the fruit. The berries were gathered be- 
tween August 15 and September 5, 1905, 
at Sylvan Beach, N. Y., on the shore of 
Oneida Lake. They were allowed to ripen 
in the house. At first they were green 
in color and the fruit of the racemosa were 
about the size of peas, the fruit of the 
trifolia being smaller. As they ripened 
both species became of a reddish color, re- 
sembling currants. The racemosa fruit 
contains free tartaric and a small quantity 
of citric acid, a red coloring matter and 
glucose. The nutlets or kernels were 
eround and digested with boiling alcohol, 
by which an oil or possibly two oils were 
received. These were investigated. The 
fruit of the trifolia showed a similar com- 
position, the main difference being potas- 
sium tartrate in place of the free tartaric 
acid. 


The Constitution of Paris Green and its 

Homologues: 8. AVERY. 

The writer shows by a review of the 
literature that great uncertainty exists in 
regard to the constitution of these sub- 
stances. Many years ago Ehrmann found 
that a commercial sample of Paris green 
(Schweinfurt green), consisted of three 
molecules of copper meta-arsenite in chem- 
ical combination with one molecule of cop- 


AuGusT 17, 1906.] 


per acetate. Later Wohler made a green 
starting with copper butyrate and found 
the ratio to be 2:1. The writer shows 
that Paris green and its homologues may 
be regarded as isomorphic crystalline mix- 
tures in which the extreme limits of the 
ratio of copper arsenite to the copper or- 
ganic acid salt lie between 3:1 and 2:1. 
This view is confirmed by the study of 
greens, samples of which have been made 
containing a great diversity of organic 
acids. It is further confirmed by a study 
of certain zine arsenites. 


A Chemical Study of Curare: G. B. FRANK- 

FORTER and H. M. Newron. 

The authors have made an exhaustive ex- 
amination of the various forms of curare, 
or arrow poison. It required several years 
to collect these samples in the crude form 
as prepared by the Indians. On one or 
two occasions the bulbs or original con- 
tainers had been par.ly filled with sand by 
the Indians, only a small amount of the 
alkaloid having been placed on the top of 
the sand. The analyses of these samples 
varied widely in composition. The amount 
of inorganic matter varied from 15 to 68 
per cent., and in one or two eases the sub- 
stance was found to be perfectly inert, 
physiologically. Reactions indicated an 
alkaloid with marked basic properties. No 
erystalized compounds were made, but 
analyses of the base prepared from the 
platinum double salts indicated that the 
formula for the alkaloid, notwithstanding 
the fact that it is used extensively as a 
medicine at the present time, is still in 
doubt. The formula given for the free 
base by Sachs was obtained from an 
analysis of the platinum double salt. 
The formula of Preyer has been shown 
to be incorrect, as the material analyzed 
contains a large amount of inorganic mat- 
ter. From the work already done, the 
authors conclude that the free base in 


SCIENCE. 


like. 


199 


curare or curarine is more complex than 
the formula given by Sachs. 


PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY. 
W. Lash Miller, chairman. 


Cooperation in Physical Chemstry: W. D. 

BANCROFT. 

We could be of more assistance to each 
other if we had a system of reports by 
which we knew what bits of research work 
the others were doing. Each one of us 
has stored away in his memory a number 
of generally unfamiliar facts which he has 
stumbled upon in his reading or in his 
laboratory. These may not be important 
enough to him to justify his doing enough 
work to get anything worth publishing, or 
he may have more important matters on ~ 
hand and so lack the time. If now any 
one of us learns that any one of the others 
is doing a bit of investigation into which 
this, that, or the other fact fits nicely, the 
observation can at once be turned over to 
the man who can use it, much to the benefit 
of both parties. 

It is probable that nobody goes to one 
of the meetings of the Chemical Society 
without getting a few suggestions of value 
to him. On the other hand, owing to the 
great distances and consequent expense, 
we do not get together as often as we should 
If we kept more in touch, we should 
be getting continually some of the advan- 
tages which we now get from the occasional 
meetings. The matter would not be diffi- 
eult to arrange. In October and February 
each man could make out a list of the work 
planned or in operation. These reports 
could be manifolded and distributed. So 
far as I can see, the plan has practically 
no objectionable features and might be of 
great value. It seems therefore worth 
trying. - 


Uniformity in the Use of Algebraic Sym- 
bols: W. Las Minuer. . 


200 


The desirability of a uniform system of 
symbols for use in works on physical, chem- 
ical and engineering subjects has often been 
urged; and various systems have been sug- 
gested, one of them by a former president 
of this society. 

The latest proposal, made by Linders in 
his pamphlet ‘Die Formelzeichen,’ Leipsic, 
1905, is very ambitious, and involves the 
use of German and Russian type in addi- 
tion to the Greek and Latin alphabets. 
Would it be more practical to divide the 
sciences into groups, and to fix on a uni- 
form system of symbols for use in each 
eroup, without insisting that a letter to 
which one meaning has been assigned in 
geometry, for instance, should not be em- 
ployed with another meaning in chemistry? 
Is it desirable to appoint a committee to 
consider the whole question and report at 
a subsequent meeting? 


The Influence of Calcuum on Iron: O. P. 
Warts. (By title.) 


The Electrical Conductivity of Solutions 
of the Alcohols in Liquid Hydrobromic 
Acids: E. H. ARCHIBALD. 

Qualitative tests were first made to see 
what classes of the aleohols would dissolve 
in this solvent to give conducting solutions. 
The liquid acid is found to be very selective 
as regards the bodies which it will dissolve, 
being a solvent for one alcohol but not for 
another, although they differ but little in 
constitution. The conductivities of solu- 
tions of some fourteen of the alcohol bodies 
have been measured quantitatively over a 
considerable range of dilution. In the 
ease of the greater number of the solutions 
the temperature coefficients have also been 
determined. The molecular conductivity 
in nearly all cases increases rapidly with 
the concentration. In a few instances for 
the more dilute solutions of the simpler 
alcohols the molecular conductivity either 
decreases slightly with the concentration or 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Vou. XXIV. No. 607. 


remains practically constant. As far as 
these investigations have extended those 
bodies which dissolve conduct the electric 
current. The temperature coefficients are 
in some cases positive, In some cases nega- 
tive. 


The Electrical Conductivity of Solutions of 
the Organic Acids in Inquid Hydro- 
bromic and Hydrochloric Acids: EK. H. 
ARCHIBALD. 

Qualitative tests of about twenty of the 
organic acids showed that quite a number 
would dissolve in both solvents to give 
conducting solutions. As far as can be 
ascertained those acids which dissolve to 
any extent give solutions which will con- 
duct. The quantitative measurements 
show that the hydrochloric acid solutions 
have by far the greater conducting power, 
at least in the case of nearly all the bodies 
examined. The molecular conductivity for 
both solvents, except in a few cases for the 
very dilute solutions, increases with the 
concentration. The temperature coeffi- 
cients in all the cases examined are positive. 


The Identification of Insoluble Phases: 

L. F. HAwuey. 

By means of the solubility method the 
formula 2PbCO,.Pb(OH), for the basic 
carbonate of lead was confirmed. Mixtures 
of lead carbonate and oxide in varying 
proportions were treated with a 20 per 
cent. sodium acetate solution and the 
amount of lead dissolved in 50 ¢.c. was de- 
termined. The oxide was found to hydrate 
in the presence of the carbonate until 
sufficient hydroxide was formed to give 
2PbCO,.Pb(OH),. The solubility re- 
mained constant over a range of concentra- 
tions up to two molecules of the carbonate 
to one of the oxide, and with more than two 
of the carbonate to one of the oxide the 
solution was also constant, but at a lower 
value. This shows the presence of a com- 
pound with a formula corresponding to the 


Avue6ust 17, 1906.] 
concentration at which the solubility 
changes. 

Another method was used in the identi- 
fication of the insoluble phases formed 
when thallium sulphide and stannic sul- 
phide are precipitated together. Since the 
phases have different colors the appearance 
or disappearance of a phase can be readily 
observed under the microscope. From pure 
TIS up to a concentration corresponding 
to T1,SnS, two phases can be distinguished, 
the black T1,S, and the red Tl,SnS,; from 
this point up to 76 per cent. SnS, two 
phases are present, the red Tl,SnS, and a 
reddish yellow transparent phase, while be- 
yond 76 per cent. SnS, all concentrations 
are homogeneous, showing a solid solution. 


The Equilibrium between Ammoma and 
Hydrogen Sulphide: J. P. Macnusson. 
The reaction 

NH, + HS = NH,SH 


was studied at 20° over a range of 95 em. 
partial pressure. The mass-law formula 
pxu, < pu,s — const. 

deseribes this equilibrium over the pressure 
range studied if the pressure of the undis- 
sociated NH,SH is neglected and if correc- 
tions are made for the deviations of the 
gases from Boyle’s law. For hydrogen 
sulphide this deviation was found to be 
within the limit of experimental error over 
the pressure range studied, but for am- 
monia the deviation was considerable at 
the higher pressures. This was shown to 
be due to the adsorption of the gas on the 
glass surface of the measuring tube and on 
the NH,SH erystals. The adsorption of 
gases on the walls of the containing vessel 
has an important bearing on our concep- 
tion of the so-called imperfect gases. 


The Precipitation of Lead Chromate: Ep- 
WARD H. FREE. 
Precipitations were made from equiva- 
lent solutions of Pb(NO,). and K,CrO, un- 


SCIENCE, 


201 


der as nearly as possible equal conditions. 
The rapidity of precipitation is greater 
from hot solutions and more concentrated 
ones. The erystals are large when the 
solutions are hot and dilute. The presence 
of glue greatly retards precipitation. The 
color is apparently the same under all 
conditions of precipitation, provided the 
solutions are neutral. Alkali will impart 
an orange tinge due to basic chromate. 
Minor accidental variations in the manner 
of precipitation have a great influence. 


Solubility of the Phosphates of Mag- 
nesium: F. K. CAmMErRon and J. M. BELL. 
The behavior of calcium phosphates in 

contact with water and with phosphoric 

acid solutions has already been studied in 
this laboratory by Cameron, Seidell and 

Bell. It was found that at 25° only two 

ealecium phosphates exist in equilibrium 

with aqueous solutions. At the higher 
concentrations monocaleium phosphate is 
the stable solid phase, and at intermediate 
concentrations dicaleium phosphate is the 
solid phase. At very low concentrations 
there is at least one series of solid solutions. 
The behavior of magnesium phosphates in 
contact with water and with phosphoric 
acid solutions has been studied in a similar 
way at 25° C. Here there are but two 
magnesium phosphates, the monomag- 
nesium phosphate, which exists in contact 
with solutions containing above 700 grams 
of P,O, per liter; below that concentration 
the stable solid is dimagnesium phosphate. 

The solution in contact with the above 

phosphates of calcium contains about 320 

grams of P,O, per liter, while that in con- 

tact with the phosphates of magnesium 
contains over 700 grams of P.O; per liter. 


The System Water-Gypsum-Lime: F. K. 
Cameron and J. M. BELL. 
The mutual solubility of gypsum in lime 
solutions and of calcium hydroxide in 
eypsum solutions has been determined at 


202 SCIENCE. 


25° C. The solubility of gypsum in lime 
solutions is depressed with increasing 
amounts of lime, while the solubility of 
lime in gypsum solutions shows very slight 
inereases. The solution in contact with 
both calcium hydroxide and gypsum con- 
tains 1.59 grams CaSO, per liter and 1.22 
grams of calcium hydroxide per liter. A 
solution containing calcium hydroxide 
alone contains 1.17 grams per liter and a 
solution containing gypsum earries 2.13 
grams of calcium sulphate per liter. There 
is no basic sulphate of calcium at this tem- 
perature. 


The Solubility of Gypsum in Phosphoric 

Acid Solutions: W. C. TABEr. 

The solubility of gypsum in several 
acids, notably hydrochloric, nitric and sul- 
phuric, has already been studied. In this 
investigation of its solubility in phosphoric 
acid it was found that at 25° C. small 
amounts of phosphoric acid increase the 
solubility of gypsum to a marked extent, 
the solubility being greater as the concen- 
tration of the acid increases. At about 230 
grams of P,O, per liter there is a maximum 
solubility of about four times that in pure 
water. Above this concentration the solu- 
bility decreases regularly with increase of 
the acid content. The results of these 
experiments are in accord with other work 
on the solubility of gypsum in solutions of 
electrolytes which contain no ion in com- 
mon with gypsum. 


The Phosphates of Iron and Aluminum: 
F. K. Cammron and J. M. BELL. 
Crystalline phosphates of iron and of 

aluminum have been found to exist in solu- 

tions which contain high percentages of 
phosphoric acid. At lower percentages the 
precipitates appear to be solid solutions. 

The Solubility of Nitric Oxide and of Air 
in Sulphuric Acid: O. F. Tower. 

The method of Bunsen was used, which 
consists in shaking the respective gas with 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 607. 


sulphuric acid in a eudiometer tube, which 
is standing in a mercury bath. 
The following are the results obtained: 


Concentration of Coefficient of Solubility 


Sulphuric Acid. In Nitrie Oxide. In Air. 
98 per cent. No constant re- 0.0173 
sults obtained. 
90 per cent. 0.0193 0.0107 
80 per cent. 0.0117 0.0069 
70 per cent. 0.0113 , 0.0055 
60 per cent. 0.0118 0.0059 
50 per cent. 0.0120 0.0076 


These numbers are so small that the solu- 
bility of these gases in sulphurie acid can 


cause no appreciable error in the deter- 
mination of nitrates, nitrites or the oxides 


of nitrogen by Lunge’s method, unless ex- 
cessive quantities of sulphuric acid are em- 
ployed. 


The Basic Solutions of Beryllium Sul- 
phate: Cuas. L. Parsons and W. O. 
RoBInson. 

Solutions of the normal salts of beryl- 
lum have the property to an unusual de- 
gree of dissolving large amounts of their 
own hydroxide or carbonate. The present 
paper deals with such basic solutions of the 
sulphate. Freezing-point determinations, 
on both dilute and concentrated solutions, 
show that, per mol. of SO,, any increase in 
basic ratio over the normal raises the freez- 
ing-point. The osmotic effect of the sul- 
phate is, therefore, always decreased by 
dissolving in it its own hydroxide. The 
electrical conductivity of the basic solutions 
is less than that of normal solutions con- 
taining the same amount of SO;. Migra- 
tion experiments show that beryllium forms 
no part of the anion. The basic solutions 


are not precipitated by erystalloids; but _ 


on dialysis hydroxide is left on the mem- 

brane, and the dialyzed solution has a lower 

basic ratio. 

Further Study of the Sulphates of Beryl- 
lium: Cuas. L. Parsons and Caru. T. 
FULLER. 


a a a a a al a 


AvucGusT 17, 1906.] 


In the earlier work of one of us,-it was 
found impossible to procure crystals from 
solutions of the sulphate having a basic 
ratio greater than BeO/SO,. Crystals 
have now been obtained from solutions 
with a ratio as high as 3BeO/2SO,. These 
erystals are in every case the normal tetra- 
hydrate, and by their separation the 
mother-liquors are rendered more basic. 
Repeated attempts to obtain the hexa-hy- 
drate described by Levi-Malvano (Ztschr. 
anorg. Chemie, 48, 446) have resulted in 
failure. Although the conditions described 
by that author were faithfully followed and 
other methods used, the tetrahydrate in- 
variably separated. A series of experi- 
ments on dialyzing the sulphate solutions 
of a basic nature showed a tendency for 
the solution to become much less basic by 
dialysis and the hydroxide was left behind. 


The Theory of the Dissociation of Gases 
around Highly Heate? Wirres: Irvine 
LANGMUIR. 

In a previous paper the author gave the 
results of experiments on the dissociation 
of water vapor and carbon dioxide, made 
by passing the gases over glowing platinum 
wires. The present paper shows that un- 
der ordinary conditions dissociation phe- 
nomena take place so close to the surface 
of the wire that convection currents do not 
influence the dissociation. The tempera- 
ture of the gas near the wire is then caleu- 
lated from the heat conductivity and the 
heat given off by the wire. Taking into 
account the diffusion and the variation of 
the dissociation constant and of the velocity 
coefficient with the temperature, a formula 
is derived which enables one to calculate 
the difference between the dissociation for 
equilibrium at the temperature of the wire 
and the dissociation actually observed after 
passing the gas over the wire. Applying 
the formula to the results of the experi- 
ments, it is shown that this difference can 


SCIENCE, 


203 


not exceed 10-7? per cent. or only 10° of 
the actual dissociation. Therefore the only 
remaining source of error in the experi- 
ments was in the determination of the tem- 
perature of the wire and in the analysis 
of the gases. The results for the dissocia- 
tion may be considered quite accurate. 


The Lnime-Silica Series of Minerals: 
Artur L. Day and HE. 8. SHEPHERD. 
There are two definite compounds of 

lime and silica which can exist in contact 

with the melt: (1) the pseudo-hexagonal 
metasilicate, melting at 1,512° and invert- 
ing to wollastonite at about 1,200°; (2) the 
orthosilicate of calcium, melting at 2,080° 
and possessing three polymorphic forms, 
which have been given the names a, 8 and 

y, in the order of their formation. The 

a form is monoclinic, density 3.27, hardness 

5; the 8 form is orthorhombic, with about 

the same density; the y form has a density 

of 2.97 and also erystallizes in the mono- 
clinic system. The inversion point a to 
occurs at 1,415°; B to y at 675°. There 
are three eutectics in the series, tridymite 
++ metasilicate at 35 per cent. CaO, 1,417° ; 
metasilicate + orthosilicate at 54 per cent. 

CaO, 1,430°; orthosilicate + lime at 674 

per cent. CaO, 2,015°. The constants of the 

original components are these: pure fused 
lime has a density of 3.32, hardness 3 +. 

The fusion temperature is unknown. Lime 

erystallizes in the isometric system and no 

polymorphic forms were found. Silica 
melts very gradually, beginning at about 
1,600°, to an ultraviscous liquid. The 
melting point, like those of albite and 
orthoclase, is, therefore, indeterminate. At 
all temperatures above 800° quartz changes 
to tridymite and quartz glass crystallizes 
as tridymite, so that above this tempera- 
ture tridymite is unquestionably the stable 
phase. The density of pure artificial tri- 
dymite is 2.320 (25°) ; that of quartz glass, 
2.213 (25°); the purest natural quartz 


204 


has a density of 2.654 (25°). Neither 
Ca,8i,0,, Ca,8i,0,, nor 3CaOSi0, can ex- 
ist in the two-component system. 


The Effect of Acetone on the Transference 
Numbers of Sodium and Potassium 
Chlorides: H. F. Lewis. 

It has been found that in general a 
change of solvent has little or no effect on 
the transference number of a salt, but no 
experiments have been published in which 
acetone was used. In the present investi- 
gation the apparatus was a large inverted 
U tube, the legs of which dipped into 
large test tubes; by means of a small tube 
blown into the top or bend of the U tube 
it was possible to withdraw a sample of 
the middle portion for analysis. Although 
the apparatus is not at all adapted to very 
accurate work, it was shown by blank meas- 
urements and tests with indicators that the 
method was sufficiently good to guarantee 
that the large differences found are not due 
to errors. A silver voltameter was used 
to measure the total decomposition. The 
cathode portions were analyzed by titrating 
with deci-normal silver nitrate. The 
middle portion changed in almost all cases 
less than one per cent. 


Parts of Acetone. H No. of Exp. 
NaCl 0 -59 1 
yy 55 2 
YY, 52 2 
iy, 38 2 
34 38 2 
KCl 0 49 5 
yy 44 1 
yy, 40 3 
iy 37 3 
3h, 31 4 


In the above table of results the first 
column gives the parts of acetone in one of 
solution; the second column gives the 
transference number of the chlorine, and 
the last column gives the number of inde- 
pendent experiments on which the result is 
based. The experiments were carried out 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XXIV. No. 607. 


at room temperature; and all the solutions 
were approximately deci-normal with re- 
spect to the salt. 


The Electrode Capacity of Iron and its 
Bearing on Passivity: C. McC. Gordon 
and FRIEND HE. CuarK. 

The oldest and most commonly accepted 
explanation of the passivity of iron carries 
with it the idea that it is due to a very 
thin oxide sheet. In later years several 
other hypotheses have been suggested, 
which, while perhaps better fitted to ex- 
plain many of the existing conditions, have 
not entirely displaced the oxide theory. In 
case we assume the oxide theory we might 
expect the so-called passive iron to act as 
an electric condenser; the conducting iron 
and the conducting solution being sepa- 
rated by insulating oxide, similar to films 
on aluminum anodes. Measurements of 
this capacity—comparing it on the Wheat- 
stone bridge with a metallic condenser of 
known capacity—have been made for iron 
electrodes in various solutions, with the 
following results: 

(1) Passive iron (electrodes) acts ag if 
covered with a sheet of oxide, as is evi- 
denced by the following facts: (a) The 
electrodes have a capacity easily measured 
while active electrodes (that is, iron in 
dilute nitrie acid or freshly deposited elec- 
trolytic iron) show no signs of such ecapaci- 
ties. (b) The capacity values are about 
of the same order of magnitude as those 
of aluminum, where we certainly know 
there is such capacity. (c) Electrodes 
oxidized in a Bunsen burner flame give a 
similar capacity. The oxidized sheet, so 
formed, appears to be five or six times as 
thick as that of the electrodes made passive 
by the concentrated nitric acid. It is no- 
tably different, too, in that it has a small 
resistance. It acts like a leaky condenser, or 
a condenser in parallel with a resistance. 
(2) Iron transferred from the air to neu- 


Avucust 17, 1906.] 


tral solutions behaves qualitatively exactly 
like iron oxidized in the flame. Its ea- 
pacity, however, is somewhat larger than 
that of the passive iron, indicating a thin 
film or sheet. The resistance of this sheet 
is relatively smaller, due, as we suppose, 
to small holes or crevasses in the sheet. 


The Electrical Conductivity of Tungstate 

Solutions: RoGER CLARK WELLS. 

A study of the conductivity of various 
tungstates showed that in the case of so- 
dium metatungstate and ammonium para- 
tungstate a partial transposition begins to 
take place as soon as those salts are dis- 
solved in water. Although the rate of this 
transformation is very slow at 25°, it in- 
ereases rapidly with rising temperature. 
This discovery will undoubtedly explain 
the queer solubility determinations which 
several investigators have found for these 
salts without considering the time factor. 


Freezing-point Measurements: W. G. SMEA- 

TON. 

The author takes up a consideration of 
the difficulties encountered in freezing- 
point determinations and then proposes a 
method which is a modification of the Ra- 
oult method. This modification is based 
on the fact that, although eryohydrates are 
theoretically ideal cooling baths, in prac- 
tise their use necessitates the introduction 
of the Nernst and Newton constants. The 
use of these constants is made necessary 
because the temperature of the cooling bath 
can not be regulated to produce a tempera- 
ture equilibrium in the freezing-point ves- 
sel at the apparent freezing-point of the 
solution in all cases. Jn applying the 
modification it is most convenient to use a 
mixture of ice and salt. An auxiliary cool- 
ing bath permits rapid determinations. 
The apparent freezing-point is first de- 
termined rapidly in the auxiliary cooling 
bath. Then the temperature of the cooling 
bath is regulated to give temperature equi- 


SCIENCE. 


205 


hbrium at the apparent freezing-point. 
In the meantime the ice has been thawed 
out of the freezing-point vessel which is 
undercooled in the auxiliary bath and then 
is transferred to the other bath. Inocula- 
tion is made when the temperature begins 
to rise uniformly. Thus the degree of 
undercooling is determined with the maxi- 
mum of accuracy. Ice formation is pre- 
vented during underecooling by vigorous 
hand stirrmg. The method is rapid, easily 
manipulated, and gives accurate determina- 
tions with very small volumes of solution. 
The only correction to be applied arises 
from the change in concentration of the 
solution through the ice separated. The 
factor to be applied is a constant for a 
given apparatus under uniform conditions. 


On Amorphous Sulphur; IV. Precipitated 
Sulphur: ALEXANDER SmiTH and R. H. 
BROWNLEE. 

This investigation deals with the propor- 
tions of amorphous sulphur (‘supercooled 
Sp’) contained in sulphur which has been 
precipitated (1) from sodium polysulphide 
by the action of acids and of iodine, and 
(2) from sodium thiosulphate by the ac- 
tion of equivalent and excessive amounts 
of acids. The sulphur from polysulphides 
—so-called ‘amorphous sulphur’—is almost 
wholly crystalline soluble sulphur. When 
the thiosulphate is used, different acids in 
equivalent concentrations give different 
proportions of amorphous sulphur. For a 
single acid the proportion increases more 
rapidly than the concentration of the acid. 
The proportion of insoluble sulphur seems 
to be greater the more rapid the action 
(due to high concentration of the acid), 
and therefore the smaller the droplets and 
the quicker the hardening of the precipi- 
tated liquid Su. Higher temperatures up 
to 25° hasten the action, and therefore give 
larger proportions of amorphous sulphur; 
but at 40° the tendency of Sp to revert to 


206 


SA asserts itself and the proportions are 

smaller. 

On Amorphous Sulphur; V. Further Study 
of the Two Forms of Liquid Sulphur as 
Dynamic Isomers: ALEXANDER SMITH 
and C. M. Carson. 

This investigation deals with (1) meas- 
urements of the rate of transformation 
_SA=Sz in presence of different catalyzers; 
(2) study of the influence of iodine, a 
second component; (3) investigation of 
freezing-point phenomena of SA and deter- 
mination of the ‘natural’ freezing-point 
(114.5°) ; (4) thermal effects when liquid 
sulphur is heated rapidly; (5) measure- 
ments of concentrations of Sw when equi- 
librium has been reached at temperatures 
between 155° and 165°; (6) measurements 
of concentrations of Su when liquid sul- 
phur is being heated rapidly; (7) relations 
of viscosity to preceding results; (8) dis- 
cussion of causes of the thermal effects and 
of the whole problem in the light of these 
results. G. R. WHITE, 


Press Secretary. 
(To be concluded.) 


DOCTORATES CONFERRED BY AMERICAN 
UNIVERSITIES. 

THE degree of doctor of philosophy or 
doctor of science has this year been con- 
ferred, as shown in the accompanying 
table, on 325 students by institutions com- 
petent to award these degrees. The num- 
ber in 1906 is exactly the same as in 1905, 
but these two years represent an advance 
over any preceding year, bringing the num- 
ber of doctorates conferred during the last 
nine years to 2,387. These figures do not 
include those who have received the degree 
or its equivalent from foreign universities. 
No statistics are at hand in regard to these 
students, but the number is probably in the 
neighborhood of fifty annually. We have 
not the information that would enable us 
to say what percentage of those who take 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 607. 


TABLE I, 
DOCTORATES CONFERRED. 


ola BHIN|o|tliol/o!] eS 

S\S SIS SSE SS 

mm = 5 re — bool m bal b | i= 

Harvard. ............ 26) 24) 36} 29) 31] 28) 46) 38) 46) 304 
Chicago.............. 36; 24) 37| 36) 27) 32) 36) 44) 31) 303 
ale tee ature tae 34! 30) 26) 39) 29) 36) 39) 34) 29) 296 
Columbia ............ 33] 21] 25) 32) 39) 29) 38) 42) 281 
Johns Hopkins....| 33] 38] 33) 30) 17] 23) 31] 35} 32) 272 
Pennsylvania ...... 24) 20) 15} 25) 14) 29) 18) 26) 28) 199 
lORne Eos exeeie 19} 7} 19} 21} 23) 20) 13} 21) 19) 162 

Clarke ee baad 12) 5; 9) 7} 1] 4} 10) 18) 13). 79 
Wisconsin ........... 5; 6) 5] 6] 11) 4) 12) 9] 9) 67 
Michigan ............ 7| 4) 5) 3] 10) 10; 8] 7 8] 62 
New York........... 5| 9) 7) 6) 4 4) 9 7) 9 GO 
IBOstontsecan eee 0} O; OF} 0} OF 4) 7| 14) 10) 35 
California............ PB A AS Bi Bi a OI BAS 
Virginia..,........... Or A TS Ol 83 al at O28 
George Wash....... THEO SS) PA aN BP Ba 83 
Princeton ...... SOB Bre Way a ay Gi. aR 
Minnesota... TW AB FE SS Bi] aI | 
Bryn Mawr By ei al A A ON a Bh a aX) 
Brown. ...... cool aU ih Si Pea ale (Oh Aa Sal Id 
Nebraska ............ Wa val | SO OL Bb By Bl aly 
Catholic .............. TU OO Oa a Gy) ah ye NG} 
Stanford. ........... BO) Bl Bh Be Ty a ay Bi 
Tower ca Oo; O; 0} OF OF} 2) OF 2) 5) C9 
Washington. ...... Oe Ap ON wp Oe au ay Ol AL 7 
Georgetown.........| 0} 0} 0] 0} 0; 3) 1) 2) 0| 6 
Vanderbilt........... 0; O; 3] 1) OF O} OF OF 1 5 
Colorado.............. Oe ss OO Ok O Bi OB & 
North Carolina....| 0} 0; 0] 6} 2) 1! O} 1) O| 4 
Min OVSee eee see 0} 0}; OF OF OF OF OF 1) 3) «4 
Cincinnati .......... On} OO Oe al a al Oh & 
Kansas ..........00008 0} 1] O} OF; OF 12) Of] OF OF 8 
Lafayette ............ 0} Oo; 0} OF OF 3) OF OF OF 68 
Missouri ............. oO; 1! OF; OF OF} OF OF 2) OF 8 
Northwestern ...... OLY LOO) OF FONNOees 
Wash. and Lee.....; 0} 0} 0} 0} 1) O| 1) 0; 1) 3 
Lehigh................ 0} oO} O| OF OF 2) OF OO} OF 62 
Syracuse.............. oO} 1) 0} OF 1) OF OF} OF OF 2 
Tulane... .........0.00+ Oo; 0; 1] OF 0} OF OF OO} OF 61 
236 224|239)|255|224'270|289 325 325|2387 


the doctor’s degree continues to engage in 
research work and productive scholarship, 
but probably not more than one third. 
Neither are there any data showing what 
percentage of those who are engaged in the 
advancement of science and learning holds 
the doctor’s degree, but it may be estimated 
at about half. In so far as these estimates 
are correct, there would be about 250 men 
a year added to those who will hereafter 
devote themselves with some success to re- 
search work, and of these about half will 
work in the exact and natural sciences. 

It must be confessed that this number is 
disappointingly small when the population 
and wealth of the country are considered. 
Dr. W. T. Harris, in the last report of the 


AvucGusT 17, 1906.] 


commissioner of education, states that in 
1903 there were 20,887 professors and 
teachers in the colleges and universities of 
the United States, not counting professional 
schools; there were further in the second- 
ary schools 33,795 teachers; or in all con- 
siderably more than 50,000 positions. At 
least one twentieth of these become vacant 
each year, and the number of new positions 
is increasing at the rate of more than 2,000 
a year. There are probably more than 
5,000 academic positions a year which 
should be filled by the type of men of which 
the supply appears to be only about 250. 
Further, these men must fill the large and 
increasing number of positions in the gov- 
ernment service and elsewhere. 

There has naturally been no considerable 
change in the productivity of the different 
institutions. Chicago and Yele conferred 
fewer degrees this year than usual, Har- 
vard and Columbia more, and the Johns 
Hopkins about its average number. These 
five universities stand very close in their 
total influence. Harvard is now at the 
head of the list, surpassing Chicago by one 
degree, Yale by 8 degrees, Columbia by 23 
degrees and the Johns Hopkins by 32 de- 
grees. Several of the state universities 
have made considerable gains, which are 
especially noticeable when compared with 
the earlier years covered by the statistics. 
Thus this year California conferred 9 de- 


grees ; Nebraska, 7; Iowa, 5, and Illinois, 3, . 


or 24 in all, whereas in 1898 these four 
universities conferred but 3 degrees. 

Table II. shows the number of degrees 
conferred in the sciences enumerated in 
Table III. From this table it appears that 
somewhat less than half of all the degrees 
conferred are in these sciences. The last 
column of the table gives the percentage 
of degrees that are conferred in the natural 
and exact sciences. It thus appears that 
relatively more graduate work in science 


SCIENCE. 


207 


is done at Cornell and the Johns Hopkins 
than at Harvard and Yale. 


TABLE II. 
DOCTORATES CONFERRED IN THE SCIENCES. 


alalofal[almalslolo!| Z|] # 

S/O SIE ISlE/e) 2) 
Johns Hopkins} 19} 17| 20) 19} 9) 10) 17) 18) 18] 147] 54 
Chicago ......... 12) 13) 19) 16) 15) 21) 14) 21) 14) 145) 48 
Columbia ..:... 10} 23) 12) 13] 14/ 18) 11] 20] 16} 137) 49 
Harvard ........ 11; 7| 15) 15) 14) 15) 23) 12) 17} 129] 49 
Malena 11} 15) 10) 18} 10) 13) 15} 13} 15) 120) 41 
Cornell ........... 11) 2) 11) 13) 16) 13} 8] 13) 7| 94) 58 
Pennsylvania..| 8} 8] 6] 12) 5] 14} 9] 12] 11) 85} 43 
Clarke thee 12) 5) 9} 7 1) 4) 10] 18] 9) 75) 95 
Michigan........ 0; 3, 1) O| 5; 4) 6] 2] 5) 24) 39 
Wisconsin ..... 2) Al 13) 4) OO) 4l Bi 21) 23) 34 
California ...... SHWRS 
George Wash...| 1] 0} 3] 1) 1} 4] 1| 3) 2) 16 69 
Brown ........... TN OP OL a a ea On pal Saul Sib IS 
Nebraska ....... OF a GH Op a BE Bah TLL) is) 
Bryn Mawv.....| 1) 2] 1) 2) 1] 0} 2) 0} 1| 10 50 
Stanford ........ PAO OP Par al aU al A WO) 7 
Princeton ...... 0} 3] 1) 0} OF 1) 1) 3) OF 9) 389 
Virginia ........| 0] 2) O} 4) 1) 2) 0) 0} Oo} 9! 39 
Minnesota ...... OH UP au ees TU Oy al a | 32 
Washington ...| 0} 2) 0; 1) 0} 1) 1) 0} 2) 7,100 
OW Ae eee De OO, Ol Oh Wi Or ee Be ay 
New York. Ty a Oa OF Oe SN sue alll Gp al) 
Catholic .. OOM Oe Ora a, Or Oh at 0 
Colorado 0} 1) 0} 40) OF 0} OF 0; 2) 3) 60 
Kansas ........... Oo} 1) OF O; OF 2) OF O}| OF 3:100 
North Carolina} 0] 0| 0} 0} 2] 1} 0} O} O} 83) 75 
Vanderbilt...... C0) 0) ees OD 1 0.) Gn 0) 0) en PSU 0 
Wash. and Lee} 0} 0} 0} O} 1] O}] 1! O} 1 3/100 
Tllinois........... 0; 0; O; O| OF OF OF OF 2) 2) 50 
Lehigh ........... 0} 0; OF O; OF 2| OF OF 0} 62/100 
Missouri ........ oO} 1) OF OF; OF} OF O| 1) O|. 2} 67 
Northwestern .| 0) 1} 0} 1/) 0} O} O! 0] O| 2! 67 
Cincinnati .....| 0} 0} 0} O} O} O} O} 1| OO} 1! 33 
Georgetown ...| 0} 0) 0] 0} O} O| 1] 0} 0} 1/17 
Lafayette ........ 0} 0; O} OF OF 1} OF OF O} 1) 383 
Syracuse ...... 0; 0; 0; 0; 1) O} oO} O} OF 1] 50 

105/116/113'132/108!138/130/150/139)1131| 47 


The third table gives the degrees con- 
ferred in each of the sciences, whence it 
appears that last year 38 degrees were given 
in chemistry, 21 in zoology, 19 in physics, 
16 in botany, 12 in psychology, 11 in geol- 
ogy and 9 in mathematics. All the other 
sciences are responsible for only 13 degrees. 

The institutions that conferred three de- 
grees or more in special subjects are as 
follows: Johns Hopkins, chemistry 9, phys- 
ics 4; Chicago, chemistry 4; Columbia, 
botany 4, chemistry 3; Harvard, zoology 7, 
chemistry 3; Yale, chemistry 7; Cornell, 
zoology 3; Pennsylvania, chemistry 4; 
Clark, psychology 6. 


208 
TABLE IIt. 
DOCTORATES CONIFERRED IN THE SCIENCES. 
DlalolH|ialaolti/olo!l Bs 
Z/EIS(SI2/E 8/28) 8 
— mr mm bol Saal — irl bal ro i=) 
Chemistry ........... 27| 32) 26] 28) 27) 33] 35] 36] 38) 282 
hy Sicstes see eeeeeces 11} 7| 15] 24) 12) 14) 17) 14} 19) 183 
PAD OOF EDP oasoceoooceonee 12) 11] 11} 15) 16} 12) 15} 15) 21) 128 
Psychology ......... 18} 15} 9} 13) 8} 18) 10} 21) 12) 124 
Botany 2.ii....0..--+- 11} 11] 12) 8] 12) 9} 17) 15) 16) 111 
Mathematics. ..... 11) 13} 11] 18) 8} 7| 13] 20) 9} 110 
Geology .............. 6] 5] 5] 10) 6] 10) 7] 4) 11) 64 
Physiology ......... 4) 1) 4] 1) 8] 8 1) 3] 3) 33 
Astronomy ......... BA ay ay AN el ail 
Edueation............ OQ) a Bo By wh Bp Oh Gi OG Ze 
Sociology ............ OP BS Sis Ae eau a OP 
Paleontology........ 0} 4) 2 1) 0} 2) 2) 8) 2) 16 
Bacteriology ....... OW We Wh UU BP BH OI Typ aL 
Anthropology...... Di Ol BA Wh Ol si Bp wy ©) 2 
Agriculture. ........ OO} O| OpeB BeBe BQ Or -s 
Hmgineering......... Oh Of Oh we Or sy ap sp Oe s 
Mineralogy ......... 0} 2! oO; Oo} 1 1} of 1 2} 66 
Anatomy............. 0} 1] O} 1} O} 4) OF OF OF 66 
Pathology............ 0] O; OO] Of; OF; 3; OF O} 1 4 
Metallurgy.......... 0} O} 0} OF OF O} OF 1) 1) 2 
Geography........... 0} O} 0} O} OF OF OF 1) OF 1 
Meteorology......... 0} 1] O} OF OF OF OF OF OF OL 

10511161113/132!108/138!130/1150/139/1131 


The names of those on whom the degree 
was conferred in the natural and exact 
sciences, with the subjects of their theses, 
are as follows: % 


JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY. 


Samuel James Allen: ‘The Velocity and Ratio 
e/m for the Primary and Secondary 6 Rays of 
Radium.’ 

Roger Frederic Brunel: ‘A Study of the Salts 
of Tautomeric Compounds. Reactions of Urazole 
Salts with Alkyl Halides.’ 

Robert Ervin Coker: ‘ Diversity in the Scutes 
and Bony Plates of Chelonia.’ 

Thomas Sidney Elston: ‘The Fluorescent and 
Absorption Spectra of Anthracene and Phenan- 
threne Vapors.’ 

Howard Edwin Enders: ‘A Study of the Life 
History and Habits of Chetopterus Variopedatus.’ 

Charles Walter Gray: ‘An Electrical Method 
for the Simultaneous Determination of Hydrogen, 
Carbon and Sulphur in Organic Compounds.’ 

Charles Clayton Grove: I., ‘ The Syzygetic Pencil 
of Cubics and a New Geometrical Development of 
its Hesse Group Gr.. II., ‘On the Complete 
Pappus Hexagon.’ 

Ernest Jenkins Hoffman: I., ‘Osmotic Pressure 
of Cane-sugar Solutions.’ I; {The 
permeable Membrane of Copper Cobalticyanide.’ 

B. Smith Hopkins: ‘The Osmotic Pressure of 


SCIENCE. 


Semi- - 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 607. 


Glucose Solutions, and the Freezing-point Depres- 
sions and Densities of Solutions of Glucose and 
Cane Sugar; also Some Experiments on the 
Osmotic Pressure of Urea Solutions.’ 

Edward Pechin Hyde: ‘ Talbot’s Law as applied 
to the Rotating Sectored Disk.’ 

William Lee Kennon: I., ‘Osmotic Pressure of 
Solutions of Cane Sugar.’ II. ‘A Study of Zine 
Ferrocyanide as a Semi-permeable Membrane for 
the Measurement of Osmotic Pressure.’ 

LeRoy McMaster: ‘The Conductivity and 
Viscosity of Solutions of Certain Salts in Water, 
Methyl Alcohol, Ethyl Alcohol, Acetone and 
Binary Mixtures of these Solvents.’ 

John Frederick Messick: ‘Cubic Curves in 
Reciprocal Triangular Situation.’ 

August Herman Pfund: ‘ Polarization and 
Selective Reflection in the Infra-red Spectrum.’ 

William Frederick Prouty: ‘The Niagara and 
Clinton Formations of Maryland.’ : 

Charles Judson Robinson: I., ‘A Continuation 
of the Study of the Action of Amines on Cam- 
phoroxalic Acid. II, ‘The Combustion of 
Halogen Compounds in the Presence of Copper 
Oxide.’ III., ‘Some Experiments relating to the 
so-called Infusible Diamide of Parasulphamine- 
benzoic Acid.’ 

Charles August Rouiller: ‘The Relative Migra- 
tion Velocities of the Ions of Silver Nitrate in 
Water, Methyl Alcohol, Ethyl Alcohol and Acetone, 
and in Binary Mixtures of these Solvents, to- 
gether with the Conductivity of such Solutions.’ 

William Anderson Syme: ‘Some Constituents 
of the Poison Ivy Plant (Rhus Toxicodendron) .’ 


HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


Henry Bryant Bigelow: ‘ Studies on the Nuclear 
Cycle of Gonionemus murbachu Mayer.’ 

Leon Jacob Cole: ‘An Experimental Study of 
the Image-forming Powers of Various Types of 
Eyes.’ 

Harvey Nathaniel Davis: I., ‘A PQ Plane for 
Thermodynamic Cyclic Analysis.’ II., ‘The 
Longitudinal Vibrations of a Rubbed String.’ 

James Walter Goldthwait: ‘The Abandoned 
Shore Lines of Eastern Wisconsin.’ 

Murray Arnold Hines: ‘A Revision of the 
Atomic Weight of Manganese.’ 

Arthur Day Howard: ‘The Visual Cells in 
Vertebrates, chiefly in Necturus Maculosus.’ 

Burritt Samuel Lacy: ‘Temperature Coeffi- 
cients of Concentration Cells and of Electrodes, 
and the Thomson Effect in Electrolytes.’ 

George Richard Lyman: ‘Culture Studies of 
Hymenomycetes.’ 


August 17, 1906.] 


John Hancock McClellan: ‘The Development 
of the Excretory System of Amia calva.’ 

Hansford MacCurdy: ‘The Influence of Selec- 
tion on Color Pattern in Guinea Pigs and Rats.’ 

Robert Dawson MacLaurin: ‘ Derivatives of 
Substituted Orthobenzoquinones.’ 

George Rogers Mansfield: ‘The Origin and 
Structure of the Roxbury Conglomerate.’ 

Samuel Ottmar Mast: ‘Light Reactions in 
Lower Organisms: I. Stentor Ceruleus,’ 

Lincoln Ware Riddle: ‘Contributions to the 
Cytology of the Entomophthoracee.’ 

William Henry Roever: ‘ Brilliant Points.’ 

Alpheus Wilson Smith: ‘Expansion and Com- 
pressibility of Ether and of Alcohol in the Neigh- 
borhoods of their Boiling Points.’ 

Herbert Eugene Walter: ‘The 
Planarians to Light.’ 


Reactions of 


COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 

Howard J. Banker: ‘A Contribution to a Re 
vision of the North American Hydnacee.’ 

Frederic Columbus Blake: ‘The Reflection and 
Refraction of Electrical Waves by Screens of 
Resonators and by Grids.’ 

Ira Detrich Cardiff: ‘A Study of Synapsis and 
Reduction.’ 

Frederick Van Dyke Cruser: 
Chromicyanides.’ 

Henry Allan Gleason: ‘A Revision of the North 
American Vernoniee.’ 

Louis Hussakof: ‘Studies on the Anthrodira.’ 

Clarence Whitney Kanolt: ‘The Combination of 
a Solvent with the Ions.’ 

Raymond Carroll Osburn: ‘ The Origin of Verte- 
brate Limbs. Recent Evidence upon this Prob- 
lem from Studies on Primitive Sharks.’ 

Fred James Pack: ‘The Geology of Pioche, 
Ney., and Vicinity.’ 

Thomas Thornton Read: ‘The Amalgamation of 
Gold Ores.’ 

Charles Budd Robinson: ‘The Charee of North 
America.’ : 

Harvey Ambrose Seil: ‘ Further Investigations 
in the Quinazoline Group.’ 

John Fairfield Thompson: 
Alloys.’ 

Frederic Lyman Wells: ‘Linguistic Lapses, 
with especial reference to the Perception of 
Linguistic Sounds.’ 

Samuel Robinson Williams: ‘On the Reflection 
of Cathode Rays from Thin Metallic Films.’ 

John Howard Wilson: ‘Glacial History of Nan- 
tucket and Cape Cod, with an Argument for a 


‘The Insoluble 


‘Platinum Silver 


SCIENCE. 


209 


Fourth Center of Glacial Dispersion in North 
America.’ 
YALE UNIVERSITY. 


Raymond Harman Ashley: ‘The Oxidation of 
Sulphur Dioxide in Analysis.’ 

Kate Grace Barber: ‘Comparative Histology of 
Fruits and Seeds of Certain Species of Cucur- 
bitacesze.’ 

Edward Herbert Cameron: ‘ Voluntary Produc- 
tion of Tones under Varying Conditions of At- 
tention.’ 

Haroutune Mugurdich Dadourian: ‘On the 
Radioactivity of Underground Air and on Some 
Radioactive Properties of Thorium.’ 

Robert Banks Gibson: ‘On Proteose Fever: an 
Experimental Study.’ 

Albert Hileman: ‘The Determination of Fluo- 
rine eliminated as Silicon Fluoride.’ 

Carl Oscar Johns: ‘ Researches 
Chemistry.’ 

Ellis Earle Lawton: ‘ Wave-lengths and Struc- 
tural Relation of Certain Bands in the Spectrum 
of Nitrogen.’ 

Gerald Francis Loughlin: ‘ Contribution to the 
Geology of Eastern Connecticut.’ 

Elmer Verner McUollum: ‘ Researches in Or- 
ganic Chemistry.’ 

George Albert Menge: ‘ Researches in Organic 
and Physical Chemistry.’ 

Seth Enoch Moody: ‘The Hydrolysis of Cer- 
tain Dissolved Salts in Presence of Iodides and 
Todates.’ 

Roland George Dwight Richardson: ‘ Improper 
Multiple Integrals.’ 

Clifton James Sarle: 
and Fauna of New York.’ 

Gustaf Eric Wahlin: ‘The Relation between 
the Binary Quadratic Forms and the Quadratic 
Numerical Bodies.’ 


in Organic 


‘The Medina Formation 


UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO. 

James Francis Abbott: ‘The Morphology of 
Ceeloplana.’ 

Russell Burton-Opitz: ‘The Periodic and Irreg- 
ular Variations in the Venous Blood-flow.’ 

Harvey Carr: ‘Some Visual Illusions due to 
Hye Closure.’ 

David John Davis: ‘ The Bacteriology of Whoop- 
ing Cough.’ 

William Lloyd Evans: ‘The Action of Alkalies 
and Oxidizing Agents on Benzoyl Carbinol.’ 

Henry Max Goettsch: ‘The Affinity Constants 
of Diacid Bases.’ 

Frank Loxley Griffin: ‘Certain Periodic Orbits 


210 


of K Finite Bodies revolving about a Relatively 
Large Central Mass.’ 

Glenn Moody Hobbs: ‘The Relation between 
P.D. and Sparking Distance for Small Values of 
the Latter.’ 

William Raymond Longley: ‘ A Class of Periodic 
Orbits of an Infinitesimal Body subject to the 
Attraction of N Finite Bodies.’ 

Carleton John Lynde: ‘The Effect of Pressure 
on Surface Tension.’ 

William McCracken: ‘On the Hydrochlorides 
of Imido-ether Derivatives.’ 

Stephen Walter Ranson: ‘ Retrograde Degenera- 
tion in the Spinal Nerves.’ 

Hermann Irving Schlesinger: ‘ Velocity Deter- 
minations with Imido-ethers.’ 
Delonza Tate Wilson: 

Planets.’ 


‘Work on Minor 


UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

Samuel Goodwin Barton: ‘Secular Perturba- 
tions arising from the Action of Saturn on Mars, 
an Application of the Method of Louis Arndt.’ 

Benjamin Franklin Finkel: ‘ Determination of 
all Groups of Order 2 which contain Cyclic Self- 
conjugate Sub-groups of Order 2 and whose Gen- 
erating Operations correspond to the Partitions.’ 

Anna Lockhart Flanigen: ‘The Electrolytic De- 
termination of Copper in an Alkaline Cyanide 
- Electrolyte.’ 

Benno Humbert Alfred Groth: ‘The Sweet 
Potato, Origin and History, Economic Value, 
Structure and Classification of Varieties.’ 

Joel Henry Hildebrand: ‘The Determination of 
Anions in the Electrolytic Way.’ 

Edith Dabele Kast: ‘The Mean Right Ascen- 
sions and Proper Motions of 130 Stars.’ 

Louis Krautter, Jr.: ‘The Genus Pentstemon.’ 

Julia Langness: ‘A New Form of Anode in 
Electro-analysis and the Rapid Electrolytic De- 
termination of Certain Platinum Metals.’ 

Jesse Francis McClendon: ‘On the Development 
of Parasitic Copepoda.’ 

Charles Travis: ‘Pyrite from Cornwall, Leb- 
anon County, Pennsylvania.’ 

Luther Ferree Zerr Witmer: ‘The Electrolytic 
Determination of Tin and its Separation from 
Antimony with a Rotating Anode.’ 


CLARK UNIVERSITY. 


Frank Kelton Bailey: ‘On the Latent Heat of 
Recalescence in Iron and Steel,’ 

William Frederick Book: ‘The Acquisition of 
Bkill in Typewriting.’ 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 607. 


Alvin Borgquist: ‘ Crying.’ 

Alfred A. Cleveland: ‘The Psychology of Chess 
and of Learning to Play it.’ 

Frederick N. Duncan: ‘A Comparative Study of 
Contractile Tissue.’ 

Arnold Lucius Gesell: ‘Jealousy.’ 

George Edmund Myers: ‘A Comparative Study 
of Moral Training.’ 

James P. Porter: ‘The Habits, Instincts and 
Mental Powers of Spiders, Genera Argiope and 
Epeira.’ 

James Theron Rood: ‘Quantitative Investiga- 
tions on the Transmission of Sound by the Tele- 
phone.’ - 

CORNELL UNIVERSITY. 


Cornelius Betten: ‘The Wing Venation of 
Trichoptera.’ 
Elmer Clifford Colpitts: ‘On the Twisted 


Quintic Curves.’ 

Samuel Perkins Hayes: ‘A Study of the Affect- 
ive Qualities.’ 

Thomas J. Headlee: ‘Phylogeny of the Butter- 
flies as shown by their Wing Venation:’ 

Martin Joshua Iorns: ‘Influence of Acetylene 
Light on Plant Growth.’ 

Helen Isham: ‘A Contribution to the Chem- 
istry of Hydronitric Acid.’ 

Charles Herschel Sisam: ‘Ruled Surfaces of 
Order Seven having a Rectilinear Directrix,’ 


UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN. 


Alfred Dachnowski: ‘ Beitrag zur Kenntnis der 
Entwicklungs-Physiologie von Marchantia poly- 
morpha, L.’ 

William D. Henderson: ‘The Thermo-electric 
Behavior of Silver in a Thermo-element of the 
First Class.’ 

Rufus Percival Hibbard: ‘ Influence of Tension 
on the Formation of Mechanical Tissue in Plants.’ 

Alexander Grant Ruthven: ‘Genetic Relation- 
ships among the Garter Snakes.’ : 

John Frederick Shepard: ‘Organic Changes and 
Feeling.’ 

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 

Sebastian Albrecht: I., ‘A Spectrographic Study 
of the Fourth Class Variable Stars Y Ophiuchi 
and T. Vulpecule.’ II., ‘On the Distortions of 
Photographie Films on Glass.’ 

Nathaniel Lyon Gardner: ‘ Cytological Studies 
in Cyanophycee.’ 

Charles David Snyder: ‘The Influence of Tem- 
perature upon the Heart Rhythm in the Light of 
the Law of Chemical Reaction Velocity as in- 
fluenced by Temperature.’ 


AvucusT 17, 1906.] 


STATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA. 
Rudolph Martin Anderson: ‘The Birds of Iowa.’ 
Charles Howard Edmonson: ‘The Protozoa of 
Towa.’ 
Daniel Starch: ‘ Perimetry of the Location of 
Sound.’ 


UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. 
Charles Newton Gould: ‘The Geology and 
Water Resources of Oklahoma.’ 
Jesse Perry Rowe: ‘ Montana Coal and Lignite 
Deposits.’ 
Robert Thompson Young: 
Cysticercus.’ 


‘Development of 


UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO. 
Heman Burr Leonard: ‘On the Factoring of 
Composite Algebras.’ 
James Underhill: 
Clear Creek.’ 


“Areal Geology of Lower 


GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY. 


Cornelius Lott Shear: ‘ Cranberry Diseases.’ 

Martin Norris Straughn: ‘The Chemistry of 
Different Varieties and Individual Ears of Sweet 
Corn as affected by Enzymes, Climatic Conditions 
and Breeding.’ 


UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS. 


Melville Amasa Scovell: ‘The Salicylic Modifi- 
cation for determining Nitrogen by the Kjeldahl 
Method.’ 

Perry Fox Trowbridge: ‘ Proteids of Flesh.’ 


LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY. 


John Merton Aldrich: ‘A Catalogue of North 
American Diptera.’ 

Walter Kenrick Fisher: Part I., ‘Anatomy of 
Lattia gigantea Gray.’ Part II., ‘Starfishes of 
the Hawaiian Islands.” Part III., ‘ Holothurians 
of the Hawaiian Islands.’ Part IV., ‘ Starfishes 
of California.’ Part V., ‘Starfishes collected by 
the Steamer Albatross in Alaska, in 1903, 


WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY. 


George Grant Hedgecock: ‘Studies upon Some 
Chromogene Fungi which discolor Wood.’ 

Perley Spaulding: ‘Studies on the Lignin and 
Cellulose of Wood.’ 


UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN. 


Irving Walter Brandel: ‘ Plant Pigments.’ 

John Langley Sammis: ‘On the Relation be- 
tween Electrolytic Conductivity and Chemical Ac- 
tivity.’ 


SCIENCE. 


211 


BROWN UNIVERSITY. 


Vahan Simon Babasinian: ‘A Study of the 
Methods of Preparation and the Properties of 
a-Phenyl-Naphthalene-Dinitro-Dicarboxylic Anhy- 
dride.’ 

BRYN MAWR COLLEGE. 
‘The Spectra of Sulphur 


Frances Lowater: 


Dioxide.’ 
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA. 


John Zeleny: ‘The Velocity of the Ions pro- 
duced by Réntgen Rays.’ 


NEW YORK UNIVERSITY. 
Maximilian Philip: ‘Form and Movements of 
Liquid Jets.’ 
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY. 


Griffith Thompson Pugh: ‘The Pleistocene of 
South Carolina.’ 


WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY. 


A. F. White: ‘Composition of the Waters of 
Rockbridge County, Virginia, and their relation 
to the Geological Formations.’ 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


Gesammelte Werke. By Apotr von Baryer. 
Vol. I., pp. 1-990, with an introduction, 
pp. i-exxxii; Vol. II., pp. 1-1194. Braun- 
schweig, Vieweg and Sohn. 1905. 

The friends and students of Adolf von 
Baeyer deemed his seventieth birthday a fit- 
ting occasion for honoring him by the publica- 
tion of his scientific papers, 278 in number, 
from 1857 to 1905; and Baeyer graciously 
gave his consent to the plan. In the intro- 
duction, pp. i-xx and xxviii—xxxi, the great 
chemist gives a brief and very interesting 
account of the chief events in his life; he then 


discusses, on pp. XXxXi-xxxvil, the main trend 


and bearing of his scientific work. 

Emil Fischer gives, on pp. XXI—-XXvli, a 
striking sketch of the life in the laboratory 
of Baeyer at Strassburg. 


“Es wurde nicht schulmissig unterrichtet 
sondern kameradschaftlich gearbeitet.” 

There is also a list, pp. lvi-exviii, of all the 
scientific papers published from Baeyer’s labo- 
ratories, Berlin, 1860-72; Strassburg, 1872-5, 
and Munich, 1875-1905. 

It is hardly possible for any one who has 


212 SCIENCE. 


not had the privilege of being a student in 
his laboratory to realize the tremendous en- 
thusiasm, energy and resourcefulness with 
which Baeyer has devoted himself to chem- 
istry during the past forty-eight years. One 
of his great ambitions was to found a school 
of chemists; that he has succeeded remarkably 
in this respect is shown by the fact that for 
years he has held a position in the chemical 
world similar to that formerly possessed by 
Berzelius and by Liebig. In the official ad- 
dress of the German Chemical Society, pre- 
sented in connection with the seventieth birth- 
day festivities, it is admitted that no one since 
Berzelius and Liebig has exerted such an influ- 
ence on chemical teaching and research as 
Baeyer—and yet Baeyer has written no text- 
book on chemistry, has made no claims as a 
pedagogue, and has not added to the science a 
new law or generalization. 

The fact that theories have had so slight an 
influence on his work—possibly because he 
realized to the fullest extent their inadequacy 
and temporary character, but especially be- 
cause he did not need them in order to make 
scientific discoveries—deserves special em- 
phasis. He possesses to a remarkable degree 
the rarest of scientific gifts, namely, the 
power to ascertain facts accurately regardless 
of theories—a power which is only to be 
found in those possessing experimental skill 
of the highest order. In this respect he is the 
direct antipode of Kekulé, who was especially 
interested in developing new views and was 
not interested in substances as such, and who 
at times gave one the impression of wishing 
to adjust nature in harmony with his own 
theories. _In the words of Baeyer, his first 
student, ‘Kekulé war der geborne chemische 
General, er wollte die Natur commandieren.’ 

Baeyer, on the other hand, having no special 
views to present or to defend, approached 
nature from a totally different standpoint; 
“meine Versuche habe ich nicht angestellt um 
zu sehen ob ich recht hatte sondern um zu 
sehen wie die Korper sich verhalten.’ In 
other words, he let nature or the facts teach 
him and then adjusted himself accordingly. 
One who knows Baeyer, either through per- 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 607. 


sonal contact or by means of a thorough and 
laborious study of his scientific publications, 
finds in him a love and respect for truth for 
its own sake which is both rare and admirable. 
This characteristic, taken in connection with 
the unusual experimental power shown in his 
work, explains the marked influence he has 
exerted on the development of the chemistry 
of carbon compounds. It is impossible to 
give here more than a brief statement of the 
direction of Baeyer’s work which deals entirely 
with the chemistry of carbon. 

Regardless of what the future may have in 

store for us concerning the disintegration of 
matter, it is certain that the chemistry of the 
element carbon must always remain of para- 
mount interest because its development is 
absolutely essential to a fundamental knowl- 
edge of the chemical processes going on in the 
vegetable and animal kingdom and must lead 
ultimately to a scientifically exact biology and 
medicine. 
_ Baeyer himself makes nineteen subdivisions 
in his work from 1857 to 1905; in many cases 
he was engaged for over a decade on a single 
subdivision and in most cases he was a pioneer 
in the field. 

His work on indigo, from 1866-70 and from 
1877-84, is of general interest because we have 
here one of the first instances in which a com- 
plex plant product was made by synthesis in 
the laboratory. The synthesis was preceded 
by years of labor which finally resulted in de- 
termining that the ‘architecture’ of the in- 
digo molecule could be represented by the 
graphical formula 


C fl CH 


Eee 
NO 
of O ( No” 
As the direct outcome of this work, indigo 
has been manufactured commercially since 
1891 from anthranilic acid. Similarly an- 
other complex dyestuff, alizarine, has been 
made commercially since 1875 from coal-tar 
products, instead of from the madder root, 
owing to the work of Graebe and Liebermann 

in Baeyer’s laboratory in 1868. 


ee eae 


AvucustT 17, 1906.] 


The ‘architectural’ method is in fact the 
only method by which we can reasonably hope 
to make progress in the synthesis of the vari- 
ous complex products found in nature; experi- 
ence has shown that when the architecture of 
a definite chemical compound, no matter how 
complex, has once been thoroughly worked out, 
it is then often a comparatively simple matter 
to accomplish its synthesis—whereas the pre- 
liminary work may require decades of time. 

The plant, which is the great synthetic agent 
in nature, manufactures at ordinary tempera- 
tures under comparatively simple conditions 
from the carbon dioxide of the air and from 
the material found in the soil—water, phos- 
phates, nitrates, potassium and ammonium 
salts, ete-—a vast variety of complex carbon 
compounds which subsequently undergo vari- 
ous chemical changes in the animal world. 
There is abundant justification for the conclu- 
sion that when the conditions under which 
these various chemical processes take place are 
better understood we may reasonably hope to 
accomplish all these transformations in the 
laboratory. Much of the faithful and labori- 
ous work carried on by investigators in the 
field of carbon chemistry during the past 
seventy or more years must in fact be con- 
sidered preliminary to the accomplishment of 
this great end. 

Baeyer has always shown an unusually great 
interest in this direction; his indigo work, all 
his condensation work with aldehydes, alco- 
hols, phthalic anhydride and various benzene 
derivatives, as well as his synthetic work in 
the pyrrol, indol, pyridine and quinoline series 
—all were undertaken with this end in view. 
He has emphasized the important role which 
formaldehyde must play in the conversion of 
the carbon dioxide of the air by plants into 
sugar and starch and has also in this connec- 
tion discussed theoretically, in 1870, the chem- 
istry of fermentation. 

His very important work on the constitu- 
tion of benzene from 1866-73 and from 1885— 
94, although fruitless in the main point at 
issue, led to a thorough and systematical de- 
velopment of the chemistry of di-, tetra- and 
hexahydro-benzene compounds; this work nat- 


SCIENCE. 


213 


urally led him into the field of terpentine 
chemistry, on which he has spent eight years, 
from 1893-1901, working out the ‘ architec- 
ture’ of many of these important vegetable 
products as well as synthesizing some of the 
simplest representatives of the series. 

His most recent work has dealt with per- 
oxides, with dibenzalacetone and triphenyl- 
methane and with the basic properties of 
oxygen. The fact that all carbon compounds 
containing oxygen, except the peroxides, are 
capable of forming oxonium salts, contain- 
ing quadrivalent oxygen, was established by 
Baeyer on the basis of Collie and Tickle’s 
work on dimethylpyrone; this discovery has 
excited very general interest. 


J. U. Ner. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
THE IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 


THE twentieth annual meeting of the Iowa 
Academy of Science was held on April 20-21, 
1906, in the botanical rooms of the Iowa State 
College, Ames, Ia. The magnificent new 
Central Hall was placed at the disposal of the 
academy. The meetings were all held in the 
botanical rooms with the exception of the Fri- 
day afternoon meeting, which was held in the 
physics lecture room of Engineering Hall. 

Friday afternoon Dr. Hermann von Schrenk, 
of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, gave 
an address on the work of the ‘ Division of 
Pathology. On Friday evening Professor 
Charles R. Barnes, of the University of Chi- 
cago, gave an illustrated lecture on ‘ How 
Plants breathe.’ On Saturday forenoon Pro- 
fessor Charles E. Bessey, of the University of 
Nebraska, formerly of Iowa State College, 
gave an address on ‘ The Forest Trees of East- 
ern Nebraska.’ The meeting of 1906 was 
probably the most enjoyable in the history of 
the academy. 

The officers for the coming year are: 

President—Professor ©. O. Bates, of Coe Col- 
lege, Cedar Rapids. 

First Vice-president—Professor G. E. Finch, 
Marion. 

Second Vice-president—Professor A. A. Bennett, 
Towa State College, Ames. 


214 


Treasuwrer—Professor H. E. Summers, of lowa 
State College, Ames. 

Secretary—Professor L. 8. Ross, of Drake Uni- 
versity, Des Moines. 

The meeting in 1907 will be held at Drake 
University. 

The following program was presented: 

M. F. Arey: ‘A Review of the Development of 
Mineralogy.’ 

H. W. Norris: ‘The Carotid Arteries and their 
Relation to the Cirele of Willis in the Cat.’ 

N. Kyicut: ‘A Study of Dolomite and Mag- 
nesite with special reference to the Separation 
of Calcium and Magnesium.’ 

Bruce Fink: ‘ Keological Notes from an Illinois 
Esker.’ 

J. Frep CuLarkK: ‘The Disparity between Age 
and Development in the Human Family.’  (Illus- 
trated by pronounced cases due to thyroid mal- 
formations. ) 

L. H. PAMMEL: ‘Some Diseases of Rocky Moun- 
tain Plants.’ 

JouHN L. Titron: ‘An Attempt to illustrate 
Tides and Tidal Action.’ 

J. E. Topp: (a) ‘More Light on the Origin of 
the Missouri River Loess, (b) ‘Some Variant 
Conclusions in lowa Geology.’ 

W.S. HENDRIxSON: (a) ‘The Action of Bromic 
Acid on Metals, (6) ‘Logarithmic Factors for 
Use in Water Analysis,’ (c) ‘A List of Chemical 
Periodicals in Iowa.’ 

T. J. Fitzpatrick: ‘ The Liliacee of Iowa.’ 

L. BregkeMaN: ‘Mutual Induction and Internal 
Resistance of a Battery.’ 

Bruce Fink: ‘Lichens and Recent Conceptions 
of Species.’ 

T. E. Savage: ‘Some Unusual Features of the 
Maquoketa Shale in Jackson County, Iowa.’ 

A. T. Erwin: ‘Amelanchier alnifolia and its 
Cultivated Forms.’ 

Paut Barrscu: ‘The Iowa Ornithological 
Literature of the Nineteenth Century.’ 

WaLtTeR J. MEEK: ‘A Study of the Choroid 
Plexus.’ 

FRANK F. Atmy: 
on Lines in the Spectrum of Iron,’ (b) ‘A Simple 
Demonstration of the Doppler Effect in Sound,’ 
(c) ‘The Physical Laboratory of Iowa College.’ 

G. E. Fincu: ‘A Portion of the Iowan Drift 
Border in Fayette County, Iowa.’ 

B. A, PLace: ‘ The Relation of the Motor Nerve 
Endings to Voluntary Muscle in Amphibia.’ 

FRED J. SEAVER: ‘Notes on the Discomycete 
Flora of Iowa.’ 


SCIENCE. 


(a) ‘The Effect of Pressure 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 607. 


CHARLES R. Keyes: (a@)‘ Lime Creek Fauna of 
Iowa in Southwestern United States and North- 
ern Mexican Region.’ (6) ‘Geology of the 
Corinth Canal Zone.’ (c) ‘ Alternation of Fossil 
Faunas.’ 

J. E. Guturie: ‘The Collembolan Eye.’ 

J. M. Linpuy: ‘ Flowering Plants of Calcasieu 
Parish, Louisiana.’ 

F. A. Brown: ‘Some Contributions to Madison 
County Geology.’ 

O. M. Onteson and M. P. Somss: 
Webster County, Iowa.’ 

K. E. Gutue: ‘ Electrical Units.’ 

H. P. Baxer: ‘The Holding and Reclamation 
of Sand Dunes by Tree Planting.’ 

L. S. Ross: (a) ‘The Food of Subterranean 
Crustacea, (6) ‘Number of Bacteria in Des 
Moines School Buildings.’ 

B. O. Gammon: ‘Cladocera in the Vicinity of 
Des Moines.’ Presented by L. 8. Ross. 

D. W. Morenouse: ‘ Photographic Accessories 
of Drake University Equatorial.’ Introduced by 
L. S. Ross. 

C. O. Bates: ‘Municipal Hygiene—Part II., 
Milk.’ 

B. SHIMEK: (a) ‘ Notes on Certain Iowa Trees 
and Shrubs,’ (6) ‘The Loess of the Missouri 
Bluffs.’ 

J. A. UppEen: ‘Cyclonic Distribution of Pre- 
cipitation.’ 


‘Flora of 


L. S. Ross, 


Secretary. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
THE MUTATION THEORY AGAIN. 


CERTAIN objections to the mutation theory 
of de Vries have called forth the wrath of 
Professor C. S. Gager, and he emphatically 
demands that this theory should be thoroughly 
understood before we discuss it. With more 
zeal than discretion he affirms that this lack 
of understanding is shown in two recent ar- 
ticles published in Screncg, one of which has 
the present writer for its author; he ealls 
these articles a display of mental density, 
claiming that the views of de Vries have been 
misrepresented; but with reference to my own 
paper he only succeeds in demonstrating that 
he in turn has entirely failed to grasp the 


*De Vries and his critics, in Sctencr, July 20, 
1906, p. 81 ff. 
* Science, May 11, 1906, p. 746 ff. 


Aucust 17, 1906.] 


essence of my views, and further, that other 
publications of mine on this and kindred sub- 
jects, which are absolutely necessary for the 
proper understanding of my views, are un- 
known to him. 

The chief purpose of my article was to ob- 
ject to de Vries’s conception of mutation and 
elementary species. If I object to these terms, 
of course, I do not accept them, and since I 
have given reasons for believing that they are 
wrong, the only appropriate rejoinder to this 
would be to show that my reasons are no good. 
Instead of this, Gager is satisfied with the 
vague and superficial statement that it is 
impossible to satisfactorily define the concept 
of species, neglecting entirely what I have 
written on this topic previously, and, further, 
he spills a good deal of ink in reiterating 
de Vries’s contentions. 

Gager says: “ When a careful worker says 
that he obtained a given form that breeds 
absolutely true, and which, for reasons fully 
explained, he calls an ‘ elementary species, by 
means of a certain definite and clearly ex- 
plained kind of variation which he defines and 
names “mutation, let us not refer to him as 
“claiming to’ have done so, or to the mutant 
as “seeming to’ breed true.” 

Here we have a concise statement of de 
Vries’s claim, namely, that he obtained a form 
that breeds true by means of mutation. I 
have said’ that de Vries claims ‘ that mutants 
are species. But if de Vries calls a form 
that breeds true an elementary species, he 
obtained species by means of mutation; and 
if the product of the process of mutation is a 
mutant, of course, a mutant is obtained by 
means of mutation, and, consequently, mu- 
tants are (elementary) species. Thus it is 
evident that my expression of de Vries’s claim 
is absolutely correct and identical in its mean- 
ing with that given by Gager, and his allega- 
tion that I have misunderstood de Vries is 
entirely unwarranted. It rather seems that 
Gager himself has not fully understood what 
de Vries says, at any rate, that he was not 


3 Pr. Amer. Philos. Soc., 35, 1896. 
ihe GH is teh 
Snes apf 40. 


SCIENCE. 


215 


aware of the true meaning and import of d 
Vries’s theory. This is due, in part, to the 
fact that de Vries himself was not conscious 
of the logical consequences of his views, he 
belonging to the class of writers who are ob- 
livious of the most fundamental principles of 
evolution.” 

However, as I have endeavored to show, 
I do not accept the view that mutants are 
species, or that de Vries obtained a form that 
breeds true by means of mutation. In op- 
position to this I say, that he obtained sucha | 
form by means of selection and segregation 
out of a certain kind of variation (mutation). 
Indeed, Gager endorses also the latter view’ 
by an emphatical ‘ Exactly!’ and asks: ‘ why 
the dissenting critique?’ 

This plainly shows that, for Gager, these 
two phrases are identical, namely, that de 
Vries obtained species by means of mutations, 
and that he obtained them by means of selec- 
tion and segregation out of mutations. Pos- 
sibly my mental density comes in here; but 
IT can not help it; I must regard these two 
phrases as having a different meaning, and 
this is the reason for my ‘ dissenting critique’; 
de Vries never said anything that might be 
interpreted inf the sense of the second sentence. 

That de Vries’s view is wrong I have dem- 
onstrated by pointing out that the mutants 
actually did not breed true before he started 
his experiments, and very likely they would 
not have bred true if he had not taken them 
under his care. They began to breed true, not 
because they were mutants, formed by the 
process of mutation, but because he introduced 
two factors, which were absent previously, 
namely, selection and segregation. ‘ Pedigree- 
culture is the method required,’ as Gager® 
quite correctly insists, but apparently without 
knowing of what it consists. The essential 
factors in pedigree-culture are selection and 
segregation, and pure strains are only ob- 

5 See Ortmann, ScIENCE, June 22, 1906, p. 947 ff. 

7L. c., p. 87, in the form: ‘If de Vries had 
claimed that species might be made out of muta- 
tions’ (Ortmann, p. 747), namely, as is said in 
the same paragraph, but carefully omitted by 
Gager, by means of selection and segregation. 

Sin Gero Oe 


216 


tained after a number of generations, as is 
seen in de Vries’s experiments. 

This is so evident, that it is simply aston- 
ishing that Gager is not capable of seeing it, 
even after attention has been called to it, and 
that he does not see that this is an important 
part of my objections, namely, that it ts selec- 
tion and segregation that make mutants breed 
true. Indeed, he asks:°® “ Where, from cover to 
cover, of ‘Species and Varieties,’ is any other 
claim made?” Please look at the title: ‘ Spe- 
cies and Varieties, their Origin by Mutation’; 
is this identical with ‘Species and Varieties, 
their Origin by Selection and Segregation’? 
In my opinion, the first phrase means that by 
the process of mutation species (elementary 
species, which breed true) are made; the 
second, that selection and separation make 
them breed true. The first means that the 
quality of breeding true was created by the 
mutation process, before de Vries made the 
experiments, and (as de Vries says in the text) 
that the latter were undertaken only in order 
to test, to ascertain the existence of this qual- 
ity; while the second means that the quality 
of true breeding was created, not by the proc- 
ess of mutation, but by the subsequent proc- 
esses of selection and segregation. If Gager 
can not see the difference, I am sorry for him; 
or should it again be a case of mental density 
on my part? 

If we remove this fundamental fallacy out 
of de Vries’s theory, that it is not the process 
of mutation, but that of selection and segrega- 
tion, which makes species breed true, nothing 
remains but the view that mutation is a pe 
culiar kind of variation, which alone may start 
the species-making process, or which alone is 
apt to finally produce true breeding forms. 
A part of my article is written with reference 
to this possible claim, although I know very 
well that de Vries did not make it separately,” 
but always in connection with the first claim, 
that it is the process of mutation which 
produces true-breeding, elementary species. 

UNC EDs iO: 

That I did not intend to represent this as de 
Vries’s view, but only as a possible modification 
of it, is clearly seen in ScrmNcE, June 22, 1906, 
p. 950, foot-note 9. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 607. 


Gager™ quotes my sentence,” but omits the 
introductory and important words: ‘aside 
from the above claim.’ This, of course, af- 
fords him a chance to show that I have mis- 
understood de Vries. But if we exclude the 
only test for the elementary species, that they 
should be true-breeding forms, as unsatisfac- 
tory, no other difference remains between 
fluctuating variation and mutation, but the 
degree or amount of deviation from the orig- 
inal type, the one being represented by ‘ small 
steps,’ the other by ‘sudden leaps’; and I must 
repeat that I am unable to draw a line between 
them. If Gager” again points to de Vries’s 
definition of mutation (that it causes true 
breeding), I hardly can call this a fair criti- 
cism or a fair understanding of my views, 
after I have expressly excluded this criterion. 
In this last instance, and in a few others, 
Gager directly distorts what I am saying. I 
have said“ that ‘in the beginning of the ex- 
periments, they (the mutations or mutants) 
were throwing off additional mutants.’ Gager™ 
omits the words ‘in the beginning of the ex- 
periments,’ and quotes the sentence as if it 
was clearly implied that I meant to say that 
‘all the mutants were throwing off additional 
mutants.’ In fact, I did not mean to say 
“all,” for this would not correspond to the 
facts; and the words ‘in the beginning of the 
experiments’ are essential for the proper un- 
derstanding of the whole paragraph, and of 
my contention that the mutants did not breed 
true, namely, in the beginning: they bred true 
later on, in consequence of the experiment, 
which was the point I wanted to bring out. 
Further, when I say” that ‘the breeding of 
domestic races has always been regarded as a 
process analogous to the one in nature by 
which new species are produced,’ ‘ always’ 
does not mean: by everybody and at all times. 
If it is hinted at by Gager™ that I possibly 
might have intended to include Linnaeus or 


aD Compe Sil: 
hig kees Ad (Mh 
#1. ¢., p. 88. 
RECs On Kes 
To dba (Gay, 10h. tebe 
6D. ¢., p. 747. 
4 he Gp (08 Ue 


Aveusr 17, 1906.] 


other pre-Darwinian writers, this is a display 
either of mental density or of something 
worse, for he understood quite well what I 
meant, as is seen by his own use of the word 
‘always’ further on.* 

My two main contentions are: that de 
Vries’s conception of elementary species ts 
inadequate, and that elementary species breed 
true, not because they are the product of a 
peculiar kind of variation, called mutation, 
but because they have been subject to the 
processes of selection and separation. These 
essential points in my criticism have been 
overlooked by Gager, and he is content to say, 
with regard to the first one, that nobody, ex- 
cept makers of dictionaries, knows what a 
species is. With regard to my second conten- 
tion, he fails entirely to see that it is inti- 
mately connected with the first one, and has 
made no attempt to demonstrate that muta- 
tion is capable of producing true breeds with- 
out the help of selection and segregation, and 
that the latter two factors do not play an 
essential part in de Vries’s experiments. For 
the rest, he only points to de Vries’s defini- 
tions of terms, which I reject; he points to 
the facts represented by the experiments, 
which I accept, but consider unsatisfactory 
and incomplete; and he points to the value of 
the experimental method as the only one that 
is apt to decide questions of evolution, which 
I positively deny. Experiments are valuable, 
but they should be properly understood, and 
should be correctly explained. The interpre- 
tation of his experiments given by de Vries 
is faulty, although the experiments themselves 
are indisputable facts; and the fallacy is due 
to his ignorance of the fundamental laws of 
evolution, and to his incorrect conception of 
the term species: with the latter his theory 
stands and falls.” 

I hope that this will be sufficient, even to 
Gager, to define my standpoint, and, if any 
further discussion should be considered neces- 
sary, that it will take up the essential points 
of my views, and not merely repeat the argu- 


*%L. c., p. 88, foot-note 65: ‘Since the process 
has been recognized and described.’ 
* SCIENCE, June 22, 1906, p. 948. 


SCIENCE. 


217 


ments of de Vries. Gager has done only this, 
in a way which clearly lacks understanding of 
what I really object to. If he further would 
consider the rule, not to throw stones at people 
out of a glass house, and observe the necessary 
fairness to others, this would make the discus- 
sion a more pleasant and profitable one. 


A. K. OrtMaAnn. 
CARNEGIE MusEuM, PITTSBURG, 
July 23, 1906. 


SPECIAL ARTICLES. 


HERBARIUM TYPE SPECIMENS IN PLANT 
MORPHOLOGY. 


Tue close relationship existing between the 
different branches of botany and the de- 
pendence of these various branches upon each 
other make it very important that every pre- 
caution should be taken by the workers of 
each branch to make their specialty as help- 
ful as possible to all other divisions of the 
subject. With the advancement of each phase 
of the subject the points of relationship be- 
come more prominent and the necessity for 
the preservation of records, specimens, etc., 
becomes of greater and greater importance. 

Between no two branches of botany is the 
necessity of cooperation greater than between 
taxonomy and morphology. The taxonomist has 
long recognized the importance of type speci- 
mens and large herbaria have been brought 
together and maintained at great expense 
where these types may be preserved and 
studied to the best advantage. The morphol- 
ogist has probably in most cases preserved his 
microscopic specimens, but in how many cases 
has the morphologist prepared herbarium 
specimens of the species on which he is work- 
ing? This custom may and probably is fol- 
lowed by many workers, but it is also true that 
many morphologists have not only neglected 
to preserve type material but in many in- 
stances have not even taken the precaution to 
have their determinations verified by special- 
ists in taxonomy. 

If morphological botany is to add anything 
to our knowledge of taxonomic botany, it ap- 
pears to the writer that herbarium specimens 
should be carefully prepared, properly labeled, 


218 SCIENCE. 


and deposited in centers of botanical research 
where they may be consulted by future in- 
vestigators in both taxonomy and morphology. 
Some years since the writer made a mor- 
phological study of certain members of the 
family Nympheacee and among them the 
northern Nymphea advena. More recently I 
have made a study of certain tropical species 
of the same family and among them a species 
of the genus Nymphea. This species showed 
such striking resemblances to the well-known 
species VV. advena, that it was sent to special- 
ists in taxonomy to verify the determination. 
The reports from these workers showed a dif- 
ference of opinion; some claiming that it was 
a new species, while others claimed that it was 
a variety. However, the embryology showed 
certain very marked differences, which may 
be of sufficient importance to make it a dis- 
tinct species. Had these two lots of material 
been studied by different workers, and con- 
sidered as one species, or by one worker 
without having the specimens examined by 
taxonomists, the confusion might have been 
easily increased rather than diminished. 
When we take into consideration the large 
number of families and genera which are still 
untouched by the morphologist we must nat- 
urally expect that future work will bring to 
light many new and important facts; and 
these facts will in turn present certain ques- 
tions which will make it imperative that cer- 
tain other species already studied should be 
restudied in the light of said new facts. It 
will then be very important that the investi- 
gator know positively whether the species in 
question is the same or merely closely related 
to the species studied by the first investigator. 
Johnson, in his studies on Piperales, has re- 
cently called attention to the fact that closely 
related genera may show wide variations in 
the development of the tapetum, megaspore, 
embryo-sac and endosperm. From my studies 
in Nymphea I am inclined to believe that we 
may also find wider variations between species 
of the same genera than we have supposed. 
Under present conditions two workers in 


* Johnson, Johns Hopkins University Circular 
No. 178. May, 1905. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 607. 


different localities working upon supposedly 
the same species may honestly present differ- 
ent results or the second may unintentionally 
and unjustly give expression to criticism on 
the results of the first worker. 

Would it not be well for the plant mor- 
phologists at the next meeting of the Amer- 
ican Association for the Advancement of 
Science to consider methods for cooperation 
and preservation of types. 

‘Met. T. Cook. 

Estacion CENTRAL AGRONOMICA, 

SANTIAGO DE LAS VEGAS, CUBA. 


THE INTERNATIONAL CATALOGUE OF SCI- 
ENTIFIC LITERATURE. 


THE first meeting of the International Con- 
vention of the International Catalogue of 
Scientific Literature was held in London, July 
25-26, 1905. The supreme control of the cata- 
logue is vested in this body and in beginning 
the undertaking in 1900 it was agreed that its 
meetings should be held in London in 1905, in 
1910 and thereafter every ten years. The fol- 
lowing named delegates were present at. the 
convention: 


Austria—Professor Dr. August von Bohm, K. 
K. Hofbibliothek, Vienna. 

Belgium—M. Paul Otlet (Secrétaire-General de 
VOffice International de Bibliographie, Brussels). 
M. H. La Fontaine (Directeur de l’Office Inter- 
national de Bibliographie, Brussels). 

France—Professor G. Darboux (Secrétaire Per- 
pétuel de VInstitut de France). Dr. J. Deniker 
(Bibliothécaire du Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle, 
Paris). 

Germany—Professor Dr. O. Uhlworm (Director 
des Deutschen Regionalbureau) . 

Greece—His Excellency Mons D. Métaxas (Min- 
istre Plénipotentaire de S. M. le Roi des Hellénes). 

Holland—Professor D. J. Korteweg (University 
of Amsterdam). 

India—Lieutenant-Colonel Prain, I.M.S., F.R.S. 

Italy—Cay. Ernesto Mancini (Accademia dei 
Lincei, Rome). Professor Raffaello Nasini (Uni- 
versity of Padua). 

Japan—Professor K. Matsubara (University of 


Tokyo). 


Mexico—His Excellency Don Francisco A. de 
Teaza. 

Russia—Professor I. P. Borodin (Imperial 
Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg). 


Le, = SO > ae 


Aveust 17, 1906.] 


South Africa—R. Trimen, Esq., F.R.S. 

United Kingdom—Professor H. EH. Armstrong, 
F.R.S. Professor J. Larmor, Secretary Royal 
Society. Dr. P. Chalmers Mitchell. 
~Smithsonian Institution—Dr. Leonhard Stej- 
neger (United States National Museum). 

Professor H. E. Armstrong having been 
appointed chairman of the convention, the 
following resolutions were passed: 

On the motion of the chairman, seconded by Dr. 
Stejneger, it was Resolved: That, in view of the 


success already achieved by the International 


Catalogue of Scientific Literature and of its great 
importance to scientific workers, it is imperative 
to continue the publication of the catalogue at 
least for a further period of five years. 

On the motion of the chairman it was Resolved: 
That the convention approves of the proposal for 
an amalgamation of the Zoological Record pub- 
lished by the Zoological Society of London with 
Volume N of the International Catalogue in ac- 
cordance with paragraph 24 of the Report, p. 10, 
and authorizes the executive committee to carry 
the proposal into effect. 

‘On the motion of Dr. Stejneger it was Resolved: 
That it is the desire of this convention that the 
executive committee, as soon as practicable, take 
into consideration the question of issuing cards. 

On the motion of Dr. Stejneger, seconded by Dr. 
Deniker, it was Resolved: That the report of the 
committee of schedules be adopted. 

On the motion of the chairman it was Resolved: 
That the report of the executive committee be 
adopted and that all matters therein not dealt 
with by this convention be remitted to the execu- 
tive committee with power to act thereon. 

The report of the executive committee to 
the international convention covered some 
twenty-three pages and contained the follow- 
ing statements of interest: 

* * * It appears that the date originally con- 
templated for the completion of the fifth issue 
(1906) will be exceeded by about six months only. 
Taking into account the delay which arose in the 
organization of the work by the regional bureaus, 
which involved the postponement of the publica- 
tion of the first annual issue by almost a year, 
if the result contemplated be achieved, a most 
satisfactory conclusion of the first stage of the 
enterprise will have been arrived at in so far as 
the issue of the printed catalogue is concerned. 


REGIONAL BUREAUS. 
At the present time Bureaus are established in 


SCIENCE. 


219 


thirty-two separate regions. The only countries 
which have not yet established bureaus are Servia 
and Bulgaria, in Europe, and the South American 
states. Spain has joined during this year. 

Taking into account the character of the enter- 
prise, the successful manner in which the collec- 
tion of the material has been organized, and the 
care with which the indexing has been accom- 
plished are little short of remarkable, and reflects 
the greatest credit on all concerned. 

Necessarily there have been very many diffi- 
culties connected with a work of such intricacy 
carried on in various countries by independent 
organizations; but so great has been the desire to 
accomplish the work, that these have all been met 
without the slightest disagreement arising. 

It is surprising to what an extent it has been 
possible for the various bureaus to make use of 
the schedules provided by the international con- 
ference which authorized the enterprise: Obviously 
in such a case only experience could lead to the 
establishment of a common system of indexing 
likely to give general satisfaction. 


EXTENSION OF THE ENTERPRISE. 


At the meeting of the International Council in 
May last year, a proposal to extend the scope 
of the catalogue by the publication of additional 
series of volumes dealing with such subjects as— 
(a) medicine and surgery, (6) agriculture, horti- 
culture and forestry and (c) technology (various 
branches), was discussed and the opinion ex- 
pressed that it was desirable that the executive 
committee should take the matter into further 
consideration in order that it may be brought 
under notice at the meeting of the convention 
this year. 

After considering this question fully and dis- 
cussing it with those interested in the work of the 
catalogue, the executive committee are of opinion 
that it is undesirable at present to extend the 
scope of the catalogue. It would be unwise to 
increase the responsibility of the organization so 
long as it is not in possession of an adequate work- 
ing capital. Moreover, it is desirable that the 
energies of the bureaus should be directed, at all 
events during the next few years, to perfecting the 
catalogue in order that it may render all the 
assistance that was contemplated at its inception 
to scientific workers in those subjects which, after 
much discussion, were selected for treatment. 

In order to give the work its necessary complete- 
ness, the indexing of scientific communications 
must be carried beyond the mere titles to a far 
greater extent than has hitherto been the case. 


220 


Marked progress in this direction is taking place, 
but until the cooperation of authors and publish- 
ing bodies has been secured it will always be 
difficult for the bureaus to deal effectively with 
the literature which they are required to index, 
The collection of the necessary subject-matter 
should become automatic in proportion as effective 
action is taken to secure the proper indexing of 
papers at the time of issue; at the same time the 
cost to the regional bureaus should be reduced in 
a corresponding manner. 

At the meeting of the International Association 
of Academies in London last year, it was re- 
solved to ask the several constituent academies 
to cooperate in the production of the catalogue in 
their several countries by securing the indexing 
of scientific journals at the time of issue. The 
central bureau is satisfied that it is imperative 
that the several regional bureaus should in every 
way exert their influence in order to bring about 
such cooperation between publishing bodies gen- 
erally and the International Catalogue of Scien- 
tifie Literature. 

Assuming the catalogue to be established as a 
permanent enterprise, it can not fail to exercise 
an influence in various directions on the work of 
scientific inquiry. The suggestion has already 
been made to the central bureau that it should be 
prepared to give information as to the state of 
knowledge in particular subjects—as is already 
done, for example, by the authorities of the 
Bibliographia Zoologica in Zurich. The inclusion 
on the staff of the central bureau of persons able 
to collate such information would add much to its 
efficiency, and it is to be hoped that it may be 
possible at no distant date. 

For such a purpose and in the general interests 
of scientific workers, it is desirable, moreover, not 
only that the central bureau should be provided 
with lists of new species but also that physical 
constants should be recorded on special slips 
in order that complete lists of such data may be 
tabulated. 

Another suggestion which has been made to the 
eentral bureau is that at the end of ten years 
a decennial index of each subject should be pre- 
pared, which, if not a reproduction of the ten 
separate volumes, should be at least a key to 
them. i 

The present price of each annual issue is fixed 
at seventeen pounds to contracting bodies. Al- 
though it is most important that the price should 
be reduced, it is not possible, at present, to take 
‘any steps in this direction. But it will be de- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 607. 


sirable to authorize the executive committee to 
make reductions whenever this becomes possible. 

The originators of the catalogue always looked 
forward to the amalgamation of their enterprise 
with some of the existing agencies by which scien- 
tific literature is indexed, often at a considerable 
cost and with far more limited opportunities for 
collecting the necessary material than are now at 
the disposal of the International Catalogue. The 
executive committee have, therefore, great pleas- 
ure in recommending that during the period 1906-— 
1910 the publication of the zoology catalogue be 
carried out in conjunction with the Zoological 
Society of London, by whom, during the past 
forty years, the well-known index of zoological 
literature, The Zoological Record, has been issued. 

The agreement would be that the volumes are 
issued with a double title page, as volumes of the 
International Catalogue and as volumes of the 
Zoological Record, in both cases appropriately 
numbered in continuation with the volumes al- 
ready issued. The cost of printing and publish- 
ing would be charged to the International Cata- 
logue, together with a sum equal to that hitherto 
expended by the central .bureau on special ex- 
pert assistance. All further costs on account 
of the revision and arrangement of the material 
would be borne by the Zoological Society. The 
International Catalogue would receive the pro- 
ceeds of all subscriptions and sales. The Zoolog- 
ical Society would appoint a committee of ex- 
perts to prepare for press the material supplied 
by the central bureau. The committee of experts 
would be responsible for the scientific accuracy of 
the volume, whilst the central bureau would see 
that the volumes are produced in general accord- 
ance with the principles adopted in the catalogue 
as a whole. 

SCHEDULES. 


The schedules accepted for use during the first 
period of five years have been found in practise 
to answer remarkably well, except in the case of 
physics, which has proved to be far too narrow 
in its provisions. 

A proposal to issue the zoology volumes in 
parts has been made. It appears desirable to 
adopt this proposal; the experience gained in 
connection with this subject will be of value in 
determining whether a similar course should be 
adopted in regard to other volumes. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


Tue British Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science will meet next year at Lei- 


Avaust 17, 1906.] 


cester, beginning on July 31. The meeting 
the following year will be in Dublin, and in 
1909 the association will for the third time 
visit Canada and meet in Winnipeg. 


THE University of Leeds has conferred the 
degree of D.Sc. on the following in connection 
with the York meeting of the British Asso- 
ciation: Professor Ray lLankester, F.R.S., 
president of the association; Professor Alfred 
Grandilier, of Paris; Professor Paul Pelsen- 
eer, of Ghent; and Professor Heinrich Rue- 
bens, of Berlin. It has further conferred the 
degree on the following in connection with the 
meeting of the association and also with the 
eoal-tar color jubilee: Sir W. H. Perkin; Dr. 
Heinrich Caro, of Mannheim; Professor Albin 
Haller, of Paris; Professor C. Liebermann, of 
Berlin, and Dr. C. A. von Martins, of Berlin. 


THE London correspondent of the New 
York Hvening Post cables: “ The sudden com- 
pulsory retirement of Ray Lankester from the 
directorship of the Museum of Natural His- 
tory on an inadequate pension arouses general 
condemnation. Mr. Lankester, as testified by 
his presidency this year over the British Asso- 
ciation, has rendered conspicuous services to 
science. The Times says that in any country 
but this it would be thought grotesque that a 
distinguished man of science should be treated 
on the same footing as an ordinary civil sery- 
ice clerk. No explanation has yet been 
vouchsafed of the cavalier treatment which 
Mr. Lankester has received.” 


We learn from Nature that Sir William 
Crookes, Professor Eduard Suess, Professor 
Luigi Palazzo and Professor Orazio Marucchi 
were elected honorary members of the Royal 
Academy of Acireale (Sicily) at a meeting 
on July 24. 


Proressor CHARLES Fuanaut, of Montpelier, 


has been elected an honorary member of the 
Zoological and Botanical Society of Vienna. 

Dr. Gustav TsCcHERMAK, professor of min- 
eralogy and petrography at Vienna, has re- 
tired from active service. 

Mr. Gerrit S. Miter, Jr., assistant curator, 
division of mammals, U. S. National Museum, 
has been granted a year’s furlough from the 


SCIENCE. 


221 


museum in order to engage in a biological 
survey of southwestern Europe. Dr. M. W. 
Lyon, Jr., has been appointed temporarily 
assistant curator during Mr. Miller’s absence. 

Dre. ArgtHup Houck, of the New York 
Botanical Garden, and Professor Edward C. 
Jeffrey, of Harvard University, have been 
making studies of the Cretaceous fossil flora 
of New Jersey and Marthas Vineyard for a 
joint work on the subject. 


Dr. Frank P. WuHiTMan, professor of phys- 
ics at Western Reserve University, will repre- 
sent the university at the celebration of the 
University of Aberdeen in September. He 
attended the York meeting of the British 
Association. 

Mr. Atrrep Mosety will sail for New York 
on October 10, to assist in making arrange- 
ments for the reception of the parties of Eng- 
lish teachers that will come to this country 
during the winter under his auspices. The 
first party of teachers, numbering about thirty, 
will sail for the United States on November 
30, and thereafter similar parties will sail 
weekly. 

Proressor SamMueL Lewis PENFIELD, head of 
the Department of Mineralogy in the Sheffield 
Scientific School of Yale University, died at 
Woodstock, Conn., on August 14, aged fifty 
years. 

Mr. Gustav WinuiamM Lenmann, chemist of 
the U. S. government since 1878 and chief 
chemist of the Baltimore Board of Health 
since 1896, died on August 5. Mr. Lehmann 
was born in Wiesbaden in 1844, and was 
known for his work on the electrolytic deposi- 
tion of copper and on the chemistry and bac- 
teriology of food products. He was a fellow 
of the American Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science and a member of the Amer- 
ican Chemical Society and the American In- 
stitute of Mining Engineers. 

Dr. Watter Noon Fone, president of the 
Li Shing Scientific and Industrial College of 
Hongkong, died of the plague at Hongkong 
on May 12 of this year. Dr. Fong was the 
first Chinese graduate of Stanford University, 
and was for a time instructor in the Univer- 
sity of California. He was one of the ablest 


222 | SCIENCE. 


of the Chinese who have been educated in 
America, and as the head of this new college 
was exerting a very great influence toward 
the modernization of Chinese education. He 
will be remembered as the author of an article 
on ‘Education in China’ in the Popular Sci- 
ence Monthly in 1905. 


Sm Joun Brunner has given £5,000 towards 
the completion and equipment of the addi- 
tional buildings for engineering, metrology 
and metallurgy now in course of erection at 
the National Physical Laboratory. 


Dr. R. C. Brown, of Preston, Lancashire, 
has placed at the disposal of the committee 
for the study of special diseases of the Uni- 
versity of Cambridge the sum of £150 per 
annum for two years, for a pathological 
scholarship in connection with the investiga- 
tions now being carried out by the committee 
on rheumatoid arthritis and allied diseases. 


THE government steamer Arctic has sailed 
from Quebec for northern latitudes via 
Greenland. She will winter in Lancaster 


Sound. 


Tue series of stereoscopic cards to accom- 
pany the exercises in Titchener’s ‘ Experi- 
mental Psychology’ has now been published 
and may be obtained of the Chicago Labora- 
tory Supply Company. Indicative of the in- 
terest in this topic as an aid to instruction in 
psychology is the announcement in the cata- 
logue of Henry Holt and Company of a 
manual with accompanying photographie il- 
lustrations, on ‘The Psychology of Stereo- 
scopie Vision.’ The author is Professor Jas- 
trow, of the University of Wisconsin. 


We learn from the Geographical Journal 
that a schedule has been drawn up by the 
International Statistical Institute, which is 
intended to serve as a guide to those who may 
be in a position to undertake demographical 
research in uncivilized countries. The prin- 
cipal points on which information is desired 
are grouped under thirty-five sections, while 
useful hints are given whereby the inquiry 
may be carried out to the best advantage. alt 
is suggested that, where possible, enumera- 


[N. S. Vou. XXIV. No. 607. 


tions of the population of suitably selected 
areas may be made, and forms are drawn up 
for the record of the data on the basis either 
of the household or the individual. When 
such inquiries are carried out by individuals, 
it is asked that the returns be sent to the 
office of the institute at Rome. 


Nature states that the Institute of Chem- 


istry has published a ‘ List of Official Chem- 


ical Appointments held in Great Britain and 
Ireland, in India and the Colonies.’ The 
list has been compiled under the supervision 
of the proceedings committee of the institute 
by Mr. R. B. Pilcher, the secretary of the 
institute, and its price is 2s. net. The list is 
arranged in two main divisions: the first con- 
tains appointments under the departments of 
state and professorial appointments in the 
British Isles; the second section deals sim- 
ilarly with India and the colonies. 


Tue Electrical World states that a company 
has been formed at Berlin having for its ob- 
ject a series of experiments with motor air- 
ships. The Emperor’s influence directly 
brought about the movement to make a sys- 
tematic investigation of air navigation, and, 
with practically unlimited capital, to experi- 
ment with motor airships. Admiral von Holl- 
man was elected president of the company. 
The directors are Herr Rathenau, Dr. Althoff, 
director of the Ministry of Public Worship 
and Instruction; Ernst Borsig, a manufac- 
turer of locomotives; Baron von Brandenstein, 
Ludwig Delbrueck, Herr Schwabach, of the 
Bleichroeder Bank, Herr Loewe, of the Mauser 
Rifle Company, Wilhelm von Siemens, James 
Simon and N. T. Boettinger. Captain Rich- 
ard von Kaehler, an engineer of repute, was 
elected business manager. 


WE learn from The Condor that the Audu- 
bon Society of California was formally or- 
ganized at the Los Angeles Chamber of Com- 
merce on May 31, 1906. This regular state 
organization will cooperate with the National 
Committee of Audubon Societies at New 
York, and also have general supervision over 
the work of the local societies. An important 
meeting is planned for the early autumn, when 


ean Bek aaa 


sr 


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ee a ee ee 


Aveust 17, 1906.] 


a definite plan of work will be decided upon. 
The officers elected at the initial meeting are: 
President, Dr. David Starr Jordan; Vice-prest- 
dents, Professor O. F. Holder and Dr. F. W. 
D’Evelyn; Secretary, W. Scott Way. 


As we have already announced, the British 
Medical Association will hold its seventy- 
fourth annual meeting this year in Toronto. 
From the program, as published in the Eng- 
lish journals, we note that thirteen scientific 
sections have been arranged, and will meet 
daily in the university buildings at 9:30 a.M., 
namely, anatomy, dermatology, laryngology 
and otology, medicine, obstetrics and gynecol- 
ogy, ophthalmology, pediatrics, pathology and 
bacteriology, physiology, psychology, state 
medicine, surgery, and therapeutics. On 
Tuesday, August 21, at 2:30 p.m., an address 
of welcome will be accorded to members, and 
the ceremony of introducing the distinguished 
guests and delegates will be performed. This 
will be immediately followed by the presiden- 
tial address by Professor Reeve. At 4:30 p.M., 
in the university quadrangle, a reception and 
garden party by the president and Mrs. Reeve. 
At 8:30 an address in obstetrics will be de- 
livered by Dr. W. S. A. Griffith, of London, 
while at 9:30 the lieutenant-governor will re- 
eelve the members of the association. On 
Wednesday, at 2:30 p.M., an address in medi- 
cine will be delivered by Sir James Barr, of 
Liverpool; and in the afternoon various gar- 
den parties have been arranged. In the even- 
ing, at 8:30, an address in surgery will be de- 
livered by Sir Victor Horsley, and this will be 
followed by a reception, at 9:30 p.m. On 
Thursday afternoon garden parties have also 
been arranged, while at 7:30 p.m. the president 
will preside at the annual dinner, when a most 
distinguished gathering is assured. On Fri- 
day afternoon extensive entertainments are 
promised to members and their friends, while 
in the evening will be held a grand soirée. On 
Saturday several excursions are arranged—to 
Niagara Power Company’s plant, through the 
courtesy of Sir Henry M. Pellat; to Muskoka; 
and to Lambton, through the courtesy of the 
president, Mr. Austin. 


SCIENCE. 


223 


Tue London Times states that Mr. Sinclair, 
M.P., secretary for Scotland, received in Edin- 
burg, on July 1, deputations from the Royal 
Society of Edinburgh and the Royal Scottish 
Geographical Society. The former urged the 
claims of science in the readjustment of grants 
in aid and in the allocation of national build- 
ings contemplated in the National Galleries 
Bill. In the bill, it was maintained no men- 
tion whatever was made of science. The 
financial clauses of the bill might, and prob- 
ably would, be limited in their application to 
art and to existing buildings. No direct pro- 
vision was made for the representation of 
science on the new board of trustees, as was 
recommended by the departmental committee. 
The new trustees might allocate the whole of 
the buildings on the Mound to art and evict 
the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Lord Mc- 
Laren, vice-president, stated the case on behalf 
of the society, and was supported by Mr. J. W. 
Gulland, M.P., Principal Sir William Turner, 
Principal McKay, Dundee University College; 
Professor Cash, Aberdeen University; Pro- 
fessor Gray, Glasgow University, and Professor 
Chrystal, secretary of the society. All pointed 
to the important place occupied by the Royal 
Society of Edinburgh as a national institution 
devoted to scientific research. The secretary 
for Scotland, in his reply, said he recognized 


~ most fully that the work of the Royal Society 


was a national one. The proposals of the 
government with regard to the buildings at 
the Mound were to use the south building as 
the National Gallery, and in the building next 
Princes Street, known as the Royal Institu- 
tion, to house the Royal Scottish Academy. 
The effect of that rearrangement was that the 
Royal Society would no longer find accom- 
modation in the Royal Institution buildings; 
but the government was prepared to meet the 
reasonable demands of the society in a liberal 
spirit. He asked them to prepare a scheme 
for his consideration. He refused to commit 
himself to an alternative scheme, whereby the 
Royal Society and other scientific bodies in 
Edinburgh would combine under one roof, 
though he was ready to consider any proposal 
put before him, provided the financial arrange- 
ments were reasonable. To the deputation of 


224 


the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, who 
asked for representation on the board of trus- 
tees for the National Gallery and a grant from 
the government, Mr. Sinclair said the bill was 
wholly concerned with national galleries, and 
had no reference to scientific bodies. Apart 
from the question whether government assist- 
ance was possible or probable, he stated that 
government assistance carried with it the dis- 
advantage of government control. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


Tue will of the late Horace M. Potts be- 
queathes $5,000 to the Hospital of the Univer- 
sity of Pennsylvania for the endowment of a 
free bed, and $10,000 to the Orphans’ Home 
and Asylum for the Aged Imsane of the 
Lutheran Church. Most of the remainder of 
his estate, valued at $75,000, is divided be- 
tween the Philadelphia Academy of Natural 
Sciences and the University of Pennsylvania. 


Mr. ANDREW CARNEGIE has promised $30,000 
to Hamline University, St. Paul, Minn., for 
a library building, on condition that the same 
amount be raised for its maintenance, which 
amount is at the present time nearly in hand. 
The building will probably be begun in the 
course of the next month or two. 


Suir has been instituted in the Supreme 
Court of the District of Columbia to compel 
the Catholic University of America to relin- 
quish securities aggregating $876,168 said to 
have been given the university by the late 
Thomas E. Waggaman a short time before 
proceedings in bankruptcy were begun against 
him. The plaintiffs declare that Waggaman 
permitted the attorneys for the Catholic Uni- 
versity, to which he was indebted to the extent 
of about $900,000, to select choice securities to 
cover his indebtedness to the institution, al- 
though it was his duty to keep all securities 
intact so that the complainants, as well as the 
university and other creditors, might have an 
equitable lien without priority discrimination. 

Towarps the cost of extending the Union 
buildings and the furnishing and equipment 
of the library of Edinburgh University Sir 
Donald Currie and Mr. Andrew Carnegie have 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 607. 


each offered to contribute £6,000, provided 
£6,000 more is raised locally. 


THE senate of London University has re- 
ceived from Mr. Martin White two further 
donations—one to provide a salary of £200 a 
year for Dr. Edward Westermarck, university 
lecturer in sociology, for a further period of 
five years, the other an additional sum of £700 
for the establishment for five years of two 
scholarships a year each of the annual value 
of £35 and tenable for two years. In connec- 
tion with Mr. White’s benefaction, special 
courses will be delivered during the session 
1906-7 on ethnology by Dr. A. C. Haddon, 
F.R.S., and on psychology by Dr. J. W. 
Slaughter, Ph.D. (Clark). 


THE Medical College of Indiana, the Cen- 
tral College of Physicians and Surgeons and 
the Fort Wayne College of Medicine have 
become one, and as such have become a part 
of Purdue University under the name, ‘ Indi- 
ana Medical College, the School of Medicine 
of Purdue University.’ 


It is proposed to establish a chair of geog- 
raphy in the University of Edinburgh. 


A READERSHIP in meteorology has been insti- 
tuted in London University. 


Tue council of Nottingham University Col- 
lege has decided to apply for a university 
charter. The college, which is now in its 
twenty-fifth year, has over 2,000 students. 


THE new science buildings of Glasgow Uni- 
versity will be opened in the spring of next 
year by the Prince of Wales. 


Mr. Atexanper Mackis, M.A., assistant lec- 
turer in education and in philosophy, Bangor 
University College, has been appointed assist- 
ant professor of education in Edinburgh Uni- 
versity. 


Dr. James P. Hit, late demonstrator in 
biology and lecturer on embryology in the 
University of Sydney, has been appointed to 
the Jodrell chair of zoology in University 
College, London. 


Dr. R. A. Ratss has been appointed asso- 
ciate professor of scientific photography at 
Lausanne. 


SCIENCE 


A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 
OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 


Fripay, August 24, 1906. 


CONTENTS. 
Inaugural Address before the British Asso- 


ciation: Dr. E. RAY LANKESTER.......... 225 
The Ithaca Meeting of the American Chem- 

Aaulh Nock, Hise (Ee 1k, \asubusiys lone coe 238 
Scientific Books :— 

Hofmeister’s Leitfaden fiir den praktisch- 

chemischen Unterricht der Mediziner: Pro- 

FESSOR JOHN MARSHALL............002.. 246 
Scientific Journals and Articles............ 246 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
The Primary Septa in Rugose Corals: Dr. 
J. E. DUERDEN. The Source of the Energy 


of Cyclones: D. T. SMITH.......... eee sh sl 246 


Special Articles :— 
Recent Discoveries of Quaternary Mammals 
in Southern California: PRoressor JoHN 
C. Merriam. A Suggestion for Intensifying 


the Doppler Effect: Dr. Pau R. Hey... 248 


The Compulsory Retirement of the Director 


of the British Museum of Natural History 250 


Summer Meeting and Colloquium of the 


American Mathematical Society.......... 251 
Samuel Lewis Penfield............. io Biee.ceo 252 
Scientific Notes and News............c000. 253 
University and Educational News........ i» 256 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 
review should be sent to the Editor of SclENCE, Garrison-on- 
Hudson, N. Y. 


INAUGURAL ADDRESS BEFORE THE BRIT- 
ISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE AD- 
VANCEMENT OF SCIENCES 

Unvber the title ‘Darwinism’ it is con- 
venient to designate the various work of 
biologists tending to establish, develop or 
modify Mr. Darwin’s great theory of the 
origin of species. In looking back over 
twenty-five years it seems to me that we 
must say that the conclusions of Darwin 
as to the origin of species by the survival 
of selected races in the struggle for exist- 
ence are more firmly established than ever. 
And this because there have been many 
attempts to gravely tamper with essential 
parts of the fabric as he left it, and even 
to substitute conceptions for those which 
he endeavored to establish, at variance with 
his conclusions. These attempts must, I 
think, be considered as having failed. <A 
great deal of valuable work has been done 
in consequence; for honest criticism, based 
on observation and experiment, leads to 
further investigation, and is the legitimate 
and natural mode of increase of scientific 
knowledge. Amongst the attempts to seri- 
ously modify Darwin’s doctrine may be 
cited that to assign a great and leading 
importance to Lamarck’s theory as to the 
transmission by inheritance of newly ‘ac- 
quired’ characters, due chiefly to American 
paleontologists and to the venerated de- 
fender of such views, who has now closed 
his long hfe of great work, Mr. Herbert 
Spencer; that to attribute leading impor- 
tance to the action of physiological con- 


‘Concluding part of the address given by Dr. 
E. Ray Lankester, at York, on August 1, 1906. 


226 


gruity and incongruity in selective breed- 
ing, which was put forward by another able 
writer and naturalist who has now passed 
from among us, Dr. George Romanes; fur- 
ther, the views of de Vries as to discon- 
tinuity in the origin of new species, sup- 
ported by the valuable work of Mr. Bate- 
son on discontinuous variation; and lastly, 
the attempt to assign a great and general 
importance to the facts ascertained many 
years ago by the Abbé Mendel as to the 
eross-breeding of varieties and the frequent 
production (in regard to certain characters 
In certain cases) of pure strains rather 
than of breeds combining the characters of 
both parents. On the other hand, we have 
the splendid series of observations and 
writings of August Weismann, who has in 
the opinion of the majority of those who 
study this subject rendered the Lamarck- 
ian theory of the origin and’ transmission 
of new characters altogether untenable, 
and has, besides, furnished a most in- 
‘structive, if not finally conclusive, theory 
“or mechanical scheme of the phenomena of 
theredity in his book, ‘The Germ-plasm.’ 
Professor Karl Pearson and the late Pro- 
fessor Weldon—the latter so early in life 
and so recently lost to us—have, with the 
finest courage and enthusiasm in the face 
of an enormous and difficult task, deter- 
mined to bring the facts of variation and 
heredity into the solid form of statistical 
statement, and have organized, and largely 
advanced in, this branch of investigation, 
which they have termed ‘Biometrics.’ 
Many naturalists throughout the world 
have made it the main object of their col- 
lecting and breeding of insects, birds and 
plants, to test Darwin’s generalizations 
and to expand the work of Wallace in the 
same direction. A delightful fact in this 
survey is that we find Mr. Alfred Russel 
Wallace (who fifty years ago conceived the 
same theory as that more fully stated by 
Darwin) actively working and publishing 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 608. 


some of the most convincing and valuable 
works on Darwinism. He is still alive and 
not merely well, but pursuing his work 
with vigor and ability. It was chiefly 
through his researches on insects in South 
America and the Malay Islands that Mr. 
Wallace was led to the Darwinian theory ; 
and there is no doubt that the study of 
insects, especially of butterflies, is still one 
of the most prolific fields in which new 
facts can be gathered in support of Dar- 
win and new views on the subject tested. 
Prominent amongst naturalists in this line 
of research has been and is Edward Poul- 
ton, of Oxford, who has handed on to the 
study of entomology throughout the world 
the impetus of the Darwinian theory. I 
must here also name a writer who, though 
unknown in our laboratories and museums, 
seems to me to have rendered very valuable 
service in later years to the testing of Dar- 
win’s doctrines and to the bringing of a 
great class of organic phenomena within 
the cognizance of those naturalists who are 
especially occupied with the problems of 
variation and heredity. JI mean Dr. Arch- 
dall Reid, who has with keen logic made 
use of the immense accumulation of ma- 
terial which is in the hands of medical men, 
and has pointed out the urgent importance 
of increased use by Darwinian investiga- 
tors of the facts as to the variation and 
heredity of that unique animal, man, 
unique in his abundance, his reproductive 
activity, and his power of assisting his in- 
vestigator by his own record. There are 
more observations about the variation and 
heredity of man and the conditions attend- 
ant upon individual instances than with 
regard to any other animal. Medical men 
need only to grasp clearly the questions at 
present under discussion in order to be able 
to furnish with ease data absolutely inval- 
uable in quantity and quality. Dr. Arch- 
dall Reid has in two original books full of 
insight and new suggestions, the ‘Present 


Avueust 24, 1906.] 


Evolution of Man’ and ‘Principles of 
Heredity,’ shown a new path for investi- 
gators to follow. 

The attempt to resuscitate Lamarck’s 
views on the inheritance of acquired? char- 
acters has been met not only by the demand 
for the production of experimental proof 
that such inheritance takes place, which 
has never been produced, but on Weis- 
mann’s part by a demonstration that the 
reproductive cells of organisms are devel- 
oped and set aside from the rest of the 
tissues at so early a period that it is ex- 
tremely improbable that changes brought 
about in those other tissues by unaccus- 
tomed incident forces can be communicated 
to the germ-cells so as to make their ap- 
pearance in the offspring by heredity. 
Apart from this, I have drawn attention to 
the fact that Lamarck’s first and second 
laws (as he terms them) of heredity are 
contradictory the one of the other, and 
therefore may be dismissed. In 1894 I 


wrote: 


Normal conditions of environment have for 
many thousands of generations moulded the in- 
dividuals of a given species of organism, and de- 
termined as each individual developed and grew 
‘responsive’ quantities in its parts (characters) ; 
yet, as Lamarck tells us, and as we know, there 
is in every individual born a potentiality which 
has not been extinguished. Change the normal 
conditions of the species in the case of a young 
individual taken to-day from the site where for 
thousands of generations its ancestors have re- 
sponded in a perfectly defined way to the normal 
and defined conditions of environment; reduce the 
daily or the seasonal amount of solar radiation 
to which the individual is exposed; or remove the 
aqueous vapor from the atmosphere; or alter the 
chemical composition of the pabulum accessible; 
or force the individual to previously unaccustomed 
muscular effort or to new pressures and strains; 
and (as Lamarck bids us observe), in spite of all 
the long-continued response to the earlier normal 
specific conditions, the innate congenital po- 


*T use the term ‘acquired’ without prejudice 
in the sense given to that word by Lamarck him- 
self. 


SCIENCE. 


raised to extraordinary powers. 


227 


tentiality shows itself. The individual under 
the new quantities of environing agencies shows 
new responsive quantities in those parts of its 
structure concerned, new or acquired characters. 
So far, so good. What Lamarck next asks us 
to accept, as his ‘second law,’ seems not only to 
lack the support of experimental proof, but to be 
inconsistent with what has just preceded it. The 
new character which is ex hypothesi, as was the 
old character (length, breadth, weight of a part) 
which it has replaced—a response to environment, 
a particular moulding or manipulation by incident 
forces of the potential congenital quality of the 
race—is, according to Lamarck, all of a sudden 
The new or freshly 
acquired character is declared by Lamarck and 
his adherents to be capable of transmission by 
generation; that is to say, it alters the potential 
character of the species. It is no longer a merely 
responsive or reactive character, determined 
quantitatively by quantitative conditions of the 
environment, but becomes fixed and incorporated 
in the potential of the race, so as to persist when 
other quantitative external conditions are substi- 
tuted for those which originally determined it. 
In opposition to Lamarck, one must urge, in the 
first place, that this thing has never been shown 


experimentally to occur; and in the second place, 


that there is no ground for holding its occurrence 
to be probable, but, on the contrary, strong reason 
for holding it to be improbable. Since the old 
character (length, breadth, weight) had not be- 
come fixed and congenital after many thousands 
of successive generations of individuals had de- 
veloped it in response to environment, but gave 
place to a new character when new conditions 
operated on an individual (Lamarck’s first law), 
why should we suppose that the new character 
is likely to become fixed after a much shortest 
time of responsive existence, or to escape the opera: 
tion of the first law? Clearly there is no reason 
(so far as Lamarck’s statement goes) for any 
such supposition, and the two so-called laws of 
Lamarck are at variance with one another. 


In its most condensed form my argument 
has been stated thus by Professor Poulton: 
Lamarck’s “‘first law assumes that a past 
history of indefinite duration is powerless 
to ereate a bias by which the present can 
be controlled; while the second assumes 
that the brief history of the present can 
readily raise a bias to control the future’”’ 
(Nature, Vol. LI., 1894, p. 127). 


228 SCIENCE. 


An important light is thrown on some 
facts which seem at first sight to favor the 
Lamarckian hypothesis by the considera- 
tion that, though an ‘acquired’ character 
is not transmitted to offspring as the con- 
sequence of the action of external agencies 
determining the ‘acquirement,’ yet the 
tendeney to react exhibited by the parent 
is transmitted, and if the tendency is ex- 
ceptionally great a false suggestion of a 
Lamarckian inheritance can readily result. 
This inheritance of ‘variation in tendencies 
to react’ has a wide application, and has 
led me to coin the word ‘educability’ as 
mentioned in the section of this address 
on psychology. 

The principle of physiological selection 
advocated by Dr. Romanes does not seem 
to have caused much discussion, and has 
been unduly neglected by subsequent 
writers. It was ingenious, and was based 
on some interesting observations, but has 
failed to gain support. 

The observations of de Vries—showing 
that in cultivated varieties of plants a new 
form will sometimes assert itself suddenly 
and attain a certain period of dominance, 
though not having been gradually brought 
into existence by a slow process of selection 
—have been considered by him, and by a 
good many naturalists, as indicating the 
way in which new species arise in nature. 
The suggestion is a valuable one if not 
very novel, but a great deal of observation 
will have to be made before it can be ad- 
mitted as really having a wide bearing 
upon the origin of species. The same is 
true of those interesting observations which 
were first made by Mendel, and have been 
resuscitated and extended with great labor 
and ingenuity by recent workers, especially 
in this country by Bateson and his pupils. 
If it should prove to be true that varieties 
when crossed do not, in the course of 
eventual interbreeding, produce interme- 
diate forms as hybrids, but that characters 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 608. 


are either dominant or recessive, and that 
breeds result having pure unmixed char- 
acters—we should, in proportion as the 
Mendelian law is shown to apply to all 
tissues and organs and to a majority of 
organisms, have before us a very important 
and determining principle in all that re- 
lates to heredity and variation. It remains, 
however, to be shown how far the Men- 
delian phenomenon is general. And it is, 
of course, admitted on all sides that, even 
were the Mendelian phenomenon general 
and raised to the rank of a law of heredity, 
it would not be subversive of Mr. Darwin’s 
generalizations, but probably tend to the 
more ready application of them to the ex- 
planation of many difficult cases of the 
structure and distribution of organisms. 
Two general principles which Mr. Dar- 
win fully recognized appear to me to de- 
serve more consideration and more general 
application to the history of species than 
he had time to give to them, or than his 
followers have accorded to them. The first 
is the great principle of ‘correlation of 
variation,’ from which it follows that, 
while natural selection may be favoring 
some small and obscure change in an un- 
seen group of cells—such as digestive, pig- 
mentary or nervous cells, and that change 
a change of selective value—there may be, 
indeed often is, as we know, a correlated 
or accompanying change in a physiolog- 
ically related part of far greater magnitude 
and prominence to the eye of the human 
onlooker. This accompanying or correlated 
character has no selective value, is not an 
adaptation—is, in fact, a necessary but use- 
less by-product. A list of a few cases of 
this kind was given by Darwin, but it is 
most desirable that more should be estab- 
lished. For they enable us to understand 
how it is that specific characters, those seen 
and noted on the surface by systematists, 
are not in most cases adaptations of select- 
ive value. They also open a wide vista of 


J ote 


August 24, 1906.] 


incipient and useless developments which 
may suddenly, in their turn, be seized upon 
by ever-watchful natural selection and 
raised to a high pitch of growth and 
function. 

The second, somewhat but by no means 
altogether neglected, principle is that a 
good deal of the important variation in 
both plants and animals is not the variation 
of a minute part or confined to one organ, 
but has really an inner physiological basis, 
and may be a variation of a whole organic 
system or of a whole tissue expressing itself 
at several points and in several shapes. In 
fact, we should perhaps more generally 
conceive of variation as not so much the 
accomplishment and presentation of one 
little mark or difference in weight, length 
or color, as the expression of a tendency to 
vary 10 a given tissue or organ in a par- 
ticular way. Thus we are prepared for 
the rapid extension and dominance of the 
variation if once it is favored by selective 
breeding. It seems to me that such cases 
as the complete disappearance of scales 
from the integument of some osseous fishes, 
or the possible retention of three or four 
scales out of some hundreds present in 
nearly allied forms, favor this mode of con- 
celving of variation. So also does the 
marked tendency to produce membranous 
expansions of the integument in the bats, 
not only between the digits and from the 
axilla, but from the ears and different re- 
sions of the face. Of course, the alterna- 
tive hairy or smooth condition of the in- 
teguments both in plants and animals is a 
familiar instance in which a tendency ex- 
tending over a large area is recognized as 
that which constitutes the variation. In 
smooth or hairy varieties we do not pos- 
tulate an individual development of hairs 
subjected one by one to selection and sur- 
vival or repression. ~ 

The study of the physiology of un- 


SCIENCE. 


229 


healthy, injured or diseased organisms is 
called pathology. It necessarily has an 
immense area of observation and is of tran- 
scending interest to mankind, who do not 
accept their diseases unresistingly and die 
as animals do, so purifying their race, but 
incessantly combat and fight disease, pro- 
ducing new and terrible forms of it by 
their wilful interference with the earlier 
rule of nature. 

Our knowledge of disease has been enor- 
mously advanced in the last quarter of a 
century, and in an important degree our 
power of arresting it, by two great lines of 
study going on side by side and originated, 
not by medical men nor physiologists in 
the narrow technical sense, but by natural- 
ists, a botanist and a zoologist. Ferdinand 
Cohn, professor of botany in Breslau, by 
his own researches and by personal train- 
ing in his laboratory, gave to Robert Koch 
the start on his distinguished career as a 
bacteriologist. It is to Metchnikoff, the 
zoologist and embryologist, that we owe the 
doctrine of phagocytosis and the conse- 
quent theory of immunity now so widely 
accepted. 

We must not forget that in this same 
period much of the immortal work of Pas- 
teur on hydrophobia, of Behring and Roux 
on diphtheria, and of Ehrlich and many 
others, to whom the eternal gratitude of 
mankind is due, has been going on. It is 
only some fifteen years since Calmette 
showed that if cobra poison were intro- 
duced into the blood of a horse in less 
quantity than would cause death, the horse 
would tolerate with little disturbance after 
ten days a full dose, and then day after 
day an increasing dose, until the horse 
without any inconvenience received an in- 
jection of cobra poison large enough to kill 
thirty horses of its size. Some of the 
horse’s blood being now withdrawn was 
found to contain a very active antidote to 


230 


cobra poison—what is called an antitoxin. 
The procedure and preparation of the 
antitoxin is practically the same as that 
previously adopted by Behring in the 
preparation of the antitoxin of diphtheria 
poison. Animals treated with injections 
of these antitoxins are immune to the poi- 
son itself when subsequently injected with 
it, or, if already suffering from the poison 
(as, for instance, by snake-bite), are read- 
ily shown by experiment to be rapidly 
cured by the injection of the appropriate 
antitoxin. This is, as all will admit, an 
intensely interesting bit of biology. The 
explanation of the formation of the anti- 
toxin in the blood and its mode of antagon- 
izing the poison is not easy. It seems that 
the antitoxin is undoubtedly formed from 
the corresponding toxin or poison, and that 
the antagonism can be best understood as a 
chemical reaction by which the complex 
molecule of the poison is upset, or effect- 
ively modified. 

The remarkable development of Metch- 
nikoff’s doctrine of phagocytosis during the 
past quarter of a century is certainly one 
of the characteristic features of the activity 
of biological science in that period. At 
first ridiculed as ‘Metchnikoffism,’ it has 
now won the support of its former adver- 
saries. 

For a long time the ideal of hygienists 
has been to preserve man from all contact 
with the germs of infection, to destroy 
them and destroy the animals conveying 
them, such as rats, mosquitoes and other 
flies. But it has now been borne in upon 
us that, useful as such attempts are, and 
ereat aS is the improvement in human con- 
ditions which can thus be effected, yet we 
can not hope for any really complete or 
satisfactory realization of the ideal of es- 
cape from contact with infective germs, 
The task is beyond human powers. The 
conviction has now been arrived at that, 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. VoL. XXIV. No. 608. 


while we must take every precaution to 
diminish infection, yet our ultimate safety 
must come from within—namely, from the 
activity, the trained, stimulated and care- 
fully guarded activity, of those wonderful 
colorless amceba-like corpuscles whose use 
was so long unrecognized, but has now been 
made clear by the patiently continued ex- 
periments and arguments of Metchnikoff, 
who has named them ‘phagocytes.’ The 
doctrine of the activity and immense im- 
portance of these corpuscles of the living 
body which form part of the all-pervading 
connective tissues and float also in the 
blood, is in its nature and inception op- 
posed to what are called the ‘humoral’ and 
‘vitalistic’ theories of resistance to infec- 
tion. Of this kind were the beliefs that 
the liquids of the living body have an in- 
herent and somewhat vague power of re- 
sisting infective germs, and even that the 
mere living quality of the tissues was in 
some unknown way antagonistic to foreign 
intrusive disease-germs. 

The first eighteen years of Metchnikoff’s 


eareer, after his undergraduate course, 


were devoted to zoological and embryolog- — 
ical investigations. He discovered many 
important facts, such as the alternation of 
generations in the parasitic worm of the 
frog’s lung—Ascaris mgrovenosa—and the 
history of the growth from the egg of 
sponges and medusez. In these latter re- 
searches he came into contact with the won- 
derfully active cells, or living corpuscles, 
which in many low forms of life can be 
seen by transparency in the living animal. 
He saw that these corpuscles (as was in- 
deed already known) resemble the well- 
known ameeba, and can take into their soft 
substance (protoplasm) at all parts of their 
surface any minute particles and digest 
them, thus destroying them. In a trans- 
parent water-flea Metchnikoff saw these 
amoeba-like, colorless, floating blood-cor- 


Avucust 24, 1906.] 


puscles swallowing and digesting the 
spores of a parasitic fungus which had 
attacked the water-fleas and was causing 
their death. He came to the conclusion 
that this is the chief, if not the whole, 
value of these corpuscles in higher as well 
as lower animals, in all of which they are 
very abundant. It was known that when 
a wound bringing in foreign matter is in- 
flicted on a vertebrate animal the blood- 
vessels become gorged in the neighborhood 
and the colorless corpuscles escape through 
the walls of the vessels in crowds. Their 
business in so doing, Metchnikoff showed, 
is to eat up the foreign matter, and also to 
eat up and remove the dead, wounded tissue. 
He, therefore, called these white or color- 
less corpuscles ‘phagocytes,’ the eater-cells, 
and in his beautiful book on ‘Inflamma- 
tion,’ published twenty years ago, proved 
the extreme importance of their activity. 
At the same time he had shown that they 
eat up intrusive bacteria and other germs; 
and his work for the last twenty years has 
mainly consisted in demonstrating that 
they are the chief, and probably the only, 
agents at work in either ridding the human 
body of an attack of disease-causing germs 
or in warding off even the commencement 
of an attack, so that the man or animal in 
which they are fully efficient is ‘immune’ 
—that is to say, can not be effectively at- 
tacked by disease-germs. 

Disease-germs, bacteria or protozoa pro- 
duce poisons which sometimes are too much 
for the phagocytes, poisoning them and so 
getting the upper hand. But, as Metchni- 
koff showed, the training of the phagocytes 
by weak doses of the poison of the disease- 
germ, or by weakened cultures of the dis- 
ease-germ itself, brings about a power of 
resistance in the phagocytes to the germ’s 
poison, and thus makes them capable of 
attacking the germs and keeping them at 
bay. Hence the value of inoculations. 


SCIENCE. | 231 


The discussion and experiments arising 
from Metchnikoff’s demonstrations have 
led to the discovery of the production by 
the phagocytes of certain exudations from 
their substance which have a most impor- 
tant effect in weakening the resistance of 
the intrusive bacteria and rendering them 
easy prey for the phagocyte. These are 
called ‘sensitizers,’ and have been largely 
studied. They may be introduced artifi- 
cially imto the blood and tissues so as to 
facilitate the work of the phagocytes, and 
no doubt it is a valuable remedial measure 
to make use of such sensitizers as a treat- 
ment. Sir A. E. Wright considers that 
such sensitizers are formed in the blood 
and tissues independently of the phago- 
eytes, and has ealled them ‘opsonins,’ 
under which name he has made most valu- 
able application of the method of injecting 
them into the body so as to facilitate the 
work of the phagocytes in devouring the 
hostile bacteria of various diseases. Each 
kind of disease-producing microbe has its 
own sensitizer or opsonin; hence there has 
been much careful research and experiment 
required in order to bring the discovery to 
practical use. Metchnikoff himself holds 
and quotes experiments to show that the 
‘opsonins’ are actually produced by the 
phagocytes themselves. That this should 
be so is in accordance with some striking 
zoological facts, as I pointed out nearly 
twenty years ago. For the lowest multi- 
cellular animals provided with a digestive 
sae or gut, such as the polyps, have that 
sac lined by digestive cells which have the 
same amceboid character as ‘phagocytes,’ 
and actually digest to a large extent by 
swallowing or taking into their individual 
protoplasm raw particles of food. Such 
particles are enclosed in a temporary cav- 
ity, or vacuole, into which the cell-proto- 
plasm secretes digestive ferment and other 
chemical agents. Now there is no doubt 


232 


that such digestive vacuoles may burst and 
so pour out into the polyp’s stomach a di- 
gestive juice which will act on food particles 
outside the substance of the cells, and thus 
by the substitution of this process of out- 
pouring of the secretion for that of inges- 
tion of food particles into the cells we get 
the usual form of digestion by juices se- 
ereted into a digestive cavity. Now this 
being certainly the case in regard to the 
history of the original phagocytes lining 
the polyp’s gut, it does not seem at all un- 
likely, but on the contrary in a higher de- 
gree probable, that the phagocytes of the 
blood and tissues should behave in the same 
way and pour out sensitizers and opsonins 
to paralyze and prepare their bacterial 
food. And the experiments of Metchni- 
koff’s pupils and followers show that this 
is undoubtedly the case. Whether there is 
any great variety of and difference between 
‘sensitizers’ and ‘opsonins’ is a matter 
which is still the subject of active experi- 
ment. Metchnikoff’s conclusion, as re- 
cently stated in regard to the whole prog- 
ress of this subject, is that the phagocytes 
in our bodies should be stimulated in their 
activity in order successfully to fight the 
germs of infection. Alcohol, opium, and 
even quinine, hinder the phagocytic action; 
they should, therefore, be entirely eschewed 
or used only with great caution where their 
other and valuable properties are urgently 
needed. It appears that the injection of 
blood-serum into the tissues of animals 
causes an increase in the number and ac- 
tivity of the phagocytes, and thus an in- 
crease in their resistance towards patho- 
genic germs. Thus Durham (who was a 
pioneer in his observations on the curious 
phenomena of the ‘agglutination’ of blood- 
corpuscles in relation to disease) was led 
to suggest the injection of sera during 
surgical operations, and experiments re- 
cently quoted by Metchnikoff seem to show 
that the suggestion was well founded. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. VoL. XXIV. No. 608. 


After years of opposition bravely met in 
the pure scientific spirit of renewed experi- 
ment and demonstration, Metchnikoff is at 
last able to say that the foundation-stone 
of the hygiene of the tissues—the thesis 
that our phagocytes are our arms of de- 
fence against infective germs—has been 
generally accepted. 

Another feature of the progress of our 
knowledge of disease—as a scientific prob- 
lem—is the recent recognition that minute 
animal parasites of that low degree of uni- 
cellular structure to which the name ‘pro- 
tozoa’ is given, are the causes of serious 
and ravaging diseases, and that the minute 
algoid plants, the bacteria, are not alone in 
possession of this field of activity. It was 
Laveran—a French medical man—who, 
just about twenty-five years ago, discov- 
ered the minute animal organism in the 
red blood-corpuscles, which is the cause of 
malaria. Year by year ever since our 
knowledge of this terrible little parasite has 
increased. We now know many similar to, 
but not identical with it, living in the blood 
of birds, reptiles and frogs. 

It is the great merit of Major Ross, 
formerly of the Indian Army Medical 
Staff, to have discovered, by most patient 
and persevering experiment, that the ma- 
laria parasite passes a part of its life in the 
spot-winged gnat or mosquito (Anopheles), 
not, as he had at first supposed, in the com- 
mon gnat or mosquito (Culex), and that if 
we can get rid of spot-winged mosquitoes 
or avoid their attentions, or even only pre- 
vent them from sucking the blood of ma- 
larial patients, we can lessen, or even abol- 
ish, malaria. 

This great discovery was followed by 
another as to the production of the deadly 
‘Nagana’ horse and cattle disease in South 
Africa by a screw-like, minute animal para- 
site, the Trypanosoma Brucet. The Tsetze 
fly, which was already known in some way 
to produce this disease, was found by 


nn 


Aveust 24, 1906.] 


Colonel David Bruce to do so by conveying 
by its bite the Trypanosoma from wild big- 
game animals, to the domesticated horses 
and eattle of the colonists. The discovery 
of the parasite and its relation to the fly 
and the disease was as beautiful a piece of 
scientific investigation as biologists have 
ever seen. A curious and very important 
fact was discovered by Bruce—namely, 
that the native big game (zebras, antelopes, 
and probably buffaloes), are tolerant of the 
parasite. The Trypanosoma grows and 
multiplies in their blood, but does not kill 
them or even injure them. It is only the 
unaccustomed introduced animals from 
Europe which are poisoned by the chemical 
excreta of the Trypanosomes and die in 
consequence. Hence the wild creatures— 
brought into a condition of tolerance by 
natural selection and the dying out of those 
susceptible to the poison—form a sort of 
‘reservoir’ of deadly Trypanosomes for the 
Tsetze flies to carry into the blood of new- 
comers. The same phenomenon of ‘reser- 
voir-hosts’ (as I have elsewhere ealled 
them) has since been observed in the case 
of malaria; the children of the native 
blacks in Africa and in other malarious 
regions are tolerant of the malarial para- 
site, as many as 80 per cent. of children 
under ten being found to be infected, and 
yet not suffering from the poison. This is 
not the same thing as the immunity which 
consists in repulsion or destruction of the 
parasite. 

The Trypanosomes have acquired a ter- 
rible notoriety within the last four years, 
since another species, also carried by a 
Tsetze fly of another species, has been dis- 
covered by Castellani in cases of sleeping 
sickness in Uganda, and demonstrated by 
Colonel Bruce to be the cause of that awful 
disease. More than 200,000 natives of 
Uganda have died from it within the last 
five years. It is incurable, and, sad to re- 
late, not only a certain number of Euro- 


SCIENCE. 233 


pean employees have succumbed to it in 
tropical Africa, but a brave young officer 
of the Army Medical Corps, Lieutenant 
Tulloch, has died from the disease acquired 
by him in the course of an investigation 
of this disease and its possible cure, which 
he was carrying out, in association with 
other men of science, on the Victoria 
Nyanza Lake in Central Africa. Lieuten- 
ant Tulloch was sent out to this investiga- 
tion by the Royal Society of London, and 
I will venture to ask you to join that body 
in sympathy for his friends, and admira- 
tion for him and the other courageous men 
who risk their lives in the endeavor to ar- 
rest disease. 

Trypanosomes are now being recognized 
in the most diverse regions of the world as 
the cause of disease—new horse diseases in 
South America, in North Africa, in the 
Philippines and East India are all traced 
to peculiar species of Trypanosome. Other 
allied forms are responsible for Delhi-sore, 
and certain peculiar Indian fevers of man. 
A peculiar and ultra-minute parasite of the 
blood cells causes Texas fever, and various 
African fevers deadly to cattle. In all 
these cases, as also in that of plague, the 
knowledge of the carrier of the disease, 
often a mite or acarus—in that of plague 
the flea of the rat—is extremely important, 
as well as the knowledge of reservoir-hosts 
when such exist. 

The zoologist thus comes into closer touch 
than ever with the profession of medicine, 
and the time has arrived when the profes- 
sional students of disease fully admit that 
they must bring to their great and hopeful 
task of abolishing the diseases of man the 
fullest aid from every branch of biological 
science. I need not say how great is the 
contentment of those who have long worked 
at apparently useless branches of science, 
in the belief that all knowledge is good, to 
find that the science they have cultivated 


234 


has become suddenly and urgently of the 
highest practical value. 

I have not time to do more than mention 
here the effort that is being made by com- 
bined international research and coopera- 
tion to push further our knowledge of 
phthisis and of cancer, with a view to their 
destruction. It is only since our last meet- 
ing at York that the parasite of phthisis or 
tubercle has been made known; we may 
hope that it will not be long before we have 
similar knowledge as to cancer. Only 
eighteen months have elapsed since Fritz 
Schaudinn discovered the long-sought para- 
sitie germ of syphilis, the Spirocheta pal- 
lida. As I write these words the sad news 
of Schaudinn’s death at the age of thirty- 
five comes to me from his family at Ham- 
burg—an irreparable loss. 

Let me finally state, in relation to this 
study of disease, what is the simple fact— 
namely, that if the people of Britain wish 
to make an end of infective and other dis- 
eases they must take every possible means 
to discover capable investigators, and em- 
ploy them for this purpose. To do this, 
far more money is required than is at pres- 
ent spent in that direction. It is neces- 
sary, if we are to do our utmost, to spend 
a thousand pounds of public money on this 
task where we now spend one pound. It 
would be reasonable and wise to expend 
ten million pounds a year of our revenues 
on the investigation and attempt to destroy 
disease. Actually, what is so spent is a 
mere nothing, a few thousands a year. 
Meanwhile our people are dying by thou- 
sands of preventable disease. 


Whilst I have been able, though in a very 
fragmentary and incomplete way, to indi- 
cate the satisfactory and, indeed, the won- 
derful progress of science since this asso- 
ciation last met in York, so far as the 
making of new knowledge is concerned, I 
am sorry to say that there is by no means 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 608. 


a corresponding ‘advancement’ of science 
in that signification of the word which im- 
plies the increase of the influence of science 
in the life of the community, the increase 
of the support given to it, and of the desire 
to aid in its progress, to discover and then 
to encourage and reward those who are 
specially fitted to increase scientific knowl- 
edge, and to bring it to bear so as to pro- 
mote the welfare of the community. I am 
speaking on a privileged occasion to a body 
of men who are met together for the ad- 
vancement of science, and I claim the right 
to say to them, without offence to the rep- 
resentatives of institutions which I eriti- 
cize, what is in my mind. 

It is, unfortunately, true that the succes- 
sive political administrators of the affairs 
of this country, as well as the permanent 
officials, are altogether unaware to-day, as 
they were twenty-five years ago, of the vital 
importance of that knowledge which we 
eall science, and of the urgent need for 
making use of it in a variety of public 
affairs. Whole departments of government 
in which scientific knowledge is the one 


thing needful are carried on by ministers, 


permanent secretaries, assistant secretaries 
and clerks who are wholly ignorant of sci- 
ence, and naturally enough dislike it since 
it ean not be used by them, and is in many 
instances the condemnation of their official 
employment. Such officials are, of course, 
not to be blamed, but rather the general 
indifference of the public to the unreason- 
able way in which its interests are neg- 
lected. 

A difficult feature in treating of this sub- 
ject is that when one mentions the fact that 
ministers of state and the officials of the 
publie service are not acquainted with sci- 
ence, and do not even profess to understand 
its results or their importance, one’s state- 
ment of this very obvious and notorious 
fact is apt to be regarded as a personal 
offence. It is difficult to see wherein the 


AuGust 24, 1906.] 


offence lies, for no one seeks to blame these 
officials for a condition of things which is 
traditional and frankly admitted. 

This is really a very serious matter for 
the British Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science to consider and deal with. 
We represent a line of activity, a group of 
professions which are, in our opinion, of 
vital importance to the well-being of the 
nation. We know that those interests 
which we value so highly are not merely 
ignored and neglected, but are actually 
treated as of no account or as non-existent 
by the old-established class of politicians 
and administrators. It is not too much to 
say that there is a natural fear and dislike 
of scientific knowledge on the part of a 
large proportion of the persons who are 
devoid of it, and who would cease to hold, 
or never have held, the positions of au- 
thority or emolument which they now oc- 
cupy, were scientific knowledge of the mat- 
ters with which they undertake to deal re- 
quired of them. This is a thorny subject, 
and one in which, however much one may 
endeavor to speak in general terms, it is 
difficult to avoid causing personal annoy- 
anee. Yet it seems to me one which, be- 
lieving as I do that it is of most urgent 
importanee, it is my duty as your president 
to press upon the attention of the members 
of the British Association. Probably an 
inquiry into and discussion of the neglect 
of scienee and the questionable treatment 
of scientific men by the administrative de- 
partments of government would be more 
appropriate to a committee appointed by 
the council of the association for this pur- 
pose than to the presidential address. 

At the same time, I think the present 
occasion is one on which attention should 
be drawn in general terms to the fact that 
Science is not gaining ‘advancement’ in 
public and official consideration and sup- 
port. The reason is, I think, to be found 


SCIENCE. 


235 


in the defective education, both at school 
and university, of our governing class, as 
well as in a racial dislike among all classes 
to the establishment and support by public 
funds of posts which the average man may 
not expect to succeed by popular clamor 
or class privilege in gaining for himself— 
posts which must be held by men of special 
training and mental gifts. Whatever the 
reason for the neglect, the only remedy 
which we can possibly apply is that of im- 
proved education for the upper classes, and 
the continued effort to spread a knowledge 
of the results of science and a love for it 
amongst all members of the community. 
If members of the British Association took 
this matter seriously to heart they might 
do a great deal by insisting that their sons, 
and their daughters too, should have rea- 
sonable instruction in science both at school 
and college. They could, by their own 
initiative and example, do a good deal to 
put an end to the trifling with classical 
literature and the absorption in athletics 
which is considered by too many school- 
masters as that which the British parent de- 
sires as the education of his children. 


* * * * * * * 


It is more agreeable to me not to dwell 
further on the comparative failure of sci- 
ence to gain increased influence and sup- 
port in this country, but to mention to you 
some instances on the other side of the ac- 
count. As long ago as 1842 the British 
Association took over and developed an ob- 
servatory in the Deer Park at Kew, which 
was placed at the disposal of the associa- 
tion by Her Majesty the Queen. Until 
1871 the association spent annually a large 
part of its income—as much in later years 
as £600 a year—in carrying on the work 
of the Kew Observatory, consisting of mag- 
netic, meteorological and physical observa- 
tions. In 1871 the association handed over 
the observatory to the Royal Society, which 


236 


had received an endowment of £10,000 
from Mr. Gassiot for its maintenance, and 
had further devoted to that purpose con- 
siderable sums from its own donation fund 
and government grant. Further aid for it 
was also received from private sources. 
From this observatory at last has sprung, 
in the beginning of the present century, the 
National Physical Laboratory in Bushey 
Park, a fine and efficient scientific imstitu- 
tion, built and supported by grants from 
the state, and managed by a committee of 
really devoted men of science who are 
largely representatives of the Royal So- 
ciety. In addition to the value of the site 
and buildings occupied by the National 
Physical Laboratory, the government has 
contributed altogether £34,000 to the cap- 
ital expenditure on new buildings, fittings 
and apparatus, and has further assigned a 
grant of £6,000 a year to the working of 
the laboratory. This institution all men of 
science are truly glad to have gained from 
the state, and they will remember with 
eratitude the statesmen—the late Marquis 
of Salisbury, the Right Hon. Arthur J. 
Balfour, Mr. Haldane and others—as well 
as their own leaders—Lord Rayleigh, Sir 
William Huggins and the active body of 
physicists in the Royal Society—who have 
carried this enterprise to completion. The 
British Association has every reason to be 
proud of its share in early days in nursing 
the germ at Kew which has at length ex- 
panded into this splendid national institu- 
tion. 

I may mention also another institution 
which, during the past quarter of a cen- 
tury, has come into existence and received, 
originally through the influence of the late 
Lord Playfair (one of the few men of sci- 
ence who have ever occupied the position of 
a minister of the crown), and later by the 
influence of the Right Hon. Joseph Cham- 
berlain, a subsidy of £1,000 a year from 
the government and a contribution of 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 608. 


£5,000 towards its initial expenses. This 
is the Marine Biological Association, which 
has a laboratory at Plymouth, and has 
lately expended a special annual grant, at 
the spontaneous invitation of His Majesty’s 
Treasury, 11 conducting an investigation 
of the North Sea in accordance with an 
international scheme devised by a central 
committee of scientific experts. This 
scheme has for its purpose the gaining such 
knowledge of the North Sea and its inhab- 
itants as shall be useful in dealing prac- 
tically and by legislation with the great 
fisheries of that area. You will, perhaps, 
not be surprised to hear that there are per- 
sons in high positions who, though admit- 
tedly unacquainted with the scientific ques- 
tions at issue or the proper manner of 
solving them, are discontented with the ac- 
tion of the government in entrusting the 
expenditure of public money to a body of 
scientific men who give their services, with- 
out reward or thanks, to carrying out the 
purposes of the international inquiry. 
Strange criticisms are offered by these mal- 
contents in regard to the work done in the 
international exploration of the North Sea, 
and a desire is expressed to secure the 
money for expenditure by a less scientific 
agency. I do not hesitate to say here that 
the results obtained by the Marine Biolog- 
ical Association are of great value and in- 
terest, and, if properly continued and put 
to practical application, are likely to benefit 
very greatly the fishery industry;.on the 
other hand, if the work is cut short or en- 
trusted to incompetent hands it will no 
doubt be the case that what has already 
been done will lose its value—that is to 
say, will have been wasted. There is 1m- 
minent danger of this perversion of the 
funds assigned to this scientific investiga- 
tion taking place. There is no guarantee 
for the continuance of any funds or offices 
assigned to science in one generation by the 
officials of the next. The mastership of 


Aucust 24, 1906.] 


the mint held by Isaac Newton, and finally 
by Thomas Graham, has been abolished and 
its salary appropriated by non-scientific 
officials. Only a few years ago it was with 
ereat difficulty that the government of the 
day was prevented from assigning the di- 
rectorship of Kew Gardens to a young man 
of influence devoid of all knowledge of 
botany ! 

One of the most solid tests of the esteem 
and value attached to scientific progress by 
the community is the dedication of large 
sums of money to scientific purposes by its 
wealthier members. We know that in the 
United States such gifts are not infre- 
quent; they are rare in this country. It is, 
therefore, with especial pleasure that I call 
your attention to a great gift to science in 
this country made only a few years ago. 
Lord Iveagh has endowed the Lister Insti- 
tute, for researches in connection with the 
prevention of disease, with no less a sum 
than a quarter of a million pounds sterling. 
This is the largest gift ever made to science 
in this country, and will be productive of 
great benefit to humanity. The Lister In- 
stitute took its origin in the surplus of a 
fund raised by Sir James Whitehead when 
Lord Mayor, some sixteen years ago, for 
the purpose of making a gift to the Pasteur 
Institute in Paris, where many English 


patients had been treated, without charge, ' 


after being bitten by rabid dogs. Three 
thousand pounds was sent to M. Pasteur, 
and the surplus of a few hundred pounds 
was made the starting-point of a fund 
which grew, by one generous gift and an- 
other, until the Lister Institute on the 
Thames Embankment at Chelsea was set 
up on a site presented by that good and 
high-minded man, the late Duke of West- 
minster. 

Many other noble gifts to scientific re- 
search have been made in this country dur- 
ing the period on which we are looking 
back. Let us be thankful for them, and 


SCIENCE. 237 


admire the wise munificence of the donors. 
But none the less we must refuse to rely 
entirely on such liberality for the develop- 
ment of the army of science, which has to 
do battle for mankind against the obvious 
disabilities and sufferings which afflict us 
and can be removed by knowledge. The 
organization and finance of this army 
should be the care of the state. 

Tt is a fact which many of us who have 
observed it regret very keenly, that there 
is to-day a less widespread interest than 
formerly in natural history and general 
science, outside the strictly professional 
arena of the school and university. The 
field naturalists among the squires and the 
country parsons seem nowadays not to be 
So numerous and active in their delightful 
pursuits as formerly, and the mechanics’ 
institutes and lecture societies of the days 
of Lord Brougham have given place, to a 
very large extent, to musical performances, 
bioscopes and other entertainments, more 
diverting, but not really more capable of 
siving pleasure than those in which science 
was popularized. No doubt the organiza- 
tion and professional character of scientific 
work are to a large extent the cause of this 
falling-off in its attraction for amateurs. 
But perhaps that decadence is also due in 
some measure to the increased general de- 
mand for a kind of manufactured gaiety, 
readily sent out in these days of easy trans- 
port from the great centers of fashionable 
amusement to the provinces and rural dis- 
tricts. 

In conclusion, I would say a word in 
reference to the associations of our place 
of meeting, the birthplace of our society. 
It seems to me not inappropriate that a 
society for the advancement of science 
Should have taken its origin under the walls 
of York Minster, and that the clergy of the 
ereat cathedral should have stood by its 
cradle. It is not true that there is an es- 
sential antagonism between the scientific 


238 


spirit and what is called the religious senti- 
ment. ‘‘Religion,’’ said Bishop Creighton, 
‘‘means the knowledge of our destiny and 
of the means of fulfilling it.’ We can say 
no more and no less of science. Men of 
science seek, in all reverence, to discover 
the Almighty, the Everlasting. They claim 
sympathy and friendship with those who, 
like themselves, have turned away from the 
more material struggles of human life, and 
have set their hearts and minds on the 
knowledge of the Eternal. 


THE ITHACA MEETING OF THE AMERICAN 
CHEMICAL SOCIETY. I. 


SECOND GENERAL SESSION. 


At the second general session the follow- 
ing addresses were given: 


Hydromtric Acid: L. M. DENNIS. 


Recent Progress in Industrial Chemistry: 

J. D. PENNOCK. . 

The address first cites the rapid progress 
of the ammonia soda process in comparison 
with the Le Blanc, showing that from 1870 
to 1903 the world’s production of soda by 
the ammonia process increased from 2,600 
to 1,150,000 tons per annum, and the Le 
Blane process decreased from 447,000 in 
1870 to 150,000 in 1903. The reason for 
the continuance of industrial life in the 
Le Blane works is the income obtained from 
bleaching powder and sulphur products. 
The progress of the electrolytic process is 
then discussed and a statement is made that 
in 1905 considerable profit was made by at 
least two concerns in England on the manu- 
facture of electrolytic caustic soda and 
bleaching powder. Comment was made on 
the development of the treatment of fatty 
acids by carbonate of soda in the manufac- 
ture of soap, rather than the old method of 
treating neutral fats with caustic soda and 
thereby making a considerable saving. It 
was predicted that the tendency in indus- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 608. 


trial operations to the use of fuel gas from 
coke ovens and producers will ultimately 
do away with the smoke nuisance. ‘The 
utilization of peat for producer gas and in 
the making of crude paper are interesting 
developments along this line. The intro- 
duction of alcohol free from tax after Jan- 
uary 1, 1907, will call for a denaturizing 
substance of some sort. Doubtless the 
United States will follow the German prac- 
tise of using a 2.5 per cent. solution made 
up of four liters of wood alcohol and one 
liter of pyridine added to 100 liters of 
aleohol. The future source of suitable 
nitrogen for the soil was then discussed. 
First dealing with Dr. Frank’s calcium 
eyanimide process, then with Birkland and 
Eydes fixation of atmospheric nitrogen, 
and with the immediate and more practical 
application of ammonium sulphate manu- 
factured on a large seale by the by-product 
coke ovens. It was predicted that in about 
thirty years the supply of nitrate of soda 
will be exhausted. The source of nitrogen 
must then be furnished by one of the above 
described processes. 


Some Problems of Brological Chemistry: 
WALDEMAR Kocu. 
It was pointed out that it is possible to 

investigate a tissue from the point of view 
of a chemist without isolating definite 
chemical substances, by dividing the con- 
stituents into the following groups: pro- 
teids, carbohydrates, fats, lecithins, extract- 
ives, ash. These groups have a physiolog- 
ical significance and the distribution among 
them of definite substances or elements like 
phosphorus, which was especially dis- 
cussed, can vary in some of these groups 
within wide limits under different physi- 
ological conditions. The possibility of de- 
termining the physiological value of the 
different combinations of phosphoric acid 
to the cell was illustrated by a number of 
examples. 


August 24, 1906.] 


INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 
L. M. Dennis, Chairman. 


Some New Compounds of Thallium: L. F. 

HAWLEY. 

Three new compounds of thallium were 
described: thallium fulminate, T1,C,N.O,, 
thallium aluminate, Tl,Al,0,.2H,O, and 
potassium thallic chromate, K,CrO,. TI, 
(CrO,),.4H,0. 


Experiments upon the Radium Emanation: 

L. F. HAWLeEY. 

With the idea in view that the rare at- 
mospherie gases might be the activizing 
agents of radioactive bodies an attempt was 
made to find whether the atmosphere pro- 
duced any effect on the emanations from 
radium. A water solution of radium chlo- 
ride was kept in an atmosphere of hydro- 
gen entirely free from the atmospheric 
gases, and the emanations produced during 
several three-day periods were measured 
by bubbling the pure hydrogen through the 
solution and leading the hydrogen and 
emanation into a measuring tube connected 
with an electrometer. Then similar meas- 
urements were made under exactly the 
same conditions except that air was used in 
the place of the hydrogen. No difference 
was found except that due to the difference 
in the absorption of the radiations by the 
hydrogen and the air. 


On the Reaction between Hydrazine Sul- 
phate and Potassium Chlorate: A. W. 
BROWNE. - 

This reaction does not proceed in pres- 
ence of sulphuric acid entirely in accord- 
ance with the general equation for the 
oxidation of hydrazine sulphate as given 
by Roberto and Roneali: 

N.H, . H,S80, + 20 =N, + 2H,0 -+ H,S80,. 


Three series of experiments have been 
made, from which it is evident. that the 
reaction takes place very largely as ex- 
pressed by the following equation: 


SCIENCE. 


239 


4N.H,. H,SO, + 40 

—2HN, + (NH.).S0, + 3H.80, + 4H,0. 
Within certain limits the yield of HN, 
varies directly with the amount of H,SO, 
present and inversely with the excess of 
KCl1O,. Under favorable conditions the 
yield amounts to over 23 per cent. of theory 
according to the above equation. 


A Modified Hydrogen Sulphide Generator: 
A. W. Browne and M. F. MEuLING. 
The apparatus is essentially a modified 

Ostwald gas generator capable of furnish- 

ing hydrogen sulphide in quantities suffi- 

cient to supply a class of 275 students. 

The supply of acid (1:1 HCl) and the dis- 

charge of the thoroughly neutralized spent 

acid is automatically regulated by a method 
somewhat similar in principle to that em- 
ployed in the Parsons apparatus. 


On the Analysis of Silver Trimtride: L. 
M. Dennis and A. W. Browne. (By 
title. ) wes 


Colorimetric Determination of Iron with 
special reference to Purity of Reagents: 
H. N. Stoxss and J. R. Carn. 

The interfering action of large amounts 
of acids or salts is avoided by concentrating 
the iron, either by evaporation in the ease 
of easily volatile substances or by carrying 
down as hydroxide by manganese dioxide 
(reduced from permanganate) or as sul- 
phide by cadmium sulphide. After suit- 
able treatment it is dissolved in free sul- 
phoecyanic acid saturated with mercuric 
sulphocyanate, and after adding a little 
persulphate is extracted with amyl alcohol 
in the colorimeter cylinder, the duplicate 
cylinder containing the same volume of sul- 
phoeyanic acid and amyl alcohol. Less 
than 0.001 mg. iron may thus be detected 
in 50 grams of a non-volatile salt. 


Beryllium Carbonate: CHARLES L. PARSONS 
and Epwin J. RoBerts. 
Normal beryllium carbonate can not be 


240 


made at ordinary pressures in contact with 
water. BeCO, + 4HO described by Klatzo 
does not exist, and attempts to make it by 
his method yield only slightly carbonated 
hydroxide. Basie beryllium carbonate ap- 
pears to have no definite composition and 
can be almost completely converted into the 
hydroxide by boiling in water. All at- 
tempts to increase the proportion of the 
CO, components over the proportion 
2Be(OH),.BeCO, failed, although CO, 
was passed for three months through the 
basic carbonate under slightly increased 
pressure. The basic carbonates described 
in literature must have contained at least 
one or two per cent. of the carbonate used 
as a solvent or precipitant. 


The Separation and Estimation of Beryl- 
lium: Cuas. L. Parsons and Stuart R. 
BARNES. 

Beryllium is separated from aluminum 
and iron by the complete solubility of its 
hydroxide in a hot saturated solution of 
acid sodium carbonate—ferric hydroxide 
and aluminum hydroxide being completely 
insoluble. Double precipitation is essen- 
tial. Beryllium hydroxide must be washed 
with water containing an electrolyte in 
solution, for when pure it rapidly washes 
through the filter in a colloidal condition. 
Sodium acetate used in this manner gave 
excellent results. 


The Elementary Nature of Tellurwm: 

J. KF. Norris. 

On account of the fact that the atomic 
weight of tellurium is inconsistent with its 
position in the family which contains sul- 
phur and selenium in the periodic elassifi- 
eation of the elements, the author under- 
took a series of experiments to determine 
whether tellurium contains an undiscovered 
element. In order to free the tellurium 
from any element which does not belong 
to the sulphur family, it was converted 
into the compound Na,S,TeO,, and from 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 608. 


this derivative of sodium pentathionate, 
the tellurium was separated. In order to 
determine whether the element contained 
another element in the sulphur family, with 
an atomic weight higher than that of tel- 
lurium, a sample of carefully purified tel- 
turium dioxide was subjected to fractional 
sublimation. Atomic weight determina- 
tions were made of the element in the 
various fractions as well as of that in the 
unsublimed oxide and of the tellurium pre- 
pared from the derivative of the sodium 
pentathionate. The result was the same 
in all cases, namely, 127.6. The work es- 
tablishes more definitely than has been 
done heretofore the elementary nature of 
tellurium. 


On the Mercuri-ammonium Salts and 

Bases: BK. C. FRANKLIN. 

It will be shown in this paper that the 
so-called mercuri-ammonium salts are not 
substituted ammonium salts at. all, but are 
to be classified under the three heads as 
(1) mereury salts with ammonia of erystal- 
lization, (2) ammoni-basic mercuric salts, 
and (3) mixed hydro-basic ammono-basic 
mercuric salts. For example, the fusible 
white precipitate is mercuric chloride with 
ammonia of crystallization, HgCl, . 2NH,, 
and not mercuri-diammonium chloride, 
Hg(NH;).Cl,, the infusible white precipi- 
tate is ammono-basic mercuric chloride, 
NH,HeCl, a compound related to ammonia 
as the ordinary basic salts are related to 
water and is not mereuri-ammonium chlo- 
ride, HgNH.Cl, while the chloride of Mil- 
lon’s base is a salt basic both to ammonia 
and water and is not oxydimercuri-am- 
monium chloride nor yet a hydrated di- 
mereuri-ammonium chloride. 


Potassium Ammono-zincate: E. C. FRANK- 
LIN and F. F. FITZGERALD. 
Recalling the analogy between liquid 
ammonia and water as electrolytic solvents 
as emphasized in earlier papers by Frank- 


Avcust 24, 1906.] 


lin and his co-workers, the authors have 
shown that potassium amide acts upon 
metallic zine and upon zine amide in liquid 
ammonia in a manner analogous to the 
well-known action of potassium hydroxide 
on metallic zine and zine hydroxide in 
aqueous solution. The ammono-potassium 
zineate, Zn(NHK),, analogous to the oxy- 
gen compound formed in aqueous solution, 
has been prepared. Other compounds be- 
longing to this class undoubtedly exist, but 
have not yet been satisfactorily isolated. 


Inquid Methylamine as a Solvent: H. D. 

GIBBS. 

A consideration of the many analogies 
between water and liquid ammonia as elec- 
trolytic solvents has led to a study of 
methylamine which, formally related to 
ammonia as methyl alcohol is related to 
water, might be expected to exhibit inter- 
esting properties. It has been found to 
possess very wide solvent power; it unites 
with many inorganic salts and organic 
compounds as methylamine of erystalliza- 
tion, and it gives solutions with certain 
salts which exhibit unique conductivity 
curves. 


Hydronitric Acid: L. M. Dennis and 
. HELEN ISHAM. 

Anhydrous hydronitric (HN,) was pre- 
pared by treating crystalline KN, with 
sulphurie acid (2:1). The dried gas was 
solidified by means of liquid air. Its melt- 
ing-point is — 80°. The boiling-point of 
the liquefied acid is 37°. The determina- 
tion of the vapor density by the Victor 
Meyer method showed that at a tempera- 
ture about 25° above its boiling-point the 
acid possesses the molecular formula HN. 
Several new salts of the acid were prepared 
and studied. The reaction between dry 
hydronitric acid and dry hydrochloric acid 
was carefully examined and found to pro- 
ceed according to the equation 


3HN; + HCl = NH,Cl + 4N.. 


SCIENCE. 241 


INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY. 
J. D. Pennock, Chairman. 


Notes on the Use of Peat: CuLLEN W. 

PARMELEE. 

A restatement of some phases of the peat 
industry of especial interest to the agricul- 
tural chemist with particular reference to 
the use of it as a filler in fertilizers. The 
average nitrogen of 123 samples of New 
Jersey peats analyzed in the writer’s labo- 
ratory is reported as 1.75 per cent. 


A Review of the American Cement Manu- 
facture: R. K. Mpaps. 


Experiments made at Sault Ste. Marie, 
Ont., under the Auspices of the Canadian 
Government, in the Smelting of Iron 
Ores by the Electrothermic Process: Dr. 
EUGENE HAANEL. 

In this paper Dr. Haanel points out the 
importance of the electric smelting process, 
especially for countries possessing water- 
powers and ore deposits, but lacking coal 
for metallurgical use, and gives a descrip- 
tion of the plant erected and experiments 
conducted at Sault Ste. Marie, with a view 
of ascertaining several important items, 
which could not be obtained by the com- 
mission previously appointed by the Ca- 
nadian government. (The report of this 
commission was published in 1904 by the 
Mines Branch of the Interior Department, 
Ottawa. ) 

The following is a summary of the re- 
sults of the experiments: (1) Magnetite 
can be as economically smelted by the 
electro-thermie process as hematite. (2) 
Ores of comparatively high sulphur con- 
tent can be made into pig iron containing 
only a few thousandths of a per cent. of 
sulphur. (3) The silicon content can be 
varied as required for the class of pig to 
be produced. (4) Charcoal which can be 
cheaply produced from mill refuse or wood 
which could not otherwise be utilized and 
peat-coke can be substituted for coke as re- 


242 


ducing agent. 
be produced practically free from sulphur 
from roasted nickeliferous pyrrhotite. (6) 
Titaniferous iron ores containing up to 5 
per cent. of titanic acid can be successfully 
treated. (7) Under normal conditions an 
expenditure of 1,000 EH.H.P. days is re- 
quired for an output of twelve tons of pig 
iron. 


Classification of Coals: S. W. Parr. 

The: classification proposes to proceed on 
the basis of the old nomenclature offered 
by Frazier, but it bases the distinctions 
upon data of a different sort. The main 
divisions in the classification are made to 
depend upon the ratio of the volatile carbon 
to the total carbon, and by volatile carbon 
is meant not the volatile matter as that 
term is sometimes erroneously apphed, but 
the carbon part of the hydrocarbon con- 
stituents as indicated by the difference be- 
tween total carbon and fixed carbon. This 
leads directly to a further factor, namely, 
that part of volatile matter which is inert 
and non-combustible, and this constituent is 
made to indicate the further subdivision in 
the bituminous coals proper, and between 
the bituminous coals and the lignites, as 
well as between the different forms of lig- 
nites themselves. The method of classifi- 
cation was illustrated by making use of the 
complete analytical results from over one 
hundred samples of coal selected from rep- 
resentative fields throughout the United 
States. 


Salt in the State of New York, its History, 
Resources and Manufacture: F. E. 
ENGELHARDT, 

The presence of salt in the state of New 
York is first recorded in the so-called ‘Re- 
lations of the Jesuit Fathers,’ by Father 
Jerome Lallemant and Father Charlevoix, 
1645-6. First salt made by Father Simon 
LeMoyne in August, 1653. Practical man- 
ufacture of salt begun at Syracuse in 1788. 


SCIENCE. 


(5) A ferro-nickel pig can ° 


[N.S. Vox. XXIV. No. 608. 


The Indians ceded to the state of New. 
York their land in the treaty at Fort 
Schuyler, 1788, except the lake and the - 
lands for one mile round it, and in the 
treaty at Cayuga Ferry, 1795, they ceded 
this and a strip one half mile wide on the 
west side of Onondaga Creek from their 
village to the lake, about six miles long. 
The legislature of the state passed its first 
law regulating the manufacture of salt in 
1797. 

The manufacture of solar salt was begun 
in 1821, and in the same year Major B. 
Boyington sunk a well 300 feet deep for 
rock salt, without results. Wells were first 
square holes, about 30 feet deep by 20 feet 
wide, followed by cast-iron tubing of 8- 
inch bore; next came wooden tubing, and 
for the last fifty years wells have been 
tubed with 6- and 8-inch wrought-iron 
pipes. Wood was first employed as fuel, 
then semi-bituminous coal, and lately an- 
thracite coal-dust with artificial draft. 
About 50 bushels of salt (of 56 pounds 
each) is the average result with good 
dust and brine of 68 salometer at 60° F. 
Largest amount of salt was produced in 
1862, namely, 9,053,874 bushels. Total 
production up to date at Syracuse, about 
433 million bushels, or over 12 million tons. 

Salt is made in the state by artificial 
means, as in the kettle or Onondaga meth- 
od, at Syracuse. In the western part of 
the state salt is made in the open pan, in 
erainers (the Michigan system) and in the 
vacuum pan. By solar heat in shallow 
wooden vats with movable wooden covers 
to protect them against rain. Their ca- 
pacity is greatly increased by the so-called 
‘salt aprons.’ This method is only prac- 
tised at Syracuse. The total salt produc- 
tion of the state amounted, in 1905, to 
about 5,435,005 barrels of 280 pounds, or | 
5 bushels, each. 

Rock salt was first discovered on June 
20, 1878, in Wyoming County, on the farm 


Avueust 24, 1906.] 


of Mr. Matthews, at a depth of 1,270 feet. 
The bed was 70 feet in thickness. The first 
- shaft for mining the rock salt was finished 
in 1885. It is situated near Piffard, Liv- 
ingston County, and is 1,018 feet deep. It 
is called the Retsof shaft. The Greigs- 
ville shaft is about one mile south of the 
former. The third shaft is two miles south 
of LeRoy and has a depth of 825 feet, and 
the fourth shaft was sunk at Livonia, Liv- 
ingston County, to a depth of 1,430 feet. 
But one mine, the ‘Retsof,’ is at present 
operated. 

All the salt wells of the state without 
exception, as well as these four salt shafts, 
obtain their brine or salt from one and the 
same rock-salt deposit, situated in the 
‘Upper Silurian.’ It extends from Morris- 
ville, Madison County, to Lake Erie, and 
from LeRoy to Watkins. The salt stratum 
is over 100 feet in thickness, depending 
entirely upon the configuration of the 
ground below the Silurian sea at the time 
of its formation. The rock salt occurs in 
one vein, two, three, four, five, six or even 
seven veins of various thickness and depth 
from the surface of the ground. The dip 
of the rock is southwest, about 41 to 46 feet. 


The Solvay Process Company, after three 


attempts, finally obtained rock salt almost 
directly under the Tully Hills, which are 
300 feet above, and has at present 51 wells, 
30 on the east side, and 21 on the west side, 
of the Onondaga Valley, which at the pres- 
ent time supplies them with the brine re- 
quired for the manufacture of soda ash, 
caustic soda, baking soda, ete. 


Sources of Some Common Impurities in 
C. P. Chemicals: JAMES W. SCHADE. 
The object of this paper is to present the 

sources of impurities in chemical reagents 

and to show that there are limits to the 
purity obtainable by manufacturers. The 
sources of impurities are: (1) the contain- 

ers in which chemicals are shipped; (2) 


SCIENCE. 


243 


tanks, stills, condensers, and so on, in which 
chemicals are made; (3) reagents used to 
precipitate certain impurities or compounds 
formed by these reactions; (4) minerals 
from which the chemicals are made and 
materials used in manufacture. The 
danger of contamination by impurities of 
the first two classes may be minimized by 
careful selection of material for containers 
and apparatus. The presence of both ba- 
rium and sulphate in a sample of sodium 
ehloride and of calcium in ammonium 
oxalate are examples of impurities of the 
third class. Impurities of the fourth class 
are illustrated by the persistence of calcium 
in barium compounds and the constant as- 
sociation of nickel and cobalt in their puri- 
fied salts. For ordinary work, however, 
reagents that will give accurate results can 
be manufactured at a reasonable cost. 


On the Determination of Carbon Disul- 
plide and Total Sulphur in Commercial 
Benzol: Epwarp S. JOHNSON. 

(1) The Determination of Carbon Dr- 
sulphide.—The principle underlying the 
method seemingly most widely applied is 
that of the transformation of carbon di- 
sulphide by means of alcoholic potash’ into 
potassium xanthate, utilizing this substance 
as a medium for separation. For deter- 
mination the potassium compound is best 
converted into cuprous xanthate and the 
latter into CuO. Much uneertainty exists 
apparently as to the exact composition of 
the so-called cuprous xanthate. If consti- 
tuted as represented by the formula 
(CS.OC,H,S).Cu,, the ratio of CuO pro- 
duced to CS, entering into the formation 
of the xanthate should be 1.0:0.9563. 
Macagno? found 1.0:1.931, a little more 
than twice the theoretical. Others have 
obtained similar results. As evidently 
cuprous xanthate is not the compound un- 
der consideration, an investigation seemed 


1 Nickels, Chem. News, 43, 148. 
2 Chem. News, 43, 138. 


244 


desirable, and the more so because of a 
strong probability of a variation in com- 
position with changing conditions of for- 
mation. Experiments were, therefore, 
made, operating with known quantities of 
carbon disulphide dissolved in pure benzol, 
to ascertain the desired ratio under given, 
easily-realized conditions. An average of 
1.0:1.750 was found. The factors most 
strongly influencing the ratio, as far as 
studied, are size of the xanthate precipitate 
(the CS, present) and the time of its ex- 
posure to the mother liquors. By adhering 
to definite conditions very satisfactory an- 
alytical results are obtainable. 

(2) Determination of Total Sulphur in 
Benzol.—The determination is accom- 
plished by volatilization of the sample in a 
current of hydrogen and combustion of the 
vapors in an atmosphere of oxygen. The 
products of combustion are passed into a 
Suitable absorption medium and the sul- 
phur determined by familiar methods. <A 
new form of apparatus for the combustion 
is described. The essential feature is the 
vertical combustion tube, 35 mm. in di- 
ameter and 170 mm. long. This is sup- 
plied with oxygen at the upper end, the 
products of combustion leaving at the bot- 
tom. The vapors are admitted by the 
burner-tube inserted through a horizontal 
arm in the center 6f the tube. Diametric- 
ally opposite is a similar arm carrying a 
pilot-flame tube. The flame, of hydrogen, 
is placed close to the burner-tip and serves 
to ignite the vapors at once upon their 
arrival, and further permits, evidently, the 
reestablishment of the combustion should it 
be accidentally or necessarily interrupted 
for a few moments. About 5 grams of ben- 
zol may be burned in three hours. Entire- 
ly satisfactory determinations were found 
possible. Samples with as much as 5 per 
cent. CS,, and doubtless more, are readily 
handled with success. Insuring perfect 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 608. 


and convenient combustion, the apparatus 
could be extended in its application to gases 
and vapors of whatever description. Fuel 
and illuminating gases are here in mind. 
It could further doubtless be made to lend 
itself in many instances advantageously to 
sulphur determinations in the ultimate an- 
alysis of organic compounds. 


The Technical Determination of Bengol in 
Illuminating Gas; D. A. Morton. 
Examination of the method of Dennis 

and O’Neill for the determination of ben- 

zene in illuminating gas (Jour. Amer. 

Chem. Soc., 1903, p. 503) shows that the 

results are*low, and unless the reagent be 

freshly prepared for each test, not even 
approximately correct. Moreover, the ab- 
sorbent (ammonium nickel nitrate solu- 
tion) dissolves benzene only to the same 
extent as pure water, showing that the 


presence of nickel compound has no influ- 


ence. As a practical method for the de- 
termination of benzol in coal gases, absorp- 
tion by means of concentrated sulphuric 
acid 1s recommended. By the use of this 
reagent a good separation of benzol from 
ethylene is effected. 


BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY. 
Waldemar Koch, Chairman. 


The Phosphorous Content of Feces Fat: 

J. H. Lone. 

It is stated in many works on physiolog- 
ical chemistry that lecithins and similar 
bodies are either absent or present only in 
traces in the fat extracted from feces. Ina 
previous paper the author pointed out that 
an organic phosphorous compound of the 
lecithin type may be sometimes present in 
relatively large amounts. In the present 
paper the results are given of the analyses 
of feces fat from seven individuals in which 
the phosphorous content was found to vary 
within wide limits. This phosphorus was 
in organic combination and apparently ina 


Aveust 24, 1906.] © 


body of the lecithin type. Some statements 
are made of the possible sources of the 
lecithins in feces. 


Dissociable Compounds of Mucoids and 
other Proteins: W. J. GIES. 

We know practically nothing about the 
ways in which proteins are held in living 
protoplasmic structures. The molecules of 
the protein compounds are relatively so 
large that as yet our physico-chemical 
methods of measurement are inadequate 


to give us correct ideas of molecular size » 


and intramolecular structure, although we 
know much about the lifeless and, in some 
respects, comparatively meaningless frag- 
ments into which protein molecules may be 
broken. Our ignorance of the funda- 
mental biochemical relation of proteins to 
the associated constituents of protoplasm 
appears to be largely due to our vague 
knowledge of the chemical statics and dy- 
namics of true cellular proteins, a fact 
which ‘serves, however, as a constant stim- 
ulus to protein investigation. Among the 
many protein substances, the nucleopro- 
teins and the glucoproteins are very impor- 
tant tissue constituents. The essential part 
of each of these natural type proteins and 
the part to which the usual name is ap- 
plied appears to be a colloidal organic acid. 
The forms in which the acid radicals occur 
in cells and tissues have not been definitely 
made out, although it is natural to presume 
that the acid radicals are united directly 
to one or more distinctly basic radicals in 
each case, and that variations in the char- 
acters of such compounds are associated 
with physiological as well as pathological 
variations of cellular composition and tis- 
sue function. The author has attempted 
to get to the bottom of this complicated 
matter by making definite salts of these 
proteins with the aid of methods that could 
be relied upon to leave the acid radicals 
unchanged. 


SCIENCE. 


245 


The writer has lately prepared calcium, 
sodium, potassium and ammonium salts of 
mucoid by the following process: The 
slightly alkaline solution of glucoprotein is 
dialyzed until neutral and then poured 
into a large excess of 95 per cent. alcohol, 
which causes the precipitation of the mu- 
eoid. This precipitate is purified by reso- 
lution, dialysis and reprecipitation. The 
final product is made anhydrous by treat- 
ment with absolute alcohol and ether. The 
comparatively pure salts thus obtained are 
light snow-white powders. 

The author hopes that, by increasing the 
knowledge of artificial products, analogies 
with natural compounds would be not only 
more easily recognized but also the char- 
acters of functions of the compounds in 
living protoplasm would be more thorough- 


ly understood. G. R. Wurte, 


Press Secretary. 


d SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

Lettfaden fiir den praktisch-chemischen Un- 
terricht der Mediziner. Zusammengestellt 
von Franz Hormeister, Professor der phys- 
iologischen Chemie an der Universitat 


Strassburg. II. Aufl. Braunschweig, Vie- 
wig u. Sohn. 1906. Pp. 136. Preis Mark 
3.50. 


This little book admirably describes labora- 
tory courses in qualitative analysis, organic 
chemistry (so far as it may be of interest to 
the physician) and in physiological chemistry. 
The directions given for making tests are 
brief and precise and at many places reasons 
are given for the methods advised in making 
the tests. In this revision it appears that 
particular attention was given to the course 
in physiological chemistry so that it might 
include the results of the latest investigations 
bearing especially upon the tests for the sub- 
stances concerned in that branch of science. 
In short, the book is one which excellently 
covers the ground in practical chemistry essen- 
tial to medical students. 

JOHN MARSHALL. 


246 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

Tue leading article in the August number 
ot the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 
is Dr. Stedman’s address as president of the 


American Neurological Association. His sub- 


ject was ‘The Public Obligations of the 
Neurologist,’ and he urged the establishment 
of charitable sanitaria for the care of the 
poor who suffered from nervous diseases. He 
spoke of the fading out of the division be- 
tween psychiatry and neurology, and the ad- 
vance of the treatment of mental disorders by 
mental and moral methods. He also empha- 
sized the importance of public provision for 
the after care of patients discharged from the 
state hospitals, and urged the removal of the 
feeble-minded to separate colonies. Drs. 
Spiller and Weisenburg contribute the report 
of eleven cases of carcinoma involving the 
nervous system, with a number of illustra- 
tions. Dr. Burr follows with a note on the 
temporary disappearance of the sensory symp- 


toms in syringomyelia, and Dr. Martin adds a . 


short study of the sphincter reflexes in tabes 
dorsalis and paresis. 


THE Annals of Iowa for July, 1906, a maga- 
zine published quarterly by the State Histor- 
ical Department at Des Moines, contains an 
appreciative biographical memoir of the late 
Dr. C. OC. Parry, by Dr. Charles A. White. 
This memoir thus becomes a part of the state 
archives. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 


THE PRIMARY SEPTA IN RUGOSE CORALS. 


In Science, June 30, 1905, there appears 
an abstract of a paper, ‘ Early Stages of some 
Paleozoic Corals,’ read by Mr. C. E. Gordon 
before the New York Academy of Sciences. 
The abstract is mainly a criticism of my 
paper, ‘ Relationships of the Rugosa (Tetra- 
eoralla) to the living Zoanthee,’ 1902. Having 
delayed a reply until the publication of the 
complete contribution, I am now in a better 
position to estimate the value of the evidence 
upon which the author’s assertions are based. 
A full discussion, with additional evidence in 
support of my contentions, will appear later, 


*Amer. Jour. Science, February, 1906. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 608. 


but in the meantime the importance of the 
subject calls for a brief statement. 

The greater part of Gordon’s final paper is 
devoted to a demonstration that the septal 
arrangement in Lophophyllum proliferum, the 
form studied by me, can be brought into agree- 
ment with the usually accepted septal plan of 
zaphrentoid corals, a fact upon which there 
could possibly be no divergence of opinion. 
To accomplish this he reproduces most of my’ 
figures, but in an inverted manner, and then 
shows how they agree with the septal plan of 
a zaphrentoid coral as represented by a 
schematic figure taken from Kunth, 1869-70. 
In the course of this Gordon corrects a con- 
fusion of mine, corrected elsewhere, in which 
I transpose the terms cardinal and counter 
septa; apparently, however, he does not realize 
the difference in the septal plan as established 
from the external ridges and grooves and that 
from the disposition of the septa within the 
calice. 

In inverting my figures Gordon is alto- 
gether at variance with every recent worker 
on the Zoantharia. The dorso-ventral disposi- 
tion of Kunth’s schematic figure was given 
before much was known of the morphology 
and relationships of the Zoantharia. It would 
have been much easier and displayed a wider 
appreciation of recent work on the subject if 
Gordon had inverted his own figure and al- 
lowed the others to retain the orientation 
originally given them. 

The main contention of the paper centers 
in the number of primary septa (protosepta) 
in the Rugosa, whether four or six. The 
great importance for phylogenetic purposes of 
a correct determination of this demands that 
Gordon’s remarks and evidence should be sub- 
mitted to thorough analysis. In my paper 
on Lophophyllum proliferum I showed that 
this species has six primary septa, thereby 
confirming the account of Pourtalés in ‘ Deep 
Sea Corals.’ Gordon does not question this 
hexamerism, but attempts to explain it as a 
ease of acceleration; according to his idea 
four primary septa were originally present, 
but the time of appearance of a:third pair has 
been hastened so as to give six primary septa. 
No facts nor valid arguments are adduced in 


ht 


Aueust 24, 1906.] 


support of this purely hypothetical accelera- 
tion; much is made of a suggestion that ac- 
celeration is likely to occur because Lopho- 
phyllum appears late (Carboniferous) in the 
geological history of the Rugosa. The author 
then produces what he considers evidence in 
favor of a primary tetrameral plan. This 
rests entirely upon a decalcified silicified speci- 
men of Streptelasma profundum (Owen) in 
which no doubt was left in the author’s mind 
that four of the strongest septa extended 
farthest down into the base of the calice. No 
sections are given, and no other suitable ma- 
terial seems to have been at command. 

I, likewise, have in my possession numerous 
decalcified silicified specimens of S. pro- 
fundum, the septal plan of one of which is 
figured in Biol. Bull., June, 1905, p. 39. Some 
of these are beautifully perfect, and present 
all the appearances described by Gordon, but 
one would scarcely think of using mere sur- 
face views for the determination of a question 
of such fundamental importance, especially 
when more reliable means are available. Since 
the publication of my paper in 1902 I have 
made special efforts, with the assistance of 
grants from the Carnegie Institution, to se- 
eure from all parts typical species of the 
Rugosa with perfect tips suitable for the in- 
vestigation of this particular problem. Any 
one familiar with the subject knows how very 


‘rare such specimens are and the difficulties 


which surround their examination. From my 
study of these, by the method of grinding, I 
ean now state that in five different species I 
have definitely determined the presence of six 
primary septa, all equal, and situated at equal 
distances apart. These species are Streptel- 
asma rectum Hall, already figured in Biol. 
Bull., Tune, 1905, Cyathaxonia cynodon E. & 
H., Hadrophyllum glans (White), Hadrophyl- 
lum pauciradiatum E. & H., and Microcyclus 
discus Meek & Worthen. Many other species 
have been investigated, but for one reason or 
another their tips were unfavorable for show- 
ing the primary septa, yet in tracing the de- 
velopment of the later septa this so closely 
agreed with the species mentioned that there 
ean be no reasonable hesitation in assuming 


SCIENCE. 247 


that their primary septa were hexameral. In 
no instance were there only four protosepta. 

Thus, with the addition of Lophophyllum 
proliferum, the hexamerism of which Gordon 
does not dispute, there are now six known 
species of Rugosa each having six primary 
septa, while not a single undoubted instance 
of only four primary septa has been brought 
forward. Moreover, the geological distribu- 
tion of the species mentioned is so wide, from 
the earliest to the latest appearance of the 
Rugosa, that Gordon’s main argument in 
favor of acceleration fails in its application. 
Unless, therefore, fresh and weighty evidence 
to the contrary should be forthcoming we are 
reasonably justified in considering the pri- 
mary hexamerism of the Rugosa as estab- 
lished. 

The underlying significance of the primary 
hexamerism of the Rugosa is that it admits 
of the relationship of the group with other 
Anthozoa being established. In the past the- 
assumed tetramerism has led to many fanciful 
suggestions. In my original paper I showed 
conclusively that the Rugosa find their nearest 
modern relatives among the zoanthid actin- 
ians, and subsequent work, especially on the 
fossula, has but served to confirm this. Unless 
Gordon can produce more acceptable evidence ~ 
than is contained in his paper under review 
his contribution must be regarded as a retro- 
grade step in our efforts to determine the 
phylogenetic relationships of the Rugosa. 

J. EK. DuERDEN. 

RHODES UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, 

GRAHAMSTOWN, CAPE COLONY. 


THE SOURCE OF THE ENERGY OF CYCLONES. 


To tHE Epitor or Sctence: In the issue of 
Science of May 5 last you were good enough 
to publish a communication of mine suggest- 
ing the source of origin of cyclones, cold 
waves, and tornadoes. Since the appearance 
of that article there has occurred to me the 
suggestion of the derivation of the energy in- 
volved in the movement of these bodies, or I 
might better say, a mechanism of the action 
of the prevailing westerly winds in accom- 
plishing their movement, that has not hitherto 
been suggested by any one, as far as I know. 


248 


When a cyclone has once been inaugurated, 
-in whatever way this may be effected, it pre- 
sents itself as a mountain of air with a tend- 
ency to rise to a great height into the prevail- 
If established before start- 
ing on its journey, there was an inrush of air 
from every direction, and to the extent of the 
momentum of this inrush the mountain was a 
hollow one and its area a ‘low.’ At a variable 
distance above the earth’s surface the crest of 
the cyclone is struck and carried away for- 
ward by the prevailing over-current, which in 
the tropics is the returning loop of the uplifted 
trades as they journey west, after that this 
same loop becoming the antitrade as it takes 
a brief turn poleward, and finally the prevail- 
ing westerlies in the temperate regions. 

Now it is well known that the prevailing 
westerlies, or any other steady winds blowing 
across a mountain chain, draw up the air on 
the leeward side of the mountain, condensing 
its moisture into a constant cloud. There is 
also a well-known instrument now widely used 
by surgeons and painters, which consists of a 
tube opening at right angles to the mouth of 
another tube which dips into the fluid to be 
sprayed. By blowing through the first tube a 
liquid is made to rise up through the second 
or perpendicular one. In both these instances 
the horizontal current, by the momentum of 
its trajectory, has to a greater or less extent 
removed the pressure of the superincumbent 
atmosphere and permitted the surrounding 
pressure to force the air or the liquid upward. 

Now in the case of the beheading of our 
cyclonic mountain, the available energy is the 
momentum of the horizontal trajectory of the 
upper prevailing winds. Twenty-seven inches 
of mercury is probably the extreme of ‘low’ 
for any cyclone, and this shading off to zero 
at the edges, so that an average fall of one 
inch over the entire area of a cyclone is the 
highest probably ever attained if, indeed, it 
goes nearly so high. This prevailing wind is 
operative at from 2,000 feet to ten or more 
miles high, while moving at a speed of from, 
say, 50 to 250 miles an hour. But, whether it 
embraces the entire operative force or not, 
this prevailing overcurrent supplies a vast 


ing over-current. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 608.. 


amount of the energy of motion to cyclones 
and is to that extent a vera causa. Again,, 
the translatory energy, as well as the gyratory, 
may be derived from the same source. While 
the crest of the cyclonic mountain is being 
dragged away forward, the body of the cyclone 
itself is made to lean in the same direction. 
In this case air, drawn into the cyclone from 
in front, reaches its body at a given height in 
less time than a like mass drawn in from the 
rear, and this still more when the cyclone is 
in motion. The result altogether will be that 
the diameter of the base of the cyclone is 
added to more rapidly in front than in the 
rear. This of necessity results in a forward 
movement of the center of gravity; and, since 
the cyclone is rotating, it must continuously 
advance in order to make its axis correspond 
with its center of gravity. Indeed, so much 
is this the case that the axis of a cyclone is 
probably curved—advanced at the base and 
at the top while lagging in the middle. 
D. T. Surru. 


SPECIAL ARTICLES. 


RECENT DISCOVERIES OF QUATERNARY MAMMALS 
IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

SEVERAL months ago Mr. F. M. Anderson 
called my attention to a deposit of bones oc- 
curring in asphalt beds near Rosemary Sta- 
tion about nine miles west of Los Angeles. 
In a small collection of specimens kindly pre- 
sented to me by Mr. Anderson there were 
represented a number of Quaternary mam-. 
malian species which are either new to the 
fauna of the Californian region or have been 
very imperfectly known. 

Recently Mrs. Ida Hancock, the owner of ~ 
the property on which the asphalt deposits are 
located, has very kindly given to the Univer- 
sity of California permission to carry on ex- 
cavation work in these beds, and a considerable 
collection of valuable material has been ob- 
tained. 

The beds in which the bones occur extend 
over many acres. So far as I am aware the. 
bottom has not been reached in excavations 
carried to the depth of at least fifteen feet in 
quarrying the asphalt. Bones are scattered 


ONS mm 


Aucust 24, 1906.] 


through a large part of the deposit, but are 
very unevenly distributed. In some localities 


they are present in large numbers and in 


fairly defined layers. 

The asphalt has in many cases penetrated 
even the minute pores of the bone, but the 
original material of the skeleton is practically 
unchanged. 

The remains recognized up to the present 
time include the following forms: Hlephas, 
Equus, Bison, a mylodont, Smilodon, Canis 
indianensis °(?), Canis (small species), and 


camel remains. Numerous bird bones and — 


remains of insects are also found. 

In a considerable number of cases large 
parts of skeletons are found together, showing 
that the carcasses were entombed so quickly 
that there was not sufficient time for decom- 
position to permit separation of the parts. 

Of the specimens obtained up to the pres- 
ent time an extraordinarily large percentage 
represent carnivora. The number of car- 
nivores is certainly relatively larger than the 
usual percentage in a well-balanced fauna, and 
this abundance must be attributed to peculiar 
conditions under which the bones accumulated. 
Undoubtedly most of the remains are those of 
animals that have been entrapped or mired 
in the asphalt at times when it formed a de- 
posit around tar springs. The surface of the 
asphalt is very sticky in some places at the 
present time, and where cuts are opened in it 
tar may ooze out. Such pools have probably 
existed here interruptedly through a long 
period, and particularly during Quaternary 
time when the deposit was forming. Car- 
nivores are numerous because they were at- 


tracted by birds and mammals caught in the 


asphalt. Perhaps it is not entirely a coin- 
cidence that the carnivore remains are usually 
associated with those of birds or mammals, 
which would be their natural prey. The con- 
siderable number of young sabre-tooth cats 
present may indicate that the younger and 
less experienced individuals were more easily 
lured into the tar pools. 
-During the first examination of the be 
several small, pebble-like bones were obtained 


which resembled the dermal ossicles of the 


ground-sloth, Grypothertum, recently  de- 


SCIENCE. 249 


scribed by Dr. A. Smith Woodward’ 
from skin fragments obtained in a cave 
at Last Hope Inlet, Patagonia. The os- 
sicles were in association with remains of 
a large ground-sloth somewhat similar to 
Mylodon in foot structure. Realizing that 
the peculiar conditions of accumulation of- 
fered an especially favorable opportunity for 
preservation of the dermal armor of a ground- | 
sloth, during the second study of the deposits 
an attempt was made to find a specimen in 
which the armor might be recognized. Sey- 
eral hundred yards from the location of the 


' first specimen, a large scapula resembling that 


of a mylodont was found partly exposed, with 
a row of small ossicles immediately over the 
outer side. The section of the bed contain- 
ing these bones has recently been worked out, 
and the row of small bones proves to be the 
edge of a distinct layer including between 250 
and 300 individuals. They mantle over the 
outer surface of the scapula, being removed 
from it by about an inch of asphalt. 

The layer of bones as we find it has prob- 
ably been disturbed somewhat and does not 
occupy its original position exactly, but the 
fact that it remains as a distinct layer with a 
tendency toward similar orientation of the 
individual ossicles indicates that the disturb- 
ance has not been great. As the position of 
the layer in the asphalt was nearly vertical, 
the presence of the large number of ossicles 
together may not be attributed to the washing 
together of scattered elements on the floor 
of a small basin of deposition. 

The ossicles are not closely pressed together 
and are not superimposed. The individuals 
range in size from a cross-section of 6.5 x 4.5 
mm. to 21x16 mm. Excepting a few of the 
largest ones, which are nearly square, the 
greater number are rounded and rather irreg- 
ular in form. The outer side is in some cases 
more regularly modeled than the inner. The 
surface of the bones is somewhat roughened or 
pitted in some instances, but no markings are 
present which would be considered as definite 

1A. Smith Woodward with Dr. F. P. Moreno, 
Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1899, pp. 144-156, pls. 
13-15; also A. Smith Woodward, Proc. Zool. Soc. 
Lond., 1900, pp. 64-79, pls. 5-9. 


250 


sculpturing. The microscopic structure has 
not yet been examined. 

In general the form, size and arrangement 
of the ossicles are much as in the bones in the 
Grypothervum skin from Patagonia. The 
skin fragment first described by Woodward 
was thought to represent mainly the region 
of the neck and shoulder. The Californian 
specimen mantles over the outer side of the 
scapula, and is presumably not far removed 
from its original position with relation to this 
bone. The generic position of the form rep- 
resented by this specimen appears as yet some- 
what uncertain, but a satisfactory determina- 
tion of its affinities will probably be possible 
when the skeletal material available has been 
finally assembled. JoHN OC. Merriam. 


A SUGGESTION FOR INTENSIFYING THE DOPPLER 
EFFECT. 


It has never been pointed out, I believe, 
that the relation between the conjugate foci 
of a concave mirror furnishes, at least in 
theory, a means of enormously intensifying 
the Doppler effect. If we have a source of 
light a little outside the principal focus of a 
concave mirror we shall have an inverted 
image formed at a considerable distance; and 
if the source move toward or from the mirror 
the image will move in the opposite direction 
with a much greater speed. - 

Let f, and f, be any two conjugate focal dis- 
tances, and F the principal focal distance; 
then 


EN Ti 
Ae We 
Differentiate with respect to ¢; 


ae dyn Nis JE ahi 
eae ae ate 


Writing v, and v, for the speeds of the 
source and the image, we have 


that is, the speeds are proportional to the 
squares of the distances from the mirror. 

To show the theoretical possibilities of this 
formula let us suppose a source of light 


SCIENCE, 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 608. 


moving with a speed of 10° cm. per second at 
a distance of 10 em. from the mirror, whose 
focal length, of course, must be a trifle less 
than this figure; at what distance must the 
image be formed in order that its speed shall 
be 10”, one third of the speed of light? 


aS 


10? 103 
x = 316 meters, nearly, a distance obtainable 
in the laboratory with a moderate number of 
reflections. 

The chief difficulty to be overcome in any 
experiment of this nature would be the faint- 
ness of the image due to its great size. <A 
continuously moving source of light could 
be obtained either by a wheel with mirror 
teeth or with a self-luminous rim. 

Paut R. Hevt. 


CENTRAL HigH ScHOOL, PHILADELPHIA. 


THE COMPULSORY RETIREMENT OF THE 
DIRECTOR OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM 
OF NATURAL HISTORY. 

In a letter which we publish to-day Pro- 
fessor Ray Lankester, who is this year presi- 
dent of the British Association, tells the story 
of the summary termination of his director- 
ship of the Natural History Museum, some 
imperfect versions of which have obtained 
eurrency. The standing committee of the 
trustees have taken advantage of the civil 
service rule that the head of a department 
may call upon any officer in it to retire at the 
age of sixty, upon such pension as he is en- 
titled to by the general regulations. That 
rule is not usually acted upon in the absence 
of some special reason, unless the officer has 
completed such a term of service as entitles 
him to the maximum pension. Dr. Lankester 
was appointed at the age of fifty-two, so that 
when he reaches sixty next May a regulation 
intended to apply to men who have spent their 
lives in a government office decrees that his 
pension shall be £160, which the treasury of 
its goodness may raise to £300. In any coun- 
try but this it would be thought grotesque 
and monstrous that a distinguished man of 
science asked to serve the state after the age 

*From the London Times. 


tes 


AvGust 24, 1906.] 


of fifty, with his abilities fully tested and his 
scientific reputation fully established, should 
be treated on the same footing as a clerk who 
might never have done anything but copy 


documents and perhaps post a ledger. In 


this country there used to be a way of mitiga- 
ting the absurdity of the system. The treasury 
could in such eases add twenty-one years to 
the service for pension purposes, thereby en- 
abling a man joining late in life on some 
special ground to be put in a position not 
much worse than that of an undistinguished 
copyist joining early. But in recent years the 
treasury has curtailed its own powers and can 
not now add more than seven years. Were 
another Newton to-day made master of the 
mint, and were he to be dismissed or to be- 
come incapable of performing his duties five 
years aiterwards, he would receive at the 
most a pension calculated on twelve years’ 
service. That is how this nation enlists 
knowledge and ability for the carrying on of 
its affairs. But that is not by any means the 
worst it can do. A man may serve it like 
Lord Milner for a long term of years in diffi- 
cult and arduous positions, but if he is not 
technically in the civil service he may be dis- 
missed into private life at an age when other 
remunerative employment is unattainable, 
without any compensation at all. 

No explanation has been vouchsafed to Dr. 
Lankester for the cavalier treatment he has 
received. His eminence in his own scientific 
field is unquestionable, and has been abun- 
dantly recognized by those most competent to 
judge both abroad and at home. Nor is he 
one of the unpractical students who do not 
know how to handle business. On the con- 
trary, he has all the qualities required in an 
efficient administrator. We are thrown back, 
therefore, upon reasons of a more personal 
kind. He was appointed by the three prin- 
cipal trustees in whom power of appointment 
and dismissal is vested by statute. But the 
appointment was resented by some active 
members of the standing committee, which 
has taken the first opportunity to reverse it. 
It may be presumed that he has not succeeded 
in conciliating those who were opposed to his 


SCIENCE. 251 


appointment, and as he holds his own views 
rather strongly and is not too patient with 
what presents itself to him as stupidity, it is 
even possible that he has not tried very hard 
to conciliate them. In most situations in life 
it is necessary to reckon with these personal 
factors, which indeed may be raised to the 
dignity of impersonal factors in circumstances 
where harmonious cooperation among many 
becomes as important as the most commanding 
ability in one man. If the difficulty in the 
present case is of this order, it may now be 
regarded as insuperable. Dr. Lankester him- 
self would probably recognize that, whatever 
the causes, his usefulness at the museum and 
his own comfort in remaining there are alike 
at an end. But, though this may be a good — 
reason for the severance of his connection with 
the museum, it is no reason at all for turning 
him adrift at the age of sixty with a derisory 
compensation calculated upon rules intended 
for a totally different purpose. If he does not 
‘get on’ with the other people in the museum 
probably there are faults on both sides, and 
too much zeal for science may have been one 
of his. In any case failure to get on with 
somebody else is not by a very long way mis- 
conduct of the kind that forfeits a position. 
He gave up a secure position at Oxford to 
take the directorship, trusting to a general but 
not well-founded impression that the state 
may be relied upon to treat its servants with 
generosity. There are not many things open 
to a man of sixty; and there are few suitable 
to the student of biology. The museum may 
manage its affairs in its own way, but it is a 
disgrace to the nation to treat a distinguished 
man of science, entering its service in excep- 
tional circumstances, as if he were an ordinary 
clerk, merely because an absurd technicality 
places both in the same category. 


SUMMER MEETING AND COLLOQUIUM OF 
THE AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL 
SOCIETY.) 

THE thirteenth summer meeting of the so- 
ciety will be held at Yale University, New 
Haven, Conn., on Monday and Tuesday, Sep- 
temper 3 and 4. 

A colloquium will open on Wednesday, Sep- 


252 


tember 5, and close on the following Saturday 
morning. One course of five lectures will be 
given by Professor E. H. Moore, of the Uni- 
versity of Chicago, and two courses of four 
lectures each by Professor Max Mason, of 
Yale University, and Professor E. J. Wil- 
ezynski, of the University of California. Titles 
and outlines of the courses are as follows: 


On the Theory of Bilinear Functional Opera- 


tions: Professor E. H. Moors. 

In the light of the general theory of dis- 
tributive functional operations and with em- 
phasis on various analogies between algebraic 
and transcendental theories, the course is to 
consider bilinear functional operations, In par- 
ticular the theory and applications of linear 
integral equations, as recently developed by 
Volterra, Fredholm, Hilbert and others. The 
general point of view with references is to be 
found in the article on functional operations 
by Pincherle in the Encyclopedia, II A ,,. 


Selected Topics in the Theory of Boundary 
Value Problems of Differential Equations: 
Professor Max Mason, 

The course will deal with the real solutions 
of partial and ordinary linear differential 
equations of the second order. The analytical 
character of the solutions of partial differen- 
tial equations of elliptic, parabolic and hyper- 
bolic types will be discussed. Boundary value 
problems for equations of these types and for 
ordinary differential equations will be treated, 
with special reference to the applications of 
definite and indefinite integral equations and 
of Green’s functions. The relation between 
boundary value problems and corresponding 
problems in the calculus of variations will be 
considered. Special reference will be made 
to writings of Hilbert, Picard, Hadamard and 
Bernstein, and to recent Gottingen disserta- 
tions. The lectures will not assume a knowl- 
edge of the theory of boundary value problems 
or of calculus of variations. 


Projective Differential Geometry: Professor 
EK. J. WILczynskt. 
Differential geometry has, heretofore, been 
almost exclusively treated from the point of 
view of the group of motions. In the present 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 608. 


course, which is confined to plane and space 
curves, and ruled surfaces, those properties 
are investigated which depend upon the in- 
finitesimal elements of the configuration con- 
sidered but which are invariant under all 
projective transformations. The references 
will be principally to the work of Halphen 
and that of the lecturer, which has been col- 
lected in a treatise soon to be published by 
B. G. Teubner under the same title as this 
course. Some knowledge of the theory of 
linear differential equations and of the theory 
of continuous groups will be assumed. 

The morning lectures will begin at 10, the 
afternoon lectures at 2:30. Each lecture will 
occupy an hour, and consecutive lectures will 
be separated by an intermission. Two lec- 
tures will be given on each morning, Wednes- 
day to Saturday, inclusive, and on each of 
two afternoons, and one lecture will be given 
on Wednesday evening at 8. One afternoon 
will be devoted to an outing. A charge of 
three dollars will be made to those attending 
any or all of these lectures. 

JAMES PIERPONT, 
Percy F. SMITH, 
Henrich MaAscHKE, 
H. 8S. Wuirts, 

F. N. Cos, 


Committee on Summer Meeting. 


SAMUEL LEWIS PENFIELD. 


SAMUEL Lewis PENFIELD, professor of min- 
eralogy in the Sheffield Scientific School of 
Yale University, died at South Woodstock, 
Conn., on August 12, 1906, at the age of fifty 
years. He has been continuously connected 
with the Sheffield School since his graduation 
from that institution in 1877. 

Professor Penfield, as a student, made a 
specialty of analytical chemistry, and developed 
wonderful ability in that line of work. Soon 
after graduation he made many difficult 
analyses of minerals, particularly of phos- 
phates from Branchville. He studied organic 
chemistry at Strasburg University in 1880- 
81, but immediately afterwards he became in- 
structor in mineralogy at New Haven, and 
thenceforward devoted his whole attention to 


Avucust 24, 1906.] 


that branch of science. He returned to Ger- 
many in 1884 to study crystallography and 
related subjects at the University of Heidel- 
bere. 

Penfield accomplished a vast amount of 
scientific work. Being a master of both the 
chemical and physical sides of mineralogy, he 
was able to make the most thorough researches, 
and he described many new minerals and re- 
investigated many old ones. His scientific 
publications appeared chiefly in the American 
Journal of Science, and many of them were 
brought together in book form in the ‘ Studies 
from the Mineralogical and Petrographical 
Laboratories of the Sheffield Scientific School.’ 
One of his important achievements was his 
prediction of the possible existence of an un- 
known mineral of the humite series, which 
was afterwards found and described by a 
European mineralogist. 

As a teacher, Penfield was eminently suc- 
cessful. He inspired enthusiasm in his co- 
workers to a remarkable degree, and a number 
of his former pupils have become prominent 
in mineralogy. He devised many means for 
aiding the student and his laboratory became 
a model for the best methods of instruction; 
he revised and enlarged the standard work on 
Determinative Mineralogy of his teacher, pre- 
decessor and friend, Professor Brush; he wrote 
a number of pamphlets for the use of labora- 
tory students, and besides mineralogical pub- 
lications, he published important papers on 
analytical chemistry, cartography and erystal- 
drawing. 

Penfield was a member of the National 
Academy of Sciences, and was foreign mem- 
ber or correspondent of many European Scien- 
tific Societies. He received the degree of 
LL.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 
1904, 

H. L. W. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


THE University of Greifswald, on the occa- 
sion of its celebration of its four hundred and 
fiftieth anniversary, conferred the degree of 
doctor of laws on Dr. W. W. Keen, professor 
of surgery in Jefferson Medical College. 


SCIENCE. 


208 


Dr. Joun M. Cuarke, state geologist of 
New York, has been elected corresponding 
member of the Royal Academy of Sciences of 
Gottingen. 

THe French Academy of Moral and Polit- 
ical Science has elected Lord Reay a foreign 
associate member in succession to the late M. 
Olivecrona. Lord Reay has been a corre- 
sponding member of the moral science section 
of the academy since 1902. 


Dr. Sranistao CaNnnizzaRo, professor of 
chemistry at Rome and senator of Italy, has 
celebrated his eightieth birthday. 


THE second annual course of lectures given 
by the Harvey Society of New York will be 
opened on October 20, 1906, by Professor A. 
E. Wright, of London. Nine other lectures 
are to be given during the year, the lectures 
and dates being as follows: November 3, C. A. 
Herter; November 17, W. T. Porter; Decem- 
ber 1, J. G. Adami; December 15, George 
Huntington; January 12, F. G. Benedict; 
January 26, EK. B. Wilson; February 9, S. 
J. Meltzer; February 23, W. T. Councilman; 
March 9, Friedrich Miller. The officers of 
the society for the coming year are Graham 
Lusk, president; Simon Flexner, vice-presi- 
dent; F. S. Lee, treasurer; George B. Wal- 
lace, secretary, and C. A. Herter, S. J. 
Meltzer and James Ewing, council. 


THE prize of the Heidelberg Jubilee Foun- 
dation for the Encouragement of Scientific 
Research has been awarded to Dr. Friedrich 
Pockels, professor of theoretical physics, and 
to Dr. August Klages, professor of chemistry. 


THE University of Strasburg has awarded 
the income of the Engelmann foundation for 
history or geography to Dr. Kalkoff, professor 
in the Gymnasium at Breslau. 

Dr. D. T. MacDouaat, of the department 
of botanical research of the Carnegie Institu- 
tion of Washington, left New York on August 
18 to carry on some observations in the deserts 


about Tehuacan south of the city of Mexico, 


in which he will be joined by Dr. J. N. Rose, 
of the U. S. National Museum. Dr. Mac- 
Dougal expects to arrive at the Desert Labora- 
tory, Tucson, Arizona, with the experimental 


254 


material secured, in the latter part of Sep- 
tember. 

Mr. M. L. Fuuusr, in addition to the super- 
vision of the underground water work of the 
United States Geological Survey in the east- 
ern United States, will spend a portion of the 
field season in an investigation of the under- 
ground waters of the Cincinnati region and 
adjacent portions of Ohio and Indiana. <Asso- 
ciated with him will be Mr. F. G. Clapp and 
S. R. Capps. The work will include studies 
of the rock. waters and the waters of the drift, 
and will be both geological and chemical. 


Proressor H. E. Grecory, of Yale Univer- 
sity, will devote a part of the present field 
season to the completion of an investigation 
of the underground waters of Connecticut for 
the United States Geological Survey. The 
study of the waters of crystalline rocks has 
already been completed, leaving only the lime- 
stones and Triassic rocks to be examined. 
A large number of analyses will be made of 
typical waters with a view to determining 
their suitability for public supplies, for use 
in steam boilers or in industrial processes. 


Mr. WuHiTMAN Cross, geologist, of the U. S. 
Geological Survey, is making areal surveys in 
the San Juan district, Colorado. He is as- 
sisted by Messrs. Albert Johannsen and L. H. 
Woolsey. 


AN areal survey of the Riddles quadrangle, 
Oregon, is being made this summer by Mr. 
J. 8S. Diller, geologist of the U. S. Geological 
Survey, assisted by Messrs. G. F. Kay and 
James Storrs. Preparation for this season’s 
work was made last year in tracing the defi- 
nite Jurassic rocks from the southwest into 
the Riddles quadrangle, where they come 
closer together and apparently render it pos- 
sible to determine their relations. This 
quadrangle affords an opportunity to study 
the whole series of igneous rocks of the Kla- 
math Mountains, with which the mineral re- 
sources are most intimately associated. A 
general examination of the mines in the 
quadrangle will be made. 


Dr. A. T. Howarp, professor of pathology 
in the Medical School of Western Reserve 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 608. 


University, will spend next year abroad en- 
gaged in special investigations. 


Dr. C. GrazBe, professor of chemistry at 
Geneva, has retired with the title of honorary 
professor. 


A vrespatcH from Christiania, Norway, says 
that, according to private letters received 
there from Spitzbergen, Mr. Walter Wellman 
has abandoned the attempt to reach the North 
Pole by balloon this year, owing to the late- 
ness of the season. 


A Nationat Society for the Preservation 
of the Public Health will be established at a 
meeting to be held at the Hudson Theater, 
New York City, on November 15. 


TuE United States Civil Service Commis- 
sion announces examinations as follows: On 
August 29-30, to fill three vacancies in the 
position of forest assistant in the Philippine 
Service, at $1,400 per annum, and similar 
vacancies as they may occur in that service; 
on September 12, to fill vacancies in the posi- 
tion of miscellaneous computer at the Naval 
Observatory; on September 12-14, to fill a 
vacancy in the position of engineer drafts- 
man, at $1,500 to $2,000 per annum, in the 
Reclamation Service, Geological Survey; on 
September 12-13, to fill vacancies, as they 
may occur, in the position of aid in the Coast 
and Geodetic Survey, at $720 per annum 
each; on September 19, to fill a vacancy in 
the position of assistant photographer (male), 
at $480 per annum, in the Geological Survey, 
and vacancies, as they may occur, in any 
branch of the service requiring similar quali- 
fications; on September 19, to fill a vacancy 
in the position of economic botanist and my- 
cologist in the Bureau of Science at Manila, 
P. L., at $1,400 per annum, and vacancies, as 
they may occur, in the Philippine Service 
requiring similar qualifications; on Septem- 
ber 19-20, to fill vacancies in the position of 
examiner, at $1,800 per annum, and assistant 
examiner, at salaries ranging from $1,200 to 
$1,600 per annum, in the Reclamation Service 
of the Geological Survey, and similar vacan- 
cies, as they may occur; on October 1, to fill 
vacancies in the position of constructing en- 


Avueust 24, 1906.] 


gineer, in the Reclamation Service of the 
Geological Survey, at $150 to $250 a month. 
The great majority of these positions are for 
field service in the western part of the United 
States and in places remote from cities and 
ordinary lines of transportation. 


Lorp Ketvin writes as follows to the Lon- 
don Times: “In your yesterday’s issue, under 
heading ‘ British Association,’ I read ‘In the 
Mathematical and Physical Section, a discus- 
sion was opened by Professor Soddy on the 
possible transmutation of the elements. * * * 
The statement that the production of helium 
from radium has established the fact of the 
gradual evolution of one element into others 
was not seriously questioned.’ I wish to re- 
mark that an isolated experimental discovery 
by Sir William Ramsay and Professor Soddy, 
brilliantly interesting as it is and solidly in- 
structive as it is towards the theory of ra- 
dium, suggests nothing more towards any 
modification of the atomic doctrine proposed 
some 2,500 years ago by Democritus, and uni- 
versally adopted by chemists and other philos- 
ophers in the nineteenth century, than does 
Ramsay’s original discovery of helium as an 
emanation from the mineral clevite. The ob- 
vious conclusion from the two discoveries is 
that clevite and radium both contain helium. 
I can not refer, thus publicly, to discussions 
on radium in the meeting of the British Asso- 
ciation which commenced last Wednesday in 
York without protesting against the hypoth- 
esis that the heat of the sun or earth, or 
other bodies in the universe, is due to radium. 
I believe it is mainly due to gravitation; and 
I believe that the experimental results on 
which the radium hypothesis has been built 
give no foundation on which it can rest.” 


AN experimental and teaching station for 
the study of economic plants and the home 
production of medicinal and industrial vege- 
table products was opened last month near 
Landskrona in Sweden. The establishment, 
erected by the provisions of Consul Oscar 
Ekman, of Stockholm, was dedicated to the 
Swedish nation under the name Esperanza. 
Consul Ekman, now in his ninety-fourth year 
and formerly associated with the Carnegie 


SCIENCE. 


255 


industrial interests, previously donated con- 
siderable sums to the universities of Upsala 
and Goteborg, and has been active for many 
years also in the promotion of popular en- 
lightenment. In the establishment of the new 
station he was guided mainly by a desire of 
resuscitating the home culture of useful 
plants formerly quite common, as well as by 
the fact that raw materials of this class are 
now being imported into Sweden at a great 
cost. Among the problems first to be con- 
sidered are the cultivation of mint. The oil 
of peppermint never was produced on a scale 
sufficient for the demand, and Sweden’s sup- 
ply thereof is nearly all imported. The home 
production of chamomilla, a plant formerly 
cultivated about every country home; the cul- 
tivation on a large scale of caraway, pigment 
plants, textile and fiber herbs is also con- 
sidered. Two directors have been appointed. 
The botanical work is in charge of Director 
Tom von Post, of the Upsala Seed Control 
Station, who made an investigation, last year, 
of the principal European centers of pepper- 
mint culture. Mr. Hjalmar Lindstrém, a 
practical pharmacist of Landskrona, will have 
charge of the technical and industrial branches 
of the work. 


D. H. Ross, Canadian commercial agent at 
Melbourne, reports that two Australian in- 
ventors have discovered a new process for the 
continuous treatment of iron ore, and he says 
that the results they have achieved are so suc- 
cessful that the process is to be exploited 
throughout the world. It is called the Hes- 
kett-Moore process for directly converting 
iron ore into malleable iron or steel by a con- 
tinuous system, and it is claimed effects a 
saving of 25 per cent. in the manufacture. 
The ore is simply concentrated by ordinary 
methods, or if it is magnetic it is separated 
electrically until the pure oxide of iron is 
obtained. The oxide of iron is passed through 
a revolving cylinder heated by waste gases 
from subsequent operations and brought in 
that cylinder to a dull red heat. It drops 
from the cylinder to a second similar cylinder, 
and in the latter it is brought into contact 
with the deoxidizing gas, which is forced 


256 


through and brought into eontact with the 
heated ore. The heated ore is thus converted 
into a pure iron. Accompanied by and pro- 
tected by the deoxidizing gas, it is passed into 
a third chamber or melting hearth, where it 
falls into a bath of molten iron and is con- 
verted directly into steel or balled up as mal- 
leable iron. The savings claimed for the 
process are those of time, labor—the whole 
process being automatic—fuel and avoidance 
of flux. The inventors claim that they have 
discovered a direct method of producing steel 
from one operation instead of using the blast 
furnace and converter. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


THE following additions have been made to 
the faculty of Stanford University, to begin 
work with the coming academic year: 


George Hempl, of the University of Michigan, 
as senior professor in German. 

Allyn Abbott Young, of the University of Wis- 
consin, as associate professor of economics. 

Thorstein Veblen, of the University of Chicago, 
as associate professor of economics. 

William Dinsmore Briggs, of Western Reserve 
University, as assistant professor of English. 

C. A. Huston, of the University of Chicago, as 
instructor in law. 

Payson J. Treat, of Stanford University, in- 
structor in history. 

Frank E. Thompson, of the State Normal School 
of San Diego, instructor in education. 

Hubert H. Hall and L. L. Carter, both of Stan- 
ford University, instructors in civil engineering. 

Lawrence EH. Cutter, of Stanford University, in- 
structor in mechanical engineering. 

Frederick A. Manchester, of the University of 
Wisconsin, instructor in English. 

Pierre Comert, of the University of Paris, in- 
structor in French. 

Homer P. Earle, of Stanford University, in- 
structor in Spanish. 

W. O. Mendenhall, of Haverford College, in- 
structor in applied mathematics. 

Rennie W. Doane, of Stanford University, in- 
structor in entomology. 

William E. Burke and William H. Sloan, both 
_ of Stanford University, instructors in chemistry. 


Luther Burbank, of Santa-Rosa, lecturer on | 


plant evolution. 

Ephraim Douglass Adams has been promoted 
to a professorship in history and Edward 
Curtis Franklin to a professorship in organic 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 608. 


chemistry; Hans Frederik Blichfeldt to an 
associate professorship in mathematics; and 
Charles Henry Huberich to an associate pro- 
fessorship in law. Henry Suzzallo has been 
promoted to an assistant professorship in edu- 
cation; Anstruther A. Lawson to an assistant 
professorship in botany; Kenneth Livermore 
Curtis to an assistant professorship in elec- 
trical engineering; Arthur Martin Catheart 
to an assistant professorship in law; and 
Henry David Gray to an assistant professor- 
ship in English. The work of repairs of 
earthquake damages at Stanford University 
has been placed in the hands of a commission 
of the engineering faculty composed of Pro- 
fessors Charles David Marx, William F. Du- 
rand and Charles B. Wing. ‘The repairs have 
progressed so far that all necessary rooms are 
ready for the work of the coming academic 
year, which begins on August 23, 1906. 


LEMENUEL W. FaMuLENER, B.S. (Michigan, 
702), Ph.C. (Michigan, 1900), M.D. (Mich- 
igan, ’06), has been appointed assistant pro- 
fessor of pathology in Indiana University. 
Dr. Famulener was for three years Nelson 
Baker and Co. research fellow in pharmacol- 
ogy under Dr. Cushny at the University of 
Michigan, and for one year a worker with 
Dr. Mansen in the Statens Seruminstitut at 
Copenhagen, Denmark. 


Dr. Bruce Fink, of Iowa College, has been 
appointed professor of botany at Miami Uni- 
versity, Oxford, Ohio. 


James T. Roop, Ph.D., has been elected 
professor of mathematics and physics at 
Ursinus College, Collegeville, Pa. 


Mr. Diarmip No&kt Paton, superintendent 
of the laboratory of the Royal College of Phy- 
sicians, Edinburgh, has been appointed regius 
professor of physiology in the University of 
Glasgow, in place of Professor J. G. M’Ken- 
drick, resigned. 

Dr. Eucene ALsprecuT, director of the 
Senckenbergische Institut at Frankfort, has 
been called to the chair of pathology at Mar- 
burg. 

Dr. Gustav Sremmann, of Freiburg, has 
been called to a chair of geology at Halle. 


DCRENCE — 


A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 
OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 


FRIpay, Avuecust 31, 1906. 


CONTENTS. 
The American Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science :— 
HLconomics as a Science: PROFESSOR IRVING 
12g ES} 913) aN ey) eh aid Bie ee SI Kadinjsvatellevieseste aed eedong 


Section D—Mechanical Science and Engi- 
neering: PROFESSOR WM. T. MAGRUDER.... 261 


Section G—Botany: Dr. D. T. MacDoucat 268 


Scientific Books :— 
Kobold on Der Bau des Fiaxsternsystems: 
Cel COS Ca ee ee Ie PRUE CREA MO NSH Me bea! 270 


Scientific Journals and Articles............ 271 


Discussion and Correspondence :-— 
The Smithsonian Institution and the Mu- 
seum Idea: Dr. Gustavus D. HInRIicHs. 
Is not the Smithsonian an Institute of Re- 
search?; Dr. ALBERT M. REESE........... 273 


Special Articles :— 
Yellow Mice and Gametic Purity: Pro- 
FESSOR W. EH. CASTLE. Preliminary 
Description of Two New Species of the 
Genus Diceratherium Marsh, from the 
Agate Spring Fossil Quarry: O. A. PETER- 
SONG certs Mercer HAMA eU hal cney luetere a GuenatPaye aly NDA ST AL) 275 


Botanical Notes :— 
Some Recent Botanical Books; A Study 
of the Coconut Tree: PROFESSOR CHARLES 


LB cl BY OAS STON GASH CUAS LAU Aad RW Dy A a AM 283 
Disputed Vesuvian Eruptions: Dr. C. R. 

IBVATS MOAT Maha svece a ann MaMMMe Mae R Nt 0) 1 284 
Scientific Notes and News. 00... be 286 
University and Educational News.......... 288 


MSS, intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 
review should be sent to the Editor of SclENCE, Garrison-on- 
Hudson, N. Y. 


THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE 
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 
ECONOMICS AS A SCIENCE. 

THAT economic and social studies should 
be carried on with the scientific method 
and spirit is not likely to be denied by any 
one here present. And yet there are per- 
sons who would have us believe that these 
important fields of investigation are by 
nature incapable of such a_ treatment. 
Even among economic students we find 
many writers of the type of Cliffe Leslie, 
who definitely disclaim that economies is a 
science, and class it rather as a branch of 
history. There has always been more or 
less hesitation as to the place economic 
studies should occupy as between the his- 
torical and scientific poles. The tendency 
to lean toward the historical side is indi- 
cated by the fact that the American Eco- 
nomic Association has regularly met in 
conjunction with the American Historical 
Association, while the tendency toward the 
scientific side is indicated by the fact that 
this section exists as a branch of the Amer- 
ican Association for the Advancement of 
Science. 

Those who maintain that economies is 


not and never can be a true science base 


their contention on the fact that social 
phenomena are not constant, ‘like,’ they 
say, ‘the phenomena of astronomy or phys- 
ies,’ but differ widely at different times 
and under different cireumstances. They 
point out that the determination of prices 


* Address of the chairman of Section I of the 
American Association for the Advancement of Sci- 
ence, at the Ithaca meeting, July, 1906. 


258 


under modern free competition is quite 
different from their determination under 
the medieval system of custom and status; 
that the remuneration of labor depends on 
what are the historical and legal institu- 
tions with respect to slavery, labor legisla- 
tion, ete.; that the economic phenomena 
of to-day are not comparable with those of 
the times of the Greeks and Romans, nor 
are the phenomena in America comparable 
with those in Russia. 

To one who is familiar with the spirit of 
science, however, these variations, so far 
‘irom being objections, are really confirma- 

“tions of the theory that economics is a sci- 
»ence. For in all science it is fundamen- 
‘tally true that phenomena will ‘differ ac- 
cording to circumstances,’ and the office of 
“the scientist is simply and solely to find 
out under what circumstances one set of 
~phenomena will oceur, and under what cir- 
‘cumstances another set will occur. We 
would hardly claim that hydrostatics is not 
‘a Science for the reason that in a mountain 
lake water is found to be stationary and at 
a level, whereas at Niagara it is found to 
be in motion and passing from one level 
to another; that whereas the water in a 
mill-race passes in a downward direction, 
the water which we draw in our houses 
moves through the pipes upward; that 
whereas, by means of a syphon, water may 
be induced to flow out of a receptacle, it 
will, in an ordinary tub, remain inert. The 
whole science of hydrostatics has developed 
as a consequence of the persistent effort to 
unravel these puzzles, and to-day we know 
not only that under different circumstances 
water will act in different ways, but we 
can formulate what are the precise condi- 
tions under which it will act in each sepa- 
rate manner. 

In economic study we should in like 
manner apply ourselves to discover what 
conditions make the difference in the phe- 
nomena between modern and ancient or 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 609. 


eastern and western civilizations, rather 
than content ourselves with the truism that 
they do differ. Much of the field has in 
fact already been covered. It is known, 
for instance, that under conditions of free 
contract and competition, the price of an 
article will be determined by the intersec- 
tion of its supply and demand curves, and 
that, on the other hand, if the régime be 
one of monopoly, the price will be deter- 
mined on the principle of ‘what the traffic 
will bear,’ in the manner so admirably 
shown by Cournot. In these eases the re- 


‘sults are not absolute and unconditional, 


but depend on specified hypotheses. In 
this respect they are exactly similar to any 
other scientific result. The formula of 
science, as Newcomb points out, is always 
conditional—if A is true, then B is true. 
The formula of history, on the other hand, 
is unconditional—simply B is true. 

If economies is a science, its truths must 
be conditional. Thus, the incidence of a 
tax on ground rent will lower the value of 
land, provided there are no counteracting 
eauses. This does not assert that actually, 
after such a tax, the value of the land will 
fall, for in the meantime some opposing 
cause may have intervened, such as the 
discovery of an oil-well. Again, an in- 
erease of the quantity of circulating me- 
dium will raise prices proportionately, pro- 
vided the velocity of circulation and the 
volume of business transactions remain the 
same. This ‘quantity theory’ does not as- 
sert that prices do rise after every increase 
in the quantity of money, and those who 
thus interpret it are guilty of the confu- 
sion already noted between conditional and — 
unconditional truth—in other words, be- 
tween a scientific law and a historical fact. 

The confusion between historical and 
scientific truth is very common among 
economists, especially in the German his- 
torical school. While Roscher and his fol- 
lowers verbally classify economies as a SCl- 


August 31, 1906.] 


ence, they leave no place for economic the- 
ory. Curiously enough, they imagine that 
by confining themselves to historical gen- 
eralizations they are following the induct- 
ive method of Bacon. A closer study of 
Bacon’s work would have revealed to them 
that true science does not consist in the 
mere grouping of historical phenomena. 
In fact, Bacon makes a distinction between 
what he calls the popular and the inductive 
method, or what may be preferably called, 
following the example of John Rae, the 
systematic and the scientific. The two are 
commonly confused, but are entirely dis- 
tinct. ‘System’ consists in classifying 
phenomena; ‘science’ consists in discover- 
ing the laws to which they conform. Sys- 
tem explains phenomena by means of what 
is common and familiar; science explains 
them by what is simple, however recondite. 
System is exemplified in such deseriptive 
studies as grammar, descriptive geography 
and history; science is exemplified by such 
analytical studies as mathematics, physics, 
and latterly, biology. The classifier or 
system-maker is content with generaliza- 
tion of facts. These express the uswal 
order of events, for instance, that the sun 
rises once a day. They do not express the 
reason or principle. The difference be- 
tween system and science is the difference 
between a general fact and a necessary 
truth, between rules and laws. Hxceptions 
to rules do not destroy them as rules; in 
fact, we say ‘the exception proves the rule.’ 
This, however, is not true of laws. A 
‘law’ which has an exception is no law at 
all. 

Many studies which are now scientific 
had their origin in what was originally 
systematic. The predecessors of the mod- 
ern physicists classified bodies into ‘light’ 
and ‘heavy.’ Iron, they maintained, is 
heavy and therefore falls; fire is not heavy, 
and therefore rises. 
obsolete method of treating the subject 


How different is this 


SCIENCE. 259 


from our modern analytic notion of gray- 
ity, or rate of increase of velocity, by means 
of which are explained both the falling of 
iron and the rising of ‘fire.’ 

Similarly, the prototype of biology was 
‘natural history,’ and consisted chiefly in 
the mere classification of animals and 
plants into species, genera, ete. Modern 
biology has supplanted such elaborate 
classification by introducing, through Dar- 
win, the analytical ideas of heredity, varia- 
tion and selection, and in this way the de- 
seriptive study of natural history has been 
converted into the true science of biology. 

The same evolution which has been out- 
lined in physical and biological science is 
doubtless taking place in economic science. 
Yet it must be confessed that few have yet 
mastered the distinction between a general 
fact and a scientific law. When we hear 
it stated as fundamental in political econ- 
omy that skilled labor is better paid than 
unskilled, it is clear that this is merely 
a general rule and not a necessary law. 
The single fact that certain seamstresses, 
though skilled, are illpaid, is sufficient to 
disprove the statement as a necessary law, 
though it does not affect it as a general - 
fact. 

The historical school justly complains of 
the superficial character of the theories 
which have been sometimes offered. This 
objection holds, however, not against the- 
ory as such, but against false theories; and 
herein lies the virtue of Bacon’s method. 
The inductive method, by which any the- 
ory of phenomena must be checked by 
reference to actual historical fact, thus 
forms the means of distinguishing between 
truth and falsity. Rejecting false theories 
is quite different from rejecting all the- 
ories. What is needed now in political 
economy is to rid ourselves of the false 
and superficial theories, on the one hand, 
which have been constructed a priori and 
irrespective of facts; and, on the other 


260 


hand, to release ourselves from the cheap 
empiricism of the historical school, who 
interpret their task as merely one of gen- 
eralizing phenomena without analyzing 
them. In the words of the great philos- 
opher, Hume, ‘Our speculations can scarce 
ever be too fine, provided they be just.’ 
Science is one. The logic for economic 
science should be the logie for all science 
—a combination of induction and deduc- 
tion. Facts are at once the test and the 
material of science, but laws are its ulti- 
mate goal. Laws are not facts, but the 
relations between facts. Newton’s first 
law of motion, that a body tends to move 
uniformly in a straight line, is not a fact, 
nor is it a general expression of facts. 
Probably no particle in the universe has 
ever moved exactly in a straight line or 
with uniform velocity for so much as a 
single second. Yet it would be an error to 
conclude that Newton’s law is unreal and 
untrue in actual nature. The law has an 
‘if’ in it—‘if a body were acted on by no 
force, or by perfectly balanced forces, its 
motion would be uniform in both rate and 
direction.’ 
events, Newton’s law seems to the non- 
scientific mind to lose all objective truth. 
This again is an error. ‘Newton’s law is 
absolutely true to nature. The fact that 
it is conditional does not make it arbitrary. 
We are not free to replace it by the me- 
dieval opinion, viz., ‘If a body is let alone 
it will gradually spend its force and 
slacken its speed.’ This formulation, un- 
like Newton’s law, would not stand the test 
of facts. A valid law is true at all times 
and places, in the sense that should the 
particular conditions arise, the prescribed 
result would follow, but not in the sense 
that the particular conditions must needs 
ever arise. . 
When the relations between scientific 
and historical truth are more fully real- 
ized, we may expect economic studies to 


SCIENCE. 


Withdrawn thus from actual’ 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 609. 


make more rapid strides than have hitherto 
been possible. We shall recognize the two- 
fold nature of most practical economic 
problems, such as the present problems of 
trades-unions, insurance, railroad rate 
regulation and the tariff. These problems 
require first of all the study of historical 
facts, and secondly, the discovery of the 
relations to which these facts conform. 
When these two studies are complete we 
are prepared to take a third and final step, 
prediction. It is sometimes said that the 
ability to predict is the final test of science. 
But it is not a test of science only. Suc- 
cessful prediction requires two conditions: 
one is a knowledge of science—of what will 
happen under given circumstances; and the 
other, equally essential, is a knowledge of 
history—of the particular circumstances of 
the present moment, out of which the fu- 
ture, to be predicted, will grow. Failures 
of prediction are due to the lack of either 
of these two essential conditions. 

An example of a failure of prediction 
due to imperfect knowledge of facts is 
found in the ease of the closure of the 
Indian mints to silver in 1893. It was ex- 
pected that the value of the silver rupee 
would be maintained at 16 pence. But no 
account was taken of the large coined 
hoards of silver among the natives. After 
these had been put into circulation the 
price of the rupee did eventually rise to 16 
pence and has remained there ever since. 
In this case the failure of prediction at 
first was due, not to any defect in monetary 
science, but to ignorance of Indian history. 

Usually, however, failures in economic 
prediction are due to the lack of scientific 
rather than of historical knowledge. In 
the civil war, when there was a premium 
on gold, the scientific explanation of which 
was really simple, the public attributed the 
premium to the machinations of specula- 
tors. Accordingly, Congress was induced 
to close the Gold Exchange, whereupon, 


Avueusr 31, 1906.] 


to the consternation of the framers of this 
foolish prohibition, the premium on gold 
soared higher than ever. The result was a 
hasty and shamefaced repeal. 

Experience of this kind is too common 
in economic legislation. It serves as a 
warning that we should know something 
of economic science before venturing to 
tamper with economic conditions. The 
men who need this warning most of all are 
those who despise all ‘theories’ and call 
themselves ‘practical.’ It is they who 
legislate a measure one day and have to 
repeal it the next. <A truly practical man 
ean predict how a measure will work, and 
his power so to do requires not only what 
is called ‘practical’ but also what is called 
‘theoretical’ knowledge; a knowledge, in 
short, not only of history but of science. 


IRVING FISHER. 
YALE UNIVERSITY. 


SECTION D—MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND 
ENGINEERING. 


THE meetings of the section were held in 
the lecture room of Sibley College of 
Mechanical Engineering and Mechanic 
Arts, of Cornell University, on Friday and 
Saturday, June 29 and 30. They were 
followed by the fourteenth annual meeting 
of the Society for the Promotion of En- 
gineering Education, an affiliated society 
of the association. 

In the absence of the vice-president, the 
retiring vice-president, Fred W. MeNair, 
president of the Michigan College of Mines, 
acted as chairman of the section. Twenty- 
three members of the association registered 
as belonging to the section, while members 
of other sections attended some of the 
meetings. Experience gained at this meet- 
ing has shown that it is not conducive to 
the greatest attendance to have Sunday 
intervene between the meetings of the sec- 
tion and of the affiliated society. 

The first two papers were by Byron B. 


SCIENCE. 


261 


Brackett, professor of physics and elec- 
trical engineering of the Thomas S. Clark- 
son Memorial School of Technology, Pots- 
dam, N. Y. The first paper describes a 
‘Lamp Bank composed of Small Separate 
Units.’ Each unit consists of twelve in- 
candescent lamps arranged in a partially 
open box, 28 inches long and 10 inches 
Square. The boxes are open enough to 
give perfect ventilation. On one side are 
placed switches for cutting in or out the 
lamps of that particular box, and for 
changing the grouping of the lamps into 
parallel, series or combination arrange- 
ments. As many of these units as are de- 
sired may be placed one upon the other in 
tiers, and as many tiers as are needed may 
be placed side by side to form a lamp bank 
of any capacity. Each unit is constructed 
to permit convenient interconnection with 
the adjacent ones. Thus, the large bank 
may be separated into smaller ones when- 
ever desired and reassembled with the least 
possible loss of time and effort for special 
tests on large machines. 

His second paper was on an ‘ Alternating 
Current Wave-form Apparatus.’ 

To set the armature accurately for the 
Separate readings in .the ballistic method 
of tracing the E.M.F. wave of an alterna- 
tor, a double or duplicate brake apparatus 
is unusually satisfactory. Two similar 
clamp brakes with long arms are placed on 
the pulley side by side. With the arms 
held rigidly the desired readings for one 
observation are made. Then brake No. 1 
is unclamped at the pulley, the end of its 
arm released and rotated up a short dis- 
tance to a fixed stop. Brake No. 1 is now 
clamped to the pulley, brake No. 2 is un- 
clamped, the end of No. 1 turned down to 
its original position and No. 2 is clamped 
again. Thus the armature has been ro- 
tated through a small angle, that may be 
computed with great accuracy from the 
length of the arms and the distance 


262 SCIENCE. 


through which the end of the arm of No. 1 
is moved. The same method may be used 
wherever small accurate rotations of any 
shaft are desired and the same apparatus 
may be used on dynamos, engines and other 
forms of machinery. 

A report was made by Mansfield Merri- 
man, professor of civil engineering, Lehigh 
University, South Bethlehem, Pa., on ‘Con- 
stant and Probable Errors in the Estima- 
tion of Linear Distances and Vertical 
Angles, as ascertained by 1,712 Observa- 
tions on 128 Students.’ 

The observations were made by asking 
students to record their estimates of the 
length, width and thickness of a board, 
and also of the magnitude of several ver- 
tical angles. The angles were estimated in 
degrees and also by the ratio of horizontal 
to vertical projection. The following con- 
clusions were drawn: 

1. For lengths, about sixty per cent. of 
the estimates were too large, and the av- 
erage constant error was always positive. 

2. For angles, about eighty per cent. of 
the degree estimates, and about sixty per 
cent. of the ratio estimates, were too large. 

3. The estimates of vertical angles by the 
ratio method are more accurate than those 
by degrees. 

4. The probable error of a single esti- 
mate is larger than the average constant 
error. 

5. The estimates of the freshmen class 
had much larger errors than those of other 
classes. 

This interesting example of the applica- 
tion of laboratory methods to the class 
room created much interest on the part of 
the engineering teachers present. 

The next paper was read by the secre 
tary, and described and discussed the re- 
sults of ‘Some Experiments on the Fric- 
tionless Orifice’ and was by Horace Judd 
and Roy S. King, assistant professors of 
experimental engineering at Ohio State 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 609. 


University. The paper is m sequence 
with one presented by one’ of the authors 
at the St. Louis meeting, on ‘Pitot Tubes; 
with Experimental Determinations of the 
Form and Velocity of the Jets,’ and which 
was published in the Engineering News of 
March 31, 1904, page 318. 

The experiments described in the paper 
were made on five frictionless orifices, 
ranging in size from three fourths inch to 
two and one half inches in diameter. The 
term ‘frictionless orifice’ is one which has 
been commonly used in the mechanical 
laboratory at the Ohio State University 
for many years. It is the same as what 
some of the text-books call ‘an orifice in a 
thin plate,’ and indicates that there is no 
appreciable loss by friction by a stream of 
water flowing through such an orifice. So 
far as known, the term was first employed 
as early as 1873 by Professor 8. W. Robin- 
son, emeritus professor of mechanical en- 
gineering at the Ohio State University, and 
will be found on page 552 of Vol. VI. of 
the Geological Reports of Ohio, 1886, in his 
report on the ‘Measurement of Gas Wells 
and other Gas Streams and the Piping of 
Natural Gas.’ 

The facilities available consisted of a 
closed standpipe into which several pumps 
could force water. A horizontal drum 
was connected near the bottom of the 
standpipe, and in the end of the drum 
the orifice to be tested was secured; the 
coordinates of the issuing jets were meas- 
ured by the hydraulic micrometer caliper, 
described in a paper presented by Pro- 
fessor Wm. T. Magruder at the St. Louis 
meeting of the association.» The water 
was caught and measured in a calibrated 
cistern. 

The experiments were made to find: 

1Scrence, N. 8., Vol. XIX., No. 479, March 4, 
1904, p. 364. 


?ScriENcE, Vol. XIX., No. 479, March 4, 1904, 
p. 364. 


August 31, 1906.] 


1. The coefficient of discharge by direct 
measurement in a calibrated hydraulic cis- 
tern, (a) to verify existing constants, and 
(b) to find the coefficient of velocity for 
comparison with that given by the Pitot 
tube, and (c) to verify its constant. The 
results show a decrease in the coefficient of 
discharge of 2.5 per cent. with an increase 
in the diameter of the orifice from three 
fourths inch to two and one half inches. 
The average value obtained was 0.60664, 
and is about 1.8 per cent. greater than 
that givee in Merriman’s ‘Hydraulics’ 
(0.5960). Compared with that of Bovey 
(0.6000), the result obtained with the jet 
from the one inch orifice (0.6097) is 1.6 
per cent. higher. 

2. The shape of the jet in the vicinity of 
the least section as found by exploring the 
contour of the jet by the special micrometer 
caliper. It was found that the distance 
from the face of the orifice to the least 
section of the jet varied from 1.6 radii for 
the three fourths inch orifice to about one 
radius for that two and one half inches in 
diameter. Text-books on hydraulics give 
this distanee as being one radius, while 
Bazin found no ‘minimum section’ of the 
jet flowing through a large orifice and 
under low head. 

3. The diameter at least section, as found 
by the special caliper for four different 
positions, 45° apart. From the average 
diameters, the coefficients of contraction 
were computed, and they were found to 
decrease from 0.6134 for the three fourths 
inch orifice to 0.5955 for the two and one 
half inch orifice, with an average value of 
0.60674. As calculated from the average 
results for the coefficients of discharge, the 
coefficient of velocity is the quotient of the 
coefficients of discharge and contraction, or 
0.60664 divided by 0.60674 equals 0.99983. 
From this result it is thought that the term 
‘frictionless orifiee’ is justifiable. 

4. The effect of increase of static pres- 


SCIENCE. 263 


sure on least section. No appreciable in- 
crease was found in the diameter of the least 
section of the jet from a one inch orifice 
by increasing the pressure from 5 pounds 
to 100 pounds; and, for pressures as high 
as 40 pounds, only a slight merease was 
noticed for the orifices one and one half 
inches to two and one half inches in diam- 
eter. This latter was probably due in part 
to the increased roughness of the contour 
of the larger streams. 

5. The velocity in the least section was 
found by traversing the jet with a one 
fourths inch Pitot tube used in connection 
with a differential manometer. It is 
thought that the coefficient of velocity as 
determined by the Pitot tube is unity 
within a negligible fraction of 1 per cent. 
and that the velocity is uniform through- 
out the section. As calculated from the 
average values of the coefficients of dis- 
charge and contraction as determined by 
experiment, the coefficient of velocity was 
found to be 0.99983. This compares very 
well with the average value of the coeffi- 
cient of velocity, 0.99993, determined by 
means of the Pitot tube. This would seem 
to verify the statement that the Pitot con- 
stant is unity. 

The paper shows that it is the result of 
most careful and elaborate investigations. 
It also shows the inaccuracy of certain 
statements which are still being published 
in books on hydraulics concerning the vena 
contracta. While adding new facts to our 
knowledge, it gives us a method for meas- 
uring quantities of water discharged, and 
with a probable error which is known to be 
small and less than the probable error of 
observation. The paper is worthy of care- 
ful study and attention. It will probably 
be published in the Engineering News. 

The next paper on the program was on 
‘Some Aspects of the Panama Canal,’ by 
Wm. H. Burr, professor of civil engineer- 
ing, Columbia University, New York, N. 


264 


Y., and a former member of the Isthmian 
Canal Commission. As the paper has been 
published in full, and will be found on page 
71 of the issue of Science for July 20, 
1906, its contents need not be detailed here. 
Suffice it to say that the recent dread- 
ful earthquake disaster at San Francisco 
constitutes the gravest warning in human 
experience of the advisability of construct- 
ing this canal in such a way as to give it 
the greatest degree of immunity from the 
results of any convulsions of nature, and 
the still more recent earthquake shocks on 
the isthmus should be sufficient to set even 
politicians to thinking what would be at 
least one result of an earthquake to the 
gates and walls of a lock canal having 85 
feet of lift. 

In this connection it should be noted that 
while no efforts have been made to secure 
authors of papers who were in favor of 
the sea-level canal, yet all the papers which 
have been presented before this section 
in the last few years have logically given 
most excellent reasons why the canal 
should be built with the fewest possible 
locks and of the least lift. Time will de- 
cide whether the prediction is correct 
which has been made before this section 
that the high lock level canal will have to 
be rebuilt before it has been in use ten 
years. 

Henry T. Eddy, professor of engineering 
and mechanics, University of Minnesota, 
Minneapolis, Minn., presented a paper on 
‘The Theory of the Flexure of the Sym- 
metrically Loaded Plate, and the Heavy 
Horizontal Dise of Varying Thickness.’ 
Although the theory of the elastic flexure 
of the thin flat plate of uniform thickness 
has been long known to the same degree of 
approximation as that of the common the- 
ory of flexure of beams, the theory of the 
heavy horizontal dise on a vertical axis and 
of a thickness decreasing from the axis of 
the rim has, up to the present time, been 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S.. Vou. XXIV. No. 609. 


in a somewhat unsatisfactory state from 
the point of view of the engineer who 
would design dises like those employed in 
the Curtis steam turbine. The object of 
this paper is to make a contribution to this 
theory, which it is hoped will facilitate 
both the algebraic and numerical treatment 
of such units of construction. 

A paper was read and illustrated by 
Henry S. Jacoby, professor of bridge en- 
oineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. 
Y., on the ‘Applicability of Displacement 
Diagrams in the Design of the Flanges of 
Arch Ribs with Solid Webs.’ 

The usual method of finding the stresses 
in the flanges of arch ribs with solid web 
plates involves the computation of bending 
moments and axial thrusts at a number of 
sections due to dead and live loads, and 
also when there are less than three hinges, 
for changes of temperature and rib short- 
ening. The formulas for the determina- 
tion of the horizontal reactions, while com- 
paratively simple for ribs with a parabolic 
axis, are complex for a circular axis, and 
entirely impracticable for other curves 
such as three or five centered ovals. The 
method proposed is to assume the solid web 
plate to be temporarily replaced by an 
imaginary inelastic system of open web- 
bing, the panel points of each chord being 
located in the centers of gravity of the 
corresponding flange sections. It allows 
the horizontal reactions to be found by 
means of displacement diagrams which ap- - 
ply to any form of arch rib. The method 
also affords the simplest means of finding 
the deflections under any loading. 

‘Some Notes on the Teaching of the 
Cyclic Analysis of the Gas Engine’ was 
next presented by Arthur J: Wood, as- 
sistant professor of experimental engineer- 
ing, Pennsylvania State College, State Col- 
lege, Pa. 

As a basis for this study and discussion, 
the results of tests of a five-horse-power 


Aveust 31, 1906.] 


gasoline engine were presented in full. The 
distribution of heat thus obtained is com- 
pared with results obtained by an entropy- 
temperature analysis of one of the indi- 
eator diagrams in which the losses are 
shown graphically. The paper brings out 
the method for finding the temperature at. 
any point in the ecard; the heat of the mix- 
ture in the cylinder; the average value for 
the exponent of the adiabatic curves of 
expansion and of compression and values 
for different parts of these curves; the 
method of obtaining the entropy for all 
points; and a comparison of results of some 
recent tests at the Pennsylvania State Col- 
lege. 

Certain conclusions are drawn from the 
study of the subject: (1) the losses can not 
be computed accurately unless the data are 
taken more completely and with greater 
care than is usual with such tests; (2) 
about 20 per cent. of the heat of the gaso- 
line vapor is available for useful work at 
full load; (3) the common method of ob- 
taining, by test, the heat in the exhaust 
gases 1s not satisfactory; (4) the teaching 
of the entropy-temperature analysis with- 
out requiring the student to make the an- 
alysis is a pure waste of time (the average 
student in the senior class ought to master 
the whole theory in a few hours, and make 
the analysis in a few days’ time, and this 
will open to him some of the neatest appli- 
cations of thermodynamics; a complete 
analysis by a student is presented in the 
paper); (5) the value of the exponent of 
the true adiabatic curve is obtained from 
the ratio of the specific heat at constant 
pressure to the specific heat at constant 
volume, and if this curve is constructed it 
will bring out at a glance where heat is 


taken in or given out, without resorting to’ 


the entropy-temperature diagram. Brief 
reference is made to the method known as 
‘eyclie analysis,’ in which the principal re- 
sults as mean effective pressure are ob- 


SCIENCE. 


265 


tained from the heat put in, the initial tem- 
perature, the value of the specific heat at 
constant volume and the temperature after 
compression. The author has found this 
method to contain nothing attractive as a 
system for teaching, because, (1) it makes 
the student a mere machine, substituting 
in derived formulas; (2) the value of the 
heat for each cycle can not be obtained 
accurately by this method; and (3) it does 
not open up clear, well-defined lines of 
application of the principles of thermo- 
dynamics. The paper as a whole aims to 
make it clear what data must be obtained 
in order to make an entropy temperature 
analysis and how it may be made practical 
as a method of instruction and valuable in 
design. It further shows how the prin- 
ciples of thermodynamics can be made as 
clear in showing changes of heat energy as 
of mechanical energy. In all this the 
writer does not depreciate the value of the 
purely analytical methods. 

The next paper was by W. W. Churchill, 
vice-president and chief engineer of the 
Westinghouse, Church, Kerr Company of 
New York, on ‘The Preservation of Sur- 
face Condenser Tubes in Plants using Salt 
or Contaminated Water Circulation.’ The 
paper will be published in full in the Oc- 
tober issue of Power. 

Owing to electrolytic and galvanie action 
on the tubes of a surface condenser using 
water containing salt or sewage for cir- 
culation, the use of surface condensers in 
large power plants has been very largely 
abandoned as useless. Under ordinary cir- 
cumstances the water bill of such a plant 
as that described for the Long Island City 
power house of the Pennsylvania Railroad, 
containing when fully constructed fourteen 
0,000 K.W. generating sets, would be in the 
neighborhood of $100,000. An investiga- 
tion was undertaken of possible methods 
for preventing the rapid destruction of the 
condenser tubes and parts of the condenser. 


266 


The most competent opinion that could be 
obtained was that if the differences of po- 
tential due to stray ground traction or 
other currents could be adjusted to be 
within three volts or less, the difficulty 
would cease, as the trouble was all due to 
stray grounded currents from electric rail- 
ways. To that end, the stray currents 
were measured, and at times a difference 
of potential of nine volts higher than the 
harbor was discovered between the railroad 
rails in the freight yard and the river, pro- 
ducing a considerable flow of current from 
all parts of the water piping and other 
metallic substances in the vicinity of the 
power house site to the harbor. 

In order to properly study the real con- 
ditions,.a number of glass jars were pro- 
vided and various combinations of metals 
were immersed in samples of water taken 
from the river, of sea water, and of pure 
water. The action of the river water was 
much more violent than ordinary sea water. 
It was further observed that there was a 
local action going on which was galvanic, 
and that the amount of stray currents 
caused the galvanic action to be exceeding- 
ly violent, and that thin copper tubes were 
destroyed at a very rapid rate. They 
would be punctured in from four to five 
days, which would make their use fatal in 
commerci: | practise. It is thus evident 
that there was a violent action between the 
zine and c»pper of the brass tubes which 
were in contact with the electrolyte. Even 
when unconnected, or electrically sepa- 
rated, p'ates of brass were placed in this 
electrolyte, any projections were promptly 
destroyed. But if an electric battery hav- 
ing a pressure exceeding that of the couple 
in the East River water was caused to act 
to produce a counter current, and having 
a pressure exceeding that of the galvanic 
couple, the capacity of this electrolyte to 
drive off atoms of the mechanically com- 
bined metals of the alloys used was over- 


SCIENCE. 


' with his theory and statements. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 609. 


come and corrosion was arrested. To do 
this it was planned in this case, where this 
couple is about 0.4 of a volt, to put a 
counter pressure of 0.6 of a volt on the 
anode. In order to insulate the condenser 
as much as possible from stray currents 
from the railway, the joints in the piping 
and the ground eontacts were insulated, 
and even the large water connections were 
lined with glass melted on to the surface. 
To furnish the desired electromotive force 
a three-K.W. motor-generator was installed 
and provided with switchboard apparatus 
and appliances, together with ammeters 
and voltmeters, and a connection to the 
outlying anode in the condensing supply 
intake at its harbor end. This led to con- 
siderable discussion as to the methods and 
reasons why the corrosion was prevented. 
Reference was made to Faraday’s laws, 
and to the results of the experiments of 
Helmholtz and Clausius. The best expla- 
nation is given in Professor Oliver J. 
Lodge’s ‘Modern Views of Electricity.’ All 
the apparatus was designed in accordance 
Its opera- 
tion has extended over a period of fourteen 
months, and with the exception of about 
ten tubes which have become pitted, the 
results have been satisfactory. When the 
condenser was planned, the condenser man- 
ufacturer was told to slope the tubes down 
one inch in the direction of flow; but when 
they performed the act, they forgot that 
the middle inclination, if parallel to the 
first and third passes, would then be up- 
hill for the circulating water, and that 
when the condenser was shut down all the 
water would drain out of this middle sec- 
tion except that in the bottom tubes. These 
bottom tubes, it has been found, have be- 
come somewhat corroded, although not seri- 
ously. 

The cause for this result having now 
been found, its prevention has been effect- 
ed by perforating the diaphragm in the 


Avueust 31, 1906.] 


condenser head: to permit prompt drainage 
of these tubes when the condenser is taken 
out of active operation. Considerable dif- 
ficulty has been encountered in getting the 
system operated properly at the voltage 
suitable for the prevention of galvanic 
action in the hands of the regular opera- 
tors, as they persisted for a long period in 
reading amperes instead of volts in adjust- 
ing the currents, thus not providing except 
by accident for the requirements. The 
efficiency of the apparatus amply justifies 
the expense of its installation, while its 
operation is not expensive and the plant 
here described will now be followed by 
other protecting plants of the same char- 
acter. 

This paper forms a most excellent illus- 
tration of the application of theoretical 
physies to the solution of a concrete prob- 
lem in commercial engineering. The sa- 
ving of $100,000 a year in water rates at 
the expenditure of $250, or even more, per 
year, in a Scientific preventive should be a 
sufficient answer to the commercial man 
who asks ‘Does science pay?’ 

The paper on ‘‘The Justifieation of the 
Use of the Expression ‘Engineering Mathe- 
matics,’ ’’ by Arthur E. Haynes, professor 
of engineering mathematics, University of 
Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn., describes 
the conditions as they exist in a large uni- 
versity of the central west wherein mathe- 
maties is taught to students pursuing all 
kinds and classes of courses. The paper 
will be published in full in the Proceedings 
of the Society for the Promotion of Engi- 
neering Education. 

The last paper, and in some respects one 
of the most interesting and valuable papers 
presented before Section D, was by J. J. 
Clark, manager of the text-book depart- 
ment of the International Correspondence 
Schools, Scranton, Pa., on ‘The Corre- 
spondence School: Its Relation to Tech- 
nical Education, and Some of Its Results.’ 


SCIENCE. 


267 


The paper will be published in full in the 
Proceedings of the Society for the Promo- 
tion of Engineering Education and will 
doubtless be abstracted by the technical 
press. 

When Professor Edgar Marburg read a 
paper® in 1899 on ‘The Correspondence 
School in Technical Education’ there were 
about 80,000 students enrolled in the In- 
ternational Correspondence Schools. In 
the following year this number had in- 
ereased to 181,000. Owing to a number of 
circumstances, it was impossible at that 
time to furnish reliable figures in regard 
to the work being accomplished. Hence 
the reports which were made were both un- 
satisfactory and unjust to the correspond- 
ence school. Since December 31, 1899, 
the school has grown at a rate of more 
than 100,000 per annum,.the total number 
enrolled on June 27, 1906, was 902,906. 
After relating something of the history of 
the growth of the schools and their meth- 
ods of securing students, the author de- 
seribes their system of education as being 
based on ideas that are almost the direct 
opposite to those practised by the regular 
schools and colleges. The regular tech- 
nical school or college aims to educate a 
man broadly; the aim of the correspon- 
dence schools of the country is to educate 
him along some one particular line, and to 
make each course fit the particular needs 
of the student who takes it. Hence, with 
a few exceptions, almost every one of the 
courses is a Special course. 

The author then describes other methods 
of conducting correspondence schools by 
the use of the regular text-books and corre- 
spondence concerning the difficulties en- 
countered by the student. The author 
states that such schools have always failed 
or made very little progress, ‘for the rea- 
son that the ordinary text-book is not 


* Proceedings of the Society for the Promotion 


of Engineering Education, Vol. VII., p. 80. 


268 | SCIENCE. 


adapted to the use of the person studying 
by himself.’ Another method is that of 
the University of Chicago, where students 
may take part of their regular college 
course at home. He can not, however, get 
his degree without taking the balance in 
residence. This plan offers few advan- 
tages over the regular college course. The 
only requirement necessary to become a 
student of the International Corespondence 
School is the ability to read the English 
language and to write it sufficiently well 
to be understood, or to possess the services 
of some one capable and willing to trans- 
late from the text-books and write out the 
dictation in English of the foreign-speak- 
ing student who is unable to use the Eng- 
lish language. 

The text-books differ, even on the same 
subject for the courses for which they are 
to be used; not only on the method of 
treatment, but principally in the examples 
given and the illustrations cited. 

The author gives a number of reasons 
why students do not complete their courses, 
and also mentions cases of students who 
admit deriving much benefit from the 
course but who have never submitted an 
examination paper for correction. Their 
instruction has been obtained solely from 
the bound volumes which were furnished 
them when they enrolled. About 60 per 
cent. of the students send in one or more 
pieces of work. About two thirds of the 
students pay in full for their courses. 
While the present enrollment is a little over 
900,000, the actual number of students is 
probably 60 per cent of this, or 540,000. 
During the year ending May 31, 1906, the 
total number of pieces of work received 
from students was 716,952. About one 
sixth of the number of active students have 
completed about one third or more of their 
course as shown by the records. The num- 
ber of students who have entirely com- 
pleted their courses, passed their final ex- 


[N. 8S. Vou. XXIV. No. 609. 


aminations and been awarded a certificate 
or diploma was 12,143 on June 27, or about 
2.6 per cent. of the total number of active 
students. Between February 7 and April 
21 the number of diplomas issued averaged 
240 per month. The average for next year 
is estimated as high as 300 per month, or 
2,700 diplomas for the year from this one 
correspondence school. As this number is 
about the same as the number of engineer- 
ing degrees conferred per annum by all 
the technical colleges of the country, the 
amount of work that this represents, and 
the amount of education which is being 
obtained can be somewhat appreciated. 
The social sides of the meeting were very 
well cared for by the committees of Cornell 
University, and have been described in the 
report of the general secretary. <A special 
excursion was tendered to the section by 
the committee on Saturday afternoon in 
the form of a steamboat ride on the steamer 
Iroquois, down the lake, and which in- 
cluded a visit to the Remington Salt Works 
near Ithaca. Here steam is generated and 
used in steam engines for the generation 


of electric power, and the exhaust steam is 


used in the vacuum pans of the salt works. 
A feature of the meeting which appealed 
to every one was the delightful entertain- 
ment accorded to the members in the houses 
of the fraternities. Altogether the meeting 
was most enjoyable and profitable, and 
both the section and the Society for the 
Promotion of Engineering Education de- 
sire to extend their special thanks to the 
trustees, the faculty and to the fraternities 
who opened their houses at Cornell Uni- 
versity. Wm. T. Macruper, 


Secretary. 
OnIO STATE UNIVERSITY. 


SECTION G—BOTANY. 
In accordance with arrangements pre- 
viously made the section met on June 29 
for the transaction of business and the dis- 


ee ena 


Aveust 31, 1906.] 


cussion of the future relations of the sec- 
tion to the Botanical Society of America. 
Professor George F. Atkinson was elected 
secretary pro tempore in the absence of 
Professor F. BE. Lloyd. 

The principal feature of the meetings on 
the following days were the splendid excur- 
sions which had been arranged by the local 
committee. Adequate transportation, well- 
appointed lunches, and the presence of the 
botanists of the botanical department of 
Cornell University, who were familiar with 
the flora, made these outings a very profit- 
able feature, and called out an attendance 
as large as that customarily seen at tech- 
nical sessions. 

On Saturday, June 30, a party of twenty- 
three visited the atoll moor near Chicago, 
eighteen miles from Ithaca. For a distance 
of twelve or fifteen miles on the route the 
glacial ‘dumps’ or terminal moraines were 
visible to the party, showing in many cases 
the ‘kettles’ or ‘pot holes’ or ‘cat holes,’ 
as they are variously termed, many of 
which support characteristic moor vegeta- 
tion. The atoll moor which was first visit- 
ed was the site of a former large glacial 
pond which is now nearly filled by the 
growth of vegetation, there being a deep 
central small pond and an outer moat con- 
taining water at the shore of the original 
pond. 

After lunch on the west bank of the moor 
Professor’ Atkinson gave a brief talk de- 
seribing the topography of the moor and 
outhning the different theories which have 
been suggested in explanation of the pe- 
culiar topography which has been formed 
by the vegetation filling in. Dr. Wiegand 
called attention to the principal species of 
plants and plant formations, pointing out 
the work of each in moor formation. 

The party then explored the vegetation 
of the border along one side, which is made 
up of grasses, sedges and herbs. Here a 


SCIENCE. 


269 


large number of Uredinee were found 
among which were five or six hetercecious 
species with the xcidial stage and the uredo 
stage growing on adjacent hosts, as pointed 
out by Dr. Arthur. The Cassandra forma- 
tion, which covers the larger part of the 
moor inside of the moat, was then explored. 
In reaching this it was necessary to cross 
the water in the outer moat and also a nar- 
row elevated ridge just inside of this, which 
for a great distance is covered by Spirwa 
salicefolia. Among the Cassandra were 
quantities of Sphagnum, and many other 
plants lesser in number, as Andromeda 
polifolia, Vaccinium macrocarpon (eran- 
berry), ete. 

From this moor the party was led to one 
of the smaller and deep kettles, which con- 
tains at this season but little water. The 
zonal formation of the vegetation is also 
characteristic here: the center is a sedge 
and grass formation, the border an I[soetes 
formation, which at this time was partly 
submerged and partly on dry land. Be- 
tween this and the central grass formation 
were partially submerged aquatic plants. 

The party next drove to Malloryville 
moor. On one of the banks of this moor is 
a bed of Pterts aquilina (brake) which 
every year presents numerous cases of 
apospory, though the season was a little 
early for good examples. This moor is a 
high moor. The center is occupied with 
Andromeda polifolia and scattering Cas- 
sandra, with a deep bed of sphagnum. 
Pitcher plants, orchids, ete., were observed. 
Upon one side (south) the Andromeda is 
each year attacked by a parasitic fungus, 
Exobasidium, which causes a regular hyper- 
trophy of the leaves. The affected shoots 
are colored a bright red, and the leaves 
instead of being thick, narrow and with 
inrolled edges, are thinner, broadly ellip- 
tical and flat, taking on exactly the shape 
of the Cassandra leaves, so that but for the 


270 


color it would suggest a ‘bud shoot’ of a 
Cassandra from an Andromeda. The ap- 
pearance of two generic types in the 
branches of one shoot is very striking. 

On Monday, July 2, a party of thirty- 
four drove to Enfield Gorge, alighting at 
the foot of the gorge, while the carriages 
were taken to the head of the gorge, a little 
more than two miles distant. The numer- 
ous successive falls and cascades were ob- 
served, also the geological formations, but 
especially the vegetatioaw. There were nu- 
merous liverworts in the wet rock walls. 
In one place Pretssia and Conocephalus are 
abundant and are usually brought into 
zonal formation by the different moisture 
conditions which vary according to the sur- 
face contour of the perpendicular rock 
wall. At a short distance Pellia usually 
grows where there is a greater quantity of 
water dripping down the rock. This year 
there is more moisture than usual. The 
dripping water is so abundant that it is 
killing out the Preissia and Conocephalus 
in certain spots and the Pellia is coming in 
and overgrowing them. These features 
were very easily demonstrated. Higher up 
on the clay bank at this place Blasia is 
abundant, and on the flat rocks below Mar- 
chantia was found. 

Near the upper end of the gorge was an 
abundance of the fern, Pellea gracilis, on 
the moist rocks. The vegetation of the 
small alluvial plains here and there was 
rich in forest and shade plants which af- 
forded an excellent opportunity for obser- 
vation of ‘mosaics’ and various ecological 
features. 

The interest shown in a meeting in which 
the out-of-door features occupied so promi- 
nent a place suggests the desirability of 
their annual repetition, although it is by 
no means to be taken for granted that field 
excursions might always be organized under 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 609. 


such favorable circumstances as those of- 

fered by Ithaca and the Cornell botanists. 
D. -T. MacDoueat, 
Chairman Section G. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


Der Baw des Fizxsternsystems mit besonderer 


Beruecksichtigung der photometrischen Re- 

sultate. Von Dr. HERMANN Kopotp. Fried- 

rich Vieweg und Sohn. 1906. M. 6.50. 

This volume is No. 11 of a series, ‘ Die 
Wissenschaft,’ whose declared purpose is to 
place before the public, from time to time, a 
digest of the progress that has been made in 
definite departments of scientific research. 
Designed alike for the instruction of the gen- 
eral reader and for-the orientation of the pro- 
fessional student in his own field, Dr. Kobold’s 
work must be regarded as upon the whole an 
eminently satisfactory achievement. It is, 
indeed, probable that competent critics will 
dissent vigorously from some of his conclu- 
sions and will regard as far from final his 
judgment upon much of the conflicting evi- 
dence marshaled in the text. But with all 
due reserve in these respects the book possesses 
great merit both as a compilation of data rela- 
tive to the structure of the stellar system and 
as a summary of current theorizing upon that 
data. 

In some twoscore pages there is passed in 
brief review the methods of determining such 
fundamental data as the position, brightness 
and color of individual stars, stellar spectra, 
parallaxes, proper motions and the apparent 
distribution of stars upon the sky. Then 
follows the backbone of the work, a hundred 
pages devoted to a critical consideration of 
the present state of knowledge along these 
several lines, with particular stress upon prob- 
lems of stellar motion. The author here de- 
fends the thesis, supposed to be original with 
him, although recently brought into promi- 
nence by Kapteyn, that the stellar motions 
can no longer be regarded as lawless in their 
arrangement, directed in equal measure to- 
ward all parts of the celestial compass. Rather 
must we consider them as having a definite 
relation to the Milky Way, the exact nature 


Aveust 31, 1906.] 


of that relation being a large problem for 
future study, while as an immediate conse- 
quence of the altered concept we have doubt 
cast upon the supposed determinations of the 
sun’s motion in space. At this point, as in 
most discussions of the kind, we miss a frank 
recognition of the relativity of all motion, 
and its corollary that the direction and ve- 
locity of the motion to be imputed to the sun 
is purely a matter of convention and defini- 
tion, depending upon the choice of an origin 
to which that motion shall be referred. The 
author appears to regard the solar motion as 
something fixed in the order of nature, which 
should be found always the same, barring acci- 
dental errors, from any considerable group of 
stars used for its determination. 

To the non-professional reader, doubtless, 
the most interesting part of the work will be 
found in the third section, devoted to the con- 
struction of the heavens. Without ignoring 
the work of others, Easton, Kapteyn, Schia- 
parelli, Stratonoff, ete., Seeliger’s discussion 
of the distribution of the Durchmusterung 
stars here plays the principal role and is de 
seribed by the author as ‘a complete solution 
of the problem’; which ‘determines the uni- 
verse as revealed to us in the enumeration of 
the stars,’ ete. The character of the finite 
and definitely limited universe thus revealed 
is described as follows: 


Throughout a finite space of spherical form 
there are distributed bodies of widely varying 
mass and widely varying physical condition. 
Amidst gaseous nebule of extraordinarily low 
temperature are placed other bodies strongly con- 
densed and glowing hot. The arrangement of 
these individual masses is not one of haphazard 
uniformity, but, as swarms, they are clustered 
about individual centers which, in loose relation 
one to another, are arranged in the shape of a 
great spiral with multiple arms. In the re- 
moter parts of this spiral the hotter and gaseous 
stars predominate, while near the center of the 
spiral is the sun and its more closely related 
stars, which for the most part resemble it in phys- 
ical condition. 
the motion of the sun along the fundamental plane 
of the spiral, 7. €., the milky way. There are also 
numerous other groups of stars possessing a 
common motion in the plane of the galaxy. 


SCIENCE. 


Many of these latter share in 


271 


The doctrine of a demonstrably limited 
stellar system thus presented is avowedly based 
upon statistics of the distribution of stars 
brighter than the tenth magnitude, and as 
these stars constitute, both in number and 
extent, only a small fraction of the visible 
universe one is tempted to question the sound- 
ness of that logic which extends to the larger 
aggregate, conclusions of an empirical char- 
acter derived from a minute fraction of the 
whole. Indeed, conservatism in this respect 
seems the more required, since, as is conceded 
by Kobold, the apparent distribution of the 
fainter stars is quite unlike that of those 
from which his conclusions are drawn. Even 
for these brighter stars it is probable that the 
supposed indication of a limited and finite 
system is fallacious and arises from the tacit 
assumption that the fainter stars appear faint 
only by reason of their greater distance from 
the earth. It has been recently shown that 
such is not the case, the stars of the fainter 
magnitudes being intrinsically less luminous 
than those of the brighter classes. | 

At page 215 of the text Dr. Kobold falls 
into serious error in comparing Kapteyn’s 
empirical formula for the probable parallax 
of stars of determined proper motion and 
brightness with Comstock’s determination 
0.0045’", as the mean parallax of a consider- 
able group of stars of the average magnitude 
10.5. According to Kobold, ‘Kapteyn’s Formel 
nur 0.0016” verlangt, for this group of stars, 
while in fact the formula furnishes for this 
case 0.0042’, in excellent agreement with the 
observed value. It is only justice to Dr. Ko- 
bold to state that no other similar case has 
come within the reviewer’s note. 


Gi Cyc: 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 


The American Naturalist for August con- 
tains articles on ‘Volant Adaptations in 
Vertebrates, by R. S. Lull; ‘External Mor- 
phology of the Dugong,’ by H. Dexler and 
L. Freund, and ‘ Reproduction of Metridium 
marginatum by Fragmental Fission,’ by M. L. 
Hammatt. Dr. Lull notes that volant evolu- 
tion has occurred seventeen times, seven of 
these instances being for true flight. Dr. 


PAPO) 


Lull will pardon us for saying that there 
seems no good reason to suppose that the 
enormous occipital crest of Pteranodon was 
needed to keep the animal head to wind; 
were this the case it would have inevitably 
tripped the creature up when it wore ship. 
There is a slip of the pen in the statement 
that in birds ‘ The scapule and coracoids fuse 
with each other firmly,’ since actual fusion 
only takes place in birds that do not fly, and 
not in all of these. The specific name of the 
flying frog is reinwardti not reinharti. 

We will also put a note to the quotation 
from Professor Moseley on page 539 and say 
that the dropping of the wings by the alba- 
tross is very likely for steering or balancing 
and that often one wing only, or the tip of 
one wing is dropped. 

The authors of the article on the dugong 
note the lack of good figures of this animal, 
but fail to entirely remedy this defect, as the 
accompanying figures are few and not very 
good. 


The Museums Journal of Great Britain for 
July contains the address of the president of 
the Museums Association, Dr. W. E. Hoyle, 
given at the Bristol meeting. This was de- 
voted to ‘The Education of a Curator,’ is 
both instructive and interesting, and should be 
widely read. First among the qualifications 
of a curator Dr. Hoyle places ‘ general cul- 
ture, tact and courtesy; an ability to suffer 
fools gladly.’ Evidently the experience of Dr. 
Hoyle has been similar to that of other cura- 
tors and he has our sympathy. It is inter- 
esting to note the value accorded to an ac- 
quaintance with the practical side of museum 
work, such as planning cases, structure of 
locks, cataloguing, taxidermy and the prepara- 
tion of skeletons, since Dr. Hoyle has been so 
successful as a museum administrator that he 
is qualified to ‘talk by the book.’ Reference 
is made to the small salaries of museum 
officers, and in this respect matters are prob- 
ably better in the United States than in Great 
Britain. 


Bird Lore for July-August has articles on 
‘A Kingbird Family,’ ‘My Experience With 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 609. 


a Blue-headed Vireo,’ ‘A Bit of Robin His- 
tory’ and ‘The Yellow-breasted Chat.’ W. 
W. Cooke contributes the seventeenth paper 
on ‘ The Migration of Warblers’ and in ‘ The 
Audubon Societies’ is given a summary of 
the laws for the protection of birds, or for the 
abolition of proper protection, likely to come 
up at the next legislative session in various 
states. 

The Educational Leaflet, No. 21, is devoted 
to the scarlet tanager. 


The Zoological Society Bulletin for July 
is termed the Reptile Number, being mainly 
devoted to a consideration of the more im- 
portant reptiles now on exhibition. Under 
‘Methods of Exhibiting Reptiles’ it is stated 
that many classes visit the park and that every- 
thing possible is done to assist them in obtain- 
ing correct information, children being taught 
that most snakes are harmless and encouraged 
to handle certain species. African reptiles 
are unusually well represented in the society’s 
collections. There is a .good illustration of 
the young two-horned African rhinoceros re- 
cently received, this being the first brought 
to this country in the last eight years. 


The American Museum Journal for July 
has for its more important articles a detailed 
account of ‘ The Willamette Meteorite,’ by E. 
O. Hovey, a notice of the commencement of 
work on the new west wing, and the conclu- 
ding part of Mr. Chapman’s ‘ List of Birds 
found within Fifty Miles of the American 
Museum of Natural History, New York City.’ 
This is illustrated and accompanied by a list 
of the principal papers relating to the birds 
of the vicinity of New York City. The two 
parts are published together as Guide Leaf- 
let No. 22. 

The collection of woods has been embel- 
lished by the addition of copies of the leaves 
and flowers of the magnolias, the exhibit il- 
lustrating the life of the Plains Indians has 
been installed and a very perfect example of 
the jaws and head armature of the giant ex- 
tinct fish Dinichthys placed on exhibition. 
There are many interesting: notes on other 
work of the museum. 


Aueust 31, 1906.] 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION AND THE 
MUSEUM IDEA. 


Tue discussion opened by David Fairchild 
and continued by David D. Mottier,’ urging 
the divorce of the museum idea from the 
Smithsonian Institution, appears to me a 
hopeful sign, indicating an awakening of the 
scientific public to the underlying deeper 
question: Has the Smithsonian Institution 
been managed in accordance with the will of 
Smithson or has this country proved faithless 
to the trust freely accepted ? 

For almost half a century I have taken note 
of the Smithsonian Institution. I knew 
Joseph Henry personally quite well and in 
many ways assisted and was helped. I know 
his ‘ History of the Beginnings of the Insti- 
tution,’ which is also quite well known abroad, 
having been republished extensively in Eu- 
rope; for example, Cosmos, Ile Series, T. 
II., Paris, 1866, pp. 723-760. The ‘museum 
idea’ is fully considered therein and every- 
thing local or even national is shown to be in 
conflict with the intention of Smithson. 

Under the successors of Joseph Henry, the 
institution has gradually ceased to conform 
to the founder’s intentions. Congress has 
been called upon to furnish money—and our 


Billion Dollar Congress has responded most 


A national museum has been de- 
veloped, a new four-million-dollar building is 
now going up for the same; a zoological gar- 
den and an astrophysical observatory have 
been established; finally, costly experiments 
on flying machines haye been provided for by 
Congress, all under the management of the 
secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, who 
is not an officer of the nation, but elected as 
executive officer of the Smithson Trust and 
paid exclusively from the Smithson fund. 

It is not necessary to consider the qualifica- 
tions of the successors to Joseph Henry. But 
it can not be denied that they were first of all 
specialists, the one in fishes, the other in stars. 
Thus they were not naturally predisposed for 
the broad object of the institution: the in- 
crease and diffusion of knowledge among men. 

1 Science, June 8 and July 27. 


liberally. 


SCIENCE. 


273 


Furthermore, each of the new national insti- 
tutions established requires the full time and 
energy of a first-class man; this is the experi- 
ence of other countries, where such national 
scientific institutions have long preceded and 
much excel ours. It can, therefore, not be 
questioned: both parties, the nation and the 
Smithsonian, have lost heavily by the attempt 
to administrate and plan our national insti- 
tutions at the cost of the Smithsonian Fund. 

The costly national institutions have not 
given the nation such a return in results as 
the outlay entitles us to expect. The putting 
of all the work of many able men on the 
shoulders of the one secretary of the Smith- 
sonian Institution has necessarily crippled the 
national institutions, while it has equally 
necessarily made it impossible for that officer 
to give thought or time to the foundation of 
Smithson from the funds of which he drew 
his salary and to which he, therefore, owes in 
duty both all his time and his entire energy. 
That both the Smithsonian and the national 
institutions have thus been crippled can not 
be denied; specially glaring instances have 
come to my personal knowledge and have been 
referred to in some of my publications. 

In brief, the following are the main facts 
of the condition that actually confronts us: 

1. Congress appropriates millions of dollars 
for certain national scientific institutions, lo- 
cated at Washington, but depends for their 
planning and administration on the time and 
ability of one single man who is not in any 
sense a national officer nor receiving salary 
from the national funds; this one man serves 
as well as one man can do the work really re- 
quiring a number of men, each one a special- 
ist in the line represented by each one of 
these different national institutions. 

2. Congress has accepted Smithson’s trust 
and funds, and through a board of regents 
manages the institution of Smithson. This 
board elects a secretary as executive officer 
and pays him a salary out of the Smithson 
Fund. His work necessarily demands the 
full time and all the power of a most able 
man of the broadest possible education and 
the highest mental endowment; for Smithson 
demanded his institution to work ‘for the in- 


274 


crease and diffusion of knowledge among 


men.’ . 

The British government refused to accept 
this trust from the Englishman Smithson, 
deeming the condition too broad and too difi- 
cult to comply with. The Congress of the 
United States thereafter was made the same 
offer by Smithson on the same conditions and 
accepted this trust on these conditions from 
Smithson while he was alive; this trust we 
are in honor bound to meet in every particu- 
lar, now that Smithson is dead. 

Are we faithful to this trust when we pay 
the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 
out of the Smithson Fund—and then compel 
him to administrate our own large national 
institutions and thereby force him to neglect 
the Smithsonian Institution proper? To what 
extent this has been done is likely soon to 
become known throughout the scientific world 
in connection with questions that have thus 
far been suppressed here at home, but will 
come out by the enforcement of a recent act 
of Congress. 

It seems to me that it is not merely a ques- 
tion of ‘ divorcing the museum idea’ from the 
Smithsonian Institution, but to put a stop to 
the robbing of the Smithson Fund and to the 
nullification of the Smithson will. We cer- 
tainly should administer our own national 
museums, zoological gardens, astrophysical 
observatories and flying machines, all paid 
for from national funds, granted by Congress; 
we should select the best man for each one of 
these duties and pay him from our own 
United States funds for his work. To take 
the pay for this our work in any manner or 
form from the Smithson Fund is to rob the 
grave of Smithson. It is a national disgrace 
that should cease the instant it is realized to 
exist. 

But we should not only cease to rob the 
grave of Smithson; we should also again make 
an effort to comply with his conditions and 
to realize, in his name, so far as it be possible, 
his ideal: to increase and diffuse knowledge 
among men throughout the world. 

Let us at least try to do that as well and as 
faithfully as it was done under the adminis- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 609. 


tration of the first secretary of the Smith- 
sonian Institution, Joseph Henry. 
Gustavus D. Hivyricus. 
4106 SHENANDOAH AVENUE, 
St. Louts, Mo., 
August 17, 1906. 


IS NOT THE SMITHSONIAN AN INSTITUTE OF 
RESEARCH ¢ 


To THE Epitor or Science: In your issues 
of June 8 and July 27 I note communications 
from David Fairchild and David M. Mottier 
in regard to certain changes they would like 
to see made in the work of the Smithsonian 
Institution. . 

I wish to take exception to one or two state- 
ments made by these gentlemen, though I 
entirely agree with some of their suggestions. 

In the first place, both articles amply that 
the Smithsonian Institution is not now a 
place where important research is being done. 
Surely if one will but glance over the last 
‘Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institu- 
tion’ and the last volume of the ‘ Proceedings 
of the National Museum,’ some sixteen hun- 
dred pages altogether, he will be forced to the 
conclusion that research is being done at the 
Smithsonian Institution. Note also some of 
the important monographs that have appeared 
under the auspices of the Smithsonian, Dr. 
True’s recent work on the whales, for example. 
As is pointed out by the assistant secretary, 
the time of the regular staff is largely taken 
up with administrative duties, but, in spite 
of this fact, a very considerable amount of 
research is accomplished by these men. Be- 
sides the investigations carried on by the 
regular staff of the institution a large amount 
of research is done under the auspices of the 
Smithsonian through grants of money, the 
loan of material from the museum, and in 
other ways. 

It seems to me that the Smithsonian is 
already the ‘ Nucleus of a great national * * * 
institute of research.” That with sufficient 
funds much more might be accomplished goes 
without saying; certainly it would be well to 
have a permanent corps of investigators who 
should not be hampered with routine admin- 
istrative duties, and also tables where college 


Avucust 31, 1906.] 


men could come for a time to carry on their 
investigations, though how a professor could 
leave his college duties for a ‘term of two 
years’ is not evident to me. 

But why give up the museum feature of the 
Smithsonian? Certainly the United States 
should not be without a national museum. 
And if the museum were given up, what would 
be done with the great collections already 
there, and with the magnificent building now 
under construction? Used simply as a re- 
search laboratory this building would accom- 
modate all the investigators in the entire 
country. With such a start as has now been 
made it would seem a great pity to discon- 
tinue one of the most popular and instructive 
attractions of the national capital, and to 
distribute to other museums the exhibition and 
working collections there brought together. 

In the first article noted it is stated that 
‘In our universities the pedagogic element is 
predominant to a degree quite unknown in 
the German universities, and the body of in- 
vestigators in them in any one field is too 
small to create that which is the most stim- 
ulating thing in all research—an atmosphere 
of investigation. It is certainly true that 
most of us who are in university work are 
heavily burdened with pedagogic duties; but 
President Gilman once said, ‘Sterile intel- 
lects attribute their non-productiveness to 
overwork, when a more acute diagnosis detects 
a lack of will-power.’ The statement in the 
above quotation in regard to the absence of 
the ‘atmosphere of investigation’ in Amer- 
ican universities seems to me to be rather 
sweeping. Of course in a majority of our 
colleges the number of men in each depart- 
ment is so small that it is difficult to create 
an atmosphere of investigation, but that there 
is such an atmosphere in many of our best 
institutions is an undoubted fact. 

In conelusion, I should say—let the Smith- 
sonian continue to be the nucleus of a great 
national institute of research, and, without 
diminishing the importance of the museum 
‘feature, let sufficient funds be made available 
to earry on the additional work suggested in 


the two articles quoted. ALBERT M. Reese. 
SYBACUSE UNIVERSITY. 


SCIENCE. 


275 


SPECIAL ARTICLES. 
YELLOW MICE AND GAMETIC PURITY. 


THE attention of readers of ScIENcE has 
been directed by Professors Morgan (1905) 
and Wilson (1906) to the curious method of 
inheritance of yellow pigmentation among 
mice, according to observations made by Cué- 
not (1905). Cuénot found that yellow in 
mice behaves as an ordinary Mendelian char- 
acter dominant over all other types of pig- 
mentation, but peculiar in that it can never 
be obtained in a homozygous condition, yellow 
mice forming regularly two sorts of gametes, 
one sort being yellow, the other sort being in 
some cases gray, in other cases black, and in 
still others chocolate. 

These surprising observations carry with 
them important theoretical conclusions. Al- 
ready they have been interpreted in ways very 
different by Cuénot and by Morgan. A fuller 
knowledge of the facts may show which inter- 
pretation is correct, or whether possibly neither 
is adequate without some modification. It is 
important first fully to establish the facts. 
With this idea in mind (and, I confess, in- 
clined to be sceptical because I had found 
yellow so different in behavior in guinea-pigs 
and rabbits from what Cuénot reports it to 
be in mice) I have recently made a reexamina- 
tion of some breeding records of fancy mice, 
reared in 1900-1901, in connection with an 
investigation of sex-determining factors in 
mammals. The purely incidental records of 
color-inheritance have not previously been 
published, and I should hesitate to publish 
them now in their fragmentary condition, did 
they not serve to supplement and in the main 
to corroborate the more extensive observations 
of Cuénot. 

My original stock of mice, obtained from a 
near-by breeder, consisted of the following 
sorts: (1) black-white spotted mice, some 
homozygous, some containing chocolate as a 
recessive character; (2) chocolate (or choco- 
late-white) mice, homozygous or else contain- 
ing recessive total albinism; (3) yellow mice 
(three in number) all of a clear reddish yellow 
color above, but almost white below. Young 
were obtained from one only of the three yel- 


276 | SCIENCE. 


low mice, a male (6 C). A second male was 
not used in the breeding experiments. The 
third yellow animal, a female, was sterile by 
every sort of mating tried, a considerable 
number, which fact is of interest in connec- 
tion with Cuénot’s experience, to the effect 
that yellow mice are feeble in reproductive 
capacity, though vigorous and even savage. 
(4) The fourth category of mice consisted of 
a pair of very large albinos and their three 
young. Subsequent experiments showed that 
these albinos transmitted as latent characters 
in their gametes either yellow or chocolate, 
but in no case black pigmentation. 

Other yellow mice were obtained (1) by 
mating the yellow male with chocolate fe- 
males, (2) by mating the albinos mentioned 
to black animals, and (3) by mating a choco- 
late female with one of the albinos. 

The experiments which will be deseribed in 
detail relate to crosses of the yellow mice 
inter se or with mice of other colors. - 

Before passing to a consideration of the 
crosses, I should mention that the yellow mice 
obtained in my experiments were of two dis- 
tinct types in their adulé pelage. In their 
first coat all alike were of a clear yellow color, 
like the three original yellow mice. This 
character was retained in a part only of the 
yellow mice produced in my experiments; the 
others developed in their adult (second 2) 
coat a certain amount of chocolate pigment 
found associated with the yellow pigment 
granules, especially toward the base of the 
hairs. Animals of this second sort I shall 
call sooty yellow, to distinguish them from 
the clear yellow type, in the hair of which 
only yellow pigment is found. Sooty yellow 
mice are undoubtedly included in Bateson’s 
(1903) category of ‘dingy or sooty fawn’ 
formed ‘when dark pigment is present in as- 
sociation with predominant yellow.’ Cuénot 
evidently had under observation both clear 
yellow and sooty yellow animals. He states 
that the yellow race contains numerous un- 
fixable variations, not hereditary, ranging 
from a clear orange yellow to a sooty or gray- 
ish yellow not very different from the color of 
gray mice. The statement that these varia- 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 609. 


tions are not hereditary seems to me unfor- 
tunate, as seeming to imply that characters 
are not inherited, unless in conformity with 
known laws of inheritance. 

The following observations corroborate Cué- 
not’s statement that yellow is a dominant 
character in mice. ‘Two clear yellow mice 
(23.2* and 3 3.1°), own brother and sister, 
born of a chocolate female (?3) mated with 
the original clear yellow male (dC), pro- 
duced, in three successive litters, 8 yellow and 
2 chocolate young. The same female bore, by 
another clear yellow male, 2 yellow and 1 
chocolate young. Accordingly her total young 
by mates of her own color were 10 yellow and 
3 chocolate, a close approximation to the 3:1 
Mendelian ratio. It is clear that chocolate 


was present as a recessive character in the - 


yellow parents. Black was as certainly not 
present as a recessive character, since it is 
known to dominate over chocolate, when pres- 
ent in the same zygote with it. 

Not all of the yellow young produced by 
these matings had the same clear yellow color 
as their parents. Three of them proved to be 
sooty yellow, on attaining their adult coat; 
four remained clear yellow, like the parents; 
and the remaining three died before attaining 
the second coat, so that they can not be more 
accurately classified. 

The recessive nature of chocolate in relation 
to yellow is further indicated by the following 
matings between a chocolate and a yellow in- 
dividual, the young being in all cases either 
chocolate or yellow in color, never black. 


Parents. Young. 
Yellow, 
Clear Clear Sooty Type not Choco- 
Yellow. Chocolate. Yellow. Yellow. Deter- late. 
mined. 
BOM ISG IB = 2 4 
PRUE 1) OS = 1 2 2 
Gite 3X GUE Ss) 133 4 
me) 36) Qesie ye 7 3 
JC S10 GIGLI eee 1 2 
CuO Saunier =e 1 2 4 
DIS2I ane es ON 1 4 
Totals, 4 1 16 23 


The total number of yellows produced in 
these matings is 21, of chocolates 23. Un- 


Aveust 31, 1906.] 


fortunately the type of the yellow young is 
left uncertain by my records in all except five 
eases. Four of the five were clear yellows 
and one a sooty yellow. 

The three yellow animals employed in these 
matings, dC, 33.15 and 232, evidently bore 
chocolate as a recessive character, but not 
black. For if black had been present as a 
recessive character, it should have made its 
appearance as an active character in half of 
the young produced, but not one of the 44 
young recorded in this table was black pig- 
mented. It is perfectly clear, however, from 
Cuénot’s statement that black may be present 
in a yellow mouse as a recessive character. 
That statement is supported by the following 
observation: 

A yellow female, 235, own sister to yellow 
°32 previously mentioned, was mated with 
the same chocolate male, 349, with which 
232 had been mated. She produced three 
young, two of which were yellow pigmented, 
and one black. The difference in the gametic 
condition of these two sisters is readily ex- 
plained. Their mother was an albino which 
transmitted to each of them the dominant yel- 
low which they manifested; their father was a 
black animal which bore recessive the choco- 
late character. Evidently he transmitted 
black to 235, but chocolate to 232. Accord- 
ingly the gametic formula of 235 was yellow 
(black recessive), but that of 232 was yellow 
(chocolate recessive). 

The chocolate male (¢ 49), like chocolate 
mice in general (see Allen, 1904), transmitted 
no pigment character other than chocolate. 
Mated with three different chocolate females 
he produced 11 young, all chocolate pig- 
mented. He was mated likewise with three 
black females, each of which bore chocolate 
as a recessive character. These matings pro- 
duced 4 black and 2 chocolate young. In no 
other mating, except with yellow $35, did he 
produce black pigmented young. 

Two matings were made between an albino 
(bearing latent the yellow and chocolate char- 
acters) and homozygous black individuals as 
follows: 


SCIENCE. 


PAT 
Albino Black Yellow Black 
Parent. Parent. Young. Young. 
Gh PAIS oN Onl Sahih 3 
Eh CaN DS O1.3° = 2 i 
Totals, 3 4 


The expectation is equal numbers of yellow 
and of black young, on the hypothesis that 
yellow dominates both black and chocolate 
and that black dominates chocolate. 

Another albino, own sister to d 2.1* and like 
him bearing latent the yellow and the choco- 
late characters, was mated with black indi- 
viduals of the same family as those used in 
the foregoing matings but bearing chocolate 
as a recessive character. The result was as 


follows: 
Albino Black Yellow Black Chocolate 
Parent. Parent. Young. Young. Young. 
f°) PAO iL S@ ene 1 2 ik 
fo) PM SSN as [QP See 2 2, 1 
Totals, 4. Z 2 


The expectation in this case is that young 
of three sorts will be produced in the propor- 
tions, 2 yellow, 1 black, 1 chocolate, which is 
exactly realized in the totals obtained. 

A mating was likewise made between an 
albino, d A (father of the albinos ¢2.1* and 
292.1° used in the two experiments just de- 
scribed, and like them bearing latent the char- 
acters yellow and chocolate) and a chocolate 
female ° 3.2”, used also in matings with yellow 
$C. This mating produced one yellow and 
one chocolate young, three other young dying 
before their coat pigments were developed. 

These various observations harmonize en- 
tirely with the statements of Cuénot, showing 
that in mice the order of dominance of the 
three pigments of the hair is yellow, black, 
chocolate, each dominating those which follow 
it in the series, but being recessive in relation 
to those which precede it. This order is the 
more surprising because in rabbits and guinea- — 
pigs black is dominant over yellow. In guinea- 
pigs black is dominant also over chocolate, 
but in rabbits a pure chocolate is unknown. 

The occurrence of two distinct types of yel- 
lows is a matter deserving further attention. 
The sooty yellow type may evidently be hetero- 


278 SCIENCE. 


zygous, since it may be produced by a cross 
between yellow and chocolate (see mating 
6 CX 24), but clear yellow may likewise be 
produced in the same way and may be lke- 
wise heterozygous, as is shown further by the 
result of mating clear yellows inter se. Clear 
yellows so mated may produce, as we have 
seen, both chocolate animals and those of the 
sooty yellow type. Whether sooty yellows may 
in turn produce clear yellows, my experiments 
do not show, but this seems highly probable. 
Whether these two types differ in gametic for- 
mula is at present uncertain. The few yellow 
animals from which I secured young were 
evidently all heterozygous, like the 81 yellow 
mice of generation F’, tested by Cuénot. They 
were also clear yellow, all except one. That 
one, a sooty yellow female, bore a litter of 
three young by a black mate; two of the young 
were yellow and one black. 

In the hair of clear yellow animals, I have 
found only yellow pigment granules; but in 
the hair of a sooty yellow which I examined, 
chocolate granules occur sparingly, with the 
yellow ones. 

‘Yellow heterozygotes may probably also de- 
velop black pigment in their adult coat, when 
black is the recessive character present. For 
Dr. G. M. Allen, when studying color-inherit- 
ance under the writer’s direction, obtained a 
pair of yellow mice, about four weeks old, from 
a breeder in Washington, D. C., and within a 
short time these animals began to develop 
small spots of black upon the back. | Unfor- 
tunately Dr. Allen was soon after forced by 
the assumption of other duties to discontinue 
his experiments with the yellow type, and 
since that time I have been unable to secure 
material for further study of the matter. 

Cuénot finds in his experiments that all 
yellow mice tested by him are heterozygous, 
like blue Andalusian fowls (Bateson, Saun- 
ders and Punnett). He believes, what seems 
entirely reasonable, that this is due to infer- 
tility of gametic unions between yellow and 
yellow. It will be a matter of interest to see 
whether further investigations confirm this 
interpretation, or whether an explanation can 
be found on the ground of gametic contamina- 


/ 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 609. 


tion, as suggested by Morgan, or of multi- 
plicity of factors giving rise to yellow, as to 
the pigmentation of stocks and sweet-peas 
according to recent investigations of Bateson, 
Saunders and Punnett (1906). 

In guinea-pigs, as I have elsewhere shown 
(1905), yellow is recessive in relation to black, 
yet exceptionally a yellow-coated animal may 
transmit black pigmentation in about half of 
its gametes. The black pigmentation so 
transmitted is always small in amount, being 
in reality the black constituent of a mosaic 
predominantly yellow in its composition. In 
the parent classed as yellow (but really 
mosaic in nature) the amount of black is 
extremely reduced, or black may be absent 
altogether from the hair, though present as 
peripheral skin pigment, as is frequently the 
ease also in yellow animals when they breed 
entirely true. Now the small amount of black 
in individuals predominantly yellow may be 
considered an impurity, a contamination of 
the self-yellow character, with black. Such 
contamination can be brought about by cross- 
breeding and exists in various different de- 
grees. For example, (1) yellow-pigmented 
guinea-pigs always possess black-pigmented 
eyes. (2) They may possess also black pig- 
ment in the skin of the extremities (soles of 
feet, ears) but not in the hair. Cross-breeding 
with blacks will increase the amount of such 
black pigmentation in the extracted yellows. 
Animals of these two types are recessives in 
relation to self black, or to a mosaic of black 
and yellow; they breed true among them- 
selves. 

Again, in rabbits, yellow is recessive in re- 
lation to black, but a yellow rabbit may bear 
black-tipped hairs on the ears and nose, indi- 
cating the presence of the black character in 
a greatly weakened condition. The black 
impurity, however, is not in a condition of 
recessiveness. Yellow rabbits never, in my 
experience, produce black ones. But two yel- 
low rabbits may produce a brown one, that is 
a yellow rabbit with sooty ‘ peripheral’ black 
pigmentation mixed with the yellow. These 
various facts are mentioned to show that yel- 
low animals may contain traces at least of the 


: 
| 
; 
: 
; 


gee eet 


AvucustT 31, 1906.] 


black character, even when yellow is recessive 
to black. 

The assumption which underlies the ex- 
planation of color inheritance given by Cué- 
not, and adopted by Bateson, is that recessives 
lack altogether a certain factor necessary for 
the production of the dominant pigment; that 
albinos, for example, have one factor necessary 
for the production of pigment, but lack a sec- 
ond factor altogether. Now granting that two 
such factors exist (they may or they may not), 
it is perfectly certain that many albinos pos- 
sess both of them. For albino guinea-pigs 
and Himalayan albino rabbits actually do 
form hair pigments. There is nothing alto- 
gether absent from them which is a necessary 
factor in pigment production. In such cases, 
what distinguishes an albino mammal from 
any other sort, so far as our present knowl- 
edge goes, is a peculiarity in the distribution 
of the pigments over the body. Albino mam- 
mals lack pigment in the eye; what pigment 
they form is found at the extremities of the 
body. 

Again, white-plumaged birds do not lack 
altogether some factor necessary for pigment 
formation. They invariably have pigmented 
eyes, but commonly lack pigment in their 
feathers. Nevertheless, the purest strains of 
white fowls are proverbially prone to form a 
‘black feather’ occasionally. Can we say 
that the character, black plumage, is alto- 
gether lacking in white fowls? It is not 
present as a recessive character—I speak of 
established races, not cross-breds. Shall we 
say, with Cuénot, that an occasional black 
feather is a variation not heritable? By no 
means In the white fowl with a black feather 
the bi. .« character is present, every factor of 
it! Those factors were likewise present in 
the white-plumaged parents of the bird in 
question, but they functioned less actively, so 
that no feather may have shown the black, 
though pigment was formed in the eye. The 
hypothesis of absent factors is inadequate to 
explain the observed facts, in at least a ma- 
jority of known cases. By cross-breeding and 
selection we can alter the proportions of the 
different pigments in the coat without elim- 


SCIENCE. 


y 


279 


inating any. By repeated crossing of black 
with yellow, in guinea-pigs, we can weaken 
the activity of the black, so that while black 
pigment is still formed all over the body, it is 
formed in less amount. The black pigment is 
found in greatest amount at the extremities. 
If the process of weakening the black pig- 
mentation is capable of being carried to its 
logical conclusion (a matter still under in- 
vestigation), black pigment should finally dis- 
appear except at the extremities. Again, cross- 
breeding albino guinea-pigs with blacks in- 
creases the amount of black pigmentation 
formed at the extremities by the albinos, and 
induces a slight pigmentation of the coat gen- 
erally, as I have elsewhere shown. How far 
the contamination of the albinos can be car- 
ried, I am unable as yet to say. 

Facts such as these are difficult to explain 
on the hypothesis of two or more factors sepa- 
rately heritable, unless we suppose further 
that those factors are inherited in varying 
degrees or amounts. Explanation is rendered 
still more dificult when we come to consider 
characters other than pigments, such, for ex- 
ample, as polydactylism. For this reason I 
have carefully avoided incorporating the ter- 
minology of the ‘factor’ hypothesis into my 
published papers on heredity, and have re- 
ferred to characters as more or less completely 
active, or in some cases as latent, a usage in 
harmony with that of Tschermak (1906). 
Bateson, Saunders and Punnett (1906) have 
recently criticized this usage, but I believe 
time will justify present caution in the adop- 
tion of the factor hypothesis. Morgan (1905) 
has attempted to combine the latency idea with 
the factor idea, but with results not very satis- 
factory from either point of view. 

It seems to me, rather, that we must recog- 
nize, along with the fundamental principle of 
unit characters in heredity, the fact that char- 
acters may exist in varying states of actwity. 

The presence of one character often inhibits 
the activity of another. When in guinea-pigs 
the characters black and yellow are present 
together, yellow is largely inhibited. If yel- 
low is made more active by repeated crossing 
with homozygous yellow, black is partially in- 


280 SCIENCE. 


hibited. In mice the relation of these pig- 
ment characters is apparently reversed. If in 
mice black and yellow are present together, 
the activity of black is largely inhibited; 
wholly so in the first coat and sometimes in 
the second, though not in the eyes; partially 
so in the adult pelage of sooty yellows. We 
ean not suppose that some factor of black, 
wholly absent in the young, has been supplied 
in the adult. If so, whence has it come? Nor 
can we suppose that any factor of black is 
absent in either of two yellow mice, which 
produce black offspring. Black was not ab- 
sent, but inhabited! Removal of the inhibit- 
ing character, yellow, allows black to resume 
activity in the young. And yet we can not 
suppose that yellow is in mice invariably in- 
hibiting in its action on black. Fér yellow 
pigment, as well as black, is formed in the coat 


of wild gray mice. And Cuénot recognizes 


that yellow may ‘vary’ to such an extent as 
to be very similar to the gray of wild mice. 
Black is inhibited (dominated) only by yellow 
in that peculiar state of activity which it has 
in self-yellow mice, or, as I have elsewhere 
(1905) expressed the matter, in that condition 
of ‘relative potency’ which it has in yellow 
mice. It is not impossible that a black race 
of mice could be found (or created) in which 
black had sufficient potency to dominate ordi- 
nary yellow, as it does in guinea-pigs and 
rabbits. Or, what would amount to the same 
thing, a yellow strain might be formed so lack- 
ing in relative potency (inhibiting effect) that 
in crosses with it, black would remain fully 
active. I have pointed out (1905) one similar 
case (of partially reversed dominance) in 
which certain smooth guinea-pigs form gam- 
etes of such potency as to partially inhibit in 
their cross-bred young the usually dominant 
‘rough’ character of the eoat. That the ac- 
tion in question was a temporary one, one of 
inhibition, was shown by the fact that the 
rough character could be recovered in full in- 
tensity in generation F’,. 

Bateson, Saunders and Punnett have also 
shown recently (1906) that white plumage in 
poultry, ordinarily a dominant character, may 
in certain strains function as a recessive. 


[N.S, Vou. XXIV. No. 609. 


The different behavior of yellow, in relation 
to other pigment types, in mice and in guinea- 
pigs, becomes less surprising when we learn 
that within the same species the relative po- 
teney of a character may vary te such an ex- 
tent that it functions sometimes as a domi- 
nant, sometimes as a recessive character, in 
crosses with the same alternative type. 

In several recent papers I have pointed out 
the fact that the theoretical ‘purity of gam- 
etes’ of Mendelian inheritance does not exist. 
No more does the purity of factors exist. We 
can not avoid the idea of impurity of the gam- 
etes, by introducing the conception of ‘ fac- 
tors,’ for the factors are as certainly impure 
as the gametes. 

To sum the matter up, it is certain that 


“unit characters exist, but it is equally certain 


that the units are capable of modification; 
gametic segregation certainly occurs in some 
eases (Mendelian inheritance), it does not 
occur in others (blending inheritance); fac- 
tors of characters certainly exist, when char- 
acters are demonstrably complex and result 
from the coexistenee of two or more simpler 
ones, as, for example, a purple- pigmentation 
due to coexistence of red’ and of blue chloro- 
plastids in plants. But let us in no case in- 
troduce more factors into our hypotheses than 
ean be shown actually to exist. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
ALLEN, G. M. 


1904. The heredity of coat-color in mice. 
Proc. Am. Acad. Arts and Sci., vol. 40, pp. 
61-163. 

BATESON, W. 

1903. The present state of knowledge of colour- 
heredity in mice and rats. Proce. Zool. See. 
London, 1903, 2, pp. 71-99. 

Bateson, W., SAUNDERS, E. R., AND PUNNETT, 
Jie Ob 

1906. Experimental studies in the physiology 
of heredity. Reports to the Evolution Com- 
mittee of the Royal Society, III., 53 pp., 4 figs. 

Castiz, W. E. 

1905. Heredity of coat-characters in guinea- 
pigs and rabbits.. Carnegie Institution Pub- 
lications, No. 23, 78 pp., 6 pl. 

CurnotT, L. 

1905. Les races pures et leurs combinaisons 

chez les souris. Arch. de Zool. Exp. (4), tom. 


Avueust 31, 1906.] 


3, notes et revue, pp. CXXili-CXxxii, 
Morean, T. H. 

- 1905. The assumed purity of the germ-cells in 
Mendelian results. Science, n. s., vol. 22, pp. 
877-879. 

TSCHERMAK, E. 

1906. Ueber Bildung neuer Formen durch 
Kreuzung. Resultats sci. du Congrés internat. 
de Botanique, Wien, 1905, pp. 323-330. 
Fischer, Jena. 

Witson, E. B. 

1906. Mendelian inheritance and the purity of 
the gametes. Science, n. s., vol. 23, pp. 112— 
113. ; 

W. E. Castiez. 

ZOOLOGICAL LABORATORY, HARVARD 
University, July 23, 1906. 


PRELIMINARY DESCRIPTION OF TWO NEW SPECIES 
OF THE GENUS DICERATHERIUM MARSH, FROM 
THE AGATE SPRING FOSSIL QUARRY. 


Amonea the commoner forms obtained by 
field parties of the Carnegie Museum in this 
rich deposit of bones, which has previously 
been described, are two new species, provi- 
sionally referred to the genus Diceratherium. 

The fact that Diceratherium is found in 
this horizon, which has been regarded as late 
Tertiary (by Marsh as Pliocene) is highly 
interesting, and it was thought by the present 
writer (/. c., p. 491) that it might possibly 
belong in the lower Miocene. The study of 
the new material reveals the fact that the 
animals here represented are apparently some- 
what more modified than the Diceratheria 
from the John Day beds. 

The geological horizon in which this quarry 
is situated is at the top of the Harrison beds 
(Demonelix beds of Barbour, or the upper 
Arikaree of Darton). This entire section, 
the Gering, the Monroe Creek, the Harrison 
and the Nebraska beds, which overlie the Oli- 
gocene, should, I think, be regarded as lower 
Miocene, though the Nebraska beds may pos- 
sibly represent the middle Miocene. 


Diceratherium niobrarensis, n. sp. 
The type, No. 1,271, of this species is a 
well-preserved skull, with the nasals disarticu- 
lated, at the fronto-nasal suture. The nasals 


2 Annals of the Carnegie Musewm, Vol. IIil., 
pp. 487-494, 1906. 


SCIENCE. 


281 


were found in the talus below the point where 
the skull was obtained, and presumably be- 
longed to it. The premaxillaries are wanting, 
as is also the posterior portion of the left 


- zygomatic arch. Except P* and the incisors 


the dentition on both sides is beautifully pre- 
served. The principal characters of the type 
are as follows: Skull mesaticephalic. 


1 0? 4 3 


Ty, Cop, Pao, Mop. 


The brain-case is large, the occiput high, and 
there is a well-formed sagittal crest with a 
narrow and rather shallow groove in the 
median line. The frontals are quite broad 
and convex laterally. When the nasals, which 
undoubtedly belong to the same specimen, are 
placed in position, they, with the frontals and 
parietals, unite in displaying an antero-pos- 
terior saddle-shaped concavity on the top of 
the skull Near the anterior extremity the 


‘nasals are provided with a pair of well de- 


veloped horn-cores, about 24 mm. long, rugose 
and subtriangular in section. Anterior to the 
base of the horn-cores the nasals are rapidly 
abbreviated, terminating in a blunt point pro- 
jecting forward and downward. The narial 
openings, the foramen magnum, and the orbits 


are large. The infraorbital foramen is situ- 
ated above the anterior part. of P*. The 
zygomatic arch is rather slender. There is 


no large tubercle on the supra-occipital as in 


Dicerathertum armatum, but there is a promi- 


nent median ridge, which continues from near 
the superior margin of the foramen magnum 
to the top of the inion. The foramen magnum 
is subtriangular in outline. The occipital 
condyles are large and well separated by a 
broad median notch inferiorly. The par- 
occipital and postglenoid processes are very 
prominent, and their bases almost touch one 
another. The posterior nares extend forward 
to the anterior part of M*. As has been stated, 
the first premolar is unfortunately not present 
in the type, but another individual of the same 
species (No. 1,273) shows this tooth much 
more reduced than in Diceratherium armatum. 
All the teeth have internal and external 
cingula, and are otherwise quite similar to 
those found in the species from the John Day. 


282 SCIENCE. 


MEASUREMENTS. 

Greatest length of skull, approximately..... 450 
Length of skull from occipital condyle to and 

TINCT GI OF AT etUN NG UES CoO ae NU a 370 
Length of skull from occipital condyle to M*.. 190 
Greatest transverse diameter of skull...... 235 
Greatest transverse diameter of brain case.. 130 
Greatest transverse diameter of frontals.... 150 
Greatest transverse diameter of occipital 

COTTE TES MeN scl ck Hany ebaaieri Mi eat Ne aeueliy 108 
Greatest transverse diameter of palate...... 68 
Werticalmdiamerern othe Orbit se eer een ae 60 
Length of 2d, 3d and 4th premolars and the 

TN OL ANTIASEIIES Mer ert se ni ey acu er eine My aR 185 
Antero-posterior diameter of P?............ 26 
diramsversem Gaim ber NOL ales rnis sible on 29 
Antero-posterior, diameter of P*............ 32 
Transverse diameter of P*.......2.....52-. 36 
Antero-posterior diameter of M?........... 39 
Yransverse diameter of M*................. 37 
Antero-posterior diameter of M®............ 35 
MANS VETSe ACI aAMeLe TO avis a9 Al yea eset yee ones 39 


_Dicerathertum Cookie 

This species is very abundantly represented 
in the Agate Spring quarry, and there are at 
present some forty or fifty skulls, jaws, and 
other portions of the skeleton representing it 
in the Carnegie Museum. Only a small por- 
tion of this material has been freed from 
the matrix. Preliminary observations have 
been made upon eight skulls, to one of which 
the lower jaws are attached. Of this series 
a specimen designated as No. 1,572 (Carnegie 
Museum Catalogue of Vertebrate Fossils) is 
selected as the type. The skull represents 
an animal much smaller than D. niobrarensis. 
The top of the skull is perfect, but the an- 
terior part of the maxillaries is wanting. 
The premaxillaries are lost, and the base of 
the skull has received considerable injury. 
Only the first and second molars are present 
on the right side, while the dentition of the 
left side, except P*, is present. 

The principal characters of the type are as 
follows: Skull mesaticephalic. 

Tish Grea are are) 

Brain case relatively as large as, or even 
larger than in Diceratherium niobrarensis. 


*In recognition of the kindness of Mr. James 
H. Cook to the field parties sent out by the Car- 
negie Museum. 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 609. 


The occiput is rather low. The inion is broad, 
with a wide posterior emargination. The 
temporal ridges are quite prominent, not uni- 
ting to form a sagittal crest, but continuing 
separate as far as the inion, where they join 
the lambdoidal crest. The frontals are broad, 
especially over the orbits, and are slightly 
convex from side to side. The nasals are 
each provided with a heavy, ovate, rugose horn- 
core near their free extremities. The nasals 
are very abruptly pointed in front of the horn- 
cores, and are at this point directed down- 
ward and slightly forward. The dorsal sur- 
face of the skull as a whole is saddle-shaped, 
as in Diceratherium mniobrarensis, but the 
frontals in the present species are relatively 
considerably broader. The zygomatic arch is 
quite heavy, with a rugose enlargement at the 
posterior angle. The narial openings are 
large, the posterior orifice extending forward 
to a point opposite the line between M’* and 
M’. The foramen magnum’ is rather large 
in size. The orbit is relatively smaller than 


‘in Diceratherium niobrarensis. The infra- 


orbital foramen is placed above P*. 

The base of the skull presents some inter- 
esting features showing a wide difference from 
the first species which is described in this 
paper. Of these the most important is the 
complete enclosure of the ear by the post- 
glenoid process and the mastoid, which touch 
each other in a manner somewhat similar to 
that described in Ceratorhinus according to 
Cope.’ Furthermore, the dentition in the 
present species is distinctly more specialized 
than in Diceratherium niobrarensis, so that 
together with the small size of the skull it 
shows a degree of resemblance to European 
forms as Diceratheriwum minutum Cuvier. 
The first premolar in the present species is 
reduced in about the same proportion as that 
in the species previously described. The 
crotchet of M* has nearly closed the interspace 
between the cross-crests, and in very old indi- 
viduals it is in fact an enclosed cavity of the 
tooth. 

Characters worthy of being noted are de- 
rived from a number of lower jaws belonging 


*American Naturalist, Vol. XIII., p. 771, 1879. 


a a ee en ee i ee ee . 


Aucust 31, 1906.] 


to this species. The more important are the 
minute pair of median incisors having a 
rounded enameled crown, seldom showing any 
wear, and the very heavy and outwardly flexed 
angle of the lower jaw. <A lower jaw from 
the Protoceras beds, which Professor Osborn 
figured, suggests this very heavy angle, and 
it would be interesting should we be able to 
trace the present species to Acerathertwm 
mitts. 


MEASUREMENTS. 
Greatest lenoth of -skall 2025/2). 15). -/45)-7- -- 350 
Length from occipital condyle to and inclu- 
GIT CABS be Se Pines cic ieee ne tone DMC 307 


Length from occipital condyle to M’........ 150 
Greatest transverse diameter of skull....... 
Greatest transverse diameter of brain case.. 107 
Greatest transverse diameter of frontals.... 140 
Transverse diameter of nasals back of horn 
cores 


GOSS Roker RiSia BAe See eee erie Ble ee ieee Ieee 70 
Transverse diameter of palate at M®........ 55 
Vertical ‘diameter of the orbit.) 22). .002). 30 
Antero-posterior diameter of premolars two, i 
Pecbhee tase tourer eC. ccm mm ses usanlelt Sgt 68 
Antero-posterior diameter of the molar series. 90 
Antero-posterior diameter of P?............ 22 
mansverse diameter Of) JP 0 sk. \e/si</s) = anes acs 23 
Antero-posterior diameter of P*............ 28 
ransverse: diameter. Of Pt) iei sonal. wale 29 
Antero-posterior diameter of M*............: 34 
Mransverse, diameter of (NE ine. bo acena ¢ 32 
Antero-posterior diameter of M®............ ‘26 
iransverse) Qiameter of) Noy We okie ekr yes 32 


O. A. PETERSON. 
CABNEGIE MUSEUM, 
August 15, 1906. 


BOTANICAL NOTES. 
SOME RECENT BOTANICAL BOOKS. 


SEVERAL months ago there came from the 
hand of Professor Coulter another book for 
the use of pupils in the secondary schools. 
That it presents the subject with accuracy 
and good judgment goes without saying, for 
when a master in a subject writes a text-book 
this fact alone is a guarantee of its high 
standing. The present work, which bears the 
name of ‘A Text-book of Botany’ (Appleton), 


‘Memoirs A. M. N. H., Vol. L., p. 139, 1898. 


SCIENCE. 


288 


is a new edition, or rather a rewritten form 
of the widely used ‘ Plant Studies, which in 
turn was an abridgment and combination of 
‘Plant Relations’ and ‘Plant Studies.” In 
the preparation of the present book Professor 
Coulter has made use of the suggestions and 
criticisms of): many. experienced teachers, in 
order to more accurately adjust the presenta- 
tion of the matter to the conditions found in 
the secondary schools. The plan of the work 
can be best told in the author’s own words: 

In the first five chapters the structure, function 
and relationships of the most obvious plant or- 
gans are considered. The purpose has been to 
use the most easily observed material to give 
preliminary training in observation, and some 
conception of the activities of plants. The fol- 
lowing thirteen chapters present an outline of 
the plant kingdom in the simplest possible form 
to be at all adequate. In these chapters the 
morphological point of view necessarily domi- 
nates, but not to the exclusion of the physio 
logical and ecological. In this presentation of 
the great groups, which is also an outline of 
classification, there have been included special 
accounts of forms of economic interest; not only 
because such forms as well as any others may 
illustrate groups, but chiefly because there is a 
growing conviction that Botany in the schools 
must relate pupils to their common experiences, 
as well as train them in science. For the same 
general reason the brief chapters on plant-breeding 
and forestry have been introduced. The four 
closing chapters include a very brief account of 
plant associations, the most inclusive view of 
plants. * * * It can not be repeated too often 
that this book will not serve its purpose unless 
it is used as a supplement to the teacher, to the 
laboratory and to field-work. 


This is certainly an admirable statement of 
the purpose of botany in secondary instruc- 
tion. The illustrations are numerous (320) 
and good, and the text is clearly written. It 
should prove most useful in the public schools. 

In Margaret Slosson’s ‘How Ferns Grow’ 
(Holt) we have quite a different type of book, 
this being intended for the general reader 
instead of the public school pupil, and there- 
fore lacking the pedagogical form of pre 
sentation. The book is a popular manual of 
selected species of the ferns of the eastern 
United States, illustrated by forty-five plates 


284 SCIENCE. 


which include a larger number of figures, 
mostly life-size. The author’s purpose has 
been to give especial attention to the young 
fern from the time its first leaves appear up 
to the mature plant. These stages are illus- 
trated by numerous figures, and these are sup- 
plemented by popular descriptions. The book 
will be very helpful to the class of people for 
whom it is primarily designed, while at the 
same time it will be useful to the scientific 
botanist who will find here much exact in- 
formation about young ferns that he can not 
find elsewhere. 

Somewhat like the last is Laing and Black- 
well’s ‘Plants of New Zealand’ (Whitcombe), 
which is designed ‘to give an account of our 
native plants that will be intelligible to all’ 
It makes no attempt to notice or describe all 
of the species, dealing only with the more 
conspicuous flowering plants, and omitting 
the grasses and sedges, in addition to ‘ certain 
less important orders.’ The introduction of 
nearly sixty pages includes a general discus- 
sion of the vegetation, in which the author 
has packed a great deal of most interesting 
information, although such words as ‘ forma- 
tion,’ ‘zonation,’ ‘succession,’ ‘ alternation,’ 
‘facies,’ ete., are conspicuously absent. Nor 
do we find that much-abused and long-suffer- 
ing word ‘ecology,’ although the book is full 
of what it is now the fashion to call by that 
name. In short, this is an entertaining and 
instructive account of the plants of New 
Zealand told by men who have sufficient mas- 
tery of the English language to be able to 
write with clearness and accuracy. The book 
reminds us of ‘ Minnesota Plant Life,’ written 
by Professor MacMillan, also a master of 
English, though by no means wanting in 
ability to write most technically on occasion. 
There is the same careful selection of ma- 
terial, the clear treatment and wealth of 
beautiful and apt illustrations. May we not 
here express the hope that Messrs. Laing and 
Blackwell may long continue to study and 
write about the plants of their country, and 
that New Zealand botany may not have to 
suffer such a loss as that involved in the re- 
tirement of Professor MacMillan from active 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 609. 


botanical work in this country. Science can 
not spare such men. 


A STUDY OF THE COCONUT TREE. 


In an interesting paper published in the 
Philippine Journal of Science, Dr. E. B. 
Copeland gives the preliminary results of 
some studies of the coconut tree which he has 
made, especially with reference to its water 
relations. Incidentally a good many interest- 
ing facts are brought out in the course of the 
discussion. ‘Thus even on large trees the roots 
are only about a centimeter in diameter, and 
they spring in great numbers (on large trees 
as many as 8,000) from the convex or ob- 
conical base of the trunk, which itself may 


reach a depth of 50 centimeters. These. 


slender roots may be 5 to 7 meters long, and 
are simple, or branched at right angles to the 
root axis. They are very strong and elastic, 
and attach themselves 10 the soil with such 
firmness that the tree is never uprooted. The 
stem may reach 80 centimeters in diameter, 
and is so elastic as rarely to be broken even 
in the fiercest storms, although the favorite 
habitat of the tree is the seashore where it 
receives the unbroken force of the tropical 


winds. 


Careful studies of the leaf were made, es- 
pecially with reference to its loss of water 
(transpiration). These show that older leaves 
(one year old) lose more water than young 
leaves which have just reached their full size. 
This result agrees with observations made by 
Bergen on the leaves of the myrtle (Myrtus) 
in Italy. Some rough estimates were made 
as to the total amount of water transpired 


by the tree annually, which show that for an 


average tree it is more than 10;000 liters. 


_This is a remarkably large amount when we 


consider the rather limited leaf area exposed 


by the tree. CuHarues E. Bessey. 
THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. 


DISPUTED VESUVIAN ERUPTIONS. 


NINE eruptions of Vesuvius are commonly 
admitted to have occurred during the first 
twelve centuries of our era, the volcano after- 
wards remaining quiescent until the parox- 
ysmal outburst of 1631. Two minor disturb- 


Avcust 31, 1906.]- 


ances, however, are reported during the in- 
terval of repose, one in 1306, the other about 
1500, but the authorities for both are usually 
discredited. 

The reason for regarding the alleged four- 
teenth-century eruption as apocryphal is that 
the sole-author reporting it, F. Leandro Al- 
berti, after mentioning the date adds that it 
happened ‘when Benedict IX. was pope, and 
Conrad II. emperor.” As this parenthetical 
remark fixes the period between 1033 and 1039, 
critics are no doubt right in assuming that 
the passage applies to the eruption of 1037. 
Besides, supposing the event actually to have 
occurred in 1306, it would be strange if 
Petrarch and Boceaccio failed to allude to it 
in their geographical works of the same cen- 
tury, when speaking of Somma and Vesuvius. 
References to these authors will be found in 
Enrico Cocchia’s interesting essay on the an- 
cient form of Vesuvius, reprinted in volume 
III. of his ‘ Saggi Filologici’ (Naples, 1902). 

Our only authority for an early sixteenth- 
century eruption is Ambrogio di Leone, a 
learned physician, professor of medicine at the 
University of Naples, afterwards a resident of 
Venice, close friend of Erasmus, and highly 
esteemed scholar and author. Of him says 
one of his biographers: “ Wisse sempre onorato 
dagli eruditi e da’ Signori, e singolarmente 
da Leone X.” No reason has been assigned 
for doubting his statement that ashes were 
ejected for a period of three days, covering 
the country about Nola, except that contem- 
porary Neapolitan writers make no mention of 
the occurrence. Their silence is the less sur- 
prising, however, considering the relative un- 
importance of the event, and the fact that the 
fall of ashes was in the opposite direction 
from Naples. It is possible, also, that the 
discharge took place from the northern side 


of the mountain, away from the city and in- | 


visible from it, instead of from within the 
crater itself, which was observed in the follow- 
ing century to be heavily wooded. 

Leone, in his ‘History of Nola’ (Venice, 
1514), was not only the first author to discuss 
the etymology of the name Vesuvius, giving 


1° Deser. Ital.,’ Venice, 1561, 2d ed., 1577. 


SCIENCE. 


285 


abundant classic references, but also the first 
to portray the mountain since Pompeian times. 
The view given is far from crude, being from 
the hand of the famous engraver Girolamo) 
Mocetto, and it is noteworthy that the two 
summits are shown of about equal height. 
Later in the century we find two authors, 
Agricola and Francis Scot, reporting that the 
Somma cone overtopped Vesuvius, but their 
statements are at variance with the known 
condition of the summits prior to the great 
eruption of 1631. Probably the best estimate 
of their respective altitudes before and after 
this event is that given by Schmidt, in his 
‘Studien tiber Vulkane und Erdbeben,’ pp. 
215-218 (Leipzig, 1881). 

Accepting Leone’s testimony as trustworthy, 
though lacking in details, there are one or two 
circumstances connected with the eruption 
which deserve mention. In the first place, it 
is interesting to learn from contemporary 
documents which have been published for the 
first time within recent years that the disturb- 
ance was preceded by a severe earthquake, in 
which two hundred and sixty inhabitants of 
Nola lost their lives and much property was 
destroyed. Following is an account of the 
disaster, taken from the late Bartolommeo 
Capasso’s publication of the original:? 

A li 6 di xbre 1499 se sentio no forte terremoto 
a le 6 hore de la notte, dove cadero multe case 
et ce morse assai gente, cioé circa 24 jentil’ 
uomini, et 236 populani; dove che fo veramento 
gran pieta lo vedere tante povere persune cossi 
crudelemente ammazzate et sepelite sotto le 
fabriche, huomini, femine et certe figliole, che 
stavano appise a lo pietto de le meschine matri, 
che fo no pianto uneversale ad mirare quello 
miserabile spettacolo. * * * 

- Furthermore, we learn from various inde- 
pendent sources that Vesuvius was not wholly 
inactive during the greater part of the six- 
teenth century. Gonsalo Fernandez de Oviedo 
y Valdes, who ascended the mountain in 1501, 

2?Archw. Storico Prov. Napoletane, Ann. VII. 
(1884), p. 107. Also in his ‘ Fonti della Storia 
delle Provincie Napolitane,’ p. 239 (Naples, 1902). 
This earthquake is unrecorded in scientific litera- 
ture, not even in Baratta’s exhaustive catalogue, 
‘J Terremoti d'Italia’ (Turin, 1901). 


286 SCIENCE. 


observed smoke issuing from the crater, and 
was told that flames were sometimes visible at 
night. Fumeroles were seen within the crater 
by Stefano Pighio in 1582, by Braccini in 
1612, by the physicians Magliocco and Nicola 
de Rubéo, and by Padre Salimbeni, all in 
1619. It will also be recalled that the year 
1538 is memorable for the Monte Nuovo up- 
heaval, one of the recorded features of which 
was a violent radial blast, comparable in a 
small way, no doubt, to the frightfully de- 
structive agency which played such a tragic 
part in the West Indian catastrophes, still 
fresh in memory. Such being the condition 
of things in the sixteenth century, we have 
every reason to regard Leone as a credible eye- 
witness of the eruption which he claims to 
have observed from Nola in ‘nostra vero 
tempestate.’ 

Finally it should be said that we owe to the 
well-known editor of the ‘Monumenta Nea- 
politani Ducatus’ a valuable list of references 
to medizval chronicles in which several early 
eruptions are mentioned. Capasso’s revision 
of the dates makes some changes necessary in 
the accepted catalogues. Thus, reckoning the 
eruption of 685 as the fifth on record in his- 
tory, the succeeding ones should be referred 
in order to the following years: 968 or 969, 
999, 1007, 1087, 1189, cérca 1500, 1631. There 
are no contemporary authorities for the erup- 
tions sometimes quoted for the years 1024 
(Capaccio), 1049 (Lyell, Phillips), and 1184 
(Mallet). C. R. Eastman. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


Tue University of Greifswald has, on the 
occasion of the celebration of its four hun- 
dred and fiftieth anniversary, conferred the 
honorary degree of doctor of philosophy on 
Professor William M. Davis, of Harvard Uni- 
versity. 

At the meeting of the British Medical Asso- 
ciation, held last week at Toronto, the degree 
of doctor of laws was conferred by the Uni- 
versity of Toronto as follows: Professor 
Thomas Clifford Allbutt; A. H. Freeland 
Barbour; Sir Thomas Barlow; Sir James 
Barr; Sir William H. Broadbent; H. W. 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 609. 


Langley Browne, M.D., chairman of the coun- 
cil of the British Medical Association; George 
Cooper Franklin, retiring president of the 
association; Professor William Dobinson 
Halliburton; Sir Victor Horsley; Dr. Donald 
McAlister, president of the British Medical 
Council; William Julius Mickle; M. Louis 
Lapicque; Professor L. Aschoff, and Dr. W. J. 
Mayo, M.D., president of the American Med- 
ical Association. 

Dr. H. Davy, of Exeter, will be president 
of the next meeting of the British Medical 
Association to be held in that city. 


Dr. W. N. Suaw, director of the British 
Meteorological Office, has been elected an 
honorary member of the Austrian Society for 
Meteorology. 


TuHE Technological Institute of Munich has 
conferred the degree of doctor of technical 
sciences on Dr. W. H. Perkin, in connection 
with the recent jubilee of the coal tar color 
industry. 


Mr. W. EaciuE CLARKE has been appointed 
keeper of the natural history collections of 
the Museum of Science and Art, Edinburgh, 
in suecession to Dr. R. H. Traquair, F.R.S. 


Proressor F. Cavara, of Catania, has been 
appointed director of the Naples Botanical 
Garden. 

Dr. F. W. T. Huncer, of Utrecht, has been 
appointed director of the experimental station 
at Salapig, Java. 

Proressor Pozzi has been presented with a 
gold medallion portrait by the sculptor Chap- 
lain and a memorial volume of researches by 


his former students on the occasion of the 


twentieth anniversary of his work at the Broca 
Hospital. 

THe Moxon medal of the Royal College of 
Physicians of London has been awarded to 
Dr. Jonathan Hutchinson, F.R.S. 


We learn from Nature that at the con- 
eluding meeting of the International Oon- 
ference on Hybridization and Plant Breeding 
the Veitch gold memorial medals were pre- 
sented to Mr. W. Bateson, F.R.S., the presi- 
dent of the conference, Professor Johannsen, 
Professor Wittmack and Professor Maurice 


Avucust 31, 1906.] . 


de Vilmorin, and silver-gilt Banksian medals 
to Miss E. R. Saunders, lecturer on botany 
at Newnham College, and Mr. R. H. Biffen, 
for eminent services rendered to scientific and 
practical horticulture. Professor de Vilmorin, 
as the representative of the Horticultural So- 
ciety and the Botanical Society of France, 
invited the society to hold its next conference 
at Paris. 


Unper the direction of Mr. Whitman Cross, 
Mr. Albert Johannsen, of the United States 
Geological Survey, is making a reconnaissance 
this summer with Mr. Willis T. Lee in the 
northeastern section of New Mexico. ~ 


A RECONNAISSANCE survey of the Paleozoic 
rocks in Utah is being made this summer by 
Mr. F. B. Weeks, of the U. S. Geological Sur- 
vey. This will complete Mr. Weeks’s study 
of the Paleozoic rocks of the state, and will 
furnish the final data for a paper on the 
subject. 


Mr. SAMUEL SANFORD is engaged in an in- 
vestigation of the underground waters of the 
coastal plain of Virginia for the United States 
Geological Survey. The developments in this 
important region have been very marked since 
the report of N. H. Darton in 1896 and the 
demand for information very great, especially 
in regard to the quality of the water and its 
availability for boiler and industrial purposes. 
To supply this complete chemical studies will 
be undertaken as a part of the work. 

Dr. Leon J. Coie, of Harvard University, 
has been appointed chief of the Division of 
Animal Breeding and Pathology in the Rhode 
Island Station. J. Frank Morgan, a grad- 


uate of St. Lawrence University; H. S. Ham- 


mond, of the Agricultural College, at Guelph, 
Canada, and W. F. Purrington, a graduate of 
the New Hampshire College of Agriculture 
and Mechanic Arts, have recently received ap- 
pointments as assistant chemists at the same 
station. ; 


Dr. CLEMENS SCHLUTTER, professor of geol- 
ogy and paleontology, at Bonn, has retired 
from active service. 


Proressor R. Heymons, professor of zool- 
ogy in the School of Forestry at Munster, has 


SCIENCE. 


287 


been appointed curator in the Zoological Mu- 
seum at Berlin. 

Tue Bradshaw lecture will be delivered at 
the Royal College of Physicians, London, on 
November 6, by Dr. Sharkey, who will take as 
his subject ‘ Rectal Alimentation’; the Fitz- 
Patrick lectures will be given by Dr. Norman 
Moore, on November 8 and 13, and will deal 
with the ‘ History of the Study of Clinical 
Medicine in the British Islands’; and the 
Horace: Dobell lecture by Dr. F. W. Andrews, 
on November 15, will treat of the ‘ Evolution 
of the Streptococci.’ 


Mr. E. A. Mincuin, M.A., the recently- 
appointed professor of protozoology at London 
University, will deliver his inaugural lecture 
on ‘ The Scope and Problems of Protozoology’ 
on November 15. 

Tue Berlin correspondent of the Medical 
Record states that the physicians of Berlin 
are much interested in the monument to be 
erected in memory of Virchow. ‘The commis- 
sion has given the first prize to the design of 
the sculptor Klimsch, which portrays a man 
fighting against a fabulous monster, while 
Virchow’s portrait appears only in a medallion 
on the base. The medical societies have pro- 
tested against this selection, and would prefer 
a monument showing a full-length figure of 
the great pathologist. The commission has 
resolved to reopen the question, but no de- 
cisive action has yet been taken. 

ALBERT GRANNIS LANE, assistant superin- 
tendent of the Chicago city schools, formerly 
president and a trustee of the National Edu- 
cational Association, died on August 22 at 
the age of sixty-five years. 

Sir ALEXANDER MoncrieFr, K.C.B., F.R.S., 
known for his improvements in the system of 
mounting heavy ordnance, has died at the age 
of seventy-seven years. 

Mer. RicHarp Guascotr Symes, for many 
years geologist on the Geological Survey of 
Great Britain, died on July 27, at the age of 
Sixty-S1x years. 

Proressor Gerorce Reyet, for the past. 
twenty-five years director of the observatory 
at Bordeaux, has died at the age of sixty- 
seven years. 


288 SCIENCE. 


Dr. P. HauprrieiscH, docent for botany in 
the Technological Institute at Stuttgart, has 
died at the age of forty-three years. 


Dr. E. A. Kernrer, associate professor of 
chemistry at the Technical Institute at Stutt- 
gart, has died at the age of fifty-seven years. 


Tue Civil Service Commission announces 
an examination on September 26-27, 1906, to 
fill several vacancies in the position of ana- 
lytical chemist, qualified in methods for the 
detection of food adulteration, at $1,200 per 
annum each, and one or more vacancies in 
the position of scientific assistant in plant 
pathology, at $1,000 per annum each, in the 
Department of Agriculture, and _ similar 
vacancies as they may occur in that depart- 
ment. Competitors in this examination may, 
if they desire, take the examination to be 
held on October 17-18, upon filing new appli- 
eations in due time, this examination being 
held in view of the urgent need of eligibles 
with the qualifications indicated. 


Mr. AtBert WILLcoX, an insurance broker, 
of New York City, has bequeathed $100,000 
to the National Association of the Audubon 
Societies for the protection of wild birds and 
animals. Half of the residue of the estate 
is, at the death of his brother, also to go to 
the Audubon Society and the other half to the 
Tuskegee Institute. 


As we have already announced, the fifteenth 
International Congress of Americanists meets 
at Quebec from the tenth to the fifteenth of 
September. The preliminary program con- 
tains the titles of eighty-one papers that will 
be presented and arrangements have been made 
for suitable receptions and excursions. The 
place of meeting, the arrangements for the 
entertainment of members and the scientific 
program promise a congress of unusual in- 
terest. 


At the annual meeting of the fellows of the 
Royal Botanie Society held on the sixteenth 
inst., the old members of the council were re- 
elected in spite of the opposition to the pres- 
ent administration. The debt of the society 
is now £34,000. The deficit last year was 
£975 as compared with £1,237 the preceding 
year. The chairman announced that the 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 609. 


council now proposed certain additions to the 
by-laws (1) to the effect that at four meetings 
in the year fellows might propose resolutions; 
(2) to enable fellows to vote by proxy; and 
(3) to give the council the power of recom- 
mending such persons as they thought proper 
to be temporarily members, associates, or 
otherwise affiliated to the society, and of fixing 
the conditions of admission, privileges and 
payments in all such cases, provided that due 
regard was had to the position, rights and 
privileges of existing fellows and members. 


Nature states that a party of French med- 
ical men is about to visit Germany for the 
purpose of inspecting the medical institutions 
of the country. Three days will be spent in 
Berlin, and other cities and towns visited will 
include Cologne, Frankfort, Leipzig, Munich, 
Bonn, Heidelberg and Marburg. A commit- 
tee of entertainment has been formed under 
the presidency of Professor von Bergmann. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


Dr. Winiram H. Hopps, recently professor 
of mineralogy and petrology at the University 
of Wisconsin, has been appointed to the chair 
of geology at the University of Michigan, 
vacant by the death of Professor Israel C. 
Russell. 

Dr. O. W. RicHarpson, of Trinity College, 
Cambridge, has been appointed professor of 
physics in Princeton University. 

Dr. J. E. Watiack WALuLIn, instructor in 
philosophy at Princeton, has been appointed 
professor of psychology and pedagogy in the 
Pennsylvania Normal School at East Strouds- 
burg. 

Mer. E. B. Hutcuins, Jr., has been elected 
professor of chemistry at Carroll College, 
where a large science hall has just been 
erected. 

Mr. Evucenzt F. McCamppett has been 
elected instructor in bacteriology at the Ohio 
State University. 

Proressor TuHornot has been appointed to 
the chair of legal,medicine at Paris, vacant by 
the death of M. Bruardel. 

Dr. ALFRED PHILIPPSOHN, professor of geog- 
raphy at Bern, has been called to Halle. . 


i 


SCIENCE 


A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 
OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, 


FRAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1906. 


SSS 


CONTENTS. 


The York Meeting of the British Association 
for the Advancement of Science: Pro- 
FESSOR GARY N. CALKINS..............+. 289 


The American Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science: Section F—Zoology: PRo- 
FESSOR C. JUDSON HERRICK............. 

Scientific Books :— 

Ward’s Applied Sociology: PRoFessor Ep- 
WARD L. THORNDIKE. Sommerfeldt’s Geo- 


293 


metrische Kristallographie: PROFESSOR 
(OGAR TENS EAT A CHIE yaaa she 5 apoie eilsiete eieletere sia « 299 
Scientific Journals and Articles............ 801 


Discussion and Correspondence :-— 
The Nature and Origin of Volcanic Heat: 
Dr. T. J. J. Seg. The Nature of Evolu- 
tion: O. F. Cook. Temperature Correc- 
tions of Sugar Polarization: G. W. RouFe. 301 


Special Articles :— 
A Buried Treasure of Economic Ornithol- 
ogy: W. L. McAtEr. Gall-insects and In- 
sect-galls: Dr. Meu. T. Cook. Alimentary 
Parasites of Felis Domestica: GOFFREY A. 
Lyon. An Improved Pyknometer: OTTo 


(GRMEINBINR Gin Soran tse snot Serer oecnas tle ateneter nae Oe Cee 308 


Current Notes on Meteorology :— 
The Cyclone of September 22-28, 1905, in 
the Philippines; Kite Flying in India; 
Work of the Philippine Weather Bureau; 
Cloudiness and Astronomical Observatories: 


iPROEESSOR RD WECs. WARDt2 osc acc esas es 314 
Paleontological Notes :-— 

ihe Penguins Wo A. WUCAS: 320.2). ee 316 
Scientific Notes and News................. 317 
University and Educational News........ .. 820 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 
review should be sent to the Editor of SclENCE, Garrison-on- 
Hudson, N. Y. 


THE YORK MEETING OF THE BRITISH 
ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCE- 
MENT OF SCIENCE. 


THE meeting of the British Association 
at York from the first to the eighth of 
August has a peculiar historical interest in 
that this interesting and beautiful town 
was the seat of the foundation of the asso- 
ciation seventy-five years go and was the 
meeting place twenty-five years ago. This 
time the York Philosophical Society, under 
whose auspices the first meeting of the asso- 
ciation was planned in 1831, was again the 
host. 

The many points of interest in the sur- 
rounding country and in the city itself, 
the numerous halls and meeting places, the 
beautiful garden and interesting collection 
of the museum and the great assembly hall, 
all combine to make York a most attractive 
and suitable place for this great gathering 
of the best in English science. The de- 
lightful hospitality of the people of York 
added much to the pleasure of this partic- 
ular meeting. Perhaps the most attractive 
of the social gatherings were garden parties 
given by the Archbishop of York and Mrs. 
Maclagan at the picturesque and historical 
palace at Bishopthorpe; by the Sheriff of 
York and Mrs. Bentley at their beautiful 
home at Fulford Grange, and by the 
Messrs. Rowntree and Company at the cele- 
brated cocoa works, while the museum and 
erounds of St. Mary’s Abbey were lighted 
up by thousands of candles on two oce¢a- 
sions for conversazioni. At the great 
cathedral an organ recital and a special 


290 SCIENCE. 


service with sermon by the Bishop of 
Ripon, were most impressive. 

In view of the anniversary nature of 
this meeting, it is not out of place here to 
repeat the aims of the British Association 
which were set forth seventy-five years ago 
by William Vernon Harcourt as follows: 

To give a stronger impulse and more systematic 
direction to scientific enquiry, to obtain a greater 
degree of national attention to the objects of sci- 
ence, and a removal of those disadvantages which 
impede its progress, and to promote the inter- 
course of the cultivators of science with one an- 
other and with foreign philosophers. Therefore it 
is that I propose to you to found an association, 
including all the scientific strength of Great 
Britain, which shall employ a short period of 
every year in pointing out the lines of direction 
in which the researchers of science should move, 
in indicating the particulars which most imme- 
diately demand investigation, in stating problems 
to be solved and data to be fixed, in assigning to 
every class of mind a definite task, and suggesting 
‘to its members that there is here a shore of which 
the surroundings should be more accurately taken, 
and there a line of coast along which a voyage of 
discovery should be made. 

EK. Ray Lankester, in his presidential ad- 
dress before a brilliant gathering of 1,800 
members and guests, reviewed some of the 
more important advances in science which 
had been made during the quarter century 
which has elapsed since the last meeting in 
York, and he characterized these advances 
as showing a ‘continuity and healthy evo- 
lution in the realm of science’ rather than 
any revolution or inconsistency in the 
previous course of human thought. His 
address, which was somewhat disjointed 
because of many cuts, was based largely 
upon contributions from certain leaders in 
different branches of science, and much 
was lost of that spontaneity which comes 
from personal opinion, although made up 
perhaps by the thoroughness of the pre- 
sentation. Particular attention was given 
to radium on the side of the physical sci- 
ences and to human disease and to 
Metchnikoff’s phagocytic theory of im- 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 610. 


munity on the side of the natural sciences. 
Curiously enough, one of the most widely- 
followed branches of modern research, ex- 
perimental zoology, was not even men- 
tioned. 

In this brief outline only the general 
trend of the scientific work of the several 
sections can be given. Before Section A 
(Mathematics and Physical Science) 
President Griffiths gave a review of the 
progress of physical science in the last 
twenty-five years, emphasizing the need for 
more accurate measurements of the ele- 
ments and for improved methods in scien- 
tific education to meet the modern require- 
ments of the vast stores of accumulated 
knowledge. 

Interesting discussions upon the evolu- 
tion of the elements, opened by Mr. Soddy, 
and upon the notation and use of vectors, 
opened by Professor Henrici, were held in 
the departments of general physics and 
pure mathematics, respectively, while at 
a combined meeting of the two sub-sections 
a more generally interesting discussion was 
opened by the Honorable R. J. Strutt on 
radioactivity and the internal structure of 
the earth, in which it was concluded that 
no radium exists in the center of the earth 
and can be traced to a depth of only 45 
miles, which is enough to account for the 
heat of the earth. The discussion was 
carried on by Professor J. Milne, Sir Wil- 
liam Crookes, Sir William Ramsay, Mr. 
Soddy, Professor J. W. Gregory, Professor 
Lamb, Sir George Darwin and _ others. 
Other interesting work of the section con- 


cerned Professor Milne’s seismological in- 


vestigations, in which the interesting theory 
was propounded that a valley opens and 
shuts, opens by day and closes by night: 
and still another by Professor J. Swin- 
burne on the nature of radiation from in- 
candescent mantles. 

in Section B (Chemistry) the work was 
confined chiefly to economic products, to 


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SEPTEMBER 7, 1906.] 


economic problems of commerce and to 
problems of diet. 

In Seetion C (Geology) the president, Mr. 
G. W. Lamplugh, gave an address dealing 
with glacial problems of England and with 
special attention to local Yorkshire drifts. 
In the sectional meetings there was a pre- 
ponderance of papers dealing with local 
geological problems; one of more general 
interest by Professor J. Milne on Certain 
Earthquake Relationships attracted wide 
attention, while a general discussion on the 
origin of the Trias was opened by Pro- 
fessor T. G. Bonney and Dr. J. Lomas. 

In Section D (Zoology) Mr. J. Lister 
took as his subject for the presidential ad- 
dress the Life History of the Foraminifera, 
in which the old question of the signifi- 
cance of dimorphism of the foraminifera 
was clearly and conclusively answered. 
There were two discussions before this sec- 
tion and one before a joint session of Sec- 
tions D and K (Botany). ‘The first, on 
the Protozoan Life Cycle, was opened by 
G. N. Calkins and discussed by Mr. Lister, 
Professor Mareus Hartog and Professor 
Hickson. The second was opened by J. E. 
S. Moore on the Tanganyika problem and 
was discussed by Professor Lankester, Dr. 
Coningham, Professor Pelseneer, Mr. Boul- 
enger, Mr. Stanley Gardiner, Professor J. 
W. Gregory and Mr. F. S. Harmer, the 
general sentiment being against Dr. 
Moore’s theory that the characteristic 
fauna of this African lake indicates the 
early connection of this lake with the sea. 
The third discussion, held in joint session 
with K, was largely attended; the subject, 
The Nature of Fertilization, was opened 
by Mr. Vernon H. Blackman with a gen- 
eral historical treatment of the origin and 
significance of maturation chromosomes, 
and by G. N. Calkins and Mr. L. Doneas- 
ter, the former on the Life Cycle, with 
special reference to Maturation, Fertiliza- 
tion and Parthenogenesis in Protozoa, the 


SCIENCE. 


291 


latter on the Maturation of Partheno- 
genetic Eggs. The interesting discussion 
following these papers was by Professor 
Havet, Dr. Rosenberg and Professors 
Johannsen, Hickson, Poulton, Hartog and 
Wager. 

In Section E (Geography) the presi- 
dential address, by Sir George Goldie, dealt 
with the history of geography during the 
last twenty-five years and clearly showed 
that from pioneer work the subject of 
geography has developed into a science 
recognized in all grades of education, thus 
taking a larger place in the life of the 
nation than ever before. Interesting 
papers were read by Major John M. Bea- 
com of the American Embassy, London, on 
Irrigation and National Prosperity in the 
United States, and by Mr. Clement Reid 
on Coast Erosion, which was followed by 
an animated discussion by Mr. Stanley 
Gardiner and Mr. John Spiller. 

In Section F (Economie Science and 
Statistics) Professor A. L. Bowley dealt 
with the inadequacy of present methods in 
collecting statistics, with the need of better 
training for statisticians, with mathemat- 
ical statistics, and with the problem of the 
unemployed. In the program four gen- 
eral divisions of the subject were made, 
viz., Transportation, Industries, Labor 
Questions and Miscellanies. British and 
American methods of transportation were 
compared by R. L. Wedgewood and P. 
Burtt, of the Northeastern Railroad, and 
by Professor E. R. Johnson, with partic- 
ular reference to special problems of traffic- 
handling, gauge limits and the like. The 
woolen industries were considered by Pro- 
fessor Clapham, Local Yorkshire Indus- 
tries by Mr. J. Backhouse and Mr. Turn- 
bull, while a discussion on the question of 
the Unemployed was well attended. The 
most generally interesting of the miscel- 
laneous subjects were those of Mr. Lees 


292 


Smith on the Minimum Wage Policy; by 
Professor Edgeworth on Distribution; and 
by Dr. Cannon on Public Finance. 

Dr. Ewing’s presidential address before 
Section G (Engineering) dealt with the 
molecular structure of metals, with especial 
reference to their reactions under strains 
and to the conception that they are aggre- 
gates of crystals. He considered the mat- 
ter of fatigue in metals, their recovery by 
rest, and the manner in which they break 
down under repeated alterations of stress. 
A long and varied sectional program of 
some twenty-three papers followed, many 
of special or local interest, some of more 
general value, such as Modern Armor and 
its Attack, by Major W. E. Edwards, and 
some Recent Developments in the Steam 
Turbine, by Mr. Gerald Stoney. Several 
excursions to neighboring engineering 
plants were made by the members of this 
section. 

One of the most popular sections in 
point of attendance and of general interest 
was H (Anthropology). The general 
bearing of the president’s address by Pro- 
fessor Sidney Hartland was the Origin and 
Early Relation of Magic and Religion. 


Many of the sectional papers dealt in a 


popular way with travels and peoples, cus- 
toms and traditions. Amongst these one 
of the most interesting was by Dr. A. C. 
Haddon on The Ethnology of South Africa. 
Similar papers on special topics were nu- 
merous. 

In Section I (Physiology) Professor 
Gotch criticized the view of vitalism in 
modern biology and attempted to show 
that physiological processes might all be 
interpreted in complex physical and chem- 
ical terms. The conception was advanced 
that the nervous system acts as a purely 
automatic mechanism based upon physico- 
chemical changes. One of the most inter- 
esting and most important discussions of 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 610. 


the meeting was opened by Professor T. D. 
Acland on the Physiological Value of Rest. 
It was discussed, together with a paper on 
the neuron theory given by Dr. Bevan 
Lewis, by Professors Sherrington and 
Myers, and Drs. McDougal and Rivers. It 
was in this section, too, that perhaps the 
most acrimonious discussion took place 
over a paper by Dr. Hime on The Insuffi- 
ciency of Preventive Measures against In- 
fectious Disease. His view that isolation 
is unnecessary in infectious diseases was 
especially provocative and met with some 
sharp rejoinders. 

In Section K (Botany) President F. W. 
Oliver gave a somewhat technical address 
on The Seed—A Chapter in Evolution. 
The papers at the sectional meetings were 
all of a technical nature, one discussion 
being held, as already noted, in conjunec- 
tion with Section D. 

Finally, in Section L (Education) Pro- 
fessor M. E. Sadler pointed out in his 
presidential address the fact that education 
is becoming more and more a national prob- 
lem. He showed that the interdependence 
of the various parts of education is becom- 
ing more fully realized and that the differ- 
ent branches are tending towards greater 
unity. It was also shown that more 
definite needs were apparent in regard to 
individual instruction, especially as con- 
cerns the obligations to the state. As 
usual with this section, the program was 
drawn up with respect to a central topic. 
This year the topic selected was The Bal- 
ance of Subjects in the Curricula of 
Schools of All Grades. The discussions 
on Primary Grade Teaching, on Nature 
Study, on Leisure Pursuits, etc., were ani- 
mated and suggestive. ‘Health in Schools’ 
was presented by Professor Sherrington; 
Physical Training, Training for Work 
People, School Training for Home Duties 
of Women, ete., were all discussed. The 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1906.] 


section held a joint meeting with Section 
A, in which the teaching of mechanics by 
experiment was discussed. 

As usual at these association meetings 
there were some evening lectures on more 
general topics. A most interesting lec- 
ture on Volcanoes was given by Mr. 
Tempest Anderson, of York; another was 
on the manufacture of light, by Professor 
Sylvanus Thompson, and another on The 
Electrical Signs of Life and their Aboli- 
tion by Chloroform, by Dr. A. W. Waller. 

In 1907 the association meeting will be 
held in Leicester; in 1908, in Dublin; and 
in 1909 in Winnipeg, Canada. 


Gary N. CALKINS. 


THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE 


ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 
SHCTION F—ZOOLOGY. ; 
‘Section F at the Ithaca meeting held 
joint sessions for the reading of papers 
with the American Microscopical Society, 
June 29 and 30. The following papers 
were read under the auspices of Section F. 


Chromosome Relations in the Sperma- 
tocytes of Oniscus: M. LouisE NICHOLS, 
University of Pennsylvania. 

In the equatorial plate of the first ma- 
turation division, chromosomes differing 
from each other in shape may be discov- 
ered. They are of three kinds: First, 
straight or dumb-bell-shaped, in which the 
halves of the bivalent chromosome lie end 
to end; second, curved or crescent-shaped, 
in which the halves lie end to end but with 
the extremities curved toward each other; 
third, a form in which the halves lie side 
by side. In each type a split may be seen 
running the length of the individual 
chromosome and the first division is reduc- 
tional. In the prophases of the first ma- 
turation division chromosomes of the first 
and second types are present as straight or 
eurved rods; the third type is represented 


SCIENCE. 


293 


frequently by rings, complete or nearly so, 
occasionally by V-shaped structures. The 
reduced number of chromosomes, as far as 
could be determined, is sixteen. Of this 
number, two have the ring form in the 
prophase, two the crescent form, while 
the remainder are straight or dumb-bell 
Shaped. The chromosomes vary somewhat 
in size, but the differences are not stri- 
kingly great. The largest have the ring 
form, the smallest are straight. A tend- 
eney to localization in the nucleus is ob- 
servable. The ring forms usually le on 
opposite sides of the nucleus, separated by 
a erescent. Similarly the crescent forms 
lie on opposite sides with a ring between. 
Notes on the Poison Organs in Fishes: 

H. D. Reep, Cornell University. 

Axillary poison glands are found in all 
species of Noturus and Schilbeodes. In 
S. gyrinus and 8. nocturnus poison glands 
are found enveloping the pectoral and 
dorsal spines. Wherever found these 
glands are invaginations of the skin, in 
which respect, as well as in structure, they 
are identical with the poison organs of the 
weever fishes. 


Exhibition of Bird Drawings: L. A. 


FurErtTES, Ithaca, N. Y. 


Exhibition of and Remarks upon Certain 
Rare or Unique Specimens in the Cornell 
Umversity Museum of Neurology and 
Vertebrate Zoology: Burt G. WILDER, 
Cornell University. 

Among the specimens are the smallest 
recorded manatee fetus; a human embryo 
about 4 mm. long attached to the vitellus; 
an embryo shark with undivided cerebrum ; 
the brain of the anguin, or frilled shark, 
presenting the indifferent relation of the 
cerebral and olfactory portions more nearly 
than in any other known vertebrate; the 
brain of Ceratodus, presenting the char- 
acteristic dipnoan ventral cerebral exten- 
sions; the brains of Tarsius, Chewromys 


294 


and all the anthropoid apes; the brain of 
the manatee; the brain of a sheep with 
defective callosum and fornix, and that of 
a cat lacking these parts altogether; that 
of a child born at term with the cerebral 
hemispheres in the fetal condition of large 
cavities and thin parietes; an adult human 
brain with an extra precommissure; the 
brains of two philosophers and mathemati- 
cians differing markedly, and that of a 
mulatto resembling one of the former; the 
brain of a dentist presenting two self-in- 
flicted pistol-ball wounds; the separable 
dental lamine of a young elephant; masto- 
don teeth and bones from near Ithaca; 
the brains of some rare Japanese sharks. 


Sex Differentiation in. Dinophilus: Epwin 
G. CONKLIN, University of Pennsylvania, 
Philadelphia. 

Korschelt (1882) discovered that Dino- 


philus apatris lays two kinds of eggs, the 


one three times the diameter of the other; 
and he further determined the important 
fact that the small eggs invariably develop 
into males and the large ones into females. 
He did not, however, study the oogenesis 
of these two kinds of eggs. The occurrence 
some years ago of a related species of 
Dinophilus in the marine aquaria at the 
University of Pennsylvania gave me an 
opportunity to study this problem. 

The earliest stages in the developing 
ovary of Dinophilus which I have ex- 
amined shows only one kind of primitive 
ege cells or oogonia. These cells are very 
small and details of their structure are not 
readily made out, but all are approxi- 
mately of the same size. The size and 
structure of these cells and of their nuclei 
are apparently the same in all eases. I 
have repeatedly seen the last oogonial 
division, but the chromosomes are so small 
and numerous (about 20) that it has not 
been possible to distinguish any constant 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 610.. 


difference either in the number or in the 
shapes of these chromosomes. 

After the oogonia have entered upon the 
erowth period and have reached about 
twice their original diameter they begin to 
fuse together and in this process at least 
twenty-five or thirty fuse to form the fe- 
male eggs, while a much smaller number 
fuse to form the male eggs, a fact recently 
reported by R. Hertwig (1905). In the 
fusion, the cell boundaries first disappear 
and then some time later the nuclear mem- 
branes dissolve and the nuclear contents are 
scattered in the cell, where they slowly dis- 
solve. Only one nucleus remains in the 
syneytium; this is in most cases centrally 
placed, but I have been unable to deter- 
mine whether its survival depends upon its 
position or upon some intrinsic difference. 

In the fully formed ovarian eggs the 
nucleus of the small eggs is relatively larger 
than that of the large ones, as R. Hertwig 
(1905) has stated, the relative diameter of 
the nucleus to the entire cell being about 
1:4 in the case of the male eggs and about 
1:6 in the case of the female eggs. In 
this fact Hertwig thinks we have the cause 
of sex determination. It is doubtful 
whether this can be accepted as a general 
explanation, and even in the case of Dino- 
philus it is not certain that it is the true 
explanation. The relatively greater size 
of the nucleus in the male eggs is probably 
due to the smaller number of cells which 
fuse to form the cell body, and this may 
result from the relative isolation of the 
male eggs as compared with the crowding 
of the female eggs. 

In the first maturation division the chro- 
mosomes, though small, may be counted, 
and it is found that there are ten in both 
male and female eggs. No differences in 
the size of individual chromosomes can be 
detected in the two kinds of eggs. 

The manner in which the primary oocytes 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1906.] 


fuse together to give rise to the male or 
female eggs suggests that the position of 
the eggs in the ovary and their relative 
isolation or crowding may here be the sex- 
determining factor. 


Glycogen in the Nervous Tissue of Embryo 
Mammals, with Demonstration: SIMon 
H. Gage, Cornell University. 

From the first discovery of glycogen in 
animal tissues by Claude Bernard in the 
fifties until the present time, all investiga- 
tors assert that glycogen is not present in 
nervous tissue at any stage of development 
or during any state of activity. In the 
summer of 1904 while at the Bermuda 
Biological Station Amphiocrus material 
was fixed in absolute alcohol for the de- 
termination of glycogen. Abundant 
glycogen was found in the large nerve cells 
of the central nervous system in both 
Amphiozus and Asymmetron. From this 
discovery it was believed that glycogen 
would probably be found in the nervous 
tissues of mammals if they were taken at 
the right time. A series of pig embryos 
from 7 to 70 mm. were sectioned and plenti- 
ful glycogen was found in the cells of the 
dorsal ganglia in embryos from 7 to 20 mm. 
In the 20 mm. embryo glycogen was also 
present in the developing nerve trunks, 
and in older embryos it nearly or quite dis- 
appeared from the ganglion cells but be- 
came exceedingly abundant in the nerve 
trunks. These facts point to the conclu- 
sion that at some period in the growth of 
nervous tissue glycogen plays as important 
a part as in the other tissues of the body. 


The Notochord of the Head in Human 
Embryos of the Third to the Twelfth 


Week, and Comparisons uxrth Other 
Vertebrates: SUSANNA PHELPS GAGE, 
Ithaca, N. Y. ; 

In the Cornell collection are many 


sagittal series which are especially favor- 


SCIENCE. 


295 


able for the study of a mesal organ like the 
notochord. In a-human specimen of sixty 
days the relations of the notochord to the 
cartilaginous base of the skull and the 
epithelium of the mouth are clear. On 
emerging from the axis, it forms a knotted 
protuberance dorsal of the base of the 
skull, passes diagonally through it to a 
pocket from the roof of the mouth, thence 
cephalad to come in contact with two other 
mouth pockets, thence diagonally dorsal 
through the base of the skull, again form- 
ing a knot and turning sharply ventrad, 
ending near the hypophysis but within the 
cartilage. 

The same relations exist in a specimen 
of forty-eight days in which the base of 
the skull is not as far from the roof of the 
mouth and the excursion of the notochord 
is not so far ventrad. 

At thirty-six days the condensed meso- 
derm foreshadows the skull, and the same 
general relations occur, the ventral excur- 
sion of the notochord being very limited 
and touching the straight roof of the mouth 
in three or four loops. 

At twenty-eight and twenty-one days the 
notochord lies directly in contact with the 
epithelium of the roof of the mouth, thus 
showing the beginning of the history. 
Transections verify the above observations. 

The comparative study of pig, sheep, 
ealf, mouse, cat, chick, amblystoma, frog, 


shark and lamprey shows that the noto- - 


chord after the earliest stages is usually 
completely separated from the roof of the 
mouth, being included in the more con- 
densed tissue forming the skull and taking 
a Straight course. In the pig, however, 
about twenty per cent. were similar to man, 
being in contact with mouth pockets. 

In the calf, contrary to the observation 
of Froriep, the specimen examinéd showed 
the usual straight form. 

The cephalic tip of the notochord in the 


296 


above mentioned examples varies in rela- 
tion, being in contact with: (a) the hy- 
pophysis (ingrowth of skin); (0) Sessel’s 
pocket (outgrowth of enteron); or (c) the 
first mesodermic head cavity (derivative 
from enteron). The last condition, found 
in shark, may be the typical one. 


Importations of the Gtpsy Moth. and 
Brown-tail Moth Parasites from Europe: 
L. O. Howarp, U. S. Department of 
Agriculture. 

In the late spring of 1905 the state of 
Massachusetts appropriated ten thousand 
dollars a year, for three years, to be ex- 
pended in an effort to import into the 
United States the European parasites of 
the two destructive insects mentioned in 
the title. The larger part of this appro- 
priation, together with a small appropria- 
tion of twenty-five hundred dollars, made 
by the general government, was used and is 
being used in this attempt, the whole Euro- 
pean end of the effort having been placed 
under the control of the speaker. 

In June, 1905, he visited Europe, land- 
ing at Naples on the fifteenth of that 
month. At the time, the south European 
brown-tail moths had all issued, and the 
cipsy moth was in the full-grown eater- 
pillar stage. Arrangements were made 
with experts in Italy, in Austria, in Hun- 
gary, in South Germany, Switzerland and 
France to send to Boston full-grown larve 
and pup of the gipsy moth; and full in- 
structions were given as to methods of ship- 
ment. During the following summer 
months very many specimens were received 
in Boston and were cared for in a tempo- 
rary laboratory at Malden and a number of 
different species of parasites issued, the 
most promising ones being tachina flies. 
These over-wintered successfully in Massa- 
chusetts, and a certain proportion of flies 
issued from the over-wintering puparia the 
present spring. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 610. 


In April, 1906, the same journey was 
practically repeated, the speaker visiting 
first France, then Italy, then Austria and 
Hungary, and afterwards Germany and 
Switzerland, and arrangements were made, 
at an earlier period in the season, so that 
much larger quantities of both species will 
be secured. Shipments from many points 
in Hurope are already being received and 
many parasites are being bred from Euro- 
pean specimens of both species. 

The most interesting feature of the effort 
so far has come through the wholesale in- 
troduction of the over-wintering nests of 
the brown-tail moth. On the strength of 
an unpublished observation of Jablonowski, 
of Budapest, mentioned to the speaker in 
July, 1905, no less than one hundred and 
eighty-five thousand nests were imported 
into Massachusetts from forty different 
localities in Europe, ranging from Rennes 
on the northwest to Budapest on the south- 
east. From these nests were bred the pres- 
ent spring and early summer many thou- 
sands of specimens of parasites of different 
groups; these have been colonized in the 
open and in out-door cages constructed of 
wire gauze and placed over good-sized trees 
thoroughly infested with both gipsy moth 
and brown-tail moth larvas. 

The interesting feature of the experi- 
ment is the large scale upon which it has 
been conducted. Earlier attempts to in- 
troduce and acclimatize beneficial species 
from one part of the world into another 
have been done on a small scale; but com- 
paratively few have been imported at any 
one time. In this instance the experiment 
was so perfectly safe and the country into 
which the forms were introduced was so 
extensively ravished by the insects that the 
introduction of additional pests of the same 
species could possibly do no harm; whereas, 
by such wholesale introduction, vastly 
greater numbers of the parasites would be 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1906.] 


secured, thus promising earlier relief than 
by the other method. 


On the Connections of the Fumcular Nuclei 
of the Brains of Fishes: C. JuDsON HEr- 
RICK, Denison University. 

In those teleosts which possess elabo- 
rately developed taste bud systems in the 
outer skin, we find that the entire taste 
bud system of nerves, including nerves 
from sense organs in the mouth and 
pharynx and also from similar organs in 


the outer skin, is very intimately connected 


with the viscero-motor nervous apparatus, 
as was to have been expected. But the 
terminal nuclei of the nerves from taste 
buds in the outer skin, which unquestion- 
ably belong morphologically to the visceral 
Sensory system, have extensive additional 
sensory connections with distant motor cen- 
ters of the somatic type. These long reflex 
sustatory paths are of relatively recent 
phylogenetic origin and in some teleosts 
are very elaborately developed. The con- 
nections in the mid-brain of the ascending 
secondary gustatory path I have described 
in a previous communication. In this 
paper I have analyzed the descending sec- 
ondary gustatory path and found that in 
its further course and connections in the 
funicular nucleus region it has all of the 
functional characteristics of a somatic re- 
fiex are—from cutaneous organs of taste to 
somatic muscles. 
erable theoretical interest as a concrete 
illustration of the way in which the most 
rigid morphological lines may be crossed 
by the exigencies of functional adaptation. 


The Hackled Band in the Webs of Certain 
Spiders: J. H. Comstock, Cornell Uni- 
versity. 

It is well known that those spiders which 
possess a cribellum and a calamistrum spin 
two kinds of silk: one, a simple smooth 
thread of the ordinary type, and another 


SCIENCE. 


This is a point of consid-- 


297 


that presents a curled appearance. Photo- 
micrographs of the silk of representatives 
of three families of cribellate spiders were 
presented. In each the characteristic silk 
consists of a ribbon-like structure which, 
on account of the manner in which it is 
made, may be termed the hackled band. 
In each case the hackled band consists of 
two elements: a series of longitudinal 
threads, which may be termed the warp, 
and a sheet of viscid silk supported by the 
warp, which may be termed the woof. In 
the hackled band of Uloborus and Hypti- 
otes the warp consists of two straight 
threads, and the woof of an exceedingly 
regular series of overlapping lobes. In the 
hackled band of Amawrobius the warp con- 
sists of four threads. Two of these lie in 
the central portion of the band; they are 
straight and parallel. The other threads 
extend, one along the middle of each lateral 
half of the band, and are curled. These 
four threads support a sheet of viscid silk, 
the woof. The woof-has a wavy outline, 
but does not consist’ of a regular series of 
lobes, as in the Uloboride. In the hackled 
band of Fulistata there are four kinds of 
silk. First, a double supporting line; see- 
ond, the primary looped threads; third, 
the secondary looped threads; fourth, the 
woof of viscid silk. 


The Dwided Eyes of Blepharocera tenu- 
upes Walker: Wm. A. Rivey, Cornell 
University. 
The physiology of the divided eyes of 

Blepharocera tenuipes has been discussed 

by Kellogg, but aside from incidental men- 

tion nothing concerning their morphology 
has been published. The facets of the 
dorsal eye average forty microns in diam- 
eter, those of the lateral eye twenty-four 
microns. Both eyes are clothed with hairs, 
usually one at each facet angle, rarely two. 

In section the dorsal ommatidia are about 

three times the length of the lateral. Un- 


298 


like other nematocerous diptera studied, the 
eyes—both dorsal and lateral—are of the 
pseudocone type. Among the numerous 
slender secondary pigment cells may occa- 
sionally be found a much-reduced trichogen 
cell. There is no special corneal hypo- 
dermis such as is present in Crustacea and 
Collembola, but it is represented by the pri- 
mary pigment cells. The presence of abun- 
dant pigment between the ommatidia and 
the position of the visual rods preclude the 
formation of superimposed images. There 
is no evidence of pigment migration de- 
‘pendent upon intensity of light. In the 
youngest pupe studied the eye is repre- 
sented by a one-layered hypodermis in 
which groups of enlarged sensory cells are 
separated by more slender cells. There is 
no invagination, but the groups of sensory 
cells become bud-like, pushing the pseudo- 
cone cells and the primary pigment cells to 
their distal surfaces while the secondary 
pigment cells become crowded into wedge- 
shaped masses at either end. In course of 
further growth the elements elongate great- 
ly. The lateral eye differentiates more 
rapidly than the dorsal, a condition to be 
explained by the late phylogenetic appear- 
ance of the dorsal eye. 


The Nervous System and Nephridia of 
Dinophilus: J. A. Newson, Cornell Uni- 
versity. 

The nervous system exhibits an embry- 
onic condition, consisting of a brain in close 
contact with the hypodermis, and a pair of 
lateral nerve cords, connected by trans- 
verse commissures arranged metamerically. 
Ganglion eells, lying within the hypo- 
dermis, accompany the lateral nerve cords, 
and are arranged to form five pairs of 
ganglia. A preoral commissure connects 
the circumcesophageal commissures. The 
nephridia number five pairs, and are ar- 
ranged metamerically. Those of the pos- 
terior four pairs are simple, and similar to 


SCIENCE. 


“two curious canalar plexuses. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 610. 


those of annelid larve, terminating blindly 
at their inner ends. Those of the first pair 
are much more complex, each exhibiting 
The whole 
anatomy indicates close relationship to the 
annelids. 


Early Stages in the Development of the 
Salwary Glands in Sheep and Pig Em- 
bryos: Wm. C. THRO, Cornell University. 
Glands in Sheep Embryos.—In an em- 

bryo 17.5 mm. long all the glands are pres- 

ent. The submaxillary is the most ad- 
vanced, since a few side buds project from 
the body of the gland. The sublingual 
consists of a short ridge-like projection of 
the epithelium lining the mouth-cavity. In 

a 20 mm. embryo the sublingual consists of 

a solid cord of cells attached by its cephalic 

end to the epithelium lining the mouth- 

cavity and running caudad a short distance 
beneath the epithelium. In a 26 mm. em- 
bryo Wharton’s duct possesses a lumen. 

In a 43 mm. embryo the sublingual and 

parotid have lumina. In an embryo 44.5 

mm. long the ducts of the submaxillary 

and sublingual run side by side and open 

beneath the tip of the tongue, cephalad of 
the frenum. 

Glands in Pig Embryos.—In an embryo 
15 mm. long, head-breech measurement, the 
very earliest stages of the parotid and 
retrolingual glands are found, while the 
submaxillary is represented by a well-de- 
veloped bud with enlarged extremity. 


The Development and Relations of the 
Columella in the Amphibia: B. F. Kines- 
BURY, Cornell University. 


The Inheritance of Characteristics in 
Poultry: C. B. DaAvEnport, Carnegie 
Institution of Washington. 

In how far are the characteristics of or- 
ganisms immutable units, incapable of 
modification, even when pitted against 
each other in pairs, as occurs in hybridiza- 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1906.] 


tion of individuals having opposed char- 
acteristics? If the characteristics typically 
blend in the hybrid offspring, the theory of 
unit characters loses its main support; but 
if they typically do not blend, but reappear 
in the hybrid offspring, each in its pristine 
purity, then the theory of unit characters 
is supported and its corollary—evolution 
by mutation—follows. Hybridization of 
poultry shows that most characteristics do 
not blend and do reappear in subsequent 
hybrid progeny almost unaltered—almost, 
but not quite. 


The Egg-laying of Chironomus annularis: 
JAmES G. NeepHAm, Lake Forest, Ill. 
Chironomus annularis, one of the larger 

midges of wide distribution in Europe and 
North America, occurs in the campus pond 
at Lake Forest College, where in May a 
number of new observations were made as 
to its manner of oviposition. The eggs are 
extruded while the female is hanging up 
among the leaves of the sedges at the 
water’s edge. There occurs a preliminary 
flight back and forth across the water last- 
ing fifteen to twenty minutes. This flight 
ends well in-shore, where the female settles 
and releases the egg masses upon the sur- 
face. The egg mass gradually settles be- 
neath the surface, but remains attached to 
a little transparent float by a slender ad- 
hesive gelatinous thread which stretches out 
to a length of about six inches. The mass 
then drifts until this suspensory thread 
comes in contact with some submerged 
sedge leaf or. other solid support, where 
it remains until hatched. It contains 
about 1,800 eggs, which hatch in about 
three days. 


Some Notes on the Breeding Habits of our 
Ithaca Anwra: A. H. Wriaut, Cornell 
University. 

Of the eight local anura, there have been 
identified the eggs of all in the field and 
of six in captivity. The mating embrace 


SCIENCE. 


299 


has been photographed with all excepting 
Rana catesbiana. 
C. Jupson HERRICK, 
Secretary. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


Applied Sociology. By Lester F. Warp. 

Boston, Ginn and Co. 1906. 

The clearness, brilliancy and vigorous de- 
fense of some pronounced doctrine which we 
have learned to expect from Professor Ward 
are characteristic of this book. It concerns 
real facts, not verbal distinctions; it delights 
by its cleverness of thought and style; it at- 
tempts to rehabilitate a particularly unprom- 
ising form of the Leibnitzian theory that 
proper education can create a millennium. 

Very briefly, the argument of the book is 
as follows: The welfare of people in general 
(whom I understand the sociologists to mean 
by the perilous word society) is improvable 
by the control of inanimate and animate na- 
ture, including people themselves, by reason 
guided by science and ruled by justice. Jus- 
tice means the satisfaction of every one’s 
wants, so far as they are not outweighed by 
others’ wants. There is reasoning capacity 
enough in all classes of society. Nature then 
does not to any degree worthy of considera- 
tion limit this control; the cause of weal and 
woe lies in nurture. The particular error of 
nurture which people should now reform is 
the inequality of knowledge; the many suffer 
because they are ignorant. The equalization 
of intellect will make happiness for all and 
will multiply a hundredfold the men and 
women whose eminent achievements in the 
sciences and arts free life from undesired 
labor, fear or sickness and add to it noble 
impulses and the means to realize them. The 
equalization of intellect will be secured by 
giving all knowledge to all men through a 
proper system of public education. 

That the present misery of people in gen- 
eral is due largely to the unequal distribution 
of knowledge is assumed with little or no dis- 
cussion of evidence or of the contrary hy- 
pothesis that one or two supermen who should 
next week find cures for cancer, gout and 


300 SCIENCE. 


asthma and an antitoxin against envy, worry 
and aimless fear, would advance the welfare 
of people in general more than a year’s added 
schooling to a million of us. - 

The proposition that nature’s limitations 
need not be considered by the reformer of 
society divides into two. The first is that 
though there are among individuals great dif- 
ferences by original nature in the capacity to 
reason and the capacity to acquire knowledge, 
there are by original nature no class differ- 
ences. The evidence offered is an appeal to 
common experience. In fairness, Professor 
Ward ought perhaps to have stated that if 
any class, for instance teachers of science, are 
selected on the basis of a high standing in 
these capacities, his statement must soon be- 
come erroneous, additionally so if they select 
wives on the same basis. He has in mind 
chiefly the classes due to the selective action 
of interest in and ability to get wealth. In 
such cases it is hard to disprove his claim, 
though it would be much harder to prove it. 
The second division of his. general proposition 
is that which men and how many shall be men 
of genius whose achievements can be trans- 
formed into the improvement of people in 
general is decided not by the gifts of nature, 
but by the conditions of nurture, the condi- 
tions being the advantages of education. His 
evidence for this is first a number of facts 
showing a certain probability that there are a 
hundred or more men of native ability enough 
to do the work of genius which only one man 
in fact now does, and, second, a rehearsal of 
the results of Odin’s ‘La Genése des Grands 
Hommes,’ which proves that the literary men 
of France have been born most frequently in 
chateaux and cities offering educational ad- 
vantages. He somewhat naively takes Odin’s 
facts to mean that ‘genius is in things, not 
men,’ disregarding the obvious certainty that 
if the achievements of men were due to 
original nature determined by immediate an- 
cestry, we should still find men of achievement 
born in such cities, because of the certainty 
that such select and retain those likely on the 
Galtonian hypothesis to be the ancestors of 
men of ability. The very high probability of 
the birth of a man of ability in a chateau is 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 610. 


perhaps more readily explained by the fact 
that men of ability come to own chateaux 
than by any very great educational advan- 
tages possessed by these rural homes of aris- 
tocracy. Odin’s research in fact leaves the 
whole question of nature versus nurture where 
it was before. The appropriate data are 
records of children of known differences of 
ancestry under similar conditions of nurture 
and of children of known similarities of an- 
cestry under different conditions of nurture. 
Data of the first sort, so far as obtained, con- 
tradict the author’s view. Data of the second 
sort could be obtained without great difficulty 
in a comparison of the achievements of immi- 
grants’ sons brought up till, say, fourteen in 
a Russian Ghetto with their brothers brought 
up in the New York City schools. 

Proof that education decides which ones 
or how many shall be leaders in achievement 
is really not so important to Professor Ward’s 
general plea for ‘all knowledge for all men’ 
as it seems to be in his pages. There are, of 
course, two ways of viewing a man’s achieve- 
ment, as to its absolute amount and as to its 
amount in comparison with the achievements 
of his contemporaries. The former quality is 
the one of importance to people in general; 
the latter is the one by which a man gains 
eminence. No one doubts that the former is 
due largely to the environment; with the back- 
ing of a modern education I may make a dis- 
covery which Aristotle could never have made. 
The latter may be due almost entirely to the 
gifts of original nature and these may deny 
the world more than one Aristotle a century, 
and still the value of universal and advanced 
education may be extreme. The one failure 


in clearness of this volume is its failure to 


distinguish between absolute and relative 
achievement and to assign the proper social 
value to each. Professor Ward seems to think 
that a great desideratum is the elevation of 
several thousands a generation from medioc- 
rity to eminence, but one is tempted to believe 
that his real faith is in absolute achievement 
and that he courageously makes an attack 
upon the Galtonian hypothesis because he 
misconceives it to limit absolute as well as 
relative achievement. 


Whee: 2. eee ae ee ibe 


iy Lee ie RAS 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1906.] 


One may even abandon hope of and desire 
for the equalization of intellect and still keep 
the essence of Professor Ward’s optimism. 
For every one of the desirable consequences 
of the equalization of intellect may be gained 
as well, if not better, by the same amount of 
effort and wisdom directed toward its increase. 
Space is lacking for me to defend this some- 
what rash amendment, which the author would 
probably repudiate. 

Epwarp L. THORNDIKE. 

TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 


Geometrische Kristallographie. By Ernst 
SoMMERFELDT, Privatdocent an der Univer- 


sitit. Titibingen. Pp. vi+ 139, 31 plates 
and 69 text figures. Leipzig, W. Engel- 
mann. 1906. 


This is a book intended for advanced stu- 
dents of crystallography, written from the 
standpoint of the mathematician. Specifically 
limiting himself to the purely geometrical 
properties of crystal solids, the author de- 
velops his theme from the definitions of sym- 
metry and in the first chapters defines the 
thirty-two recognized classes of crystals dis- 
tinguished by varying grades of symmetry. 
These groups are variously classified and ad- 
mirably illustrated by the plates which give 
for each of the classes the possible crystal 
forms and show very graphically the rela- 
tions between them. In the following chapters 
the mathematical relations existing between 
the faces of the crystal are deduced and the 
fundamental crystallographic laws are stated. 
The mathematical processes, particularly vec- 
tor analysis and the properties of deter- 
minants, which are chiefly involved are made 
the subject of a special chapter and their 
treatment is stated by the author to be original 
and to have an interest quite aside from the 
application to the problems of this work. 

To the student actually engaged in the meas- 
urement and study of erystals the book offers 
little of practical interest except in the pre- 
sentation of formule for the transformation 
of indices and axes which are here developed 
in very general form. 

CHARLES PALACHE. 


SCIENCE. 


301 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 


THE contents of the American Journal of 
Science for September are as follows: 


R. A. Daty: ‘ Abyssal Igneous Injection as a 
Causal Condition and as an Effect of Mountain- 
building.’ 

W. E. Forp: ‘Some Interesting Beryl Crystals 
and their Associations.’ 

F. E. Wricut: ‘ Schistosity by Crystallization: 
A Qualitative Proof,’ 

M. R. CAMPBELL: ‘ Fractured Bowlders in Con- 
glomerate.’ 

EK. L. Furtone: ‘ Exploration of Samwel Cave.’ 

T. L. Watson: ‘ Occurrences of Unakite in a 
New Locality in Virginia.’ 

HK. H. Seniarps: ‘Types of Permian Insects.’ 

R. H. Asuiery: * Analysis of Dithionic Acid and 
the Dithionates.’ 


The American Journal of Anatomy, Vol. 
V., No. 4, September 1, 1906, contains the 
following articles: 

R. B. Bean: ‘Some Racial Peculiarities of the 
Negro Brain.’ (With 8 tables, 16 figures and 12 
charts. ) 

F, P. Mau: ‘On Ossification Centers in Hu- 
man Embryos. (With 6 tables and 6 figures.) 

J. L. BREMER: ‘ Description of a 4 mm. Human 
Embryo. (With 16 figures.) 

CHARLES R. STocKARD: ‘The Development of 
the Mouth and Gills in Bdellostoma.’? (With 36 
figures. ) 


Tue July number of the Journal of Mathe- 
matics contains the following articles: 


Epwarp Kasner: ‘The Geometry of Differ- 
ential Elements of the Second Order with respect 
to the Group of all Point Transformations.’ 

F. J. B. CornpErro: ‘ Gyroscopes and Cyclones.’ 

W. A. Mannine: ‘On the Primitive Groups of 
Class Ten.’ 

VireiL Snyper: ‘On Certain Unicursal Twisted 
Curves.’ 

Henry Livineston Coar: ‘ Functions of Three 
Real Independent Variables.’ 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 


THE NATURE AND ORIGIN OF VOLCANIC HEAT. 
In Science for August 10 Dr. Elihu Thom- 
son gives a theory of volcanic energy which 
he correctly describes as an extension of the 
ideas of Mallet. Having been recently much 
occupied with the theory of volcanoes in con- 


302 


nection with the larger problem of the cause 
of earthquakes, the formation of mountains 
and other phenomena connected with the 
physics of the earth, the discussion of Dr. 
Thomson has interested me, but I find it diffi- 
cult to believe that either Mallet’s original 
view or this ingeniously modified form of it is 
well founded. Dr. Thomson says: “A truly 
solid interior seems to be demanded by the 
accepted great rigidity of the body of the 
earth * * *”? This view is very frequently 
expressed, but in my recent paper, ‘ Researches 
on the Rigidity of the Heavenly Bodies,’ pub- 
lished in the Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 
4104, July 10, 1906, it seems to be proved 
clearly and directly that the rigidity of the 
earth is not inconsistent with a fluid interior. 
And in another paper, not yet published, I 
think I have proved conclusively that a fluid 
substratum underlies the earth’s crust. Ac- 
cordingly, although I am an astronomer, and 
have shown in the paper above cited that the 
rigidity of the earth exceeds that of steel, and 
perhaps closely approaches that of nickel steel 
used in armor plate, it seems to me that geol- 
ogists have adopted a mistaken course in con- 
ceding the solidity of the earth demanded by 
astronomers, for two reasons: (1) Rigidity 
does not really disprove internal fluidity; (2) 
the geological evidence of the existence of a 
fluid substratum is overwhelming, and this 
latter result is confirmed by my unpublished 
investigation on the cause of earthquakes. 

In my paper on the rigidity of the heavenly 
bodies, above cited, the argument respecting 
the internal state of the earth is expressed as 
follows: 

It is, perhaps, worth pointing out that as a 
molten earth, in which the density follows La- 
place’s law, would have a mean rigidity of its 
layers equal to that of wrought iron, the hypo- 
thetical liquid interior would be much less easily 
deformed by tidal forces than has been generally 
supposed; so that reaction upon the enclosing 
crust probably would not be very conspicuous. 
The amount of this reaction would depend essen- 
tially upon the difference between the rigidity of 
nickel steel and of wrought iron, which is about 
one fourth of the rigidity of the whole earth as 
now constituted. Even if one supposed the in- 
terior of the earth to be liquid, the pressure to 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 610. 


which it is subjected is so great that the tidal 
surgings of the nucleus, tending to deform the 
crust, would be comparatively ineffective; and if 
the crust of solid rock like granite be moderately 
thick, it is doubtful if the yielding would be 
sufficient to reduce sensibly the theoretical height 
of the fortnightly tides of the ocean. Accord- 
ingly it appears probable that the argument 
drawn from the tides against the fluidity of the 
earth’s nucleus may in reality be somewhat less 
conclusive than the most eminent mathematicians 
have supposed. But from the accordance between 
the value of the earth’s rigidity obtained from 
the theory of gravity with those found by Darwin 
from observations of the fortnightly tides, and 
by Hough from the prolongation of the Eulerian 
period for the variation of latitude, it seems im- 
possible to escape the conclusion that the rigidity 
of our globe as now encrusted probably ap- 
proaches that of nickel steel. 

It is searcely necessary to add that the tra- 
ditional theory long held by geologists that the 
earth’s interior is a mass of mobile liquid in 
which currents still persist (cf. Fisher’s ‘ Phys- 
ics of the Earth’s Crust,’ second edition, pp. 246, 
305, et seq.) when viewed from the gravitational 
standpoint is, therefore, found to be inadmissible. 
The great effective rigidity or viscosity of the 
matter within the earth makes any supposed mo- 
tion of the imprisoned fluid quite inconceivable. 


Thus, on the one hand, I have shown by 
strict mathematical reasoning from recognized 
data admitting of little dispute or uncer- 
tainty, that the rigidity is not inconsistent 
with internal fluidity, while on the other, I 
have made it clear that the free circulation 
of currents within the fluid nucleus would be 
impossible, owing to the rigidity depending 
on pressure. In fact the matter within the 
globe, as Arrhenius has also pointed out, may 
well be gaseous, simply condensed by pressure 
till it has an average rigidity exceeding that 
of steel. There are forces, however, which 
may produce motion just under the crust, 
which give rise to earthquakes. 

Dr. Thomson’s view that ‘the flexures 
taking place in the earth’s crust or in the 
outer portion of its mass may bring to bear 
upon deep-seated and, perhaps, already heated 
solid rock masses a sufficient pressure to cause 
them to readjust their positions,’ and thus 
give rise to volcanic action, is in accordance 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1906.] 


with many modern speculations on the cause 
of earthquakes, which ascribe these tremors 
to the slipping of rocks. My unpublished 
inquiry indicates that the true cause is very 
different. I regret that I am not yet able to 
give the chain of reasoning by which this re- 
sult is established, but I may say that it is 
shown that one common cause underlies earth- 
quakes, volcanoes, formation of mountains 
and islands, the elevation of plateaus, the 
feeble attractions of mountains noticed in 
geodetic operations, and the formation of 
great sea waves which frequently accompany 
violent earthquakes. All these phenomena 
are proved to be intimately connected, and I 
have shown that they depend upon a single 
cause, and that the earth’s crust is underlaid 
by a fluid substratum in which the forces 
arise that disturb the crust. 

It is nearly always assumed that changes 
in the earth’s crust are due to secular cooling, 
but is that really so? When the truth comes 
to be known, I think it will be found that we 
have all been working on a false premise; a 
misleading hypothesis. In Astronomische 
Nachrichten, 4104, I have shown that rigidity 
prevents circulation, and, therefore, secular 
cooling would be confined almost entirely to 
the surface layers. Fisher and others have 
shown that the shrinkage due to the cooling 
of the crust is quite inadequate to account for 
the mountain folds observed upon the earth, 
which my researches show to depend on an 
entirely different cause. 

Dr. Thomson is quite right in pronouncing 
against radium as a cause of voleanic action. 
The Hon. R. J. Strutt, of Cambridge, has 
shown that radium is very aburdant in the 
rocks of the earth’s crust, such as granite. 
If, therefore, we imagine radium to be the 
source of volcanic outbreaks, we should ex- 
pect abundant eruptions to occur in all coun- 
tries underlaid with granite—the United 
States, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, Bra- 
zil—which is contrary to observation. The 
well-known distribution of volcanoes invali- 
dates the radium theory completely. 

The Hon. R. J. Strutt, from his radium 
investigations, concludes that the internal 


SCIENCE. 303 


temperature of the moon exceeds that of the 
earth. The observed low temperature of the 
lunar surface, however, contradicts this hy- 
pothesis, and thus we must be very cautious 
about ascribing too much to radium. The 
best experimental evidence available is that 
radium is a temporary form of matter, the 
energy of which must be renewed from other 
sources at intervals of 20,000 years, and thus 
it may play only an inappreciable part in the 
physics of the universe... So far, there is no 
evidence that it is an important cosmical 
agency. 

The great forces which have most pro- 
foundly modified the world will be found to 
be familiar ones, which are overlooked mainly 
because they are so simple and so near at 
hand. 

ede OEE 

U. S. Naval OBSERVATORY, 
Mare ISLAND, CALIFORNIA, aS 
August 16, 1906. Byte ae 


THE NATURE OF EVOLUTION. 


On returning from Central America I fing 
Dr. E. A. Ortmann’s paper in Science of 
April 27 under the heading ‘ Dr. O. F. Cook’s 
Conception of Evolution. Lest the use of 
this label deceive any possible patrons of the 
genuine preparation, it may be desirable to 
point out that the most important ingredients 
have been omitted, so that the peculiar virtues 
of my evolutionary eye-water are entirely lost! 

To suppose that progress in evolutionary 
knowledge can be made by the arbitrary lim- 
itation and redefinition of terms would imply, 
of course, a very shallow and merely meta- 
physical apprehension of the concrete data of 
the subject. Nevertheless, conceptions of evo- 
lution have to be communicated through the 
medium of language, and language has to be 
explicit if it is to convey definitely outlined 
ideas. When there is a practical reason for 
doing so, a term may be used in a special 
sense, subject only to the obvious desirability 
that linguistic changes, whether of new words 
or of modified meanings, be kept down to the 
lowest possible limits which will serve the pur- 
poses of clear exposition for the subject in 
hand. 


304 SCIENCE. 


The word evolution is often used as the 
name of the whole study of development—a 
branch of biology which includes the consid- 
eration of all the attendant factors or groups 
of phenomena. This generalized use is often 
convenient and wholly unobjectionable, but as 
soon as the question of the causes of evolution 
is raised the word obtains a much more ex- 
plicit sense, serving then to designate the con- 
crete physiological process in which the char- 
acters of species are changed. To insist that 
the progressive transformation of species be 
called variation, and not evolution, introduces 
a merely gratuitous confusion of words, since 
it removes both these terms, variation and 
evolution, from their primary significations. 

The essential idea of variation is in its 
application to differences caused by the en- 
vironment, that is, to transverse contempo- 
raneous displacements among the individual 
members of a species, and not to the progress- 
ive, chronologically extended, longitudinal 
changes which represent the evolution of the 
species as a whole. These are two distinct 
modes of organic motion. To call them both 
variation does not prove that they are the 
same; it only facilitates such an assumption 
and tempts the unwary to take it for granted 
that anything which can modify or displace 
individual organisms in the transverse direc- 
tion of variation, can also cause species to 
move in the longitudinal direction of evolu- 
tion. 

The kinetic conception avoids the verbal 
pit-fall and finds fundamental differences be- 
tween the transverse contemporaneous varia- 
tion of individuals and the longitudinal suc- 
cession or gradual modification of form or 
structure in the species as a whole. Other 
forms of expression become necessary in order 
that the two kinds of phenomena formerly 
covered by the variation blanket can be com- 
pared and contrasted. 

At such points the interests of general lit- 
erature and of professional science often di- 
verge widely. Specialists who are unwilling 
to use the word evolution in a definite physi- 
ological sense would have preferred some more 
technical means of designating this process 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 610. 


of change in species. It might have been 
called, for example, symbasic prostholysis, in 
allusion to the fact that it is accomplished 
through the association of organisms into in- 
terbreeding groups rather than as a result of 
the environmental influences which induce 
variations. The species, and not the indi- 
vidual, is the unit of evolution; there are as 
many evolutions as there are segregated 
groups of organisms. 

‘The whole process of development of the 
organic world, from its beginning to its end,’ 
which Dr. Ortmann prefers to call evolution, 
is a merely historical conception and not a 
biological process at all, except as it is made 
up of the separate evolutions of the millions 
of species of which the ‘organic world’ is 
composed. What is to be gained of clearness 
of thought or of expression by calling the 
general aggregate evolution, while denying 
this name to the specific units of development, 
is not easy to perceive. Dr. Ortmann would 
scarcely have thought to beguile us with the 
hollow formula that species change by varia- 
tion and that variation therefore causes evolu- 
tion. But why otherwise should it have ap- 
peared so astonishing to find the word evolu- 
tion used in a particular as well as in a gen- 
eral sense? It is necessary here to fully re- 
ciprocate with Dr. Ortmann and ‘ positively 
decline to accept’ his conception of evolution, 
if, as now appears, it is something which takes 
place in the organic world at large, but does 
not appear in the component species. ; 

The jury must decide who has meditated the 
greater violence to the English language. It 
is certainly Dr. Ortmann who proposes the 
greater restriction of the word evolution, for 
he would permit its use only in the general 
and indefinite sense, as applying to the or- 
ganic cosmogony as a whole, while I would 


recognize in addition a definite physiological . 


meaning, when questions of evolutionary 
causes are being discussed. 

The conception of spontaneous change in 
the characters of species may not be correct, 
but it is at least a conception, and it permits 
evolution to be thought of as a phenomenon 
separate and distinct from accidents of en- 


Wn ReaD ge Fy 


oe ee 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1906.] 


vironment which may intensify the normal 
inequalities of individuals (variation), as well 
as from accidents of geographical distribu- 
tion by which groups of individuals may be 
subdivided (speciation). All these are evolu- 
tionary matters in the general sense already 
alluded to, but underneath all the multiplicity 
of more or less pertinent data and speculations 
is this process of change in species. It may 
be denied, as in the mutation hypothesis of 
Professor de Vries, that there is such an eyo- 
lutionary motion of specific groups, but all 
will be ready to admit that if such progressive 
changes of species take place they represent 
the real center and essence of the subject of 
evolution, the physiological process of which 
it is of so much importance to know the con- 
ditions and causes. 

The fact that evolutionary literature has 
become so vast a congeries of speculations 
should not make us forget what it is all about. 
Certainly it affords no sufficient reason for 
avoiding the use of the word evolution in 
describing a conception in which a continuous 
modification of the specific type is treated as 
a normal condition and requisite of organic 
existence. 

After writing the above I have come upon 
a further article by Dr. Ortmann in ScIENCE 
of June 22, in which he appears reconciled to 
the new term speciation, in spite of the hoary 
antiquity and other objectionable features of 
the idea which led to the suggestion. This is 
very gratifying. But at the same time it 
becomes even more obvious than before that 
the title of Dr. Ortmann’s previous article 
was misleading, for in this last review of de- 
velopmental theories he leaves out of account 
altogether the very conception he has so re- 
cently claimed to discuss, a conception which, 
whether old or new, true or false, is radically 
diverse from any of the alternatives treated. 
The distinction of speciation from evolution 
has been taken, evidently, as the whole ‘ con- 
ception,’ whereas it is only an incidental fea- 
ture. The mistake is due, no doubt, to my 
continued failure to give the kinetic point of 
view an adequate presentation, but it may be 
that the discussion has now reached a stage 


SCIENCE. 


305 


where the distinctions can be outlined more 
clearly than before.. 

Without denying the general literary sense 
in which anything which has even a remote 
bearing or influence on evolution may be con- 
sidered a factor, we may return once more to 
the kernel of the whole matter, the question 
of the true, actuating causes of evolution. 
The differences between the alternative inter- 
pretations may then be definitely located. 

It is evident that Dr. Ortmann is discussing 
a generalized abstraction compounded out of 
the four factors or groups of phenomena, vari- 
ation, inheritance, adjustment and speciation. 
The kinetic conception, on the other hand, 
treats evolution as a concrete process, carried 
forward through two factors which are very 
different from the other four, since they are 
resident in species and do not depend upon 
environmental influences. Dr. Ortmann’s un- 
willingness to recognize evolution as a con- 
crete process can now be understood, for the 
factors upon which he relies are incapable of 
explaining such a process, as a brief examina- 
tion will show. 

Inheritance, to take the oldest idea first, is 
a general condition of organic existence, but 
If there 
were no inheritance there would be, of course, 
no evolution in the biological sense, but this 
is no indication that inheritance causes evolu- 
tionary progress. Many writers have consist- 
ently denied that inheritance causes, or tends 
to cause, evolution. They hold, on the con- 
trary, that like would produce like indefinitely 
unless acted upon by disturbing agencies of 
the environment. Adaptation or adjustment 
to environment, whether by natural selection 
or otherwise, is not a cause of evolution, but 
rather a result, a meeting by evolutionary 
processes of requirements imposed by external 
conditions. Speciation, or the diversification 
of segregated groups of organisms, is also 
clearly an evolutionary result instead of a 
cause. Even variation, in the sense in which 
the word appears to be used by Dr. Ortmann, 
to indicate the effects of external influences 
upon organisms, has not been shown to have 
any connection with evolution, notwithstand- 


it has no evolutionary implication. 


306 SCIENCE. 


ing the persistent faith of the apostles of me- 
chanical causation, such as Cope, Hyatt, Dall 
and Dr. Ortmann himself. In short, it does 
not appear that the true, efficient causes of 
evolutionary motion are to be found in the 
phenomena covered by these four terms, in 
the senses in which they are employed by Dr. 
Ortmann. 

The conception of which Dr. Ortmann an- 
nounced a discussion, but has not really con- 
sidered, definitely abandons these supposed 
causes of evolution as inadequate and irrele- 
vant and would elevate to primary importance 
two considerations generally ignored entirely, 
or given very subsidiary attention. These are 
(1) heterism, the normal diversity of the indi- 
viduals of which species are composed, and 
(2) symbasis, the free interweaving of the 
lines of descent of these normally diverse indi- 
viduals. 

The progressive transformation of species is 
made possible by these two factors, and it has 
not been shown that any of the others are to 
be reckoned as direct or actuating causes, not- 
withstanding the vast amount of attention 
devoted in the last half century to the many 
static doctrines under which evolution has 
been ascribed to one or another form of en- 
vironmental influence. 

It may yet be ascertained, perhaps, that the 
environment does in some way exert actuating 
influences upon evolution, but it is not too 
much to say that up to this time all theories 
of environmental causation remain purely 
speculative. Heterism and symbasis, on the 
other hand, though long neglected as evolu- 
tionary causes, are thoroughly established 
facts of obvious implication. Individual di- 
versity persists in spite of uniformity of con- 
ditions, and interbreeding is everywhere co- 
incident with evolutionary progress. Even on 
purely mathematical grounds it becomes ap- 
parent that the resultant of the continuous 
interweaving of diverse lines of descent must 
be a progressive transformation of type. 

Dr. Ortmann points out that de Vries has 
confused speciation with variation, but might 
be charged in turn with having confused evo- 
lution with variation, just as so many other 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 610. 


writers have confused evolution with specia- 
tion. Why so many attempts at leaving 
Hamlet out of the play? Each is a testimony 
of the surviving strength of the old pre-evolu- 
tionary idea that species are normally con- 
stant, uniform and stationary, so that evolu- 
tion would need to be caused and conducted 
by external agencies of the environment. 
Though supported by no facts, the doctrine of 
environmental causation is still being advo- 
cated in many quarters in a manner strongly 
reminiscent of the defense of special creation, 
by Owen and Agassiz. The kinetic concep- 
tion of evolution is in respect of causality as 
different from environmental evolution as that 
is from special creation, for it holds that spe- 
cies are not made by the environment, but 
that their development goes forward as a 
manifestation of qualities inherent in their 
very constitution. 

The progressive modification of specific 
groups of interbreeding organisms is as truly 
a phenomenon, as much of a fact, as any 
of our so-called factors, natural selection, 
adaptation, variation, heterism, isolation, spe- 
ciation, ete., which help to make up the evolu- 
tionary drama. Evolution, in the kinetic ver- 
sion, is not only the title of the play, but the 
name of the principal réle. It is no longer 
restricted to the dialogue of the subordinate 
players, like a mere ghostly abstraction. The 
actions and relations of the various attendant 
circumstances continue to give us very im- 
portant aid in understanding the workings of 
evolution, but they are no longer allowed to 
explain it away into a nebulous compound of 
definitions. Some of the persons are of the 
immediate family of evolution, but others 
have no direct relationship at all, though they 
may appear often on the stage and perform 
important parts. Thus natural selection is 
the father of adaptation, but is related to evo- 
lution only in the indirect, restraining ca- 
pacity of guide and counselor. Evolution and 
isolation are parents of speciation, but are 
related only by this marriage, and had no 
previous consanguinity. Environmental varia- 
tion is at most only an uncle of evolution, not 
the direct progenitor. The remaining minor 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1906.] 


factors constitute the retainers, servants and 
domestic animals of the evolutionary house- 
hold, but this does not give them places in the 
genealogy of evolutionary causes. 

Dr. Ortmann is annoyed by incidental 
changes in familiar lines and stage directions, 
which he does not hesitate to charge to care- 
lessness and ignorance, forgetting, for the 
time, that the whole play is being recast, and 
that the merits of the new rendering are to 
be judged by its conformity with the facts of 
nature, rather than by reference to the tradi- 
tions of evolutionary literature. 

O. F. Cook. 

WASHINGTON, 

July 18, 1906. 


TEMPERATURE CORRECTIONS OF SUGAR 
POLARIZATION. 


To THE Epiror or Science: There has come 
to me a belated copy of Science (April 20) 
containing Dr. Wiechmann’s review of my 
work on the polariscope, in which he discusses 
my treatment of the subject of temperature 
corrections of sugar polarizations. As Dr. 
Wiechmann seems to have quite misunder- 
stood what I have stated concerning tempera- 
ture corrections, in view of the great impor- 
tance of the subject I have ventured to bring 
it again before your readers. Dr. Wiechmann 
takes a quotation from my book (p. 44) as to 
the fact that the values of temperature influ- 
ence are well established [by Andrews, Wiley 
and Schénrock for instance] as a statement 
endorsing the use of temperature corrections 
in raw sugar polarizations. He quite over- 
looks the statement (on the same page, I think; 
I have no copy at hand) that such corrections 
can be quite fallacious if proper conditions are 
not observed; and yet further (p. 972), under 
‘Errors of Commercial Polarizations,’ where 
I say, that owing to other inherent errors of 
raw sugar polarizations it is doubtful whether 
application of such corrections brings any 
nearer approach to the true saccharimetric 
value; and hence, such corrections are ques- 
tionable in raw products at least. 

The present status of the case, as I under- 
stand it, is this: 

It is well established that temperature 


SCIENCE. 


307 


change exerts an influence on sugar polariza- 
tions made according to standard method. 

The quantitative value of such influence, 
when pure sugar is polarized, is known within 
narrow limits of error. 

Owing to obscure compensatory errors, not 
yet possible of measurement and inherent in 
raw sugar polarizations, the correction of tem- 
perature influence is inadvisable as generally 
leading to an exaggerated sugar value. Fur- 
ther, application of temperature correction 
values gives quite fallacious results if the 
same constant temperature of solutions and 
apparatus is not maintained. 

As the total errors or raw-sugar polariza- 
tions apparently come nearest to balance at 
20° C. this temperature has been adopted as a 
rigid standard by the International Sugar 
Commission. 

The fact that the International Commission 
has adopted a rigid temperature standard 
shows that the influence of temperature is 
recognized. It follows that polarizations made 
at temperatures other than 20°, as necessarily 
here in the tropics where the afternoon tem- 
perature is now from 28 to 30°, that some 
correction should be made for temperature 
influence, not to the standard, of 17.5°, but 
to 20°. The well-known case cited by Dr. 
Wiechmann simply emphasizes that ‘ tempera- 
ture corrections’ may be applied with quite 
fallacious results, without in any way casting 
doubt on the ‘alleged’ influence of tempera- 
ture on the specific rotation of sucrose which 
obviously is but a small part of the influence 
of temperature on sugar polarizations. 

Here might be raised the interesting and 
subtle question whether the sugar values of 
the saccharimeter standardized at 20° are 
identical with those of the instrument stand- 
ardized at 17.5° when raw sugars are polar- 
ized. 

In the whole discussion, what are facts of 
experiments in temperature influence on pure 
sugar polarizations must be carefully differ- | 
entiated from what is the most consistent and 
fairest way to estimate the sugar value of a 
commercial product, by the indications of a 
method which at its best is subject to errors as 


308 SCIENCE. 


yet incapable of exact control; errors which 
are small but yet significant in the light of 
the magnitude of sugar transactions. 
Gro. W. Roire. 
Toa Baga, Porto Rico. 


SPECIAL ARTICLES. 


A BURIED TREASURE OF ECONOMIC ORNITHOLOGY. 

In 1865 there was published in New York 
a work on entomology by Dr. Isaac P. 
Trimble. Though dealing primarily with in- 
sects, the book contains the most original and 
accurate observations then made in economic 
ornithology in America. Concealed under its 
caption, ‘A Treatise on the Insect Enemies 
of Fruit and Fruit Trees,” is a mine of in- 
formation concerning the relations of birds to 
some of the worst pests horticulture has to 
endure. 

The attention to minutiz and the scientific 
accuracy with which the data were gathered 
are remarkable for the time, and the line of 
investigation, undeveloped as it was. While 
Samuels, Michener, Flagg, Bryant, Jenks and 
others were working in the field of economic 
ornithology at that or a little earlier period, 
the work of few, if any of them, is marked 
by the wealth of definite information that 
characterizes the labors of Trimble.” His 
specific identifications of substances found in 
the stomachs and his technique of determina- 
tion savor strongly of present methods, and 
at once distinguish his work from most of the 
contemporaneous articles on the subject, be- 
ing, as often they were, mere compilations of 
Audubonian and Wilsonian phrases. 

Dr. Trimble went to the birds themselves 
for his information. He says: 

* William Wood and Co., New York, 1865, pp. 
139, pls. XI. This title is not to be found in Coues’s 
bibliography nor in any list of publications con- 
cerning economic ornithology. By entomologists, 
however, the publication is frequently cited some- 
times even for its ornithological matter, and its 
author is deemed entitled ‘to a prominent place 
with the early economic entomologists of the 
country.’ 

? The latter says, however, of the work of Flagg, 
‘Of the many contributions to the history of 
birds, I have met with none so interesting as this’ 
(p. 113). 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 610. 


I have killed a very large number of birds and 
examined the contents of their stomachs, especially 
of those frequenting orchards. Most of these 
examinations have been made with a magnifying 
glass, and many with the microscope. Some species 
I have shot at short intervals during the season, 
to know how far their food varied at different 
times; and I have thus ascertained that the con- 
tents of the stomach at any one time are not an 
infallible criterion by which we can determine the 
usual food of that bird. On the fifth of May, 
1864, I shot seven different birds; they had all 
been feeding freely on small beetles, and some of 
them on nothing else. There was a great flight 
of these small-beetles that day; the atmosphere 
was teeming with them. A few days after the air 
was filled with ephemera flies, and the same 
species of birds were then feeding upon these (p. 
113). 

Here he recognizes the law that birds as a 
rule feed upon substances most abundant 
about them, a fact with which we are con- 
stantly brought face to face in the more ex- 
tensive investigations of the present time. 
Continuing the comparison, as we identify 
some beetles by the scutellum or chrysalides 
by the cremaster, he also had his little niceties 
of method, of one of which the following is 
an interesting description: 

The eyes of most insects are wonderfully formed. 
They may be said to be compound eyes, each made 
up of many hexagonal lenses. If a comb of 
the hive bee, containing one or two hundred 
cells, could be photographed down to the size of 
the head of a pin, it would look somewhat like the 
eye of a beetle. Hach eye of the Curculio contains 
about 150 of these lenses. The number in the 
eyes of butterflies, moths or dragonflies amounts 
to many thousands. In some microscopic experi- 
ments made last summer upon the eyes of plant 
lice from different trees and plants, it was found 
that the number of lenses in the eyes of these in- 
sects varied from every tree and plant. Hach 
thus proved to be a distinct species, no matter 
how close the resemblance in other respects. Thus, 
should the rose bushes of the garden or a neigh- 
borhood be cleared of these pests they would not 
be reinhabited by those from other plants. While 
examining one of these aphides it brought forth 
a young one, and this in turn being tested its eye 
was found to contain the same number of lenses 
as the mother’s. This peculiarity of the eyes of 
insects, and the knowledge of the exact number of 
these lenses in the eyes of each species, become 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1906.] 


important in investigations where only the com- 
minuted parts can be obtained. In a long series 
of examinations of the contents of the stomachs 
of birds, for the purpose of ascertaining more 
positively how far the insectivorous kinds fre- 
quenting orchards are useful in feeding upon these 
enemies of fruits, the microscope has enabled me to 
demonstrate many facts otherwise difficult to 
prove (pp. 37-8). 

How he made use of the little point about 
the cureculio he describes in a fascinating 
manner : 

Killed an oriole (Baltimore)—a male of one 
year; it did not have the brilliant colors of the 
fully matured bird. I followed it from tree to 
tree for a long time, listening to its peculiar notes, 
and watching its habit of feeding. In a very 
careful examination of the contents of the 
stomach, what appeared to be the wing-cases of a 
Curculio were discovered; and on further scrutiny 
I found the head with proboscis attached. This 
was exciting. Here was some evidence that one 
bird at least was feeding upon our most formidable 
insect enemy; but as the Curculio*® is one of a 
large family of the Coleoptera, and many of the 
different species bear a striking resemblance to 
each other, both in form and size, it was neces- 
sary to pursue the investigation still further. On 
placing the wing cases under the microscope, the 
peculiar protuberances—the brilliant metallic 
colors—the hairs resembling pearls, when a strong 
light is directed upon them, that I had so often 
seen, were all visible. The mutilated head was 
now tested. There was the proboscis with its 
cutting apparatus, and the 147 lenses in the eye. 

I have examined the eyes of many others of this 
family, but not one of them has the same number 
of lenses. The larger species figured in Pl. 5, 
Fig. 10, has more than double this number. 

All this evidence taken together was ample to 
settle this question forever. The Baltimore eats 
the Curculio!* Let the death of this martyred 
bird secure the protection of its race for all future 
time. The remains of three other beetles and 


* His name for the curculio is Curculio argula 
Fabr., which in modern terminology is Conotra- 
chelus nenuphar. The larger species he mentions 
is really on Pl. VI., Fig. 10, and, he explains, was 
figured from a specimen taken from the stomach 
of a toad. From stomachs of these animals he 
says he has often obtained different species of 
beetles. 

*Now known to be eaten by many other species 
of birds. 


SCIENCE. 309 


three leaf-curling caterpillars® were also found in 
the stomach of this oriole (p. 77). 

The Baltimore Oriole Eats the Curculio. Prob- 
ably many other birds that frequent the orchard 
in pursuit of food, and feed upon beetles do the 
same thing; but none of them search it out ex- 
clusively. Therefore, good as most of the birds 
are as consumers of injurious insects, and though 
the world, for our purposes, would soon become 
topsy-turvy without them, the birds can not be 
relied upon to subdue or control the curculio (p. 
85). 


Here again our author gives an instance 
that agrees with the results of a much greater 
amount of study of the food of birds. That 
is, birds simply act as a check upon insects, 
sometimes aS a minor one, sometimes the 
chief. Such must always be the case, for ob- 
viously no species can continue to exist if 
it exterminates its food supply. 

Dr. Trimble found feathered enemies of an- 
other great insect pest, the apple-worm, or 
codling moth (Carpocapsa pomonella). This 
is the very task at which an entire state (Cali- 
fornia) set its energies. Indeed the little 
codling moth demands a good share of the 
attention of economic entomologists over the 
whole world. Our author’s efforts in search- 
ing out birds that feed upon this insect are 
particularly interesting. He treats the work 
of the downy woodpecker in. this direction in 
detail and gives a plate (X.) in figuring this 
bird, the yellow-bellied woodpecker and the _ 
chickadee, so that any one, whether he be 
acquainted with birds or not, can recognize 
the friends and the supposed enemy. On the 
same plate is shown some of the downy’s work 
—the exterior of a piece of bark with the little 
round holes made by the bird’s beak, and the 
inner side of the same showing how straight 
and true these tunnels were drilled through 
to the chrysalis of the moth. He found them 
at this work from September 8 (p. 135) to 
April 21 (p. 115), and in his accounts of 
every place he made observations, Dr. Trimble 
mentions these holes in the bark of the apple 
trees. Concerning a trip in Morris County, 
N. J., he says: 


> Tortricina. Also found by Dr. Trimble in the 
stomachs of the wren and catbird. 


310 SCIENCE. 


Here I was gratified in being able to ascertain 
how he finds where to peck through the scales of 
bark, so as to be sure to hit the apple worm that 
is so snugly concealed beneath. The sense of 
smell will not account for it. Such an acuteness 
of one of the senses would be beyond the imagina- 
tion. Instinct, that incomprehensible something, 
might be called in to explain to those who are 
satisfied to have wonders accounted for by means 
that are in fact only confessions of ignorance. 
Birds have instincts undoubtedly—so have we; but 
they are mixed up confusedly with other faculties. 
Most of the actions of insects are purely instinct- 
ive and utterly unaccountable. But the apple 
moth is not a native of this country—the downy 
woodpecker is. The bird would not have been 
created with a special instinct to find the larva 
of a moth that did not exist in the same country. 
Other insects live under these scales of rough bark; 
but in very numerous examinations, I have not 
seen such a hole made except when leading directly 
into the cocoon of this particular caterpillar. 
This little bird finds the concealed larve under 
the bark, not from any noise the insect makes; 
it is not a grub of a beetle having a boring habit, 
and liable to make a sound that might betray its 
retreat, in seasons of the year when not torpid. 
A caterpillar makes scarcely an appreciable noise, 
even when spinning its cocoon, and when that is 
finished it rests as quietly within as an Egyptian 
mummy in its sarcophagus. 

There is no evidence that the downy woodpecker 
ever makes a mistake; it has some way of judging. 
The squirrel does not waste time in cracking an 
empty nut. There is no reason to believe that 
this bird ever makes holes through these scales 
merely for pastime, or for any other purpose ex- 
cept for food. He knows before he begins that 
if he works through, just in that spot, he will 
find a dainty morsel at the bottom of it, as 
delicious to him as the meat of the nut is to the 
squirrel. But how does he know? By sounding 
—tap, tap, tap, just as the physician learns the 
condition of the lungs of his patient by what he 
calls percussion.® The bird uses his beak, gen- 
erally three times in quick succession—sometimes 
oftener; then tries another. Watch him. See 
how ever and anon he will stop in his quick mo- 
tions up and down, and give a few taps upon the 


* This description of the woodpecker’s search for 
food bears a remarkable resemblance to a forty- 
years later (1905) account of a percussion process 
(Perkussionsverfahren) by a German investigator, 
Dr. Wilhelm Leisewitz. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 610. 


suspected scale, and then test another and another, 
until the right sound is communicated to that 
wonderful ear (pp. 116-7). 


Besides studying the downy woodpecker in 
the field he examined the stomachs of three 
of them. One contained a codling moth larva 
and some beetles. Another held one beetle, 
the heads of two codling moth larve and of 
three small borers. The third contained 
beetles and grubs unidentified. 

The black-capped chickadee was also found 
to feed upon the codling moth. Three speci- 
mens were examined, one having eaten eggs 
of lepidoptera and beetles, another four seeds 
and a number of ‘ pup of very small beetles, 
such as take shelter under moss and old bark 
on trees,’ while in the stomach of the third 
were five larve of the codling moth. 


One of these had been so recently taken, and 
was so little mutilated, that it was easily identified. 
The heads of the other four appeared identical 
when examined with a pocket-glass; but when sub- 
jected to the test of the microscope, there was no 
possible room for doubt. The day had been dry 
and windy, following a warm wet day and night; 
and it is in just such weather that the bark of the 
buttonwood, shellbark hickory, and other shaggy 
trees, will be found curling out and falling off. 

I have never seen anything that would lead me 
to believe that this minute bird makes the holes 
in the scales of bark that lead directly to the 
cocoons of these caterpillars; they are made by 
the downy woodpecker, and probably by it alone. 
The chick-a-dee most likely finds these worms only 
or chiefly on such days as this, when the warping 
of these scales exposes them to the prying eyes of 
these busy little friends. This bird is one of the 
guardians of the orchard; quick, active, always 
on the alert; assuming any position; sometimes 
hanging by one foot on the under side of the large 
limbs, where these caterpillars rather prefer to 
conceal themselves; and now proved to feed freely 
upon the second in importance of the insect 
enemies of our fruits. Let no one hereafter kill 
a chick-a-dee without being made to feel that he 
has done a most disgraceful deed (p. 120). 


In further proof of their good work he says: 


For several mornings in succession I noticed that 
the piazza was strewn with the cocoons and broken 
pupa cases of the caterpillars (species?) that were 
so numerous in September; sweep them off, and 
soon they would be there again. It was the work 


ee ee ee en 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1906.] 


of the chick-a-dees. The piazza is a high one, 
and extends on three sides of the house. Hun- 
dreds of caterpillars formed their cocoons in the 
chinks and crevices of the ceiling, and there the 
little birds found them (p. 121). 


Among notes on other birds which he had 
studied, but which were not found to destroy 
either of the insect pests he treats, is quite a 
long dissertation upon the yellow-bellied wood- 
pecker. After watching one drilling holes in 
an apple tree for some time, he wrote the fol- 
lowing: ; 

I shot this poor bird, expecting to find positive 
evidence in the stomach of what it made these 
holes for—and found two seeds or pits’ (of which 
one and half the other are represented in Fig. 9, 
Plate 10), with the purple skins of the same fruit, 
seven small ants, and one insect of the chinch 
bug kind about the size of those found in the beds 
of some taverns. But of bark or sap there was not 
even a trace. 

Later in the day I shot another of the same 
species of bird in an old orchard out of town. 
The stomach of this one contained the pulp of an 
apple and one ant—nothing else. This one was 
on the upper part of an apple tree, and was not 
pecking or sounding. The investigation of this 
bird so far is unsatisfactory. I have seen no 
evidence yet that these holes are made in search 
of food. Ants are certainly found sometimes 
about these holes, and apparently in pursuit of 
the sap that exudes from them; but the idea sug- 
gested by some, that the birds make them to at- 
tract these ants by such tempting baits, is a 
palpable exaggeration of the reasoning power of 
this bird (p. 118). 

Notwithstanding the subsequent great in- 
crease of knowledge in regard to birds, the 
puzzling problem of the sapsucker is in almost 
as unsatisfactory a state at the present as 
when Dr. Trimble was making his pioneer 
investigation. 

In the case of some other birds, also, of 
whose status we are none too sure, the au- 
thor’s treatise presents data. Among such 
birds are warblers and creepers, mentioned in 
the following paragraph: 

The season of 1864 will be memorable as the 


year of aphides, or plant lice. The first crop of 
leaves on many of the apple trees was so alive with 


"Judging from the illustration these are evi- 
dently the seeds of the dogwood, Cornus florida. 


SCIENCE. 


oll 


a species of these pests that most of them fell off, 
causing also a profuse shedding of the young 
apples. Warblers of many kinds, then just com- 
ing on from the south, creepers, wrens and even 
sparrows, as well as many other kinds of birds, 
fed upon these the livelong day. The throats, and 
even the back parts of the beaks of some of them, 
would be found lined with these aphides, many 
of them still alive, and their stomachs containing 
a juice that would leave the hands colored as they 
are after crushing these insects. The creases or 
folds of the stomachs were lined with what ap- 
peared to be an accumulation of the hairs of cater- 
pillars, but under the microscope were found to 
be the legs of these plant lice—thousands and 
thousands of them (p. 114). 


From stomach examination he learned, also, 
that the bobolink eats cankerworms. “TI have 
found his stomach filled to repletion with 
these troublesome caterpillars ” (p. 114). The 
same pests he finds are eaten by another bird. 


I have found as many as thirty-six young 
canker worms in the stomach of one (cedar-bird), 
and I have known companies of these birds come 
after a species of canker worm on a cherry tree, 
several times every day, for two weeks, during the 
last summer; and when I saw them afterwards 
feeding upon the cherries, I felt that they had 
saved the crop, and were entitled to a part of it. 
This and several other species of birds are very 
troublesome to grape as well as cherry growers, 
and I know men who are threatening to shoot 
them next year. But there are two sides to this 
question. The grape crop would be a precarious 
one if its insect enemies were not kept in check, 
and there is no protector so efficient as the birds. 
Save your cherries and grapes if you can, but 
better lose a large portion than kill the birds 


(p. 26). 

In the stomachs of meadow-larks he found 
oats and wheat and thousand legs (Julus), 
and in one of a crow shot in February a few 
beetles and about fifty grasshoppers. 


Some of these, he says, were of the variety so 
plentiful late in fall, but the greater part were of 
that kind that we find in the spring about half 
grown, and not yet having their wings matured— 
such as are at full size in July. Many do not 
know that grasshoppers live through the winter; 
many do not know that crows eat insects. The 
farmers, when they see flocks of crows ransacking 
their fields and meadows, instead of offering 
bounties for their destruction, should be thankful 


O12 


that there is something to keep the grasshoppers 
and other insects in check (pp. 101-2). 

The statements in this paragraph seem elo- 
quent of the spirit of the man. He found 
out many things that others did not know 
and strove after a genuine appreciation of 
the relations of things about him. He was 
one of the earliest to take the direct method 
of doing this in the field of American eco- 
nomic ornithology. That his work has re- 
mained unnoticed because of a name is a pity. 
His observations are not trite to-day, but, on 
the contrary, they possess freshness, almost 
novelty. That such is the case after a lapse 
of more than forty years is a significant trib- 
ute to an able and original man. 

W. L. McATEE. 

BIoLoGicaL SURVEY, 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 


GALL-INSECTS AND INSECT-GALLS. 


In no phase of biological work are the re- 
sults of the neglect of cooperation more ap- 
parent than in the study of ‘ insect-galls’ and 
‘gall-insects.’? In fact many of our best sci- 
entists fail to recognize the two closely re- 
lated subjects as distinct and continue to use 
the terms synonymously, although the one is 
botanical while the other is entomological. 
The entomologists have given considerable at- 
tention to the study of gall-insects, but the 
study of insect-galls has been woefully 
neglected, while lack of cooperation has made 
much of our entomological knowledge of ques- 
tionable value. 

For some time the writer has been bring- 
“ing together the literature upon these two 
subjects, and it may be of interest to the read- 
ers of SCIENCE to see a summarization of the 
work in hand at this time. The six orders of 
insects containing gall-makers, include 16 
families, 77 genera and 583 species (not count- 
ing leaf curlers and those for which galls 
have not been described, but which we have 
every reason to suppose are true gall-makers). 
These galls arranged with reference to the 
host plants show the following: 26 orders, 51 
families, 90 genera and 188 species affected. 
Of the 26 orders 12 show only one family in 
each to be affected; of 51 families 26 have 


SCIENCE. 


IN. S. Vou. XXIV. No. 610. 


only one genus affected; of the 90 genera 63 
have only one species in each affected. The 
genus Quercus leads with 45 affected species 
and Salix is second with ten affected species. 

‘These figures are absurd and every student 
of either entomology or botany believes that 
the list of host plants should be much longer. 

Let us look for an explanation: (1) The 
botanist has given practically no attention to 
the subject, although every herbarium of im- 
portance contains more or less galls that have 
been incidentally collected. (2) The ento- 
mologists have studied the insects rather than 
the galls and too often their descriptions of 
the galls have been indefinite. Furthermore, 
the determinations of the host plants in many 
cases have been uncertain or entirely omitted. 
Papers have been published without giving 
the common names of the hosts, others with 
only the common names, others with only the 
generic names and others in which it is evi- 
dent that the determinations are incorrect. A 
well-known botanist in examining my list 
recently remarked: ‘ Here you have a number 
of galls attributed to a single host plant, while 
I have seen galls on four different species of 
that genus.’ Yet, I have reason to believe 
that I have examined practically all the North 
American literature on the group of gall- 
formers to which he referred. I have also 
received from well-known entomologists, galls 
of the same species bearing different names. 

The study of the insect-galls and their 
makers, parasites and inquilines presents a 
very large number of interesting problems of 
which the following may be mentioned: (1) 
We know very little concerning the dimor- 
phism of the American species. (2) We know 
nothing of the relation of the distribution of 
the insect, to the distribution of the host plant. 
(3) We have very little reliable data concern- 
ing the ability of any one species of insect to 
produce galls upon more than one species of 
host plants. (4) Very little has been done 
on the anatomy of the American galls. (5) 
Very little has been done on the physiology of 
the galls. 

Met. T. Coox. 
ESTACION CENTRAL AGRONOMICA, 
SANTIAGO DE LAS VEGAS, CUBA. 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1906.] 


ALIMENTARY PARASITES OF FELIS DOMESTICA. 


BeELow are given the records of the kind, 
location and extent of the intestinal para- 
‘sitism of several specimens of Felis domestica 
examined at Meadville, Pa., during the year 
ending June, 1906. Only three species of 
parasites were found: Ascaris mystax, Tenia 
crassicollis and Dipylidium caninum. The 
two species of tapeworms were identified by 


SCIENCE. 


313 


TABLE 1 
38 ae 3 aes 
of| 22) 40) 8 ao 
Sa\aq| 4/8 | ae 
aly JEON TED aceee Liste) 4 |134 | 15 
T. crassicollis..| 17 5 UW jo By | 8 
D..caninum.....| 17 3 14 | 28! 9.3 


aa fe 
= = 
37 | 2 

5} 1 
16 | 5 


Table 1 gives a general record of the extent 


Professor H. B. Ward, of University of of parasitism. This shows that parasites are 
Nebraska. abundant in Felis domestica. It will be seen 
TABLE 2. 

Detailed Record of Infection of Twelve Individuals. 

Subject. Kind of Age of Subject. Total. Stomach. |Duodenum.| Jejenum. | Ileum. Large 

Parasite. Intestine. 

iL & A. mystax. sleek, 0) 0 0 0 0 ? 
T. crassicollis. full 5 0 0 0 5 ? 
D. caninum. grown. 0 0 0 0 0 ? 
22 A. mystax. sleek, ta 0 9 2 0 ? 
T. crassicollis. full 0 0 0 0 0 ? 
D. caninum. grown. 0 0 0 0 0 ? 
3 9 A. mystax. scrawny, 16 0 14 2 0 ? 
T. crassicollis. z 0 0 0 0 0 ? 
D. caninum. grown. 0 0 0 0 0 ? 
49 A. mystax. scrawny, 0 0 0 0 0 ? 
T. crassicollis. Olden 3 0 0 0 3 ? 
D. caninum. 0 0 0 0 0 0 
Oyen A. mystax. scrawny, 22 2 18 2 0 0 
T. crassicollis. full 0 0 0 0 0 0 
D. caninum. grown. 0 0 0 0 0 0 
6 2 A. mystax. a 37 3 22 4 2 6 
T. crassicollis. grown. 0 0 0 0 0 0 
D. caninum. 0 0 0 0 0 0 

EAD sleek, 

full No parasites found. 

grown. 
Salg A. mystax. 4 2 0 2 0 0 0 
T. crassicollis. grown. 0 0 0 0 0 0 
D. caninum. 0 0 0 0 0 0 
Ses A. mystax. large, 20 0 17 3 0 0 
T. crassicollis. sleek, il 0 0 dl 0 0 
D. caninum. butcher’s cat. 0 0 0 0 0 0 
10 @ A. mystax. 12 2 9 0 0 1 
T. crassicollis. 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 
D. caninum. 0 0 0 0 0 0 
HM) A. mystax. scrawny, 3 0 3 0 0 0 
T. crassicollis. } year. 0 0 0 0 0 0 
D. caninum. 16 0 0 0 16 0 
ES: A. mystax. old, 11 1 9 0 0 1 
T. crassicollis. pet. 0 0 0 0 0 0 
D. caninum. 0 0 0 0 Oey. 
Totals. A. mystax. 134 8 103 13 2 8 
T. crassicollis. 9 0 0 1 8 0 
D. caninum. ; 16 0 0 0 16 0 
Grand Total.} 159 8 103 14 26 8? 


314 SCIENCE. 


that 88 per cent. of all the subjects examined 
were infected by some one of these parasites 
and that 76 per cent. of all the subjects in- 
fected were infected by Ascaris mystaz. 

Table 2 gives a detailed record of the age 
and sex of each subject and the location and 
extent of the parasitism. 

Gorrrey A. Lyon. 


BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY, 
ALLEGHENY COLLEGE. 


AN IMPROVED PYKNOMETER. 


In the course of investigation into the func- 
tion of the bones of the middle ear there was 
occasion to determine the specific gravity of 
those ossicles and their constituent parts. The 
parts are very small, so that the most suitable 
method for determining their specific gravities 
seemed to be that employed by Hammerschlag 
for determining the specific gravity of a drop 
of blood. 

The specific gravity of methylene bromide, 
which is greater than that of bone, was gradu- 
ally reduced by adding ether to it, until the 
piece of bone under investigation which had 
been dropped into this solution, remained sus- 
pended therein. At this point the specific 


gravity of the particle of bone was, of course, 
the same as that of the solution, which latter 
was then determined. 

I attempted to use the pyknometer with a 
perforated stopper to obtain equal quantities 
of the solution and of distilled water for the 
purpose of comparing their weights; but found 
the instrument unsatisfactory for exact de- 
terminations. 

The water did not overflow the stopper as 
readily as the solution, forming a much larger 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 610. 


cap over the perforation so that an equal 
quantity of water and of methylene bromide 
could not be obtained. Furthermore, during 
the necessarily slow process of careful weigh- 
ing, three to four mg. of the solution would 
evaporate. Besides, unless special care was 
taken, a rising temperature would cause the 
contents to overflow. 

To obviate these difficulties, I designed a 
pyknometer here illustrated in vertical section. 

The cylindrical body or bulb, of convenient 
size A, is provided at one end with a capillary 
inlet—outlet tube or arm SB, bent as shown; 
at the other end with a similar tube or arm C, 
having a mouthpiece D for drawing in and 
blowing out the liquid. The arms B and C 
are marked as at F, F'; the whole is mounted 
on a suitable base such as H; by drawing in 
or blowing out, the exact quantity of liquid 
ean readily be obtained; the lumen of the 
arms at the marks F, F’ may be extremely 
narrow and a perfect gauge of quantity be 
thereby had; no attention need be paid to 
changes in temperature after the pyknometer 
is once filled; the lumen being narrow and the 
arms long, what little evaporation might pos- 
sibly take place is beyond detection; the in- 
strument is conveniently cleaned and dried 
by rinsing it with a volatile solution and then 
passing an air current through it. 


Orto GREENBERG. 
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO. 


CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 


THE CYCLONE OF SEPTEMBER 22—28, 1905, IN 
THE PHILIPPINES. 

THe Bulletin of the Philippine Weather 
Bureau for September, 1905, lately received, 
contains an excellent account of an important 
tropical cyclone which swept over the Philip- 
pines from the twenty-second to the twenty- 
eighth of that month, over a belt more than a 
hundred miles wide. This cyclone has been 
given the name Cantabria, after one of the 
vessels which was wrecked by the storm. The 
place of origin seems to have been in long. 
142° K., and lats. 11°-19° N., between the 
islands of Guam and Yap. It moved west to 
Samar, and then northwest to the mainland, 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1906.] 


at an average speed of 13.5 miles an hour. 
Several interesting reports were received con- 
cerning the passage of the central ‘ eye.’ Thus, 
Capt. T. A. Hillgrove, of the cutter Basilan, 
at anchor, noted: 

Between 8 and 9 P.M. wind and sea suddenly 
died down, the sky cleared, and stars became 
visible. The calm lasted for fifteen minutes. The 
barometer remained 10 mm. below the graduated 
glass (700 mm.). After the calm, the wind 
rushed in from the southeast with hurricane force, 
and the barometer began to rise. 


Before the ‘eye’ the wind was north. The 
Basilan did not pass through the exact center. 
The Pathfinder, ten miles south, experienced 
but three minutes of calm. The true center 
passed between the two vessels, and was, there- 
fore, of very small radius. Later on, observa- 
tions show that the calm central area increased 
in size. At Manila, where the center was 24 
miles from the city, wind velocities of 90 to 
over 100 miles an hour were recorded. There 
is evidence that both ascending and descend- 
ing winds were produced. In one case roofs 
fell in, as if overwhelmed by a weight on top. 
The ocean swell was particularly heavy, and 
had much to do with the loss of several ves- 
sels, including the Cantabria. We wish to call 
special attention to the very complete set of 
illustrations which accompany this report, in- 
cluding views of damage done on shore; of 
wrecked vessels; maps of the cyclone track 
and of the weather conditions; and reproduc- 
tions of numerous instrumental records. 


KITE FLYING IN INDIA. 


THE extent to which scientific kite-flying has 
made its way around the world is evidenced 
by the publication, as Vol. XX., Part L., 
of the famous Indian Meteorological Memoirs, 
of ‘An Account of: the Preparations made 
for Determining the Conditions of the Upper 
Air in India by Means of Kites.’ The writer 
is J. H. Field, deputy meteorologist; the date 
of publication, 1906. One of the chief ob- 
jects of the work was the determination of 
the distinctive characters of the monsoon cur- 
rents in India, leading to other questions in 
connection with the penetration of the Bengal 
monsoon current into the country along the 


SCIENCE. 


315 


base of the Himalayas. The flights took place 
between August 26 and September 12, 1905, 
a short distance (9 kms.) from Karachi City. 
The results show that a nearly saturated 
stratum of air from the sea extended from 
about 10 meters above sea-level upwards to a 
level which rose from 500 m. on August 27 
to 1,130 m. on August 31. After that day, 
until September 9, its limiting height was 
not reached by the kite, but probably exceeded 
1,000 m. By September 12 the upper limit 
fell again to 600 m. Above this nearly satu- 
rated stratum, an extremely dry wind was en- 
countered, the recorded humidity (possible 
error of 10 per cent.) being in some cases 
only 5 per cent. to 10 per cent. These warm 
upper winds were of land origin, and showed 
very rapid diurnal changes of temperature. 
The report is well illustrated by means of 
vertical temperature gradient diagrams, as 
well as by weather maps. 


WORK OF THE PHILIPPINE WEATHER BUREAU. 


Some idea of the amount of work now be- 
ing done by the Philippine Weather Bureau 
may be gained from the fact that the Annual 
Report of the director for the year 1903, which 
has recently been mailed, embraces 1,128 
pages, quarto size, of tabulated meteorological 
observations. With such a volume in hand, 
or rather om one’s desk, for it is too heavy to 
hold, one who did not know what the Philip- 
pine Weather Service has done would be in- 
clined to say, What a hopelessly extravagant 
expenditure of time and money to collect and 
publish these data! But the Manila Observa- 
tory, and the whole meteorological service, 
have made the most excellent use of their 
records. It would be well for meteorology 
if as good use had everywhere been made of 
the results of the daily weather observations. 


CLOUDINESS AND ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORIES. 

Tue value of accurate records of cloudiness 
is emphasized by certain suggestions contained 
in a recent paper by Professor EK. C. Picker- 
ing, on ‘An International Southern Tele- 
scope’ (Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc., XLYV., 1906, 
44-53). If the earth be divided into cloudy 
and clear halves, nine tenths of the present 
observatories lie in the cloudy regions. It is 


316 


a striking fact that if the three extensive 
clear regions of the earth are considered, there 
are no large observatories located within them. 
The interior of northern Africa has no large 
observatory. The only large observatory in 
South Africa is in Cape Town, an excep- 
tionally cloudy part of that region. In Aus- 
tralia, the clear interior is left unoccupied, 
while the two principal observatories are on 
the coast, at Sydney and Melbourne. The 
well-known Harvard Southern Observatory, at 
Arequipa, Peru, is handicapped by clouds in 
summer (November to March). There seems 
a possibility of excellent conditions in South 
Africa, but it is doubtful as yet whether the 
conditions would be better than at Arequipa. 


R. DEC. Warp. 


HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


PALEONTOLOGICAL NOTES. 
THE PENGUINS. 

Dr. Wiman’s and Dr. Ameghino’s papers on 
fossil penguins are so important as to demand 
review, although it is some little time since 
they appeared. Dr. Carl Wiman deals with the 
bones of fossil penguins obtained at Seymour 
Island by the Swedish South Polar Expedition; 
Dr. Florentino Ameghino while nominally 
giving an enumeration of fossil penguins of 
Patagonia and Seymour Island gives descrip- 
tions and figures of all the species and also 
discusses their probable origin. Dr. Wiman 
describes as new five species, each of which is 
referred to a new genus, while Dr. Ameghino 
describes nine new genera and thirteen new 
species, and also replaces the nomen nudum 
Apterodytes by Paleoapterodytes. Dr. Wiman, 
who is very conservative, states that his speci- 
mens may represent more than the five species 
described since, owing to the conditions under 
which they were found, it has not been pos- 
sible to correlate the bones. Adding to the 
nineteen genera and thirty-one species ad- 
mitted by Ameghino, the seven additional 
genera and eighteen species given in Sharpe’s 
hand list, we have a total of twenty-six genera 
and forty-nine species of penguins. None of 
the existing genera, comprising seventeen 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 610. 


species, have as yet been found in a fossil 
state. 

Dr. Wiman ascribes the formation from 
which his specimens came to the Eocene, but 
in a note states that Dr. Wilckens, basing his 
opinion on the marine invertebrates, considers 
them as Oligocene or Lower Miocene. This 
agrees pretty well with the views of Ameghino, 
who holds that Seymour Island is geologically 
a portion of Patagonia and the horizon of 
Wiman’s specimens Miocene. The point of 
greatest interest is that both authors state 
that the earlier species of penguin, so far as 
shown by their limbs, and especially by the 
tarsi, are much more generalized than the 
living species and Wiman, in particular, says 
that his specimens show a much closer re- 
semblance to the corresponding bones of 
carinates than do the same parts of modern 
penguins. The tarsi, it may be said, are com- 
paratively longer in the fossil species than in 
recent forms and their component bones much 
less clearly indicated. This is exactly the 
reverse of what should be found, if the gen- 
erally accepted theory that the tarsus of the 
penguin is a survival of the primitive free 
condition of the tarsal bones, is correct, and 
further discoveries may, of course, bring to ~ 
light forms ancestral to the penguins in which 
the tarsal bones are free. Still it is to be 
remembered that in Archwopteryx the tarsals 
are fused and this is also the case with the 
known cretaceous birds in some of which the 
tarsus is highly specialized. The above facts 
agree with my own view that a large portion 
of the characters which have been held to place 
the penguins in a group apart from other 
Euornithes, are purely adaptive and while the 
adaptive features of the short broad tarsus 
may not at first be evident, it is very likely 
correlated with the habit of sitting with the. 
tarsus on the ground when at rest. In walk- 
ing, the tarsus is held upright as in any other 
bird. Right here, it may be well to say a 
word or two in regard to the tarsus of Cera- 
tosaurus, which is referred to by Dr. Wiman, 
and to state that Dr. Baur was entirely correct — 
in ascribing the union of the tarsals in this 
genus to pathological causes. The type of 
this genus is in the U. S. National Museum 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1906.] 
and the bones of the tarsus were broken and 
healed during life, the accompanying exostosis 
soldering them together. It is most unfortu- 
nate that this wilful error should be perpetu- 
ated, but like. Richardson’s figure of the 
pouched rat, it will probably endure for gen- 
erations to come. 

The most generalized penguins are placed 
by Ameghino in the family Cladornide in- 
cluding but two species, Cladornis pachypus 
and Cruschedula revolva. The figure of this 
last is poor and from this alone it is not quite 
evident why it should be placed with the 
penguins at all. Wiman and Ameghino 
agree in considering that the: penguins origi- 
nated in the Southern Hemisphere and that 
they have always had much the same distribu- 
tion as at present. Ameghino further be- 
lieves they descended from species that in- 
habited the vicinity of fresh water. The 


known facts bear out the first conclusion, but | 


in view of the little we know regarding the 
history of birds it will be best to accept it 
subject to further revision. 

The above notes had just been sent in when 
Dr. Abel’s paper from Centralblatt fiir Min- 
eralogie * * * was received. In this Dr. 
Abel discusses the bones described by me in 
1900 as the pelvis of Zeuglodon and concludes 
that they are really the coracoids of a gigantic 
bird which he names Alabamornts gigantea. 

The paper seemed so clear and convincing 
that this conclusion was at once accepted and 
a brief review begun on that basis. As this 
proceeded it became evident, with my knowl- 
edge of the bones in question, that if they were 
the coracoids of a bird, that bird was extra- 
ordinary not say exceptional in many partic- 
ulars. It has, therefore, seemed best to post- 
pone the review of Dr. Abel’s paper until later 
in order to better examine certain details and 
if possible, reexamine the bones themselves. 
This is not for the sake of mere argument as 
to whether the bones are those of a bird or 
beast but because, if they are from a bird, 
they are most important. 

The bearing on this particular article lies 
in the fact that Dr. Abel finds the nearest re- 
semblance to these bones in the coracoid of 


SCIENCE. 


317 


Anthropornis, described by Dr. Wiman, al- 
though the differences between the two are 
great. 

F. A. Lucas. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


Dr. A. A. MicHELson, professor of physics 
at Chicago, has been elected a foreign mem- 
ber of the Accademia dei Lincei, Rome. 


Dr. L. A. Bauer has been elected a corre- 
sponding member of the Gottingen Royal 
Academy of Sciences. 


In connection with the recent meeting of _ 
the British Medical Association in Toronto, 
McGill University, Montreal, will confer the 
degree of LL.D. in absentia on Sir Thomas 
Barlow, Sir William Broadbent, Professor 
Allbutt and Sir Victor Horsley. 


THE Graefe medal of the German Ophthal- 
mological Society has been awarded to Dr. 
Ewald Hering, professor of physiology at 
Leipzig. 


Dr. Kuno FiscHer has retired from the 
professorship of philosophy at Heidelberg. 


Dr. Simon SCHWENDENER, professor of bot- 
any at Berlin, has celebrated the fiftieth anni- 
versary of his doctorate. 


Nature states that Mr. William Lutley 
Sclater has resigned the directorship of the 
South African Museum, Cape Town, which 
he has held for the last ten years, and has 
returned to England. He has accepted the 
post of director of the museum of Colorado 
College. 


From the same journal we learn that Mr. 
Michael John Nicoll, who recently returned 
from accompanying the Karl of Crawford as 
naturalist during his winter voyage in the 
Valhalla, R.Y.S., round Africa, has accepted 
the post of assistant director of the Zoological 
Gardens at Giza, near Cairo, and has left Eng- 
land to take up the duties of his appointment. 


'Dr. Frivtsor NaANsEN, the Norwegian min- 
ister to Great Britain, has accepted the presi- 
deney of the Social and Political Education 
League in succession to Professor F. W. Mait- 
land. 


318 SCIENCE. 


Dr. E. GrossMANN, assistant in the Observa- 
tory of Kiel, has been made an observer for the 
Commission of International Geodesy under 
the Munich Academy of Sciences. 


Mr. Joun EversHep, has been appointed 
assistant director of the Kodaikanal Observa- 
tory. 

Dr. KaunnHowen has been appointed geol- 
ogist in the Geological Bureau at Berlin. 


Captain LENFANT, the French explorer, is 
about to leave on another expedition to West 
Africa in order to discover, if possible, a 
navigable waterway connecting Lake Chad 
with the coast of the Atlantic. 


Proressor A. GruveL, formerly of Bor- 
deaux, has been appointed to examine and 
report on the sea and river fisheries of the 
French possessions in West Africa. 


Proressor W. KiKentuat, of Breslau, will 
this winter make a zoological expedition to 
the West Indies under the auspices of the 
Berlin Academy of Sciences. 


THE committee of the Pettenkofer founda- 
tion at Munich has awarded its annual prize 
of 1,200 Marks to the late Dr. Fritz Schau- 
dinn, for his researches on the protozoa. The 
prize will be given to his widow. A move- 
ment has been set on foot to raise a memorial 
fund to be applied for the benefit of Dr. 
Schaudinn’s widow and children. 


A portrair of Robert Bunsen by Herr 
Triibner, of Karlsruhe, is to be presented to 
the German Museum of Munich by the Grand 
Duke of Baden. 


THE portrait of Dr. A. J. Evans, F.RB.S., 
to be painted by Sir W. B. Richmond, R.A., 
is to be placed in the Ashmolean Museum, 
Oxford, in commemoration of his services to 
archeology. 


Tue Swedish Geographical Society is about 
to erect at Stockholm a monument in memory 
of Andrée and his companions Strindberg and 
Fraenkel. 

Wituiam Buck Dwicut, professor of geol- 
ogy at Vassar College since 1878, died on 
August 29 at Cottage City. He was born at 
Constantinople in 1833, the son of an Amer- 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 610. 


ican missionary, and graduated from Yale 
University and the Union Theological Semi- 
nary. Professor Dwight was a fellow of the 
American Association for the Advancement 
of Science and one of the original fellows of 
the Geological Society of America. He was 


the author of researches on Cambrian and — 


Ordovician geology. 

Dr. ALEXANDER Bogpanow, professor of 
pathology at Odessa, has died at the age of 
fifty-two years. 

Dr. Hans JAHN, associate professor of phys- 
ical chemistry in the University of Berlin, 
died on August 7, at the age of fifty-three 
years. 

THE death is announced of M. Léon Adrien 
Prunier, professor of pharmacology at Paris, 
at the age of sixty-five years. 


THE late Professor Tarnowski, the Russian 
dermatologist, has bequeathed his estate for 
the establishment of a sanatorium for physi- 
clans. 

It is reported from Yokohama, Japan, under 
date of August 27, that the magnetic survey 
yacht Galilee, which sailed from San Fran- 
cisco about a year ago under the auspices of 
the department of terrestrial magnetism of 
the Carnegie Institution, was driven on the 
breakwater at Yokohama during a typhoon on 
August 24. It was considerably damaged, 
but has been refloated and docked for repairs. 
The crew and scientific men are safe. 


Av a conference of the International Geo- 
detic Association to be held at Budapest on 
September 20, the principal topics considered 
will be the accurate surveying of mountain 
chains subject to earthquake, with a view to 
ascertaining whether these chains are stable 
or whether they rise and sink, and the taking 
of measures of gravity so as to throw light 
upon the distribution of masses in the in- 
terior of the earth and upon the rigidity of 
the earth’s crust. The draWing up of pre- 
liminary reports on these two questions has 
been entrusted to M. Lallemand, director of 
the general survey in France, and Sir George 
Darwin. 

Tue fifth biennial meeting of the Interna- 
tional Commission for Scientific Aeronautics 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1906.] 


will be held this year at Milan, from Sep- 
tember 30 to October 7. A program for con- 
tinuing the meteorological exploration of the 
atmosphere will be adopted, and it is expected 
that the president of the commission, Pro- 
fessor Hergesell, will state the results of 
soundings of the atmosphere, which he has 
just executed near Spitzbergen from the 
Prince of Monaco’s yacht, and that Messrs. 
Teisserenc de Bort and Rotch will give an 
account of the second Franco-American ex- 
pedition which they sent last winter to the 
tropical Atlantic for a similar purpose. This 
country will be represented at the meeting by 
Mr. A. Lawrence Rotch, director of Blue Hill 
Observatory, who is the American member of 
the commission. 


WE learn from Nature that the Otago Uni- 
versity Museum has been enriched by a valu- 
able collection of eggs of New Zealand birds 
presented by Dr. Fulton, and also by the gift 
of a large series of ethnological objects from 
Mr. and Mrs. James Mills. The latter, which 
are chiefly weapons, are mostly Polynesian, 
and were collected some twenty-five years ago. 


THE work of the State Geological Survey 
on the coal fields of Illinois is going rapidly 
forward. A large number of mines already 
have been visited, and careful samples taken 
for laboratory study, 160 such samples being 
now on hand. Director Bain recently visited 
the Livingston and La Salle County fields, 
preparatory to making careful surveys. J. A. 
Udden is now engaged in working out the 
faults near Peoria, which have been such a 
constant source of annoyance and expense to 
operators in that vicinity. T. E. Savage is 
making a detailed study of the Springfield 
mines. J. J. Rutledge has taken up an in- 
vestigation of the coals of the East St. Louis- 
Belleville area and F. W. De Wolf is about 
to begin work in Saline and Gallatin counties. 
His work, as also that of David White, who 
is making collections of fossil plants through- 
out the field, is carried on by the U. S. Geo- 
logical Survey in cooperation with that of the 
state. Topographic surveys preparatory to 
next season’s work are being carried on near 


SCIENCE. 


319 


Harrisburg, Marion, Herrin, Murphysboro, 
Trenton, Edwardsville, Alton and Talhula. 
A preliminary report upon the composition 
and character of Illinois coals is in press. 

In his report on the general progress at the 
British Museum (Natural History), Dr. E. 
Ray Lankester, director and acting keeper of 
zoology, states, according to an abstract in the 
London Times, that in 1905, for the first time 
since the opening of the Natural History Mu- 
seum, the number of visits paid to the galleries 
by the public in any one year exceeded half a 
million, the total number recorded being 566,- 
318, an increase of 95,756 over the total in 
1904 and of nearly 80,000 over that of any 
previous year. The number of visits recorded 
as having been made on Sunday afternoons 
was 70,084, as against 60,909 in 1904. The 
average daily attendance for all open days 
during the year was 1,560.09; for week-days 
only, 1,600.73; and for Sunday afternoons, 
1,322.34. The total number of visits paid 
during the year to the department of zoology 
by students and other persons requiring as- 
sistance and information amounted to 11,811, 
as compared with 11,824 in 1904 and 11,627 
in 1908. 


An exhibition of apparatus useful in the 
teaching of regional geography was held in 
the Outlook Tower, Edinburgh, from July 6 
to 14. The exhibition had special reference 
to the region immediately round Edinburgh. 


It is said that Staten Island has been prac- 
tically freed from mosquitoes by the expendi- 
ture of an appropriation of $17,000. An area 
of salt marshes equal to twenty square miles 
has been drained. It is estimated that 230 
miles of ditches, ten inches wide by two feet 
deep, have been dug this summer. Literature 
giving directions for the care of private prem- 
ises directed toward the prevention of the 
propagation of mosquitoes has been distrib- 
uted. 

Tue fourteenth International Congress of 
Hygiene and Demography will be held in 
Berlin from September 23 to 29, 1907. The 
work of the congress will be distributed among 
eight sections, as follows: (1) Hygienic Micro- 
biology and Parasitology; (2) Hygiene of 


320 


Nutrition and Hygienic Physiology; (3) Hy- 
giene of Childhood and School Life; (4) In- 
dustrial Hygiene; (5) The Prevention of In- 
fectious Diseases and the Cure of Patients 
suffering therefrom; (6) a, Hygiene of the 
Dwelling and the Community; b, Hygiene of 
Trafic; (7) Military, Colonial and Marine 
Hygiene; (8) Demography. An exhibition is 
to be held in connection with the congress. 

THe Academy -of Sciences of Berlin has 
received the preliminary report of the mission 
which went to Abyssinia last spring to explore 
the ruins of the ancient city of Aksum. 


It is said that valuable documents relating 
to Volta were destroyed in the fire at the 
Milan International Exposition, which caused 
a loss of some $2,000,000. 

Foreign journals announce that Dr. W. J. 
Goodhue, medical superintendent of the Mo- 
lokai Leper Settlement, has, after several 
years of research, succeeded in demonstrating 
the bacillus of leprosy in the mosquito (Culex 
pungens) and the common bed-bug (Cimezx 
lectularius). 

Tue British home secretary has appointed 
_a departmental committee to inquire and re- 
port what diseases and injuries, other than 
injuries by accident, are due to industrial 
occupations, are distinguishable as such, and 
can properly be added to the diseases enu- 
merated in the third schedule of the Work- 
men’s Compensation Bill, 1906, so as to entitle 
to compensation persons who may be affected 
thereby. The chairman of the committee is 
Mr. Herbert Samuel, M.P., parliamentary 
under-secretary of state for the Home De- 
partment; and the members are Professor 
Clifford Allbutt, F.R.S., regius professor of 
physics at Cambridge University; Mr. H. H. 
Cunynghame, C.B., assistant under-secretary 
of state, Home Office; and Dr. T. M. Legge, 
medical inspector of factories. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

By the will of the late Theodore Kearney, 
of Freno, his entire estate, amounting to about 
$1,000,000, is bequeathed to the department of 
agriculture of the University of California. 
It is said that the will will be contested ‘by a 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 610. 


‘cousin, under the provisions of the California 
law that not more than one third of an estate 
shall be bequeathed to charity when there are 
legal heirs. The will takes cognizance of this 
section of the code, and appoints four promi- 
nent men to inherit any portion of his estate 
which can not legally go to the university. It 
is also claimed that the State University is 
not a charitable institution, but part of the 
state government. 

Accorpine to The Atheneum the number 
of matriculated students at the German uni- 
versities during the summer term is 44,942, 
an increase of over 3,000 on last year. Of 
these 6,569 are at Berlin, 5,734 at Munich, 
4,147 at Leipsic, 3,275 at Bonn, 2,350 at Frei- 
burg, 2,128 at Halle, 1,925 at Gottingen, 1,922 
at Heidelberg, and 1,862 at Jena, while the 
rest are distributed among various universi- 
ties. There are 12,413 students of law; 10,- 
752 are studying philosophy, philology or his- 
tory, 6,584 medicine, and 6,212 mathematics 
or natural science. The number of students 
has nearly trebled during the last thirty years, 
the returns for 1876 showing that in that year 
the entries amounted only to 16,812. 

Mr. Leroy Asrams, of the Smithsonian In- 
stitution, a former instructor in Stanford 
University, has been made assistant professor 
of systematic botany at Stanford. 

M. Carto Bourtet has been appointed pro- 
fessor of descriptive geometry in the Paris 
National Conservatory of Arts. 

Dr. MOouueR has been appointed director of 
the Forest School at Eberswalde. 


Dr. Davin von Haussmann, of Berlin, has 
been called to the chair of pathology at Mar- 
burg. 

Dr. Kart Hintze, professor of mineralogy 
at Breslau, has been called to Bonn. 

Dr. ARNOLD SOMMERFELD, professor in the . 
Technical Institute at Aachen, has accepted 
the chair of theoretical physics at Munich. 

Proressor ROnTGEN, of Munich, having de- 
clined the offer of the chair of physics at 
Berlin University in succession to the late 
Professor Paul Drude, the direction of the 
physical institute has been temporarily placed 
in the hands of Professor Nernst. 


SCIENCE 


A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 
OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 


FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1906. 


CONTENTS. 
Botany in England: Proressor F. W. OLIVER 321 


The Correspondence School—its Relation to 
Technical Education and some of its Re- 


SHELL Sie Den cI ear, ORAS yeaa apart sel canals lle ote 327 
The Present Needs of the Harvard Medical 
School: Dr. F. B. Matnory...... NN 384 


Scientific Books :— 
Bailey’s Text-book of Sanitary and Applied 
Chemistry: PROFESSOR ELLEN H. RICHARDS. 
Fischer’s Anmal Mechanics: T. D. Bernth- 
sens Kurzes Lehrbuch der organischen 
Chemie: PRoFESsoR W. A. NOYES........ 338 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
An Unusual Meteor: PROFESSOR CLEVELAND 
ABBE. Some ‘ Definitions’ of the Dyne: 
SEWAUR TEIN Oa PESANRIRGRIE ey USM rai tinal Mee allay te 340 


Special Articles :— 
A Peculiar Mutation of the Pine Marten: 
Marcus W. Lyon, Jr. An Object-finder 
for the Micro-projection Apparatus: AMON 
B. PlowMan. Helium in Natural Gas: 
HAMILTON P. Cady, Davip F. McFarnanp. 341 


Current Notes on Meteorology :-— 
Dr. Hann and the ‘ Meteorologische Zert- 
schrift’; Anti-trades in Central America 
and the West Indies; Rainfall, Temperature 
and Tree Growth; Cumulus Clouds over 
the San Francisco Fire: PROFESSOR R. DEC. 


AYAVOEAGcAY ATA UR fh LU AU 344 
Proposed Union of Medical Societies in 

I DKOY PG LOY OMAN belie el AA a SLO Dee ONAN ew sean 2.) 346 
Cheaper) Liquid PAG te sai olae aio ne sere 346 
TOOT |) Setar atiyetn severe tal) watten sis lev ie iatul ey achursl a 847 
Scientific Notes and News................. 349 
University and Educational News.......... 351 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 
review should be sent to the Editor of SclENCE, Garrison-on- 
Hudson, N. Y. 


BOTANY IN ENGLAND? 


THE period of twenty-five years that has 
elapsed since the British Association last 
met in this city all but includes the rise 
of modern botany in this country. During 
the middle decades of last century our 
botanists were preoccupied with arranging 
and describing the countless collections of 
new plants that poured in from every 
quarter of an expanding empire. The 
methods inculeated by Linneus and the 
other great taxonomists of the eighteenth 
century had taken deep root with us and 
choked out all other influences. Schlei- 
den’s ‘Principles of Botany,’ which marked 
a great awakening elsewhere, failed to 
arouse us. The great results of Von Mohl, 
Hofmeister, Nageli and so many other no- 
table workers, which practically trans- 
formed botany, were at first without visible 
effect. 

It was not that we were lacking in men 
capable of appreciating the newer work. 
Henfrey, Dr. Lankester (the father of our 
president), not to mention others, were 
continually bringing these results before 
societies, writing about them in the jour- 
nals, and translating books. But the thing 
never caught on—it would have been sur- 
prising if it had. You may write and talk 
to your contemporaries to your heart’s con- 
tent, and leave no lasting impression. The 


*Concluding part of the opening address of 
Professor F. W. Oliver, F.R.S., president of the 
Section of Botany, at the York meeting of the 
British Association for the Advancement of 
Science. 


22 


schools were not ready. No movement of 
the sort could take root without the means 
of enlisting the sympathies of the rising 
generation. It was only in the seventies 
that effective steps were taken to place bot- 
any on the higher platform; and the service 
rendered in this connection by Thistleton- 
Dyer and Vines is within the knowledge of 
us all. like the former in London, so the 
latter at Cambridge aroused great enthu- 
siasm by his admirable courses of lectures. 
Great service, too, was rendered by the 
Clarendon Press, which diffused excellent 
translations of the best continental text- 
books—a poley which it still pursues with 
unabated vigor, though the need of them 
as, I hope, less urgent now than formerly. 
Already at the time of the last meeting in 
‘York (1881) a select band of Englishmen 
were at work upon original investigations 
of the modern kind. The individuals who 
formed this little group of pioneers in their 
‘turn influenced their pupils, and so the 
‘movement spread and grew. It would be 
‘premature to enter fully into this phase of 
the movement, so I will pass on with the 
‘remark that modern botany was singularly 
fortunate in its early exponents. 

‘Whenever the history of botany in Eneg- 
land comes to be written, one very impor- 
tant event will have to be chronicled. This 
is the foundation of the Jodrell Laboratory 
at Kew, which dates from the year 1876. 
Hidden away in a corner of the gardens 
this unpretentious appendage of the Kew 
establishment has played a leading part in 
the work of the last twenty-five years. 
Here you were free to pursue your investi- 
gations with the whole resources of the 
gardens at your command. I suppose 
there is hardly a botanist in the country 
who has not, at some time or other, availed 
himself of these facilities, and who does not 
cherish the happiest memories of the time 
he may have spent there. Certainly Jod- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 611. 


rell displayed rare sagacity in his benefac- 
tions, which included, in addition to the 
laboratory that bears his name, the endow- 
ments of the chairs of animal physiology 
and zoology at University College, London. 
Sir William Thistleton-Dyer, who has so 
recently retired from the directorship of 
Kew, had every means of knowing that his 
happy inspiration of founding a laboratory 
at Kew was a most fertile one. It would 
not be surprising if the future were to show 
that of the many changes inaugurated dur- 
ing his period of service this departure 
should prove by far the most fruitful. 
Another incident belonging to the early 
days ought not to be overlooked: I refer to 
the notable concourse of continental and 
American botanists at the Manchester meet- 
ing of the British Association in 1887. 
The genuine interest which they evinced in 
our budding efforts and the friendly en- 


-couragement extended to us on that occa- 


sion certainly left an abiding impression 
and cheered us on our way. 

We are not forgetful of our obligations. 
We regard them in the light of a sort of 
funded debt on which it is at once a pleas- 
ure and a duty to pay interest. The divi-. 
dends, I believe, are steadily increasing—a 
happy result which I am confident will be 
maintained. 

But I should be lacking in my duty did 
I permit the impression to remain that 
botany is anything but a sturdy and nat- 
ural growth among us. The awakening, 
no doubt, came late, and at first we were 
influenced from without in the subject-mat- 
ter of our investigations. But many lines 
of work have gradually opened out, whilst 
fruitful new departures and important ad- 
vances have not been wanting. We still lean 
a little heavily on the morphological side, 
and our most urgent need lies in the direc- 
tion of physiology. As chemists and phys- 
icists realize more fully the possibilities of 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1906.] 


the ‘botanical Hinterland,’ one may expect 
the conventional frontier to become oblit- 
erated. As Mr. F. F. Blackman has point- 
ed out in a recent interesting contribution,” 
the chemist’s point of view has undergone 
a change with the growth of the science of 
physical chemistry, and is now much more 
in line with that of the biologist than was 
formerly the case. This natural passage 
from the problems of the one to those of 
the other should be the means of attracting 
into our body recruits possessing the neces- 
sary chemical equipment to attack physi- 
ological problems. 

As the position gains strength on the 
physiological side, it will become possible 
to render more effective service to agricul- 
ture and other branches 
botany. 

This is of importance for a variety of 
reasons. Among others it will bring public 
support and recognition which will be all 
for good, and it will provide an outlet for 
our students. It will also afford unrivaled 
opportunities for experiments on the large 
seale. Even should economic conditions, 
which compel us to import every vegetable 
product, continue to prevail in this coun- 
try, this will not be so in the colonies. As 
time goes on, one may reasonably expect an 
increasing demand for trained botanists, 
ready to turn their hands to a great variety 
of economic problems. 

From this rough sketch we see that the 
prevailing school of botany has arisen very 
independently of that which preceded it. 
The discontinuity between them you might 
almost call abrupt. All through the mid- 
dle parts of the last century we were so 
busy amassing and classifying plants that 
the great questions of botanical policy were 
left to solve themselves. Great herbaria 
became of the order of things: they re- 


of economic 


**Tneipient Vitality, New Phytologist, Vol. V., 
p. 22. 


SCIENCE. 


320 


ceived government recognition, and they 
continue their work apart. Those who 
built up these great collections neglected to 
convince the schools of the importance of 
training a generation of botanists that 
would use them. The schools were free, 
and they have gone their own way, and 
that way does not lie in the direction of 
the systematic botany of the herbarium. 
So long as this tendency prevails the her- 
baria must languish. When I say languish, 
I do not mean that they will suffer from 
inefficient administration—their efficiency 
probably has never been greater than at 
the present time. But the effort involved 
in their construction and upkeep is alto- 
gether disproportionate to any service to 
which they are put. Work, of course, 
comes out of them; it is no question of the 
devotion or ability of individuals. It is 
the general position, the isolation of sys- 
tematic botany, to which attention should 
be directed with a view to its alleviation. 

If things are left to take their course 
there is the fear of atrophy through disuse. 
The operation of the ordinary economic 
laws will no doubt serve to fill vacancies 
on the staff as they arise, but the best men 
will be reluctant to enter. Of course the 
pendulum may begin to swing the other 
way, though no indication of such a change 
is yet apparent. 

Let us now attempt an analysis of some 
of the causes which have led to this con- 
dition of affairs. 

In the first place, our two national her- 
baria (Kew and the British Museum) 
stand apart from the ordinary botanical 
current. They are administered, the one 
as a portion of the Kew establishment 
under the board of agriculture, the other 
as a department of the British Museum 
under a board of trustees. Neither has 
any connection, direct or indirect, with any 
university organization. The keepers and 


324 SCIENCE. 


assistants as such have no educational fune- 
tions allotted them; I mean positions in 
these herbaria carry no teaching duties 
with them. There are no facilities for 
teaching; there are no students. No ma- 
chinery exists for training recruits or for 
interesting anybody in the ideals and meth- 
ods of systematic botany. A recent event 
illustrates my meaning better than any 
words. My friend Dr. Rendle accepted 
the keepership of the botanical department 
at the British Museum a few months ago. 
Previously, as assistant, he had held a lec- 
tureship at a London college. One of the 
first consequences of his new appointment 
was his retirement from the teaching post. 
Now that was bad. Under the conditions 
which one would like to see there would 
have been no resignation. On the contrary, 
the keepership should have entitled Dr. 
Rendle to promotion to a full professor- 
ship. I do not mean a great post, with 
elementary classes, organization, and so on, 
but one in which he would be occupied 
with his own branch, giving a course for 
advanced students, let us say, once a year 
during the summer menths. Nor is that 
all. Such are the vagaries of our univer- 
sity organization in London that we run 
some risk of losing Dr. Rendle from the 
board of studies in botany. Automatically 
he ceases to be a ‘recognized teacher,’ and 
unless some loophole can be found the con- 
nection will be severed. 

Next we come to the question of routine 
duties. These are heavy in herbaria, and 
must include a great many that could be 
satisfactorily discharged by handy attend- 
ants. As in the case of those who work 
in laboratories, half a man’s time should be 
at his own disposal for original investiga- 
tions. It is important, for a variety of 
reasons, that the members of the staff 
should take a leading part in advancing 
systematic botany. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 611. 


Then there is another way in which a 
great economy could be effected in effort, 
time and money. This is the transfer of 
the collections and staff of the botanical 
department from the Museum to Kew. 
This is a very old proposal, first seriously 
entertained some fifty years ago after the 
death of Robert Brown. 
endless files of reports and blue books in 
official pigeon-holes dealing with this ques- 
tion. The most recent report of a depart- 
mental committee is known to all inter- 
ested in the matter. From the character 
of the evidence tendered it is not surprising 
that no action has been taken. I am ata 
loss to find any adequate reason for the 
continuance of two separate herbaria. It 
has been urged, no doubt, that botany 
would suffer if unrepresented in the mu- 
seum collections at South Kensington, and 
that the dried collections and herbarium 
staff are a necessary adjunct to the main- 
tenance of a botanical museum. But there 
is little force in the contention. The speci- 
mens that go to make a herbarium are not 
proper subject-matter for museum display ; 
nor is there anything about herbarium 
work which intrinsically fits the staff to 
engage in the arrangement of museum 
eases. The function of a botanical mu- 
seum is to interest, stimulate and attract. 
It should convey an idea of the current 
state of the science, and particularly of the 
problems that are to the front, in so far as 
it is possible to illustrate them. It requires 
a curator with imagination and ideas, as 
well as an all-round knowledge of his sub- 
ject. He must also be an artist. Logically 
there is no reason why a museum should be 
part of the same organization as systematic 
collections. There is, indeed, a danger of 
making the museum too exhaustive. I am 
speaking, of course, of a teaching museum, 
which belongs really to the province of a 
university, or university extension if you 


ee ee 


There must be > 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1906.] 


like. Systematic collections kept exposed 
under glass are luxuries. All the world 
agrees that the museum side is admirably 
done at South Kensington, and most people 
attribute this success to the systematic ele- 
ment which is paramount behind the scenes. 
But, as we have seen, this is a fallacy, and 
the ‘museum argument’ for keeping the 
herbarium at South Kensington may be 
ignored. 

By the fusion of the herbaria at Kew 
one would look for increased economy and 
efficiency, more time for original work as 
distinguished from routine duties, and a 
more complete specialization. 

We now approach another aspect of the 
question. Much has been said on the value 
of anatomical characters in classification, 
and it is pretty generally conceded that 
they ought to be taken into consideration, 
though, like other characters, they are beset 
with their own special difficulties. As Dr. 
Seott—who has always urged their im- 
portanece—says :* 

Our knowledge of the comparative anatomy of 
plants, from this point of view, is still very back- 
ward, and it is quite possible that the introduc- 
tion of such characters into the ordinary work of 
the herbarium may be premature; certainly it 
must be conducted with the greatest judgment and 
caution. We have not yet got our data, but 
every encouragement should be given to the col- 
lection of such data, so that our classification in 
the future may rest on the broad foundation of a 
comparison of the entire structure of plants. 
This passage was written ten years ago and 
we are still awaiting its realization. 

It is perfectly true that in the case of a 
recent proposal to found a new natural 
order of flowering plants anatomical char- 
acters find due consideration; still, on the 
whole, we are content to rely on the tradi- 
tional methods that have been transmitted 
from Linneus and the old taxonomists. 

°D. H. Scott, presidential address, Section K, 


British Association for the Advancement of Sci- 
ence (1896). 


SCIENCE. 


329 


So much material is always passing under 
the hands of our systematists that they can 
not devote the time for the elaboration of 
a fresh method. In particular there are 
the new things which require docketing 
and provisional description. Circum- 
stances, as ever, place obstacles in our way 
and tend to make us unprogressive. 

Now it seems to be of the first impor- 
tance that reform should come from with- 
in; that these problems, which are system- 
atists’ problems, should be solved by taxon- 
omic specialists. 

I am sanguine enough to believe that 
much might be done by a redistribution of 
duties, especially if this were accompanied 
by the fusion of the great herbaria, to 
which reference has already been made. 
But the greatest hope, I think, must le in 
the possibility of some form of alliance or 
understanding between the authorities re- 
sponsible for the administration of the her- 
baria on the one hand and the local univer- 
sity on the other. For directly you give the 
keepers or assistants in the former a status 
in the latter, you place at the disposal of 
the systematists a considerable supply of 
recruits in the form of advanced students 
possessing the requisite training to carry 
out investigations under direction. And 
if this be true of the herbaria, it holds 
equally in all the branches of knowledge 
represented in the National Museum. 
Really I fancy our museum is rather an- 
omalous in its isolation. I am confident 
that any understanding or arrangement 
that might be reached would be attended 
with great reciprocal advantage. Nor am 
I speaking without some data before me. 
The movement towards a closer relation 
between the museum and the university 
has already entered the experimental stage. 
For on several occasions during the last 
few years members of the museum staff, 
from more than one department, have 


326 SCIENCE. 


given courses of lectures in connection with 
the university schemes of advanced study. 
From all I hear, the experiment may be 
regarded as distinctly encouraging. 

Before leaving this subject it may be ap- 
propriate to recall that the English edition 
of Solereder’s great work on systematic 
plant-anatomy is rapidly approaching com- 
pletion, and should be available very 
shortly. Its appearance can not fail once 
more to arouse discussion as to the impor- 
tance of anatomical characters. I hope the 
result produced may reward the devotion 
and labor with which Mr. lL. A. Boodle and 
Dr. Fritsch have carried out their task. 

In another and even more fundamental 
branch of systematic work the future seems 
brimful of promise. We are beginning to 
recognize that a vast number of the species 
of the systematist have no correspondence 
_with the real units of nature, but are to be 
regarded rather as subjective groups or 
plexuses composed of closely similar units 
which possess a wide range of overlapping 
variability. That such might be the case 
was apparent to Linneus, but the proof 
depends on the application of precise meth- 
ods of analysis. 

In the year 1870 our great taxonomist 
Bentham happened to meet Nageli at 
Munich, and, as we find recorded in Mr. 
Daydon Jackson’s interesting life, ‘‘had 
half an hour’s conversation with him on 
his views that in systematic botany it is 
better to spend years in studying thorough- 
ly two or three species, and thus really 
to contribute essentially to the science, than 
to review generally floras and groups of 
species.’” Bentham does not appear to have 
been convinced, for his comment runs: ‘He 
is otherwise, evidently, a man of great 
ability and zeal, and a constant and hard 
worker.’ At the time of this interview 
Bentham was seventy years old, Nageli be- 
ing seventeen years his junior. The views 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 611. 


of the latter are now bearing fruit, as we 
see in the important results already ob- 
tained by de Vries and others, who are fol- 
lowing the methods of experimental culti- 
vation with so much success. 

The supposed slowness of change has 
been a difficulty to many. This was one 
of the ‘lions’ left by Darwin in the way, 
and it has driven back many a ‘Timorous’ 
and ‘Mistrust.” Now, as we are gradually 
perceiving, it is only a chained lion after 
all; a thing to avoid and pass by. ‘The 
detection of the origin of species and varie- 
ties by sudden mutation opens out new vis- 
tas to the systematist, and along these he 
will pursue his way. It will take many 
years of arduous work, this reinvestigation 
of the species question. The collections of 
our herbaria form the provisional sorting- 
out from which we must start afresh. In 
the long run it may be that our present 
collections will prove obsolete, but that will 
not deter us. The scrap-heap is the sign 
and measure of all progress. 

The garden thus becomes an instrument 
of supreme importance in conjunction with 
the herbarium, and that is another reason 
for the transfer of South Kensington to 
Kew. The resources of the latter could 
then be directed more fully than ever to 
the advancement of scientific botany, and 
the gardens would be revealed in a new 
light. For the operations and results of 
experimental inquiries would form a new 
feature, very acceptable to the specialist 
and public alike. And, as I am on the 
subject, it may not be out of place to re- 
mark that we all look forward eagerly to 
the time when the multifarious activities of 
Kew will permit the development of other 
features of which traces are already dis- 
eernible. The arrangement of the living 
collections is at present based largely 
on horticultural convenience, geographic 
origin and systematic affinity, happily sub- 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1906.] 


ordinated to an artistic or decorative treat- 
ment. In time we shall go further than 
that and attempt in some degree to reflect 
current botanical ideas in the grouping of 
our plants. Let me illustrate my meaning 
by a good example. The succulent house 
is generally conceded to form one of the 
most interesting and stimulating exhibits 
to be seen at Kew—not merely from the 
weird and grotesque forms assumed by the 
individual plants, but chiefly because here 
you have assembled together plants of the 
most varied affinity having the common 
bond of similar adaptations to a like type 
of environment. The principles that 
underlie the arrangement of the best sort 
of museum may be applied with advantage 
in the case of a garden, and with tenfold 
effect; for is not a live dandelion better 
than a dead Welwitschia? This feature, 
introduced as it would be with moderation 
and discretion, would immensely enhance 
the value of the gardens both to the stu- 
dent and general visitor. 

But to return from this digression: on 
the whole the time seems ripe for the new 
departure. Fresh lines are opening up in 
systematic botany that call for special pro- 
vision. Now it was evident from the cir- 
cumstances of the botanical renaissance 
twenty-five years ago that when it acquired 
strength some readjustment between the 
old and the new would have to be made. 
The thing was inevitable. The administra- 
tive acts of recent years all point in the 
same direction. The founding of the Jod- 
rell Laboratory, the enhanced efficiency of 
the gardens, the great extension of the her- 
barium building, all help to pave the way. 
But more is wanted. Reference has been 
made to the advantages that would attend 
the migration from the Natural History 
Museum. But it is most important of all 
to devise a mechanism for securing a flow 
of recruits to carry on the work. This 


SCIENCE. 


O27 


would follow in the wake of a rapproche- 
ment with the schools on the lines already 
sketched out. Difficulties, no doubt, will 
be encountered in the initial stages of a re- 
organization, but these are inseparable 
from our bureaucratic system. A very 
hopeful sign is the readiness which the goy- 
ernment has shown in instituting inquiries 
in the past. That nothing has come of 
them may be attributed primarily to the 
attitude of botanists themselves. If they 
can unite on any common policy, there 
should be no serious delay in giving it 
effect. 


THE CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL—ITS RE- 
LATION TO TECHNICAL EDUCATION 
AND SOME OF ITS RESULTS. 

At the 1899 meeting of the Society for 
Promotion of Engineering Education, held 
at Columbus, Ohio, a paper was presented 
by Professor Edgar Marburg, entitled ‘The 
Correspondence School in Technical Edu- 
cation.” This paper aroused considerable 
interest, and was discussed quite generally, 
with the result that a committee on in- 
dustrial education was appointed, of which 
Professor J. B. Johnson was chairman. 
This committee reported at the New York 

meeting in the following year.® 

At the time Professor Marburg prepared 
his paper the total number of students en- 
rolled in the International Correspondence 
Schools was about 80,000, and at the time . 
the committee made its report the number 
of students enrolled was about 181,000. It 
was impossible at that time to furnish re- 
liable figures in regard to the work being 


1Read at the Ithaca meeting of the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science, June 
30, 1906, before Section D, Mechanical Science 
and Hngineering. 

2 Proceedings of the Society for the Promotion 
of Engineering Education, Vol. VII., p. 80. 

* Proceedings of the Society for the Promotion 
of Engineering Education, Vol. VIII., p. 28. 


328 SCIENCE. 


accomplished ; consequently, both Professor 
Marburg’s paper and the report of the 
committee were, in some respects, unsatis- 
factory and unjust to the correspondence 
school. 

In order that you may understand sev- 
eral of the facts that I am about to bring 
to your attention, it will be well to consider 
the enrolment figures for the various years 
since the organization of the International 
Correspondence Schools. 


From October 1, 1891, to December! 31, 
1893, the total number of students en- 
OUTS WAS Aiirsleieletyer tanta tae ten Sean HA aa 3,105 
The number of new students enrolled to 
Mecember Wal M94 Ve ee ee 2,509 
The number of new students enrolled to 
Decemberiialey lS Oo weenie vein te sie 4,491 
The number of new students enrolled to 
Decemiberiy sls yMliSO Ge ela Malu aie ey eal 6,530 
The number of new students enrolled to 
December yo TUS Of ereaiars cuecasa enous ia aes 13,677 
The number of new students enrolled to 
December Slo lS9 Seuss ee ei 38,572 
The number of new students enrolled to 
December 31, 1899...... Pa a MB 71,885 


Since December 31, 1899, we have been 
enrolling students at the rate of more than 
100,000 per year, the total number to and 
including June 27, 1906, being 902,906. 

It will be noted that up to and includ- 
ing the enrolment for 1897, the increase in 
the number of students was comparatively 
even. After this date, however, the num- 
ber of students enrolled increased very re- 
markably. There are two reasons for this 
sudden increase in the enrolment.  Pre- 
vious to January 1, 1898, the students re- 
ceived their text-books in the form of 
paper-covered pamphlets, averaging about 
fifty pages each, and these were sent only 
one at a time to each’ student as he pro- 
eressed with his studies. The result was 
that if a student failed to complete his 
course, he had on hand not more than two 
instruction papers in advance of the last 
one he had studied. This tended to create 
creat dissatisfaction, and, to overcome it, 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 611. 


we reprinted the entire text of the courses, 
and sent to every student, at the time of 
his enrolment, a set of what we term bound 
volumes. These volumes contained every 
thing that the student would receive in 
connection with his course of instruction, 
and if he failed to complete the course he 
had his bound volumes at any rate, and 
could continue studying by himself, if he 
so desired. This feature resulted in a 
ereat increase in the number of students. 
Further, previous to the latter part of 
1897, the students were obtained solely by 
newspaper and magazine advertising. They 
were all enrolled through the mails and 
no pressure was applied to mduce them 
to become students. About the time we 
began printing bound volumes we began 
to organize a force of solicitors. These 
solicitors interviewed the prospective stu- 
dent personally, and naturally did every- 
thing they could to increase the number 
of students. The result is shown by the 
figures above quoted. 

In 1899 and 1900, the number of new 
students enrolled was so great, relatively 
speaking, that it was impossible to furnish 
any definite figures to the committee or to 
Professor Marburg to substantiate our 
claims, and we ourselves could not predict 
definitely what the outcome would be. 
The enrolment has been comparatively 
steady during the past seven years, and 
we are now better able to present to the 
society facts and statistics that will enable 
you to judge of the work we are doing. 
At the same time, we can not give you full 
and complete information in regard to the 
benefits derived by our students. We 
have received hundreds and thousands of 
letters from students who have never sent 
in any work at all to be examined and cor- 
rected, or who have sent in work on only 


one subject—as for example, arithmetic— , 
in which letters they have stated that they 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1906.] 


have derived great benefit from their 
courses. On inquiry we found that these 
students had studied from their bound 
volumes, and that the text had been so 
carefully prepared that they did not de- 
sire to go to the trouble of writing out the 
answers to the examination questions; and 
not caring whether or not they obtained a 
diploma or certificate, they never sent in 
any work. 

Before pursuing this subject further, it 
will be well to consider the character of 
the courses we offer, and the reason why 
we offer so many different courses. Our 
system of education is based on an idea 
that is almost directly opposite the views 
held by the regular schools and colleges. 
The regular technical school or college aims 
to educate a man broadly; our aim, on the 
contrary, is to. educate him only along 
some particular line. The college demands 
that a student shall have certain educa- 
tional qualifications to enter it, and that 
all students study for approximately the 
same length of time, and when they have 
finished their courses they are supposed to 
be qualified to enter any one of a number 
of branches in some particular profession. 
We, on the contrary, are aiming to make 
our courses fit the particular needs of the 
student who takes them. If a student is 
employed as a helper in some shop, and de- 
desiies to become a stationary engineer or 
draftsman, or bookkeeper, or to follow any 
other special branch of industry, we can 
offer him a course that will fit him for the 
particular position he has in mind. Such 
a student does not wish or desire to be 
forced to study anything that is not strictly 
necessary for him to learn in order to fill 
the position he is aiming at.  Conse- 
quently, without citing other instances, it 
may be stated that every one of our 
courses, with a few exceptions, perhaps, is 
a special course. If a person desires to 


SCIENCE. 


329 


take up bridge engineering, and does not 
wish to learn the other branches of eivil 
engineering, we offer him our bridge engi- 
neering course. He studies only those sub- 
jects that are necessary for him to know 
in order for him to understand everything 
we teach in regard to bridge engineering. 
If the person wishes to study stenography, 
we offer him our stenographic course. If, 
however, he wishes to take a course that 
would correspond to a course in a business 
college, we offer him what we term our 
complete commercial course, which in- 
eludes bookkeeping, stenography and other 
subjects. If a student desires to study 
mechanical drawing, and does not wish to 
take our mechanical or mechanical engi- 
neering course, we will offer him our 
course in mechanical drawing, and will not 
compel him to study any other subject. 
There are many persons who already have 
a good knowledge of mathematics and who 
have a good general education. They find 
it necessary to have some knowledge of 
mechanical drawing, but do not wish to 
study any other subject. Such a person 
can take our mechanical-drawing course 
and learn the latest and best methods in 
use in the leading drafting rooms of the 
country. 

Considered from a pedagogical stand- 
point, our methods are a distinet departure 
from any that have previously been tried. 
What has been stated here with regard to 
the methods of the International Corre- 
spondence Schools, applies with equal force 
to a number of other correspondence 
schools. These remarks do not apply to 
all correspondence schools, however, for 
the reason that some of them are conducted 
along an entirely different line. Attempts 
have been made to conduct correspondence 
schools by means of what may be termed 
the regular text-books such as are used in 
the ordinary school or college. Their plan 


330 


is to purchase these text-books, direct the 
student to study a certain number of pages 
or chapters and then answer a set of ques- 
tions. The student’s answers are cor- 
rected and returned to him, and if he de- 
sires to be informed regarding anything 
not clearly explained in the text, he may 
write to the schools and obtain the infor- 
mation desired. He proceeds in this way 
until he has finished the particular text- 
book he is studying. Such schools, how- 
ever, have always failed, or at any rate 
have made very little progress, for the 
reason that the ordinary text-book is not 
adapted to the use of a person studying 
by himself. Another method is that in 
use by the University of Chicago. The 
student takes a regular college course, but 
does a part of the work at home. He can 
not get his degree, however, without taking 
about half the course in residence. This 
plan offers very few advantages over 
taking a college course in the regular man- 
ner. The student must have the same 
preparation and must do the same amount 
of work as any other student taking the 
same course or subject. The only require- 
ment necessary to become a student of the 
International Correspondence Schools is 


ability to read the English language and 


to write it sufficiently well to be under- 
stood. Sometimes even this requirement 
is not fulfilled, as the student will get 
some one else to write his answers to the 
examination questions for him, from dic- 
tation. This is especially true of students 
speaking some language other than Eng- 
lish. A case came up only a short time 
ago of a German who was unable to write 
English, but who induced his wife to 
translate the text matter to him. He dic- 
tated the answers to the examination ques- 
tions, which she wrote down, and his work 
was corrected by our instruction depart- 
ment in the usual way. This is not an 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 611. 


isolated case, but is one that occurs with 
considerable frequency among such stu- 
dents. 

Inasmuch as nearly every student has a 
definite object in view when he takes a 
course, he naturally objects to anything 
that will delay him in obtaining the knowl- 
edge he desires. As a consequence, we 
frequently have several text-books treat- 
ing the same subject. In some eases the 
text-books differ quite materially both in 
the amount of ground covered and in the 
treatment; in other cases they differ very 
slightly. For example, take the subject of 
arithmetic. We have a very complete 
arithmetic that is used in our Hneglish 
branches, teachers’ and commercial courses, 
while for our technical courses the arith- 
metics are all of about the same size; they 
may differ slightly in the methods of treat- 
ment, but principally in the fact that the 
examples and illustrative citations, ete., re- 
late to matters with which the student is 
supposed to be concerned in connection 
with his course of study. For example: 
in the arithmetic used in the school of 
mines, the examples relate to matters per- 
taining to mining. Another arithmetic— 
very similar, but having different examples 
and illustrative citations—is used for the 
courses in the school of metallurgy. This 
may appear to be stretching the point con- 
siderably, but our chief aim is to keep the 
student interested in his work and to teach 
him something bearing directly on the 
course he is taking in connection with the 
study of every subject in that course. 

As to the results we have accomplished, 
it is, as before stated, impossible to furnish 
exact figures. Many students enrol for 
the purpose of studying certain subjects 
that will enable them to pass an examina- 
tion, such as for a license for mine fore- 
man, for engineer, etc. They do not care 
whether they complete a course or not, pro- 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1906.] 


vided they get the information they need 
in order to pass the examination. Quite a 
large number of students taking our 
courses in marine engineering never send 
in any work at all. They simply take 
their bound volumes, study from them, 
pass the examination, and get their license 
for one of the different grades of engineer. 
Several years ago, the writer had consid- 
erable correspondence with the assistant 
foreman of the boiler department of the 
Richmond Locomotive Works. He was 
very enthusiastic regarding his work, and 
organized a class of about thirty-five per- 
sons employed in the boiler department, 
most of whom enrolled with us for our 
sheet-metal pattern drafting course. The 
superintendent and other officials of the 
company took great interest in his work, 
and furnished a room where the class could 
meet, and furnished desks, tables and other 
material, and encouraged the men gener- 
ally in connection with their courses of 
study. The results, according to the as- 
sistant foreman, were extremely satisfac- 
tory. However, he did not furnish me 
with the names of any of the class until 
about two years after the correspondence 
was begun. I looked up the record of 
these students, and found that not a single 
one of them had ever sent in any work to 
us for correction. At the same time they 
were getting great benefit from their 
courses, and were entirely satisfied with 
them. 

A careful examination of the records of 
a large number of students, for a number 
of years, indicates that about 60 per cent. 
of them send in one or more pieces of 
work. An examination of the records of 
our accounting department shows that 
about two thirds of the students pay in 
full for their courses. These facts force 
us to the conclusion that if a student does 
nct pay, he does not study. There is no 


SCIENCE. 


ddl 


connection between the instruction depart- 
ment and the accounting department. 
Any student who sends in work on a paper 
will have his work corrected, and will have 
any questions answered that he may send 
us, regardless of whether he has paid for 
his course or whether he is a delinquent. 
At the same time, it is a fact that if a 
student does not pay, he does not study; 
while, if he does pay, as a rule, he does at 
least a certain amount of studying. There- 
fore, while our present total enrolment is 
a little over 900,000, it is not fair to count 
the actual number of students as being 
over about 60 per cent. of this, or about 
540,000. From the figures and statistics 
prepared last month, we estimated that 
533,000 students had sent in work on the 
examination questions of one or more in- 
struction papers. From June 1, 1905, to 
May 31, 1906, the work on the examination 
questions of 517,849 instruction papers was 
corrected; 192,739 drawings were correct- 
ed; and 6,364 phonograph records, made 
by students in our language courses, were 
received and examined. The total number 
of pieces of work during this period, re- 
ceived from students, was, therefore, 716,- 
952. 

We compiled, about a year ago, a book 
giving the names, addresses and records of 
students who had completed about one 
third or more of their courses. There was 
excluded from this list those students 
taking a single subject, such as arithmetic, 
algebra, bookkeeping, etc., and also all the 
students in our school of electrotherapeu- 
ties—a total altogether of 40,261 names. 
The average enrolment during the period 
when the names were being taken off was 
798,960. Hence, the number of students, 
living and dead, who might have been in- 
cluded in the book was 758,700. Taking 60 
per cent. of these as active students, the 
number to be so counted is 455,220. The 


332 


number of names included in the book is 
75,774, which is about 16.6 per cent. of the 
number of active students. That is, 16.6 
per cent. of the number of active students 
have completed one third or more of their 
courses, as shown by our records. The 
number of students who have entirely com- 
pleted their courses, passed their final ex- 
amination and been awarded a certificate 
or diploma is 12,143 (up to and including 
June 27, 1906), or about 2.6 per cent. of 
the total number of active students. Al- 
though this percentage may appear low, it 
should be borne in mind that it will greatly 
increase from now on. Instead of the 
schools being fifteen years old, they are 
really only about eight or nine years old, 
as measured by the bulk of the enrolments. 
A larger proportion of students are com- 
pleting their courses now than at any time 
in the past. And in consequence of the 
exceedingly large enrolment at the present 
time, the number of graduates will increase 
very materially in the next few years. 
Between February 7 and April 21 we 
issued over 600 diplomas, an average of 
240 per month. The average for the same 
period next year will exceed this, and may 
average as high as 300 per month. In con- 
sequence of a falling off in the amount of 
work received during the hot weather, this 
average will not be maintained for the 
whole year; but it is safe to assume that 
between now and this time next year, at 
least 2,700 diplomas will be issued. This 
number will be increased during the fol- 
lowing year. The percentage of increase 
in the number of students receiving di- 
plomas will be far greater than in the 
number of new students enrolling. This 
conclusion is justified by the following 
fact: The book before referred to which 
contains the names and addresses of over 
75,000 students is the second edition, and 
was compiled between May 16 and August 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 611. 


9, 1905. During this period, the average 
enrolment was 798,960. The first edition 
of the book was compiled between January 
18 and March 17, 1904, and the average 
enrolment during that period was 642,378. 
It was previously shown that 16.6 per cent. 
of the number of active students was in- 
eluded in the second edition of the book. 
I have no figures to show the exact number 
of names excluded corresponding to the 
40,261 that were thrown out in making the 
previous estimate, but based on the number 
of students enrolled during the period that 
the first edition was being compiled, the 
number to be excluded would be 32,370. 
The number of names, therefore, consid- 
ered in connection with the compilation of 
the first edition, was 610,000. Hence, the 
number of active students at that time 
would be 60 per cent. of this, or 366,000. 
The number of names given in the first 
edition was 54,500, or 14.9 per cent. of the 
number of active students. In the short 
space of sixteen months the number of 
persons who had become eligible to have 
their names inserted in the book had in- 
ereased 1.7 per cent. This is a remarkable 
showing, and we have every reason to ex- 
pect that the number of students com- 
pleting their courses will increase in the 
same or a greater proportion. 

Some of the reasons why students do not 
complete their courses of study have been 
mentioned above. It may be of interest 
to consider other reasons why they fail to 
complete their courses. As a rule, if a 
student has only his own inclination to 
induce him to devote his spare time to 
obtaining an education, he feels the need 
of an education and knows the benefit it 
will be to him to possess it. At the same 
time, most persons do not possess sufficient 
grit and determination to persist in the 
line of work they have laid out for them- 
selves, especially when they receive no 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1906.] 


special encouragement to do so. We do all 
we can to encourage the student, both by 
means of letters and by having our agents 
call on them. But there are many other 
influences that tend to discourage a stu- 
dent and to induce him to drop his course. 
Many students are obliged to stop studying 
on account of being forced to work very 
long hours and not having the time. Other 
students have an idea at the time they 
enrol that it will be a comparatively easy 
matter to study the course, and they be- 
come discouraged when they find they must 
work hard in order to understand the sub- 
ject. Such students either do not begin 
to study, or else they cease studying almost 
as soon as they enrol. 

A large proportion of our students are 
not only ignorant of the subject studied, 
but are also ignorant of how to study, that 
is, they have formed no habit of this kind, 
and it is necessary for us to teach them 
how to study, as well as the subject they 
do study. A large number have enrolled 
simply for the purpose of securing the text- 
books, as these are not for sale and can be 
obtained in no other way. Some enrol 
because their friends are enrolled. At the 
Same time, when they receive their text- 
books and look them over, they become dis- 
couraged and never make any attempt to 
study. Some students may start in and 
work very well during the winter months 
and early spring, but during the summer 
months they stop for various reasons, per- 
haps temporarily; but later, when the 
weather has become cool again they have 
laid aside their enthusiasm and do not re- 
sume, or, if they do, the attempt is spas- 
modie, and the studies are soon abandoned. 

We have absolutely no way of compel- 
lng a student to study. We can not 
threaten him with suspension or expulsion. 
We have no inducement that we can offer 
him beyond prizes, and these do not seem 


SCIENCE. 


339 


to produce the desired effect; and the stu- 
dent himself frequently has direct encour- 
agement to give up his studies, by reason 
of adverse criticism of his relatives and 
friends. 

A considerable number of students may 
cease studying for a long time—several 
years in fact—and then begin again, and 
go on with their courses. Quite a number 
of students have objected to doing the work 
we require of them, saying they did not 
have the time, and stopped sending work 
on this account. We know of one student 
who finished all the work in our mechanical 
course (which we usually estimate will re- 
quire about three years to complete), with 
the exception of one of the papers on 
machine design. This student did good 
work, and received very high marks. At 
the same time, he would not complete the 
subject of machine design, because, he said, 
he did not have time to make the drawings 
that we required in connection with these 
papers. His course was of great benefit 
to him, and when we heard from him last 
he was superintendent of a large power 
plant, and was receiving a very good sal- 
ary. On account, however, of his not hav- 
ing conformed to our requirements, we 
were unable to give him a diploma, al- 
though he had actually completed the 
entire work of the course with the excep- 
tion of this one paper. This is by no 
means an isolated case, but it is one that 
has occurred with considerable frequency. 
In some eases, a student will not complete 
a course for the reason that it does not 
contain, in his opinion, as much on certain 
subjects as he thinks he should receive, and 
he does not care to study the course for the 
educational features only. 

When we began to teach we did not 
know what the result of the experiment 
would be; and, furthermore, we did not 


have the demand for such a wide range of 


334 


information on certain subjects as we have 
now. During the last three or four years 
we have been very busy in rewriting all of 
our older courses. These new courses will 
cover the subjects more completely than 
the older ones did, and there will be a 
larger number of subjects than were in- 
eluded in the former courses. Inasmuch 
as the new courses will meet the demands 
of our students better than the old ones 
did, we expect that there will be a. great 
increase in the number of students finish- 
ing such courses, or, at any rate, in the 
number of students studying a part or all 
of the courses. J. J. CLARK. 


THE PRESENT NEEDS OF THE HARVARD 
MEDICAL SCHOOL 


Every one who has visited the new 
buildings on Longwood Avenue must feel 
that, so far as spacious and well-lighted 
laboratories are concerned, the Harvard 
Medical School has all the laboratory space 
which it will require for many years to 
come. What it needs now, so far as these 
laboratory buildings are concerned, is suf- 
ficient endowment to equip, man and run 
them in a manner commensurate with the 
laboratory opportunities afforded. The 
school has at the present time but a small 
endowment fund. A much larger one is 
necessary, because it is becoming more and 
more difficult every year to induce capable 
men to enter the laboratory branches of 
medicine. This failure to take up labora- 
tory work as a profession is due chiefly to 
the salaries, which, in consequence of the 
ereatly increased cost of living and the 
ereater returns offered by clinical branches 
of medicine or by business, have become 
entirely inadequate. No man ean live in a 
manner becoming the position on the sal- 
aries now paid in the laboratory depart- 
ments. 


1 Read before the Harvard Medical Alumni Asso- 
ciation at its annual meeting, June 26, 1906. 


SCIENCE. © 


/ 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 611. 


The laboratory departments have, how- 
ever, this advantage over the clinical de- 
partments. They have the laboratories and 
so ean call the ablest men from any part 
of the world to work and teach in them. 
There is nothing to prevent these depart- 
ments from attaining the highest rank ex- 
cept a lack of endowment sufficient to at- 
tract the best men and to provide funds for 
necessary expenses. With this provision 
the best results, both as regards the educa- 
tion of students who are to practise in the 
community, as regards men trained to be- 
come the medical teachers of the future, 
and as regards advancing medical knowl- 
edge and investigation, can be produced. 

Much as adequate endowment for the 
laboratory departments is needed, however, 
lack of endowment for these departments 
is not the greatest need of the school at the 
present time. First-class laboratory depart- 
ments alone will never make a great med- 
ical school. The first function of a medical 
school is to turn out thoroughly trained 
practitioners of medicine, and to do that 
the clinical departments. must have oppor- 
tunities equal to or even greater than the 
laboratory departments. This is not the 
ease at present. The clinical teachers labor 
under great disadvantages, owing to the 
fact that the medical school does not have 
a hospital of its own and with possibly one 
exception has no power of appointment of 
clinical men in a hospital. Consequently 
the clinical instructors have to do their 
teaching in the various hospitals of Boston, 
which all are under different boards of 
management. These boards are entirely 
independent of the school and some of them 
are little inclined to cooperate with it. The 
resulting difficulties, which most of the elin- 
ical teachers have to contend with, are 
short terms of hospital service; variability 
in the time of year of hospital services, 
especially for the younger men; and the 
inability of the heads of departments to 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1906.] 


select their teaching assistants in the hos- 
pitals. 

In consequence of the short terms of 
service in the hospitals (usually four 
months) the clinical teachers do not have 
patients under their own control through- 
out the school year. As a result of this 
condition two and often three men are 
needed to give the same amount of instruc- 
tion that is given by one man in the labora- 
tory departments, 2. e@., teach the eight 
months of the school year. As a result of 
the large number of men necessarily ap- 
pointed by the school under these condi- 
tions the value of a teaching position is 
much diminished, because the salary which 
can be paid to each instructor is exceed- 
ingly small and because the indirect pay 
recelved in consequence of connection with 
the school is by no means so great as it used 
to be when the relative number of in- 
structors was much less than at present. 

The months during which a man is on 
duty in a hospital vary from year to year. 
Only the older clinicians are reasonably 
sure of certain months. <A death or a 
resignation may cause a shift of the time 
of service for several men on the medical 
or surgical side of a hospital. On this ac- 
count it is difficult for the heads of the 
clinical departments to plan in detail their 
course of instruction for the school year 
and for the summer. These difficulties hold 
in an even more marked degree for their 
subordinates. 

Unless the heads of the clinical depart- 
ments in the school are also heads of the 
clinical services in the hospitals they can 
not choose their hospital assistants, and 
even when they are heads of clinical ser- 
vices they do not have an entirely free 
choice; that is, it is impossible for them to 
select and use on their services the men best 
qualified to teach. They must take as their 
assistants those men who fall to their ser- 


SCIENCE. 


300 


vice by the method of assignment at pres- 
ent employed. Under this condition of 
affairs they may have as assistants men not 
interested in teaching or with little or no 
ability in that direction. Moreover, as 
these younger assistants on a service change 
from year to year, it is impossible to have 
a thoroughly organized, trained and per- 
manent teaching staff. 

Some of these difficulties could be elim- 
inated by making the services continuous, — 
as is already the case at some of the hos- 
pitals, but other difficulties are inherent in 
the principle on which almost all hospitals 
in this country are run, namely, the selec- 
tion of local men only to serve on their 
staffs. This leads me to speak of the most: 
vital defect which now exists in the clinical 
departments of the Harvard Medical. 
School. It is the extremely limited field 
of choice of clinical teachers. 

Since the school has practically no power 
of nomination or of appointment in the 
hospitals of Boston, it must appoint as its 
clinical teachers men who already hold hos- 
pital positions. The hospitals select their 
men from the vicinity of the city of Boston 
only. The result is that the hospitals of 
Boston dictate all the clinical appointments 
in the Harvard Medical School and thereby 
limit the choice of all its clinical teachers 
to Boston. 

Boston is altogether too small a field 
from which always to obtain the best teach- 
ers. No other departments in the univer- 
sity or in the medical school are thus lm- 
ited. All except the clinical departments 
are able to select from any part of the 
country the man who is judged best fitted 
for a teaching position which becomes 
vacant. 

The number of desirable clinical teachers 
is still further limited in two ways, by lack 
of teaching ability on the part of many 
who receive appointment to hospital staffs, 


300 SCIENCE. 


and by promotion in hospitals on the basis 
of seniority only. Hospitals for the most 
part select the men on their staffs on the 
basis of their ability as practitioners of 
medicine, not on their ability as teachers 
and investigators. As a result many hos- 
pital men are not desirable as teachers or 
are used with detriment to the instruction. 
Moreover, hospitals usually select men 
rather early in their careers, before they 
have shown whether or not they possess 
any marked ability as teachers or investi- 
gators. The clinical men once appointed 
are advanced almost invariably on the 
basis of seniority, so that in time every 
man becomes the head of a clinical service. 
‘This basis of promotion may put hospital 
Services in the control of men uninterested 
in teaching or inefficient in their work. 
‘There is no method of advancing rapidly 
the strong man with ability as a clinician, 
teacher and investigator, or of weeding out 
the inefficient man. University develop- 
ment, however, is based on the vital prin- 
ciple of selecting the most capable young 
men obtainable anywhere and developing 
them rapidly to the limit of their capacity. 
As a result of this present policy of pro- 
motion in hospitals the school is sometimes 
obliged to select an inefficient man because 
he is the head of a clinic and neglect a 
capable young man who is subordinate to 
hin. 

The result of this marked limitation of 
the field of selection of clinical instructors 
ais that the clinical teachers of the school 
are not always of the high grade desirable 
and otherwise obtainable, and the broaden- 
ing influence due to the introduction of 
men with other standards and ideals from 
other parts of the country is prevented. 

I do not deny in the least that the clinical 
teachers of Harvard have always held a 
high rank and that many of them have 
made valuable contributions to medical 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 611. 


knowledge. I only wish to point out that 
through circumstances over which the clin- 
ical men themselves have no control the 
school is unable to eall to its service the 
exceptional clinical man from outside of 
Boston and put him in charge of patients. 
The reason of this condition of affairs is 
that the school has always been a parasite 
on the clinical men and indirectly through 
them on the hospitals for its clinical teach- 
ing; 7. €., while it has furnished its labora- 
tory men with laboratory space and equip- 
ment; it has not provided its clinical men 
with wards and patients. It is only fair 
to add, however, that this teaching has cost 
the hospitals nothing and in many ways,has 


_ been of advantage to them. 


The medical school of the present day is 
no longer a place to train men solely for 
the business of the practise of medicine, but 
has become a technical school embracing 
many branches of science. As teachers of 
these different branches, trained men are 
needed, just aS in any other technical 
school, e. g., of engineering. In the clinical 
departments of most of the medical schools 
in this country the clinical teachers neces- 
sarily have had to make teaching a second- 
ary part of their vocation. They have had 
to seek private practise in order to make a 
living. There have been open to clinical 
men no teaching positions which paid sal- 
aries large enough to enable men to live 
suitably and comfortably on their salaries 
alone; hence there has been no incentive for 
a man to fit himself for such a position. 
The only way in which a man could be- 
come a clinical teacher was by obtaining a 
hospital position. 

At present there exists in most hospitals 


in this country no method for the thorough ~ 


training of young men who wish to become 
clinical teachers. A hospital interneship 
is not a sufficiently long experience, but it 
is all that is possible at present. Under 


ee eee ee 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1906.] 


existing conditions, after their early hos- 
pital training, young clinical men are com- 
pelled to devote their energies to earning 
a living and to acquiring a practise, and it 
usually is several years before they receive 
hospital appointments, as a result of which 
they become available as teachers. 

In consequence of the lack of proper, 
uninterrupted, early training under ca- 
pable supervision, and as a result of the 
temporary want of extensive opportunity 
for bedside study and large experience at 
the most important period of his life, it is 
almost impossible for a clinical man to 
reach any commanding position as a teach- 
er in his line of work until he is past middle 
life. This is not true in other lines of 
work. 

There is no denying the fact that the 
Harvard Medical School has done little for 
its clinical men except to give them titles 
which might prove of value in private 
practise. It has paid them very small 
salaries and given them absolutely no as- 
sistance in their clinical teaching. The 
school has received from many of its de- 
voted clinical men, some of whom have 
made great sacrifices for its sake and have 
brought it great honor and reputation, 
much more than it has given them. 

Under present conditions, with the school 
giving its clinical instruction in hospitals 
which are under the control of others, with 
underpaid clinical teachers who have lim- 
ited terms of hospital service, and who are 
unable to select from the hospital staff and 
from the imternes, as their assistants, the 
men they consider best fitted to teach and 
to advance the knowledge of clinical medi- 
cine, the school has about reached its limit 
of development. 

From now on the Harvard Medical 
School must have a new ideal to strive for, 
namely, well-paid clinical instructors whose 
chief interests shall be teaching and scien- 


SCIENCE, 


337 


tific medical investigation. In other words, 
the clinical departments must be put on a 
true university basis like the laboratory 
departments and entirely freed from the 
outside influences which hitherto have con- 
trolled them. To render this ideal possible 
two things are absolutely necessary : 

1. A sufficient endowment to enable the 
School to pay clinical teachers adequate 
salaries so that they can afford to devote 
all their time to teaching and to research 
work. 

2. A hospital of its own, or one in which 
it has the power of appointment, in order 
that it can do the following things: (a) 
Furnish continuous services to its clinical 
teachers. (b) Establish salaried teaching 
positions in the wards for young clinical 
men who will have charge (under the su- 
pervision of visiting men) of the medical 
students, who will carry on scientific in- 
vestigation of clinical cases based on the 
broadest training in laboratory methods, 
and who will study to fit themselves to be 
the clinical teachers of the future. (c) 
Enable the clinical departments to call the 
exceptional clinical man from any part of 


the world and put him in control of ward 


patients. (d) Place students, after they 
have received sufficient preliminary train- 
ing, in the wards as a part of the hospital 
machinery so that they all may acquire 
practical experience under proper super- 
vision before they undertake to practise 
medicine on their own responsibility. 

To demand such possibilities is perfectly 
reasonable. Germany owes her great clin- 
ical teachers to such a system of being able 
to call to any vacant clinical position the 
best available man in the country. Conse- 
quently men fit themselves by years of 
study in the hospitals to fill these clinical 
positions. At least two medical schools in 
this country have adopted the same system. 


338 


If the Harvard Medical School does not 
adopt some such policy it will not be able 
to hold a leading position in this country 
like the other departments of the univer- 
sity, but will remain a local institution, 
and we shall continue to hear, as often in 
the past, the fatal excuse of expediency 
instead of commanding ability urged in 
behalf of a clinical man’s appointment. 

F. B. MAubory. 


HarvarD MEDICAL SCHOOL. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


A Text-book of Sanitary and Applied Chem- 
istry: or The Chemistry of Water, Aur and 
Food. By E. H. S. Batery, professor of 
chemistry, University of Kansas. New 
York, The Macmillan Company. Pp. xx + 
345. $1.40. 

The purpose of this text-book on applied 
chemistry is best stated in the author’s own 
words: 

A knowledge of the relations of health to pure 
air, unpolluted water, and wholesome food will 
have much to do with improvement of sanitary 
conditions, not only of students themselves, but, 
through them, of the people at large. The air is 
usually said to be free, but pure air and sunshine 
cost money, as the crowded tenements show. The 
best lighted and ventilated rooms are worth the 
DUNO bal nar Mali 

It is certainly time that the people should 
have some practical knowledge of food and medi- 
eine. Without this knowledge they will con- 
tinually be imposed upon by those who have 
something to sell which may be worthless as a 
food, or dangerous as a medicine. * * * 

Schools and colleges are beginning to see their 
opportunity to impart a kind of knowledge that 
TSpracuical and isanee i 07) 4 

A thorough understanding of the facts of ap- 
plied chemistry will not make the skilled work- 
man, nor will the theories of chemistry make the 
accomplished cook, but a broad and thorough 
knowledge of the underlying principles will go 
very far toward developing common sense in 
hygiene and in the selection and preparation of 
food. 


In fulfilling his purpose, the author in Part 
I. (one third of the book) discusses air and 
fuels in their relation to heating and ventila- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vor. XXIV. No. 611. 


tion, lighting by the various agents now in 
use, water supply and purification, disposal of 
household waste; he devotes a chapter to 
cleaning, soaps and bluing, and another to 
disinfectants. 

In view of the fact that physicians are 
agreed that fresh air is the first requisite to 
maintaining or regaining health, it is fitting 
that the longest chapter in this part of the 
book should be given to the atmosphere. A 
partial analysis will serve to indicate the ex- 
haustiveness with which the subject is treated: 
History of Atmospheric Theories, Composi- 
tion of the Air, Methods for Analysis of Air, 
Carbon Dioxide in Free Air and in Closed 
Rooms, Effect of Impure Air on the System, 
Nitric Acid and Other Impurities, Ozone and 
its Properties, Effect of Carbon Monoxide on 
the system, Methods of Studying the Dust of 
the Atmosphere, Bacteria in City Air, Arsenic 
in the Air, Injurious Trades, Composition of 
Ground Air, Effects of Ground Air on the 
System, Offensive Gases. 

Part II. deals with food, food materials, 
food accessories, preservatives, beverages and 
dietaries. 

The method of treatment is substantially 
as follows: history,. statistics of production 
and consumption, classification of various 
forms of a given food material, chemical com- 
position, physical properties, methods of 
preparation in edible form, food value. 

The lists of adulterants to be looked for 
and the tests to discover them constitute a 
timely feature. 

The book contains valuable tables of com- 
position, numerous well-chosen experiments 
for the student, and an extremely good, 
though not exhaustive, bibliography. 

The style of the book and the directions for 
experiments, while terse, are always clear. 

The plan is admirably adapted to the use of 
students in the higher schools, academies, 
agricultural colleges and technical schools. 
The progressive college may for once waive 
its fear of applied science, and welcome a 
book so suggestive of lines of research. It is 
much to be desired that every college will at 
least have the book in its reference case. 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1906.] 


The student of sociology, the settlement 
worker and every seeker after truth must, in 
order to know his subject, get an acquaintance 
with its ancillary factors. He must have his 
science on a positive basis. A scientific 
knowledge is as necessary in questions of 
education, reformation and the improvement 
of social physical conditions as it is in the 
treatment of a diseased individual. In this 
book of Professor Bailey’s the student will 
find much that is helpful to his understand- 
ing of the causes of the conditions of daily 
living. Unless he has such knowledge, he is 
in no: position to make suggestions for better- 
ment. 

The following paragraph serves to show the 
value of the book in this direction: 


It is estimated that at least 10 per cent. of the 
income is squandered not only by the well-to-do, 
but frequently also by those who have a very small 
income and so can ill afford it, in expensive food 
material which affords little nutrition, in unsatis- 
factory methods of preparation, in selecting foods 
out of season, by throwing away much valuable 
food material, and by using badly constructed 
cooking appliances. Much careful investigation 
is needed along these lines, and painstaking in- 
struction will ultimately improve these conditions 
which are at present so much deplored. 


Evuen H. Ricwarps. 
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. 


ANIMAL MECHANICS.” 


THE author’s previous contributions to ani- 
mal mechanics, to some extent in company 
with the late Professor W. Braune, are well 
known to anatomists; though it is to be feared 
that they are held in more respect than in 
intelligent appreciation. The anatomist who 
is not a trained mathematician can very well 
understand that most if not all of the models 
and diagrams used to illustrate the simpler 


** Theoretische Grundlagen fiir eine Mechanik 
der lebenden Kérper, mit speziale Anwendungen 
auf den Menschen sowie auf einige Bewegungs- 
vorgiinge an Maschinen in méglichst elementar 
Weise dargestellt.. Von Otto Fischer. Mit 67 
in den Text gedruckten Figuren und 4 Tafeln. 
Leipzig und Berlin, Druck und Vorlag von B. G. 
Teubner, 1906. 


SCIENCE. 


339 


problems show at most the central principle, 
if we may so express it, and show it in a pain- 
fully diagrammatic way. It is much as if an 
artist were to give us a man’s face drawn in 
straight lines. We may say, and truly, that 
the essential idea is given, but that much is 
left out; and we are not very clear as to the 
precise importance of the omissions. As the 
mathematician adopts a more thorough sys- 
tem we feel an increasing difficulty in follow- 
ing tt. We can see that the method is an 
improvement; we can appreciate even without 
full understanding (if this be not a paradox) 
that the work is honestly done; but a clear 
idea does not come to us. One of the causes 
of the want of sympathy between mathe- 
maticians, in so far as they are mathematic- 
ians, and the rest of the world is that the 
former with all their learning can not do 
justice to the full stupidity of the non-mathe- 
matician when the question is one of mathe- 
matics. It is impossible for him to grasp 
how sincere the outsider is in his ignorance, 
or rather in his incapacity. 

This book is devoted to an analysis of the 
movements of joints in their mutual relations. 
It is clear that the simplest system is one of 
two rigid bars playing one on the other. If 
we restrict the motions to one plane a child 
can understand it; but if we go beyond that 
the ordinary man is at once out of his depth. 
Add one more bar still keeping to one plane, 
and the difficulty increases. Make the number 
of the bars and the planes indefinite and where 
are we? The mathematician would tell us to 
go one step at a time; but somehow we lose 
our heads as we should did we receive the 
same instruction relative to walking on the 
tight rope. 

The author writes as follows in his preface: 


As the whole animal organism has for its first 
object the movement of the living body through 
joints, I have devoted this book in the first place 
to physicians, especially to physiologists and 
anatomists as well as to zoologists. 1 have there- 
fore attempted to make the mathematical deduc- 
tions so elementary and to present them in so 
clear a manner that they will be easily intelligible 
even to those who are not mathematicians. 


340 SCIENCE. 


Frankly it seems to us that the work is be- 
yond these outsiders, but we are sure that 
those who are competent will find it a work 
of much value. ai DY, 


Kurzes Lehrbuch der organischen Chemie. 
Von Professor Dr. A. BerntHsen. Neunte 
Auflage, bearbeitet in gemeinschaft mit Dr. 
Ernst Mohr. Braunschweig, Fr. Vieweg 
und Sohn. 1906. Pp. xxii + 638. 

The approval with which this book has been 
received is indicated by the fact that it has 
reached its ninth edition and has been trans- 
lated into English, Russian and French. 
This success is well deserved. Within a com- 
paratively small compass it gives a remark- 
ably comprehensive oversight of the funda- 
mental principles and of the important com- 
pounds of organic chemistry. The most im- 
portant change in this edition is the addition 
of a third division called ‘ Heterocyclic Com- 
pounds,’ though a considerable portion of the 
material in this division was formerly given 
under the division called ‘Benzene Deriva- 
tives, but in this edition named ‘ Isocyclic 
Compounds. The aliphatic compounds are 
still called ‘ Methane Derivatives,’ as in former 
editions. 

On p. 70 Schorlemmer’s classification of 
paraffins as normal, iso-, meso-, and neo- 
paraffins is still given, although the last two 
classes are never mentioned in current litera- 
ture and have been practically forgotten by 
most organic chemists. It is a pity we have 
no means of eliminating unnecessary and 
little used terms of this sort. 

The most characteristic and valuable fea- 
tures of the book are the clear, concise state- 
ments given at the introduction of each new 
class of compounds, presenting the most im- 
portant methods of preparation for the class 
and the facts on which our knowledge of the 
structure of the characteristic group of the 
class is based. The fault of the book, if it has 
one, lies in the brief description of an exces- 
sive number of compounds, far beyond the 
possibility of memory for any one. The effect 
must be bewildering and discouraging to the 
beginner. W. A. Noves. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 611. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
AN UNUSUAL METEOR. 


To tHE Epiror or Science: On page 151 of 
your issue for August 3, Mr. E. E. Davis, 
of Norwich, N. Y., describes a very interest- 
ing meteor train observed by him about 5:30 
or 6 P.M., when traveling between Oortland 
and Elmira, N. Y. The changes in his own 
location during the fifteen minutes must have 
had an appreciable influence on the appear- 
ance of this trail, but will scarcely alter our 
general conclusion that it was a typical case 
illustrating and settling a matter that has 
caused a little speculation among students of 
the subject. If a meteor leaves a visible 
train behind it we are apt to think that this 
is a series of luminous particles, lying in a 
straight or gently curved line, and that they 
will, by reason of unequal gravity, resistance 
of the air and possibly winds in the upper 
atmosphere, drift along unequally, so. that 
the straight trail may gradually become irreg- 
ular. This may be true in some cases, but it 
is incredible that any plausible movement in 
the thin upper air should affect the course of 
the scattered luminous particles. They must 
be considered as moving, with rapidly dimin- 
ishing velocity, under the influence of three 
forces—namely, their initial momentum, the 
attraction of gravitation and a very gentle re- 
sistance from the atmosphere. In most cases 
the initial momentum is mainly that due to 
the straight-line motion of the original meteor; 
but in some cases this meteor may be revoly- 
ing on its axis in a manner quite analogous to 
the less rapid rotation of a comet’s nucleus, 
and just as the comet of 1875 sent out a series 
of tails from its revolving nucleus, so with 
the streams of material issuing from these 
rapidly revolving meteors. The diagrams 
submitted by Mr. Davis would indicate that 
five rotations were made in that portion of its 
track represented by his third curve; the 
motions of the particles outward from the 
meteor’s track were so slow that it made a 
barely appreciable sine curve, or a broadening 
of the track, in his first and second curves, 
but a very large jagged sine curve in his sixth, 
or last, curve. This latter broadening re- 


I ee 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1906.] 


quired ten minutes of time, and if we had 
exact measurements of angles and times we 
should undoubtedly from these curves be able 
to deduce the rate of rotation of the meteor, 
and possibly its mass. 
Most of the aerolites that come to the earth 
show, by their pitted surfaces, that the 
meteoric material is being split off or ejected 
quite uniformly from the whole surface; but 
some meteors, like some comets, may have 
only a very few regions on the surface from 
which material is ejected with any special 
force. In Mr. Davis’s meteor of October 18 
we seem to have a case in which some one 
spot on the side of the meteor, namely some- 
where between its head and its tail, ejected its 
material freely and with considerable force, in 
a direction at right angles to the axis of rota- 
tion, or the line joining head and tail: it 
represents the rare case of a symmetrical 
revolving meteor. 
WASHINGTON, D. C., 
August 15, 1906. 


CLEVELAND ABBE. 


SOME ‘DEFINITIONS’ OF THE DYNE. 


Ir would seem comparatively easy for any 
one whose mind has dwelt comprehendingly 
upon the relation /’—ma to define correctly 
the unit of force in terms of mass and acceler- 
ation. But such is evidently not the case. 
Of the text-books of physics immediately at 
hand, four give incorrect definitions of the 
dyne. In each case the author is a man of 
high and wide reputation as a writer and 
teacher. In quoting the definitions in ques- 
tion, I have taken the liberty of italicizing 
the words to be omitted with advantage. 

(a) Force: dyne. 1 g. given unit acceleration 
am 1 sec. 

(6) The practical unit of force is the dyne. 
* * * It produces unit acceleration of unit mass 
im unit time. 

(¢c) The absolute unit of force (in the C. G. S. 
system) is called a dyne, and is that force which 
in one second is capable of giving to a gram-mass 
an acceleration of one centimeter per second. 

(ad) The absolute unit of force is the force that, 
acting for unit of time upon unit of mass, will 
produce unit of acceleration. * * * The centi- 
meter-gram-second (C. G. S.) unit of force is the 
force that, acting for one second upon a mass 


SCIENCE. 


O41 


of one gram, produces an acceleration of one 
centimeter per second. It is called a dyne. 

The first two books are intended for univer- 
sities and colleges, the latter two for prepara- 
tory schools, and all four, I believe, have been 
widely used. 

It is perhaps proper to state that each of 
these authors gives a correct definition in 
terms of mass, time and change of velocity, 
but each seems implicitly to ignore the fact 
that acceleration is not change of velocity, 
but is rate of change of velocity. To con- 
elude, the dyne is the force that, acting on a 
mass of one gram, gives to it C. G. S. unit 
acceleration (for which there is no name), 
irrespective of the time during which the 
force acts upon the mass, whether it be the 
millionth part of one second, or one million 
eons. #—ma, and when m=—1, and a—1, 
theniH) ae 

Similar errors are of course committed in 
defining the poundal. The text from which 
the quotation (d) above is taken gives: 

The foot-pound-second (F. P. 8.) unit of force 
is the force that, applied to one pound of matter 
for one second, will produce an acceleration of 
one foot per second. It is called a poundal. 


And a fifth book, 
schools, states: 

In the F. P. §. system the unit is the poundal, 
which is the force that on being applied to 1 Ib. 
of matter for 1 sec. will give to it an acceleration 
of 1 ft. 

In this last case, the same mistake is made 
in the general definition of the absolute unit 
of force, but the dyne, specifically, escapes 
with a defective definition in terms of mass, 
time and change of velocity. 

Harotp C. Barker. 

THE RANDAL MorGAN LABORATORY uy 

oF PHysics, UNIVERSITY OF 
PENNSYLVANIA. 


also for preparatory 


SPECIAL ARTICLES. 
A PECULIAR MUTATION OF THE PINE MARTEN. 
A TRAPPER’S skin, without skull, of a pine 
marten (Mustela americana actuosa Osgood) 
recently offered for sale to the National Mu- 
seum by Mr. James Aitchison, Nulato, Alaska, 


O42 SCIENCE. 


differs strikingly from any marten skin in 
the museum collection, or elsewhere, so far as 
ITamaware. The long bristly hairs are every- 
where lacking on the skin, which bears about 
the same relation to a normal marten that a 
plucked beaver or seal skin does to an un- 
plucked one. Coues’ describes the pelage of 
the marten as consisting of three kinds of 
hairs: 

The first is very short, soft and wool-like * * * 
the second soft and kinky, like the first but very 
much longer, coming to the general surface of the 
pelt. The third is the fewer, still longer, glossy 
hairs, bristly to the roots. 


The specimen in question entirely lacks the 
long glossy hairs, and possesses a very few 
only, of Coues’s second variety of hairs, with 
soft kinky base and short bristly tip. The 
entire pelage is practically composed of the 
soft short underfur. The general color of the 
skin is not abnormal; the head, chest, legs and 
feet are perhaps a little darker brown than 
the usual run of skins. The general size and 
proportion of the skin differ in no way from 
that of a normal marten. 

Marcus W. Lyon, Jp. 


AN OBJECT-FINDER FOR THE MICRO-PROJECTION 
APPARATUS. 


No doubt every one who has undertaken to 
project the image of a microscopic preparation 
directly upon a screen for class or lecture 
demonstration purposes has realized the diffi- 
culties in the way of rapid and accurate loca- 
tion of the exact part of the object desired. 
Indeed, this method of illustration is at pres- 
ent seldom made use of, owing chiefly to the 
great loss of time involved, and to the dis- 
tracting effects upon the attention of the class 
or audience. 

Some time ago the writer devised an attach- 
ment for the micro-projection apparatus which 
so effectually overcame the difficulties men- 
tioned above as to render this method of dem- 
onstration quite as expeditious and precise as 
that with ordinary photo-micrographie or 
other lantern slides. With this condition as- 

1*Fur-bearing Animals, U. 8S. Geol. Survey, 
Miscell. Pub., No. VIII.. 1877, p. 82. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 611. 


sured, the advantages of the method are ob- 
vious. Inquiries regarding this apparatus 
have led to the belief that the publication of 
a description of it may be worth while. The 
following description and the accompanying 
figures represent the latest improved form of 
the attachment. 

As indicated in the figures, this attachment 
consists of a rotary object stage and a sec- 
ondary, short-range projector, mounted on the 
same base-board with the usual projection 
apparatus. The light is taken from the elec- 
tric are, or other illuminant, L, of the main 
projector, through the opening at the side of 
the hood. In place of the blue or purple glass 
commonly found in this opening, there is put 
a simple collimating lens. The parallel 
emergent rays are reflected by the mirror, A, 
into the line of the optical axis of the finder, 
which is parallel to that of the projector 
proper. By means of the condenser, B, these 
rays are brought to a focus at the position 
of the object on the revolving stage C. A 
good hand lens at D projects an image of the 
object upon the small screen, #, which need 
not be more than about thirty inches from the 
object. The plan of the base-board, Fig. 2, 
will make clear the arrangement of the parts. 

Fig. 3 shows the plan of the rotary stage- 
plate, with four openings and spring clips for 
holding the slides in position. Fig. 4 repre- 
sents a face-view of the screen, H, which has 
a dead-white surface, with the two centering 
lines in black. All the parts are mounted on 
telescoping pillars, and are made adjustable 
in position on the base-board. 

The rotary stage-plate requires special care 
in its construction and mounting, as it must 
be both accurate and rigid. Fig. 5 shows the 
details of the mounting. On top of the heavy 
pillar is the sleeve, made from thick-walled 
brass tubing. On the ends of the sleeve are 
the two collars, b and c. Working in the 
sleeve is the shaft, which is held in position 
by the collar a and the nut n. The plunger, 
p, actuated by the spring, s, passes through 
the collars, 6b and c, and engages the collar a. 
Four holes are drilled in the collar a for the 
plunger, and these holes must be exactly 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1906.] 


ninety degrees apart. The stage-plate, f, is 
screwed firmly to the shaft and collar a, with 
the stage-openings precisely in the same radii 
with the four holes in the collar a. 


nie. IL 
L, 
NS a 
I 
| 
| 
t 
| 
| 
t \\ 
= AY aD 
\V 
TMIUGS 


Fig. 4. 


To operate the finder, it is first made par 
central, as follows: A slide bearing fine cross- 
lines, such as a stage micrometer, is accurately 
centered under the objective, #', of the pro- 
jector. ‘Then the stage is rotated 180°, and, 
without moving the slide, the image is brought 
to center on the screen H# by adjusting the 
lens D and the screen H. Evidently, any ob- 


SCIENCE. 


having been located already. 


343 


ject which is now centered in the finder will 
be centered when rotated into the axis of the 
projector. Hence, while the first object is 
being projected on the large screen, the op- 


Side Hlevation 


Plan of base level. 


\, 


b 
NZ 


MMOs 


NY) 


a 
WN 


Za 


WON 


ATI 


\G 


NIRA 


<< 


ot 


\\« 


ANNA 


= 


ZG 


Fig. 5. 


erator may be finding the part of the third 
object which he wishes to show, the second 
When the sec- 
ond is to be thrown upon the screen, the 
plunger is disengaged by means of the thumb- 
block ¢, and the stage is rotated 90°, when the 
plunger automatically locks the mechanism in 
the proper position. Slides of uniform thick- 


044 


ness are used in mounting objects for projec- 
tion purposes, so that the projector may be 
brought to the proper focus with the least 
possible delay. 

To secure the best results it is evident that 
the rotary stage must be accurately and 
rigidly built, in order to secure precise double 
centering of the object, and freedom from 
vibration. Amon B. PLowMaN. 

PITTSBURG, IKKANS. 


HELIUM IN NATURAL GAS. i 


Some three years ago a strong flow of nat- 
ural gas was struck at Dexter, Kans. Upon 
the first attempt to utilize this, it was found 
that it would burn with difficulty and that 
only in previously heated enclosed space. Ex- 
perience has so far improved the method of 
handling the gas that at the present time it 
is being successfully used for burning brick. 
The whole difficulty is due to the fact that it 
contains only a little over fifteen per cent. 
of combustible constituents. The first publi- 
cation upon this gas was a paper by 
Haworth and McFarland, Science, Vol. 21, p. 
191, in which they reported that it contained 
in addition to a large amount of nitrogen 
some inert residue. 

We have taken up the further investigation 
of this gas and at the New Orleans meeting 
of the association Dr. E. H. S. Bailey re- 
ported for us that it contained 1.84 per cent. 
of helium. The occurrence of such a large 


percentage of helium in one of the gases of the . 


Kansas field has led us to the examination of 
others. Up to the present time we have in- 
vestigated some twenty samples from the most 


widely separated points of this field and have 


found helium in every case, but always in 
much smaller amounts than at Dexter. From 
the latter gas, we have with the aid of liquid 
air extracted a very fair amount of helium. 
Accompanying the determination of helium, 
we are making complete analyses of the gases 
and shall have within a short time results from 
thirty to forty samples covering in detail the 
entire Kansas field as at present developed— 
an area of some twelve thousand square miles. 
The rather large number of analyses is re- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 611. 


quired because the gas is extremely varied in 
its character. This is illustrated by the fact 
that the wells at Arkansas City, less than 
twenty miles from Dexter, yield more than 97 
per cent. of combustible gases and only .16 per 
cent. of helium as compared with 15 per cent. 
and 1.84 per cent., respectively, for these con- 
stituents in the Dexter gas. Samples are also 
being obtained from the other fields of the 
country and the results from these will be 
included in a detailed paper to be published 
soon, 

As the gases are run through the analyses 
spectral tubes are filled, and various residues 
and fractions are saved with the intention of 
subjecting them to a detailed spectroscopic 
examination. Some work of this kind has 
already been done. 

We feel that we have here a very unusual 
opportunity for obtaining helium in prac- 
tically unlimited quantities, and as we have 
worked out the details for its separation we 
shall have a large amount prepared and will 
attempt its liquefaction. While the necessary 
preparations are in progress we shall devote 
ourselves to the spectroscopic work above men- 
tioned. Hamitton P. Capy, 


Davin -F. McFarnanp. 
THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS, LAWRENCE, 
July 12, 1906. 


CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 


DR. HANN AND THE ‘ METEOROLOGISCHE 
ZEITSCHRIFT.’ 


Tue fortieth anniversary of Dr. Hann’s 
assumption of ‘the editorship of the Meteor- 
ologische Zeitschrift was fittingly observed by 
the publication of a special number of that 
excellent journal, to which friends and col- 
leagues contributed articles. The ‘ Hann- 
Band’ numbers 404 pages; contains 42 papers 
by as many different writers, and has as a 
frontispiece an engraved portrait of Dr. Hann. 
An appropriate introduction, by Pernter and 
Hellmann, refers to the remarkable work 
which Hann has done for his science in the 
Zeitschrift. Among the papers, all of which 
are of immediate importance, the following 
are of most general interest: Paul Schreiber: 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1906.] 


‘Untersuchung tiber die Genauigkeit der 
Tages-, Monats- und Jahresmittel aus den 
’Temperaturbeobachtungen fiir die drei Stund- 
en-Kombinationen: 6 am-2 p.mM-10 P.M.; 
8 a.M—2 p.M.—8 P.M.; 7 A.M.2 P.M.-9 P.M.’ Dr. 
Schreiber is at the head of the Meteorological 
Institute of Saxony, and is well known 
through his accurate statistical work there. 
H. H. Hildebrandsson: ‘Sur la Circulation 
des Couches supérieures de Air au dessus 
du Maximum de JlAtlantique Nord.’ Dr. 
Hildebrandsson, as is known to readers of 
these notes, has lately advanced a new view of 
the general circulation of the atmosphere, and 
all his contributions to this subject are of 
peculiar interest. A. Woeikof: ‘ Die Verteil- 
ung und Akkumulation der Warme in den 
Festlandern und Gewassern der Erde.’ Woei- 
kof has given special attention to the larger 
relations of land and water and climate; this 
is a study in this connection. W. N. Shaw: 
‘The Law of Sequence in the Yield of Wheat 
for Eastern England, 1885-1904. In this 
paper the director of the British Meteorolog- 
ical Office gives the results of his recent studies 
into the relations of weather and the wheat 
erop in England. L. Teisserene de Bort: ‘ Sur 
la Cireulation générale de lAtmosphére,’ an 
investigation of the relations between tempera- 
ture and pressure at sea-level and in the free 
air. Oleveland Abbe: ‘The Trade Winds and 
the Doldrums,’ being notes on observations 
made by Professor Abbe during a voyage in 
the U. S. S. Pensacola in October, 1889, and 
May, 1890. A. L. Rotch and L. Teisserenc 
de Bort: ‘The Meteorological Conditions 
above the Tropical North Atlantic, dealing 
with results already summarized in these notes. 


ANTI-TRADES IN CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE 
WEST INDIES. 


A BELATED note on the drift of the. upper 
air currents as shown by the carriage of 
smoke and ashes during the volcanic erup- 
tions of 1902-3 in the West Indies and Cen- 
tral America is found in the Meteorologische 
Zeitschrift for July. The writer, Dr. K. 
Sapper, points out that but little attention 
has yet been paid to this subject. The anti- 


SCIENCE. 


345 


trade in the West Indies was clearly evidenced 
by the drift of smoke and ashes from St. 
Vincent and from Mont Pelée. The altitude 
of this upper current is not great, but was not 
accurately determined. In Central America 
the anti-trade seems to occur, if at all, at very 
great altitudes. Observations of the drift of 
smoke and ashes at heights of 7,000 to 8,000 
meters above sea-level showed a movement 
towards the west or north-northwest. There 
was a slight carriage of ashes in an easterly 
direction, but of no considerable importance. 
The famous eruption of Coseguina, in 1835, 
showed that in southern Central America, at 
any rate, the anti-trade blows from west-south- 
west. Ashes fell in Jamaica. Smaller erup- 
ions of other volcanoes in 1880, 1864, 1828 and 
1833 showed a westward drift of the upper 
currents. 


RAINFALL, TEMPERATURE AND TREE GROWTH. 


In the Bulletin of the American Geograph- 
ical Society for July, Mr. Henry Gannett 
discusses ‘ Certain Relations of Rainfall and 
Temperature to Tree Growth’ in the western 
United States. He finds that the timber-line 
has a mean annual temperature of approxi- 
mately 30°, but the data relating to rainfall 
are more definite and more significant than 
those of temperature. It appears that the 
lower limit of the yellow pine is at or just 
below 20 inches of rainfall. The lower limit 
of the red fir is at or about 30 inches, and 
there is apparently no upper limit, the fir 
being abundant where the rainfall exceeds 
100 inches a year. The redwood belt in Cali- 
fornia includes only one station with a rain- 
fall less than 30 inches. This seems to show 
that the isohyetal line of 30 inches is the lower 
limit of this species. 


CUMULUS CLOUDS OVER THE SAN FRANCISCO FIRE. 


WE have seen but one notice of the develop- 
ment of cumulus clouds over the fire which 
followed the San Francisco earthquake. This 
is in a letter from Mr. Charles Van Norden 
(Nature, Vol. 74, 1906, p. 133), who observed 
the conflagration from the deck of a ferry 
boat. A white cumulus cloud was seen, dark 


346 SCIENCE. 


at the bottom, hanging over the city. The 
morning was clear and mild, and no other 
cloud was in sight. Cumulus clouds over fires 
have frequently been observed, and they have 
several times received mention in these col- 
umns (see Scrence, V., N. S., 1897, 60-61, for 
a good illustration of a cumulus cloud thus 
formed). R. DeC. Warp. 


HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


PROPOSED UNION OF MEDICAL SOCIETIES 
IN LONDON- 


A meEetING of the General Committee of 
Representatives of Medical Societies in Lon- 
don was held on July 17 to consider the report 
of the organizing committee. 

Sir William Church, who was in the chair, 
pointed out that at the first meeting of the 
members of societies, which was held at the 
Royal College of Physicians in 1905, the feasi- 
bility of union was considered, and that as the 
outcome of the opinions expressed at that 
meeting a committee of representatives of the 
various societies was appointed. The com- 
mittee of representatives appointed an execu- 
tive committee to go more thoroughly into the 
feasibility of union and to outline some 
scheme of union if such were thought possible. 
This executive committee reported that a 
union was feasible on certain lines, and its 
report was confirmed by the committee of 
representatives on July 19, 1905. With that 
report the executive committee’s work came to 
an end, and an organizing committee was ap- 
pointed to draw up a definite and, as far as 
possible, a detailed scheme of union. This 
scheme was before the meeting, and if ap- 
proved would be sent to the societies to act 
upon or not as they thought fit. Those socie- 
ties which approved of the report and decided 
to join the proposed union would be asked to 
appoint a representative before December 7 
next to sit upon a committee which would act 
as the first council of the new society and deal 
with the necessary details of amalgamation. 

The report recommended that all male mem- 
bers of those societies which took part in the 
amalgamation should be permitted to join the 


1From The British Medical Journal. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 611. 


new society on its formation as members or 
fellows without election, and that all women 
members of a society taking part in the amal- 
gamation should become members of the cor- 
responding section or sections of the new so- 
ciety. It was further recommended that the 
society should consist of the following sections 
which represented existing societies, but that 
the new society should have power to add new 
sections: 

1. Anesthetic. 
. Balneological and Climatological. 
. Clinical. 
. Dermatological. 
. Diseases of Children. 
. Electro-Therapeutical. 
. Epidemiological. 
. Laryngological. 
9. Life Insurance. 
10. Medieal. 
11. Neurological. 
12. Obstetrical and Gynecological. 
13. Odontological. 
14. Ophthalmological. 
15. Otological. 
16. Pathological. 
17. Surgical. 
18. Therapeutical. 


mI oP Oo WY 


It was hoped that in the early future an 
anatomical and physiological section and a 
section of preventive medicine might be 
formed. The Medico-Psychological Associa- 
tion and Medico-Legal Society hoped to join 
the new society at some future date. It was 
recommended that each section should be self- 
governing as far as possible, and should have 
direct representatives on the council of the 
society and on the editorial committee, but 
that its expenditure should be subject to the 
control of the finance committee of the general 
council. The general management of the so- 
ciety would be under the control of a general 
council consisting of the president, the presi- 
dents of the various sections, two treasurers, 
two librarians, two secretaries and eight other 
fellows. 


CHEAPER LIQUID AIR. 
AccorpDING to a consular report recent ex- 
periments in England of an invention by 
Mr. Knudsen, a Dane, furnished liquid air at 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1906.] 


one sixth of the present market price, and 
give promise of an ultimate low price of a 
fraction over two cents per gallon. The re- 
sult is secured by purely mechanical means, 
without an atom of added chemicals. At- 
mospheric air is first purified and then com- 
pressed by stages to 2,500 pounds to the square 
inch. It is finally reduced to 125 pounds to 
the square inch, which then cools and liquefies 
the high-pressure air. The oxygen gas pro- 
duced by separating the nitrogen from the 
liquid air is claimed to be purer than that of 
the old method, and can be supplied in the 
liquid as well as in the gaseous form. One 
gallon of liquid air equals approximately 128 
cubic feet of oxygen gas, which retails at six 
cents per cubic foot. The new price is one 
cent. Liquid air has been successfully used 
in coal as an explosive, being quite safe where 

re damp and other explosive gases exist. 
Liquid oxygen is also used for welding steel 
pipes, boiler shells and plates for shipbuilding 
instead of riveting. That oxygen and nitro- 
gen can be separated from liquid air and sold 
retail at $1.20 per gallon shows great com- 
mercial possibilities. The use of nitrogen for 
agricultural purposes opens yet another field. 
The maturing of liquors will be helped by 
liquid air, as also the preservation and purifi- 
cation of milk. As a motive power its use is 
considered to be quite practicable for small 
powers. The British government is already 
carrying out a number of experiments with a 
view to the utilization of liquid air for various 
purposes. 


RADIUM. 


I venture to think that the thanks of the public 
are due to Lord Kelvin for his timely and out- 
spoken protest against the conclusion being drawn, 
from the evidence at present before us, that it is 
proved that there is a ‘gradual evolution of one 
element into others.’ No one has yet handled 
‘radium’ in such quantity or in such manner 
that we can say what it is precisely. That 


* Correspondence in the London Times, called 
forth by a letter from Lord Kelvin, reprinted in 
the issue of Science for August 24, p. 255. 


SCIENCE. 


347 


helium can be obtained from ‘ radium’ appears to 
be proved; but no proof has yet been given that 
it is not merely contained in it. As I remarked 
at York last week, physicists are strangely inno- 
cent workers; formule and fashion appear to ex- 
ercise an all-potent influence over them. There 
was a time when the expression ‘scientific cau- 
tion’ meant the highest degree of caution, and 
it was supposed to be the attribute of workers in 
science. Workers in the radium school appear to 
have cast caution to the winds and to have sub- 
stituted pure imagination for it. Among our- 
selves, we should always be at liberty to postulate 
the most crack-brained of hypotheses, to dream 
the wildest of dreams, as a means of guiding 
inquiry; but we should not court popularity on 
such a basis. By so doing we lose all claim to 


guide public opinion. Henry ARMSTRONG. 


I am glad to have contributed towards eliciting 
Lord Kelvin’s views on this subject. Those in- 
terested will no doubt judge for themselves 
whether or not the precautions adopted by 
Ramsay and Soddy, Himstedt and Meyer, and 
Curie were such as to make it certain that helium 
is continuously evolved from radium, as those 
writers supposed. 

As to the internal heat of the earth, Lord Kelvin 
quotes the generally accepted conclusion that the 
life of radium is limited to a few thousand years. 
From this he argues that the radium now in ex- 
istence has not been there long enough to heat 
the earth to its present high internal tempera- 
ture. To this I reply that it is true that the 
actual radium now in existence has not done the 
work throughout, but that the supply of radium 
in the earth is maintained at a constant level by 
the production of fresh radium by uranium, con- 
tained in a small proportion in the rocks. Lord 
Kelvin, anticipating this reply, expresses his dis- 
sent from the view, current among workers on 
radioactivity, that radium is continuously pro- 
duced by uranium. I should like to ask a simple 
question. Lord Kelvin disbelieves that radium 
is being generated from any parent substance. 
How does he explain the existence of radium in 
the earth at present? On his own showing the 
identical radium now existing has not been there 


long. Is he prepared to assume that it was 
miraculously created in comparatively recent 
times? R. J. Strutt. 


In your yesterday’s issue I see letters of Sir 
Oliver Lodge and Mr. R. J. Strutt, replying to 


348 


my letter to you of August 9 regarding radium. 

After a kind personal reference to myself, Sir 
Oliver Lodge says, “but it is also known that” 
Lord Kelvin’s mind “has not always submitted 
patiently to the task of assimilating the work of 
others by the process of reading, and our hope has 
been that before long he would find time and 
inclination to look into the evidence more fully.” 
I am quite sure my old friend Lodge could not 
wilfully be unjust to me, but I do not think he 
knows how carefully and appreciatively I have 
_done all I could by reading, and by personal inter- 
course with many of the chief workers in the 
field, to learn experimental results and theoretical 
deductions regarding radioactivity, ever since its 
discovery ten years ago by Henri Becquerel. - I 
seareely think any other person has spent more 
hours in reading the first and second editions of 
Rutherford’s ‘ Radioactivity’ than I have. 

Both Lodge and Strutt refer to the slowness of 
the extraction of helium from radium, in the 
process hitherto followed; and there seems to be 
good reason to believe that this slowness is essen- 
tial. Strutt says, “If all helium has been re- 
moved from a sample of radium, it is found that, 
after an interval, a further supply can be ex- 
tracted.” The last clause shows that the initial 
‘if’ was wrong; and that some helium remained 
in the modified sample of radium. This view is 
thoroughly in accordance with Rutherford’s second 
edition (1905), p. 284, in which it is suggested 
that ‘ uranium, thorium and radium are in reality 
compounds of helium’; and, more particularly, 
that radium (atomic weight 225) may be a com- 
pound of four atoms of helium (atomic weight 
4 5) and one atom of lead (atomic weight 205). 

As to the suggestion, made first, I believe, by 
Sir George Darwin about three years ago, and 
favorably received by Rutherford, Strutt and 
others, that our present underground heat, and 
sun-light and sun-heat are due to radium, I must, 
for the present, limit myself to two sentences: 
(1) Radium alone is quite insufficient, its dura- 
tion as a source of energy being estimated by 
Rutherford (2d edition, p. 458) as not more than 
a few thousand years (‘the average life of radium 
is 1,800 years’). (2) The suggestion that in 
uranium, thorium, actinium and other matter 
capable of being ‘transformed slowly into 


radium, we have at least a million times as great. 


a store of energy as we may think we have in 
radium, practically available for sun-heat and 
underground heat, is not validly supported by any 
experimental evidence hitherto published. | 
KELVIN. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 611. 


Your leading article (August 18) and recent 
correspondence show that an emphatic statement 
is needed to make clear to your lay readers: 

(1) That radium is not an ordinary chemical 
compound. 

(2) That it does disintegrate with explosive 
violence. 

(3) That it is present in sufficient quantity to 
account for the heat of the earth. 

(4) That its disintegration is not altered by 
any known physical conditions. 

Some experimental results obtained by me last 
spring at Montreal, under the guidance of Pro- 
fessor Rutherford, are in good agreement with 
those found independently and by a different 
method by the Hon. R. J. Strutt. The equivalent 
amount of radium present in the upper layers of 
the earth was determined by the penetrating 
radiation resulting from the active matter. An 
account of this work has been communicated to 
the Philosophical Magazine and is in the printer’s 
hands. ‘ 

It is certain that radium does occur in sufficient 
quantity, and that its heat energy is of sufficient 
magnitude, to account for the existing tempera- 
ture-gradients of the earth. Until we can con- 
duct experiments in the interior of the earth, the 
radium theory is entitled to at least as much 
weight as the gravitation theory. 

The recent discussion in your columns has re- 
sulted in a goodly crop of errors, written by 
those who have contented themselves with read- 
ing rather than with research work. I believe 
that no actual worker at the subject dissents from 
the general conclusions contained in Rutherford’s 
* Radioactivity.’ 

For example, it has been implied that radium is 
merely an ordinary compound of lead (?) and 
helium. But no ordinary chemical compound pro- 
jects a particle, having the mass of a helium 
atom, with a velocity almost of the order of the 
velocity of light. 

It has been stated that the disintegration of 
radium occurs too slowly to be detected by direct 
observation, and that is true. But some of the 
other active bodies, such as the subsequent 
products of radium, disintegrate with no less 
violence in a few minutes. It has been suggested 
that the disintegration may be retarded by pres- 
sure or by lack of concentration; but all the evi- 
dence—and there is much—indicates that the 
process of disintegration can neither be acceler- 
ated nor retarded by temperature, pressure, con- 
centration, or other physical changes. 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1906.] 


It is to be hoped that reverence for a great 
name and an honored veteran will not induce your 
readers to regard lightly the brilliant and re- 
markable series of recent scientific discoveries in 
radioactivity. A. 8. Eve. 


SOIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


Dr. José p—E Aguitar, director of the Mexi- 
can Geological Survey, has been elected presi- 
dent of the International Geological Congress, 
which met last week in Mexico City. 


Sirk Davin GiLL, astronomer royal at the 
Cape of Good Hope and president-elect of the 
British Association for the Advancement of 
Science, has been elected a foreign member of 
the Accademia dei Lincei, Rome. 


Dr. Orro BUTscHLI, professor of zoology at 
Heidelberg, has been elected a foreign mem- 
ber of the Brussels Academy of Sciences. 


In connection with the celebration of the 
quater-centenary of the foundation of the 
University of Aberdeen, the University of 
St. Petersburg has conferred its honorary 
membership on the lord rector, Sir Frederick 
Treves, the eminent surgeon and anatomist. 


Dr. Epovuarp ZELLER, the eminent writer on 
the history of philosophy, celebrated on August 
25 the seventieth anniversary of his doctorate. 


Dr. JOHANN RaNkKE, professor of anthropol- 
ogy and general natural history at Munich, 
has celebrated his seventieth birthday. 


Prorsessor R. B. Dixon, of Harvard Uni- 
versity, has completed an ethnological and 
philological exploration of the Chimariko In- 
dians of California in connection with the 
Ethnological and Archeological Survey of 
California. The Chimariko constitute the 
Indian stock which is nearest to extinction of 
the many in California, and Professor Dixon 
found only four or five survivors. He was 
able to obtain particularly full information 
as to the language. 


_ Masor Ryper, R.E., who had charge of the 
expedition to Gartok and western Tibet after 
the capture of Lhasa, has returned to India, 
where he has been appointed superintendent 
of the northern circle of frontier surveys. 


SCIENCE. 


o49 


THE annual course of Lane medical lectures 
was given in Cooper Medical College, San 
Francisco, by Dr. John MeVail, Glasgow, 
Scotland, on August 20 and the five following 
days. The general subject of the lectures was 
‘The Prevention of Infectious Diseases.’ 


Dr. G. Woosermin, who has recently been 
called from Berlin to an associate professor- 
ship at Marburg, will give a course of lectures 
at Yale University on ‘German Culture in 
the Nineteenth Century.’ 


We have already noted the movement in 
Germany to raise a memorial fund for the 
benefit of the widow and children of the late 
Dr. Schaudinn. We learn from Nature that 
an English committee consisting of Professor 
Clifford Allbutt, F.R.S., Sir Michael Foster, 
F.R.S., Mr. Jonathan Hutchinson, F.R.S., 
Professor Ray Lankester, F.R.S., Sir Patrick 
Manson, F.R.S., Professor Osler, F.R.S., Mr. 
John Tweedy and Professor Sims Woodhead 
has been formed to cooperate with the German 
promoters of the scheme. Subscriptions may 
be paid to Mr. Adam Sedgwick, F.R.S., treas- 
urer of the fund, New Museums, Cambridge, 
or direct to the Schaudinn Memorial Fund 
at Messrs. Barclay and Company’s Bank, Cam- 
bridge. American subscriptions would doubt- 
less be welcome. 


Dr. H. MarsHatt Warp, F.R.S., professor 
of botany at Cambridge University, died on 
August 26, aged fifty-two years. Professor 
Ward, who was educated at Owen’s College 
and Cambridge University, was for a time 
cryptogamic botanist to the Ceylon govern- 
ment; in 1883 he was elected to a fellowship 
at Christ’s College at Cambridge, and after 
working as professor of botany in Forest 
School, Coopers Hill, from 1885 to 1895, he 
succeeded the late Professor C. C. Babington 
as professor of botany in Cambridge Univer- 
sity. Dr. Ward was the author of works on 
the diseases of plants, and especially of timber 
trees. 


Dr. ALEXANDER HeErRZEN, professor of physi- 
ology at Lausanne and the author of numerous 
contributions to this science especially con- 


300 


cerned with the physiology of digestion, died 
on August 24, at the age of sixty-seven years. 


Mr. Cuartes Barron CuarKks, F.R.S., for 
many years inspector of schools in Bengal and 
the author of numerous contributions to bot- 
any and other natural sciences, died on Au- 
gust 25, at the age of seventy-four years. 


WE regret also to note the following deaths 
among foreign men of science: M. Albert Tis- 
sandiére, who like his brother, the late Gaston 
Tissandiére, was known for his researches in 
aeronautics; Mr. James Dredge, since 1870 
one of the editors of Hngineering and the 
author of works on electrical illumination, the 
Columbian Exposition and other subjects; 
Dr. Carl Thon, docent in zoology at Prague; 
Mr. Robert Philips Greg, who many years ago 
was known as a leading mineralogist, and 
M. Georges Salmon, leader of the French sci- 
entific mission to Morocco. 


GrenerAL EK. P. Waker has bequeathed his 
library and collection of manuscripts and 
$30,000 to the Lloyd Library of Botany and 
Pharmacology, at Cincinnati. 


THERE will be established at Bagatelle, near 
Paris, a ‘Jardin des Fleurs,’ which will in- 
clude a botanic garden, a museum and labora- 
tory. 


THERE will shortly be held at Paris an in- 
ternational conference on the selection and 
introduction of useful plants. 


THE German Society of Dentists has re- 
ceived a bequest of 10,000 Marks from the 
late Dr. Adolf Witzel, professor of dentistry 
at Bonn, to promote the study of this subject 
at the German universities. 


Accorpineé to a press despatch from Wash- 
ington, the Department of Agriculture is pre- 
paring for the increased labor and equipment 
involved in the enforcement of the new pure- 
food law, which goes into effect on January 
1, next. The forces and appliances of the 
laboratories at Philadelphia, Chicago, Ballti- 
more and New Orleans will be largely in- 
creased, while at New York and Boston new 
laboratories will be erected in which to con- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 611. 


duct the necessary examinations of food 
products coming into the country. Plans for 
the buildings in New York and Boston have 
been approved by Dr. H. W. Wiley, chief of 
the Bureau of Chemistry. There is no money 
available for the construction of the buildings, 
but the secretary of agriculture has been as- 
sured that it will be forthcoming at the next 
session of congress. Assurances have been 
given that the money necessary to enforce the 
new law, through the employment of inspectors 
and the clerical force, will also be provided. 


We learn from the London Zvmes that in 
view of the spread of sleeping sickness in 
Africa and of the fact that an expedition or- 
ganized by the Liverpool School of Tropical 
Medicine has been studying this disease for 
three years in the Congo, Sir Alfred Jones, 
president of the school, requested an audience 
of the King of the Belgians in order to confer 
with him upon the subject. In a recent letter 
to the secretaries of the reform committee 
King Leopold referred to his deep interest 
in this matter, and, besides offering a prize of 
200,000f. for the person who should discover 
a remedy, he has placed a credit of 300,000f. in 
the Congo estimates for the purpose of prophy- 
lactic research. The committee of the school 
was received by King Leopold on August 23. 
The representatives present included the presi- 
dent, Sir Alfred Jones, Professor Ronald Ross, 
C.B., F.R.S., Professor Boyce, F.R.S., Dr. J. 
W. W. Stephens, Dr. J. L. Todd, Mr. R. New- 
stead, Dr. Evans and Mr. A. H. Milne. The 
king gave a most attentive hearing to the 
views of the experts of the school, and asked 
for a scheme for the prevention of the disease. 
He has promised his cooperation if it is in any 
way feasible. In conclusion, to show the 
value he placed upon the work of the school, 
he bestowed the Order of Leopold upon Pro- 
fessor Ross, Professor Boyce and Dr. J. L. 
Todd, the last-named of whom worked on try- 
panosomiasis in the Congo Free State for 
three years. The conference was followed by 
a luncheon at the palace. 


The Journal of the American Medical Asso- 
ciation states that the subject announced by 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1906.] 


the medical faculty at Berlin for the essays in 
competition for the royal prize is: ‘ Compara- 
tive Research on the Histogenesis of the Heart 
Musculature.’ The subject for the city prize 
essay is: ‘Research on the Normal and the 
Pathologic Anatomy of the Appendix.’ 


ForEIGN journals state that the Australian 
government has issued a proclamation pro- 
hibiting the importation of the microbe of 
hemorrhagic septicemia, by which it was pro- 
posed to destroy the rabbit pest, except upon 
the condition that the packages containing the 
microbes be handed unopened to the state bac- 
teriologist of New South Wales, and retained 
by him unused until the minister gives per- 
mission to use them. Under the Noxious 
Microbes Act of 1900 of New South Wales it 
will also be necessary for the state govern- 
ment to pass a regulation sanctioning experi- 
ments before anything can be done in the way 
of rabbit extermination. In the meantime 
only laboratory experiments will be carried on. 


A ROYAL commission has been appointed “ to 
inquire into the existing system of manage- 
ment of the lights, buoys and beacons on the 
coast of the United Kingdom by the three 
general lighthouse authorities, and as to the 
_ constitution and working of these authorities, 
and to report what changes, if any, are desir- 
able in the present arrangements.” 


Tue American Institute of Social Service 
will hold in New York City, in January next, 
an exposition of devices for safeguarding the 
lives and limbs of working men and women, 
and for preventing accidents under the ordi- 
nary conditions of life and labor to which the 
general public is exposed. The interest of 
manufacturers generally is solicited, as well 
as that of organizations whose special func- 
tion is to improve the conditions of labor, 
and a widespread response is looked for to 
this request for representation in the nature 
of photographs, descriptive drawings, models, 
and, as far as possible, the devices themselves 
in actual operation. Following are some of 
the groups of exhibits: Section 1. Models, 
photographs and drawings of scaffolding, as 


SCIENCE. 


dol 


well as the personal equipment of workers in 
building trades. 2. Protective devices for 
boilers, water gauges, signal apparatus, boiler 
and pipe valves; also protective devices for 
electrical machinery and acetylene apparatus. 
3. Protective devices for motors and power 
transmitters, devices for turning on power and 
shutting it off, belt connection, couplings, ete. 
4. Fire protection and the prevention of ex- 
plosives. 5. First aid to the injured. 6. 
Mining and quarrying; devices in use on 
stone-crushing machinery, etc. 
explosives. 


Storing of 
7. Metal industry; safety devices 
for metal-working machinery. 8. Textile in- 
dustry: safety devices for looms, carding, ete. 
9. Leather and paper industry: safety devices 
for paper cutting, stamping and molding 
machinery. 10. Safety appliances for ele- 
vators and hoisting apparatus models. 11. 
Food products: safety appliances for knead- 
ing machines, rollers and cutters. 12. Per- 
sonal equipment of workingmen: protective 
spectacles, respirators, suits, ete. 13. Work- 
ingmen’s dwellings. 14 and 15. Housing: 
models, plans, photographs. 16. Ventilation. 
17. Models, photographs and plans of toilets, 
dressing and living rooms, baths, ete. 18. 
Cooking: demonstration in heating food; 
models, plans, photographs. 19. Other social 
betterment institutions; reports of labor de- 
partments, industrial arbitration courts. 20. 
Agricultural machinery: safety appliances on 
same, demonstrated by models and views. 21. 
Lumber industry: safety devices for band and 
circular saws, planing machinery, etc., demon- 
strated by models. 22. Models, photographs 
and plans of workingmen’s industrial better- 
ment institutions of all kinds. Requests for 
information regarding space should be made 
to Dr. William H. Tolman, director, 287 
Fourth Avenue, New York. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


_ Tue new buildings of the Harvard Medical 
School will be formally dedicated on Sep- 
tember 25 and 26. On Tuesday afternoon 
exercises will be held at the new site, with 


302 


short addresses by Professors Warren, Dwight 
and Shattuck and Mr. Coolidge, the architect. 
In the evening a reception will be given at the 
Boston Medical Library. On Wednesday 
morning there will be exercises at Cambridge, 
which will include addresses by President 
Eliot and Professor Welch, of the Johns Hop- 
kins University, and the conferring of hon- 
orary degrees. In the afternoon the triennial 
banquet of the Harvard Medical Alumni As- 
sociation will be held in Memorial Hall. 


Tue Johns Hopkins University announces 
the establishment of advanced courses in ap- 
plied science. They aim to present the most 
recent advances of the several sciences from 
the point of view of theory and in their special 
bearing on industrial applications, and are 
designed to meet the demand for a specialized 
scientific equipment exceeding that indicated 
by the usual collegiate or engineering degree. 
Particular attention will be paid to the results 
of research and to improvements in methods, 
as reported in the current scientific literature. 
Complete laboratory facilities are offered to 
engineers and others who desire to prosecute 
research along particular lines. The courses 
are intended for the following classes of stu- 
dents: (a) Graduates in engineering or sci- 
ence who wish to extend their equipment in 
special directions; (b) engineers desirous of 
knowing the present state and trend of re- 
search in their subjects; (c) those wishing to 
prosecute some special experimental research; 
(d) those wishing to attend special courses in 
applied science. 


An Italian-American educational alliance 
has been established for the exchange of lec- 
turers and professors between the two coun- 
tries and the improvement of their educational 
relations. The arrangements have been made 
in Italy by Dr. Joseph S. Kennard, who espe- 
cially represented the University of Pennsy]l- 
vania. 


Ir is reported that at the meeting of the 
Russian Council of Ministers, held on August 
21, it was decided to appoint a commission 
to draw up a bill providing for universal pri- 


SCIENCE. . 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 611. 


mary education, to be submitted to the council 
of the empire and the duma at the beginning 
of the next session. The council also decided 
that it was imperatively necessary to increase 
the salaries of primary teachers and to build 
more schools, for which purpose it assigned a 
grant of 5,333,000 roubles, chargeable to next 
year’s budget. A commission sitting under 
the presidency of the minister of education 
has recommended the reopening of the univer- 
sities, under practically the same conditions 
as were vainly tried last autumn, an autono- 
mous government by a professorial council. 


Proressor Ducatp C. Jackson, head of the 
department of electrical engineering at the 
University of Wisconsin, has been elected pro- 
fessor of electrical engineering and head of 
the electrical engineering department in the 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as the 
successor of Dr. Louis Dunean, who resigned 
about a year and a half ago. 


Dr. THomas E. McKinney, professor of 
mathematics and astronomy at Marietta Col- 
lege, has been called to Wesleyan University; 
Dr. Henry L. Coar, instructor in the Univer- 
sity of Illinois, has been appointed assistant 
professor of mathematics in Marietta College, 
to succeed Professor McKinney. 


THe University of Southern California at 
Los Angeles has made the following promo- 
tions and appointments: Miss Nelle Lancaster, 
instructor in biology, to become assistant pro- 
fessor of zoology; Edward A. Henderson, in- 
structor in chemistry, to become assistant pro- 
fessor of pharmaceutical chemistry; Miss 
Florence E. Durkee (A.B. Stanford Univer- 
sity), appointed fellow in botany. 


Dr. Gustav Hauser, of Erlangen, will suc- 
ceed Professor G. E. von Rindfleisch as pro- 
fessor of pathology at Wiirzburg. 


Dr. Ropert WoLLENBERG, professor of psy- 
chiatry at Tiibingen, has been called to a 
similar chair at Strasburg. 


Dr. Lupwig RuuMBLER, of Gottingen, has 
been appointed professor of zoology in the 
School of Agriculture at Hanover. 


SC LENCE 


A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 
OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 


Fripay, SEPTEMBER 21, 1906. 


CONTENTS. 
The British Association for the Advancement 
of Science :— 
Address before the Section of Mathematics 
and Physics: PRincipAL E. H. GRIFFITHS.. 353 


The American Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science :— 
Section E—Geology and Geography: Dr. 
BIE WAND) OPIS ELOVEN A tiie sis clcichseeutaln a. 8 365 


Scientific Books :— 
Zsigmondy’s ‘Zur Hrkenntnis der Kolloide: 
PROFESSOR S. LAWRENCE BIGELOW........ 372 


Scientific Journals and Articles............ 314 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
When did Franklin invent the Lightning- 
rod?: A. LAWRENCE RotcH. Dried Cotton 
Cultures once more: DR. GEORGE T. Moore. 374 


Special Articles :— 
Geology of South Brazil: Proressor I. C. 
The Forest Districts of Uganda............. 379 


Appointments and Removals at Stanford 


LM OURARS HAE PN iB tiy rE A AT AD RM 380 
Scientific Notes and News...............-: 381 
Unwersity and Educational News........ .. 884 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 
review should be sent to the Editor of SclENCE, Garrison-on- 
Hudson, N. Y. 


THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE 
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 
ADDRESS BEFORE THH SECTION OF 
MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS. 

My predecessors in this chair have in 
general been able to make communications 
to the section conveying the results of in- 
vestigations of their own, or enunciating 
some principle which would throw a fresh 
light on the discoveries of others. Mine is 
a far less happy lot. During the past four 
years and a half I have been engaged in 
administrative duties of such a nature that 
no time has been available for personal 
scientific work, and little energy even for 
the study of the work of others. In these 
circumstances it might have seemed more 
fitting if I had refused the honor which the 
council of the British Association conferred 
upon me by the request that I would under- 
take the arduous duties which fall to the 
lot of the president of Section A. Never- 
theless, after much hesitation, I decided to 
accept the invitation, in the hope that as a 
looker-on at the struggle of others, and 
with the experience of an old participator 
in the fray, I might be able to communicate 
Some impressions which had possibly es- 
caped the notice of those whose attention 
was necessarily more directed to some spe- 

cial branch of inquiry. 

I trust that these words of apology may 
to some extent explain the nature of what 
must appear a fragmentary discourse. 

In the interval which has elapsed since 
the last meeting of the association we have 
lost many men whose names were household 


304 


words within the walls of the physical 
laboratory. It is here only possible briefly 
to refer to the labors of a few of those 
distinguished seekers after natural knowl- 
edge. 

The work of Dr. Sprengel has been by 
no means an unimportant factor in the 
advance of our knowledge of radiant en- 
ergy, X-rays, ete., if only on account of 
the perfection of the apparatus for obtain- 
ing high vacua which will ever be associ- 
ated with his name. The practical effect 
of his discoveries was considerable, for the 
‘business of electric lighting is undoubtedly 
greatly indebted to his labors. Born in 
1834, he settled in England at the age of 
twenty-five. He was elected a fellow of 
the Royal Society in 1878, and resided in 
this country during the remaining years of 
his life. 

The death of Charles Jasper Joly, 
F.R.S., at the early age of forty-one, 
robbed mathematics and astronomy of one 
of their most devoted disciples. His 
‘Manual of Quaternions’ is well known, 
and those acquainted with his astronomical 
work are confident that, had his life been 
spared, he would, as astronomer royal of 
Treland, have added luster to an office held 
by many distinguished predecessors. 

Samuel Pierpont Langley was born in 
1834. In 1866 he became director of the 
Allegheny Observatory at Pittsburg. His 
first work was the institution of a uniform 
system of time from the Atlantic seaboard 
to the Great Lakes. This, the first success- 
ful attempt to introduce uniformity of 
time over a large area, was subsequently 
widely imitated. In 1880 he invented the 
bolometer, and thus opened out a large new 
field of investigation into the invisible rays 
of long wave-length proceeding from heat- 
ed bodies. He analyzed in minute detail 
the lunar heat spectrum, and, more recent- 
ly, he conducted an inquiry into the nature 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 612. 


of the radiations emitted by the glow- 
worm. In 1881 he conducted his researches 
into the solar heat of the earth’s atmos- 
phere. In 1887 he became secretary to 
the Smithsonian Institution. The result 
of twenty years’ labor is to be found in the 
accurate determination, by temperature 
alone, of more than seven hundred lines 
in the invisible red spectrum, lines which 


-are fixed with an average probable error 


of about one second of are. In 1891 he 
published his experiments in aerodynamics, 
in 1893 ‘The Internal Work of the Wind’ 
and in 1896 he demonstrated by actual ex- 
periment that a body nearly a thousand 
times heavier than air can be driven 
through and sustained by it. His pub- — 
lished works show great literary charm. 
He especially excelled in the presentation 
of abstruse subjects in simple and non- 
technical language. This is, perhaps, 
hardly the occasion to refer to his social 
qualities. Those who had the privilege of 
his acquaintance, however, can best testify 
to his quickness of insight, his intense sym- 
pathy, especially with the young, and the 
impression of capability which he produced 
upon all with whom he came in contact. 
The tragic death of Professor Curie was 
felt as a calamity, not only by those closely 
interested in the march of scientific dis- 
covery, but also by those who had but a 
superficial knowledge of his work. A 
teacher for more than twenty years, he was, 
nevertheless, enabled by his enthusiasm and 
energy to perform those researches which 
will ever be connected with his name and 
that of his wife. So entirely has public 
attention been attracted to their joint work 
on the separation of the compounds of 
radium and their properties that we are 
apt to overlook other great services he ren- 
dered to science. His paper on ‘The Hffect 
of Temperature on the Magnetic Proper- 
ties of Bodies’ led to the discovery of the 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1906.] 


law that for feebly magnetic substances 
the coefficient of magnetism varies inverse- 
ly as the absolute temperature. He also 
pointed out that the magnetization of dia- 
magnetic substances appeared to be inde- 
pendent of the temperature and physical 
state, indicating diamagnetism as an atomic 
property. 

It is pleasing to reflect that the impor- 
tance of his discoveries received immediate 
recognition. It was but three years before 
his death that he announced to the French 
Academy the discovery of the new element, 
and in the same year he and Mme. Curie 
received the Davy medal of the Royal So- 
ciety and the Nobel prize; and in July of 
last year he was elected to the French 
Académie des Sciences. He was one of the 
most modest and retiring of men, and this 
honor came to him unsought; his name will 
ever be remembered as one of the most 
notable of that brilliant band of workers 
who have within recent years so greatly 
extended the domain of physics by the dis- 

“covery radioactivity. 

A quarter of a century has passed since 
this section, meeting in this city of York, 
had the privilege of listening to a presiden- 
tial address by the pioneer of natural 
knowledge whom we now know as Lord 
Kelvin, and it may possibly be a not un- 
profitable task to review briefly a few of 
the advances which must render the in- 
terval a memorable one in the annals of 
science. Lord Kelvin summarized the 
stores of energy from which mechanical 
effects can be drawn by man as follows: 
(1) the food of animals, (2) natural heat, 
(3) solid matter found in elevated posi- 
tions, (4) the natural motions of water and 
air, (5) natural combustibles, (6) artificial 
combustibles. 

The twenty-five years which have since 
elapsed have not made it possible to extend 
this list. It is true that within the last 


SCIENCE. 


300 


few years the discoveries connected with 
radioactivity have enormously increased 
our estimate of the stores of energy sur- 
rounding us, but so far these additional 
stores can not be regarded by us as stores 
from which ‘mechanical effects may be 
drawn by man.’ It is possible that in the 
ingenious radium clock which we owe to 
Mr. Strutt we have a source of mechanical 
energy unsuspected in 1881, but, at all 
events, regarded from a commercial stand- 
point, it can hardly be considered as ‘avail- 
able by man.’ Nevertheless, there is a 
sense in which it may be said that we are 
profiting by atomic energy, for we are no 
longer bound to limit our estimate of the 
energy due to the radiant heat of the sun 
and the internal heat of the earth by pre- 
viously known dynamical considerations, 
and, in consequence, our opinions with re- 
gard to the limit of the ages which the 
physicist could allot to the evolutionist 
have undergone profound modification. 

I here wish to draw attention to some of 
the conelusions to which we are led by the 
work of Mr. Strutt. 

Assuming the earth to be in thermal 
equilibrium, then, even if the whole of this 
interior heat be due to radium alone, the 
mean quantity per cubic centimeter can 
not much exceed 1.75 & 10°? gram. The 
conclusions of Rutherford, based on some- 
what different values for the constants 
involved, give an equivalent of 1.52 « 107°. 
Now Strutt has found that the poorest igne- 
ous rock examined by him, namely, Green- 
land basalt, contains more than ten times 
this quantity, and an average rock fifty or 
sixty times the amount. The assumption 
that the earth is cooling only aggravates 
the difficulty, and facts appear to tell 
against the theory that it is getting hotter. 
Also, we must take into consideration the 
heat due to the existence of uranium, 
thorium, ete. 


306 


We appear, therefore, to be driven to 
one of two assumptions: either (a) that 
the rate of heat production by radium 
diminishes as we approach the center of 
the earth; or (b) that the interior of the 
earth differs markedly in constitution from 
the exterior crust. 

It is true that Mr. Makower has shown 
that there is a slight change of activity in 
one of the radium products about the tem- 
perature of 1,200° C., and it is very de- 
sirable that this inquiry should be pushed 
to much higher limits. At the same time, 
it appears evident that but a very slight 
change in activity takes place at tempera- 
tures below 1,500° C. 

Now Mr. Strutt has shown, arguing from 
known data, that the maximum tempera- 
ture at the bottom of a crust of about 
forty-five miles in thickness, must be in the 
neighborhood of 1,530° C., although some 
amount of uncertainty is necessarily in- 
duced by our want of knowledge of the 
conductivity of rock at high temperatures. 
Anyhow, it is probable that at the depth 
indicated the temperature does not exceed 
the melting-point of platinum. Such a 
erust would contain about one thirtieth of 
the earth’s volume, and if throughout it 
the radium heat energy were of the average 
of that exhibited by many samples exam- 
ined by Strutt, the temperature of the 
earth could be maintained until our stores 
of uranium suffered sensible depletion. 
Such an assumption would lead to the con- 
clusion that the whole of the central por- 
tion of the earth consists of non-radioactive 
substances at an approximate uniform tem- 
perature somewhat below the melting-point 
of platinum. A brief summary of the evi- 
dence previously at our disposal may not 
be out of place. 

In the first edition (1867) of Thomas and 
Tait’s ‘Natural Philosophy’ we find the 
tidal evidence summarized as follows: 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 612. 


It seems certain, therefore, that the tidal effect- 
ive rigidity of the earth must be greater than 
that of glass. 

In the 1883 edition of the same work a 
discussion of the question by Professor 
George Darwin is given. He states: 

On the whole we may fairly conclude, whilst 
there is some evidence of a tidal yielding of the 
earth’s mass, that yielding is certainly small, and 
that the effective rigidity is at least as great as 
steel. 

In a later paper (Proc. Roy. Soc., 1885) 
Darwin pointed out that this conclusion 
was based on the assumption that oceanic 
tides would have their equilibrium value, 
and that the validity of this assumption 
was open to doubt. Nevertheless, the evi- 
dence clearly indicated a high degree of 
effective rigidity. 

Hough (Phil. Trans., A, 1895, 1896) dis- 
cussed the variation of latitude, and, after 
correcting a small mistake of Newcomb’s 
(who was the first to suggest the exp!ana- 
tion), found the prolongation of the Eu- 
lerian nutation from 305 to 480 days as 
indicating an effective rigidity of the earth 
about equal to that of steel. Wiechert 
(Trans. Roy. Soc. Gottingen, 1897), of 
Gottingen, found that the mean density, 
ellipticity and precessional constant were 
consistent with the hypothesis of homogene- 
ous core with lighter surface layer. 

Mr. R. D. Oldham (Phil. Trans., 1900), 
in a paper on the ‘ Propagation of Earth- 
quake Waves,’ came to the conclusion that 
the evidence pointed to a central metallic 
core, and to the existence of marked differ- 
ences in the physical constants of the core 
and the surrounding crust. He, however, 
assigned a comparatively small radius to 
this core, viz., about 0.55 that of the earth. 

I will now call your attention to the light 
thrown on this subject by the recent in- 
vestigations of Professor Milne. The dif- 
ference in the rate of propagation of earth- 
quake waves through the earth’s interior 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1906.] 


and through the crust has led him to the 
conclusion that the material below a depth 
approximating to thirty miles is of a uni- 
form nature, and that the change in phys- 
ical constitution is abrupt at some such 
depth as that indicated. He writes as fol- 
lows: 

For chords which lie within a depth of thirty 
miles the recorded speeds do not exceed those 
which we should expect for waves of compression 
in rocky material. This, therefore, is a maxi- 
mum depth at which we should look for materials 
having similar physical properties to those we 
see on the earth’s surface; beneath this limit the 
materials of the outer part of this planet appear 
rapidly to merge into a fairly homogeneous nu- 
cleus with a high rigidity. 


In the Transactions of the Royal Society 
for 1905 will be found a paper by Lieut.- 
Colonel S. G. Burrard on ‘The Intensity 
of the Force of Gravity in India.’ Colonel 
Burrard writes as follows: 


Gecdetical observations have shown that the 
density of the earth’s crust is variable, but they 
have not given any positive indications of the 
depths to which these observed variations extend. 
All calculations of the depths of subterranean 
variations in density and of the mountain com- 
pensation have, therefore, to be based on arbi- 
trary assumptions of depth. The fact that the 
plumb-line seems generally to respond readily to 
the results given by the pendulum perhaps justi- 
fies the inference that the observed variations in 
the density of the earth’s crust are not deep- 
seated. If an abnormal amount of matter exists 
in the crust near the surface, it will exercise 
direct effects upon plumb-lines and pendulums in 
the vicinity, but if it les at a great depth its 
effects, especially on plumb-lines, will be less per- 
ceptible. * * * JI have taken several instances 
of abnormal pendulum results from table, and 
have found in each case direct response from the 
plumb-lines at neighboring stations. This con- 
formity could hardly ensue if the variations in 
density extended to greater depths than thirty or 
forty miles. Our results do not justify us in 
asserting that no deep-seated variations in density 
exist, but they do justify the belief that the 
variations in density which have been discovered 
are apparently superficial. 


It is interesting to notice the agreement 


SCIENCE. 


307 


between results drawn from such dis- 
similar sources. On the one hand we have 
had to deal with effects produced by almost 
inconceivably small particles traveling with 
immense velocity ; on the other, with effects 
dependent upon the behavior of ‘the huge 
terrestrial globe.’ That travelers starting 
from such opposite extremes should arrive 
at a common destination is in itself a 
striking example of the scope and accuracy 
of the work undertaken by investigators in 
physical science. 

It is possible that the evidence from each 
source, considered independently, might be 
regarded as inadequate, but the cumulative 
effect is sufficiently strong to justify the 
belief that some marked physical change 
in the constitution occurs at a depth of 
some thirty to fifty miles. 

At all events, we have indications that, 
with the exception of a comparatively thin 
erust, the earth consists of a non-radio- 
active substance with a rigidity approach- 
ing that of steel, with an average tempera- 
ture in the neighborhood of 1,500° C., and 
a density at that temperature of about 
5.6° C. 

An interesting question awaiting solution 
is the probable constitution of this core. 

The above is but an example of the many 
fascinating problems upon which fresh 
light has been thrown by the revelations of 
recent discoveries in radioactivity, and the 
temptation to dwell on such themes is cor- 
respondingly great: but I feel that such a 
task should be committed to hands more 
capable than mine. 

Fortunately, in the discussions which 
will take place during our meeting ample 
opportunity will be afforded those entitled 
to speak with authority. . Nevertheless, 
there are one or two further aspects of the 
matter which J will venture to touch upon, 
although but an onlooker. I would, first 
of all, urge the importance of a study of 


358 SCIENCE. 


what may be termed the natural history of 
the elements. We require more informa- 
tion as to their comparative proportions in 
different localities. The fact that, givén 
the amount of uranium in a sample of 
native rock, we can predict with certainty 
the amount of radium contained in the 
same specimen is of startling significance. 

The natural law which governs the pro- 
portions of these two substances may have 
a far wider-reaching scope than we at pres- 
ent suspect. Nature appears to present to 
us a grouping which would not naturally 
have occurred to the mind of the chemist; 
lead and silver, copper and gold, and, 
again, platinum and iridium seem invari- 
ably to be introduced to us by nature as if 
bearing to each other some kind of blood 
relationship. - 

The facts we already possess seem dimly 
to indicate some close relation between 
elements which we have hitherto considered 
as outside the bounds of consanguinity, and 
for a fuller knowledge of this important 
branch of natural history we require the 
assistance of the practical engineer, the 
geologist, the metallurgist and the chemist. 

Many of the results arrived at by the 
investigators into the phenomena of radio- 
activity can apparently only be verified by 
the lapse of considerable intervals of time. 
It is, probable, for example, that we can 
estimate with some degree of accuracy the 
time required for the dissolution of half a 
given mass of uranium or radium, but the 
complete verification of our inferences must 
probably be left to a future generation. 
If we accept this view, it is our duty to 
provide our suecessors with data on which 
their conclusions may be based. If, for 
example, carefully determined masses of 
the more radioactive substances could be 
placed in such circumstances as to remain 
untouched until the meeting of this asso- 
ciation some hundred years hence, our suc- 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 612. 


cessors, who would doubtless be equipped 
with apparatus of research more accurate 
and more sensitive than any in our posses- 
sion, would at all events be placed in a 
position to establish by direct methods the 
accuracy of inferences based upon the ex- 
perimental data now at our disposal. This 
task is one which, it appears to me, might 
well be undertaken by Section A, and I 


trust that this suggestion may be held 


worthy of some consideration. 

It appears probable that one gram of 
radium diminishes in weight by about half 
a milligram per annum; henee, if the funds 
of this society admitted of the imprison- 
ment of some definite mass of radium, our 
successors a hundred years hence would, 
even if they possessed only the apparatus 
now at our disposal, be able to determine 
its loss with sufficient accuracy to enable 
them to verify the truth of the conclusions 
arrived at by the physicist of to-day, while 
the investigation of the radioactivity of 
the residue would possibly throw light on 
many problems now awaiting solution. 

It would appear that if we made a sim- 
ilar imprisonment of uranium, a like de- 
gree of accuracy would not be attainable 
until after the lapse of half a million years, 
and I am afraid that our interest in the 
work of our successors can not be expected 
to cover so long a period. Nevertheless, it 
is probable that the presence of the prod- 
ucts of decomposition could easily be de- 
tected after the lapse of a comparatively 
short interval of time. 

The experiment might well be extended 
so as to include examples of all the ele- 
ments capable of such treatment; and with 
each prisoner should be placed a full record 
of its physical constants, such as mass, 
density, electrical conductivity, specific 
heat, ete., with a clear indication of what 
is believed to be the probable accuracy of 
such determination. 


——— 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1906.] 


During the past twenty-five years much 
thought has been devoted to the accurate 
determination of certain physical con- 
stants. This is very apparent in the case 
of one of the most important—namely, 
that commonly termed the ‘mechanical 
equivalent of heat,’ or, as I prefer to de- 
fine it, the ‘thermal equivalent of energy.’ 
When Lord Kelvin addressed you in 1881, 
I think it probable that he would have in- 
dicated the value obtained by Joule—viz., 
772.6 foot-pounds—at Manchester, as the 
quantity of work required to raise the tem- 
-perature of one pound of water through 
1° F. at 62° F. It is true that the results 
of Rowland’s classical investigation were 
published in 1880 and 1881, but the dis- 
erepancy between his conclusions and those 
of Regnault regarding the change in the 
specific heat of water at temperatures be- 
tween 0° C. and 30° C. introduced an ele- 
ment of uncertainty. 

As a consequence of this discrepancy 
much experimental work on the subject has 
been performed in the last quarter of a 
century, and I think it may be said with- 
out hesitation that the value of this impor- 
tant constant is now ascertained with an 
accuracy of about one part in 2,000. The 
amount of labor which has been employed 
in the determination of this thermal con- 
stant is extraordinary, and, as I have 
pointed out elsewhere, it well illustrates 
the cosmopolitan character of scientific in- 
vestigation. 

I have given reasons (Griffiths, ‘The 
Thermal Measurement of Energy’) for 
specially selecting for consideration the 
determinations of Rowland, of Bartoli and 
Stracciati, of Ludin, of Callendar and 
Barnes, of Schuster and Gannon, and I 
have ventured to add my own. Thus Bal- 
timore, Pisa, Zurich, Montreal, Manchester 


and Cambridge have all contributed to the - 


solution of the problem, and we may now 


SCIENCE. 


309 


with some certainty say that 777.7 foot- 
pounds at Greenwich are very closely the 
equivalent of the amount of heat required 
to raise one pound of water through 1° 
on the hydrogen seale at 63.5° F. 

It may possibly appear that the result 
just quoted is a somewhat poor return for 
the expenditure of so much thought and 
labor. I would eall attention, therefore, 
to the fact that the value of this equivalent 
is dependent on the measurements of many 
other natural constants; hence any agree- 
ment between the results obtained by the 
observations of Rowland and some of the 
other observers I have mentioned would 
only be possible in the absence of errors of 
appreciable magnitude in the determina- 
tions of mass, of change of temperature, 
and of electrical resistance and current. 
Certain discrepancies have led to the dis- 
covery of a hitherto unsuspected cause of 
inaccuracy, especially in the determination 
of temperature, and thus the inquiry has 
rendered valuable service in many branches 
of physical inquiry. ff 

For example, so far back as 1893 I ven- 
tured upon a prophecy that the value as- 
signed to the E.M.F. of a Clarke’s cell was 
somewhat too high, and that it was possible 
that 1.4328 represents more truly the po- 
tential difference of a Clarke’s cell at 
15° C. than the ordinarily accepted value 
of 1.4342. In the report of the Electrical 
Standards Committee for 1897 will be 
found a discussion of this matter, and one 
of the consequences of the deliberations of 
that committee is to be seen in the ampere 
balance now standing in the National Phys- 
ical Laboratory. 

The results of the observations obtained 
by this instrument will, I believe, shortly 
be published by Professor Ayrton and Mr. 
Mather, but I am at liberty to state that, 
so far as the observations have been re- 
duced, they point to the conclusion that 


360 SCIENCE. 


the prophecy to which I have referred is 
closely fulfilled. We may say, therefore, 
with some confidence that the values of 
those units which form the basis of our 
system of electrical measurement are not 
only practically determined with a high 
degree of accuracy, but that also our meas- 
urements of temperature and of energy are 
placed on a satisfactory footing. 

The last few years have been fruitful in 
revelations which not only profoundly 
affect the views of students of science, but 
also are of such a nature as to catch the 
eye of the public. In some cases the ap- 
plications of these discoveries to the pur- 
poses of mankind have been evident and 
immediate. Every well-equipped hospital 
possesses apparatus for the production of 
Rontgen rays, and I suppose that every 
bluejacket in the navy has some degree of 
acquaintance with those applications of 
science which have resulted from the dis- 
covery of Hertzian waves. 

The ambition of the student is naturally 
fired by such examples, and there is a pos- 
sible danger that the plodding but abso- 
lutely necessary work of accurate measure- 
ment may suffer by neglect. I, therefore, 
venture to repeat the well-established axiom 
that our advance in scientific knowledge is 
a function of accurate measurement, and 
that the student who devotes his energy to 
the determination of some physical con- 
stant is probably giving a ‘point of de- 
parture’ to the pioneer. For it must ever 
be remembered that tothe scientific investi- 
gator the rule of three has ceased to hold 
any significance. 

When Lord Rayleigh discovered that the 
mean weight per liter under standard con- 
ditions of chemical nitrogen was 1.251, and 
that of atmospheric nitrogen was 1.257, the 
believer in the rule of three would have 
been unlikely to suspect that this difference 
of 0.006 would supply the clue which led 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 612. 


Lord Rayleigh and Sir W. Ramsay to the 
discovery of a new element, a discovery 
which in its turn led to others of possibly 
even greater importance. For all we know 
the next decimal place in any hitherto ac- 
cepted value may afford another example 
of the truth of the statement that a part 
may be greater than the whole. 

At the time when Lord Kelvin delivered 
the address to which I have already re- 
ferred, the truth of the second law of 
thermodynamics was probably not so gen- 
erally accepted as is the case at the present 
time. Each apparent example of violation 
of that law has on closer examination 
proved to be additional evidence of its 
validity. We seem unable to find those 
‘sorting demons’ of Maxwell’s, the exist- 
ence of which appears necessary for its 
violation. | 

Mr. Campbell recently expressed doubts 
as to the application of thermodynamic 
considerations to osmotics. He contended 


that the errors in the determination of — 


osmotic pressure were greater than those 
which could be attributed to experimental 
sources. Now, the theoretical relation be- 
tween osmotic pressure and the freezing- 
point is based directly on thermodynamic 
considerations, and it was because I enter- 
tained a belief that the most direct evi- 
dence of this much-debated matter could 
be obtained from the observation of the 
freezing-point of a very dilute solution 
that I embarked on a series of somewhat 
elaborate experiments during the years 
1897 to 1901. My removal from Cam- 
bridge and the death of my assistant, Mr. 
C. Green, compelled me to leave that in- 
quiry in an unfinished condition. Never- 
theless, I had investigated the depression 
of the freezing-point in certain solutions 
varying in streneth from 0.0003 to 0.025 
om.-molecule per liter. 

Subsequently to my departure from 


? 
h 
: 
‘ 
‘ 
; 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1906.] 


Cambridge Mr. Bedford reerected the ap- 
paratus in another building. After having 
surmounted great difficulties, he repeated 
many of my experiments, and he informs 
me that the numbers he has so far obtained 
are in almost entire agreement with those 
previously obtained by me. The molecular 
depression in the case of cane sugar I found 
to be 1.858, of potassium chloride 3.720, 
and I understand that Mr. Bedford’s ex- 
periments agree with these results with a 
discrepancy of less than 1 part in 1,000. 
The most probable number obtained from 
theoretical considerations would be in the 
former case 1.857, in the latter 3.714. As 
Mr. Whetham has pointed out, unless there 
is some balancing of opposite errors of a 
very improbable nature, it is difficult to 
imagine a more direct vindication of the 
appheation of thermodynamic considera- 
tions to the phenomena of solution. I may 
add that I also examined correspondingly 
dilute solutions of sodium chloride, barium 
chloride, sulphuric acid, potassium bichro- 
mate, magnesium chloride and potassium 
iodide; but, owing to the circumstances to 
which I have referred, I was unable to 
repeat these experiments in such a manner 
as to enable me to attach great importance 
to the resulting figures. Nevertheless, I 
obtained values which strengthened the 
conclusions to which I was led by the more 
exhaustive examination of the dilute solu- 
tions of sugar and potassium chloride. 

So far back as the Liverpool meeting of 
this association I expressed a hope that the 
experimental difficulties of the direct meas- 
urement of osmotic pressures would be 
overcome, as such direct measurement 
would afford the most useful data by 
means of which to obtain further light on 
the much-vexed question of the nature of 
solutions. I remember, also, that it was 
the general opinion of those who had given 


SCIENCE. 361 


attention to this matter that the experi- 
mental difficulties were insuperable. 

I am glad, therefore, to have this oppor- 
tunity of stating my high appreciation of 
the manner in which Lord Berkeley and 
Mr. Hartley have grappled with the diffi- 
culties of this investigation. They have 
proved that the osmotic pressure obtained 
by direct measurement agrees with that de- 
rived from vapor-pressure observations to 
within less than 5 per cent. The agree- 
ment is of great importance, as it dimin- 
ishes our doubts as to the extent to which 
the imperfections of semi-permeable mem- 
branes may affect the validity of results 
dependent upon their behavior, and points 
to the possibility of determining the os- 
motic pressures of concentrated solutions 
by measurement of their vapor pressures. 

I trust it will not be thought out of place 
if I here refer to the interesting corre- 
spondence which has recently appeared in 
Nature on the thermodynamic theory of 
osmotic pressure, and the allied, but by no 
means identical, problem of the difference 
between electrolytic and non-electrolytic 
solutions. 

On the one side we have Professor Arm- 
strong, whose chief desire appears to be 
the vindication of the moral character of 
what he terms ‘the poor molecule’; and 
Mr. Campbell, whose doubts concerning the 
second law of thermodynamics are closely 
connected with a lurking belief in the exist- 
ence of Maxwell’s ‘sorting demons’; and 
by way of reserves we have Professor 
Kahlenberg, who contends that ‘thermo- 
dynamie reasoning can not be applied to 
actual osmotie processes’ on account of the 


O. P. de- 
duced from 


Direct O. P. Vapor Pres- 

1 Concentration. at 0° C. sure at 0° C. 
540 grains per lit. solution.. 67.5 69.4 
660 grains per lit. solution.. 100.8 101.9 
750 grains per lit. solution.. 133.7 136.0 


Proc. Roy. Soc., June, 1906. 


362 


‘selective action of the membrane’ and ‘in- 
sists that the formation of crystals from a 
solution or the concentration of a solution 
by evaporation are not osmotic processes.’ 

On the other hand we have Mr. Whet- 
ham, who, I confess, seems to me to be 
capable of holding his own without need of 
reinforcements. He has pointed out that 
confusion has arisen from the use of the 
term ‘osmotic pressure’ to denote the ac- 
tual pressure experimentally realized in 
certain conditions, as well as the ideal pres- 
sure required in thermodynamic theory. 
With regard to the theory of electrolytic 
dissociation, Mr. Whetham shows that the 
fact that the velocities of the ions are con- 
stant in dilute solutions and decrease slow- 
ly with increasing concentration, while the 
conductivity of a dilute solution is at most 
proportional to the first power of the con- 
centration, appears irreconcilable with any 
assumption as to the existence of the active 
part of an electrolyte in the form of com- 
bined molecules when in solution. I would 
here join with Mr. Whetham in the request 
that those who oppose the theory of ionic 
dissociation would state their views as to 
the mechanism of electrolysis, and their 
reasons for supposing that the application 
of the principles of thermodynamics to the 
phenomena of solution is unjustifiable. 

Professor Armstrong remarks that it is 
unfair to ‘cloak the inquiry by restricting 
it to thermodynamic reasoning, a favorite 
maneuver with the mathematically mind- 
ed.’ He adds that such a course may 
satisfy the physicist, but ‘is repulsive to 
the chemist.’ 

The inquiry, ‘Why is the application of 
thermodynamic reasoning repulsive to the 
chemist?’ naturally suggests itself. I con- 
fess that at one time I regarded the ex- 
treme advocates of the theory of ionic dis- 
sociation with a certain amount of suspi- 
cicn, but I think that most of those who 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 612. 


have studied the evidence now at our dis- 
posal, or who have been engaged in experi- 
mental investigation into this interesting 
branch of physies, can not fail to agree 
with Mr. Whetham that, as regards the 
fundamental conceptions of the theory, ‘the 
cumulative evidence seems overpowering.’ 
At all events, we may consider that the 
application to the phenomena of solution 
of reasoning based on thermodynamic con- 
siderations is justifiable, until we are pre- 
sented with stronger arguments than those 
based on the repulsiveness to certain chem- 
ists of the conclusions to which it leads, or 
the doubt it throws upon the activities of 
Maxwell’s demons and the selective action 
of semi-permeable membranes. 

I will now trespass upon your forbear- 
ance and pass from the consideration of 
such special departments of natural science 
as usually engage the attention of members 
of this section to some more general consid- 
erations, which naturally arise in any com- 
parison of our knowledge of to-day with 
that which we possessed when we last met 
in this city. 

It will, I think, generally be admitted 
that during the last twenty-five years the 
increase in our ‘natural knowledge’ has 
been greater than in any previous quarter 
of a century. 

Day by day we are adding new facts to 
our storehouse of information, until it has 
now become impossible for the individual 
to have more than a superficial knowledge 
of the contents of the building. And al- 
though this accumulation is one which we 
may well regard with satisfaction, it neces- 
sarily gives rise to difficulties unfelt by our 
predecessors. 

I venture to indicate one of such difficul- 
ties, one which has been brought home to 
me both by my experience as an examiner 
and by the fact that during the past few 
years I have had to preside over many 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1906.] 


meetings of examiners, and to mark the 
effect of examinations on the teaching in 
cur universities. 

We now expect a student to acquire in a 
three years’ course a far greater amount of 
information than was considered necessary, 
say, twenty-five years ago. The attention 
both of the teacher and of the taught is 
naturally directed to those extremities of 
the branches of science in which the growth 
has been most marked in recent years, and 
I venture to think that there is in conse- 
quence some danger of our neglecting the 
roots of the whole matter. Compare, for 
example, a final paper in chemistry in any 
one of our universities with its predecessor 
of a quarter of a century ago. 

The enormous advance of organic chem- 
istry has necessarily reacted on the exam- 
inations, and thus the student is unable to 
devote an adequate proportion of his time 
and attention to the foundations of the sub- 
ject. The same remark applies in the do- 
main of physics. There is a danger, there- 
fore, of our educational edifice becoming 
top-heavy. 

I have heard complaints, on the one 
hand, from the examiners that while the 
candidates frequently exhibit considerable 
knowledge of the most recent scientific de- 
velopments, they show a lamentable ig- 
norance of the simple phenomena and the 
principles they illustrate. On the other 
hand, I have heard from candidates that 
many of the questions were too simple— 
that they were concerned with principles 
and facts to which their attention had not 
been directed since they first began the 
study of natural science. 

My own experience has been that the 
simplest questions are those answered in 
the least effective manner. A candidate 
unable to give satisfactory illustrations of 
Newton’s laws will discourse upon the mass 
of an electron or the nature of the Rontgen 


SCIENCE. 


363 


rays, and attempt the solution of problems 
on such subjects as Hertzian waves and 
electric convection. 

I hope that the attention of both exam- 
iners and teachers may be directed to the 
best methods of dealing with what appears 
to me to be not only a serious but an in- 
creasing evil. 

To pass from one of the inconveniences 
which inevitably arise from growth, it is 
pleasant to dwell upon its more gratifying 
consequences. 

Perhaps one of the most marked char- 
acteristics of the progress of science in re- 
cent times is the increasing public appre- 
ciation of the importance of original in- 
vestigation and research. 

The expansion of the university colleges 
in number and importance has greatly as- 
sisted and quickened this movement. 

Twenty-five years ago there were com- 
paratively few laboratories which held out 
any possibility of research to the English 
student. True, there were giants in those 
days, men, as a rule, working under diffi- 
culties greater than those encountered by 
their successors of to-day. The better 
equipment of our laboratories and the 
erowth in the number and activity of our 
scientific societies have played no small 
part in stimulating public interest. Never- 
theless, much remains to be done. Those 
who have read Professor Perry’s somewhat 
pessimistic words on England’s neglect of 
science must admit that, however rapid our 
progress, the British people have not yet 
so fully awakened to the national impor- 
tance of this question as some of our com- 
petitors. 

The idea that a degree is one of the chief 
objects of education yet lingers amongst us. 
The conviction that it is a national duty to 
seek out and, when found, utilize the latent 
scientific ability of the rising generation 
for the purpose of adding to our stores of 


364 


natural knowledge still needs to be brought 
home to the ‘man in the street.” And here 
I would venture to indicate my personal 
belief in the necessity of more free com- 
munication between the laboratory and the 
market-place. It is possible that the lan- 
guage of science is becoming too technical, 
and that the difficulties with which scien- 
tific inquirers have been faced in past times 
have tended to habits of exclusiveness. 
For example, complaints are frequent that 
our manufacturers are less alert in grasp- 
ing the practical applications of scientific 
discovery than their competitors in Ger- 
many and the United States. I confess, 
however, that it seems to me possible that 
the fault is not altogether on the side of 
the manufacturers. We want missionaries 
to preach the doctrine that one of the great- 
est of national assets is scientific discovery. 
If we can convince the men of business of 
this country that there are few more profit- 
able investments than the encouragement 
of research, our difficulties in this matter 
will be at an end. 

It is my lot to serve on the education 
committees of three county councils, and I 
have been much struck by the readiness of 
the members of those bodies to extend such 
encouragement whenever it has been pos- 
sible to convince them that the results may 
conduce to the prosperity, the comfort and 
the safety of the community. 

It has also been my privilege to address 
meetings of the men who work in the coal- 
fields of South Wales. I have attempted 
to direct their attention to the advantages 
which they have derived from the labors of 
those who have endeavored to probe the 
secrets of nature in the laboratory; I have 
tried to show how discoveries based on the 
researches of Humphry Davy, Faraday, 
Joule, for example, have not only dimin- 
ished the dangers to which miners are ex- 
posed, but have also, by increasing the de- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 612. 


mands upon our stores of energy, given 
employment to thousands of their fellow- 
workers. 

My experiences lead me to the belief that 
these men are ready to support the action. 
of their representatives in extending sup- 
port and encouragement to all efforts to 
assist the advance of scientific discovery. 

It is possible that in dwelling on this 
matter I am trespassing on your forbear- 
ance, but I can not resist this opportunity 
of pleading for the extension of your sym- 
pathies beyond the walls of the laboratory. 
The old toast, ‘Here’s to science pure and 
undefiled; may it never do a ha’porth of 
good to anybody,’ may possibly be an ex- 
cellent one in the laboratory; for, so far 
as I know, no great scientific principle has 
ever been established by labors prompted 
solely by desire for financial gain. Never- 
theless, if we wish for the support of our 
fellow-countrymen, that toast is not one for 
public dinners. There is no scientific so- 
ciety which is brought into such close con- 
tact with the public as is the British Asso- 
ciation, and affiliated with that association 
are some scores of local scientific societies, 
containing many thousands of enthusiastic 
observers and inquirers. If this great or- 
ganization were seriously to take up the 
task of bringing home to the minds of the 
people of this kingdom the enormous value 
of the results of scientific inquiry, I believe 
it might be possible to change the indiffer- 
ence and apathy of our public bodies into 
active interest and encouragement. If each 
affiliated society would institute a series of 
public non-technical lectures, of such a na- 
ture as to bring home to the minds of the 
hearers some comprehension of the results 
of the work of Faraday, of Wheatstone, of 
Pasteur, of Maxwell, of Lister and of 
Kelvin, the change in the public attitude 
would be real, evident and fruitful. 

In conclusion, one is tempted to seek for 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1906.] 


the underlying cause of the acceleration in 
the rate of advance of natural knowledge. 
Is it to be found in the increase in power 
of the human intellect, or the diversion 
into one particular channel of activities 
previously otherwise employed? It is pos- 
sible that the human intellect has, by the 
processes of evolution, become more power- 
ful, and that man’s ability to decipher the 
secrets of nature has thereby increased. I 
think, however, that it would require a bold 
advocate to support this thesis. If any 
such mental evolution has taken place, it is 
strange that it should be restricted to one 
particular sphere of activity. Are our 
poets and authors of to-day greater than 
Homer, our statesmen than Pericles? Or, 
passing into the domain of science, can we 
say with confidence that, in pure power of 
reasoning, Maxwell was undoubtedly the 
superior of Archimedes? 

I have elsewhere indicated what apnens 
to me to explain the mystery of this accel- 
eration, namely, the extension of our senses 
by mechanical appliances. When we sup- 
plement our eyes by the bolometer and the 
electric coherer, the range of our vision is 
augmented a thousandfold. By the use of 
the electroscope and the galvanometer we 
have extended our senses of sight and 
touch until we can detect the presence of 
~ an electron. 

Having realized the imperfection of our 
faculties, we have called upon nature in all 
departments of science to supply our defi- 
ciencies, and are thus enabled to walk with 
confidence where previously all seemed 
dark. 

From the time of Archimedes to that of 
Bacon we despised natural knowledge while 
we deified intellect and authority; hence 
for nearly .2,000 years our record was one 
of retreat rather than advance. When the 
philosopher left his study and applhed his 
powers of observation to the phenomena of 


SCIENCE. 365 


the universe, progress became a reality, 
and thenceforward the march of discovery 
has known no backward step. We have, 
therefore, every reason to believe that when 
the association again visits this ancient city 
our president will be able to chronicle an 
increase in natural knowledge even greater 
than that which has been one of the dis- 
tinguishing characteristics of the last quar- 
ter of a century. 
E. H. GriFFitHs. 


THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE 
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 


SPECIAL MEETING, ITHACA, NEW YORK, 
JUNE 28-JULY 3, 1906. 


SECTION E—GEOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHY. 


THE section organized at 11 a.m., Friday, 
June 29, directly after the adjournment 
of the first general session of the associa- 
tion, in the geological lecture room, Me- 
Graw Hall, with Vice-president and Chair- 
man A. C. Lane in the chair and thirteen 
members and seven visitors present. Be- 
fore proceeding with the program of papers 
the following preamble and resolution were 
offered by Mr. George H. Chadwick, of Al- 
bany, New York: 

WHEREAS in the decease of Professor Israel C. 
Russell Section E has lost an efficient officer and 
one of its foremost workers and best loved mem- 
bers. 

Resolved, That the section express its deep 
sorrow and its sense of the great loss to geologic 
Science through the event. 

Remarks to the motion were made by 
Messrs. A. C. Lane, H. 8. Williams, D. 8. 
Martin and E. O. Hovey. 

The following papers were then read in 
accordance with the printed program: 


Revision of the Geological Section passing 
through Ithaca, N. Y.: Professor H. S. 
Wituams, Cornell University. (By 
permission of the Director of the U. 8. 
Geological Survey). 

The author explained that the revision 


366 SCIENCE. 


of classification and nomenclature proposed 
was the result of a resurvey of the forma- 
tions examined in preparation of the map 
and folio of the Watkins and Catatonk 
Quadrangles now in preparation. The sec- 
tion is the standard section of the New 
York Devonian as originally defined and 
described by Vanuxem and Hall in 1842- 
1843. The revision of the classification and 
nomenclature is based upon a critical study 
of the composition, sequence and range of 
the fossil faunas of the Watkins and Cata- 
tonk Quadrangles. The thicknesses are 
estimated as for a generalized section pass- 
ing through the rocks at Ithaca, N. Y. 

The taxonomic classification into series, 
formations, members and lentils, is in ac- 
cordance with the rules of the U. S. Geo- 
logical Survey published in the 24th An- 
nual Report for 1902-1903. 

The following chart expresses in brief 
the classifications and nomenclature pre- 
sented, the new names having been accepted 
by the committee on geologic names of the 
U.S. Geological Survey. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 612. 


The principal changes affecting nomen- 
clature are the following: viz., the Nunda 
shale and flagstone formation is the strati- 
eraphic equivalent of Hall’s Portage or 
Nunda group, the standard section of which 
is found in the Genesee Valley. The term 
Portage was used by Hall for the sand- 
stone member at the top of his Portage or 
Nunda Group as well as in the name of the 
other group. Of the two synonyms the 
first (Portage) is left to be appled in its 
specific sense to the Portage sandstone 
member, and Nunda is retained for the 
formation name. 

The lithologically discriminated members 
of the Nunda characteristic of the Genesee 


_Valley section (7. e., Cachaqua, Gardeau 


and Portage) are not distinguishable in the 
Ithaca section. The subdivisions in the 
latter section are the Sherburne flagstone, 
the Ithaca shale and the Enfield shale mem- 
bers. The first of these is the equivalent 
of the Sherburne flagstone of Vanuxem; 
the second is the typical Ithaca group of 
Hall and later writers; the third is the 


SCHEME OF CLASSIFICATION AND NOMENCLATURE OF THE GEOLOGICAL SECTION PASSING THROUGH 
ITHACA, N. Y. 


Formations. Members and Lentils. Section.| Thickness. 
Chemung. Fall Creek conglomerate lentil. 0-10 ft. 
2 Shale and sandstone Wellsburg sandstone member. 600-650 ft. 
5 formation 
M ee Cayuta shale member. 600 ue 
3 
& Enfield shale member. 500-800 ft. 
- Nunda. 
os Shale and flagstone Ithaca shale member. 80-300 *‘ 
8 formation. Sherburne flagstone member. 188-260 “ 
oH 
o 
ee Genesee. 
al Shale formation. 125 ft. 
5 Tully. 
‘2 Limestone formation. «10-30 ft. 
S Hamilton. 
@ Shale formation. 1,039 ft. 
Ps CSV 
Sl Marcellus. S 
Shale formation. 125 ft 
Onondaga. 
Limestone formation. 125 ft. 
Oriskany. 
Sandstone formation. 0-4 ft. 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1906.] 


‘upper part of the Portage’ of the classi- 
fication proposed by Williams in 1884; and 
the name Enfield is applied for the name 
of the town of Enfield where the member 
is typically exposed. 

The boundary between the Nunda and 
Chemung formations is established on the 
basis of change in the generic composition 
of the faunas occurring at the horizon indi- 
eated. The two genera Dalmanella and 
Douwvillina, and the species Spirifer dis- 
junctus are among the more character- 
istic of the forms marking this change. 
The Cayuta shale member contains the 
typical Chemung fauna of the Chemung 
Narrows section; it is paleontologically 
limited by the Nunda fauna _ below, 
and by the fourth of the known zones 
of Tropidoleptus appearing above the 
Hamilton formation, to which the name 
Swartwood Tropidoleptus zone has been 
applied by the author for the outcrop 
southwest of Swartwood at an altitude of 
about 1,600 feet A. T., containing the 
fauna. 

The name Cayuta is applied for the 
Cayuta Creek, along the sides of which 
from Cayuta Lake to its discharge into the 
Susquehanna River typical exposures of 
the Cayuta member may be seen. 

The second member of the Chemung is 
named Wellsburg sandstone member for its 
outcrop at Wellsburg and above in the hills 
of Ashland. It is paleontologically dis- 
eriminated by absence of many common 
Chemung species and lithologically by the 
more sandy nature of the rocks; and the 
thin-bedded slabs characteristic of the 
higher ‘Catskill’ rocks are conspicuous in 
the upper portion. 

The Wellsburg member is terminated 
above by the Fall Creek conglomerate 
lentil, a thin band of conglomerate dis- 
covered in place at the top of the Ashland 
Hills and frequently visible in detached 


SCIENCE. 


367 


pieces on tops of other hills along the 
southern townships of the state. 

The Fall Creek conglomerate lentil is 
interpreted to be the equivalent of the con- 
glomerate of that name in Bradford and 
Tioga Counties, Pennsylvania. In the 
beds immediately under the conglomerate, 
and terminating the Wellsburg member, 
occur in great abundance the shells of 
Leptostrophia nervosa and Orthothetes 
chemungensis. To distinguish this partic- 
ular horizon the name Ashland Lepitostro- 
phia zone has been applied to the zone by 
the author. The author stated that other 
evidence obtained by comparison of this 
section with others indicates that the high- 
est stratigraphic extension of the Chemung 
fauna is not reached at the top of the 
Wellsburg member, but that to the west 
and south of this section rocks strati- 
graphically still higher may bear many of 
the species of the Chemung formations. 

Professor Williams’s paper was discussed 
by Messrs. J. C. Branner, C. A. Hartnagel 
and D. 8. Martin. 


Abyssal Igneous Injection as a Causal Con- 
dition and as an Effect of Mountain 
Building: Dr. R. A. Dauy, International 
Boundary Commission, Ottawa, Canada. 
(Illustrated with a diagram. ) 

The contraction theory cf mountain- 
building is hypothetically extended to 
cover the explanation of igneous intrusion, 
geosynclinal down-warps, the location of 
mountain-ranges, and the common associa- 
tion of intense mountain-building with the 
batholithic intrusion of magma. Among 
the chief postulates are: (1) an earth-crust 
about twenty-five miles thick, overlying a 
substratum which, on account of its high 
temperature, acts as a viscous liquid; (2) 
the division of the crust into a shell of 
compression about five miles thick, over- 
lying a shell characterized by cooling ten- 
sion. The shell of tension extends from 


068 


the bottom of the shell of compression down 
to the substratum. 

One effect of cooling tension is to pro- 
duce eracks in the lower shell; these are 
only partly closed by the shearing of 
masses against masses. Because of the 
solid continuity between the two shells, 
some of the tension remains unrelieved. 

Tension in the lower shell permits of 
the abyssal (dike) injection of the sub- 
stratum fiuid into the crust. This injec- 
tion is especially facilitated in earth-zones 
established by cosmical stresses. The 
hydrostatic and expansional pressures nor- 
mal to the walls of such an abyssal dike 
cause lateral creep and special condensa- 
tion of matter in the shell of tension. This 
movement induces a down-warp of the 
earth’s surface overlying the zone of in- 
jection. When the down-warp is of large 
size it is a geosynelinal. Its sedimentary 
filling is accomplished through the shear- 
ing of the shell of compression over the 
shell of tension. This breaking of the solid 
continuity between the two shells releases 
all the accumulated tension. As a result, 
extraordinarily large bodies of magma are 
injected from the substratum into the shell 
of tension beneath the mountain-range. 
The assimilation of the folded rocks of the 
range leads to the formation of granitic 
batholiths. 

Dr. Daly’s paper was discussed by 
Messrs. A. C. Lane, J. C. Branner and D. 
S. Martin. 


Brewsters Neck, Connecticut: Dr. F. P. 
GuLLIveR, Norwich Town, Conn. (Ab- 
stract read by EH. O. Hovey.) 

Brewsters Neck, Conn., is a deposit of 
water-laid sand and gravel lying between 
the preglacial valley of the Thames River, 
and the preglacial tributary which may be 
called the Poquetanock River. 

The surface of this deposit rises from 70 
to 85 feet aboye the level of the tide water 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 612. 


as it exists to-day. It lies from 100 to 150 
feet above the level of the bed of the pre- 
glacial Thames River. 

On the east and west sides of this de- 
posit there is a steep slope. On the north 
side the surface of the deposit comes di- 
rectly against the bed rock, which at this 
point is covered with a thin deposit of till 
not completely masking the ledges which 
appear at various places. 

On the northwest corner of this deposit 
there are distinct lobes projecting toward 
the northwest and between these lobes and 
the bed-rock slope to the north, which is 
very steep at this point, there is a deep 
hollow which is popularly called a ‘valley.’ 
The form of this ‘valley’ shows conclusively 
that it was not formed by degradation, but 
by aggradation. 

On the southeast corner of this deposit 
the surface merges gradually into the 
gentle slope of a low hill, which is bed-rock 
covered with till. West of this hill is a 
confused mass of kames and kettle-holes 
which are beneath sea-level, and since these 
are now filled with water they are used 
for floating lumber for the Dawley Lumber 
Yard at Fort Point. 

Perhaps the most interesting point along 
the margins of these deposits lies just above 
these two salt-water ponds, which fill these 
kettle-holes. The surface of this deposit, 
which the author would name a delta-ter- 
race, Slopes from the northeast, where the 
highest point is 85 feet above the level of 
the sea, toward the southwest, where the 
surface is about 70 feet. The deposit is 
undoubtedly a glacial delta. Its distinct 
lobes and structure are typically that found 
in deposits laid by a stream emptying into 
standing water. It is very similar to the 
structure reported by the author of this 
paper as occurring at the Navy Yard, above 
New London. 


**Thames River Terraces in Connecticut,’ Bull. 
Geol. Soc. Am., Vol. 10, 1898, pp. 492-494. 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1906.] 


A new point in regard to the theory of 
the formation of water-laid glacial deposits 
is believed to be as follows: When the mar- 
gin of the ice-sheet was retreating by the 
annual summer melting faster than ice was 
supplied, the ice remained longest in the 
valleys. Masses of ice would thus be left 
in the deeper valleys which would rise 
many feet above the surrounding hills. 
Between these ice masses standing water 
would occur either as arms of the ocean 
or as ice-dammed glacial lakes between 
these ice-blocks. In these bodies of stand- 
ing water the streams from the melting ice 
would deposit their sand and gravel, and 
at the point where the streams issued from 
the ice there would be eskers and ice-con- 
tact slopes. These latter deposits would 
contain the larger materials, and the fine 
sand would be found farthest. from the 
point where the streams issued from the 
ice. Where the supply of rock waste was 
sufficient to fill up the space lying between 
these ice-blocks, a flat topped delta-terrace 
would be formed; where the supply was 
not sufficient to fill up the water body, 
lobes would occur. These lobes would pro- 
ject into the water body, and from the axis 
of the arched layers as shown in sections, 
the direction of flow taken by a given 
glacial distributary may be discovered. 

In this deposit, therefore, the lobes at the 
northwest corner show that the sand of 
which they are built was coming from the 
southeast. The arched layers shown in 
the sections at the southwest corner of this 
deposit indicate that the material there 
found came from the northeast. Other 
sections of this delta-terrace at Brewsters 
Neck, as revealed by the excavations made 
for the State Hospital, show that in the 
center of the deposit there were alternating 
currents coming from both the east and 
the west. 

The author believes from the facts shown 


SCIENCE. 


369 


by these recent cuttings and from the facts 
which have long been recognized from the 
surface form, that this deposit was built 
by streams issuing from two blocks of ice, 
one of these blocks occupying the valley of 
the glacial Thames, the other occupying 
the valley of the tributary of the Thames 
River which flowed through the Poque- 
tanock Valley. The slope of the surface 
of this delta-terrace indicates that the last 
source of the material was from the Poque- 
tanock ice-block on the east. 


Notes on the Geology of the Guaynopita, 
Chihuahua, Mexico, Mining District: Dr. 
E. O. Hovey, American Museum of Nat- 
ural History, New York. (Illustrated 
with lantern slides.) 

The Guaynopita district lies in the heart 
of the Western Sierra Madre in northern 
Mexico. It shows a series of Cretaceous 
limestone and schist and gneiss overlain by 
voleanic rocks (andesites) and invaded by 
granite intrusions. Later volcanics (basalt, 
andesites and rhyolites) have supervened, 
basins have been filled with sandstones and 
conglomerates, and the whole region has 
been deeply dissected by the Aros and its 
tributaries. 

Dr. Hovey’s paper was discussed by 
Messrs. A. C. Lane and C. R. Dryer. 


The Relations of the Drainage of the Santa 
Clara Valley, Califorma, to that of the 
Pajaro River: Professor J. C. BRANNER, 
Stanford University. 

Several years ago Dr. Joseph Le Conte 
advanced the theory that the drainage of 
the Sacramento Valley of California 
formerly entered the Pacific Ocean through 
the Bay of Monterey instead of through the 
Golden Gate as it does at present. This 
theory was based chiefly upon the absence 
of a submerged channel outside of the 
Golden Gate and the presence of such a 
channel in the Bay of Monterey. Later 


BWA SCIENCE. 


the study of the fish faunas of the streams 
of California by Professor C. H. Gilbert 
and his colleagues showed that there had 
formerly been some connection between 
the Sacramento, the Coyote, the Pajaro, 
the Salinas and various other streams that 
are now separate. These faunal relations 
seemed to give strong support to the theory 
of the newness of the Golden Gate channel. 

Later study shows that the mingling of 
these faunas may be explained otherwise. 
During the glacial epoch the region in 
question stood from 2,000 to 3,000 feet 
higher than it does at present. The Bay 
of San Francisco did not then exist, but 
the Sacramento and Coyote drainage flowed 
through it. Coyote Creek rising on the 
western slope of the Mt. Hamilton range 
flowed into the Santa Clara Valley at the 
top of the watershed between the present 
Coyote Creek and the Pajaro drainage. 
An alluvial cone was built up on the flat 
valley-floor where the Coyote emerged on 
the plain of the Santa Clara Valley. As 
this cone grew the Coyote swung from side 
to side, emptying its waters now into the 
Bay of San Francisco and now into the 
Bay of Monterey. Fishes ascending from 
the Sacramento into the Mt. Hamilton 
range, could later descend into the Pajaro 
drainage. The elevation of the coast at 
that period earried the mouth of the Pajaro 
farther toward the west, so that fishes could 
pass from the Pajaro into the San 
Lorenzo and into the Salinas without en- 
tering the sea. 

The depression following the glacial 
epoch submerged the mouth of the Sacra- 
mento forming the Bay of San Francisco, 
and separated the San Lorenzo from the 
Pajaro and the Salinas Rivers. The de- 
ereased precipitation diminished the vol- 
ume of Coyote Creek and it ceased to build 
the cone near Madrone Station, and since 
then it has flowed toward the Bay of San 


[N.S. Vout. XXIV. No. 612. 


Francisco and has been cutting into its 
alluvial cone. . 

Professor Branner’s paper was discussed 
by Messrs. T. C. Hopkins, C. R. Dryer, A. 
C. Lane, George H. Chadwick and E. O. 
Hovey. 


The Geology of Coon Butte, Arizona: 
Messrs. D. M. Barrincer and B. C. 
TinGHMAN, Coon Butte, Arizona. (Illus- 
trated with diagrams and specimens and 
presented by J. C. Branner.) 

Coon Butte, Ariz., is a low crater-like 
hill six miles south of Sunshine Station on 
the Santa Fe Railway, and about twenty- 
five miles southeast of Flagstaff. The 
general geology of the surrounding country 
is very simple, consisting of horizontal beds 
of red sandstone, silicious limestone, white 
sandstone and light brown sandstone, each 
bed being clearly distinguished from the 
others. In this plain is a pit about 600 
feet deep and three quarters of a mile 
across. The edges of the beds exposed in 
the pit are all turned sharply upwards. 
The slopes of the ridge around the pit are 
covered with blocks and fragments of rocks 
like those exposed within the pit. Several 
years ago Mr. G. K. Gilbert made a study 
of Coon Butte. He appears to have sup- 
posed at first that it was formed by a meteor 
striking the earth. His final conclusion 
was, however, that it was caused by a steam 
explosion. 

Some years ago a mining company acting 
upon the theory that the Coon Butte pit 
was made by a meteor, began a systematic 
search for the mass in the bottom of the 
erater-like depression. Their explorations 
show that the region has yielded several 
tons of meteoric iron, and that a large num- 
ber of pieces of this iron have been found 
interbedded with the débris thrown from 
the pit. The distribution of the irons on 
the surrounding plain also lends strong 
support to the idea that the depression was 


ee 


oa eet poe 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1906.] 


made by a meteor striking the earth. The 
bottom of the pit is filled with fossiliferous 
fresh-water deposits to a depth of about 
eighty feet. 

Messrs. Barringer’s and Tuilghman’s 
paper was discussed by Messrs. J. C. Bran- 
ner, A. C. Lane and E. O. Hovey. 

Recess was taken from 12:45 to 3:45 on 
account of lunch and the dedication of 
Rockefeller Hall. 

Saturday, June 30. Excursion to Union 
Springs under the leadership of Professor 
G. D. Harris, of Cornell University. This 
was participated in by thirteen members 
of the section. The stratigraphy, paleon- 
tolegy and physiography of the region were 
studied. 

Monday, July 2. An excursion by boat 
to various points of interest at the southern 
end of Cayuga Lake under the leadership 
of Professor G. D. Harris, which was par- 
ticipated in by eighteen members of the 
section and association. The succession of 
Devonian beds along the lake shores was 
noted; peculiarities of shore-line and delta 
formations observed and the erosion of the 
strata as exemplified in the Taughannock 
Falls studied. The Glenwood intrusive 
dike was visited. 

Tuesday, July 3. An excursion to En- 
field Glen under the leadership of R. H. 
Whitbeck of the State Normal School, 
Trenton, N. J., which was participated in 
by fifteen members of the section and asso- 
ciation. The glacial phenomena of Cayuga 
Valley, the geology of the lateral valleys, 
the jointed structure of the rocks and the 
Enfield Falls, were the natural features of 
particular interest. 

After lunch at the Enfield Glen Pro- 
fessor C. R. Dryer, of the State Normal 
School, Terra Haute, Ind., gave, by invita- 
tion, a carefully prepared paper upon ‘The 
Geologic Features of the Finger Lake Re- 
gion, New York.’ 


SCIENCE. 


yal 


Western New York may be divided into 
four physiographic regions: (1) the Iro- 
quois plain, (2) the drumlin belt, (3) the 
Finger Lake belt, (4) the Allegheny Pla- 
teau. The Finger Lake belt les on the 
northward slope of the plateau and is 
trenched by numerous north-south valleys, 
many of which contain lakes. The valleys 
are long, narrow, straight or but slightly 
curved, flat-bottomed, from 1,500 to 2,500 
deep and partly filled with sediment. The 
rock floor of the Cayuga Valley is 55 feet 
below the sea level and that of the Seneca 
Valley at least 556 feet. The slopes of the 
valley walls are smooth, symmetrical, de- 
void of spurs, and below the 900-foot level 
are sharply oversteepened. The wide, 
open, mature valleys of the tributary 
streams are, with a few exceptions, ‘hung 
up’ at the edge of the steepened slope and 
the streants drop by rapids and falls 
through narrow rock gorges, to the lake 
level. Enfield Creek has in its upper 
course a fall of about 30 feet to the mile, 
then it makes a nearly vertical fall of 210 
feet and descends 450 feet in one mile and 
a half to the level of Cayuga Inlet. If the 
slope of the upper part be extended out 
into the air it would pass 500 feet above 
the present mouth of the stream. Within 
sight on the southern horizon is a notch or 
gap 600 feet deep and one fourth of a mile 
wide which leads from the head of this 
stream through to the Chemung drainage 
without any definite divide. 

The physiographic problems of this re- 
gion are many; but the features just enu- 
merated can have but one meaning. Main 
valleys oversteepened, overdeepened and 
too straight and smooth to be the work of 
streams alone, tributary valleys hanging 
hundreds of feet above their immediate 
baselevel, a main divide notched by 
through-going gaps—these are as character- 
istie of glaciated and ice-shaped regions as 


312 


the features of Alaska, the Alps, Norway 
or New Zealand. In face of the fact that 
such peculiar, strongly marked and abnor- 
mal features always occur concordantly in 
regions known to have been extensively 
glaciated, any other hypothesis than that 
they are due directly or immediately to 
ice action of some kind seems gratuitous 
and impertinent. To set up such trifles 
as a patch of residual soil, an island in the 
lake, a shore cliff, etc., as competent to 
negative the evidences of glacial erosion is 
to swallow gnats and strain out a camel. 
A gnat may be as difficult to explain as a 
camel, but it is of relatively little conse- 
quence whether he is explained or not. As 
a means of progress across the desert of 
hypothesis to the oasis of conclusion, the 
camel may be relied on and the gnats that 
annoy him disregarded. The various ses- 
sions and excursions of the section were 
attended by thirty different members of 
the association. 

The section finally adjourned at about 
4 p.m., Tuesday, July 3. 

Epmunp Otts Hovey, 
Secretary. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


Zur Erkenninis der Kolloide. By RicHarp 
ZSIGMONDY. Jena, Gustav Fischer. 1905. 
Pp. vi+185. 4 Marks. 


The names of Siedentopf and Zsigmondy 
have become familiar to the whole scientific 
world through the brilliant researches which 
resulted in the development of the ‘ultra 
apparatus’; their device for observing par- 
ticles so small as almost to reach the hypothet- 
ical molecular dimensions.” 

In this monograph, ‘Zur Erkenntnis der 
Kolloide,’ Zsigmondy has given a careful ac- 
count of his own and Siedentopf’s methods 
and results, a brief historical review of many 
other noteworthy researches and a short dis- 


* The original articles appeared in the Zeitschrift 
fiir Elektrochemie, Vol. VIII., pp. 684-687 (1902) 
and in Drude’s Annalen, Vol. X., pp. 1-39 (1903). 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 612. 


cussion of the bearing of the ‘ ultra’ methods 
upon certain theoretical issues. 

He states that the main purpose of his 
researches on colloids has been to determine 
whether or not the polarization and disper- 
sion of light in Tyndall’s experiment is an 
essential characteristic of all hydrosols or eol- 
loidal solutions. He has answered this ques- 
tion in the affirmative in numerous eases, 
having demonstrated that the dispersion of 
light is due to the presence of the same par- 
ticles to which are to be ascribed the other 
remarkable properties of the liquids contain- 
ing them. ! : 

It may not be amiss to state briefly the prin- 
ciple of Tyndall’s experiment and of the ‘ ultra 
apparatus,’ and to recount some of the inter- 
esting facts described in the book. <A beam of 
light is sent through the space under observa- 
tion, and the observer looks at the space in a 
direction perpendicular to the course of the 
beam. If dust, or other fine particles, are 
present in that space, they polarize, disperse 
and reflect the light, and the beam is seen. 
If no such particles are present, the beam is 
not seen, and the space is said to be optically 
empty. 

With all the resources of the famous firm 
of Carl Zeiss at Jena at their command, Sie- 
dentopf and Zsigmondy constructed their ap- 
paratus to send a beam of great intensity, a 
minute image of the sun, into the medium 
under investigation, and observed through the 
best of microscopes. Under these conditions, 
the particles of metallic gold in a colloidal 
gold solution appear as brilliant sources of 
light, but their shape can not be determined. 

Siedentopf and Zsigmondy counted the num- 
ber of these bright spots in a space of known 
dimensions, they knew the concentration of 
the gold solution (the weight of gold per unit 
volume); they assumed that all the gold 
present was visible, that it had the same spe- 
cific gravity in this finely divided state as 
when massive, and that the particles were 
cubes. From these values they easily eal- 
culated the linear dimensions of the indi- 
vidual particles. It will be seen at once that 
these dimensions can not be regarded as as- 
certained, because of the assumptions, but 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1906.] 


they possess a high degree of probability. The | 


smallest particles which they were able to 
count appeared to have a linear dimension of 
6 wp (Cmillimicrons, or thousandths of a mi- 
cron). 

The extraordinary character of this achieyve- 
ment, actually counting such small particles, 
is best realized through comparisons. The 
smallest object visible with the best microscope 
has a linear dimension of about $4 or 250 mp. 
The hypothetical diameter of a molecule of 
soluble starch has been estimated by Lobry 
de Bruyn at about 5yp and of a hydrogen 
molecule by O. E. Meyer at about 0.1 yp. On 
the other hand a human blood corpuscle has 
a diameter of about 7.5 or 7,500 pp. The 
diagrams in the book make these comparisons 
yet more striking. 

Some solutions contain smaller particles, as 
is evident from the fact that the course of the 
light can be traced, although the individual 
particles can not be counted. Many solutions 
appear optically empty even under this search- 
ing test. We may wish to define. true solu- 
tions as those which are optically empty under 
the ‘ultra apparatus,’ and colloidal solutions 
as those which are not optically empty under 
the same conditions. But there are countless 
intermediate steps, and these observations 


raise the natural question whether, after all,- 


there is any difference between true and col- 
loidal solutions, except in degree. That we 
fail to find lack of homogeneity in what we 
call true solutions may be due merely to the 
limitations of our apparatus. One naturally 
wonders if we may not some day, by these 
methods, be able to answer, in terms of fact 
instead of theory, those puzzling questions; 
in what form is a substance when in solution, 
and why are some things soluble and other 
things practically insoluble in given solvents? 

Siedentopf and Zsigmondy consider it de- 
sirable to coin some new words to cover the 
new region which they have brought within 
the range of direct observation. They sug- 
gest that all particles smaller than 4, shall 
be called ultra-microscopic particles or, for 
the sake of brevity, ultra-microns. These are 
to be subdivided into two groups, (1) those 


SCIENCE. 


31d 


which may be counted in the ‘ ultra apparatus,’ 
to be called sub-microscopie particles, sub- 
microns, or hypo-microns, (2) those which 
may not be so counted, to be called amicro- 
scopic particles or amicrons. 

The sub-microns, in water solutions, possess 
lasting and extremely rapid oscillatory and 
translatory motions which differ from the 
typical Brownian motion in several particu- 
lars. The description of this motion, illus- 
trated with figures, is interesting. 

As is well known, we have blue solutions of 
colloidal gold as well as red. Zsigmondy con- 
cludes, in harmony with the majority of other 
authorities, that there is no observable connec- 
tion between the color and the size of the par- 
ticles. 

Ruby glass is unquestionably to be consid- 
ered as a supercooled colloidal solution. It is 
possible to obtain colorless ‘ruby glass’ by 
cooling, with sufficient rapidity, the solution 
of metallic gold in molten glass. This color- 
less glass, upon being heated to a temperature 
at which it softens, turns red. Zsigmondy 
devotes a good deal of space to a theoretical 
discussion of how the amicrons accumulate 
at centers to form submicrons and small 
crystals. 

A clue is obtained to the size of the pores 
of filters by determining the size of gold par- 
ticles which have passed through them. For 
instance, sub-microns of gold with linear 
dimensions of 30,4 passed through Maasen, 
Pukal and Chamberland filters, which must 
then have some pores of that size. 

The book closes with the well-justified state- 
ment that the ‘ultra’ methods form an im- 
portant addition to, and extension of, other 
physical and chemical methods for the study 
of conditions which have hitherto escaped 
direct observation. It can not be considered 
an exhaustive review of the whole subject of 
colloids. Lottermoser’s ‘Ueber anorganische 
Colloide’? in the sixth volume of Ahren’s 
Sammlung chemischer und chemisch-tech- 
nischer Vortrage is a more complete summary 
of the literature. But Zsigmondy has given 
us an eminently satisfactory, and most wel- 
come treatise on the ‘ ultra’ methods, and the 


874 : SCIENCE. 


deeply interesting results obtained by them. 
Moreover, it is suggestive of many possibili- 
ties of future discovery. 

S. Lawrence BIGELow. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 


The Journal of Experimental Zoology, Vol. 
IIL, No. 2 (July, 1906), contains the follow- 
ing articles: ‘Observations and Experiments 
Concerning the Elementary Phenomena of 
Embryonic Development in Chetopterus, by 
Frank, R. Lillie. This is a study of the origin 
and behavior of formative stuffs in the early 
development of an annelid by direct observa- 
tion, and by various experiments, e. g., analysis 
by centrifugal force, by staining intra vitam, 
and by suppressing the process of cleavage 
without prejudice to other embryonic proc- 
esses. The standpoint is that a complete ac- 
count of embryonic development would trace 
everything back to the chromosome complex 
of the species. ‘Regeneration of Grafted 
Pieces of Planarians,’ by Lilian V. Morgan. 
A complete head may regenerate from a pos- 
terior cut surface of planarians if a very short 
piece is grafted in a reverse direction on a 
larger piece. ‘Experiments on the Behavior 
of Tubicolous Annelids,’ by Charles W. Har- 
gitt. ‘Inheritance of Dichromatism in Lina 
and Gastroidea, by Isabel McCracken, Stan- 
ford University. In this paper the author 
records the results of an attempt to determine 
the behavior in heredity of the alternate char- 
acters in dichromatic species. Two dichro- 
matic beetles, Lina lapponica and Gastroidea 
dissimilis, were bred under controlled condi- 
tions through a series of generations, four in 
the former, seven in the latter. The investi- 
gator finds an accumulative dominance of one 
color over the other from generation to gen- 
eration, or a prepotency of the dominating 
eolor that apparently eventually eliminates 
the recessive color from the dominant line. 
The recessive color behaves like a _ typical 
Mendelian recessive. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
WHEN DID FRANKLIN INVENT THE LIGHTNING-ROD 2 

THE bi-centenary of Benjamin Franklin’s 
birth has served to recall attention to the 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 612. 


varied achievements of this remarkable man, 
but it would hardly be expected that new 
facts could be learned regarding the invention 
of the lightning-rod, upon which his popular 
fame as a natural philosopher chiefly rests. 
Franklin’s classic experiment with the elec- 
trical kite, by which he demonstrated the 
identity of lightning and artificial electricity, 
was performed at Philadelphia during the 
summer of 1752. The date June, which is 
frequently quoted, seems to have been author- 
ized by Priestley in his History of Electricity. 
On the contrary, his French contemporary, 
De Romas, who claimed the idea of the elec- 
trical kite, maintained that Franklin did not 
fly his kite in June, nor until after he had 
heard of the success of the French experi- 
menters, Dalibard and Delor, who, in May, 
1752, collected the electricity during a thunder- 
storm by metal rods, according to a method 
which he himself had suggested. Authorities 
differ as to whether Franklin knew of this 
when he obtained the same results with his 
kite, Park Benjamin, on page 589 of his ‘ In- 
tellectual Rise in Electricity,’ asserting that 
Franklin desired to confirm the French ex- 
periments. If this be true the kite ex- 
periment could hardly have been executed 
at Philadelphia so soon as the following 
month, that is in June, but, at all events, no 
mention of it occurs anywhere until a letter 
describing it, written there in October to 
Peter Collinson at London, was read before 
the Royal Society on December 21, 1752. This 
communication, which appeared in the Gentle- 
man’s Magazine for December, 1752, and in 
the Philosophical Transactions for the same 
year, was reprinted with Franklin’s ‘ Experi- 
ments and Observations in Electricity, of 
which the second part of the first edition 
was published at London in 1753. While it 
seems to have passed unnoticed that the letter 
describing the electrical kite in the Philo- 
sophical Transactions is dated October 1 and 
the same letter in the collected papers bears 
the date October 19, a date subsequently 
adopted by his biographers, it was reserved for 
a German bibliographer, Professor Hellmann, 
to point out, in publishing a facsimile of this 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1906.] 


letter from the Philosophical Transactions, 
in No. 11 of Neudrucke von Schriften und 
Karten wber Meteorologie und EHrdmag- 
netismus (Berlin, 1898), that an important 
omission had been made in the slightly dif- 
ferent version printed in the collected papers. 
The present writer finds that this error has 
been perpetuated by such careful biographers 
of Franklin as Sparks, Bigelow and Smyth, 
who, having reprinted the letter from the col- 
lected papers, also omit this concluding para- 
graph: 

I was pleased to hear of the success of my ex- 
periments in France, and that they there begin to 
erect points upon their buildings. We had be- 
fore placed them upon our academy and state- 
house spires. 

Professor Hellmann supposes that Frank- 
lin, by the last statement, wished to claim 
priority in the use of pointed rods as light- 
ning conductors. 

Already in his ‘Opinions and Conjectures 
Concerning the Properties and Effects of the 
Electrical Matters, arising from Experiments 
and Observations made at Philadelphia, 1749,’ 
contained in a letter to Peter Collinson, dated 
July 29, 1750, Franklin had proposed to test 
the electricity of thunder-clouds and had sug- 
gested the possibility of the lightning-rod. In 
order to continue his experiments, Franklin, 
in September, 1752, erected on his house an 
insulated iron rod, connected at its lower end 
with a pair of bells which, by ringing, would 
show that the rod was electrified. On April 
17, 1753, he charged one Leyden jar from this 
rod and another jar with positive electricity 
from a frictional machine, concluding from 
this and subsequent experiments 

That the clouds of a thunder-gust are most 
commonly in a negative state of electricity, but 
sometimes in a positive state. 

Further on in the same letter in which the 
preceding experiments were described, written 
at Philadelphia in September, 1753, Franklin 
says: 

Metalline rods, therefore, of sufficient thickness, 
and extending from the highest part of an edifice 
to the ground, being of the best material and 
complete conductors, will, I think, secure the 
building from damage, either by restoring the 


SCIENCE. 


379 


equilibrium so fast as to prevent a stroke, or 
by conducting it in the substance of the rod so 
far as the rod goes so that there shall be no 
explosion but what is above its point, between 
that and the clouds. 


This is generally believed to be the first 
definite announcement of the lightning-rod, 
although Poggendorff, in his ‘ Geschichte der 
Physik,’ page 867, casts doubt on Franklin’s 
sole claim to its invention by saying that 
J. H. Winkler, of Leipzig, in his ‘ Programma 
de avertendi fulminis artificio,’ Lipsia, 1753, 
recommended the use of lightning conductors 
and gave directions for their erection, in con- 
sequence of which, probably, they were first 
introduced into Germany in 1754. 

I shall show, however, by what follows that 
Franklin had prepared detailed instructions 
for the installation of lightning-rods nearly a 
year before he wrote the letter that has just 
been quoted. In Poor Richard’s (Improved) 
Almanac for 1753, edited by Richard Saun- 
ders (Benjamin Franklin’s pseudonym) and 
published in Philadelphia by B. Franklin and 
D. Hall, the material for which must have 
been ready not later than October, 1752, oc- 
eurs the following remarkable article which 
seems to have entirely escaped the attention 
of Franklin’s biographers and of scientific stu- 
dents generally. 


How to secure Houses, éc. from Lightning. 
It has pleased God in His Goodness to Mankind, 
at length to discover to them the Means of se- 
euring their Habitations and other Buildings 
from Mischief by Thunder and Lightning. The 
Method is this: Provide a small Iron Rod (it may 
be made of the Rod-iron used by the Nailers) but 
of such a Length, that one End being three or 
four Feet in the moist Ground the other may 
be six or eight Feet above the highest Part of the 
Building. To the upper End of the Rod fasten 
about a Foot of Brass Wire, the size of a common 
Knitting-needle, sharpened to a fine Point; the 
Rod may be secured to the House by a few small 
Staples. If the House or Barn be long, there 
may be a Rod and Point at each End, and a 
middling Wire along the Ridge from one to the 
other. A House thus furnished will not be dam- 
aged by Lightning, it being attracted by the 
Points and passing thro the Metal into the 
Ground without hurting any Thing. Vessels also, 


3716 


having a sharp pointed Rod fix’d on the Top of 
their Masts, with a Wire from the Foot of the 
Rod reaching down, round one of the Shrouds, 
to the Water, will not be hurt by Lightning. 

From the foregoing it is evident that Frank- 
lin drew up definite instructions for erecting 
lightning-rods before the close of the year 
1752 and from the contemporaneous letter, 
describing the electrical kite, it would appear 
that at this time some edifices in Philadelphia 
were thus equipped, but whether for their pro- 
tection or for experiment is uncertain. 

A. Lawrence Rorcn. 
BLuE Hitt METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY, 
August 13, 1906. 


DRIED COTTON CULTURES ONCE MORE. 


Ir would appear from a recent communica- 
tion in Scmmnce that the original dictum of 
Messrs. Harding and Prucha that the nodule- 
forming bacteria will not survive when dried 
upon cotton is now to be modified to apply 
only to those cultures dried (?) in a Petri dish 
enclosed in a paper bag and stored in a drawer 
or under conditions considered to be similar 
to this. Although an attempt is made to show 
that such a method closely resembles that used 
in the original preparation of cotton cultures, 
the actual difference in drying time will be so 
evident to any one who cares to try the ex- 
periment that it need not be discussed here. 
Indeed, it would hardly seem necessary to 
demonstrate the fact that of two pieces of 
cotton containing the same amount of mois- 
ture, one enclosed in a Petri dish, and the 
other exposed to the action of an abundance 
of warm air, the one in the air will dry 
much sooner than the protected piece. One 
would as readily expect clothes to dry as 
rapidly enclosed in a box, wrapped in paper 
and put away in a drawer as when hung upon 
a line. In fact it was this very question of 
rapidity of drying which caused the various 
‘germ-proof’ methods of preparing the cotton 
to be abandoned. It was found that even in 
a specially constructed box of large size (ap- 
proximately 8x2x2 feet) through which air 
was forced over a warm coil, that the length 
of time required for drying was entirely too 
long, and for practical purposes, considering 


SCIENCE. 


IN. S. Vout. XXIV. No. 612. 


the way in which the cultures were to be used, 
it was better policy to turn out a culture which 
might be more or less contaminated than to 
destroy the nodule-forming bacteria in an 
attempt to produce a pure culture. Experi- 
ments showed that all attempts, with the 
facilities available, to produce absolutely pure 
cultures upon cotton involved an unwarranted 
sacrifice of efficiency. : 

It has been supposed that the result ob- 
tained by the users of the dried cotton cul- 
tures would of itself be a sufficient refutation 
of the statement that dried cotton cultures 
were valueless. This seems to be the case 
since an attempt is now made to explain the 
reports received by users of the cultures upon 
‘psychological’ grounds. 

If the bacteria will not live upon cotton 
it is of course necessary to account in some 
way for the thousands of satisfactory reports 
received from this country and elsewhere, and 
the psychological explanation would seem to 
be as good as any. It should be remembered, 
however, that many of the favorable reports 
were furnished by those fully as competent 
to judge of the results obtained as a member 
of an experiment-station staff—that a con- 
siderable number of these experiments were 
checked by uninoculated plots and that photo- 
graphs showing the difference between these 
treated and untreated plots are available in 
all cases where it was possible to obtain them. 
Furthermore, the reports covered tests with 
sterilized soil and sand as well as field experi- 
ments. 

Since the publication of a few of the favor- 
able reports first received, there have been 
many others which emphasize even more 
strongly the benefit derived from cultures when 
used under the conditions for which they are 
designed. During the past season, while the 
statement that the cotton cultures were value- 
less was very widely published, producing, one 
would suppose, anything but a favorable psy- 
chological effect, most satisfactory reports con- 
tinued to be received. 

Although it is manifestly impossible in this 
statement to refer directly to any of these 
reports, it may not be out of place to cite 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1906.] 


briefly the results obtained with dried cotton 
cultures in competition with pure cultures on 
agar obtained from Hiltner of Munich, by the 
Board of Agriculture of Great Britain. This 
test was conducted by thirteen different agri- 
cultural colleges and experiment stations dur- 
ing the year 1905. The general plan of the 
experiment was as follows: 

1. Laboratory experiments with sterilized 
soil and sand. 

2. Pot cultures in unsterilized soils from 
various sources. 

3. Experiments in accord with actual agri- 
cultural or horticultural practise. 

The results of these experiments are pub- 
lished in detail, and to any one examining 
them it can not but be evident that the con- 
tention that the nodule-forming bacteria prop- 
erly dried upon cotton will not live is entirely 
erroneous. In spite of the fact that the cotton 
cultures were in some instances a year old 
and had undoubtedly been subjected to various 
unfavorable conditions, there was no ad- 
vantage whatever in the Hiltner fresh pure 
culture, over the dried cotton culture. The 
conclusion reached by the board speaks for 
itself : 

The experiments im which positive results were 
obtained show that in many cases both Moore’s 
and Hiltner’s cultures were alive, and capable of 
infecting the plants for which they were designed 
and producing an increased yield. 


Concerning the statement that no United 
States experiment station has been able to 
- obtain ‘good results’ from dried cotton cul- 
tures it would seem that in view of the re- 
sults obtained either by experiment stations, 
or under government supervision, in Great 
Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South 
Africa, China and other foreign countries— 
to say nothing of the unquestionable ability 
of those reporting success in this country— 
that the ‘psychological’ explanation should 


be applied to the experiment station reports. 


rather than to those obtained from successful 
users of dried cotton cultures. Furthermore, 
an analysis of the reports from those experi- 
ment stations which I have had an opportunity 
to examine does not reveal the worthlessness 


SCIENCE. 


377 


of the cultures which it seems so desirable to 
demonstrate, and finally it is not an impossi- 
bility that under the circumstances the experi- 
ment station may not be the final court of 
appeal in such a matter, after all. One would 
hardly expect ‘any well-marked result’ from 
a culture which, after being prepared, was 
carefully kept upon ice until ready for use—a 
method actually employed at one of the experi- 
ment stations. 

The question of the vitality of nodule-form- 
ing bacteria in dried cotton cultures is one 
that can not be settled by an attempt to ex- 
plain away the actual results which can be 
and have been obtained from their use. The 
incompatibility of these results with the idea 
that the bacteria are killed by drying is ad- 
mitted, but it is not the results which will 
have to fall. JI shall be glad to send dried 
cotton cultures to any one who may wish to 
arrive at an independent conclusion regarding 
the ability of the nodule-forming bacteria to 
withstand drying. These cultures may be re- 
tained any length of time up to twelve months 
before testing, so there will be no question 
about the period during which vitality is re- 
tained. The inoculated cotton will have been 
dried in a room through which a current of 
air has been forced, not in a Petri dish. 

Grorce T. Moore. 

MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY, 

Woops Horst, Mass., 
July 28, 1906. 


SPECIAL ARTICLES. 
GEOLOGY OF SOUTH BRAZIL. 


[THE following note from Dr. I. C. White, 
chief of the Brazilian Coal Commission, 
should have appeared in connection with the 
communication of Professor Osborn on ‘ Verte- 
brate Paleontology,’ published in the issue of 
Sctence of August 8, but was received too 
late for insertion in that issue. |] 

Mesosaurus Brasiliensis occurs in the Iraty 
black shale, state of Paranda, a formation whose 
base lies about 100 meters above the Brazilian 
Coal Measures which hold the typical Glossop- 
teris flora of the Ecca series of South Africa, 
and the Karharbari series of India. It is 


318 


also the same horizon at which Dr. Derby 
finds Stereosternum tumidum in the state of 
Sao Paulo, and its geological horizon is ap- 
proximately 3800 meters below the red beds 
that hold reptilian remains (Scaphonyx 
fischert) which Dr. A. Smith Woodward of 
the British Museum regards as closely related 
to Huskelesaurus of the Stormberg, or Triassic 
beds of South Africa. In fact, it appears that 
we have in Brazil a series of rocks which 
correlate closely with the Karroo system of 
South Africa, and that glacial conditions also 
existed in Brazil immediately preceding the 
deposition of the Coal Measures there, during 
the epoch of the Orleans Conglomerate which 
corresponds to the ‘ Dwyka,’? and ‘ Talchir’ 
conglomerates of Africa and India. ‘The fol- 
lowing scheme of classification, which I have 
adopted for the beds near Minas, Santa Cath- 
arina, will give a general idea of the strati- 
graphic succession in that state. 


Serra Geral eruptives. 

Botueatii sandstones, 
great cliffs of red, 
gray and cream-colored 
sandstones. 

Rio do Rasto red beds, 
with fossil reptiles 
(Scaphonyx) and fos- 
sil trees. 


S20 
Bento 
Series: 


Rocinha limestone. 

Estrada Nova gray and 
variegated shales with 
cherty concretions, and 
sandy beds. 

Iraty black shale, Meso- 
saurus and Stereoster- 
num. 


SANTA 
CATHARINA 
SYSTEM: 


Passa 
Dois 
Series: 


Palermo shales. 

Rio Bonito shales and 
sandstones, with Coal 
Measures and Glossop- 
teris (Gangamopteris) 
flora. 

Orleans conglomerate. 

Yellow sandstones and 
shales to granite floor. 


Tubarao 
Series: 


The Tubaraio and Passa Dois series would 
correlate with the Eecca series, or Lower 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 612. 


Karroo, of South Africa, while the S40 Bento 
beds would represent the Stormberg, or Upper 
Karroo series. The fossils of the Beaufort 
or Middle Karroo series have not yet been 
discovered in South Brazil. 

Mr. David White, of the United States 
Geological Survey, to whom was entrusted the 
study and description of the fossil plants col- 
lected from the rocks of the Santa Catharina 
system by the Brazilian Coal Commission, 
finds the typical Glossopteris flora in the col- 
lections from the Tubarao, and Passa Dois 
series, and assigns both to the Permian. This 
conclusion is shared by the writer except that 
he thinks it possible the Coal Measures or 
Rio Bonito beds of the series given above may 
be of Permo-Carboniferous or Artinskian age, 
while all above them to the base of the Sao 
Bento series would be true Permian, and this 
would of course include the Mesosawrus zone. 
The very interesting and elaborate memoir of 
Mr. David White, illustrated with ten plates 
of fossil plants, will be published, along with 
Dr. J. H. McGregor’s valuable memoir on 
Mesosaurus brasiliensis, in my final report to 
the Brazilian government on its coal resources. 
The name ‘Gangamopteris flora’ is preferred 
to that of ‘Glossopteris flora’ by Mr. David 
White for reasons that he fully explains in 
connection with his description of this in- 
teresting flora. 

The following quotation from Mr. David 
White’s manuscript, giving the list of species, 
will prove of much interest: 


That the flora of the Brazilian coal measures 
is composed of mingled older Gondwana and 
Northern Permian species has long been known. 
The presence of Gondwana elements in Brazil was 
recognized by Hettner; and Zeiller has contrib- 
uted a very valuable discussion of the inter- 
mingling of Northern and Southern types, and 
of the consequent deductions as to the boundaries 
of the two great floral provinces in Permo-Car- 
boniferous time. In the following pages it will 
be shown that we have in southern Brazil a 
typical Lower Gondwana flora, embracing the 
principal types characteristic of that flora in 
India, Australia and South Africa, to which is 
added a smaller part, chiefly composed of 
Lepidophytes, derived more or less directly from 
the Northern Permo-Carboniferous flora. Also 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1906.] 


it will be seen that the Gondwana forms were 
present in the lowest sediments of the series, 
while the Northern elements, appearing a little 
later, seem to become more abundant and varied 
in the higher beds. 

The total flora, so far as yet discovered, is in 
the following 


LIST OF THE FOSSIL PLANTS FROM THE COAL-FIELDS 
OF BRAZIL. 


Reinschia australis Bert. & Ben., var. brasili- 
ensis N. var. 

Rosellinites Gangamopteridis n. sp. 

Hysterites brasiliensis n. sp. 

Equisetites calamitinoides n. sp. 

Schizoneura? sp. 

Phyllotheca Griesbachi Zeill. 

Phyllotheca Muelleriana n. sp. 

Phyllotheca (?) sp. 

Lycopodiopsis Derbyi Re. 

Lepidodendron Pedroanum (Carr.) Zeill. 

Lepidophloios laricinus Sternb. 

Sigillaria Brardi Brongn. 

Sigillaria australis n. sp. 

Sigillaria sp. 

Sigillaria (?) muralis n. sp. 

Sphenopteris hastata McCoy? 

Sphenopteris sp. 


Psaronius brasiliensis Brongn. (Not repre- 
sented in the collection.) 
Newropteridium Plantianum (Carr.) D. W. 


(Not represented in the collection.) 
Glossopteris Browniana Brongn. 
Glossopteris indica (Brongn.) Schimp. 
Glossopteris ampla Dana. 

Glossopteris occidentalis n. sp. 

Glossopteris sp. 

Vertebraria sp. 

Gangamopteris obovata (Carr.) D. W. 

Ottokaria ovalis n. sp. 

Arberia minasica n. g., . sp. 

Derbyella aurita n. g., n. sp. 

Neggerathiopsis Hislopi (Bunb.) Feist. 

Cardiocarpon Seixasi n. sp. 

Cardiocarpon Moreiranum n. sp. 

Cardiocarpon Oliveiranum n. sp. 

Cardiocarpon Barcellosum n. sp. 

Voltzia?. sp. 

Dadoxylon Pedroi Zeill. 

Dadoxylon nummularium n. sp. 

Dadoxylon meridionale n. sp. 

Carpolithus? sp. 

Hastimima Whiter n. g., n. sp. 

Although the number of forms, forty in all, is 
ao large, it will at once be noted that it em- 


SCIENCE. 


encroaching on the interior plains. 


O19 


braces representatives of the four dominant and 
characteristic groups of the older Gondwana flora; 
namely, Phyllotheca, Glossopteris, Gangamopteris 
and Neggerathiopsis, all of which un present in 
identical oriental species. 


L C. WHITE. 


MorGANTOWN, W. V4., 
August 1, 1906. 


THE FOREST DISTRICTS OF UGANDA. 


A journey of inspection through the most 
important forest areas of the Uganda pro- 
tectorate has lately been made by Mr. M. T. 
Dawe, officer in charge of the forestry and 
scientific department, who gives the results of 
his observations in a parliamentary paper, 
according to the abstract in The Geographical 
Journal. The largest forests (as shown in a 
sketch-map accompanying the report) lie along 
two strips of country, one running near the 
west and northwest shores of the Victoria 
Nyanza, the other following a more or less 
parallel line through the extreme west of the 
protectorate. Mr. Dawe describes each forest 
in turn, and though his point of view is main- 
ly economic, many details of scientific interest 
can be gfeaned from the report. A discovery 
was that of the Lagos silk rubber tree (Fun- 
tumia elastica) as an indigenous element, 
while several new species of Landolphia, some 
of economic importance, were also brought to 
light. Of the first forests visited, that of 


.Bujeju in Buddu occupies a low-lying tract 


near the lake, some parts of which seem once 
to have formed part of the latter. The forest 
seems comparatively new, and to be gradually 
It con- 
tains no good rubber-vines, though they are 
found in adjoining areas. One of the trees 
found in this district, though not of large 
size, is a variety of the valuable Podocarpus 
milanjianus, which occurs practically on the 
lake-shore. Of the western forests, that of 
western Ankole occupies a large area east of 
Lake Albert Edward. It is largely composed 
of three trees—Carapa grandiflora, Symphonia, 
globulifera and Parinarium excelsum. Mr. 
Dawe remarks that almost every forest in 
Uganda possesses its own special character, 


380 SCIENCE. 


due to the predominance of one or two par- 
ticular trees. In Toro, the Kibale forest 
covers a considerable area. The most com- 
mon tree is one nearly allied to Maba abys- 
sinica, with ebony-like markings in the center. 
An interesting tree with resinous bark and a 
timber much resembling sandal-wood proved 
to be unknown, and has been placed in a new 
genus (Dawea), as well as in a new tribe of 
Bixinee. To the south this forest touches 
the northern end of Lake Ruisamba. An ac- 
count is given of the types of vegetation on 
the Ruwenzori range, agreeing generally with 
those of previous travelers, though more de- 
tailed as regards species met with. Here, too, 
the Podocarpus milanjianus occurs. The tree- 
Senecio growing near the lower glaciers 
proved to be a new species, which has been 
named adnivalis. From the point reached 
near the base of the glacier no snow was vis- 
ible (in July), and Mr. Dawe concludes that 
there are much colder seasons. The country 
comprising the Semliki plains, with the Ru- 
wenzori and Mboga ranges on either side, is 
described as one of the finest districts for cul- 
tivation in the protectorate, the hot Semliki 
valley being especially adapted for tropical 
products, such as Para rubber. The climate 
of the Mboga hills seems more bracing than 
that of Ruwenzori. In the Semliki forest 
(which is largely composed of Cynometra), 
the oil palm of West Africa is found, and is 
said to be abundant in certain localities. The 
Bwamba of this region are very destructive to 
forest land, as they are constantly making 
new clearings. In the Bugoma forest of 
Unyoro the Cynometra Alexandr is again 
abundant, and where this is the case there is 
little rubber. Further north, the Budongo for- 
est is said to cover an area of 350 square miles. 
It is well watered. The growth of trees is 
very dense, and it is the most valuable timber 
forest seen in the protectorate, the most im- 
portant trees belonging to the mahogany or- 
der. Unyoro is regarded by Mr. Dawe as 
offering great possibilities for agriculture, and 
as admirably adapted for cotton so far as the 
soil is concerned. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 612. 


APPOINTMENTS AND REMOVALS AT STAN- 
FORD UNIVERSITY. 

It is believed by the president and members 
of the board of trustees that the vesting of the 
power of removal of members of the university 
solely in the hands of the president in accord- 
ance with the original deed of grant is an ar- 
rangement not desirable as a permanency in 
university management. Furthermore, there 
seems no good reason why appointments, pro- 
motions and removals should not stand on the 
same footing. In view of this, the following 
resolution was adopted by the board of trus- 
tees of the university, on March 30, 1906, with 
the full approval of the president. This reso- 
lution, although properly belonging to the re- 
port for 1906-07, is on account of its impor- 
tance incorporated here, the delay in printing 
the present report making this possible. 

WHEREAS, It is desirable that all nominations 
for appointments and promotions of members of 
the teaching staff at the university, and all recom- 
mendations for dismissals, should be made by or 


through the president of the university, the _ 


board of trustees taking no initiative in these 
matters, and 

WHEREAS, It is undesirable that either the 
power of appointment or removal should rest ab- 
solutely in the hands of a single person, 

Ir 1s RESOLVED and agreed by the board of 
trustees and president of the Leland Stanford 
Junior University that so long as nominations 
for appointments and promotions of members of 
the teaching staff of the university are made by 
or through the president of the university, no dis- 
missal shall be made without the concurrence of 
a majority of the trustees present at a meeting 
of the board of trustees at which a quorum shall 
be present. 

That in the case of the recommendation of the 
removal of a member of the teaching staff involy- 
ing any questions affecting his honor or moral 
character, he shall be furnished by the president, 
upon application, with a specific written state- 
ment of all charges and evidence reflecting upon 
his honor or moral character, and be given an 
opportunity to present a written statement of his 
answer and of any evidence he may wish to offer 
in defense, and a copy of all such charges and evi- 
dence, together with any answer and evidence 


+ Concluding part of the annual report of Presi- 
dent David Starr Jordan. 


wip AE Sab RIS 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1906.] 


offered by the accused, and the recommendations 
of the advisory board shall be attached to the 
recommendation of the president of the university, 
and the action of the board of trustees shall be 
based solely upon the recommendation of the 
president of the university and the record at- 
tached thereto, there being no further hearing 
before the board of trustees or any member 
thereof, unless the board in its discretion shall 
elect to receive other evidence in aid of its de- 
cision, and any such recommendation and informa- 
tion affecting the honor or character of a mem- 
ber of the teaching staff shall be presented to and 
acted upon by the board of trustees separately 
from anything which may involve his competency 
or fitness in any other respect. The members of 
the board shall not in any case, or in any event, 
listen to or receive any statement concerning such 
matter except in open meeting. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


Proressor Ivan PetTrRovircH PAvLOFF, pro- 
fessor of physiology in the University of St. 
Petersburg, will deliver the Huxley lecture 
at the Charing-cross Hospital Medical School 
on October 1. 

THE annual address before the Sigma Xi 
Society of the University of California was 
given on September 4 by Professor H. 8. 
Jennings, of Johns Hopkins University, on 
the subject ‘The Behavior of Some Animals 
of the Seashore.’ 


Dr. S. Kimura, professor in the Imperial 
Japanese Navy, is passing through this coun- 
try on his way to Berlin, Germany, where he 
will attend the wireless telegraph conference. 


Mr. W. Marconi expected to sail for this 
country on September 15, on the Caronia. 


Dr. Lawrence F. Fuick, director of the 
Phipp’s Institute of Philadelphia, was one of 
the delegates to the Congress on Tuberculosis 
which met during the first half of the present 
month at The Hague. 


Proressor D. 8. Jacospus, who has been con- 
nected with the Stevens Institute of Technol- 
ogy since 1884 as instructor and professor of 
experimental engineering, has resigned to join 
the technical staff of the Babcock and Wilcox 
Boiler Company. 


Dr. L. A. Baver’s resignation from the 
U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey took effect 


SCIENCE. 


o8l 


? 

on September 1. As already announced in 
this journal, he has accepted the permanent 
directorship of the department of terrestrial 
magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of~ 
Washington. All his correspondence should 
be addressed to The Ontario, Washington, 
D. C. 

Dr. Harry T. Marsuauy, formerly of the 
Johns Hopkins University, has been appointed 
pathologist at the Bureau of Science at 
Manila. 

Dr. J. Stein, 8.J., has been appointed as- 
tronomer in the Vatican Observatory at Rome. 


AccorDiIne to the Journal of the American 
Medical Association, it is rumored that Pro- 
fessors von Leyden and Olshausen intend to 
retire from the medical faculty at Berlin Uni- 
versity. Professor E. vy. Bergmann will also 
give up further teaching this fall when he 
passes his seventieth birthday, and Professor 
W. Erb, of Heidelberg, will retire at the close 
of the winter semester. 


Dr. Extmer KE. Brown, recently appointed 
U. S. commissioner of education, will give the 
opening address at the exercises of the School 
of Pedagogy of New York University, on 
September 22. 


At the recent Boston meeting of the Amer- 
ican Academy of Medicine, Dr. Casey A. 
Wood, of Chicago, was elected president. Dr. 
F. Trendelenburg, professor of surgery at 
Leipzig, who was in attendance at the meeting, 
was elected an honorary member. 


Tue Simon Fund of $25,000 for the further- 
ance of research on syphilis has been divided 
between Professor Neisser, of Breslau, who 
receives $19,000; Dr. J. Siegel, who receives 
$4,500, and Dr. Lesser, to whom $1,500 has 
been awarded. 


Herr O. WentTzxI, of Frankfurt a. M., has 
been awarded the 300-marks prize of the 
Berufsgenossenschaft der chemischen Industrie 
for the discovery of the best means of purify- 
ing hydrogen which contains arsenic. 

Art the meeting of the Association of Mili- 
tary Surgeons, held in Buffalo last week, it 
was announced that the Enno Sanders prize 
had been awarded to Major Pilcher for an 


382 


essay on ‘The training of the medical officer 
of the state forces to best qualify him for local 
service and for mobilization with national 
troops.’ 

Proressor Cuas. N. GouLp is preparing a 
preliminary report on the oil, gas and coal 
deposits of the new state of Oklahoma. The 
field work was accomplished during July and 
August. : 

The Journal of the American Medical As- 
sociation states that a memorial tablet was 
recently unveiled at Pavia, Italy, to the mem- 
ory of the late surgeon, E. Bottini. Behind 
the tablet were immured a gold medal with 
the portrait of the deceased and an elab- 
orate souvenir volume containing works by 
his pupils and friends, with an address on 
parchment—all of which had been prepared 
to present to the master on the occasion of the 
twenty-fifth anniversary of his assuming the 
chair of surgery at Pavia. The plans for the 
ceremonies were annulled by the unexpected 
death of the great surgeon not long before the 
arrival of the anniversary. The tablet stands 
between one erected to the memory of Scarpa 
and another to Porta, and the inscription on 
the marble is merely a few words of tribute 
to the man ‘ who by his genius in the science 
and the art renewed the glorious traditions of 
the Pavia school of surgery.’ 


M. JosepH Francois BossEert, astronomer 
at the Paris Observatory, has died at the age 
of fifty-four years. 


Dr. Max von Eytu, known as an engineer 
and author, died on August 21 at Ulm, at the 
age of seventy years. 


Dr. JoHN CAMERON, consulting physician to 
the Royal Southern Hospital, and formerly 
lecturer on medicine at the Liverpool Royal 
Infirmary, has died at the age of eighty-eight. 


THERE will be on October 17 a civil service 
examination for the position of scientific as- 
sistant in the Department of Agriculture, at 
salaries ranging from $840 to $1,200 per an- 
num, depending upon the qualifications and 
experience of the appointees. Attention is 
invited to the fact that it is especially desired 
to secure application for the major optional 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 612. 


subjects—analytical chemistry (methods for 
the detection of food adulteration), plant 
pathology and soil physics. 

THE Illinois Civil Service Commission an- 
nounces examinations for a pathologist at 
Kankakee ($2,500 a year and maintenance), 
and pathologists in six other hospitals for the 
insane. 

THE Mexican government offers three prizes, 
each of the value of $20,000, for (1) the dis- 
covery of the typhus fever germ; (2) the mode 
of its transmission to man; (8) a successful 
preventive or curative serum or other effectual 
remedy. 

Prorressor A. D. F. Hamu, of Columbia 
University, has been authorized to offer a 
prize of $500 in behalf of the American So- 
ciety for the Prevention of Cruelty to Ani- 
mals for the best design for a bronze drinking 
fountain for dogs, horses and men. It is to 
be set on the edge of the sidewalk. Each 
fountain is to be limited in cost to $250. 

AN association for the study of microbiol- 
ogy has recently held its first session at Berlin. 


Tue first international congress for the 
study of the polar regions opened on Sep- 
tember 7 at the Palais des Académies, Brus- 
sels, under the presidency of M. Beernaert. 
As the London Times states, the idea of the 
systematic study of this portion of the globe 
originated in the international congress on 
“expansion mondiale’ held last year at Mons, 
when a committee was formed to carry the 
idea into practise on a basis of international 
cooperation. At the meeting representatives 
were present from the institutions and learned 
societies of almost every quarter of the globe. 
Among those present were Dr. Nordenskjold, 
M. Arctowski, M. de Gerlache, Captain Scott, 
Prince Buonaparte, and many leading men of 
science. Baron de Favereau, the Belgian 
minister for foreign affairs, welcomed the 
delegates. It was decided to form a commit- 
tee to study the best means of creating an 
international polar association for the purpose 
of organizing explorations and otherwise as- 
sisting the object in view. Dr. Jean Charcot 
announced that he was organizing an expedi- 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1906.] 


tion to the South Pole and Charles Benard, 
president of the Belgian Oceanographic So- 
ciety, said that society was organizing an 
expedition to the North Pole. 


The British Medical Journal says in an 
editorial article: “In regard to yellow fever, 
Panama affords as striking an object lesson 
as Havana of the incalculable benefit to man- 
kind that has followed the discovery of the 
cause of the disease and the manner of its 
transmission. The glory of the work which 
has had this striking consummation is shared 
by several men. The credit of the conception 
belongs to Dr. Carlos Finlay, who propounded 
the idea many years ago without attracting 
from the profession any attention but an occa- 
sional contemptuous notice. More fortunate 
than many true begetters of new truths, Dr. 
Finlay, at the meeting of the Pan-American 
Medical Congress held at Havana in 1901, 
was acclaimed by the assembly as the author 
of the discovery which has already been so 
fruitful of good effects. Dr. Carter was an- 
other pioneer in the work which was brought 
to completion by the American Commission. 
Untimely death snatched the reward from the 
hands of Walter Reed and Lazear, but Drs. 
Carroll and Agromonte still survive. It 
would, we think, be a fitting acknowledgment 
of the work of these four men if the Nobel 
prize were divided among them. It will 
searcely be denied by any one conversant with 
the facts that their work is of far greater im- 
portance than that of several to whom the 
prize has been awarded in the past few years. 
The only original research work whose prac- 
tical results can be held to compare with it is 
that which has brought malaria, that monster 
which till lately claimed so vast a tribute of 
human lives, within the control of man.” 

The Geographical Journal states that a new 
railway just opened in China traverses a fer- 
tile and populous tract of alluvial country in 
the province of Kiangsu. It runs for a dis- 
tance of about 200 miles from Shanghai to 
Nanking in a generally northwesterly direc- 
tion through the towns of Su-chou, Wu-sieh 
and Chin-kiang. The section actually opened 
to traffic, however, is from Shanghai to Su- 


SCIENCE. 


383 


chou and Wuc-sieh, a total distance of 85 miles. 
The remaining portion to Chin-kiang and 
Nanking enters into more hilly country, where 
some tunnelling is necessary, and this, it is 
anticipated, will not be completed and opened 
for trafic until 1908. The country round 
about is one of the most thickly inhabited 
and productive parts of China. It is inter- 
sected with numerous creeks, canals and trib- 
utary streams draining into the Su-chou 
Creek, the Hwang Pu River and the Yang-tse 
Kiang. Cotton, rice and mulberry trees are 
grown extensively, and there is a great pas- 
senger traffic along the Grand Canal, as well 
as endless junks freighted with timber, stone, 
grain, pottery, bamboos and miscellaneous 
‘goods. The length of time occupied by pas- 
sengers in traveling from Shanghai to Nan- 
king will be reduced from about twenty-eight 
hours to eight or ten hours, and the goods 
traffic, which now occupies several days, will 
gain in an even greater degree. Su-chou and 
Chin-kiang, in addition, of course, to Shang- 
hai and Nanking, the termini of the line, are 
treaty ports. The first named has been called 
the Venice of the Far East, owing to the net- 
work of canals that pass through its curious 
narrow streets. It was besieged by Colonel 
Gordon during the Taiping rebellion, and is 
now a great center of the silk industry. Wu- 
sieh and Chin-kiang are also busy marts, the 
latter, as well as Nanking, being a regular 
calling place for the steamers that ply on the 
Yang-tse. 


WE learn from the London Times that a 
large collection of South American birds has 
been presented to the Zoological Society by 
Captain Pam, who brought them with him 
from Caracas. At the wish of the donor, 
Mr. Thomson met the mail boat at South- 
ampton and took charge of the birds, which 
he conveyed to the gardens without any losses. 
To Captain Pam belongs the credit of being 
the first person to introduce any species of the 
humming-bird family to the Regent’s Park 
aviaries. Last November he presented one of 
the ‘violet ears’ (Petasophora iolata), the 
only survivor of the half-dozen with which he 
started, and the bird lived for a fortnight, 


384 


though it suffered badly from the cold during 
the latter part of the passage, and footwarmers 
were used to provide artificial heat for it on 
the train journey. Short as the life of this 
example was in captivity, it exceeded by some 
days that of others kept by a private avicul- 
turist in Gray’s-inn, who a few years ago 
purchased eleven, and lost them all within as 
many days. The humming-birds which ar- 
rived on Monday have been placed in the 
insect-house, one end of which is now occupied 
by two large glass cases specially prepared for 
them, and quite large enough to allow of 
somewhat extended flight. On their passage 
to England the birds were fed, as they will be 
at the gardens, on meat extract mixed with 
honey, the former being intended to make up 
for the insects which they obtain in a natural 
condition, but which are difficult to supply in 
captivity. Even in South America native- 
born aviculturists reckon themselves success- 
ful if they keep a caged humming-bird for a 
couple of months. This period, however, was 
doubled by Captain Pam, who had one of 
these birds for four months. These new- 
comers have not yet been identified, but it is 
believed they are closely allied to the violet- 
eared humming-bird exhibited last November. 
The insect-house was closed to the public on 
Monday, but it will soon be open again, and 
the tropical birds kept there should prove a 
great attraction. Much more numerous was 
the other part of the collection, which has 
been deposited for the present in one of the 
inner rooms of the western aviary. The only 
one that has yet been turned out of the travel- 
ing cage is a sun-bittern, none the worse for 
its journey. The other species, of which there 
were in all over eighty examples, consisted of 
maroon and blue-shouldered tanagers, golden- 
crowned harynests, mocking birds, a small 
woodpecker (new to the collection), hooded 
siskins, buntings and finches. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

By the will of Edward H. Dunn, president 
of the corporation of Boston University, 
$120,000 is left to that institution, one half 
for the establishment of a professorship and 
one half for general purposes. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 612. 


We learn from the Medical Record that the 
Medical College building in connection with 
Queens University, Kingston, was destroyed 
by fire recently. Although there was an in- 
surance of only $22,000 steps were immedi- 
ately taken to erect a new building, which it 
is expected will be ready for use early in Oc- 
tober. The fire, it is thought, originated from 
a gas jet kept burning in an oven where 
paraffiine molds were made. The destruction 
of the bacteriological and public health labora- 
tories in connection with the college will for 
the present cause considerable inconvenience. 


At the last meeting of the regents of the 
University of Nebraska, Dr. F. E. Clements 
was promoted from the associate professorship 
of plant physiology to the full professorship. 


Ensien C. A. Harrineton, U.S.N., who 
graduated from the Naval Academy two years 
ago, has been assigned to give a course in 
naval architecture at the Massachusetts Insti- 
tute of Technology. 

Mr. Frank F. Grout, A.B. (’04, Minnesota), 
has resigned from the Illinois Geological Sur- 
vey to accept a position as instructor in min- 
eralogy at Oklahoma State University. 

APPOINTMENTS in philosophy and psychology 
are announced as follows: Mr. Rowland 
Haynes, assistant in philosophy at Columbia 
University during the winter of 1905-6, has 
been appointed associate in philosophy at the 
University of Chicago for the ensuing year. 
He is to have courses in philosophy, ethics, 
psychology and logic during the absence in 
Europe of Associate Professor A. W. Moore. 
Dr. Harvey Carr, of the University of Chi- 
cago, has been appointed instructor in psy- 
chology in the Pratt Institute of Brooklyn, to 
succeed Dr. Irving King, who goes to the 
University of Michigan. Dr. W. K. Wright, 
of the University of Chicago, has been ap- 
pointed instructor in philosophy and psychol- 
ogy in the University of Texas, to succeed 
Dr. Warner Fite, who has accepted a eall to 
the University of Indiana. Dr. Percy Hughes, 
instructor in philosophy at the University of 
Minnesota, will give the courses at Tulane 
University during Professor W. B. Smith’s 
absence in Europe. 


SCIENCE 


A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 
OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 


Fripay, SEPTEMBER 28, 1906. 


CONTENTS. 


Some Problems for Agricultural Chemists: 
Proressor H. B. VOORHEES.............. 885 


The Teaching of Science in College: Pro- 


FESSOR GEroRGE H. MrapD ............... 390 
Scientific Books :— 

Moulton’s Introduction to Astronomy: 

ProFessor W. J. Hussey. Smith’s Intro- 
_ duction to General Inorganic Chemistry: 

PRORESSOR | Els TS WELES Mle aussie aceon 897 
Scientific Journals and Articles............ 399 
Discussion and Correspondence :— 

Discontinuous Variation: PRESIDENT Davip 

STARR JORDAN. Vulcanism: PROFESSOR 

Cart Barus. The Rigidity of the Earth: 

Proressor L. M. Hoskins. The Interior of 

the Harth: Dr. AtrreD C. Lange. The 

Geographical Distribution of Students: 

PRoFESSOR RupotF TomMpo, JR..... ...... 399 
Special Articles :— 

The Preservation of Surface Condenser 

Tubes in Plants using Salt or Oontami- 

nated Water Circulation: W. W. CHuURCH- 

TNGID Ge, lo bid utaidia Bua BIS Rea eels iete Mccann BEN aI 405 
Quotations :— 

The Next International Tuberculosis Con- 

TRADED 0s GAA ae Aa ASR Sema ARTS ema OTN 409 
Current Notes on Meteorology :— 

Climate and Altitude in Africa; Monthly 

Weather Review; Central Low Pressure in 

a Tornado; Notes: Proressor R. DEC. 

NAY ESTED costly Gis) AR AR Seo Ue RN 410 


Botanical Notes :— 
A New Flora of Colorado; The North Amer- 
ican Chareae; A Moss Book: PROFESSOR 
CHARERS VHS RBESSEN/ 800.) c)4 7. SEG e 2iulb |! 411 
Central Building of Iowa State College of 
Agriculture and Mechanic Arts: PROFESSOR 


NE Se eTy PEZAUNEN EES Ts aa gedaan aie ma UR A hte Aaa 413 
Sir William Perkin and the American Jubilee 

of the Coal Tar Industry)... 00.06.24: 413 
Scientific Notes and News................. 414 
University and Educational News.......... 416 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 
review should be sent to the Editor of SclENCE, Garrison-on- 
Hudson, N. Y. 


SOME PROBLEMS FOR AGRICULTURAL 
CHEMISTS~ 

THE topic of my paper is not intended 
to convey the idea that I have anything 
new or startling to suggest, or that I in-- 
tend to point out the shortcomings of the: 
American agricultural chemist. My pur-- 
pose is mainly to state what an experience: 
of twenty-five years has suggested in the 
way of chemical investigations that seem 
now to be essential, if we are to maintain, or 
increase, the fertility of our soils, and thus 
retain the position that we have acquired 
as an agricultural people. We have in this 
country quite as capable chemists, I am 
sure, as there are in any country, yet the 
conditions existing here in the past, and 
that do exist now, in a way, have been 
such as to demand that our agricultural 
chemists should follow lines of a semi- 
technical, rather than of an investigational, 
character, in the sense that they have neces- 
sarily applied themselves to the problems 
of crop utilization, rather than to those 
having to do with the principles involved 
in their production. The principles of 
agricultural chemistry, which the early in- 
vestigators established, and which were 
collated and formed into a science by the 
aid of the immortal Liebig, have served as 
the foundation for our work, and this 
basis has been sufficient to enable us to 
make great progress from the economic 
standpoint, so long as there were, in a 
sense, new worlds to conquer and new 


*An address delivered before the American 
Chemical Society at the Ithaca meeting. 


386 


fields to cultivate, but do not fully serve 
when the rich stores of fertility in our 
fields have been, in part, exhausted. 

In the next place, the conditions that 
existed here in the earlier history of our 
country, were not such as to demand on 
the part of the tiller of the soil, or farmer, 
a knowledge of those principles which 
would enable him to utilize to the best ad- 
vantage soil fertility, and when the time 
came (as it has now for a large portion of 
our country), when knowledge of prin- 
ciples became a necessity, in order that 
farming on these areas might be made 
profitable, the first duty of the chemist 
was to rather demonstrate the usefulness 
of an application of the chemical knowl- 
edge already available. That is, the chem- 
ist became a teacher, rather than an investi- 
gator, and the results of his work have 
been altogether good. There is now a wide 
knowledge of underlying principles, among 
the more intelligent of our farmers, 
mainly, however, in respect to what we 
now know of the relationship between the 
soil, the plant and the animal. The 
farmer has been taught that the soil is 
potentially fertile, in proportion to the 
amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and 
potassium that it contains; that the re- 
moval of crops, resulting in the carrying 
away of these essential elements, will ulti- 
mately exhaust his soil to such an extent 
as to make their further growth unprofit- 
able, without the addition of the other ele- 
ments. He has, also, learned from the 
chemist that a judicious utilization of 
crops upon the farm, and a careful hand- 
ling and use of waste products, will extend 
the period of profitable cropping. The 
chemists of the country have, also, ren- 
dered incalculable service in the study of 
those substances which carry these elements 
of fertility, and which are capable of serv- 
ing as food for plants, and thus developing 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 613. 


in a remarkable degree the farmer’s 
ability to use them in the manufacture of 
erops, in the sense that they may be con- 
verted into products of high commercial 
value. The chemists have, also, promoted 
the intelligent purchase and use of com- 
mercial fertilizers, by the development and 
improvement of methods of chemical anal- 
ysis, which enable them to accurately de- 
termine the various chemical forms. They 
have, also, by means of field experiments, 
demonstrated their comparative influence 
in meeting soil and crop requirements, and 
are thus able to give safe advice as to the 
value of the various supplies. 

Still, with all this, and with the utiliza- 
tion of the products in the best manner, 
we are confronted with the fact that we 
have but little more definite knowledge of 
the soil and the principles involved in its 
treatment than we had sixty years ago. 
Fertility is not nitrogen, phosphorus and 
potassium alone, though the potential value 
of any field, or state or country, from the 
agricultural standpoint, is measured by 
these constituent elements in its soil, yet 
it has been demonstrated that soils which 
contain an abundance of these elements, 
and which are potentially capable of pro- 
ducing crops for centuries perhaps, are not 
capable of producing profitable crops with- 
out the addition of further amounts of 
these constituents. The chemical investi- 
gator is, therefore, obliged to take into 
consideration other facts than this. He 
must, if he would cover the whole field, 
know something of geology, of botany, of 
physies, of biology, of bacteriology and of 
the other natural sciences, because chem- 
istry alone is not capable of fully com- 
passing the problem, thus the opportunity 
for specializing in any branch has been > 
very great, and it is because of the broad- 
ness of the subject, and the opportunity, 
as already pointed out, and the necessity, 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1906.] 


also, for giving immediate help from the 
knowledge that we have that has prevented 
in a degree a broad study of the funda- 
mentals essential’ for enabling genuine 
progress to be made. 

What are, therefore, some of the ques- 
tions that now confront us, as chemists, and 
the solutions of which have so important a 
bearing upon the agricultural progress, 
and consequent true development and 
utilization of our resources? One of the 
first questions which, it seems to me, is 
important, is the question of the ultimate 
effect of the continued use of commercial 
fertilizers. The problem is before us now. 
Frequently, questions come which we can 
not answer. For example, the farmer who 
has used large quantities of commercial 
fertilizers for the growing of early pota- 
toes, cabbage, celery, or any other crop of 
this class, states that his crops do not seem 
to respond to these applications in the 
same degree as formerly, and that increas- 
ing quantities are required to secure profit- 
able results, notwithstanding calculations 
show a great accumulation of these ele- 
ments in the soil. Furthermore, he has, 
also, learned that other crops in the rota- 
tion do not thrive as well as formerly. He 
can distinguish no marked difference in 
the character of his soil, but clover, alfalfa, 
beans or peas, do not grow as well as 
formerly. He is unable by a judicious 
‘seeding of crops, for supplying vegetable 
matter, to secure a normal and healthy 
erowth. Hence, questions as to the cause 
of the trouble are asked of the chemist, but 
ean not be answered fully by him. He is 
unable to point out the cause of the diffi- 
culty; he may suggest that the result is 
due to changes in the physical character 
of the soil, due to the undue removal of 
one or more element, not included in the 
commercial fertilizers applied; to the de- 
struction of certain forms of bacteria, or 


SCIENCE. 


387 


to the development of plant poisons in the 
soil, but he has nothing definite to offer. 
Hence, it seems to me that this is an im- 
portant problem for our chemists to solve, 
and which must be solved if we are to 
make progress, and to give to the farmer 
what he is justly entitled to, for have we 
not advised him, by our teachings, to fol- 
low the methods which he is now using, 
without warning as to the possible effect 
of his work? ‘This condition of affairs 
applies more particularly to those sections 
of our country where the lands were not 
originally abundantly supplied with the 
essential elements. The areas now requir- 
ing large applications of commercial fertil- 
izers are fortunately limited in this rich 
country of ours, yet they are so located in 
reference to markets as to make them in- 
creasingly valuable. In the richer sec- 
tions, too, farmers are learning, by sad ex- 
perience, that the productivity of their 
soils is not as great as formerly; they know 
now that their methods of farming have 
been wasteful, and that the available con- 
stituents have, in large part, been removed, 
yet they have been taught by the chemists 
that there exists in their soils such an 
abundance of the minerals as to make it 
possible to grow maximum crops for cen- 
turies, though they are unable, with the 
knowledge now available to them, to ob- 
tain as large crops as formerly, without 
the application of fertilizers. These areas 
are so large, that it is manifestly impos- 
sible, with the supplies of material in sight, 
to provide artificial fertilizers, in order to 
meet the situation; neither is such a prac- 
tise warranted, with the vast quantities 
now present in the surface and subsoils. 
The chemist advises that it is probably a 
question of imperfect chemical, or phys- 
ical, or bacteriological conditions of the 
soil, or of all these combined. The chem- 
ist should not deal in probabilities; he 


308 |. \ 


should be able to give positive advice. 
Henee, this is a problem for the chemist, 
and one worthy of his best thought—he 
must find out what the cause of apparent 
exhaustion is, and he should be able to 
show the farmer what his sources of loss 
are and be able to suggest a remedy. It 
has been shown by many experiments that 
in the ordinary and common methods of 
farm practise, there is a loss of the im- 
portant element nitrogen, from the soil, 
greater than that accounted for by the re- 
moval of crops, and, furthermore, that the 


judicious application of commercial fertil- - 


izer or of yard manures does not result in 
proportionately increasing, or even main- 
taining the content of nitrogen in such 
soils. The chemist, with his present 
knowledge, advises that the loss may be 
due to either of three causes, or of one or 
more combined, viz., percolation into the 
drains, oxidation, or denitrification, but 
they are unable to suggest a method of 
practise which will remove the cause of 
loss. This is a problem of the first 1m- 
portance, the solution of which must rest 
with the chemist. 

It is true that one phase of the nitrogen 
problem has been solved, but it has refer- 
ence to the possible gain of nitrogen to 
soils, and thus in a sense compensates for 
the losses, though it makes the question of 
losses none the less important. I have 
reference, now, to discoveries that have 
been made, in regard to the symbiotic ac- 
tion of certain bacteria, which give to the 
leguminous plants their power of absorb- 
ing nitrogen from the air, and dispose of 
the question, in the sense that so long as 
the farmer judiciously uses any one of this 
class of crops in his rotation, it will be 
possible for him to, not only maintain, 
but to even increase the nitrogen content 
of his soils, and thus make the question of 
exhaustion from that standpoint one not to 


SCIENCE, 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 613. 


be feared. It seems to me, however, that 
we have but reached the threshold in these 
investigations, for while as a matter of 
fact such a practise will result in adding 
this important element to the soil, it does 
not dispose of the question of the full util- 
ization of the nitrogen acquired. We have 
many instances of attempts made to im- 
prove soils, or to maintain their fertility 
by the introduction of leguminous crops, 
which have proved disastrous, rather than 
helpful, in promoting plant growth, or of 
permanently increasing fertility in this re- 
spect. Furthermore, we have no definite 
knowledge as yet, as to the conditions 
which are necessary in order that the 
plants shall appropriate nitrogen from the 
air, rather than from the soil, nor have we 
any definite information as to how large a 
proportion of the nitrogen so gathered is 
retained in the soil for the use of cereal 
and other crops which depend entirely 
upon soil sources for their nitrogen. I 
feel certain that no agricultural chemist 
of the present day would dare to risk his 
reputation on a positive statement, in refer- 
ence to any one of these phases of the ques- 
tion. The nitrogen question in agricul- 
ture is far-reaching in its influence, affect- 
ing not only those who cultivate the soil, 
but those who depend upon its products 
for their sustenance and profit; it is a ques- 
tion which has oceupied the student of 
chemistry from the earliest times, and the 
various theories advanced have caused no 
end of controversy among them, yet in 
many of its phases it is still a problem to 
be solved. : 
Another question, closely associated 
with this one of nitrogen, if not intimately 
connected therewith, is that of the impor- 
tance of humus in relation to fertility. It 
has been recently stated by an eminent 
experiment station director that ‘the min- 
eral elements form but the skeleton of the 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1906.] 


soil, and without humus, which gives life 
and activity are practically useless as a 
medium for plant growth.’ This state- 
ment is an attractive one, and may be in 
a broad sense correct, but, notwithstand- 
ing all of the investigations that have been 
made, I am of the opinion that much has 
yet to be learned as to the function of 
humus and the influence it exerts in the 
maintaining and improving of the fertility 
of our soils. We are unable from our pres- 
ent knowledge to state whether the effect is 
physical, chemical or biological, or whether 
it is a combined effect of each, or whether 
it is absolutely essential that the organic 
matter be present in large amounts, in 
order that the best results may be obtained. 
It is a problem well worthy of the atten- 
tion of our agricultural chemists, and one 
which must be solved, if we are to give 
safe advice as to the cultivation of our 
soils. 

Still another problem, which is agitating 
the minds of many far-seeing investigators, 
is the question of the supplies of artificial 
plant-food, aside from that involved in the 
question of nitrogen. As already pointed 
out, it has been clearly demonstrated that 
so far as the mineral elements are con- 
cerned, there is sufficient in the soils of 
this country to supply the needs of maxi- 
mum crops for centuries, but this state- 
ment must be modified, so as to read ‘suffi- 
cient to supply the needs of general crops, 
cereals and grasses, or any other crop which 
in its cultivation is allowed to develop un- 
der natural conditions,’ but it does not 
apply to that class of crops, the need of 
which is increasing rapidly, that can not 
be grown to perfection in such quantities 
as to meet the demands of a modern civil- 
ization, without the stimulating effect of 
immediately available plant-food. I now 
refer to the large number of vegetable 
crops, fruits, berries, ete., which must be 


SCIENCE. 


389 


produced under semi-artificial conditions, 
in order that they may possess those char- 
acteristics of quality, and be provided at 
such times as the present demands require. 
There will, therefore, be a constantly in- 
creasing demand for plant-food, which can — 
not be supplied by natural means, includ- 
ing the use of home-made manures. 

The nitrogen question, as already pointed 
out, has received the attention of eminent 
investigators, and the problem has been 
solved in so far as the actual obtaining of 
free nitrogen from atmospheric sources, 
both by means of special classes of crops 
and by chemical combination. How soon 
the latter may be a practical source is still 
a question, but the progress thus far made 
indicates that the solution will be reached 
in the near future. There is, however, 
still a broad field for study, as to the source 
of supply of phosphates and of potash 
salts. We have in this country, and in 
Canada, enormous deposits of phosphate 
rock, already exploited; others will un- 
doubtedly be found, so that the question 
is not one that requires such immediate at- 
tention. Nevertheless, with the great de- 
mands which are likely to be made, it is 
one well worthy of the study of our chem- 
ists. In the case of potash, we have no 
source of supply, at present, other than 
the Stassfurt mines of Germany, and the 
time must come, sooner or later, when 
these will not be able to meet the demand. 
Whether the potash stored in our granite 
hills are to supply these demands, or 
whether unknown deposits exist in our 
country, are questions that must occupy 
the minds of our agricultural chemists, 
and are problems which are of fundamen- 
tal importance, because they have to do, 
not only with the production of crops, but 
with the future progress of humanity. 

Still another question, or problem, which 
it seems to me the chemist should solve, 


390 SCIENCE. 


is rather of economic importance than of 
pure science, since it has to do with the 
transfer of the plant-food elements from 
one place to another, and their loss, in so 
far as our own country is concerned. It 
is a problem which has been but lightly 
touched upon, though many have recog- 
nized its significance. We are exporting 
in whole grains, and in waste materials 
from our oil and starch factories, enor- 
mous quantities of human and animal 
foods, for which we receive a return only 
in proportion to nutritive values, whereas 
these products carry enormous quantities 
of constituents from our country. The 
problem here, as already stated, is not a 
problem so much of investigation as it is 
an exploitation of the facts, and the educa- 
tion of the people as to the possible ulti- 
mate effect. The agricultural chemist 
must stand as the conservator of the na- 
tion’s wealth; he is the one whom others 
seek for definite information, and for guid- 
ance, and it is his business to so direct the 
attention of the people as to prevent an 
undue loss of our fertility elements. 

There is no doubt but that by careful 
adjustments of trade conditions it will be 
possible to obtain quite as much money for 
our surplus products as is obtained at the 
present time, without having the practise 
result in so great an annual loss of our 
plant-food constituents. The problem is 
not an easy one to solve, though I am sure 
that with the earnest study and support 
of our agricultural chemists, it will be 
solved in a manner that will result in the 
best good to all. It is an important ques- 
tion, and one which I hope our chemists 
will regard as worthy of their study. 

I am well aware that in this brief paper, 
which was purposely made general in its 
character, I have done little more than 
to point out some of the reasons why 
the conditions have not been favorable 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 613. 


thus far for such work as seems now to be 
needed, and to suggest lines of investiga- 
tion, without being specific as to the 
methods by which they should be carried 
out. Nevertheless, the few facts stated 
are patent to all who have given the sub- 
ject thought, and are sufficient to indicate 
the importance of a broad and detailed 
study of the whole question of soil fertility. 
The field is now largely unoccupied, and 
there is a growing demand for broadly 
trained investigators, and there is no field 
of investigation more promising of fruit- 
ful results for the investigator and the 
country at large. Our professors of chem- 
istry and our colleges and universities 
should cooperate in providing such oppor- 
tunities for study as shall fit them to 
pursue this attractive and important line 
of investigation. 


K. B. VoorHEES. 
NEw JERSEY AGRICULTURAL 
EXPERIMENT STATION. 


THE TEACHING OF SCIENCE IN COLLEGE. 


I wisH to eall attention to a situation 
which seems to me unnatural and unfor- 
tunate. It is unnecessary to present it in 
statistical form. No one will question that 
science in the colleges of this and other 
universities has not the importance and 
popularity that it should have, that this 
element of our modern education is by no 
means represented in the results of educa- 
tion in accordance with its importance. 

It is not, however, to the failure to elect 
scientific courses as they are to-day or to 
enroll themselves for science degrees on the 
part of our students that I think especial 
attention should be directed. Nor do I 
think that we can explain this and other 
evidences of the deficiencies in this regard 
by the traditional prestige of the so-called 
humanities, or the prejudicing of the stu- 


1 Address delivered before the Chicago Chapter 
Sigma Chi, March, 1906. 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1906.] 


dents’ minds by preparatory courses 1nim- 
ical to scientific interest. 

Scientific courses have not become pop- 
ular as the old requirements in the lan- 
guages have been decreased. It is rather 
the other courses such as the Ph.B. that 
have profited by the greater freedom of 
election. With considerable freedom of 
election in the preparatory schools the sci- 
entific courses are not sought out there by 
the children at a period when the conerete 
subject-matter of science properly present- 
ed should be immensely more attractive 


than the languages and many more abstract. 


objects of study. The science courses in 
the high school are not at the present time 
popular, nor is the money spent upon them, 
either in equipment or in teaching foree, 
comparable with their educational impor- 
tance. 

The result of this is that the majority of 
our students leave our colleges and univer- 
sities, without being able to grasp the most 
important achievements in modern thought, 
without being able to take the point of view 
of those thinkers who are reconstructing 
our views of the physical universe and its 
constituent parts, and without being able 
to interpret what they see and hear and 
feel by means of the profoundest and most 
magnificent generalizations which the world 
has ever known. 5 

I wish to present two reasons for this 
condition which seem to me more funda- 
mental than those usually presented, and 
to discuss in connection with them the pos- 
sibility of removing them or at least to 
invite discussion on the subject. 

It is natural to compare the sciences so- 
called with the humanities. And yet in 
one respect the distinction between them 
has much decreased of late years and prom- 
ises to continue to decrease. The method 
of study of the languages, history, litera- 
ture and the so-called social sciences has 
become to a large degree that of the nat- 


SCIENCE. 


391 


ural sciences. There is certainly no fun- . 
damental distinction between the researches 
of the historian, the philologist, the social 
statistician and those of the biologist, the 
geologist or even the physicist and chemist, 
in point of method. Hach is approaching 
problems which must be solved, and to be 
solved must be presented in the form of 
earefully gathered data. For their solu- 
tion hypotheses must be constructed and 
tested by means of experiment or observa- 
tion. With the complexity of the phe- 
nomena, of course, the application of the 
scientific methods will vary. The processes 
of observation, for example, will vary enor- 
mously in the study of a historical problem 
in the ancient world, and in the study of 
the problem of variation where the material 
is immediately at hand. The methods of 
historical criticism—lower and higher—are 
nothing but methods of observations under 
conditions which are peculiarly difficult of 
access. 

While it is true that in literature and 
other arts we do not go back of the esthetic 
reaction in the judgment of beauty, or the 
study of this reaction in others as presented 
in literary criticism; outside this field of 
appreciation and criticism, the methods of 
study in the field of the humanities is just 
as scientific as the subject matter with 
which it deals allows. 

This means for one thing that we no 
longer regard the acquirement of informa- 
tion as the legitimate object or method of 
education. The ideal of modern education 
is the solution of problems, the research 
method. And this research method is no 
less dominant in the humanities than it is 
in the natural sciences so far as the subject 
matter permits. 

The ground for the difference in attract- 
ive power of the natural sciences and the 
humanities can not be laid up, therefore, 
to a difference in method. And if it could 
the prospect would be discouraging indeed 


O92 


and the judgment upon the students most 
unflattering, for the research method is, 
after all, nothing but the elaboration of the 
simple processes of perceiving and conceiv- 
ing the world, elaborated in such a way that 
it can be applied to the complex and subtle 
problems of the physicist, the geologist, the 
biologist, ete. If the scientific method were 
the cause of unpopularity we should have 
to assume that the process of knowledge 
itself, the very function of cognition, was 
disagreeable to the average student. 

If, however, we examine these two types 
of studies we do meet a distinction which 
holds for many if not for all. In the phys- 
ical sciences the process of investigation 
involves the analysis of the objects, which 
are studied, into elements which are not 
present to immediate experience and which 
are with difficulty conceived and presented 
to the mind. The resolution of nature into 
atoms and molecules or corpuscles is an 
undertaking presenting itself at the begin- 
ning of scientific investigation, that is not 
forced upon the social sciences. Here the 
elements into which analysis reduces its 
objects are at bottom, but more or less re- 
producible states of our own consciousness, 
or still more direct objects of possible 
sense-perception. This was a difficulty that 
did not inhere in the old-time natural his- 
tory. There the problem that aroused in- 
vestigation was stated in terms of every- 
day experience, and for this very reason 
natural history was a more successful sub- 
ject in the curriculum than our physics and 
chemistry. Its problems were real prob- 
lems in the minds of the students. They 
were not located in a field as yet foreign to 
their acquaintance and, therefore, artificial 
and unmeaning. 

The problems of biology and geology do 
not suffer as much from this remoteness, 
for to a large degree they can be stated in 
terms of a possible immediate experience 
of the student, and it is true that they make 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 613. 


a more immediate appeal to the student 
than do the physical sciences. But it must 
not be forgotten that these biological and 
geological sciences are to no small degree 
applied physics and chemistry, and that 
this tendency is steadily increasing. That 
is, it 1s increasingly difficult to state the 
problems of these sciences in terms of im- 
mediate experience; their problems do not 
arise of themselves in the consciousness of 
the student, in other words, he is not imme- 
diately interested in the study. 

We can generalize this in the following 
form: the result of the development of our 
sciences has been that their problems are 
no longer within the immediate experience 
of the student, nor are they always sta- 
table in terms of that experience. He has 
to be introduced to the science before he 
can reach the source of interest, 7. €., prob- 
lems which are his own and which he wants 
to solve by the process of his own thinking. 

On the whole, the problems of the social 
sciences have a meaning to the student 
when he meets them, 2. e., they can be his 
own problems from the start, and they do 
not have to be translated into terms which 
must be somewhat painfully acquired be- 
fore they can be used. 

In a certain sense mathematics has be- 
come the language of the physical sciences, 
and the student must have a command of 
this vernacular before he can read with 
interest that which is writ in the sciences, 
before he can attack their problems. But 
even where the vernacular of the science is 
not that of mathematics, it is still true, to 
a large extent, that the field of the real 
problems in the science lies outside of the 
direct experience of the student. 

It hangs together with this, in the second 
place, that the natural sciences are not in- 
terconnected in the minds of the students, 
that they exist in water-tight compart- 
ments. There is no common field out of 
which they all spring. It seems to me that 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1906.] 


in this lies the great advantage which the 
humanities so-called have over the natural 
sciences in the curriculum. They all of 
them belong to one piece of human experi- 
ence, and it remains true nil humanuwm 
mihi alienum est, not simply because of the 
immediate human sympathy which unites 
men and women who are distant not only in 
space, but also in time, not only in speech, 
but also in state of civilization; there is a 
still more important hold which the social 
sciences and humanities have upon the in- 
terest of the student. It is that human 
history, human development, human insti- 
tutions, its arts, its literature, its achieve- 
ments, are so bound up together with each 


other, with the languages in which thought, 


has been expressed, with the literature in 
which achievements have been recorded, 
with the movements of trade, commerce, 
colonization and discovery which have 
motived historic changes, that wherever one 
begins, problems of all sorts arise at once, 
interlacing with each other, so that the 
pursuit of one subject reinforces the in- 
terest in another, and vice versa. The 
whole group represents one social world 
which can not be picked up piecemeal nor 
divided’ up into separate compartments, 
but is bound to exist in the mind as a 
whole. 

This is not simply an advantage of an 
external sort. The logician tells us that, 
if we would expand it, the subject of every 
judgment would be found to be the uni- 
verse itself, individualized in some imme- 
diate experience, but implying the whole 
world in its implicit relations. If we ex- 
press this somewhat more modestly it would 
run, in educational terms, that it is only 
the implicit relation to other things that 
makes any subject teachable or learnable, 
and that the more evident and more preg- 
nant these relations are the more readily is 
it assimilated. In a certain sense the more 
complex a thing is the more readily it is 


SCIENCE. 


393 


acquired, while its simplicity leaves it bare, 
without lines of connection, without retain- 
ing points. Of course this would not be 
the case if education were merely a process 
of storing away, a process of piling learn- 
ing into the mind. But as the theory of 
science instruction, as well as scientific ad- 
vanee, is that of research, it is evident that 
the richer an object is in relation to other 
things the more suggestive it will be of 
solutions for problems, the more fertile it 


will be in arousing associations of kindred 


data. To bring out a problem then in a 
field which is already rich in interest is to 
insure not only its immediate attractive- 
ness, but to provide the ideas and connec- 
tions through which the problem may be 
studied and a solution reached. 

It is this wealth of associations, this com- 
plex interrelation with a mass of other 
things, which the student fails to secure 
when he is introduced to modern science, 
through one door at a time, and that door 
leading into a specialized subject-matter 
whose relations with immediate experience 
are of the slightest character. A new sub- 
ject should not be presented by itself, but 
in its relation to other things. It must 
grow in some fashion out of the student’s 
present world. 

The problem of college science is, there- 
fore, very intimately connected with science 
in the secondary school. If the child were 
introduced to it in the proper way there 
the situation, which has just been described, 
would not exist in the college. He would 
come up into the college with the world of 
science already in existence, and that world 
as a field of his own experience. He would 
find problems arising there for whose solu- 
tion he must look to the more specialized 
sciences. But the opposite of this is the 
ease. Science in the high school, at the 
present time, is in a more parlous condition 
than it is in the college, because the child is 
farther away from the field of exact science 


O04 


than in the later college years. He finds 
fewer points of connection. His sciences 
remain for him located between impassable 
barriers. The college, therefore, at least 
until a reform can be wrought in the sec- 
ondary school, is forced to face the problem 
within its own walls. 

Its solution calls for introductory courses 
which will lead the student into the field of 
science, which will show the problems of his 
own experience in terms of this new field, 
and show them there capable of solution. 
There are two points of view from which 
such courses could be naturally presented; 
that of history, and that of a survey of the 
world analogous to what is given in intro- 
ductory courses in sociology or social insti- 
tutions. 

The peculiar appropriateness of a course 
in the history of science for the junior col- 
lege students, hes in the fact that the special 
character of modern science would grow out 
of the conditions that made it natural and 
necessary. There would be in it the in- 
Spiration of the personalities of the great 
scientific men, and the romance of their 
struggle with difficulties which beset their 
sciences from within and without. The 
conceptions of ‘to-day would be found 
motived in the struggles of yesterday. But 
still more important the relations which 
have subsisted between scientific investiga- 
tion and the whole field of human endeavor 
would appear—its relation to ecommerce, 
industry, the geographical distribution of 
men, their interconnection with each other, 
and the other sides of their intellectual life. 
Science would be interwoven with the whole 
human world of which it is actually a part. 
Tt is true that something of this is found in 
general history. It is there, however, pre- 
sented not to lead up to further study of 
science, but to merely fill out the entire 
picture—a picture which is so crowded 
that many features are bound to be slighted, 
and among those which are slighted, sci- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.8. VoL. XXIV. No. 613. 


ence, just because it is a subject somewhat 
apart, is sure to be found. 

We have of course the evidence of the 
import which such a course would have in 
the biographies of our scientific men—such 
as Darwin, Huxley, Pasteur, von Helm- 
holtz. But few of our students in that 
period read them, and taken by themselves 
they do not have the educative power which 
the story of their efforts would have when 
presented in a course on the history of sci- 
ence. It is not, however, principally the 
personal note, which comes from the ac- 
count of the men who have been the heroes 
of science, that would be found in such 
study. It is rather the form in which the 
scientific problem arose and the methods 
used for its solution which will carry the 
most valuable instruction. One scientific 
theory swallows up into itself what has pre- 
ceded it, and the traces of the situation out 
of which the later doctrine arose are washed 
away. While our historical atlases present 
us in flaring colors the political situations 
out of which sprang present political con- 
formations, the young student of science 
must pick up, as best he may, without as- 
sistance or interpretation, the explanation 


and historical interpretation of the concep- 


tions he is forced to use. If an adequate 
comprehension of the powers of the Ameri- 
can executive can not be gained without 
a knowledge of the situation which pre- 
ceded the formation of the constitution, no 
more can the uninstructed student compre- 
hend the value of such terms as forees, | 
energies, variations, atoms or molecules 
without understanding what the problems 
were which brought forth these hypotheses 
and scientific conceptions. 

And there is no study like that of history 
to bring out the solidarity of human 
thought. The interdependence of scientific 
effort and achievement, and the interrela- 
tionship which exists between all science in 
presenting its world as a whole, can be 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1906.] 


brought out vividly only when its history 
is being presented, while in the midst of the 
arduous struggle with a single science 
these profound connections are quite over- 
looked. It is a fact that science is, from an 
important point of view, a single body of 
knowledge, whose different parts determine 
each other mutually, though this mutual 
influence is often overlooked. When the 
historian comes forward with the picture 
of a past age, such as Gompertz has 
given us in his ‘Grieschische Denker,’ we 
recognize these interconnections and see 
that what has been done in one line has been 
now advanced because of the achievement 
of another, and now has been thwarted by 
the backwardness in still another. The 
Weltanshauung of any age is at once the re- 
sult of all its scientific achievements and a 
cause of each, by itself. We can not finally 
understand any one without the comprehen- 
sion of the whole, and it is the whole which 
is more comprehensible than any single sci- 
ence. It isa great deal easier to present the 
problem of evolution in the world as a whole 
than it is in the specific instance. It is 
easler to recognize the problem of matter, 
as it is presented in the book entitled ‘ The 
New Knowledge,’ than it is to present the 
specific problem with which the physicist or 
chemist must wrestle. It may be a Hegel- 
ism, but it is good educational doctrine 
that the whole is more concrete than the 
part. A student who has first followed out 
the results of scientific evolution through 
the preceding centuries in their intercon- 
nection with each other, and meets then the 
problems of modern science as the growing 
‘points of the past, who understands some- 
what what the controlling meanings are 
behind scientific concepts and terminology, 
who feels that. he is entering into a battle 
that is going on, whose field he has surveyed 
before he has lost himself in the particular 
brigade, such a student is bound to enter 
into his study with both a comprehension 


SCIENCE. 395 


and an interest which his brother will lack 
—his brother who must get the parts before 
he can have an inkling of the whole. 

I am aware that, in the minds of a great 
many of you, there has arisen a spirit of 
contradiction to what has been presented, a 
spirit of contradiction which arises out of 
the very competency and exactness of the 
scientist. Such a type of instruction as 
that suggested above is felt to be superficial, 
inexact, and bound to be misleading to the 
person who is not scientifically trained. It 
would be information in a word, and the 
scientist does not hold it to be his position 
to impart information, nor can he promise 
any valuable educational result from a 
course whose content is one of information. 

I wish to bring out the point because it 
seems to me fundamental to the question 
which has been broached. We need, in the 
first place, a definition of what information 
is and what knowledge is, as distinguished 
from it. I would suggest toward such a 


definition that nothing is information which 


helps any one to understand better a ques- 
tion he is trying to answer, a problem he is 
trying to solve. Whatever bridges over a 
gap in a student’s mind, enabling him to 
present concretely what otherwise would 
have been an abstract symbol, is knowledge 
and not mere information. Whatever is 
stored up, without immediate need, for 
some later occasion, for display or to pass 
examinations is mere information, and has 
no enduring place in the mind. From this 
standpoint nothing is superficial or inexact 
which gives conereteness and meaning to 
the problem before the student. Truth is 
a relative thing. We none of us have 
exact knowledge in the sense that our 
knowledge is exhaustive, and we none of 
us know the full import of what we do 
grasp. There can be no objection to the 
young student having a broad if seem- 
ingly superficial view of the scientific 
world, if it helps him to approach with 


396 SCIENCE. 


more understanding the particular science 
he has before him. It is also certainly the 
pedagogic duty of the instructor in science 
to get far enough into the consciousness of 
the student to present the part to him by 
means of the whole. 

The second point of view suggested for 
approach to the specialized study of science 
was that of the survey of the present field. 
If we can find the counterparts of the his- 
torical course in the biographies of great 
scientists, we can find that of the survey 
course in such treatises as the popular lec- 
tures of eminent scientists, such as those of 
Tyndall on ‘Sound,’ or many of the pop- 
ular lectures of men like von Helmholtz, 
du Bois Reymond and a score of others. 
We highly approve of such lectures when 
they appear on the lyceum or the univer- 
sity extension platform. We encourage 
the reading of such books, considering them 
distinctly educative, but we deny that they 
have a place in the university curriculum. 
The prevailing assumption is that when one 
ean not follow out the scientific process by 
which the results are reached, it is indeed 
better that he should have the result pre- 
sented in a form which he can understand 
than not to have them at all, though it is not 
the place of the university to perform this 
function, except through its extension de- 
partment. This statement, however, over- 
looks the fact that such acquaintance with 
the results of scientific research is also the 
source of interest in the research itself. 
What is merely keeping up with the prog- 
ress of the world on the part of the business 
man is preparation for the student who has 
to approach a new field. I presume that 
no one would question that those who had 
listened with intense interest and enthu- 
siasm to an extension lecture upon the 
solar system would be better prepared for 
the study of astronomy. Indeed, we as- 
sume that university extension will serve in 
this fashion as a feeder of the university, 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 613. 


but for some reason we feel that this same 
sort of preparatory work has no place in- 
side of the university itself. From the 
point of view of education we are mis- 
taken, for nothing is out of place which 
makes the approach of the students to the 
subject-matter a normal one. And until 
the student feels the problem of the science 
he undertakes to be a problem of his own, 
springing out of his own thought and ex- 
perience, his approach is not a normal one. 

One or two courses, then, from the stand- 
point of the history of science, and from 
that of the survey of the scientific field of 
to-day in the junior college, would organize 
the vague information of the student, 
would correlate it with the political and 
literary history with which he is familiar, 
would give him the sense of growth and 
vitality, would state the problems of science 
in his own terms, and awaken in him the 
passion to carry on the investigation him- 
self which might otherwise remain dor- 
mant. They would be feeders to the spe- 
cialized scientific courses that follow. They 
would break down the prejudice which 
most students bring against science from 


the high school. But not least, they would: 


be as educative as any course in history 
could possibly be. They would serve as 
valuable a function as those courses which 
aim to acquaint the student with the social 
and political forces which dominate the 
world into which he is to enter. 

What has been said so far has borne 
directly upon introductory courses in the 
junior college. It is only in the last re- 
mark that I have touched upon the de- 
mands which the university may make 
upon its scientists for the interpretation of 
the world for those who do not follow its 
special courses. If in the present day, 
under the sign of science in nature and 
society, any one leaves an institution of 
higher learning without a comprehension 
of the results of science, which he can grasp 


ee ne te 


oe 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1906.] 


in their relationship to the rest of human 
history and endeavor, he is certainly cheat- 
ed out of one of the most valuable of the 
endowments which he has a right to de- 
mand from that institution. As I have 
already indicated, scientific method is dom- 
inant not only in the study of nature, but 
in the study of all the social subject-mat- 
ters, in religion, politics, in all social insti- 
tutions. Scientific discoveries have made 
over the answer even to the fundamental 
question of who is my neighbor. Science 
is responsible for the view of the universe 
as a whole which must be the background 
of our theology as well as our philosophy 
and much that is finest in our literature. 
Science has changed sentiment to intelli- 
gence in divine charity, and has substituted 
the virtue of reformation of evil for that 
of resignation thereto in religion. And yet 
a large percentage of our students leave 
the university without having any better 
opportunity of coming to close quarters 
with this science than those who are outside 
the university. They are compelled to get 
their science from the extension platform, 
or from the popular magazine. There 
should be unspecialized science for those 
who do not specialize in science, because 
they have the right to demand it of an 
educational institution. 

There is still another demand that should 
be made upon the science faculties of the 
university, and that is that they should so 
organize the courses which their students 
take, that they will get the unity which 
every college course ought to give. 

That unity of the social sciences which is 
given in subject-matter and human nature 
itself, is, as has been pointed out, absent 
from modern sciences which have become 
largely what Professor Wundt calls con- 
ceptual sciences. The interconnections are 
not apparent to the students who are in the 
special groups. Their attention is fixed 
within too narrow boundaries, the demands 


SCIENCE. 


397 


of their own subject is so great that they 
have no time to go beyond. They have a 
wealth which they can not realize because 
they can not put it into circulation. 

Through the history of science, especially 
of the other sciences which they do not 
specialize in, through lecture courses which 
give them the results of these other sciences 
they should be able to get the unity of 
Weltanschauung, which is requisite for any 
college course. 

It is requisite at the end as at the begin- 
ning that the student should see his world 
as a whole, should take up into it what he 
has acquired, and should get the mutual 
interpretation which the relation of his 
subject-matter has to what les beyond it. 

There is certainly no agent that can 
carry more profound culture than the sci- 
ences, but our science curriculum is poor in 
what may be called culture courses in the 
Sciences, and the import of science for cul- 
ture has been but slightly recognized and 
but parsimoniously fostered. 


GrorceE H. Mean. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


An Introduction to Astronomy. By Forest 
Ray Moutrton, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of 
Astronomy in the University of Chicago. 
New York, The Macmillan Co. 1906. 8vo. 
Pp. xiii+ 557; 201 figures, including 50 
photographic illustrations. $1.25. 

This book is an elementary, descriptive text, 
suited to those who are approaching the sub- 
ject for the first time, and from this point of 
view the selection of material is quite satis- 
factory, though not always presented in logical 
order. At the outset Professor Moulton gives 
a preliminary outline of the entire subject, 
followed by chapters which treat in greater 
detail of the topics usually considered in ele- 
mentary works, such as systems of coordinates, 
the constellations, the classes and uses of as- 
tronomical instruments, and the leading facts 
and theories relating to the various bodies 
composing the solar and sidereal systems. 


398 SCIENCE. 


The book is designed to be readable even by 
those without extensive mathematical or scien- 
tific training; to give a general view of the 
results that astronomers have obtained in the 
course of their investigations; and to reveal 
something of that spirit which inspires scien- 
tific work. Astronomers to-day, perhaps more 
than ever before are endeavoring to solve 
great problems. The investigations leading 
to these ends are diverse, extended and many- 
sided, and the data drawn from the various 
sources often admit of widely different inter- 
pretations. In some departments advance 
comes from adhering to the hard and fast 
facts derived from exact measurements, in 
others from speculative inquiries based upon 
data that are more or less insecure, founded 
upon such observations as have been made to 
the present time. Often contradictory work- 
ing hypotheses lie so near the limits of inde- 
termination that one is as plausible as the 
other, and this is so in many of the problems 
of great human interest as they stand to-day. 
Hence it is not always easy to decide between 
rival hypotheses, for the overbalancing data 
favorable to one to-day may by fresh acces- 
sions to knowledge be turned to-morrow in 
favor of the other. In producing a work on 
astronomy for the general reader, and for the 
student as well, some attempt should be made 
to give that broadening view that the subject 
affords, not only by reason of its established 
facts but from the outlook afforded by investi- 
gations now in progress. The latter requires 
the inclusion of outlines of various theories 
still in formation, to be accepted or rejected 
according to the evidence that may be ad- 
duced in favor of or against them. In his 
‘Introduction to Astronomy,’ Professor Moul- 
ton has many references to unsettled questions. 
He has always considered them with caution, 
giving briefly the arguments on both sides of 
debatable points, without commending to the 
reader one view rather than the other. The 
chapter on the evolution of the solar system, 
which may be regarded as the distinctive one 
of the book, deserves special mention, since it 
deals largely with the arguments tending to 
prove the general insufficiency of the Laplacian 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 613. 


ring nebular hypothesis, which has so long 
held a place in elementary texts, and to the 
exposition of the new spiral nebular theory 
developed by Professors Chamberlain and 
Moulton. Even in reference to the latter the 
author cautions the reader against the too 
hasty acceptance of it as final, for much still 
remains to be accomplished in the way of 
quantitative determinations before this theory 
can take its place among the accepted results 
of science. 


W. J. Hussey. 


ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN. 


Introduction to General Inorganic Chemistry. 
By ALexanperR SmirH. 8vo, pp. xvili-+ 
780. New York, The Century Co. 1906. 
This unusually excellent text-book is in- 

tended primarily for beginners in college 

courses. The author has wisely made the 
elucidation of chemical theory the main fea- 
ture of the book, but the descriptive part has 
been well chosen for the purpose in view. 

Laboratory experiments are used as the basis 

of treatment, and the theories are thus ex- 

plained in a very clear and satisfactory way. 

The subject is treated from the most modern 

standpoint, but this has been done without 

giving undue prominence to the newer the- 
ories. 

An important feature of the book is found 
in the numerous references to previous pages, 
which enable the reader to refresh his memory 
in regard to matters already discussed. Other 
points attracting attention are a diagram 
showing the solubility curves of eighteen im- 
portant salts, a table showing the actual and 
molar solubilities at 18° of more than a hun- 
dred salts, the use of the single or double 
arrow in place of the usual sign of equality 
in chemical equations, the introduction of 
many suggestive exercises or questions for 
students, and a serviceable index. 

The course here presented is undoubtedly a 
long and difficult one for the average student, 
who relies mostly upon memory and possesses 
little or no power of reasoning; for it com- 
prises practically the whole body of modern 
chemical theory, which is not grasped easily 
by the chemically vacant mind. However, 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1906.] 


‘ Professor Smith’s work is certainly a good 
book for good students, and as such is to be 
heartily welcomed. H. L. WEzLLs. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 


The Botanical Gazette for August contains 
the following papers: ‘The Nascent Forest of 
the Miscou Beach Plain,’ by W. F. Ganong, 
being the fourth contribution to the ecolog- 
ical plant geography of the province of New 
Brunswick; ‘The Development and Anatomy 
of Sarracenia,’ by Forrest Shreve; ‘ Physio- 
logically Balanced Solutions for Plants,’ by 
W. J. V. Osterhout; ‘The Appressoria of 
the Anthracnoses,’ by Heinrich Hasselbring; 
“ Nereocystis Luetkeana, by Theodore C. 
Frye, being a biological study of this giant 
kelp; ‘ New Species of Castilleja and Senecio,’ 
by J. M. Greenman. The September number 
contains the following papers: ‘ Differentia- 
tion of Sex in Thallus Gametophytes and 
Sporophytes,’ by A. F. Blakeslee, being a gen- 
eral discussion of sexuality in all the plant 
groups; ‘The Development of the Bouteloua 
Formation,’ by H. L. Shantz, being the second 
contribution from his study of the mesa region 
east of Pike’s Peak; ‘ Cortinarius a Mycor- 
hiza-producing Fungus,’ by C. H. Kaufmann, 
in which a new species of the genus is de- 
scribed that is connected with three forest 
symbionts belonging to different families; ‘A 
New Fungus of Economic Importance,’ by R. 
EK. Smith and Elizabeth H. Smith, being a 
new genus (Pythiacystis) parasitic on lemons 
and causing a decay of green fruit trees and 
in the storehouse. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 


DISCONTINUOUS VARIATION AND PEDIGREE 
CULTURE. 


REFERRING to the recent address of Dr. D. 
T. MacDougal, on ‘Discontinuous Variation 
and Pedigree Culture’ (published in The 
Popular Science Monthly for September), the 
following points may be worth considering: 

The species is the unit of the taxonomist, 
and the study of species and their relations 
to environment form the basis of the science 
of distribution. 


SCIENCE. 


399 


The species, as thus considered, is a kind 
of animal or plant as it has developed and 
as it appears in a state of nature. To know 
a species as it appears is not to know it com- 
pletely, as all species develop differently un- 
der changed conditions or freed from the stress 
of competition. Under domestication, -or un- 
der new chemical or physical conditions, all 
species are plastic, and all may assume forms 
the same species can never assume in its 
original habitat. 

The field naturalist can not therefore know 
everything about any species, no matter how 
many individuals he may examine. Neither 
can a garden naturalist, for the forms he deals 
with must be ‘reduced to the ranks’ before 
they are comparable to the species occurring 
in the wild. 

It is presumable that those naturalists know 
most about species as they are, who have given 
most time and thought to their study. They 
may not, however, know better than any others 
how species originate, nor possess the clue to 
the main causes or significance of their vary- 
ing forms. 

Yet it is fair to say that as the taxonomist 
of species finds in practically every case a geo- 
graphical element in the development; as he 
finds that segregation and selection have ap- 
parently been accompaniments of nearly all 
changes in species, and as by these same 
agencies all species can be appreciably 
changed by the will of man, he may not un- 
reasonably suppose that segregation and selec- 
tion have each taken some part in that life- 
adaptation which we call organic evolution. 

As a zoologist personally acquainted with 
Dr. de Vries the writer has great reverence 
for the noble modesty, the patient, intelligent 
and epoch-making perseverance which have 
characterized his work. On the other hand, 
he is obliged to hesitate at the acceptance of 
the more sweeping parts of his theory, and to 
question the assumption that the discoveries 
of de Vries in plant mutation disclose the ac- 
tual method of species-forming, general or 
universal, in all branches of life. 

As matters are the species that exist in na- 
ture must furnish us our conception of species. 
The species actually covering the earth are 


400 SCIENCE. 


surely ‘real’ species, whether other forms 
called species are ‘real’ or not. We find no 
evidence that such species could not or do not 
originate, sometimes at least, through slight 
fluctuations acted upon by selection in segre- 
gation. We do not know that the effects of 
selection have any final limit except in certain 
cases where the limit is mechanical. It is 
not yet clearly shown that there is any real 
and fundamental difference between contin- 
uous and discontinuous variation, and most 
zoologists regard the conception and cycles 
of variation in the history of a species as an 
ingenious suggestion rather than as a part 
of science. 

It is evident that there is much—very much 
—about animals and plants, which can be 
learned only from experimentation under 
-changed conditions, as there is much that can 
not be known or even imagined without the 
-aid of the microscope, and much that can not 
‘be known or imagined without the compara- 
tive study of many individuals and the com- 
parison of faunal and floral areas. We must 
welcome the study of pedigreed individuals, 
animals or plants, as a most hopeful line of 
investigation, and it is certain that the dis- 
coveries it may yield can not be forestalled 
in advance. If they could the investigation 
would be unnecessary. So far as species are 
concerned, it is clear that a large part of the 
problem demands the study of the structure of 
forms and their relation to environment. 
There is much truth in Darwin’s words that 
“One has hardly a right to examine the ques- 
tion of species who has not minutely described 
many.” 

As to the suggestion of the possible hybrid 
origin of (Hnothera, the writer is not a 
botanist, and very much of botanical investi- 
gation escapes his notice. He is pleased to 
learn that the possibility of such origin on 
the part of Gnothera lamarckiana has been 
considered and fully disproved. A detailed 
account of the experiments which show this 
would be interesting. It would also be inter- 
esting to know the degree in which Burbank’s 
hybrid walnuts of the second generation, show- 
ing ‘every conceivable kind of variation,’ con- 
form to the Mendelian theory. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 613. 


As to the theory that species are permanently 
changed by the direct impact of environment, 
which most faunal zoologists in America seem 
to accept, the writer thinks that Dr. Mac- 
Dougal is probably right in claiming that “no 
evidence has yet been obtained to prove that 
the influence of tillage, cultivation or the 
mere pressure of environmental factors has 
produced any permanent changes in hereditary 
characters of unified strains of plants,” or of 
animals either. 

Davin Starr JORDAN. 


VULCANISM. 


I wave read the article of Elihu Thomson; 
much of which is necessarily true, with con- 
siderable interest; but I doubt whether I can 
go so far as he does, partly because I have a 
pet theory of my own to nurture. What I miss 
in Thomson’s article is some definite estimate 
or clear-cut specification of the aetual condi- 
tions involved: how much stuff is moved; 
what work is spent; how much heat is gener- 
ated. I have endeavored to picture the occur- 
rences to myself in a cursory way for a nor- 
mal case, somewhat as follows: The work done 
per cubic centimeter will in any distortion be 
half the product of the stress and the strain. 
This work will be elastically potentialized if 
the solid remains intact. If there is rupture 
it will appear as heat largely near the surface 
of separation. If it yields viscously (as is 
much the more probable) it will appear 
throughout the volume. The strain is prob- 
ably a shear. The question at issue is then 
under what circumstances of torment must 
one shear a rock in order to melt it. Suppose 
we say the shear is one half, 7. e., if the tan- 
gential thrust is horizontal all initially ver- 
tical lines will be inclined thirty degrees; or 
in general there will be corresponding changes 
of inclination of thirty degrees, which seems 
to me to be enormous, but may, nevertheless, 
be admitted for the purpose of argument. 
We may then write, if the density of rock is 
3, its specific heat .2, its igneous melting point 
as low as 1,000° C., 


UL XC Ye SK) Hl —=13 1G 2i ALOUD 42 LO 
1 Scrence, XXIV., p. 161, 1906. 


i 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1906.] 


to determine the tangential stress at Ff’ in- 
volved. It follows that #10" dynes/cm.’ 
or 10° kg./em.*; or since in a shear the tan- 
gential and the normal stresses are equal per 
square centimeter, about 100,000 atmospheres, 
even for the excessive strain in question. 
Now in a region where differential stresses of 
this value abound, the pressure itself must be 
at least of the same order, and hence if we 
compute such pressures hydrostatically (a 
case most favorable to shallowness of the seat 
of reaction) with ten feet of rock to the at- 
mosphere, this would be equivalent to a depth 
below the surface of one million feet or 190 
miles, where a shear of the value of one half 
is surely out of the question. Imagine the 
earth radii all flexed by this amount at their 
outer ends. Besides we are much too far 
down for practical vuleanism. Of course, we 
can get nearer the surface with bigger strains 
and smaller stresses, or we may imagine the 
energy of a fault all spilled upon the surface 
of rupture; but even in this case while the 
work done will depend on the volume dis- 
placed, it will also in a large measure be dissi- 
pated within that volume and by no means on 
the surface of separation alone. 

The picture as a whole is not alluring be- 
cause it is vague, to me at least, who am all 
the while fondling my own little notion. In 
fact I once came as near being a physical 
geologist as Elihu Thomson, though nobody 
seems to have found it out. Yet in the days 
when I still deluded myself into thinking such 
things interesting I happened upon an as- 
_tonishing result in the endeavor to dissolve 
hot glass in hot water. I¢ did in fact dis- 
solve to an eventually solid substance, which 
for hardness and optical character was not 
distinguishable superficially from the igneous 
glass; and it did this completely (in water, 
not in steam) at a temperature certainly much 
below 200° C. and in such a way (this is the 
point) that the system of igneous glass and 
liquid water contracted on combination as 
much as 20 or 30 per cent. of the initial total 


2 American Journ, XLVI., p. 110, 1891; VII., p. 
1, 1899; IX., p. 161, 1900. Phil. Mag., XLVIL., 
 -p. 104, 461, 1899. 


SCIENCE. 


401 


volume. Think of this; the contraction of 
concentrated sulphuric acid upon admixture 
with water is but 2 to 3 per cent., and even 
granting that molecular changes and not vol- 
ume contractions are the truly important fea- 
tures, the case for water-glass can not be so 
easily dismissed. Whoever has tried to coerce 
a solid-liquid system (as I did) knows that he 
has a task on his hands; and whoever tries to 
diminish bulk 20 or 30 per cent. (which I 
didn’t do) is destined to fall very short of his 
hopes. I argued, therefore, that the solidifi- 
cation of water in glass, under the exceptional 
conditions stated could hardly take place with- 
out the evolution of heat such as accompanies 
any solidification of the liquid. All efforts to 
prove the inference directly miscarried; but 
in case of a reaction which proceeds very 
gradually, in small compass and under high 
pressure, failure is almost a foregone conclu- 
sion. Nature, as Elihu Thomson truly states, 
in her ideal laboratory can garner the heat of 
a slow process, while such heat slips irrecov- 
erably through our fingers in the workshop. 
At this point then my argument is based not 
on direct but on circumstantial evidence, and 
if I were the reader, and not the writer, I 
would merely grant a fused glass at a tem- 
perature presumably somewhat higher than 
the melting point. 

To me the picture obtainable from the bear- 
ing of these experiments on vulcanism is more 
attractive than any other with which I happen 
to be acquainted, even if I have to chaffer 
uncomfortably for the excess of heat above 
mere fusion which seems to be present, as if 
my glass had gnawed its way convectively 
into the higher temperatures of deeper iso- 
therms. The idea’ here is important: it is 
probable that the water in a magma at 200° 
will diffuse into a magma at 300° (and higher 
in turn), across the surface of contact. The 
region of fusion is, therefore, essentially sink- 
ing in character in its avidity for magmas at 


* Inferred because the rate of solution increases 
rapidly as temperature rises. Moreover the higher 
temperatures of deeper isotherms are being con- 
tinually brought from lower to higher levels by 
convection, as solution proceeds. 


402 SCIENCE. 


higher temperatures. If the supply of water 
holds out above, the fused region will enlarge 
downward and laterally until, with excessive 
size, the rigidity of its confines breaks down. 

To keep water liquid at 200° C. it is merely 
necessary to tap the ocean at a level greater 
than 500 feet below the surface, while a depth 
of five miles of water may be available. The 
900° isotherm may also be put at a distance 
of about five miles below the solid surface, 
but it is correspondingly lifted up on the 
shores of the ocean. Near the ocean, there- 
fore, this earth level is potentially fused, if 
by whatever catastrophe the ocean penetrates 
as far as the 200° isotherm, barring the 3,000 
atmospheres of pressure which one may as- 
cribe to the given depth of the isotherm below 
the surface. In view of the rigidity of rock, 
such pressures are not yet irresistible, when 
burdening the solid framework of a region 
not too large. The effective pressures are 
smaller. Fusion will depend upon the char- 
acter of the rock magma found in place; it 
will be rapid if basic, slow if acid, but will 
in every case constitute a local source of heat, 
since as in Thomson’s case, the region of reac- 
tion is nicely jacketed in a way to guarantee 
the utmost amount of mischief. More than 
this; water-glass becomes saturated subject to 
temperature and pressure, after which the 
heat reaction ceases, and the chances for vul- 
canism become extinct. Furthermore, there 
is a chance for periods. Finally one would 
expect the region of volcanic activity to 
correspond in depth with the depth of the 
ocean; and again to be on the margin of the 
ocean without being necessarily absent in the 
interior of continents. Could anything be 
more cleverly dovetailed? What if the 
heathen rage and say ‘ qualitative’ or ‘ inade- 
quate’; what if throughout all the turmoil of 
the Pelée eruptions, not a soul has thought it 
worth while to quote my results. I am now 
doing this myself. 

But Elihu Thomson will have none of it. 
“No water would enter a hot stratum unless 
forced in by pressure in excess of that which 
the steam would acquire upon its generation,’ 
ete. Unfortunately we have to do with much 


‘IN. S. Vou. XXIV. No. 613. 


more than a mechanical phenomenon. The 


chief pressures in question are capillary and 


osmotic pressures. Steam will pass through 
porous rock against very considerable pres- 
sures. I remember that I once had an ocea- 
sion to pass a very fine spray of air through 
water. Nothing seemed simpler: I tried to 
force the air through a submerged cup of 
unglazed porcelain. But it would not work! 
A little consideration showed me afterwards 
that it takes ten atmospheres to do that, and 
the wretched old trap blew up before this 
pressure was reached. Through dry porce- 
lain the air escapes jauntily enough, but it 
will not do so if the pores are stoppered with 
water. One may estimate in the same way 
that pores of molecular dimensions, as in 
case of osmotic phenomena, and diffusion 
would call for many thousands of atmos- 
pheres if water is to be forced through, -so 
that the pump which feeds the vuleanic boiler 
to use Thomson’s image, is not a cast-iron 
contrivance. But apart from this, having once 
fused my glass I am at liberty to putty up 
every fissure that may interfere with my busi- 
ness. JI am quite unwilling to leave Elihu 
Thomson a single crack to puff away my 
steam, unless it be the cataclysmal break-up 
by which my glass, pumiced or not, or any of 
its ingredients, water and mud, are finally 
ejected. Here I can accommodate him period- 
ically. 

Major O. E. Dutton’s recent article’ breaks 


off entirely with his old-fashioned comrades. — 


and looks at voleanoes from a new point of 
view. I always read Dutton at arm’s length 
when I differ from him, lest the trenchancy 
of his style rob me of the charm of my own 
convictions. And the case here in question: 
is even more disquieting. Whoever invokes 
radio-activity silences most of us; for if the: 
incantation be potent enough, there is very 
little that the wily electron can not do. But 
in this instance, not a few have been in quest 


*T have not the data at hand, but they wilF 
be found, if I remember, in Osear Peschel’s ‘ Erd- 
kunde.’ 

** Volcanoes and Radioactivity, Nat. Academy, 
April 17, 1906. 


a a 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1906.] 


of radio-active fortunes supposedly stored in 
the bowels of the earth.. In one of the last 
annalen, August Becker,’ studying the lavas 
of Vesuvius in the Lenard’s laboratory, de- 
tects no unusual radioactivity in the magmas 
from deep sources, while Lord Kelvin has 
lately girded his gravitational vestments anew, 
and is thundering in the Times for a return 
to the simple life, free from radio-active re- 
finements. 

We may summarize, therefore, that in each 
case specific evidence for the adequate occur- 


rence or the localizations of volcanic heat is - 


wanting. Apart from this the manufacture 
of volcanoes is as easy as an aiter-dinner dis- 
cussion. Suppose, for instance, we all got to 
work conjointly; let me supply the broth, as 
I trust, thick and hot, while Elihu Thomson 
kneads in the energy and Major Dutton bom- 
bards the whole with a particles. Could any- 
thing withstand us? True there has been 
stufi predicted 
*Tmpenetrable, impaled with circling fire, 
Yet unconsumed,” 


but this need not be mentioned (at least not 
in the summer), as it is gravely questioned 
whether it will fit into the periodic law, and 
it does not concern us if we are good. 


_ Cart Barus. 
Brown UNIVERSITY, 
PROVIDENCE, R. I. 


THE RIGIDITY OF THE EARTH. 


To tHE Epitor oF Science: In his discus- 
sions of the interior condition of the earth 
(Screncr, September 7, 1906, and elsewhere), 
Professor T. J. J. See advances the proposi- 
tion that the interior matter of the earth is at 
the same time fluid and highly rigid. Taking 
the words in their accepted meaning this is 
a contradiction in terms. If the intended 
meaning is that deep-seated material is kept 
solid only by pressure, it is of course no new 
hypothesis. The experimental evidence for 
rigidity, which has been adduced by Kelvin, 
Darwin and others, concerns, however, only 
the actual present rigidity of the earth, and 
has no bearing upon the question whether this 
is or is not due to pressure. 

*Annalen der Physik, XX., p. 634, 1906. 


SCIENCE. 


403 


Professor See’s own supposed deduction of 
the earth’s rigidity (Astronomische Nach- 
richten, 4104) apparently rests upon a com- 
plete misunderstanding of the meaning of 
modulus of rigidity. He quotes from Kelvin 
a definition of this modulus stated in a some- 
what unusual form which seems to have mis- 
led Professor See as to its meaning, although 
this is made quite clear by the context. The 
definition quoted is from the article on Elas- 
ticity, Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. VILI., p. 
805, and is as follows: 

The modulus of rigidity of an isotropic sub- 
stance is the amount of normal traction or pres- 
sure per unit area, divided by twice the amount 
of elongation in the direction of the traction or 
of contraction in the direction of the pressure 
when a piece of the substance is subjected to a 
stress producing uniform distortion. 

The context shows that this definition refers 
to a body subjected to a traction in one direc- 
tion, an equal pressure in a rectangular direc- 
tion, and zero stress in the third rectangular 
direction. The accompanying strain is the 
‘uniform distortion’ referred to in the defini- 
tion. With this understanding the definition 
is exactly equivalent to the more common 
definition which immediately precedes the one 
quoted, and which reads as follows: 

The ‘modulus of rigidity’ of an isotropic solid 
is the amount of tangential stress divided by the 
deformation it produces. 

For a fluid the value of the modulus of 
rigidity as thus defined is necessarily zero. 
Professor See, however, apparently infers from 
the definition quoted by him that the modulus 
of rigidity of any body, solid or fluid, is equal 
to the normal pressure to which it happens to 
be subjected. At all events this is the basis 
of the method by which he computes the rigid- 
ity of the earth and of other planets. As- 
suming Laplace’s law of density and the re- 
sulting distribution of interior pressure, he 
computes the average pressure throughout the 
earth and calls this the mean value of the 
modulus of rigidity for the earth. Of course, 
Kelvin’s definition admits of no such inter- 
pretation. L. M. Hoskins. 

Pato ALTo, CAL., 

September 13, 1906. 


404 SCIENCE. 


THE INTERIOR OF THE EARTH. 


To tHe Epiror or Science: Professor 
Thomson’s recent article on the cause for 
volcanic action, which begins with a reference 
to the theory of a liquid interior of the earth 
as exploded, taken in connection with a recent 
paper by my friend, Dr. Daly, has set me 
thinking as to what we mean by speaking of 
the interior of the earth as either solid or 
fluid. That if fluid it is in general highly 
viscous is certain; that if solid it is also often 
subject to stresses above its crushing strength, 
under which it flows like punched steel, all 
will agree. But are we clear as to where we 
are to draw the line between viscous fluid and 
solid? We have, on the one hand, substances, 
which, like the splinters of albite described 
by Day, are so viscous as to retain their form 
even when heated so that they have lost their 
erystalline structure and then become optic- 
ally homogeneous, and we have, on the other 
hand, experiments like those of Adams on the 
flow of rock solids. JI do not think we can 
come to any clear idea or definition without 
emphasizing the relation of time. Molasses 
candy and tar appear ordinarily as solids and 
erack and break as such, yet given time 
enough they flow, and are properly classed as 
viscous fluids. In geologic problems we have 
large quantities and long times at disposal. 
The argument for the solidity of the earth 
from its resistance to the pull of the sun and 
moon proves that it is highly rigid, but not 
at all that it may not be a viscous fluid, be- 
cause the time in which the stresses are ap- 
plied is relatively brief. 

The scientific distinction between solid and 
fluid may be derived from the common idea of 
a solid as that which has a form of its own, 
while the fluid takes the form of the contain- 
ing vessel, bounded by a level surface on top. 
It is obvious that we must give it time to take 
the form in question. A very viscous fluid 
may take a very great time, yet it will ulti- 
mately assume the same form as the other 
fluid. Whence we may base an ideal defini- 
tion and say that anything to be classed as 
fluid will, in sufficient time, come to the same 
state of equilibrium as water, and is not able 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 613. 


to rest in a state of strain, but yields to a 
stress however small or slowly applied. 
Whereas a solid, such as a erystal of quartz, 
might be under a light stress producing a 
slight strain for infinite time without any 
tendency to permanent distortion. 

For geological purposes we do not need to 
deal with quite infinite time. While stresses 
such as those of the tides and volcanic earth- 
quake shocks are far too quickly applied to 
discriminate between viscous fluids and solids, 
the slow erosion of a.continent by the fraction 
of a thousandth of a foot a year, the slow 
attendant deposition of sediment on the ocean 
floor and the slow escape of energy from the 
interior of the earth are examples of forces so 
slowly applied that if there is any degree of 
real fluidity worth mentioning in any layer 
of the earth, there could be no accumulation 
of such stresses in it, but they would be yielded 
to as fast as formed. 

According to a geological theory known 
as that of isostasy, there is something like 
this continuous yielding in the case of erosion 
and deposition, the continents being uplifted 
as they are eroded, while the ocean shores are 
depressed, so that continents float above the 
general earth level because they are lighter, 
like icebergs in water, and not because they 
are supported by stresses in the earth beneath. 
In the same way the earth is supposed to have 
been depressed beneath the icecap and to have 
risen again, tilting the shore lines of the 
Great Lakes, when the ice melted away. If 
this theory is strictly true it would seem to 
me that we must assume a viscous fluid sub- 
stratum. But is this process absolutely con- 
tinuous, or only ‘ steady by jerks,’ the yielding 
occurring only after a certain degree of strain 
is accumulated? Upon the possibility of 
accumulation to some extent of very slow 
strain should depend the answer as to whether 
there is a viscous fluid or plastic solid sub- 
stratum of the earth. As President McNair 
has suggested to me, there is an experiment 
now being unwillingly tried on a gigantic 
scale which might throw light on this. The 
Colorado River is about to cover some 2,000 
square miles in the next 30 or 40 years with 


a a 
RL eR a ee 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1906.] 


water over 200 feet deep. Will this gradually 
applied extra load produce a gradual depres- 
sion? This might almost seem a crucial test, 
and it would seem as though a few well-placed 
and well-determined bench marks on project- 
ing hills, or possibly triangulation tripods, in 
the area to be submerged would answer the 
question. And it is the hope of arousing 
interest and causing the necessary measure- 
ments to be made that has spurred me to 
write this note. ALFRED C,. LANE. 


THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF STUDENTS. 


In the article on ‘The Geographical Distri- 
bution of the Student Body at a number of 
Eastern and Western Universities and East- 
ern Colleges,’ which appeared in the issue of 
Scrence for August 10, 1906, I neglected to 
eall attention to the fact that the showing of 
a number of the state universities is some- 
what misleading, for the reason that many 
students from outside the state in which the 
university is located endeavor to establish a 
state residence, in order to escape the tuition 
charged to outsiders. This is true particu- 
larly with reference to the University of Cali- 
fornia, on account of the isolation and the 
large size of the state. Families of students 
from outside often establish a temporary resi- 
dence in Berkeley, and a similar state of affairs 
no doubt exists with reference to the Univer- 
sity of Michigan and other state universities. 
At California not over one quarter of the 
students coming to the university from out- 
side the state and from foreign countries are 
so registered. Rupoutr Tomso, JR. 

Registrar. 


SPECIAL ARTICLES. 


THE PRESERVATION OF SURFACE CONDENSER TUBES 
IN PLANTS USING SALT OR CONTAMI- 
NATED WATER CIRCULATION.” 


THE prevention of electrolytic corrosion of 
condenser parts where they are subject to con- 
tact with condensing water that contains elec- 

1Read at the Ithaca meeting of the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science, June 
29, 1906, before Section D—Mechanical Science 
Engineering. 


SCIENCE. 


405 


trolytiec properties has been a serious problem 
with condenser engineers at sea as well as on 
land, where the condensing water contains 
salts in solution. This action is especially 
destructive where the cooling water is contami- 
nated further with chemicals or with sewage. 

In the great steam plants of New York city 
where the water bills extend into thousands of 
dollars per annum, in fact, are approximately 
one tenth of the fuel bills, this is an important 
condition bearing upon the cost of the hourly — 
power unit, but the attempt to use surface 
condensers in the past for the purpose of 
saving this waste has not been accompanied 
with any degree of success. The highest 
economy demands such precautions as shall 
leave the hot-well water coming from the con- 
densers in a proper condition for feeding the 
boilers. 

The waste incident to the inability to save 
this water in stationary generating plants has 
caused the construction of surface condensing 
apparatus at such plants as that of the Brook- 
lyn Edison Company at Bayridge, and of the 
Metropolitan Street Railway Company at 
96th Street, New York City. 

At the time the design of the Long Island 
City Power House of the Pennsylvania Rail- 
road was undertaken, it became evident that 
true economy in the operation of a plant 
which would have under ordinary circum- 
stances an annual water bill of about $100,000, 
when the plant has been fully put into service, 
justified an attempt to save the water from 
the hot well for replenishing the boilers. This 
seemed to demand a thorough investigation of 
the matter of condenser protection where the 
circulation cooling water was an electrolyte 
as it was in this case. 

The site where this plant was to be con- 
structed was at Long Island City near the 
harbor front, and the plant was designed to 
contain, when fully constructed, fourteen 
5,500 K.W. generating units. With such an 
equipment and with an ordinary loading, the 
amount of boiler feed water required per an- 
num would cost in the neighborhood of 
$100,000. 

In the investigation of possible methods for 


406 SCIENCE. 


preventing the rapid destruction of condenser 
tubes and parts, an effort was made to find 
out if the condenser engineers of the country 
did not have suitable information as to the 
nature of the action tending to destroy the 
thin tubes and preventing tightness in the 
condenser, or had not made trials to indicate 
effective methods of protection. The most 
competent opinion that we could get was that 
if we could adjust the difference of potential 
due to stray ground traction or other currents 
to a value of less than three volts, we 
should have no difficulties; that the trouble 
was all due to stray ground currents from 
electric railways and that stray currents from 
lighting plants had little or nothing to do 
with the corrosion. They further stated that 
all that was necessary was to insulate from 
the possible inflow into the condenser of stray 
currents from traction operations. It had 
been found that these currents were already 
destroying the city water pipes of the vicinity 
along which they were traveling and to which 
connection would have to be made. 

With a view to discovering a method of 
protection, we carefully investigated this state- 
ment based on the action of a device at the 
Brooklyn Edison Company’s Bayridge Plant 
earing for this condition, and found it had 
been an abject failure, ending in the abandon- 
ment of surface condensers, and the installa- 
tion of elevated jet condensers at considerable 
expense, and consequent wasting of the water 
of condensation. Numerous other instances, 
more or less efficiently handled, were found. 
Some of the condensers in other steam plants 
were so designed and the connections so made 
that it was absolutely essential to permit the 
sea-water from the main spaces to pass into 
the steam space of the condensers by the ac- 
tual removal of tubes, thereby preventing the 
re-use of feed water from the hot wells, even 
if they had been tight otherwise. 

It became evident at once that there was 
really nothing accurately known about the 
destructive actions that were taking place in 
condensers and that a systematic study of the 
situation for Long Island City was demanded 
before we should decide on the type of con- 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 613. 


denser and the wisdom of trying to use hot- 
well water in the boilers. 

To that end, we measured the stray currents 
and we found that the voltage of the railroad 
rails in the terminal freight yard of the Long 
Island Railroad at points between the power 
house and the river was at times as much as 
nine yolts above the potential of the river; 
that this caused a flow of current to the har- 
bor and a destruction of water pipes and other 
things in the railroad yards, and that any- 
thing that was done would have to be not only 
able to compensate for this nine volts but 
must further provide for the control to 
fit modifications thereof in such a way as 
to prevent reverse current actions and corro- 
sion of other things. In other words, with the 
peak of the load on the Brooklyn Rapid 
Transit, the voltage would go to nine volts; 
and as the load sagged off it would decrease, 
until it was only a volt or two. Therefore, 
whatever was put in must be thoroughly con- 
trollable from time to time by switchboard 
appliances. 

In order to properly study the real condi- 
tions a number of large glass jars were pro- 
vided and various combinations of metals were 
immersed in samples of water taken from the 
river at Long Island City, of sea water from 
off Far Rockaway, as well as of pure water. 

It became evident that the effect of samples 
of water from the East River was much more 
violent than that of ordinary sea water. It was 
further observed that there was a local action 
going on which was galvanic, and that the 
amount of stray currents had something to do 
with the polarization of the surfaces in gal- 
vanie action, making the galvanic action ex- 
ceedingly violent and destroying thin ‘copper 
tubes at a very rapid rate. ‘There would be 
punctures of these tubes in four or five days’ 
time which would be fatal to the commercial 
requirements, producing a very serious repair 
item in order to maintain the condensers 
sufiiciently to permit their being used to re- 
turn the reclaimed or hot-well water to the 
boilers. 

In other words, it would render it impossible 
to keep them in a suitable condition, as the 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1906.] 


water would be contaminated with salt-water 
leakage. 

It soon became evident by observation of 
the several combinations in these cells, that 
there was a violent local action between the 
zine and the copper of the brass tubes which 
were in contact with the electrolyte, and that 
this increased in the reaction as it progressed 
in stagnant conditions. 

It then became necessary to find a method 
more comprehensive than the proposed simple 
counter-electromotive force for the neutraliza- 
tion of the traction companies’ stray currents. 
Further experiments with plates immersed in 
the cooling water samples showed that by 
interposing a counter electromotive force 
against the galvanic couple which should ex- 
ceed in pressure the voltage of the galvanic 
couple, the actions of the electrolytic cor- 
rosion ceased. The difference in potential be- 
tween the zine and the copper for the Long 
Island City harbor water was found to be 0.4 
of a volt. Zine and copper were selected in 
these experiments because the condenser tubes 
were to be made of 60 per cent. copper and 40 
per cent. zinc. It became evident that when 
unconnected, or electrically separated, plates 
were placed in this electrolyte, if they were 
of composite construction and had sharp 
projections into the fluid, raised by cutting 
and prying up with a knife, they would have 
these projections promptly destroyed, and that 
if an electric battery having a pressure ex- 
ceeding that of the couple in the East River 
water was caused to act to produce a counter 
current, and having a pressure exceeding that 
of the galvanic couple, the capacity of this 
electrolyte to drive off atoms of the mechan- 
ically combined metals in the alloys used was 
overcome and corrosion was arrested. 

It, therefore, became desirable to not only 
earefully provide the balancing quantity of 
current to equal the stray traction currents 
arising from the ground returns of railway 
and other service, but to add to this the neces- 
sary voltage through a cathode placed in the 
circulating water in such a way as to bring 
to bear electrolytic action which would pre- 
vent the galvanic action due to this current 


SCIENCE. 


407 


coming into contact with alloys of mechan- 
ically combined metals such as the brass tubes. 

It became evident that the influence of 
various foreign substances in the East River 
water made the galvanic couple as between an 
atom of zinc and an atom of copper greater 
than for open sea water, and it was found to 
be at times as high as 0.42 of a volt. With 
this known it was planned to put a pressure 
of 0.6 of a volt on the anode in order to over- 
come this action and prevent the separation of 
the zine molecule from the surfaces and the 
consequent breaking down of the tubes. 

In order to accomplish these two things, it 
was first necessary to so install the condensers 
as to prevent undue amounts of stray currents 
flowing through them, thus tending to reduce 
the amount of power required to prevent in- 
jurious action of these currents and otherwise 
to neutralize them. This was done by insula- 
ting the joints in the piping and from ground 
connections and even lining the large water 
connections with glass melted on to the sur- 
face. 

To furnish electromotive force, a 3-K.W. 
motor generator was provided. It was of the 
form used for electroplating. By means of a 
system of wiring, switchboard apparatus and 
appliances, together with ammeters and 
voltmeters for measuring quantities and pres- 
sures, and a connection to an outlying anode 
in the condensing supply intake at its harbor . 
end, this generator was planned to provide 
current to neutralize the stray currents in 
the condenser structure to any extent that 
they had passed the insulated joints in the 
supports and connections, as well as through 
the columns of water in the pipe connections, 
and then to adjust the additional voltage 
needed to counteract and prevent the galvanic 
action. 

This led to much discussion as to methods 
and the reasons why the corrosion was pre- 
vented; and it became necessary, in order to 
get at the facts in the matter, to review the 
history of electrolytic conduction. <A refer- 
ence to Faraday’s Laws and to the results of 
the experiments of Helmholtz and Clausius, 
explained the nature of this electrolytic con- 


408 SCIENCE. 


duction and the reasons for its action. The 
best explanation is summed up in Professor 
Oliver J. Lodge’s ‘Modern Views of Elec- 
tricity, chapter four on ‘ Electrolytic Con- 
duction,’ as follows: 


1. Electrolytic conduction is invariably accom- 
panied by chemical decomposition, and in fact only 
occurs by means of it. 

2. The electricity does not go through, but with 
the atoms of matter, which travel along and con- 
vey their charges something after the manner of 
pith balls. 

3. The electric charge belonging to each atom of 
matter is a simple multiple of a definite quantity 
of electricity, which quantity is an absolute con- 
stant quite independent of the nature of the partic- 
ular substance to which the atoms belong. 

4. Positive electricity is conveyed through a 
liquid by something equivalent to a procession of 
the electro-positive atoms of the compound, in 
the direction of the current; and at the same 
time, negative electricity is conveyed in the op- 
posite direction by a similar procession of the 
electro-negative atoms. 

5. On any atom reaching an electrode, it may 
be forced to get rid of its electric charge, and, 
combining with others of the same kind, escapes 
in a free state; in which case visible decomposition 
results. Or it may find something else handy 
with which to combine, say on the electrode or 
in the solution; and in that case the decomposi- 
tion, though real, is masked, and not apparent. 

6. But, on the other hand, the atom may cling 
to its electric charge with such tenacity as to 
stop the current; the opposition force exerted by 
these atoms upon the current being called polar- 
ization. 

7. No such opposition force, or tendency to 
spring back, is experienced in the interior of a 
mass of fluid; it occurs only at the electrodes. 

The first three of these statements constitute a 
summary of Faraday’s Laws of Electrolysis. 


The claim was made, immediately upon the 
application of this apparatus, that the elec- 
tricity coming from the anode, which in this 
installation was of cast iron but which ordi- 
narily would be of carbon, would short-circuit 
on to the very ends of the tubes instead of 
passing through the tubes to the several points 
which might be exposed to galvanic action. 
This, however, does not seem to be the ease, 
and in fact is entirely accounted for by the 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 613. 


following remarks from the above-mentioned 
work on ‘ Modern Views of Electricity’: 


But it may be asked, ‘If the atoms in each 
molecule cling together by their electrostatic at- 
tractions, and, as there are an enormous number 
of atoms between the two electrodes, how comes it 
that a feeble electromotive force can pull them 
apart and effect decomposition; moreover, how can 
the electromotive force needed to effect decom- 
position help varying directly with the thickness 
of the fluid between the plates?’ It does not de- 
pend upon anything of the kind; the length of the 

‘liquid between the electrodes is absolutely im- 
material. This proves that throughout the main 
thickness of the liquid no atoms are torn asunder 
at all. Probably, they frequently change partners, 
one pair of atoms not always remaining united 
but occasionally getting separated and recombined 
with other individuals. During these interchanges 
there must be moments of semi-freedom during 
which the atoms are amenable to the slightest 
directive tendency, and it is probably these mo- 
ments that the applied electromotive force makes 
use of. 

The reality of such a state of continual inter- 
change between molecules has been forced upon 
chemists by the facts of double decomposition, 
such facts as the interchange of atoms between 
strongly combined salts where their solutions are 
mixed so as to form very much weaker com- 
pounds; the proof that such compounds are formed 
being very clear in the case when they happen to 
be insoluble. 

The fact that the most infinitesimal force is 
sufficient to effect its due quota of decomposition 
has been proved most clearly and decisively by 
the experiments of Helmholtz. 

Moreover, electrolytic conduction is perceived to 
be scarcely of the nature of true conduction: the 
electricity does not slip through or among the 
molecules; it goes with them. The constituents of 
each molecule are free of each other, and while one 
set of atoms conveys positive electricity, the other 
set carries negative electricity in the opposite di- 
rection; and so it is by a procession of free atoms 
that the current is transmitted. The process is of 
the nature of convection: the atoms act as car- 
riers. Free locomotion of charged atoms is essen- 
tial to electrolysis. 


Professor Lodge also says: 


For any element, whatever, the number of atoms 
liberated in any time is equal to the number of 


= oo 5 —— 
OL 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1906.] 


atoms of hydrogen liberated in the same time 
divided by the ‘valency’ of the element as com- 
pared with hydrogen. 
by Faraday; and appears to be precisely true: 


This law was discovered 


and inasmuch as the relative weight of every 
element is known with fair accuracy, it is easy to 
calculate what weight of substance any given cur- 
rent will deposit or set free in an hour, if we 
once determine it experimentally for any one sub- 
stance. 


By this means, we succeeded in properly 
adapting the sizes of the generating and other 
apparatus. All connections were made in a 
manner to insure a uniform voltage of the 
various parts of the condenser to prevent 
local action, each connection being so made 
and provided with such measuring instru- 
ments as to insure ready adjustment to effect 
this. The apparatus was designed in accord- 
ance with the above statements. Its operation 
has extended over a period of fourteen months, 
and with the exception of about ten tubes 
which have become pitted, the results have 
been satisfactory. 

When the condenser was planned, the con- 
denser manufacturer was instructed to slope 
the tubes down one inch in the direction of 
flow; but when he did so, it was forgotten 
that the middle inclination, if parallel to the 
first and third passes, would then be up-hill 
for the circulating water, and that when the 
condenser was shut down all the water would 
drain out of this middle section except that 
in the bottom tubes. These bottom tubes it 
has been found have become somewhat cor- 
roded, although not seriously. 

The cause for this result having now been 
found, its prevention has been effected by per- 
forating the diaphragm in the condenser head 
to permit prompt drainage of these tubes 
when the condenser is taken out of active 
operation. 

The efficiency of the apparatus amply justi- 
fies the expense of its installation, while its 
operation is not expensive and the plant here 
described will now be followed by other pro- 
tecting plants of the same character. 


W. W. CHURCHILL. 


SCIENCE. 


409 
QUOTATIONS. 
THE NEXT INTERNATIONAL TUBERCULOSIS 
CONGRESS. 
Tue International Tuberculosis Congress 


takes place at intervals of three years, and the 
latest was held in Paris last autumn. The 
next, therefore, is due in 1908, and Washing- 
ton has been selected as the place of meeting. 
It seems a far cry from now to the autumn 
of the year after next; but the American 
National Association for the Study and Pre- 
vention of Tuberculosis, which has general 
charge of the arrangements, evidently intends 
that this meeting shall be notable among con- 
gresses, and with laudable forethought has 
already got its plans something more than 
mapped out. As an initial step it set itself 
the task of collecting a sum of $100,000 
towards the expenses, but resolved to get this 
amount in a fashion quite impossible in any 
country on this side of the Atlantic. In other 
words, the minimum subscription was placed 
not at five shillings but at five thousand dol- 
lars, in the belief that there would be no dif_i- 
culty in finding at least twenty citizens of the 
United States ready for such an object to put 
their hands into their pockets to the tune of 
£1,000 each. Nor does it appear likely that 
these rose-colored expectations will be falsi- 
fied, for about half the sum desired is already 
in hand. There is a double object, however, 
in this early collection of the sinews of war. 
A sum of $100,000 lying at interest at Amer- 
ican rates for a couple of years will enable 
another scheme to be fulfilled. This is to 
award prizes of considerable value to the au- 
thors of the best papers sent to the congress 
on certain selected subjects, such as municipal 
control, bacteriological treatment and sana- 
toriums, as also to anti-tuberculosis societies 
which can show the largest increase in mem- 
bership since the congress of 1905, and to the 
city, wherever situated, which can claim the 
greatest improvement in its phthisis mortality 
rates during a corresponding period. The 
exact subjects have not yet been finally de- 
termined, but it is understood that an an- 
nouncement of them is to be expected before 
very long. A further novel suggestion which 


410 SCIENCE. 


seems likely to be adopted is that by way of 
making it worth while for those in Europe to 
eross the water, and also of affording a certain 
latitude, the congress shall officially last three 
weeks. Only the middle week, however, is to 
be devoted to scientific meetings and discus- 
sions, it being proposed that the first week 
shall be given up by visitors to exploring some 
of the other great cities of the United States 
north of Washington, in which official ar- 
rangements will be made for their reception, 
and the third week to similar official visits to 
cities southwards. The idea is that there 
may be many who could reach Washington 
some little time before the scientific proceed- 
ings commence, but would have to leave im- 
mediately on their termination, while others 
could spare plenty of time afterwards, but 
none before, and that by placing the discus- 
sions in the middle week America will be able 
to show public hospitality to visitors of either 
class.—The British Medical Journal. 


CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 
CLIMATE AND ALTITUDE IN AFRICA. 

THE tempering effect of altitude, even with- 
in the tropics, is well known. The vice-gov- 
ernor of the Congo Free State, in a recent 
description of a journey over the Uganda 


Railroad (Mouvement Géographique, No. 16,. 


1906), brings out this point in his notes on 
Nairobi, an important town on the line west 
of Mombasa, about half-way between the 
Indian Ocean and Victoria Nyanza, at an ele- 
vation of 5,450 feet. Here it is possible to 
raise several varieties of European fruits, 
vegetables and cereals; the European popula- 
tion is increasing, and many of the white set- 
tlers have brought their families. It is fur- 
ther stated that they have no desire to return 
to their native land. If this be true, it marks 
a radical departure from the usual rule for 
white settlers in the tropics, but it is doubtless 
an exaggerated statement, or has its origin in 
the fact that most of the Europeans have been 
at Nairobi but a short time and have not yet 
attempted to bring up their children there. 
Concerning German East Africa, the goy- 
ernment of that district has recently issued a 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 613. 


circular for the use of white colonists who 
intend to settle in the Kilimanjo province. 
The province consists chiefly of grassy steppe, 
and the industries must be general agriculture 
and stock-raising, in the main. The altitude 
mitigates the heat, although the region is only 
about 200 miles south of the equator. 

Major Gibbons (Geogr. Journ., March) has 
studied the western part of the high plateau 
region of British East Africa with a view to 
ascertaining its adaptability for European set- 
tlement. Most of the plateau is 6,000 feet 
above sea-level. Major Gibbons believes that 
this, as well as other higher altitudes in this 
part of Africa, will be classed as healthy 
countries, and that they will have considerable 
agricultural development. 


MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. 


Recent numbers of the Monthly Weather 
Review, Vol. XXXIV., 1906, have contained 
the following notes and articles of general in- 
terest: ‘The Relation between Storm Move- 
ment and Pressure Distribution, by E. H. 
Bowie; ‘Climatology of Haiti in the Eight- 
eenth Century,’ by C. F. Talman; ‘ Vertical 


Air Currents,’ by F. W. Proctor, who notes 


that he has several times had toy kites lifted 
by vertical currents during summer anti- 
cyclonic weather, thus showing the presence 
of small irregular rising bodies of air. A 
case of ‘Snow formed by Mixture of Warm 
and Cold Air’ is described by R. W. Gray, 
observer at Atlantic City, N. J. On Feb- 
ruary 6 last snow fell during a part of the 
day when the sky was perfectly clear. At 
times the flurries were quite heavy. Con- 
densation seemed to occur at not more than 
75 to 100 feet above ground, and in a region 
of mixture of cold northwest land wind with 
a warmer, damp ocean wind. Consul-Gen- 
eral Skinner, at Marseilles, describes the 
new method of frost protection in use in 
the vine-growing regions. A newly-invent- 
ed preparation, known as the ‘ Fumigéne Mor- 
tier,’ packed in boxes containing about nine 
pounds of black powder, and costing 1.50 
franc each, is much used in producing thick 
smoke, which has proved very effective in 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1906.] 


checking radiation and thus decreasing the 
danger of frost. Professor Cleveland Abbe 
contributes some further notes on the life and 
work of Espy. In connection with a letter 
from a correspondent in Curacao, who at- 
tributes to deforestation in that island certain 
electrical effects which now produce less rain 
than formerly, Professor Abbe (‘ Drought 
and Atmospheric Electricity’) takes occasion 
to point out what is known regarding the con- 
nection between rain and electricity. In a 
series of observations on ‘ The Zodiacal Light,’ 
Dr. Maxwell Hall reaches conclusions which 
would relegate this phenomenon to the depart- 
ment of astrophysics, the influence of the at- 
mosphere being only to render obscure the 
fainter details. In a note on ‘Cloud Ban- 
ners,’ reference is made to the report that 
heavy columns of smoke or steam were as- 
cending from the peak of Mount Rainier on 
March 6 last. Public attention was attracted 
by the phenomenon, and it was eagerly 
watched. In reality, it was a cloud banner 
of the ordinary type, developed in a warm 
southerly wind. A similar appearance, in 
December, 1904, led to the sending of an ex- 
pedition up the mountain by a Seattle news- 
paper. A review of a recent paper by Briick- 
ner on the influence of the oceans on pre- 
cipitation over the continents brings out the 
fact that if the figures and underlying assump- 
tions are taken as accurate, it appears that 
were the influence of the oceans eliminated, 
the continents would still receive four fifths 
of their present precipitation. 


CENTRAL LOW PRESSURE IN A TORNADO. 


A FEW years ago there was no barograph 
record from the center or from near the center 
of a tornado. Almost every year now some 
tornado in the United States passes near 
enough to a Weather Bureau station to leave 
some record of its existence on the curve 
traced by the self-recording barometer, yet 
the number of these records is not yet so 
large that new ones are uninteresting or not 
worth noting. The tornado at Meridian, 
Miss., March 2 last, whose passage caused a 
considerable loss of property and resulted in 


SCIENCE. 


411 


the death of 23 persons, was within 250 yards 
of the local office of the Weather Bureau. 
The barograph pen dipped .16 inch, and re- 
covered almost immediately, making a straight 
line down from the main part of its curve. 
This is the usual form of tornado pressure 
eurve. A facsimile of the original tracing 
may be found in the Monthly Weather Re- 
view, 1906, p. 118. 


NOTES. 


‘Some Meteorological Results of the Scot- 
tish National Antarctic Expedition,’ by R. C. 
Mossman, appear in the Scottish Geographical 
Magazine, Vol. 22, 1906, pp. 252-272. This is 
a more complete discussion than has hitherto 
been published, and is illustrated by means of 
curves and wind roses. The most important 
results of the Scotia expedition have already 
been noted in SCIENCE. 

Tue rainfall of a region little known 
meteorologically, German Southwest Africa, 
is discussed by T. Klengel in Das Wetter, 
1906, beginning with the April number and 
extending through July. 

THE optical effects resulting from the dust 
thrown out in the recent eruption of Vesuvius 
are briefly discussed in the July number of 
Das Wetter. 

R. DeC. Warp. 


BOTANICAL NOTES. 
A NEW FLORA OF COLORADO. 


Axsout thirty years ago Professors Porter 
and Coulter prepared a very useful ‘ Synopsis 
of the Flora of Colorado,’ and ten years later 
this was expanded by the junior author into 
his well-known and widely used ‘ Manual of 
the Botany of the Rocky Mountain Region.’ 
In the two decades since the appearance of 
the latter so much has been done in the collec- 
tion and closer study of the plants of the 
Rocky Mountain region that these old books 
no longer represent the present state of our 
knowledge of the species and their distribu- 
tion. Dr. Rydberg’s ‘ Catalogue of the Flora 
of Montana and the Yellowstone National — 
Park’ (1900) gave some idea of what addi- 
tions and changes would have to be made in 


412 SCIENCE. 


a comprehensive treatment to-day of the 
plants of the region. Several years ago the 
officers of the Agricultural Experiment Sta- 
tion of Colorado felt the need of having the 
growing botanical collections of the station 
determined more accurately than was then 
possible with the available manuals and other 
publications, and appealed to the director of 
the New York Botanical Garden for such help 
as he could afford them. The ultimate result 
of this appeal is a well-printed octavo volume 
of more than 450 pages, entitled the ‘ Flora 
of Colorado,’ and published as Bulletin 100 
of the Colorado Experiment Station. It is 
the work of Dr. P. A. Rydberg, whose ac- 
quaintance with the Colorado flora is based 
upon much actual study and field work in dif- 
ferent parts of the state, in addition to the 
rich collections in the herbarium of the New 
York Botanical Garden. It has been known 
for some time that he has had in preparation 
a manual of the botany of the whole Rocky 
Mountain region, and the present volume is 
thus a sort of prodrome of that work. 

The plan of the book is similar to that of 
the very useful ‘ Flora of Pennsylvania,’ pre- 
pared a few years ago by Dr. Porter. By 
convenient keys in the beginning of the book 
the orders are sufficiently characterized for 
recognition; then on the designated page of 
the volume by another key the families are 
briefly characterized; and so in like manner 
under each family is a key to the genera, and 
under each genus, a key to the species. Fi- 
nally after the specific key each species is 
given a separate paragraph, including the 
authority, habitat, general distribution in 
North America, particular distribution in 
Colorado, altitude, and now and then a syn- 
onym. It is thus a synoptical manual, and 
has the merit of maintaining the identity of 
order, family, genus and species, a matter of 
no small importance to the beginner who 
wishes to know something more than the mere 
names of his plants. A failure to maintain 
- such distinctions is a grave fault of many of 
the local manuals accompanying botanical 
text-books. Dr. Rydberg’s book will no doubt 
at once become the handbook for the student 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 613. 


and collector in Colorado, for which it is ad- 
mirably adapted. 

From the preface we learn that it contains 
‘over 700 genera, and 2,900 species’ of fern- 
worts and flowering plants, and that 194 per 
cent. of these are composites; 9 per cent. 
grasses (Poaceae); 64 per cent. Fabaceae; 
5 per cent. Brassicaceae; 34 per cent. sedges, 
ete. 

The nomenclature is modern, and the treat- 
ment of genera and species quite radical, yet 
the author has not published any new genera 
or species in the book, thus setting a good 
example, which it is to be hoped will be fol- 
lowed by other botanists who prepare similar 
floras. It is a good piece of work, and the 
officers of the experiment station are to be 
congratulated upon their liberality and fore- 
sight in providing for its publication. 


THE NORTH AMERICAN CHAREAE. 

TWENTY-SEVEN years ago Dr. B. D. Halsted 
published in the Proceedings of the Boston 
Society of Natural History a twenty-page 
paper entitled the ‘ Classification and Descrip- 
tion of the American Species of Characeae,’ 
including characterizations of all of the spe- 
cies then known in North America, viz., of 
Nitella 8 species, Tolypella 1, and Chara 9 
species and 6 varieties. Three years later 
Braun’s ‘ Fragmente’ increased these numbers 
to Nitella 21 species, Tolypella 3, and Chara 
15, besides many varieties and ‘forms.’ Now 
we have a paper, ‘The Chareae of North 
America,’ published by Dr. Charles B. Robin- 
son in the Bulletin of the New York Botanical 
Garden, which shows what progress has been 
made in the last quarter of a century in the 
study of these interesting plants. As indi- 
cated in the title this paper is limited to the 
Chareae, a subfamily represented in this 
country by the genus Chara only, and yet the 
author finds more species (50) than were re- 
corded in all our genera by previous students. 
Of these species fifteen are here described for 
the first time, while ten varieties are raised to 
specific rank. Of the new species two each 
come from New York, New Jersey, Canada, 
Michigan, Florida and Mexico, while Kansas, 
New Mexico and Illinois add one each. 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1906.] 


The paper, which covers 64 pages, includes 
a ten-page structural and historical introduc- 
tion, followed by a key to the species of Chara. 
Following the key are full descriptions of all 
of the species, with the type locality, distribu- 
tion, illustrations and exsiccatae for each spe- 
cies. Suggestive critical notes are appended 
in many cases, adding much to the value of 
this important contribution to our knowledge 
of this interesting group of plants. 


A MOSS BOOK. 


Some weeks ago Part III. of Dr. Grout’s 
‘“Mosses with Hand-lens and Microscope’ 
came to hand, continuing the work from page 
167 to 246. In this part we have the comple- 
tion of the family Tortulaceae, and the treat- 
ment in succession of Hncalyptaceae, Ortho- 
trichaceae, MSchistostegaceae, Splanchnaceae, 
Funariaceae, Meeseaceae, Timmiaceae, Aulo- 
comniaceae, Bartramiaceae, Bryaceae and 
Leskeaceae. The two families to which the 
most space is given are Orthotrichaceae and 
Bryaceae, which together take up more than 
half of the pages of this part. The illustra- 
tions and text maintain the high standard set 
by the author in the two preceding parts. 
The statement is made that two more parts 
will complete this important and very useful 


work. Cuarues EK. Bessey. 
THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. 


CENTRAL BUILDING OF IOWA STATE COL- 
LEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND 
MECHANIC ARTS. 


On June 8, 1906, the new central building 
of the Iowa State College of Agriculture and 
Mechanic Arts was dedicated. Hon. W. J. 
Dixon, in speaking of the construction of the 
building, said: 


The building is 216 feet long by 112 feet in 
depth. Floor area 98,000 square feet. The build- 
ing contains 1,892,738 cubic feet of materials. 
The base is of Georgia granite and the outer walls 
of Bedford stone. The roof is tile set in concrete. 
Construction is fire-proof throughout. The plumb- 
ing, heating and lighting is of the most approved 
modern systems. The cost of the completed build- 
ing is $375,000. 


SCIENCE. 


. 


413 


The architects were Proudfoot & Bird, of Des 
Moines; the builder was Henry W. Schleuter, and 
the superintendent of construction was Dean An- 
son Marston. The furniture cost $52,000. 

The commencement address was made by 
Dr. F. W. Gunsaulus, of Chicago. The fol- 
lowing number of degrees were conferred: 
B.S.A., 34; D.V.M., 4; B.M.E., 19; B.C.E., 
27; B.S. in E.E., 21; B.S. in Min.E., 8; B.S., 
14, three men and eleven women; M.S.A., 6; 
CBT: MES, 25. BIDS 1. One honorary, 
degree of M.Ph. 

At a meeting of the board of trustees on 
June 1, R. Earle Buchanan was made assist- 
ant professor of general bacteriology and 
Estelle D. Fogel was made instructor in 
botany. 

The following departments have rooms in 
the new central building: English, history, 
mathematics, civics, economic science, modern 
languages, elocution and oratory. There are 
also general offices for the board and the sec- 
retary, the purchasing committee, the presi- 
dent and faculty, and a reception room, treas- 
urer’s office, and the rooms of the department 
of botany. The departrment of botany occu- 
pies most of the upper floor and the attic story. 

L. H. PamMeEt. 


SIR WILLIAM PERKIN AND THE AMERICAN 
JUBILEE OF THE COAL TAR INDUSTRY. 
WE have already noted the British celebra- 

tion in commemoration of the fiftieth anni- 

versary of the discovery of the dye-stuff mauve 
by Sir William Perkin. American chemists 
decided to celebrate the foundation of the coal 
tar industry independently, and Sir William 

Perkin and Lady Perkin left Liverpool on the 

Umbria, on September 22, to be present at a 

banquet which will be given at Delmonico’s, 

on October 6. 

The American committee submitted to a 
public meeting, held May 28, 1906, the fol- 
lowing program: (1) To invite Sir William 
Perkin to be present at the American celebra- 
tion as the guest of the Americans. (2) The 
presentation to Sir William Perkin of a per- 
sonal token. (3) The foundation of a Perkin 
medal to be awarded annually to an American 
chemist for distinguished work in applied 


414 SCIENCE. 


chemistry. (4) The establishment of a 
nucleus of a fund for the foundation, at, the 
Chemists’ Club, in New York City of a refer- 
ence and circulating library, covering the en- 
tire field of theoretical and applied chemistry, 
which is to be in charge of a salaried librarian 
and to contain duplicate sets, one, of them to 
be used for circulation among American 
chemists. 

It was estimated that $5,000 would be amply 
suflicient to cover the expenses of the personal 
token and the Perkin medal, while the sum 
of at least $50,000 would be necessary for 
placing the library on a permanent basis. 

At the dinner the first Perkin medal and a 
silyer tea service will be presented to Sir 
William Perkin, and there will be addresses 
on the development of the coal tar industry 
and after-dinner speeches. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


Tue Smithsonian Institution was repre- 
sented by Mr. S. F. Emmons at the Interna- 
tional Geological Congress held in Mexico 
City from the sixth to the fourteenth of the 
present month and by Dr. Walter Hough at 
the fifteenth International Congress of Amer- 
icanists, held in Quebec from the tenth to the 
fifteenth. Dr. Hough also represented the 
U. S. National Museum. 


Proressor WILHELM Hirtorr, professor of 
physics at Minster, will be presented with a 
marble bust on the occasion of his jubilee, 
which will shortly be celebrated. Professor 
Hittorf has himself given 25,000 Marks for 
the scientific work in the Minster Academy. 


Dr. Max Torpier, professor of physics at 
the Dresden Technological Institute, cele- 
brated on September 7 his seventieth birthday. 


Dr. A. R. Croox, for the past twelve years 
professor of mineralogy and economic geology 
at Northwestern University, has been appoint- 
ed curator of the Illinois State Museum of 
Natural History at Springfield. During the 
past summer Professor Crook has visited mu- 
seums of natural history in this country and 
abroad with a view to studying their methods 
of administration and installation. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 613. 


Dr. Maynarp M. Mercaur, professor of biol- 
ogy in the Woman’s College in Baltimore 
since 1893, and now professor-elect of zoology 
in Oberlin College, has received the appoint- 
ment to the Smithsonian seat in the Naples 
Zoological Station for the months of March 
and April, 1907. Dr. Stewart Paton, formerly 
of Johns Hopkins University, whom Dr. Met- 
ealf succeeds at Naples, by extension of a 
former appointment, will occupy the Smith- 
sonian seat for five months from the first of 
October of the present year. It is announced 
that the Smithsonian has decided to renew its 
lease of a table at the station for an additional 
term of three years from January 1, 1907, 
and that applications, which are acted on in 
order of receipt, may now be submitted. In 
view of the number of students who desire to 
avail themselves of this opportunity for study 
at Naples, a Smithsonian appointment is not 
approved for a longer period than six months, 
though in exceptional cases an extension may 
be asked for and granted, if such action does 
not interfere with the occupancy of other ap- 
plicants. 

THE first meeting of the California Branch 
of the American Folk-Lore Society during 
1906-07 was held September 11, at 8 p.m., in 
South Hall, University of California, Berke- 
ley. Mr. Charles Keeler presided. On mo- 
tion a nominating committee was appointed 
consisting of Professor Dresslar, Professor 
Fryer and Mrs. Dickson. The committee re- 
ported the following nominations for officers 
for 1906-07 : 

President—Charles Keeler. 

First Vice-president—John Fryer. 

Second Vice-president—W. F. Bade. 

Treasurer—S. A. Barrett. 

Secretary—A. L. Kroeber. 

Councilors—Charles F. Lummis, W. C. Mitchell, 
Mrs. Thomas B. Bishop, John H. Matzke, C. Hart 
Merriam, E. J. Molera. 

On motion the report of the committee was 
adopted, the nominees being thereby elected. 
Professor A. L. Kroeber thereupon gave an 
address on ‘California Indian Myths and 
Songs,’ illustrated by graphophone records. 

We learn from Nature that the government 
of Cape Colony has placed a sum upon the 


' SEPTEMBER 28, 1906.] 


supplementary estimates toward the expenses 
incurred in carrying out investigations upon 
defects in ostrich feathers, under the direction 
of Professor J. E. Duerden, of Rhodes Univer- 
sity College, Grahamstown. 


Tut New York Hvening Post says: “ Signor 
Giolitti, a son of the prime minister of Italy, 
accompanied by his wife, has arrived from 
Naples. He is a professor of mathematics, 
and has come to America to attend courses of 
lectures at some of the universities in this 
country.” 


Mr. WELLMAN has arrived in Norway, on 
board the Frithjof, with his balloon, which 
will be sent to Paris for improvements to be 
made in the motor, which broke down con- 
stantly. The wireless apparatus which had 
been installed in Spitzbergen for communica- 
tion with Hammerfest was also a failure, tele- 
grams not having been received from Norway. 


THE opening exercises of the 153d academic 
year of Columbia University were held on 
September 26. The annual academic address 
was delivered by W. H. Burr, professor of 
civil engineering, upon ‘ The Technical School 
and the University.’ Professor Burr was fol- 
lowed by Dr. Hermann Schumacher, of the 
University of Bonn, first Kaiser Wilhelm pro- 
fessor of German history and institutions in 
Columbia University. 


Own the evening of October 10 Professor C. 
J. Keyser, of Columbia University, will de- 
liver a lecture on ‘The Space Concept of 
Lucretius and Blaise Pascal’? before the 
mathematical section of the Brooklyn Insti- 
tute of Arts and Sciences. 


Dr. Lupwic Botrzmann, eminent for his 
work in theoretical physics, of which subject 
he was professor in the University of Vienna, 
has committed suicide. He was born in 
Vienna in 1844, and after qualifying as docent 
at the university was successively professor at 
‘Gratz, Munich and Leipzig. 


Tue death is announced of Khan Bahadur 
Yusuf Sharif a Mohammedan geographer and 
topographer, who carried out important sur- 
-veys in India and in Persia. 


SCIENCE. 


415 


New York state civil service examinations 


sall be held on October 13 for assistant bac- 


teriologist in the State Department of Health 
at a salary of $1,500, and for assistant sanitary 
chemist in the same department at a salary of 
$720. There will also be an examination for 
the position of archeologist in the science 
division of the Educational Department at a 
salary of $900. This position requires an ac- 
quaintance with the Indian tribes of the state. 


Tue U. S. civil service commission an- 
nounces an examination on October 17 for the 
position of engineer in the department of 
sewer and waterworks construction, Manila, at 
a salary of $4,000, and for the position of as- 
sistant engineers at salaries of $1,800. 


AN arrangement has been made by Dr. 
Samuel G. Dixon, state commissioner of 
health in Pennsylvania and Dr. Allen J. 
Smith, professor of pathology in the Univer- 
sity of Pennsylvania, by which the patholog- 


ical laboratories of the Medical School shall 


be used by the state for bacteriological and 
other work. Dr. Herbert Fox has been put 
in charge of the work. 


THe firm of Friedrich Krupp, Ltd., of 
Essen, plans the erection of a technico-phys- 
ical laboratory at a cost of $500,000. 


Tue American Breeders’ Association will 
hold its regular winter meeting at Columbus, 
Ohio, on January 15-18, 1907. The visiting 
association will conduct its daily sessions at 
the university and board of trade buildings 
as the guest of the Ohio Board of Agriculture, 
the Ohio State University and the Ohio agri- 
cultural societies. The most successful and 
foremost workers and investigators in breed- 
ing and heredity in animals and plants are 
being secured for the program. A prominent 
feature will be the reports from the forty- 
three committees among whom the work of 
the society is distributed. The American 
Breeders’ Association has an annual member- 
ship of over 950 as well as 42 life members. 
Volume II., the second annual report, is just 
off the press. 


Accorping to Reuter’s Agency, the Indian 
government has under consideration a scheme 


416 SCIENCE. 


for reclaiming the Rann of Cutch, a work 
which, if carried out, will be similar to that 
undertaken by the Dutch in the Zuider Zee. 
The Rann of Cutch is a waste, at some sea- 
sons water, at others land, and it is proposed 
to reclaim it by closing the inlets from the 
sea, which are narrow. The water, which is 
everywhere shallow, would then evaporate rap- 
idly, leaving heavy saline deposits. These, it 
is thought, could be washed out and drained 
away by a great canal to be constructed from 
the Indus. The application of scientific agri- 
culture to the reclaimed land and the con- 
struction of a railway linking Karachi and 
Bombay would complete the proposed scheme. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


Foreign journals state that the Grecian 
government recently received from St. Peters- 
burg a legacy of about eight million roubles 
(over $6,000,000), which was left in the be- 
ginning of the last century by a rich Grecian 
merchant, of the name of Dombolis, with the 
condition that after the lapse of a definite 
time a second Grecian university should be 
built in Corfu out of the capital and interest, 
and be called the Kapodistrias University. 


WE learn from the Journal of the American 
Medical Association that the former professor 
of legal medicine and toxicology at Mont- 
pellier, France, Dr. Jaumes, who died recent- 
ly, aged seventy-two, made the medical faculty 
his legatee. A fund producing an income of 
$1,200 was left to found a chair of general 
pathology and therapeutics, and a prize in 
legal medicine was also endowed in both the 
medical and law departments. Another fund 
representing an income of $2,000 reverts ulti- 
mately to the medical faculty, and $6,000 was 
presented to the local medical and other scien- 
tific societies. 


Mr. Apert Crane, of Stamford, Connecti- 
cut, has given $100,000 to the Divinity School 
of Tufts College. 


IMPROVEMENTS have been made during the 
summer at Cornell College which will greatly 
strengthen the scientific work. New and en- 


! 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 613. 


larged quarters have been provided for the 
engineering department and the departments 
of geology, physics and biology. Quantitative 
and organic laboratories have been provided 
for the chemical department. A large amount 
of apparatus has been secured for the different 
subjects. 


A NEw dormitory for men has been erected 
at the University of the Pacific to replace the 
one damaged by the recent earthquake. It 
will contain fifty-six sleeping rooms (all out- 
side rooms) each supplied with hot and cold 
water, fixtures for electric and gas light, and 
steam heat. Each floor will have six bath 
rooms and four needle-shower rooms with tile 
wainscoated sides and floors. The Y. M. C. A., 
library and club rooms will be 25x25 feet 
each. The building is being constructed of 
wood, steel and cement, with metal tile roof, 
will be practically fire-proof, and practically 
earthquake proof. It will cost about thirty 
thousand dollars. The fourth story of East 
Hall has been removed, the roof lowered and 
the entire building bound securely by steel 
rods. North, South, East, West, Central and 
Musie Halls have been replastered and deco- 
rated. A new athletic field is being laid out, 
and a large plunge bath will be put in back 
of the gymnasium. One of the heating plants, 
destroyed by the earthquake, is being replaced 
by a large plant of sufficient capacity to heat 
all the buildings in place of two plants as at 
present. 


Tue buildings of Groningen University 
were partly destroyed by fire on August 30. 
The natural history museum and the chemical 
laboratories were among the buildings de- 
stroyed. 


Ir is reported that Ziirich University will 
increase the lecture and laboratory fees 
chargeable to foreigners, with the idea of les- 
sening their numbers. 


Dr. Francis Francis has been promoted to 
a chair of chemistry at University College, 
Bristol, vacant by the appointment of Dr. 
Travers to the directorship of the Indian In- 
stitute of Science, to be established at Ban- 
galore. 


SCIENCE 


A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 
OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 


FripAy, OcToBER 5, 1906. 


CONTENTS. 


Fifteenth International Congress of Ameri- 
GUN DOISIES Ne Sista Sie ons Miao Es OA ORE REE ee RON 417 


The American Mathematical Society: Pro- 
HESSOR: Es. Nini @©OLER cc te) ones cose seetele ss 420 


The Edinburgh Museum: Dr. L. P. Gratacap 422 


Israel Cook Russell: PRoFESSOR WARREN P. 
Lomparp, Martin L. D’O0GE ............ 426 


Scientific Books :— 
Binet’s Révélations de Vécriture daprés 
un controle scientifique: Dr. PERSIFOR 


FRAZER. Genera Avium: Harry C. OBER- 
INOUSEB Wis wseiecs ce aes PURI eit Niece ARUN te eats 431 
Scientific Journals and Articles............ 439 


Discussion and Correspondence :-— 
Stephens’s California Mammals: PRESIDENT 
Davip StarR JorDAN. An Ignored Theory 
of the Ice Age: Dr. J. M. SCHAEBERLE. . 
Non-Euclidean Geometry: Dr. I. E. RaBino- 


AVALEINCOTTE CiRy cic Smee renee Pe Geees oie a Ci cc tiae ep Ska ESE 439 
Special Articles :— 

Inheritance of Color Coat in Swine: Dr. 

\ AUG CUS iss] ol € 6 Bp. 6. (a rear eer ee ene Se Neal 441 
Current Notes on Meteorology :-— 

‘ Vagaries of Lightning; African Huts on 

Poles to escape Mosquitoes; Pilot Charts; 

Notes: Proressor R. DEC. WarRD...... 1. 448 
Cerebral Localization of Musical Talent: Dr. 

WD Wer ANE ON A (SPLEZICA Sab eic lel haere) (esse 444 
Grants for Scientific Research by the British 

ASSOCLAULON yeaa te ese Raa Ce a eo 444 


The Silliman Lectures at Yale University... 445 


Honorary Degrees at Harvard University.... 445 
Scientific Notes and News................. 446 
University and Hducational News.......... 448 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 
review should be sent to the Editor of SclzENCE, Garrison-on- 


Hudson, N. Y. 


FIFTEENTH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS 
OF AMERICANISTS. 

Tue Fifteenth International Congress of 
Americanists was held at Quebec, Septem- 
ber 10 to September 15. While the num- 
ber of students of early American history 
and of American ethnology in attendance 
was not large, the papers presented were 
of great value, and the local interest in 
the proceedings was considerable. The 
congress had an individuality of its own, 
being attended by many missionaries from 
all parts of Canada, who contributed to 
the proceedings reports on the tribes among 
whem they are laboring; while South 
America and Central America, which gen- 
erally occupy by far the greatest parts in 
the proceedings of the congress, were not 
so strongly represented. 

Delegates to the congress were sent by 
England, which was represented by Dr. 
A. C. Haddon and Dr. D. Randall McIver. 
France sent Professor Léon Lejeal and 
Comte de Perigny. From Germany, Pro- 
fessor and Mrs. Eduard Seler and Dr. Paul 
Ehrenreich were present. Mexico was rep- 
resented by Senor Leopoldo Batres and 
Senor Santiago Sierra. Unfortunately 
the representation from the United States 
was not as good as it should have been. 
Harvard University and Yale University 
had sent full delegations, but the number 
of anthropologists from New York and 
from Washington was small. No anthro- 
pologists from Chicago or from San Fran- 
cisco were in attendance. The local in- 
terest in the congress was well sustained, 


418 SCIENCE. 


and it may be hoped for this reason that — 


the Quebec session may have contributed 
towards exciting a permanent interest in 
the subject in Canada. The program em- 
braced in all 91 papers, but only about one 
half of these were read. 

The congress was opened on Monday 
morning by Sir Louis A. Jetté, Lieutenant- 
Governor of the Province of Quebec, and 
was welcomed by representatives of the 
government and of the city of Quebec. 
The reading of papers began on Monday 
afternoon. ‘The first meeting was devoted 
to the subject of the French in Canada and 
+o historical papers. On this afternoon an 
important contribution by Abbé Gosselin, 
communicating unpublished documents re- 
lating to the Indians of Louisiana, was 
presented. Other important communica- 
tions made during this meeting were by 
Professor E. L. Stevenson on a Hondius 
map recently discovered by Father Fischer ; 
by Dr. Berthold Laufer on the history of 
the introduction of maize into eastern Asia; 
by M. de Villiers du Terrage on the history 
of Louisiana; and two papers—one by Mr. 
Rivard, of Quebec, another by Professor 
A. F. Chamberlain, of Worcester—on the 
Canadian French dialect. In the evening 
Sefior Batres reported on his interesting 
excavations at Teotihuacan, and Father 
Jones spoke on the location of the Huron 
villages. 

The program of Tuesday morning was 
devoted to subjects relating to Mexico and 
Central America. Professor Seler, of Ber- 
lin, discussed a number of interesting speci- 
mens from the collection Sologuren at 
Oaxaca, the most remarkable of which is 
a vase with a design almost identical with 
those of Peru. Dr. Tozzer, of Cambridge, 
communicated briefly the results of his in- 
teresting studies of the Lacandones of 
Chiapas, in which he showed that many of 
the ancient customs of Central America 
still survive. Dr. George Grant Mac- 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 614. 


Curdy, of New Haven, followed with a dis- 
cussion of the decorative art in the pottery 
of Chiriqui. He tried to show that a great 
many of the decorative motives of the pre- 
historic tribes of this area may be derived 
from a representation of the armadillo. 
Tuesday afternoon opened with additional 
papers relating to Central America and 
South America. A number of the excel- 
lent paintings from Chichen Itza by Miss 
A. Breton, Bath, England, were exhibited 
by Dr. Tozzer, who also gave interesting 
notes on the Maya language spoken in 
Yueatan, in which he particularly brought 
out the occurrence of a true inclusive and 
exclusive first person in these dialects. 
Professor Lejeal presented a joint paper 


by himself and Mr. E. Boman, of Paris, 


on the Calchaqui question, in which he 
strongly opposed the stand taken by Pro- 
fessor J. Ambrosetti, who believed he had 
discovered a relationship between the 
Calchaqui and the Pueblo Indians of North 
America. Professor Lejeal proved the 
close relationship between the Andean cul- 
ture and that of the Calchaqui. A general 
review of the distribution and number of 
South American linguistic stocks was given 
by Professor Chamberlain. Father Jetté, 
of Alaska, sent in a brief description of 
the Tinné tribes of southern Alaska. This 
paper was supplemented by another one 
sent by Rev. John Chapman, who treated 
the Athapasean tribes of Anvik, Alaska. 
His notes contain a number of interesting 
Indian texts and a detailed description of 
the festivals of the tribe. The afternoon 
closed with a paper by Dr. Dixon on 
linguistic relationships within the Shasta- 
Achomawi stock, in which it was shown 
that a number of languages of northern 
California, notwithstanding their marked 
differences, are members of the same stock. 

On Wednesday morning the principal 
papers were by Mrs. C. O. Mason, Miss 
Natalie Curtis and Miss A. de Cora, in 


OctosER 5, 1906.] 


which practical efforts to keep alive and 
to revive Indian art were discussed. Miss 
de Cora described her efforts as art teacher 
at the Indian school at Carlisle, while Miss 
Curtis, after some general remarks on In- 
dian music, rendered a number of Indian 
songs which was a demonstration of the 
beauties of Indian music. A number of 
papers by Dr. Dorsey on the Pawnee were 
read by title. In the afternoon a pleasant 
reception was tendered to the members of 
the congress by Lady Jetté. 

Thursday morning opened with a discus- 
sion by Dr. A. Hrdlicka, of Washington, 
of those remains of man which are believed 
to prove his antiquity on this continent. 
On the whole, his conclusions were nega- 
tive, in so far as the anatomical differences 
between these remains and the present types 
of Indians are concerned. Father Morice 
read a paper on the position of woman 
among the Tinné tribes, and Professor 
Boas communicated a résumé of ethnolog- 
ical problems in Canada. A general re- 
view of the principles of government among 
the Indians of Canada was given by Dr. 
Roy, of Lévis. A number of papers on 
the Algonquin tribes of Canada, contrib- 
uted by a number of missionaries, were 
read by title. On Thursday afternoon 
Father Pacifique read a paper on the 
Miemae, and a description of the religion 
of the Assiniboine was contributed by Abbé 
Gauvreau. Dr. Clark Wissler, of New 
York, read a paper on the diffusion of cul- 
ture on the Plains of North America. A 
similar subject was treated in a paper by 
Professor A. L. Kroeber, of San Francisco, 
Cal., on the ceremonial organization of the 
Plains Indians of North America, in which 
a strong plea for a more detailed study of 
this interesting subject was made. The 
pecuhar tendency to assimilate the culture 
of neighboring tribes found among the 
Tinné was discussed in a paper sent in by 
Dr. P. E. Goddard, of Berkeley, Cal. An- 


SCIENCE. 


419 


other paper dealing with the question of 
migration was that by Professor Cyrus 
Thomas, who discussed the earliest probable 
movement of tribes of our continent. On 
Thursday evening Laval University re- 
ceived the Americanists in the gardens of 
the university. 

On Friday morning a series of illustrated 
papers on Mexico and Central America 
were read. The principal among these 
were those contributed by Professor Seler, 
who discussed parallels in Mayan manu- 
seripts, the monuments of Huilocintla, and 
who also contributed comparative studies 
on the ruins of Yucatan. Dr. Seler also 
presented brief abstracts of a paper by Dr. 
K. Sapper, of Tiibingen, on the present dis- 
tribution of the Choles and Chorties, and 
of another by Dr. W. Lehmann, of Berlin, 
on ancient Mexican mosaics in the Ethno- 
eraphical Museum of Berlin. Dr. Peabody 
made some remarks on the manuscript con- 
tributed by Dr. George F. Kunz, discussing 
some features of the Bishop collection of 
jade. The morning session ended with a 
paper by Dr. Walter Hough, of Washing- 
ton, on the ancient population of the Gila 
Salt River. On Friday afternoon Abbé 
Forbes presented an interesting study of 
the proper names of the Iroquois, and Abbé 
Rousseau discussed the question of Hoche- 
laga. Dr. D. E. Dionne, of Quebec, spoke 
on the translations of the Lord’s Prayer 
into Indian languages, and Professor Boas 
gave a sketch of the grammar of the Ponea. 
A number of important papers were pre- 
sented by title, owing to the absence of the 
authors. Among these, a description by 
James Mooney of the Cheyenne Indians, 
and a presentation of Cheyenne grammar 
by Rev. R. Petter, deserve special mention. 
In the evening the members of the congress 
were conveyed by special train to Mont- 
morency Falls, where the city of Quebec 
tendered them a reception. 

The program of Saturday contained only 


420 


a few papers, one a discussion by Dr. 
Walter Hough of two great culture-plants 
of America, the palm and the agave. Fur- 
ther, the desirability of a uniform phonetic 
alphabet was discussed in a paper sent in 
by Mr. Jules Geddes, and another by Mr. 
J. N. B. Hewitt, which were discussed by 
Father Morice. At the following business 
meeting Vienna was chosen as the place 
of meeting of the next congress, which is 
to take place in 1908. After the business 
meeting the congress was closed by the 
president, Dr. Robert Bell, of Ottawa. 

The success of the meeting at Quebec, 
and its peculiar character, were due partic- 
ularly to the efforts of Monsignor J. C. K. 
Laflamme and of Dr. D. E. Dionne, the 
secretary-general. After the close of the 
congress, a number of excursions were 
made, which continued until Monday, the 
seventeenth. 

A number of publications were presented 
to the congress by various organizations. 
The government of Quebec presented two 
books on the geographical names of Que- 
bec, one by Dr. Roy, the other by Dr. 
Rouillard. The government of Mexico 


presented a special publication on the ex- . 


eavations at Teotihuacan, and three other 
contributions from the Department of the 
Inspection and Preservation of Archeolog- 
ical Monuments, all prepared by Mr. 
Batres. The University of California 
sent the important papers by Professors 
Putnam and Merriam on cave explorations 
in California. The government of Ontario 
sent copies of its archeological report, 
which contains a general summary of 
Canadian ethnology, prepared by a number 
of contributors. The University of Penn- 
sylvania dedicated to the congress the first 
part of the second volume of the Transac- 
tions of the Department of Archeology, 
containing articles on the decorative art of 
Crete, by Edith H. Hall; notes on Xochi- 
ealeo, by Miss Breton; notes on the West- 


SCIENCE, 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 614. 


ern Eskimo, by Dr. Gordon; and notes on 
an engraved bone from Ohio, also by Dr. 
Gordon. Mr. Charles P. Bowditch pre- 
sented to the congress a paper relating to 
his Maya studies. The American Anthro- 
pological Association presented a useful 
summary of anthropological activities in 
the United States since the meeting of the 
congress in New York in 1902. A special 
number prepared by the publishers of 
Globus unfortunately did not reach Quebee 
in time. The Society of Americanists of 
Paris presented a set of its publications 
to the congress, and copies of the last num- 
ber of its publications to all the members 
of the congress. Mr. Teobert Maler sent 
a valuable set of blue-prints of his plans 
and drawings. 


THE AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY. 


Tue thirteenth summer meeting and 
fifth colloquium of the society were held 
at Yale University, extending through the 
week September 3-8. Monday and Tues- 
day were devoted to the presentation of 
the thirty-four papers on the program of 
the regular meeting. President W. F. 
Osgood and ex-President E. H: Moore oc- 
ecupied the chair. Forty-six members were 
in attendance. The following new mem- 
bers were elected: William Beebe, Yale 
University; J. B. Clarke, San Francisco 
Polytechnic High School; E. C. Colpitts, 
Cornell University; Brother Constantius, 
St. Louis Christian Brothers College; G. 
W. Droke, University of Arkansas; R. M. 
Ginnings, State Normal School, Kirksville, 
Mo.; Harriet E. Glazier, Western College 
for Women; C. O. Gunther, Stevens Insti- 
tute; W. G. Hurwitz, University of Mis- 
souri; G. O. James, Washington Univer- 
sity; B. F. Johnson, State Normal School, 
Cape Girardeau, Mo.; E. B. Morrow, 
Princeton University; G. B. Obear, Brown 
University ; F. M. Pedersen, New York City 
College; G. A. Rose, Hardin College; R. L. 


OcToRER 5, 1906.] 


Short, Chicago, Ill.; Betty Trier, Mount 
Holyoke College; J. W. Withers, St. Louis 
Teachers College. Thirteen applications 
for membership were received. The total 
membership of the society is now about 
540. 

A committee consisting of Professors 
Bocher, Van Vleck and Townsend was ap- 
pointed to report to the council at the Oc- 
tober meeting a list of nominations of 
officers to be elected at the annual meeting 
in December. Steps were also taken 
toward amending the constitution to in- 
elude the editorial committee of the T'rans- 
actions in the membership of the council, 
and toward inereasing the sale of the 
Chicago Mathematical Papers and the Bos- 
ton Colloquium Lectures published by the 
society. 

One of the most valuable of the society’s 
institutions, and one as regards which it 
stands alone among similar organizations, 
is the colloquium, or course of lectures on 
recent important advances in the science 
given at intervals of two or three years by 
specialists in the fields covered. The fifth 
of the series opened on Wednesday morn- 
ing and extended to Saturday noon. Three 
courses were given, as follows: By Pro- 
fessor E. H. Moore, five lectures ‘On the 
theory of bilinear functional operations’; 
by Professor E. J. Wilezynski, four lec- 
tures on ‘Projective differential geometry’ ; 
by Professor Max Mason, four lectures on 
‘Selected topics in the theory of boundary 
value problems of differential equations.’ 
Forty-three persons attended these courses. 

On Tuesday afternoon the visitors were 
conducted through the grounds and build- 
ings of the university. Thursday after- 
noon and evening were devoted to an ex- 
cursion to the shore of Long Island Sound. 
Throughout the meeting, the Graduates 
Club was the center for large and small 
gatherings. The hospitality of the univer- 
sity and its officers was gratefully acknowl- 


SCIENCE. 


421 


edged by appropriate resolutions and will 
long be remembered by all who were pres- 
ent at the meeting. 

The following papers were read at the 
summer meeting. 

A. R. SCHWEITZER: ‘ Systems of axioms for pro- 
jective geometry.’ 

A. R. SCHWEITZER: ‘Concerning abstract geo- 
metrical relations.’ 

O. D. KeLioae: ‘ The behavior on the boundary 
of harmonic functions of a region.’ 

F. R. SHarpe: ‘The motion of a viscous gas.’ 

R. D. CARMICHAEL: ‘ Multiply perfect numbers 
of three different primes.’ ; 

Lupwie STICKELBERGER: ‘Zur Theorie der 
vollstiindig reduciblen Gruppen die zu _ einer 
Gruppe linearer homogener Substitionen gehéren.’ 

W. B. Fire: ‘Irreducible linear homogeneous 
groups whose orders are powers of a prime.’ 

ARTHUR Ranum: ‘The group of classes of con- 
gruent matrices and its application to the group 
of isomorphisms of any abelian group.’ 

R. G. D. RicHarpson: ‘On the reduction of 
multiple integrals.’ 

G. D. Birkuorr: ‘On a certain class of sets 
of normed orthogonal functions.’ 

W. B. Carver: ‘ Associated configurations of 
the Cayley-Veronese class.’ 

L. E. Dickson: ‘On commutative linear alge- 
bras in which division is always uniquely possible.’ 

L. E. Dickson: ‘ Uniform definitions of the ab- 
stract forms of the various known systems of 
linear groups.’ 

LL. E. Dickson: ‘ Criteria for the irreducibility 
of functions in a finite field.’ 

L. E. Dickson: ‘On the theory of equations in 
a modular field.’ 

JAMES McManon: ‘The differential geometry 
of the general vector field.’ 

W. A. Mannine: ‘A note on transitive groups.’ 

C. H. Sisam: ‘On systems of conics lying on 
surfaces of the third, fourth and fifth orders.’ 

VirGIL SNYDER: ‘Plane quintic curves which 
possess a group of linear transformations.’ 

Max Mason: ‘The expansion of an arbitrary 
function in terms of normal functions.’ 

Max Mason: ‘The boundary value problems 
of differential equations of hyperbolic type.’ 


Epwarp Kasner: ‘The inverse problem of 
dynamics.’ 

Epwarp Kasner: ‘The geometry of dynamical 
trajectories.’ 


J. W. Youne: ‘General theory of approxima- 


422 SCIENCE. 


tion by functions with a given number of param- 
eters.’ 

J. I. Hurcutnson: ‘On loci the coordinates of 
whose points are abelian functions of three param- 
eters.’ 

L. P. Ersennart: ‘ Applicable surfaces with 
asymptotic lines of one surface corresponding to 
a conjugate system of another.’ 

H. B. Lronarp: ‘On the factoring of composite 
hypercomplex number systems.’ 

FRANK Mortey: ‘ Reflexive geometry.’ 

G. A. Miruer: ‘ Generalization of the groups of 
genus zero.’ 

E. B. Witson: ‘ On divergence and curl.’ 

E. B. Wuitson: ‘Oblique reflections and uni- 
modular strains.’ 

E. B. Witson: ‘Double products and strains 
in n dimensiens.’ 

F. R. Mourron: ‘A class of three dimensional 
periodic orbits in the problem of three bodies, 
with applications to the lunar theory.’ 

OsKAaR Bouza: ‘Weierstrass’s theorem and 
Kneser’s theorem on transversals for the most 
general case of an extremum of a simple definite 
integral.’ 


The next meeting of the society will be 
held at Columbia University on Saturday, 
October 27. The San Francisco Section 
met at the University of California on 
Saturday, September 29. 

F, N. Coxe, 
Secretary. 


THE EDINBURGH MUSEUM. 

THe Edinburgh museum challenges at- 
tention. It is significantly useful, and 
seems to attempt to make its collections sup- 
plementary to class-room study; nor is 
there any hesitancy shown in displaying 
specimens to the limits of its capacity, as 
long as they contribute in the slightest de- 
eree to the need of the student. Its 
methods of installation are not expensive 
or elaborate, but they show painstaking 
care, considerable ingenuity and promise 
to be made progressively better and more 
complete. 

There can be no question as to the rich- 
ness of its possessions in geology and lithol- 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 614. 


ogy and Scottish mineralogy, nor is there 
reason to look askance upon their splendid 
biological demonstrations. The writer en- 
joyed the opportunity of only one or two 
visits to its crowded halls, and then con- 
fined his attention to the departments of 
natural history, which are in it associated 
with very satisfactory, In some instances 
most valuable, collections, illustrating ma- 
chinery, fictile art, ceramics, design, ethnol- 
ogy, sculpture, architecture, industries, 
chemistry, navigation, archeology and 
house furnishings. 

There are evidences in many places of 
unfinished plans, of reorganization and ex- 
periment, but the museum indubitably 
claims the attention, and admiration, in 
some ways, of every museum promoter and 
officer, and its own relations to the inquisi- 
tive Scotch public are wholesome and help- 
ful. 

Criticism in some particulars might nat- 
urally be provoked as where in one hall or 


room, mammals, birds, insects, crustaceans, - 


fish, shells, echinoids and hydrozoans are 
erouped together, and in another inverte- 
brate fossils and birds, while in a third 
there are discovered birds, invertebrate fos- 
sils and corals. This peculiar juxtaposi- 
tion is doubtless referable to want of space, 
capacious as the museum is, and not in all 
instanees to the aims of comparative study. 

The museum is on Chamber Street be- 
tween South and George Bridge Streets, 
beyond St. Giles cathedral, not far from 
the university, and opposite the Watt Col- 
lege. It consists of a long (250 feet) 
three-storied skylighted oblong section 
with terminal buildings disposed at right 
angles to the axis of the main structure, 
and similarly arranged in three stories 
with skylights, except that their anterior 
portions are also illuminated by the intro- 
duction of wall windows. Back of the 
main series of halls or galleries, as they 
might be called, are three large rectangular 


Se ee 


OcToBER 5, 1906.] 


halls with basement floor, and galleries, 
also deriving their illumination from above. 
The lighting generally is most serviceable, 
for, by reason of the immense skylight 
space, of absolutely clear glass, the narrow- 
ness of the galleries, and the height of the 
ceilings, no hopelessly heavy shadows are 
east; and, at least when the writer was 
there, on a brilliant day, the light was 
superabundant. As a matter of fact, 
white shades covered the skylights and 
helped advantageously to diffuse and di- 
minish the light. Reflections in the flat 
eases around the balustrades of the central 
opening, on the galleries, were noticeable, 
and of course annoying, but could be 
quickly dissipated by holding a hat above 
them. 

One of the striking features in the nat- 
ural history exhibit is the elaborate art 
expended upon dissected animals, the ex- 
planation of their parts and the beauty and 
thoroughness of many of the preparations. 
Zoantharia, sea urchins, star-fish, insects, 
crustaceans, worms, fish, are thus accur- 
ately dissected, their organs named, helpful 
addenda of elucidations and suggestions 
appended, all clearly printed, and assisted 
by drawings, frequently colored. These 
preparations, as with many of the insects 
and crustacea, and spiders are mounted 
dry, and others are in alcohol in flat jars, 
the object being quite usually on blue glass 
with red threads connecting each part with 
its printed name, which latter appears on 
the plate or board, which holds the speci- 
men. The dissections of the thornback 
ray, the torpedo, the dog-fish, the skate, 
with developing young are superb. The 
amphibia are similarly treated, and near 
them is noticed a splendid exhibit of the 
osteology of the cod. Further on in this 
section are some absolutely unimpeachable 
examples of the phases of bird feathering, 
and the tract-distribution of feathers illus- 
trating pterylography. Amongst these is 


SCIENCE. 493 


a very succinct and forcible demonstration 
of the terminology of the feathers of the 
ring dove. 

Throughout this section the exceeding 
cleverness and technical power of Mr. W. 
Eagle Clarke, and Mr. P. H. Grimshaw are 
in evidence. Many, and most of the diffi- 
cult subjects, are their personal handiwork, 
always, I believe, submitted to the approval 
of Dr. Traquair, the director of the mu- 
seum, who is now about to retire. 

The mollusea are also ecologically dis- 
cussed in diagrams, selected specimens and 
dissections. There are important groups 
of specimens illustrating types of shells, 
their external and internal features, old 
and young conditions, terminology of 
parts, the muscular impressions, in the 
shells clearly delineated by red painting, 
also hinges and teeth, the nature of the 
margins of the valves, pedal, siphonal and 
byssal openings, position of umbones, 
terminology of the multivalvular forms; 
forms of shell, as dextral, sinistral, elon- 
gate, subulate, tubular, cylindrical, ovate, 
globose, turbinate, involute, conical, cor- 
date, ete.; the ornamentation, as granulate, 
pustulate, subnodeose, reticulate cancellate, 
spinose, clathrate, costate; colors; varia- 
tions of sculpture as so well shown in 
Pecten glaber, Liguus virginia, Helix 
nemoralis; protection as in Xenophora 
conchyliophorus (with its attached shells) ; 
and the varying aspects of the perios- 
tracum. 

The examples under the above heads are 
mounted on gray cards with black centers, 
explained by clear clean printed labels. In 
the mollusean biology excellent prepara- 
tions most graphically instruct the visitor 
in the anatomy of the common shells, and 
some, as those of the cephalopods, merit 
pronounced praise. The morphological 
and embryological study is continued in 
this hall throughout the animal kingdom. 

The specimens of fossils from Cambrian 


424 SCIENCE. 


to Pleistocene are superior, though they 
seem to lack effectiveness from their irregu- 
lar distribution in various halls; thus in 
the hall of fossil fish there is a fine collec- 
tion of living fishes, sponges and grapto- 
lites. Many of the invertebrate fossils are 
grouped with the living shells, not of 
course at all confusedly, but in the same 
hall in wall cases. Noticeable in one group 
is an interesting collection of fossil foot- 
prints from the new Red Sandstone of Corn- 
cockle Muir, Dumfriesshire, formed by the 
late Sir Wm. Gardine, Bart, and contain- 
ing the specimens described and figured by 
him in his ‘Iechnology of Annandale.’ 

The Devonian fossil fish easily take pre- 
cedence amongst the fossil collections, and 
they possess an unmistakable distinction. 
They make up a wonderful collection. 
Here are the Devonian genera, Astero- 
lepis, Bothriolepis, Cephalaspis, Coccosteus, 
Cyroptychius, Diplopterus, Dipterus, Dre- 
panaspis, Husthenopteron, Holoptychius 
—a superb slab, three feet long, shows a 
eroup of one species of this genus—Glyp- 
tolepis, Homosteus, Osteolepis, Phanero- 
pluron, Pteraspis, Pterichthys,. Thrusius, 
Tristichopterus. The carboniferous Juras- 
sic and Tertiary fishes are also of unusual 
value. 

Amongst the fossil invertebrates attention 
may be justly called to the collection of 
specimens in the Carboniferous (especially 
instructive cephalopoda) and Jurassic sec- 
tions, the interesting hippuritide, of the 
chalk, and one splendid example of Fe- 
quenma (R. ammona, Goldfuss) from the 
Meocomian of France. The Jurassic and 
Triassic. Cephalopoda are superior in indi- 
vidual excellence, though the collection 
does not seem very large. The polished 
Triassic Ammonoidea are certainly hand- 
some. The Paleozoic fossils are naturally 
of great interest, but incomparably poorer 
in quality and numbers than the exhibition 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 614. 


of similar material from the same horizons 
in New York. 

The fossils are mounted on buff boards 
with printed divisions, printed and written 
labels, and are somewhat incongruously 
associated with a collection of comparative 
eraniology in the glass-fronted cases be- 
neath them. In this same room is a col- 
lection of shells, evidently imtended for 
comparative or morphological study, as it 
is far from being very extensive in num- 
bers or in species. Models of Arion and 
[imax were noticed and apparently a 
cleverly mounted skin of L. agrestis, L. 
The fossil and living erustacea in this hall, 
in wall cases, were excellent, and the 
Eurypterida decidedly valuable. 

A very excellent instance of an industrial 
exhibit may be profitably quoted as sug- 
gestive at least to curators contemplating 
similar objects. It is the care devoted to 
an instruction in the making of Wedge- 
wood ware. Here under raw materials 


are placed boulder flint, gravesend flint, - 


ealeined flint, limestone, chertstone, com- 
pact gypsum, flint dried and ground to a 


firm mass as used in the glazes, raw Swed- 


ish feldspar, Swedish feldspar fired in the 
biscuit oven, gray marl, seggar clay, a mix- 
ture of gray, black and red marls passed 
through a couple of rollers, blue ball or 
poole clay. Blue elay fired in the biscuit 
oven, black clay, another kind of ball clay, 
china clay, Cornish clay or kaolin (a fine 
white clay obtained from the decomposed 
feldspar which is washed out of certain 
Cornish granites), china clay with sand 
washed out, china clay fired in the biscuit 
oven, native china clay before being 
washed, hard Cornish stone fired in the 
highest heat of the biscuit oven, china clay 
fired in the highest heat of the biscuit oven, 
blue clay fired in the highest heat of the 
biscuit oven, black clay, gray marl, red 
marl, all fired in the biscuit oven, calcined 
flint broken or stamped, flint knockings— 


i 
: 
i 
1 
‘i 
' 
4} 
y 


OCTOBER 5, 1906.] 


the pieces discolored by oxide of iron 
picked out as waste, American feldspar 
ealcined in the glass oven, calcined feldspar 
ground and ready for use in Parian, soft 
Cornish stone (slightly decomposed, most 
decomposed, ete.), hard and soft Cornish 
stone fired in the biscuit oven, hard and soft 
Cornish stone ground and mixed, as used 
for the body and glaze of ware, pigments, 
glazes, slips, frits, chemicals (about ninety 
glass bottles enclose these ingredients), and 
the various stages of the ware with imple- 
ments, in a superb and very precious ex- 
hibit of vessels, vases and plaques, partly 
chronological. 

The archeological and ethnological ex- 
hibits are of great merit and value. A 
small group of objects labeled ‘chemical 
balance and other apparatus used by Pro- 
fessor Joseph Black’ will attract the rever- 
ent attention of chemists. 

The general mineralogical collection is 
an excellent and adequate representation 
of the mineral retinue of species from the 
native elements to the hydrocarbons, 
though it is quite lacking in distinction or 
phenomenal beauty. It is well arranged, 
for purposes of study, in flat cases around 
the central opening under the skylight, and 
in flat cases about the walls, with larger 
specimens above and below the latter. 
There is noticeable in it good spodumene 
from Norwich, Conn., and hiddenite from 
North Carolina, a remarkable pink topaz 
from the Ural Mountains, three crystals of 
euclase, some striking scolecite from Ice- 
land, excellent torbernite, superior barite 
erystals, a handsome halite group, an at- 
tractive exhibit of hydrocarbons, and a 
small complementary collection of pseudo- 
morphs—of much interest—amongst which 
the pseudomorph of vesuvianite after gar- 
net deserves mention. A beautiful erystal- 
lized gold specimen from Ballarat, weigh- 
ing six and three fourth ounces, a large 
platinum nugget, good atacamite, crystals, 


SCIENCE. 


425 


corundum, bournonite, green fluors, apoph- 
yllite from India, and the handsome ruled 
agates from the Faroe Islands are also 
memorable. 

In lithology the constituents of rocks are 
shown, their combination in rock structure 
and examples of characteristic rocks, as 
acid, subacid, basic, metabasic, etc.; while 
structure and phase receive illustration 
under metamorphism, shearing, crumpling, 
foliation, lamination, ripple-marks, ete. 
Many crystallographic drawings appear 
throughout, and labels are sometimes very 
elaborate, as take, for instance, this one 
under pseudomorphism : 

Mould-Formation, with Removal of Pattern 
Quartz Coating Galena.—There has, in this speci- 
men, been two successive depositions of Galena, 
with investiture of quartz. After the removal 
of the first formed crystals of galena, a second 
and larger set of crystals of galena has been laid 
down upon the first formed layer of quartz. 
These in turn have been invested by a layer of 
quartz, and thereafter have been themselves re- 
moved; Leadhills, Scotland. 

The climax of excellence in the museum, 
in the opinion of the writer, is reached in 
the hall devoted to Scottish geology. The 
exhibit here of rocks and minerals is re- 
markably effective, and in its lithological 
aspects quite extraordinary. Here are 
gathered together the minerals of Scot- 
land, views of its geological scenery, with 
a display of rock specimens, luminously 


-referred to position by maps, marked with 


pins and numbers, correlated exactly with 
the specimens of rocks near them. There 
are also relief maps dissected, colored and 
explained, and on the walls the fossils of 
Scotland with a long series of prehistoric 
flints, while upright A-shaped cases en- 
gage immediate notice from interesting 
and handsome specimens of geological 
structure, mineral masses and lithological 
phases contained in them. This hall con- 
tains a wealth of Scottish mineral treas- 
ures, and will reward the student by a 


426 


comprehensive showing of Scotland’s geo- 
logical history and mutations. 

Among its extraordinary features he 
will be attracted to the Heddle collection 
of cut and polished agates with their 
labeled parts and exposition. It is well 
known that Dr. Heddle took a very partic- 
ular interest in the genesis of agates and 
related mineral phenomena, and the little 
leaflet which may be purchased at the door 
of the museum to-day may be regarded 
as a complete expression of his opinions— 
convictions in this matter he conscientiously 
repudiated—on the subject. It has been 
prepared by Mr. J. G. Goodchild. The 
extensive display of cut agates will sur- 
prise visitors and seems, perhaps, rather 
needlessly elaborated. But these small 
nodules, cut across their longest diameter 
and polished, are very attractive, and the 
short attached printed labels reveal differ- 
ences in structure and composition which 
are very interesting. It is impossible to 
even epitomize Dr. Heddle’s views on this 
subject in this article, but it may interest 
readers to learn that the late Dr. Heddle, 
of St. Andrews, formed a very large col- 
lection of agates, gathered from all parts 
of Scotland, principally with the view of 
obtaining definite information as to the 
developmental history of these forms of 
silica. This collection, on the death of Dr. 
Heddle, passed into the hands of Mr. 
Alex. Thoms, of St. Andrews, who, already 
a generous donor to the Scottish mineral 
collection, in 1898 presented to the mu- 
seum 1,000 of Dr. Heddle’s agates, all of 
them selected and typical examples. It is 
these specimens which are now carefully 
exhibited in their surprising variety in the 
hall of the Edinburgh Museum, enclosing 
its examples of Scottish geology. 

The Edinburgh Museum is a plain and, 
probably, inadequately equipped museum; 
it is neither ostentatious nor unimportant, 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 614. 
it contains a great accumulation of ma- 
terial, and this brief notice may draw at- 
tention to it, amongst the numerous visit- 
ors to the Athens of the north. Such 
sketches of museums, imperfect and frag- 
mentary as they may be, cumulatively help 
to increase the interest taken in museums 
by the lay and professional member. 

L. P. GRATACAP. 


ISRAEL COOK RUSSELL. 


Tue senate of the University of Mich- 
igan has adopted the following memorial 
as offered by the committee, Professors 
Lombard and D’Ooge: 

Again and for the third time within the 
short space of two months, the hand of 
death has been laid heavily upon us, and 
we are called to mourn the loss of another 
honored and beloved colleague. 

Professor Israel Cook Russell entered 
upon his duties as professor of geology in 
this university in the autumn of 1892, and 
was stricken down in the midst of his work 
by an illness which after a few day termi- 
nated his life, on May 1, 1906. He was 
born near Garratsville, N. Y., December 
10, 1852, son of Barnabas and Louisa Sher- 
man (Cook) Russell. His ancestors were 
early settlers in New England. He was 
fitted for college at the Rural High School, 
Clinton, N. Y., and Hasbrook Institute, 
Jersey City. He entered the University 
of the City of New York in 1869, and was 
eraduated bachelor of science, and civil 
engineer in 1872. After pursuing grad- 
uate studies at the Columbia School of 
Mines, he was given the degree, master of 
science, by the University of New York in 
1875. In 1874 he went to New Zealand 
as a member of the United States Transit 
of Venus Expedition, and in this connec- 
tion made a journey round the world. On 
his return home in 1875 he was appointed 
assistant professor of geolegy in the Co- 


OctToBER 5, 1906.] 


lumbia School of Mines, where he remained 
two years. In 1878 he became assistant 
geologist on the United States Geological 
Survey west of the 100th meridian, and 
devoted one season to field work in Colo- 
rado and New Mexico. The following year 
was spent in European travel. In 1880 
he was appointed assistant geologist on 
the United States Geological Survey. It 
was not long before his merit was recog- 
nized and he was promoted to geologist of 
the survey, a position which he held 
throughout the rest of his life. 

Professor Russell was more than geol- 
ogist and geographer, he was an ardent 
student of physiography. In his preface 
to ‘Rivers of North America’ he wrote: 

When investigators of surface geology and geog- 
raphy made their bold explorations into the vast 
arid region of the southwest, they discovered a 
land of wonders, where the mask of vegetation 
which conceals so many countries is absent and 
the features of the naked land are fully revealed 
beneath a cloudless sky. It was in this arid 
region of strong relief that a revival of interest 
in the surface forms of the earth was engendered. 
The seeds of what is practically a new science— 
physiography—gathered in this land by J. S. 
Newberry, J. W. Powell, G. K. Gilbert, C. S. 


Dutton and others, when carried to other regions, 
bore abundant fruit. 


Russell belonged to this new school. He 
studied the surface of the earth as it ex- 
ists to-day, as a book where one can read 
not only the past history of the world, but 
prophecies as to its future destiny. It 
was the forces which nature uses to mould 
the world that chiefly interested him, and 
throughout his books one sees him tracing 
the transformations of the earth under 
the influence of ice and water, and the 
cooling of the earth’s crust. 

It was his desire to study the forces of 
nature where they are most clearly re- 
vealed that led him to endure the hard- 
ships of the mountains and the deserts of 
the west. In order to visit these regions 


SCIENCE. 427 


he attached himself to the United States 
Geological Survey, and while he did the 
work of the government, he gathered the 
rich harvest of scientific data which he 
gave to the world in his many publications. 
But he was interested not alone in the proc- 
esses which are wearing away and building 
up the surface of the earth; the conditions 
which exist to-day, and how they may be 
utilized for the good of mankind, were 
carefully observed. This is evidenced by 
his thoughtful study of the water supply of 
the arid regions of the west, and his con- 
scientious work on the water supply of 
our own community. Ann Arbor owes him 
a debt of gratitude for the earnest atten- 
tion and large amount of time which he so 
freely gave for the benefit of his fellow- 
citizens. 

Many of his expeditions were of the na- 
ture of a reconnaissance of the surface 
geology of regions which had never been 
traveled by any trained observer. In 
1889 he was sent by the United States 
Geological Survey on an expedition up the 
Yukon and Poreupine rivers, Alaska, a 
journey of about twenty-five hundred 
miles through an almost unknown wilder- 
ness. In 1890 and 1891 he conducted two 
important explorations in the region about 
Mount St. Elias, under the joint auspices 
of the United States Geological Survey and 
the National Geographical Society, during 
which special attention was given to the 
study of glaciers and to geographical ex- 
plorations. 

It is hard to think of the quiet, modest, 
somewhat frail-looking man, our colleague 
and friend, as the celebrated ‘pioneer ex- 
plorer’ of the wilds of Alaska. Yet all 
who have accompanied him on his expedi- 
tions bear witness to his boundless energy 
and tenacity of purpose, his strength and 
endurance, and his resourcefulness in 


428 


grappling with the difficulties with which 
nature guards the secrets of her fastnesses. 

During his connection with the Univer- 
sity of Michigan, he carried on exten- 
sive explorations for the United States 
Geological Survey in many of the west- 
ern states, and for the past five years of 
his work for the survey has given especial 
attention to the question of the water sup- 
ply and irrigation of those vast areas, 
which need only water to be converted into 
fruitful fields. In these expeditions he ex- 
plored northwestern Nevada, the Mono 
Valley of California, central Washington, 
the Cascade Mountains of northern Wash- 
ington, southern Idaho, the south and 
southeastern: part of Oregon, central Ore- 
gon, Nez Perces County of Idaho, and the 
Snake River Valley of Idaho. 

Eighteen of the annual reports of the 
United States Geological Survey contain 
papers by him, these papers covering more 
than fifteen hundred pages, and being 
richly illustrated by photographs, maps 
and diagrams, picturing the topography of 
the country through which he traveled. 
The ‘Geologic History of Lake Lahontan, 
a Quaternary Lake of Northwestern 
Nevada,’ is a monograph of nearly three 
hundred pages, and his paper ‘The Newark 
System’ is a still more extensive mono- 
graph. 

Glaciers had for him, as for every true 
mountain climber, a fascination. In 1883 
he wrote a fifty-page paper on the ‘ Exist- 
ing Glaciers of the United States.’ It 
was in 1890 and 1891 that he made two 
expeditions to Mount St. Elias, where he 
nearly lost his life, first attempting to land 
on the wild coast of Alaska, and, later, on 
the mountain itself. 

Professor Russell, in writing of the first 
expedition, says: ‘The country visited 
proved of such great interest both to geol- 
ogists and geographers that it was decided 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 614. 


to review the study of the various prob- 
lems it offered during the following year.’’ 
The way in which he earried through the 
second expedition is perhaps as good evi- 
dence as we have of the character of the 
man. The decision to send the expedition 
was not reached until May 17. That night 
Russell left Washington for Seattle. On 
arriving there he found that the revenue 
eutter Bear would leave for Alaska May 
23. This gave him a week, but in that 
time he engaged his men and secured all 
the instruments, camp equipment and pro- 
visions needed for a prolonged stay in the 
wilds. He went without any trained as- 
sistants, only taking six camp hands, three 
of whom fortunately had been with him 
the year before. As the land was ap- 
proached, Mount St. Elias could be seen 
one hundred and fifty miles away. The 
sea was calm, but the huge rollers of the 
Pacific were breaking on that rugged coast, 
which made landing exceedingly danger- 
ous. In the successive attempts to land 
the outfit, the boats were repeatedly cap- 
sized, and a lieutenant, four sailors and 
one of the men of the expedition were lost. 
A delay necessarily resulted, and this delay 
prevented Professor Russell from reaching 
the top of the mountain. There is only 
a short interval when the mountain is free 
from snow-storms, and he was caught in 
the first storm of the year. Most of us know 
the story of how, when within striking dis- 
tance of the top, he found that his men had 
failed to bring certain instruments and 
how he sent them back to the base camp, 
remaining alone on the glacier. Then came 
the snow. He saved himself by digging a 
hut in the side of a drift and there he stayed 
for three days, until the storm cleared. 
He has said that he could have reached the 
top of the mountain, but that he knew if 
he did he would never return; so he was 
forced to retrace his steps. The knowledge 


OcToBer 5, 1906.] 


which he gained of the mountain in these 
two expeditions he freely imparted to 
Prince Louis of Savoie, Duke of Abruzzi, 
and thus ensured the success of the Italian 
expedition. The reports of his expeditions 
to Mount St. Elias are found in a paper 
printed in the National Geographic Maga- 
zine, and in the reports of the United States 
Geological Survey. In these papers the 
glaciers of Mount St. Elias are described, 
and he has written at least ten other papers 
on glaciers of North America and on glacial 
action, besides his well-known book on these 
subjects. 

Professor Russell became an authority 
not only on glaciers and the effects of ice 
and water upon the configuration of the 
earth, but an authority also on the forces 
which are the cause of earthquakes and vol- 
eanic action. When the Island of Mar- 
tinique and St. Vincent were visited by the 
terrible eruptions of Mt. Pelée and La 
Soufriére in 1902, he was asked by the 
National Geographical Society to go to the 
islands and observe the phenomena. In 
addition to his report to the society, and 
his book on voleanoes, he is the author of 
ten or more papers on volcanic phenomena 
and their results. 

During the summers of 1904 and 1905, 
Professor Russell worked for the Michigan 
State Survey in the southern part of the 
northern peninsula of Michigan. The re- 
port of the work of 1904 has been pub- 
lished, but that of 1905, although finished, 
is still unprinted. It is entitled ‘Surface 
Geology of Menominee, Dickinson and Iron 
Counties of Michigan.’ 

Another paper on the geology of Mich- 
igan, entitled ‘On the Drumlin Area of 
Northern Michigan,’ was read convocation 
week, 1905, before the Geological Society 
of America at Ottawa. It was at that 
meeting that Professor Russell was chosen 
president of the society. We are all 


SCIENCE. 


429 


familiar with his work on the water supply 
of Ann Arbor, the report of which was pub- 
lished by the city council, 1905. 

There remain three unpublished papers 
to be mentioned. One of these is the folio 
to accompany the map of the United States 
Survey of the Ann Arbor Quadrangle. 
This deals with the marl deposits and the 
hard rocks of the region. Another is the 
paper on ‘Ideals Concerning Municipal 
Water Supplies,’ which he read at the 
meeting of the Michigan Academy of Sci- 
ence, March, 1906, and which will appear 
in the reports of the academy. And finally 
there is a paper of 12,500 words in type- 
written form, which he probably intended 


‘ to use after revision as his presidential ad- 


dress at the next meeting of the Geological 
Society of America. It is entitled ‘Con- 
centration as a Geologic Principle.’ In 
addition to these there remains a large 
amount of manuscript on the voleanoes of 
Martinique and St. Vincent, apparently de- 
signed to be used in book form. 

In addition to his many scientific re- 
ports, papers and monographs, represented 
by more than one hundred titles, he pub- 
lished five books: ‘Lakes of North America,’ 
1895; ‘Glaciers of North America,’ 1897; 
‘Voleanoes of North America,’ 1897; 
‘Rivers of North America,’ 1898; ‘North 
America,’ 1904. 

His first book, aside from the mono- 
graphs which have been mentioned, was 
not written until he had passed fifteen 
summers in the field, studying nature face 
to face. His books, therefore, embody the 
mature judgment of a man who through 
long years of work in the laboratory of the 
geologist had become a trained observer, 
and acquired a personal knowledge of the 
facts of which he was to treat. A nat- 
urally keen insight into physical problems 
had been strengthened by his early train- 
ing, and he was able to study the earth as 


430 SCIENCE. 


one would examine a vast. machine, and to 
check the speculations suggested by his 
fancy, by sound common sense and good 
judgment. The modesty which was so 
characteristic shows itself everywhere in 
the tone of his writings, at the same time 
that his self-reliance and the earnestness of 
his convictions led him to express himself 
with definiteness, and to impress his read- 
ers with the justness of his conclusions. 
His writings are widely known and fre- 
quently quoted abroad as well as in this 
country. They are wonderfully even; they 
are all good; and it is hard to assign to 
any one of them a special preeminence. 

In 1886, he visited the Mono Valley re- 
gion of California, and made a preliminary 
examination of its geology for the United 
States Geological Survey. In his library 
there is a reprint of his report of this ex- 
pedition—‘Quaternary History of the 
Mono Valley, California’—and on the re- 
print there is the word ‘incomplete’ in his 
handwriting. 
a charming mountainous country, to the 
south of the Yellowstone Park, resembling 
Switzerland except for the lack of snow 
on the mountains. The country is now 
being rapidly opened up, and the enthusi- 
astic alpine climbers there are anxious that 
it should be explored and made known to 
tourists. The first report of Professor 
Russell was so excellent that he was to have 
been sent by the survey this summer to 
complete the work which he began so well 
twenty years ago. 

The best evidence of the success of a 
scientific man is to be found in the esteem 
shown him by men of his own branch of 
science. This Professor Russell possessed 
to a high degree, and evidence of their 
recognition of his ability is to be found in 
the honors which they paid him. 

He was a fellow of the Geological So- 
ciety of America, and was elected its presi- 


The Mono Valley region is - 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 614. 


dent for 1906; a fellow of the American 
Association for the Advancement of Sci- 
ence, and vice-president in 1904; a fellow 
of the National Geographical Society, and 
a member of its board of directors (twice 
this society sent him on important expedi- 
tions) ; a member of the Michigan Academy 
of Science, and its president in 1902; a 
member of the Congrés Géologique Inter- 
nationale; and of the American Alpine 
Club, of which he was one of the directors. 
He was honorary member of the Appalach- 
ian Mountain Club, and corresponding 
member of the Geographical Society of 
Philadelphia, and of the Scottish Geo- 
graphical Society. He was chairman of 


- the section of geography and a speaker in 


the section of physiography at the Con- 
gress of Arts and Science, held in St. Louis 
in 1904. He received the degree of doctor 
of laws from the University of New York, 
his alma mater, in 1897. He was generally 
recognized as among the foremost of the 
geologists of the country, and had just re- 


‘ceived an advantageous call to a prom- 


inent university. The University of Mich- 
igan has been most fortunate to have been 
able to have had his valuable services for 
so long, and has met with an irreparable 
loss. 

He was a scientist of international re- 
nown, whose writings and explorations 
were constantly increasing the reputation 
of this university. He was a scholar of 
high ideals, whose interest in research work 
was great, and whose example as a devoted 
student and tireless worker made itself felt 
in all our circles. He was a teacher who 
made his students feel the importance of 
scientific methods and true knowledge. He 
was a high-minded, modest, true gentleman, 
who made himself beloved by all who 
learned to know him, and most by those 
who knew him best. His kindly manner, 
his sense of humor, his playful wit, dry 


OcroBEeR 5, 1906.] 


and droll, but never caustic, and his 
chivalrous spirit, will always linger in our 
memory. 

We desire to tender to the bereaved 
family of our lamented colleague our pro- 
found sympathy, and we order spread 
upon the records of the senate this minute, 
in remembrance of our appreciation of his 
work and life among us. 


WarrEN P. LOMBARD, 
Martin L. D’OoGs, 


Committee. 
May 7, 1906. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

Les Révélations de Vécritwre daprés un con- 
trole scientifique. ALFRED Binet, Docteur 
és Sciences, Directeur du laboratoire de 

Librairies Fé- 
Paris, 

Preface. 


psychologie physiologique. 

lix Alean et Guillaumin réunies. 

108 Boulevard St. Germain. 8vo. 

March 24, 1906. 

Dr. Binet continues his excellent work, be- 
ginning with the ‘ Philosophie du raisonne- 
ment’ and ‘ Recherches experimentales par 
Phypnotisme’ (1886), which preceded ‘ Ani- 
mal Magnetism’ (1888), ‘Psychic Life of 
Micro-organisms’ (1889), and ‘ Les altérations 
de la personalité’ (1892); by commencing a 
new series of studies of certain fetishes which 
have become rooted in the beliefs of a large 
number of people. 

These are graphology, phrenology and chiro- 
mancy. A study of such subjects by a master 
is of the greatest value to the world, and hence 
a considerable space is given to the review of 
the first on the list in order that the reader 
may judge of both methods and conclusions. 

The book of 257 pages is a résumé of a 
series of tests applied by the author to 
‘Graphologists’ as well as lay experimenters 
(the latter of all ages and degrees of intelli- 
gence) as to their ability to determine the sex 
(first part, 4 chapters, 21 pages), the age 
(second part, 5 chapters, 15 pages); the in- 
telligence (third part, 11 chapters, 124 pages); 
and the character (fourth part, 7 chapters, 


SCIENCE. 


431 


77 pages); of a writer by his or her chirog- 


raphy. 


Part I.: By what marks can sex be de- 
termined in writing? 

Dr. Binet proceeds on the ground that if 
those professing to be graphologists can de- 
termine the sex from writing in more than 
50 per cent. of cases it raises their ability 
above that of pure chance, which (in a large 
serves) is Just 50 per cent. 

To avoid suggestion he decided to use the 
addresses on envelopes. Even here the per- 
centage of error of his experts rises materially 
when the addresses are from a person of one 
sex to one of another. The two experts were 
M. Crépieux-Jamin, of Rouen, and M. Eloy, 
of Paris. 

Amusing experiments 
much more reliable were professional graph- 
ologists than ‘ignorants’ (those ignorant of 
the so-called art of ‘ eraphology’ ) resulted as. 
follows. In 180 addresses M. Crépieux-Jamin,. 
by far the most skillful graphologist, was cor-- 
rect in 78.8 per cent. of the cases. He di- 
vided his determinations into ‘certain’ and 
‘probable. Of the former were 129 and of 
the latter 51, that is, he was uncertain twice 
in seven times. Of his fifty-one mistakes he 
had marked 28 ‘certain’ and 23 ‘ probable,’ 
while of the 129 correct replies he had marked 
but 27 replies ‘probable’ and 102 ‘ certain.’ 

Those ignorant of graphology gave nearly 
as great a proportion of correct answers. For 
instance, a studious girl of seventeen was cor- 
rect in 70 per cent. of her replies. Four in- 
structors and instructresses in the schools of 
France reached percentages of 72.9, 73, 73 
and 73, though quite ignorant of graphology. 

The author concludes with astonishing seri- 
ousness, “ The gift of recognizing sexual char- 
acter in writing belongs to nearly everybody, 
but the ablest of the ‘ignorants’ are still be- 
low the best graphologists ”—(by less than 2 
per cents 20H.) 

Chapter III. is devoted to photo-reproduc- 
tions of addresses of which some specimens 
revealed the sex of the writer to all who 
examined them (18); others were doubtful; 
and still others were purposely falsified. One 


to ascertain how 


432 SCIENCE. 


written by a young girl of eighteen was char- 
acterized by M. Crépieux-Jamin as ‘ Certainly 
a man of thirty or perhaps less.’ Another 
address written by a woman was ascribed by 
M. Crépieux-Jamin and by M. Eloy to-a man. 
Dr. Binet considers sexual character in writing 
demonstrated in the most satisfactory manner. 
The percentage of error of graphologists in 
determining sex amounts in the most favor- 
able cases to 10 per cent., slightly less than 
that of the ‘ignorants. Whether this kind 
of expert evidence may be used in courts he 
thinks depends upon the answer to the ques- 
tion ‘Is a probable error of one tenth admis- 
sible in court expert-evidence?’ 

In any case, he thinks the judges should not 
admit the testimony of any expert unless he 
prove by tests that he is one. 

Part II.: By what marks can age be de- 
termined from handwriting. 

M. Crépieux-Jamin, after explaining that it 
is the physiological and not the actual age 
which may be deduced, gives four periods 
which may be distinguished, viz., youth, 
adolescence, young, and old adults. 

In youth the lines are coarse, slow, clumsy 
and wanting grace; the letters differentiated 
by increased height. 

Adolescents have more expansive and pre- 
tentious lines, many inequalities, among 
others the round of the ‘d’ turned in. The 
strokes are firm, distinct and have lost the 
heaviness mentioned of the very young. 

Young adults have a still clearer hand- 
writing, freed from calligraphic forms. Orig- 
inality of character is evident. Diversity is 
greater than with adolescents. Each is indi- 
vidual. 


Aged adults no longer have the lightness 


and freshness of line of twenty-five years. 
Their writing shows lines, thickened angles, 
marks of hesitation and depressions, 7. e., all 
the graphological indications of diminution 
of activity. 

The following table gives the percentage of 
errors in the answers of M. Crépieux-Jamin 
compared with the percentage of errors where 
the determinations had been made by pure 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 614. 


chance. This comparison is made for five 
separate age-periods. 


Crépieux- Pure 

Number of ~ Jamin, Chance, 
Errors. Per Per 
Cent. Cent. 
Wnder iG ayearse! Ase 34.6 18 
From 6 to 10 years..... 26 20 
From 11 to 15 years..... 10 26 
From 16 to 23 years..... 8 26 
From 24 upwards....... 12 28 


Dr. Binet concludes that his experiments 
support the theory of intuitive but not de- 
ductive graphology in the determination of 
age. 

Part III. 

Chapter X.: Intelligence in Handwriting. 

This determination is thought of greater 
value than the others. The following graph- 
ologists were consulted: MM. Crépieux-Jamin, 
Eloy, Humbert, Vié, Paulhan, Mmes. Fori- 
chon, Ungern-Steinberg and de Salberg. Dr. 
Binet thinks the probable errors are: (1) un- 
certainty of establishing the real degree of 
intelligence of people; (2) suggestions re- 
ceived from the contents of the letters; (3) 
recognition of some handwritings. Regard- 
ing the difficulty of determining an actual 
order of superiority, twenty-seven names were 
selected, amongst which were those of Jules 
Simon, Victorien Sardou, Paul Bert, Renan, 
Claude Bernard, Alexandre Dumas fils, Du- 
mas (chimiste), Poincaré, Brown-Sequard, 
Charcot, Brunetiére, Lemaitre. The second 
series (people of average intelligence) had to 
be selected with great discretion. 

He eliminated from consideration those who 
can not write fluently; the partially and com- 
pletely illiterate (especially servants); mer- 
chants, manufacturers, employees and others 
whose occupations require legibility and in- 
duce calligraphy, that hardest test of graph- 
ology. Thus, seven tenths of all the writers 
in France are excluded by these eliminations. 

The two methods of experimenting were: 
(1) by couples; each couple containing the 
writing of a great, and of an average intelli- 
gence; (2) by two groups of writings, ‘A’ 
and ‘B.” In ‘A’ 83 great were mixed with 
four very narrow intelligences known to Dr. 


f 
z 


Ss ee ee 


OctoBerR 5, 1906.] 


Binet. In ‘B’ a large number of mediocri- 
ties were mingled with Renan, Cl. Bernard 
and Daudet. Several experts were selected to 
sort these names. 
classed from 30 to 40; talent, 40 to 50; genius 
50 to 60; and the inferior grades, 1 to 30. 

To avoid suggestion from the contents of 
a letter, envelopes were first employed; but 
the experts objected to the insufficiency of the 
material “and their efforts were not brilliant. 
In 80 replies but 61 per cent. were correct.” 

Dr. Binet then had recourse to personal 
letters, but in cutting out the signature and 
significant words the meaning was made ob- 
secure. (The fact that a letter was thus mu- 
tilated would stamp it as of the superior class. 
eer) 

Another error was in the recognition of the 
handwriting by the expert; thus: Mme. Un- 
gern Steinberg recognized Zola’s writing. 

Dr. Binet submitted to each expert a list 
of 100 known authors and asked if he knew 
the handwriting of any of them. 

Chapter XII.: How is intelligence revealed 
in handwriting ? 

M. Crépieux-Jamin recognizes six degrees. 
Genius, talent, alert intelligence, mediocrity, 
insignificance and low intelligence. There are 
pen-strokes characteristic of each of these 
classes. 

Genius manifests itself by power, clearness, 
simplicity and activity. The strokes are not 
of common form, but elegant, or well defined, 
with inequalities not discordant. 

Talent has the same signs, with less clear- 
ness, simplicity and activity. The signs of 
cultivation (modifications of the ordinary 
forms of writing as abbreviations or simplifi- 
cations) are aS numerous as with genius. 

Alert Intelligence.—Clear and Simple. Un- 
evenness (index of intellectual sensibility 
without discordances) is great and gives the 
impression of a shudder of the pen. Precision 
not so great as with genius. There appear 
indications, absent from genius, of cunning, 
deception, versatility (sic), and violence, 
though not allied with each other. 

Mediocrity.—Signs of incompleteness, gaps 
and discordances. The characters labored or 


SCIENCE. 


Average intelligence was _ 


433 


verging upon vulgarity. Marks of meanness, 
of clumsiness, exaggerations and inequality 
of the strokes, lack of harmony, lack of clear- 
ness, few and not characteristic signs of cul- 
ture. 

Insignificance.—Infantile simplicity of the 
strokes, lack of energy, activity and signs of 
culture; even and monotonous with the spaces 
often exaggerated. 

Low Intelligence—Vulgar, confused and 
exaggerated forms without marks of culture. 

M. Paulhan does not believe in the constant 
value of even general signs. It is the ‘en- 
semble’ of the writing. M. Vié prepared a 
table expressing 57 different kinds of writing 
with their respective significations, but other 
graphologists criticized the table, and M. Cré- 
pieux-Jamin refused to use it. 

Chapter XIIJ.: A general glance at the 
solutions. 

A table of the 35 pairs of writings repre- 
senting intelligence and mediocrity are given 
with the grades assigned by Crépieux-Jamin, 
Vié and Paulhan. In the 35 cases Crépieux- 
Jamin gave 382 correct and 3 incorrect replies; 
Humbert, 28 correct, 5 incorrect and 2 doubt- 
ful replies; Vié, 29 correct and 6 incorrect 
replies; Paulhan, 26 correct and 9 incorrect 


replies. 


This is the author’s summary of the con- 
clusions of the graphologists on the coupled 
writings. Seven experts gave answers. The 
majority of them were correct 32 out of 36 
times. In ten cases all seven were unani- 
mous and right. In three cases the majority 
were wrong. ‘Taking the average of all as 
that of an exceptionally good expert, his av- 
erage of success would have been 90 per cent. 
Writing, therefore, reveals unequally the in- 
telligence of the writer. Graphic signs of in- 
telligence are incontestable but are not found 
in the writing of all great intelligences. In 
this the case resembles physiognomies. 

Chapter XV. Portraits. Successful and 
unsuccessful. 

Dr. Binet says: “ Reading a series of graph- 
ologists’ opinions, one is alternately charmed 
by their accuracy and disgusted by their er- 
rors. One can not decide whether or not there 


434 


is any truth in graphology except by taking 
the average of those efforts, which (he thinks) 
answers the doubt affirmatively.” 

Madame Ungern-Steinberg graphologizes 
Bertrand (great mathematician) as ‘ culti- 
vated, supple, destitute of great delicacy or 
clear view of things.’ Dumas chemist (sec- 
retary of the Institut), “ Mediocre intelli- 
gence, bound to routine, considerable faculties 
of succeeding, limited horizon. Sees nothing 
outside of his window pane.” Kollicker 
(great German naturalist), “ Mediocre mind, 
not clear, credulous and suspicious. Discour- 
aged and deceitful. By a transparent ruse he 
seeks to compensate lack of judgment,” etc. 

Brown-Sequard.—‘ Intelligence below aver- 
age, destitute of clearness and moderation. 
Impressionable imagination to the prejudice 
Originally intelligence more 
Sum total, muddled 


of judgment. 
alert than cultivated. 
mind” (!). 

Ernest Rénan.— Intelligence mediocre and 
little cultivated (!). Little reflection (!). 
Credulity, and babbling emphasized. The 
latter owing to commencing senility.” 

Crépieux-Jamin says of Rénan’s writing: 
“ Clear, delicate and fine mind without attain- 
ing talent” (7. e., 38; talent begins at 40 of 
the scale). Eloy says of the same: “ Good 
average intelligence, some deficiency of reflec- 
tion but very active. What a good heart!” 
(He rated another letter of Rénan’s simi- 
larly.) 

Chapter XVI.: Shows the.traps Dr. Binet 
laid for the graphologists. 

Crépieux-Jamin, Paulhan and two others 
were chosen. To these four Dr. Binet sent a 
lying letter to say that in certain couples they 
had been completely misled. Among the 
couples of which this was falsely asserted were 
two where errors had really been made. Cré- 
pieux-Jamin recognized these and corrected 
them, but he refused to change his judgment 
of the mental superiority of Rénan to a small 
provincial lawyer, even when falsely told he 
was wrong; but on the contrary, raised the 
index of Rénan and lowered that of the other. 
He did the same when asked to reexamine the 
writing of Paul Bert and an unnamed official, 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 614. 


which he had already rated 42 and 35. He 
retained the 35 and raised 42 to 47. “ This 
experiment argues well for graphology,” says 
Dr. Binet. 

The others fell into the trap and recanted 
all they had said. Binet apologizes for lying 
to them, but says he did not transcend his 
rights as an experimenter. 

His conclusion is that “ graphological rea- 
soning may establish two diametrically op- 
posite conclusions—like politics and other 
things. It is to be desired that the reasons 
for opinion were less open to suggestion and 
more subject to proof.” 

Chapter XVII.: Necessity of better defining 
graphological terms. 

Graphologists disagree: (1) by finding dif- 
ferent ‘signs’; (2) by giving different inter- 
pretations to what they find. Orépieux-Jamin 
says: ‘ Large writing—imaginative.” Paulhan 
says: ‘ Large writing—clumsiness.’ Two hy- 
potheses are suggested: (1) Graphology is an 
intuition, can not be explained or controlled; 
(2) (which is Crépieux-Jamin’s view) it is 
based upon observation of forms, but these 
(may) neutralize each other. 

Chapter XIX.: The achievements of those 
ignorant of graphology. 

Experiments in judging intelligence from 
handwriting were made with male and female 
scholars in the primary schools. The masters 
and mistresses in four communal schools se- 
lected ten of the brightest and ten of the dull- 
est scholars between twelve and fourteen. 

The 80 envelopes, containing addresses dic- 
tated to the scholars, were submitted to 16 
persons; 3 of professions, and 13 instructors 
and instructresses. The majority of the re- 
plies agreed with the rating of the instructors 
in 57, and differed in 20 cases. In 5 the 
agreement was unanimous; in 6 it was 17 to 
1; in 10,17 to 2. Asked to define the features 
on which’they relied for the opinions, the most 
frequent replies were: (9) Place and disposi- 
tion of words, specification, disposition of the 
address. (9) Accuracy or clumsiness, pre- 
cision, decision, firmness, energy of the char- 
acters. The author asks if these were their 
real reasons for judging, adding, ‘to judge is 


OcroBER 5, 1906.] 


one thing and to give reasons for the judg- 
‘ment another.’ 

The graphologists who tried these same 
documents only succeeded in 60 to 65.5 per 
cent. (The ‘ignorants’ averaged 64.4 per 
cent. of correct answers practically the same. 
Peet) 

In submitting to ‘ignorants’ a group of 
writings from distinguished and from medi- 
ocre intelligences the answers were 78 right 
and 79 wrong, 7. e., pure chance. “In fact, 
how,” says Dr. Binet, “is one not endowed 
with intelligence to discover it in the writing 
of another” (!). 

Chapter XX.: Conclusions. 

The signs that indicate age and sex are not 
constant. The ‘ignorant’ can comprehend 
these signs, but less well than the graphologists 
(by about 0.05 per cent., P. F'.). The same is 
the case with intelligence. Dr. Binet’s con- 
clusion is: “It is possible for graphologists 
(1) to read intelligence (2) in hand-writing. 
(1) That is, some graphologists. Graphology 
is not to be confounded with graphologists. 
Had we not employed Crépieux-Jamin, Vié 
and Humbert the conclusion as to graphology 
would have been more severe. (2) Certain 
intelligences are more revealed than others. 
The degree of intelligence, genius and talent 
is hard to determine.” 

“In short there is some truth in graphology 
but the graphologist’s method is not infallible’ 
(and is not sufficiently explained to ‘give it a 
place as a science. P. F.). 

Part IV.: Character in Handwriting. 

Chapter XXIJ.: Experiment with the wri- 
ting of criminals. 

Fourteen honest people and eleven criminals 
contributed the writing studied. The experts 
were Crépieux-Jamin, Vié, Eloy, Paulhan, 
Varinard and Mme. de Salberg. 

Chapter XXV.: A gallery of murderers and 
their writing. 

Vidal.—Assassin of women. (His portrait 
is excessively made and repulsive. P. F.) 

Eight lines of an autobiography written by 
him in prison. From details of his life Binet 
portrays him as cunning, cowardly, hypocrit- 
ical, vindictive, boastful, lazy, violent, with 


SCIENCE. 


435 


low intelligence. The following diagnoses of 
character in handwriting are given with full- 
ness in the translated words of the writers 
because it is the fairest test of the claims of 
graphology. The words in parentheses refer 
to the writing, the others to the writer. 

Crépieux-Jamin says: “ Vivid imagination 
without grace (inequalites in direction and 
size, faulty capitals, backhand, large discord- 
ant movements, letters too high) associated 
with an activity of a low order in which agita- 
tion (unevenness in size and direction, etc.), 
discontinuity (bond of junction of words and 
syllables retarding movement), mediocre (vul- 
gar without relief) and superficial (hesitating, 
rounded, without relief). He deceives and 
procrastinates (uneven size, discordant spa- 
cing), purpose behind his expansiveness (back 
handed and sober with large discordant move- 
ments). Lying, from too much imagination, 
is habitual (very uneven size and direction, 
sinuous and hesitating, too much raised). 
Lacks reliability (very uneven size and direc- 
tion, without relief). Not generous (back- 
hand and studied soberness), not good (back- 
hand, turning left, letters too high), but 
selfish. Proud (too high), not incapable, ac- 
eidentally, of heroism. Feeble energy (‘t’s’ 
feebly crossed if at all, hesitating, slow and 
uneven). Inconsistent. Gentle and violent 
(curves with many discordances), sensual and 
lazy (thick letters, heavy strokes). 
unbalanced.” 

Dr. Binet praises the portrait but thinks it 
does not go far enough. 

Vié says of this same specimen: “ The 
writing is of a young girl(?) of tem- 
perate character (!). Principal characteristic 
not sentimentality, though she is capable of 
affection, and of altruism (?) but her emo- 
tions are controlled. Has sang froid and is 
mistress of herself. Principal desire is to 
please, (?) natural to her elevated tastes (!). 
She does not exaggerate modesty, but her 
pride is subjective, for her simple manner 
does not abandon her in her conduct of her 
life. She is timid, her lack of impulse does 
not permit her frankness to follow its natural 
course but obliges it to recur to diplomacy. 


A nature 


436 


‘Moderation’ is her motto (?!). Her mind 
is clear, assimilative, of prompt conception 
and practical tendency. She has appreciable 
but not subtle delicacy (!!). Reflection, at- 
tention, notable care in seeking the best, (!) 
speak in favor of her judgment. Imagina- 
tion not without grace, but large rather than 
high. What is most surprising is that her 
intelligence, diffuse in most young girls, is 
distinguished by concise and very condensed 
sobriety (!4). Her will shows gaps. In har- 
mony with the timidity already noted she 
lacks impulse, but has tenacity and firmness 
in resistance. Her activity has a quality bet- 
ter than will power, balanced as she is in 
perseverance. 
munity of tendencies well disciplined under 
the unity of their rule—moderation (! 2). 
Eloy: Great impulsiveness. Nature nervous 
and susceptible. Effort to mark it shows his 
tenderness of heart, * * * delicate nature 


* * ® Natural instincts for development, 


aS Sp BS! * *& X 


esthetic aptitude give a charm 
Is very young * * * sequence of ideas, good 
logie, good power of assimilation * * * sensi- 
hive pM uReNe ones, 

He adds with naiveté: “I have felt almost 
from the beginning of the examination of the 
eight lines that they were written by M. A. 
Binet at fifteen to eighteen years. After 
finishing the study this idea remains. Is 
this the fact? If so I am ready to give my 
reasons ”(!). Dr. Binet says he is not flat- 
tered at this achievement of graphology. 

Mme. X.: “ Altruism trickles out of the 
writing. Nevertheless, the writer is not en- 
tirely good. little scratches very feline at 
the extremities of the strokes and many sharp 
points show unusual taste for criticism. In 
spite of his great intelligence (!?), ete., * * *. 
Heart better than ideas and character. Not 
violent but usually irritable. Nervous-bil- 
ious, with health rather resistant than strong. 
This reflecting, observing man, without ham- 
pering bonds, had great aptitude for admin- 
istration and organization. Both economical 
and able. Without being a visionary he was 
original. Much talent but not genius—like 
Taine (!?). In any case he was a thinker (!2). 


SCIENCE. 


Thus appears this young com- ' 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 614. 


Carron.—Parricide (killed his mother by 
blows of a shoemaker’s pliers and a hammer. 
Jested of her agony before the magistrate). 

Crépieux-Jamin: “Selfish. Very reserved 
(turning to the left), yet affectionate (inclined 
and uneven in size and direction). Active 
(rapid), but negligent (light ‘ t’s’ not crossed), 
profoundly sensitive (very uneven). These 
qualities joined to a fund of gentleness (!) 
and even timidity (curved, rapid and express- 
ive, without relief, with uncrossed ‘t’s’ and 
terminals restrained and fine). Passionate, 
unhappy and restless (very uneven agitated, 
uncoordinated, light). Not a bad man (?!). 
Has tender feelings (!), but his kindness not 
expansive, but depends on exalted judgment. 
Rectitude very complicated, not impeccable. 
He has a conscience and bursts of loyalty 
(natural and simple, words increasing in size). 
Little energy (no relief, ‘t’s’ unequally or 
not at all crossed). Judgment mediccre and 
not sure of results. Don’t inspire confidence 
because qualities insufficient on one side. 
Frankness combats timidity. Great elasticity 
of reserve. First impulse often right, second 
less sincere and more expansive (enlarging, 
natural, simple, clear, but turning left). 
Reflection reduces these qualities. After all, 
he has attractive sides because of his alert 
adaptive intelligence and his emotional na- 
ture” (!). 

M. Vié says of the same specimen: * * * 
(of Carron P. F.) is young 
and feminine, whence the conclusion that 
a young girl wrote it. Pleasantly airy, 
but commonplace from lack of relief. The 
labored effort shows breaks not consistent 
with a careful person. Some pleasing deli- 
cacies. These little shades diminish in re- 
garding other moral qualities of this young 
girl, gentle, (!) modest, (!) and not coquet- 
tish (!). Moderately expansive, she enhances 
her reserve by frankness and naturalness. 
Very sensitive, but her emotions do not long 
disturb the serenity of her soul. Of loving 
nature, she possesses a guarded affection, * * * 


“The writing 


for her moderated imagination does not rest 


on the blue clouds in which the dreams of 
young girls often delight. Her activity is 


OcToBER 5, 1906.] 


fragile and can not be put to a rude test. 
She is imperfectly seconded by will power, 
but tenacious of truth(!). Very apt to at- 
tach herself to the object if it comes to her, 
but will not seek it” (!). 

Rachel Galtté—Poisoner. Killed husband, 
grandmother and loving brother. 

Crépieux-Jamin: “Imagination (large pen 
movements)? dominates. Mediocre intelli- 
gence (graphic discordance, very vulgar and 
disordered). Lacks judgment and attention. 
Impulsive, exalted (excessive right and left 
turns. Words increasing in size), inconsist- 
ent (graphic discordances), disordered (disor- 
dered and agitated), negligent (uncrossed ‘ t’s,’ 
' disordered). Like most of those deficient, 
tries to fill gaps by pretention (ornamental, 
rolled ‘ d’s,’ overheightened). Liar from imag- 
ination and disorder (agitated, discordance, 
‘ts’ not crossed, right and left turns). Never- 
theless, not bad (words increasing in size, 
small unevenness of direction, curved and 
clear). Dangerous because passionate and 
ill-fitted for life (uncrossed ‘ t’s’ non-coordina- 
tion of graphic movements) * * * affection- 
ate (inclined, curved with many right-turn 
movements). Grateful(!) with excess of 
demonstrations of her very emotional and 
open (!) nature (very unequal in size—words 
enlarging—agitated). Has disagreeable rath- 
er than odious (%) sides.” 

The above are selected as samples. 

Chapter XXVI.: Measure of individuality. 

The author says disagreements of grapholo- 
gists prove nothing. They disagree just as 
physicians disagree at the bedside of a patient. 
Crépieux-Jamin, as the best, is assumed to 
represent graphology. Of seven portraits he 
failed in four and succeeded in three. The 
writings of a batch of really high characters 
were submitted to him. He was asked to ar- 
range the twenty-two good and criminal in 
four series of good, medium, wanting and in- 
ferior. In the first class he put one good. 
In the second three murderers and two good. 
In the third class one murderer and five good. 
In the fourth seven murderers and two good 
—dividing the names into two classes, he has 
seven good and four criminals in the first— 


SCIENCE. 


437 


four good and seven criminals in the second. 

Arranging the names in couples of one 
good and one criminal and asking his judg- 
ment as to their comparison with each other 
he was right in eight and wrong in three. 

Vié and Eloy erred five times in eleven in 
the same experiment. 

Dr. Binet says the graphologists agreed in 
nine out of twenty-two cases. They can not 
decide character as well as they can intelli- 
gence, and it is uncertain if they ever will. 

Chapter XXVII.: General conclusions by 
Dr. Binet. 

“The principal end is less to ascertain 
whether intelligence and character can be 
learned from writing, than to point the path 
to follow in demonstrating moral phenomena. 
Probably there is some truth in graphology, 
cephalometry (phrenology) and chiromancy.” 

“The most dangerous foe to experiment is 
suggestion, ‘the cholera of psychology,’ * * * 
after the malice of chance. There are answers 
given by chance which have such a form as 
to fall out almost always right * * *. Cal- 
culation of chance is not alone the province of 
the mathematician but of the psychologist. 
* * * The determination of graphologists is 
always superior to chance and yet not infal- 
Hila ss 22 

“Graphological signs seem to be elastic 
enough to fit the most contradictory cases.” 

“The fault lies not in the signs but in the 
significations assigned to them.” 

“Graphology is respected more highly by 
the public because it is mysterious and incom- 
prehensible.” 

“Tt is intuitive. One does not reason, one 
affirms, and one only affirms with insistence 
what is doubtful. * * * If the client is satis- 
fied the performance is said to have succeeded. 
* * * Yet science in disdaining graphology 
neglects a domain vaster than one thinks. It 
stretches beyond the view, and contains all 
the empiric knowledge which is of such use 
to us daily, such as characters of men, previ- 
sion of their acts, and sentiments, merely 
from the sound of the voice, ete. When sci- 
ence invades this domain the present priests 
of half-light will flee to the realms of the 


438 


vague, undetermined, dreams and faith. I 
offer to collaborate with, say, M. Crépieux- 
Jamin.” 

“ Graphology is an art of the future.” 

With slight modification one can agree with 
Dr. Binet in his conclusions. 

There is unquestionably a trace of the man 
left in every act he performs, but the trace left 
in writing has not been shown to be a better 
guide to a knowledge of the sex of the writer 
than a footprint; of the age than a view of 
the garments; of the intelligence than the 
weight of the brain; nor of the character than 
the appearance of his umbrella. It is not 
within the power of true science to say that 
such and such can never be attained, but so 
far as graphology is concerned we may cite 
the experiments of its greatest investigator to 
prove that as yet it has furnished no reliable 
means of attaining to a knowledge of sex, age, 
intelligence or character from handwriting. 


Persiror FRAZER. 
PHILADELPHIA, September, 1906. 


Genera Avium. Edited by P. Wytsman. 
4to. Brussels: V. Verteneuil and L. Des- 


met. Part I., Passeres—Fam. Eurylemide. 
By Ernst Hartert. 1905 (1904). Pp. 8; 
pl. I. Part II, Picarie—Fam. Todide. 


By RP. Wytsman. 1905) Pp. 4; pl. i. Part 


III., Psittaci—Fam. Stringopide. By T. 
Salvadori: 19055 Pp: 2: ply Ie Parialhye, 
Psittaci—Fam. Nestoride. By T. Salva- 


dome 00a. erp: os pluck. art iWin desithaer 

—Fam. Cacatuide. By T. Salvadori. 1905. 

eps ie olse alae 

The first five parts of this important work, 
which is intended to include the birds of the 
world, are all that have appeared up to the 
present time. All bear the date 1905, though 
part one was issued also as a sample number 
during the first half of 1904. Each part is 
separately paged and contains but a single 
family. The introductory portion consists of 
a short historical account of the group treated, 
its anatomical characters, general habits, 
range and bibliography. Then follows a key 
to the subfamilies, if there are any, succeeded 
by a systematic treatment of the subfamilies, 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 614. 


genera and species. Under each subfamily 
there is a key to its genera; while for each 
genus are given brief synonymy, generic char- 
acters, geographical distribution, a key to the 
species and a list of species with geographical 
distribution and a little, often incomplete, 
synonymy. 

The Eurylemide—more properly Eurylai- 
mide—(part J.) are divided by Dr. Hartert 
into two subfamilies—Calyptomeninze and 
Eurylemine—the first consisting of a single 
genus with three species, the second of six 
genera. One form, Psarisomus dalhousie 
borneensis, from the mountains of northwest- 
ern Borneo, is described as new. The accom- 
panying plate represents the heads of several 
species. The general treatment of this group 
is very satisfactory, but we are not quite 
sure that all the forms treated as subspecies 
are not in reality distinct, though, of course, 
closely allied species. More careful proof- 
reading, moreover, would have avoided several 
very unfortunate errors in scientific names. 

The Todidz (part II.), a family restricted 
to the Greater Antilles, comprise but a single 
genus, of which four forms are recognized 
here. Yodus pulcherrimus Sharpe is treated 
as a synonym of TZ. hypochondriacus, and 
apparently with reason; but we are not at all 
satisfied that the four admitted forms are 
merely subspecies, as our author thinks. All 
are represented on the accompanying plate. 

The New Zealand family Stringopide—or, 
as it should be spelled, Strigopidee—(part III.) 
has only a single genus of two species, one of 
which is doubtful—probably but an individual 
aberration. The plate illustrates various de- 
tails of Strigops habroptilus, including the 
head of an interesting xanthochroic variety. 

Of the New Zealand family Nestoride (part 
IV.) six species, all in the genus Nestor, are 
admitted, but two of these are doubtfully 
valid, and one is extinet. Four of the forms 
appear on the single plate. 

The Cacatuide (cockatoos) (part V.) are 
divided into two sub-families—Cacatuine and 
Calopsittacine. The first is composed of six 
genera, including provisionally Newton’s curi- 
ous Lophopsittacus from Mauritius. In Ca- 


OcToOBER 5, 1906.] 


catua, the largest genus, fourteen species are 
recognized, and four additional subspecies are 
casually mentioned, although the latter seem 
worthy of a more prominent place. The sec- 
ond subfamily contains only the single species 
Calopsittacus novehollandie. The two plates 
depict nine species. 

Altogether, these first five parts of ‘ Genera 
Avium’ are very creditable. The arrangement 
is good, the exposition clear, and while not 
so ample as some might wish, is yet probably 
sufficient for the purpose of the publication. 
The letter press is quite attractive in appear- 
ance; and the plates, all of which are colored, 
are excellent. This work will prove very use- 
ful to all who wish to keep abreast of the 
times, and will be well-nigh indispensable to 
the working ornithologist. 

Harry C. OBERHOLSER. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 


The American Journal of Science for Oc- 
tober contains the following articles: 

A. L. Day anp EH. S. SHEPHERD: ‘ Lime-Silica 
Series of Minerals,’ with optical study by F. E. 
Wright. 

O. C. Farrineton: “ Analysis of ‘Iron Shale’ 
from Coon Mountain, Ariz.” 

N. T. Bacon: ‘ Phenomena Observed in Crookes’ 
Tubes.’ 

I. Bowman: ‘ Northward Extension of the At- 
lantic Preglacial Deposits.’ 

H. C. Brapuey: ‘A Delicate Color Reaction for 
Copper, and a Microchemical Test for Zine.’ 

A. Hiteman: ‘Elimination and Alkalimetric 
Estimation of Silicon Fluoride in the Analysis of 
Fluorides.’ 

C. Barus: ‘ Note on the Actual Drop of Pres- 
sure in the Fog Chamber.’ 

C. Barus: ‘New Method for Standardizing the 
Coronas of Cloudy Condensation.’ 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 


STEPHENS’S CALIFORNIA MAMMALS. 

Iy no part of the world is the effect of segre- 
gation and isolation as a factor in species- 
forming more evident than in California. No 
other state of our union offers such diversities 
of physical conditions, or such a variety of 
barriers to the dispersion of animals. A 
faunal map of California has been compared 


SCIENCE. 


439 


to a crazy quilt, because any such map must 
recognize the limiting and modifying effects 
of the different sets of environment connected 
with the hills, valleys, mountains, lakes and 
streams of this varied land. 

Because of the varying degrees of segrega- 
tion’ produced by barriers of mountain and 
climate, the non-migratory animals of Cali- 
fornia are especially numerous in species, and 
many of the recognized species are broken up 
into numerous subspecies. Hach form finds 
its nearest ally farther on, across the range; 
and, again, types once differentiated may in- 
vade each other’s territory, when conditions 
enable individuals to cross the border. 

In a volume ealled ‘ California Mammals’ 
(West Coast Publishing Company, San Di- 
ego), Mr. Frank Stephens, of San Diego, has 
brought together compact descriptions of all 
the mammals thus far recorded from Cali- 
fornia. The descriptions are carefully writ- 
ten, the accounts of habits are full and accu- 
rate, the volume is well printed, and it can 
not fail to be of great value to the students 
of California beasts. Two hundred and sey- 
enty-six species and subspecies are included in 
the list. The volume contains also an excel- 
lent essay on the ‘Life Areas of California.’ 
Under the head of Homo sapiens americanus, 
the most specialized of the indigenous mam- 
mals of California, is given a map showing 
the distribution of the twenty-one linguistic 
stocks. 

Davip Srarr JORDAN. 


AN IGNORED THEORY OF THE ICE AGE. 


Looxine over the recently issued work on 
‘Geology’ by Professors Chamberlin and 
Salisbury, I was surprised and disappointed 
to learn that in this voluminous publication 
of nearly two thousand pages, many of which 
are devoted to considerations of causes lead- 
ing up to the ice age, the name of Dr. Mars- 
den Manson is not to be found. 

In a work like this, designed for the use 
of students and general readers, views antag- 
onistic to generally accepted dogmas and pet 
theories, should, when endorsed by recognized 
authority, find fair treatment. 


440 


Manson’s theory of the ice age has been 
favorably received by some eminent geologists. 
Thirteen years ago, shortly after Manson’s 
memoir entitled ‘Geological and Solar Cli- 
mates’ was first published, I wrote, from an 
astronomer’s point of view, as follows: 

Under the above title Dr. Marsden Manson has 
published a thesis, issued by the University of 
California, of more than ordinary merit. Geol- 
ogists tell us that large areas of now densely 
populated regions of the earth were at one time 
covered with ice to a depth of many feet. To most 
scientists the explanations hitherto given, to ac- 
count for the cause of the so-called Glacial Epoch, 
seem wholly inadequate. Dr. Manson’s treat- 
ment of the problem is unique, and to many it 
will appear quite convincing. We do not hesitate 
to recommend it for careful study to those in- 
terested in astro-geological physics. 

I now copy, word for word, the last para- 
graph of a recent paper entitled ‘The Causes 
of the Glacial Epoch,’ written by a recognized 
leader in science. He concludes as follows: 

It does seem to the writer that unless it 
can be shown that the temperature prevailing 
at the beginning of the glacial epoch could not 
have been high enough to maintain a cloud en- 


velope, Manson’s theory as outlined above must’ 


be considered as the most probable among those 
that have heretofore been suggested, as fulfilling 
both qualitatively and quantitatively the postu- 
lates of the great Ice Age; not excluding of course 
the probable influence of the agencies claimed by 
Arrhenius and Chamberlin as the chief ones, but 
which appear to the writer to be inadequate to 
account for the phenomena in actual evidence. 


Such is the testimony of a geologist of 
world-wide fame. 


J. M. SCHAEBERLE. 
ANN ARBOR, 
August 30, 1906. 


NON-EUCLIDEAN GEOMETRY. 


To THE Eprror or Science: My attention 
has been called to some quotations from a 
private letter of mine in an article by Pro- 
fessor George Bruce Halsted on ‘The Value 
of the Non-Euclidean Geometry,’ which ap- 
peared in the November number of the Popular 


+See No. 32, ‘ Publications of the Astronomical 
Society of the Pacific.’ 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 614. 


Science Monthly, 1905. The letter referred 
to was written by me to the author in answer 
to a query of his of March 21, 1904, couched 
in the following words: 


I am curious to know, if in the face of such a 
statement as Poincaré’s in his review of Hilbert, 
‘The postulate of Euclid then can not be demon- 
strated; and this impossibility is as certain as 
any mathematical truth whatsoever,’ you actually 
still think that you have proved it, or that you 
have proved that external space is necessarily 
Euclidean. " 


In view of the fact that the quotations do 
not adequately express my views, I beg you 
for the privilege of being granted some of 
your valuable space for the publication of my 
letter in full. The true copy of my letter 
dated March 25, 1904, follows. The quotations 
are enclosed in brackets: 


My dear Professor Halsted—Your letter of the 
21st inst. has just reached me. From its tone 
I conclude that you are in earnest about the 
matter, and I am glad to have found in you a 
man who intends to read the work. The disser- 
tation was written for the purpose of bringing 
before the mathematical world certain conten- 
tions—no matter how seemingly heterodox—for 
which a scientific basis is claimed to have been 
laid down in the new treatment and in the new 
point of view; and, of course, if the claim is not 
well established, then either the treatment or the 
point of view is open to criticism—and fair criti- 
cism, whether favorable, or unfavorable, is cor- 
dially invited, even solicited. [As to Poincaré’s 
assertion about the impossibility of proving* the 
Euclidian postulate, it is no more than a belief— 
though an enthusiastic one—never proved mathe- 
matically, and in its very nature incapable of 
mathematical proof,] unless we are certain that 
space is non-Euclidian. [Poincaré is undoubtedly 
a great mathematician, perhaps the greatest now 
living; but his assertion of his inmost conviction, 
no matter how strongly put, can not pass for 
mathematical truth, unless mathematically 
proved. His conclusion—shared also by many 
another noted mathematician, as well as by the 
founders of the non-Euclidian geometries—can 
only be based on the fact of the existence of these 
last geometries, self-consistent and perfectly log- 


1] stand corrected with regard to the german- 
isms, ‘impossibility to prove,’ ‘impossibility to 
establish,’ which appeared in the original text of 
the letter. 


OcTOBER 5, 1906.] 


ical. But this is a poor proof of the impossi- 
bility of establishing’ the Euclidian postulate, ] 
since the non-Euclidian systems have to deal with 
a different class of phenomena; such are the 
metrical relations upon the sphere and the pseudo- 
sphere in two-dimensional point-space, and those 
holding in three-dimensional curved manifolds 
contained in n-dimensional space, or in space 
whose element is changed from that of a point in 
the ordinary Euclidian sense to some other geo- 
metrical entity depending on n coordinates, like 
Pliicker’s four-dimensional line-space. I should 
refer you for the elucidation of this point of view 
to pp. 27-32 of the dissertation, especially to p. 
29 and sequel, where a quotation from Bianchi 
is discussed and refuted. 

The difference between my position and yours 
is, it seems, as follows: while you maintain that 
external space is either Euclidian or non- 
Euclidian, and there is no possibility of ever 
finding out which, for the Euclidian postulate 
can neither be proved nor disproved, I assert that 
external space is both Euclidian and _ non- 
Euclidian, according to the point of view. [If 
space is regarded as a point-manifold, it is 
Huclidian, and the postulate can be proved, as 
soon as we are allowed to look for its establish- 
ment in three-dimensional geometry,] of which 
two-dimensional geometry is only a part. If 
space, however, is regarded as a line-manifold, 
say, then certain two- and three-dimensional mani- 
folds contained in it are non-Kuclidian. So, for 
instance, all lines passing through a point repre- 
sent [the two-dimensional elliptic geometry dis- 
cussed by Klein, Lindemann and Killing], which, 
[according to my opinion, is an absurdity for a 
point-space in the ordinary sense of the term]. 
As to [Poincaré], he seems to stand on a very 
similar basis—namely, in that he does not op- 
pose the non-Euclidian to the Euclidian geom- 
etry and [says that all depends upon convention] 
as to what we understand by distance, straight 
line, angle, ete. [But still he deduces from this 
the perfectly gratuitous conclusion that therefore 
the parallel-postulate can not be proved.] 
gratuitous, according to my opinion, because, as 
the simultaneous existence of both the Euclidian 
and the non-Huclidian groups of motion have 
been proved beyond a,shadow of doubt, they must 
evidently refer to different classes of phenomena, 
and hence there must exist a Euclidian space and 
a non-Kuclidian space. And as the actual space 
is only one, all must depend upon the point of 
view (the entity taken as the space element). 
Therefore, for point-space the postulate may be 


SCIENCE. 


It is _ 


441 


a necessity, without involving its necessity for 
other three-dimensional manifolds, like certain 
line-complexes, for instance,—just as plane geom- 
etry, even if it were admittedly Euclidian, would 
not have to hold for the geometry of the sphere 
or the pseudosphere. 

You will observe that the groups of motion 
in Lie’s treatment are deduced from the assump- 
tion of an analytical point, that is some entity 
depending upon a certain number of coordinates 
Ly, Dx °*** @,, and, evidently, the entity in this 
case is indeterminate. You may call it point, but 
it may actually correspond to something quite 
different from what we understand by this name 
in elementary geometry. 

I trust that, according to the maxim that 
curiosity is the mother of all knowledge, the 
perusal of my treatise, in pursuance of the grati- 
fication of this laudable feeling, may change your 
attitude upon this question, and will convince you 
that, instead of the different systems of geometry 
warring with each other, they are actually in 
peace,—the non-Euclidian systems, however, still 
needing interpretation in many particulars—an 
interpretation realizable in owr space, in the 
space in which all of us live and think and work 
and strive for perfection. 


I. E. RasinovitcH. 


SPECIAL ARTICLES. 
INHERITANCE OF COLOR COAT IN SWINE. 


Mr. Q. I. Srveson, the well-known swine 
breeder of Palmer, IIl., is conducting several 
series of crosses between different breeds of 
swine, the breeds thus far used being Tam- 
worth (red), Yorkshire (white), Poland China 
(black with white points), the wild boar of 
Europe and Duroc-Jersey (red). 

He bred a wild boar to a Tamworth sow, 
securing a large litter all much resembling 
the wild boar, having his color, snout, eyes, 
ears, length and size of legs, tail, shape of 
body, size, wildness and characteristic move- 
ments. From two of these hybrid pigs and a 
Tamworth boar he has secured three litters, 
each containing four pigs. What the usual 
litter of wild pigs is I do not know, but the 
Tamworth litter is usually eight or more pigs. 
The body color of these three litters is as 
follows: 


442 


Litter No. 1—8 wild boar’s color. 
1 Tamworth red. 

Litter No. 2—1 wild boar’s color. 
3 Tamworth reds. 

Litter No. 3—2 wild boar’s color. 
2 Tamworth reds. 


The sum of these results agree exactly with 
the highest Mendelian expectation if we as- 
sume the two coat colors to constitute a char- 
acter pair, the color of the wild boar being 
dominant. 

A cross between a Tamworth boar and a 
Yorkshire sow resulted in eleven pigs, all 
alike: hair entirely white; skin dark with 
white spots, but with a white belt extending 
entirely around the body at the shoulders, and 
including the fore legs; face dished like the 
Yorkshire but with long snout of the Tam- 
worth. One of these hybrids (male) was 
erossed with a Tamworth colored three fourths 
Tamworth, one fourth Yorkshire, with the fol- 
lowing interesting result: 

Representing the body color of the Tam- 
worth by R (r when latent), and that of the 
white breed by W, the Mendelian formula for 
this complex breeding would be 


the R, being the three fourths Tamworth, one 
fourth Yorkshire dam, the Wr, being the hy- 
brid Tamworth-Yorkshire sire. To agree 
with this formula, half the progeny should be 
white (dominant hybrid) and half red (ex- 
tracted recessive). There were eight pigs in 
the litter, four of which were of a rich Tam- 
worth red color, and four with hair light gray 
tinged with red, white skin with dark patches, 
and the characteristic white belt of the orig- 
inal hybrids. These results indicate that the 
red and white coats of these breeds form a 
character pair, with white dominant, as it is 
in the Yorkshire-Berkshire and the Yorkshire- 
Poland China crosses (unpublished results of 
the writer). They also indicate that the dom- 
inant hybrid (Wr) shows traces of recessive 
characters present, as all the Wr progeny thus 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 614. 


far produced show the peculiar white belt of 
skin color around the body, and (in all but 
the original Wr litter) have a reddish tinge in 
the hair color. 

The same Wr male was bred to a Poland 
China sow (black with white points), the 
formula for which breeding (assuming red 
dominant over black) would be 


Wr LWb 

B 2hb 
This calls for half the progeny white and 
half red. The actual results were four white 
or black and white, and five red or black and 
red. In each case the recessive black ap- 
peared to a greater or less extent. Of the 
four, two were pure white with dark skin, 
one was black and white spotted, and one was 
black with white points, like a pure Poland 
China. In Yorkshire-Berkshire crosses I 
have found the usually recessive black appear- 
ing conspicuously in some Wb individuals, 
so that these results are explained by as- 
suming incomplete dominance of white. Of 
the five showing red color, three were nearly 
pure Tamworth red, having only a few black 
spots, and two were red and black spotted. 


‘This indicates a tendency for red to dominate 


black, but the dominance varies, and is almost 
never complete. 

One of the above red- and black-spotted 
boars was bred to three Poland China sows. 
The formula for this breeding may be written 


R 

; Wr Wb 
W } | 

B iRB LRB 
B } 1B 

Remembering that the Poland China black 
appears either as black and white spotted or 
black with white points in pure Poland 
Chinas, we should expect half of each litter 


to be red and black spotted and half black 
and white spotted (or black with white 


points). The results were 
Bl and Wh. 
BR Spotted. Spotted. 
MitteriNon ee acseese an ans 4 4 
Titter mNiOst2 Ne iy eee ans 3 3 
rtcenr! INO wae as es Seen ay 3 3 


OcroBER 5, 1906.] 


All the above results meet the highest Men- 
delian expectation on the assumptions made 
regarding character pairs and dominance. 
We should expect some departure from the 
highest expectation. In the following we 
find it. 

The same RB boar used in the last cross 
was bred to a one eighth Duroc-Jersey (red- 
R’) seven eighths Poland China sow haying 
perfect Poland China markings. The highest 
expectation is shown in the formula of this 


breeding. 
R 
} Wr +Wb 
Tee 


B ARB 
R LRB 
} R/B 1R/B | 
ebery gue Tl 
B 1B 
bs 
; B 


The Duroc-Jersey red (R’) seems to have 
been eliminated in the breeding of the dam 
B,. Here the highest expectation is that half 


of the progeny should show red markings;. 


four of them were red and black spotted and 
two nearly pure red with a few black spots, 
indicating that they were all of the RB type, 
a case the probability of which in this par- 
ticular cross is one sixty-fourth. 

The above results can not be regarded as 
conclusive concerning any of the points in- 
volved, but they do render it highly probable 
that there are good Mendelian characters in 
this class of animals. They are published 
with the hope of stimulating further enquiry 
along this line. 


W. J. SPILLMAN. 
U. S. DEPT. or AGRICULTURE. 


CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY: 
VAGARIES OF LIGHTNING. 


A paper in the Quarterly Journal of the 
Royal Meteorological Society for July, by 
Alfred Hands, deals with ‘Some So-called 
Vagaries of Lightning Reproduced Experi- 
mentally” Lightning is an electric charge, 
the author says, and should act in accordance 
with the laws that are known to govern dis- 


SCIENCE. 


443 


charges. In the course of an extended in- 
vestigation into the effects of lightning, Mr. 
Hands has come across many cases that have 
been called vagaries, but which on close in- 
spection have proved to be extraordinary only 
in the erroneous way in which they were de- 
scribed. Had they been correctly reported, 
they would have appeared perfectly consistent 
with ideas previously held—in fact, they could 
have been foretold in every case if the condi- 
tions that led to those effects had been known 
before the events occurred. 

Mr. Hands reproduced experimentally sev- 
eral so-called vagaries of lightning, showing 
by means of skeleton models the conditions 
under which they occurred, and by a single 
discharge producing effects which would be 
most perplexing if the arrangement of the 
hidden links in the alternative path of con- 
duction were not known. 


AFRICAN HUTS ON POLES TO ESCAPE MOSQUITOES. 


Tue placing of native dwellings on poles to 
elevate them above the ground during over- 
flows in the rainy season has long been known 
as an interesting illustration of the influence 
of climate upon architecture. In an account 
of a journey ‘From Mombasa to Khartum: 
through Uganda and down the Nile, Sir 
Charles Eliot notes the use of platforms on 
poles ten or twelve feet high by some of the 
native tribes along the Bahr-el-Gebel. These 
platforms serve as places of repose when mos- 
quitoes are very abundant, for it is found that 
the mosquitoes do not go far above the ground 
(Scot. Geogr. Mag., 1906, 350). 


PILOT CHARTS. 


Tue monthly pilot charts of the North At- 
lantic and North Pacific Oceans, issued by the 
Hydrographic Office of our Navy, are well 
known. Five years ago the British Meteor- 
ological Office began the publication of 
monthly North Atlantic pilot charts, and 
has now undertaken Monthly Meteorological 
Charts of the Indian Ocean North of 15° 
South Latitude, and Red Sea. The first num- 
ber is for May, 1906. Two pilot charts are 
published by the Deutsche Seewarte, at Ham- 


444 SCIENCE. 


burg, one for the North Atlantic and Medi- 
terranean, issued monthly, and one for the 
North Sea and Baltic, issued quarterly. 


NOTES. 


AN investigation into the Beaufort wind- 
scale and its relation to measured wind veloci- 
ties has been made in England, and the re- 
sults are published in an official report (‘ Re- 
port of the Director of the Meteorological 
Office upon an Inquiry into the Relation be- 
tween the Estimates of Wind-Force according 
to Admiral Beaufort’s Scale and the Veloci- 


ties recorded by Anemometers belonging to ~ 


the Office,’ London, 1906). p 
R. DEC. Warp. 


CHREBRAL LOCALIZATION OF MUSICAL 
TALENT. 

Dr. S. AvERBACH has published an interest- 
ing contribution’ to the cerebral localization 
of the musical talent in a description of the 
surface morphology of the brain of Professor 
Naret Koning, late director of the opera in 
Frankfurt a. M. The report includes a com- 
parative study of the brain of the celebrated 
composer Hans y. Bilow, for some time in 
the possession of Professor Edinger, and of 
brains of other eminent men, of known 
musical talent, previously described. The 
author finds in the considerable breadth and 
configuration of the (supra)marginal gyre, as 
well as the adjacent portion of the super- 
temporal gyre, an expression of the greater 
aptitude for the multitudinous associations 
in the auditory sphere which distinguished 
these persons from others less musical. The 
author goes on to show that the corresponding 
portions of the skull usually indicate this 
redundancy. 

As has been urged frequently by cerebral 
morphologists in America, contributions of 
this kind make it highly desirable to secure 
for comparison more brains of persons of 
peculiar aptitudes in various lines of mental 
activity. Not only the brains, but also the 

*Archw fiir Anatomie und Physiologie, Anat- 
omische Abteilung, 1906, pp. 197-230, Plates XII— 
XVII. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 614. 


skulls, head-casts and photographs taken in 
accordance with approved anthropometric 
methods are needed. The preservation of the 
brain is requisite not only for macroscopic 
study, but also for researches in the minute 
structure of the redundantly developed re- 
gions. Epw. ANTHONY SPITZKa. 


GRANTS FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH BY 
THH BRITISH ASSOCIATION, 


At the recent York meeting of the British 
Association, as we learn from Nature, grants 
of money appropriated for scientific purposes 
by the general committee were: 


Section A—Mathematical and Physical Science. 


2g as es 
Mlectrical Standandse yeas see 50 0 0 
Seismological Observations............ 40 0 0 
Magnetic Observations at Falmouth... 40 0 0 
Magnetic Survey of South Africa...... 25 7 6 
Further Tabulation of Bessel Functions 15 0 0 

Section B—Chemistry. 

Wave-length Tables of Spectra........ 10 0 0 
Study of Hydro-aromatic Substances... 30 0 0 
Dynamic lsomenisnaon sae er eee eer: 30 0 0 


Section C—Geology. 
Life Zones in British Carboniferous 


VOCS ys ainsi Che vaeisiack cbslalars atene one nena Wt 0 
IDOE RAKG IBOOK) Soin sh oodsaonaccoos osu 21 16 6 
Fossiliferous Drift Deposits........... 25 19 0 
Fauna and Flora of British Trias...... 10 0 0 
Crystalline Rocks of Anglesey........ (eds) 00 
Faunal Succession on the Carboniferous 

Limestone of S. W. England........ 1 SOiad 
Correlation and Age of South African 

SGA GA REE Sat uitaicnee an anne in cee weet ee 10 0 O 
Investigation of the Speeton Beds at 

IKsmnaap Goa 3 aire we een ue eee ee 10 0 0 

Section D—Zoology. 
InntclexqrAtahinare) inna ese ee eee eer 75 0 0 
Table at the Zoological Station at 

INET OL SSI HiGte Sele ee mieee- sler Wmai Gna ust s te. 3: 5 100 0 0 
Development of the Frog............. 5 14 6 
Respiratory Phenomena and _ Oolor 

Changes my Ammen ey g en ieseees ene Il 2 0 
Experiments on the Development of the 

Sexual Cells 2 ioe oil seki toned cen eee 5 0 0 


Section H—Geography. 
Oscillations of the Land Level in the 
Mediterranean Basin .............. 50 0 0 


4 


— 


ee, 


- OcTOBER 5, 1906.] 


Ee Sah Ge 
Rainfall and Lake and River Discharge. 10 0 0 


Section F—EHconomic Science and Statistics. 


International Trade Statistics........ U5) UW 
Gold Coinage in Circulation in the 

ented ened OMG. sie ment ene 1 OO 

Section H—Anthropology. 
Pxcavarions. in: Crete: eoussce sae 100 0 0 
Glastonbury Lake Village............ 30 0 0 
Excavations on Roman Sites in Britain 15 0 0 
Anthropometric Investigations......... LE 
Awe lot Stone) Circles 3332-524... . 2 3.0 0 
Anthropological Photographs.......... 3.3 6 
Section I—Physiology. 

Metabolism of Individual Tissues...... 45 0 0 
Phe Ductless Glands... 2. 0..5....-...- 25, 0 0 
Effect of Climate upon Health and 

DI SCAISC trie Epere is ccc enh tine sitemeter 55 0 0 

Section K—Botany. 

Physiology of Heredity (2). 5). +f. 12s = 30 0 0 
South African Cycads, ete............ 35 0 0 
Botanical Photographs................ 5 0 0 
Structure of Fossil Plants............ 5 0 0 
Peat) Moss (Deposits ..3 5). isi. eveyone umole 
Marshy Vesetationins sss ne esse sees 15 0 0 


Section L—Educational Science. 
Studies suitable for Elementary Schools 10 0 0 


Conditions of Health in Schools....... 5 0 0 
Corresponding Societies Committee. 
Her-Preparation Of Reporte eG... 20-0 0 

Mota tics eG ueie cue he Rarer Ric tarens 1061 12 4 


THE SILLIMAN LECTURES AT YALE 
UNIVERSITY. 


Tue Silliman lectures for 1906 will be given 
in the Sloane Laboratory of Yale University 
by Professor Walther Nernst, of the Univer- 
sity of Berlin, beginning on October 22. The 
subjects of the twelve lectures are as follows: 


1-3. ‘General Application of Thermodynamics 
to Chemistry. The Equation of the Reaction 
Isochore Q=RT°?(diln K/dT). Monday, October 
22; Tuesday, October 23; Wednesday, October 24. 

4. ‘Integration of this Equation and Prelimi- 
nary Discussion of the Undetermined Integration 
Constant. Thursday, October 25. 

5-6. ‘The Relation between the Internal and 
the Free Energies at Very Low Temperatures.’ 
Friday, October 26; Monday, October 29. 

7-8. ‘Determination and Evaluation of the 


SCIENCE. 


445 


Integration Constant by means of the Curve of 
Vapor Pressure. Tuesday, October 30 (two 
hours). 

9. “New Experimental Researches on Chemical 
Equilibrium at High Temperatures.’ Wednesday, 
October 31. 

10-12. ‘Examples for the Theoretical Calcula- 
tion of Chemical Equilibrium from the Heat of 
Reaction: (a) Homogeneous Systems; (6) Hetero- 
geneous Systems.’ Thursday, November 1; Fri- 
day, November 2 (two hours). 


The Silliman memorial lectures on subjects 
connected with ‘the natural and moral world’ 
were established by the will of Augustus Ely 
Silliman, of Brooklyn, N. Y. The Mrs. 
Hepsa Ely Silliman memorial fund, which 
supports this lectureship, came into the pos- 
session of Yale University in 1901. The pre- 
ceding lecturers have been: 

1903. PRoresson THomson, Cambridge Univer- 
sity: ‘ Electricity and Matter.’ 

1904. PROFESSOR SHERRINGTON, University of 
Liverpool: ‘Integrative Action of the Nervous 
System.’ 

1905. PRoressor RUTHERFORD, McGill Univer- 
sity: ‘Radioactive Transformations.’ 


HONORARY DEGREES AT HARVARD 
UNIVERSITY. 


At the academic session held in Sanders 
Theater on September 26, in connection with 
the dedication of the new buildings of the 
Medical School, honorary degrees were con- 
ferred by President Eliot in the following 
words: : 

In accordance with time-honored university 
usage on occasions of rejoicing, I now create, 
in exercise of authority given me by the 
president and fellows and the board of over- 
seers, 

HONORARY DOCTOR OF. ARTS. 

Charles Allerton Coolidge, architect, designer 
of admirable buldings for academic and scien- 
tific uses in California, Illinois, New York and 
Massachusetts; designer of the monumental new 
buildings of the Harvard Medical School, buildings 
in which are combined spaciousness, splendor of 
material, fine grouping, durability and careful 
adaptation to their special uses; through pro- 
fessional skill and patience an influential pro- 
moter of the purposes and wishes of the Medical 
Faculty. 


446 SCIENCE. 


HONORARY DOCTOR OF SCIENCE. 


Simon Flexner, born and brought up to the 
standing of a physician at Louisville, Kentucky, 
trained as a student and professor of pathology 
chiefly at the Johns Hopkins University; pro- 
ductive investigator and author in bacteriology 
and pathology; since 1904 director of the labo- 
ratories of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical 
Research, and there the competent master of great 
resources for the immediate and constant advance- 
ment of Medical Science. 


DOCTORS OF LAWS. 


John Collins Warren, instructor and professor > 


of surgery in Harvard University for thirty-five 
years; author, and eminent practitioner in sur- 
gery; the enthusiastic, winning and indefatigable 
promoter of the great undertaking of the Medical 
School, who knew how to inspire others with his 
own well-grounded hopefulness and ardor. 

Henry Pickering Bowditch, for thirty-five years 
chief teacher of physiology in Harvard University; 
for ten years dean of the Medical School; investi- 
gator, as well as teacher and administrator; whose 
imagination conceived, whose faith foresaw the 
new Medical Sehool, and who contributed to the 
realization of his vision by diligent labor in the 
cause and through the confidence which others 
felt in his foresight and sagacity. 

José Ramos, professor of pathology and chief of 
the clinical staff in the Medical School of Mexico, 
officer of the Medical Institute of Mexico, senator 
from the state of San Luis Potosi, in whose wel- 
come presence Harvard University gladly remem- 
bers that the University of Mexico was her elder 
sister on the American continent. 

Franz Keibel, professor of anatomy in the Uni- 
versity of Freiburg, eminent investigator in anat- 
omy and embryology, worthy representative of 
German genius for medical research and teaching. 

Charles Scott Sherrington, lecturer and _ pro- 
fessor at the University of London, St. Thomas’s 
Hospital and the University of Liverpool; distin- 
guished experimental physiologist, and especially 
neurologist; public-spirited and active member of 
famous scientific societies and serviceable medical 
organizations. 

Francis John Shepherd, professor of anatomy in 
MeGill University; Canadian by birth, education 
and service; distinguished surgeon; active con- 
tributor to professional literature; ready sharer 
in the public functions of the profession, and in 
its works of charity and good will. 

Sir Thomas Barlow, professor of Clinical Medi- 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 614. 


cine. physician to His Majesty’s Household and to 
University College Hospital; eminent general 
practitioner and consultant. 

Abraham Jacobi, a medical graduate of Bonn 

University in 1851, and a practising physician in 
New York since 1853; professor of the diseases of 
children since 1860; officer in many hospitals and 
medical societies; productive author; alert, ener- 
getic, progressive practitioner; honored medical 
veteran. 
And in the name of this society of scholars 
I declare that they are entitled to the rights 
and privileges pertaining to their several de- 
grees, and that their names are to be forever 
borne on its roll of honorary members. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


Tue University of Aberdeen celebrated last 
week the four hundredth anniversary of its 
foundation with some three thousand delegates 


in attendance. According to a cablegram to - 


the daily papers, the degree of doctor of laws 
was conferred on 110 of the delegates, in- 
cluding Professor F. W. Clarke, chief chemist 
of the U. S. Geological Survey; Dr. Arnold 
Hague, geologist of the U. S. Geological Sur- 
vey; Dr. J. William White, professor of sur- 
gery in the University of Pennsylvania, and 
Professor Howard A. Kelly, professor of 
gynecology in the Johns Hopkins University. 


Proressor E, L. Nicuous, of Cornell Uni- 
versity, and Professor Wm. T. Sedgwick, of 
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 
will make the addresses at the formal dedica- 
tion of the new Eastman science building at 
Rochester University, which will house the 
departments of physics and biology. It is 
expected that the dedication will take place 
during the month of October. 


Sir WiiuiaAM Perkin has arrived in this 
country. As has already been announced, the 
jubilee of the foundations of the coal-tar in- 
dustry by the discovery of mauve will be 
celebrated at a banquet at Delmonico’s on 
Saturday evening. Other entertainments have 
been arranged for Sir William Perkin, in- 
cluding a smoker at the Chemists’ Club, New 
York City, and a dinner at Boston. 

Dr. CuHartes F. CHANDLER, professor of 
chemistry in Columbia University, has re- 


Pe. ate) oe 


OcTOBER 5, 1906.] 


ceived from the University of Gottingen a 
renewal of his degree of doctor of philosophy 
granted fifty years ago. 


Dr. Grorce L. STREETER, instructor in anat- 
omy in the Johns Hopkins University, and 
Dr. Shinkishi Hatai, assistant in neurology 
in the University of Chicago, have been added 
to the staff of the Wistar Institute of Anat- 
omy, Philadelphia. 

Dr. D. H. Camppeuy, professor of botany 
at Stanford University, has returned after an 
absence of a year. He attended last year the 
International Botanical Conference in Vienna 
and the South African meeting of the British 
Association for the Advancement of Science. 
He subsequently spent a considerable time in 
the Botanical Gardens at Peridinia, Ceylon, 
and Buitenzorg, Java. 

Dr. N. L. Brirron, director of the New 
York Botanical Garden, Mrs. Britton and 
Professor Lucian M. Underwood, of Columbia 
University, have spent the past month in 
Jamaica, where the garden maintains at Chin- 
cona a tropical laboratory. 

Dr. C. B. Ropinson, assistant curator of the 
New York Botanical Garden, spent the month 
of August in Nova Scotia making collections 
for the garden. 

Starr SurRGEON ALEXANDER GASKILL, of the 
British Royal Navy, is in America studying 
naval hospital methods. 

Dr. Braptty M. Davis will spend next 
winter in Cambridge, Mass. (17 Felton Hall). 
His immediate work will be the completion, 
with Mr. Bergen, of a laboratory and field 
manual to accompany the ‘ Principles of Bot- 
any, which has recently appeared from the 
press of Ginn and Company. 

Dr. Grorcr Bruce Hatstep, F.R.A.S., has 
accepted the headship of the department of 
mathematics in the State Normal School of 
Colorado at Greeley. Dr. Halsted’s transla- 
tion of Poincaré’s ‘The Value of Science’ is 
appearing as a serial in the Popular Science 
Monthly, to be later a companion volume to 
his ‘Science and Hypothesis.’ 

Sik Greorce Watt, C.I.E., reporter an eco- 
nomic products to the Indian government, de- 


SCIENCE. 


AAT 


livered the opening address of the session at 
the School of Pharmacy of the Pharmaceutical 
Society of Great Britain, and the president of 
the society presented the Pereira medal on 
October 1. 

Dr. SAMUEL SHELDON gave the presidential 
address before the American Institute of Elec- 
trical Engineers, New York City, on Septem- 
ber 28, his subject being ‘The Work of the 
Institute.’ 

A MEDAL in memory of Fritz Schaudinn, to 
be awarded every second year for distin- 
guished work in micro-biology, has been es- 
tablished at the Hamburg Institute of Trop- 
ical Diseases, with which Schaudinn was con- 
nected at the time of his death. 

A MONUMENT to Ignaz Semmelweis, the dis- 
tinguished physician, was unveiled with ap- 
propriate ceremonies at Budapest on Septem- 
ber 30. 

Dr. Fenix Leopotp Oswatp, the author of 
numerous books and articles on natural sci- 
ence, born in Belgium in 1845, and recently 
residing at Grand Rapids, Mich., was killed 
by a train at Syracuse on September 27. 

Tue death is announced of Professor H. 
Cohn, of the University of Breslau, known for 
his work in ophthalmology. 

Ir is announced that the German govern- 
ment will hold in Berlin in 1912 an interna- 
tional exposition, which will be planned on a 
scale surpassing all previous expositions of 
this character. 

It is reported that the Ontario cabinet is 
considering the establishment of a department 
of public health. 

AFTER the opening of the Institute of Can- 
cer Research at Heidelberg on September 25, 
an International Conference on Cancer was 
held at Frankfort-on-the-Main on September 
96 and 27. 

In view of the continuance of the disastrous 
epidemics of plague, cholera and smallpox, and 
the heavy perennial mortality from malaria, 
the government of India has decided to create 
an entirely new service of sanitary engineers, 
whose special province it will be to safeguard 
public health. A committee of experts has 


448 


been appointed to consider the details of the 
scheme. 

We learn from Nature that the Association 
des Industriels de France contre les Accidents 
du Travail intends offering a prize of 8,000 
frances for an international competition for a 
new galvanic battery or accumulator which, 
while having a large output for its size and 
weight, must not be dangerous in use. In- 
quiries should be addressed to the director of 
the society, rue de Lutéce, Paris, who will 
supply further particulars, and to whom com- 
petitors must send their descriptions and 
drawings. 

Tue London Times reports that at its 
plenary sitting at Brussels on September 11 
the International Polar Exploration Congress 
voted unanimously for the formation of an 
international polar commission, The mem- 
bers of the commission are to hold office for 
six years. Corresponding members may be 
nominated among men of science and others 
who have in any way assisted polar explora- 
tion. The commission is to elect by vote a 
president, vice-president and secretary for a 
term of three years. The commission is for- 
bidden to undertake any operations of a finan- 
cial nature. Its primary aims are to bring 
about closer relations among polar explorers, 
to coordinate scientific observations and to 
assist polar enterprise, without, however, or- 
ganizing expeditions on its own account. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


By the death of the sister of the late W. W. 
Guiteau, Cornell University will receive the 
legacy left by him, said to amount to between 
$100,000 and $200,000. 

THE courts have handed down a decision 
by which the University of Rochester will 
receive the $75,000 bequeathed to it by the late 
Lewis H. Morgan. 

THE new building for the Atlanta College 
of Physicians and Surgeons has been erected 
at a cost of $75,000. 

In connection with the celebrations of the 
fourth centenary of the University of Aber- 


deen, the new buildings, erected at a cost of 
$1,250,000, were opened by King Edward. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 614. 


Aucustus Trowsrince, Ph.D. (Berlin), 
professor of mathematical physics at the Uni- 
versity of Wisconsin, has been called to 
Princeton University. We have already noted 
the call of Professor O. V. Richardson, of 
Cambridge University, to a chair of physics 
at Princeton; Dr. H. L. Cooke, also of Cam- 
bridge University, has been called to an as- 
sistant professorship of physics. 

Dr. C. D. Cuitp, professor of physics at 
Colgate University, has been appointed to a 
similar chair in the School of Mining at 
Kingston, Ont. 

Dr. A. Duncan YoxumM has been appointed 
professor of pedagogy in the University of 
Pennsylvania, to succeed Dr. Martin G. Brum- 
baugh, who has become superintendent of the 
Philadelphia public schools. 


At Brown University, Dr. Herbert E. 
Waters, of the University of Chicago, suc- 
ceeds Dr. Leonard W. Williams as assistant 
professor of comparative anatomy. 

Mr. E. H. Arcusotp has been appointed 
associate professor of chemistry in Syracuse 
University. 

At Rochester University, Assistant Pro- 
fessor A. S. Gale has been promoted to a pro- 
fessorship of mathematics and Mr. Howard 
D. Minchin to an assistant professorship of 
physics. i ( 

Miss Maset CuHase has been promoted to 
be an associate professor of physics at Mount 
Holyoke College, and Miss Eleanor C. Doak 
has been appointed associate professor of 
mathematics. 

Dr. Marion M. Hutt has been elected pro- 
fessor of materia medica and therapeutics at 
the Atlanta School of Medicine, in succession 
to the late Dr. Charles D. Hurt. 

Mr. James Muir, M.A., B.Se., assistant to 
the professor of natural philosophy in Glasgow 
University, has been appointed to the chair of 
natural philosophy in the Glasgow and West 
of Scotland Technical College. 

Dr. WILHELM WIEN, professor of physics at 
Wiirzburg, will succeed to the chair occupied 
by the late Professor O. Drude. 


SCIENCE 


A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 
OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 


Fripay, Octoser 12, 1906. 


CONTENTS. 


The Futwre of Medicine: PRESIDENT CHARLES 
W. ELIor 


The Unity of the Medical Sciences: PROFESSOR 
\G VIC TEIDAITE  LAA an CON Bs PASAT LAn Lai A a 454 


Scientific Books :— 
Chamberlin and Salisbury’s Geology: Pro- 
FESSOR J. C. BRANNER. Gibbon’s The Hye, 
tts Refraction and Diseases: Dr. COLMAN 
WAY al ACOA CTR Sa PAU IBN BUSI ee UE aN aK RG 462 


Scientific Journals and Articles............ 466 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
On the Doppler Effect: Horack CLARK 
BE RAELCEIVANER) SN PRIN ALR a ICRU Use tase ne atl a et Oe 466 


Special Articles :— 


Glacial Stages in Southeastern New Eng- 
land and Vicinity: M. L. FuLter. Food 
Habits of the Snail, Bulimulus Dormant 
Binney: Proressor E. H. SELLARDS....... 467 


Quotations :-— 
A National Department of Health........ 47) 


Technology—Harvard Geological Expedition. 471 


Publications of the Carnegie Institution of 


WY GSI UOT OHNE NG SU ae) SIE NAR Daa aM 472 
Insanity in England and Wales............ 474 
LOG IORYAN | JUEORUPES Se pis biog dlaic Bo4 ada ee ne 476 
Scientific Notes and News................. 477 
University and Hducational News.......... 480 


MESS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 
review should be sent to the Editor of SclENCE, Garrison-on- 
Hudson, N. Y. 


THE FUTURE OF MEDICINE; 


Tue future cccupations and interests of 
the medical profession are to be in some 
respects different from those of the past, 
and they are to be more various. The 
ordinary physician has for the last hundred 
years been almost exclusively a man de- 
voted to the treatment of diseases already 
developed in human bodies or of injuries 
already incurred. He made his diagnosis, 
and then sought remedies and a cure. He 
was the sympathetic and skilful helper of 
sick or injured persons. Most of the cases 
that came under his care were cases consid- 
ered plain as to symptoms, period and ac- 
cepted treatment. The minority of cases 
were obscure, and called for unusual knowl- 
edge and skill in discerning the seat of the 
disorder, or the approximate cause of the 
bedily disturbance. Hence the special 
value of the experienced consultant, who 
was ordinarily a man of some peculiar nat- 
ural gift of body, mind or temperament, 
possessing also in high degree the faculty 
of keen observation, and the habit of elim- 
inating irrelevant consideraticns, and ulti- 
mately finding his way to the accurate, 
limited inference from the facts before him. 
Both the ordinary physician and the con- 
sultant have already been much helped by 
the extraordinary progress made in medical 
science during the last thirty years; but 
they have been helped chiefly to a surer 
recognition of diseases established in human 

* An address delivered by President Charles W. 


Hliot, on September 26, 1906, at the dedication of 
the Harvard Medical School. 


450 SCIENCE. 


bodies, and to a better treatment of their 
patients’ diseases when recognized. 

The physician or surgeon commonly ren- 
ders a personal service to an individual, 
sometimes for a pecuniary recompense, but 
often without money compensation. He is 
often a trusted adviser in the most intimate 
family concerns. Births and deaths alike 
bring the physician into the home. In 
rendering these services he must be tender, 
sympathetic, considerate, pure-minded and 
judicious. There will always be need, ery- 
ing need, of the physician and surgeon in 
this sense, and for these functions; and 
whatever else the regular education of the 
physician provides in the future, it must 
provide all the elements of the best train- 
ing for the practising physician who is to 
treat diseased or crippled human bodies, 
and give advice about the sudden and the 
chronic ills which afflict humanity. So 
much will continue to be demanded of all 
good medical schools; but much more they 
must do. 

The progress of what we call civilization 
exposes human beings more and more to 
the ravages of disease. When savages come 
in contact with men called civilized, they 
invariably suffer from diseases new to 
them. When a rural population crowds 
into cities, it falls a victim of diseases from 
which in the country it had been exempt. 
When hundreds of thousands of people 
huddle into small areas, and create there 
smoke, dust and noise, they suffer not only 
from new diseases, but from the exacerba- 
tion of diseases not wholly unknown to 
them in their rural condition. Under such 
unfavorable conditions of residence and 
labor the human body degenerates in many 
respects, and, losing vigor, becomes m some 
respects less able to resist the attacks of 
disease. 

Against these bodily evils which result 
from civilization the physician has thus far 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 615. 


struggled chiefly by treating more or less 
successfully the numerous individuals who 
are attacked by disease. Doubtless the 
treatment of sick and injured persons has 
substantially improved; but, nevertheless, 
the death-rate in our cities diminishes slow- 
ly, and the heavy economic losses which 
result from disease and premature death 
continue. Moreover, the improvement of 
treatment in hospitals and private practise 
has been accompanied by a great increase 
in the cost of treatment ; so that the charges 
upon the community resulting from sick- 
nesses and injuries have within the last 
thirty years rapidly mounted, and these 
heavy charges are, after all, incurred for 
the palliation of evils already suffered, and 
not for the prevention of such evils. . Again, 
in different parts of the habitable globe 
mankind has been exposed for centuries to 
dangers more or less localized; in one re- 
gion to the attacks of venomous reptiles, in 
another, of fierce carnivora, in another, to 
the ravages of flights of insects which de- 
vour every green thing, in another, to the 
constant presence of formidable diseases. 
For the most part, the human race has 
learnt how to exterminate the offending 
creatures, or at least to limit their ravages; 
and where grave infectious diseases are al- 
ways present in greater or smaller degree, 
or frequently recur, a considerable propor- 
tion of the population becomes in some 
degree immune to them. Mankind is now 
in face of enemies which are not localized, 


but which, on the contrary, are carried all 


over the habitable globe on the ubiquitous 
routes of travel and commerce. The worst 
of the new enemies are minute, multitudi- 
nous and mysterious in that their relations 


-and connections are unknown; they infest 


many of the animals with which man is 
associated, or pass into man from the ani- 
mals and plants of which he makes use. 
Untrammelled dissemination of noxious 


OcTOBER 12, 1906.] 


things has taken the place of centuries-long 
localization, a localization which sometimes 
secured checks, antidotes or immunities. 
Since, then, modern society can not help 
incurring new risks, it should seek new 
defenses. These defenses it may reason- 
ably expect medical education to plan, and 
public and private expenditure to provide. 

If civilized society is to endure under its 
new exposures and dangers, it is clear that 
the medical profession must take up with 
new ardor the work of preventing ap- 
proaching disease in addition to the work 
of treating disease arrived. The profession 
must recognize that health is eminently a 
social product, just as the psychologists 
have recognized that the mind of a civilized 
man is a social product. 

When we consider what has already been 
learnt about the production, transmission 
~ and prevention of smallpox, cholera, yellow 
fever, the black death, typhoid fever, diph- 
theria, anthrax, rabies and tetanus, we can 
not resist the conclusion that in the future 
medical science must include the study of 
causes and sequences which will carry the 
student through a large portion of the 
animal and vegetable kingdoms, and par- 
ticularly into the habits and habitats of 
their minute parasitic forms. Systematic 
medical education must, therefore, produce 
‘a considerable number of men capable of 
studying in this region the causes of dis- 
ease, and the ways of interrupting the 
means of communication, or breaking the 
chain of sequences, through which at last 
the germs of disease get a chance to produce 
their malignant effects within the human 
body. Considering the great obscurity of 
the physiological processes which go on 
within the body and the dense ignorance of 
mankind concerning the microscopic animal 
kingdom, it is a great wonder that medical 
science in its imperfect state has con- 
structed so many effective defenses against 


SCIENCE. 


451 


disease within the last thirty years. In- 
deed, we are now using some efficient de- 
fensive methods, the real nature of which 
we but imperfectly understand, as for in- 
stance, the vaccinations against smallpox 
and hydrophobia. Although we are not 
yet able absolutely to prevent disease, we 
are able in many cases to restrict the com- 
munication of diseases and to modify their 
course in the individuals attacked. 

The medicine of the future has, there- 
fore to deal much more extensively than in 
the past with preventive medicine, cr in 
other words, with the causes of disease as 
it attacks society, the community, or the 
state, rather than the individual. The ob- 
ject in view will be not only to arrest or 
modify a malady which has appeared in 
the body of a patient, but, as in the recent 
ease of yellow fever, to learn how the dis- 
ease is communicated and how to prevent 
that communication. The study of miti- 
gations, remedies and cures is to continue; 
but the study of the causes of disease and 
the means of prevention is to be greatly 
developed. The function of the nineteenth- 
century physician will continue, and in- 
deed will become more effective through a 
better knowledge of the forces which may 
be made to act upon his patient both from 
within and from without; but another sort 
of physician will be at work in the twen-— 
tieth century preventing the access of epi- 
demics, limiting them when they arrive, 
defending society against bad food and 
drink, and reducing to lowest terms the 
manifold evils which result from the con- 
gestion of population. The explorers and 
pioneers in medical science must be encour- 
aged to press on their patient work of an- 
alyzing all the processes which accompany 
disease, in order that they may learn their 
actual sequences. Only through the knowl- 
edge of these sequences can real control 
over disease be certainly gained. And this 


452 SCIENCE. 


work will be endless; for civilization in- 
volves constant changes in the environment 
of the human race; and it is on medical 
science that the race must depend for pro- 
tecting it from the new dangers which ac- 
company each novel environment. ‘The 
medical scientists being provided and fur- 
thered, medical education must also train 
large bodies of men to clear and cultivate 
the regions through which the pioneers have 
made trails, or, in plainer words, to apply 
to millions of men and women in all sorts 
of climate and environment the discoveries 
of the scientists. Thus thousands of physi- 
cians all over our southern states must for 
years be teaching the people how to pro- 
tect themselves from yellow fever. Major 
Walter Reed and his colleagues proved how 
yellow fever is communicated, and—what 
was equally important—how it is not com- 
municated; but thousands of medical men 
must see to it that intelligent application 
is made of that precious knowledge. 
Recent events have brought into strong 
light a new function of the medical pro- 
fession which is sure to be amplified and 
made more effective in the near future. 
I mean the function of teaching the whole 
population how diseases are caused and 
communicated, and what are the corre- 
sponding means of prevention. The recent 
campaign against tuberculosis is a good 
illustration of this new function of the pro- 
fession. To discharge it well requires in 
medical men the power of interesting ex- 
position, with telling illustration and moy- 
ing exhortation. Obviously the function 
calls for disinterestedness and public spirit 
on the part of the profession; but to this 
eall it is certain that the profession will 
respond. It also calls for some new adjust- 
ments and new functions in medical schools, 
which should hereafter be careful to pro- 
vide means of popular exposition concern- 
ing water supplies, foods, drinks, drugs, the 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 615. 


parasitic causes or consequences of disease 
in men, plants and animals, and the modes 
of communication of all communicable dis- 
eases. Medical museums should be ar- 
ranged in part for the instruction of the 
public, and with some’ suitable reservations 
should be statedly open to the public. The 
medical schools should also habitually pro- 
vide popular lectures on medical subjects, 
and these lectures should be given without 
charge on days and at hours when working 
people can attend. In other words, se- 
lected physicians should become public 
teachers, as well as private practitioners. 
America has much to learn from Europe in 
regard to this public-spirited service on the 
part of the profession. 

In another respect the teaching of medi- 
cine must be broadened in the century we 
have now entered on. Medical study has 
been in time past far too exclusively the 
study of man’s body by itself. Hereafter 
the study of medicine must be largely com- 
parative, or in other words, must include 
man’s relations to the animal and vegetable 
kingdoms. The Harvard Medical School 
enters into possession of its new buildings 
with three professorships of comparative 
medicine already established, the professor- 
ships of comparative anatomy, comparative 
physiology and comparative pathology. 
This tendency to comparative study has 
been already well developed in other sub- 
jects, as for example, in comparative psy- 
chology, legislation and religion. Wherever 
this study by comparison wins adequate 
place, it makes the study of the subject 
broader and more liberalizing, and the re- 
sults obtained more comprehensive and 
juster. Medical students should, therefore, 
have studied zoology and botany before be- 
einning the study of medicine, and should 
have acquired some skill in the use of the 
scalpel and the microscope. It is absurd 
that anybody should begin with the human 


= 


OcToBER 12, 1906.] 


body the practise of dissection or of sur- 
gery; and, furthermore, it is wholly irra- 
tional that any young man who means to be 
a physician should not have mastered the 
elements of biology, chemistry and physics 
years before he enters a medical school. 
The mental constitution of the physician 
is essentially that of the naturalist; and the 
tastes and capacities of the naturalist reveal 
themselves, and, indeed, demand satisfac- 
tion long before twenty-one years of age, 
which is a good age for entering a medical 
school. The Harvard Medical School has 
derived great advantages from its require- 
ment of a previous degree for admission ; 
but in view of the fact that many young 
men procure a bachelor’s degree without 
ever having studied any science, the school 
needs an additional and more specific re- 
quirement, namely, a previous knowledge 
of biology, physics and organic chemistry, 
and an acquaintance with laboratory meth- 
ods in all three subjects. 

As at the preliminary stages of the med- 
ical career, so at its climax there is an in- 
creasing need of men who have a working 
knowledge of several sciences which were 
formerly treated as distinct, and whose best 
representatives in medical schools labored 
apart each in his own field. The most 
promising medical research of our day 
makes use of biological, chemical and 
physical science combined. Physiology ad- 
vances by making appleations of the prin- 
ciples, the methods and the implements of 
all three sciences. The physiologist listens 
to the normal or abnormal sounds in the 
bodies of men and animals with a modified 
telephone, and may record by electricity 
almost all the phenomena he studies. Bac- 
teriology and biological chemistry go hand 
in hand in serving pathology and the public 
health. A great number of new chemical 
substances, coming from organic sources, 
and yet as definite and uniform in compo- 


SCIENCE. 


453 


sition as salt or alum, prove serviceable in 
pharmacology, and in physiological and 
pathological research, although they were 
neither discovered nor manufactured with 
any such purpose in view. The stainings 
of bacteriological technique, and the quan- 
titative color tests for characteristic in- 
eredients in the various secretions of the 
body, ingredients which fluctuate in amount 
in health or in disease, illustrate the present 
dependence of medical research on chemis- 
try and physics. For the effective study 
of the toxins and antitoxins, within and 
without the body, the bacteriologist and 
the biological chemist must cooperate. 
Many of the effects produced by the toxins 
in the living body are definite chemical 
changes, such for instance as may be pro- 
duced by the activation of certain ferments, 
and the antagonism of toxin and antitoxin 
is probably a chemical reaction. Many of 
the great discoveries of the future will come 
through the cooperation of sympathetic 
groups of medical scientists representing 
different modes of attacking the same prob- 
lem. There will be a like necessity for 
cooperation between the clinician, the pa- 
thological anatomist, the physiological 
chemist and the bacteriologist. 

The world has observed, and will not 
forget, that some of the greatest contribu- 
tors to the progress of medicine and sur- 
gery during the past thirty years have 
been, not physicians, but naturalists and 
chemists. Pasteur was a chemist, Cohn, 
the teacher of Koch, a botanist, and Metch- 
nikoff a zoologist. Students of disease 
must, therefore, be competent to utilize in 
their great task every aid which natural 
science can furnish. How vastly is the 
range of medical science and medical educa- 
tion broadened by this plain necessity! 
The dignity and serviceableness of the med- 
ical profession are heightened by every new 


454 SCIENCE. 


demand on the intelligence and devotion of 
its members. 

The recent liberal endowment of the 
Harvard Medical School by private persons 
is an indication that the more intelligent 
and public-spirited portion of the Amer- 
ican people is beginning to understand that 
most diseases would be preventable, if only 
mankind had acquired the knowledge need- 
ed to prevent them. The urgent duty of 
society to-day is to spend the money needed 
to get that knowledge. How to spend it 
we have learned—witness the admirable 
work of the Massachusetts Board of Health 
for thirty years past, aggressive work both 
defensive and offensive; witness also the 
remarkable results of the medical institutes 
both in this country and in Europe. 

The medical profession of the future will 
have the satisfaction not only of ameliora- 
ting the condition or prolonging the life of 
the suffering individual, but also of ex- 
terminating or closely limiting the prevent- 
able diseases. CHARLES W. ELIOT. 


THE. UNITY OF THE MEDICAL SCIENCES. 
Tue dedication of the new buildings of 


the Harvard Medical School is an ocea- | 


sion for rejoicing, not to Harvard Univer- 
sity alone, but to all in this country and 
elsewhere interested in the progress of 
medical education and of medical science, 
and in behalf of all such I beg to offer to 
this university hearty congratulations upon 
this magnificent’ addition to its resources 
for medical teaching and study. Medicine 
everywhere and especially in America has 
reason to be profoundly grateful to the 
generous ‘and public-spirited donors who 
have made possible the construction of this 
eroup of buildings, unsurpassed in the im- 

*An address delivered by William H. Welch, 
M.D., LL.D., professor of pathology, Johns Hop- 
kins University, on September 26, 1906, at Harvard 


University, at the dedication of the new build- 
ings of the Harvard Medical School. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 615. 


posing beauty and harmony of their archi- 
tectural design and in their ample, internal 
arrangements. This design is adapted 
from the Greek, and it is peculiarly fitting 
that the medical sciences should be housed 
in a style which suggests the spirit of an- 
cient Greece, where first flowed the springs 
of medical science and art, living springs 
even to this day. In the singular harmony 
of the architecture of the group of build- 
ings devoted to the various medical sciences 
are typified the unity of purpose of these 
sciences and their combination into the one 
great science of medicine. What I shall 
have to say on this occasion is suggested in 
part by this thought of the ‘Unity of Med- 
ical Science.’ 

The good fortune of the Harvard Med- 
ical School in coming into possession of the 
splendid laboratories now formally dedi- 
cated is well merited by the leading posi- 
tion which this institution has held in 
this country since its foundation, by its 
union with Harvard University and by the 
assurance that the greatly enlarged oppor- 
tunities will here be used to the highest 
advantage. Since the appointment in 1782 
of its first professors, John Warren and 
Benjamin Waterhouse, of enduring fame, 
this school has had a long line of honored 
names upon its roll of teachers, lustrous 
not only for such single stars as Channing 
and Ware and Holmes and Ellis and 
Cheever, but especially for its clustered 
stars, the Warrens, the Jacksons, the Bige- 
lows, the Shattucks, the Wymans, the 
Bowditchs, the Minots; and it will not be 
deemed invidious on this occasion to men- 
tion of the latter group the names of two 
members of the present distinguished fac- 
ulty to whose services this school is so 
largely indebted for securing the funds 
for the new buildings, Professor Henry P. 
Bowditch, the eminent leader of American 
physiologists, and Professor John Collins 


OcToBEeR 12, 1906.] 


Warren, who as surgeon, writer and teacher 
has so worthily maintained and enhanced 
the ancestral fame. 

The Harvard Medical School has been a 
pioneer in this country in many improve- 
ments of medical education; it has stood 
successfully in an historic city and com- 
monwealth for high standards of profes- 
sional attainment and honor and for just 
recognition of the dignity and usefulness 
of the profession; it has made valuable 
contributions to the advancement of med- 
ical knowledge and practise, and above all 
there issued from this school and the 
Massachusetts General Hospital through 
John Collins Warren, the elder, and 
Samuel G. Morton medicine’s supreme gift 
to suffering humanity of surgical an- 
esthesia. 


This school, however, has no possession 


so valuable or which gives such assurance 
of its stability and growth for untold gen- 
erations to come and of the worthy be- 
stowal of the great gifts which were dedi- 
eated yesterday as its union with Harvard 
University, and it is befitting that the sig- 
nificance of this university relationship 
should be emphasized by including among 
the dedicatory ceremonies this academic 
function in the halls of this great uni- 
versity. 

The severance of the historical union of 
medical school and university, leading to 
the establishment of a multitude of inde- 
pendent medical schools without responsi- 
ble control and usurping the right to con- 
fer the doctor’s degree and the license to 
practise, is accountable in large measure 
for the low position to which medical edu- 
cation in this country sank during the 
larger part of the last century, and from 
which it has now risen in our better schools 
to a height which we can contemplate with 
increasing satisfaction. Nor would it be 
difficult to show, if this were the suitable 


SCIENCE. 


455 


occasion, that our universities on their side 
have suffered from the loss of a member 
which has brought renown to many foreign 
universities and that many of the embar- 
rassing anomalies of our collegiate system 
of education are due to lack of personal 
contact, on the part of colleges and uni- 
versities, with the needs of professional, 
especially medical, training. There is of 
course no saving grace'in a merely nominal 
connection of medical school and univer- 
sity ; the union to be of mutual benefit must 
be a real and vital one; ideals of the uni- 
versity must inspire the whole life and 
activities of the medical department. 

To have recognized fully from the be- 
ginning of his administration the impor- 
tanee of this vitalizing union of the med- 
ical school with the university, to have 
striven patiently with full grasp, of the 
problems and with intelligent sympathy 
with the needs of medicine for the uplift- 
ing of the standards of medical education, 
and, with the aid of his medical colleagues, 
to have planted these standards where they 
now are in the Harvard Medical School is 
not the least of the many enduring services 
which President Eliot has rendered to 
American education, and, in behalf of our 
profession, I wish to make to you, sir, on 
this occasion grateful acknowledgment of 
this great and beneficent work. 

The opening of the new laboratories of 
the Harvard Medical School marks the cul- 
mination, up to the present time, of an 
educational and scientific movement which 
has been the most distinctive character- 
istic of the development of medicine during 
the past fifty years and which has trans- 
formed the face of modern medicine. To 
have some idea of the extent and the direc- 
tion of this development consider how in- 
conceivable would have been the mere ex- 
istence of such laboratories a century ago, 
and how impossible it would have been 


456 SCIENCE. 


for even a Bichat or a Laénnec to have put 
them to any use or to have imagined their 
use. The only scientific laboratory which 
existed at that time was the anatomical, 
and this had been in existence for at least 
two hundred and fifty years, although not 
in a form-which meets our present ideas 
of such a laboratory. 

The modern scientific laboratory was 
born in Germany in 1824 when Purkinje 
established the first physiological labora- 
tory, thus antedatinge by one year the 
foundation of Liebig’s chemical laboratory, 
which had a much greater influence upon 
the subsequent development of laboratories. 
As might naturally be expected, anatomical 
and physiological laboratories had attained 
a considerable development before the first 
pathological laboratory was founded in 
Berlin by Virchow. The opening and ac- 
tivities of this laboratory, which has re- 
cently celebrated its fiftieth anniversary, 
mark an era in the progress of medicine. 
With the exception of the modest begin- 
ning of a pharmacological laboratory by 
Buchheim about 1850, all of the other 
medical laboratories—those of physiolog- 
ical chemistry, of hygiene, of bacteriology, 
of clinical medicine—originated at a much 
later date. 

This remarkable growth of laboratories 
for the cultivation of the various medical 
sciences has been at once the cause and 
the result of the rapid progress of medi- 
cine in recent years. By teaching and 
exemplifying the only fruitful method of 
advancing natural knowledge laboratories 
have overthrown the dominance of author- 
ity and dogma and speculation and have 
turned medicine irrevocably into the paths 
of science, establishing the medical sciences 
as important departments of biology; by 
demonstrating that the only abiding, living 
knowledge, powerful for right action, 
comes from intimate, personal contact with 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 615. 


the objects of study they have revolution- 


ized the methods of medical teaching; by 


discovery they have widened the bound- 
aries of old domains and opened to explora- 
tion entirely new fields of knowledge, by 
the application of which man’s power over 
disease has been greatly increased. 

- Medicine, as a science, is occupied with 
the systematic study of the structures and 
functions of the human and animal body 
in health, of their changes by disease and 
injury, and of the agencies by which such 
morbid changes may be prevented, alle- 
viated or removed. Its ultimate aim, 
which indicates also its method, is that of 
all science, the deduction of general con- 
cepts and laws from the comparison of the 
relationships and sequences of ascertained 
facts, and the application of these laws to 
the promotion of human welfare. This 
ecal, to-day far from realization, is most 
nearly approached where the principles of 
physies and of chemistry can be applied, 
but there remains a large biological field 
awaiting reclamation for the application 
of these principles. The subject matter of 
medical study, as thus indicated, is of su- 
preme import to mankind, but complex and 
difficult far beyond that of any other nat- 
ural or physical science. 

The places where such study may be 
most advantageously carried on are labora- 
tories and hospitals supplied with the ma- 
terial for study, with the necessary instru- 
ments, appliances and books, and with 
trained workers. By growth of medical 
knowledge the field to be covered has be- 
come so vast as to require much subdivi- 
sion of labor, nor is it to be supposed that 
the end of this subdivision has been even 
approximately reached. 

From human anatomy, the mother of 
medical as well as of many other natural 
sciences, there branched off in the eight- 
eenth century physiology, and, still later, 


OcroBEeR 12, 1906.] 


pathological anatomy. As if to replace 
these losses anatomy gave birth to com- 
parative anatomy, embryology and micro- 
scopic anatomy as more or less separate 
branches. 

During the past century physiological 
chemistry and pharmacclogy have sepa- 
rated from physiology, and comparative 
pathology and experimental pathological 
physiology are asserting their mdepend- 
ence from pathological anatomy. 

Hygiene and bacteriology are of recent 
and more independent growth. The latter, 
lusty stripling, with the rise of medical 
zoology, especially protozoology, is seeking 
a more comprehensive and appropriate 
designation. The latest and, perhaps, the 
most significant development is the clinical 
laboratory in its various forms. 

Specialization in scientific work should 
not be decried ; it is demanded by the neces- 
sities of the case and has been the great 
instrument of progress, but the further 
division of labor is carried, the more neces- 
sary does it become to emphasize essential 
unity of purpose and to secure coordina- 
tion and cordial cooperation of allied sci- 
ences. Especially urgent is full recogni- 
tion of the unity and cooperation of the 
clinic and the laboratory. 

During the last two decades we have 
witnessed in this country the extraordinary 
rise of practical laboratory instruction 
from the weakest te the strongest and best 
organized part of the medical curriculum 
of our better schools. Our laboratory 
courses are, I believe, in several instances 
more elaborate and occupy more time than 
corresponding ones in most foreign uni- 
versities. 

As was emphasized by Dr. Dwight and 
Dr. Shattuck in their remarks yesterday, it 
is, however, an error to suppose that from 
the point of view of science any funda- 
mental distinction exists between the clin- 


SCIENCE. 


457 


ical and the so-called laboratory subjects 
other than that based upon differences in 
the subject-matter of study. The problems 
of the living patient are just as capable of 
study by, scientific methods and in the 
scientific spirit and they pertain to inde- 
pendent branches of medical science just 
as truly as those of anatomy, physiology 
or the other so-called laboratory subjects. 
All of the medieal sciences are interdepend- 
ent, but each has its own problems and 
methods, and each is most fruitfully eulti- 
vated for its own sake by those specially 
trained for the work. 

There is a highly significant and hopeful 
scientific movement in internal medicine 
and surgery to-day characterized by the 
establishment of laboratories for clinical 
research, by the application of refined 
physical, chemical and biological methods 
to the problems of diagnosis and therapy, 
and by the scientific investigation along 
broad lines of the special problems fur- 
nished by the living patient. The most 
urgent need in medical education at the 
present time in this country I believe to 
be the organization of our clinics both for 
teaching and for research in the spirit of 
this modern movement and with provision 
for as intimate, prolonged, personal con- 
tact of the student with the subject of 
study as he finds in the laboratory. 

In addition to undergraduate instruc- 
tion our laboratories at present furnish 
better opportunities for the prolonged, ad- 
vanced training of those intending to make 
their careers in anatomy, physiology, pa- 
thology and other sciences, than are 
afforded by most of our hospitals to those 
who aim at the higher careers in medicine 
and surgery. A further clinical disad- 
vantage is that while the former class after 
good scientific work may reasonably look 
forward to desirable positions as teachers 
and directors of laboratories, the latter, 


458 SCIENCE. 


however high their attainments, in con- 
sequence of the separation of the medical 
school from any control over the appoint- 
ments to the hospital staff, can not antici- 
pate with any degree of assurance similar 
promotion in their chosen lines of work, 
and consequently the medical faculty has 
not so wide a field of choice in filling the 
clinical chairs as in filling those of the 
auxiliary sciences. 

The removal of these deficiencies on the 
clinical side of medical education in 
America requires some reorganization of 
its staff on the part of the hospital and the 
control by the medical school of its hos- 
pital, or, at least its voice in appointments 
to the hospital staff. So far as our re- 
sources permit, we have, I think, accom- 
plished this: reform at the Johns Hopkins 
Medical School and Hospital. 

The welfare of the patient is the first 
obligation of the trustees of hospitals and 
of physicians in attendance, but nothing is 
more certain than that cordial cooperation 
between medical school and hospital best 
subserves the promotion of this welfare. 
Fortunate the hospital and fortunate the 
patients brought into such relations with 
the Harvard Medical School. 

As is strikingly illustrated by the new 
buildings of this school, the educational 
machinery of medicine to-day is vastly 
complicated and costly compared with the 
simplicity of the days when a lecture room, 
a dissecting room, a simple chemical labora- 
tory and a clinical amphitheater were all 
that was needed. . The purpose of medical 
education, however, remains to-day what 
it has always been and will continue to be 
—the training of the student for the fu- 
ture practise of his profession, and to this 
end in a harmonious scheme of educa- 
tion the various medical sciences all work 
together. Right action requires abundant 
knowledge, nowhere more so than in med- 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 615. 


ical practise, and the all-sufficient justifica- 
tion for the position held by the various 
sciences in the preliminary and the pro- 
fessional education of the physician is that 
they furnish knowledge and discipline of 
mind needed in the preparation for his fu- 
ture work. The social position of the 
medical man and his influence in the com- 
munity depend to a considerable extent 
upon his preliminary education and gen- 
eral culture. For this reason as well as 
for his intellectual pleasure in his profes- 
sion and as a sound foundation for his 
future studies the student should enter 
the medical school with a liberal education, 
which should include training in the sci- 
ences fundamental to medicine. 

The unity of the various medical sci- 
ences is manifested not only in their his- 
torical development and in their coopera- 
tion in the scheme of medical education, 
but especially in their contributions to the 
upbuilding and progress of medicine as a 
whole. 

There is no branch of medicine or even 
of physical science which has not played 
an important part in the evolution of our 
present medical knowledge and_ beliefs. 
The great lesson taught by the history of 
this development of medicine through the 
centuries has been the unconditional rever- 
ence for facts revealed by observation, ex- 
periment and just inference as contrasted 
with the sterility of mere speculation and 
reliance upon transmitted authority. The 
great epochs of this history have been 
characterized by some great discovery, by 
the introduction of some new method, or 
by the appearance of some man of genius 
to push investigation and scientific infer- 
ence to limits not attainable by ordinary 
minds. The history of medicine has a 
greater unity and continuity and extends 
over a longer period of time than that 
of any other science. 


OcTOBER 12, 1906.] 


The first clear note, which has rung down 
the ages, was sounded by Hippocrates when 
he taught the value of the inductive 
method by simple, objective study of the 
symptoms of disease, and the ery ‘Back to 
Hippocrates’ has more than once recalled 
medicine from dogmas and systems into 
sane and rational paths. - Medicine, how- 
ever, was handed on from the Greeks and 
Romans in bondage to a system of doctrine, 
constructed by Galen, so completely satis- 
fying to the medieval mind that this sys- 
tem remained practically untouched for 
_ over a thousand years. 

With the liberation of intellect through 
the renaissance came the great emancipa- 
tors, in the sixteenth century, Vesalius and, 
in the seventeenth, Harvey, the former 
placing human anatomy upon a firm 
foundation and bringing medicine into 
touch with the most solid basis of fact in 
its domain, the latter bringing to light in 
the demonstration of the circulation of the 
blood the central fact of physiology and 
applying for the first time in a large and 
fruitful way to medicine the most power- 
ful lever of scientific advance, the method 
of experiment. 

In the century of Galileo, Harvey and 
Newton instruments of precision as the 
chronometer, the thermometer, the balance, 
the microscope, were first applied to the 
investigation of medical problems, and 
physics began to render those services to 
medicine which, continued from Galileo to 
Rontgen, have been of simply incalculable 
value. The debt of medicine to chemistry 
began even with the rise of alchemy, re- 
ceived an immense increment from the re- 
searches of Lavoisier, the founder of 
modern chemistry, concerning the func- 
tion of respiration and the sources of ani- 
mal heat, and has grown unceasingly and 
to enormous proportions up to these days 
of physical chemistry, which has found 


SCIENCE. 


459 


such important applications in physiology 
and pathology. . 

How disastrous may be to medicine the 
loss of the sense of unity in all its branches 
has been very clearly and admirably shown 
by Professor Allbutt in depicting the 
effects which for centuries followed the 
casting off from medicine of surgery as a 
subject unworthy the attention of the med- 
ical faculty. Thereby internal medicine 
lost touch with reality and the inductive 
method, and remained sterile and fantastic 
until the days of Harvey, Sydenham and 
Boerhaaye. The services of surgery to 
medicine as a whole, so brilliantly exempli- 
fied in the experimental work of John 
Hunter in the eighteenth century, have be- 
come a distinguishing feature of the medi- 
cine of the present day. 

The great awakening of clinical medicine 
came in the early part of the nineteenth 
eentury from the introduction of the new 
methods of physical diagnosis by Laénnee 
and from pathological anatomy. The sub- 
sequent development of scientific and prac- 
tical medicine has far exceeded that of all 
the preceding centuries. It has kept pace 
with the progress during the same wonder- 
ful century of all the sciences of nature 
and has contributed even more to the pro- 
motion of human happiness. 

In anatomy with embryology and his- 
tology, in physiology, pathology, physiolog- 
ical chemistry, pharmacology, hygiene, 
bacteriology—sciences which are ancillary 
to medicine and at the same time impor- 
tant branches of biological science—there 
have been marvellous activity and expan- 
sion. For physiology and the under- 
standing of disease the establishment of 
the cell doctrine by the aid of botany, 
embryology and pathology has been the 
greatest achievement. By the combined 
aid of physiology, physiological chemistry, 
experimental pathology, improved methods 


460 SCIENCE. 


of diagnosis and clinical study, medicine 
has gained new and higher points of view 
in passing from too exclusive emphasis 
upon the final stages of disease revealed 
by morbid anatomy to clearer conceptions 
of the beginning and progress of morbid 
processes as indicated by disturbances of 
function, and above all has penetrated to 
the knowledge of the causation of an im- 
portant class of diseases, the infectious. 
As a result of this rapid growth of knowl- 
edge in many directions has come a great 
increase in the physician’s power to do 
good by the relief of suffering and the 
prevention and cure of disease. 

In this connection I wish especially to 
emphasize the mutual helpfulness of the 
various medical sciences in the develop- 
ment of medical knowledge and practise. 
Attention is generally so concentrated upon 
the final achievement that there is danger 
of losing sight of the manifold sources 
which have contributed to the result. Let 
my medical hearers consider, for example, 
the indispensable share of embryology, of 
anatomy, gross and microscopic, of physiol- 
ogy, of pathological anatomy, of clinical 
study in the evolution of our knowledge 
of the latest contribution to diseases of 
the circulatory system—that disturbance 
of the cardiac rhythm ealled ‘heart-block.’ 
Similar illustrations of the unity of the 
medical sciences and of the cooperation of 
the laboratory and the clinic might be 
multipled indefinitely from all classes of 
disease. 

The same phenomenon is exhibited in 
medicine as in all science that the search 
for knowledge with exclusive reference to 
its practical application is generally unre- 
warded. The student of nature must find 
his satisfaction in search for the truth and 
in the consciousness that he has con- 
tributed something to the fund of know]l- 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 615. 


edge on which reposes man’s dominion over 
reluctant matter and inexorable forces. 

How readily better action attends upon 
increased knowledge is shown by the part 
which the art of medicine is playing and 
is destined to play even more prominently 
in the world’s progress. The value of 
this work of modern medicine is to be 
measured in part, but only in part, by the 
standard applied by the average man, 
namely, improvement, which, indeed, has 
been great, in the treatment of disease and 
injury. It is, however, its increasing 
power to check the inealeulable waste of 
life, of energy, of money from preventable 
disease that places medicine to-day in the 
front rank of forces for the advancement 
of civilization and the improvement of 
human society. Economists and other 
students of social conditions have begun to 
realize this, but governments and the 
people are not half awake, and medicine, 
shaking off all mystery, and with a sense 
of high public duty, has before it a great 
campaign of popular education. 

The knowledge which has placed pre- 
ventive medicine upon a sound basis and 
has given it the power to restrain and in 
some instances even to exterminate such 
diseases as cholera, plague, yellow fever, 
malaria, typhoid fever, tuberculosis and 
other infections has come from exploration 
of the fields opened by Pasteur and by 
Koch. This power and the certainty of 
increasing it have given great strength to 
appeals for the endowment of medical re- 
search and the construction of laboratories. 
What is all the money ever expended for 
medical education and medical science com- 
pared with the one gift to humanity of 
Walter Reed and his colleagues of the 
army commission—the power to rid the 
world of yellow fever? 

Great as has been the advance of medi- 
cine in the past half century, it is small 


OcToBER 12, 1906.] 


indeed in comparison with what remains 
to be accomplished. Only a corner of the 
veil has been lifted. On every hand there 
are still unsolved problems of disease of 
overshadowing importance. The ultimate 
problems relate to the nature and funda- 
mental properties of living matter, and the 
power to modify these properties in de- 
sired directions. Here we are far from the 
satisfactory pou sto. But knowledge 
breeds new knowledge, and we can not 
doubt that research will be even more pro- 
ductive in the future than it has been in 
the past. It would be hazardous in the 
extreme to attempt to predict the partic- 
ular direction of future discovery. How 
unpredictable even to the most far-sighted 
of a past generation would have been such 
discoveries as the principles of antiseptic 
surgery, antitoxins, bacterial vaccines, 
opsonins, the extermination of yellow fever 
or malaria by destruction of a particular 
species of mosquito and many other re- 
cent contributions to medical knowledge. 

The activities within the new buildings 
of the Harvard Medical School begin at a 
period of medical development full of pres- 
ent interest and full of hope for the fu- 
ture, and it may be confidently predicted 
that they will have an important share in 
the onward movement, educational and 
scientific, of medicine. 

One side of these activities will be de- 
voted, under conditions most admirable as 
regards teachers, methods and opportun- 
ities, to the training of medical students 
and to advanced instruction. Supple- 
mented by similar opportunities for under- 
graduate and advanced training in the hos- 
pital wards and dispensary these condi- 
tions will be ideal. 

The inspection of these noble new build- 
ings, however, shows clearly that those who 
have planned them with such care, fore- 


SCIENCE. 


461 


sight and sagacity, while recognizing fully 
their important educational uses, have had 
also another and a main thought in their 
arrangements, namely, their adaptation to 
the purposes of original research. It is 
this dual function of imparting and of ad- 
vaneing knowledge which justifies the ex- 
penditure of money and which insures a 
return of the capital invested in buildings, 
equipment and operation with a high rate 
of interest in the form of benefits to man- 
kind. 

The most ample and freely available 
facilities are an important condition for 
productive research, but on this creative 
side of university work men count for 
more than stately edifice and all the pride 
and pomp of outward life. Research is 
not to be bought in the market place, nor 
does it follow the commercial law of supply 
and demand. The multitude can acquire 
knowledge; many there are who can im- 
part it skilfully; smaller, but still consid- 
erable is the number of those who can add 
new facts to the store of knowledge, but 
rare indeed are the thinkers, born with 
the genius for discovery and with the gift 
of the scientific imagination to interpret in 
broad generalizations and laws the phe- 
nomena of nature. These last are the 
glory of a university. Search for them far 
and wide beyond college gate and city wall, 
and when found cherish them as a posses- 
sion beyond all price. 

By the possession of investigators such 
as these, by the character and work of 
teachers and taught, by the advancement 
of knowledge and improvement of practise, 
may this new home of the Harvard Med- 
ical School, be a center for the diffusion of 
truth in medicine, the abode of productive 
research, a fortress in the warfare against 
disease, and thereby dedicated to the serv- 
ice of humanity. 

Wituiam H. WELCH. 


462 : SCIENCE. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


Geology. By T. C. CHamBrruin and R. D. 
Sauispury. 3 vols. 8vo, illustrated. New 
York, Henry Holt & Co. Vol. I. Geologic 
Processes and their Results. Pp. xix + 654. 
1904. Vol. Il. Earth History (Genesis- 
Paleozoic). Pp. xxvii+ 692. 1906. Vol. 
Til. Earth History (Mesozoic, Cenozoic). 
Pp. xi+ 624. 1906. 

The appearance of this monumental work is 
an event of more than ordinary importance in 
the history of geologic book-making. The 
authors are men of great and varied experi- 
ence in field geology in different parts of the 
world, and they are thoroughly skilled in 
handling the more abstruse problems of specu- 
lative geology. They are also too serious- 
minded and too actively engaged in geologic 
research to give their time to the preparation 
of a text-book or manual of geology of the 
ordinary type. The geologists of the country 
and of the world, therefore, feel that they have 
a right to expect in these three volumes to 
find geology not only brought well up to date 
in all its branches, but new fields pointed out 
for future activity, research and philosophic 
deduction. 

But if such a work should fully meet all of 
the hopes and expectations of all geologists 
it would have to be more than human. No 


man and no two men can publish a text-book 


of 2,027 pages on geology without omitting 
many things that some of us think ought to 
have gone in, and without putting in much 
that some of us think ought to have been left 
‘out. In these days of specialization, too, the 
help of many specialists must be had in the 


preparation of such a book, and even the spe- . 


cialist is often a little behind one or another 
colleague regarding details of some impor- 
tance in his own specialty. Aside from the 
matter of scientific import, the mere mechan- 
ical preparation and editing of such a book is 
a task of no small responsibility. But none 
the less authors of books that are to be taken 
seriously must expect to have their work scru- 
tinized with a closeness and minuteness pro- 
portionate to the seriousness of their under- 
taking. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 615. 


One of the most useful features of a good 
manual for advanced students, such as this 
work claims to be, is its reference to geologic 
literature. Two of the best manuals in the 
English language stand in strong contrast to 
each other in this respect: Dana’s manual, 
hitherto our best American work, is notably 
lacking in foot-note references, while Geikie’s 
text-book has abundant and discriminating 
references to the literature of every subject 
treated. The first two volumes of Chamberlin 
and Salisbury have entirely too few references 
to the literature of geology, and of these, too 
many are to text-books instead of the original 
sources, and where original sources are men- 
tioned the references are sometimes not up 
to date. This sort of thing is allowable in 
elementary works, but hardly so in one of 
these dimensions. 

The geographic part of the first volume is 
beautifully illustrated with colored topographic 
plates, a happy and thoroughly effective meth- 
od of showing certain geographic features, 
but these plates are not accompanied by ex- 
planations, nor do they contain references to 
places in the text where they are explained. 
The text itself refers here and there to the 
plates, but one gets tired of hunting for plates 
and counting them and looking for their num- 
bers in an effort to follow the text intelli- 
gently. Some of these plates might have been 
much improved by striking out certain lines 
from the originals. On plate XVI. (opposite 
p. 179, Vol. I.), for example, the heavy broken 
black line down the middle of the Missouri 
River might better have been omitted. There 
are but few of these otherwise beautiful illus- 
trations that are not marred by these heavy 
black political boundary lines. 

The language is sometimes obscure. We are 
no sticklers for making everything easy for 
the student, but we do believe in making it 
simple when it may as well be simple as com- 
plex and difficult to follow. Students need to 
give their time to thinking about the subject 
on hand instead of wondering what a writer 
is driving at. For example, at p. 265 of Vol. 
L, it is said that ‘this dynamic source of 
heat may modify the theoretical deductions 


OctoBER 12, 1906.] 


drawn above from the atmospheric and in- 
ternal influences.’ On p. 338 it is said of 
waves normal to the shore that ‘the advance 
and recoil of the water move particles toward 
and from the shore, but effect no transfer in 
the direction of the shore,’ probably meaning 
along the shore. Again at p. 429 it is said: 
‘If the heat factor in metamorphism be suf- 
ficiently increased, aqueous solution may ac- 
tually grade into magmatic solution through 
various degrees of softening and melting, and 
the cycle of changes be closed in upon 
itself. 

Personally, we do not think well of the fre- 
quent personification of natural objects. For 
example, streams are spoken of in Vol. I. as 
if they had designs: they are said to struggle 
(p. 95), to steal (p. 98), to commit piracy, to 
drop out of the race (p. 96), to refuse to re- 
main (p. 169), to have feeding grounds (p. 
516), senility and death (p. 85); a lava stream 
chooses its direction (p. 580), and in one place 
a voleano is said to be ‘ enjoying its customary 
period of rest’ (p. 571). This sort of lan- 
guage is as much out of place in geology as it 
would be in chemistry or physics. 


While some subjects are treated with great 


fullness others are passed over with next to 
‘no attention. The theory of isostacy, for ex- 
ample, is barely mentioned twice, while the 
process and importance of flocculation in the 
deposition of finely divided sediments is only 
referred to on p. 360 of Vol. I. as a limited 
and obscure action. A brief bibliography of 
the subject of flocculation is given in Nature, 
LXIV., 279, and some of its obscurity has 
been removed by Joly and others there men- 
tioned. 


The general subject of coral reefs is dis- . 


missed (1., 680) with the remark that, ‘ The 
contribution of coral polyps to the formation 
of limestone is most important, and is too 
familiar to require elaboration here.’ Most 
of us who think that corals form only dolo- 
mites and dolomitic limestones can not be 
expected to accept this dismissal of the subject 
as a fair disposal of it, especially in view of 
the promise made on p. v of the introduction 
to Vol. I., where it is stated that ‘ Antecedent 


SCIENCE. 


sion,’ when solution seems to be meant. 


463 


elementary courses in geology will not be 
necessary to the use of these volumes.’ 

There are many oversights that must annoy 
teachers of geology, especially in view of the 
fact that students, as every teacher knows, are 
so much disposed to regard text-books and 
statements in print as infallible. The follow- 
ing are some of the statements in Vol. I. that 
do not seem to be altogether above question 
or require modification or explanation: on 
page 501 it is said that ‘faults rarely show 
themselves in the topography of the surface.’ 
A California geologist could hardly be expect- 
ed to support such a statement with a straight 
face. On p. 150, figure 146, a syneline is 
called an anticline. On p. 170 the decrease 
in the volume of a stream is explained in 
every way except the one in which we most 
frequently see it decreased, namely, the run- 
off of flood waters. It is said on p. 184 that 
theoretically the rotation of the earth should 
increase erosion on ‘ the right bank of streams 
in the northern hemisphere and the left in the 
southern,’ when no reference is made to the 
direction of the streams. On p. 188 mention 
is made of ‘the load except that in suspen- 
The 
branching of streams amidst their delta de- 
posits is explained (p. 189) by water breaking 
over side-levees. Some branches may possibly 
be so formed, but this explanation can not be 
accepted for the main divisions of the Missis- 
sippi at its mouth. In explaining river ter- 
races (p. 198) no mention is made of a stream 
swinging back and forth across a flood plain 
in which it is cutting a channel. It is stated 
(p. 218) that the deposition of mineral matter 
from boiling water is the same process as that 
by which it is deposited upon evaporation: 
we have not been accustomed to think so. In 
listing the factors of deposition from solution 
no mention is made (p. 214) of either increase 
of temperature (with the carbonates), or of 
the escape of gases, such as carbon dioxide, 
from waters disturbed at waterfalls. On p. 
218 natural bridges are called ‘unique fea- 
tures. The statements on p. 277 lead one to 
suppose that fiords are only made by glaciers. 


464 


The depression of the island of Hawaii would 
produce remarkably fine fiords. 

In explaining the movements of sea water 
(p. 319) no mention is made of the lagging 
of waters moving over a revolving globe. On 
the same page the difference in densities of 
sea water is said to be due to differences in 
temperature and salinity, as if salt were the 
only mineral in solution in sea water. On 
p. 478 it is said that a dip of 40° S. 20° W. 
is the same as dip 40° strike W. 20° N. It 
may be the same, but it may also be N. 20° E., 
that is, in exactly the opposite direction. 
Moreover, it is customary to read the compass 
from the N. or S. end, not from E. or W. 
In Fig. 399 on p. 482 the strike should, there- 
fore, read N. 80° E., instead of E. 10° N. 
The figure seems to be intended for a note- 
book record, but unless placed on a map it 
would be useless, for no direction is given for 
the dip. The writer’s experience shows that 
dips indicated by arrows never mislead, while 
dips shown by_plain lines (pp. 482-4) require 
an effort of the memory on the part of the 
student. 

It is suggested (p. 507) that earthquakes 
cause the great waves that sometimes accom- 
pany shocks by thrusting their ‘waters off 
shore by their sudden impact.’ The late Cali- 
fornia earthquake was certainly violent enough 
to have given us an example of this kind of a 
wave if such a thing had been possible. 

On p. 615 is ‘the inference that a vegetal 
covering of the land extended as far back in 
the history of the earth as clay shales, quartz- 
one sandstones and limestones form the pre- 
vailing sediments.’ The reasons for this in- 
ference are not clear. Long ago Daubrée dem- 
onstrated that feldspars mechanically ground 
up in the presence of water become kaolinized ; 
this process would account for clay shales 
without the intervention of organic acids to 
decompose feldspathic rocks. Neither is it 
clear how land plants are indispensable to the 
formation of limestones. The carbon dioxide 
of waters is derived partly from the atmos- 
phere. Lime carried to the sea by waters so 
carbonated would contribute to lime-secreting 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 615. 


organisms, and limestone would thus be formed 
without the intervention of land plants. 

The examples of deposits of diatoms (I., 
625) might well include some of the great de- 
posits such as those of the Santa Cruz Moun- 
tains of California, where they are five thou- 
sand feet thick. 

In regard to the meteorite figured in Vol. 
Il., p. 24, after Liversidge (not Liveridge) 
we venture to suggest the possibility of its 
having been artificially shaped. Its size and 
form appear to lend support to this idea. The 
authors do not say where it is described, but 
the original paper is in the Jour. and Proce. 
Roy. Soc. of N. 8S. W., Vol. 36, p. 341. The 
description of the finding seems to preclude 
the possibility of its artificial origin, but ex- 
perience shows that the stories associated with 
the finding of such things often require close 
scrutiny. The form of this meteorite is too 
unusual to be accepted without question. 

In Vol. II., p. 653, the advent of the Am- 
monites is spoken of as occurring in the Per- 
mian. It was shown several years ago that 
the Ammonites were abundant in the Coal 
Measures (Mon. XLII., U. S. G. S., 22-28, 
Washington, 1903). In Vol. III. but little 
attention is paid to the stratigraphy of the 
west coast, and one might infer that the stand- 
ard sections of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic 
were all in the eastern part of the United 
States. As a matter of fact, the finest sec- 
tions of the Trias, Jura, Cretaceous, Miocene, 
Pliocene and marine Quaternary in North 
America are found on the west coast. One 
would also be led to infer from the illustra- 
tions that only land life was known in the 
Pleistocene of the United States, whereas 
marine life is certainly of equal importance 
and has been fully described. 

The discussions that stand forth promi- 
nently in the entire work on account of their 
far-reaching importance and on account of 
the care, seriousness and comprehensiveness 
with which they are discussed are: (1) the 
planetesimal hypothesis of the origin of the 
earth; (2) the origin of the atmosphere; (3) 
the origin of the ocean; (4) of volcanic phe- 
nomena; (5) of the hydrocarbons; (6) of life. 


OcTOBER 12, 1906.] 


Although most of the theories formally set 
forth in the book have now been before geol- 
ogists for several years (always from these 
same authors), it can not be said that these 
theories have as yet met with general accept- 
ance either in this country or among the 
geologists of other countries. They must, 
therefore, be regarded as still on trial in a 
sense. None the less, these volumes are an 
epoch-marking work, and the theories set forth 
in them must be reckoned with hereafter in 
every book on geology and by every teacher 
and every student. In spite of its two thou- 
sand pages one feels that the matter is much 
condensed, and the authors impress the reader 
with their judicial attitude of mind, with their 
mastery of the subjects treated, and reserve 
force in their statements and discussions. 
Working geologists the world over owe the 
authors something too for their having spared 
us another new terminology or a new system 
of spelling. They seem to stand godfathers 
only to the new petrographic nomenclature 
given in abstract on pages 433-8 of Vol. I. 
The illustrations, especially the half-tones, 
are abundant, excellent, and new to our text- 
books, though the line drawings are hardly 
up to the standard of the rest of the book. 
The work of the book manufacturer leads us 
to hope that the day is not far distant when 
publishers will find some way of making an 
illustrated octavo volume of six hundred pages 
without its weighing close to four pounds. 
The principal adverse criticisms that can 
be made relate to the minor details of editing 
—not to the subject-matter or to the method 
of treatment. In the presence of so much 
that is large, and helpful, and inspiring such 
criticisms seem like mere quibbling. Not a 
subject is touched upon in the entire work that 
does not have the breath of a new life breathed 
into it. 
J. C. Branner. 


The Eye, its Refraction and Diseases: Dis- 
eases of and Operations upon the Eyeball 
and its Adnexa. By Epwarp E. Gissons, 
M.D., Assistant Surgeon to the Presbyterian 
Kye, Ear and Throat Hospital; Demonstra- 


SCIENCE. 


465 


tor and Chief of Clinic of Eye and Ear 

Diseases in the University of Maryland, 

Baltimore. Vol. II., pp. viii +632. New 

York, The Macmillan Co. 1905. 

Medical text-books may be classified accord- 
ing to their size or according to their char- 
acter. The criterion of bulk is not neces- 
sarily a high one, but if a book is made of 
two large volumes it must be taken seriously 
and permitted to enter the lists with certain 
approved productions of well-known teachers. 

There are a few text-books that stand out 
preeminently with a distinct individuality, in 
which the author shows that he has the matter 
or the method to justify the book’s existence. 
Other books owe their lives to the patronage 
of growing groups of students, who feel in the 
printed lines the personality of the teacher 
to whom they have listened. This class does 
not always appeal to the larger public, and 
unless the teacher is of wide and rare experi- 
ence it is apt to be uneven and to consist in 
part of a somewhat undigested collection of 
statements from unproved sources. This is 
unfortunately the impression made by the 
work under consideration. The first volume, 
which has been reviewed in these columns, was 
a book of more value because the author wrote 
with authority. Physiological optics and its 
application to the refraction of the eye was 
evidently a familiar field, and the hook was 
welcome because there are very few writers in 
our language who can treat this difficult sub- 
ject clearly and interestingly. This volume 
deals with the diseases of the eye and shows 
industry and a wide acquaintance with cur- 
rent literature. No author can be familiar 
with all the methods of treating disease in 
these prolific times, and an open mind is justi- 
fied, but it may be misleading to the student, 
to group methods not sufficiently tried with 
those of proved value, without giving marked 
prominence to the latter. 

A few positive criticisms must be made, 
however thankless the task. The important 
subject of localization of foreign bodies in the 
eye is insufficiently treated. There is no allu- 
sion to the frequent association between ocular 
disorder and disease of the nose and neighbor- 
ing sinuses, and this is the more surprising 


466 


since to the less important association of eye 
and ear an entire chapter is given. The con- 
sideration of migraine and hysteria leaves 
much to be desired. The colored pictures of 
the fundus are rather sketchy. The index is 
not as complete as it should be to permit rapid 
nor is the paragraphing well 
marked. The work of the publisher is excel- 
lent as regards paper and type. The unusual 
breadth of page gives a sense of solidity to the 
text which is hardly restful. 

In spite of these faults and certain minor 
errors in the spelling of proper names, the 
book is a creditable one and with its very ex- 
cellent companion volume will no doubt prove 
a useful addition to medical literature. 


reference, 


Cotman W. CurTLeEr. 
New Yor«K CITY. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 


The Journal of Comparative Neurology and 
Psychology for September is devoted almost 
entirely to psychological pamers. Mr. Charles 
Scott Berry first gives the results of an in- 
vestigation of ‘The Imitative Tendency of 
White Rats,’ made at the Harvard Psycholog- 
ical Laboratory. One animal was taught vari- 
ous tricks alone and then observations were 
made to determine how far others would learn 
the tricks from him by imitation. He con- 
cludes that voluntary imitation (Morgan’s 
usage) of a certain type does exist’ in white 
rats; and though this is not of as high degree 
as that discovered by Kinnaman in his experi- 
ments with monkeys, it is not different in 
kind. The next two papers are fragments 
selected from a large mass of MSS. by the late 
©. L. Herrick left unfinished at the time of 
his death. In ‘Applications of Dynamic 
Theory to Physiological Problems,’ Dr. Her- 
rick applied in a concrete way to the problems 
of heredity and vitalism the conception of 
‘dynamic monism’ which he had begun to de- 
velop in the philosophical journals. This is 
followed by a brief note on ‘Imitation and 
Volition, suggested by one of Professor Mark 
Baldwin’s discussions. In the editorial col- 
umn, under the title, ‘Objective Nomencla- 
ture, Comparative Psychology and Animal 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 615. 


Behavior,’ Dr. Yerkes critically reviews the 
work of the objective school, and the method- 
ological problems involved are discussed from 
a somewhat different standpoint by Dr. Baw- 
den. Book reviews complete the number. 


The Journal of Nervous and Mental Dis- 
ease for October opens with an article by 
Drs. Mills and Weisenburg presenting the fol- 
lowing propositions: (1) that the cortical rep- 
resentation of cutaneous and muscular sensi- 
bility is independent of motor representation, 
that it surrounds the motor zone; and that it 
is subdivided into a mosaic of centers, each 
center or group of centers being anatomically 
and functionally correlated to a motor center 
or centers; (2) that every muscle or group of 
muscles producing a movement or movements 
which are represented by separate centers in 
the cortex is topographically related to a seg- 
ment of the skin which has also a definite 
cortical center, this center being correlated 
anatomically and functionally with the motor 
center; (3) that stereognostic representation 
like that of cutaneous and muscular sensi- 
bility and of movements has also its inde- 
pendent cortical area and is subdivided after 
the manner of the motor and sensory areas. 
This is followed by a continuation of a paper 
by Dr. Amberg, begun in the September issue, 
giving the histories of a number of cases of 
ear affections and mental disturbances. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
ON THE DOPPLER EFFECT. 


In a recent number of Science (Vol. 
XXIV., p. 250) there appeared an article by 
Dr. Paul R. Heyl suggesting a plan for in- 
ereasing the Doppler effect by observing a 
rapidly moving image instead of a moving 
source, the motion being magnified by placing 
the source just outside of the focus of a con- 
verging mirror. If, however, we consider 
that the wave-length of the separate rays (or, 
if preferred, of the elementary pencils) is 
independent of their point of intersection—in 
other words, of the position of the image—it 
appears that the only modification of wave- 
length observed in an instrument at rest rela- 
tively to the mirror will be due to the motion 


OcTOBER 12, 1906.] 


of the source, and will be the same as if that 
were viewed directly. In other words, the 
change of wave-length depends on the rate 
of change of optical path from the source to 
the receiving apparatus. If the source is sta- 
tionary and the mirror moved the effect is 
doubled whether the mirror is plane or curved. 

The fallacy in Dr. Heyl’s suggestion ap- 
pears to lie in his considering a moving image 
as in all respects equivalent to a moving 
source. While this may be true as a proposi- 
tion in geometrical optics, there is the essen- 
tial physical .distinction that the phase of the 
vibrations issuing from an image depends not 
only on the vibrations of the original source, 
but also upon the (optical) distance from that 
source. Doubtless if we were to follow the 
image with our spectroscope we should observe 
a change of wave-length due to the latter 
cause. However, even if we could surpass 
the feat of hitching our wagon to a star by 
hitching our instruments to the much more 
swiftly flying image, we should again have 
the same effect.as if the source were viewed 
directly. 


Horace CiarkK RiIcHARDS. 
RANDAL MorGAan LABORATORY OF PHYSICS, 
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 


SPECIAL ARTICLES. 


GLACIAL STAGES IN SOUTHEASTERN NEW ENGLAND 
AND VICINITY. 


For some years the writer has been engaged 
on the problem of the differentiation of the 
Pleistocene deposits of Long Island and south- 
eastern New England. Some of the results 
have already been published, and reports dis- 
cussing in greater detail the subdivisions 
recognized, and their correlation are in prep- 


1 Published by permission of the director of the 
United States Geological Survey. 

2“Probable Representatives of the Pre-Wiscon- 
sin Till in Southeastern Massachusetts,’ Jour. 
Geol., Vol. 9, 1906, pp. 311-329. ‘ Probable Pre- 
Kansan and Iowan Deposits of Long Island, New 
York, Am. Geol., Vol. 32, 1903, pp. 308-312. 
‘Geology of Fishers Island, New York,’ Bull. 
Geol. Soc. Am., Vol. 16, 1905, pp. 367-390. ‘ Clays 
of Cape Cod,’ Bull. 285, U. S. Geol. Survey, 1906, 
pp. 432-441. 


SCIENCE. 


467 


aration. The completion of the reports, how- 
ever, owing to the assignment of the writer 
to other lines of investigation, is likely to be 
considerably delayed, and it has, therefore, 
seemed advisable to present a brief statement 
of the Pleistocene succession in the region in 
question, as it is understood by the writer, in 
the columns of this journal. 


Pleistocene Subdivisions. 


In the area examined, which includes Long 
Island, Gardiner’s Island and Fisher’s Island, 
New York; Block Island and the coast of 
Rhode Island, and Martha’s Vineyard, Nan- 
tucket, Cape Cod and the coast of Massachu- 
setts northward to Boston, the Pleistocene 
events appear to have been as follows: 

1. Deposition of the Deeply Oxidized Tills 
and Weathered Gravels—At Brockton and 
Stoughton, in Massachusetts, and other points 
in the vicinity, there are several exposures of 
bright yellow or red till composed of the dis- 
integrated remains of local rocks occurring 
in protected spots beneath the younger tills. 
In most cases these old tills rest on deeply 
weathered rock surfaces, and are believed to 
represent preglacial residual soils slightly re- 
worked by the first ice advance, which appears 
to be pre-Kansan in age. 

On Long Island the Cretaceous is overlain 
unconformably by several hundred feet of 
yellow-stained gravel containing a few deeply 
weathered or disintegrated granitic pebbles 
and an occasional erratic crystalline boulder. ~ 
It was originally correlated with a part of the 
Pensauken of New Jersey, but was later given 
the name Mannetto by Veatch. It is believed 
to be pre-Kansan and to represent the outwash 
of the same glacier which further inland de- 
posited the till described in the preceding 
paragraph. 

2. Long Period of Subareal Erosion. 

3. Deposition of Granitic Gravels—These 
gravels were noted in 1903 by Veatch in the 
well borings of western Long Island, and in the 
following year were recognized by the writer 
in the cliffs of Block Island, Martha’s Vine- 
yard and Cape Cod. They have a maximum 
thickness of 100 or more feet and consist of 


468 


quartz and granitic pebbles, the latter being 
especially numerous in the borings of western 
Long Island, where the deposit seems to ap- 
proach a till in character. Elsewhere the 
formation is often sandy and is to be regarded 
as an outwash from the second, probably the 
Kansan, glacier. The formation is known as 
the Jameco. 

4, Deposition of Red and Black Clays.— 
These clays, known as the Gardiner, overlie 
the Jameco with an abrupt line of demarca- 
tion on Long Island, Fisher’s Island and Block 
Island, and on Martha’s Vineyard, Cape Cod 
and the Massachusetts coast to Boston. They 
carry a shell fauna, characteristic of a some- 
what colder climate than at present. The 
maximum thickness is about 100 feet. In 
some places the clay occurs as a single bed, 
while at other localities it is split up into a 
series of clays interbedded with sands. The 
color varies from red, through gray and brown, 
to black. It is correlated tentatively with the 
Yarmouth interglacial deposits of the central 
states. 

5. Deposition of Fine Sand.—Following the 
Gardiner clay a thickness of ten to thirty feet 
of fine sand, often almost quartz flour, was 
deposited. This has been designated the 
Jacob sand and is regarded as a transition be- 
tween the Gardiner clay and the Herod gravel. 
It is the equivalent in part of the Sankaty 
beds of Nantucket, in which locality it is 
abundantly fossiliferous. 

6. Deposition of Granitic Gravels——These 
gravels, known as the Herod, reach a maxi- 
mum thickness of 100 feet or more, and con- 
sist of layers of quartz and granitic pebbles 
alternating with beds of sand. They are 
thought to mark the beginning of a third ice 
invasion, possibly the Illinoisan. They occur 
at nearly all points from Long Island to Bos- 
ton, at which locality they have been recog- 
nized beneath the till of the drumlins. 

7. Deposition of the Principal Till of New 
England and Erosion by Ice.—This till, which 
on Long Island and Fisher’s Island and Cape 
Cod has been called the Montauk drift, is a 
hard, compact, dark gray, often partly ce- 
mented till, having a maximum thickness of 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 615. 


perhaps 75 feet on Long Island, but reaching 
more than double this thickness in the drum- 
lins about Boston, which, with few, if any, 
exceptions, belong to this stage. It is usually 
oxidized to a depth of ten to twenty feet and 
is regarded as probably Illinoisan in age. In 
places the ice by which it was deposited cut 
deeply into the underlying formations, and the 
till may rest directly upon any of the older 
deposits. In such instances the drift often 
departs widely from its normal character, par- 
taking of the nature of the local beds from 
which its materials were derived. It marks 
an actual invasion of the ice. 

8. Deposition of Granitic Gravels.—These 
gravels, together with their included beds of - 
sand and an occasional layer of brownish clay, 
resemble the Jameco and Herod formations 
and are regarded as marking the close of the 
third, probably the Illinoisan, stage. They 
may be’ seen at many points on Long Island 
and between that island and Cape Cod. 

9. Great Erosion Interval: Possible Deposi- 
tion of Clay.—Clays have been recognized 
above the Montauk drift in the vicinity of 
Plymouth, and appear to overlie the drumlins 
near Boston. These underlie the latest drift 
and may possibly belong to the Iowan stage. 
It may be said, however, that in the region 
south of Boston but little reliable evidence 
has yet been obtained of the existence of drift 
of this stage, although it is not improbable 
that it may be present. Deposition, at the 
best, appears to have been a minor feature in 
the interval between the gravels last men- 
tioned and the latest till, the interval being 
characterized rather by extensive erosion, such 
as might be expected to mark a long period 
like the Sangamon-Iowan-Peorian interval 
rather than the Peorian interval alone, in 
which, judging from the evidences in the cen- 
tral United States, relatively little erosion was 
accomplished. 

10. Deposition of Thin Till—This ‘till is 
usually from two to twenty feet in thickness 
and is ordinarily loose and bouldery rather 
than clayey, and is oxidized to a depth of only 
two to five feet. It constitutes the surface 
deposit over most of southeastern Massachu- 


OcToBER 12, 1906.] 


setts, but, because of its thinness, has not 
heretofore been separated from the main or 
drumlin drift (Montauk) and has even failed 
of recognition where present on the extensive 
sandy deposits of the Plymouth and Cape Cod 
regions of Massachusetts. On Long Island it 
is better developed and is everywhere recog- 
nized above the older gravels. It is pre- 
sumably to be correlated with the latest drift 
of the Mississippi Valley—the Wisconsin. 
M. L. Fuuter. 


UntIrep STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 


FOOD HABITS OF THE SNAIL BULIMULUS DORMANI 
BINNEY. 


THE orange and other Citrus species, several 
ornamentals, and various greenhouse and other 
- plants are often badly disfigured by the pres- 
ence of a black saprophytic fungus, Meliola 
Camellie (Catt.) Saece. commonly known in 
the orange-growing region of Florida as the 
‘sooty mold’ of the orange. The fungus feeds 
on a sweet honey dew exuded by various in- 
sects, especially species of Aphide, Coccide 
and Aleyrodide. The habits of the Aleyro- 
didz species are very favorable to the growth 
of the fungus. This is especially true of the 
so-called ‘white fly’ of the orange, Aleyrodes 
citrt. The larve of this species, attaching 
themselves to the under surface of the leaves, 
exude honey dew which, falling to the top sur- 
face of the leaves and stems beneath supplies 
nourishment for a heavy growth of the fungus. 
The white fly and the fungus are invariably 
associated, and a badly infested grove or hedge 
may be recegnized at some distance by its 
heavily coated dark foliage. So dense is the 
covering of the intertwining hyphe that the 
smothering layer is believed to interfere seri- 
ously with the healthy action of the sunlight 
on the leaves. The fruit as well as the leaves 
and stems is coated, and a thorough washing 
of the smutty oranges becomes necessary be- 
fore marketing; an added expense is thereby 
incurred as well as increased danger of bruis- 

1Saprophytic in the sense that, although fol- 
lowing and directly dependent upon various liv- 
ing insects, sustenance is derived from waste 
products thrown off from the bodies of these in- 
sects. 


SCIENCE. 


469 


ing from additional handling and washing, 
and, unless the oranges are quickly and prop- 
erly dried, of decay in shipping from the wet- 
ting. The presence of the sooty mold is thus 
one of the most serious results of white fly 
infection of orange groves, and almost the 
only appreciable injury from this species to - 
privet and other ornamentals, and is an 1m- 
portant element in the injury to various plants 
from numerous other sucking insects. 

The habits of the snail Bulamulus Dormani 
Binney’ are of the greatest interest in this 
connection. This species, the normal food of 
which is apparently fungi, alge and perhaps 
lichens, has been found during the summer of 
1905 in numerous groves in Manatee County 
feeding on the sooty mold. The trees on 
which the snails are found stand out conspicu- 
ously among the surrounding trees by their 
bright foliage and fruit, and clean trunks, in 
contrast to the sooty leaves and fruit of the 
surrounding trees. The work of the snails on 
orange trees is well seen in the Willis grove 
of the Manatee Lemon Company near Pal- 
metto, Florida. The trees of this grove are 
seedlings and reach a height of thirty to 
thirty-five feet. Snails are present on per- 
haps seventy-five trees and have completely 
overrun them from top to base, cleaning the 
fruit, leaves and trunks. The foliage of the 
trees not visited by the snails is densely coated 
by the sooty mold. The snails have not con- 
fined themselves to the fungus alone, but have 
freed the trees from alge, and apparently 
some of the lichens. The snails are even more 
widely scattered in some of the neighboring 
groves. The species is evidently native to the 
Florida Peninsula, having been recorded, ac- 
cording to Pilsbry, ‘Manual of Conchology,’ 
Vol. 12, 1899, from the mouth of the St. Johns 
River south to the Caloosahatchee River. The 
snails appear to have found their way nat- 
urally into the groves of the Manatee region. 
Mr. F. D. Waite, manager of the Manatee 
Lemon Company, observed their presence on 
one or two trees in the Willis grove as early 
as the summer of 1903, and they seem to have 
appeared in other groves at about the same 


? Kindly identified for the writer by Dr. W. H. 
Dall. 


470 SCIENCE. 


time. It was not until the summer of 1905, 
however, that their spread became conspicuous. 
The snails are active in the early morning 
while the trees are moist from the dew of the 
previous night. During the afternoon they 
gather in sheltered parts of the tree, or under 
pieces of sacks placed in the tree for the pur- 
pose, and are easily transferred in this way 
from grove to grove. Snails thus introduced 
into the Harrison grove at Palmetto in March 
increased in numbers rapidly and thoroughly 
cleaned the tree on which they were placed 
by mid-summer. 

- Considering the fondness of the snails for 
the injurious saprophytic fungus Meliola, it 
becomes of first importance to inquire into 
their treatment of the beneficial parasitic 
fungi. Among the fungi parasitic on orange 
insects five species in particular are of in- 
estimable benefit to the orange grower. 
These are: the ‘brown fungus’; the red- 
pink fungus, Aschersonia aleyrodis Webber; 
a bright red fungus, Spherostilbe cocophila 
Tul.; the ‘gray-headed’ fungus, Opheonec- 
tria cocicola and the ‘black fungus.’ The 
first two fungi named are confined to the 
white fly larve; the remaining three are para- 
sitic on the common bark scales of the orange. 
The brown fungus in its mature stages throws 
out silvery white hyphe over the surface of 
the leaf, and these intertwining with those of 
the neighboring pustules not infrequently en- 
tirely cover the lower surface of the leaf. 
The snails occasionally feed to a limited extent 
on these spreading hyphz, but not so far as ob- 
served on the hyphe of the pustule. Consider- 
ing the very limited extent to which the snails 
feed on the hyphe, it seems probable the spread 
of the fungus will not be interfered with by 
the snails. The brown fungus is, as a matter of 
fact, very prevalent on the trees visited by the 
snails. The red-pink fungus throws out short 
hyphe only; the snails, so far as observed, in 
no way interfere with this fungus. The red 
fungus, Spherostilbe, is also apparently un- 
touched, as it is found growing abundantly 
on the orange trees along with the snails. No 
opportunity has yet occurred to observe the 
behavior of the snails towards the gray fungus. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 615. 


The black fungus, however, is found abun- 
dantly along with the snails and is apparently 
untouched by them. 

White fly infestation has been severe in the 
Manatee region for not less than fifteen years, 
and for an equal or greater time throughout 
much of the region given by Pilsbry as within 
the range of Bulimulus Dormant. That the 
snails should be found in orange groves in the 
Manatee region alone and should have oc- 
curred there in sufficient numbers to attract 
attention or to clean foliage and fruit only 
within the past three years is suggestive of 
possible change in food habits of the Manatee 
River variety of the species, or of an unex- 
plained temporary or permanent reduction of 
its natural enemies in that locality. During 
the past winter the snails have been given such 
protection as they seemed to require, and have 
been generally distributed throughout some of 
the large groves in order to further test their 
usefulness in cleaning up the ‘sooty mold’ 


fungus. EK. H. SELbarps. 
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA. 


QUOTATIONS. 
A NATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. 


THE government is designed for the welfare 
of the people, and in a government like ours, 
of the whole people, one of the first considera- 
tions in the people’s welfare is their health; 
material resources are secondary. Without an 
able-bodied race, no country can prosper, and 
it is the favoring health conditions of the 
temperate zones that have made the races in- 
habiting them the rulers of the world. With 
the artificial conditions of civilization, how- 
ever, the problem of the public health comes 
more and more to the front, and the old laissez 
faire methods show their deficiencies. More 
than one country at the present time is seeking 
methods and means to check the degenerative 
tendencies that threaten them, and the ques- 
tion whether our civilization is to last seems 
largely to depend on the success of these 
efforts. 


’ Recently identified as Myriangium sp., F. 8. 
Earle, Ann. Rep. Office of Experiment Stations, 
1903, pp. 457-8. 


i} 


OcToBER 12, 1906.] 


The paper of Professor Norton, published in 
this issue of The Journal, puts forth the eco- 
nomic side of the question as fully and fairly 
as any publication of its compass that has 
lately appeared. Coming from a non-medical 
man, it is an encouraging sign. Professor 
Norton shows how great a waste exists at the 
present time from preventable deaths, sickness 
and conditions of physical and mental ineffi- 
ciency, due largely to the lack of a wise gen- 
eral governmental supervision. We have our 
pure food laws and our quarantine laws which 
go a certain way toward checking these evils, 
but they are, after all, only a beginning of 
what is needful. We have a great deal of 
government in regard to health matters, but it 
is local, unsystematized and often conflicting 
in different sections of the country and is dis- 
tributed also, so far as it relates to national 
affairs, under different departments of the gov- 
ernment, thus preventing the best results. 
The plea for a national department of health 
could be, to a certain extent, met by the con- 
solidation under a single head of already ex- 
isting bureaus without a great additional ex- 
pense, but completeness and full efficiency 
would demand more than this. 

The plan laid out by Professor Norton 
covers a much broader field, and, while it may 
not be absolutely realizable at once, the con- 
solidation of the existing bureaus would be a 
great step in advance and could be enlarged 
on as wisdom and experience would dictate. 
The work done on less than a million and a 
half by the Public Health and Marine-Hos- 
pital Service is itself an indication of what a 
wise expenditure of only a moderate amount 
of public funds can accomplish. The protec- 
tion of our southern coast from yellow fever, 
which it has practically accomplished, is worth 
annually many times the whole cost of that 
department, but this is a local service which 
principally benefits a section and not the whole 
country. An intelligent direction of health 
matters, including far more than that bureau 
at present has under its control, would be of 
still more widespread and general advantage. 
A considerable amount of the work done under 
the Agricultural Department, which is of the 


SCIENCE. 


471 


utmost value, including, for example, the ad- 
mirable work of Dr. Wiley and that now as- 
signed it under the pure food law, should 
properly be consolidated with the sanitary 
functions of other departments. Then a ecabi- 
net officer with expert knowledge of health 
matters could administer all these and -other 
new departments to much better advantage 
than under the present system.—The Journal 
of the American Medical Society. 


TECHNOLOGY—HARVARD GEOLOGICAL 
EXPEDITION. 

During the past summer Professor Douglas 
Wilson Johnson, of Harvard University and 
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 
conducted a geological expedition through 
portions of New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. 
The expedition was supported by appropria- 
tions from both the Institute and Harvard 
University, together with contributions by 
several friends of the two institutions. Dr. 
H. W. Shimer, of the Institute geological de- 
partment, and Mr. C. H. Decker, a graduate 
of the Columbia University School of Mines, 
were members of the party. 

The first field work was done in New 
Mexico, where a week was spent in studying 
the geological relations of underground waters 
from the town of Belen eastward, while a week 
or more was devoted to a trip into the Mount 
Taylor volcanic district, where a somewhat 
extended detailed examination of the splendid 
voleanic necks was made. 

The party then proceeded by rail to the Big 
Bug mining district, twenty-five miles south- 
east of Prescott, Arizona, where an outfit of 
wagons, horses and all necessary camp supplies 
was secured and final preparations made for 
an overland journey of twelve hundred miles, 
lasting from June 19 to September 10. 
Leaving Big Bug and crossing eastward to 
the Verde River, the ascent from the Basin 
Region to the Plateau Province was made 
near the head of Oak Creek, over what is 
known as the Mogollon Rim. Continuing 
north past Flagstaff, several days were spent 
in the San Francisco Mountain region, study- 
ing the glacial features in the main peak, and 


A472 


the voleanic features associated with the more 
recent cinder cones and lava flows. 

From here the party went to the Grand 
Canyon, making a three-days’ trip down in 
the canyon with pack outfit, after which the 
journey eastward to the crossing of the Little 
Colorado and northward over the desert along 
the Echo and Paria cliffs, was begun. This 
proved to be the most strenuous part of the 
whole summer campaign, not so much because 
of lack of water—for which emergency due 
provision had been made—as because of the 
failure to secure sufficient feed for the five 
head of horses. From the Grand Canyon to 
the town of Kanab in southern Utah, a dis- 
tance of more than 250 miles by the route 
traversed, the only grain available was a little 
corn at Tuba and one feed of oats at Lee’s 
Ferry. The weather was intensely hot, the 
roads heavy with sand in many places, while 
grass fit for the horses to graze upon was only 
found at occasional places. As a result the 


horses got in poor condition, short days of 


travel and long rests were necessary, so that 
a large amount of time was consumed in this 
part of the journey. Kanab was reached on 
August 6. 

From Kanab the party went north to Upper 
Kanab in order to visit the great terraces of 
the high plateaus of southern Utah. Return- 
ing to Kanab, a trip was then made to the 
southwest into the Toroweap Valley and the 
Mt. Trumbull region, for the purpose of 
tracing the relations of the Sevier and Toro- 
weap faults, and the associated voleanic fea- 
tures. Returning as far as Pipe Spring, the 
party then turned westward, descending the 
Hurricane fault scarp west of Workman’s 
Spring, and turning northward to the Virgin 
River. A delay of three or four days at this 
point was caused by a flood which was said 
to be the greatest ever known in the river’s 
history. 

Northward from the Virgin River the route 
passed along the margin of the Great Basin 
Province, at the foot of the western rim of 
the High Plateaus, through the towns of 
Toquerville, Beaver, Porowan, Holden, Nephi, 
ete. Good progress was made over splendid 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 615. 


roads, notwithstanding frequent stops for side 
trips into many of the canyons which made 
possible a study of the northward continua- 
tion of the Hurricane fault, the character of 
the great Tertiary series and the voleanic beds, 
the undoubted evidence of recent faulting and 
other points of geologic and physiographic 
interest. 

The outfit was sold in the towns of Provo 
and American Fork, just south of Salt Lake 
City. From the latter point Dr. Shimer went 
to the Yellowstone National Park for a few 
days, while Professor Johnson returned east 
by way of Butte, Montana. Mr. Decker will 
spend some time in the Bingham and Park 
City mining districts. 

A detailed statement of the studies made in 
connection with the expedition, including re- 
ports on several special problems, will be pub- 


lished in the course of the winter. 


PUBLICATIONS OF THE CARNEGIE INSTI- 
TUTION OF WASHINGTON. 


Tue Carnegie Institution of Washington 
has issued a circular of its publications, which 
are as follows: 

Index Medicus: A monthly classified record of the 
current medical literature of the world. Sec- 
ond Series. Edited by Robert Fletcher, M.D., 
and Fielding H. Garrison, M.D. 

Year Book No. 1, 1902. Octavo, 351 pages. 

Year Book No. 2, 1903. Octavo, 371 pages. 

Year Book No. 3, 1904. Octavo, 305 pages, 6 


plates. 

Year Book No. 4, 1905. Octavo, viii + 303 pages, 
7 plates. 

No. 1. The Carnegie Institution of Washington, 


D. C. Octavo, 16 pages. 

No. 2. Articles of Incorporation, Deed of Trust, 
ete. Octavo, 15 pages. 

No. 3. Proceedings of Board of Trustees. Octavo, 
15 pages. [The matter contained in Nos. 1, 2 
and 3 is embodied in Year Book No. 1.] 

No. 4. The Waterlilies: A monograph of the 
Genus Nymphea. By Henry 8. Conrad. Quarto, 
xiii + 279 pages, 82 text figures, 30 plates, in- 
cluding 12 plates colored to life. 

No. 5. Catalogue of Double Stars. 

‘Burnham. Quarto, In press. 

No. 6. Desert Botanical Laboratory of Carnegie 
Institution. By F. V. Coville and D. T. Mac- 
Dougal. Octavo, vi-++ 58 pages, 29 plates. 


By S. W. 


OcToBER 12, 1906.] 


No. 7. New Method of Determining Compressi- 
bility. By T. W. Richards and W. N. Stull. 
Octavo, 45 pages, 5 text figures. 

No. 8. Bibliographic Index of North American 
Fungi. By W. G. Farlow. Octavo. Vol. 1, 
part 1, xxxv + 312 pages. 

No. 9. The Collected Mathematical Works of G. 
W. Hill. Quarto, 4 vols. Vol. 1, xviii + 363 
pages; Vol. 2, vii+ 339 pages; Vol. 3, 577 
pages. Vol. 4 in press. 

No. 10. Contributions to Stellar Statistics. On 
the Position of the Galactic and Other Planes 
Toward Which the Stars Tend to Crowd. By 
Simon Newcomb. Quarto, 30 pages. 

No. 11. Production of Sex in Human Offspring. 
By Simon Newcomb. Octavo, 34 pages. 

No. 12. The Action of Snake Venom upon Cold- 


blooded Animals. By Hideyo Noguchi. Octavo, 
16 pages. 
No. 13. Influence of Grenville on Pitt’s Foreign 


Policy, 1787-1798. By E. D. Adams. Octavo, 
79 pages. 

No. 14. Guide to Archives of the Government at 
Washington. By C. H. Van Tyne and W. G. 
Leland. Octavo, xiii + 215 pages. 

No. 15. Feeundation in Plants. By D. M. Mot- 

tier. Octavo, vili+ 187 pages, 75 text figures. 


No. 16. Contributions to the Study of the Be- 
havior of the Lower Organisms. By H. S. 

Octavo, 256 pages, 81 text figures. 

By G. A. 


Jennings. 

No. 17. Traditions of the Arikara. 
Dorsey. Octavo, 202 pages. 

No. 18. Researches on North American Acridiide. 
By Albert P. Morse. Octavo, 56 pages, 8 plates. 

No. 19. Coloration in Polistes. By Wilhelmine 
M. HEnteman. Octavo, 88 pages, 6 colored 
plates, 26 text figures. 

No. 20. The Coral Siderastrea radians. By J. 
E. Duerden. Quarto, v + 134 pages, 11 plates, 
13 text figures. 


No. 21. Mythology of the Wichita. By G. A. 
Dorsey. Octavo, vili + 351 pages. 
No. 22. Report on the Diplomatic Archives of 


the Department of State, 1789-1840. 
McLaughlin. 

No. 22. Revised edition. 

No. 23. Heredity of Coat Characters in Guinea 
Pigs and Rabbits. (Paper No. 1, Station for 
Experimental Evolution.) By W. E. Castle. 
Octavo, 78 pages, 6 plates, 8 text figures. 

No. 24. Mutants and Hybrids of the Oenotheras. 
(Paper No. 2, Station for Experimental Evo- 
lution.) By D. T. MacDougal, assisted by A. 


By A. C. 
Octavo, 73 pages. 


SCIENCE. 


473 


M. Vail, G. H. Shull and J. K. Small. 
7 pages, 22 plates. 

No. 25. Evolution, Racial and Habitudinal. By 
J. T. Gulick. Octavo, xii + 269 pages, 5 plates. 

No. 26. Exploration in Turkestan. By Raphael 
Pumpelly, W. M. Davis, R. W. Pumpelly and 
Ellsworth Huntington. Quarto, xii-+ 324 
pages, 6 plates, 174 text cuts. 

No. 27. Bacteria in Relation to Plant Diseases. 
By Erwin F. Smith. Quarto, xii + 285 pages, 
31 plates, 146 text cuts. 

No. 28. A Revision of the Atomic Weights of 
Sodium and Chlorine. By T. W. Richards and 
R. C. Wells. Octavo, 70 pages. 

No. 29. The Color Sensitivity of the Peripheral 
Retina. By J. W. Baird. Octavo, 80 pages. 
No. 30. Stages in the Development of Sium 
cicutaefolium. (Paper No. 3, Station for Ex- 
perimental Evolution.) By G. H. Shull. Oc- 

tavo, 28 pages, 7 plates, 11 text cuts. 

No. 31. The Isomorphism and Thermal Prop- 
erties of the Feldspars. Part I., Thermal 
Study; by A. L. Day and E. T. Allen. Part IL., 
Optical Study; by J. P. Iddings. (With an 
introduction by G. F. Becker.) Octavo, 95 
pages, 25 text cuts, 26 plates. 


Octavo, 


No. 32. Chimaeroid Fishes and their Develop- 
ment. By Bashford Dean. Quarto. In press. 
No. 33. Researches in Stellar Photometry. By 


J. A. Parkhurst. Quarto. In press. 
No. 34. American Fossil Cycads. By G. R. Wie- 


land. Quarto. vii + 296 pages, 51 plates, 141 
figures. 
No. 35. Investigations of Infra-red Spectra: Part 


I., Infra-red Absorption Spectra; Part IT., Infra- 
red Emission Spectra. By W. W. Coblentz. 
Octavo, 331 pages, 152 figures. 

No. 36. Studies in Spermatogenesis with especial 
reference to the ‘ Accessory Chromosome.’ By 
N. M. Stevens. Octavo, 32 pages, 7 plates. 


No. 36. Studies in Spermatogenesis, Part II. By 
N. M. Stevens. Octavo. In press. 
No. 37. Sexual Reproduction and the Organiza- 


tion of the Nucleus in certain Mildews. By 
R. A. Harper. Octavo, 104 pages, 7 plates. 
No. 38. Writings on American History, 1903. 
Prepared under direction of A. C. McLaughlin. 
Octavo, 172 pages. 
No. 39. Handbook of Learned Societies. 
Vol. 1 (North and South America). 


Octavo. 
In press. 


No. 40. The Nucleation of the Uncontaminated 
Atmosphere. By Carl Barus. Octavo, xii + 
152. 

No. 41. Traditions of the Caddo. By G. A. 


Dorsey. Octavo, 136 pages. 


474 SCIENCE. 


No. 42. A Respiration Calorimeter with Appli- 
ances for the Direct Determination of Oxygen. 
By W. O. Atwater and F. G. Benedict. Octavo, 
193 pages, 49 figures. 

No. 43. Observed Position of Sun Spots. By C. 
H. F. Peters. (Edited by E. B. Frost.) Quarto. 
In press. 

No. 44. Researches in Experimental Phonetics. 
Recording, Tracing, Measuring and Analyzing 
Speech Vibrations. By E. W. Scripture. Quarto. 
In press. 

No. 45. Catalogue of Stars within two degrees 
of the North Pole, deduced from Photographic 
Measures. By Caroline E. Furness. Octavo, 
85 pages. 

No. 46. An Investigation into the Elastic Con- 
stants of Rocks, especially with reference to 
their Cubic Compressibility. By F. D. Adams 
and E. G. Coker. Octavo, 69 pages, 16 plates. 

No. 47. Pulsation of Scyphomedusae. By A. G. 
Mayer. Octavo. In press. 

No. 48. An Investigation of Evolution in Chry- 
somelid Beetles of the Genus Leptinotarsa. 
(Paper No. 4, Station for Experimental Evo- 
lution.) By W. L. Tower. Octavo. In press. 

No. 49. Heredity of Hair-lenth in Guinea-pigs, 
and its Bearing on the Theory of Pure Gametes. 
By W. EH. Castle and Alexander Forbes. (Paper 
No. 5, Station for Experimental Evolution.) 
The Origin of a Polydactylous Race of Guinea- 
pigs. (Paper No. 6, Station for Experimental 
Evolution.) By W. E. Castle. Octavo, 29 pages. 

No. 50. The Relation of Desert Plants to Soil 
Moisture and to Evaporation. By Burton E. 
Livingston. Octavo, 78 pages, 16 text cuts. 

No. 51. Studies on the Germ Cells of Aphids. 
By N. M. Stevens. Octavo, 28 pages, 4 plates. 

No. 52. Inheritance in Poultry. (Paper No. 7, 
Station for Experimental Evolution.) By C. B. 
Davenport. Octavo, 136 pages, 17 plates. 

No. 53. Egyptological Research, By W. Max 
Miller. Quarto, 62 pages, 106 plates. 

No. 54. Research in China. By Bailey Willis. 
Quarto. In press. 

No. 55. A Revision of the Pelycosauria of North 
America. By E. C. Case. Quarto. In press. 

No; 56. The Energy Changes involved in the 
Dilution of Zine and Cadmium Amalgams. By 
T. W. Richards and G. 8. Forbes. Octavo. In 
press. 

No. 57. The Roman Comagmatic Region. By H. 
S. Washington. Octavo. In press. 

No. 58. Variation and Differentiation in Cerato- 
phyllum. By Raymond Pearl. Octavo. In 
press. 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 615. 


No. 59. The Pawnee: Mythology. 
Dorsey. Octavo. In press. 

No. 60. Approximate Composition of the Hy- 
drates formed by various Electrolytes in 
Aqueous Solutions. By Harry ©. Jones. Oc- 
tavo. In press. 

No. 61. Changes in Free Energy of Iron under 
Varying Conditions, and the Occlusion of Hydro- 
gen by Iron. By T. W. Richards and G. E. 
Behr. Octavo. In press. 

No. 62. Condensation of Vapor as induced by 
Nuclei and by Ions. By Carl Barus. Octavo. 
In press. 

No. 68. The Electrical Conductivity of Aqueous 
Solutions. By Arthur A. Noyes and others. 
Octavo. In press. 


By G. A. 


INSANITY IN ENGLAND AND WALES2 


Accorpine to the Sixtieth Report of the 
Commissioners in Lunacy for England and 
Wales, recently issued, the number of certified 
insane persons under care on January 1, 1906, 
in England and Wales was 121,979, of whom 
9,802 were private patients, 111,256 pauper 
patients and 921 criminal lunatics. Of the 
total number, 89,3842 were maintained in 
county and borough asylums, 17,742 in work- 
houses and metropolitan district asylums, 7,973 
in registered hospitals, licensed houses and in 
naval and military hospitals, 776 were in the 
criminal lunatic asylum at Broadmoor, 528 
were private single patients and there were 
5,618 outdoor pauper lunatics. 

The report shows a total increase in the 
number of the certified insane of 2,150 over 
the numbers of the previous year. This in- 
crease compares favorably with the increments 
of the three previous years, which were 2,630 
for 1904, 3,935 for 1903 and 3,251 for 1902. 
Further, it is less by 404 than the annual 
average increase for the decennium ending 
December 31, 1905, namely, 2,554, and less by 
657 than the average increase for the latter 
half of this decennium, namely, 2,807. Com- 
pared with 1904 the private patients have in- 
creased by 162, the criminal lunatics by 9 and 
the pauper patients by 1,979, the increase in 
the private patients being greater by 79, but 
the increase of the criminal lunatics being 
less by 26 and that of the pauper patients by 

*From the British Medical Journal. 


\ 
, 
i 
: 


eee 


OcTOBER 12, 1906.] 


527, than in 1904. This shrinkage in the in- 
crease of pauper and criminal insanity, small 
though it may be, is highly satisfactory, and 
this is supported by the fact that in county 
and borough asylums the proportion of private 
patients to the total number therein has risen 
from 2.7 to 2.8 per cent. during the year. As 
to the fluctuations of pauper insanity in coun- 
ties and boroughs the commissioners say that, 
as compared with the previous year, there has 
been in the 63 administrative counties a net 
increase in 40 counties amounting to 1,360 in 
all. In 20 counties there has been a net de- 
crease amounting to 166, and in three counties 
—Hereford, Rutland and Somerset—neither 
increase nor decrease. London County shows 
by far the largest increase, amounting to 305. 
Middlesex, Essex, Kent, Surrey and the West 
Riding of Yorkshire, also show considerable 
increases. Of the 72 county boroughs an in- 
crease, amounting to 769 in all, occurred in 
54, a decrease amounting to 109 in 14, and in 
3—Chester, Hastings and South Shields— 
neither increase nor decrease. Of the 19 bor- 
oughs 11 showed an increase, amounting to 
70 in all; in 7 there was a decrease, amount- 
ing in all to 31, and in 1 borough there was 
neither increase nor decrease. 

Turning to the general question of the in- 
crease of insanity since 1859, the total number 
of certified insane has risen from 36,762 to 
121,979, a rate of increase equivalent to 231.8 
per. cent., the general population having in- 
creased during the same interval at the rate 
of 75.4 per cent. Taking only the past ten 
years, there has been during that period a 
total increase of the certified insane of 26.5 
per cent. This increase, however, is, as is 
shown by a table furnished by the commis- 
sioners, not only variable, but steadily de- 
clining—that is, the increase has been mount- 
ing more slowly for some years. Correspond- 
ing to this absolute increase, the ratio of the 
insane to population is increasing at a les- 
sened rate. On January 1, 1906, the total 
certified insane in England and Wales stood 
to the estimated population in the proportion 
of 1 to 283, as contrasted with 1 to 285 of last 
year, 1 to 288 of 1903 and 1 to 314 of ten 


. 2.38. 


SCIENCE. 475 


years ago—that is, the proportion of insane 
persons to the community, per 10,000, has 
risen from 31.89 to 35.31 during the decade. 
The increase in population during this period 
has been 10.8 per cent., and in the total num- 
ber of insane under care 22.7 per cent. Thus, 
the number of insane persons under care, both 
numerically and relatively to population, is 
still steadily increasing, though, of course, 
this is not necessarily indicative of an in- 
creasing growth of actual occurring insanity. 
To this point we shall refer later. From the 
point of view of the ratepayers, however, this 
inerease may be taken as an actual increase 
of insanity, particularly as the increase is 
practically confined to the pauper class. This 
is clearly brought out by Chart II., facing 
p. 6, showing the comparative variations in 
the proportion of the insane to total popula- 
tion from 1859 to 1906. In 1859 the ratio of 
private patients per 10,000 population was 
This rose in 1879 to 2.97, then fell to 
2.67 per 10,000 in 1897, since when it has risen 
slowly, and—with the exception of last year, 
when. there was a drop of 0.01 per 10,000— 
steadily, to the present proportion of 2.84 per 
10,000. The ratio of pauper lunatics, on the 
other hand, has risen without intermission 
from the 15.95 per 10,000 of 1859 to the pres- 
ent figure, for January 1, 1906, of 32.20 per 
10,000. Doubtless the question of an actual 
increase of insanity is insoluble by purely 
statistical methods; but of these latter, the 
occurrence of insanity, as shown by the ratio 
of first admissions to population, furnishes the 
most reliable index. The commissioners’ re- 
port does not contain information respecting 
this ratio for the years prior to 1898; but 
Table III., Appendix A, shows that in 1898 
this ratio per 10,000 population was 4.92. This 
increased steadily to 5.76 in 1902, and since 
then has declined to 5.21, the ratio for 1905. 
Thus, so far as statistical evidence goes, these 
figures tend to show that for the last four 
years occurring insanity has not been on the 
increase relatively to population, and that the 
considerable absolute and relative increase of 
insane persons under care is to be explained 
by accumulation consequent on increasing 


476 


longevity of asylum inmates, increased certi- 
fication, and so on. 


THE LOWELL LECTURES. 


Lectures under the Lowell Institute, Bos- 
ton, are announced as follows: 

The first course will be eight lectures by 
Percival Lowell, non-resident professor of 
astronomy at the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology, director of the Lowell observatory, 
Flagstaff, Ar., and medalist (Mars) of the 
French Astronomie Society, on ‘ Mars as the 
Abode of Life.” (1) ‘Planetary Evolution: 
the Conditions and Possibilities of Life.’ (2) 
‘Natural Features of Mars.’ (8) ‘ Geology 
and Areology: Mars and Glacial Epochs.’ (4) 
‘Geology and Areology: Loss of Oceans and 
Growth of Deserts.’ (5) ‘ Habitability: Prob- 
ability of Life on Mars.’ (6) ‘ Non-Natural 
Features: Canals and Oases.’? (7) ‘ Metamor- 
phoses of the Canals.’ (8) ‘ Habitation: the 
Proofs of Life on Mars.’ On Mondays and 
Thursdays, at 8 p.M., beginning October 15. 

The second course will be eight lectures Gin 
French) by M. le Dr. Pierre Janet, professeur 
de psychologie au Collége de France, directeur 
du laboratoire de psychologie de la Salpétriére, 
on ‘ Psychotherapeutics or the Applications of 
Psychology to Therapeutics’ (La _ psycho- 
thérapie, les applications de la psychologie a 
la thérapeutique). (1) ‘ Résumé Historique.’ 
(2) ‘ Principe de la Psychothérapie. Influence 
des Etats Psychologiques sur la Santé Phys- 
ique et Morale.” (38) ‘Psychothérapie Gén- 
érale, L’Exhortation Morale.’ (4) ‘Les 
Méthodes Suggestives.’ (5) ‘Les Méthodes 
D’Isolement et de Repos.’ (6) ‘ L’éducation 


Motrice.’ (7) ‘ L’éducation de la Sensibilité, 
) Aisthésiogénie.’ (8) ‘Le Relévement de la 


Tension Psychologique Education de lémo- 
tivite. On Tuesdays and Fridays, at 8 P.M., 
beginning October 23. 

The third course will be eight lectures by 
Barrett Wendell, professor of English in Har- 
vard University, on ‘Contemporary France.’ 
(1) ‘The Universities.” (2) ‘The Structure 
of Society. (8) ‘The Family.’ (4) ‘The 
French Temperament.’ (5) ‘The Relation 
of Literature to Life.’ (6) ‘The Question of 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 615. 


Religion.’ (7) ‘The Revolution and Some 
of Its Effects.’ (8) ‘The Republic and Democ- 
racy.’ On Mondays and Thursdays, at 8 P.M., 
beginning November 12. 

The fourth course will be eight lectures by 
William James, professor of philosophy in 
Harvard University, on “The Movement 
Called ‘ Pragmatism’ in Recent Philosophy.” 
On Wednesday and Saturdays, at 8 P.M., be- 
ginning November 14. 

The fifth course will be eight lectures by 
Alfred C. Haddon, Se.D., F.R.S., university 
lecturer in ethnology, Cambridge, England, on 
‘The Melanesians: Racial Problems, Distribu- 
tion of Culture, Social and Religious Evolu- 
tion. On Tuesdays and Fridays, at 8 P.M., 
beginning November 20. 

The sixth course will be two lectures by 
William H. Furness, 3d, M.D., F.R.G.S., fel- 
low of the Anthropological Institute of Great 
Britain and Ireland, ete., on ‘The Kayan and 
Kenyah Tribes of Borneo, and the Natives of 
Uap in the Caroline Islands.’ On Monday, 
December 10, and Thursday, December 13, at 
8 P.M. 

The seventh course will be eight lectures by 
Professor George E. Woodberry, on ‘ Poetic 
Energy.’ On Tuesdays and Fridays, at 8 P.M., 
beginning January 8, 1907. 

The eighth course will be eight lectures by 
Colonel Sir Colin Scott Moncrieff, LL.D., 
knight commander of the Star of India, etce., 
on ‘The English in India and Egypt. On 
Mondays and Thursdays, at 8 P.M., beginning 
February 4. 

The ninth course will be eight lectures by 
Frank M. Chapman, curator of ornithology, 
American Museum of Natural History, New 
York City, on ‘The Distribution of North 
American Birds.’ On Tuesdays and Fridays, 
at 8 p.M., beginning February 5. 

The tenth course will be six lectures by 
Charles Sedgwick Minot, D.Se., LU.D., etce., 
James Stillman professor of comparative anat- 
omy in the Harvard Medical School, on ‘ The 
Problem of Age, Growth and Death. On 
Mondays and Thursdays, at 8 P.M., beginning 
March 4. 

The eleventh course will be eight lectures 


OcToBER 12, 1906.] 


by Russell H. Chittenden, LL.D., professor of 
physiological chemistry and director of the 
Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University, 
on ‘The Nutrition of Man” On Tuesdays 
and Fridays, at 8 p.M., beginning March 5. 

The twelfth course will be eight lectures by 
Albert Bushnell Hart, LL.D., professor of his- 
tory in Harvard University, on ‘The Real 
South’ On Mondays and Thursdays, at 8 
P.M., beginning March 25. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


Sir WILLIAM PERKIN was entertained at a 
banquet at Delmonico’s on October 6.  Pro- 
fessor Charles F. Chandler presided and a 
number of speeches were made. Dr. Hugo 
Schweitzer read a paper describing the extra- 
ordinary chemical advances that had followed 
the discovery of mauve by Sir William Perkin 
fifty years ago. Dr. William H. Nichols pre- 
sented the first impression of a gold medal 
established in honor of Sir William, which 
will be awarded each year for the most impor- 
tant discovery in applied science. A silver 
tea set was presented by Mr. Adolf Kuttroff 
and honorary membership in the American 
Chemical Society by its president, Dr. W. F. 
Hillebrand. Among other speakers were 
President Nicholas Murray Butler, Dr. H. W. 
Wiley and Professor Walther Nernst. Sir 
William Perkin replied, giving a most inter- 
esting account of his work in chemistry. 

Proressor S. F. Ears has resigned the di- 
rectorship of the Cuban Central Agricultural 
Station, which was organized in 1902. 

Dr. H. C. Woop, for thirty years professor 
of therapeutics in the University of Pennsyl- 
vania and until 1902 clinical professor of dis- 
eases of the nervous system, has retired from 
the active duties of his chair, and has been 
made professor emeritus. 

At the recent Quebec Congress of Amer- 
icanists, the following resolution was passed: 
“The International Congress of Americanists 
has learned with great regret that Dr. Albert 
S. Gatschet has been compelled to give up the 
continuation of his important investigations 
which he has carried on for many years, and 
expresses its admiration for the great services 


SCIENCE. 


477 


which he has rendered to Americanistic 
studies, particularly to those of Indian lan- 
guages and of the ethnography of North 
America.” 

Dr. Harry Fievpinc Rei, professor of geo- 
logical physics in the Johns Hopkins Univer- 
sity, has sailed for Rome as the representative 
of the United States at the annual meeting 
of the International Seismographie Associa- 
tion. 

Amone the delegates to the celebration of 
the four hundredth anniversary of the founda- 
tion of the University of Aberdeen the follow- 
ing were mentioned in Nature; Professor H. 
Beecquerel, Professor Behring, Dr. C. De Can- 
dolle, Professor Deissmann, Professor Yves 
Delage, Dr. Anton Dohrn, Professor A. Giard, 
Professor H. Hoffding, Professor F. Hueppe, 
Professor Jensen, Professor Lombroso, Pro- 
fessor Matsumura, Professor Mendeléeff, Pro- 
fessor Menschutkin, Professor Hugo Miinster- 
berg, Professor W. Ostwald, Professor Giu- 
seppe Veronese, Professor Paul Vinogradoff, 
Professor J. W. Wijhe and Professor Weich- 
selbaum. 

Dr. ArNotp JAcoBI, professor of zoology at 
the School of Forestry at Tharandt, has been 
appointed director of the Zoological and Eth- 
nological Museum at Dresden, in succession 
to Dr. A. B. Meyer. 

Dr. A. Pacz, sometime private assistant to 
Professor Baskerville, has become chief chem- 
ist to the National Electric Lamp Company, 
Cleveland, Ohio. 

Me. FE. F. Scuramm, A.B. (Oklahoma, ’06), 
who was elected to a fellowship in geology in 
the University of Nebraska, has had charge 
during the past season of a field party of the 
Morrill geological expedition under the direc- 
tion of Professor E. H. Barbour, collecting 
Tertiary vertebrates in the Nebraska bad 
lands. 

Mr. Custer A. Reep, A.B. (Oklahoma, ’06), 
who is doing graduate work in paleontology 
at Yale, spent the greater part of the season 
studying water-supply conditions near East 
St. Louis for the Illinois Geological Survey. 


Dr. James C. WELLS, adjunct professor of 
analytical chemistry at Columbia University, 


478 


has been given leave of absence for the coming 
year. 

Dr. Puiu P. Catvert, of the department 
of zoology, University of Pennsylvania, and 
Mrs. Calvert have just returned from a six 
weeks’ tour in Mexico, where they collected 
information on the distribution of the Odo- 
nata on the northern part of the central 
plateau. These data will be incorporated in 
Dr. Calvert’s section on the Odonata, now 
nearly finished, in the Bzologia Centrali- 
Americana, edited by Mr. F. D. Godman, 
F.R.S. As members of the International 
Geological Congress, Dr. and Mrs. Calvert 
participated in the sessions of that body, at 
Mexico City, in September last. 

Dr. W. B. Hurr has resumed his work as 
head of the department of physics at Bryn 
Mawr College after a year spent at the Caven- 
dish Laboratory, Cambridge. 

Dr. O. Trrens, of the Samoa Observatory, 
has been appointed assistant in the Kiel Ob- 
servatory. 

Proressor Netsser, of Breslau, expects to 
return next month to Java, to continue the 
experiments on syphilis. 

Dr. Jonn A. Brasuear, of Pittsburg, will 
give the address at Lehigh University on 
Founder’s Day, to be celebrated on October 11. 

Proressor CHARLES BASKERVILLE, of the de- 
partment of chemistry of the College of the 
City of New York, will give a course of six 
lectures on ‘The Elements’ in the Brooklyn 
Institute of Arts and Sciences every Tuesday 
evening from October 16 to November 27. 

Proressor A. E. Ourersrincr, Jr., opened 
the meetings of the section of mining and 
metallurgy of the Franklin Institute, Phila- 
delphia, on October 4, with a paper entitled 
“Recent Progress in Metallurgy.’ 

Dr. ANDREAS HoOcYEs, professor of pathology 
at Buda Pesth and founder of the Pasteur 
Institute in that city, has died at the age of 
sixty years. 

Tue Chicago Academy of Sciences received 
$100,000 under the will of W. Moses Willner. 

Unper the name of Georg und Franziska 
Speyer-Haus, there has been established at 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 615. 


Frankfort-on-Main a chemico-therapeutic in- 
stitute, which has been placed under the direc- 
tion of Dr. Paul Ehrlich. 


WE learn from The British Medical Journal 
that an institution bearing the name of ‘ Labo- 
ratoire Biologique du Radium’ has been at 
work in Paris since July 1 under the direction 
of Dr. Louis Wickham, surgeon to St. Lazare. 
It is intended for the study of radium and its 
applications to medicine. The institution, 
thanks to the munificence of a wealthy manu- 
facturing chemist, M. Armet de Lisle, is 
equipped on a lavish scale. It comprises a 
physical laboratory; a chemical laboratory; a 
laboratory of experimental medicine, pathol- 
ogy and bacteriology, and a clinical depart- 
ment, partly for gratuitous, partly for paying 
patients. Already, it is said, some interesting 
therapeutic results have been obtained. 


A pueA for the preservation of .natural 
scenes and objects in Germany was put for- 
ward, says Nature, two years ago by Professor 
H. Conwentz, director of the West Prussian 
Provincial Museum at Danzig, in a work on 
‘Naturdenkmiler” By Naturdenkmaler is 
meant the whole natural landscape, with its 
various soil formations, its water courses and 
lakes, its special plant and animal communi- 
ties, as well as single rare species and indi- 
viduals of the original flora and fauna. Pro- 
fessor Conwentz proposed that these results of 
nature’s handiwork in the different states of 
the German empire should be placed on record 
so as to make them known, and that provision 
should be made for their protection. The 
Prussian minister of instruction has just con- 
sented to the establishment of a central office 
for this purpose. For the present the office 
will be at Danzig, and will be under the direc- 
tion of Professor Conwentz. 


On account of strikes and other delays, 
caused by the ventilation contracts, the com- 
pletion of the new chemical laboratory of the 
College of the City of New York has been 
delayed. It is hoped to open the laboratory 
formally some time in the winter. 


At the Harvard Colleg2 Observatory a tele- 
gram has been received from Professor W. W. 


OctToBER 12, 1906.] 


Campbell, at Lick Observatory, stating that 
the seventh satellite of Jupiter was reobserved 
by Perrine Sep. 25.9962 G. M. Y. Its posi- 
tion angle was 119.1° and its distance was 
2578”, 


We learn from The Auk that the annual 
meeting of the Maine Ornithological Society 
will be held at the rooms of the Portland So- 
ciety of Natural History, Portland, Maine, on 
Friday and Saturday following Thanksgiving 
day. 

THERE will be a civil service examination 
on November 14, to fill the position of aid 
(male) in zoology, in the department of biol- 
ogy of the U. S. National Museum at a salary 
of $720; there will also be a civil service ex- 
amination on November 7 and 8 for topo- 
graphic draftsman on the Isthmus of Panama, 
at salaries of $100 and $125 a month. 


At the meeting of the ‘Conference on 
Home Economics’ held at Lake Placid during 
the second week of September a letter was 
read from Mr. LeBosquet proposing that the 
Public Health and Marine Hospital Service 
should issue popular bulletins for the informa- 
tion of the public on health matters. Extracts 
from the letter proposing a National Board of 
Health were read. The conference voted that 
its secretary should communicate with Presi- 
dent Roosevelt expressing the approval of the 
conference both of the plan for the distribu- 
tion of circulars of information by the Public 
Health and Marine Hospital Service and for 
the establishment of a National Department 
of Health to coordinate and extend the work 
already being done by the national govern- 
ment. At this conference Professor Irving 
Fisher, of Yale University, presented the re- 
sults of experiments made at Yale University 
during the last college year directly to ascer- 
tain the effect of change of diet upon working 
power. The experiment was conducted on 
nine healthy students who volunteered for the 
purpose and was based upon the previous ex- 
periments of Professor Chittenden. After 
four and a half months it was found that the 
men on the average had doubled their physical 
endurance, as shown by gymnasium tests, 
which they had at the beginning of the experi- 


SCIENCE. 


479 


ment in January. This great increase is as- 
cribed entirely to dietetic causes, as no other 
factors which were likely to increase endu- 
rance were known to be present. The change 
in diet was not through any food prescription, 
but was brought about by following in an en- 
tirely natural manner three rules, the first two 
of which are Mr. Fletcher’s; first, thorough 
mastication of food, with the attention on the 
taste and enjoyment of food, not on the mech- 
anical act of mastication; second, implicit 
obedience to the appetite, both in regard to 
the kind of foods consumed and quantity; 
third, when appetite consented, but not other- 
wise, the fullest benefit of the doubt was given 
to low proteid foods rather than meats and 
other high proteid foods. At the end of the 
experiment the men had reduced their proteid 
to about the level shown by Professor Chit- 
tenden to be the normal required. 


Aw interesting address on educational meth- 
ods and their relation to science and industry, 
with particular reference to pottery, was de- 
livered by Professor H. E. Armstrong in the 
Town Hall, Longton, on September 19. In 
the course of his remarks, according to an ab- 
stract in Nature, he said that workers in sci- 
ence have evolved a method, ‘the scientific 
method, involving the gradual and cautious 
passage from the known to the unknown. 
Workers in politics have no such method at 
their disposal. Too often they are more or 
less ignorant of the real nature and extent of 
the problems which they deal with and seek 
to solve; sentiment masters their actions. 
The application of scientific method to public 
affairs is, consequently, becoming a matter of 
paramount importance. In all manufacturing 
districts science and industry must be brought 
into an effective alliance. On no other basis 
are prosperity and happiness possible, for the 
simple reason that, in these days, an industry 
that does not repose on a scientific basis is one 
which has no proper knowledge of itself, science 
being nothing more than organized systematic 
knowledge. Scientific training, training in 
method, is required by all. Scientific knowl- 
edge, true knowledge, must be public posses- 
sion. The feeling is becoming general that 


480 


something must be done to make our schools 
more effective than they are. In a recent re- 
port of the Consultative Committee, the Board 
of Education is advised that the schools have 
failed, in the past, to develop both the moral 
and mental qualities which are desirable, and 
that we must now strive to make the teaching 
far more practical, manual training being 
openly and strongly advocated. We read, 
moreover, “It would seem clear to the com- 
mittee that the thing needed is not only knowl- 
edge, but a right attitude of mind, a mind 
confident in its own power to observe and 
think, and in the habit of observing and think- 
ing—a mind in which interest makes for intel- 
ligence and intelligence for interest.” “The 
course,” it is stated, “should consist of three 
threads or strands, roughly to be termed hu- 
manistic, scientific and manual, and, in the 
case of girls, domestic; all higher elementary 
schools should give this threefold instruction.” 
Though these views have been urged by many 
educational reformers for thirty years or more, 
the doctrine they involve is really quite revolu- 
tionary coming from such a quarter, especially 
as it is directed to the Board of Education, 
which treats manual training as a special 
subject for the select few. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


THE new building for the engineering de- 
partment of the University of Pennsylvania 
will be dedicated on October 19. 


Tue Princeton correspondent of the Hve- 
ning Post writes: “ The handsome new faculty 
room in Nassau Hall is now completed, and 
the university faculty holds its meetings there. 
The room is finished in old English quartered 
oak panelling, and the faculty, when in ses- 
sion, are seated on long benches on each side 
of the room, facing each other, after the man- 
ner of the seating of the English House of 
Commons. The room has been refitted from 
a fund left by the late Augustus Van Wickle, 
a descendant of Nathaniel Fitz Randolph, who 
gave the original Princeton campus, on which 
Nassau Hall is situated. This hall is eventu- 
ally to become the administrative building of 
the university, the offices of administration to 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 615. 


be grouped about the main faculty room. It 
was in the room now used by the faculty that 
Congress met for five months in 1783, Nassau 
Hall being at that time the capitol of the new 
republic. In the historic room a special audi- 
ence was given to Washington; there also the 
minister of the Netherlands, General Lafayette 
and nearly all the prominent public men of 
America were received.” 

Dr. JAMES BarNES, instructor in physics at 
the Johns Hopkins University, has been ap- 
pointed associate in physics at Bryn Mawr 
College. 

Tue following promotions and appointments 
have been made in the chemical department 
of the College of the City of New York: 
Assistant Professor H. R. Moody, Ph.D., to 
be associate professor in charge of analytical 
chemistry; Instructor L. H. Friedburg, Ph.D., 
to be assistant professor in charge of organic 
chemistry; Mr. Reston Stevenson, M.S. (North 
Carolina), formerly assistant in Cornell Uni- 
versity, to be tutor in analytical chemistry; 
Mr. W. A. Whitaker, Jr., M.S. (Columbia), 
to be tutor in general chemistry; and Mr. 
Lorenz Sporer, B.S. (Hobart), to be assistant 
tutor in the same subject. 

At Boston University Assistant Professor 
Arthur W. Weysse and Lyman C. Newell have 
been made professors of biology and of chem- 
try, respectively. 

Proressor Greorce V. N. Dearsorn, of Tufts 
College, has been appointed lecturer and in- 
structor in the relations of body and mind in 
the Sargent School of Physical Education, 
Cambridge. 

Dr. G. Hauser, professor of pathology at 
Erlangen, has declined a call to Wurzburg, in 
succession to Dr. von Rindfleisch. 

At University College, London, the follow- 
ing appointments have been made: Mr. A. 
Wolf, D.Litt., assistant professor of philos- 
ophy; Mr. V. H. Blackman, M.A., lecturer in 
plant cytology in the department of botany; 
Mr. N. G. Dunbar, demonstrator in the de- 
partment of applied mathematics; Messrs. E. 
Foxell, W. H. Gibson and H. E. Watson, as- 
sistant demonstrators in the department of 
chemistry. 


a 


SCIENCE 


A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 
OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 


Fripay, Octoser 19, 1906. 
es 


CONTENTS. 


The Jubilee of the Coal Tar Color Industry :— 


The Influence of Sir William Henry Per- 
kin’s Discovery on our Science: Dr. Hugo 
DS OTE VA LV Ty I AI SG ee .. 481 


Address of Sir William Henry Perkin..... 488 


Reform in Mathematical Instruction: PRro- 
IMITHO (ER VANS MHA Sgn aconoudepoooes 493 


Scientific Books :— 


Stephens’s California Mammals: Dr. J. A. 
ALLEN. Morat’s Physiology of the Nerv- 
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RSHETU AZO, 8 rs Oto eR tsa, OPN ei ene na Rn 496 


Scientific Journals and Articles............ 498 


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COWS OTD) Ns Sdaks Bice EGER MCURC AER Uncen eS ge tse 498 
Special Articles :— 
Evidences of Several Glacial and Inter- 
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Ourrent Notes on Meteorology :— 
The Fire-ship of Bay Chaleur; Monthly 
Weather Review; Bérnstein’s ‘ Leitfaden 
der Wetterkunde’; The Cyclonic Theory ; 
‘Some Facts about the Weather’: PRo- 
FESSOR R. DEC. WARD................5-. 501 
VLE ROM VERSELYN cons ins caieie eevee whereas a igs (els ace ovale 502 
SCLENTUIGMIRESCORCI Marae oer e nisin eek celal s 505 
A Memorial to Herbert Spencer............. 505 
Areas of the United States, the States and 
RETLULOTLES) are eee are atta. re aee Reese ol seis 506 
Scientific Notes and News................. 507 
University and Educational News.......... 511 


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Hudson, N. Y. 


THE JUBILEE OF THE COAL TAR COLOR 
INDUSTRY. 

THE INFLUENCE OF SIR WILLIAM HENRY 
PERKIN’S DISCOVERY UPON OUR 
SCIENCE. 

I neEpD hardly assure you how highly 
honored I feel to be permitted to speak 
here to-night. Yet I am fully aware that 
the committee did not select me because 
it considered me the most competent of our 
chemists to respond to this subject, but 
because so many of our colleagues refused 
to be heard, fearing the arduous labor of 
condensing this vast material within the 
limits of a fifteen-minute address, when 
fifteen hours could be devoted to it with 
much less difficulty and work. With me, 
however, it was a labor of love, and I ac- 
cepted with pride and pleasure, inspired 
by the wonderful development of this in- 
dustry in which I have been an attentive 
watcher and a modest coworker, it being 
just twenty years since, in collaboration 
with Professor Bernthsen, I began the in- 
vestigations which finally culminated in the 
discovery of the constitution of the dye- 
stuffs of the safranine series. Above all, 
I have been inspired in my task by the 
genial personality and refined modesty of 
our distinguished guest, Sir William 
Henry Perkin, with whom I had the pleas- 
ure of becoming more intimately ac- 
quainted during last year’s meeting of the 
Society of Chemical Industry in London. 
It must be a sincere source of congratula- 


*Given at the banquet given to Sir William 
Henry Perkin, at Delmonico’s, New York City, 
October 6, 1906. 


432 _ SCIENCE. 


tion to us that he has braved the perils of 
a long ocean voyage to honor us with his 
presence at our celebration of the semi- 
centennial of the coal tar industry, initi- 
ated by the discovery of Perkin’s mauve. 
Only fifty years ago, while engaged in re- 
search, having for its object the artificial 
production of quinine, Perkin, then an 
eighteen-year old assistant of Hofmann, ob- 
tained a muddy, dark precipitate, from 
which he first endeavored to extract cer- 
tain colorless erystalline substances which 
might adequately explain the reaction un- 
der observation. One day, however, the 
thought occurred to him to utilize this 
colored precipitate itself for the dyeing of 
silk. It is hard to realize to-day what an 
epoch-making idea it was at that time to 
dye fabrics with a substance evolved in the 
laboratory and having no relation what- 
ever to the dyestuffs then known. It was 
truly the spark of genius which led Perkin 
to investigate the dyeing properties of that 
dark-colored precipitate which would have 
been cast away by any other scientist of 
that period and particularly by his master, 
Hofmann, who objected to experimenting 
with anything which did not erystallize 
and who had at that time a strong aversion 
to working with substances which were 
colored. For the latter, when produced in 
reactions, were generally regarded as sec- 
ondary products and every endeavor was 
made to get rid of them, so that the other 
substances associated with them might be 
examined. 

But however great the discovery of 
mauve, and however much we must admire 
the courage of the youth who undertook its 
technical production, yet these steps were 
only trivial incidents in the immense revo- 
lution brought about by Perkin’s genius. 
The greatest obstacles encountered by him, 
and the most difficult task to be performed, 
was when he attempted to sell the color to 
dyers and printers. At that time men of 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 616. 


this class worked by the rule of thumb with 
secret recipes, mostly inherited from their 
forefathers, and their formule, although 
applicable to natural colors, were not suit- 
able for mauve. Thus Perkin and his 
associates had to prepare new directions 
for dyeing and printing and to induce 
those ultra conservative dyers to adopt the 
new methods. It has been almost for- 
evotten that Perkin was the first to intro- 
duce the method of dyeing silk in a soap 
bath which is commonly employed to-day 
for all artificial dyestuffs, and that he and 
Pullar first made use of the mordanting 
of cotton with the insoluble inorganic com- 
pounds of tannin. 

Thus the introduction of mauve com- 
pletely changed the art of dyeing and 
printing, simplifying the processes and 
substituting for the old time formule 
the scientific recipes furnished by the 
eolor manufacturers of the present day. 
After Perkin had thus removed the ob- 
stacles in the path of practical application, 
it beeame comparatively easy to introduce 
other coal tar colors. 

But Perkin also paved the way for the 
discovery of the later coal tar colors by 
creating commercially aniline and benzole, 
which up to his time had only been labora- 
tory curiosities. Of the three methods 
available for obtaining aniline he selected 
as the most promising the reduction of 
nitrobenzol, made by nitration of coal tar 
benzol, and the production of aniline from 
this source led, shortly after the discovery 
of mauve, to the discovery of magenta, 
which opened up a new and immense field 
for this industry. Aniline from benzole 
was later found to contain toluidine, which 
is not present in aniline from indigo or 
that obtained directly from coal tar, and 
Perkin truly said in a lecture delivered 
December 7, 1868: 


Had the aniline contained in coal tar or the 


_ aniline obtained from indigo been employed for 


the preparation of mauve, instead of that pre- 


Ee ee 


OcToBER 19, 1906.] 


pared from commercial benzol, magenta and its 
train of colored derivatives would in all prob- 
ability have remained unknown to the present 
day from the simple fact that magenta can not 
be produced from pure aniline, a second body 
being also required. 

The industry thus initiated with a vio- 
lent impetus soon showed its revolution- 
izing tendencies and its vitalizing power 
in almost every branch of human endeavor. 
To-day about 2,000 individual dyestuffs 
are known, giving the whole range of the 
eolors of the rainbow, and complying with 
every demand of taste, fashion and stabil- 
ity. They surpass in beauty and bril- 
lianey the colors supplied by nature, and, 
contrary to the impression prevailing 
among the public, the shades obtained with 
some of them are faster to the influence 
of time, light and chemicals than the fastest 
which nature produces. 

The greatest triumph of this branch of 
the industry was the artificial production 
of alizarine and indigo. In the technical 
production of the former our distinguished 
guest has played a prominent part, solving 
the problem of its manufacture simultane- 
ously with Graebe, Liebermann and Caro, 
whose English patent antedates that of 
Perkin by one day, and for the first syn- 
thesis of indigo cinnamiec acid was success- 
fully employed which was originally ob- 
tained from coal tar by Perkin. 

Coal tar colors, however, are not only 
used for the dyeing of textile fibers, like 
wool, silk, cotton, linen, jute, ramie, etc., 
but for a host of other materials. 

The lady’s hair is gray, or of a hue not 
fashionable at the time—coal tar colors 
will assist her in appearing youthful and 
gay. In eating the luscious frankfurter 
your soul rejoices to see the sanguineous 
liquid oozing from the meat—alas coal tar 
eolors have done it, and friend Wiley can 
prove it. The housewife selects a bright 
green broom, on account of its anticipated 
good wearing quality, but finds, to her 


SCIENCE. 


483 


sorrow, that coal tar colors furnished the 
freshness. The product of the hen is re- 
placed by yellow coal tar colors in custard 
powders, and butter is colored yellow when 
the dyestuff laboratory of the cow is on a 
strike. Leather, paper, bones, ivory, 
feathers, straw, grasses, are all colored, 
and one of the most interesting applica- 
tions is the dyeing of whole pieces of even 
the bulkiest furniture by dipping them in 
large tanks containing the dyestuffs, which 
transforms the wood into walnut, mahog- 
ony at your command, as carried out in 
our big factories in Grand Rapids and else- 
where. 

As coal tar colors are used on this 
enormous scale, so they are also employed 
in a liputian manner, for staining speci- 
mens for examination under the micro- 
scope, enabling us to detect and identify 
bacteria, the finest nerve-ends and other 
minute elements of animal tissues, and by 
means of such staining methods, especially 
with methylene blue, Koch discovered the 
bacillus of tuberculosis and cholera, and 
initiated the modern battle against pre- 
ventable infectious diseases. In reciproca- 
tion for the excellent reagents supplied 
him by the dye industry, the histologist 
brought about the discovery of a new and 
very important class of colors, and as this 
instance is one of the most striking demon- 
strations of the interdependence of prac- 
tise and theory, I shall relate it to you. 
In 1886 Ehrlich observed that methylene 
blue and some of its congeners were the 
only colors which stained the living nerve 
tissue, and in order to determine whether 
this remarkable property was due to the 
peculiar constitution of methylene blue or 
to the presence of sulfur, he found it de- 
sirable to experiment with a substance 
analogous to methylene blue, but in which 
the sulfur was replaced by oxygen. He 
applied to Dr. Caro requesting him to 


assist him in his work by furnishing him 


484 SCIENCE. 


the material necessary for his experiments. 

As a substance of this constitution was 
then unknown, it was made to order, and 
in the course of this research the valuable 
class of rhodamine colors was discovered. 
Thus experiments with nerve tissues gave 
birth to the manufacture of coal tar colors 
of the greatest importance in the textile 
industries. 

The dyestuffs methylene blue and some 
others are also of great value as internal 
remedies, and the former is strongly recom- 
mended by one of the greatest American 
authorities for the relief of pain in that 
horrible disease—cancer. 

The medicinal properties of the coal tar 
colors lead us to that branch of the indus- 
try which is next in importance, namely, 
the coal tar remedies. Incidentally, it may 
be mentioned here that before these so- 
called synthetics were introduced, Kolbe 
had sueceeded in 1874 in artificially pre- 
paring from coal tar salicylic acid, which 
up to that time was exclusively a product 
of nature. Salicylic acid has been, and is 
still to-day, used extensively as a remedy 
against rheumatism. 

The industry of synthetic drugs owed 
its origin also to the efforts of chemists to 
produce quinine artificially. Experiments 
had shown that by decomposing quinine a 
substance called quinolin was formed, and 
the latter was likewise found to exist in coal 
tar. It was then assumed that quinine 
must in some way be derived from quino- 
lin, and that perhaps other derivatives of 
quinolin might possess properties similar 
to quinine. This trend of thought led to 
the discovery of the quinolin derivatives, 
thallin and kairin, which, however, were 
soon discarded on account of their drastic 
action and to-day possess only historical 
interest. 

In 1883 Knorr, starting from erroneous 
deductions concerning the constitution of 
quinine, and also misinterpreting the con- 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 616. 


stitution of some of the products obtained 
in his research, inspired the pharmacolog- 
ical study of a substance afterwards called 
antipyrin. This product proved to be of 
the greatest value in medicine and was the 
first successful synthetic coal tar remedy 
in the market. 

Shortly after the introduction of anti- 
pyrin a fortunate accident gave this 
modern art an unexpected stimulus, di- 
verting the investigation from quinine and 
uncovering an entirely new field. Kahn 


and Hepp, two physicians connected with © 


the Strassburg University, were on terms 
of friendship with a chemist of the 
Hoechst Works, where Knorr’s antipyrin 
was being manufactured, and requested 
him, in 1886, to send them some chemically 
pure naphthalene, which they desired to 
use internally in the case of a patient 
suffering with some skin disease. They 
received the substance, and on administer- 
ing it found that while it failed to exhibit 
the expected effect, it promptly reduced 
the existing fever. When the supply of 
naphthalene was almost exhausted, they 
wrote for a further quantity; but, to their 
great astonishment, the second supply, un- 
like the first, did not manifest any anti- 
pyretie action, and on comparing the two, 
they soon discovered that a mistake had 
occurred somewhere. An investigation 
showed that when the first request was re- 
ceived the laboratory boy was directed by 
the chemist to fill a bottle with naphtha- 
lene and mail it to his friends, but through 
an error some acetanilid was sent instead, 
while the second time the chemist himself 
filled the bottle correctly. Thus through 
an accident acetanilid was introduced into 
medicine, a remedy which to-day is used 
by the ton as an antipyretic and anti- 
neuralgic, and through the irony of fate 
the most powerful competitor of anti- 
pyrin was discovered as the result of a 
mistake made in the very factory which 


—_— 


OcToOBER 19, 1906.] 


was realizing enormous profits from the 
production of antipyrin. 

When it was recognized that the acetyl- 
ization of an amine produced a body of 
so much value, this process was tried with 
many amines and other suitable substances, 
and in consequence such important reme- 
dies as phenacetin were obtained, while by 
substituting lactic acid for acetic acid, lac- 
tophenin was prepared, and by means of 
amidoacetie acid, a drug named phenocoll. 

‘After chemical researches had shown 
that the active principles of vegetable 
purgatives, such as rhubarb, senna, cascara- 
sagrada and aloes were anthraquinone de- 
rivatives, synthetic preparations of this 
class, which therefore are closely related 
to the alizarine colors, are now brought 
into the market. These new remedies have 
the advantage over the crude drugs of 
greater uniformity of action and exactness 
in the dosage. 

The active principle of the suprarenal 
sland first isolated and investigated 
by an American scientist, a substance of 
surprisingly simple chemical constitution, 
has been obtained from coal tar, and it is 
said that this synthetic product is now mar- 
keted, and from experiments carried out in 
Europe and in the large works of Parke, 
Davis & Company in this country, we may 
expect that derivatives of this body will 
soon appear which will be even superior 
in their pharmacological effect to nature’s 
product. 

About the time that the first synthetics 
were brought out, a very curious chemical 
was discovered also by American ingenu- 
ity, which is to-day not only used for medi- 
cinal, but also on a large scale for indus- 
trial purposes. I refer to saccharine, a 
substance derived from coal tar, which is 
500 times sweeter than sugar, and is the 
first representative of the class of artificial 
sweeteners. It may be of interest to relate 
an instance showing how purely theoretical 


SCIENCE. 


485 


investigations may lead to the building up 
of an important industry. 

Dr. Fahlberg, working under the direc- 
tion of Professor Ira Remsen at Johns 
Hopkins, was experimenting with coal tar 
derivatives from a purely scientific point 
of view. Before leaving the laboratory 
one evening, he thoroughly washed his 
hands, and was under the impression that 
he had taken every pains in doing so. He 
was, therefore, greatly surprised on finding 
that, during his meal, when carrying bread 
to his mouth, the hands had a sweet taste. 
He suspected that his landlady had unin- 
tentionally sweetened the bread and called 
her to account. They had a little discus- 
sion, from which she emerged the victor. 
It was not the bread that tasted sweet, 
but his hands, and, much to his surprise, he 
noted that not only his hands but also his 
arms had a sweet taste. The only explana- 
tion that he could think of was that, not- 
withstanding the thorough washing, he 
had brought some chemical along from the 
laboratory. Rushing back to it and care- 
fully investigating the taste of all the 
goblets, glasses and dishes standing on the 
working table, he finally came across one 
whose contents seemed to possess a re- 
markably sweet taste. Thus was made this 
important discovery. What 1emained to 
be done was accomplished by later re- 
searches with this substance. He found 
very soon that saccharine, as the product 
was named, when diluted assumed the taste 
of cane sugar. In watery solution, for 
instance, its taste was as pleasant as sugar 
water. The product seemed to be worthy 
of utilization, provided its other properties 
were not objectionable. 

Physiological experiments were now 
made on animals, and then on human be- 
ings, which showed that it was eliminated 
undecomposed, and that therefore the 
human organism behaved indifferently 
towards the substance. Furthermore, as 


486 SCIENCE. 


no perceptible disturbance of the general 
condition could be observed, it could be 
assumed that saccharine had no deleterious 
influence whatsoever upon the general 
health. 

With the introduction of this artificial 
sweetener, a new industrial field was 
opened up, and the significance of this dis- 
covery can be easily imagined when you 
consider that four pounds of this material 
are equivalent in sweetening power to one 
ton of cane or beet sugar. It was soon 
manufactured on such a large scale that 
it seriously threatened the beet sugar 
industry of the continent, and as the 
latter was of much more economic im- 
portance than the production of  sac- 
charine, laws were enacted which pro- 
hibited the industrial use of the sweetener 
as a substitute for sugar, permitting its 
employment solely for medical purposes, 
the German government even going so far 
as to make a sort of state monopoly of the 
manufacture of this material. 

Still another industry has undergone 
vast changes through Perkin’s discoveries 
and since the beginning of the -coal tar 
epoch—the manufacture of artificial per- 
fumes. Nitrobenzol, under the name of 
mirbaneoil, was in the market as artificial 
oil of bitter almonds even before Perkin’s 
mauve. It was used to some extent for 
scenting soaps. To-day a great variety of 
synthetic perfumes are manufactured. 
The odor of musk is successfully imitated 
by a nitrated hydrocarbon derived from 
coal tar; the odor of violets, of roses, of 
jasmine, of heliotrope, is reproduced arti- 
ficially by synthetic substances, and the 
favorite American flavor, the oil of winter- 
green, is manufactured from coal tar. And 
in this art also the hand of the master 
is seen in what is called the Perkin Reac- 
tion, through which he first succeeded in 
preparing from coal tar, coumarin and 
cinnamie acid. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 616. 


The singular correlation of all these coal 
tar products appears from the fact that 
the odoriferous principle of jasmine is de- 
rived from the same mother substance 
which furnishes synthetic indigo, namely, 
anthranilic acid. 

Between the products giving the sweet 
odors of flowers and the death dealing ex- 
plosives there would seem to be a broad 
chasm, but not for the synthetic coal tar 
chemist. In fact. the same nitrobenzol 
which was the first artificial perfume is 
used to-day with nitroglycerin as a safety 
explosive. The latter has the disadvantage 
of congealing when exposed to the cold and 
then becoming highly dangerous; the ad- 
mixture of nitrobenzol keeps it liquid at 
very much lower temperatures. Trinitro- 
benzol and its homologues, especially trini- 
trocarbolice acid, or picric acid, are to-day 
employed as safety explosives by the miner 
and in proper mixtures as_ smokeless 
powder by the armies of the civilized 
world. 

While coal tar preparations thus destroy 
life, so they likewise sustain life, for by 
the use of salicylic and benzoic acids, both 
products of nature but now derived chiefiy 
from this source, it becomes possible to 
preserve the canned foods so indispensable 
to the soldier, sailor and explorer. 

In conclusion, mention must be made 
of the use of coal tar colors and prepara- 
tions in the reproductive arts, in which 
they play a most important part. Inks 
for printing and writing are made with 
coal tar colors and in photography coal 
tar preparations are now used almost ex- 
clusively for the development of the latent 
pictures on films, plates and paper. By 
the addition of certain coal tar colors to 
the photographic emulsion the latter be- 
comes extremely sensitive to light and can 
then be used for instantaneous exposures, 
as in snapshots, and thus kodak fiends are 
the direct offshoots of the coal-tar industry. 


i cme i 


ee ee 


OcTOBER 19, 1906.] 


By means of coal tar colors even one of the 
ereatest of all problems—photography in 
natural colors—has been realized. 

Curious to relate, with all these successes 
to its eredit, the problem which has oc- 
cupied the attention of master minds now 
for almost a century, and which was the 
incentive of Perkin’s research, so fruitful 
in other fields—the artificial production of 
quinine—remains unsolved up to the pres- 
ent day. 

While thus new arts were constantly de- 
veloped, the chemical industries, existing 
at the time of Perkin’s discovery, were also 
eminently benefited. The production of 
aniline required at once large quantities of 
sulfuric and nitric acids for the nitration 
of benzol, and the demand of the new in- 
dustry for highly concentrated sulfuric 
acid gave to the world the contact process 
in which the sulfurous acid gas, formed, 
for example, in roasting zine and iron 
pyrites, which heretofore was allowed to 
escape and then vitiated the atmosphere 
and destroyed vegetation, is converted into 
sulfuric acid by the oxygen of the air. 
The manufacture of alizarin consumed 
enormous quantities of caustic soda. 
Bromine and iodine became staple articles 
of commerce. The electrolysis of salt solu- 


tion was economically perfected, and to- 


gether with the contact process and the 
liquefaction of chlorine is employed on an 
immense seale for the synthesis of indigo. 
The experience gained in electric methods 
is being applied to the problem of utilizing 
the nitrogen of the air, and to judge from 
past successes, it will not be many years 
before the Badische Anilin and Soda 
Fabrik, in whose laboratories experiments 
in this direction are being conducted, will 
bring to the market nitrates, nitrites and 
nitric acid made from atmospheric nitro- 
gen, instead of Chile saltpeter, the supply 
of which is calculated to last no longer 
than about twenty years, and as Chile 


SCIENCE. 


487 


saltpeter is indispensable in agriculture, 
especially in the raising of cereals, its arti- 
ficial production in the manner indicated 
will remove the anxiety expressed by wri- 
ters on economies concerning the difficul- 
ties of feeding an ever-increasing popula- 
tion owing to the gradual exhaustion of 
the soil. 

The distillation of coal tar itself was 
changed in every respect to comply with 
the new developments. All its by-products 
are utilized, and one of them, sulfate of 
ammonia, is produced so economically that 
it is commonly employed as a fertilizer. 

In the cooking processes, of so great im- 
portance in the manufacture of iron and 
steel, the gaseous products are not allowed 
to go to waste any more, but are recovered 
and utilized to furnish benzol, ete., in ad- 
dition to illuminating gas—in fact, the 
United Coke and Gas Company operates 
some of its plants in such a manner that 
the gases are the principal products and 
coke only a by-product. . 

In the treatment of these gases, cyanide 
of potassium is obtained at such low cost 
that it is used for extracting low class 
gold ores which hitherto were useless. 
Hence this substance plays an important 
part in the monetary system, as its cheap 
production has disposed of the fear that 
there would not be enough of the precious 
metal to maintain the gold standard of the 
civilized nations. 

The chemistry of benzol gave us our 
modern theories, especially that of Kékulé, 
which in its application led to marvelous 
prophesies of experimental results and is 
recognized to be one of the most remark- 
able achievements of the human mind. 

The coal-tar industry gave us our 
modern chemical institutes, the wonderful 
equipments of which were first utilized in 
the laboratories of the factories, and above 
all it gave us the intimate cooperation of 


438 


technics and science which is in fact at the 
root of all this magnificent success. 

In closing permit me to say that it is 
unique in the history of civilization that 
the honor and eredit for the creation of this 
enormous material and spiritual wealth is 
unanimously and ungrudgingly accorded 
to Sir William Henry Perkin. It is unique 
that the creator of this vast industry has 
been so fortunate as to witness its wonder- 
ful development during fifty years. It 
is unique that when no longer engaged in 
the industrial part of our science, he under- 
took a series of theoretical investigations 
of the utmost difficulty, which only the 
most gifted have the courage to attempt, 
and that in this branch, too, he has con- 
quered a position as lofty as his fame as 
a manufacturing chemist. 

The world can not spare such an extraor- 
dinary man. May he live for many years 
to come and may his life be replete with 
health and happiness. 

Hueco SCHWEITZER. 


ADDRESS OF SIR WILLIAM HENRY PERKIN- 


Iv is now twenty-two years since I visited 
the United States. 
first British Association meeting that was 
held at Montreal and then extended my 
visit to Yellowstone Park, returning by 
Chicago, Washington, Baltimore, Philadel- 
phia, New York and Boston back to Mon- 
treal. At that time I certainly never 
anticipated that in twenty-two years’ time 
I should be in this city at a jubilee cele- 
bration of the discovery of mauve and the 
foundation of the coal tar color industry. 
It was, indeed, quite unexpected and a mat- 
ter of surprise to me when I heard that an 
international celebration was about to be 
inaugurated in my own country, which 
took place in July last. This included 
nations on both sides of the world, as you 


1Given at the banquet tendered to him at Del- 
monico’s, New York City, October 6, 1906. 


SCIENCE. 


I was attending the 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 616. 


sent Dr. Baekeland as a delegate to repre- 
sent America, but it was a still greater 
surprise to find that you were not satisfied 
to merely join the English jubilee, but had 
determined on having a jubilee celebration 
of your own in this city, which I should 
be invited to attend. I can only say how 
ereatly honored I feel and how gratified 
I am at being present here to-night at this 
banquet, and meeting so many fellow work- 
ers in the field of science, and other friends. 
From the very cordial and friendly recep- 
tion you have given me, I do not feel-at all 
strange in coming amongst you, especially 
as I realize how closely we are related to 
each other by race and language, which 
naturally engenders a strong feeling of 
sympathy between us, a feeling which has 
been so heartily manifested this evening by 
the warm welcome given by the City of 
New York, through the Hon. Patrick Mce- 
Gowan, president of the Board of Alder- 
men, and also in a practical manner by the 
presentations given by Dr. Nichols, Mr. 
Kuttroff and Dr. Hillebrand. 

The foundation of a medal bearing my 
name to be annually awarded to an Amer- 
ican chemist, I feel to be a great honor, 
especially as I have all my life insisted on 
the importance of research work, and if 
this medal should help to encourage and 
stimulate some chemists to increased activ- 
ity in this direction, this jubilee celebration 
will have accomplished a valuable result. 
And when we consider the advantages you 
fortunately have in this country by the 
existence of a very large research fund, 
we can not but believe that this will be the 
ease. I thank you very sincerely for pre- 
senting me with this beautiful medal, the 
first that has been struck, which I value 
very highly. 

With respect to the beautiful personal 
token you have presented to me, I scarcely 
know how to express myself. I am sure it 
will always be greatly valued not only by 


OctroBER 19, 1906.] 


myself but by Lady Perkin and my family. 
It has the merit of not only being beauti- 
ful but also very useful, and it is a very 
suitable gift for a total abstainer who is 
very partial to a cup of tea. Whenever 
we use it it will remind us of the warm- 
hearted hospitality which has been shown 
us in America. 

I appreciate very much the honor the 
American Chemical Society has done in 
electing me one of its honorary fellows and 
presenting me with its certificate of mem- 
bership this evening. I am very pleased, 
indeed, to have my name associated with 
this important society, the value of which 
I gauge from my knowledge of the help 
the London Chemical Society has been to 
me, and of which I have this year also 
completed my jubilee of membership. 

I very heartily thank Dr. Nichols, Mr. 
Kuttroff and Dr. Hillebrand for all their 
kind and generous remarks in reference to 
myself when presenting me with these gifts. 

That this jubilee should also have an- 
other important object in view, namely, the 
foundation of a reference and circulating 
library for science, is also a great satisfac- 
tion to me, as it may be the means of not 
only affording useful information to scien- 
tifie workers, but also of stimulating re- 
search. 

I am very glad that Professor Chandler 
is the president to-night. I have known 
‘him for a long time, and we must all ad- 
mire the indomitable perseverance with 
which he has worked for the cause of chem- 
istry in this city, for now over forty years 
without flagging. His position as chair- 
man on this occasion is particularly fitting, 
because of the varied ways in which he has 
been connected with the coal tar industry, 
and his acquaintance with the great works 
in which the colors are made, and I also 
know the very hearty and active part he 
has taken in connection with this celebra- 
tion. I thank him also most sincerely for 


SCIENCE. 


489 


the kind things he has said in reference to 
myself. 

We have all listened with interest to the 
remarks of Dr. Schweitzer, who is not only 
practically connected with the coal tar 
coloring matters, but has also done good 
scientific work in connection with them. 
I thank him also for all the kind references 
he has made to me. And I take this op- 
portunity of thanking him and all other 
members of the committee for the pains 
they have taken to make my visit to this 
country so extremely pleasant and enjoy- 
able, not only to myself, but also to Lady 
Perkin and my daughters. It is a land- 
mark in our lives to which we shall always 
look back with pleasure. 

I have no doubt that some of you will 
have read the particulars of the London 
celebration and what I said on that occa- 
sion, and this makes it difficult for me to 
address you, and if I repeat much of what 
I said then, I must claim your indulgence, 
because one can not but state the things 
which have occurred in one’s lifetime; they 
can not be varied. As I expect that many 
of you, however, may not be so well ac- 


-quainted with the history of the coal tar 


color industry and the mauve dye which 
was its starting-point, as people are in 
the old country, I thought that you might 
like me to give a brief account of it, espe- 
cially of its early days, but even to do this 
is difficult in the time at my disposal, and, 
moreover, as I shall have to speak about 
myself, it would have been more agreeable 
to me if some one else could tell the tale. 
To begin, it may perhaps first of all in- 
terest you to know something of my early 
days and how I became a chemist. 

As long as I can remember, the kind of 
pursuit I should follow during my life was 
a subject that occupied my thoughts very 
much. My father being a builder, the first 
idea was that I should follow in his foot- 
steps, and I used to watch the carpenters 


490 


at work and also tried my hand at carpen- 
tering myself. Other things I noticed led 
me to take an interest in mechanics and 
engineering, and I used to pore over an 
old book called the ‘Artisan,’ which re- 
ferred to these subjects and also described 
some of the steam engines then in use, and 
I tried to make an engine myself and got 
as far as making the patterns for casting, 
but I was unable to go any further for 
want of appliances. I had always been 
fond of drawing and sometimes copied 
plans for my father, whose ambition was 
that I might be an architect. This led me 
on to painting and made me think I should 
like to be an artist, and I worked away at 
oil painting for some time. All these sub- 
jects I pursued earnestly and not as amuse- 
ments, and the information I obtained, 
though very elementary, was of much value 
to me afterwards. But when I was-_be- 
tween twelve and thirteen years of age a 
young friend showed me some chemical 
experiments, and the wonderful power of 
substances to crystallize in definite forms, 
and the latter, especially, struck me very 
much, with the result that I saw there was 
in chemistry something far beyond the 
other pursuits with which I had previously 
been occupied. The possibility also of 
making new discoveries impressed me very 
much. My choice was fixed, and I de- 
termined if possible to become a chemist, 
and I immediately commenced to accumu- 
late bottles of chemicals and make experi- 
ments. About this time I changed my 
school and was sent to the City of London 
School, and to my delight found that lec- 
tures on chemistry and natural philosophy 
were given there twice a week during the 
dinner interval. These I attended, and not 
long afterwards the lecturer, seeing the 
ereat interest I took in science, made me 
one of his lecture assistants, my duties be- 
ing to prepare the experiments, arrange the 
table and assist at the lectures. This was 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 616. 


a great lift to me, and I daily used most 
of the interval for dinner and not infre- 
quently all, but the abstinence from food 
this caused did me no harm, as nearly all 
of us eat far too much. This interval was 
the only time I had for fitting up appa- 
ratus and preparing for these lectures. 
The lecturer was Mr. Thomas Hall, B.A., 
one of the class masters, and he was very 
kind to me and helped me in every way. 
My father was disappointed at my choice, 
and the outlook for chemists was, indeed, 
very poor in those days, and naturally that 
was a matter that weighed with my father, 
but Mr. Hall had several interviews with 
him and eventually I was allowed to follow 
my bent, and at the age of fifteen I left 
school and entered the Royal College of 
Chemistry in London, where Dr. Hofmann 
was professor. 

Under Dr. Hofmann’s able instruction 
I soon got through the ordinary course of 
qualitative and quantitative analysis and 
also gas analysis; this I looked upon only 
as a preliminary part of my chemical ac- 
quirements and not, as many used to and 
some still do, as a full equipment. Re- 
search was my ambition and under the 
professor’s guidance this was entered upon 
and the first investigation completed when 
I was seventeen. I then became honorary 
assistant in Dr. Hofmann’s research labora- 
tory and helped to carry on his scientific 
enquiries, and in this way I quickly ac- 
quired a considerable insight into the chem- 
ical science of that day, as well as experi- 
mental experience. My time being much 
occupied with the professor’s work, I had 
little opportunity of carrying on research 
on my own account. I, therefore, fitted 
up part of a room in my father’s house 
and made a rough laboratory, a very dif- 
ferent place from the laboratories of the 
present day. Spirit lamps and charcoal, 
for combustion, had to be used as sources of 
heat, as there was no gas. In this labora- 


OctToBER 19, 1906.] 


tory work was carried on in the evenings 
and vacation time. In those days one of 
the problems was the artificial production 
of vegetable and animal products, and 
amongst other subjects I was ambitious 
enough to try and produce quinine artifi- 
cially, of course from purely scientific 
motives, but, as is frequently the case, the 
research took an unexpected turn; no qui- 
nine was formed, but only a dirty reddish- 
brown precipitate. Unpromising though 
this result was, I was interested in it and 
thought it more desirable to experiment 
with an analogous but more simple ma- 
terial than I had previously used. Aniline 
was, therefore, taken, but in this case I 
obtained a black and more unpromising 
product, but on submitting this to investi- 
gation found it contained, besides other 
things, a beautiful purple coloring matter 
which was found to be capable of dyeing 
silk and other materials, and it was in fact 
the product we now know as the ‘mauve 
dye.’ This discovery was made in the 
Easter vacation of 1856. I showed this 
dye to some of my chemical friends, who 
thought it might be valuable, but its evi- 
dent costliness and the difficulties of pre- 
paring aniline for its production on a large 
scale made the probability of its proving 
of practical value very doubtful. At this 
time aniline was a very rare product, only 
found in a few research laboratories, and 
could not be purchased. Having obtained 
an introduction to Messrs. Pullar of Perth, 
the well-known dyers, some pieces of dyed 
silk were sent to them, and they reported: 
“If your discovery does not make the 
goods too expensive it is decidedly the 
most valuable that has come out for a long 
time.’’ This report was very satisfactory 
except the ‘7/’ it commenced with. During 
the summer vacation, and with the help of 
my brother, Mr. T. D. Perkin, larger ex- 
periments were made and consequently 
larger quantities of coloring matter ob- 


SCIENCE. 


491 


tained, and it was then decided to patent 
the process, but a difficulty arose. I was 
but eighteen years of age, and it was ques- 
tionable whether a patent could be granted 
to any one under twenty-one (a minor). 
Counsel’s opinion had, therefore, to be ob- 
tained, and this was to the effect that, a 
patent being a gift from the crown, the 
matter of age did not affect the grant. 
Further experiments were then made on 
dyeing and calico printing, and although 
the colors were admired, that terrible if 
respecting the cost was always brought for- 
ward, besides other questions. Neverthe- 
less, I became persuaded in my own mind 
of the importance of the dye, and as a con- 
sequence I gave up my position as assistant 
to Dr. Hofmann that I might follow up 
the subject, but at this he was annoyed, 
probably thinking I was taking a false 
step. I was also much afraid that by 
entering into this technical pursuit my re- 
search work might be prevented, but I 


determined that so far as in me lay this 


should not be the case. 
But the difficulty in starting this new 


industry was that no one was willing to 
-ecome forward with the requisite capital, 


because they were not ready to risk it on 
such a new and untried product as this 
dye. My father, however, although he had 
been disappointed at my becoming a chem- 
ist instead of an architect, nevertheless, 
had so much confidence in my judgment 
that he very nobly risked most of the cap- 
ital he had accumulated by a life of great 
industry by building and starting works 
for the production of this mauve dye. Had 
it not been for this generosity on his part, 
for which I have always felt very grateful, 
probably I should not have been able to 
start this industry. My father and brother 
joined me in this undertaking, and I feel 
that my success was largely due to their 
collaboration. Time would fail me to en- 
ter into all the difficulties that beset the 


492 


establishment of this unique industry, not 
only in having to invent a suitable plant, 
but also to obtain even the raw material, 
which was not then made of a definite 
quality. The processes were quite different 
in character from those in existing chemical 
industries. The coloring matter also when 
made was quite different from ordinary 
dyes in its properties, and methods for its 
application as a dye had to be discovered, 
and this consumed much time. In fact, it 
was all pioneering work. Nevertheless, the 
mauve was supplied for silk dyeing as early 
as December, 1857. 

I have mentioned these particulars be- 
cause the production of this new color and 
the practical proof of the possibility of 
manufacturing it commercially was the 
foundation of the coal tar color industry. 
When the mauve was seen to be a success, 
of course every one commenced experiment- 
ing with aniline, and three years after its 
discovery magenta was discovered by M. 
Verguin in France. None of the difficul- 
ties I have mentioned were encountered in 
the manufacture of this dye; the way was 
clear and all the processes for the applica- 
tion of the mauve were equally suitable for 
the magenta, and, moreover, none of the 
first prejudices in reference to such an 
innovation as the mauve any longer existed. 

Other coloring matters were then discoy- 
ered by myself and in France by Messrs. 
Girard and Delaire and then by Dr. Hof- 
mann in England, many of which were 
derivatives of magenta. These were pro- 
duced not only in France but largely in 
England by Messrs. Simpson, Maule and 
Nicholson; they were also made to some 
extent in Germany and Switzerland, and 
very soon dyes of all the colors of the rain- 
bow were obtained from commercial aniline, 
and the industry made very rapid progress. 

In 1868 Graebe and Liebermann com- 
meéneed an investigation on alizarine, the 
natural coloring matter of the madder-root, 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 616. 


from a purely scientific point of view; this 
led to the remarkable discovery that this 
coloring matter is related to a coal-tar 
product called anthracene, and they also 
succeeded in producing it from this prod- 
uct. This was the first natural coloring 
matter which had been produced artifi- 
cially. Their process, however, was not 
suitable for the production of this coloring 
matter technically. Having in my research 
work studied anthracene and some of its 
products, I endeavored to find a practical 
process for the formation of alizarine, and 
after a time succeeded in finding two suit- 
able methods for its production on the 
large scale. Caro, Graebe and Liebermann 
quite independently also discovered one of 
them. I and my brother then took up its 
production at our works (my father having 
died previously), but many difficulties were 
encountered, one being that of obtaining 
anthracene, which was not then a commer- 
cial product, but after visiting most of the 
tar works in England and instructing the 
tar distillers and agreeing to take what 
they could make, a supply was soon ob- 
tained in all different states of purity, 
which quickly increased. In the meantime 
the difficulties of the manufacture were 
overcome and we were soon able to com- 
mence supplying alizarine to the turkey- 
red dyers. Our output rapidly increased, 
and this artificial coloring matter has now 
become one of the most important of the 
coal tar colors and has superseded the nat- 


ural dye, so that the cultivation of the 


madder root has practically ceased. In 
the year 1873 the demand for alizarine had 
so increased that we felt that it would be 
necessary to enlarge our works two or three 
times to meet the demand. My brother 
and I, however, did not care to undertake 


this great responsibility ; we, therefore, sold 


our works, hoping our successors would 
follow up the matter. 
This ended my connection with the color 


OctroBEeR 19, 1906.] 


industry from a manufacturing point of 
view. After this I occupied myself with 
scientific research, some of which was con- 
nected with coal-tar coloring matter, but 
mostly with other subjects. Some of these 
are still occupying my attention. But I 
must not enter into details, as time would 
fail me. 

One of the most remarkable develop- 
ments of the industry has been the artificial 
production of indigo, and, curiously, the 
first process for its manufacture, discoy- 
ered by Professor v. Baeyer, was dependent 
for its success on the method of producing 
cinnamie acid, discovered in my purely 
scientific investigations, and this dye is now 
manufactured so cheaply that the cultiva- 
tion of the indigo plant has been discon- 
tinued in many parts of India. 

As I mentioned, when I started this in- 
dustry I was determined not to give up 
scientific research, and so long as I had to 
do with it the part I took in its develop- 
ment resulted from the union of industry 
and scientific research. This has been fol- 
lowed up by others, especially in Germany, 
and owing to the work of an army of chem- 
ists, many of them men of great eminence 
and most of them engaged in the works and 
their laboratories, this wonderful develop- 
ment, unequaled in the history of industry, 
has taken place. This industry has also 
had a marvelous influence on the develop- 
ment of science itself. Its wonderful 
growth has also, as a matter of course, cre- 
ated not only directly but indirectly an 
immense amount of employment for men 
of all classes, especially the working classes, 
which can not be gauged, and although 
America has not become a manufacturing 
center for the production of these dyes, no 
doubt many thousands of American work- 
ers are engaged in the applications. That 
this industry which I was permitted to 
found should have led to this result is a 
source of pleasure to me, because the final 


SCIENCE. 


493 


result of our work should be the benefit of 
mankind. 

You have been so good as to honor me 
by having this jubilee in remembrance of 
the part I have taken in connection with 
this coal tar color industry, and whilst I 
am thankful that I had to do with its 
foundation and early development, yet I 
feel that the part I have taken is indeed 
small when compared with the labors of 
the army of scientific men and others, both 
inside and outside the color works, who 
have advanced it to its present condition. 
At the same time it is very gratifying to 
me to receive all the generous and kindly 
expression of feeling you are manifesting, 
and I thank you very heartily. But what 
have I that I have not received? It is not, 
therefore, for me to boast (and I also feel 
that I have but imperfectly used my op- 
portunities). JI, therefore, can only say 
in reference to the success which has at- 
tended my efforts, Not unto me, O Lord, 
not unto me, but unto thy great name be 
all the praise. 


REFORM IN MATHEMATICAL INSTRUCTION. 


THE principal mathematical reforms 
recommended by the commission appointed 
by the Gesellschaft Deutscher Natur- 
forscher und Aerzte is that more emphasis 
should be laid on the development of the 
concepts of function and space. As the 
commission realized that such fundamental 
changes are not likely to be accomplished 
by a mere publication of the results of its 
deliberations, it appointed two of its mem- 
bers—Professor Klein, of G6ttingen, and 
Professor Chun, of Leipzig—to try to in- 
terest secondary teachers in the subject, 
and, if possible, to bring them to discuss 
it very freely. 

1° Bericht der Unterrichtskommission der Gesell- 
schaft Deutscher Naturforscher und Arzte tiber 
ihre bisherige Tatigkeit,’ Leipzig, F. C. Vogel, 
1905. 


494 


The chief aim in this reform is to bring 
the mathematical instruction in closer touch 
with applications. Related variables pre- 
sent themselves very frequently in the sci- 
ences, and the training in algebra should 
prepare the student to deal with these con- 
cepts in an intelligent manner. More stress 
should be laid on the study of expressions 
and less on the analytic transformations 
and the solution of equations. Graphic 
representations are especially helpful in 
the study of the various values of algebraic 
expressions, and hence these should occupy 
a more prominent place in algebra. Fortu- 
nately, these changes are being effected 
not only in Germany and France, but, per- 
haps, in a more rapid manner in England 
and in America. 

The instruction in elementary geometry 
is at present undergoing the most radical 
changes, especially in England, which was 
the last great stronghold of EKuchd. The 
fact that Euclid’s ‘Elements’ remained a 
standard elementary text-book on geometry 
for two thousand years reflects less credit 
on Euclid than disgrace on those who fol- 
lowed him slavishly. During the last few 
years England has abolished Euclid servi- 
tude and her freedom is clearly exhibited 
in the recent text-book:s. The ‘Manual of 
Geometry,’ by the well-known author, W. 
D. Eggar, is, perhaps, a somewhat extreme 
ease. In this book there is a chapter de- 
seribing the vernier, spherometer, callipers 
and the micrometer screw gauge. It also 
treats briefly of the mensuration of the 
simpler geometrical solids, trigonometric 
ratios, and four-place logarithms. 

In France the ‘Nouveaux éléments de 
géométrie’ by C. Meray has, perhaps, been 
the most effective in producing a decided 
advance. In this work the plane and the 
solid geometry are not separated, the con- 
cepts parallelism and perpendicularity are 
established by means of translations and 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 616. 


rotations, and the theorems relating to the 
congruence of triangles are developed later 
than is customary in the classical works. 
At a recent meeting of the French Associa- 
tion for the Advancement of Science a 
resolution was passed requesting the min- 
ister of public instruction to assist in se- 
curing a more general adoption of these 
methods in the text-books. 

While we may not be able to foretell 
what the elementary geometry of the next 
decade will be, yet it seems probable that 
philosophy will largely give way to obser- 
vation, the abstract to the concrete, the 
rigor which appeals to the scholar to the 
elementary methods leading to a clearer 
understanding of our physical surround- 
ings. In view of the fact that England 
was the last one of the great nations to 
abandon Euclid, it seems lkely that she 
will soon produce the best text-books in ele- 
mentary geometry, for she is in a position 
to profit by the experience of the nations 
which made the transition at an earlier 
period. ; 

There are two subjects whose elements 
should constitute a part of a regular course 
in elementary geometry, viz. analytic 
geometry and vector analysis. These open 
up such wide fields and are of such an ele- 
mentary character that the average student 
would enjoy their study much more than 
the proof that two right angles are equal 
or that one side of a triangie is less than 
the sum of the other two. Moreover, both 
vector analysis and analytic geometry fur- 
nish simpler and more direct proofs of 
many theorems than the ordinary methods 
of elementary geometry and it seems poor 
policy to teach the poorer methods first. 

The inereasing use of graphic methods 
both in algebra and in the other sciences 
calls for a much earlier study of the ele- 
ments of analytic geometry, and the enor- 
mous progress of physics calls for an early 


OcToBER 19, 1906.] 


acquaintance with such a strong tool as 
vector analysis. Moreover, a vector has 
so many physical applications that the line 
representing it becomes full of meaning to 
the student, and geometric constructions 
thus admit of interpretations which escape 
the notice of the student whose geometrical 
training has proceeded along the old lines. 

The plea for an early introduction of the 
methods of analytic geometry has historical 
support since the ‘Tractatus de latitudi- 
nibus formarum’ of Oresme was popular 
during the period of the early development 
of European universities when very little 
of Euclid’s ‘Elements’ were taught and the 
mental advancement of the students was 
low. The graphic representation of a 
function upon which so much stress has 
been laid in recent years was relatively 
farther advanced in these early days than 
it is at the present time. ~The thought of 
direct usefulness is again assuming a more 
dominating influence in early mathematical 
instruction. We are laying more stress 
upon the student’s ability to use a theorem 
intelligently than upon his giving a fault- 
less demonstration. In fact, a prominent 
Harvard professor is said to have told his 
students that the demonstration of a 
theorem is no evidence that it is under- 
stood, but the intelligent use of the theorem 
constitutes such evidence. 

A fundamental aim in early education 
is to give the student a clear comprehension 
of the world in which he lives and to fur- 
nish him with the necessary knowledge to 
make a wise use of his faculties. 
ec the fact that the sciences and their ap- 
plications are continually playing a more 
prominent role in the civilized world and 
that international relations are becoming 
more and more important, it becomes neces- 
sary to readjust the machinery of educa- 
tion from time to time. Many of the neces- 
sary changes should be regarded as steps 
towards a proper readjustment rather than 


SCIENCE. 


In view 


495 


as fundamental progress. In view of the 
great conservatism in mathematics the re- 
adjustment along this line is apt to be slow 
and to require unusual perseverance. 

When such strong men as Klein, of Ger- 
many, Forsyth and Sir Oliver Lodge, of 
England, Moore and Fiske, of America, 
take active part in reform movements they 
are certain to be effective. The discus- 
sions in Germany in recent years have been 
so active that Gutzmer describes them as 
stormy at times.2? In France the discus- 
sions have received less attention, but there 
has been a decided movement towards 
graphie methods and especially towards 
the early use of the differential and in- 
tegral calculus. In England Professor 
John Perry, of the Royal College of Sci- 
ence in London, has probably done the 
most radical and effective work, so that the 
reform movement is sometimes known as 
the ‘Perry movement.’ 

While these tendencies in elementary 
mathematics have some influence on mathe- 
matical instruction in the universities, yet 
they do not affect this work nearly so much 
as the elective system in secondary educa- 
tion. In view of the diversity of the 
courses pursued by students before enter- 
ing the universities, the departments where 
the work has to proceed step by step, as in 
mathematics, are compelled either to make 
provision for more elementary courses or to 
exclude a large number of students. This 
difficulty exists not only in our institutions 
but also abroad, and Klein, for instance, 
urges that the universities should meet the 
difficulty by offering a greater variety of 
courses. He discourages the efforts on the 
part of friends of the real gymnasium who 
have tried to abolish some elementary 
courses in languages at the universities 
with a view to securing a more general 


? Jahresbericht der Deutschen 
Vereinigung, Vol. 13, p. 517. 


Mathematiker 


496 


recognition of the equality of their courses 
to those of the older gymnasium. 

A fundamental tendency in the early 
university instruction is towards a closer 
coordination with applications. In a less 
marked degree the coordination of the 
various mathematical subjects has been 
considered. The latter seems wise, as re- 
forms should begin at home. Before con- 
sidering the closer union of mathematics 
and physies, for instance, it might be well 
to consider whether the water-tight com- 
partments of the various mathematical sub- 
jects are not doing more mischief than 
those between the various departments. 
While mathematics should be taught with 
a view to. helpfulness to other departments, 
yet its first duty is to help itself and to 
secure its own harmonious development. 
A starveling can not render strong service 
to others. 

G. A. Miuurr. 


UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


California Mammals. By FRANK STEPHENS. 
Illustrated by W. J. Fenn from studies in 
the field. Published by the West Coast 
Publishing Co., San Diego, California, 1906. 
8vo, pp. 352, frontispiece, 6 half-tone plates, 
40 illustrations in the text, and a faunal 
map. 

‘California Mammals,’ by Mr. Stephens, is 
noteworthy as being the first recent local 
‘handbook’ of the mammals of any part of 
North America, and fortunately sets a fairly 
good standard for the many similar much- 
needed local manuals of our mammals that 
we hope may speedily follow. The scope of 
the work is “California and that part of the 
Pacific Ocean properly belonging to California. 
All the mammals described are known to have 
been found within the state or within sight of 
its shores.” The number of species and sub- 
species treated is 276—a surprisingly large 
number, yet readily explained by the great 
latitudinal extent of the state, and its ex- 
tremely diversified character, ranging from the 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 616. 


subtropical desert areas of the southeastern 
part to the subarctic snow-covered summits 
of the Sierra Nevada. 

Although diagnoses of the higher groups, 
from class to genus, are given, the work is 
written as far as practicable in non-technical 
phraseology, but for the convenience of such 
readers as may not be familiar with some of 
the terms necessarily employed, a three-page 
glossary is supplied. Mr. Stephens is well 
equipped for his work, having had a long 
field experience as a natural history collector 
in California, and is thus able to give the 
ranges of the species and subspecies, particu- 
larly of the southern two-thirds of the state, 
largely from his own personal knowledge. The 
descriptions of the forms are brief, but for 
the most part give all there is to say. These 
are followed by a statement of the type lo- 
cality and range, and by a few lines to several 
pages of original biographical matter, accord- 
ing to the circumstances of the case. There 
is no synonymy, nor any bibliographical ref- 
erences, but the life histories are an important 
contribution. The illustrations are not nu- 
merous, and relate wholly to external features. 
Good figures of skulls of a considerable num- 
ber of genera would have been a valuable 
addition; an extended bibliography was obvi- 
ously beyond the scope of the work, but a list 
of titles of the principal papers relating to 
California mammals would have been useful. 
The book had to have its limitations, and for 
a work so well done as is this, and containing 
so much that is convenient and valuable, it is 
perhaps hardly fair to make suggestions that 


the author, perhaps, considered and found im- 


practicable of execution. There is only one 
thing to say in the matter of serious criticism, 
and that is that the work is worthy of better 
typographical execution. The text, as to mat- 
ter and style, is excellent, but the proofreading 
is unfortunately defective. 3 
The work is intended for ‘ beginners’ ia 
not for experts, yet it is doubtless equally 
welcome to both, and for the first class it has 
been put together with excellent judgment. 
For many of the subspecies, especially in cer- 
tain groups, it is almost impossible to give 


OcToBEeR 19, 1906.] 


any characters by which they can be distin- 
guished from their next of kin. The differ- 
ences are merely comparative and often in- 
tangible, and the author kindly warns his read- 
ers that they can not hope to satisfactorily 
discriminate between them; and that when 
certain groups ‘are critically studied as a 
whole,’ as in the case of Thomomys, a con- 
siderable number of them ‘will probably be 
dropped.’ Under coyotes, of which three spe- 
cies are credited to California, he says: 
“Tittle harm would be done if all the Cali- 
fornia coyotes were grouped together under 
the name [Canis] ochropus. * * * Those not 
experts will find it difficult to determine the 
species of coyotes.” 

Following the main text is a chapter on 
‘Life Areas in California’ (pp. 283-291), 
illustrated with a map, on which are indicated 
the seventeen faunal divisions the author has 
found it desirable to recognize. This is fol- 
lowed by a ‘ List of California Mammals and 
their Faunal Distribution,’ which is noted by 
means of references to the map. A glossary 
and a very full index (40 pages) close the 
volume. J. A. ALLEN. 


Physiology of the Nervous System. By J. 
P. Morat, of the University of Lyons. Au- 
thorized English edition, translated and 
edited by H. W. Syvers, M.A., M.D. 
(Cantab.), Physician to the Great Northern 
Central Hospital. With 263 illustrations 
(66 in colors). Chicago, W. T. Keener & 
Co. 1906. Pp. xxviii + 680. 

This work, a portion of the ‘Treatise on 
Physiology’ by Professors Morat and Doyon, 
is a full and systematic exposition of the 
physiology of the nervous system. The sub- 
ject has been treated with great clearness and 
conciseness. The elementary nervous func- 
tions, including the anatomy and functions 
of the neuron in general, the methods of using 
electricity in the study of nerve actions and 
the effects of nerve poisons, are discussed in 
the first part. The individuality of the neu- 
ron is brought out as the essential point in 
the theory of the nervous element without 
entering into a technical discussion’ on the 


SCIENCE. 


497 


continuity or the contiguity of the articulated 
prolongations of these neurons. With refer- 
ence to the question of nervous amebism, as 
with other mooted points which at the present 
time only lead to fruitless discussion, the 
author takes a neutral stand. The laws of 
Waller, in modified form, are described in a 
clear manner. The views of Bethe, opposed 
to the Wallerian idea of the regeneration of 
the peripheral stump of the severed nerve, 
are not discussed, perhaps, to the advantage 
of the lucid presentation of the general laws 
of nerve degeneration. Death by electricity 
is discussed in the light of recent experiments 
on animals and of accidents arising in in- 
dustrial applications of high-tension electrical 
currents. 

The systematic functions, 7. e., the func- 
tions which originate in the associations and 
definite relationships which are established 
between the cellular functions, are discussed 
in the second part of this work. The rela- 
tionships of sensation and motion are defined 
very concisely. In introducing this impor- 
tant chapter the author tersely says: 

Except for the infinitesimal part which each one 
of us plays therein a knowledge of the living 
world is based on anthropomorphic reasoning, and 
it is impossible to base it on any other reasoning. 

Hence it is necessary to exert great prudence in 
employing it. 

This part contains sub-chapters on the 
metamerism of the spinal nerves; and their 
functions, and the fundamental determina- 
tions of the cranial nerves. The pneumo- 
gastric and trigeminal nerves are very thor- 
oughly treated. The chorda tympani is re- 
garded, together with the two superficial 
petrosal nerves, as the principal continuation 
of the nerve of Wrisberg (nervus inter- 
medius). In the second chapter the reflexes, 
conscious, sub-conscious and unconscious, are 
classified and described extensively. The au- 
thor avoids attempting to explain the mechan- 
ism of inhibition, but indicates by comparisons 
how this phenomenon belongs to the category 
of explicable facts of which the explanation 
itself is wanting. | ne 

The most noteworthy and interesting por- 


498 


tion of the work treats of the superior sys- 
tematizations of the brain, comprising visual, 
auditory, tactile, olfactory and gustatory in- 
nervations. The chapter on language and 
ideation, together with the cerebral localiza- 
tions of language and of the aphasias is par- 
ticularly noteworthy. The phenomena of 
sleep, hypnotism, dissociations of personality, 
spiritualism and other topics belonging to the 
borderland between physiology and psychology 


are briefly defined in terms of physiological 


functions. 

The work embodies the latest real advances 
in our knowledge of the nervous system with- 
out being burdened by superfluous references 
to trivial points of controversy. Each chap- 
ter is followed by a fairly extensive classified 
bibliography and the translator’s work is prac- 
tically faultless. The illustrations have been 
selected with care and are neither too few nor 
too many in number. The work will surely 
commend itself to both the physiologist and 
the practical neurologist. 

Epw. ANTHONY SPITZKA. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 


Tue July number (volume 7, number 3) of 
the Transactions of the American Mathemat- 
ical Society contains the following papers: 

M. Mason: ‘On the boundary value problems 
of linear ordinary differential equations of second 
order.’ 

M. W. HASKELL: ‘The resolution of any col- 
lineation into perspective reflections.’ 

L. E. Dickson: ‘ Linear algebras in which divi- 
sion is always uniquely possible.’ 

J. E. Wricut: ‘ Correspondences and the theses 


of groups.’ 
E. Kasner: ‘The trajectories of dynamics.’ 
R. Morris: ‘On the automorphic functions of 


the group (0, 3; 1, L, 4)? 
R. G. D. Ricuarpson: ‘Improper multiple in- 
tegrals.’ 


THE opening (October) number of volume 
13 of the Bulletin. of the American Mathemat- 
ical Society contains the following articles: 
‘Criteria for the Irreducibility of Functions 
in a Finite Field,’ by L. E. Dickson; ‘On the 
Theory of Equations in a Modular Field,’ by 
L. E. Dickson; ‘ Notes on the Variation of the 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 616. 


Definite Integral,’ by N. J. Lennes; ‘A Note 
on Transitive Groups,’ by W. A. Manning; 
‘Differential Geometry of mn Dimensional 
Space’ (Review of Guichard’s Systémes triple- 
ment indéterminés et Systémes triple-ortho- 
gonaux), by L. P. Kisenhart; Shorter Notices 
(Macfarlane’s Bibliography of Quaternions 
and Allied Systems of Mathematics, by H. E. 
Hawkes; Echol’s Elementary Text-book on the 
Differential and Integral Calculus, by M. W. 
Haskell; Cattell’s American Men of Science, 
a Biographical Directory, by G. A. Miller) ; 
Notes; New Publications. 


The American Naturalist for September 
contains the following articles: ‘ Histogenesis 
of the Retina, by A. W. Weysse and W. S. 
Burgess; ‘Notes on Marine Copepoda of 
Rhode Island,’ by L. W. Williams; and 
‘Lichens of Mount Monadnock, New Hamp- 
shire, R. H. Howe, Jr. The first paper is 
based on a study of the retina in the chick, is 
fully illustrated, and shows, among other 
things, that there is a large amount of indi- 
vidual variation in the rate of development of 
the retina as a whole, and also of its com- 
ponent. parts. Mr. Williams, in his paper, 
records twenty-six species of copepods, three 
of which are described as new. Mr. Howe 
records no less than seventy-one species of 
lichens from Mt. Monadnock. 


The Museums Journal of Great Britain for 
August contains an abstract of the Bristol 
meeting and a detailed history of the Bristol 
Museum and Art Gallery, by Ald. W. R. 
Barker. The next meeting of the association 
will be held at Dundee. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
CATS AS PLANT INVESTIGATORS. 

It has taken half a lifetime for Americans 
to discover the delicious qualities of the 
pomelo, but it has taken the cats of Boston 
only six months to appreciate a new cat 
delicacy. 

Professor Sargent, of the Arnold Arbore- 
tum, near Boston, imported from Central 
China a new vine, only a few plants of which 
were securable. As the species (A ctinidia po’, - 


OcToBER 19, 1906.] 


gama) was a rare one and had never before 
been introduced into this country, the plants 
were put in the greenhouse and carefully 
watched, but before they had made much 
growth the propagator, Mr. Dawson, observed 
that some animal was eating their tender 
shoots. There were no rats, as a cat was kept 
constantly about and Mr. Dawson was puzzled 
to discover what new kind of pest he had in 
his greenhouse. The thought that the damage 
was done by cats never occurred to him, until, 
after the plants were severely injured, when he 
discovered some cat hairs on the half-eaten 
branches, and, watching more closely, he 
caught the hothouse cat eating not only the 
small tender shoots, but the large woody twigs 
as well. 

In the spring he set out over a hundred 
small vines in a cold frame but, to his sur- 
prise, after removing the protection which the 
sash afforded, the cats of the neighborhood 
destroyed the whole bed, eating the plants to 
the ground. They were not just nibbled, as 
are catnip or valerian, the only other plants 
known to be eaten by cats, they were com- 
pletely destroyed—gobbled up—even to stalks 
as big as a lead pencil. 

No place in the arboretum is now concealed 
enough to be safe from ravage, and the few 
two-year-old vines in it are completely pro- 
tected by wire nettings. Every leaf or twig 
on these caged vines which is near enough the 
wires to be within reach of claws is scratched 
and torn to bits. In a few months time this 
entirely new plant from the interior of China 
has become the most relished vegetable which 
our American cats have ever tasted. 

The plant has no odor that we can detect, 
neither has it any distinct taste. Did the cats 
scent it, or do cats, which are carnivorous 
animals, make a practise of tasting every new 
plant that comes within their ken? If they 
do, they certainly excel in investigative facul- 
ties the most civilized races of human beings. 
‘then tco, how did tke news spread so that in 
a few months after its introduction all the 
cats of the neighborhcod knew of it? Did the 
greenhouse cat communicate his discoveries 


SCIENCE. 


499 


to his friends, or did each cat make the test 
independently ? 

The whole story throws an interesting side- 
light on cat instinct and intelligence and 
starts a score of questions. It is difficult to 
see how there can be here an instinct inherited 
through long generations of ancestry, for the 
plant has been unknown in Europe and Amer- 
ica until a few years ago. It seems to show 
an alertness of cat intellect which is most 
remarkable and which is in sharp contrast 
with the reluctance of the average human 
being to taste new things. 

Davin FAIRCHILD, 
Agricultural Explorer. 
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 


SPECIAL ARTICLES. 


EVIDENCES OF SEVERAL GLACIAL AND INTERGLACIAL 
STAGES IN NORTHEASTERN NEW ENGLAND.» 


WHILE conducting an investigation of the 
underground water resources of northeastern 
New England during the present field season, 
the writer has had occasion to visit many parts 
of northeastern Massachusetts, southeastern 
New Hampshire and southern Maine, and has 
incidentally noticed numerous cuts and ex- 
posures which throw light on the differentia- 
tion of drift in this long-neglected section of 
the country. There seems to be no longer any 
doubt that in northern New England, as else- 
where, there have been at least three distinct 
ice advances, separated by interglacial stages; 
and when more evidence has been obtained it 
will probably be possible to definitely correlate 
them with those of southern New England. 

The writer hopes in the near future to pub- 


lish a detailed account of his observations and 


conclusions. In the meantime a brief state- 
ment of the formations observed and their 
possible correlations with deposits in other 
sections may be of some interest. 

1. Pre-Pleistocene (Probably Tertiary) 
Clays—A deep boring made in Boston in 
1905 penetrated over 100 feet of a fine light 
gray to white, very pure clay, underlying all 
glacial deposits. This clay appears to be of 

1 Published by permission of the director of the 
U. S. Geological Survey. 


500 


pre-Pleistocene age and later than the Car- 
boniferous bed-rock of the region. Similar 
deposits are reported in borings elsewhere in 
Boston and were noted by Crosby in his report 
to the Committee on the Charles River Dam. 
Samples of this clay from the boring men- 
tioned above were examined by the writer 
in the office and compared with specimens of 
various Quaternary, Tertiary and Cretaceous 
clays, and were found to be almost identical 
in appearance with much of the Cretaceous 
clay from borings on Long Island described 
by Veatch and called by him Raritan. 

2. Unconformity. 

3. Very Ancient Till—This was observed 
at Lawrence and Haverhill, Massachusetts, at 
Norridgewock, Maine, and at a few other lo- 
calities. 
age of local material than are the common 
tills of the region, is deeply oxidized, of a 
brighter yellow color, and very rotten. A few 
rounded pebbles of quartzite and similar du- 
rable rocks are contained in it, but no granitic 
or diabasic rocks could be found. These de- 
posits are believed to correspond in age to 
the old tills described by Fuller in south- 
eastern Massachusetts, with the Mannetto 
gravels described by Fuller and Veatch on 
Long Island and elsewhere and with the Kan- 
san or the pre-Kansan till of the middle west. 

4, Unconformity. 

5. Stratified Fossiliferous Clays.—Small ex- 
posures of these beds underlie drumlins at 
Winthrop and Revere, Massachusetts, and the 
material derived from the clays, with its con- 
tained fossils, is incorporated in the drumlins 
of Boston Harbor. The deposits have been 
correlated by Fuller with the Gardiner clay 
of Long Island and Cape Cod. Local clays 
which are possibly of this age have been ob- 
served in Maine. 

6. A Thick Deposit of Till—This is the 
principal till sheet of New England, including 
hardpan deposits of sand, gravel, clay and 
bowlders, often of great thickness, covering all 
older formations. It includes the drumlins 
of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Where 
it has not been eroded this till is yellowish 
from the effects of oxidation to a depth of five 


SCIENCE. 


It is composed of a larger percent- 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 616. 


to fifteen feet. Until recently it has been 
considered of Wisconsin age, but Fuller has 
lately thrown it into the Illinoisan, correlating 
it with the Montauk of Long Island. The 
evidence collected this summer of a more re- 
cent till, confirms this correlation. 

7. A Great Thickness of Coarse Gravels.— 
These are well developed in the Kennebec, 
Androscoggin and Penobscot valleys, and their 
relations are perhaps best exposed in the 
vicinity of Augusta, where they may be seen 
resting on (6) and overlain by (9) and (10). 
They were deeply eroded before the deposition 
of overlying deposits. These gravels may be 
equivalent to the gravels described by Fuller 
as overlying the Montauk till on Long Island, 
ete. 

8. Unconformity. 

9. Fossiliferous, Stratified, Blue-Clay 
(“ Leda-Clay” of Jackson, Hitchcock, Pack- 
ard and others).—This is an extensive deposit, 
rising from about twenty feet above tide in 
the vicinity of Boston, to over 200 feet in the 
Kennebec and Androscoggin valleys and 
found throughout the coast region and larger 
valleys between Boston and Eastport. This 
clay is well stratified, frequently fossiliferous, 
and is deeply oxidized. It is occasionally 
folded and contorted and often overlain by 
sand deposits and generally by till. Fossils, 
where found, most often occur near the bot- 
tom of the clay beds, and stones are most 
frequent in the upper part. The folding and 
unconformity can be observed at Saugus and 
Haverhill, Massachusetts; at Portland and 
Augusta, Maine, and elsewhere. The pres- 
ence of till both above and below the clay 
places it most probably in the interval be- 
tween the Illinoisan and Wisconsin glacia- 
tions, and it may have been deposited at about 
the same time as the Iowan loess, to which its 
relations are rather similar. 

10. Overlying the clay in some localities 
are a few feet of stratified sands, rising to the 
same general level as the clay, probably being 
a part of the same series. These, together 
with some of the Wisconsin sands, were called 
‘Saxicava sands’ by the early geologists. 

11. Unconformity. 


OctToBER 19, 1906.] 


12. A Few Feet of Till—This till generally 
occurs as a thin deposit three to ten feet in 
thickness, but occasionally seems to be thick- 
ened up in the form of drumlin-like deposits 
amounting to as much as fifty feet. It is 
generally more gravelly than the Montauk 
type of till, and the oxidation does not often 
extend over three to five feet from its surface. 
This till can be seen resting on clays and 
gravels throughout this part of New England, 
but the best section is probably in the vicinity 
of Augusta. This till is believed to be the 
true Wisconsin till of New England. 

13. Retreatal Deposits of Sand, Gravel and 
Local Clays.—These occur over wide areas in 
Massachusetts, New Hampshire and southern 
Maine. They were formed in part in glacial 
lakes and in part as outwash deposits in the 
sea or above water level. 

14. Deposits of Local Glaciers—In several 
localities in Maine: (a) In the territory di- 
rectly east and southeast of Mt. Katahdin in 
northern Penobscot County, (b) in the moun- 
tainous region between Bangor and Ellsworth 
in Hancock County, and (c) in southern Pis- 
cataquis County, there is considerable evi- 
dence from direction of striz, amount of ox- 
idation, position of moraines, etc., indicating 
probable local glaciations somewhat later than 
the Wisconsin ice advance. 

In closing this abstract the writer wishes to 
acknowledge his indebtedness to Mr. G. C. 
Matson, who assisted him in the underground 
water investigations and obtained many data 
helping towards a solution of Pleistocene 
problems. 


FREDERICK G. CLAPP. 
UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 


CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 
THE FIRE-SHIP OF BAY CHALEUR. 


In his ‘ Notes on the Natural History and 
Physiography of New Brunswick’ (Bull. Nat. 
Hist. Soc. New Brunswick, xxiv, Vol. V., 
1905) Professor W. F. Ganong has a short 
paper, ‘On the Fact Basis of the Fire (or 
Phantom) Ship of Bay Chaleur” After an 
examination of all the evidence it appears to 
the author plain (1) that a physical light is 


SCIENCE. 


501 


frequently seen over the waters of Bay Cha- 
leur and its vicinity; (2) that it occurs at all 
seasons, or at least in winter and summer; 
(8) that it usually precedes a storm; (4) 
“that its usual form is roughly hemispherical 
with the flat side to the water, and that at 
times it simply glows without much change 
of form, but that at other times it rises into 
slender moving columns, giving rise to an 
appearance capable of interpretation as the 
flaming rigging of a ship, its vibrating and 
dancing movements increasing the illusion.” 
This is doubtless a manifestation of St. Hlmo’s 
Fire, but the compiler of these notes is not 
aware of any reports of similar phenomena, 
of such frequency in one locality, and of such 
considerable development. Professor Ganong 
cites the case of some lights reported around 
Tremadoc Bay in Wales, but notes that they 
in all probability had only a subjective basis. 
Lights of unexplained origin, the author notes, 
were reported as common off the Welsh coast 
two hundred years ago, and mention is made 
of St. Elmo’s Fire observed at Anticosti. The 
phenomenon described by Professor Ganong is 
an interesting one, well worthy of careful 
study. 
MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. 


The Monthly Weather Review (No. 5, 1906) 
contains the following papers of general inter- 
est: ‘Present-Day Climates in their Time 
Relation,’ by F. M. Ball, of the University of 
Minnesota, a brief review of some of the more 
important facts regarding climatic changes, 
with the emphasis on geological changes. 
‘Severe Hailstorm in the Gulf of Mexico,’ 
reported by R. G. Bindley, officer of the S. S. 
Jamaican. This storm occurred on March 
18 last; the hail was so heavy that the ship 
was stopped and the officer of the watch and 
the helmsman were compelled to seek shelter. 
The first officer received a severe bruise caused 
by a hailstone striking the back of his neck, 
and the helmsman received a scalp wound. 
The stones dented the binnacles and chipped 
paint off rails and other painted surfaces. 
‘Tornado in Australia,’ an account based on 
notes by H. A. Hunt, government meteorolo- 
gist of New South Wales. This ‘tornado was 


502 


‘a mild form of the American phenomenon of 
the same name. It occurred at North Sydney, 
March 27 last, in the region of northeast 
cyclonic winds, and moved southeast. This 
is the region which corresponds to the usual 
part of a cyclonic area in which our tornadoes 
occur. 


BORNSTEIN’S ‘ LEITFADEN DER WETTERKUNDE.’ 


One of the most useful text-books of recent 
years is Bornstein’s ‘ Leitfaden der Wetter- 
kunde, the first edition of which was pub- 
lished in 1901. This excellent little volume 
has now come to a second edition (Berlin, 
1906), and has been brought thoroughly up to 
date. It in no way trespasses on the ground 
covered by any other of the newer text-books, 
and is unique in presenting an extraordinary 
richness of material, in a clear, compact form, 
with an admirable list of references to publi- 
cations where further details may be sought. 
In the new edition special attention is paid 
to the temperature conditions and movements 
of the upper air, and to other subjects upon 
which recent studies have thrown much light. 
We note an interesting view (Fig. 14) of the 
upper surface of a sea of clouds, in which the 
course of underlying rivers is indicated by 
breaks; the inclusion of Berson’s excellent 
classification of the different atmospheric 
‘strata in relation to vertical temperature 
gradients (p. 85); and the beautiful colored 
cloud views, Pls. V.-XV. 


THE CYCLONIC THEORY. 


W. H. Drinss, who has been active in the 
prosecution of kite meteorology, says (Nature, 
1906, 35-36) that the results of some two 
hundred kite ascents which he has carried out 
in England and Scotland, with an average 
height of about one mile, seem to give no 
evidence either for or against the convectional 
or ‘driven’ theory of cyclones. Dines believes 
that an error has been made in working out 
the results of free-air observations in cyclones 
and anticyclones. In a gas in equilibrium, 
he says, under a conservative system of forces, 
the isothermal and isobaric surfaces must be 
identical. The temperatures in cyclones and 
anticyclones should, therefore, not be com- 


SCIENCE. 


‘is discovered and taught. 
-euss some of the means by which we can reach 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 616. 


pared at the same height, but on the same iso- 
baric surfaces. In temperate latitudes these 
surfaces may differ from surfaces of equal 
height above sea level by a thousand or more 
feet. 


“SOME FACTS ABOUT THE WEATHER.’ 


Unper the above title, Mr. William Mar- 
riott, assistant secretary of the Royal Meteoro- 
logical Society (London), has published a 
little handbook of thirty-two octavo pages, at 
the price of sixpence (London, Stanford, 
1906). The text covers about the ground of a 
‘popular’ lecture on meteorology, but is espe- 
cially adapted for use in the British Isles. 

R. DEC. Warp. 


YALE UNIVERSITY + 


Our constant growth in numbers and our 
recent increase in endowment ought to enable 
us to do better work in the future than we 
have done in the past. A progressive univer- 
sity should make the maintenance and im- 
provement of its standards its chief concern. 
It must be recognized as a place where truth 
I propose to dis- 


this end. 

In dealing with the question of university 
organization, we can divide our members into 
three groups: (1) heads of departments; (2) 
other instructors and graduate students; (38) 
undergraduates in the various courses, liberal 
or professional. This is not the conventional 
line of division, but it is the one which best 
serves our present purpose. 

Heads of departments ought to be fewer in 
number, and better paid. This is probably 
true of American universities as a class; it 
is certainly true of Yale. We have too many 
full professors, and, partly as a consequence 
of this, we pay them too small salaries. If 
we see a store or factory where there are a 
large number of more or less separate depart- 
ments whose heads receive low salaries, we be- 
lieve that the business is being wrongly ad- 
ministered. It is not always safe to draw too 
close analogies between industrial work and 


*From the report of President Hadley. 


Ocroser 19, 1906.] 


educational work, but in this case I believe 
the parallel holds good. 

The first step toward reform is to recognize 
the principle that no man should be appointed 
to a full professorship in any subject merely 
because that subject needs to be taught. If 
there is a man of eminence in the subject who 
has a genius for discovery or teaching, the 
fact that such a gap exists creates an addi- 
tional reason for calling this man to a pro- 
fessorship. But if no such man is to be found 
the place should be filled by an assistant pro- 
fessor. The fact that we have departed from 
this principle in the past, and now have on 
our faculties as full professors a number of 
men who ought to be only assistant professors, 
does not alter the necessity for a change of 
policy in this respect. I am glad to say that 
nearly all the members of the several faculties 
of the university cordially accept the principle 
here laid down, and are willing to try in future 
to appoint none but a first-class man to a grade 
higher than an assistant professor, even 
though this policy may for the moment ap- 


parently weaken the strength of our teaching | 


force. This weakening will be apparent rather 
than real. There is nothing which really 
weakens the teaching force so much as the 
permanent appointment of a man of the wrong 
type, who lowers the standard held before the 
students and blocks promotion among the 
younger instructors. It is far better to have 
a subject taught by ambitious young men who 
see an opening ahead than by a somewhat older 
man who has little to recommend him except 
his maturity. 

With the diminution of numbers, an increase 
of salaries can follow as a matter of course. 
This process has already begun, and many of 
the professors who have hitherto received 
$3,750 are now to receive $4,000. But this 
should be regarded as only a beginning. Just 
as soon as the university finances admit it, 
there should be a further increase to $4,500, 
and then to $5,000 or even $6,000. There 
should also be an increase in the number of 
assistants, who can relieve the professor of the 
burdensome necessity of reading papers or di- 
recting some of the details of individual study. 


SCIENCE. 


503 


If a professor is really able and mature, the 
ideal method is not to give him a division of 
forty or fifty or sixty, as we used to, with a 
class-room which would be partly examination 
and partly lecture, but to let him talk all at’ 
onee to as many students as possible, be it two 
hundred or five hundred; and then have these 
men met as often as once a week in very small 
groups by a younger instructor, who can talk 
over the work that they are doing and examine 
the progress that they are making. Both here 
and at Harvard this scheme has increased both 
the teaching efficiency and the financial econ- 
omy. 

We must, however, guard ourselves against 
the danger of creating a separate or privileged 
class of research professors. In some univer- 
sities there is a tendency to set some men 
apart for discovering new truth, while employ- 
ing other men to teach old truth. This is a 
mistaken policy. We are not dealing with an 
ordinary case of division of labor. The chief 
argument for division of labor is that it makes 
each man more expert and more efficient in his 
own field of work. In university work, how- 
ever, the man who tries to investigate without 
teaching is apt to become sterile, while the 
man who attempts to teach without investi- 
gating becomes a worse teacher instead of a 
better one. We want the opportunities for re- 
search and investigation distributed as widely 
as possible throughout the teaching force and 
the student body. We want to impress upon 
every man that teaching and discovery are 
both done at their best when done in combina- 
tion. Not that every man should be compelled 
to lecture to classes, whether he is able to do 
so or not. There is a great deal of valuable 
teaching which is not done in the class-room, 
or even in the laboratory. There are some 
men who teach best by their writings, their 
conversations, their intelligent suggestions for 
the work of others; but they should under- 
stand that they are part of the teaching force, 
and are simply doing their teaching in a dif- 
ferent way from other men. Instead of setting 
such a man apart as a research professor, we 
should let him understand that withdrawal 
from the lecture room and relief from the 


504 


duties of supervising elementary students 
carry with them a larger obligation to publish 
as fully as possible the results of all discov- 
eries; to organize departments intelligently; 
to train up young men who ean teach; and to 
make liberal room for such men, instead of 
trying to get in their way when their work 
becomes popular. 


These last statements indicate the policy 
which we should adopt in dealing with our 
junior instructors and graduate students. We 
should give them the maximum of freedom 
consistent with their teaching duties. We 
can not, under the existing circumstances, pay 
them as large salaries as we should like to do, 
or as the work of many of them deserves; but 
we can at least give them a fuller chance to 
show what they have in them. In the time 
which is necessarily occupied by class-room 
work we can allow them more independence 
of method than has been habitual in the past. 
If we have as heads of departments men who 
are competent to look after results we can 
leave their assistants the utmost freedom in 
the choice of means. We can make a univer- 
sity a good place for an instructor or student 
of any grade who thinks that he has some- 
thing to discover. If we keep places free at 
the top we increase his opportunity for pro- 
motion if his discoveries turn out as he ex- 
pects; and if promotion does not come here we 
ean always find chances for him elsewhere. 
Of course there will be among the members of 
the teaching foree many a man who disap- 
points us, and perhaps disappoints himself; 
but if one of his superiors—president, dean or 
head professor—gives him timely warning that 
we shall not be able to promote him here, it is 
easy to find such a man a teaching place else- 
where without grave hardship to him and with 
definite advantage to the university. 

The success of a system of this kind is to 
some degree dependent upon the laboratories 
and library facilities accessible to the differ- 
ent instructors. But a laboratory or library 
of moderate size, administered in the right 
spirit, is far more efficient than a much larger 
one which is monopolized by a few heads of 
departments for their own special investiga- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 616. 


tions. It is astonishing what an amount can 
be done with very moderate facilities by a 
group of young men working together, ani- 
mated by the spirit of independent investiga- 
tion for the moment and by the prospect of 
distinction for the future. In each new 
laboratory that we establish, or in each new 
appointment to the headship of an old labora- 
tory, we set forth clearly the fact that it is to 
be open to the use of junior instructors and 
graduate students just as far as the circum- 
stances allow, to work in the way that they 
think promising rather than in the way that 
the chief thinks promising. This will result 
in a good many mistakes, and in some waste 
which might have been avoided; but it will 
result in vastly increased efficiency and in a 
great many discoveries which would otherwise 
have been prevented. 

Mr. Schwab, in his position as head of the 
library, is fully in sympathy with these ideas; 
and the addition to the library building, 
erected from the bequest of William B. Ross, 
as a memorial to Jared Linsly, is being ar- 
ranged with that end in view. There is no 
other institution connected with the university 
whose administration affects the efficiency of 
s0 many departments. Yale is to be con- 
gratulated on what Mr. Schwab is accomplish- 
ing and also upon the care and intelligence 
shown by Mr. Haight, the architect of the new 
building, in enabling us to achieve the most 
with the means at our disposal. 

A committee of the university council is 
arranging plans for increased opportunities 
for publication of new discoveries in various 
lines—a matter in which during recent years 
our facilities have been inadequate. This is 
a thing of great importance as a stimulus to 
the older students and younger instructors. 
The full professors have so much reputation 
that they can publish their work anywhere, and 
proper attention will be given to it; but for 
the men who still have their reputation to 
make, the opportunity for a convenient and 
quick channel of publication is a great stim- 
ulus to the work and a great help to the uni- 
versity with which their published work is 
identified. Nothing in times past did more 


OcToBER 19, 1906.] 


for the development of the scientific spirit at 
Yale than the fact that Silliman’s Journal of 
Science, for many years the one high grade 
American periodical of its kind, was published 
here. In other lines we have not kept up to 
the traditions set by Professor Silliman, and 
have suffered from it rather severely; but it 
is by no means too late for recovery. 

The independence of the different faculties 
at Yale is in some respects a help, and in other 
respects a hindrance, to our investigators. It 
is a help in that it helps to keep alive the tra- 
ditions of academic freedom. It is a hind- 
rance in that it sometimes prevents the most 
effective cooperation between the laboratories 
of different departments. 

A thing which is an unmixed help in every 
way, and should not be overlooked in any dis- 
cussion of Yale’s advantages, is the Graduates’ 
Club. By furnishing a center in which in- 
structors and students of all grades and visi- 
tors from abroad meet informally on a plane 
of social equality, it tends to diffuse the spirit 
of academic freedom and academic progress. 
It adds immensely to the attractiveness of New 
Haven as a place for the ambitious investi- 
gator, be he student or instructor, and does 
more than any other one thing to help the 
formation of that indefinable thing called a 
university atmosphere. The Graduates’ Club 
was not organized with this end in view. If 
it had been, it probably could not have accom- 
plished the result so effectively. 


SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. 


A COLLEGE, as the word is usually under- 
stood in America, is a school of general train- 
ing. Its work is found to be the more effect- 
ive the better it is fitted to the traits of the 
individual, but in the nature of things its 
work with the individual is not limited to a 
narrow range of subjects. The university is 
a school of instruction through investigation. 
Its characteristics are advanced research and 
specialized development. As matters are, the 
faculty of the American university has to deal 
with two sets of students and two classes of 

*From the annual report of President David 
Starr Jordan, Stanford University. 


SCIENCE. 


505 


instruction, those of the college and those of 
the university. But in both cases it is for 
the university to set the standard. To the 
university teacher, individual research is the 
breath of life, and it is the duty of the insti- 
tution in every reasonable way to foster its 
development. 

In the practical consideration of this prob- 
lem we may take the following propositions 
as granted: 

1. A few men, and but a few, even in the 
greatest universities, ever contribute very 
much to the direct advancement of science. 

2. No one ean be a great teacher without 
the spirit of research; without this he lags 
behind the progress of knowledge, and his men- 
tal equipment becomes second-hand. 

3. With most men the practical purpose of 
research is that they may be better teachers. 

4, With most men a reasonable following of 
students is an aid to research, not a hindrance. 

5. Those who feel called to research, but who 
can not or will not teach, should in general 
look outside the university for careers, at least 
until they have clearly proved their eminence. 

6. The university should recognize the su- 
perior teacher or investigator by relieving 
him, as far as may be, of administrative 
drudgery, which uses up time and strength 
more than teaching does. Every active worker 
should have what he needs in the way of help 
of stenographers, artists, readers, curators, 
mechanics and the like. A man of choice 
powers should not waste his time on what 
cheap men can do. It is often best to relieve 
the ablest men in the department from its 
executive responsibility. 

7. It is desirable that a university should 
publish the results of completed investigations ~ 
of its professors, and do this in first-class 
form. Such publication in worthy manner is 
a stimulus to good work. But material 
brought together under stress of demand for 
publication is best left unprinted. 


A MEMORIAL TO HERBERT SPENCER,’ 


A sHorT time ago a petition was presented 
to the Dean of Westminster asking permission 


1From Nature. 


506 


to place in Westminster Abbey a memorial 
tablet commemorating the life and influence 
of Mr. Herbert Spencer, but though the appeal 
was supported by many men of science and 
letters it was rejected. The reason why the 
Dean withheld his consent to this unobtrusive 
memorial of a great philosopher is not clear; 
and the Daily Chronicle has recently revived 
interest in the movement with the object of 
inducing him to reconsider his decision, or, 
failing this, to secure some other national 
memorial of Spencer’s work. From the opin- 
ions of a number of distinguished men pub- 
lished in our contemporary, it is evident that 
much disappointment is felt at the failure to 
find a place in the Abbey for a simple me- 
morial tablet to Spencer, but there is a differ- 
ence of opinion as to whether steps should be 
taken to establish a national memorial to him 
in some other form. Among the men of sci- 
ence who consider it would be a reproach to 
leave Spencer’s memory unhonored are Lord 
Avebury, Professor Clifford Allbutt, Dr. Bas- 
tian, Sir Michael Foster, Mr. Francis Galton, 
Sir Joseph Hooker, Professor M’Kendrick 
and Professor Poulton. 
strong feeling, 


There is, however, a 
expressed by Sir Norman 
Lockyer, that while no national memorial to 
Darwin exists outside Westminster Abbey, it 
would be undesirable to attempt to raise one 
to Spencer by public subscription. Lord 
Kelvin goes so far as to remark: “I have 
never been of opinion that the philosophical 
writings of the late Mr. Herbert Spencer had 
the value or importance which has been at- 
tributed to them by many readers of high 
distinction. In my opinion, a national me- 
morial would be unsuitable.” Sir William 
Huggins also hesitates to support a general 
movement to provide a national memorial, 
though he agrees that a memorial tablet in 
the Abbey would appropriately commemorate 
Spencer’s work. In the absence of this form 
of recognition, it would seem that the best 
way for admirers of the philosopher to show 
their appreciation of his work would be to 
establish a lectureship or scholarship in so- 
ciology, natural science, or principles of educa- 
tion, to issue, as suggested by Dr. A. R. Wal- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 616. 


lace, a cheap edition of his works, or in some 
other manner to further the objects to which 
he devoted his life. A movement with an end 
of this kind in view might be made of inter- 
national interest, and would doubtless receive 
liberal support. 


ARHAS OF THE UNITED STATES, THE 
STATES AND THE TERRITORIES. 

THE question, ‘What constitutes the area 
of the United States?’ is discussed in Bulletin 
302 of the United States Geological Survey, 
of which Mr. Henry Gannett is the author. 
Jurisdiction extends to a line three nautical 
miles from the shore, but this strip of sea can 
not properly be regarded as a part of the 
country. Supposing our country to be re- 
stricted to the sea and lake coast, there re- 
mains a question regarding the bays and estu- 
aries. To what extent should the coast line 
be followed strictly, and where should we be- 
gin to Jump across the indentations made by 
the sea? In this matter one can only follow 
his own judgment, making in each ease as 
natural a decision as possible, as no definite 
eriterion can be established. The absence of 
an absolute standard is in large measure the 
cause of the discrepancy between: the tables 
of the Census Office, made in 1881, and those 
of the General Land Office, prepared in 1899, — 
both of which show the areas of the United 
States and of the several states and territories. 

The measurements and computations upon 
which these tables were based were made with 
great care and thoroughness in each case, and 
the results probably represented the areas as 
closely as they could be determined from the 
maps and charts in existence at both times. 
Most of the differences in these two sets of 
tables are trifling, amounting to only a few 
square miles or a small fraction of one per 
cent., being well within the limits of error of 
the planimeter and of the maps used. Some 
of them, however, are considerable, and a few 
are explained by the fact that more recent 
maps, which changed the position of boun- 
daries between states, had been used by the 
Land Office, and its measurement was, there- 
fore, more nearly correct. Other discrepan- 


OcToBER 19, 1906.] 


cies arose from differences in determining the 
coast lines. 

Realizing the desirability of but one govern- 
ment statement of areas of the states and ter- 
ritories, an attempt has been made by Mr. 
Frank Bond, chief draftsman of the General 
Land Office; Mr. OC. S. Sloane, geographer of 
the Census Office, and Mr. Henry Gannett, 
geographer of the Geological Survey, to come 
to an agreement on these figures. The results 
of their conference and cooperation are set 
forth in the aforementioned bulletin. 

By this adjustment the area of the United 
States proper, which is given as 3,026,789 
square miles, is increased over the Census 
Office figures by 1,188 square miles. 

The area given for Alaska is 590,884 square 
miles. It is subject to considerable modifica- 
tion in the future as the position of the coast 
line becomes better known. The area given 
for the Philippine Islands is 115,026 square 
miles, and was determined by the Coast Sur- 
vey of that archipelago, prepared at the in- 
stance of the Philippine Census. It also is 
subject to modification as accurate charts of 
the archipelago are made. The areas of 
Hawaii, 6,449 square miles, and Porto Rico, 
3,435 square miles, are probably subject to 
only slight changes, as the charts from which 
they were measured are quite accurate. The 
areas given for the other small possessions of 
the United States, Guam, 210 square miles; 
Samoa, 77 square miles, and the Panama 
Canal strip, 474 square miles, will probably 
be changed in the future as their limits be- 
come more correctly defined. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


At the last meeting of the Rumford com- 
mittee of the American Academy of Arts and 
Sciences, the following grants for research 
were made: $300 to Professor Arthur A. 
Noyes, of the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology, for the construction of a calorim- 
eter for the determination of heat reactions at 
high temperatures; $200 to Professor Robert 
W. Wood, of Johns Hopkins University, for 
the continuation of his researches on the 
optical properties of sodium vapor. 


SCIENCE. 


507 


Mr. Aurrep AKERMAN, state forester of 
Massachusetts, has resigned to accept the Pea- 
body chair of forestry recently endowed in the 
University of Georgia. He is succeeded by 
Professor Frank Wm. Rane, professor of horti- 
culture and forestry at the New Hampshire 
College. Mr. Rane’s present address is, Room 
7 State House, Boston, Mass. 

Mr. Grorce A. CoLteman, M.S. (Stanford, 
705), has been appointed forest supervisor in 
charge of the Shasta Reserve. 

DupLEY Moutton, M.S. (Stanford, 706), at 
present stationed in Nebraska investigating 
the codlin moth, has been appointed field as- 
sistant in the U. S. Bureau of Entomology. 

ProressorR MANSFIELD Merriman, Ph.D., 
head of the department of civil engineering, 
of Lehigh University, has been granted a year’s 
leave of absence. He will reside in South 
Bethlehem and will attend to the administra- 
tive duties of his department. 


A COMPLIMENTARY luncheon to Professor 
Ronald Ross, C.B., Professor R. Boyce and 
Dr. J. L. Todd, in recognition of the decora- 
tion recently conferred on them by the King 
of the Belgians for the work done by the 
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, was 
given on October 1 by the Lord Mayor of 
Liverpool. 

Proressor Raymonp H. Ponp, of the North- 
western University, has been awarded a re- 
search scholarship at the New York Botanical 
Garden for six months, beginning October 1. 

Tuer Duke of Abruzzi is planning an expedi- 
tion to the Himalaya Mountains. 

Dr. JoHN GIFFORD is now engaged in de- 
livering ten lectures on ‘ Tropical Pomology,’ 
at Cornell University. 

M. Pierre Janet will shortly give a course 
of fifteen lectures at the Harvard Medical 
School on ‘The Symptoms of Hysteria.’ 

THE Harvey Society of New York announces 
its second course of lectures. These are given 
at the Academy of Medicine building, 17 West 
43d Street, on Saturday evenings at 8:30 P.M. 
The lectures are open to the public and all 
interested are cordially invited to attend. The 
program for the year is as follows: 


508 


October 20, Professor A. EH. Wright, London: 
‘ Therapeutic Inoculation with Bacterial Vaccines.’ 

November 3, Professor C. A. Herter, New York: 
‘The Common Bacterial Infections of the Digest- 
ive Tract and the Intoxications arising from 
them.’ 

November 17, Professor W. T. Porter, Boston: 
“Vasomotor Reflexes.’ 

December 1, Professor J. G. Adami, Montreal: 
‘The Myelins and Potential Fluid Crystals of the 
Body.’ 

December 15, Dr. S. J. Meltzer, New York: 
“The Factors of Safety in Animal Structure and 
Animal Economy.’ 

January 12, Professor F. G. Benedict, Middle- 
town, Ct.: ‘ Metabolism during Fasting.’ 

January 26, Professor E. B. Wilson, New York: 
“Recent Studies of Heredity.’ 

February 9, Professor G. 8. Huntington, New 
York: ‘The Genetic Interpretation of Variations 
in the Genito-Urinary Tract.’ 

February 23, Professor W. T. Councilman, Bos- 
ton: ‘The Relation of Certain Leucocytes to In- 
fectious Diseases.’ 

March 9, Professor Friedrich Miller, Munich: 
“Neuroses of the Heart.’ 


THE autumn lectures to be delivered in the 
lecture hall of the museum building of the 
New York Botanical Garden, Bronx Park, on 
Saturday afternoons, at 4:30 o’clock, are as 
follows: 


October 13, Dr. W. A. Murrill: ‘A Summer in 
Hurope; Some Foreign Botanists and Botanical 
Institutions.’ 

October 20, Dr. M. A. Howe: ‘The Vegetation 
of the Florida Keys.’ 

October 27, Dr. C. Stuart Gager: ‘How Plants 
Breathe.’ 

November 3, Dr. Arthur Hollick: ‘Coal: Its 
Origin and Development.’ 

November 10, Mr. G. V. Nash: ‘The Vegetation 
and Botanical Features of the Inaguas and Grand 
Turk, Bahamas.’ 

November 17, Dr. N. L. Britton: ‘ Recent Ex- 
plorations in the West Indies.’ 

November 24, Dr. H. H. Rusby: ‘The Wild 
Nuts and Grains of North America.’ 


In order to provide a method for viewing the 
collections of the garden under guidance, an 
aid will leave the front door of the museum 
building every week day afternoon at three 
o’clock, to escort all who may wish to accom- 
pany him. The routes will be as follows: Mon- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 616. 


day, hemlock forest and herbaceous garden; 
Tuesday, pinetum; Wednesday, fruticetum 
and north meadows; Thursday, deciduous 
arboretum, nurseries, propagating houses; Fri- 
day, public conservatories; Saturday, mu- 
seums. 


WE learn from Nature that the council of 
the Institution of Civil Engineers has, in addi- 
tion to the medals and prizes given for com- 
munications discussed at the meetings of the 
institution in the last session, made the fol- 
lowing awards in respect of other papers dealt 
with in 1905-6: A Telford gold medal to Mr. 
G. A. Denny; a George Stephenson gold medal 
to Professor W. E. Dalby; Telford premiums 
to Messrs. W. R. Baldwin-Wiseman, G. N. 
Abernethy, H. R. ©. Blagden, M. R. Collins 
and James Kelly; a Crampton prize to Mr. 
P. T. Gask. For students’ papers the awards 
are: Miller prizes to Messrs. Ralph Freeman, 
A. F. Harrison, A. J. Grindling, T. R. Grig- 
son, J. W. D. Ball and A. Morris. Mr. A. F. 
Harrison also’gained the James Prescott Joule 
medal. The awards will be presented on 
November 6, when an inaugural address will 
be delivered by the president, Sir Alexander 
B. W. Kennedy, F.R.S. 


Proressor C. A. J. A. Ovpemanns, who 
formerly held a chair of botany at Amster- 
dam, has died at the age of eighty years. 


Sirk RicHarp Taneye, head of a large engi- 
neering firm at Birmingham and the author 
of books on travels and industry, died on 
October 14, at the age of seventy-three years. 


THE widow of the late Professor Gusserow 
would like to sell his library as a whole. The 
library is a very rich one and contains sets 
of archives, of society publications, text-books 
and separate volumes, and also about 4,000 
separate reprints. A catalogue has been pre- 
pared of the library, the value of which has 
been estimated at 14,000 Marks. Further in- 
quiries on the subject may be addressed to 
Professor Waldeyer, 35 Luther Strasse, Berlin, 
W., Germany. 

THROUGH the generosity of friends the Chi- 
eago Academy of Sciences has secured 3,000 
species of the Quadras collection of Mollusca, 
which was exhibited at the St. Louis World’s 


OcToBeR 19, 1906.] 


Fair. The species are mostly from the Philip- 
pine Islands, many of them being topotypes 
from the original lots named by Moellendorf, 
Hidalgo and Quadras. 

THE botanical department of the University 
of Illinois has purchased the herbarium of 
George D. McDonald, of Peoria, Ill. It con- 
tains about 12,000 specimens. 


In a letter from the Congo Free State 
Major P. H. G. Powell-Cotton states that he 
has succeeded in obtaining the skeleton and 
skin of a fine male okapi. This animal was 
killed at Makala, in the Ituri forest, by the 
native hunter Agukki, who snot the two speci- 
mens taken to Europe by Dr. David. 


Tue U. S. Department of Agiiculture has 
leased from Dr. John Gifford seven and a half 
acres on Elliott’s Key, Dad Co., Florida, for 
ninety-nine years for the purpose of experi- 
menting with tropical plants. 

It is stated in Nature that the authorities 
of the Clifton Zoological Gardens, Bristol, 
have recently made considerable improvements 
designed for the increased comfort and dis- 
play of their collections. Two years ago a 
new lion house was built, having the cages 
within communicating with four open-air 
ones iron-barred on three sides. The animals 
placed in these cages showed so distinct a 
preference for the open air, and improved so 
materially, that the older range of houses has 
been entirely reconstructed, and was thrown 
open to the public on Saturday, September 22, 
for the first time. As now reconstructed, 
seven open-air cages are placed along the 
front of the old house, and communicate with 
the dens within. The cages are lofty, being 
between ten feet and twelve feet in height, 
about twelve feet wide, and fourteen feet long. 
They are supported upon a brickwork base 
four feet in height, and separated from the 
public by a stout iron rail, placed three feet 
away from the cage fronts. It is noteworthy 
that a Rhesus monkey was formerly kept in 
an outer cage in the gardens for quite a num- 
ber of years, winter and summer alike, and 
fared well even in hard frost and snow. When 
taken into the monkey house, however, it 
quickly sickened and died. 


SCIENCE. 


509 


The Electrical World quotes the following 
figures on the patent office congestion com- 
piled by Mr. F. W. Barnaclo, of New York 
City. The office seems sorely in need of more 
men at better pay, for which the annual profits 
seem quite adequate. Mr. Barnaclo’s investi- 
gation shows that in January last there were 
17,353 applications awaiting action in the 39 
divisions of the patent office. To date there 
are 24,000 cases on the docket which have not 
been reached for examination, and tabulations 
prepared by the attorney show that the office is 
falling behind from 250 to 300 cases a week. 
It is shown in the records that the average 
number of applications filed a week is from 
800 to 1,200, and there are only about 600 
patents issued a week. Among divisions be- 
hind are the following: Hydraulic motors, 
pumps and sewerage appliances, 11 months and 
23 days behind and 1,029 cases on hand. Air 
and gas engines, pumps and pneumatics, 10 
months behind and 993 cases on hand. Ma- 
chine tools, 7 months and 19 days behind and 
675 cases on hand. Elevators, journal boxes, 
lubricators, machine elements, pulleys and 
shafting, 4 months and 17 days behind and 
657 cases on hand. Annealing, tempering and 
coating in metals, electrochemicals, metal 
founding, metallurgy, ete., 3 months behind 
and 375 cases on hand. Electric conductors, 
electric appliances, lighting, ete., 11 months 
and 7 days behind and 1,069 cases on hand. 
Steam engineering, 4 months and 23 days be- 
hind and 472 cases on hand. Motive power, 
5 months and 25 days behind and 613 cases on 
hand. 


At the University of Leeds the inaugural 
address of the new session was delivered by 
Sir James Crichton-Browne upon the subject 
of ‘ Universities and Medical Education.” In 
the course of his remarks, as abstracted in 
Nature, he said that centuries ago gifts were 
given for the promotion of objects equivalent 
to those which modern universities hold in 
view, which, considering the pecuniary re- 
sources of those who gave them, should put our 
most open-handed modern millionaires to 
shame. England has been remiss of late in 
perceiving and promoting those interests that 


510 


hinge in scientific and medical research. In 
this direction Germany has stolen a march 
upon us, for the various governments in that 
empire have unstintedly provided their uni- 
versities with fully-equipped research labora- 
tories, organized and conducted by professorial 
directors. A university is something more 
than a medical school, a workshop of research, 
or a home of science. Jt must have loftier 
aims than material advancement or com- 
mercial prosperity. It must provide for cul- 
ture in its widest sense, afford intellectual 
guidance, encourage individuality, take cogni- 
zance of the theoretical problems that arise in 
the progress of civilization, be a storehouse of 
knowledge, and a gymnasium for the exercise 
of all the powers of the mind and to be truly 
a university it must be an organism, and not 
a mere conglomeration of parts. The one 
great objection to the multiplication of uni- 
versities is that they may tend to become local 
seminaries, somewhat parochial in spirit, and 
fed exclusively from one district, for it would 
be a misfortune to a boy to pass from a sec- 
ondary school to a university in the next street, 
where he would meet as his fellow-students 
only his old schoolfellows, and where, however 
amply fed with knowledge, he would still be 
surrounded by the same traditions and asso- 
ciations and shop amongst which he had 
been brought up. A provincial wuniver- 
sity is a contradiction in terms. What is 
wanted is a group of territorial universities, 
each with distinctive features of its own, spec- 
ially adapting it to its environment, but all 
affording the most liberal instruction, the 
finest culture, the best intellectual discipline 
of the day, and collectively meeting the higher 
educational needs of the whole country. 


The Geographical Journal states that Sir 
Everard Im Thurn, governor of Fiji, made a 
journey last November across the mountainous 
interior of Viti Levu, from the mouth of the 
Sigatoka River on the one side to Ba on the 
opposite coast. The coast at the river-mouth 
is unprotected by a reef, and the big ocean 
waves locally called lokas, continually roll in, 
making the narrow rocky entrance precarious 
even for small boats, and piling up the great 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 616. 


swelling sand-dunes characteristic of this part 
of Fiji only. An entrance was, however, suc- 
cessfully made in the steam-launch of the 
Ranadi, perhaps the first steam-craft to enter 
the river. After presiding at the installation 
of a new Roko, or native chief, the governor 
and his party proceeded along the bridle-road 
which crosses the flats of the Sigatoka and 
winds over the rugged interior ranges. The 
flats, which extend up to Fort Carnarvon, 
seem capable of great development agricul- 
turally. The route led through the scenes of 
the war of 1876, in which Sir Arthur Gordon 
finally ended the long strife waged by the 
mountain tribes against the coast natives and 
Europeans. On the present occasion the 
travelers met everywhere with a most hos- 
pitable reception, and the outer hills struck 
the governor as offering great opportunities 
for sheep-rearing, if the native system of 
firing the whole country-side in search of wild 
yams were stopped. Further on the Nalotu 
range, with a wonderfully serrated crest of 
dolomitie rock, was crossed by a small but 
well-marked nick in the knife-edge, the steep 
descent leading through thick trees to the flats 
along the Ba River. On this, the northwest 
side of the island, is the great sugar estate of 
the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, ex- 
tending some forty miles between the Ba and 
Nadi rivers, the capabilities of which consid- 
erably impressed the governor. At one of the 
more recently opened centers, Lautoka, the 
mill is one of the most up-to-date in the world, 
and the place has also the advantage of pos- 
sessing sheltered anchorage and an excellent 
wharf. What is wanted, however, is the con- 
nection of its tram system with that at the 
other end of the estate. An interesting ex- 
periment in the reclamation of coast swamp- 
land has lately been made, the great difficulty 
being the washing of the salt out of the soil. 
From Ba the governor rode up by the excel- 
lent bridle-path to Nadarivatu (which it is 
hoped to develop as a sanatorium), through 
some of the finest mountain scenery imag- 
inable. 


Nature states that the committee of the 
Quekett Microscopical Club has arranged for 


OcTOBER 19, 1906.1 


a series of demonstrations at 20 Hanover 
Square, W., on ‘The Practical Use of the 
Microscope and its Accessories,’ to be given 
from 7 to 8 P.M. on the third Friday in each 
month during the ensuing session. The first 
will be on November 16, when Mr. H. F. 
Angus will deal with axial substage illumina- 
tion, including the use of the plane and con- 
cave mirrors, substage condensers and meth- 
ods of centering the illuminant and of obtain- 
ing critical illumination. At other demon- 
strations, the order of which is not yet finally 
settled, the following subjects, among others, 
will be considered: substage non-axial illu- 
mination, including oblique and dark ground 
illumination; the use of the micropolariscope; 
various methods of illuminating opaque ob- 
_ jects; the testing and comparison of object- 
ives; and the employment of micrometers and 
finders. These demonstrations will be in ad- 
dition to the ‘Gossip’ meetings of the club, 
which are held on the first Friday, and to the 
ordinary meetings, held also on the third Fri- 
day of the month at 8 p.m. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


Mr. Aurrep C. CHapin has given Williams 
College, of which he is an alumnus, an addi- 
tional gift of $50,000, to be used by the trus- 
tees without restriction. Another New York 


alumnus, Mr. Charles T. Barney, has given 
$10,000 to the college. 


THE Oberlin correspondent of the New York 
Evening Post states that the half-million fund 
for Oberlin College, as completed, amounts to 
$501,608. This is divided under the follow- 
ing funds: $125,000 for a new library building 
given by Mr. Andrew Carnegie, $100,000 for 
library endowment, $100,000 from an anony- 
mous donor in Boston for the increase of 
salaries of teachers in the college and semi- 
nary, $25,000 for an art building and its en- 
dowment, $5,000 for the Barrows’ Memorial 
Building for Men, and $146,608 for miscel- 
laneous purposes. The gift of the Boston 
donor enables the trustees to increase by $200 
the salaries of twenty-four full professors. 
The amount of the $146,608 is devoted to the 
following objects: $85,000 given by Miss Anne 


SCIENCE. 


511 


Walworth for the endowment of the Slavic 
department, $15,000 given by Mr. F. Norton 
Finnery as an addition to the Finney Me- 
morial Chapel fund, $21,558 for equipment 
and endowment in various departments, and 
$25,000 for new scholarships and loan funds. 
Of this, $10,000 is in scholarships for self- 
supporting women, and $10,000 is in the Gil- 
christ banking fund, the income of which may 
be used as temporary loans to students. This 
fund was a bequest from Ella Gilchrist Potter, 
of Alpena, Mich. The largest single gift 
toward the library endowment was that of 
Dr. C. N. Lyman, of Wadsworth. This 
amounted to $34,000. The remaining $66,000 
was given by fifty-five donors in sums ranging 
from $10,000 to $25. 


Tue facilities of the engineering depart- 
ment of Purdue University have been in- 
ereased by the completion of a building con- 
taining three floors, each 75 x130 feet, for 
the department of civil engineering, and by 
an addition to the electrical laboratory 68x 
90 feet to give room for additional equipment. 
This room is to be served by a traveling crane 
which may be utilized in transferring heavy 
equipment from the laboratory to a new lec- 
ture room which adjoins. There have been 
added to the materials testing laboratory and 
to the steam engine laboratory a number of 
machines, including a 100,000-pound Olsen 
testing machine, a Fairbanks-Morse 50 horse- 
power gas producer and gas engine, a 20 horse- 
power DeLava steam turbine with direct-con- 
nected centrifugal pump, a steam Ingersoll- 
Rand air compressor, a Foster super-heater of 
the type supplied by the Power Specialty 
Company, a Gerry-Emmons gasoline engine, 
an Abner Doble water motor, and an Allis- 
Chalmers 8x24 Corliss engine, direct-con- 
nected with a centrifugal pump of 4,000 gal- 
lons capacity. 


Proressor W. C. Sasrive, who holds a chair 
of physics at Harvard University and is known 
for his researches in acoustics and optics, has 
been appointed dean of the Lawrence Scientific 
School to succeed the late Professor Shaler. 


Dr. W. B. Cannon, assistant professor of 
physiology in the Harvard Medical School, 


512 


has been promoted to the George Higginson 
professorship in succession to Professor H. P. 
Bowditch, who has become professor emeritus. 
Dr. Wm. T. Porter has been promoted from 
an associate professorship of physiology to a 
chair of comparative physiology. 

THE administrative board for the Graduate 
School of Arts and Sciences of Harvard Uni- 
versity for 1906-7 is as follows: Professors 
W. M. Davis, acting dean, E. L. Mark, G. F. 
Moore, H. W. Smyth, G. L. Kittredge, Hugo 
Miinsterberg, W. C. Sabine, Maxime Bacher, 
E. F. Gay, J. A. Walz. 

Mr. W. L. Purrer, associate professor of 
electrical engineering at the Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology, has resigned and is 
succeeded by Professor George C. Shaad, of 
the University of Wisconsin. 

Proressor E. H. SneatH has been granted 
a second year’s leave of absence from Yale 
University. Dr. Paul Monroe, professor of 
the history of education at Teachers College, 
Columbia University, will have charge of one 
of his courses. 

Dr. Ira D. Carpirr, assistant in botany at 
Columbia University for the past two years, 
has resigned to accept the professorship of 
botany in the University of Utah, Salt Lake 
City, Utah. 

Mr. Cuester A. Daring, A.B. and A.M., 
now of Defiance College, Ohio, has become 
assistant of botany at Columbia University. 

Tue following appointments are announced 
at Cornell University: J. C. Peebles, H. W. 
Riley, M. F. Thomas, George Carpenter and 
W. H. Van Winkle, instructors in experi- 
mental engineering; F. H. Kroger, instructor 
in electrical engineering; D. C. Gillespie, in- 
structor in mathematics; Lowell B. Judson, 
assistant professor of horticulture. 

At Dartmouth College, appointments have 
been made as follows: Assistant professors, 
Dr. D. H. Gerould, biology; Dr. G. M. Poor, 
astronomy. Instructors, R. M. Barton and 
F. C. Moore, mathematics; A. H. Chivers, 
biology; Dr. C. H. Johnston, philosophy. 
Assistants, F. L. Adams and C. Sheard, physics. 

Tue following advancements in the teach- 
ing staff of Lehigh University have been an- 
nounced: Assistant Professor Arthur E. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 616. 


Meaker, C.E., and Assistant Professor Preston 
A. Lambert, M.A., become professors of mathe- 
matics, and John H. Ogburn, C.E., assistant 
professor of mathematics; Assistant Professor 
John D. Irving, Ph.D., becomes professor of 
geology; Assistant Professor Philip M. Palmer, 
A.B., becomes professor of modern languages 
and literatures; Barry MacNutt, E.E., M.S., 
becomes assistant professor in physics; Assist- 
ant Professor William B. Schober, Ph.D., be- 
comes acting professor of chemistry in charge 
of the department, in place of Professor Will- 
iam H. Chandler, Ph.D., resigned. 


New appointments at Purdue University 
are as follows: W. K. Hatt, Ph.D., formerly 
professor of applied mechanics, to be professor 
of civil engineering in charge of the depart- 
ment; Mr. Paul B. Brenneman, B.S., 1894, 
C.E., 1897, State College of Pennsylvania, 
formerly engineer and superintendent of mi- 
ning construction and operation, to be instruc- 
tor in civil engineering; Mr. Arthur W. Cole, 
B.S., Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 1902, 
formerly of the University of Maine, to be 
instructor in thermodynamics; Mr. L. W. 
Wallace, B.S., Texas A. and M. College, 1903, 
late with the motive power department of the 
Santa Fe Railroad, to be instructor in car and 
locomotive design; Mr. W. T. Small, B.S., 
Purdue, 1903, formerly with the Cooper- 
Hewitt Electric Company, to be instructor in 
the electrical laboratory; Mr. C. E. Schutt, 
B.S., Purdue, 1905, formerly with the New 
York Telephone Company, Mr. George Lamke, 
B.S., University of Michigan, 1906, and Mr. 
W. A. Rush, B.S., Purdue, 1906, to be assistants 
in the electrical laboratory; Mr. R. D. Kneale, 
B.S., Purdue, 1906, and Mr. M. L. Allen, B.S., 
University of Wisconsin, 1906, to be assistants 
in the civil engineering department. 

Mr. Rosert E. Lovine, Ph.D. (Johns Hop- 
kins, 705), has been elected professor of phys- 
ics at Cornell College, Iowa. Mr. Robert W. 
Getchell has been appointed assistant in the 
chemical department. 


Proressor Wien, of Wiirzburg, has declined 
the call to sueceed the late Professor Drude, 
at Berlin, on the ground, it is said, that the 
government will not erect a modern physical 
laboratory. 


SCIENCE 


A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 
OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 


FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1906. 


CONTENTS. 


The Technical School and the University: 
PROFESSOR WILLIAM H. BurR............ 513 


The American Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science :— 
Section I—Hconomic and Social Science: 
Dr. JOHN FRANKLIN CROWELL............ 519 


Scientific Books :— 


Whitford on the Vegetation of the Lamao 
Forest Reserve: PROFESSOR FORREST SHREVE 529 


Scientific Journals and Articles............ 530 


Societies and Academies :— 


The St. Lowis Chemical Society: C. J. 
BorGMEYER. The Hlisha Mitchell Scien- 
tific Society of the Uniwersity of North 
(ODER OLAS OI Gs fes WOR Tanto EOS HE RE IAL AU 5380 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 


“An Ignored Theory of the Ice Age’: PRo- 
FESSOR T. C. CHAMBERLIN. Correspondence 
relating to the Survey of the Coal Fields 
of Arkansas: PrRoressor J. C. BRANNER. 
The Presidency of the Massachusetts Instt- 
tute of Technology: PRoFESSOR J. McKEEN 
(CACREDTET eis ei aus getty va eet Salis ation) Lala ae 531 


Special Articles :— 


A Simple Method of illustrating Uniform 
Acceleration: PRorESSOR A. WILMER DUFF 538 


Current Notes on Meteorology :— 
Meteorology of the Nile Basin; Cold Waves 
in the United States; Climate of Alaska; 
Colorado College Observatory ; Notes: Pro- 
RESSOR RG ODEC. WARDEN . clo) seo neg 539 


Research Laboratory of Physical Chemistry 
of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- 


TLOLO GU Mpa Meee ra ee ee aheP ar Ua ar aires ay alloc a SULA gh 540 
IN OIA iD NOOO KU Alco Gee abla cia calc OOO 540 
Scientific Notes and News.................. 541 
University and Educational News.......... 544 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 
review should be sent to the Editor of SclENCE, Garrison-on- 


Hudson, N. Y. 


THE TECHNICAL SCHOOL AND THE 
UNIVERSITY. 

Durine the past four hundred years 
there has been a most significant although 
gradual development in the university or- 
ganization. This has been a necessary 
result of the evolution of, knowledge. The 
earliest continental universities found a 
reason for their being in the dissemination 
of a system of scholastic learning which 
had little to do with the affairs of men. 
A body of learning based chiefly if not 
wholly upon certain conventional systems 
of abstract knowledge like the Aristotelian 
logic, transmitted with little or no change 
from the masters of antiquity, constituted 
essentially all they had to offer to their 
students. The instruction consisted al- 
most entirely of certain exercises in this 
intellectual inheritance practically un- 
changed through the centuries of its trans- 
mission. This mental training had essen- 
tially no relation to or bearing upon the 
actual things of human experience, nor 
had it much effect upon national life or 
upon any of the varied interests of the 
community. 

In the beginning of the sixteenth cen- 
tury, however, when the dark shadows of 
the middle ages began to disappear before 
the illuminating influence of a truer knowl- 
edge, a remarkable movement began in a 
contest which has searcely been closed to 
this day. The intense struggle between 
humanism and scholasticism began in and 
around the German universities in the 
early years of the sixteenth century. The 


514 


actors in this new culture rejected the old 
sterile instruction with merciless vigor and 
displaced it with systems of study touching 
as closely as possible the actual life of 
those times. It was their open purpose in 
which they gloried to treat of things as 
they actually existed, to get as near to the 
life of the community as the best knowl- 
edge would bring them; in other words, to 
touch human life intimately and at the 
greatest possible number of points. 

Seareely had the humanistic movement 
reached a successful issue, before it was 
supplemented by the reformation. Al- 
though this great religious upheaval was 
destined ultimately to aid the humanistic 
movement, an intense struggle marked the 
first stages of their concurrent develop- 
ment. While the ultimate effects of these 
two epoch-making movements were virtu- 
ally the same in their influence upon the 
advancement of knowledge and upon the 
evolution of the university, the fundamen- 
tally different characters of their two great 
representatives led to intellectual contests 
of exceeding bitterness. Fortunately, how- 
ever, their efforts to advance knowledge 
along these different lines created a com- 
mon spirit of true learning, which has been 
the living stimulant of university life from 
that day until this. 

During the sixteenth and seventeenth 
centuries the university may be said to 
have consisted of the philosophical and 
theological faculties, supplemented by the 
faculties of law and medicine. The sub- 
sequent extensions of the university 
throughout the eighteenth century result- 
ing from its closer contact with the things 
disclosed by experience and its widening 
influence upon all branches of human ac- 
tivity, were chiefly marked by the strength- 
ening of the faculties of law and medicine. 

Throughout all this period of over three 
centuries the philosophical faculty was pre- 
dominant in its position and influenee in 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 617. 


the university. It had come to represent 
a body of more or less abstract instruction 
covering by far the greater part of the 
existing field of human knowledge, and, it 
must be said, divorced largely from the 
real things to which it properly belonged. 
In the early history of universities it con- 
stituted a sort of purveyor of privileged 
or aristocratic learning ostensibly of better 
birth than the professional faculties of 
law and medicine, which had the mis- 
fortune to deal with the actualities of life 
on which the welfare and safety of com- 
munities no less than the rights and duties 
of individuals are fundamentally based. 
This conventional class distinction consti- 
tuting a kind of snobbery of learning was 
the real influence or force so completely 


- overcome by the movements of humanism 


and the reformation, and it has bequeathed 
to us the useless and senseless term ‘pure’ 
science as opposed to applied science; as 
if there could be in some way a science 
politely distilled as an essence of learning 
separated from the realities with which 
absolutely all science whatever has to deal 
and without which no science whatever can 
exist. A mere scholastic philosophy based 
upon the sterility of bare convention and 
authority was displaced by an honest and 
fearless search for the real knowledge 
which lies at the base of all true learning. 
The deadening influence of prescribed 
knowledge gave way to the quickening 
stimulus of individual power and freedom 
of investigation in every field of experi- 
ence. All the professional schools of the 
university, prominent among them being 
the modern technical schools, are the fruit- 
ful products of this ever increasing and 
abundant intellectual life. 

During the latter part of the eighteenth 
and throughout the nineteenth century 
the extensions of all branches of physical 
science so enlarged their fields of applica- 
tion that the foundations were laid of an- 


OcToBER 26, 1906.] 


other distinct and prominent faculty. The 
great investigators in chemistry, in physics, 
in biology and in the marvelous combina- 
tions and ramifications of those and other 
affihated sciences were the pioneers in the 
service rendered by science to the creation 
of the industries of the world which have 
been such potent agents in the extraordi- 
nary advancement of civilization during 
the past one hundred and fifty years. 
Every addition to scientific knowledge, 
meaning simply a closer contact with the 
realities of our natural environment, has 
supplied a corresponding field of activity 
for useful effort and in just that much 
has enlarged the meaning and the volume 
of life. 

All these practical or useful extensions 
of technical knowledge have in fact been 
made possible by the technical work of the 
university, although many of the greatest 
inyestigators and of those who have been 
mest successful in enlarging useful produc- 
tion have received their individual stim- 
ulus and prosecuted their life work out- 
side of the university organization. The 
university has been the nursery of useful 
scientific investigation and the influence of 
its instruction has extended with an ever- 
increasing acceleration far beyond the 
limits of its immediate environment. The 
practise of every technical profession is 
founded upon precisely that quality and 
kind of knowledge established by investiga- 
tion and by instruction at those centers of 
learning which only have been the origi- 
nators and transmitters of useful knowl- 
edge from the earliest beginnings of science 
to the present day. Although there has 
been much scientific investigation and re- 
markable applications of science to human 
activities by individuals or in communities, 
to whom apparently even the meaning of 
university work was unknown, the funda- 
mental principles on which the value of 
the subsequent technical work is wholly 


SCIENCE. 


- and most erratic votaries. 


O15 


based will be found in practically or abso- 
Iutely all cases to have germinated in the 
fertile soil of the university. 

The initial stages of technical education 
took form first in the universities of 
Kurope. The subsequent development of 
that educational work into complete tech- 
nical faculties is found to have been prac- 
tically concurrent in the universities of 
both Europe and America, although the 
former have precedence in time over the 
latter by comparatively short periods. 
These faculties have not always been 
known by the names of the professional 
practise for which it is the purpose to pre- 
pare their students, but the apparent de- 
fect in the continuity of the case is not 
real. In the earliest university courses of 
technical study instruction was given in a 
substantial number of technical subjects 
under a faculty of broader jurisdiction 
than that confined to a technical profession, 
and in some of them that method is pur- 
sued even at the present time. Such courses 
of study effectually answered their pur- 
pose in the early days of the engineering 
and allied professions, but their adminis- 
tration has generally been advanced by a 
natural development concurrent with the 
erowth of the professions which they have 
served, to remarkable groups of technical 
faculties of such prominence and _intel- 
lectual strength and with such numbers of 
students as almost to dominate the true 
university in some cases, and even to form 
essentially technical universities in others. 

These great technical faculties have been 
the direct results of the dissemination of 
knowledge by the university. Even the 
professor who has boasted that he never 
wittingly either learned or taught any- 
thing useful has been the servant of real 
learning by extending the limits of scien- 
tifie knowledge which refuses to be hin- 
dered or cireumscribed by its narrowest 
Wherever there 


516 


has been a seat of learning, from that point 
has issued a quickening influence which has 
stimulated the growth of every form of use- 
ful activity. All the great industries on 
which the prosperity of every civilized na- 
tion is based, have originally sprung from 
the small beginnings which had their initial 
impulse from some branch of knowledge, 
acquired in the first instance at the uni- 
versity. ; 

So closely are all forms of knowledge re- 
lated in their fundamental elements that 
no one of them can attain to a state of real 
erowth without carrying others more or 
less with it. This elementary principle 
which finds illustrations and the most con- 
elusive proof in every field of educational 
experience underlies the fundamental or- 
ganization of the university, and it com- 
pletely justifies the place of the technical 
school in the university plan. Further 


than that, it illuminates in a clear and in- 


structive manner the natural development 
of the institution of universal learning. 
The ramifications of every branch of 
science reach a great variety of human 
interests many of which are directly 
affected by it, while others are more re- 
motely touched. The full significance of 
every acquisition of knowledge can only 
be understood or even to a small degree 
appreciated by realizing the industrial ac- 
tivities or other real interests of the com- 
munity which’ it affects. An isolated 
study of any one technical subject, or of 
any other subject, without regard to its 
relation to other branches of knowledge, 
would be excessively narrow in its results 
and probably as valueless as narrow, if in- 
deed such a study be not unthinkable. The 
ereater the number and scope of scientific 
or technical subjects brought within the 
range of instruction, the broader will be 
the whole amount of knowledge acquired, 
and the more complete and thorough will 
be the comprehension of any one of them. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 617. 


There is a limit to the number of subjects 
which can profitably be taken by any stu- 
dent in a course of proposed study, but 
there can be no question whatever that the 
instruction in any one subject will be en- 
hanced in value in proportion to its 
breadth, or its reach into other and related 
or affiliated subjects. 

The more complete the view of the field 
covered, the more satisfactory will be the 
student’s work in it. In fact, it may be 
stated that the real study of any one part 
of the field of knowledge consists in ac- 
quiring information relating to its effect 
upon other fields into which it reaches, It 
is impossible to conceive of any subject of 
scientific study as an abstraction either 
from other subjects or from the material 
elements of experience. 

The bearing of all these considerations 
on the place of the technical school in the 
university is most direct and essential. In 
the first place the instruction in any pro- 
fessional school of a technical character is 
an integral part of the whole body of in- 
struction belonging to an institution of 
universal learning. It can not be given 
so effectively anywhere else as in the or- 
ganization of which it forms a part abso- 
lutely necessary for completion. 

The advantages gained by a technical 
school in a university environment are 
fundamental; they touch both its technical 
work and the general educational training 
which must precede the technical in any 
adequate course of study of a professional 
character. An engineering or other tech- 
nical student pursuing his work in a uni- 
versity system finds himself in a stimula- 
ting atmosphere of study and investigation 
reaching far beyond the limits of his own 
field. He acquires largely by incidental 
or even unconscious absorption a broad 
cultivation by constant contact with ac- 
tive educational work, some of which is 
more or less affiliated with his and some 


OcTOBER 26, 1906.] 


not. This association is an inspiration to 
a broader and more enthusiastic view of 
his own work in itself as well as a material 
enhancement of value of that work by dis- 
closing its relations to other fields of learn- 
ing, all impossible to attain outside of the 
university. These conditions give his edu- 
cational training qualities that not only 
strengthen them and widen his subsequent 
professional practise but contribute most 
effectively to his intelligence and useful- 
ness as an educated citizen. 

More than this, the technical professions 
now demand of their members for the 
higher planes of successful practise the 
same general educational preparation for 
professional study as that required by the 
best law and medical schools. Without 
entering into a discussion as to the relative 
merits of the educational work done by the 
small college and by that forming a sub- 
ordinate member of the university, it is 
sufficient to say that this part of a well- 
rounded course’ of professional study har- 
monizes completely with the university sys- 
tem and is in fact an essential element 
Ol 1G: 

Both for technical efficiency, therefore, 
and for the broadest and best educational 
motives the technical school is bound to 
find its strongest development in an en- 
vironment of universal study and investi- 
gation. 

The university has long since lost the 
character, if it ever properly had it, of a 
place were abstractions of learning, sepa- 
rated from the things which only give them 
life, are to be dispensed after the manner 
of instruction to men who are never to 
deal with the affairs of life. It has come 
to be an intensely practical working agent. 
It is effective and worthy of support only 
in so far as it makes itself felt in the real 
hfe of the community. If it is to be a 
true and real center of instruction it is 
imperative that it shall carry knowledge 


SCIENCE. 


Laks 


into every useful calling, governmental, 
corporate or private. The time will soon 
come, if indeed it is not already reached, 
when it only can prepare men to administer 
and extend in a rational and moral way 
the great industrial activities which at the 
present time form the foundation of the 
material prosperity of the modern world. 

The true student of the professional or 
technical school becomes heir to a compre- 
hensive and clear understanding of his 
duties and responsibilities in his relations 
to his fellow men and to the community. 
Those duties and responsibilities present 
themselves to his trained mind in their real 
proportion. He is neither non-developed 
nor mal-developed in his judgment of 
affairs. His university training, especially 
in the technical school, has taught him ac- 
curacy and penetration in the analysis of 
any proposition confronting him} and that 
truth and knowledge must be sought with 
the directness of a plumb line. Science 
yields nothing but confusion to the shifty, 
devious and dishonest inquirer. The 
fundamentals of morality are the very 
stepping stones to technical success or pro- 
fessional attainment. 

The opportunities offered in the admin- 
istration of puble affairs and the great 
corporate interests of the present time, 
rapidly increasing in number and magni- 
tude, create almost irresistible tempta- 
tions to prostitute them to selfish gain. 
The realization that great power, or what 
has now come to be its full equivalent, 
ereat, wealth, is a grave and delicate trust, 
to which selfish gratification in its infinite 
and seductive variety is abhorrent, comes 
most naturally and easily through sound 
knowledge ‘the beginning of wisdom.’ 

The correct conception of his duties 
gives to the professional man such a deep 
and true sense of his responsibilities as to 
render him the safest administrator of 
those great interests whose sinister power 


518 SCIENCE. 


has already threatened both the morals 
and the safety of the community. Selfish 
gratification is a temptation to which he 
may or may not yield, but his inheritance 
from the university translates wealth to 
be a means of accomplishing the highest 
means of life, and saves him from that 
narrow, common complaisancy of wealth 
which is the dry rot of character. 

In this age of self-appointed erratic and 
dangerous regulators of society when an 
unreasoning and destructive discontent fre- 
quently prompts to crude measures whose 
real purpose is a blind upheaval of the ex- 
isting order of things, the intelligence and 
the calm balance of the university man of 
affairs must. be the corner stones of public 
safety. His trained mind taught to analyze 
and to test by the records of experience 
no less than by the precepts of science does 
not lose its poise before either the shallow 
plausibilities of the advocate of Utopia or 
the sinister deceptions of the revolutionary 
reformer or what has come to be nearly 
as bad, by the egoistic and blundering 
although much-applauded strenuosity of 
the present time. It is not to be supposed 
for a moment that every subject of uni- 
versity training will issue from its halls 
the ideal well-rounded citizen but judg- 
ment must be passed upon such matters in 
view of their resultant tendencies. A fair 
and careful scrutiny of the impress made 
through the professional schools of the uni- 
versity, from the older faculties of philos- 
ophy and theology to the modern faculty 
of engineering, upon the broad moral, gov- 
ernmental, professional and business af- 
fairs of the most cultivated communities 
of the world, conclusively confirms and 
supports these observations. 

The creative or evolutionary influence of 
the university upon the community is ex- 
ercised chiefly, and it will ultimately be 
exercised entirely, through its professional 
faculties, its faculty of philosophy already 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 617. 


having become essentially a professional 
faculty of teaching, a character which it is 
bound fully to assume hereafter. This 
is the highest and ultimately the complete 
mission of the university. This means 
with absolute certainty that professional 
instruction shall be given not by closet pro- 
fessors, but by men who are students in the 
highest and best sense of the word, pro- 
found students not only of the abstract 
principles of their profession, but of the 
play and power of those principles upon 
the affairs of men. This knowledge must 
be gained by taking their full part in hu- 
man experience and not by withdrawing 
from it. Their investigations must be 
made largely in the practical operations of 
their professions. In other words, they 
must be men of affairs as well as students. 
A living and forceful quality can be given 
to instruction in no other way whatever 
but by actual contact with the things en- 
countered in practical experience and pre- 
cisely in the relations disclosed by that ex- 
perience. 

Some of the professional faculties have 
already benefited by this quickening and 
energizing influence of living contact with 
their professions. The medical faculties 
are composed largely of eminent prac- 
titioners and it is not too much to say that 
it would be impossible to give the requisite 
instruction were it otherwise. It is well 
known that most serious defects in the 
present educational administration of the 
university faculties of law and engineering 
are due to the fact that too many instruct- 
ors fail of that true development and 
broad training gained only by actual pro- 
fessional experience. It may be con- 
fidently stated that instruction in profes- 
sional engineering subjects can not now be 
given with the necessary breadth and effi- 
ciency without supplementing the impera- 
tively necessary work of the study by ex- 
tended practical experience. And those ob- 


ee 


OctToBER 26, 1906.] 


servations are not peculiar to the faculties 
to which they are applied. The time has 
already come when the professional fac- 
ulties, and preeminently so those of the 
technical schools, must be active, living 
parts of their professions. There is no 
other way by which they can either prop- 
erly discharge their own functions or be- 
come members of a university organization 
strengthened and equipped to meet its 
wide educational responsibilities which 
make it one of the greatest conserving and 
elevating forces of the community. 

The technical schools constituting the 
ereat modern professional schools of the 
university are integral parts of it and 
necessary consequences of its natural evo- 
lution. They belong to it historically and 
naturally. They are professional schools, 
and professional schools not only belong to 
the university, they are the university. 


WiuLtiAM H. Burr. 


THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE 
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 
SECTION I—ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
SCIENCE. 

THE address of the retiring vice-presi- 
dent, Professor Fisher, en ‘Economic Sci- 
ence,’! was followed by an address of wel- 
ecme by Professor Frank A. Fetter, ex- 
secretary of the American Economic Asgso- 
ciation, in which the work of the section 
was commended for its services in em- 
phasizing the scientific method in economics 
in contrast with the conception which gave 
most attention to theoretical descipline. 

The discussions of Professor Norton’s 
paper (see below) by Dr. W. H. Welch, 
of Johns Hopkins, and Dr. A. C. Abbott, 
of the Philadelphia Board of Health, 
added materially to the value of this ses- 
sion. Dr. George W. Kober, of Washing- 
ton, and Fred. L. Hoffman, of Newark, 
sent communications on this paper, the 

1See Science, August 31, 1906. 


SCIENCE. 


O19 


latter especially eriticizing the proposals 

relating to federal control of medical insti- 

tutions. 

Economic Advisabtlity of a National De- 
partment of Health: Prorsssor J. 
PEASE Norton, Yale University. 

The salvation of the civilization and the 
race lies in the hands of exceptional men. 
The hope of the race inheres in their 
efficient organization for action. Organ- 
ization consists in compelling voluntarily 
or involuntarily each individual to do that 
thing within his capability which has great- 
est value for society. To do otherwise is 
a great waste. To permit great wastes to 
go. unchecked is more than a suicidal 
policy; for an evil more heinous than race 
suicide is race homicide. 

There are four great wastes to-day, the 
more lamentable because they are unneces- 
sary. They are preventable death, pre- 
ventable sickness, preventable conditions of 
low physical and mental efficiency and pre- 
ventable ignorance. The magnitude of 
these wastes are testified to by experts 
competent to Judge. They play their part 
in a cruel devastating destruction that is 
almost ineredible to the human mind. 

The economic reasons for establishing a 
national department of health are five: 
(1) To enable society to progress more 
rapidly under the law of increasing returns 
through increasing the per cent. of excep- 
tional men of each degree (many of 
whom are now lost through preventable 
accidents), in addition to increasing the 
total population. (2) To lessen the burden 
of the unpreductive years on the product- 
ive years by increasing the average age at 
death. (3) To decrease the burden of 
death on the productive years by increas- 
ing the age at death. If the expenses of 
illness and death are $300 and the average 
age at death is forty years, the average 
death expenses average $15 on the twenty 


520 


productive years. Could the average age 
be increased to 50 years, the burden falls 
to $10 or a decrease of fifty per cent. For 
80,000,000 of people, the saving of $1.50 
per year of life would be equivalent to 
$120,000,000 per annum. (4) To lessen the 
economic burden of sickness. Assuming 
Newholme’s figure of nine days average ill- 
ness per annum, approximately 2,000,000 
years of life are lost per annum. Hstima- 
ting wages at $1 per day, and all other ex- 
penses $1 per day, $1,444,000,000 loss per 
annum is registered by this item. Could 
the days of illness be cut down one third 
nearly $500,000,000 would be saved. (5) 
Higgins has estimated that six hundred 
millions are now spent on criminality in 
the United States. If the criminality is 
largely the product of social environment, 
such as over-crowding, alcoholism, ete., 
measures which would decrease this only 
fractionally are worthy of consideration. 
A decrease of 163 per cent. would result in 
savings of $100,000,000 per annum. 

For the last four estimates, the total 
savines range between $1,800,000,000 and 
$4.000,000,000 per annum. In addition to 
the positive gain, in addition to the savings 
above, there exists a vast amount of misery 
and sorrow which would be lessened, but 
may not be measured by statistics. 


How Shall the Destructive Tendencies of 
Modern Life be met by the Indwidual? 
Dr. Ricuarp Cote Newton, Montclair, 
N. J. 

First of all a physical education is 
needed to develop, strengthen and preserve 
the body. In spite of mechanical and 
scientific advance, we are far behind in re- 
spect. to the rules of simple and healthful 
living. A systematic study of diet, use of 
narcotics, employment of exercises as they 
apply to 10,000 people for ten years would 
settle many fundamental questions which 


SCIENCE. 


activity as a pursuit. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 617. 


nothing short of government could success- 
fully undertake to solve. A national 
bureau of health should be formed to un- 
dertake such studies and experiments as 
are necessary to make these inquiries. 
This bureau should pass on every new 
remedy and every proposed system of 
treatment, so that the humblest citizen 
might know that he will not injure himself 
in using such remedies or systems of treat- 
ment. By positive direction and training 
the Japanese have made their armies in- 
vineible. We must profit by their example 
if we would maintain our national hfe and 
our racial preeminence. 


Limitation of Great Fortunes: Professor 
JAMES WALTER Crook, Amherst College, 
Mass. 

The problems connected with the amass- 
ing of enormous fortunes have been given 
a special importance by President Roose- 
velt’s Washington address, on April 14. 
The remedy by him proposed was a pro- 
eressive tax so framed as to prevent giving 
or beqeathing fortunes, over a given 
amount, the tax to be imposed by the 
federal government. 

Unlimited opportunity to accumulate 
fortunes has a selective value by attracting 
a large share of the best talent into busi- 
ness. A change would affect commercial 
It would create a 
new source of federal income and greatly 
modify the distribution of wealth in the 
community. 

We must remember that the wealthy in 
large measure manage their wealth for so- 
ciety. Before radical action we should 
consider whether the growth of large 
fortunes is due to temporary or permanent 
causes. 

The causes of great fortunes are, as a 
rule: (1) underground resources (mining, 
oil, ete.), (2) development of transporta- 


OcToBER 26, 1906.] 


tion facilities, (3) combination of corporate 
enterprises, (4) increase in land values, 
(5) speculation in corporate securities, (6) 
monopoly. All except the second and the 
sixth are still open fields for the fortune 
maker. 

Possibly something, not much, may be 
expected as a remedy from seeking an 
honorable family name, from public serv- 
ice, but the remedy is too remote. 

Of the three methods proposed: (1) An 
arbitrary limit to accumulation, (2) pro- 
gressive income tax, and (3) progressive 
inheritance tax, the first is arbitrary, the 
second no less acceptable, and the third is 
good for raising revenue but doubtful as 
a means of repressing accumulations. 

A tax heavy enough to accomplish the 
purpose would raise problems of fiscal ad- 
ministration of a perplexing character, 
both in the collection and use of the funds. 
Economically, such a tax would repress in- 
dustrial activity, financially it might cause 
extravagance in governmental expenditure 
and disturbance of the money market by 
its collection. 


On the subject of agriculture the intro- 
ductory talk of Professor L. H. Bailey, of 
Cornell, on the ‘Problems of Agriculture,’ 
and the paper by Professor G. N. Lauman, 
on ‘Rural Conditions and Problems in 
Europe,’ were timely and full of sugges- 
tion in the service of American experience. 

Professor Bailey said: The farm is go- 
ing to be laid out by the rural architect 
with regard to good taste. We shall be- 
gin with the highways and take down 
the advertising signs among the first. 
Sanitation will play a larger part. Even 
now many of our best dairy stables are 
more truly sanitary than the majority of 
homes in city or country. The rural 
home must solve its servant problem (1) 
by simplifying its food preparation, and 


SCIENCE. 


521 


(2) by reduction of labor with mechanical 
appliances. 


Causes and Consequences of the Past Ten 
Years of Agricultural Prosperity wm the 
United States: Gnorce K. Houmegs, U. 
S. Department of Agriculture. 

The prosperity of farmers, which has 
been preeminently in evidence during the 
last half dozen years, must be and is log- 
ically reflected in the higher capitalization 
of their lands, and in better and additional 
buildings and other improvements. It has 
been ascertained by the U. S. Department 
of Agriculture that the farm real estate of 
the United States increased 33.5 per cent. 
in value during the five years following 
the census of 1900, or an amount that aver- 
aged $100,000,000 a month and equaled 
$6,000,000,000. 

There has been a cessation in recent 
years of the longtime tendency to overpro- 
duction; there is no more cheap cultivable 
land of nation, state and railroad to be 
robbed of its fertility for cheap production. 
The agricultural population is becoming a 
smaller fraction of total inhabitants, and 
there is a nearer approach to equilibrium 
between agricultural production and con: 
sumption, helped by enormous exports of 
cotton, grain and meat. In the meantime, 
immigration, which had long poured its 
hordes upon the farms, has changed in 
character and been diverted to the cities, to 
consume instead of multiply the products 
of the farm. Besides, the consumption per 
capita of some things seems to have in- 
creased—of wheat, meat and its products, 
vegetables, fruit, poultry and eggs. 

These are among the chief causes that 
are making agricultural consumption tend 
to push agricultural production, with the 
result that prices have risen and farming 
operations have become more profitable. 

The greatest economic gain that the 


522 SCIENCE. 


farmer has made, apart from higher prices, 
is the freedom to shift from one crop to 
another, the most conspicuous illustration 
being cotton. Now that the planter is not 
generally working against a crop lien bear- 
ing 40 per cent. interest and profit to 
secure advanees for living and production 
and has no ereditor who will lend on no 
security but cotton, he is in a position to 
raise cotton or some other product, as he 
pleases, and there will never be an exces- 
sive erop of cotton again, unless by chance 
for one year, as in 1903. 

Among other results of prosperity, are 
the ability of the farmer to borrow at a low 
rate of interest, his enormous accumula- 
tions, deposits in banks, and investments, 
the cancellation of old farm mortgages, and 
his ability to hold his crop after harvest 
until the price is satisfactory to him, in 
place of dumping it upon the market as he 
formerly did to pay debts and expenses. 
The farmer now has an impregnable eco- 
nomic position. 


Economic Geography: Dr. J. RUSSELL 
SmitH, Wharton School, University of 
Pennsylvania. 

Economic geography is a study of the 
world in which we live as a place in which 
to make a living. Another way of putting 
it is that it is the description of lands in 
terms of human usefulness. This phase of 
geography does not permit itself to be 
carried off into speculation of purely scien- 
tific interest unless there is also an 
economic aspect. It is held down by that 
qualification of human interest—usefulness 
to man. 

Almost every industry and every form 
of human activity is controlled by the 
physical conditions of the land in which 
the people live. The understanding of 
these relations is economic geography, and 
it is one of the shortcomings of our educa- 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 617. 


tional system that this study has not re- 
ceived greater attention. 

Economie geography needs to go into 
higher education in as thorough a way as 
has been the case with history. It is useful 
not only to other sciences but to the direct 
preparation of the individual for citizen- 
ship and business. 

The concept and treatment of history 
have been rapidly changing because of the 
erowing recognition of the part that eco- 
nomic conditions have had in shaping 
human affairs. The understanding of the 
past and the present are alike in their re- 
quirements. The science of economies, like 
history, requires for its understanding the 
fundamental facts of economic geography. 
Economie geography gives the economic 
facts that are requisite to an understand- 
ing of economic theory. Many of the 
problems of political science also grow out 
of geographical conditions. 

Private industry and investment also de- 
pend closely upon the information given 
by economic geography. Twenty years 
ago there was a great rush of emigrants 
into western Kansas. They were un- 


‘familiar with the economic geography of 


the region and a quarter of a million of 
them attempted to make farm homes where 
it was impossible to do so. They were 
driven out bankrupt after years of labor, 
and eastern mortgage holders also lost mil- 


lions. Economic geography is quite as im- — 


portant to the financier as to the repre- 
sentative of industry or government. 


On the general theme of municipal 
ownership four papers were presented. 
That by Charles W. Tooke (Syracuse, N. 
Y.) dealt with legal and financial phases 
of the problem. The discussion was opened 
by Charles Whitney Baker of the Engi- 
neering News, New York City, who said: 

The ‘public utilities’ in cities at the 
present day are absolute necessities; hence 


. 
a 


a 


OcroBEeR 26, 1906.] 


their control or operation by the public 
authorities is a far more vital question than 
it was twenty years or even ten years ago. 

There have been three important changes 
in the public point of view of the muni- 
cipal ownership question: First, the ene- 
mies as well as the friends of municipal 
ownership are now agreed that public utili- 
ties, if not owned by the city, must be 
operated under strict franchises, providing 
for good service and regulation of rates and 
limited in duration. 

Second, all are agreed that ‘public utili- 
ties’ are natural monopolies and that at- 
tempts to create competition in the gas, 
water or electric supply are in the long 
run injurious, both to the stockholders and 
to the public, and hence should not be 
permitted. 

Third, the recent disclosures of inef- 
ficiency, corruption and wholesale graft in 
some of the private corporations which the 
public has been accustomed to regard as 
models of good business management, has 
enabled people to make a fairer comparison 
between municipal work and private work. 
Public utilities in most cities are and must 
be operated by large corporations, unless 
the cities themselves take charge. In these 
corporations, there is and will inevitably 
be more or less red tape, inefficiency, graft 
and corruption. It probably still remains 
true that this corporate management will 
generally be more efficient than city man- 
agement, but the difference is far from be- 
ing as great as has usually been supposed. 


Public Ownership and the Wage-Earners: 

H. T. Newcoms, Washington, D. C. 

In its efforts to convert municipal, state 
and national governments to particular 
portions of its socialistic program the per- 
sistent propaganda of public ownership, 
whose tireless activities so visibly pervade 
current American politics, usually de- 
mands the support of wage-earners upon 


SCIENCE. 


523 


the ground that the employees of public 
enterprises will be more favorably treated 
than those of private enterprises in the same 
field. It is claimed that public ownership 
means higher wages; shorter hours of labor, 
and, generally, better conditions of employ- 
ment. 

Experience proves not only that the gov- 
ernment is not the best employer, but that 
it is not even a fair employer. Nor is this 
all. When government engages in industry 
on a large scale the condition of its em- 
ployees naturally and inevitably degen- 
erates to that of slavery. 

Government does not advance wages with 
the increased cost of living. 

Democracy is an arbitrary employer. 
Public employees must not seek to better 
their condition, on penalty of discharge, 
according to President Roosevelt’s order of 
January 31, 1902. 

Compulsory labor in New Zealand (Par- 
sons, ‘Story of New Zealand,’ p. 179 seq.) 
gives no hope to labor for freedom under 
government employment. 

The public employer has neither the 
knowledge of labor conditions, nor the in- 
centive to efficiency which springs from the 
demand for pecuniary success. As truly as 
republics are ungrateful, the majority is 
sure to prove harsh as a task-master, and 
grudging in yielding compensation to its 
servants. Its enthusiasms are usually, not 
always, toward generosity, but they are 
changing, remittent and unreliable, while 
its sterner morality produces an ideal of 
justice that inspires the niggardly legislator 
while he crushes, in the ostensible interest 
of the taxpayer, every proposal to deal 
fairly and, therefore, wisely with the prob- 
lems arising out of the public employment 
of labor. More than this; democracy, or 
the majority, through which it operates, is 
intolerant of disagreement with its prin- 
ciples, relentless in beating down opposition 
to its policies, merciless to the minority 


524 SCIENCE. 


which persists in impeding the execution of 
its will. What could such an employer be, 
in dealing with labor on a large scale, save 
a harsh task-master? What could it natu- 
rally become save a driver of shackled 
slaves? Where is the clear-headed and in- 
dependent wage-earner who will consciously 
invoke such tyranny ? 


Fallacies of Municipal Ownership: ALLEN 
RieLtey Footer, Secretary State Chamber 
of Commerce, Columbus, Ohio. 

The most beneficent service a government 
ean render the people is to correctly regu- 
late, not to own and operate, public service 
utilities. Every gain made in reducing 
prices for services charged to the people by 
eliminating the political elements of the 
costs of ownership and operation paid by 
corporations, can be eliminated by placing 
corporations under a correct system of 
regulation, and granting them, without 
charge, every privilege enjoyed, without 
payment, by the municipal corporation. 

Politicians now take advantage of cor- 
porate mistakes to make promises of better 
service. They make a show of keeping 
their promises to the people, by the simple 
process of not charging into the account 
numerous items all of which are paid by 
corporations and must be covered by prices 
they charge for services rendered. The ap- 
parent gains sometimes shown by municipal 
ownership advocates in the department of 
economie costs, on close analysis and inspec- 
tion are invariably found to be the products 
of political book-keeping, and an unsound 
financial policy. These include the pay- 
ment of the interest account on bonds out 
of the tax-payers’ money and charged to 
general expense, instead of to the operating 
expenses of the utility; no insurance, with 
losses by fire to be paid out similarly; no 
account taken of depreciation. 

Economic gains are thus shown, but not 
made. Such gains must be earned, they 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 617. 


can not be created by a fiat resolution. In- 
stead of making savings for the people, 
municipal ownership has resulted in ham- 
pering, restricting and deadening all enter- 
prise and improvement in the industries it 
has absorbed, and in placing heavy burdens 
upon the tax-payers. 

Correct regulation would require all cor- 
poration accounts to be kept in the form 
prescribed by the state for the information 
of the people. There would be an end of 
watered stock; wars between competing cor- 
porations would cease; operating costs 
would not be inflated by charges for fran- 
chises and property taxes; prices charged 
for services would be true economic prices. 


The Corporate and the Individual Con- 
science: CorA AGNES BENNESON, LL.B., 
Cambridge, Mass. 

Within the last decade great changes have 
taken place in business management. From 
individuals it has passed to corporations, 
composed of individuals, to be sure, but 
they must now consider corporate instead of 
personal interests; they have, or should 
have, a corporate conscience. 

Granted, that although a corporation 
proverbially has no soul, it has a corporate 
conscience. Who is responsible for that 
conscience, the stockholders, the directors or 
the state? 

On measures involving public welfare, 
the state conscience should be on the alert. 
If a corporation corners a necessary com- 
modity, like wheat or coal, or unduly 


_cheapens labor, it is dangerous to the re- 


public and the state should take away its 
charter. State laws should be passed pro- 
tecting minority stockholders. 

The directors are responsible for the cor- 
porate conscience, when they resort to 
double-dealing, as for instance privately 
giving lower railroad rates to certain cor- 
porations than to individuals, or exploiting 
the corporation for private ends. The 


OcToBER 26, 1906.] 


remedy lies with the stockholders to put 
such out of office. Stockholders are respon- 
sible for the corporate conscience when they 
permit corporate measures they would not 
personally sanction. 

Few stockholders attend annual meetings. 
If they absent themselves, what right have 
they to complain that the directors are self- 
elected and a small number or even one 
gains. control? Attendance gives oppor- 
tunity to ask questions; the more searching 
these are, the more welcome are they to 
directors who have nothing to conceal and 
who have kept the corporate conscience 
clean. 


The Public Bath System of Brooklyn: W1L- 

tiAM H. Haus, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

A system of free public baths is a most 
important and beneficent exercise of muni- 
cipal ownership, conducing as it does to 
public health and ultimately to improve- 
ment of public morals. 

The floating baths have long been in use 
along the river front during the summer 
season ; three of these dating back nearly or 
quite thirty years are still in commission; 
two more were built in 1897, and the five 
are now open to the public. It is estimated 
that 1,500,000 people used these baths last 
summer. 

The system of interior baths open the 
year around is very recent. Six have been 
opened thus far. 

These baths provide shower baths, with 
hot and cold water, free to all. Soap is 
provided at a cent a cake and use of towels 
for a cent. Tubs in private rooms with 
soap and use of towel, cost five cents. 

Great care is taken to keep the bath 
houses well cleaned, and this is so well done 
that many of our good citizens use the 
public baths, and many persons regularly 
come from New York-to use them. 

Receipts for soap, use of towels and use 
of tubs in 1905 were $4,446.75. The esti- 


SCIENCE. 


525 


mated attendance during 1905 was 6,000 a 
day. 

The cost per capita of each bath for the 
Montrose Avenue bath for April, 1906, was 
3.42 cents. The number of bathers for this 
month was reported as 47,956, and the cost 
of operation of that bath above receipts for 
that month was estimated at $1,594.01. 
This does not include the cost of the water 
used nor any estimate to cover rent for the 
building, but merely operating expenses. 

And it is indeed doubtful whether public 
funds can in any way be better expended 
than in the cleansing of the people by these 
baths, in promoting health and comfort, 
and in its generally ameliorating effect. It 
is the testimony of the attendant in charge 
of the bath which we have just been dis- 
cussing that it has a distinctly perceptible 
effect not only in improving the health, but 
also in elevating the moral tone of the com- 
munity in that immediate neighborhood. 


Regulation of Freight Rates: N. T. Bacon, 

Peace Dale, R. I. 

The railroads legitimately object to 
freight charges based on mileage only, that 
in many cases, and especially for short dis- 
tances, haulage only represents a minor 
part of the cost to them, being of less im- 
portance than switching, and the use of 
terminals and rolling stock. To meet these 
objections rates are proposed based on three 
subdivisions of the charge: 

1. Terminal charges for switching and 
use of terminal facilities. For this all sta- 
tions should be graded, according to annual 
freight receipts, into say six classes, ter- 
minal charges to be uniform for each grade 
of stations for the different services ren- 
dered at each end. 

2. Use of rolling stock. 

3. Haulage. 

All these should differ for the different 
classes of freight, but all rates and gradings 
should be published, and no modification 


526 SCIENCE. 


allowed without publication a month in ad- 
vance. Charges should be only for services 
rendered, so that in case of concerns owning 
their own sidings and doing their own 
switching, terminal charges would be elimi- 
nated for that terminal, but not at the other 


unless the freight received such treatment 
at both ends. Similarly no charges should 


be made for rolling stock against firms pro- 
viding their own cars, except that where 
they are returned empty a suitable pub- 
lished rate should be made for this. These 
are the legitimate advantages of wealth, but 
no illegitimate advantages such as exclusive 
contracts should be tolerated. Those 
already existing are probably ultra vires 
for common earriers and therefore void. 

Freight classification should be left to 
periodical conventions of general freight 
agents. It is too complicated for any other 
treatment. 

Finally, the railroads should be liable for 
demurrage for unreasonable delays, on a 
basis similar to that on which they charge 
demurrage for delay in unloading. Some 
allowance should be made for extraordinary 
demands; but favoritism should be drastic- 
ally punishable, and the president or direc- 
tors of a railroad should be personally 
responsible for the shortcomings of subor- 
dinates, without exonerating these. More- 
over, those finally responsible should be 
under heavy bonds and not at liberty to 
avoid suit by taking refuge abroad. Our 
laws should be altered, to allow an action 
im rem instead of in personam in the case of 
any fugitive from justice who does not re- 
turn on publication of a summons. There 
are few greater scandals than those of 
wealthy men abroad defying our laws while 
they depend on them for the enjoyment of 
the income of their property. 


The Problem of Railroad Taxation: Hur- 
BERT N. Epwarps, Yale University. 
The modern industrial corporation has 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 617. 


found its chief field of operation in trans- 
portation which is the life of industrial 
development. In the United States methods 
of assessment and collection of taxes on 
these properties are so varied as to be con- 
fusing. But in principle there is more uni- 


_formity. Forty-seven out of fifty states 


and territories tax their railroads on the 
basis of physical valuation. The general 
property tax still obtains nearly every- 
where, but by methods differing from that 
used in taxing individual property. The 
method in most common use is the state 
board of assessment and collection. The 
average value per mile is the valuation 
basis to which any given rate is applied. 
But valuation is in some cases not that of 
use and personal property but of the stocks 
and bonds (Delaware, Pennsylvania, Massa- 
chusetts, New York) supplemented by gross 
receipts tax. 

Railway taxes are now the chief source 
of state revenue in many eases, leaving the 
general property tax to local divisions. In 
Michigan the basis is the sum of values of 
the tangible and intangible property. Plehn 
advocates the value of their securities as the 
best basis and Seligman the taxation of net 
receipts. The states now derive $60,000,- 
000 revenue from this source. Their 
methods are, however, inadequate and some 
form of federal control is needed for the 
sake of more harmonious methods. 


What may Accounting teach Economics: 

FREDERICK A. CLEVELAND, New York. 

To the economic dogmatist and abstract 
reasoner who conceives economics as com- 
posed of a set of specific doctrines as ex- 
pounded by the physiocrats, the Malthu- 
sians or the Marxians, or as embraced in a 
congeries of concepts known as the ab- 
stinence theory of capital, the marginal 
theory of rent, the residual theory of labor, 
the quantity theory of money and the utility 


OcroBEeR 26, 1906.] 


theory of value—to these accounting can 
teach nothing. 

On this conception of economics, after a 
century of research and discussion, Profes- 
sor Hollander holds that we have not as yet 
developed any scientific conception of in- 
dustrial society. Many others agree with 
him. Economies as a branch of science is 
rather concerned with the group activities 
of man toward indiwidual and social gain. 
The point of view is that (1) of economic 
factors, (2) of economic relations (a) to the 
material world and (b) to institutions both 
social and economic, and (3) the forms of 
economic income, including private and 
publie incomes. 

Already considerable progress has been 
made in this direction by others than econ- 
omists, especially by the student of history 
and public law. Scientific economies con- 
siders data as related to (1) organization, 
(2) problems of administration, and (3) 
methods and technique. We must lay aside 
dogma and classify data to get an intelli- 
gent grasp of affairs. 

Accountancy is to scientific economics 
what the clinic is to medicine. The ex- 
amination made by the professional ac- 
countant is for purposes of prescription. 
A record of the diagnosis, of the prescrip- 
tion, of the remedial result, and of the his- 
tory of the performance of normal physi- 
ological functions recorded in the accounts, 
may be taken as the data upon which broad 
scientific generalization may be based; this 
broad generalization should be made by the 
economist. 


Structure of Cities: RicHarp M. Hurp, 
President, Lawyers’ Mortgage Company, 
New York. 

Cities grow and conform to economic 
law. The point of origin is that of contact 
with the outer world. In its organization 
from 40 to 70 per cent. of the area is used 
for streets, the balance is devoted to three 


ae 


SCIENCE. 


527 


uses: Business, residences and public build- 
ings. The distribution of business utilities 
is purely economic, land going to the 
highest bidder. Residence areas are based 
on social considerations. Growth is axial 
or central—around centers or around the 
circumference. 

Central growth has two main aspects; 
first general growth in all directions from 


‘the point of origin and second local growth 


around subcenters within the city, such as 
transportation termini, public buildings, ex- 
changes, factories and hotels. As a city 
grows the centralizing influence of public 
buildings steadily diminishes while its ex- 
changes assume increasing importance, 
these varying in character according to the 
leading business transacted in the city. 


Normal growth consists of the gradual 


aggregation of buildings of the same char- 
acter due to the gregariousness of mankind 
and the saving in time from the close juxta- 
position of buildings. Continuity is a vital 
feature of all growth, whether central or 
axial, every break causing a weakness in 
the structure similar to the loss of a link 
in a chain. An internal movement which 
constantly goes on is the gathering together 
of similar forms of business into special 
districts. 

There are three main causes of changes 
in a city’s structure ; increase of population, 
increase of wealth and new transportation 
facilities. Increase of population without 
increase of wealth would normally tend 
only to a gradual extension of buildings of 
the existing character over a larger area. 
Increase of wealth, however, causes con- 
tinual rebuilding within the city, old-fash- 
ioned shops, dingy offices and plain resi- 
dences being supplanted by buildings of a 
new standard of magnificence. New and 
improved methods of transportation draw 
residences beyond the city’s limits, concen- 
trate business in higher buildings at the 
center and establish new axes of travel as 


528 SCIENCE. 


additional vertebre for the city. More 
and more in the life of great cities is im- 
proved transit of importance, the tendency 
being for traffic to mass at intersecting 
points with inferior utilities in the quiet 
side streets. 


Insurance Problems relating especially to 
the Management of Assets and Legal 
Regulation of Investments: Dr.- LESTER 
W. ZarrMan, Yale University. (To be 
published elsewhere. ) 

The New York insurance investigation 
revealed the dangers and abuses in the 
management of insurance assets. As a re- 
sult stricter legal regulation has become 
necessary. The evils of insurance fund 
management are of three classes: (1) Of- 
ficers and trustees made personal profit out 
of the company’s funds; or (2) they took 
no interest in the disposition of the funds, 
and (3) the policy-holders to whom the 
funds belong exercised no control over their 
property. 

Stricter hmitation of the investing pow- 
ers of officers and trustees has not proved 
an adequate reform. It has rather pro- 
duced abuses, such as collateral loans and 
trust company deposits, both of which 
should be given up. 

The vulnerable point in insurance is the 
making of personal profits by officers and 
trustees. Making this a penal offence 
would tend to divorcee insurance manage- 
ment from other lines of business. Stock 
insurance companies should be forbidden, 
because of the danger of stock control, and 
real mutuality secured. Abolish the proxy 
system and provide voting of policy-hold- 
ers by mail for boards of managers are in 
the right direction. More reliance should 
be placed on the election of responsible 
directors than in strict legal regulation. 


Mathematics and Formal Discipline: JOSEPH 
V. Couns, State Normal School, Stevens 
Point, Wis. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 617. 


In the training of the reasoning powers 
the service of that faculty in social and 
economic science is to be considered. Pro- 


fessor Lewis (Dartmouth) in his study of 


formal discipline by tests in geometry and 
practical reasoning (School Review, April, 
1905) shows that a relationship exists but 
does not prove the faculty theory true. 
Tables prepared by the author of the pres- 
ent paper show that what a student does in 
any subject depends more on his mental 
equipment and native environment than on 
the particular matter considered. 

Mathematies gives a training swi generis. 
In arithmetic the problems correlate at 
many points with the actual affairs of life. 
Speaking broadly, though the most im- 
portant effects of the mathematical training 
are abilities of quite general application: as, 
holding a number of particulars in the mind 
at one time, training in sustained reason- 
ing, habit of overcoming difficulties, recog- 
nizing the universality of the application of 
correctly stated laws, perceiving the need of 
care to secure the accuracy of results re- 
quired, and so on. ‘These powers have 
identity of qualities with multitudes of ac- 
tivities the individual finds himself engaged 
in in after life. They thus furnish hooks 
on which to hang new experiences and con- 
quer new problems. In these ways perhaps 
more than in any others mathematics justi- 
fies its place in the course. 


The following papers were read by title 
or in abstract: 
Conditions and Needs of Southern Agri- 
culture: Professor ANDREW M. Soutg, 
Blacksburg, Va. 


Labor Conditions in Southern Farming: 
Professor F. W. Massry, Raleigh, N. C. 


Value of an Orgamzed Working Force in 
Industry: President E. L. BLACKSHEAR, 
Prairie View, Texas. 


ee 


OcTOBER 26, 1906.] 


Restriction of Telegraph Development 
Under Monopoly Control: Romyn Hitcu- 
cock, New York. 

J. FRANKLIN CROWELL, 
Secretary. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


The Vegetation of the Lamao Forest Reserve. 
By H. N. Wuirrorp. The Philippine Jour- 
nal of Science, Vol. I., No. 4, pp. 373-482, 
pls. 1-27, with map; May, 1906; and Vol. L., 
No. 6, pp. 637-682, pls. 28-45; July, 1906. 
This paper embodies a careful descriptive 

account of a large body of virgin forest near 

Manila, in the study of which the author has 

carried into the tropics the precise methods 

of temperate forestry and the viewpoint of 
physiographic ecology as developed by Cowles. 

The Lamao Reserve occupies an area of 4,426 

hectares on the eastern slopes of Mount Mari- 

veles, which is located in the center of the 
peninsula which forms the northern mouth of 

Manila Bay. The reserve runs from sea-level 

up to 1,406 meters altitude and presents 

throughout an erosion topography. The cli- 

mate of the region is shown to possess a 

marked dry season from December to April, 

with copious rains in the remaining months; 
the annual curve of humidity follows that of 
rainfall and the temperature is rather con- 
stant with an annual mean of 36° C. and an 

annual mean range of 3.4° C. 

The forest is midway in character between 
the evergreen hygrophilous forest and the 
monsoon forest, differing from each in having 
an intermingling of evergreen and deciduous 
trees. The author distinguishes six types of 
forest formation in his area with distinctions 
due to differences of altitude and the attend- 
ant change in climatic conditions: (1) The 
Strand, which is found to agree closely with 
that deseritbed by Schimper for the Indo- 
Malay Peninsula. (2) The Bambusa-Parkia 
formation, characterized by an open stand of 
trees many of which are leafless throughout 
the dry season, and by pure and mixed growths 
of several species of bamboo, which are in 
effect partly deciduous. (3) The Anisoptera- 
Strombosia formation inclines less to the 


SCIENCE. 


029 


monsoon type, as it contains no trees which 
are leafless throughout the dry season; bam- 
boos are here replaced by small dicotyledonous 
trees; the specific make-up of the forest is very 
complex. (4) The Dipterocarpus-Shorea for- 
mation exhibits an almost complete absence 
of deciduous trees and a simpler floristic 
make-up than the formations at lower alti- 
tude. Here the variations due to differing 
physiographic situation begin to be manifest. 
(5) The Shorea-Plectronia formation lies be- 
tween 400 and 900 meters altitude and has a 
more hygrophilous climate than the last for- 
mation with a more abundant representation 
of pteridophytes and bryophytes. The insta- 
bility of the substratum in this formation and 
the next prevents as rich a development of 
the forest as the climate would lead one to 
expect. (6) The Eugenia-Vaccinium forma- 
tion lies above 900 meters altitude and is 
characterized by a very humid and cloudy 
climate together with high winds. The forest 
is here xerophilous and stunted on the ridges, 
although more hygrophilous in the ravines and 
depressions. Epiphytic vegetation abounds 
and liverworts and filmy ferns are common. 
Many genera are represented in this formation 
which are common to tropical mountains 
throughout the world or even to the temperate 
regions. 

In the Bambusia-Parkia formation a study 
has been made of the clearings, known as 
‘parangs,’ and the return of these areas to the 
climax forest. Some six types of parangs are 
characterized, in each of which the flora is 
poorer than in the original forest, and may 
consist largely of comparatively pure stands 
of certain small trees or may be occupied by 
the climbing bamboo Dinochloa. In each of 
the formations a detailed enumeration of the 
forest trees has been made in several plots on 
different soils or in different physiographic 
situations. The summation of results for six 
plots in the Anisoptera-Strombosia formation, 
aggregating 5,850 square meters in area, shows 
a total flora of 99 species. Of these the five 
most abundant form but 35 per cent. of the 
total and 64 are represented by three indi- 
viduals or less. In another series of seven 


530 SCIENCE. 


plots in the same formation 120 species were 
found of which the five commonest form 30 
per cent., and 91 form each less than 1 per 
cent. Quite as striking as the wealth in spe- 
cies and the poverty in individuals is the 
variation between the different plots in the 
same formation. 

Note has been taken of the lianes, epiphytes 
and herbaceous vegetation, and many valuable 
observations made on the foliage, bark, latex, 
buttresses and cauliflory of the trees. It is 
unfortunate that more attention could not 
have been given to the herbaceous vegetation. 

The paper as a whole, with its abundant 
illustrations, gives a vivid picture of the vege- 
tation of a region not before well known to us. 
Manifest importance. attaches to the carrying 
into the tropics of the detailed and compre- 
hensive methods of studying vegetation which 
have been in use in the temperate regions. 
The fact that our methods and our points of 
view are both the products of the study of 
temperate vegetation must compel care in the 
application of these in the tropics. While the 
method of the study of plots gives interesting 
results as to the wealth and composition of a 
tropical forest when first applied in a par- 
ticular region, yet it does not give facts of 
the same order as those ascertained by the 
study of plots in the temperate zone, as may 
be seen by a comparison of the lists for plots 
in the same formations in the Lamao reserve. 
The reviewer doubts if the term ‘ climax for- 
est’ is one that would have come into exist- 
ence if the first students of physiological 
plant-geography had resided and worked in 
the tropics. The term is certainly an ex- 
tremely elastic one as used by Dr. Whitford. 

It is greatly to be hoped that we may have 
in the near future further papers of this na- 
ture from members of the botanical and for- 
estry staffs of the Philippines. 


Forrest SHREVE. 
THE WoMAN’S COLLEGE, BALTIMORE. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 
Bird-Lore for September-October contains 

a well-illustrated article on ‘The Home Life 

of the Red-tailed Hawk,’ by Robert W. Heg- 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 617. 


ner; an account of ‘The Nesting of the 
Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker in the Adiron- 
dacks,’ by Lawrence Achilles; an article on 
‘The Rose-breasted Grosbeak,’ by Frederick 
L. Holtz, and one on ‘The Habits of the 
Black Vulture,’ by A. A. Saunders. W. W. 
Cooke contributes the eighteenth paper on ‘The 


- Migration of Warblers.’ In notes and news 


are the records of two plume sales in London, 
footing up over 35,000 birds, including 19,000 
birds-of-paradise. The Audubon leaflet is de- 
voted to the blue jay. 


The Zoological Society Bulletin for October 
has an article, with a good illustration, on the 
African pigmy Ota Benga, and there are good 
papers on ‘ The Collection of Reptiles,’ ‘ How 
Seals are Trained,’ ‘The White Peacock’ and 
‘How Birds get Their Food” The capture 
of two tarpon in New York Bay is recorded 
and there is a description of a new sea-horse 
from Bermuda to which the name Hzippo- 
campus kincaid is given. Judging from the 
figure, it should belong in another genus. 
There is probably a slip of the pen in the 
statement under the cut of ‘One of the 
Largest of Our Tortoises’ that ‘The growth 
of this specimen has been so great as to oppose 
the theory of the great age which these rep- 
tiles are supposed to attain.’ What is doubt- 
less meant is that great size does not neces- 
sarily mean great age, for these tortoises have 
been known to live over one hundred years. 


The Museum News of the Brooklyn Insti- 
tute Museums for October begins its second 
volume with a brief summary of the summer’s. 
work. In the section devoted to the Chil- 
dren’s Museum is a good account of Tadourace 
and the Saguenay River, in which the oceur- 
rence of the killer, Orca, is noted. The mu- 
seum has a living specimen of Hyla ander- 
SOnt. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


THE ST. LOUIS CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 

THE first meeting after the summer recess: 
of the St. Louis Chemical Society, was held 
on Monday, October 8. A report ‘On the: 
National Pure Food and Drug Law, and On 
the Recent Hearing by the Official Commis— 


OcToBER 26, 1906.] 


sion in New York City,’ by Dr. C. E. Caspari, 
attracted a very full attendance of members 
and invited guests. Dr. Caspari had attended 
the sessions of the commission as a representa- 
tive of two firms of New York City, hence his 
communication had all the interest of per- 
sonal knowledge. <A rather lively and pro- 
longed discussion of the subject from the 
chemical and pharmaceutical point of view 
manifested the interest of the members in 
subject matter of the law and the law itself. 
C. J. BorGMEYER, 
Corresponding Secretary. 


THE ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY OF 
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA. 


THe 167th meeting of the Elisha Mitchell 
Scientific Society was held in the main lec- 
ture hall of the new Chemical Laboratory on 
Tuesday evening, October 9, at 7:30 o’clock. 
The following papers were presented: 

PROFESSOR COLLIER Cops: ‘Geology and For- 
estry in the Ducktown Region.’ 

Mr. HAMPDEN Hi: ‘ Deforesting of the Duck- 
town Region by Sulphur Fumes.’ 

PRoFEssoR CHAS. H. HErTYy: 
Smelting of Iron Ores.’ 


‘The Electric 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
‘AN IGNORED THEORY OF THE ICE AGE.’ 


In Science (October 5, page 439) there is a 
communication from Dr. J. M. Schaeberle, 
under the above title, of which the following 
is the opening paragraph: 

Looking over the recently issued work on ‘ Geol- 
ogy, by Professors Chamberlin and Salisbury, I 
was surprised and disappointed to learn that in 
this voluminous publication of nearly two thou- 
sand pages, many of which are devoted to consid- 
erations of causes leading up to the ice age, the 
name of Dr. Marsden Manson is not to be found. 


We, in our turn, are surprised that before 
going into print wth this statement, Dr. 
Schaeberle did not consult the index of the 
work in question, where, in its appropriate 
place, he might have found: 

Manson, M., cited, iii, 445. 


Referring to the page named, he would have 
found a section devoted to the cloud hypoth- 
esis and the wind hypothesis. Under the 


SCIENCE. 


531 


cloud hypothesis the following references are 
given: 

Manson, Am. Geol., Vol. XIV., 1894, pp. 192- 
194; Vol. XXIII., 1899, pp. 44-57; and Vol. 
XXIV., 1899, Pp: 93-120, 157-180, 205-209. 


The discussion was, to be sure, generic 
rather than specific, and was directed toward 
the evolution of hypotheses concordant with 
the present state of discovery and inquiry, 
rather than retrospective. It was no part of 
the policy of the authors in preparing the 
work to bring up the specific views of an 
individual writer only to throw them down, 
unless wide acceptance required their consid- 
eration. Especially did the authors endeavor 
to avoid the adverse criticism of individual 
views when the ground had been adequately 
covered already by generic treatment. They, 
therefore, saw no sufficient reason for reciting 
and criticizing the special view of Dr. Man- 
son that the earth, from the Archean to the 
Middle Tertiary, was shrouded in a mantle of 
clouds so deep, dense, universal and persistent 
that the sun had no effective differential influ- 
ence on the temperature at the earth’s surface, 
which was maintained by internal heat, and 
his conclusion that the Pleistocene glaciation 
was an incident of the transition from this 
cloud-shrouded era to the present one and was 
hence the only true glacial period. The au- 
thors had recited with care the evidence that 
there were other and much earlier glaciations 
whose extent and character raised even more 
exacting climatological questions than the 
Pleistocene glaciation. They had cited, in 
their appropriate places, the paleobotanical 
evidences of open and varied skies and diversi- 
ties of atmosphere, specifically noting that the 
upper sides of leaves of different genera even 
in Paleozoic times were provided with palisade 
cells as a protection against too great intensity 
of sunlight. They had discussed at length 
and repeatedly, in the proper places, the great 
evaporation deposits and their associates, to- 
gether with the related evidences, both phys- 
ical and organic, of wide-spread and recurrent 
aridity, with its obvious implication of open 
and diversified skies and of effective solar 
action. It had been specifically pointed out 


532 SCIENCE. 


that in the elucidation of the Permian cli- 
matological problems which have now become 


the climacteric ones, no appeal could be taken ' 


to a supposed final refrigeration, or to any 
declining stage or senile condition of the 
earth, and that hence all hypotheses which 
involve such features had been set aside by 
the advance of discovery. There appeared, 
therefore, no good reason for calling up spe- 
cifically Manson’s theory merely to say that it 
had been put out of court by the progress of 
geological inquiry, especially as the recital of 
the results of inquiry, and their necessary 
implications, had already told the tale for 
themselves. 
T. C. CHAMBERLIN. 
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, 
October 8, 1906. 


CORRESPONDENCE RELATING TO THE SURVEY OF 
THE COAL FIELDS OF ARKANSAS. 


To THE Epiror or Science: I enclose here- 
with copies of the correspondence between the 
Director of the U. S. Geological Survey and 
myself regarding a matter of far-reaching im- 
portance to the geologists and other scientific 
men of this country. 

A word is necessary by way of introduction: 
I was state geologist of the state of Arkansas 
from 1887 to 1893. One of the first things 
undertaken by the survey under my direction 
was a report upon the coal fields of that state. 
The work was under the immediate direction 
of Arthur Winslow, a graduate of the Massa- 
chusetts Institute of Technology, for some 
years assistant of the Pennsylvania survey in 
the anthracite regions and later for several 
years state geologist of Missouri. Mr. Wins- 
low was assisted by several competent men, 
among whom were Professor Gilbert D. Har- 
ris, now state geologist of Louisiana; Dr. C. 
E. Siebenthal, now assistant on the U. S. 
Geological Survey; H. E. Williams, until 
lately chief topographer of the S. Paulo Geo- 
logical Survey in Brazil; J. H. Means, con- 
sulting geologist, London, England; and Dr. 
J. EF. Newsom, now professor of economic 
geology in Stanford University. In 1888 a 
preliminary report on the coal was published, 
but the final report was completed later. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 617. 


Owing partly to interruptions and delays that 
are here irrelevant and partly to lack of funds 
for the purpose, the final report on coal was 
not published up to the time I left Arkansas. 
Efforts were made from time to time to have 
the legislature provide for its publication, but 
it was never printed, in spite of the fact that 
it was economically the most important piece 
of work the state survey had done. Finally, 
in 1902, I suggested that the U. S. Geological 
Survey publish the report, and this was agreed 
to on condition that the maps of the coal 
region be reduced to a scale of two miles to 
the inch and that the contour interval be 
changed from twenty feet to fifty feet. To 
this I would not consent because the matter 
was one of too much importance to the people 
of Arkansas. Thereupon negotiations came 
to an end. Later I called the attention of 
U. S. Senator James P. Clarke, of Arkansas, 
to the importance of having this coal report 
brought up to date and published on a scale 
ot a mile to the inch. Shortly afterwards I 
received the following letter from the director 
of the U. S. Geological Survey. The rest of 
the correspondence is self explanatory. 


J. C. BRANNER. 


U. S. GEroLogicaL SURVEY. 
WASHINGTON, D. C., Jan. 31, 1906. 
Dr. JoHN C. BRANNER, 
Stanford University, Cal. 

Dear Sir: There have recently been made sey- 
eral urgent requests by parties interested in the 
Arkansas coal field for a geological resurvey of 
that region. The persons making the request 
claim that since your survey of the field old 
workings have been extended, many new mines 
have been opened, and the region has been 
thoroughly prospected with the diamond drill. 
This development work has given more definite 
limits to the workable coals in areas heretofore 
mapped as coal-bearing, and has shown that work- 
able beds occur in areas not hitherto recognized 
as containing coal. It is further urged that the 
coal of this region is becoming of such commercial 
importance that the United States Geological 
Survey should enter the field, assemble the data 
at hand, and make a very thorough and detailed 
survey of the region. 

In view of the above conditions it seems de- 
sirable to take up this work in the near future. 


ge i i aa Ne 


OcTOBER 26, 1906.] 


Before doing so, however, I wish to lay the plans 
before you and ascertain if it is not possible to 
make some arrangement whereby the work done 
by you as state geologist of Arkansas can be 
utilized. 

As a basis for practical cooperation the follow- 
ing plan is suggested, 

1. That all notes and maps in your possession 
pertaining to the Arkansas coal field be turned 
over to this Survey for use in the proposed in- 
vestigation ; 

2. That this material be used by the geologic 


parties so far as practicable in making a careful 


resurvey of the field, special attention being given 
to the economic features, and 

3. That the results of this work be published 
by the United States Geological Survey in such 
form as may be decided upon, with the geology 
either shown upon the topographic base, upon the 
scale of 1: 62500 as at present engraved, or on 
some reduced scale. 

It will be understood that in all reports deal- 
ing with this region full credit shall be given to 
you and to the Arkansas Survey for the geologic 
material furnished by you and used in the resur- 
vey, as well as for the topographic base maps pre- 
pared by this Survey under a plan of cooperation 
adopted in 1890. 

Should this plan meet with your approval, 
kindly let me know at your earliest convenience, 
as preparations are being made for beginning 
field work in the early spring. 

Very respectfully, 
Cuas. D. WaAtcort, 
Director. 


(Sub-signature C. W. H.) 


STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CAL., 


February 9, 1906. 
Hon. CHas. D. WaALcoTT, 


Director of the U. 8. Geological Survey. 

Dear Sir: I have your letter of January 31 
(C. W. H., M. R. C.) regarding a resurvey of 
the Arkansas coal fields. It goes without saying 
that I shall be glad to cooperate with the survey 
in this matter. 

Having planned, directed and done a large part 
of the work in the coal regions of Arkansas, hav- 
ing carefully preserved and guarded the results 
of the survey since it was suspended, and having 
made several later trips to different parts of that 
region, I am naturally deeply interested in its 
geology and in the publication of the report. 

After having done so much work upon it I 
feel that, by some sort of equity, I ought to be 
allowed to finish it. For that reason I venture 


SCIENCE. 


533 


to suggest that the U. 8. Geological Survey allot 
what you consider a reasonable sum for the com- 
pletion of the work under contract with me. 
Such an arrangement would make it possible to 
finish the field work during the coming summer 
and to submit the completed report about March 
or April, 1907. 

About two thousand five hundred square miles 
of geology should be gone over, and all openings 
made since 1889 should be examined, statistics 
gathered, and maps corrected to date. 

As to the cost I suggest that the assistants 
whose judgment you rely: upon in such matters 
be asked to make a just estimate of the probable 
cost of the work if done by some equally com- 
petent person with details warranting the publi- 
cation of the maps on a scale of an inch to the 
mile, and that the amount so agreed upon be the 
price for which I should do the work. It should 
furthermore be understood that this price is to 
cover all expenses of field-work, supervision, prep- 
aration of the manuscript report, drawings, maps 
sections, photographs, ete., up to the submission 
of the report to the editor, and that the survey 
is to be called upon only for the necessary copies 
of the topographic maps now in its possession and 
for such analyses and coking and fuel value tests 
as may be necessary for the work. 

Yours respectfully, 
J. C. BRANNER. 


U. 8. GEoLoGICAL SURVEY. 
WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 16, 1906. 
Dr. JoHN C. BRANNER, 
Stanford University, Cal. 

Sir: The plan of cooperation for the survey of 
the Arkansas coal field, which you propose in 
your favor of February 9, in answer to my letter 
of January 31, seems to differ in no essential 
particular from those that have been considered 
in the past and that have not proved acceptable 
to this bureau. 

We have here a large force of men who have 
had wide experience for the last 10 or 15 years 
in coal work in various parts of the country, 
and also in connection with the Coal-Testing 
Plant at St. Louis, and we would not care to 
consider any proposition which would take the 
survey of the Arkansas coal field out of the con- 


‘trol of these men. 


The demands for a resurvey are so great that 
we feel compelled to enter the field, and, while 
the work done by you a number of years ago 
would doubtless be of some assistance to us, prac- 
tically we expect to resurvey the entire region as 
though no previous surveys had been made. As 


534 SCIENCE. 


stated before, the only form of cooperation that 
is at all practicable is that proposed in my letter 
of January 31. This seems to be reasonable and 
just, and will give you full credit for all of the 
work that you have done, and for the maps of the 
region which you have prepared. Should you not 
be willing to accept this proposition, your ma- 
terial will be of little value, and there will be no 
hope of future publication. 

We propose to send a party into the field on 
or about March 1, and if you feel inclined to 
accept our proposition, we shall be glad to hear 
from you at your earliest convenience so that 
the party may have the benefit of your material. 

Very respectfully, 
Cuas. D. WALcOorTT, 
Director. 
(Sub-signatures M. R. C. and C. W. H.) 


STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CAL., 
February 26, 1906. 
Hon. C. D. WaAtcort, 
Director of the U. 8. Geological Survey, 
Washington, D. C. 

Sir: I beg to resign my position as geologist of 
the United States Geological Survey. 

The immediate reason for my resignation is 
that I consider the action of the survey as com- 
municated in your letter of the sixteenth in re- 
gard to my work upon the coal regions of Ar- 
kansas as an outrage and an unwarranted per- 
sonal affront to which no self-respecting geologist 
can tamely submit. 

Respectfully yours, | 
J. C. BRANNER. 


WASHINGTON, D. C., March 8, 1906. 
Dr. J. C. BRANNER, 
Stanford University, Cal. 

Dear Sir: Your letter of February 26, contain- 
ing your resignation from the survey, is received. 
I sincerely regret that you have felt impelled to 
take this action. Certainly no outrage or affront 
was intended in my letter and I fail to under- 
stand the reasons for your position. 

The field work of the Arkansas Survey in the 
coal districts was done, as I understand, about 
eighteen years ago. It was based upon topo- 
graphic maps which are much below the present 
standard and which could not be published on 
the present scale without thorough revision, 
amounting in most cases practically to a com- 
plete resurvey. 

It is no reflection upon that work or the 
geologists who were responsible for it to say that it 
does not come up to present standards, and, there- 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 617. 


fore, could not be accepted for publication by this 
survey. Moreover, the active development since 
the state survey work was done now makes a 
large amount of information available which was 
quite inaccessible in 1888, and any publication by 
this survey would be judged by present standards 
and in view of this new information. We have 
refrained from entering this field notwithstand- 
ing many urgent requests, in consideration of the 
fact that your final report remained unpublished. 
It now seems necessary to meet the demands for 
information which have become especially insistent 
since the results of the fuel-testing work at St. 
Louis have indicated new and important uses for 
this coal. Also several serious complaints have 
been made of specific errors in the map of the 
Arkansas coal fields published in the Twenty- 
second Annual, by which considerable losses have 
been occasioned. 

A resurvey of the region being therefore neces- 
sary, it seemed to me that the work should be 
done by members of the regular survey force, 
from whom immediate results could be obtained 
and whose salaries must in any case be provided 
for. I was anxious to obtain your unpublished 
data, for which adequate payment would have 
been made and full credit given, both as a matter 
of justice to yourself and to avoid the duplication 
of so much of the work as could be utilized. IL 
still think this is by far the best way in which 
this unpublished material can be utilized, but 
shall not urge your acceptance of the offer. 

I shall hold your resignation for the present 
with the hope that you may be willing to recon- 
sider the matter. 

Very respectfully, 
Cuas. D. WALCOTT, 


Dtrector. 
(Sub-signature C. W. H.) 


STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CAL., 


October 13, 1906. 
Hon. CuHas. D. WALCOTT, 


Director of the U. 8. Geological Survey, 
Washington, D. C. 

Sir: Your reply of March 8, last, to my 
proffered resignation was duly received. I have 
postponed answering your letter in the hope that 
time might enable me to see the wisdom and 
justice of your decision, and to feel less acutely 
the personal reflection upon myself and upon my 
assistants implied by the survey’s action. Seven 
months have now passed since I received your 
letter of February 16, telling me that you would 
not consider any proposition that would leave me 
to finish my own work, and reminding me that 


OCTOBER 26, 1906.] 


unless I turned over the data collected by me and 
by my assistants my ‘material will be of little 
value, and there will be no hope of future publica- 
tion.’ In the meanwhile I have made every rea- 
sonable effort to get your point of view, to put 
myself in your place, and to find some excuse 
for a course of action on the part of the U. S. 
Geological Survey that, on the face of it, seems 
so unjust, especially as it discredits me not only 
in the eyes of my colleagues but in the estimation 
of the people of the state of Arkansas whom I 
have faithfully tried to serve. 

To my great regret not only am I unable to 
find any just reason for your action in this case, 
but the more I have informed myself regarding 
the attitude of the survey toward individual 
workers in geology throughout the country the 
more have I been convinced that I can not remain 
a member of that organization. 

Justice to myself requires that I say a word 
regarding the reasons for your course put for- 
ward in your letter of March 8. These reasons 
appear to be: 

1. The field-work on the Arkansas coal region 
was done eighteen years ago. 

2. It was based upon poor maps. 

3. The work is not ‘up to present standards,’ 
and therefore could not be accepted for publica- 
tion by the survey. 

4. New uses for the coals have been found by 
the fuel-testing plant of the survey. 

5. Losses have been caused by errors in a map 
of the Arkansas coal fields for which I am re- 
sponsible. 

G6. The salaries of the regular assistants of the 
survey being provided for work must be given 
them. 

7. You say: ‘I was anxious to obtain your un- 
published data, for which adequate payment would 
have been made and full credit given.’ 

Inasmuch as these are put forward as the real 
reasons for the survey’s action in this case I beg 
to call to your attention the following facts: 

1. It is fully recognized that the work was 
done so long ago that it needed to be brought up 
to date. Many new mines have been opened and 
much information is now available that was not 
available when the original work was done. But 
having originated and directed the survey of the 
Arkansas coal fields I hold that i¢ was altogether 
reasonable that I should be allowed to bring the 
report up to date, and if vt needed correcting that 
I should be permitted to correct it. 

2. As for poor maps let me remind you that 
when my work was begun in the Arkansas coal 


SCIENCE. 


539 


fields the maps of that region made by the U. S. 
Geological Survey were so poor that they were 
absolutely useless. The topography was shown 
with contour intervals of fifty feet, an interval 
so large that the characteristic features of the 
country were lost sight of, the land lines were 
not put on them at all, and the work had all the 
ear-marks of haste and indifference to the needs ~ 
of the people. I was, therefore, obliged to remap 
the region on a scale of a mile to the inch with 
twenty-foot contour intervals. The maps made 
under my direction were based upon the land- 
office plats, and were necessarily cheap maps. 
But they were so much better than those made 
by the U. 8. Geological Survey that the survey en- 
graved them for me, and owns the original plates. 
If you have any doubt about the truth of these 
statements you only need compare the Fort Smith 
sheet of the U. S. Survey made in 1887 with 
the sheets of the same region made afterwards 
under my direction and engraved by the U. S. 
Survey. Under the circumstances reference to 
poor maps comes with bad grace from the direc- 
tor of the U. S. Geological Survey. The main 
weakness of the poor map excuse, however, is 
that nothing was said in our correspondence re- 
garding ‘topographic work. It was taken for 
granted that if the topography needed revision tt 
could be revised for me as well as for some one 
else. 

3. One would suppose that the statement that 
the work is not up to present standards was 
based upon some sort of knowledge of the report. 
As a matter of fact neither you nor any of your 
assistants have read the report, and you can not, 
therefore, know anything about its relation to 
standards of any kind. Moreover, even without 
reading it, the U. S. Geological Survey offered to 
publish this same report in January, 1902, on 
condition that I should consent to the publication 
of the maps on a scale so small as to make them 
useless to the people of Arkansas. One might 
suppose that it was up to standard in 1902 but 
had degenerated by 1906. 

4, Referring to the new uses found for 
Arkansas coals by the fuel testing laboratory of 
the U. S. Geological Survey, let me remind you 
that I had fuel tests made of the Arkansas coals 
in 1888, long before the U. S. Survey began the 
investigation of the fuel values of the coals of any 
part of this country. The results of these tests 
are given in the preliminary report on Arkansas 
coals, pages 67 to 79, published at Little Rock 
in 1888, and it was expected that the final re- 
port would contain much additional data. 


536 


The reference to fuel testing, however, can 
hardly be taken as a real reason for your action, 
because I explicitly stated in my letter of Febru- 
ary 9 that I should have to depend upon the 
U. S. Survey ‘for such analyses and coking and 
fuel tests as may be necessary for the work.’ 

5. You seek to throw blame upon me for losses 
caused by errors in a map. ‘The map referred to 
is given at page 390 of the twenty-second annual 
report of the U. 8. Geological Survey, Part III. 
It is a sketch map on a scale of twelve and a half 
miles to the inch. If such losses ever were in- 
curred, it is the first case I have ever heard of in 
which coal lands have been bought upon locations 
taken from a map of so small a scale. 

6. The suggestion that the regular assistants 
of the survey must have something to do in order 
to earn their salaries might lead one to infer 
that the great bulk of the geology of the United 
States has been worked up and that nothing now 
remained but a few areas here and there like the 
coal fields of Arkansas. Knowing the opposite 
to be the truth I am unable to see that it was 
necessary to enter the territory of a colleague 
against his will for the purpose of finding work 
for the regular assistants of the survey. 

7. In spite of the fact that my work was done 
eighteen years ago, and in spite of its not being 
up to ‘present standards’ you say that-you were 
anxious to obtain it and that ‘adequate payment 
would have been made.’ 

The reports of the Arkansas Geological Survey 
not being my personal property I leave others to 
characterize your proposition to pay me for one 
of them. 

The above facts make it plain that the true ex- 
planation of your course in this matter is not 
frankly set forth in your three letters. The real 
reasons must be sought elsewhere, and I know of 
no place to look for them save in the general 
policy of the U. 8. Geological Survey as reflected 
in its attitude toward the geologists of the coun- 
try since the present director came into office. 

The attitude of the survey toward the geol- 
ogists of the country has come to be simply intol- 
erable. No geologist has any rights that the 
survey feels bound to respect, unless indeed the 
geologist has political backing that makes it 
worth the survey’s while to treat him with some 
sort of consideration. 

li this treatment of myself and of my assistants 
were the first instance of the kind there might be 
some hope of the matter being set right; but 
such is not the case. Not only are our fields 
of operation unceremoniously invaded, but work 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 617. 


is taken out of one man’s hands to be put into 
another’s without any reason other than the 
authority given by the power to do it, or through 
some desire to favor one person rather than an- 
other. If one asks for a reason he is grandilo- 
quently referred to the general authorization to 
‘map the national domain.’ 

By this process not only are the rights of in- 
dividuals encroached upon, but local interests are 
overridden, state organizations are first dis- 
eredited and then driven out of existence, and 
even the privacy of our educational institutions 
is invaded and discredited in the eyes of the very 
people for whom and by whom they have been 
founded. In Arkansas the national survey grad- 
ually invaded the field of the state survey until 
now it would be impossible to induce the state 
to carry on a geological survey of its own. If 
members of the legislature were now asked to 
provide for a state survey they would simply say 
that such work was entirely unnecessary because 
if it were wanted the national survey would do 
it and work already done would be cited in sup- 
port of the statement. By this process have the 
state surveys, formerly the pride of the states, 
been either completely wiped out or so enfeebled 
that they only survive with the consent and ap- 
proval of the national organization. Sometimes 
this approval is under the form of ‘ cooperation’ 
by which the state appropriates money for the 
use of the national survey. In some instances 
the director of the U. 8. Survey has even gone to 
the extent of writing to members of state legisla- 
tures and advising against the support of state 
surveys unless it were done in a way to suit the 
national organization. 

A single case of the discrediting of local geol- 
ogists by the policy of the present director of 
the survey is sufficient to show where every 
teacher of geology in this country stands if the 
survey sees fit to use its power to discredit him. 

A few years ago the national survey sent an © 
assistant to work up the geology of the Fayette- 
ville folio in the state of Arkansas. Fayetteville 
being the seat of the State University, the pro- 
fessor of geology in that institution, in order to 
save his face, was compelled to ask as a favor 
that he be allowed to help, in a subordinate posi- 
tion, to do the work on his own campus and in 
his own door yard. And even though this con- 
cession was finally made, he stood discredited as 
a geologist before the people of the state, before 
the trustees of the university, before his col- 
leagues in the faculty, and before his own stu- 
dents. For what were they to think of him as , 


OcToBER 26, 1906.] 


a geologist if some one had to be sent in from 
elsewhere to do the work under his very nose? 

And if the professor should protest, what 
answer would he get? That the assistants sent 
to do the work are competent men; that the 
national survey is authorized to enter every part 
of the national domain; that the state institu- 
tions have not the money to do the work with; 
that the assistants of the survey must do some- 
thing to earn their salaries. And these things 
are all true enough, though the total results are 
none the less unfortunate and none the less fatal 
to an interest in geology among the people. For 
if the national survey can thus, under cover of 
national authority, injure the professional repu- 
tation of the professor of geology in one univer- 
sity, it can do it for any professor in any college 
or university in this country, and we have no 
redress. 

Against all this sort of thing I not only enter 
my most. vigorous protest, but I can not allow my 
name to stand on the roll of an organization so 
thoroughly undemocratic, and so thoroughly out 
of sympathy with the local interests of the coun- 
try. In my opinion a public bureau administered 
in the spirit that has grown up in this one ought 
to have no place in a republic where it is im- 
portant that there should be a widespread inter- 
est in science, and above all a feeling of safety 
for every worker, however humble. 

Finally I beg to remind you that the question 
here at issue is not a question of geology, but a 
question of the administration of a public bureau. 

I remain 
Yours respectfully, 
J. C. BRANNER. 


THE PRESIDENCY OF THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTI- 
TUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. 

ANNOUNCEMENT has been made that the ex- 
ecutive committee of the corporation of the 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology has 
selected Dr. Andrew Fleming West, professor 
in Latin in Princeton University, for the 
vacant presidency. It is ungracious to ques- 
tion an appointment of this character, and 
nothing could be gained by criticism if it 
were not that the corporation has not yet 
acted and Professor West has not yet accepted. 

Professor West possesses many of the quali- 
ties that should be found in a college presi- 
dent. He was not elected to succeed President 
Patton at Princeton, but he would have been 


SCIENCE. 


537 


an excellent president for an institution, which 
more than any other of our universities or 
semi-universities has been imbued with his 
ideals. These may be illustrated by a quota- 
tion from Professor West’s most recent ad- 
dress. He writes: “And so I return to the 
opening thought: The old college ideal is the 
true one.” The opening thought was “The 
living root of the old faculty, as of every other 
part of the college, was a distinctively Chris- 
tian impulse * * * the old college faculty at 
least professed and tried to show that God is 
the end of all our knowing and that Christ 
is the Master of the Schools.” 

But it is a long way from the chair of 
Latin in a classical and monastic college to 
the presidency of the Massachusetts Institute 
of Technology. It is to be feared that the 
trustees who favor the election of Professor 
West have been influenced by two factors. 
He is said to be known at Princeton as ‘ three- 
million-dollar West,’ in view of his part in 
securing endowment for the institution, and 
he is known in the educational world as an 
opponent of President Eliot and the Harvard 
system. The writer once heard Professor West 
read a paper in which he said that the con- 
nection of the elective system and the three- 
year course at Harvard University was per- 
haps not accidental, as three years were 
enough of that sort of thing. But it is 
dangerous to cross swords with President 
Eliot, who replied that he had also noticed 
the connection between the elective system 
and the three-year course, but that he inter- 
preted it as meaning that under the elective 
system a student could accomplish as much 
in three years as he could in four under the 
fixed curriculum. 

It would seem to an outsider that in the 
present emergency the Massachusetts Institute 
of Technology needs for its president one of 
its own men, imbued with its methods and 
traditions, a man bred to science, believing in 
science as the chief factor in culture and in 
life, knowing that pure and applied science 
must go forward hand in hand, a man who 
would ally the institution with the city and 
the state rather than try to coax money from 
millionaires. 


538 SCIENCE. 


The corporation of the institute has re- 
cently met a disastrous defeat in-its attempt 
to form a merger with Harvard University 
against the wishes of the faculty and alumni. 
Should it be so ill-advised as to elect a presi- 
dent without consultation with the faculty, 
it is to be hoped that Professor West will not 
accept until he assures himself of their ap- 
proval. It is indeed quite possible that the 
election will be welcomed by the faculty, and 
that they will obtain a president beyond re- 
proach—in which ease science will have cap- 
tured a captain from the enemy’s camp. 

J. McKeen CatrTett. 


SPECIAL ARTICLES. 


A SIMPLE METHOD OF ILLUSTRATING UNIFORM 
ACCELERATION. 


Tue following method of illustrating in the 
presence of a class (or as a simple laboratory 
exercise) the principle of uniformly accel- 
erated motion exceeds in simplicity, accuracy 
and interest any that I have hitherto found. 

A ball rolling down a groove in an inclined 
plank and at the same time vibrating across 
the groove has a constant acceleration in one 
direction, while its transverse vibrations are 
pendular motions that mark the time. If the 
groove be painted black and well polished, 
lycopodium dusted on the groove will preserve 
a very sharp trace of the motion of the ball. 
When the powder has been blown off by a 
wave of a fan the trace comes out with the 
distinctness of a sharp chalk line. The dis- 
tanees traversed in successive vibrations of 
the ball are measured along a white thread 
stretched accurately in the middle of the 
groove (or along a white paint line). The 
two motions should start simultaneously in 
the middle of the groove; this may be secured 
by allowing the ball to roll initially along a 
transverse brass strip extending to the middle 
of the groove. 

The frictional resistance to the motion of 
the ball is negligible and the constancy of 
the ratio of linear distance to square of num- 
ber of vibrations depends only on the accuracy 
of the measurements and the straightness of 
the plank. | 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 617. 


To illustrate the principle of constant accel- 
eration the actual period of vibration of the 
ball is not required; but it may be found by 
observation or by timing a short pendulum 
that vibrates in unison with the ball. The 
linear acceleration of the ball can readily be 
shown to be 5/7 g sin (inclination of plank). 
The vibrating ball is a simple pendulum of 
length equal to the distance from the center 
of the ball to the center of curvature of the 
groove; but, to calculate the period, 5/7 g 
must be used instead of g. 

Several other points of interest may be 
noted. The record may be obtained by dust- 
ing the powder on the groove after the ball 
has rolled down. The record can only be 
completely removed by a damp cloth. The 
track of the ball on the powder is very curious 
and interesting, consisting of a ridge of 
powder with a clearing on each side. A 
very striking lecture experiment is to use fine 
sulphur powder instead of lycopodium; if the 
plank be raised to a vertical position, and 
brought down sharply on the table the record 


will appear instantaneously. If the plank be 


horizontal, the path of the ball will be a nearly 
perfect simple harmonic wave. If the grooved 
plank be placed on an inelined-plane plank, 
the coefficient of kinetic friction between the 
two may be deduced from two records, the 
first with the grooved plank held at rest, the 
second with the grooved plank in sliding 
motion. 

I have found a groove five feet long, four 
inches wide and of four inches radius and 
a steel ball one and a half inches in diam- 
eter very satisfactory. The groove could be 
chipped out in a moment on a molding ma- 
chine with knives of sufficient size; but, in 
the absence of such facilities, a number of 
longitudinal saw cuts of graduated depth, 
made by a circular saw, will render it easy to 
chisel the groove out by hand. 

The International Instrument Co., of Cam- 
bridge, Mass., will supply the above apparatus 
on order. 


A. Witmer Durr. 
WoRCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, 
WoRCESTER, MASs. 


OcTOBER 26, 1906.] 


CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 
METEOROLOGY OF THE NILE BASIN. 


A VALUABLE report on ‘The Physiography 
of the River Nile and its Basin’ (1906, 4to, 
pp. 411), by Captain H. G. Lyons, Director- 
General of the Survey Department of Egypt, 
shows how rapidly our knowledge of the 
physiographical and meteorological conditions 
of northern Africa is being enlarged. This 
volume, of over four hundred pages, illus- 
trated by means of nearly fifty charts, dia- 
grams and maps of various kinds, is very ef- 
fective evidence of the energy and ability of 
the present chief of the Egyptian Survey 
Department. A second smaller publication, 
‘The Rains of the Nile Basin in 1905’ (Cairo, 
1906, pp. 40, pls. IX.), deals with the rainfall 
of one year. It includes monthly rainfall 
maps, and some interesting diagrams of Lake 
Victoria levels; of gauge readings for Lake 
Albert, Bahr el Ghazal, White Nile, Blue Nile, 
Atbara and Nile, and also an instructive com- 
parative diagram of Nile floods. Much pop- 
ular interest has always been excited by the 
famous Nile overflows. With each succeeding 
year the factors concerned in these overflows 
are more carefully worked out and more thor- 
oughly understood. 


COLD WAVES IN THE UNITED STATES. 


Buuuetin P of the Weather Bureau, by 
Professor EK. B. Garriott, deals with ‘ Cold 
Waves and Frost in the United States’ (1906, 
4to, pp. 22, charts 328), and is a very useful 
collection of charts which teachers will be able 
to put into the hands of classes in meteor- 
ology. In the text there is a chronological 
account of historical cold periods in the 
United States, and a summary and classifica- 
tion of the more important cold waves and 
frosts in the period 1888-1902, inclusive. A 
considerable body of material is here collected, 
in very convenient form for study, and it is 
to be hoped that some competent person who 
has the necessary time at his disposal will give 
these charts the attention which they merit, 
and will deduce from them various important 
conclusions which have not yet been reached 
concerning both cold waves and frosts. 


SCIENCE. 


5939 


CLIMATE OF ALASKA. 


A REporT on ‘The Climate of Alaska,’ by 
Cleveland Abbe, Jr., forming part of a recent 
publication on the geology and physiography 
of that territory, appears separately as an 
extract from Professional Paper No. 45, U.S. 
Geological Survey, pp. 133-200. The avail- 
able records have been carefully studied and 
summarized, and although the conditions of 
observation were in many cases not all that 
could be desired, so far as accuracy, exposure 
of instruments and regularity are concerned, 
yet this volume presents a valuable body of 
information which was much needed in many 
quarters. The discussion in the text is clear 
and concise. The tabulations are well ar- 
ranged and in several cases unusually com- 
plete. And there is a satisfactory recognition 
of the human relations which is all too rarely 
found in climatic reports. 


COLORADO COLLEGE OBSERVATORY. 


THE semi-annual Bulletin of the Colorado 
College Observatory (June, 1906) contains the 
meteorological statistics, with an introductory 
explanation, by Professor F. H. Loud, the 
director; ‘Colorado Springs Weather Records,’ 
by Chester M. Angell, being a table of meteor- 
ological statistics for 1872-1903, and a second 
paper on the ‘ Evolution of the Snow Crystal,’ 
by J. C. Shedd. 

NOTES. 

AT a meeting of the Scottish Meteorological 
Society held on July 12, 1906, a paper by 
Dr. Alexander Paterson, of Hebron, Syria, 
was read, in which, on the basis of ten years’ 
recent observations at that station, it was held 
that the climate is now much the same as the 
scriptures show it to have been 3,000 years ago. 

Tue Fourteenth Report of the Sonnblick- 
Verein (1905) contains an account of the 
observatory Reina Margherita on Monte Rosa, 
with a view of the royal party, including 
Queen Margherita, on its ascent of the Gnifet- 
tispitze. 

THOSE who wish to keep up with the prog- 
ress that is being made in kite meteorology will 
need to consult ‘The Vertical Temperature 
Gradients on the West Coast of Scotland and 


540 SCIENCE. 


at Oxshott, Surrey,’ by W. H. Dines (Proc. 
Roy. Soc., Vol. 77, 1906, 440-458). This 
work was done under a grant from the British 
government and from the British Association. 


R. DeC. Warp. 


RESEARCH LABORATORY OF PHYSICAL 
CHEMISTRY OF THE MASSACHUSETTS 
INSTITUTE OF THCHNOLOGY. 

THE Research Laboratory of Physical 
Chemistry has opened with a staff consisting 
of seven research associates and four research 
assistants. The new members of the staff are 
Herbert T. Kalmus, M. I. T. 704, Ph.D. 
(Zurich), Ledyard W. Sargent, A.M. (Har- 
vard), E. B. Spear, A.B., Manitoba, and Fred 
C. Mabee, A.M. (McMaster University). In 
addition, researches are being pursued in the 
laboratory by five candidates for the degree 
of Doctor of Philosophy and one candidate 
for that of Master of Science. All the mem- 
bers of last year’s staff remain. 

To one of the research workers, Mr. Richard 
C. Tolman, a grant of three hundred dollars 
has been made during the summer from the 
C. M. Warren Fund of the American Academy 
of Arts and Sciences, to enable him to con- 
struct what will probably be the most power- 
ful centrifugal machine ever made for experi- 
mental purposes, to be used in connection 
with an investigation of the electromotive 
force produced at the two ends of a rapidly 
rotating solution of any ionized substance. 
A grant of three hundred dollars from the 
Rumford Fund of the American Academy 
has also been made to Professor A. A. Noyes, 
which is to be used for the construction of a 
calorimeter adapted to direct thermochemical 
measurement with solutions up to 100°. 

A gift has just been made to the laboratory 
of a large diamond valued at three hundred 
and fifty dollars by the Ansonia Brass and 
Copper Company. This is to be used in in- 
sulating the electrode within the bomb used 
in the conductivity investigations at high 
temperatures, and will entirely eliminate the 
error due to contamination which has been 
involved in the previous work where it was 
necessary to use quartz insulators. 


\ 
[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 617. 


A series of twelve articles on the electrical 
conductivity of aqueous solutions, describing 
the investigations on this subject made dur- 
ing the last three years in the laboratory, is 
in process of publication by the Carnegie 
Institution at Washington. A large part of 
a revised scheme of qualitative analysis for 
the common elements, which has been worked 
out during the past year by A. A. Noyes and 
W. C. Bray, has just appeared in the Sep- 
tember number of the Technology Quarterly. 


THE PERKIN LIBRARY. 


ProFessoR CHANDLER, who presided at the 
Perkin Jubilee banquet in New York, made 
the following statement with regard to the 
proposed Perkin library: 

In order to honor the name of our distin- 
guished guest for all time, it is proposed by 
the committee of 150 chemists and other 
prominent citizens who have organized this 
jubilee celebration, to establish in New York 
City a complete chemical library in duplicate; 
one set of books to constitute a permanent 
reference library always available for any one 
who wishes to consult it at the home of the 
Chemists Club, and one set equally complete 
for circulation throughout the country among 
the members of the chemical profession. 

It can be truly stated that there is not a 
complete chemical library in the United 
States. Several of our larger universities 
have fair libraries, but each one of them lacks 
something that the searcher is sure to want. 
Moreover, these libraries are not accessible to 
many of the chemists. There are now about 
8,000 professional chemists in the United 
States—teachers in our universities, colleges 
and high schools; professional consulting 
chemists and chemists in manufacturing es- 
tablishments, water works, experiment sta- 
tions, ete. Very few of them have access to 
even a respectable chemical library. 

It is proposed that the circulating library 
shall be cared for by two or more thoroughly 
educated chemists to whom any chemist in the 
United States may apply for information on 
any chemical subject. The chemists in charge 
will keep reference lists of the best books and 


Se 


OcTOBER 26, 1906.] 


journal articles on every chemical subject and 
supply this information when called for, and 
if desired, send the books containing the refer- 
ences by express. 

It is even proposed to make arrangements to 
have articles copied if necessary, and even to 
have translations made. In other words, it 
is hoped that with proper endowment and 
proper support the Perkin Library will be- 
come of the utmost value to the chemical pro- 
fession. All that is necessary is the interest 
and cooperation of the chemical profession and 
some assistance from others. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


On the occasion of the dedication of the 
new engineering building of the University 
of Pennsylvania on October 19, honorary de- 
grees of doctor of science were conferred as 
follows: Alexander MacKenzie, colonel of the 
United States Engineers; Samuel Sheldon, 
professor of physics and electrical engineering 
in the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute; Mans- 
field Merriman, professor of civil engineering 
in Lehigh University; Frederick P. Stearns, 


chief engineer of the Boston Metropolitan’ 


Water Board; Edgar Marburg, professor of 
civil engineering in the University of Penn- 
sylvania; Charles Whiteside Rae, engineer in 
chief of the United States Navy; Henry Wil- 
son Spangler, professor of mechanical and 
electrical engineering in the University of 
Pennsylvania; M. M. H. Vetillart, representa- 
tive of the government of France at the dedi- 
cation; Frederick Winslow Taylor, consulting 
mechanical engineer, of Philadelphia; Samuel 
Matthews Vauclain; John Fritz, mechanical 
engineer, Bethlehem, Pa., and Ramon Icar- 
rola, representative of the Mexican govern- 
ment. 


Sir Davin GILL, astronomer royal in South 
Africa, is about to retire from the active 
duties of the position. 


Tue third course of lectures on the Herter 
foundation at the Johns Hopkins University 
was delivered by Sir Almroth E. Wright, M.D., 
F.R.S., late professor of pathology in the 
Army Medical School, Netley, and pathologist 
to the St. Mary’s Hospital, London. The sub- 


SCIENCE, 


541 


ject of the lectures was ‘The therapeutic in- 
oculation of bacterial vaccines and its appli- 
cation in connection with bacterial disease.’ 

Dr. W. Oster delivered the Harveian ora- 
tion at the College of Physicians, London, on 
the eighteenth inst. 

THE seventh annual Huxley memorial lec- 
ture of the Anthropological Institute will be 
given on November 1, when Professor W. M. 
Flinders Petrie, F.R.S., will deliver an ad- 
dress on ‘ Migrations.’ 


Tue National Health Society will hold a 
public meeting at University College, London, 
on October 29, to discuss the subject of the 
purity of the meat and milk supply. The 
chair will be taken by Sir Frederick Treves, 
and among the speakers announced are Sir 
William Broadbent and Sir James Orichton- 
Browne. 


Tue Bradshaw lecture before the Royal 
College of Surgeons of England will be de- 
livered by Mr. Edmund Owen, December 12, 
the subject being ‘Cancer: its treatment by 
modern methods.’ 


Mr. F. W. LeEvanprer has been nominated 
for president of the British Astronomical 
Association. The election will take place at 
the annual meeting on October 31. 


Dr. Roperr E. Coker has resigned the 
Adam T. Bruce fellowship in biology in Johns 
Hopkins University, having been appointed by 
the Peruvian government to take charge of 
the work in connection with the marine fish- 
eries in Peru, 


Mr. Lovis J. pe Mityavu, A.B. (Harvard, 
06), and Mr. John W. Hastings, A.B. (Har- 
vard, ’05), A.M. (Harvard, ’06), have been ap- 
pointed members of the Peabody Museum staff 
as ethnologists of the South American Expedi- 
tion. 

Dr. G. C. Stvpson, lecturer in meteorology 
at the University of Manchester, hag been ap- 
pointed assistant to the director of observa- 
tories under the Indian government. 

J. B. Mowry has been appointed commis- 
sioner of forestry in Rhode Island. 


Mr. J. J. Deargorn, of the Harvard For- 
estry School, has been appointed assistant to 


642 SCIENCE. 


Professor F. W. Rane, state forester of Massa- 
chusetts. 

Dr. G. H. Wuipre.e has been appointed as- 
sistant pathologist at the Johns Hopkins Hos- 
pital, to succeed Dr. C. H. Bunting, who has 
resigned to accept the position of professor of 
pathology at the University of Virginia. 


Dr. Henry M. Hurp, professor of psy- 
chiatry in the Johns Hopkins Medical School, 
has been given a year’s leave of absence and 
will spend it in Europe, leaving about No- 
vember 15. 

A Reuter message from Wellington, New 
Zealand, reports that a monument to Captain 
Cook was unveiled on October 8 in the pres- 
ence of a large gathering of both races at 
Poverty Bay, on the east coast of the North 
Island, at the spot where the explorer landed. 

Tue German Dermatological Society has 
decided to subscribe 5,000 Marks to the Fritz 
Schaudinn fund, and to give the first volume 
of the society’s publications the title ‘In 
Memoriam Fritz Schaudinn.’ 

Tue Museo Goeldi at Para, in Brazil, de- 
sires an American naturalist, a young man 
of solid character, who can adapt himself to 
new surroundings, as taxidermist and gen- 
eral preparator in the museum. Application 
may be made to Dr. Goeldi, 399 Caixa Postal, 
in Para, or to Dr. John C. Branner, at Stan- 
ford University, Cal. 

Sir Georce Darwin has invited the Inter- 
national Geodetic Congress to meet at Cam- 
bridge in 1909. 

Since October 1, 1906, no publications are 
sold by the Nautical Almanac Office or by 
the Bureau of Equipment. All orders for 
copies of the American Ephemeris, Nautical 
Almanac or astronomical papers should now 
that date be addressed to the superintendent 
of documents, Government Printing Office, 
Washington, D. C. 


We learn from the Journal of the American 
Medical Association that the mother of the 
late professor of chemistry at Basle, George 
W. A. Kahlbaum, has presented $9,500 to the 
National Society for the Study of the His- 
tory of Medicine and Science, which was re- 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 617. 


cently founded by her deceased son. She has 
also given the Berlin branch of the same so- 
clety $5,000. 


The Chemical Engineer states that the com- 
mittee on the purity of reagents of the Ameri- 
can Chemical Society, J. H. Long, chairman, 
has decided that it is inadvisable at this time 
to publish a book on the testing of reagents, 
as the amount of new data collected is so 
small that such a work would be only a dupli- 
cate of the well-known work of Dr. Krauch. 
It was also decided to limit the work of this 
committee, in the immediate future, to the 
commoner acids and alkalies, and to send out 
circulars to prominent manufacturers, in this 
country and Europe, inquiring as to the 
methods in use by them for testing for im- 
purities found in the reagent grades of these 
acids and alkalies. Dr. H. N. Stokes, of the 
Bureau of Standards, has been chosen secre- 
tary of the committee. This bureau now has 
two chemists working upon methods of test- 
ing for reagents. So far their attention has 
been chiefly devoted to perfecting an accurate 
colorimetric method for determining traces of 
iron in reagents. 


Two years ago, after two years’ continuous 
effort, the New York Zoological Park secured a 
fine specimen of the almost extinct California 
eondor. ‘The bird has been kept in fine health 
until a few days ago. Last Saturday, how- 
ever, it showed signs of illness, and on Tues- 
day it died, evidently in great pain. Previous 
to the autopsy its death was a mystery; but 
Dr. Blair’s examination soon revealed the 
eause. This fine bird, worth at least $300, 
and the only specimen obtained in four years, 
was killed by a large rubber band, presumably 
administered by some visitor. The rubber 
band had lodged in the pyloric orifice of the 
stomach, completely closing it, and arresting 
the entire process of digestion. It is such 
exasperating occurrences as this and the mur- 
der of a valuable bear with four peach-stones 
that compel the Zoological Society to forbid 
the feeding of animals by visitors. Hereafter 
the vigilance of the keepers and police will be 
redoubled, and visitors must refrain from 
offering any object to any of the wild crea- 


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ow 
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i 
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eas 


re 


OcToBER 26, 1906.] 


tures in the Zoological Park, whether mammal, 
bird or reptile. 


The British Medical Journal states that 
during the weeks ended August 18, 25, and 
September 1 and 8 the number of deaths from 
plague in India amounted to 1,451, 2,118, 2,522 
and 3,134, respectively. The principal figures 
are: Bombay Presidency, 879, 1,288, 1,388 and 
1,850; Bengal, 70, 97, 115 and 838; United 
Provinces, 109, 164, 49 and 163; Central 
Provinces, 99, 109, 190 and 362; Madras Presi- 
dency, 8, 100, 9 and 10; Burmah, 182, 132, 112 
and 92; Central India, 0, 197, 308 and 362. 
Baluchistan and the Frontier Provinces re- 
main free from the plague. The worst area 
in the Bombay Presidency was Poona City, 
with 439 seizures and 399 deaths. Bubonic 
plague in monkeys and eats is reported from 
two districts in the United Provinces. In the 
jungles a number of wild animals are reported 
to have died of the disease. 


We learn from the Haperument Station 
Record that in order to make better provisions 
for research work in forestry, and to secure a 
permanent staff of forest experts for scientific 
research, as well as for training candidates 
for the government and state forestry service, 
the Imperial Forestry School at Dehra Dun, 
India, has been enlarged and hereafter will be 
known as the Imperial Forestry Research In- 
stitute and College. The college staff will 
include officers of the imperial service, hold- 
ing the following positions: (1) Sylviculturist, 
who will make sylviculture his special study. 
(2) Superintendent of forest working plans, 
who will collect and collate statistics of the 
results of forestry management throughout 
India. (8) Forest zoologist, who will investi- 
gate the damages caused by insects and other 
pests. (4) Forest botanist, who will study 
the botany of forest plants, distribution of 
species, diseases of forest trees, ete. (5) 
Forest chemist, who will investigate the chem- 
ical properties of soils and forest produce. 
(6) Forest economist, who will study economic 
methods of commercial timber production and 
marketing. These officers, while engaged pri- 
marily in research work, will each deliver a 
course of lectures on his special subject in the 
college, and take part in the training of the 


SCIENCE. 


513° 


students. The work of instruction, however, 
will for the most part be carried on by four 
assistant instructors. 

It is stated in Nature that the opening ses- 
sion of the International Congress on Methods 
of Testing was held in the Palais des Acadé- 
mies, Brussels, on September 3, under the 
presidency of Mr. F. Berger (Vienna). Five 
hundred members were present from eighteen 
different countries. Addresses of welcome 
were delivered by Count de Smet de Naeyer, 
the Belgian prime minister, and by Mr. H. 
Raemarckers, secretary of the Department of 
Railways. An address was then given by Pro- 
fessor F. Schiile (Zurich) in memory of the 
deceased president, Ludwig von Tetmejer. A 
report on the work of the executive council 
since the last congress was presented by Mr. 
Berger, and interesting papers on the iron and 
steel industry of Belgium and on the Belgian 
cement industry were read by Baron E. de 
Laveleye and Mr. E. Camerman. The morn- 
ings of September 4, 5 and 6 were devoted to 
the work of the sections and the afternoons to 
excursions. Exeursions to the works of the 
Cockerill Company at Seraing and to Ostend 
were arranged for September 7, 8 and 9. The 
congress 1s held under the patronage of the 
King of the Belgians, who on September 2 
received the members of council. 


Accorping to the Electrical World, the 
Vienna Imperial Academy of Sciences has 
announced the result of its examination of 
uranium earth from the Joachimsthal state 
mines in Bohemia, conducted in the academy’s 
laboratories in Vienna. About 50 tons of 
earth were subjected to tests and experiments, 
yielding radium products worth at the present 
market price more than $200,000. Dr. Hart- 
inger conducted the investigation. The prod- 
ucts thus obtained will not be sold, but will 
remain the property of the academy and will 
be used for further scientific research. The 
Austrian ministry of agriculture has decided 
to build its own laboratories at Joachimsthal 
for the production of radium salts. It is also 
proposed to exploit the healing properties of 
radium by establishing a health resort and 
using the springs in the mines for curative 
purposes, both in baths and for drinking. 


544 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


Mr. Joun A; Creiguton, one of the founders 
of Creighton University, Omaha, Nebr., has 
deeded to that institution two buildings in the 
wholesalé district, worth about $500,000. 


Vicroria University, of Manchester, has re- 
ceived £5,000 from the trustees appointed 
under the will of Miss Middleton, which 
will be used towards endowing the chair of 
anatomy. 


Tur Boston Transcript states that at a 
meeting of the board of regents of the Uni- 
versity of Kansas, a proposition was presented 
by Chancellor Strong to ask Mr. Andrew Car- 
negie for money with which to build a new 
fine arts building, but the proposition was 
voted down. 


Mr. Wituram A. Marsure, of Baltimore, 
has presented the Johns Hopkins Medical 
School with a valuable collection of medical 
books. 


THE new administration building of the 
Colorado School of Mines, which is to be 
known as Simon Guggenheim Hall in honor 
of the donor, was dedicated with appropriate 
ceremonies on October 17. The dedicatory 
address was delivered by the Rev. Dr. F. W. 
Gunsaulus, president of Armour Institute. 
Short addresses were also made by Rabbi W. 
S. Friedman, of Denver, and by Mr. George 
M. Post, in presenting to the school portraits 
of the donor and of the former president of 
the school, Dr. Regis Chauvenet, these por- 
traits being the gift of the alumni. A large 
audience was present, including a delegation 
from the American Mining Congress, and rep- 
resentatives from the other educational insti- 
tutions of the state. 


Mr. AnprEw CarNEGIE recently opened the 
new engineering and natural philosophy de- 
partments of the Edinburgh University, which 
were largely erected owing to his gifts. Mr. 
Balfour, chancellor of the university, in thank- 
ing Mr. Carnegie, Lord Elgin and other con- 
tributors to funds, conferred the degree of 
doctor of laws on Mr. Carnegie and Lord 
Elgin. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 617. 


THE senior officers in each department of 
study in the two undergraduate departments 
of Yale University and some others have had 
their annual salaries fixed for the coming col- 
lege year at $4,000. The total number of pro- 
fessors affected by this change is about thirty- 
five. The salary list of the departments men- 
tioned has been increased by about $9,000 by 
this rearrangement. 

Tue chair of geology, at Vassar College, 
vacant by the death of Professor William B. 
Dwight, has been filled by the appointment of 
Dr. George B. Shattuck, associate professor 
at the Johns Hopkins University. 

Dr. ArtHuR B. Lams, instructor in electro- 
chemistry at Harvard University, has been 
appointed assistant professor of chemistry and 
director of the Havemeyer Chemical Labora- 
tory at New York University, in succession to 
Professor Morris Loeb. 

JOHN CHARLES Hupparp, Ph.D. (Clark), as- ° 
sistant professor of physics at New York 
University, has been appointed assistant pro- 
fessor of physics in the collegiate department 
of Clark University, Worcester, Mass. 

THE medical department of the University 
of Pennsylvania has established a department 
of experimental surgery, and Dr. J. E. Sweet, 
formerly connected with the laboratory of 
hygiene, and more recently with the Rocke- 
feller Institute, has been placed in charge. 

Dr. ALFRED SCHALEK, of Chicago, has been 
appointed professor of dermatology and geni- 
to-urinary diseases in the medical college of 
the University of Nebraska, Omaha. 

Dr. T. M. Taytor has resigned the position 
of instructor in chemistry at Oberlin College, 
which he has held for the past five years, to 
become a member of the faculty of the Car- 
negie technical schools at Pittsburg. His 
place will be taken by W. H. Chapin, 1904, 
who has resigned a fellowship in chemistry at 
the University of Pennsylvania to remain at 
Oberlin. 

Dr. ZpENKO Sxkraup, professor in the Uni- 
versity of Graz, has been appointed professor 
of chemistry in the University of Vienna, in 
succession to Professor Adolf Lieben, who has 
retired. 


SCIENCE 


&A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 
OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 


Fray, NoveEMBER 2, 1906. 


CONTENTS. 


The Concurrence and Interrelation of Vol- 
canic and Seismic Phenomena: PROFESSOR 


ININGEEO MELE MEPRIEN joe ie seus aren eis ieeue ooo. BAS 


Scientific Books :-— 
Wright and Hayford’s The Adjustment of 


Observations by the Method of Least 
Squares with Applications to Geodetic 
Work: Dr. 8S. A. MitcHELL. Millers 
Technik des physikalischen Unterrichts: 
IPROBESSOR? J.2 5. AMES), .c) tet. tees oss 501 
Scientific Journals and Articles............ 553 


Societies and Academies :— 
The American Philosophical Society. The 
Society for the Promotion of Agricultural 


Education 558 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
The Smithsonian Institution and Research: 
Proressor Cart H. EIGENMANN. The Mu- 
tation Theory in Animal Evolution: Dr. 
Cuas. B. DaveENPoRT. The Rigidity of the 
Horii DRY ae Js) edie SHE Anatomic 
Nomenclatwre: PROFESSOR BuRT G. WILDER. 


Left-handedness: PRoressor O. T. MAson. 553 


Special Articles :— 


The Relative Merits of the ‘ Hlumination’ 
and ‘First Species’ Method in fixing the 
Types of Genera—with special reference to 
Ormthology: WITMER STONE. Generic 
Names of Merycoidodonts: Hart S. Doue- 
LASS. Origin of the Depression known as 
Montezuma’s Well; Arizona: PROFESSOR 
AVMs Ee retire oe Ks SE ea Se kl 


Quotations :— 
IN OG EHH) IWETHRIG AS AGS abo abo o deen > 


Astronomical Notes :— 


Potsdam Photometric Durchmusterung: 
PROFESSOR So~on I. BAILey............. 


Botanical Notes :— 
Botany in the St. Louis Congress of 1904; 
Two and Three Pistils in Cassia Chamae- 
crista; Engler’s Pflanzenreich: PROFESSOR 
CHARLES HE. BESSEY 


Chemical Abstracts 


ee 


= 


Scientific Notes and News................-. 
University and Educational News.......... 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 
review should be sent to the Editor of SctmNcH, Garrison-on- 


Hudson, N. Y. 


THE CONCURRENCE AND INTERRELATION 
OF VOLCANIC AND SEISMIC 
PHENOMENA? 

THE noteworthy occurrences that have 
latterly so largely engaged the attention of 
vuleanologists and seismologists, and so 
deeply impressed the world with the sense 
of insecurity that attaches to life upon a 
still unstable planet, make perhaps per- 
tinent at this time a re-inquiry into some of 
the general phases of the phenomena as 
they are thought to be known to us. In 
announcing certain conclusions in this 
paper which are at variance with the views 
held by seemingly the greater number of 
geologists, or at least the specialists in the 
fields of inquiry which the paper touches, 
the author recognizes that the facts or data 
bearing out his conclusions may be thought 
by some to be presumptive rather than posi- 
tive; but, whether so or not, he believes they 
are of a kind that must be taken account 
of in whatever phase the inquiry is pur- 
sued, and that they are at least of equal 
value with those that are assumed to up- 
hold the opposed or generally received con- 
clusions. 

The two most important contributions to 
our knowledge of voleanic and seismic 


*Paper read before the Tenth International 
Geological Congress, held in the City of Mexico, 
September 6, 1906. 


546 SCIENCE. 


phenomena that have been made during 
many years, are, as I take it, to be found 
in the records of the disturbances that have 
for many years agitated Japan and in the 
cataclysmic events which in 1902 visited the 
Antillean and Gulf regions of America. 
These additions to knowledge may be 
briefly summarized as follows: 

1. The recognition of the fact that in per- 
haps the most seismic portion of the earth’s 
surface—and by application, not unlikely 
over the whole world—earthquake disturb- 
ances, especially those of greater magni- 
tude, are almost invariably preceded, by 
from one to five or six days, by marked 
magnetic disturbances in the earth’s super- 
ficial crust. 

2. The close connection existing over vast 
areas of the earth’s surface, as measured 
on the direct east-and-west line uniting 
Quetzaltenango, in Guatemala, with Mar- 
{inique, between the earthquake and vol- 
‘ganic disturbances of a single or identical 
period of activity. 

The relations of magnetic disturbances 
to earthquakes in the Japanese region 
would seem to be clearly indicated in the 
vecords of the earthquakes of Nagoya 
{Dec.—Jan., 1893-4), Shonai (Oct., 1894), 
fhe great seismic ‘tsunanie’ of June, 1896, 
Ugo and Rikuchis (1896), Rikuzen (1900), 
ete., which have been discussed in the re- 
ports of the Earthquake Investigation Com- 
mittee of Japan. While it may be true, 
as this committee wisely reports, that ‘care- 
ful examination and extensive comparison 
with magnetic observations abroad, as well 
as records of earthquakes and pulsatory 
oscillations,’ will be required before any 
relations between the two phenomena can 
be considered as definitely established,” yet 
the facts are such as to leave little room 
for doubt in the premises. Indeed, we 
have the positive statement made by Yama- 


* Publications E. I. C., Tokyo, 1904, p. 81. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 618. 


saki, in an address delivered before the 
geographical section of the University of 
Vienna, that every major earthquake that 
visited Japan during the ten years im- 
mediately preceding 1902, and most of the 
minor ones, were heralded in advance by 
magnetic disturbances. If such be the 
ease, and there would appear at this time 
to be no good reasons: for assuming that 
the facts are different from what they have 
been represented to be, then manifestly the 
cause of earthquakes (and here a special 
reference is made to those that are referred 
to as ‘tectonic’) must be sought for in 
conditions that have no immediate relation 
to rock displacements of the time of the 
earthquake itself—in conditions that may 
at this time be wholly beyond the field of 
investigation, and whose expression may 
be found in some special magnetic or elec- 
tromagnetic quality of our planet. The 
remarkable magnetic disturbance which 
accompanied or followed the cataclysm of 
Pelée on May 8, 1902, and which in an 
interval of from less than a minute to two 
minutes was registered in nearly all the 
magnetic observatories of the world, from 
Maryland to Paris, Athens, Honolulu and 
Zika-wei, in China, may point to some sig- 
nificance in this connection.® 

The logical deduction from the premise 
that has been stated must necessdrily be, it 
seems to me, that, however pointedly a dis- 
placement along a line of faulting or else- 
where would seem to indicate the cause of 
an earthquake, such displacement must 
rather be looked upon as a consequence of 
the seismic jar. In other words, the slip- 
ping or torsion of a terrane did not make 
the earth-jar, but, on the contrary, it fol- 


® The effect of strain within the earth’s crust or 
mass as of itself initiating magnetic disturbance 
is not considered in this paper; but the subject 
has possibly an important place in this inquiry, 
and its elucidation may help to clear up some of 
the mystery that attaches to seismo-magnetism. 


aie cement 


SE RR ie pee e. 


NOVEMBER 2, 1906.] 


lowed in obedience to an impact already 
delivered, and naturally along lines of pre- 
determined weakness. Indeed, there are 
many reasons for believing—but the facts 
can not be discussed in this place—that ex- 
tensive slips along breakage-lines or lines 
of fracture, in any way correspondent to 
the long line of displacement which marked 
the late California earthquake, could not 
have been initiated without a precedent jar 
or impact; and still less could there be 
initiating displacement along a line of con- 
tact such (e. g., between the looser ma- 
terials of the coastal plain of the eastern 
United States and the compact sub-Appa- 
lachian border-rock) as had been advanced 
to explain the Carolina earthquake of 1886. 

The extent of field which may be covered 
by interrelated voleanic and seismic dis- 
turbaneces of one period of activity, as is 
evidenced by the Antillean events of the 
year 1902, bears directly upon the question 
of the causation of certain earthquakes 
which have hitherto been thought to be of 
a purely tectonic character. The facts con- 
nected with the Antillean disturbances are 
briefly : 

The destructive earthquake of Quetzal- 
tenango, in Guatemala, on April 17-18, at 
almost precisely the time when Pelée first 
seriously manifested its new activity; the 
renewal of activity, immediately after the 
earthquake, and at a distance of nearly 
200 miles, of Izalco, in Salvador, a voleano 
whose energies had calmed down for a 
number of years, but which was in full 
activity on May 10, two days after the 
. Pelée cataclysm; the eruption on May 7, 
of the Soufriére, in St. Vincent; the cata- 
clysm on May 8, of Pelée, followed, as in 
the case of the Soufriére, with violent dis- 
turbances extending into September or Oc- 
tober; the eruption on October 24 (and 
continuing to Nov. 15) of Santa Maria, in 
Guatemala, a volcano situated close to the 


SCIENCE. 


547 


seismic field of Quetzaltenango, and for 
which there is no recorded previous erup- 
tion. The relation of these facts, it seems 
to me, is so conclusive that one need hardly 
discuss the probability of another interpre- 
tation being found for them; and it was 
not without reason, therefore, that Milne 
early advanced the view that the April 
earthquake of Quetzaltenango was the real 
initiator or instigator of the series of dual 
disturbances that followed rapidly upon it. 
The lid was taken off the boiling pot, and 
the pot exploded. Whether or not one 
should extend the relation of disturbances 
so as to include the earlier earthquake 
which in January of the same year wrecked 
a large part of the town of Chilpancingo, 
in southern Mexico, and the reawakening 
of Colima in February and March of the 
year following (1903), does not materially 
affect the problem, as the distance separa- 
ting Martinique from Quetzaltenango is al- 
ready so great as to fully satisfy the broad 
deduction which it is the aim of this paper 
to present. Owing, perhaps, to the fact 
that these disturbances were developed in 
what might be termed a single region, and 
in a region that is not familiar to us in 
the sense that parts of the world nearer to 
our homes are, the geologist is not apt to be 
impressed with the magnitude of the dis- 
tance that separated them; it is, therefore, 
proper to state that on the map of the con- 
tinent of North America it would be meas- 
ured by the line uniting Galveston with 
Cape Churchill, on Hudson Bay, or that 
uniting San Francisco with the voleano of 
Ilamna, on Cook Inlet, Alaska. 

Applying the test of distance in a pos- 
sible relation touching the history of other 
(so-called ‘independent’) earthquakes, we 
find some not wholly uninteresting results. 
Thus, the great earthquake of Lisbon 
(1755), seemingly the most destructive of 
all the seismic disturbanees which history 


548 SCIENCE. 


records, and which is ordinarily considered 
to be typical of the so-called tectonic 
earthquake (or earthquake independent of 
voleanie association), took place in a 
field which in a direct line is removed by 
1,800 miles from the very active volcanic 
region of Iceland—therefore, at a shorter 
distance than Pelée is from Quetzaltenango. 
Tt is significant that a few days before’ the 
destruction of lisbon the volcano of 
K6tlugia, in Iceland, broke out into violent 
eruption, and it is perhaps more than a 
coincidence that on the very day of Lis- 
bon’s fall (November 1) the’ activity of 
this voleano was particularly marked.* 

It would perhaps be going in advance of 
the facts were we to immediately assume 
that the eruption of Kotlugia was directly 
related to the Lisbon earthquake; on the 
other hand, there would seem to be nothing 
to make this conclusion untenable. Indeed, 
this relation acquires a strong degree of 
confirmation from the events that a few 
years later (1783) marked the very dis- 
astrous earthquake of Calabria. At that 
time, although following the great shock 
(March 28) by several weeks, the voleano 
of Skaptar Jokull, in Iceland, went through 
its greatest paroxysm, discharging lava for 
a period of four months, and relieving the 
interior of the earth of a. mass of rock- 
material which has been estimated to have 
been not less than 27 milliards of cubic 
meters—the equivalent of a block six and 
one fifth miles long, three and one tenth 
miles broad and 1,771 feet thick! The 
voleano of Reykjanes was likewise in erup- 
tion. These two voleanoes are located 
almost exactly 2,000 miles from the scene 
of the Calabrian disturbances, when the 
entire island of Sicily, in addition to the 
mainland of Italy, was affected. The same 
year witnessed also the explosion of Asama- 


**Royal Society Report on Krakatoa Eruption, 
p. 387. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 618. 


yama, in Japan, one of the most violent of 
all recorded eruptions, when rocks meas- 
uring 40 to 260 feet across are said to 
have been hurled out of the crater It 
should also be noted that this year marked 
the first recorded eruption of Irazi, in 
Costa Rica, which was accompanied by 
violent earthquakes.® 

A partial and perhaps even very close 
parallel to the Antillean occurrences of 
1902 may be found in the disturbances 


which framed the New Madrid earthquake 


in the valley of the Mississippi in (De- 
cember) 1811 and 1812, that wrought the 
destruction of Caracas on March 12, 
1812, and culminated in the great erup- 
tion of the Soufriére of St. Vincent 
on April 30, 1812. The association of 
events in these cases is such as hardly 
to permit of doubt in their reference. In- 
ceed, it has been frequently stated (but I 
have not been able to find absolute con- 
firmation of this assumed fact) that the 
movements in the Mississippi Valley ceased 
for a while, almost immediately with the 
breaking out of the Soufriere. A similar, 
although reversed, condition marked the 
earthquake of Riobamba, on February 4, 
1797—perhaps the most destructive to hfe 
after that of Lisbon—when, as we are in- 
formed by Humboldt, the voleano of Pasto, 
situated 200 miles distant, almost im- 
mediately ceased smoking.’ 

The great earthquake which on February 
20, 1835, destroyed the city of Concepcion, 
in Chile, and which has been represented to 
be a distinctively tectonic quake® is almost 
certainly one of volcanic association, and 
so it has been referred by Milne, in his 
work on earthquakes (p. 185). The year 
1835 was a particularly voleanic year in 
the Chilean Andes, and the reports of the 


5’Milne, British Association Reports, 1887. 
® Milne, ‘ Harthquakes,’ p. 273. 

7* Views of Nature,’ Bohn edition, p. 175. 

* Dutton, ‘ Earthquakes,’ p. 52. 


NovEMBER 2, 1906.] 


officers of the Beagle, which happened 
to be at Concepcién at the time of the 
earthquake, make clear reference to vol- 
canic outbursts, one behind the island of 
Quiriguina and the other in the bay of 
San. Vincente.® In the Royal Society 
Report on the Krakatao eruption we find 
the statement that all the Chilean vol- 
canoes were active on the fatal February 
20—a statement that in its broad refer- 
ence, I believe, still requires verification. 
This earthquake was followed within a 
period of less than a month (March 15) by 
the great earthquake of Santa Marta, in 
Colombia and was preceded in the same 
period by the cataclysm of Coseguina, in 
Nicaragua (January 20, 1835), probably 
the most violent of all the paroxysms that 
had been reported up to its time from the 
American voleanoes. 

The difficulty of distinguishing between 
so-called tectonic earthquakes and those 
having a voleanic reference has always been 
sreat, and it naturally increases the mo- 
ment we fully recognize over what vast dis- 
tances the interrelationship of the two 
classes of phenomena may be established. 
This condition was, indeed, long ago appre- 
ciated by Milne, who, in his work on 
‘Earthquakes’ already referred to, very 
guardedly attempts to make the distinction 
upon which other seismologists, notably 
Montessus de Ballore, so positively insist. 
He accurately states the position, it seems 
to me, when he asserts that both phenomena 
may be merely ‘different effects of a com- 
mon cause’ (p. 275) or as resulting from 
‘some great internal convulsion’ (p. 270) 
—in which ease ‘an earthquake may be 
looked upon as an uncompleted effort to 
establish a voleano’ (p. 275). 

The few instances that have here been 
cited to show a very probable interrelation- 
ship between far-removed manifestations of 


® Journ. Royal Geog. Soc., Vol. VI. 


SCIENCE. 


549 


voleanie and seismic disturbance may be 
considered insufficient to establish the rela- 
tion which it is the aim of this paper to 
present, but it would not be difficult to 
largely multiply the cases of such apparent 
correspondence. They certainly suffice at 
this time to make very doubtful the com- 
monly accepted limitation of the two main 
classes of earthquake disturbance, and show 
almost to a certainty that some, at least, of 
the most destructive earthquakes have been 
wrongly referred.1° If it should be ob- 
jected that a number, or even a very large 
number of the most far-reaching and, there- 
fore, most typically ‘tectonic’ quakes, such 
as that of Arica, of August 13, 1868, or of 
Lima, of October 28, 1746, have seemingly 
not even a distant eruption on which to 
couple their history, it may be replied that 
many such quakes have been recognized to 
be of distinctively marine origin, and they 
could be easily related to a violent sub- 
oceanic eruption whose traces need in no 
way be made apparent at the surface. That 
such suboceanic eruptions do take place, 
no geologist denies, and it is further be- 
lieved by many (as, for example, Rudolph) 
who have given the closest study to the 
nature of the great oceanic waves that have 
accompanied (or preceded or followed) 
some of the most violent seismic move- 
ments, that these waves have an absolutely 
voleanic origin—the waters being depressed 
or elevated as the result of voleanie and not 
of earthquake stress. It should also be 
noted in this place that a lack of synchron- 
ism in time by weeks or even months is not 
necessarily opposed to an assumption of 
interrelationship in action, since the man- 


1 As bearing further on this point it may be 
noted that the earthquake known as that of 
Valdivia, Chile, of 1822, whosé effects were felt 
over a north and south extent probably consid- 
erably exceeding 2,000 miles, is classed by Dutton 
among the tectonic quakes, whereas by Milne it 
is placed among those having a volcanic asso- 
ciation. 


550 SCIENCE. 


festation of action as it presents itself to us 
in time need by no means represent the 
actual time-period which marked the be- 
ginning or end of a disturbance, whether 
voleanie or seismic. 

If we once assume, and as the facts seem 
to indicate justly, that an interrelation be- 
tween voleanic and seismic distu1 bances may 
be extended over a region of 2,000 miles or 
more, naturally it becomes impossible to 
state to what further limits this relation- 
ship may not extend; in other words, how 
far removed may a voleano be from an 
earthquake to be brought into correspond- 
ence with it. This question can not now be 
answered, but it is certainly a significant 
fact that a very large number of the greater 
earthquakes have been at (or about) times 
when there have been violent or paroxysmal 
eruptions, however distantly removed the 
points of such eruption may have been. 
And it ean also be stated that extreme vol- 
eanic activity in one part of the globe is 
frequently synchronized, or shortly fol- 
lowed, by similar activity elsewhere. This, 
in a measure, and perhaps equally so, holds 
true of earthquake disturbances. These 
conditions, taken in connection with the 
facts that have been earlier recited in this 
paper, it seems to me, tend to prove that 
a causal bond unites the two classes of phe- 
nomena, and that they have a common 
origin in some internal planetary stress or 
convulsion. 

It has been claimed by those who sharply 
distinguish between volcanic and tectonic 
earthquakes that the earth movement, 
whether in force or in lateral extent, that 
distinguishes the former is small compared 
with that of the latter, but the facts that 
have already been brought forward render 
the accuracy of this conclusion extremely 
doubtful.1t Indeed, the geologist, in the 

“The breaking into activity of Klutchevskaya, 


the lofty voleano of Kamtchatka, on October 6, 
1737, seems to have been the occasion of an 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 618. 


face of the far-reaching mechanical work of 
evisceration which so largely distinguishes 
many eruptions, would on a priori grounds 
be justified in hesitating before he an- 
nounced this conclusion, and he could ask 
himself the much-neglected question: what 
must be the result of the removal in a short 
period of so much material from the earth’s 
interior? The volcano of Askja, in Ice- 
land, as a result of its eruption on January 
4, 1875, is estimated to have thrown out 
from the rifts of the Myvatus Orefi lava 
which in quantity measured 31,000,000,000 
cubic feet, or the equivalent of a block 20 
miles long, 5 miles wide and 100 feet thick.1 
The discharge from Skaptar Jokull, in 
1783, was calculated, as we have already 
seen, to have equaled a block 6.2 miles 
long, 3.1 miles broad and 1,771 feet thick; 
that from Bandai-San, Japan, in 1888, 1.2 
cubic kilometers; from Krakatao, in 1883, 
4.3 cubic miles (!); and from Temboro, on 
Sumbawa, in 1815 (as estimated by Ver- 
beck), 28.6 cubic miles. The geologist is in 
the habit of looking complacently upon the 
removal of this vast material from the 
earth’s interior, but is it at all likely to 
have been accomplished without prodigious 
jarring of the earth’s crust somewhere? 
It is only when we begin to properly appre- 
ciate the vastness of this evisceration that 
we are prepared to receive, apart from 
other evidence, the probability of far-reach- 
ing action in the eruption of a voleano. 
Even the minor quantity of material 
earthquake which agitated nearly the whole of the 
Kamtchatkan peninsula and a large part of the 
region of the Kuril Islands. The earthquake 
which in 1861 annihilated the town of Mendoza, 
in Argentina, costing the lives of probably not 
less than 10,000 inhabitants, was coincident with 
the opening of the voleano of Mendoza near by; 
the earthquake of Arequipa, Peru, in 1868, was 
coincident with the opening of one side of the 


voleano of Arequipa (Misti). 
2W. G. Locke, ‘ Askja,’ 1881, p. 26. 


7) 
‘i 
‘ 2 : 
. 
i 
i f 
i 
‘ 
iN 
‘ 


NOVEMBER 2, 1906.] 


thrown out by Skaptar Jékull would equal 
in quantity that which could be heaped up 
to a thickness of some seven or eight feet 
over almost the entire area which in Cali- 
fornia lies between the line of displacement 
in the recent earthquake and the Pacific 
Ocean; while the discharge from Temboro, 
if properly estimated, would have filled in 
a mile-wide canal to a depth of ten feet 
over a length of 15,000 miles. One may 
well stand appalled by these figures, but 
they have as yet produced little impression 
upon the geologist to whom the major 
lesson of vuleanology is taught by Vesuvius 
or Etna. 

The general conclusions arrived at in this 
paper are: 

1. A broad interrelationship exists be- 
tween volcanic and seismic phenomena gen- 
erally ; 

2. Interrelated manifestations of volcanic 
and seismic activity may extend over dis- 
tances, as measured on the surface of the 
globe, of hundreds or even thousands of 
miles; 

3. ‘Tectonic’ earthquakes, so-called, are 
only doubtfully to be distinguished from 
earthquakes of volcanic association, or those 
that have been brought about as the result 
of deep-seated strain ; 

4. The slipping, upheaval and torsion of 
terranes as accompaniments of earthquake 
action are the resultants of impacts or jars 
already delivered to the earth’s crust, and 
are not the cause of such jars; 

5). Earthquake and voleanic disturbances 
seem to be the expression of one common in- 
terior telluric strain or condition, and this 
condition may in some or many cases be 
clearly associated with a pronounced mag- 
netic or electro-magnetic quality of the 
planet ; 

6. There would appear to be a marked 
synchronism or close following of major dis- 
turbances, whether volcanic or seismic, at 


SCIENCE. 


551 


distantly removed points of the earth’s sur- 
face at certain periods. 
ANGELO HEILPRIN. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


The Adjustment of Observations by the 
Method of Least Squares with Applications 
to Geodetic Work. By Tuomas WALLACE 
Wricut, M.A., C.E., professor emeritus, 
Union College, formerly assistant engineer, 
Survey of the Northern and Northwestern 
Lakes. With the cooperation of JoHN Finn- 
MORE Hayrorp, C.E., Chief of the Com- 
puting Division and Inspector of Geodetie 
Work, U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. 
Second edition. Pp. ix+ 298. New York, 
D. Van Nostrand Company. 1906. 
The average man of science generally ex- 

hibits a remarkable lack of ordinary common 

sense when dealing with the method of least 
squares and its conclusions. Inferences are 
drawn from a series of observations, and de- 
ductions made from the size of the probable 
error which at times seem so totally at vari- 
ance with the truth that much fault has been 
found with the method. In theory, the prob- 
able error is based on the assumption that the 
errors are all accidental, that is, are just as 
likely to be positive as megative, and that 
there are a large number of observations, — 
whereas in practise, the formula for finding 
the probable error is often applied to a very 
few observations not freed from their sys- 
tematic or constant errors. A consequence of 
this is that a degree of precision is shown 
which is much greater than the observations 
themselves really warrant, and the probable 
error, therefore, does not seem an accurate 
measure of the error committed. 

There are other scientists who believe that 

a least square reduction is a great correction 

of evils, and that by its means very satisfac- 

tory results may be derived from an indifferent 
set of observations. While poor observing 
will give nothing but poor conclusions, it 
seems to be quite a favorite trick of the com- 
puter, nevertheless, to introduce new wun- 
knowns into the observation equations with the 
hope of more correctly solving them. When 


502 


the sum of the squares of the residuals is di- 
minished by this process, it is taken as a proof 
by the average computer that the introduction 
of the new unknown represents a closer ap- 
proximation to the truth, As a matter of 
fact it is easily shown that the new unknown 
will always reduce the sum of the squares of 
the residuals, and consequently these dimin- 
ished numbers are no proof of greater ac- 
curacy. 

It is with the spirit of caution born of long 
practise that Wright and Hayford approach 
the subject. In the preface of the present 
volume, which is a second edition of Wright’s 
‘Treatise on the Adjustment of Observations,’ 
Mr. Wright tells us that so much of the new 
work is from Mr. Hayford’s hands that it is 
no more than right that his name appear on 
the title page. The first edition is a very 
excellent book and has for years been recog- 
nized as the practical standard. The second 
edition is, if possible, better than the first, for 
it adds the great experience that Mr. Hayford 
has had in the work of the United States Coast 
and Geodetic Survey as chief of the Compu- 
ting Division. 

This experience is shown in chapter IX., 
wherein the principles of least squares are ap- 
plied to a very important but little employed 
use, namely, that of the selection of methods 
of observations, for it may be possible for 
the observer either to increase the accuracy 
of his. work by different instrumental methods 
or, on the other hand, to attain a given stand- 
ard of excellency by a smaller amount of 
observing. The suggestions for applications 
to latitude and longitude determinations, the 
student of geodesy will find very helpful in- 
deed. 

The great advance in geodetic work during 
the past quarter of a century will be seen by 
referring to p. 349 of the first edition (pub- 
lished in 1884), wherein it says that, 

During the present century two forms of ap- 
paratus have been used in the measurement of 
primary bases, the compensation bars, and the 
metallic-thermometer apparatus. * * * Indica- 
tions are not wanting that both forms will be 
supplanted before long by an apparatus consisting 
of simply a single metallic bar. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 618. 


Since this was written the iced-bar and 
steel tape have made great changes in geodetic 
work. 

The method of least squares which derived 
its birth from Legendre’s attempt to find the 
figure of the earth thus receives a notable ad- 
dition by its application to present geodetic 
problems. 

S. A. Mrrcuen. 


Technik des physikalischen Unterrichts. Won 
Freiprich OC. G. Mituer. Berlin, Otto 
Salle. 1906. 

This volume of 364 pages is, as its title sug- 
gests, designed for the assistance of the in- 
structor who must give a series of experi- 
mental demonstrations before a class begin- 
ning the study of physics. As is indicated 
by the preface, and also by the subject matter 
of the book, the class of students for whom 
the lectures have been especially designed 
would correspond in this country to college 
students in their first or second years. 

The work is divided into thirteen parts: 
General Arrangements for Physical or Chem- 
ical Instruction, Measurements and Weighing, 
Statics, Dynamics, Statics and Dynamics of 
Liquids, Statics and Dynamics of Gases, 
Acoustics, Heat, Optics, Magnetism, Electro- 
statics, Electrodynamics, Introduction to 
Chemistry. Under each of these heads vari- 
ous important experiments are described in 
detail, and nothing could be clearer than the 
directions and suggestions. The author em- 
phasizes at every point the necessity of the 
demonstrations being made in a quantitative 
manner, and he indicates the most suitable 
means by which measurements of all kinds 
can be made in such a manner as both to be 
accurate and to be visible to a comparatively 
large audience. 

The book is by far the best of its kind that 
has come to the attention of the reviewer. 
It is not exhaustive, it is true, nor is it ex- 
hausting in its details. It should prove of 
value to every lecturer in physics and chem- 
istry who has to deal with elementary classes. 


J. S. AMES. 


NovEMBER 2, 1906.] 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 


The Musewms Journal of Great Britain for 
September contains the following articles: 
‘On a Collection to Illustrate the Origin and 
Structure of Rocks,’ by H. ©. Sorby; ‘A 
Method of Exhibiting Coins,’ by F. R. Rowley ; 
‘Notes on Models of Protozoa,” by F. R. 
Rowley; ‘On the Hanging and Care of Pic- 
tures,’ by Richard Quick; and ‘A Method of 
Preserving Tortoises,’ by J. E. Duerden. The 
reports of a number of museums are noted, 
giving a good idea of the general activity in 
museum work in England, as well as showing 
how much is being done there to make mu- 
seums at once interesting and instructive to 
the general public. It is stated that it is the 
intention to make the Tolcross branch of the 
Glasgow Museum a museum for children. 


The following extract from the report of the 
Stockport Museum deserves a wide circulation: 
“Many people do not realize that the true 
foundation of a municipal museum is educa- 
tional, seeming to regard it as a receptacle 
for their useless old lumber and rubbish.” 


The Report of the Manchester Museum, 
Owens College, for 1905-1906, shows a wel- 
come improvement in its finances, due to an 
extra appropriation by the university, which 
already furnishes the major part of the 
$14,000 (in round numbers) devoted to its 
support. Dr. Hoyle’s address, ‘The Educa- 
tion of a Curator,’ is reprinted as one of the 
museum publications and should be widely 
read. There are still people who inquire if a 
curator needs any special training and apply 
for a position as curator of anything. 


The Report of the Curator of the museum 
of the University of Michigan shows progress 
in rearranging and caring for the collections, 
and gives an outline of the summer’s work in 
the ecological survey of Isle Royale. Under 
the direction of Mr. C. C. Adams the mu- 
seum work seems to have been carried on in 
the best possible manner for a university mu- 
seum, but it is doubtful if Mr. Adams’s re- 
marks as to the benefits of explorations can 
be applied indiscriminately to all museums. 
Mr. Adams has just accepted a position in the 
Museum of the Cincinnati Society of Natural 


SCIENCE. 


558 


History where his energy and experience in 
museum work will be of great service. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 


THE program for the stated meeting, Oc- 
tober 19, 1906, was as follows: 


T. J. J. See, Pu.D.: ‘The Cause of Earthquakes, 
Mountain Formation and Kindred Phenomena con- 
nected with the Physics of the Harth.’ 

Eric DooxitrLe: ‘Problems of Double 
Astronomy.’ (With lantern illustrations. ) 

Gro. M. Rommet, B.S.A., AnD EK. F. PHILLIPS, 
Pu.D.:;: ‘Inheritance in the Female Line of Size 
of Litter in Poland China Sows.’ 


Star 


THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION OF AGRICUL- 
TURAL SCIENCE. 


Tue program for the meeting which will be 
held at Baton Rouge, La., on November 13, is 
as follows: 

9:30 A.M. 
committee. 

10:30 A.M. Public meeting. (1) ‘ Importance 
of Nitrogen as Plant Food,’ Professor T. F. Hunt, 
Cornell University; (2) ‘Teaching Agriculture in 
Public Schools, Professor S. M. Tracy, Biloxi, 
Miss.; (3) ‘The Growing Importance of Plant 
Physiology in Agricultural Education,’ Dr. Chas. 
E. Bessey, University of Nebraska; (4) ‘The 
Growing of Alfalfa East of the Mississippi, Dr. 
J. E. Beal, Michigan Agricultural College; (5) 
‘The Problem of Reforesting New England,’ Pro- 
fessor F. Wm. Rane, State Forester, Mass. 

2:00 p.m. Symposium: Experimental Work. 
(a) ‘ What is Research?’ Professor Thos. F. Hunt, 
Cornell University; (b) ‘Tendencies in Station 
Work as Influenced by the Conception of Scien- 
tific Investigation, Dr. H. J. Wheeler, Rhode 
Island College; (c) ‘Scientific Methods in Re- 
search, Dean H. J. Waters, University of Mis- 
souri; (d@) ‘The Experiment Stations and the 
Adams Act,’ Dr. C. D. Woods, University of Maine. 
(e) General discussion. 

8:00 p.m. Evening meeting. President’s An- 
nual Address. Subject: ‘The Promotion of Agri- 
cultural Science, Dr. Henry Prentiss Armsby, 
State College, Pa. 


Meeting of officers and executive 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION AND RESEARCH. 


So much has been said about the advantages 
of herding scientific workers that a small voice 


504 


on the advantages of isolation may not be out 
of order. 

T have read with amazement about the in- 
nocuous desuetude into which the Smithsonian 
Institution is said to have fallen, of its crime 
of accumulating collections, the lament that 

A national museum has been developed, a new 
four million-dollar building is now going up for 
the same; a zoological garden and an astrophys- 
ical observatory have been established; finally 
costly experiments on flying machines have been 
provided for by congress, all under the manage- 
ment of the secretary of the Smithsonian Institu- 
tion, who is not an officer of the nation, but 
elected as executive officer of the Smithson Trust, 
and paid exclusively from the Smithson fund. 

These are, indeed, all serious crimes that are 
charged to the Smithsonian, and I am afraid 
that a close search would reveal others, 2. e., 
the organization of the U. S. Fisheries Bureau 
and the Bureau of Ethnology—perhaps still 
others. It was doubtless criminal for Langley 
to experiment with useless flying machines, 
and, if memory serves me, Henry was equally 
criminally working with the useless telegraph. 
Still some of these misdemeanors on the part 
of the Smithsonian officials seem to have their 
mitigating circumstances. 

Every one ought to know, but, apparently, 
every one does not, that the truly national 
institutions of the National Museum, the 
Fisheries and Ethnological Bureaus, the Geo- 
logical Survey, have provided the very oppor- 
tunities for temporary or permanent research 
on the part of paid investigating curators and 
of visiting college professors that some one 
has asked should be provided. These provi- 
sions may not be for ‘ our’ narrow little lines 
of research, but they are for research. 

Divorce of the museum idea from the 
Smithsonian, if this implies the abolition of 
collections and discouragement of making col- 
lections, means the abandonment in biology 
at least of the fields of research that have in 
the past been most fruitful in detailed results 
and broad generalization. The plea seems 
to me to be not so much for a broad national 
institution as for the abolition of things that 
are in favor of the narrow lines in which 
‘we’ are personally interested. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 618. 


Mr. Hinrichs in his youthful days evidently 
looked upon Henry as a broad, great man, as 
I in my youthful days looked upon Baird as 
a broad, great man, and it comes as a great 
shock to me to find that my youthful vision 
was blurred and to read that Baird was only 
a ‘specialist in fishes’ and Langley a special- 
ist in stars (and flying machines?). How- 
ever, we are always inclined to think of the 
man clamoring for the shoes of some depart- 
ing worthy as entirely too small in parts to fill 
them, and the trees we climbed when we were 
young were much larger than those that grow 
nowadays. 

If we seriously ask ourselves whether the 
Smithsonian has increased and diffused knowl- 
edge among men, I think we must in sorrow 
admit that indeed it has, and we must, per- 
haps, even sneakingly honor the men who 
‘worked’ the nation by starting various lines 
of investigation and then eked out the slender 
original means of the Smithsonian by gradu- 
ally relegating these lines of research to inde- 
pendent bureaus of research supported by the 
nation. Perhaps, as an immigrant I shall not 
give too great offense by pleading guilty to 
some little patriotic pride in the collection of 
bureaus or departments which certainly form 
a great national institution of research. 

The fact that the work in botany, in fishes, 
in geographical distribution, in geology and 
geography is done in departments independent 
of each other ought not to worry a college man, 
and the fact that the Smithsonian has hounded 
the departments to their work is not too great 
a divergence from the aims of Smithson. 

The discussion concerning the Smithsonian 
is a mere trailer to the discussion of the Car- 
negie Institution to which we treated ourselves 
some time ago. In our disappointment that 
the means of the Carnegie Institution are not 
sufficient to enable us to do all that its estab- 
lishment caused us to hope for, we turn on the 
Smithsonian and urge that it must be re- 
formed and, with its much slenderer means, 
do what the Carnegie Institution found can 
not be done. 

It is possible that the time has come to 
modify the methods used for ‘the increase 


NOVEMBER 2, 1906.] 


and diffusion of knowledge. among men.’ I 
am not sure about that, but I have a convic- 
tion that it ought not to be turned into a 
superior club where scientific men may con- 
gregate to imbibe the spirit of research, take 
intellectual stimulants, eliminate their indi- 
viduality and aberrant ideas and get into the 
beaten path. 

For biology we have a splendid series of 
laboratories at Woods Hole, Cold Spring Har- 
bor, Dry Tortugas, Beaufort, all of them na- 
tional in their scope. But the Woods Hole 
laboratories do not receive the support from 
investigators that their equipment warrants, 
and the director of the Tortugas laboratory 
has recently advocated the abolition of the 


summer sessions of the universities that the 


professors who now prefer to teach would, in 
sheer desperation of ennui at nothing else to 
do, be compelled to conduct research at the 
splendidly equipped laboratories at the Tor- 
tugas. 

It is my firm conviction that the middle- 
aged and older men for whom the advocated 
central, national, Washingtonian institution 
would exist, who have not laid out their own 
paths and are not diligently engaged in clear- 
ing and traveling them; who must be sus- 
tained by their environment and for whom, 
therefore, an environment must be created, 
are not worth any consideration whatsoever. 

Segregation has been the most potent factor 
in organic evolution. Segregation has been 
and is the most potent factor in developing 
new ideas in biology. The mass has a regress- 
ing, leveling or swamping effect on incipient 
diverging ideas as well as on diverging vari- 
ants. Self-sustaining ideas originate as rarely 
in a crowd without elbow room as self-sustain- 
ing mutations in small geographical areas. 

Unique faunas are found on isolated islands, 
in caves or other segregated units of environ- 
ment. The most pregnant ideas in biology 
were conceived by Wallace alone in the Malay 
Archipelago, by de Vries alone at Amsterdam, 
by Wagner alone in the tropics of America, 
by Gulich alone in the Sandwich Islands, by 
Mendel alone in his monastic seclusion and 
by Darwin flocking by himself at Down. 


SCIENCE. 


505 


The astronomers at Arequipa would prob- 
ably have a more congenial time at Washing- 
ton, but they would not photograph the south- 
ern heavens. 

What we need most is not more opportuni- 
ties for the herding of scientific men, but op- 
portunities for them to work to the best ad- 
vantage where they are or where their material 
is to be found. If that happens to be in 
Washington, by all means let provision be 
made for them at Washington if it does not 
already exist, but let us not repeat the mis- 
take made years ago, when it became fashion- 
able to think that all that was worth doing 
must be done on and by the sea. I have, 
among others, two good friends in Washing- 
ton who have confided to me, the one that as 
soon as the weather permits he leaves Wash- 
ington, because he can do nothing in the swirl 
that there exists, and the other that when 
he has a big piece of work on hand he takes 
his material to one of the universities, because 
he can do much more there than at Wash- 
ington. 

If the time has come for the Smithsonian 
to adopt a different method for the ‘ increase 
and diffusion of knowledge among men,’ I 
would urge, as I urged when the nascent 
Carnegie Institution was under discussion, 
what my own bitter experience leads me to 
believe is the most urgent need of American 
science. 

My experience no doubt is not at all unique. 
I too have received liberally from the Smith- 
sonian and its afiiliated bureaus whatever pub- 
lications were issued. This policy of the 
Smithsonian for the ‘ diffusion of knowledge’ 
followed by government bureaus has become 
so liberal that we have protests and suggested 
reforms of its extravagance. JI have been 
assisted by the loan of books, of valuable mu- 
seum material and copies of inaccessible frag- 
ments of literature. I have reciprocated by 
sending specimens and preparing reports. I 
could ask for nothing better along these lines. 

Several years ago I set myself to work on 
the development of the remarkable viviparous 
fishes of the Pacific coast. I gave all of my 
time to the collection and working up of the 


556 


material in a region at that time thousands 
of miles from any other embryologist or 
morphological zoologist. The work could be 
done nowhere else, but try as I might, not a 
cent could I secure from anywhere to support 
me in my work. The result of that work 
was, aside from smaller papers describing new 
species, etc.: 

1. ‘On the Precocious Segregation of the 
Sex Cells in Micrometrus aggregatus Gib- 
bons,’ Journ. Morph., V., pp. 480-492, 1 plate. 

2. ‘The Fishes of San Diego,’ Proc. U. 8S. 
Nat. Mus., XV., pp. 128-178, 9 plates. Giving 
spawning seasons and embryology, as well as a 
list of San Diego fishes. 

3. ‘On the Viviparous Fishes of the Pacific 
Coast of North America,’ Bull. U. S. Fish 
Comm. for 1892, pp. 381-478, 27 plates. 

4, ‘Sex-differentiation in the Viviparous 
Teleost Cymatogaster, Arch. f. Entwickel- 
ungsm., 1V., pp. 125-179, 6 plates. 

A request for fifty cents a day while work- 
ing in California was declined by one of the 
government bureaus. A request for assistance 
from two other institutions was declined. 

The article ‘On the Viviparous Fishes’ was 
sold for $100, not quite twice as much as had 
been paid to draw one of the figures submitted 
to illustrate it. It is thus that scientific work 
has been encouraged in the past. The article 
was a fragment, and the viviparous fishes still 
await a worker who must be in the ‘field’ 
among those fishes. Wallace long ago pointed 
out that individual: workers in the field do 
proportionately vastly more than big, expen- 
sive government expeditions. Just as surely 
vastly more will be accomplished if individual 
workers are subsidized to do their work where 
they can do it best than if they are herded at 
Washington. 

The most urgent need is temporary or per- 
manent research professorships: appointments 
made for specific work of men who will receive 
their pay from the appointing institution, who 
are responsible for all of their time and results 
to the appointing institution, but who carry 
on their work in their home institution or 


Thirty odd dollars I spent in incidentally 
picking up rare or new species of fishes were re- 
funded later. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vox. XXIV. No. 618. 


wherever else their work can be done to best 
advantage. Cart H. EIGENMANN. 


THE MUTATION THEORY IN ANIMAL EVOLUTION. 


THE question of the origin of species is 
that of the origin of specific characteristics 
or differential marks. According to one the- 
ory they arise gradually by accumulations of 
the order of fluctuations. According to the 
other they arise suddenly and completely as 
mutations. The former theory explains cases 
in which species are connected by intergrades. 
The latter best explains discontinuity in spe- 
cies; without it a subsidiary hypothesis to 
account for observed discontinuity is neces- 
sary. 

The first reading of de Vries’s great work 
‘Die Mutationstheorie’ carried a conviction 
to the minds of many zoologists as well as 
botanists that the truth of the discontinuity 
theory—which has long been urged under 
other names—had been insufficiently recog- 
nized. Of late opposition is appearing and 
the mutationist is led to reexamine the 
grounds of his faith. One of the most vigor- 
ous of the reactionists is Merriam’ (1906), 
who concludes his address before the zoolog- 
ical section of the American Association with 
the words: “ The theory of the origin of spe- 
cies by mutation, therefore, far from being a 
great principle in biology, as some seem to 
believe, appears to be one of a hundred minor 
factors to be considered in rare cases as a 
possible explanation of the origin of partic- 
ular species of plants, but, so far as known, 
not applicable in the case of animals.” 

The evidence for so sweeping a generaliza- 
tion is to be looked for in the body of the 
address and I have carefully reread and an- 
alyzed his paper. He offers first certain gen- 
eral objections to the mutation theory and 
then cites cases supporting the alternative 
theory of gradual modification. His general 
objections do not seem to me to be important. 
His query (p. 242) ‘if sport variations are 
less likely to disappear by reversion than are 


1¢°Ts Mutation a Factor in the Evolution of the 
Higher Vertebrates?’ Science, XXITI., No. 581, 
February 16, 1906. 


NOVEMBER 2, 1906.] 


individual variations’ would not have been 
asked if he had bred sports and observed their 
resistance to blending and reversion. In 
poultry, tailless birds bred to tailed birds pro- 
duce in the second generation and later a 
large proportion of wholly tailless offspring. 
Crest, frizzled feathers, tendency to produce 
pigment in the connective tissue, dominate 
over the normal conditions. When birds with 
a down-like modification of the adult plumage 
are bred together all of the offspring have that 
peculiarity. Even the polydactile condition 
does not blend with the normal. After these 
facts what becomes of the ‘ opinion’ that has 
been bandied about for over a generation and 
is resuscitated by Merriam that sports are 
lost by swamping? MRegrettable is Merriam’s 
innuendo directed toward zoologists who have 
been trained in analytical methods involving 
the use of the microscope. I am not con- 
vinced that analytical training in the labora- 
tory is a less adequate training for tackling 
the species problem than setting traps and 
shooting and skinning mammals and birds in 
the field. What the problem demands is an 
analysis of species into their constituent 
characteristics, a study of the behavior of 
these characteristics in the field and the labo- 
ratory under controlled environmental condi- 
tions and a study of their inheritance. 
Certain special cases are cited at some 
length by Merriam as disproving the mutation 
theory. The number might have been greatly 
increased. In general it may be said the 
widely ranging species of small mammals and 
non-migratory birds in North America exhibit 
remarkable parallel changes in coloration, 
gaining a darker and brighter pigmentation 
as one passes from the dry plains or the in- 
terior deserts to the moister Pacific coast from 
northern California to Alaska. It is hardly 
conceivable that mutations of exactly the same 
sort should affect so many species in the 
same way. It seems more reasonable to as- 
cribe these changes to climatic conditions. 
Whether these changes are permanent enough 
to warrant calling them specific character- 
istics is uncertain. Mr. Chapman tells me 
that there is evidence that in the case of 
certain species originating in the interior, 


SCIENCE. 


557 


one section spread to the southern deserts, 
where it became pale, while another section 
spread northward, where it was rendered dark, 
and that these two sections have subsequently 
approached each other on the Pacific coast, 
where they are strikingly dissimilar, although 
near together. Such a history, which de- 
serves working out in detail, would indicate a 
persistence of the climatic modifications. I, 
for one, am quite satisfied that geographic 
variation, determined directly or indirectly by 
climate, is not of the order of mutation and 
may involve a permanent modification of the 
germ-plasm. The variation is often sufficient 
to justify assignment of the extremes to dis- 
tinet species whenever intergrades are miss- 
ing. These geographic variations are, how- 
ever, it must be confessed, largely of a quan- 
titative rather than of a qualitative sort; 1. e., 
usually new characters are not involved, but 
only a modification of characters, as, e. g., in 
the case of mammals an increase of the black 
and red pigment. It may well be that species 
founded on quantitative differences follow a 
different method of evolution than those 
founded on qualitative ones. I, for one, while 
an adherent of the mutation theory, still 
maintain the view expressed by me in 1904,’ 
when I used some of the same kind of evi- 
dence employed by Merriam. This view is 
that the process of evolution is complex 
enough to admit of many ‘ factors’ and evolu- 
tion is not always by mutation. 

The real argument for discontinuity in 
evolution is the occurrence of characteristics 
in nature that are discontinuous and which 
never show intergrades. The mere fact of 
discontinuity between species of the same 
genus is not sufficient to prove that they have 
arisen by mutation. It must be shown that 
the differential characters are in essence dis- 
continuous. The practical way to get at the 
true nature of characteristics, whether con- 
tinuous or discontinuous, is by their behavior 
in inheritance. If, in cross-breeding, a char- 
acter tends to blend with the dissimilar char- 
acter of its consort it must be concluded that 
the character can be fractionized and that 

** Evolution without Mutation, Journal of Ex- 
perimental Zoology, I1., pp. 137-143. 


508 SCIENCE. 


intergrades are possible. If, on the contrary, 
the characteristic refuses to blend, but comes 
out of the cross intact, as it went in, the con- 
clusion seems justified that the characteristic 
is essentially integral and must have arisen 
completely formed, and hence discontinu- 
ously. 

Using this criterion, I have of late been 
testing the application of the mutation theory 
to animals and have had an opportunity to 
examine the experiments of others. Some of 
the work has been done on the characteristics 
of domesticated ‘races,’ others on wild varie- 
ties. There seems to be no difference in the 
behavior of characteristics of domesticated 
and wild varieties. The result is that most 
characteristics, but not all, fail to blend and 
are strictly alternative in inheritance. I in- 
terpret this to mean that the characteristic 
depends on a certain molecular condition that 
does not fractionize. The inference is that 
if the characteristic is incapable of gradations 
now it has always been and hence must have 
arisen without gradations, 7 e., discontinu- 
ously. Examples of such discontinuous char- 
acteristics are the spots on the elytra of cer- 
tain beetles, the crest on the canary, the form 
of the comb in poultry, extra toes, black 
plumage and color of iris. One who sees the 
striking failure of these characteristics and 
many others to be modified in any important 
way will feel convinced that they are not 
capable of forming intergrades and hence 
could not have arisen gradually. 

While I am not of those who would seem to 
deny that characters of domesticated species 
are as natural as any others, it is worth in- 
quiring whether discontinuous variations, 
such as I have been dealing with, occur among 
feral animals. The evidence is that they do. 
Thus our gray squirrels exhibit in many 
localities a striking number of black indi- 
viduals. These are not found everywhere, 
but in small areas may be fairly common. 
Difference in climatic conditions can not ac- 
count for the blacks—they belong to the order 
of melanic sports, 2. e., mutations. Our red 
squirrels and various other feral rodents sport 
in the same way. Birds also show melanic 
sports, e. g., in the European snipe (Scolopox 


\ 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 618. 


gallinago) a chocolate brown form sometimes 
appears which, like the black squirrel, has been 
considered by some as a distinct species. 
Similarly, more or less albinic sports occur in 
nature. White crows and blackbirds are well 
known and many individuals of the house 
sparrow are partially albinic. The history of 
the twisted beak of the erossbill (Loxia cwrvi- 
rostra) is, of course, unknown. The char- 
acteristic is, however, the same as, and has 
probably had a similar origin with, that which 
suddenly appears in one per cent. of the poul- 
try that I breed and which has been observed 
as a sport in crows. Searcely one of the 
characteristics of poultry may not be found 
appertaining to some feral species, and there 
is every reason to believe that these character- 
istics have the same property of indivisibility 
in the latter case as in the former. Such 
facts as I have cited above could be added to 
by Dr. Merriam or any other naturalist with a 
similarly extensive and profound knowledge 
of the higher vertebrates; and they seem to 
me to lead to the conclusion that some new 
characters may arise in nature suddenly, as 
sports or mutations, and persist as specific 
characteristics. 
Cuas. B. Davenport. 
STATION FOR EXPERIMENTAL EVOLUTION, 
October 18, 1906. 


THE RIGIDITY OF THE EARTH. 


To THe Eprror or Science: In Science of 
September 28 Professor L. M. Hoskins is led 
to the sad conclusion that I have misunder- 
stood Lord Kelvin’s definition of the modulus 
of rigidity, and he thus apparently questions 
the results which I have given in Astronom- 
ische Nachrichten, No. 4,104. Owing to the 
great length of that paper, my explanation of 
the connection between rigidity as experimen- 
tally determined for solid bodies here upon the 
earth’s surface and other bodies kept rigid by 
pressure was not sufficiently developed; and 
as the difficulty that has misled Professor 
Hoskins appears to have occurred also to 
others, it seems worth while to point out the 
omitted steps in the chain of reasoning, which 
will, I think, make it clear that my process 
has been misunderstood and misinterpreted, 


| 


NOVEMBER 2, 1906.] 


rather than Lord Kelvin’s, which has been 
familiar to me for many years. 

1. The error which has arisen in judging 
my paper proceeds from the habit of dealing 
with common solids in the laboratory, and the 
supposition that I am using the same method 
in dealing with the effective rigidity of the 
matter within the earth. The question as to 
how the stresses are applied to a cubical ele- 
ment does not need to be considered, for we 
are not experimentally shearing or otherwise 
deforming the elemental cubes of the earth 
to get the resulting mean rigidity. Inside 
the limit of pressure which gives the matter 
the property of an elastic solid, the simple 
fact is that there is an effective rigidity in 
spite of the high temperature. Pressure 
operating through the agency of molecular 
forces, therefore, is the sole cause of the ef- 
fective rigidity and I have taken the effect- 
ive rigidity everywhere proportional to the 
pressure, which is a perfectly legitimate hy- 
pothesis. If others wish to adopt a different 
hypothesis, they are at liberty to do so. The 
present hypothesis is satisfactory on theoret- 
ical grounds, and apparently confirmed by the 
numerical calculations given in Astronomische 
Nachrichten, No. 4,104. 

2. It may be well to observe that it is a 
matter of the utmost indifference to me how 
the elemental cube may be distorted, or 
whether it be distorted at all. J am not de- 
termining coefficients of rigidity for the dif- 
ferent elements within the earth. For my 
purpose of calculating the earth’s mean rigid- 
ity, 1 ts sufficient to have something which 
these rigidity moduluses would be propor- 
tional to if they could be determined, and 
that is the pressure, as calculated from the 
theory of gravity and Laplace’s law of density. 

3. The rigidity of ordinary solids may be 
expressed in atmospheres; and in dealing with 
bodies made rigid by pressure, it is convenient 
to employ the same measure, since this enables 
us to compare the rigidity of a cold solid to 
that of a hot body made rigid by confining 
pressure. 

4. There is an old saying that ‘facts are 
stubborn things.’ Such, it seems to me, are 


SCIENCE. 


009 


the numerical results obtained in my paper, 
by processes of entire mathematical rigor. 
I calculate that the rigidity of the earth will 
lie between 750,000 and 1,000,000 atmospheres. 
In finding this lower limit, the effect of the 
earth’s crust is neglected, and there is, more- 
over, some slight defect in the gravitational 
method near the surface even in the case of 
encrusted bodies. In the case of gaseous 
bodies, the outermost layers can hardly be 
regarded as having the properties of an elastic 
solid, and hence the integration for the mean 
pressure should stop before we reach the sur- 
face. But as we do not know at what depth 
to stop, I took the mean pressure of the entire 
planet as giving its most characteristic prop- 
erty. 

From these considerations I believe that 
those who study the paper in Astronomische 
Nachrichten, No. 4,104, will agree that the 
points raised relate to the experimental de- 
termination of moduluses of rigidity, and not 
to the rigidity of the earth and other planets, 
which are found by theoretical methods fully 
explained in the paper itself. 

TB. Sid: Sex, 

U. S. NavaL OBSERVATORY, 

Mare ISLAND, CALIF., 
October 3, 1906. 


ANATOMIC NOMENCLATURE: AN OPEN LETTER TO 
PROFESSOR LLEWELLYS F. BARKER. 


Dear Dr. Barker; Through absence from 
home I have but just received from the pub- 
lishers your “A Description of the Basle 
Anatomical Nomenclature [B N A], advance 
sheets from Dr. Llewellys F. Barker’s forth- 
coming book, ‘ Anatomical Terminology.’” TI 
rejoice that the subject is to be so fully and 
ably presented to English-speaking teachers 
and students of anatomy. Although many of 
the terms of the [B N A] are not preferred 
by me, yet—pending the expected eventual 
general acceptance of my own—I should hail 
their provisional adoption to the exclusion of 
their numerous even less worthy synonyms, 
as enabling me to replace a ‘shot-gun policy’ 
by rifle-practise. ; 

I take for granted that the paragraph on 
page 5 was intended to represent justly my 


560 SCIENCE. 


own share in terminologie discussion. Later 
I may comment upon certain points, e. g., 
the alleged ‘ obscurities of the system’ (which 
—in view of my long preaching and practise 
of clearness as the first essential of all scien- 
tific composition—you must pardon me for 
regarding as subjective), and the nature and 
extent of my philologic transgressions (in 
which connection I may refer to a paper read, 
by invitation, before the American Philolog- 
ical Association last winter). Now, in view 
of the fact that all my publications upon the 
subject either have been sent you or are other- 
wise accessible, I must express surprise and 
regret that the foot-note (translated from His) 
should cite only three of my less extended con- 
tributions (two of them privately printed), 
without mentioning the earlier, the later and 
tthe more comprehensive, e. g., the article 
“ Anatomical Terminology’ by 8S. H. Gage and 
myself, in the first edition of the ‘ Reference 
Handbook of the Medical Sciences,’ 1889, our 
‘ Anatomical Technology,’ 1882 and 1897, my 
‘Neural Terms, International and National’ 
(Journal of Comparative Neurology, 1896), 
and ‘Some Misapprehensions as to the Sim- 
plified Nomenclature of Anatomy’ (1898), 
Science, April 21, 1899. The several reports 
of the committees of the Association of Amer- 
ican Anatomists, the American Neurological 
Association and the American Association for 
the Advancement of Science should have been 
specified, and it would have been simple jus- 
tice to name Mrs. Gage, Gerrish, Gould, 
Huntington, Leidy, the Spitzkas, father and 


son, and others. Finally, American students | 


should be aware that the subject was definitely 
brought before the American Association for 
the Advancement of Science as long ago as 
1880, and that a committee of that body was 
appointed in 1884, three years prior to the 
date when, as stated by you, ‘Germany took 
the lead.’ 

In my ‘Neural Terms’ and ‘Some Mis- 
apprehensions’ I tried to give due credit to 
earlier simplifiers, Barclay, Owen, Henle, ete. 
When you and some other anatomists in this 
country take equal pains to inform yourselves 
fully as to the facts and principles involved, I 
believe you will concede that the good and en- 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 618. 


during features of the neurologie portion of 
the [B N A] had been previously adopted or 
proposed by me, and you will realize that the 
unprejudiced consideration of the terms pre- 
ferred by me would have been more advan- 
tageous to anatomy and more creditable to 
yourselves than their premature condemnation. 

A copy of this letter will be sent to SctencE 
and American Medicine. 

Very truly yours, 


Burt G. WILDER. 
October 11, 1906. 


LEFT-HANDEDNESS. 

To THE Eprror or SciENcE: The question of 
right-handedness has been brought to my no- 
tice, and I should like to inquire whether any 
of your readers has actually counted the num- 
ber of left-handed men and women in a tribe. 
Very few implements of savagery are reliable 
witnesses. The throwing sticks of Eskimo 
men and the short-handed skin dressers of the 
women are infallible, since they fit only one 
hand. In the National Museum, among a 
great number of throwing stieks—from east 
Greenland to Sitka, only two are left-handed 
and both are from the same loeality. There 
is not a left-handed woman’s implement in the 


museum. O. T. Mason. 
October 20, 1906. 


SPECIAL ARTICLES. 

THE RELATIVE MERITS OF THE ‘ELIMINATION’ 
AND ‘FIRST SPECIES’ METHOD IN FIXING 
THE TYPES OF GENERA—WITH SPECIAL 
REFERENCE TO ORNITHOLOGY. 


In attempting to fix the types of any eroup 


of genera we shall find that a large number 
are monotypic, another lot have had their 
types designated by their authors, a few are 
fixed by the rule of tautonomy’ and a certain 
number are left without any indication of a 
type—usually complex heterogeneous genera of 
the older authors. It is these that are always 
giving us trouble and these alone with which 
the problem of fixing types is concerned. 

It seems to me that it is the duty of those 
engaged in nomenclatural work to-day to es- 
tablish our names on as firm a basis as pos- 

1 See Scrence, V., No. 16, pp. 114-115, July 18, 
1902. 


i 
‘ 
i 
i 
fi 
" 
it 
‘i 


ee 


NOVEMBER 2, 1906.] 


sible, fortified by rules that will leave no 
chance for personal opinion and subsequent 
alteration. 

With this idea in mind I have given the sub- 
ject of ‘ type-fixing’ much thought and study, 
taking for my especial investigation the genera 
of North American birds, a group which for 
twenty years has been constantly under the 
scrutiny of a committee on nomenclature and 
which has been subjected to about as much 
changing as any group of genera with which 
T am acquainted. 

As to the merits of the two principal meth- 
ods of fixing types, my investigations lead me 
to strongly favor the plan of selecting the 
first species mentioned.” 

Its advantages are: 


(a) Personal opinion is eliminated, two per- 
sons can not reach different conclusions. 

(b) The question is settled independently 
for each genus, the result does not depend 
upon the fixing of the type of some other 
genus. 

(c) The possibility of change in a generic 
name rests solely upon the question of pri- 
ority, and the discovery of an error in the 
usually accepted date of a publication has no 
bearing upon the types of genera. 

(d) It is necessary to consult only the orig- 
inal reference to ascertain the type of the 
genus. 

Contrasting with these my objections to the 
method of ‘elimination’ as embodied in the 
A. O. U. Code: 

(a) It permits the greatest range of per- 
sonal opinion in the method of its application 
and the almost endless combinations of prin- 
ciples which it presents. 

(b) In ascertaining the type of one genus 
it is often necessary to eliminate one or more 
others first and an error in one operation 
affects the others; in fact the genera stand in 
an interdependent series and a change in the 

?In the case of Linnean genera I realize that 
no good can come of enforcing this rule,-but we 
have practical unanimity of opinion on the types 
of these genera, and I see no reason why we 
may not accept them arbitrarily just as we ac- 
cept the genera themselves as our starting point. 
‘The A. O. U. Code moreover does not demand con- 
‘sistent elimination for Linnean names. 


SCIENCE. 


561 


type of one may affect a number of others. 

(c) The discovery of an error in the date 
of a publication affects not only the priority 
of the genera therein described but also every 
operation of elimination where these genera 
have been involved; and the types of other 
genera will be altered simply because the type 
of one of these genera has been taken out at 
the wrong date. 

(d) To ascertain the type by elimination it 
is necessary to consult every work in which 
genera have been erected upon any of the 
included species; also every work where some 
subsequent author may have specifically select- 
ed a type for the genus. It is manifestly 
impossible to be sure when one has exhausted 
the latter literature. 

Dr. C. W. Stiles’s method, as detailed in 
his paper on ‘The Determination of Generic 
Types,’ *° seems to me to be the perfection of 
the ‘elimination’ idea and while better than 
that, inasmuch as it is more complete and 
more logical, it is open to objection in even 
greater degree on account of its necessary 
complexity. 

While I have the greatest admiration for 
Dr. Stiles’s handling of this subject, I can not 
see how his method can be generally adopted. 
The systematist can not afford to waste time 
in studying the application of nineteen rules 
and recommendations containing thirteen sec- 
ondary suggestions in fixing the type of a 
genus. What he must have is simplicity and 
definiteness. To use a mathematical simile 
he wants elementary arithmetic rather than 
calculus. 

Now as to the arguments advanced in favor 
of elimination. It is claimed that: 

(a) It upholds the work of our predecessors 
by accepting the genera that they have from 
year to year separated off from the original 
composite genus, so that the residue must be 
what they regarded as the type of the original 
genus. This argument however, amounts to 
little or nothing, as in the past many men were 
working wholly independently of one another 
and by ‘elimination’ we inextricably confuse 
two or more independent lines of work, arriv- 
ing at results which are probably not in accord 

? Bull. 79, Bureau Anim. Indust., U. S. Dept. 
Agric. 


562 


with either. Furthermore, many early au- 
thors had no conception of a type species and 
here it seems to me our selection must by any 
method be an arbitrary one. 

(b) It is claimed that because we have fol- 
lowed ‘elimination’ so long in certain groups 
—-as in North American birds, for instance— 
we should be unwarranted in reversing our 
method, because it would involve an immense 
number of changes in generic names which 
have been fixed by elimination. 

This is a serious question and one which I 
have looked into very carefully. As a test I 
have consulted the original publication of 391 
genera and subgenera of North American 
birds as given in the A. O. U. Check List, the 
works in which the other 19 occurred being 
inaccessible. I find 9 based upon diagnoses 
without citation of species, while 5 are nomina 
nuda or not used in a generic sense; 173 are 
monotypic, 59 have their types designated by 
their authors and 21 are fixed by tautonomy, 
leaving 124 composite genera with no type 
stated. 

Of these the type as accepted in the A. O. U. 
Check List is the first species in 92 cases and 
some other species in 32 cases. Of the latter 
16 are Linnean genera where the type is arbi- 
trarily fixed (see antea), reducing the number 
that would be changed by adopting the ‘ first 
species’ rule to 16. In two of these the new 
type would be congeneric with the old, so that 
there would be no change in the generic name 
and three must be changed in any case for 
reasons of priority. Some of the remainder, 
however, involve the change of two names 
each and the total change incident to the 
adoption of the first species rule would be 
10 generic and 4 subgeneric names. ° 

But let us look further. How consistently 
has elimination been applied? There are 92 
genera in which the first species is taken as 
the type in the A. O. U. Check List, pre- 
sumably as the result of elimination; but was 
elimination employed in each ease? Let us see. 

In 25 cases the original species were all con- 
generic, and elimination being impossible the 
first species was selected as the type. In 5 
only a partial elimination was possible and the 
same plan was adopted. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 618. 


In 21 eases elimination, as I understand it, 
fixes the type on the first species, as accepted 
in the Check List, but in 12 cases it fixes it 
upon some other species. There are also two 
cases where the tautonomy rule will compel 
a change and one where the designation of a 
type by a subsequent author has been over- 
looked, while 18 are Linnzan genera and 8 I 
can not decide positively by elimination. 

In all 12 generic and 3 subgeneric names 
will certainly be changed if elimination is 
consistently applied, and the types of 5 other 
genera will change but fortunately fall upon 
congeneric species. 

It may be claimed that I did not eliminate 
properly in all these instances, but in all con- 
fusing cases I have followed the practise of 
Dr. J. A. Allen, who was one of the framers 
of the code and who has freely and cordially 
advised me in this matter. 

It will be seen from the above that far from 
causing an overturning of our ornithological 
nomenclature the adoption of the first species 
rule will cause less change than our adherence 
to elimination. 

As a further test I have examined the bird 
genera of the world from 1758 to 1820, com- 
prising 513 names exclusive of Linnzeus. Of 
these 282 are monotypic, 94 have their types 
fixed by tautonomy, 18 are based upon diag- 
noses only, leaving 119 composite genera in 
which no type is indicated. The selected type, 
according to the British Museum Catalogue, is 
the first species in 102 cases and some other 
species in 17 cases." The task of working out 
the results by elimination I have not ventured 
to attempt. 

It remains now to show the various ways in 
which ‘elimination’ is applied in practise. 
For this purpose I prepared the following 
series of questions which were intended to 
cover the elementary principles of elimination: 
Question I. 

Genus A, 1850. 
Species 1= type of B 1860. 
2= type of C 1870. 
3 == type of D 1880. 


‘In these the action is usually arbitrary, 
seldom or never the result of ‘ elimination.’ 


NOVEMBER 2, 1906.] 


Genus X, 1850. 
Species 4-=type of Y 1810. 
5 = type of Z 1820. 
6 = type of W 1860. 

Is not 3 the type of A and 6 the type of X? 
Question II. 

Genus A, 1800. 

Species 1=— type of B 1810. 

2 belongs to B (according to our 
present views). 
3= type of C 1820. 

Which is the type of A, species 2 or 3? 

Question ITI. 
Genus A, 1760. 

Species 1 type of B 1770. 

2 belongs to C 1780 (the type of 
C is another species not included 
in A). 

3 = type of D 1790. 

Which is the type of A, species 2 or 32 
Question IV. 

Genus A, 1850. 

Species 1—type of B 1860. 

Q=-type of C 1870. 

3 = type of D 1880. 

1. In our opinion to-day D is a synonym 
of another genus H, 1855. Do we consider 
species 8 removed from A at 1855 or 1880? 

2. Suppose we consider D a synonym of B. 
Is species 3 then removed at 1860 or 1880? 
Question V. 

Genus A, 1800. 

Species 1 type of B 1810. 

2—=type of C 1820. 

3= type of D 1830. 

4=type of # 1840. 

1. Suppose we regard H# as a synonym of C 
and consider both 2 and 4 removed at 1820, 
then is not 3 the type of A? 

2. Suppose we regard CO and # as distinct 
genera, then is not 4 the type of A? 

3. Now if an author adopting the first view 
makes 3 the type of A, must a subsequent 
author holding the second view adopt 3 or 
may he change the type of A to 4? 

Question VI. ~ 

When a reviser explicitly selects a type for 
an early composite genus must he take a spe- 
cies that has never up to that time been re- 
moved from that genus as the basis of a new 


SCIENCE. 


063 


one, or is his action binding, no matter what 
species he may select so long as it is one of 
the originally included species ? 
Question VII. 
Genus A, 1800. 
Species 1 type of C 1804. 
2=—=type of D 1806. 
4—type of F 1805. 
Genus B, 1802. 
Species 1=— type of U 1804. 
2—=type of D 1806. 
3 = type of H 1808. 

Two genera erected independently for nearly 
the same species. In eliminating A genus B 
must be considered, since 1 and 2 are con- 
tained in it, but we can not ascertain the type 
of B until we know the type of A. How can 
such cases be treated ? 

Question VIII. 
Genus A, 1800. 

Species 1=— type of C 1820. 
2=—=type of D 1825. 
3—=type of # 1830. 

Genus F, 1840. 

Species 1— type of C 1820. 

2—type of D 1825. 
type of # 1830. 

eam | type of A 1800. 

4=type of B 1810. 

Two genera established for nearly the same 
species. Is not 3 the type of A? If so what 
is the type of F'? 

These were submitted to the following 
twenty-five systematic zoologists and botanists: 

Vertebrate Zoologists—J. A. Allen, B. W. 
Evermann, Theodore Gill, O. P. Hay,* H. W. 
Henshaw, D. S. Jordan, C. Hart Merriam, 
G. S. Miller, Jr.,* H. C. Oberholser, W. H. 
Osgood, T. S. Palmer, C. W. Richmond, 
Robt. Ridgway, Leonhard Stejneger,* Witmer 
Stone. 

Invertebrate Zoologists—T. D. A. Cockerell, 
W. H. Dall, L. O. Howard,* H. A. Pilsbry, 
Mary J. Rathbun, C. W. Stiles. 

Botanists —J. H. Barnhart, N. L. Britton, 
O. F. Cook, F. V. Coville. 

Replies were received from all but those 
marked with an asterisk, and for these answers 
I desire to express my thanks. All of the 
botanists and Professor Cockerell believe_in 


564 


adopting the first species as the type and, 
therefore, not being accustomed to use elim- 
ination, declined to attempt to answer the 
questions. Dr. Jordan and some others also 
adopt the first species rule, but, having used 
elimination at one time or another, answered 
according to their interpretation of this 
method. 

Dr. Stiles adopts his method of exclusion; 
and Drs. Gill, Palmer and Evermann believe 
that further knowledge of individual cases 
would necessitate different answers from those 
they have given, a view which to my mind 
makes a hard and fast rule impossible and 
opens the door wider than ever to individual 
opinion. 

A summary of the answers follows: 
Question I. 

13 answer yes to both. 

1 answers yes to (a), no to (bd). 
1 answers yes, ‘ with reservations.’ 
1 ‘depends on further history.’ 
Question II. 
10 answer sp. 3. 
4 answer sp. 2. 
1 answers sp. 1. 
1 ‘depends on further history.’ 
Question ITI. 
9 answer sp. 3. 
5 answer sp. 2. 
1 answers sp. 1. 
1 ‘depends on history.’ 
Question IV. 
(a) 
7 say 1855. 
8 say 1880. 
1 says date when synonymy was first recog- 
nized. 
(b) 
8 say 1860. 
6 say 1880. 
2 say ‘depends on history.’ 
Question V. 
(a) 
12 say yes (4 with reservations). 
_3 gay no. 
1 ‘ depends.’ 
(b) 
15 say yes. 
1 ‘ depends.’ 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 618. 


(c) 

5 say change. 

8 say no change. 

3 in doubt. 

Question VI. 

14 say yes. 

1 says no. 

1 ‘not necessarily.’ 

Question VII. 
(A) 

8 say sp. 2. ‘ 

5 say sp. 4. 

2 in doubt. 

1 A=B absolutely. 

(B) 

14 say sp. 3. 

1 in doubt. 
Question VIII. 

(A) 
15 say type A =8. 
1 says A =F absolutely. 
(B) 
say sp. 4. 
say sp. 2. 
say sp. 3. 
says 1, 2, 3 or 4. 

1 says ? 

3 say F has no standing. 

These questions were purposely made as 
simple as possible in order not to involve two 
or more principles in one example, but the 
cases encountered in actual practise are usu- 
ally far more complicated; the diversity of 
opinion upon them can readily be imagined. 

The points that I have tried to bring out 
in this discussion are: 

(a) That ‘elimination’ even in the best 
hands will not give uniform results and that 
any attempt to formulate minute rules for its 
application will create a system too compli- 
cated for general use. 

(b) That if elimination be uniformly ap- 
plied to all complex genera, our nomenclature 
will undergo more changes than if the $ first 
species’ rule be adopted. JI have, I think, 
proved this so far as ornithology is concerned, 
and I have no doubt the same conditions will 
be found to prevail in other branches. Elim- 
ination has never been practised in Europe 
and does not seem to be understood by foreign 


HB bo 


NOVEMBER 2, 1906.] 


writers, and in the vast majority of cases the 
first species is taken by.them as the type. 
In nearly every case where the A. O. U. 
Check List and the British Museum Cata- 
logue differ in the selection of a type species 
for an ornithological genus, the adoption of 
the first species by the Americans will bring 
them into accord. 

(c) That we have in the ‘first species rule’ 
a method that can lead to but one result and 
can be practised by any one, and by which 
the type of a genus can be ascertained at once 
by consulting one reference, instead of in- 
volving the examination of many works and 
the expenditure of much time and thought. 

WiTMER STONE. 


ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, 
PHILADELPHIA. 


GENERIC NAMES OF MERYCOIDODONTS. 


As there has been no recent thorough revi- 
sion of the Merycoidodonts (Oreodonts auc- 
torum.), based upon an examination and com- 
parison of all the types, there has been much 
confusion and error in the use of nearly all 
of the generic names. Many new forms have 
recently been discovered, and investigation 
has been greatly retarded by uncertainty as 
to where many of these should be placed. 
By the kindness of those who are in charge 
of the various museums which contain the 
types of the genera, the writer has had the 
opportunity of examining all of the older 
types, and he here gives his conclusions con- 
cerning the various names which have been 
used. 

Merycomopon Leidy. 

Type Merycoidodon culbertsont Leidy. Pro- 
ceedings Academy Natural Sciences, Phila- 
delphia, Vol. IV., 1848, p. 47, Plate. 

Synonyms: Oreodon culbertsonit (Leidy), O. 
priscum Leidy, Cotylops speciosa Leidy. 
The type is a portion of the upper jaw with 

the. last two molars, and a fragment of the 

mandible with all the lower molars. The 
outer cusps of the second upper molar, and 
the heel of the last lower molar are gone. 

The type was sent from the Bad Lands of 

Dakota by Mr. T. Culbertson and is now the 

property of the Academy of Natural Sciences 


SCIENCE. 


565 


in Philadelphia. The two specimens probably 
belong to the same individual, as the last 
molar in both jaws is in about the same stage 
of eruption. These molars, though fully 
formed, had not yet attained the level of the 
other teeth, but they are well exposed, so that 
their structure can be easily seen. 

Dr. O. P. Hay (Science, Vol. IX., April 21, 
1899, p. 593, and ‘Catalogue of the Fossil 
Vertebrates of North America,’ p. 665) has 
reinstated the original name Merycoidodon in 
the place of Oreodon, which had come into 
universal use. He says that Merycoidodon 
clearly has priority over both Oreodon and 
Cotylops. There is a close similarity in the 
teeth of the Middle Oligocene Merycoido- 
donts, and it seemed best, at least until the’ 
type should be found and its identity with 
“ Oreodon’ demonstrated, to use the commonly 
accepted name; but now, after having exam- 
ined the type and compared it with various 
specimens of so-called Oreodon culbertsoni, I 
believe that the original name should be used 
for the following reasons: 

1. The type specimen was fully described 
by Leidy and figures were published, which, 
though not clear enough, perhaps, to distin- 
guish Merycoidodon from specimens of closely 
allied genera, leave no doubt as to the identity 
of the type specimen. 

2. The name Cotylops was given to a young 
individual with the milk dentition. The type 


of Oreodon was the ‘greater portion of a 


cranium’ with teeth in a very much mutilated 
condition, sent to Dr. Leidy by Dr. Hiram 
Prout, of St. Louis. (Proceedings Academy 
Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Vol. V., p. 
237.) 

3. This type appears to be lost, but Dr. 
Leidy, who was a careful observer, had the 
types of Merycoidodon, Oreodon and Coty- 
lops all before him and he said that the true 
molars of Oreodon had exactly the same form 
and very nearly the same size as the posterior 
two molars of Merycoidodon. He afterwards 
concluded that these genera belonged to the 
same species. 

4. So far as the present writer has observed 
there are differences, though not great, which 
separate Merycoidodon from nearly related 


566 


genera, so that, as a rule, Merycoidodon can 
be distinguished by the teeth alone. 


KucrotarHus Leidy. 


Proceedings Academy of Natural Sciences, 

Philadelphia, Vol. V., 1850, p. 90. 

Type Hucrotaphus jacksoni Leidy. 

The type specimen is the posterior portion 
of a skull in the Academy of Natural Sciences 
in Philadelphia. According to the label it 
comes from near Fort Laramie, Wyoming, 
and was presented by Alexander Culbertson. 
The type specimen is distinguishable from 
Eporeodon by peculiarities in the basal por- 
tion of the skull; and, so far as I have ob- 
served, the more complete specimens with 
large bulle from the region of the plains are 
different from those of Oregon; therefore it 
seems best at present to consider them as be- 
longing to separate genera. In the type of 
Eucrotaphus the tympanic bulla is large and 
symmetrically rounded, the paroccipital proc- 
ess 1S intermediate between that of Merycoi- 
dodon and Hporedon, being more transverse 
and laterally expanded at the base than in the 
former and less than in the latter. There is 
no lamina of bones separating the pit for the 
tympanohyal from the stylomastoid foramen 
as in Merycoidodon. The external auditory 
meatus is trumpet-shaped and not greatly en- 
larged as in Hporeodon. 


Eporropon Marsh. 
American Journal Science (3), IX., 1873, p. 

249, 

Type Eporeodon occidentalis Marsh. 

A skull from John Day River, Oregon. 
Presented to the Yale Museum by Rev. 
Thomas Condon. 

Marsh evidently failed to mark the type, 
but only one skull in the Condon collection 
corresponds to the type as Marsh designated 
it. The bull are inflated. The paroccipital 
processes are transverse and moderately ex- 
panded laterally and are not so prismatic be- 
hind the bulle as in Hucrotaphus. The two 
genera are readily distinguishable by the 
forms of the external portions of the tym- 
panics. In Hporeodon the external auditory 
meatus occupies a large space between the 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 618. 


postglenoid and paroccipital processes. There 
is a deep pit for the tympanohyal and it is so 
placed that it looks almost like an inner open- 
ing to the external meatus. There is no pit 
for the mastoid foramen. The outer portion 
of the external auditory meatus is expanded 
anteriorly into a wing in other specimens of 
Eporeodon, and I think it is also thus ex- 
panded in the type, though my notes do not 
state the fact. Most of the John Day skulls 
are flattened on top and the upper contour 
of the skull is nearly straight. This usually 
serves at a glance to separate H'poreodon from 
Hucrotaphus, but occasionally there is a skull 
from the John Day formation more like those 
of Hucrotaphus. 


MesorEopon Scott. 


Type Mesoreodon chelonyx Scott, American 
Naturalist, Vol. XX VII. 1893, p. 661. _ 
The type, which is contained in the Prince- 

ton Museum, is a skull and mandible with a 
large portion of the skeleton. It was obtained 
in the lower Deep River (Fort Logan) beds 
in Smith River valley in Montana. The skull 
is still partially enclosed in a hard matrix, so 
that some of the characters, which distinguish 
the previously mentioned genera, can not be 
clearly made out in this specimen. The skull 
is rather high, not depressed vertically as in 
Eporeodon. The teeth are not high, but ac- - 
cording to Scott the molars show ‘an in- 
cipient tendency to hypsodontism.’ The par- 
occipital processes are expanded laterally 
above, are prismatic below and are in contact 
with the tympanic bulle anteriorly. The 
external and auditory meatus is long, straight, 
directed upward as well as outward and back- 
ward, and has anterior wings in contact with 
the postglenoid processes. It probably can be 
distinguished from Hporeodon by its larger 
size, higher skull, the different form of the 
squamosal processes of the zygoma, and the 
different form of the tympanics. 


ProMerycocHerus Douglass. 


Type Promerycocherus superbus Leidy, Amer- — 
ican Journal of Science, January, 1901, p. 
82. 


From the upper John Day beds, Oregon. 


’ moved. 


-NOvEMBER 2, 1906.] 


The type is the property of the Rev. Thomas 

Condon, who loaned it to the Yale Museum. 

It consists of the greater portion of a skull, 

from which the matrix has not been fully re- 

The specimen was first described as 

Oreodon by Leidy, but was afterward assigned 

to the genus Merycocherus by Bettany. After 

the discovery of more complete remains of 

Merycocherus it was seen by Matthew and 

Douglass that the specimens from the John 

Day were very different, and the latter gave 

them the name Promerycocherus, making iP: 

superbus the type. The skull is large and 
elongated. The upper contour is nearly 
straight, the squamosal portions of the zygo- 
matic arches are enlarged. The occiput is 
not high, and the tympanic bulle are large 
and elliptical. 
Merycoidodon, Eucrotaphus, Eporeodon, 
Mesoreodon and Promerycocherus appear to 
be quite closely related, and, when more is 
known of them, it may be found difficult to 
generically differentiate some of them, yet it 
is undoubtedly better to keep them separate at 
present. Their near relationship seems to be 
confirmed by the characters of the feet and 
other portions of the skeleton. Merychyus, 

Ticholeptus and Merycocherus are apparently 

more distantly related to the foregoing and to 

each other. 
Merycuyvus Leidy. 

Type Merychyus elegans Leidy. Proceedings 
Academy Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 
1858, p. 24. 
From the Miocene of the Niobrara Valley, 

Nebraska. The type consists of portions of 
maxillaries and a mandible with teeth, and 
is preserved in the Academy of Natural Sci- 
ences in Philadelphia. Size rather small, not 
larger than Hporeodon. Premolar shorter 
than the molar series, upper premolars in- 
clined backward. From associated specimens 
in the American Museum of Natural History 
and the Carnegie Museum it appears that the 
skull of Merychyus is low, and limbs and feet 
long and slender. 


TICHOLEPTUS Cope. 


-' Type Ticholeptus zygomaticus Cope. Amer- 


ican Naturalist, XII., 1878, p. 129. 


SCIENCE. 


567 


From the Ticholeptus (Deep River) beds 
of Smith River Valley, Montana. The type 
specimen consists of the greater portion of a 
skull with a mandible, preserved in the Amer- 
ican Museum of Natural History. The skull 
is considerably crushed and still partly im- 
bedded in the matrix. It is short and high, 
and the teeth moderately hypsodont. The pre- 
molars are crowded, but not reduced in size. 
There are small prelachrymal vacuities. Dr. 
Matthews and myself have each discovered, in 
Montana, skulls and parts of skeletons which 
we have assigned to this genus, but they are 
somewhat different, and one has longer limbs 
and feet than the other. It is very certain, 
as Dr. Matthews told me orally several years 
ago, that Ticholeptus is a valid genus, for 
the discovery of more complete specimens of 
Merychyus shows that the latter is a quite 
different animal. 


MerycocHerus Leidy. 

Type Merycocherus proprius Leidy.  Pro- 
ceedings Academy Natural Sciences, Phila- 
delphia, 1858, p. 24. 

The material consists of portions of a max- 
illary and a mandible with teeth from the 
Miocene red-grit bed near Fort Laramie, Wy- 
oming, and is now in the Academy of Natural 
Sciences in Philadelphia. The skull, espe- 
cially the posterior portion, is broad and low; 
the basicranial axis forms a _ considerable 
angle with the plane of the palate. The 
nasals are shortened, and the animal undoubt- 
edly possessed a long nose, or proboscis. The 
teeth are hypsodont, the premolar is consider- 
ably shorter than the molar series, and the 
molars increase rapidly in length and height 
posteriorly. From this genus must be ex- 


' eluded the so-called Merycocherus laticeps 


Douglass and M. altiramus Douglass from 
Montana, which are still more specialized than 
the type of Merycocherus, the former of 
which has been assigned by the writer to a 
new genus which will shortly be published. 


Earut S. Doucuass. 
CARNEGIE MUSEUM, 
October 15, 1906. 


568 


ORIGIN OF THE DEPRESSION KNOWN AS MONTE- 
ZUMA’S WELL, ARIZONA. 

Tue singular bowl-shaped depression known 
as Montezuma’s Well on Beaver Creek, Ya- 
vapai County, Arizona, is one of the noted 
natural wonders of that territory. It is fre- 
quently visited by tourists and others who get 
so far into the interior of Arizona as Camp 
Verde, from which the well is twelve miles 
distant. Hinton in his ‘Handbook of Ari- 
zona’ (1878) gives a fair representation, by 
a wood-cut, of one side of the well. 

The depression is in the midst of a nearly 
level area; it is nearly circular, 500 to 600 
feet in diameter, with vertical walls, or sides, 
from 30 to 40 feet downwards to the head 
of a talus slope extending to a circular pool 
of water, said to be of unfathomable depth. 

The popular theory of the origin of this 
cavity and well in the plain is that it is vol- 
canic; a crater, like a pit-crater. While 
there is a resemblance in form to a pit-crater 
there is no other point of resemblance. There 
are no voleanic rocks or traces of lava, except 
numerous broken metaltes left by the ancient 
cliff-dwellers who once dwelt in the cavernous 
spaces in the limestone walls around the pool. 
The water is not stagnant, it flows out by a 
subterranean channel to the adjoining valley 
of Beaver Creek, from which, probably, the 
supply is received at some more remote point 
above. 

This depression is evidently the result of 
caving-in, a falling down, of the roof of a 
cavern formed by running water in the nearly 
horizontal limestone strata. Most of the 
débris of the former roof which was engulfed 
in the cavern has no doubt been largely dis- 
solved and washed away by the flowing water. 

The existence of once inhabited rooms, or 
chambers, around the well in the overhanging 
limestone cliffs, and also of extensive ruins 
of stone buildings above, around the borders 
of the depression, confirms the other evidences 
of the great antiquity of the well. 

There are other peculiar basin-shaped de- 
pressions in the general surface in the vicinity 
of Flagstaff and Walnut Creek in Coconino 
County whose origin may be similarly ex- 
plained or, perhaps, referred to the solvent 


SCIENCE. 


\ 


[N.S. VoL. XXIV. No. 618. 


action of surface waters sinking or percolating 
downwards through calcareous strata to some 
subterranean channel, or by subterranean 
streams. 

The peculiar depressions in the soil of the 
lead and zine region of Wisconsin, often seen 
at intervals along certain lines upon the sur- 
face, may be similarly accounted for. They 
indicate the downward flow of solvent waters 
to and along the ‘ crevices’ in the horizontal 
limestones and thus are indicative of lodes 
or of ore to the miners. 

The foregoing described phenomena suggest 
that the remarkable crater-like cavity known 
as ‘Coon Butte Crater’ may have similarly 
originated. This suggestion is made with 
some reluctance, inasmuch as I have not 
studied the locality. But it seems as if all 
the conditions so well and fully described by 
Mr. D. M. Barringer, and Mr. Tilghman, in 
their memoirs (Proceedings of the Academy 
of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Decem- 
ber, 1905) may be explained upon the hy- 
pothesis of a sink or downward flow of surface 
(meteoric) water carrying away by solution 
the lime of the caleareous sandstone, reducing 
its volume, or forming cavernous spaces, which 
permitted the upper unsupported beds to fall 
in. Such solvent action would leave the 
silica of the calcareous sandstone in a divided 
pulverulent condition, much as it is found, 
with here and there portions with less lime or 
less decomposition. The subsidence of the 
area would carry down with it any meteoric 
fragments which were on the surface or in the 
soil, and to considerable depths. 

The numerous masses of iron oxide or 
“magnetite, as described, are doubtless the 
residual fragments of siderolites originally 
highly charged with nodules of sulphides and 
phosphides, and probably with chlorine. The 
continuous oxidation and exfoliation of some 
meteorites, even when protected from the ele- 
ments in museums, are familiar examples. 

Wm. P. Buake. 


QUOTATIONS. 
THE HUXLEY LECTURE. 


Proressor Ivan PetrrovircH Pawtow, the* 
celebrated professor of physiology at the Uni- 


NovEMBER 2, 1906.] 


versity of St. Petersburg, delivered the Hux- 
ley lecture at Charing Cross Hospital on 
October 1. The function took place in the 
out-patient hall of the hospital, which was 
crowded with an enthusiastic audience. The 
professor was welcomed on his arrival in a 
small room adjoining the hall by an informal 
reception committee, consisting of Lord Kil- 
morey (chairman of the hospital), Sir A. 
Riicker, Professor Starling, Dr. Pavy, Pro- 
fessor Gotch, Dr. W. V. Bayliss, Dr. Mott, 
Mr. Waterhouse and Dr. Bosanquet. When 
Professor Pawlow was conducted into the hall 
by Lord Kilmorey, the reception accorded to 
the eminent physiologist was so hearty that 
it seemed to take him by surprise. In a few 
words Lord Kilmorey introduced the lecturer 
to the audience, and Professor Pawlow then 
proceeded to deliver his address. He spoke 
in German, and took for his subject the scien- 
tific investigation of the psychical faculties 
or processes in the higher animals. At the 
conclusion of the address Sir A. Riicker, prin- 
cipal of the University of London, moved a 
vote of thanks to Professor Pawlow. He as- 
sured him that the interest in his address was 
not confined to the walls of Charing Cross 
Hospital, but the University of London as a 
whole was delighted to welcome so distin- 
guished a representative of Russian science. 
Professor Starling, in seconding the vote of 
thanks, said that the address bore out the old 
statement as to the close connection that ex- 
isted between the advance of science and the 
advance of methods at the disposal of scientific 
investigators. Great strides had been made 
in the science of physiology by the introduc- 
tion of anesthetics which had abolished pain 
from the physiological laboratory. The use 
of anesthetics necessitated the introduction of 
abnormal conditions into an experiment, but 
Professor Pawlow had now taught them how 
to experiment on the living animal in perfect 
physiological condition without pain, without 
anesthetics, and without even discomfort. 
Lord Kilmorey formally expressed the thanks 
of the meeting to Professor Pawlow, who re- 
plied in a few words suitably acknowledging 
the compliment.—The British Medical Journal. 


SCIENCE. 


569 


ASTRONOMICAL NOTES. 


THE POTSDAM PHOTOMETRIC DURCHMUSTERUNG. 

VotumE XVI. of the Publikationen des 
Astrophysikalischen Observatoriums zu Pots- 
dam has just been issued. It contains the 
fourth and last zone of the photometric Durch- 
musterung, which has been carried on by 
Miller and Kempf during the last twenty 
years, of which the first volume appeared in 
1894. It includes all stars in the northern 
heavens of the magnitude 7.5, and brighter, 
and forms a most important addition to the 
photometry of the stars. 

Although the great discordance among the 
various estimates of brightness made some 
sort of exact measurements a necessary step 
in the advancement of astronomy, but little 
progress had been made until a quarter of a 
century ago. The first volume of the Harvard 
photometry, begun in 1879, was published in 
1884, and the Uranometria Oxoniensis ap- 
peared in 1885. 

The Durchmusterung of Miiller and Kempf 
comes opportunely, since it gives measure- 
ments of great precision, and throws light on 
the results obtained by earlier observers. It 
is of the greatest importance, not only to 
reduce the accidental errors as much as pos- 
sible, a result which has probably been ac- 
complished by Miller and Kempf, but, espe- 
cially, to show whether the systematic errors, 
which are inseparable from such investiga- 
tions, are so small as to make the results 
trustworthy. 

The work of Pritchard at Oxford was ear- 
ried on with a wedge photometer; that of 
Pickering at Harvard with polarization pho- 
tometers in which a polar star is compared 
directly with all the stars whose magnitudes 
are to be determined; the observations of 
Miiller and Kempf have been made with pho- 
tometers of the Zoéllner type, in which, by 
means of an artificial star, the stars to be 
measured are compared indirectly with various 
well-distributed standard stars whose mag- 
nitudes have been determined with all possible 
care. 

The work of the Potsdam astronomers was 
arranged in four zones extending from the 
equator to the north pole of the sky. The 


570 


authors take advantage of the completion of 
the last zone to make a discussion of their 
results, and a comparison between them and 
the determinations of other astronomers, a 
brief synopsis of which follows. 

Systematic Differences in the Potsdam Ob- 
servations.—Small systematic differences ap- 
pear between the two observers, and between 
the photometers which they employed. For a 
mean interval of 0.48 magnitude the mean 
difference in brightness of two stars, with 
photometer C1, is smaller by 0.02 when meas- 
ured by M than by K. With photometer D 
a difference of 0.01 was found for a measured 
interval of 0.28. 

Differences also appear between the observa- 
tions of the fundamental stars and those of 
the zones. Taking all four zones together a 
mean difference of 0.49 magnitude was meas- 
ured less by 0.080 in the zone observations 
than in those of the fundamental stars, when 
photometer C1 was used, and less by 0.007 
for photometer D. On the assumption that 
this quantity increases according to the meas- 
ured difference, this corresponds to a differ- 
ence of 0.061 for a full magnitude for pho- 
tometer C1, and to 0.018 for D. The latter 
instrument apparently gives results of slightly 
greater precision. A comparison of the dif- 
ferent photometers also shows small differences 
for both magnitude and color. 

For the determination of the differences 
between M and K, as affected by magnitude 
and color, a discussion is given of all except 
the fundamental stars. They are placed in 
four groups, white, yellowish white, whitish 
yellow, yellow and deeper shades. For all, 
M—K——0.03 magnitude. This result 
agrees well with that of the third zone, but 
is somewhat at variance with that of the first 
zone, where the difference was + 0.02. In the 
estimation of color intensities no significant 
differences appear. | 

The precision attained is indicated by a 
comparison of the measurements of 2,485 
stars, which were observed by both M and K. 
These give a mean difference between the 
observers of 0.11 magn. The probable 
error of a single observation is - 0.052, and 
for a catalogue value based on two evenings’ 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 618. 


observations, -- 0.087. There seem to be no 
marked differences in these values as influ- 
enced by magnitude or color. 

Comparison between the Potsdam Measure- 
ments and the Bonn Estimates.—The compari- 
son with the estimated magnitudes of the 
Bonn Durchmusterung (BD) presents some 
curious features. For naked-eye stars of all 
colors, a magnitude by the BD corresponds 
to 0.9035 of the Potsdam seale, while for the 
fainter stars the corresponding value is 1.0566. 
The logarithms of these quantities are 0.361 
and 0.423. The corresponding values for the 
three preceding zones were 0.329, 0.362, 0.366 
for bright stars and 0.400, 0.457, 0.484 for 
faint stars. The variations in these quanti- 
ties seem pretty large. 

When taken with respect to color, the dif- 
ference, Potsdam — BD, decreases systematic- 
ally from -+ 0.41 for white stars to —0.01 
for yellow stars. This difference, Potsdam — 
BD, shows also a marked but systematic varia- 
tion according to the declination of the stars. 
This, however, might perhaps be explained by 
a large atmospheric absorption at Bonn, for 
which no correction was applied. 

Comparison between the Determinations at 
Potsdam, Harvard and Oxford.—The Harvard 
values used are those of volumes XIV. and 
XXIV. These are referred to as Pickering I. 
and Pickering II. Later volumes of the Har- 
vard photometry will be discussed at another 
time. Tables are given showing the system- 
atic mean differences, Potsdam —PI., Pots- 
dam — PII. and Potsdam — Pr (Oxford), for 
the zone in question, and a special table giving 
the individual cases in which the differences 
amount to half a magnitude, or more. The 
number of such cases is small, one for PI. 
and five for PII. and Pr. This number is 
less than in preceding parts of the work, which 
is explained by the authors as due to the fact 
that both at Harvard and at Oxford the pole- 
star was the standard of comparison, and that 
errors would naturally be fewer in this zone, 
60°—90°, which lies near the pole-star. 

These tables are followed by others giving 
the results for all four zones combined. Since 
the systematic differences are practically the 
same for all four zones, an inspection of the 


——— ss 


NOVEMBER 2, 1906.] 


final means will be sufficient. These differ- 
ences can best be shown by the following brief 
table: 


bee ee ee 

pe es) ea dee 

epee sae 
White.............. +0. 25 |+0.29 | -++0.29|-++0. 23 | +0. 26 
Yellow white...../-+-0.26 |--0. 25 |+-0.21 |-+-0.20/ +0.23 
White yellow.....|-10.11|+0.09|+0.02|+0.06 | +0.07 
Yellow, etc........ 0.05 |—0.04.|—0.09 |—0.07 | —0.06 


The most striking feature shown in this 
table is the remarkable accordance in the mean 
results at Bonn, Harvard and Oxford. In 
each case there is a positive difference of about 
a quarter of a magnitude for white stars, and 
this quantity diminishes systematically to a 
small negative value for the yellow-red red 
stars. The systematic differences between the 
Bonn, Harvard and Oxford catalogues are in- 
appreciable. In all cases Potsdam makes the 
white stars fainter and the red stars brighter 
than the other three observatories. Between 
these two extremes, however, somewhere be- 
tween the whitish-yellow and yellow stars, the 
differences disappear. The differences seem 
difficult of explanation. On the one hand, we 
have Potsdam with two observers and with 
Zollner photometers, and on the other hand, 
Bonn, Harvard and Oxford, with eight ob- 
servers and photometers of several kinds. The 
differences concerned are small, however, and 
it may well be regarded as remarkable that the 
color scale of the different catalogues should 
agree so closely that for stars of one color 
the differences are positive, and for those of 
another color, negative. 

Another relation is shown by arranging the 
observations with regard to magnitude. We 
may use for illustration Potsdam—PI. It 
is thus found that the scale of magnitude of 
the Harvard photometry lies, for stars of dif- 
ferent color, on both sides of that of the Pots- 
dam scale. For white stars a full Harvard 
magnitude equals about 1.05 of the Potsdam 
seale; for yellowish-white, 1.08; for whitish- 
yellow, 1.01; and for yellow and red stars, 
0.94; and for all, about 1.00. Taking into 
consideration the systematic differences which 


SCIENCE. 


O71 


are found in the results of a single observatory 
by different observers and instruments, as 
shown in the present discussion for Potsdam, 
and also the known influence of the Purkinje 
phenomenon, the differences of scale between 
Potsdam and Harvard are surprisingly small. 


Soton I. Barney. 
HARVARD COLLEGE OBSERVATORY. 


BOTANICAL NOTES. 
BOTANY IN THE ST. LOUIS CONGRESS OF 1904. 


A LITTLE more than two years ago in the 
Congress of Arts and Science of the Uni- 
versal Exposition at St. Louis a considerable 
number of botanical papers were read which 
are now given wider publicity by being printed 
in the fifth volume of the published proceed- 
ings of that notable meeting. The following 
papers on botanical subjects are printed in 
this volume: ‘ Development of Morphological 
Conceptions,’ by Professor John M. Coulter; 
‘A Comparison between Natural and Arti- 
ficial Selection,’ by Professor Hugo de Vries; 
‘Plant Morphology,’ by Professor Frederick 
O. Bower; ‘The Fundamental Problems of 
Present-day Plant Morphology,’ by Professor 
Karl F. Goebel; ‘The Development of Plant 
Physiology under the Influence of the Other 
Sciences,’ by Professor Julius Wiesner; ‘ Plant 
Physiology—Present Problems,’ by Professor 
Benjamin M. Duggar; ‘The History and 
Scope of Plant Pathology,’ by Professor Joseph 
C. Arthur; ‘ Vegetable Pathology, an Eco- 
nomic Science, by Merton B. Waite; ‘The 
Position of Ecology in Modern Science,’ by 
Professor Oscar Drude; ‘The Problems of 
Ecology,’ by Professor Benjamin L. Robinson; 
“Relations of Bacteriology to Other Sciences,’ 
by Professor Edwin O. Jordan; ‘Some Prob- 
lems in the Life-history of Pathogenic Micro- 
organisms,’ by Professor Theobald Smith. To 
these may be added the two more general 
papers— The Recent Development of Biology,’ 
by Professor Jacques Loeb, and ‘ The Problem 
of the Origin of Species,’ by Professor Charles 
O. Whitman, and the brief introductory ad- 
dresses by Professor Charles R. Barnes (plant 
physiology) and Professor Charles E. Bessey 
(plant pathology). Nor are these all that will 


572 


prove of much direct interest to the scientific 
botanist, who will find much that he can ap- 
ply to his own science in Professor Charles B. 
Davenport’s ‘ Animal Morphology in its Rela- 
tion to Other Sciences,’ Professor Alfred M. 
Giard’s ‘Present Tendencies of Morphology 
and its Relations to the Other Sciences,’ Pro- 
fessor Oskar Hertwig’s ‘ Advances and Prob- 
lems in the Study of Generation and Inherit- 
ance,’ Professor William K. Brooks’s ‘ Indi- 
vidual Development and Ancestral Develop- 
ment,’ Professor William E. Ritter’s ‘Place 
ef Comparative Anatomy in General Biology’ 
and Professor Yves Delage’s ‘ Comparative 
Anatomy and the Foundations of Morphology.’ 

These stately volumes are issued by Hough- 
ton, Mifflin & Company, which is a sufficient 
guarantee of their excellence in type, paper 
and presswork. 


TWO AND THREE PISTILS IN CASSIA CHAMAECRISTA. 


In the autumn of 1905 I chanced to find a 
single flower of Cassia chamaecrista with two 
pistils (carpels), one of normal size and the 
other much smaller, so small in fact that its 
ovules had not developed. A few days later 
while out with a party of students I directed 
their attention to what I had found, and sug- 
gested that they hunt for similar cases of two 
pistils in a flower. It proved not to be a 
difficult task to find such cases, and in most 
of those found, both pistils were of normal 
size. A considerable number of these twinned 
pistils were secured, and preserved for further 
examination. They appeared to be normal 
in every particular. JI was especially inter- 
ested in the discovery of two cases in which 
there were three pistils in each flower. In 
one of these cases the three pistils were of 
approximately equal size. 

If we are right in thinking that the Caesal- 
piniaceae have probably been derived from 
Rosaceae by a reduction in the number of 
earpels (along with other floral modifications) 
we have in these cases of two and three carpels 
a reversion to the polycarpellary type. It be- 
came interesting to know whether these cases 
were sporadic, or whether there was a tend- 
ency in these plants to produce more than one 
earpel. Accordingly, I visited this year the 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 618. 


, 


station where we found the two- and three- 
carpelled flowers last year, and again found a 
considerable number of flowers with two car- 
pels. None was found with three carpels, 
though this may have been due to the fact that 
the search was not as prolonged as last year. 
It is evident, however, that in this particular 
colony of these plants there appears to be a 
tendency to produce bicarpellary flowers. 


ENGLER’S PFLANZENREICH. 

THE twenty-third and twenty-fourth. Heften 
of Engler’s ‘Pflanzenreich’ are devoted re- 
spectively to the Halorrhagaceae (by A. K. 
Schindler) and the Aponogetonaceae (by K. 
Krause). In the treatment of the first, the 
author excludes Hippuris, usually included in 
this family, regarding it as more nearly related 
to the Santalaceae. Seven genera are retained, 
viz., Loudonia (with 3 Australian species) ; 
Halorrhagis (59 species, mostly Australian) ; 
Meziella (1 Australian species) ; Lawrembergia 
(18 species, from New Zealand and Australia 
to tropical Asia, Africa and America); 
Proserpinaca (2 North American species) ; 
Myriophyllum (a cosmopolitan genus of 36 
species); Gunnera (33 species from Africa to 
New Zealand). The second family (Apono- 
getonaceae) is a small one containing but one 
genus (Aponogeton), which includes 22 species 
ranging from Southern Africa to tropical 
Asia and, North Australia. In both Heften 
the numerous illustrations are excellent. 


Cuar.es E. BrEssry. 
THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA, 


CHEMICAL ABSTRACTS. 


A YEAR ago an effort was made to secure 
the cooperation of the London Chemical So- 
ciety, the Society of Chemical Industry and 
the American Chemical Society in the publi- 
cation of an abstract journal which should 
cover the whole field of chemistry and which 
should go to the members of each society. <A 
plan for such a cooperation was carefully 
worked out and submitted to the two English 
societies, but the Society of Chemical Indus- 
try finally decided that it was impossible for 
them to take part in such a cooperative enter- 
prise. 


NOVEMBER 2, 1906.] 


The American Chemical Society has now 
reached a membership of more than three 
thousand, and after a careful consideration of 
the questions involved the council of the so- 
ciety has decided that a set of abstracts should 
be furnished to the members of the society in 
the same manner that this is done by the other 
large chemical societies. The society has ac- 
cordingly undertaken the publication of such 
abstracts in the form of a separate journal, 
which will appear under the name Chemical 
Abstracts, beginning with January 1, 1907. 
The journal will be published semi-monthly. 

The corps of those in charge of the various 
divisions of the journal is already well organ- 
ized and work upon the abstracts has been 
commenced. It is intended to include in the 
journal abstracts of all new work in chemistry 
published in the world after October 1, 1906. 
Chemical patents issued in the United States, 
Germany, France and England after July 1, 
1906, will be included. The abstracts will be 
classified under the following divisions, the 
selection of abstractors and the oversight of 
each division being placed in the hands of the 
persons named: 

Apparatus: W. H. Walker. 

General and Physical Chemistry: G. N. Lewis. 

Photography: L. H. Friedburg. 

Electrochemistry: W. R. Whitney. 

Radioactivity: H. N. McCoy. 

Inorganic Chemistry: Alexander Smith. 

Analytical Chemistry: lL. M. Dennis. 

Mineralogical and Geological Chemistry: W. F. 
Hillebrand. 

Metallurgy: J. W. Richards, Henry Fay. 

Acids, Alkalies and Salts: T. L. Briggs. 

Glass and Pottery: G. E. Barton, Albert V. 
Bleininger. 

Cements and Mortars: Harry Drew. 

Fuel, Gas, Coke: J. D. Pennock. 

Organic Chemistry: M. T. Bogert. 

Petroleum, Asphalt, Turpentine, Wood Prod- 
ucts: S. 8. Sadtler. 

Cellulose, Paper: A. D. Little. 

Explosives: C. E. Munroe. 

Dyes, Textile Fabrics, Bleaching, Inks: L. A. 
Olney. 

Pigments, Resins, Varnishes, India Rubber: A. 
H. Sabin. 

Fats, Fatty Oils and Soap: W. D. Richardson. 

Sugar, Starch and Gum: C. A. Browne, Jr. 


SCIENCE. 


513 

Leather, Glue: J. H. Yocum. 

Biological Chemistry: L. B. Mendel. 

Foods: W. D. Bigelow. 

Nutrition: C. F. Langworthy. 

Water, Sewage, Disinfectants, Insecticides: L. 
P. Kinnicutt. 

Fermented and Distilled Liquors: Robert Wahl. 

Pharmaceutical Chemistry: A. B. Stevens. 

Soils and Fertilizers: F. P. Veitch, J. H. Pettit. 

Patents: W. H. Seaman. 

In order to cover the expense of the new 
publication the dues of the society will be 
increased from five to eight dollars per year. 
It is expected for the first year or two at least 
the cost of the abstract journal will be con- 
siderably greater than the increased receipts 
from dues, but the vote of the society upon 
the matter has given evidence of such a strong 
desire for the establishment of the journal 
that it is hoped that the increase in member- 
ship will be sufficient to support the enterprise 
financially within a very few years. 

The Journal of the American Chemical 
Society will be continued and will contain 
original articles, book reviews and reviews of 
recent progress in the various fields of chem- 
istry. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


Dr. Cu. Warpeti Stites, of the Public 
Health and Marine Hospital Service, has been 
named one of the experts to be sent to Ger- 
many to investigate customs tariff complaints. 

THE sum of about $5,000 has been sub- 
seribed for the foundation for the advance- 
ment of geographical study in honor of Dr. 
von Neumayer. 

Dr. Otro BtrcHu, professor of zoology at 
Heidelberg, has been elected an associate of 
the Royal Academy of Belgium. 

Dr. Hetnrich Bruns has celebrated the 
twenty-fifth anniversary of his directorship 
of the Leipzig Astronomical Observatory. 

Dr. WILHELM WALDEYER, professor of anat- 
omy at Berlin, and secretary of the Berlin 
Academy of Sciences, has celebrated his 
seventieth birthday. 

Dr. L. A. Bauer, assisted by Messrs. P. 
H. Dike and E. H. Bowen, of the Depart- 
ment of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie 


574 SCIENCE. 


Institution, of Washington, during September 
and October determined the three magnetic 
elements (declination, dip and intensity) at 
70 stations in the portion of Canada bounded 
by the parallels of latitude 42° and 49° and 
the meridians of longitude 65° and 105° west. 
In this region very few observations had pre- 
viously been made. With the completion of this 
work it is now possible to extend the magnetic 
maps for the United States up to the forty- 
ninth parallel across the entire continent. 
The standard magnetic instruments of the 
Toronto Magnetic Observatory were likewise 
compared with those at the Cheltenham Mag- 
netic Observatory, making it possible thereby 
to reduce all the magnetic work in the 
United States and Canada to the same stand- 
ard. Through the courtesy of Professor 
Stupart, director of the Canadian Meteorolog- 
ical Service, the Toronto Magnetic Observa- 
tory, situated at Agincourt, was made ayvail- 
able as the base station for the work under- 
taken by the Carnegie Institution. 

Proressor Savas, of the University of 
Athens, has recently visited the Liverpool 
School of Tropical Medicine with view to ob- 
taining information in regard to the extermi- 
nation of mosquitoes. It is said that in a 
Greek population of 2,500,000 there were, 
last year, 960,000 cases of malaria. 


Four members of the faculty ot Wells Col- 
lege have been given leave of absence for the 
year 1906-7: Professor J. W. Frelev (physics), 
Professor Dolson (philosophy), Professor Van 
Benschoten (mathematics) and Professor Ver- 
nette L. Gibbons (chemistry). 

Dr. A. Backuaus, professor of agriculture 
at Koénigsberg, has been given leave to absence 
for four years, to become director of the agri- 
cultural school in Montevideo, Uruguay. 

Dr. Cooper Curtice has resigned from the 
Rhode Island College to take up work in the 
Bureau of Animal Industry in connection 
with the eradication of the Texas fever tick. 

Dr. T. J. HEADLEE has been appointed ento- 
mologist at the New Hampshire College. 

F. A. Ports, B.A., of Trinity Hall, has been 
appointed assistant to the superintendent of 
the Museum of Zoology, Cambridge 


Dr. A. WASSERMANN has been made director 
of one of the departments of the Institute for 
Infectious Diseases at Berlin. 

Dr. B. Hagen, of Frankfort, has received 
1,700 Marks from the Bavarian Academy of 
Sciences towards his publication of an atlas 
illustrating the types of heads and faces of 
East Asiatic and Malaysian races. 

THE annual dinner of the New York Asso- 
ciation of Biology Teachers will be held at the 
Tuxedo, Madison Avenue and 59th Street, on 
Friday evening, November 9. Professor E. 
G. Conklin, head of the department of zoology, 
of the University of Pennsylvania, will be the 
guest of the association and will make an ad- 
dress on ‘ Biology and Life.’ 

Proressor WALTHER NeERNST, professor of 
physical chemistry in the University of Ber- 
lin, delivered a lecture at the Johns Hopkins 
University, on October 19, before the graduate 
students in physics and chemistry. He gave 
an account of his work on the dissociation of 
water-vapor at high temperatures. 


Proressor Henry FairFIELD OSBORN gave a 
public lecture under the auspices of the New 
York Academy of Sciences at the American 
Museum of Natural History, on October 29, 
his subject being ‘ The Collection of Extinct 
Elephants in the American Museum.’ 


Dr. D. Ranpatt Maclver, of Oxford, gave 
a lecture under the auspices of the American 
Ethnological Society at the American Museum 
of Natural History, on October 29, on ‘ The 
Ethnology and Archeology of North and South 
Africa.’ 


Tue Swiney lectures on geology in con- 
nection with the British Museum of Natural 
History will be given this year by Dr. R. F. 
Scharff. The course of twelve lectures, which 
begins on November 5, has as its subject ‘ The 
Geological History of the European Fauna.’ 

THE graduates of the classes of 704, 705, 706 
and ’07 of Sibley College, Cornell University, 
will erect a memorial to Robert H. Thurston, 
late director of the college. 

Dr. JosEF WEINLECHNER, formerly professor 
of surgery at Vienna, has died at the age of 
seventy-six years. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 618. | 


= = —— x : 
ee 


NovEMBER 2, 1906.] 


THERE has been added to the Agassiz Mu- 
seum, Harvard University, a valuable collec- 
tion of Hawaiian fishes, representing 140 spe- 
cies, presented by Sherman F. Denton, of the 
Bureau of Fisheries. 


Mr. J. Ocpen Armour has offered to give 
$5,000 annually, through the International 
Live Stock Exposition, for scholarships to be 
competed for by the state agricultural colleges 
at the live stock exhibitions. 


Tue Middlemore prize of the British Med- 
ical Association will be awarded in 1907 for 
an essay on Ophthalmia Neonatorum. 


THE twenty-fourth annual congress of the 
American Ornithologists’ Union will convene 
in Washington, D. C., on Monday, November 
12, at 8 p.m. The evening session will be de- 
~ voted to the election of officers and the trans- 
action of other routine business. The meet- 
ings open to the public and devoted to the 
reading and discussion of scientific papers will 
be held in the lecture hall of the United States 
National Museum, beginning on ‘Tuesday, 
November 13, at 11 a.M., and continuing for 
three days. 


At the recent Stuttgart meeting of Ger- 
man Men of Science and Physicians a So- 
ciety of German Neurologists was organized. 


THE German Astronomical Society met this 
year at Jena, on September 11 and the fol- 
lowing days, with an attendance of more than 
sixty members. The meeting next year will 
be in Vienna. 


The Experiment Station Record states that 
the eighth International Congress of Agri- 
culture will be held at Vienna, Austria, May 
21-25, 1907. The previous congresses were 
held at Paris, 1889; The Hague, 1891; Brus- 
sels, 1895; Budapest, 1896; Lausanne, 1898; 
Paris, 1900 and, Rome, 1903. A pamphlet has 
been issued giving the organization, regula- 
tions and program of the forthcoming con- 
gress. This contains the subjects for dis- 
cussion of each of the eleven sections in which 
the congress is to be divided. All reports 
intended for the congress should be sent to the 
executive committee before December 1, 1906. 
Persons desirous of becoming members should 
notify the executive committee and pay the 


SCIENCE. 


570 


membership fee of 20 kronen ($4) before 
March 31, 1907. The secretary of the execu- 
tive committee is Professor Josef Hausler, 
Vienna, Austria, I. Schauflergasse 6. 


THe French Geographical Society has or- 
ganized a mission to West Africa to study 
the sleeping sickness in the French Congo. 
A central laboratory will be established in 
Brazzeville. The sum of $40,000 has been 
collected for this work. 


THE magnetic survey yacht Galilee of the 
Carnegie Institution of Washington returned 
to San Diego, California, on October 20, 
having successfully concluded under the com- 
mand of Mr. W. J. Peters since March 2 a 
cruise of 20,000 miles, embracing San Diego, 
Fanning Island, Samoan Islands, Fiji Islands, 
Marshall Islands, Guam, Yokohama and re- 
turn to San Diego. The accident to the 
Galilee at Yokohama, already noted in this 
journal, proved not to be as serious as at first 
appeared, so that the vessel was able to leave 
Yokohama on September 6, the trip to San 
Diego having been made in forty-four days, 
or at an average rate of about 115 miles a 
day. Mr. Peters’ assistants were Messrs. J. 
P. Ault and J. C. Pearson, magnetic observers, 
and Dr. H. E. Martyn, surgeon and recorder. 
The sailing master as in the cruise of 1905 
was Captain J. T. Hayes. The two cruises 
of 1905 and 1906 of this vessel have already 
furnished sufficient data for the revision of 
the present magnetic charts of the North Pa- 
cific Ocean. In order to obtain some results 
as soon as possible in the other oceans, it is 
now proposed to send the vessel shortly on the 
following cruise: San Diego, Valparaiso, Rio 
Janeiro, Washington, D. C., and from thence 
return to the Pacific Ocean by way of Cape 
of Good Hope and the Philippines. 


Tue University of Colorado had two parties 
in the field during the past summer, engaged 
in the study of the geology and natural his- 
tory of parts of the state. One, in charge of 
Mr. Junius Henderson, the director of the 
museum, traveled northeastward from Boulder 
by wagon, covering a distance of about 400 
miles. The country visited is the dry plain 
region of northeastern Colorado. Valuable 


576 ! SCIENCE. 


collections were obtained, some of the material - 


being new to science. Visits were made to a 
number of the type localities of fossils. <A 
good series of photographs was made to illus- 
trate the topography and vegetation of the 
region. Professor T. D. A. Cockerell con- 
ducted an expedition to Florissant, Colo., 
where he obtained a valuable series of fossil 
insects and plants from the Tertiary lake- 
beds of that vicinity. A beginning of such a 
collection for the University of Colorado was 
made the year before, but at that time com- 
paratively few specimens were obtained. The 
revival of interest in the fossils of Florissant 
is auspicious. Some of the known species 
have never been described, others have been 
improperly referred to European species from 
which they are distinct. The university has 
issued a pamphlet containing brief articles in 
popular language describing the geology, bot- 
any and paleontology of the Florissant region. 


The Bulletin of the American Geographical 
Society states that the Service Géographique 
de Armée, to which is entrusted the topo- 
graphic survey work of the country, is making 
excellent progress with the new map of 
France in eight or nine colors, which is being 
published on the scale of 1:50,000. The sur- 
veys are being conducted in the field on a 
seale of 1:10,000 in regions of moderate re- 
lief and of 1:20,000 in mountainous regions. 
Surveys on these scales are to form the basis 
of the new cartography of France. It is 
probable that the next publications will be 
maps of the environs of the other large cities 
of the country. It is estimated that the cost 
of producing the entire map will be $6,000,000; 
and as the appropriations thus far voted are 
small, it is likely that the progress of the map 
will be slow. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

THE Georgia legislature has appropriated 
$100,000 to erect and equip a building for 
the Agricultural College. 

Tue New York State College of Agricul- 
ture at Cornell University has received a gift 
of $30,000 for the foundation of six agricul- 
tural scholarships. Tuition in the college is 
free to students from New York State, and 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 618. 


the scholarships will be a substantial help 
toward living expenses. 

Tue University of Florida, in accordance 
with plans determined upon a year ago and 
mentioned in SclENCE, October 13, 1905, has 
been removed during the summer from its 
former location at Lake City to new grounds 
and new buildings at Gainsville, Fla. The 
school year opened at the new location on 
September 26. The new grounds comprise a 
tract of five hundred acres just outside the 
eity limits of Gainsville. Two three-story 
brick buildings have been completed, one 300 
feet long by 30 feet wide, the other 240 feet 
long by 380 wide; a one-story brick building 
has been put up also to serve as shop; experi- 
ment station, barns and greenhouse are in 
process of construction. 


Tue senate of Oxford University on Oc- 
tober 25 adopted, by 206 to 169 votes, the 
recommendations of the special board for 
mathematics, involving the abolition of the 
publication of the names of students in the 
mathematical tripos in the order of merit. 
There will consequently hereafter be no senior 
wrangler. 


Proressor L. B. Jupson, professor of horti- 


culture in the University of Idaho, has been 
appointed assistant professor of horticulture 
in Cornell University, to take charge of sub- 
tropical pomology with some related courses. 
He has spent the past six weeks in traveling 
on the Pacific coast and the gulf states, and 
will assume his duties in Cornell on No- 
vember 1. 


THe following instructors have been ap- 
pointed in the Michigan Agricultural College: 
William E. Lawrence, botany; J. R. Kelton, 
zoology; E. N. Bates and W. L. Lodge, phys- 
ics; F. J. Kayfmann, Arthur J. Clark and 
Herbert 8S. Bailey, chemistry; Jos. H. Taylor 
and W. B. Wendt, civil engineering; H. F. 
Schmidt and J. A. Palson, mechanical engi- 
neering. 

Dr. Hetnrich Rusens, professor of physics 
in the Berlin Technical Institute, will for the 
present assume the direction of the physical 
laboratory in succession to the late Professor 
Paul Drude. 


CIENCE 


A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 
OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 


Fripay, NOovEMBER 9, 1906. 


CONTENTS. 


The Dedication of the Engineering Building 
of the University of Pennsylvania :— 

A Comparison of University and Industrial 

Discipline and Methods: Dr. FREDERICK W. 


HEU ACVATROO IM rel tte Feet Seats seared tecevas sick s1aksiee eras 877 
The Engineer as a Citizen: PRESIDENT 
Adin, (Ce lehomenenopdse Gyo daomee ao eee bao o 583 


Scientific Books :— 
Folsom’s Entomology: J. G. N. Norton’s 
Elements of Geology: Dr. Mark S. W. 


PHEEERSON ei tesa ee kl AGA ae bias NE 589 


Scientific Journals and Articles............ 591 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
A Definition of Fluid: Oswin W. WILCOX. 
Why do Herring Gulls kill their Young?: 
Henry L. Warp. An Unusual Meteor: C. 
A. CHANT. A Correction: J. W. BEEDE... 592 


Special Articles :— 
A New Artemia and its Life Conditions: 
PROFESSOR VERNON L. Kettoge. Some Un- 


usual New Jersey Fishes: Henry W. 

TENG NWVA IO] 3) Ns SI oR a A PE eA a 594 
Quotations :— : 

Botany-in England is. 08) ve wie ae ec ee bes 597 


Current Notes on Meteorology :— 
The Monthly Weather Review; Mammato- 
cumulus Clouds; Bird Migration and 
Weather in Hungary; Notes: Proressor R. 


DEGLI VVARDM RT io sip ore giten tenet acre ul CaUnbn | 600 
Botanical Notes :— 

Papers on Fungi; California Trees: Pro- 

FESSOR CHARLES EH. BESSEY.............. 601 
Degrees conferred by the University of Aber- 

LC CTE See Cn ria ea yen HAN. Ket My BOLD a ate ay tas 602 


The Franco-American Expedition to explore 


the Atmosphere im the Tropics........... 603 
Society for the Promotion of Industrial Edu- 

CONTI Dee ne coca as oe A a ged as DIRE Ds Sees 603 
Scientific Notes and News.................-. 604 
University and Educational News.......... 608 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 
review should be sent to the Editor of SclENCcE, Garrison-on- 
Hudson, N. Y. 


~ 


THE DEDICATION OF THE ENGINEERING 
BUILDING OF THE UNIVERSITY OF 
PENNSYLVANIA. 


A COMPARISON OF UNIVERSITY AND IN- 
DUSTRIAL DISCIPLINE AND METHODS. 
THE point from which I view college 

education is that of the employer, not that 
of the educator. I have had no experience 
with the difficult and complicated problem 
that faces the professors and the governing 
boards of our colleges. On the other hand, 
I have been engaged for years in organ- 
izing the shop, office and commercial man- 
agement of quite a wide range of engineer- 
ing and manufacturing establishments. 
This has brought me into intimate personal 
contact with a large number of college 
graduates, and I have become well ac- 
quainted with their strong points, which 
are many, and at the same time with a few 
of those points in which it would seem that 
as a class they might be improved. And 
in what I shall say I have principally in 
mind the preparation of young men for 
success in commercial engineering and in- 
dustrial enterprises; in other words, enter- 
prises outside of the four learned profes- 
sions. 

I despise the pessimist who sees nothing 
but the defects and blunders of mankind, 
and the scold, whose pleasure it is to com- 
plain of all things as they are. 

Let me say at the start, that without 
question our college graduates as a class: 
represent the finest body of men in the 
community. And as to the value of an 
engineering course for men in our profes~ 
sion, our fellow-townsman, Mr. Jas. M. 


578 SCIENCE. 


Dodge, in his admirable paper on ‘The 
Commercial Value of an Education,’ has 
shown through carefully gathered statistics, 
that within a few years after graduation 
the college educated engineer far outstrips 
in position and salary his average com- 
petitor who comes up from the ranks. 

It would be a much more congenial task 
to dwell upon this view of the profession, 
but something may possibly be gained by 
considering what has seemed to many of 
the friends of our young graduates to be 
the one defect which they practically all 
have in common. 

For a period of from six months to two 
years after graduating they are, generally 
speaking, discontented and unhappy. They 
are apt to look upon their employers as 
unappreciative, unjust and tyrannical, and 
it is frequently only after changing em- 
ployers once or twice and finding the same 
lack of appreciation in all of them that 
they finally start upon their real careers 
of usefulness. 

On the other hand, the attitude of em- 
ployers towards young graduates is fairly 
expressed by the following written instruc- 
tions given for the selection of quite a large 
number of young men to fill positions which 
presented opportunities for rapid develop- 
ment and advancement. These instructions 
were to give the preference—first, to gradu- 
ates of technical schools; second, to the 
graduates of the academic departments; 
but to employ no college boy who had not 
been out for more than two years. 

Why is it, then, that these young men are 
discontented and of practically little use 
during the first year or two after gradu- 
ating? 

To a certain extent this is unquestionably 
due to the sudden and radical change from 
years spent as boys almost solely in absorb- 
ing and assimilating knowledge for their 
own benefit to their new occupation of 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 619. 


giving out and using what they have for 
the benefit of others. To a degree it is the 
sponge objecting to the pressure of the 
hand which uses it. To a greater degree, 
however, I believe this trouble to be due to 
the lack of discipline and to the lack of 
direct, earnest and logical purpose which 
accompanies, to a large extent, modern 
university life. 

During the four years that these young 
men are at college they are under less dis- 
cipline, and are given a greater liberty 
than they have ever had before or will ever 
have again. 

As to college discipline, it can not be a 
good training for after life for a young 
man deliberately to be told by the univer- 
sity authorities that he ean flagrantly neg- 
lect his duties sixty times in one term 
before any attention will be paid to it; 
while, if in business, the same young man 
would be discharged for being absent two 
or three times without permission. 

And, as to the freedom offered by the 
modern university system, it is not true 
that boys from eighteen to twenty years 
old have the knowledge and experience 
necessary to select a logical and well- 
rounded course of studies, and even if they 
had this wisdom, the temptation to choose 
those studies which come easiest is so 
strong that it would be unwise to throw 
upon them so great a responsibility. Nor 
does it appear wise to leave each student 
free to study as little or as much as may 
suit him, at times doing practically no work 
for days, and at others greatly overwork- 
ing, with no restraint or direction except 
the round-up which comes twice a year 
with examinations. At the least, it must 
be said that in commercial or industrial 
life this undirected liberty will never again 
be allowed them. 

During the past thirty years two radical 
changes have occurred in educational meth- 


NOVEMBER 9, 1906.] 


ods. The kindergarten and its accompany- 
ing ideas have come for the children, and 
for the young men has come the change 
_ from the college, with its one or two courses 
carefully selected and rigidly prescribed by 
the faculty, to the university with as many 
different courses as there are young men, 
and in which, under the elective system, 
each student is given the choice of all of 
his studies. 

The fundamental idea back of the change 
from college to university is excellent; 
namely, that of providing a far greater 
variety in the courses to suit the different 
tastes and abilities of the students, and to 
especially prepare them for their future 
occupations. Accompanying, however, this 
great step in advance, and yet, so far as I 
can see, in no way logically connected with 
it, has come the false step of giving our 
young men in many ways a greater liberty 
than is allowed, on the whole, to any other 
class of active workers; and of handing 
over to them the final decision in a subject 
most needing a master mind. 

Commereial, manufacturing and other 
enterprises in which many men cooperate, 
are managed more and more by delegating 
all important decisions to a few men whose 
judgment has been trained through long 
experience, study and observation in those 
matters which they are called upon to de- 
cide. Yet many of our universities are 
managed by giving over to the young man, 
under the elective system, the final decision 
as to what studies will best fit him for his 
life’s work, although he has, of necessity, 
but the vaguest idea of the nature of the 
subjects which lie before him. It is almost 
like asking him to lift himself up by his 
boot straps. 

T ean not but think that in changing 
country we have modeled largely after the 
Enelish and German universities, which, as 
we know, are influenced in their manage- 
ment by traditions handed down through 


SCIENCE. 


579 


several hundred years; and that in adopt- 
ing the great university idea of a variety 
of courses, we have at the same time blindly 
accepted the foreign idea of the elective 
system accompanied by a lax discipline, 
both of which are better suited to medieval 
times when each man worked for himself 
than to the present day when the road to 
success lies through true cooperation. 

In this change, also, too great stress has 
been laid upon those elements leading to 
knowledge or book learning on the part of 
the student and too little upon the develop- 
ment of his character. 

The kindergarten also, which has proved 
so great a help in training the younger 
children, making them observant and giving 
them a certain control over themselves, has 
brought with it one idea which has 
wrought great harm, and yet this bad idea 
is In no way properly or logically connected 
with the underlying principles of the kind- 
ergarten. 

Somehow the average kindergarten child 
gets a firm conviction that it is the duty 
of the teacher to make things interesting 
and amusing, and from this follows soon 
the notion that if he does not like his studies 
and fails to learn much, it is largely the 
teacher’s fault. Now, whatever views the 
parents or the teachers themselves should 
hold upon the duties of teachers, there is 
no doubt that the boys should have firmly 
in their heads the good old-fashioned idea 
that it is their duty to learn, and not that 
it is the duty of the teacher to teach them. 

Along with the kindergarten plan of in- 
teresting and amusing children, the idea 
has taken firm hold in a large portion of 
the educational world that the child and 
young man should be free to develop nat- 
urally, lke a beautiful plant or flower. 
This may again be an excellent view for 
the older person to hold, but it is a dis- 
tinetly bad one for the young man to act 


580 SCIENCE. 


upon. He promptly translates the idea of 
developing naturally into wishing to do 
only, or mainly, those things which he likes 
or which come easy to him. 

Of all the habits and principles which 
make for success in a young man, the most 
useful is the determination to do and to do 
right all of those things which come his 
way each day, whether they are agreeable 
or disagreeable; and the ability to do this 
is best acquired through long practise in 
doggedly doing along with that which is 
agreeable a lot of things which are tiresome 
and monotonous, and which one does not 
like. 

Now neither the kindergarten idea, the 
university elective system, nor the lax col- 
lege discipline tend to develop this all im- 
portant habit in young men. 

True cooperation, cooperation upon the 
broadest scale, is that feature which dis- 
tinguishes our present commercial and in- 
dustrial development from that of one 
hundred years ago. Not the cooperation 
taught by too many among those of our 
trades unions which are misguided, and 
which resembles the cooperation of a train 
of freight cars; but rather that of a well- 
organized manufacturing establishment, 
which is typified by the cooperation of the 
various parts of a watch, each member of 
which performs and is supreme in its own 
function, and yet is controlled by and 
must work harmoniously with many other 
members. 

It is a mistaken notion that character of 
this kind needed for successful cooperation 
is developed by the elective idea of allowing 
each boy to choose for himself those things 
which he will do. It requires far more 
character to do successfully those things 
which are laid out for one by a wiser man 
than to do only what one likes, and in 
modern cooperation, while the work of each 
man is modified and more or less controlled 
by that of others, there is ample scope left 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 619. 


for originality and individuality. We 
must remember that of all classes in the 
community, college boys are being trained 
to fill some day the position of leaders in 
the cooperative field. And there is no fact 
better established than that the man who 
has not learned promptly and fully to obey 
an order is not fit to give one. 

An examination of the studies chosen by 
boys in the university academic depart- 
ments will show that the logic and motive 
back of about one half of the students is 
that of obtaining an easy course, and even 
the better students show generally a lack 
of clear-cut logical purpose in their selec- 
tion. In their case, the studies are chosen 
because the young man likes or is interested 
in the subjects, or because they come easy 
to him, rather than because they give a 
well-rounded and balanced course with a 
distinct logical purpose. The loose, flabby, 
purposeless courses chosen by fully one 
half of the students under the present sys- 
tem furnish but poor mental diet. 

Why can not all of the good features of 
the elective system be better attained by 
permitting each young man to choose in 
general the object or purpose for which he 
wishes to educate himself, and then leaving 
the entire course of studies to the one or 
more professors in the faculty who are es- 
pecially fitted to plan a complete and log- 
ical course in the chosen field? Let the 
young man say where he wishes to go, and 
let the faculty tell him the road he is to 
travel to get there. 

As to the object of college life, some boys 
are sent to the university to learn how to 
mingle with men, and to form friendships 
which shall prove useful and agreeable in 
after life. Some go there to amuse them- 
selves, and some to get the standing given 
by a college degree. 

Something can be said for each of these 
objects. Is not the true object of all educa- 
tion, however, that of training boys to be 


; 
‘| 
1 
y 
: 
‘ 


NOVEMBER 9, 1906.] 


successful men? I mean men successful in 
the broadest sense, not merely successful 
money getters. Successful, first in devel- 
oping their own characters, and second, in 
doing their full share of the world’s work. 

Young men should not come to college 
mainly to get book learning or a wide 
knowledge of facts. The successful men 
of our acquaintance are, generally speak- 
ing, neither learned nor men of great intel- 
lect. They are men, first of all possessed 
with an earnest purpose. They have a cer- 
tain all-round poise or balance called com- 
mon sense. They have acquired through 
long training those habits, both mental and 
physical, which make them masters over 
themselves; and at all times they have the 
firm determination to pay the price for 
success in hard work and self-denial. 

It is singleness and earnestness of pur- 
pose that constitutes the great motive power 
back of most successful men, and it is a 
notable fact that the moment a young man 
becomes animated with such a purpose, 
that moment he ceases to believe in the 
elective system, and in the loose college 
discipline. 

In all earnest enterprises which the stu- 
dents themselves manage, they throw the 
elective system to the winds and adopt 
methods and a discipline quite as rigid as 
those prevailing in the commercial and in- 
dustrial world. 

The boy who joins the foot-ball squad is 
given no sixty cuts a season, nor is he 
allowed to choose what he will do. He 
does just what some one else tells him to 
do, and does it at the time and in the man- 
ner he is told, and one or two lapses from 
training rules are sufficient cause for ex- 
pulsion from the team or the crew. 

I say in all seriousness that were it not 
for a certain trickiness and a low profes- 
sional spirit which has come to be a part 
of the game, I should look upon foot-ball 
and the training received in athleties as 


SCIENCE. 


581 


one of the most useful elements in a college 
course, for two reasons: First, because in 
it they are actuated by a truly serious pur- 
pose; and second, because they are there 
given, not the elective idea of doing what 
they want to, but cooperation, and coopera- 
tion of the same general character which 
they will be called upon to practise in after 
life. 

Is not the greatest problem in university 
life, then, how to animate the students with 
an earnest, logical purpose? 

In facing this question I would call at- 
tention to one class of young men who are 
almost universally imbued with such a pur- 
pose; namely, those who, through necessity 
or otherwise, have come into close contact 
and direct competition with men working 
for a living. These young men acquire a 
truly earnest purpose. They see the reality 
of life, they have a strong foretaste of the 
struggle ahead of them, and they come to 
the university with a determination to get 
something practical from the college train- 
ing which they can use later in their com- 
petition with men. 

They are in great demand after gradu- 
ating, and as a class make themselves use- 
ful almost from the day that they start in 
to work. 

Neither their earnestness of purpose, 
however, nor their immediate usefulness, 
comes from any technical knowledge which 
they have acquired while working outside 
of the university, but rather from having 
early brought home to them the nature of 
the great problem they must face after 
eraduating. Nothing but contact with 
work and actual competition with men 
struggling for a living will teach them this. 
It can not be theorized over or lectured 
upon, or taught in the school-workshop or 
laboratory. 

I look upon this actual work and com- 
petition with men working for a living as 
of such great value in developing earnest- 


582 


ness of purpose that it would seem to me 
time well spent for each student, say, at 
the end of the freshman year, to be handed 
over by the university for a period of 
six months to some commercial, engineering 
or manufacturing establishment; there to 
work as an employee at whatever job is 
given him, either manual or other work. 
He should have the same hours and be 
under the same discipline as all other em- 
ployees, and should receive no favors. 
Moreover, he should be obliged to stay even 
a longer time than six months unless he 
has in the meantime given satisfaction to 
his employers. 

I believe that there would be but little 
difficulty in obtaining the cooperation of 
our business and manufacturing establish- 
ments in carrying out this plan, and the 
University of Pennsylvania, situated as it 
is in the foremost manufacturing city in 
this country, would have an especially good 
opportunity to inaugurate it. 

My belief in the benefits to be derived 
from doing practical every-day work early 
in the college course is not the result of a 
theory. It is founded upon close observa- 
tion and study of young men who have had 
this experience, and also upon a vivid re- 
membrance of breakfasting each morning 
at five-thirty, and starting to sweep the 
floor of a pattern shop as an apprentice 
some thirty-two years ago, after having 
spent several years in preparing for Har- 
vard College. The contrast between the 
two occupations was great, but I look back 
upon the first six months of my apprentice- 
ship as a patternmaker as, on the whole, 
the most valuable part of my education. 
Not that I gained much knowledge during 
that time, nor did I ever become a very 
good patternmaker; but the awakening as 
to the reality and seriousness of life was 
complete, and, I believe, of great value. 

Unfortunately, laboratory or even shop 
work in the university, useful as they are, 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 619. 


do not serve at all the same purpose, since 
the young man is surrounded there by other 
students and professors, and lacks the ac- 
tual competition of men working for a 
living. He does not learn at college that, 
on the whole, the ordinary mechanies, and 
even poorly educated workmen, are nat- 
urally about as smart as he is, and that his 
best way to rise above them lies in getting 
his mind more thoroughly trained than 
theirs, and in learning things they do not 
know. All of this should be taught him 
through six months’ contact with working- 
men. 

Let me repeat in conclusion that our 
college graduates are the best picked body 
of men in the community. Yet I believe 
that it is possible to so train young men 
that they will be useful to their employers 
almost from the day that they leave col- 
lege; so that they will be reasonably satis- 
fied with their new work instead of dis- 
contented; and to place them upon gradu- 
ating one or two years nearer success than 
they now are; and that this can best be 
accomplished by giving them an earnest 
purpose through six months’ contact early 
in their college life with men working for 
a living; by rigidly prescribing a course of 
studies carefully and logically selected, and 
with some definite object in view, and by 
subjecting them to a discipline comparable 
with that adopted by the rest of the world. 

Philadelphia possesses and is proud of 
the most notable group of medical schools 
in this country, and among these that of 
the University of Pennsylvania unquestion- 
ably stands first. 

The Philadelphia lawyer has been pro- 
verbial for his knowledge and shrewdness 
for more than a century, and this reputa- 
tion can be traced largely to the funda- 
mental training given in the law school of 
the University of Pennsylvania. 

Philadelphia is the center of the largest 
and most diversified group of engineering 


NOVEMBER 9, 1906.] 


and manufacturing enterprises in this 
country. The Engineering Schools of the 
University of Pennsylvania already stand 
high; but it seems to me that the oppor- 
tunity lies open to them even more than 
to their famous medical and law schools 
to stand at the very top. This magnificent 
building, equipped as it is with the latest 
and best of everything, is the first and a 
great step towards this end. But, after all, 
your largest possibility and one which does 
not exist for, and can not be created by, 
any other American university, lies in the 
opportunity for bringing your students 
into close touch and personal contact with 
the men who are working in and managing 
the great industrial establishments of Phil- 
adelphia. 
FREDERICK W. TAYLOR. 


THE ENGINEER AS A CITIZEN. 


I cONSIDER it no small honor to be in- 
eluded as one of the participants in to-day’s 
program. But though I come on the in- 
vitation of those in authority, I hesitate to 
appear before this audience, gathered in 
sympathy with so notable a step in the 
development of one of the greatest of Amer- 
ieca’s universities, a university presided 
over by a man eminent as an educator, an 
administrator, and a man of affairs, to 
express my opinions on questions of engi- 


neering education and citizenship and their 


correlation. 

In spite of apprehensions as to my insuffi- 
ciency for the duty I have accepted, I shall 
make no apology, but fall back upon the 
fact that, having been called to serve the 
university to which as an adopted son I 
proudly owe allegiance, it remained for me 
but to obey. I can only promise you that 
I shall not vaguely theorize, but I shall 
speak from my personal experiences in the 
fields of business, engineering and educa- 
tion. 

In coming before you as the president of 


SCIENCE. 


583 


Stevens Institute of Technology, I come as 
the successor of your own Henry Morton, 
a graduate of, and later a professor in, 
your university, secretary of the Franklin 
Institute, professor in the Philadelphia 
Dental College, brilliant lecturer, profound 
scientist, man of affairs, but above all a 
simple-minded seeker after the truth, too 
modest to recognize his own great qualities — 
of mind, qualities combining the grasp of 
genius with the sanity of common sense. 

It is peculiarly appropriate that the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania should develop a 
thoroughly efficient department of engi- 
neering education in view of the important 
scientific work done by the many-sided 
Franklin, upon whose suggestion the orig- 
inal Philadelphia Academy was organized. 

In view of what I have in mind to say 
to-day, I am particularly struck by the fol- 
lowing words which appear in the original 
charter granted to the academy in 1753 by 
Thomas and Richard Penn: 

The well-being of a society depends on the edu- 
cation of their youth, as well as, in great measure, 
the eternal welfare of every individual, by im- 
pressing on their tender minds principles of mor- 
ality and religion, instructing them in the several 
duties they owe to the society in which they live, 
and one towards another, giving them the knowl- 
edge of languages, and other parts of useful 
learning necessary thereto, in order to render 


them serviceable in the several public stations to 
which they may be called. 


It is interesting to note that the charter 
of 1755, creating the college, enlarged the 
scope of work to include ‘Not only the 
learned languages, but the liberal arts and 
sciences.’ 

Since Franklin’s day, tremendous strides 
have been made in the sciences and espe- 
cially of late years in that branch in which 
he did pioneer work—electricity. 

It is to the credit of this university that 
it has recognized its responsibility in con- 
nection with this advance, and has quietly 
progressed in the line of engineering edu- 


584 SCIENCE. 


eation until to-day we are assembled to 
recognize formally the addition to its edu- 
cational plant of a complete engineering 
building, probably second to none of its 
kind and equipped to give adequate instruc- 
tion in several branches of engineering. 


Should not this magnificent growth from 
so small a beginning strengthen our faith 
and be an encouragement to all of us who 
are struggling to meet our responsibilities 
along similar lines? 

There is passing over the United States 
to-day a wave of reform—some of it real 
and honest—much of it not so. To-day 
reform is popular and to a certain point I 
am willing, yes anxious, to go with the 
popular party. 

Reform is needed, much needed, in the 
United States and in many directions. 
And reform always has been needed and 
always will be needed in this world of ours. 
Here is where the first mistake is made by 
the reformers. Their proposition seems to 
be that the conditions now attracting their 
attention are singular. 

The people at large have been deceived 
as to our condition in connection with the 
need of reform as compared with times 
past. Many men of standing hold the 
opinion and are willing to act on the belief 
that the present condition as to the wrong- 
ful use of the money power is such that 
relief can be found only through a revolu- 
tionary upheaval. If the case is so des- 
perate that a surgical operation is required, 
let us hope that our republic will not be in 
the position of the unfortunate patient who 
dies under the knife, although the surgeon 
declares the operation to have been suc- 
cessful. 

And what has been the chief agency in 
this deception? Unquestionably, yellow 
journalism. 

Yellow journalism of the ordinary sen- 
Sational type is an old story in America. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 619. 


Dickens shows us—perhaps the picture, 
caricature-like, is an exaggeration, but, 
earicature-like, it contains the elements of 
truth—that yellow journalism had a foot- 
ing with us in the days of Martin Chuzzle- 
wit and Mark Tapley. Comparatively, 
this type is harmless. But the extreme 
yellow journalism of to-day is something 
very different. We now have to face a 
systematic effort to deceive the people by a 
partial telling of the truth and an extended 
telling of untruth, with the deliberate in- 
tention of stirring up discontent and an- 
tagonism between classes. 

Public opinion in connection with our 
form of government is a necessary safe- 
guard of liberty. But to be a safeguard, 
it must be sane public opinion, and not 
public clamor instigated by a section of the 
press which is influential in spite of being 
conscienceless. 

There are too many to-day who are will- 
ing to push aside their individual respons!- 
bility in this connection by relying, or pre- 
tending to rely, upon the good sense of the 
so-called plain people. But these yellow 
journals are sedulously and constantly en- 
gaged in the effort to corrupt this good 
sense. 

Others tell us that our republic is safe in 
the hands of our young men. These are 
urged to take part in political movements 
and especially in movements looking to the 
betterment of civic conditions. Undoubt- 
edly, if rightly employed, here is a power- 
ful agency for good. But these young 
men must not be encouraged to believe that 
they are capable of helping the cause of 
scod government simply because of their 
youth. As a rule inexperience and imma- 
turity go with youth. If in our public 
affairs we need the fire and enthusiasm of 
youth, as we do, we also need thorough 
knowledge of facts, followed by their judi- 
cial application. Real reform must be 
based upon a careful, competent, honest 


NOVEMBER 9, 1906.] 


consideration of all obtainable evidence and 
data. 

To-day, all over the land, we find indis- 
eriminate abuse of corporations. What is 
fair and honest is condemned along with 
that which is unfair and dangerous to our 
national life. If we condemn indiscrim- 
inately and thus unjustly, so surely will 
there be a reaction, and public opinion, 
seeing that injustice has been done, will be 
carried to the other extreme and again 
become indifferent to real evils. And the 
last condition shall be worse than the first. 
- If wrong has been done under the mantle 
of trusts and corporations—and unques- 
tionably such is the case—that is no reason 
that we should believe that corporations as 
such are necessarily evil in their work and 
influence. It is a commentary on the sin- 
cerity of some of the most blatant of yellow 
journalists that, while condemning corpora- 
tions as a whole, they avail themselves of 
the protection to be found in corporate 
organization to secure immunity from per- 
sonal responsibility. 

And are we not foreed to acknowledge, 
much as we may regret the necessity, that 
the yellow journals have been given their 
opportunity all too often through the hasty, 
intemperate, non-judicial utterances of those 
occupying the highest positions within the 
gift of the people? Are these men, occu- 
pying their high positions through the votes 
of the people who have trusted them, to be 
absolved from responsibility because they 
plead, or the plea is entered for them, that 
they are sincere in their beliefs, are per- 
sonally honest in their acts and have ef- 
fected reforms in spite of their indisere- 
tions? They can not so escape their final 
responsibility. 

It used to be thought that responsibility 
thrust upon an office-holder would steady 
him and make him a safer guide than 
his public utterances before election had 
seemed to warrant. 


SCIENCE. 


585 


The effect of the present tendency to 
destructive criticism is to kill or at least 
discourage individual enterprise. National 
enterprise can result only from individual 
enterprise; and the latter necessarily is held 
in check and finally killed if the individuals 
come to believe that the government will 
not permit them to reap fairly where they 
have sown. 

Much, perhaps nearly all, of the present 
unrest comes from lack of information and 
from misinformation as to the conduct of 
certain of our industries. The evils which 
flow from general lack of information are 
systematically cultivated by misinforma- 
tion supphed by the worst of the yellow 
journals. 

Then to-day the problem is—how shall 
we correct the false impressions created by 
those who systematically aim to deceive 
and by those who, while honest in inten- 
tion, are not deterred from rash statements 
by their ignorance and inexperience? 

First, we should be firm not to believe 
evil of any one or anything on the unsup- 
ported statements of the yellow press. 
Beyond that the remedy must come from 
the dissemination of the truth. The nation 
as a whole needs the honest services of those 
who know. ; 

But it may be asked, why this discussion 
in connection with the dedication of a 
building to be devoted to engineering edu- 
eation? I will try to show in a few words 
that this discussion is appropriate to the 
occasion. 

In this country the varied and bountiful 
gifts of nature have, in no small degree, 
been utilized for the common good through 
the efforts of the workers in pure and ap- 
plied science. This country’s present com- 
manding position in the industrial field is, 
in considerable measure, due to the efficient 
preparatory work done by our engineering 
schools. And incidentally let me say, while 
all classes have, directly or indirectly, prof- 


586 SCIENCE. 


ited by the industrial prosperity of the na- 
tion, it is to be deplored that those who 
have acquired great wealth from industrial 
undertakings have as a class failed to show 
in a practical way their appreciation of 
their obligations to these institutions. 

To whom should the public look for the 
facts concerning industrial undertakings? 
Certainly to those who are engaged in the 
work, who understand the underlying prin- 
ciples involved; who, knowing all the de- 
tails and appreciating that part truth often 
serves to deceive, are honest enough to tell 
the truth, the whole truth and nothing but 
the truth. 

During the last decade the management 
of our industries has been falling more and 
more into the hands of the men who have 
received a preliminary training in our en- 
gineering colleges. If this is to continue, 
it must be the graduates of our technical 
colleges to whom we must look more and 
more for protection from the evils to which 
I have referred. Questions are continually 
arising which ean be settled only through 
expert advice. The people must come to 
have confidence in those who give these ex- 
pert opinions. Unfortunately, the title 
‘expert’ has been too often degraded by 
those who have assumed to speak as such. 
Too often our experts accept retainers to 
tell part only of the truth and possibly to 
cloud over, distort or deliberately hide other 
parts of the truth. Such expert advice 
brings discredit upon our profession and 
affords an opportunity which the enemy is 
not slow to seize. 

Again, the so-called expert often errs 
through ignorance. It must come to be 
recognized within our own ranks that the 
fields of science and practise have so 
widened of late years that no man can 
honestly claim to be able to cover author- 
itatively more than a limited area of either 
of these fields. 

There are a number of fairly well de- 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 619. 


fined branches of engineering, such as civil, 
mechanical, mining, naval, electrical and 
chemical. But no one man can hope even 
to cover authoritatively every portion of 
any one of these branches. To be thor- 
oughly efficient, the engineer must closely 
specialize within his profession. And yet 
we find public opinion on intricate and com- 
plex industrial questions based upon the 
dictum of men who have at the best but a 
general knowledge of the matters involved. 
Especially it is to be regretted that gradu- 
ates of engineering colleges, possibly com- 
petent in some one branch of the great 
field of engineering, presume to instruct in 
connection with some other branch on 
which their knowledge is only of a general 
character. 

But the technical adviser, be he scientist 
or engineer, to serve the state as I have 
indicated, must have more than a knowl- 
edge of material things, he must be honest 
to the core. 

Edueation is a boon. It is well for a 
nation that its youth should be educated, 
as was argued by your Benjamin Franklin 
and his associates. But a little knowledge 
is a dangerous thing and much knowledge 
may be even more dangerous if not built 
on the foundation of character. 

The engineer, to be an engineer in any- 
thing moré than title, must be practical. 
His work must be based upon correct and 
complete theory, but it must be first and 
last practical. Can the engineer—that is, 
the civil engineer as distinguished from the 
military engineer—be practical, can he 
economically apply the truths of nature 
for the benefit and convenience of man- 
kind; in other words, can he really be an 
engineer, unless he is competent to prac- 
tise his profession within the necessary 
commercial limitations and in accordance 
with standard business methods? Can he 
disregard the question of return on in- 
vestment? These questions, if fairly put, 


NovEMBER 9, 1906.] 


answer themselves. But still there are en- 
gineers who seem to believe that engineer- 
ing is something which can be practised 
without regard to money values and that 
others can be trusted to coordinate the en- 
gineering and commercial elements of the 
enterprises in which they are concerned. 
These men may be ingenious inventors or 
designers, they may be great mathematic- 
ians, they may even be eminent as scien- 
tists, but they are not engineers. The 
man who is willing to scientifically spend 
a dollar to save fifty cents can not be 
classed as an engineer nor can he be of 
much assistance in meeting the present 
yellow-journal danger. The man to so 
serve the cause of truth must be fully quali- 
fied to practise his profession in conformity 
with the limitations of commercial and in- 
dustrial practise; to the knowledge and 
training gained in the school of engineering 
he must have added that knowledge and 


training which is to be gained only in the 


exacting school of experience. 

Then the question is raised—what should 
the college education include that is not 
now generally covered in the regular four 
years’ course? First it must be acknowl- 
edged that the courses in place of other 
material obsolete are crowded to the point 
where nothing more can safely be added 
unless there is a corresponding elimination. 
Through the steady and rapid advance in 
engineering science we are constantly hav- 
ing thrust upon our attention new matter 
for introduction into our courses. But 
where this new material can not advan- 
tageously be substituted as illustrations and 
applications of scientific truths in place of 
other material obsolete through displace- 
ment, the new must necessarily be refused 
admission. We must encourage ourselves 
in the reflection that our engineering 
courses are, after all, preliminary, and to 
a certain extent, elementary, and that it 
must in any case remain for each student 


SCIENCE. 


587 


after graduation to thoroughly learn all 
the details of some one—possibly narrow— 
branch of engineering or industrial opera- 
tion. While every engineer-student should, 
after four years, have a good general 
knowledge of engineering science and prac- 
tise and be thus prepared to acquire 
rapidly and surely a specific and certain 
control of some one branch of the profes- 
sion, we must recognize that we can not 
oeraduate our men as fully equipped engi- 
neers, ready to assume positions of responsi- 
bility in any part of the engineering field. 
And are not the employers often at fault, 
even some of those who themselves are 
graduates in engineering, in expecting the 
young graduate to be able at once to do 
work which probably the employer himself 
was not qualified to do for years after his 
eraduation? Is not too much expected of 
the modern education? There is no royal 
road to learning, there never will be, and 
no progress in educational methods will 
ever relieve the students from the hard 
work required for mental discipline and 
specific training. Should we not con- 
stantly bear in mind that the amount of 
work required in the four years should be 
limited to the capacity for thorough work 
by the eighty per cent. student ? 

How, then, with the four years already 
crowded, are we to find time to give our 
students some preparatory training in the 
branches required to enable them to take 
up their work in conformity with com- 
mercial requirements? First let us see if 
we can agree with Huxley that ‘‘The great 
end of life is not knowledge but action. 
What men need is as much knowledge as. 
they can assimilate and organize into a 
basis for action; give them more and it 
may be injurious.’’ Is it not probable that 
in certain directions we are giving our stu- 
dents more than they are yet prepared to 
assimilate and organize as a basis for ac- 
tion? Should they not be subjected to a 


588 SCIENCE. 


well-balanced course? Should they not 
then at least be taught the necessity for 
practising in conformity with commercial 
limitations and methods? 

I contend that every engineer-student 
should have some instruction in the prin- 
ciples of accounting, in depreciation, busi- 
ness law, patent- law, banking, specifica- 
tion, and even of sociology. And in con- 
nection with the business side of their 
training they should be made to see the 
importance of the correct use of language. 
They should be given opportunities to see 
how the work of the world is impeded and 
hindered through the ambiguous expression 
of thought. They should be taught that 
it is not enough to know, but that they 
must be able to give effect to their knowl- 
edge through the use of correct, clear, ex- 
plicit and forcible language. More partic- 
ularly in this business department they 
‘should be warned by those who can speak 
from experience of the pitfalls into which 
they are liable to fall and_ especially 
through the efforts that probably will be 
made to purchase their professional opin- 
ions if these opinions prove to be of value. 
Here, as in no other department, can the 
ethics of the profession be impressed upon 
the young engineer-student. As religious 
instruction is excluded from engineering 
courses, it is all the more incumbent upon 
us to show our students the lines along 
which they should practise if they wish to 
maintain their self-respect. 

Some authorities oppose the broadening 
of our schemes of instruction on the score 
that necessarily the effect must be to make 
them less specific and more superficial. 
Others oppose making the courses more 
technically specific on the score that neces- 
sarily the effect must be to narrow them. 
I venture to maintain that the change I 
recommend would broaden the instruction 
and also make it more thorough and more 
specifically adapted to the needs of the 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 619. 


engineer-student. To reach this result the 
selection of matter for elimination must be 
made with the utmost care, keeping con- 
stantly in view the work for which the 
engineer-student is beimg _ specifically 
trained and that we are not only giving 
him knowledge but we are training him 
to think straight and that it will remain 
for him to acquire in the school of experi- 
ence that additional training in application 
which can not be obtained elsewhere. 

In this university you are already 
equipped _as few educational institutions 
are to supplement as I have suggested the 
studies more directly concerned in the tech- 
nieal side of engineering. I refer to the 
Wharton School of Finance and Commerce. 

Even if only one hour a week during 
the junior and senior years could be de- 
voted to these economic subjects, the stu- 
dents would be better prepared to go out 
into the industrial world to promptly equip 
themselves to take authoritative positions, 
positions from which they could do much 
to counteract the danger arising from the 
indiscriminate condemnation by yellow 
journals of the results obtained from the 
combination of capital and individual en- 
terprise working under corporate organiza- 
tion. Even if, with the time saved by 
elimination of studies of less comparative 


value, we could only give our students be- — 


fore their graduation a keen appreciation 
of their need of the class of knowledge I 
have referred to, the time would be well 
spent. 

This is an industrial nation and the peo- 
ple should therefore have the opportunities 
to learn the truth as to the fundamentals of 
industrial management, and the lawmakers 
should have the opportunities to learn the 
special conditions, local and otherwise, 
affecting each branch of industry. This 
information must come from those who, 
knowing the truth, are willing to place it 
before the public. The public must first 


ee 


NOVEMBER 9, 1906.] 


have confidence in the ability and integrity 
of their informants, and here it becomes the 
duty of our technical colleges to train their 
students to take the positions in the world 
of industry which will qualify them in 
their several stations to fully serve their 
country as fountains of truth. 

In conclusion, let me quote a passage 
from an address by that ardent champion 
of truth, Thomas Huxley, delivered in 
1880, upon a somewhat similar occasion to 
the present, namely, the opening of the 
_ Technical College in Leeds. 


* * * Tt is not beside the mark to remind you, 
that the prosperity of industry depends not merely 
upon the improvement of manufacturing processes, 
not merely upon the ennobling of the individual 
character, but upon the third condition, namely, 
a clear understanding of the conditions of social 
life on the part of both the capitalist and the 
operative, and their agreement upon common prin- 
ciples of social action. They must learn that 
social phenomena are as much the expression of 
natural laws as any others; that no social ar- 
rangements can be permanent unless they har- 
monize with the requirements of social statics 
and dynamics; and that, in the nature of things, 
there is an arbiter whose decisions execute them- 
selves. 

But this knowledge is only to be obtained by 
the application of the methods of investigation 
adopted in physical researches to the investiga- 
tion of the phenomena of society. Hence, I con- 
fess, I should like to see one addition made to the 
excellent scheme of education propounded for the 
college, in the shape of provision for teaching 
sociology. For though we are all agreed that 
party politics are to have no place in the instruc- 
tion of the college; yet in this country, prac- 
tically governed as it is now by universal suffrage, 
every man who does his duty must exercise polit- 
ical functions. And, if the evils which are in- 
separable from the good of political liberty are 
to be checked, if the perpetual oscillations of 
nations between anarchy and despotism is to be 
replaced by the steady march of self-restraining 
freedom, it will be because men will gradually 
bring themselves to deal with political, as they 
now deal with scientific, questions; to be as 
ashamed of undue haste and partisan prejudice 
in the one case as in the other; and to believe 
that the machinery of society is at least as deli- 


SCIENCE. 


589 


cate as. that of the spinning-jenny, and as little 
likely to be improved by the meddling of those 
who have not taken the trouble to master the 
principles of its action. 


ALEX. C. HUMPHREYS. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


Entomology, with Special Reference to its 
Biological and Economic Aspects. By 
Justus Watson Fonsom, Se.D., Instructor 
in Entomology in the University of Illinois. 
Philadelphia, P. Blakiston’s Son and Co. 
1906. $3.00. 

There is supposed to be a growing demand 
for a biological treatment of entomology, and 
two notable efforts have recently been made 
to meet it. Professor Kellogg met it in his 
‘American Insects’ by adding to the system- 
atic treatment of the older standard texts 
(which he incorporated in toto) a few chap- 
ters on color, insects and flowers, insects and 
disease, ete., making a very big book of the 
encyclopedic sort. Dr. Folsom has followed 
the plan of cutting down to an almost negli- 
gible quantity the systematic part, giving a 
condensed résumé of anatomy, physiology and 
embryology, and devoting the greater part of 
his book to the discussion of general biological 
phenomena, making it a reading book of com- 
fortable size. Thirteen pages of systematic 
description of the orders serve to eliminate 
that part of the subject (which, according to 
the preface, is thus summarily dealt with be- 
cause of its prominence in other available 
texts). The condensation is at its maximum 
in the description of the larve of the orders, 
for which purpose two words, thysanuriform 
and eruciform, suffice. The theoretical sig- 
nificance of these terms is explained in the 
chapter on development: but here in the de- 
seriptive part they are very much over-worked. 
To say merely that the larve of the Odonata 
are thysanuriform is certainly not very il- 
luminating. Only with the mind’s eye could 
one see, for instance, anything thysanuriform 
in the larva of Hagenius. 

The chapters on morphology and develop- 
ment (158 pages) are concise, well digested 
and altogether excellent, and taken in connec- 
tion with the well-selected bibliography at the 


590 


end of the book, furnish a good introduction 
to these subjects. 

Then follow the chapters embodying the 
‘biological treatment’ comprising the greater 
part of the text (183 pages). Their titles are 
the following: Adaptations of Aquatic Insects, 
Color and Coloration, Adaptive Coloring, 
Origin of Adaptations and of Species, Insects 
in Relation to Plants, Insects in Relation to 
Other Animals, Interrelations of Insects, and 
Insect Behavior. While these subjects are 
not new to entomological text-books, they are 
here given a new treatment and merited 
prominence, and entomologists will appreciate 
having them brought together for discussion 
in one place. 

Then follow chapters on Distribution, and 
on Insects in Relation to Man, the latter being 
a discussion of the mission of the economic 
entomologist and a historical sketch of the 
evolution of that species in America. The 
economic entomology of the book is mostly in 
the title, where it, perhaps, serves the pub- 
lisher’s purpose. There is no mention of 
many of the most important economic species, 
nor of the most important methods of eco- 
nomic procedure. The book concludes with 
a good bibliography, of 57 pages. 

The typography and press work are excellent. 
Mistakes are few; but in the short chapter on 
adaptations in aquatic insects the following 
are noted: The figure of the hind leg of the 
diving beetle Cybister on page 187 fails to show 
the inferior spur greatly widened—the char- 
acter by which this genus is most readily recog- 
nized; the figure of Simuliwm larva on page 
190 does not show the anal gill tuft, although 
illustrating a paragraph on gills; it is doubt- 
less by oversight that the larve of Ephemeride 
are mentioned on the same page along with 
those of the Odonata as having a highly de- 
veloped rectal respiration. The style is never 
prolix, and although verbal infelicities are 
rather too frequent, the meaning is rarely 
obscure. The illustrations are always appro- 
priate, and generally of a high order. The 
book as a whole is excellent, and will be. most 
useful to the general student. 


J. GN. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 619. 


The Elements of Geology. By Witu1am Har- 

MON Norton. Ginn and Co. 1905. 

This volume has been written, the author 
tells us, to fill the need of a text-book that 
shall knit cause and consequence in geology 
together, ‘to treat land forms and rock struc- 
tures in connection with the geologic processes 
causing them,’ abandoning the traditional divi- 
sion of the subject into departments, dynam- 
ical, structural, physiographical and historical. 
As a matter of fact, he preserves the last of 
these, so the new departure must be looked for 
in the rest of his book, ‘ External Geological 
Agencies and Internal Geological Agencies.’ 
We readily obtain an idea of the treatment 
attempted by comparing Professor Norton’s 
book with a well-known predecessor. For 
this I have put equivalent parts of LeConte’s 
text-book and this on the same lines of parallel 
columns. It thus appears that our author has 
omitted the ‘Structural Geology’ and some 
of the ‘Organic Agencies’ and put the rest 
under slightly different heads: 


Norton. LeConte. 
I. External Geological I. Dynamical Geology. 
Agencies. 1. Atmospheric Agencies. 
Il. Internal Geological 2. Aqueous Agencies. 
Agencies. 3. Igneous Agencies. 


(Touched in I.) 
(Touched in I. and II.) 
III. Historical Geology. 


4. Organic Agencies. 
II. Structural Geology. 
III. Historical Geology. 

Of LeConte’s organic agencies, peat is de- 
scribed by Norton under river deposits, lime 
accumulations under offshore and deep sea 
deposits, and the bog ore, silicious and phos- 
phatie deposits that get a brief mention in 
LeConte are not here referred to. 

Of the structural geology, general form and 
structure of the earth are omitted as far as I 
have been able to learn, sedimentary rocks are 
treated in several places, one half page in the 
Introduction, five pages in the Work of the 
Weather, twenty pages in Offshore and Deep- 
sea Deposits, six pages in River Deposits and 
about three pages in the Work of the Wind. 
Tgneous and metamorphic rocks are treated 
under internal agencies, joints under the work 
of the weather and movements of the earth’s 
crust, faults under movements of the earth’s 
erust, mineral veins under work of ground 
water and metamorphism and mineral veins, 


NOVEMBER 9, 1906.] 


while denudation comes under rivers and val- 
leys. In general the chief novelty has been 
the omission of structures as a separate group. 
The result is separations as well as connec- 
tions. We learn of river deposits in connec- 
tion with the study of rivers as agents, but 
to learn about sandstones we must go to three 
or four separate parts of the book. If there 
are gains there are losses to set over against 
them. 

From the reviewer’s point of view this is a 
very beautifully illustrated volume in which 
physiography is unusually prominent. Omit 
the historical third part, the weakest part of 
the book, and add a little here and there about 
man, plants and animals and the book would 
fall perfectly into a class of recent text-books 
of physical geography, all with some general 
similarity to Davis’s ‘Physical Geography,’ 
but lacking its classification and evolution of 
the forms of the earth’s surface. The physio- 
graphic half-tones are mostly very beautiful 
both in appearance and in teaching value. ‘A 
Lake well-nigh effaced, Montana’ and ‘ A level 
Meadow, Scotland,’ pages 71 and 72, seem to 
me unsurpassed as illustrations. All localities 
are rather vaguely referred to as here, though 
it is hard to see why. Professor Norton evi- 
dently knows where these places are and stu- 
dents would certainly find some interest in 
sharing his knowledge. There are practically 
no references to other books, either. The 
presswork is of course admirable, though a 
beginner will wonder at a ‘parted laver’ (p. 
217). The diagrams are less satisfactory, 
some of them stiff and difficult to read. The 
map of Niagara gorge at page 60 has evi- 
dently been copied from Gilbert’s paper in the 
National Geographic monographs though it is 
not so credited. Unfortunately, it has been 
redrawn and badly redrawn, so that it quite 
conceals the variations in width that are very 
marked in the original and afford even better 
evidence of varying erosion by the river than 
the depth of the gorge does, as Taylor has 
shown. A similar thing appears to have been 
done with the cut of the silurian scorpion at 
page 339. It strongly suggests the woodcut 
figured 347 in Geikie’s manual, but redrawn 
with the omission of the artist’s name, which 


SCIENCE. 


591 


in Geikie shows very plainly. There is no 
acknowledgment to any one, though about one 
third of the cuts are acknowledged borrowed, 
a dozen from the author! Most of the illus- 
trations in the ‘ Historical Geology’ have a 
familiar look. Dana and Geikie come quickly 
to mind at sight of figures 331, 338, 339 and 
336. None of them, however, are credited. 

The historical part does not seem to have 
received so much of the author’s attention as 
the earlier portions of the book, nor even so 
much attention as its importance merits. 
This undertreatment disappears when we come 
to the Quaternary and the Ice Age. The 
physiographic is everywhere the part best de- 
veloped. In matters of fact the work seems 
painstakingly accurate. That it is somewhat 
dogmatic is, perhaps, pardonable in an ele- 
mentary text-book. Yet, if alternative views 
had been stated occasionally it would help the 
student avoid the ‘common error’ referred to 
by Professor Davis in his godfatherly note, 
of thinking ‘ authorities’ have a private road 
to information. Thus ‘lateral secretion’ ap- 
pears to be the only view of the origin of 
mineral veins that Professor Norton cares to 
entertain. For him Posepny does not exist, 
nor waters from the depths. Yet Professor 
Gregory has just been returning from Aus- 
tralia, stating that the so-called artesian 
waters of New South Wales are all deep 
waters soon to be exhausted. At page 331 
Professor Norton calls the waters artesian 
that ascend in borings after gas has given 
out! There is no doubt that many teachers 
could find this volume helpful in giving stu- 
dents interest in earth science without neces- 
sarily appreciating at the author’s estimate 
the particular need he has sought to fill. 


Mark S. W. JEFFERSON. 
YPSILANTI, MIcH., 
October 17, 1906. “ 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 


The Botanical Gazette for October contains 
the following leading articles: George F. At- 
kinson gives a detailed account of the devel- 
opment of Agaricus campestris, illustrated by 
six photographic plates. William Crocker 
publishes the results of an investigation of 


592 SCIENCE. 


delayed germination of seeds, discovering that 
the cause generally lies in the seed coats, 
rather than in the embryos. In the case of 
the well-known ‘ upper seed’ of the cocklebur, 
it is found that the delay is secured by the 
seed coat excluding oxygen; while in many 
seeds it is secured by the coats excluding 
water. John Donnell Smith publishes his 
twenty-eighth paper entitled ‘ Undescribed 
Plants from Guatemala and Other Central 
American Republics.’ Clayton O. Smith de- 
seribes with the aid of half-tone illustrations 
a bacterial disease of Oleander occurring on 
young Oleanders in California, which proves 
to be the same disease that causes knot-like 
growths on the olive. 


THe November Journal of Nervous and 
Mental Disease opens with a discussion of the 
cerebral element in the reflexes and its relation 
to the spinal element by Dr. G. L. Walton 
and Dr. W. E. Paul. Dr. Wharton Sinkler 
contributes the report of a case of Landry’s 
paralysis with the unusual result of recovery, 
and Dr. Morton Prince gives an account of a 
case of brain tumor characterized by a cir- 
cumscribed limited area of anesthesia, marked 
muscular atrophy appearing early, epileptiform 
attacks of hemialgesia of a peculiar nature; 
loss of the muscular sense, astereognosis, 
ataxis and paresis, increasing to ultimate 
paralysis. A study by Dr. Harvey Cushing 
of sexual infantilism with optic atrophy in 
eases of tumor affecting the hypophysis cerebri 
completes this part of the number. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
A DEFINITION OF FLUID. 


In discussing Professor Elihu Thomson’s 
paper on vulcanism Dr. Alfred C. Lane’ asks: 
*‘ Are we clear as to where we are to draw the 
line between viscous fluid and solid?” and 
he then gives a definition of fluid which is 
certainly an improvement on the old descrip- 
tion of a fluid as a substance which will con- 
form to the shape of the containing vessel and 
will present a level upper surface. 

Dr. Lane’s definition, however, does not 
answer the question: Where shall the line 


1 Science, N. S., Vol. XXIV., No. 613, p. 404. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 619. 


between solid and fluid be drawn? He cites 
molasses candy and tar as bodies which ap- 
parently are solids but which really are fluids; 
but he takes no account of the fact that it 
is changing conditions external to matter 
which determine the appearance and disap- 
pearance of many of its physical and chemical 
properties. At the temperature of liquid air 
both molasses candy and tar would lose the 
property of highly viscous fluidity, which they 
assume under the ordinary conditions where- 
under we have become familiar with them, 
and would acquire a rigidity which would 
make them solids in the most approved sense. 
The place to draw the line between solid and 
fluid is at the junction of conditions which 
determine the supercession of the solid by the 
fluid state. This point was long ago recog- 
nized as a physical constant of matter and 
has received a name—plastic yield-point. 
This point, like melting-point, boiling-point 
and simple gas-point, separates two of the 
phases or states of aggregation through which 
matter passes in the course of its transforma- 
tion from the highest to the lowest degree of 
polymerization. 

Plastic yield-point, like melting-point and 
boiling-point, is a function of both tempera- 
ture and pressure, and can, therefore, be rep- 
resented graphically by a curve drawn with 
reference to temperature and pressure as rect- 
angular coordinates. Under conditions fixed 
by a point on the curve of its plastic yield- 
point, a substance is on the dividing line be- 
tween its solid and fluid phases. An increase 
of either temperature or pressure would (if a 
path be open) occasion molecular shearing— 
that is, differential motion between molecules 
—at any point in the mass. A decrease of 
either temperature or pressure would place the 


substance under conditions represented by the | 


area on the other side of the curve, where the 
intermolecular locking is strong enough sen- 
sibly to resist (within the time considered) 
the force tending to make the molecules glide 
over one another; this is the distinctive prop- 
erty of solids. For all purposes of mechanics, 
including cases arising in dynamic geology, a 
fluid may be described as matter exposed to 
conditions which place it in the region beyond 


: 
a, 
\ 
* 


NOVEMBER 9, 1906.] 


the curve of its plastic yield-point in the direc- 
tion of increasing temperature or pressure. 

As to the internal constitutive differences 
which distinguish the fluid from the liquid 
state much remains to be learned, but it is 
regarded as probable that these differences 
are to a large extent grounded in a difference 
in molecular complexity; fluid and liquid 
doubtless bear to one another the same rela- 
tion as vapor and gas, which usually always 
differ in molecular weight. Thus, sulphur 
vapor at 445° C. has the molecular formula 
S,; as the temperature of this vapor is raised, 
the complex molecule S, undergoes a disin- 
_ tegration and finally becomes S,, which is not 
broken up until the temperature has become 
very high. At a point which we may call the 
simple gas-point the complex molecules of the 
vapor phase give place to the simple molecules 
of the gas phase. Both boiling-point and 
simple gas-point vary with the temperature 
and pressure, and hence both may be repre- 
sented graphically by curves. The vapor 
phase or condition will lie between these two 
curves, and such a phase is common to prac- 
tically all substances that can be boiled. 

Now when a solid is heated under atmos- 
pheric pressure it first softens and then melts; 
and this intermediate stage of softening, when 
the substance is neither solid nor liquid, is 
properly the fluid phase or state, comparable 
to the vapor phase which is intermediate be- 
_tween liquid and gas. It can hardly be 
doubted that in the solid phase the molecular 
weight is the largest possible. When the 
yie!d-point is attained, these large molecules 
just begin to break up into smaller units and 
this process is continued until the melting 
point is reached and the substance becomes a 
liquid; in this condition the molecular com- 
plexes are very stable, and, like the simple 
gas molecules, generally require large addi- 
tions of energy to undergo further change. 

Oswin W. WILLCcox. 
Sanpy Hook PRovine GROUND, 
Fort Hancock, N. J. 


WHY DO HERRING GULLS KILL THEIR YOUNG? 


Earzy last July I was making for the Public 
Museum of Milwaukee a photographically re- 


SCIENCE. 


593 | 


corded study of the actions of a colony of 
herring gulls covering Gravel Island, a little 
islet at the upper end of the Door County 
peninsula of Wisconsin. At the time of my 
visit the young of the year were mostly about 
half grown and usually kept by themselves in 
a flock of several hundred. There were al- 
ways a few young scattered among the adults 
on the island, but the great majority were at 
all times to be found in the flock, which 
seemed to have taken to itself a definite 
habitat at one part of the islet. 

The island is, I am told, visited with 
some degree of frequency by pleasure-seekers, 
though as it is fairly remote from any resort 
I do not fancy that these visits are very nu- 
merous in any one nesting season. 

When first visiting the island I rowed out 
to it with two companions, pitched my tent 
in the center of the island and disappeared 
within, after which my companions returned 
to the boat and rowed away. I have reason 
to believe that my remaining among the gulls 
was not suspected by them. From various 
observations I am convinced that the indi- 
vidualities of the young were so hopelessly lost 
in the flock that they neither knew nor were 
known by their parents. 

Almost from the beginning of my obser- 
vations and continuing intermittently all 
through them I was witness of numerous at- 
tacks committed by adults upon the young, in 
which the latter were so severely wounded that 
death did or in a short time would ensue. At 
the time of my arrival this year and also 
when I visited the same colony a year ago 
the island was strewn with the bodies of some 
dozens of these half-grown gulls bearing evi- 
dence of having been similarly done to death. 

Usually when my attention was attracted 
to the enactment of one of these tragedies the 
victim was a bird to which I had paid no 
previous attention; but there were several 
instances where the young had been under 
fairly close observation for some hours pre- 
vious. In no instance could I see that the 
young was weak, sickly or in any way ab- 
normal, nor that it had given offense for which 
it was being punished. Sometimes when the 
flock of young was on the water near the 


594 SCIENCE. 


island an adult would approach and seize a 
young on the outskirts of the flock. At other 
times attacks would be made on young just 
coming up the beach from the water, while 
several times those that for some hours had 
been unmolested near the center of the island 
were apparently without provocation set upon 
and left in a dying condition. The main 
point of attack was the back of the head. To 
this region a number of severe blows were 
given with the point of the bill, after which 
it was grasped between the mandibles of the 
adult and the bird was pulled about until the 
skin and flesh were cut through to the skull. 
Sometimes the young fell on its back with 
feet convulsively kicking in the air. In this 
position the carpal joint of the wing and the 
breast seemed to be the points at which blows 
were mainly aimed. If the young escaped 
by running or was left apparently lifeless but 
subsequently revived and made off during the 
absence of its persecutor it was at once at- 
tacked by any other adult that happened to 
be near. 

I am unable to convince myself that this 


destruction of their young was due to molesta- 


tion of the colony, as has been suggested to 
me, but I have no other explanation to offer, 
unless it be impatience at the toll of regurgi- 
tated fish that the young levy upon the old. 

I wish to inquire whether this murderous 
action on the part of the Lerring gull or of 
other birds has been noted in other colonies 
and whether any plausible explanation of it 


can be given. Henry L. Warp. 
Pusiic MusEUM, MILWAUKEE. 


AN UNUSUAL METEOR. 


To THE Epitor or SclENcE: In connection 
with the sinuous trail left by the meteor de- 
scribed by E. KE. Davis in your issue for 
August 3 and discussed by Professor Abbe in 
that for September 14, I might remark that a 
similar phenomenon was seen and sketched in 
the case of a fine meteor seen in Ontario on 
July 5, 1898, a full account of which is to be 
found in the Transactions of the Astronom- 
ical and Physical Society of Toronto for 1898, 


page 74. C. A. CHANT. 
Toronto, October 16, 1906. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 619. 


A CORRECTION. 


Mr. Bassuer, of the U. S. National Mu- 
seum, has called my attention to a serious 
error of mine on page 1,209, foot-note, of 
the Thirtieth Annual Report of the Indiana 
Department of Geology and Natural Re- 
sources. In discussing two species of corals, 
Cystelasma rugosum and C. quinqueseptatum 
Ulrich, figured and named, but without formal 
descriptions, by Mr. Ulrich in Professional 
Paper 36 of the United States Geological 
Survey, the foot-note states: ‘ These specimens 
are neither described nor do they have the 
internal structure shown.’ The statement re- 
fers to both species instead of C. rugosum. 
It was intended to apply to C. rugosum but 
not to C. quinqueseptatum. As it is the state- 
ment is untrue, as the internal structure of 
C. quinqueseptatum is clearly and accu- 
rately shown in Mr. Ulrich’s figures. This is 
a reflection upon Mr. Ulrich which was not 
intended and for which I wish to apologize. 

The great accuracy with which Mr. Ulrich 
portrays the characters observed and his un- 
usual powers of discrimination are well known 
and I would be the last one to question them, 
especially when I had not examined the speci- 
mens figured, as was the ease in this instance. 
Printed slips will be sent to all those receiving 
copies of the separates of the paper (‘ Fauna 
of the Salem Limestone of Southern Indi- 


‘ana’) in which the error occurs. Inasmuch 


as it is impossible to reach all those receiving 
the bound volumes, it will be a favor if those 


having them will note the correction in the 
book. 


J. W. BEEDE. 


SPECIAL ARTICLES. 
A NEW ARTEMIA AND ITS LIFE CONDITIONS. 


Tue classic observations and experiments 


-of Schmankewitsch thirty years ago on the 


Artemias of certain salt pools near Odessa 
(Russia) clothe this curious phyllopod genus 
with a peculiar interest to zoologists and to 
students of species-forming. This interest 
has been renewed by the occasional reconsid- 
eration of Schmankewitch’s data, and more 
rarely by the actual reexamination of Artemia 


ero 
—_ po 


SO , 


ee 


Pe ee 


NOVEMBER 9, 1906.] 


individuals under different environmental con- 
ditions (primarily the varying density or salt 
concentration of the waters in which the crea- 
tures live). In 1898 Anikin determined, to 
his own satisfaction at least, that the struc- 
tural changes induced in Artemza individuals 
of succeeding generations by rearing these 
generations in salt water of differing density 
were not true species differences, fixed and 
heritable, but simply ontogenetic differences 
maintained only as long as the particular 
inducing influences (denser or less dense salt 
water) persisted. Certain specific characters, 
particularly those of the male, did not change 
at all, so that Anikin believed himself to be 
able still to recognize his original species 
throughout all the generations grown under 
modified conditions, although the species was 
actually plainly modified in structure in cer- 
tain particulars. These structural changes, 
however, he found could be avoided if the 
changes in environment were made very grad- 
ually. When made violently the changes were 
marked, and could perhaps be interpreted to 
be those of degenerative or arrestative modi- 
fication. In other words, the rearing of young 
in a salt water of higher concentration than 
that normal to the species worked injury or 
arrestation in the development. These modi- 
fications as noted by both Schmankewitsch 
and Anikin were chiefly concerned with the 
segmenting of the abdomen and the length 
and hairiness of the caudal appendages. As 
differences in exactly these characters were 
those by which the European species of 
Artemia (and partly the genus Branchipus) 
were distinguished, it is not surprising that 
Schmankewitsch believed himself to see Ar- 
temia salina transform into A. milhauseni, 
and vice versa; and even the genus Artemia 
change to the genus Branchipus. 
the correct interpretation of the affair is, prob- 
ably, that the original deseribers of the Euro- 
pean species had before them various ‘ onto- 
genetic species’ of Artemia, 2. e., nutritional 
or developmental varieties. 

In America three species of Artemia have 
been recognized; one A. gracilis Verrill, from 
barrels or casks of salt marsh water exposed 


SCIENCE. 


However, © 


O95 


(and hence much denser than the original 
marsh water) on a railroad bridge near New 
Haven, Conn.; another, A. fertilis Verrill, 
from Great Salt Lake, and the third, A. monica 
Verrill, from Mono Lake, Cal., a strongly salt 
and alkaline lake in the Owens River desert. 
All of these Artemias are living in salt water 
of a density much greater than that of ordi- 
nary sea water. The water in the New 
Haven casks varied in density from 1.06 to 
1.065; the water in Great Salt Lake has a 
density of 1.17 and that in Mono Lake is 
certainly not less dense and is “so alkaline 
that it is said to be used for removing grease 
from clothing. It is said to contain, also, 
biborate of soda.” I know of no experiments 
with the American Artemzas except that Ver- 
rill states that A. gracilis ‘can exist without 
apparent inconvenience when the water in 
which they occur is diluted with an equal bulk 
of fresh water as well as when it is much 
concentrated by evaporation.’ 

To the short list of American species I have 
to add a new one collected by student David 
Fulloway from the evaporating pools of a salt 
works at Redwood City (five miles from Stan- 
ford University) on the west shore of San 
Francisco Bay. This west coast Artemia 
differs markedly from the other American spe- 
cies in those characteristics upon which Ver- 
rill relies to distinguish the already known 
American forms, viz., the shape of the male 
claspers, the female egg-sac, and the character 
of the caudal appendages. The character of 
size upon which Verrill seems to have placed 
some reliance is a frail support, for it gives 
way when individuals reared under different 
conditions (density of salt water) are com- 
pared. The new species may be named and 
described as follows: 


Fig. 1. 
caudal appendages of male Artemia franciscana, 
n. sp. 


Posterior tip of abdomen, showing 


596 


Fig. 2. Front aspect of head of male Artemia 
franciscana, n. sp., showing eyes, antenne and 
claspers. 


Artemia franciscana n. sp. (Figs. 1 and 2). 
Body slender; length of mature females (with 
egos) from 6 mm. to 13 mm., males 5 mm. to 
8.5 mm.; color translucent whitish to dull brick- 
red; claspers of male with stout median part and 
elongate, regularly tapering acute-angled terminal 
part; the suture between second and third seg- 
ments is wholly lacking (this condition prac- 
tically breaking down the distinction between the 
genus Artemia and the genus Branchipus), and 
there is no indication by external angle or change 
in direction of the outer or inner margins to 
indicate the point of fusion of these two segments 
(Fig. 1); egg-sac of female as broad as long; 
caudal appendages longer than broad, longer than 
in any of the other three known American species, 
and with scattered hairs all along both sides of 
each appendage (this character also tends to ap- 
proach the condition in Branchipus). This 
species in a way serves to connect the genera 
Branchipus and Artemia but in all its general 
habitus and in the shape (very characteristic) 
of the claspers of the male it is much nearer the 
described Artemia forms than the Branchipus 
type. Males, females, eggs and larval stages 
found abundantly in the salterns (evaporating 
pools), density 1.08 to 1.24, at Redwood City, San 
Francisco Bay, in September, 1906. 

As mentioned in the species description, 
mature specimens, both males and females, of 
this Artemia vary markedly in size and color- 
ation. They vary also in degree of activity. 
All these differences are plainly correlated 
with the different life-conditions of the crea- 
tures. The water of San Francisco Bay has 
a density of 1.024. Pools of evaporating salt 
solution of the following densities were ex- 
amined: 1.06, 1.085, 1.11, 1.187, 1.187, 1.19, 
1.20, 1.207, 1.23, 1.24. Beyond this density 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 619. 


the salt is precipitating rapidly. Artemias 
occur in all these pools from 1.08 on, most 
abundant, largest and most active, however, 
in water of 1.11 and 1.18. In water of less 
density than 1.11 the Artemias are large but 
not so abundant; in water of greater density 
they are noticeably smaller, and in the densi- 
ties of 1.20 and upward they are much smaller 
and much less active. The color variation is 
also associated with the density, both males 
and females in the denser pools being reddish, 
the females alone reddish in the waters of 
medium density, and both males and females 
translucent whitish in the pools of 1.085, 1.11 
and 1.137. In water of 1.24 (in which the 
salt is precipitating slowly) there are not many 
Artemias and they are all reddish, very small 
and noticeably inactive. 

With special reference to the differences 
which Schmankewitsch and Anikin found 
among individuals of Artemia salina grown 
in salt solutions of various densities I may 
confine myself, at present (pending the out- 
come of more systematic observation and ex- 
perimentation), to the statement that differ- 
ences in proportional length of post-abdomen 
to rest of body, in character of the abdominal 
segmentation and in length and hairiness of 
the caudal appendages are apparent in this 
new Artemia and evidently bear a definite 
relation to the different densities of the pools 
in which the Artemias are living. 

Vernon L. KELtLoae. 

STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CALIF. 


SOME UNUSUAL NEW JERSEY FISHES: 

During the past summer Mr. Wm. J. Fox 
was located at Sea Isle City, N. J., and ob- 
served or obtained the following species: Lam- 
na cornubica, Galeocerdo tigrinus, Myliobatis 
freminvillii, Clupanodon oglinum, Lucania 
parva, Tylosurus raphidoma, Hemiramphus 
brasiliensis, Albacora thynnus, Seriola la- 
landi, Blepharichthys crinitus, Vomer seta- 
pinnis, Palinurichthys perciforms, Bairdiella 
chrysura, Chetodipterus faber, Pomacanthus 
arcuatus, Balistes carolinensis,  Alutera 
schepfit and Echeneis alba-cauda. A fine ex- 
ample of Istiophorus nigricans was also se- 
eured. Stephanolepis hispidus and Ortho- 


NOVEMBER 9, 1906.] 


pristis chrysopterus were taken at Palermo, in 
Cape May County, by Mr. George Z. Hartman, 
and at Cape May Mr. H. Walker Hand reports 
Lagodon rhomboides and Limanda. ferruginea. 
Henry W. Fow ter. 
ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILA. 


QUOTATIONS. 
“BOTANY IN ENGLAND.’ 


Proressor F, W. OL iver’s presidential ad- 
dress to the botanical section of the British 
Association consisted of two parts, one dealing 
with ‘ The Seed, a Chapter in Evolution, the 
other with ‘ Botany in England.’ With the 
former we do not propose to deal; but the 
latter raises so many points for discussion 
that we can not but wonder that Professor 
Oliver selected for its delivery an opportunity 
when discussion was impossible. Although 
headed ‘ Botany in England,’ it is mainly oc- 

upied with an attack upon the two great 
public herbaria—which, in Professor Oliver’s 
opinion,‘ stand apart from the ordinary botan- 
‘ical current,’ and must consequently ‘lan- 
guish’ or suffer ‘atrophy through disuse.’ 
Professor Oliver’s style is not easy to follow, 
and we sometimes find it difficult to grasp his 
meaning. We propose, however, to offer a few 
remarks upon some of his statements, premis- 
ing that we do not admit his claim to act as a 
judge in matters with which it is abundantly 
evident he is but imperfectly acquainted. 

Having given a very brief sketch of what he 
considers ‘the prevailing school of botany,’ 
Professor Oliver proceeds to inform us that it 
“has arisen very independently of that which 
preceded it.’ Here we must at once join issue 
with him. He continues: ‘All through the 
middle parts of the last century we were so 
busy amassing and classifying plants that the 
great questions of botanical policy were left to 
solve themselves.’ Yet this period included 
the morphological work of Robert Brown, 
Lindley and Sir Joseph Hooker, not to men- 
tion that of Carruthers and W. C. Williamson, 
who were largely instrumental in establishing 
the science of paleobotany, and without whose 
work the first part of Professor Oliver’s ad- 

_dress would hardly have been written. In 
view of the above references, can it be said 


SCIENCE. 


597 


with any degree of accuracy that ‘ the prevail- 
ing school of botany has arisen very independ- 
ently of that which preceded it?’ 

Professor Oliver continues: 


Great herbaria became of the order of things; 
they received government recognition, and they 
continue their work apart. Those who built up 
these great collections neglected to convince the 
schools of the importance of training a genera- 
tion of botanists that would use them. The 
schools were free, and they have gone their own 
way, and that way does not lie in the direction 
of the systematic botany of the herbarium. So 
long as this tendency prevails, the herbaria must 
languish. When I say: languish, I do not mean 
that they will suffer from inefficient administra- 
tion—their efficiency probably has never been 
greater than at the present time. But the effort — 
involved in their construction and up-keep is alto- 
gether disproportionate to any service to which 
they are put. * * * If things are left to take 
their course there is the fear of atrophy through 
disuse. 


Tt is not easy to understand what Professor 
Oliver means in the first portion of this para- 
graph. The main function of ‘the schools,’ 
as it appears to us, is not to train a generation 
of botanists to use herbaria, but to impart a 
general knowledge of the subject which will 
enable the student to follow up any line which 
may have a special attraction for him, inclu- 
ding, of course, systematic botany. But the 
flourishing existence of herbaria depends very 
little upon ‘the schools.’ The students of bot- 
any both at the British Museum and at Kew 
are sufficiently numerous to show that Pro- 
fessor Oliver’s fear of ‘atrophy through dis- 
use’ is groundless, although according to him 
these herbaria ‘stand apart from the ordinary 
botanical current.’ Whatever may have been 
‘the effort involved in their construction,’ it 
is a thing of the past, and its proportion or 
disproportion to the ‘ service to which they are 
put’ can not be discussed: their ‘ efficiency,’ 
he admits, was ‘ never greater than at present.’ 
It may be that besides the ‘ ordinary botanical 
current’ with which Professor Oliver is ac- 
quainted, there is another of whose course he 
is ignorant. 

Having, however, satisfied himself that the 
‘general position of systematic botany’ re- 


598 SCIENCE. 


quires ‘alleviation,’ and that atrophy is im- 
minent, the professor proceeds to ‘ attempt an 
analysis of some of the causes which have led 
to this condition of affairs.’ Neither the 
British Museum nor Kew “has any con- 
nection, direct or indirect, with any uni- 
versity organization; there are no facilities 
for teaching; there are no students; no 
machinery exists for training recruits or for 
interesting anybody in the ideals and methods 
of systematic botany.” If by this Professor 
Oliver means that herbaria are not teaching 
bodies in the sense that a university is, he is 
accurate enough; but when he proceeds to 
argue as a consequence that there are no 
means for interesting folk in systematic bot- 
any, he evidently speaks in ignorance of what 
ean be and is being done. As regards the 
national herbarium, of which we are in a posi- 
tion to speak, it would not be difficult to find 
systematists of European reputation who 
would acknowledge with gratitude the help 
they have received in acquiring a knowledge 
of ‘the ideals and methods of systematic bot- 
any’; and we have no doubt that similar testi- 
mony could be given at Kew. To take one 
example from each—Mrs. Gepp, who has a 
world-wide reputation as an algologist, owes 
her position to the ‘ideals and methods’ ac- 
quired as a student in the department of bot- 
any; Mr. Hiern, whose monograph of Ebe- 
naceze (1873) was but the first of a long series 
of contributions to systematic botany, first 
became ‘interested’ at Kew, and has since, at 
both herbaria, availed himself of the ‘ facil- 
ities’—for learning if not for teaching— 
which they afford. 

Professor Oliver then goes on to suggest 
“another way in which a great economy 
could be effected in effort, time and money; 
this is the transfer of the collections and staff 
of the botanical department from the Museum 
to Kew. This is a very old proposal, first 
seriously entertained some fifty years ago 
after the death of Robert Brown.” It may be 
remarked en passant that this ‘old proposal’ 
was first made in the course of Brown’s own 
evidence before the Royal Commission on the 
British Museum in 1848, and rebutted by him 
(Q. 3468-9). “There must,” he continues, 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 619. 


“be endless files of reports and blue books in 
official pigeon-holes dealing with this ques- 
tion.” This, of course, is pure hypothesis. 
“The most recent report of a departmental 
committee is known to all interested in the 
matter. From the character of the evidence 
tendered it is not surprising that no action has 
been taken.” Professor Oliver must know 
that the ‘evidence’ was tendered by men of 
qualifications at least equal to his own—men, 
moreover, acquainted, as he manifestly is not, 
with the work and functions of a herbarium; 
and that if ‘no action was taken’ it was be- 
cause none seemed desirable. This, however, 
does not prevent an ipse dixit which at any 
rate shows that the professor will allow no 
undue modesty to hinder the expression of his 
opinion: ‘I am at a loss to find any ade- 
quate reason for the maintenance of two 
separate herbaria. We have no intention of 
entering upon a discussion of the matter; 
suffice it to say that those best acquainted 
with both collections have long been of the 
contrary opinion, and that that opinion is 
strengthened as their knowledge increases. 
We note that in contemplating the fusion, 
Professor Oliver assumes that this would be 
done by the transfer of the museum collec- 
tions to Kew; but his acquaintance with the 
report of the departmental committee to 
which reference has been made will have 
shown him that the reverse process has been 
advocated, and in view of his hope for an 
alliance of the herbarium officials with a 
“local university,’ it would seem a more rea- 
sonable plan. 

It is clear from the whole tenor of his re- 
marks that Professor Oliver is unacquainted 
with the functions or the value of public her- 
baria, and it is only when we recognize this 
that his position becomes intelligible. His 
ignorance is the more remarkable considering 
the eminent position as a systematic botanist 
attained by his father when keeper of the Kew 
Herbarium; but it is obvious when, for ex- 
ample, he tells us that ‘in the long run it may 
be that our present collections will prove ob- 
solete,’ and adds significantly, ‘the secrap-heap 
is the sign and measure of all progress.’ He 
does not understand that a public herbarium 


NOVEMBER 9, 1906.] 


fulfills a variety of purposes with which the 
‘schools’? have, and ean have, nothing to do. 
At the national herbarium, for example, the 
botanical history of the last two or three hun- 
dred years can be traced; the types of Linnean 
species, of the early American collectors, and 
the great Sloane Herbarium are therein pre- 
served; and so far from showing any signs of 
becoming ‘ obsolete,’ they are constantly con- 
sulted by botanists from all parts of the world, 
both by personal visits and by correspondence. 
Apart from these, the student of the British 
flora, the amateur botanist, the horticulturist, 
the elementary teacher and the intelligent in- 
quirer find the herbarium a convenient center 
for prosecuting their studies, and for obtain- 
ing information which they could not readily 
obtain elsewhere. If Professor Oliver’s ideal 
were realized, botany would become the sole 
possession of the schools; and not only the 
foreign systematist, but the general public, 
the private student, the amateur and the 
monographer would be excluded from consid- 
eration. The national herbarium and that at 
Kew are supported by public funds; it is, 
therefore, manifestly but common justice that 
the public, rather than the schools, should 
have the prior claim to their services. 

The fact is that Professor Oliver looks at 
botany exclusively from his own somewhat 
narrow standpoint—that of a successful and 
capable teacher obsessed by the notion that 
teaching is the only thing worth troubling 
about. For this purpose there must be an 
alliance between the authorities of the her- 
baria and the ‘local university’; for ‘ directly 
you give the keepers or assistants in the 
former a status in the latter, you place at the 
disposal of the systematists a considerable 
supply of recruits in the form of advanced 
students possessing the requisite training to 
carry out investigations under direction.’ 
But where are these students to find employ- 
ment? If the fusion of the two herbaria to 
which he looks forward would effect ‘a great 
economy in effort, time and money,’ it would 
seem that the openings for trained students 
would have to be reduced rather than in- 
creased. 


SCIENCE. 


D99 


Professor Oliver has not adduced conyin- 
cing evidence of the organizing capacity of 
‘the local university,’ or of the desirability of 
entrusting to it, or to ‘the schools,’ the sole 
management of botanical affairs. The Lon- 
don University, for example, has recently been 
severely criticized in the daily press for the 
mismanagement and neglect of the valuable 
libraries entrusted to its charge. The Tribune 
of August 16, says: 


The university, when it migrated from Burling- 
ton Gardens to its present quarters, had two mag- 
nificent collections of books—the ‘ Grote’ and the 
‘De Morgan,’ besides a considerable accumulation 
gathered at various times. When the removal 
took place the books were conveyed in trolleys 
by workmen, ‘dumped down’ anywhere, and al- 
lowed to remain in the utmost confusion exposed 
to great risk and damage. Rare editions were 
actually found later on at the bottom of the lift- 
hold in a pool of water. Books lay about in 
rooms where committees sat; any one who took 
a fancy to a volume carried it off, entering his 
name, and the name of the author, if he were 
very scrupulous, in a little washing-book. A porter 
was librarian, and the lift-boy sublibrarian. At 
one time it was proposed to make a subject- 
catalogue, and a former official of the university 
began to carry out the scheme on slips of paper, 
as he rode to and from his work on the omnibus. 
His notes have been preserved as a curiosity. 
He catalogued a famous antiquarian work on 
‘Seals’ under ‘ Zoology.’ 


May it not be asked whether the universities 
or ‘the schools’ have done more for the ad- 
vancement of ‘botany in England’ than men 
like Robert Brown and Sir Joseph Hooker, 
whose work was unconnected with either? Is 
it not the case that at the present time botany 
in our oldest university finds its most active 
exponent in the person of an amateur sys- 
tematist ? 

One lesson which may be gathered from 
Professor Oliver’s onslaught is the extreme 
importance of retaining the national herba- 
rium under the management of trustees One 
shudders to think what would happen were it 
handed over to the tender mercies of men 
of his stamp, or to some purely bureaucratic 
body. This danger was pointed out by the 


600 SCIENCE. 


- Westminster Gazette in its account of the 
British Association meeting: 


It is interesting to note the dangers to a scien- 
tific institution directly under our bureaucracy 
when Professor Oliver, in his address this morn- 
ing to the botanical section, actually urges that 
the British Museum botanical collections should 
be transferred from the enlightened charge of the 
independent trustees to Kew, which is under the 
board of works. If government is to advance the 
pursuit of scientific research by subsidies, it must 
be content to entrust the disposal of these sub- 
sidies to boards of independent men. 


It seems to us that, of course unconsciously, 
he has supplied a weighty argument in favor 
of retaining the two herbaria, so that if at one 
the ‘dead Welwitschia’ should be ousted by 
the ‘live dandelion,’ the former may yet be 
retained in safe custody for the benefit of fu- 
ture students. 

Much more might be said did space allow. 
It would be possible, for instance, to show 
more fully what has already been indicated— 
namely, that Professor Oliver is hardly quali- 
fied, either by knowledge or by position, to pro- 
nounce judgment upon matters as to which 
older if not wiser men. have expressed very 
different opinions. We think that, on reflec- 
tion, he will regret that he introduced what 
was felt by many who heard it to be an ele- 
ment of discord into an assembly of botanists 
from all parts of the country. ‘He is evi- 
dently,’ as Bentham said of Naegeli, ‘a man 
of great ability and zeal, and a constant and 
hard worker’; and we can only hope that in- 
creasing years will enable him to take broader 
views, and at least to recognize that his indi- 
vidual standpoint is not the only one, and 
need not necessarily be the best. 


JAMES BRITTEN. 


Nore.—The death of Mr. C. B. Clarke since 
the above was written suggests the mention 
of him as one who was in no sense a creation 
of ‘the schools,’ and whose name will always 
be associated with Kew, where he did most of 
his work, and with the national herbarium, to 
which he was a frequent and welcome visitor. 
—The Journal of Botany. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 619. 


CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 
THE MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. 


Tue July, 1906, number of the Monthly 
Weather Review (dated October 11) contains 
the following papers: 

‘The Waterspout seen off Cottage City, 
Mass., on Vineyard Sound, on August 19, 
1896,’ by Professor F. H. Bigelow. This is 
one of a series of papers on the thermo- 
dynamics of the atmosphere, and is the most 
complete discussion of a waterspout which we 
have ever seen. Several excellent half-tones 
are given. An early notice of this waterspout 
and of some of the photographs here repro- 
duced was included in these notes in ScIENCE, 
N. S., Vol. IV., 1896, 718-719. Professor 
Bigelow has made a careful study of all the 
available accounts of this waterspout, and has 
made calculations as to its dimensions. 

“Climatology of Porto Rico from 1867 to 
1905, inclusive, by W. H. Alexander. Mr. 
Alexander has already contributed other 
studies of West Indian climatology. The 
present paper contains numerous tables of 
climatological data which will be valuable to 
any one who seeks information regarding 
Porto Rican climate. 

‘Snow Rollers,’ by Wilson A. Bentley. Mr. 
Bentley’s name is well known in connection 
with his remarkable studies of snow crystals 
by micro-photography. The present article 
deals with the formation of ‘snow rollers’ at 
Jericho, Vt., on January 18, 1906, and is illus- 
trated by means of two half-tones. ‘Snow 
Rollers at Mount Pleasant, Mich.,’ by Pro- 
fessor R. D. Calkins, is another study of a 
similar occurrence, at a different place. 


MAMMATO-CUMULUS CLOUDS. 


THE September, 1906, number of the 
Meteorologische Zeitschrift contains a study 
of mammato-cumulus clouds by H. Osthoff, 
with some illustrations reproduced from draw- 
ings. In all, sixty-seven observations of this 
peculiar cloud form were made by the writer, 
the majority being in summer and during the 
warmer hours. <A rapid disappearance of the 
cloud was noted as characteristic, the form 
being a passing stage of an existing cloud. 


ape Tie ie 


ees Te 


Aig AR et 


og Wi 


NOVEMBER 9, 1906.] 


The writer believes that the probable cause of 
the mammato-cumulus is to be found in a de- 
seending air movement, which, however, in 
view of its usually being very limited in area, 
seldom reaches down to the lowest air strata. 


BIRD MIGRATION AND WEATHER IN HUNGARY. 

THE spring dates of arrival in Hungary of 
migrating birds have been studied in relation 
to weather conditions for the period 1894-1903, 
by J. Hegyfoky, who presents the general re- 
sults in the September number of the Meteoro- 
logische Zeitschrift. Weather which is warm 
and pleasant accelerates the arrival of the 
birds, while unpleasant cool weather delays 
their coming. When high pressures prevail 
over the continent the arrival is regular, but 
when depressions, of short duration, occur, 
the arrival is irregular. 


NOTES. 

J. R. Surron, meteorologist of the De Beers 
Consolidated Mines at Kimberley, continues 
his valuable discussions of the meteorology of 
the South African table-land in a paper on 
“The Climate of East London, Cape Colony’ 
(Trans. So. Afr. Phil. Soc., XVI., 3, August, 
1906). 

R. DEC. Warp. 


BOTANICAL NOTES. 
PAPERS ON FUNGI. 


Two years ago Dr. G. P. Clinton, of the 
Connecticut Experiment Station, published a 
very helpful monograph of the North Amer- 
ican Ustilagineae (Proc. Boston Society Nat. 
Hist., Vol. 31) which was noticed in this 
journal (Science, July 7, 1905). The same 
author has published another paper on the 
same group of plants, but for a restricted area 
under the title, ‘The Ustilagineae, or Smuts, 
of Connecticut.’ It constitutes Bulletin No. 3 
of the State Geological and Natural History 
Survey, and includes forty-four pages of text 
and seven full-page plates. There is first an 


introduction of seven pages in which the gen- 


eral characters, life history and economic im- 
portance of the smuts are discussed, and this 
is followed by a systematic key to the genera, 
of which there are twelve represented by spe- 


SCIENCE. 


601 


cies in the state. Under each genus, after its 
characterization there is a key to the species 
with the specific descriptions clearly drawn. 
No synonyms are included, but hosts and lo- 
calities are given with much fulness. In all, 
forty-nine species and one variety are de- 
seribed. The plates (mostly half-tones) add 
much to the usefulness of the paper. 

In ‘A Preliminary Report of the Hymeni- 
ales of Connecticut’ Professor Edward A. 
White published (in Bulletin 3 of the State 
Geol. and Nat. Hist. Survey) the results of 
his studies of the larger fungi (mainly toad- 
stools and pore-fungi) of Connecticut. It 
constitutes a thick pamphlet of eighty-two 
pages of text, and forty excellent half-tone 
plates of photographs. As stated in the pref- 
ace, the author’s aim ‘has been to compile as 
far as possible a complete and accurate list of 
native species, together with notes regarding 
the characteristic genera.” This plan has 
been so carried out that one finds here clear, 
non-technical descriptions of fifty-five genera, 
aided by the very good plates, and following 
each generic characterization is a list of the 
species with localities and notes in regard to 
edibility. There are enumerated of Agarica- 
ceae 233 species, Polyporaceae 103, Hydna- 
ceae 23, Thelephoraceae 18 and Clavariaceae 
11. This pamphlet should prove useful to 
beginners in the study of the larger fungi in 


Connecticut, as by it the genus of any speci- 


men can be determined, and that is all that 
the beginner should attempt. The identifica- 
tion of species may well be deferred until 
genera are pretty well fixed in mind. 
Professor Doctor Arthur contributes to the 
volume ‘ Resultats scientifiques de Congrés 
international de Botanique Vienne 1905’ a 
paper on the classification of the Uredineae 
based upon their structure and development 
(‘Eine auf die Struktur und Entwicklungs- 
geschichte begriindete Klassifikation der Ure- 
dineen’), in which he proposed an entirely 
new arrangement of the group. He divides 
the order Uredinales into three families, viz., 
Coleosporaceae, with seven genera (e. g., 
Coleosporium, Chrysospora, etc.) representing 
three subfamilies; Uredinaceae, with twenty- 


602 SCIENCE. 


two genera (e. g., Pucciniastrum, Chryso- 
myxa, Uredo, Cronartium, Endophyllum, ete.) 
representing four subfamilies; and Aecidia- 
ceae, with thirty-five genera (e. g., Ravenelia, 
Uropyxis, Phragmidium, Aecidium (Gymno- 
sporangium), Dicaeoma, ete.) representing 
five subfamilies. The old genus Uromyces is 
split into Nigredo, Uromycopsis, Klebahnia 
and Telospora, while Puccinia is split into 
Dicaeoma, Allodus, Bullaria and Dasyspora. 
We hope to present a fuller account of this 
interesting study in the near future. 

Dr. Arthur and F. D. Kern have published 
Gn Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, vol. 83) a paper 
on the ‘North American Species of Peri- 
dermium, of form-genus of Uredineae inhabit- 
ing conifers. The authors distribute the spe- 
cies of Peridermiwum among the following 
actual genera: Coleosporium and Cronartium 
(on Pinus), Pucciniastrum and Calyptospora 
(on Abies, Tsuga and Ephedra), Melampso- 
rella and Melampsoridium (on Abies and 
Lariz) and ‘Chrysomyxa’ (on Picea and 
Abies). 

CALIFORNIA TREES. 


Asout a year ago Alice Eastwood issued 
“A Handbook of the Trees of California’ as 
one of the ‘ Occasional Papers’ (IX.) of the 
California Academy of Sciences. In a thick 
pamphlet of 86 pages and 57 plates she has 
given such a popular account of the trees of 
California as must prove of great use to the 
botanical students of the Pacific coast. It 
will be useful also to botanists elsewhere, since 
it brings together in convenient form the 
names and descriptions of the trees known to 
be native of that region. In all, the author 
includes 134 species, of which 42 are Gymno- 
sperms. There is but one species of palm 
and two Yuceas. Of other common genera 
there are of willows (Salix) 11 species, Popu- 
lus 3, Juglans 1, Betula 1, Alnus 3, Quercus 
13, Celtis 1, Crataegus 2, Acer 4 and Fraxinus 
3. The state has no native elms, magnolias, 
lindens, beeches, hickories, chestnuts, persim- 
mons, nor mulberries, but it has in the Ma- 
drotio (Arbutus menziesti) and the California 
laurel (Umbellularia californica) two most 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 619. 


interesting trees which go far towards making 
up for the loss of the former. 

An especial interest attaches to this volume 
because it is one of the last issued by the 
California Academy of Sciences before its 
destruction by earthquake and fire, and still 
more because of the heroism of the author 
(who is also the botanical curator) through 
whose faithfulness and bravery some of the 
collections were saved. Such great devotion 
to duty, and entire indifference to personal 
danger as she displayed in the most terrifying 
experiences compel our highest admiration. 


Cuarutes E. Bessey. 
THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. 


DEGREES OONFERRED BY THE UNIVER- 
SITY OF ABERDEEN. 

Amone the large number of doctorates of 
law conferred by the University of Aberdeen 
on the occasion of its recent quatercentenary, 
Nature selects the following as especially con- 
cerned with science: 

Richard Anschutz, professor of chemistry, 
Bonn; Henri Becquerel, professor of physics, 
Paris; Sir James Crichton-Browne, Kt., Lord 
Chancelor’s visitor in lunacy; Casimir de Can- 
dolle, Geneva; Frank Wigglesworth Clarke, 
chief chemist, U. S. Geological Survey, Wash- 
ington; Yves Delage, professor of zoology and 


comparative anatomy, Paris; J. Deniker, li-- 


brarian of the Museum of Natural History, 
Paris; W. Einthoven, professor of physiology, 
Leyden; Herbert Mackay Ellis, director-gen- 
eral, Naval Medical Service, London; Arthur 
J. Evans, keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, 
Oxford; Andrew Russell Forsyth, Sadlerian 
professor of pure mathematics, Cambridge; 
Sir Archibald Geikie, secretary to Royal So- 
ciety; Arnold Hague, U. S. Geological Survey, 
Washington; H. J. Hamburger, professor of 
physiology, Groningen; Edward Hjelt, pro- 
fessor of chemistry, Helsingfors; Harald Hoff- 
ding, professor of philosophy, Copenhagen; 
Ferdinand Hueppe, professor of hygiene, 
Prague; Howard A. Kelly, professor of gyne- 
cology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore; 
Surgeon-General Sir Alfrcd Keogh, K.C.B., 


director-general, Army Medical Service; Rz-- 


dolf E. Kobert, professor of pharmacology, 


i rae at ace 


NOVEMBER 9, 1906.] 


Rostock; Casimir Kostanecki, professor of 
anatomy, Cracow; Hugo Kronecker, professor 
of physiology, Bern; Sir Francis H. Laking, 
Bart., G.C.V.O., physician in ordinary to His 
Majesty the King and the Prince of Wales; 
Commandatore Rodolfo Lanciani, professor of 
ancient topography, University of Rome; 
Charles Rockwell Lanman, professor of San- 
skrit, Harvard University; Gustavus Mittag- 
Leffler, professor of mathematics, Stockholm; 
Oscar Liebreich, professor of pharmacology, 
Berlin; Sir Norman Lockyer, K.C.B., director 
of Solar Physics Laboratory, South Kensing- 
ton; Sir Oliver Lodge, Kt., principal of Bir- 
mingham University; Friedrich Loffler, pro- 
fessor of hygiene, Greifswald; Donald Mac- 
alister, president, General Medical Council; 
A. B. Macallum, professor of physiology, 
Toronto; Sir John Macfadyean, principal of 
the Royal Veterinary College, Camden Town, 
London, N.W.; Lord M’Laren, vice-president, 
Royal Society of Edinburgh; Jinzo Matsu- 
mura, professor of botany, University of 
Tokyo, Japan; His Serene Highness Albert 
Honore Charles, Prince of Monaco; Wilhelm 
Ostwald, professor of chemistry, Leipzig; 
Edmund Owen, vice-president, Royal College 
of Surgeons of London; W. M. Flinders 
Petrie, professor of Egyptology, University 
College, London; Rev. George E. Post, pro- 
fessor of surgery in Johanite Hospital, Beirut; 
Sir Richard Douglas Powell, Bart., K.C.V.O., 
president of the Royal College of Physicians, 
London; Salomon Reinach, professor of arche- 
ology, Paris; Guglielmo Romiti, professor of 
anatomy, Pisa; Sir Henry E. Roscoe, late 
professor of chemistry, Owens College, Vic- 
toria University; Major Ronald Ross, O.B., 
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine; Vladi- 
mir Scheviakoff, professor of zoology, St. 
Petersburg; Jakob Schipper, professor of Eng- 
lish philology, Vienna; Dukinfield Henry 
Scott, hon. keeper, Jodrell Laboratory, Kew 
Gardens; William Napier Shaw, director of 
the Meteorological Office, London; Joseph J. 
Thomson, Cavendish professor of experimental 
physics, University of Cambridge; Frederick 
Trendelenburg, professor of surgery, Univer- 
sity of Leipzig; Sir William Turner, K.C.B., 
principal of University of Edinburgh; Gius- 


SCIENCE. 


603 


eppe Veronese, professor of analytical geom- 
etry, Padua; Hugo de Vries, professor of 
physiological botany, Amsterdam; J. William 
White, professor of surgery, Pennsylvania 
University; J. W. van Wijhe, professor of 
anatomy, Groningen, Holland; Sir John Wil- 
hams, Bart., K.C.V.O., late professor of mid- 
wifery, University College, London. 


THE FRANCO-AMERICAN EXPEDITION TO 
EXPLORE THE ATMOSPHERE IN THE 
TROPICS. 

Tue third cruise of the Otaria, the steam- 
yacht sent by M. Teisserene de Bort, director 
of the private meteorological observatory at 
Trappes, near Paris, and by Mr. Rotch, di- 
rector of the similar observatory at Blue Hill, 
near Boston, to explore the atmosphere over 
the tropical Atlantic has ended, and the yacht 
has returned to Havre after a very successful 
voyage of three months and a half. 

Atmospheric soundings with balloons and 
kites were executed over the central part of 
the North Atlantic, the equatorial regions and 
the South Atlantic as far as Ascension Island. 
The soundings southwest and northwest of the 
Canaries confirm the conclusions reached dur- 
ing the two preceding cruises of the Otaria, 
namely, that the upper anti-trade blows from 
southeast or southwest, not only within the 
tropics but generally as far north as latitude 
30°, and is found above the open ocean as well 
as above the Canaries. Farther north it is 
transformed into a westerly wind. 

The observations with ballons-sondes re- 
vealed this new and important fact, that in 
summer over the equator, very low tempera- 
tures (reaching — 80° C.) exist in the upper 
air above 12 kilometers, being analogous to 
those occurring in winter at the same height 
in our own latitude. 


SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION OF IN- 
DUSTRIAL EDUCATION. 

A PUBLIC meeting will be held at Cooper 
Union on Friday evening, November 16, at 
eight o’clock, under the auspices of the na- 
tional Society for the Promotion of Industrial 
Education. 


604 SCIENCE. 


Mr. Milton P. Higgins, president of the or- 
ganization committee, will introduce Dr. 
Henry S. Pritchett, president of the Massa- 
chusetts Institute of Technology, who will pre- 
side, and the following speakers will address 
the meeting: 

Mr. Frank A. Vanderlip, vice-president of 
the National City Bank, ‘Competition of the 
United States in the Markets of the World.’ 

Mr. Frederick P. Fish, president of the 
American Telephone and Telegraph Company, 
‘Industrial Education as a Means of Develop- 
ing the Industries of the United States.’ 

Miss Jane Addams, Hull House, Chicago, 
“The Importance of Industrial Education 
from the Social Standpoint.’ 

Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, president of 
Columbia University, ‘The Place of Indus- 
trial Education in the American System of 
Education.’ 

Mr. Frank P. Sargent, U. S. Commissioner- 
General of Immigration, formerly chief of 
Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, ‘ The 
Importance of Industrial Education to the 
Workingman.’ 

An address will also be made by Mr. Alfred 
Mosely, of London, and a letter from Presi- 
dent Roosevelt upon the subject of the meet- 
ing will be read. 

A meeting for the purpose of effecting a 
permanent organization will be held in room 
19, Cooper Union, at 4 P.M., on the same day. 
All interested in the purposes of the organiza- 
tion are invited to attend this meeting as well 
as the evening meeting. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


ADVANTAGE will be taken of the twentieth 
anniversary of the isolation of fluorine to 
present a gold medal to M. Moissan. 


In acknowledgment of his work in metal- 
lurgical research, Professor Henry M. Howe, 
of Columbia University, has received from the 
Russian emperor the order of the Knighthood 
of St. Stanislas. The honor was conferred by 
Baron Rosen, who gave the patent of knight- 
hood, together with the star and cross of the 
order. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 619. 


PRESIDENT RoosEvELT has reappointed Dr. 
Robert M. O’Reilly to serve a second term of 
four years as Surgeon-General of ‘the United 
States Army. 

A FAREWELL banquet was given recently in 
honor of Sir David Gill, the astronomer royal 
at the Cape, who left for England on October 3. 


THE University of Durham has conferred 
the degree of D.Se. on Sir William White, 
lately director of naval construction and as- 
sistant controller of the royal navy; on Pro- 
fessor G. A. L. Lebour, professor of geology 
and vice-principal of Armstrong College, New- 
castle-on-Tyne; on Mr. Charles A. Harrison, 
engineer to the Northeastern Railway Com- 
pany, and on Mr. G. B. Hunter, shipbuilder. 

Caprain AMUNDSEN, who has recently re- 
turned from navigating the northwest passage, 
is at present in this country. He has been 
entertained recently by the Geographical So- 
ciety of Chicago. 

Dr. Henry S. PritcHeTt, president of the 
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of 
Teaching, will give the address at the decen- 
nial founder’s day exercises of the Thomas S. 
Clarkson Memorial School of Technology, 
Potsdam, N. Y. 

A NEW wing of the Acland Home, Oxford, 
containing operating, sterilizing and anesthetic 
rooms, with open-air balconies, was opened by 
Professor Osler on October 13. 

Dr. CH. WarpELL STILES, of the Public 
Health and Marine Hospital Service, has been 
withdrawn from the commission which has 
been appointed to make a new commercial 
treaty with Germany. 

M. Henri pE Roruscuitp has given 20,000 
fr. to Professor Poirier for the study of cancer. 

Proressor W. Somervitte (M.A. Cant.), 
Sibthorpian professor of agriculture at Ox- 
tord University, has been elected to a fellow- 
ship at St. John’s College. 

THE Gedge prize, Cambridge University, has 
been awarded to Mr. P. P. Laidlaw, for an 
essay entitled ‘Some Observations on Blood 
Pigments.’ 

Dr. M. I. Pupry, professor of electro- 
mechanics at Columbia University; was a can- 


% 
if 


NovEMBER 9, 1906.] 


didate for the Connecticut General Assembly 
from Norfolk, but was defeated. 

Proressor T. C. Berstern, professor of 
chemistry in the St. Petersburg Technological 
Institute, well known for his work in organic 
chemistry, especially for his work on the 
aromatic series, died on October 19, at the age 
of sixty-eight years. 


THERE will be a civil service examination 
on November 14 for laboratory assistant, 
qualified in optics, in the Bureau of Stand- 
ards at a salary of $1,000, and on November 
27 and 28 for the position of assistant chemist 
in the Bureau of Chemistry, Department of 
Agriculture, at a salary of $1,800. 


A rire in the power room of the Carnegie 
Institute, Pittsburg, on November 4, damaged 
the building, according to the daily papers, to 
the extent of $10,000. 


In view of the devastation caused by the 
sleeping sickness among the natives of certain 
districts of the Congo Free State, as well as 
among Europeans residing there, the king of 
Belgium has offered a prize of 200,000 francs 
to any person of any nationality who shall 
discover a cure for the said sickness, and also 
an additional sum of 300,000 franes for the 
purpose of making researches and experiments 
toward exterminating the plague. 


Tue Boston Transcript states that the 
Princeton archeological expedition to Syria 
has presented to the imperial Ottoman mu- 
seum in Constantinople a mosaic pavement 
which was discovered by the expedition when 
it was in Jerusalem two years ago. Professor 
Howard Crosby Butler, who with Professor 
W. K. Prentice, Dr. Enno Littman and Fred- 
erick A. Norris composed the expedition sent 
out by Princeton, has returned from Constan- 
tinople, where during the past summer he 
superintended the laying of the mosaic in a 
position of honor in the new wing of the im- 
perial museum. 


AccorpInG to the Journal of the American 
Medical Association it is said that the Car- 
negie Institution is considering the discon- 
tinuance of the Index Medicus on account of 
lack of financial support. 


SCIENCE. 


605 


A NUMBER of specimens of U. 8. government 
standard teas, together with illustrations of 
the plant and descriptions of the process of 
tea-making, have recently been acquired by 
the Botanical Museum of Harvard Univer- 
sity. A collection of prehistoric grains, with 
several specimens of fruits and bread, which 
were completely charred in the conflagrations 
by which the lake dwellings of the stone and 
bronze ages were destroyed, are also on ex- 
hibition. Seventy illustrations of a few wild 
flowers from the eastern United States, painted 
by Mrs. C. D. Murdoch, and specimens of 
‘Silver Sword’ collected from the brink of 
the voleano Holeakala, Mani, Hawaiian Is- 
lands, have also been acquired. 


THE trustees of the British Museum have 
just issued the fifth edition of the ‘ List of 
casts of fossils reproduced chiefly from speci- 
mens in the department of geology,’ and a 
copy can be obtained on application to the 
director of the British Museum (Natural His- 
tory). Compared with the fourth edition this 
list has nearly double the number of pages 
and gives particulars of no less than 800 
plaster casts, which can now be procured by 
purchase or exchange. Most of these are of 
fossil vertebrates, among which we notice sev- 
eral of the highly interesting mammals re- 
cently discovered in the Fayum by Dr. C. W. 
Andrews. A model of the skull of Phororhacos 
longissimus has been added to the birds, while 
among the reptiles are some of the South 
African forms described by Seeley. Among 
invertebrates are casts of many of Sowerby’s 
types of ammonites, and the type-specimens of 
many echinoderms. ‘The list also offers for 
£5 a colored model of the Greenland Right 
Whale (Balaena mysticetus), scale one inch to 
one foot, made under the superintendence of 
Captain David Gray, S. 8S. Eclipse, 1885. 


Tue first meeting of the new session of the 
Royal Geographical Society takes place on 
November 12, when a paper on northeastern 
Rhodesia by Mr. L. A. Wallace will be read. 
According to the London Times this will be 
followed on November 19 by a paper on the 
Seychelles Islands by Mr. Stanley Gardiner, 
who spent some time in the islands during his 


606 SCIENCE. 


eruise in the Indian Ocean last year. On 
December 10 Major H. Beacom, the American 
military attaché, will give an account of the 
changes that have been effected by irrigation 
in the United States. At a meeting during 
the course of the session, probably in the 
spring, an authoritative account will be given 
of the results of the Duke of the Abruzzi’s 
expedition to the MRuwenzori Mountains. 
Among other papers that are expected during 
the session will be one by Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, 
in which he will discuss the polar problems 
that still remain to be solved. This, it is 
hoped, will be the first of a series of papers 
on the unknown and little-known parts of the 
world, the object being to take stock of what 
we now know of the geography of the globe, 
with a view to showing what remains to 
be done before our knowledge is complete. 
Lieutenant Boyd Alexander, who is expected 
shortly to arrive in England, will give an ac- 
count of his expedition through Central Africa 
from the West Coast to the Nile. Colonel A. 
W. S. Wingate will give an account of the 
results which have been achieved during his 
nine years’ directorship or the survey work in 
Northern China and Mongolia. Major C. D. 
Bruce will give a paper on his journeys 
through Central Asia to Northern China; and 
the following are among other papers that are 
expected during the session: ‘ The North Mag- 
netic Pole and the Northwest Passage,’ by 
Captain Amundsen; ‘ Aboriginal India,’ by 
Colonel Sir T. H. Holdich; ‘A Journey from 
Yunnan to Assam,’ by Mr. E. C. Young; 
‘The Story of London Maps,’ by Mr. Laurence 
Gomme; ‘The Evolution of the Map of 
Africa, by Mr. Edward Heawood; ‘ Inland 
Waterways, by Mr. G. G. Chisholm; ‘The 
Taupo Voleanic Region, New Zealand,’ by 
Mr. J. Mackintosh Bell, the director of the 
New Zealand survey. Other subjects will be 
brought before the research department of the 
society for discussion; and it is hoped that a 
decided step will be taken in the inquiry, 
which was instituted some time ago, into the 
changes which have taken place on the North 
Sea coast of England during the historical 
period. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 619. 


THE new laboratory of physical and electro- 
chemistry, which has been presented to Liver- 
pool University by Mr. E. K. Muspratt, presi- 
dent of the council, was opened on October 13 
by Sir William Ramsay, F.R.S. The London 
Times states that the new laboratory makes 
an addition of high importance and value to 
the university’s equipment, and also confers 
upon Liverpool the distinction of being the 
only city in the United Kingdom to possess 
a special and completely-equipped laboratory 
for the study of physical and electro-chem- 
istry. The cost of the laboratory, which pro- 
vides accommodation for forty-three persons, 
is over £15,000. The laboratory will not be 
in readiness for the commencement of its work 
until some time in November, the formal open- 
ing being arranged for October 13 with the 
object of securing the attendance of a number 
of foreign scientists. In the absence of Lord 
Derby, chancellor of the university, Wice- 
Chancellor Dale presided over a large and 
distinguished gathering, amongst others pres- 
ent being Professors W. Ostwald (Leipzig), 
R. Abegg (Breslau), Ruhemann (Cambridge), 
H. Goldschmidt (Christiania), E. Cohen 
(Utrecht) and Lash Miller (Toronto). Sir 
William Ramsay, in opening the laboratory, 
remarked that the chief duty of a chair of 
physical chemistry was to teach men to think 
for themselves. He advised that the students 
of that fascinating subject should be induced 
by example, precept, sympathy, exhortation, 
and by all means whereby young human minds 
could be influenced to extend the bounds of 
their subject. Physical chemistry was impor- 
tant, not only from a scientific, but also from 
an industrial point of view, and the erection 
of that laboratory might be viewed as a monu- 
ment to the services rendered by physical 
chemistry to manufacture in the past as well 
as a tribute to its donor’s belief in future 
benefits which would accrue from its study. 
In the history of man there had never been 
an age like ours for scientific progress. As 
was the Elizabethan era for poetry and litera- 
ture, so was the present for scientific achieve- 
ment. Within twenty-five years they had 
seen a new chemistry develop—the chemistry 


ap ee eT 


PE ee Ay 


NOVEMBER 9, 1906.] 


cf the ion—and they were now eagerly and 
anxiously following the growth of the chem- 
istry of the electron. 


The British Medical Journal says: “M. 
Clemenceau, the new prime minister of 
France, has created a ministry of labor; this 
has involved the readjustment of certain 
public offices, for to the new minister of labor 
has been assigned not only labor and insurance 
and providence funds formerly under the con- 
trol of the minister of commerce and mines 
formerly belonging to the department of the 
minister for public works, but also poor relief 
and public sanitation departments hitherto 
directed by the minister of the interior. M. 
Clemenceau has gained more fame as a poli- 
tician and political writer than as a physician, 
but he was at one time in practise in Paris, 
so that he must be well acquainted with the 
needs of the public health service, and it is 
rather surprising to find him sactioning an 
arrangement which assigns to a minister of 
labor, who will have so many other interests 
committed to his care, the incongruous duty 
of presiding over the public health administra- 
tion.” 


Tue London Times, usually very correct in 
its scientific news, contains the following re- 
markable announcement: “ Professor Josef 
Nowack, the Austrian scientific authority, ar- 
rived at Plymouth yesterday by the North 
German Lloyd steamship Barbarossa, bring- 
ing with him 26 cases of the rare plant Abrus 
precatorius nobilis, which is said to have ex- 
traordinary properties in the prediction of 
atmospheric and seismic disturbances. The 
total number of specimens which the professor 
has collected in Mexico and Cuba is 1,400, 
and they were sent to London, where they are 
to be exhibited. Professor Nowack intends to 
establish an institute in England for the pre- 
diction of weather conditions and the fore- 
casting of storms, earthquakes, volcanic erup- 
tions and accumulations of fire damp in mines. 
His system, he explained, is primarily based 
upon the discovery of the weather plant, ‘ also 
upon data obtained from studies of sun-spots, 
statistics of natural phenomena throughout 
the world, and upon general studies in physies, 


SCIENCE. 


607 


geology, chemistry and the physiology of 
plants.’ The weather plant, he explained, had 
been found peculiarly sensitive to magnetic 
influences, and when changes occur in the 
electric and magnetic forces of the atmosphere, 
its twigs and leaves perform peculiar and 
abnormal movements, each movement having 
a definite significance. By its aid earthquakes 
and other influences can be predicted 26 days 
in advance. One thousand of the plants have 
been placed in the Botanical Gardens, New 
York, and those now brought to England are 
to remain here. There are to be bureaux in 
Bombay, Tokio and San Francisco, and one in- 
stitution already exists in Vienna. Professor 
Nowack says that he can issue daily fore- 
casts showing from two to seven days in ad- 
vance the lists of rainy, foggy, or fine 
weather. One station, he says, will be suffi- 
cient for an area of 3,000 square miles, cov- 
ering the whole of Europe, North Africa and 
the North Atlantic Ocean. Much interest is 
taken in the professor’s researches in Austria, 
where he has the support of the emperor and 
the government.” 

Consut Ursain J. Lepoux reports from 
Prague that Austrian papers are discussing 
the introduction of the Kjellin process in the 
manufacuture of steel by the Poldihiitte, at 
Kladno, Bohemia, in concert with the Ober- 
schlesische Hisenindustrie-Gesellschaft, which 
process, says the Prague Tageblatt, may bring 
about a complete revolution in the Austrian 
steel industry. Continuing, the Tageblatt 
says: That such steps may be leading to 
vastly important results may easily be realized 
when it is considered that the Kjellin process 
yields an excellent steel, said to be fully equal 
to the best crucible steel, while the cost of 
production is considerably lower than with the 
mode of production so far in use. The Kjel- 
lin product, however, apart from its lower cost, 
is further praised for its ductility, density, 
homogeneousness, softness, the possibility of 
obtaining high degrees of carboniferous qual- 
ity and, finally, for its excellent magnetic 
properties. If these surmises—as appears 
highly probable—should be proved by facts, 
all undertakings which have at their disposi- 
tion the primary requisite for the adaptation 


608 SCIENCE. 


of the electric process, viz., cheap electric 
power by means of sufficiently strong water 
power, will secure a great advantage over 
other works. Chief Engineer V. Engelhardt, 
in his work on the Kjellin process, states that 
it can compete with the Siemens-Martin 
method, where the kilowatt hour can be put 
down at about a half cent. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


Av the University of Wooster the addition 
to the library is nearing completion. The 
finished building will represent an expendi- 
ture of $71,000, all of which has been provided 
by Mr. Henry ©. Frick. At the cost of 
$80,000, a dormitory is being built which will 
accommodate ninety young women. 

Tue University of Nebraska plans to build 
an engineering hall (costing $100,000), a horti- 
cultural hall (costing $40,000) and a heating 
plant for the School of Agriculture ($40,000). 
Plans have been made to ask the legislature 
for an increase in the appropriation for the 
woman’s building so as to make it $80,000. 

Mr. Joun Cuaruron has given $50,000 to 
Queens University, Kingston, to endow a 
ehair of moral philosophy. 

Mr. ANDREW OarNeciE, lord rector of St. 
Andrews University, has given £10,000 to build 
a new university library; he has also given 
£12,500 to Dundee University College for a 
physical laboratory. 


Tue University of Pennsylvania is about to 
begin a number of special courses, practically 
constituting a new department, by which 
school teachers, both men and women, will be 
able to obtain the regular college degree of 
bachelor of arts or bachelor of science. 


At a meeting of the regents of the Uni- 


versity of Nebraska, October 23, the grade of — 


“head professor’ was established and the fol- 
lowing appointments under this title were 
made for the subjects named: G. E. Barber 
(Latin); L. A. Sherman (English literature) ; 
C. E. Bessey (botany); J. T. Lees (Greek) ; 
H. W. Caldwell (American history); E. H. 
Barbour (geology); F. M. Fling (European 
history); E. W. Davis (mathematics); Law- 
rence Bruner (entomology); Laurence Fossler 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 619. 


(German); H. B. Ward (zoology); G. W. A. 
Luckey (education); W. G. L. Taylor (polit- 
ical economy); C. R. Richards (mechanical 
engineering); O. V. P. Stout (civil engineer- 
ing); E. A. Burnett (animal husbandry); A. 
T. Peters (animal pathology); Samuel Avery 
(chemistry); Roscoe Pound (aw); G. E. 
Howard (sociology). It was further ordered 
that these ‘head professors’ should constitute 
the ‘university senate.’ 


Dr. AnpREw F. West, professor of Latin at 
Princeton University and dean of the grad- 
uate school, has declined the offer of the presi- 
dency of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- 
nology made to him by the executive com- 
mittee of the corporation. 


THE following appointments have been made. 
in. the department of philosophy in the Uni- 
versity of Michigan: Mr. Roy W. Sellars, A.B. 
(Mich.), sometime fellow of the University 
of Wisconsin, to be instructor in philosophy; 
Mr. John F. Shepard, B.S., Ph.D., to be in- 
structor in psychology; Mr. Frank van Vliet. 
and Mr. L. W. Elder to be George S. Morris 
memorial fellows in philosophy. 

Mr. Samuet W. Couuett, fellow in botany,, 
State University of Iowa, has been appointed 
instructor, ad interim, in the State College 
of Washington. 

Dr. G. H. F. Nutra, M.D., F.R.S., fellow 
of Christ’s College and reader in hygiene in 
the University of Cambridge, has been elected 
to the newly-created Quick professorship in 
biology. His duties are to devote himself to 
the study of the protozoa, especially such as 
cause disease. Dr. Nuttall was at one time 
associate in hygiene at the Johns Hopkins 
University. 

Mr. W. L. H. Duckwortu, M.D., Sc.D., 
fellow of Jesus, has been appointed demon- 
strator of anatomy in Cambridge University. 

Art Trinity College Mr. F. J. Dykes, M-A. 
(Cambridge), late lecturer in mechanics at 
the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth, has. 
been elected fellow and lecturer. 

Mr. J. W. McBain, M.A. (Toronto), has. 
been appointed lecturer in chemistry in Uni- 
versity College, Bristol. 


¥ 
P 
i 
{ 


SCIENCE 


A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 
OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 


Fripay, NovemBer 16, 1906. 


CONTENTS. 


American Association for the Advancement of 
Science :-— 

Section B—Physics: PROFESSOR DayToN C. 

MILLER 


The Scientific Investigation of the Psychical 
Faculties or Processes in the Higher Ani- 
mals: PROFESSOR Ivan P. PaAvuLov........ 613 

Scientific Books :— 

Erdmann’s Lehrbuch der anorganischen 
Chemie: E. R. Vermehrung und Sea- 
ualitdt ber den Pflanzen: Dr. Ernst A. 
TBS OISISTONON Fos ee cheicno elena seaictas ORE a aon een 619 


Societies and Academies :— 


The American Philosophical Society...... 620 
Discussion and Correspondence :— 

Some Points in Teaching Crystallography: 

PRoFESsoR AUSTIN F. RoGERS........... 620 
Special Articles :— 

Is there Determinate Variation?: Pro- 

FESSOR VERNON L. Ketuoce. Discovery 

of an Harly Type of Man in Nebraska: 

Proressors HE. H. Barpour and H. B. 

WNPAUSDCts reer isso ask ab cath) aunts, ay Qs pau ain ln WL 621 
The Second Decennial of the Botanical 

Seminar of the University of Nebraska.. 629 
Physiological Economy in Nutrition........ 631 
Field Work of the Science Division of the 

SIUDUC Oley NICLOMEY OTK: ies bee Coie est ol nba 633 
Intercollegiate Geological Eucursion........ 634 
Local Arrangements for the New York Meet- 

ing of the American Association for the 

Advancement of Science and the Affiliated 

S\LGRUU IKE ISOGOWES scoacodooohuceseanwase 635 
Scientific Notes and News............:..+-. 686 
University and Educational News.......... 639 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 
review should be sent to the Editor of SclENcE, Garrison-on- 
Hudson, N. Y. - 


AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE AD- 
VANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 
SECTION B—PHYSICS. 

ArT the summer meeting of the American 
Association for the Advancement of Sci- 
ence, held in Ithaca, N. Y., from June 28 
to July 3, 1906, Section B met in joint ses- 
sions with the American Physical Society. 
The section was, in an especial sense, the 
guest of the department of physics of Cor- 
nell University, for on this occasion there 
occurred the formal dedication of the new 
Rockefeller Hall of Physics. At the dedi- 
cation exercises there were addresses by 
President Schurman, Professor EH. IL. 
Nichols, Dr. Elihu Thomson, Professor W. 
H. Welch and by Professor W. A. Anthony 
(read by Professor Merritt, in Professor 
Anthony’s absence). After the addresses, 
the magnificent laboratory was opened for 

inspection. 

On account of the interest in the new 
laboratory, no doubt, the attendance at the 
regular sessions was large, there being 
about seventy present. The president of 
the American Physical Society being ab- 
sent, the vice-president of Section B, Pro- 
fessor W. C. Sabine, presided at all the 
sessions. A very interesting joint program 
of twenty-seven papers was presented. 
Abstracts and titles are given below. Be- 
sides the features already mentioned, sev- 
eral receptions and excursions, and the 
general hospitality of Cornell University 
added greatly to the enjoyment of the 
meetings. This summer meeting was very 
suecessful. 


610 . _ SCIENCE. 


A New Type of Young’s Modulus and 
Hooke’s Law Apparatus: B. B. BRAckK- 
ETT, Clarkson School of Technology. 
This apparatus has a horizontal bed or 

base of wood, about 1.8 m. long, 20 em. 
wide and 5 em. thick. At one end is a 
clamp elevated 6 em. to hold the wire 
tested, and at the other end is a rather 
large disk pulley over which the wire is 
drawn, while weights attached to the ver- 
tical portion of the wire beyond the pulley 
supply the desired tensions. 

To compensate for the springing of the 
light and not very rigid base, an easily 
rolling platform is placed upon the base, 
between it and the wire. One end of this 
platform is held by a spring in firm contact 
with the clamp just at the point where it 
erips the wire, but the platform is entirely 
free from the wire at all other points. 

A micrometer microscope is placed on 
the end of the platform next to the pulley 
to read the elongations of the wire. This 
arrangement keeps the microscope at the 
same distance from the fixed end of the 
wire, however much the plank base may 
be warped or shortened by the tensions 
placed on the wire. 

The apparatus is of very simple con- 
struction, is easily used, quickly adjusted 
and gives results of the most satisfactory 
kind. 


A Convenient Lecture Room Resistance for 
Electrical Experiments: B. B. BRACKETT, 
Clarkson School of Technology. 

The resistance is to be used for control- 
ling the current from a dynamo cireuit. 
Usually a tap is made from the lighting 
mains. 

Twelve incandescent lamps are arranged 
within a partially open box, 70 em. long 
and 25 em. square. Single pole, double 
throw switches are connected to the lamps 
so that all possible parallel, series and com- 
bination groupings are readily obtained. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 620. 


While open enough for ventilation and 
to make the switches easily accessible, the 
containing box protects both lamps and 
switches from all the usual accidents to 
such apparatus, and enables one to use it 
in any place or position, on either end or 
on any side. 

All the connecting wires are plainly vis- 
ible and this, with the regular arrangement 
of the switches, shows at a glance what 
erouping of the lamps is being used. 
Hence there is little probability of making 
a mistake. Short circuits can not be made 
by any position of the switches. 


Two Neglected Factors in the Determina- 
tion of Musical Quality: W. C. SaBine, 
Harvard University. 

The musical quality of a sound in an 
ordinary room or other confined space is 
very greatly affected by the character of 
the walls. Diagrams are presented show- 
ing the effects of various wall surfaces and 
substances. The other factor is the sensi- 
tiveness of the ear to sounds of different 
pitch and a diagram is presented showing 
the relative intensity for equal loudness 
under ordinary musical conditions. 


Silver Perchlorate as the Electrolyte for 
the Silver Coulometer: Henry 8. Car- 
HART, H. H. Wituarp and W. D. HeEn- 
DERSON, University of Michigan. 

A New Alternating-current Galvanometer: 
L. A. FREUDENBERGER, Lehigh Univer- 
sity. 

A Lecture Expervment im Electrolytic 
Thermo-Electromotive Force: Henry S. 
CarHart, University of Michigan. 


Note on the Graphical Representation of 
Non-Sinusoidal Alternating Currents: 
FREDERICK BEDELL, Cornell University. 


Spark Potentials in Liquid Dvrelectrics: 
Rosert F. EarHart, Ohio State Uni- 
versity. 

Measurements on the potential required 


eS dhe Ge 


NovEeMBER 16, 1906.] 


to cause a spark to pass between a ball and 
plate were made, with kerosene, olive oil, 
paraffin oil and a transformer oil as the 
intervening dielectrics. 

Distances of separation vary from .003 
to .118 mm. and were measured in terms 
of wave-lengths of sodium light. 


A plane surface was attached to the 


movable carriage of an interferometer. 
This was brought in contact with a ball 
mounted on the interferometer base. These 
were separated and the fringes crossing the 
interferometer field noted. From this data 
distances of separation of the surfaces were 
computed. 

P.D.’s were obtained from an A.C. trans- 
former and were measured with a Weston 
voltmeter. 

The data secured are compared with sim- 
ilar measurements made by the author 
when air was used as a dielectric. 

Spark potential-distance curves for the 
various oils used give curves similar in 
form to those for air. 

These experiments on the limited num- 
ber of oils-used indicate: 

1. A higher potential gradient for small 
than for large distances. 

2. That for small distances air is a better 
insulator than a liquid dielectric. 

3. That the potential at which the bend 
in the potential-distance curve occurs is the 
same for air and the liquids operated upon. 


The Dispersion of Silver Chloride: HB. F. 
NicHous and W. S. Day, Columbia Uni- 
versity. 


Properties of Electric Charges on Moving 
Conductors: EK. F. NicHots, Columbia 
University. 


The Separation of Electric Charges in a 
Metal by Centrifugal Acceleration: E. 
F. NicHous, Columbia University. 


SCIENCE. 


611 


Comparative Observations on the Evolution 
of Gas from the Cathode with the Glow 
Current in Helium and Argon: Cuar- 
ENCE A. SKINNER, University of Ne- 
braska. 


The Effect of Absorbed Hydrogen on the 
Photoelectric Current: W. F. Houtman, 
University of Nebraska. 

Light from a spark are between iron 
terminals in hydrogen was directed through 
a quartz optical system on to a zine disk, 
serving as cathode—a disk of aluminum 
opposite serving as anode—the electrodes 
being in a highly evacuated chamber. 
Under these conditions the rate of leak of 
negative electricity from the zine was rep- 
resented by 32 scale divisions of the meas- 
uring instrument. 

The zine was then partially relieved of 
its supply of hydrogen by use as cathode 
with the glow discharge in hydrogen, after 
which it was again tested as before for its 
photoelectric current, which was found to 
be now represented by only about 22 scale 
divisions. This test was followed by using 
the zine as anode with the glow discharge 
in hydrogen, the object of which process 
was to store up in it a new supply of 
hydrogen. A test of the photoelectric cur- 
rent as before showed that it had returned 
to its first value, giving, namely, a deflec- 
tion of about 32 scale divisions. 


The Production of Ozone by Becquerel 
Rays: Harry §. Hower, Case School of 
Applied Science. 


The Production of Ozone by the Photo- 
electric Current in Oxygen: Harry S. 
Hower, Case School of Applied Science. 


Fluorescence Absorption in Resorufin: 
FRANCES WICKE, Cornell University. 


Further Experiments on the Phosphores- 
cence of Sidot Blende: E. L. NicHous 
and Ernest Merritt, Cornell University. 


612 SCIENCE. 


Magnetograph Records of Earthquakes 
with Special Reference to the San Fran- 
cisco Harthquake of April 18, 1906: L. 
A. Bausrr, Magnetic Survey, Washing- 
ton. 


Rotation and Elliptic Polarization pro- 
duced by Iron Films in a Magnetic 
Field: W. D. Harris, University of Ne- 
braska. 

Films were obtained on microscope cover 
glass by cathode deposit in vacuo. The 
rotation of the plane of polarization was 
measured ‘by use of a Lippich half-shade 
Nicol prism, and the ellipticity of the light 
by means of a Brace half-shade elliptic 
polarizer and compensator. Films deposit- 
ed in hydrogen exhibited a rotation rising 
gradually from zero in the violet to a maxi- 
mum value in the red. The same films 
showed an ellipticity of the transmitted 
ray increasing from a zero value in the 
violet to a maximum at about 600 pp, then 
a gradually decreasing value toward the 
red end of the spectrum. With age the 
values for the longer wave-lengths dropped 
to a marked extent. A film of same density 
deposited in nitrogen produced a smaller 
rotation as well as smaller ellipticity, the 
latter possessing a maximum value at about 
560 yy. <A film deposited in oxygen gave 
no rotation for any wave-length, but a 
slight ellipticity, this bemg a maximum at 
about 540 px and dropping rapidly to zero 
in passing toward either end of the spec- 
trum. All films showed marked polarity 
when suspended in a magnetic field. 

The film deposited in hydrogen tested for 
variation in ellipticity with the strength of 
field showed this to be proportional to the 
field up to about 8,000 C.G.S. units, after 
which there was but a small increase as the 
field was intensified. 

The reflected light exhibited in no ease 
any observable ellipticity, although three 
per cent. of that observed in case of trans- 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 620. 


mitted light would have been readily de- 
tected. 

Cobalt and nickel films deposited in hy- 
drogen showed a rotation similar to iron, 
but no ellipticity. 


Coefficient of Linear Expansion at Low 
Temperatures: H. G. Dorsey, Cornell 
University. 


New Diffraction Spirals: A. G. WEBSTER, 
Clark University. 


The Calibration of Capillary Tubes: Wr- 
LARD J. FiscHER, Cornell University. 


The Latent Heat of Recalescence in Iron 
and Steel: FRANK H. BatuEy, Clark Uni- 
versity. 


Thermal and Electrical Effects in Soft Iron 
between 100° and 218°: Kpwin H. Hat, 
Harvard University. 

This will give the results of a continua- 
tion of the study which my colleagues and 
I have already published, in the Proceed- 
ings of the American Academy for May, 
1906. The general method followed has 
been the same as before and the results 
obtained are in general accord with those 
which we have before obtained at a lower 
temperature. 


Note on Certain Aspects of Drude’s Elec- 
tronic Theory of Metallic Conduction: 
Epwin H. Hatu, Harvard University. 

I wish to raise the question whether the 
expansion of metals is to be accounted for 
by the expansive force of the imprisoned 
electrons and what effect these electrons 
should have on the specific heat of metals. 


The Capacity and Resistance of Aluminum 
Anode Films: C. McC. Gorpon, Central 
University of Kentucky. 

Films were formed on aluminum anodes 
with a direct current of known voltage and 
their capacity measured in the Wheatstone 
bridge with a small alternating current. 

As was reported in a previous paper, the 


iene 
ee I er nel 


NovEMBER 16, 1906.] 


capacity was found to be practically inde- 
pendent of the electrolyte so long as water 
solutions are dealt with. Since, ceé. par., 
the capacity decreases proportionally to the 
thickness of the film, for the sulphuric-acid 
films to have a capacity as large as the 
films formed in other solutions seemed to 
be contradictory to the observation of 
others who had investigated the question 
of the thickness of the films; the sulphuric- 
acid films always having been found to be 
much thicker than those in other solutions. 

Further experiments by the writer have 
confirmed the results as to the greater thick- 
ness of the sulphuric-acid film, as well as 
the fact that they do not have any smaller 
capacity than the others. With water- 
cooled tubular electrodes sulphuric-acid 
films more than 0.3 mm. thick were formed ; 
but their minimum capacity values were 
slightly larger than those of other films 
whose maximum thickness could not have 
been more than 0.001 mm. Sodium sul- 
phate gives films similar to those in sul- 
phurie acid as to both thickness and ¢a- 
pacity. 

These results necessitate the conclusion 
that with the sulphates the insulating film 
is not the whole film; but that we have, 
superimposed on the insulating film, whose 
capacity is measurable, a conducting film 
many times thicker. For solutions other 
than the sulphates there is no evidence for 
any such dual-natured film. 

The resistance of these films as measured 
by the Wheatstone bridge with small alter- 
nating current is much smaller than the 
apparent resistance as calculated from the 
residual direct current. 

Bridge measurements were taken both 
while the direct current was still acting and 
after it was turned off, while the switching 
on or off of the direct current made no 
change in the capacity, the resistance of 
the films was only about one third as large 
with the current on as with it off. 


SCIENCE. 


613 


Spark Potentials between a Point and 
Plane, for Small Distances: Rosert F. 
HarHart, Ohio State University. 
Measurements were made on the P.D. 

required to cause a Spark to pass between a 
needle point and plane surface. The P.D.’s 
were secured from an A.C. transformer 
and were measured with a Weston volt- 
meter. No. 10 Sharp needles were used as 
the point electrode. A large number of 
needles were examined with a microscope 
and points approximating a pattern needle 
were chosen. 

Distances separating the electrodes were 
measured with an interferometer. 

Curves representing the relation between 
spark-potential and distance are similar to 
those showing the same relation between a 
spherical electrode and a plane. 

For air, at atmospheric pressure the so- 
called ‘minimum potential’ was found to 
lie between 290 and 310 volts. 

This value does not agree with results 
secured by other observers from static 
machines. The value given by Tamm is 
2,150 volts when the point is negative and 
3,300 for a positive point. 


Dayton C. MILLER, 
Secretary of Section B. 


THE SOIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION OF THE 
PSYCHICAL FACULTIES OR PROCESSES 
IN THE HIGHER ANIMALS. 

For a consistent investigator there is in 
the higher animals only one thing to be 
considered—namely, the response of the 
animal to external impressions. This re- 
sponse may be extremely complicated in 
comparison with the reaction of animals of 
a lower class. Strictly speaking, natural 
science is under an obligation to determine 


1The Huxley lecture on recent advances in sci- 
ence and their bearing on medicine and surgery. 
Delivered by Professor Ivan P. Pavlov at Charing 
Cross Hospital on October 1, 1906. From the 
report in the British Medical Journal. 


614 SCIENCE. 


only the precise connection which exists be- 
tween the given natural phenomenon and 
the responsive faculty of the living organ- 
ism with respect to this phenomenon—or, 
in other words, to ascertain completely how 
the given living object maintains itself in 


constant relation with its environment. 


The question is simply whether this law is 
now applicable to the examination of the 
higher functions of the higher quadrupeds. 
I and my colleagues in the laboratory be- 
gan this work some years ago, and we have 
recently devoted ourselves to it almost com- 
pletely. All our experiments were made 
on dogs. The only response of the animals 
to external impressions was a physiolog- 
ically unimportant process—namely, the ex- 
eretion of saliva. The experimenter always 
used perfectly normal animals, the meaning 
of this expression being that the animals 
were not subjected to any abnormal in- 
fluence during the experiments. By means 
of a systematic procedure easy of manipu- 
lation it was possible to obtain an exact 
observation of the work of the salivary 
glands at any desired time. 

It is already well known that there is 
always a flow of saliva in the dog when 
something to eat is given to it or when 
anything is forcibly introduced into its 
mouth. In these circumstances the escap- 
ing saliva varies both in quality and 
quantity very closely in accordance with 
the nature of the substances thus brought 
into the dog’s mouth. Here we have before 
us a well-known physiological process— 
namely, reflex action. It is the response 
of the animal to external influences, a re- 
sponse which is accomplished by the aid of 
the nervous system. The. force exerted 
from without is transformed into a nervous 
impression, which is transmitted by a cir- 
cuitous route from the peripheral extremity 
of the centripetal nerve through the centrip- 
etal nerve, the central nervous system, and 
the centrifugal nerve, ultimately arriving 


[N.S. Von: XXIV. No. 620. 


at the particular organ concerned and ex- 
citing its activity. This response is specific 
and permanent. Its specificity is a mani- 
festation of a close and peculiar action of 
the external phenomena to physiological 
action, and is founded on the specific sensi- 
bility of the peripheral nerve-endings in the 
given nervous chain. ‘These specific reflex 
actions are constant under normal vital con- 
ditions, or, to speak more properly, during 
the absence of abnormal vital conditions. 
The responses of the salivary glands to 
external influences are, however, not ex- 
hausted by the above-mentioned ordinary 
reflex actions. We all know that the sali- 
vary glands begin to secrete, not only when 
the stimulus of appropriate substances is 
impressed on the interior surface of the 
mouth, but that they also often begin to 
secrete when other receptive surfaces, in- 
cluding the eye and the ear, are similarly 
stimulated. The actions last mentioned are, 
however, generally considered apart from 
physiology and receive the name of psy- 
chical stimuli. We will take another course, 
and will endeavor to restore to physiology 
what properly belongs to it. These excep- 
tional manifestations unquestionably have 
much in common with ordinary reflex ac- 
tion. Every time that there is a flow of 
saliva attributable to this cause, the occur- 
rence of some special stimulus among the 
external influences may be recognized. On 
very careful exercise of his attention, the 
observer perceives that the number of spon- 
taneous flows of saliva forms a rapidly 
diminishing series, and it is in the highest 
degree probable that those extremely infre- 
quent flows of saliva for which no partic- 
ular cause is at first sight apparent are in 
reality the result of some stimulus invisible 
to the eye of the observer. From this it 
follows that the centripetal paths are al- 
ways stimulated primarily and the centrif- 
ugal paths secondarily, ofcourse, with the 
interposition of the central nervous system. 


NOVEMBER 16, 1906.] 


In the first place, they arise from all the 
bodily surfaces which are sensitive to stimu- 
lation, even from such regions as the eye 
and the ear, from which an ordinary reflex 
action affecting the salivary glands is never 
known to proceed. 

It must be observed that ordinary sali- 
vary reflexes may originate not only from 
the cavity of the mouth, but also from the 
skin and the nasal cavity. In the second 
place, a conspicuous feature of these re- 
flexes is that they are in the highest degree 
inconstant. All stimuli introduced into the 
mouth of the dog unfailingly give a posi- 
tive result in reference to the secretion of 
saliva, but the same objects when presented 
to the eye, the ear, etc., may be sometimes 
efficient and sometimes not. In conse- 
quence of the last-mentioned fact, we have 
provisionally called the new reflexes ‘condi- 
tioned reflexes,’ and for the sake of distine- 
tion we have called the old ones ‘uncondi- 
tioned.’ Every conditioned stimulus be- 
comes totally ineffective on repetition, the 
explanation being that the reflex action 
ceases. The shorter the interval between 
the separate repetitions of the conditioned 
reflex the more quickly is this reflex obliter- 
ated. The obliteration of one conditioned 
reflex does not affect the operation of the 
others. Spontaneous restoration of the ob- 
literated conditioned reflexes does not occur 
until after the lapse of one, two or more 
hours, but there is a way in which our re- 
flex may be restored immediately. All that 
is necessary is to obtain a repetition of the 
unconditioned reflex—as, for instance, by 
pouring vinegar into the dog’s mouth and 
then either showing it to him or letting him 
smell it. The action of the last-mentioned 
stimuli, which was previously quite obliter- 
ated, is now restored in its full extent. If 
for a somewhat long time—such as days or 
weeks continuously—a certain kind of food 
is shown to the animal without being given 
to him to eat, it loses its power of impart- 


SCIENCE. 


615 


ing a stimulus from a distance—that is, its 
power of acting on the eye, the nose, ete. 
We may, therefore, say that the condi- 
tioned reflex is in some way dependent on 
the unconditioned reflex. At the same time 
we see also the mechanism which is 
necessary for the production of our condi- 
tioned reflex. When an object is placed in 
the mouth, some of its properties exercise 
an action on the simple reflex apparatus of 
the salivary glands, and for the production 
of our conditioned reflex that action must 
synehronize with the action of other prop- 
erties of the same object when the last- 
mentioned action, after influencing other 
superficial parts of the body that are sensi- 
tive to such stimuli, arrives in other parts 
of the central nervous system. Just as the 
stimulant effects due to certain properties 
of an object placed in the mouth may be 
associated as regards time with a number 
of stimuli arising from other objects, so all 
these manifold stimuli may by frequent 
repetition be turned into conditioned stim- 
uli for the salivary glands. It must be re- 
membered that in feeding a dog or foreing 
something into its mouth each separate 
movement and each variation of a move- 
ment may by itself represent a conditioned 
stimulus. If that is the case, and if our 
hypothesis as to the origin of the condi- 
tioned reflex is correct, it follows that any 
natural phenomenon chosen at will may, if 
required, be converted into a conditioned 
stimulus. Any ocular stimulus, any de- 
sired sound, any odor that might be 
selected, and the stimulation of any por- 
tion of the skin, either by mechanical means 
or by the application of heat or cold, have 
in our hands never failed to stimulate the 
salivary glands, although they were all of 
them at one time supposed to be ineffective 
for such a purpose. This was accom- 
plished by applying these stimuli simul- 
taneously with the action of the salivary 
glands, this action having been evoked by 


616 SCIENCE. 


the giving of certain kinds of food, or by 
forcing certain substances into the dog’s 
mouth. These artificial conditioned re- 
flexes, the product of our training, showed 
exactly the same properties as the natural 
conditioned reflexes previously described. 
As regards their obliteration and restora- 
tion, they followed essentially the same laws 
as the natural conditioned reflexes. 

Up to the present time the stimuli with 
which we had to do were comparatively few 
in number, but were constant in action. 
Now, however, in another more complicated 
portion of the nervous system we encounter 
a new phenomenon—namely, the condi- 
tioned reflex. On the one hand, the nervous 
apparatus is responsive in the highest de- 
oree—that is, it is susceptible to the most 
varied external stimuli, but, on the other 
hand, these stimuli are not constant in their 
operation and are not uniformly associated 
with a definite physiological effect. The 
introduction of the idea of conditioned re- 
flexes into physiology seems to me to be 
justified because it corresponds to the facts 
that have been adduced, since it represents 
a direct inference from them. It is in 
agreement with the general mechanical 
hypotheses of natural science. It is com- 
pletely covered by the ideas of paths and 
inhibition, ideas which have been sufficiently 
worked up in the physiological material of 
the present day. Finally, in these condi- 
tioned stimuli, looked at from the point 
of view of general biology, there is nothing 
but a very complete mechanism of accom- 
modation or, which amounts to the same 
thing, a very delicate apparatus for main- 
taining the natural equilibrium. There 
are reasons for considering the process of 
the conditioned reflex to be an elementary 
process—namely, a process which really 
consists in the coincidence of any one of the 
innumerable vague external stimuli with 
a stimulated condition of any point in a 
certain portion of the central nervous sys- 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 620. 


tem. In this way for the time being a 
path is made by which the stimulus may 
reach the given point. 

Although there are differences in the 
time required for the establishing of the 
conditioned reflexes, some proportionality 
may be perceived. From our experiments 
it is very evident that the intensity of the 
stimulation is of essential importance. In 
contradistinction to this we must state with 
regard to acoustic impressions that very 
powerful stimuli, such as the violent ring- 
ing of a bell, were not, in comparison with 
weaker stimuli, quick to produce econdi- 
tioned increase of function in the salivary 
glands. It must be supposed that power- 
ful acoustic stimuli produce in the body 
some other important reaction which hin- 
ders the development of the salivary re- 
action. 

What is it that the nervous system of 
the dog recognizes as individual phenomena 
of external origin? or, in other words, what 
are the elements of a stimulus? If the 
application of cold to a definite area of the 
skin acts as a conditioned stimulus of the 
salivary glands, the application of cold to 
another portion of the skin causes secretion 
of saliva on the very first occasion. This 
shows that the stimulus of cold generalizes 
itself over a considerable portion of the 
skin, or perhaps even over the whole of it. 

Stimulation by musical sounds or by 
noise in general is remarkably convenient 
for _ determining the discriminating or 
analytical faculty of the nervous system 
of the dog. In this respect the precision 
of our reaction goes a great way. If a 
certain note of an instrument is employed 
as a conditioned stimulus, it often happens 
that not only all the notes adjoining it, but 
even those differing from it by a quarter 
of a tone, fail to produce any effect. 
Musical timbre is recognized with similar 
or even much greater precision. 

We have hitherto spoken of the ahalgtioal 


NovEMBER 16, 1906.] 


faculty of the nervous system as it presents 
itself to us in, so to say, the finished condi- 
tion. We have now accumulated material 
which contains evidence of a continuous 
and great increase of this faculty if the 
experimenter perseveres in subdividing and 
varying the conditioned stimulus, and 
thereby makes it coincide with the uncon- 
ditioned stimulus. Here, again, is a new 
field of enormous extent. In this material 
relative to the conditioned stimuli there 
are not a few cases in which an evident con- 
nection between the effect and the intensity 
of a stimulus can be seen. As soon as a 
temperature of 50° C. had begun to induce 
a flow of saliva it was found that even a 
temperature of 30° C. had a similar effect 
but in a much less degree. ‘Trial was then 
made of combinations consisting of stimuli 
of the same kind and also of stimuli of dif- 
ferent kinds. The simplest example is a 
combination of different musical notes, such 
as a harmonic chord, which consists of three 
notes. When this is employed as a con- 
ditioned stimulus each two notes together 
and each separate note of the chord produce 
an effect, but the notes played two and two 
together accomplish less than the whole, 
and the notes played separately accomplish 
less than those played in pairs. The case 
becomes more complicated when we employ 
as a conditioned stimulus a combination of 
stimuli of different kinds, that is, of stimuli 
acting upon different kinds of susceptible 
surfaces. Only a few of such combinations 
have been provisionally experimented with. 
In these cases for the most part one of the 
stimuli was a conditioned stimulus. In a 
combination in which rubbing and cold 
were employed the former was preponder- 
ant as a conditioned stimulus while the ap- 
plication of cold taken by itself produces 
a hardly perceptible effect. But if an at- 
tempt is made to convert the weaker stim- 
ulus separately into a conditioned stimulus 
it soon becomes an energetic conditioned 


SCIENCE. 


617 


stimulus. If we now apply the two stimuli 
together we have before us an evident case 
of them acting in combination. The fol- 
lowing problem had for its object to ex- 
plain what happens to an active-conditioned 
stimulus when a new stimulus is added to 
it. In the cases that were examined, the 
action of the preexisting conditioned stim- 
ulus was hindered when a new stimulus 
of a like kind was added to it. A new odor 
of a lke kind hindered the operation of 
another odor which was already acting as 
a conditioned stimulus; a new musical note 
similarly hindered the operation of the note 
previously employed which was a condi- 
tioned stimulus. After a conditioned stim- 
ulus had been applied, together with an- 
other one which inhibited its action, the 
action of the first one alone was greatly 
weakened and sometimes even stopped alto- 
gether. This is either an after-effect of the 
inhibiting stimulus which was added or it 
is the obliteration of the conditioned reflex, 
because in the experiment of the added 
stimulus the conditioned reflex is not 
strengthened by the unconditioned reflex. 
The inhibition of the conditioned reflex is 
also observed in the converse case. When 
you have a combination of stimuli acting 
as a conditioned stimulus—in which, as has 
been already stated, one of the stimuli by 
itself produces almost no effect—frequent 
repetition of the powerful stimulus by itself 
without the other one leads to a powerful 
inhibition of its action, even to the extent 
of its action being almost destroyed. The 
relative magnitudes of all these manifesta- 
tions of stimulation and inhibition have a 
very close connection with their dependence 
on the conditions under which they origi- 
nate. ‘ 
Experiments have been made in the 
production of conditioned reflexes by 
traces or latent remnants both of a con- 
ditioned and of an unconditioned stim- 
ulus. The method was that a conditioned 


Big SCIENCE. 


stimulus was either allowed to act for one 
minute immediately in advance of an un- 
conditioned stimulus or it was even applied 
two minutes earlier. Conversely, also, the 
conditioned stimulus was not brought into 
action until the unconditioned reflex was 
at an end. In all these cases the condi- 
tioned reflex developed itself; but in the 
cases in which the conditioned stimulus was 
applied three minutes before the uncondi- 
tioned one, and was separated from the 
latter by an interval of two minutes, we 
obtained a condition which was quite un- 
expected and extremely peculiar, but was 
always repeated. When scratching was ap- 
plied to a particular spot—for instance, as 
a conditioned stimulus—after it began to 
produce an effect it was found that scratch- 
ing of any other place also produced an 
effect, Just as in the case of cold or heat 
applied to the skin, new musical sounds, 
optical stimuli and odors. The unusually 
copious secretion of saliva, and the ex- 
tremely expressive movements of the animal 
attracted our attention. It may appear 
that this manifestation is of a different 
kind from those with which we have 
hitherto been occupied. The fact was that 
in the earlier experiments at least one coin- 
cidence of the conditioned stimulus with the 
unconditioned one was necessary, but on 
the present occasion manifestations which 
had never occurred simultaneously with an 
unconditioned reflex were acting as condi- 
tioned stimuli. Here an unquestionable 
point of difference naturally comes to light, 
but at the same time there is also to be seen 
another essential property of these mani- 
festations which they have in common with 
the former ones—that is, the existence of a 
very sensitive point in the central nervous 
system, and in consequence of its position 
this point becomes the destination of all 
the important stimuli coming from the ex- 
ternal world to make impressions on the 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 620. 


receptive cells of the higher regions of the 
brain. 

Three characteristic features of this sub- 
ject make a deep impression upon him who 
works at it. In the first place, these mani- 
festations present great facilities for exact 
investigation. J am here referring to the 
ease with which they may be repeated, to 
their character of uniformity under similar 
conditions of environment, and to the fact 
that they are capable of further subdivision 
experimentally. In the second place, it is 
inevitable that opinions formed on this sub- 
ject must be objective only. In the third 
place, the subject involves an unusual 
abundance of questions. To what depart- 
ments of physiology does it correspond? It 
corresponds partly to what was in former 
days the physiology of the organs of special 
sense and partly to the physiology of the 
central nervous system. 

Up to the present time the physiology of 
the eye, the ear and other superficial organs 
which are of importance as recipients of im- 
pressions has been regarded almost exclu- 
sively in its subjective aspect; this pre- 
sented some advantages, but at the same 
time, of course, limited the range of in- 


quiry. In the investigation of the condi- 


tioned stimuli in the higher animals, this 
limitation is got rid of and a number of im- 
portant questions in this field of research 
can be at once examined with the aid of all 
the immense resources which experiments 
on animals place in the hand of the physiol- 
ogist. The investigation of the conditioned 
reflexes is of very great importance for the 
physiology of the higher parts of the cen- 
tral nervous system. Hitherto this depart- 
ment of physiology has throughout most of 
its extent availed itself of ideas not its own, 
ideas borrowed from psychology, but now 
there is a possibility of its being liberated 
from such evil influences. The conditioned 
reflexes lead us to the consideration of the 
position of animals in nature; this is a sub- 


. 
j 
: 


NOVEMBER 16, 1906.] 


ject of immense extent and one that must 
be treated objectively.” 

Broadly regarded, physiology and medi- 
cine are inseparable. Since the medical 
man’s object is to remedy the various ills to 
which the human body is liable, every fresh 
discovery in physiology will sooner or later 
be serviceable to him in the preservation 
and repair of that wonderful structure. It 
is an extreme satisfaction to me that in 
honoring the memory of a great physiol- 
ogist and man of science I am able to make 
use of ideas and facts which from a unique 
standpoint affording every prospect of suc- 
cess throw light upon the highest and most 
complicated portion of the animal mech- 
anism. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


Lehrbuch der Anorganischen Chemie. Von 
Professor Dr. H. Erpmann, Direktor des 
anorganisch-chemischen Instituts der konig- 
lichen technischen Hochschule zu Berlin. 
Vierte Auflage (neuntes bis zwolftes Taus- 
end) mit 303 Abbildungen, 95 Tabellen, 


einer Rechentafel, und sieben farbigen 
Tafeln. Braunschweig, F. Vieweg und 
Sohn. 1906. Pp. 796. In Leinwand ge- 
bunden M. 17. 


A long review of the second edition of this 
book appeared in ScrENCE in 1901." The pres- 
ent edition has been thoroughly revised, and 
contains valuable additions to text, to illustra- 
tions and to tables. 

The weaknesses and the strong points of the 
book remain practically the same, as both are 
inherent in the author’s scheme. Erdmann 
believes that a text-book of inorganic chem- 
istry should describe the occurrence, proper- 
ties, reactions, manufacture and uses of all 
inorganic elements and compounds, with lib- 
eral illustration of instructive experiments, of 
apparatus and of technical processes. No 
other one-volume text-book is so complete, so 
well illustrated and so thoroughly up to date 
in these respects. 

Erdmann does not believe in the introduc- 


1 Science, Vol. XIII., pp. 268-70. 


SCIENCE. 


619 


tion of physical chemical theory in the de- 
scriptive text, but makes a brief résumé of 
general chemistry in the 87 pages of the in- 
troductory chapter. There are those who will 
sympathize with Erdmann in this arrange- 
ment, others who may be reminded of the 
eccentric American author who left his book 
unpunctuated and put several pages of com- 
mas, periods, ete., at the end of the book for 
use as the reader might please. Certainly 
many phenomena in the field of inorganic 
chemistry find the clearest explanation by the 
application of the laws of physical chemistry, 
and remain obscure if such explanation is not 
given. 

This objection, however, does not lessen the 
practical value of Erdmann’s book, because 
there is no text-book of inorganic chemistry 
written from a physical chemical point of 
view which is comparable with Erdmann even 
in general descriptive data, still less in tech- 
nical information. It is, therefore, to be ex- 
pected. that this fourth edition will meet the 
same cordial reception and large sales as its 
predecessors. E. R. 


Vermehrung und Sexualitat bet den Pflanzen. 
Von E. Ktster. Leipzig, B. G. Teubner. 
1906. Pp. vi+120. 38 figures. 

In America one is accustomed to lock with 
suspicion upon all books in which an attempt 
is made to popularize science. All too often 
this suspicion is justified, for who has not met 
with books in which scientific accuracy has 
been sacrificed to the sensationalism demanded 
by a certain class of the public or where the 
science is so diluted by allegory or fable as to 
be unrecognizable. The book before us is, 
however, of an entirely different type. It is 
one of a series of popular scientific works 
(‘Aus Natur und Geisteswelt’) in which each 
book is written by a specialist who knows his 
subject. ; 

The subject of reproduction and sexuality 
in plants is a difficult one to handle so as to 
be comprehended by persons who have studied 
but little or no botany and it is in this con- 
nection that the chief criticism can be made, 


_to the effect that it is to be feared that parts 


of the book will be found too technical to be 


620 SCIENCE. 


understood by such persons, at least with 
readiness. 

Eighteen pages are devoted to vegetative 
reproduction with a discussion of cuttings, 
runners, bulbs, tubers, grafting, etc., in the 
higher plants, and of conidia, swarm-spores 
and fission in the fungi and alge. KHighty- 
seven pages treat of sexual reproduction. The 
author traces the history of the knowledge of 
sexuality in plants from the Greek philos- 
ophers down to its demonstration by Camer- 
arius, confirmation by Kohlreuter, discovery 
of the pollen-tube by Amici, observation of 
sexuality in eryptogams by Hofmeister, Thu- 
ret and Pringsheim, and the more recent in- 
vestigations showing the part played by the 
nuclei, chromosomes, synapsis, etc., thus bring- 
ing the subject down to this year. After this 
historical and general discussion the different 
groups of plants are taken up, showing the 
increasing complexity of the sexual process 
from the union of two equal cells up to the 
complicated processes in the higher fungi and 
alg, the alternation of generation and devel- 
opment of heterospory in the Archegoniate 
and the double fertilization in the Angio- 
sperms. Under the caption General Questions 
are taken up sexual affinity, hybrids, poly- 
spermy, parthenogenesis, parthenocarpy, apo- 
gamy, apospory, merogony and determination 
of sex. The final considerations take up the 
theory of fertilization and the theory of sex, 
the various views being presented in an un- 
biased manner as well as the objections to 
them. 

Although professedly designed for those who 
are not specialists this book should prove val- 
uable for both students and teachers. The 
references to literature, both old and very 
recent, although with no pretence to complete- 
ness, yet give the most important contribu- 
tions bearing on the subject. The figures are, 
for the most part, very good. 

Ernst A. BESSEY. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 


A STATED meeting was held on Friday even- 
ing, November 2, 1906, at 8 o’clock. The fol- 
lowing papers were read: 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 620. 


Dr. ALFRED C. Happon, F.R.S., University Lec- 
turer in Ethnology, Cambridge, Eng.: ‘ The Decor- 
ative Art of British New Guinea.’ (lIllustrated.) 

Dr. Jonn W. HaRSHBERGER: ‘A Grass-killing 
Slime Mould.’ 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
SOME POINTS IN TEACHING CRYSTALLOGRAPHY. 

THE writer wishes to call attention to and 
invite discussion of the following points in 
the teaching of crystallography as a part of 
the work in elementary mineralogy. 

The best classification even for beginning 
students is that of the thirty-two crystal 
classes, based upon symmetry. All ideas of 
hemihedrism should be dropped as there is no 
structural connection between the whole and 
partial forms. The name of the class is the 
name of the general form. Groth’s set of 
names is the best, but his names for the iso- 
metric classes may be replaced by the terms, 
tetartoidal, gyroidal, diploidal, hextetrahedral 
and hexoctahedral for classes twenty-eight to 
thirty-two. 

A division of erystals into seven systems is 
preferable to that of six. Crystals with an 
axis of three-fold symmetry naturally form 
one system and those with an axis of six-fold 
symmetry another system. And this is true 
whether the three axes of Miller or the four 
axes of Bravais are used. The writer prefers 
to treat the orthorhombic system, one of 
moderate symmetry, first. 

It is believed that von Fedorow’s method of 
naming forms (adopted by Groth in his 
‘Physikalische Kristallographie’) is the only 
logical one. The name of a form depends 
upon its shape and is independent of how it 
cuts the axes of reference. A pinacoid consists 
of two parallel faces whether its symbol is 100, 
hOl, hkl or what not. A pyramid is three or 
more like faces meeting in a point and a bi- 
pyramid is two such solids placed base to base. 
Instead of using a name for the particular 
form, e. g., pinacoid of the first kind, as von 
Fedorow does, we may simply give the name 
of the form together with the symbol, e. g., 
pinacoid (100). 


NOVEMBER 16, 1906.] 


There is weighty argument in using the 
Miller symbols even with beginners in crystal- 
lography. In elementary work only type sym- 
bols are used and for these the Miller system 
is as easy as any. One only has to replace 
one index of the symbol hkl by a zero when 
-a face is parallel to an axis. When it comes 
to a question of actual symbols the Miller in- 
dices of course take precedence over the Weiss. 
If one learns Miller from the start there is 
never the necessity of translating back and 
forth from Weiss, which is a waste of energy. 
And lastly the Miller is the only universal 
system. 

The fact that the axial ratios are irrational 
and that the indices are rational is a thing that 
always gives many students trouble. Thus 
most students can not see why the symbol 111 
does not represent a face that cuts the three 
axes a, b and c at equal lengths. The writer 
has used a homely illustration that usually 
makes it clearer at least. Take two cities, 
laid out in different ways. A pedestrian on 
inquiring about a certain building in either 
place might be told: Go two blocks north, three 
blocks east. Yet the actual distance he had 
to walk in the two cities would be different, 
for the lengths of the blocks are different. 
These distances are on record and correspond 
to the axial ratios. Yet the pedestrian is 
not concerned directly with them. The two 
blocks and three blocks correspond to the in- 
dices. 

In order to really understand some of the 
essential points of crystallography the student 
must devote some time to crystal measurement, 
ealeulation and drawing. And without some- 
thing of the sort, the time given to crystal- 
lography may almost be a waste of time un- 
less it is taken up at some future time. To 
accomplish this in the limited time available 
in a general course in mineralogy is difficult. 
The writer has had partial success with the 
following method. Selected crystals or wooden 
models preferably orthorhombic with 110, 
hkO, 011 and one or more of 100, 010 or 001 
are chosen. 

(1) Free-hand sketch of the erystal. 

(2) Number faces and indicate zones. 


SCIENCE. 


621 


(3) Measurement of interfacial angles with 
the contact goniometer. 

(4) Stereographice projection on sheets de- 
vised by Penfield. 

(5) Graphic determination of a and c from 
110 and 011. 

(6) Graphic determination of indices hk0. 

(7) Orthographic projection (plan and ele- 
vation) from stereographie. 

Taken up in this manner the work is not at 
all difficult for the drawing of zone circles is 
not necessary in the stereographic projection 
and the tedious clinographiec projection is re- 
placed by the orthographic. Yet the student 
appreciates something of the meaning of axial 
ratios and indices and is ready, if need be, to 
take up more advanced work. 


Austin F. Rogers. 
STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CAL. 


SPECIAL ARTICLES. 
IS THERE DETERMINATE VARIATION 2 


However willingly we ‘incorporate in our 
general conception and knowledge of variation 
the special conception of mutations (in the 
de Vriesian sense) and however implicitly we 
accept de Vries’s primrose species by muta- 
tion, we must none the less hold clearly in 
mind that the kind of variation still most 
familiar to us all is that kind variously called 
individual, fluctuating, continuous or Dar- 
winian variation, and we must not for a 
moment, because some species may have been 
shown to have arisen in some other way, deem 
ourselves absolved from the responsibility of 
further testing the Darwinian assumption of 
species-forming by the natural selection of 
individuals possessing advantageous slight 
variations. 

If new species arise by virtue of a cumula- 
tion or progressive increase of small fluctu- 
ating variations in continuous series, they can 
apparently only do so through (a) natural 
selection, or (b) determinate or orthogenetic 
variation. The principal argument for a be- 
lief in determinate variation so far advanced 
seems to be that natural selection is unable to 
make use of fluctuating variation because (1) 
this variation is too small and useless to be a 
handle for life and death selectivity, and be- 


622 SCIENCE. 


eause (2) of the swamping or extinguishing 
of favorable variations by their intermating 
with unfavorable or neutral conditions. 

Thus there is necessary some influence tend- 
ing to cumulate variation independent of, or 
antecedent to, selection. This influence or 
causal factor in species-forming on a basis of 
continuous variation must, therefore, be some- 
thing whose result is determinate or ortho- 
genetic variation. What can produce such 
progressive variation doesn’t for the moment 
seem very obvious. But a prior consideration 
for observation and experiment (pedigreed 
breeding) may well be that of the determina- 
tion of whether we can actually distinguish 
the occurrence of the determinate variation. 
If we can’t discover its existence we need not 
trouble our fevered wits with questions of 
how it might be produced. 

I wish, therefore, to present some facts’ con- 
cerning a little green and black beetle that 
infests our Californian flower gardens—one 
Diabrotica soror or ‘ California flower beetle’ 
by name—that seem to me to have intimate 
relation to the problem just stated. 

This beetle has its black and green colors 
arranged on its back (dorsal surfaces of the 
wing-covers) in the form of twelve distinct 
black blotches or spots on a green ground, six 
spots in three transverse pairs (or two longi- 
tudinal rows) on each wing-cover. At least 
the original description of this species gives 
this patterning, and systematic accounts and 
revisions of the genus have always ascribed to 
the species soror twelve separate black blotches 
on a green (or yellow-green) ground. In 
Horn’s revision of the genus in 1893 (Trans. 
Amer. Ent. Soc., V. 20, p. 89 ff.) the fact of a 
tendency of the black spots to coalesce is 
fleetingly referred to. But undoubtedly the 
twelve-free-spots type is the pattern which is 
accepted as the typical and usual one. 

In its larval stage this beetle lives as a 
slender white grub underground, feeding on 
the roots of alfalfa, chrysanthemum and vari- 
ous other plants. It pupates in a small sub- 

1See Kellogg and Bell, ‘Studies of Variation 


in Insects,’ Proc. Wash. Acad. Sci., Vol. 6, pp. 


203-332, 1904, for a detailed account of the varia- 
tion in Diabrotica soror. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 620. 


terranean cell near the surface and the adult 
beetle, on issuance from the pupal cuticle, 
makes its way aboveground and feeds on the 
buds and opened flowers of roses, chrysanthe- 
mums and almost any other of California’s 
favorite blossoms. The color pattern of the 
adult is, of course (as the insect is one of 
‘complete metamorphosis’) definitive and 
fixed as to both pattern and color at the time 
of the first appearance of the adult above- 
ground. 

By the aid of several industrious assistants 
I have been able to collect from the same 
locality in the same months each year a 
thousand or more specimens of Duiabrotica 
soror in each of five separate years included 
in the last decade. In addition, we have made 
other collections from other localities in Cali- 
fornia of series varying from a few score to a 
thousand individuals. With the help of these 
same indefatigable’ helpers all of these thou- 
sands of beetles have been closely scrutinized 
and honestly described with regard to the 
actual condition of their elytral pattern. The 
results of this work are graphically represented 
in the accompanying ‘frequency polygons’ 
and statistical tabulations. 

From this scrutiny and compilation it is 
apparent, (1) that in this patterning varia- 
tions of the strictly fluctuating or continuous 
sort exist, as was to be expected; (2) that this 
variation is strongly marked and hence readily 
tabulatable, which is fortunate for our study; 
(8) that this variation does not follow Que- 
telet’s law of error, in which characteristic it 
departs from the usual condition of fluctuating 
variation, but is not unique; (4) that this 
variation plainly sets strongly in a certain 
specific direction, that is, tends strongly to- 
ward the production of one particular new 
type of pattern rather than toward dissipating 
itself by futile equal attempts in various and 
thus mutually extinguishing directions; and 
(5) that this tendency is on the steady in- 
crease in our own times, under our very eyes. 

The pattern variation is shown (by selecting 
certain principal types appreciably distinct) 

*Instructor R. G. Bell and students R. Patter- 
son and B. EK. Wiltz. 


: 
4 


NOVEMBER 16, 1906.] 


in Fig. 1, where A represents the condition 
accepted by the systematists as typical of the 
species (both right and left elytra are shown) ; 
B shows the two spots of the middle trans- 
verse pair of the left wing-cover fused; C, 
the corresponding two spots of the right wing- 
cover fused; D, the two spots of the posterior 
transverse pair of the left wing-cover fused; 
EL, the corresponding spots of the right wing- 
cover fused; F’, the longitudinal fusing of the 
spots on the left wing-cover, and G, the cor- 
responding condition for the right wing cover. 

These different patterns are closely con- 
nected by intergrading conditions; that is, 
there may be (theoretically) and are (actu- 
ally) all degrees of fusion of the two spots in 


A B Sel Gy 
gé 6@ iT 
e& ef Se 
e8 o? 86 


Fic. 1. Diagrammatic representation of the 
varying elytral color pattern of the California 
flower beetle, Diabrotica soror. 


these various pairs that show fusion at all, 
from the slightest running together to the 
complete type shown by the diagrams of Fig. 1. 
But for the sake of aggregating individuals 
into deseribable groups any fusion is called 
fusion, and the existence of even the slightest 
space or line of green between two spots is 
recognized as ‘no fusion’ or ‘free spots.’ As 
a matter of fact, in the great majority (about 
five sixths) of cases of fusion the spots are 
well joined. 

In the following tabulations and graphic 
representations (by frequeney polygons) of 
the condition of the varying color pattern in 
the species (on the Stanford University 


SCIENCE. 


623 


campus) in different years, series of approxi- 
mately 1,000 are used. That a series of 1,000 
individuals collected from one locality at one 
time fairly represents, in the variation re- 
vealed by its members, the actual variation 
conditions of the species in this locality, as 
regards both kinds of variation and frequency 
of these kinds, is proved by repeated tests 
made by examining and tabulating successive 


Goo " 


Fie. 2. Frequency polygon of the variation in 
elytral pattern of 905 specimens of the California 
flower beetle, Diabrotica soror, collected on the 
Stanford University campus, 1895. 


thousands and finding a practical identity in 
these separate series. Indeed, series of 500 
gave practically always approximately the 
same curve as those of 1,000. But the larger 
number is the safer. 

Attending now to the actual variability 
shown by the elytral color-pattern of Diabro- 
tica soror in the various series examined (in 
the years 1895, 1901, 1902, 1904 and 1905), 
we find the species in 1895 showing (Fig. 2 


624 SCIENCE. 


and caption) a marked preponderance of the 
twelve-spots-free condition (A in Fig. 1) over 
any other pattern type, but a much stronger 
proportion of a certain one of the variant 
types than of any other form of variant. This 
second modal type is the one in which the 
members of the middle pairs of spots are fused 
on both wing-covers (B and C of Fig. 1). 
The other important variants are middle spots 
fused on either right or left wing-cover, pos- 
terior spots fused on either or both right and 
left wing-covers, and various longitudinal 
fusings. Fig. 2 and its caption give the exact 
data of the arrangement of this variability. 
(The transverse fusing of the posterior spots 
and all the longitudinal fusings are grouped 
together as ‘ misc.’) 

But note now Figs. 8, 4, 5, 6 and 7, with 
their captions, giving the condition of this 
color-pattern variation in the years 1901, 1902, 
1904 and 1905, respectively. In all these cases 
the variant B+ C0 or middle-spots-fused type 
is the predominating form. The following 
table shows the relative frequencies of the 
modal-pattern types in these successive years. 


' All Spots Free. Middle Spots Fused. 


1895 42.35 22.40 
1901 34.05 43.70 
1902 34.05 42,.80 
1904 20.90 65.40 
1905 35.20 46.50 
1905* - 26.87 53.92 


Tf series of 1,000 really reveal the variation 
conditions of the color pattern in the species 
in these different years (and our check lots 
show that they do) it is apparent from these 
statistics that Diabrotica soror, in this par- 
ticular locality has, in ten years, changed 
from a form in which one pattern type was 
the mode to one in which another is the mode. 
And this change has been gradual and cu- 
mulative; not made by a mutation or by dis- 
continuous variation, 2. e., discontinuous evolu- 
tion. The two modes or predominant types 
of pattern are connected to-day as they were 
ten years ago by all degrees of gradations; 

’The second 1905 series was collected at a 


distance of several miles from the locality on the 
campus from which the other lots were taken. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 620. 


the variation, that is, is typically continuous 
or ‘ Darwinian’ in type. Excluding then the 
mutation or discontinuous variation explana- 
tion of this species change there remain three 
possible explanations of the change (on the 


4 


o 
PA) 
many re 
21s cain seneeee 
ame 


Fie. 3. Frequency polygon of the variation in 
elytral pattern of 905 specimens of the Cali- 
fornia flower beetle, Diabrotica soror, collected 
on the Stanford University campus, October, 1901. 


basis of current theories of species-modifica- 
tion); these are: (1) the change is simply 
ontogenetic, determined for each generation 
during its development by extrinsic influ- 
ences; (2) the change is the result of natural 
selection; and (38) the change is due to de- 
terminate variation. 

The first explanation involves the assump- 
tion that the pattern is not inherited as such, 
but is acquired during the ontogeny of each 
individual as a result of environmental influ- 
ence; and it further has to assume a present 
total environmental influence in this particu- 
lar locality different from that in 1895 in the 


NOVEMBER 16, 1906.] 


degree and to the effect that it tends to cause 
an irregular transverse blotch (plainly formed 
by the fusion of two original separate blotches 
or spots) to appear in place of a transversal 
pair of blotches. As to the first assumption, 
the fact that the forming of the color pattern 
of the beetle requires but an hour or so, that 
it is carried on underground in the pupal cell, 
and that it is at no time exposed to above- 


noe 5 ro Tas 
at nam ia a ong re Ba 
5570 te tpeesee spEaiaE SPREE Sitepa Parca Gecep sue deasau Gs 
Beet A i+ Bs FH He age 
EEE EEE auaEee FE EuuaS PESEEESEES Esl 
t gape NEEECeeeeees oH : Sods sycangescucl 
Bp Vi tg) 1B!) Re Pee OE a CSS RE OY PS eR SR ASY BE SebEd baduedaeeg is 
PEER Eo BEE RESEeShenagougal kee eee a 
gece ke eae ene SE aan: 4-H 
ay sdbsera(euazcene] fessahees (naeteseed frosseseey ia 
na n “4 = 44. + 
: yf SESESESSE! HSGSH ened [oeetee 
iT i : T 
1; : seeeetE preiestaiti 
: + ped eucee Sea eubanegun 
ainda 
Be iC maa aaed Cosa R eae 
ia eas eee iste Ha 
CEPT Boal 
| 1 I 5 
a Bia. oy coe sa Ht 
i) TE oer 
mvategs eect agreteteds 
FErE tt Free seat 
FEE Ep dspeabseeesozez es 
ae Pela F 
C1] | et A 
ee arises : 
neae 
4 +e 
i Peat 
osese ACE 
ra if ia 
SEE H is 
PEERS + 
: EEE aaa rH in 5 eae! fe ae : 
a Sree ieee crag ter en 
SEEPS SESE EER eases 
eee Sena ee t + LL] Pret + oo 
| |} - td. 
PEE PEEP EEE HEs : 2 sae 
isaet + om 
H H 3 PEEP 
= EEE 
EE : s 
a Fas) 
4 
Fic. 4. Frequency polygon of the variation in 


elytral pattern of 905 specimens of the Cali- 
fornia flower beetle, Diabrotica soror, collected 
on the Stanford University campus, October, 1902. 


ground conditions until it is in definitive un- 
changeable condition, and further that experi- 
ments with related species of Ohrysomelid 
beetles (unfortunately not with this particular 
one) in the way of submitting the pupa and 
just-issued pattern-forming adult to various 
different conditions of light, temperature, 
humidity and color-surroundings, failed to 
produce any positive results whatever; all 


SCIENCE. 


625 


these facts strongly tend to invalidate the as- 
sumption of an ontogenetic determination of 
the color pattern. The second assumption, 
that of a change in environment in ten years 
sufficient to produce consistent ontogenetic 


p 
i HY 
ca 


ea aes pene eae oa ts 
= iat 
f eaeee 

soe: Pees 2 Beaceroces 
HoH at Soonesowaa 


ian 
a 
= Soa0 Been eoedes Sossaesars 
eed ouiidovesttussteestrdeca teeeteied etd eostgnevasspectneraeaae 
rAd 1H Boee sare n Rett f 
Boca aioe am on FEARED Stas 


Fie. 5. Frequency polygon of the variation in 
elytral pattern of 1,546 specimens of the Cali- 
fornia flower beetle, Diabrotica soror, collected 
on the Stanford University campus, October, 1904. 


changes in the color-pattern, certainly does 
violence to our knowledge, as far as it goes, of 
meteorological, cultural and other life-influ- 
encing conditions on our campus. No such 
changes are apparent. 

The second explanation, that of natural 


626 SCIENCE. 


selection, based on a rigid intra-specific or 
individual selecting, tending to preserve the 
middle-spots-fused condition at the expense 
of the middle-spots-free condition, assumes an 
actual visual discrimination—let alone a pre- 
sumable esthetic or preferential one—on the 
part of the lizards, birds and insect enemies 
of Diabrotica; that is, to be flippant, coming 
it much too strong for me. We really know 


iegpesues: 


Ba ole le 


Het 


Fig. 6. Frequency polygon of the variation in 
elytral pattern of 1,000 specimens of the Calli- 
fornia flower beetle, Diabrotica soror, collected 
on the Stanford University campus, October, 1905. 


something about the eyesight of lizards, birds 
and insects and it is fantastic to credit them 
with a capacity for distinguishing a character 
that in many cases requires on our part care- 
ful scrutiny with a lens to make out. When 
we straighten up after an hour’s eye-straining 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 620. 


work on this minute, though none the less 
real and from the species-student’s point of 
view important, variation condition among 
our hosts of beetle specimens, we have in our 
minds one conviction about which there is 
moral certainty, and that is that no lizard, 


Fie. 7. Frequency polygon of the variation in 
elytral pattern of 1,120 specimens of the Cali- 
fornia flower beetle, Diabrotica soror, collected 
in the foothills of the Sierra Morena Mountains, 


about three miles from the Stanford University 


campus, October, 1905. 


LOS ee ee, 


NovEMBER 16, 1906.] 


bird or insect is going to distinguish between 
beetle A and beetle B by the middle-spots-free 
or middle-spots-fused criterion. For one, I 
am done with meekly accepting the dictum of 
the selection champions who declare, in such 
eases as the present one, that we do not know 
what difference in general effect of harmony 
with leaf or flower or what not, and hence 
with the safety of the beetle, a very slight 
modification of pattern may produce; that we 
can not say of any difference, however minute, 
or apparently indifferent, that it is not the 
hair in the balance; and that when we under- 
stand all the conditions of the life of an or- 


C 


Fie. 8. Frequency polygon of the variation in 
elytral pattern of 405 specimens of the Cali- 
fornia flower beetle, Diabrotica soror, collected 
at Santa Rosa, California, about sixty miles north 
of the Stanford University campus, October, 1902. 


ganism, then, and only then, are we entitled 
to say of this or that character that it is not 
of life-and-death value. When we accept such 
a dictum we put aside all need of study, all 
spur to work, for ‘all the conditions’ is a 
phrase to crush with. However, there are but 
few selectionists left who insist any longer on 
taking this point of view. Practically all 
Neo-Darwinians admit the existence of hosts 
of trifling, insignificant, indifferent species 
and variety characters. As for those who still 
hold to their crushing dictum—well, we can 
simply refuse to crush. 


SCIENCE. 


627 


In the particular instance before us, har- 
mony of the color pattern of our beetle with 
its environment is out of the question. In 
fact, the glaring disharmony of the chrysome- 
lid beetles with their habitual green leaf en- 
vironment has been long notorious and has 
offered them a general card of admission to 
the group, probably not wholly fanciful, of 
‘aposeniatically’ patterned animals, that is, 
creatures of malodor or distaste to their verte- 
brate enemies and conspicuously colored to 
warn these enemies of the malease which 
gastronomic attention to them will produce. 
So that the selective value of two-spots-fused 
or two-spots-free is that of helping make the 
pattern a distinct and readily perceived one. 
Now throughout the whole great family of 
Chrysomelid beetles the prevailing patterns 
are stripes, longitudinal or transverse, spots, 
and a clear ground color with neither spots 
nor stripes. In genus after genus in this 
family these three types of patterning are all 
represented by species of apparently equal 
abundance, vigor and general success in 
making life a burden to the horticulturalist 
and farmer. And these species with their 
different pattern types may, and often do, live 
side by side. Precisely in the genus Dia- 
brotica is this interesting condition of things 
excellently exemplified. In the Mississippi 
Valley Diabrotica longicornis, with its unpat- 
terned blue back, eats the sweet corn of the 
truck farmer, while the longitudinally black- 
striped D. vittata eats his cucumbers and 
melons, and the yellow D. 12-punctata, with 
its twelve separate black spots, attends to the 
rest of the truck. Here in California we are 
able to distinguish D. soror from 12-punctata 
which ranges up to us from the middle west 
and great southwest only by the fact, quite 
sufficient for systematic coleopterologists, that 
the under side of thorax and abdomen and the 
bases of the legs (all parts well out of sight 
of preying lizard or bird) are strongly dusky 
instead of yellow. The exposed dorsal color 
pattern is the same in both. So that the 
differentiation of these two species was cer- 
tainly never brought about by any selection of 
protective warning color-pattern variations. 


628 


We have also in our range a striped form, 
trivittata, hardly distinguishable from vittata. 

Thus unstriped and unspotted or striped 
or spotted, all seem good patterns in the eyes 
of selection. To me, it is as clear as the 


Fie. 9. Frequency polygon of the variation in 
elytral pattern of 1,005 specimens of the Cali- 
fornia flower beetle, Diabrotica soror, collected 
at San Jose, California, twenty miles south of 
the Stanford University campus, October and No- 
vember, 1905. 


significance of any fact in nature is clear, that 
the change in our locality in Diabrotica soror 
from a beetle species of typical twelve-spots- 
free pattern to one of eight-spots-free and two 
irregular transverse blotches in place of the 
middle four spots is not due to natural selec- 
tion. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 620. 


As to the third explanation, that of de- 
terminate variation, I have to say, simply, 
that there remains of our possible three ex- 
planations, one, which is that of determinate 
variation. But, we must note, if determinate 
variation is the explanation of this change in 
Diabrotica soror it is a determinate variation 
which is occurring only, apparently, in our 
particular locality. For in series of speci- 
mens of this bettle collected in other parts 
of California no such change seems to be 
going on, the old twelve-spots-free form being 
plainly the modal type. For example, in a 
series of 405 specimens collected in Santa 


' Rosa, which is about sixty miles north of 


Stanford University, there are twice as many 
individuals with all spots free as of those with 
middle spots fused. (See Fig. 8 and caption.) 
And in a series of 1,005 individuals collected 
at San Jose, which is twenty miles south of 
Stanford University, nearly 49 per cent. are of 
the twelve-spots-free type and only 30.5 per 
cent. of the middle-spots-fused type. 

Why the species should be changing on our 
university campus and not changing in the 
regions south and north of us is a mystery 
whose solution I do not even dare to guess at. 
This solution must have to do with the cause 
of the variation of the species on our campus. 
But if one asks what is this cause, what it 
is that is producing determinate variation in 
Diabrotica, or in any other species, I have, in 
this connection, only to refer to a statement 
in the beginning of this note, which is to the 
effect that prior to any attempt to explain 
how determinate variation might be produced 
it is advisable to attempt to determine if de- 
terminate variation really exists. Is there 
determinate variation ? 


Vernon L. Kewwoaa. 
STANFORD UNIVERSITY. 


DISCOVERY OF AN EARLY TYPE OF MAN IN 
NEBRASKA. 


In a circular mound recently opened on a 
Loess hill north of Florence, near Omaha, 
Nebraska, various skeletal parts, and eight 
human skulls of a primitive type were ex- 
posed. The credit of the discovery belongs 


NovEMBER 16, 1906.] 


to Mr. Robert F. Gilder, of Omaha, who de- 
scribed and figured the skulls in the World- 
Herald, October 21. 

That there was intrusive burial in this 
mound is apparent from the fact that the 
skulls found below a layer of burned clay are 
of a much more primitive type than those 
found above it. Already five skulls have been 
taken from the lower level, and three from the 
upper, and others are in evidence and will be 
dug out later. Those of the upper layer prob- 
ably belonged to Indians of a later period, 
and may be left out of account for the pres- 
ent. The skulls of the lower layer are low- 
browed and inferior, the superciliary ridges 
being thick and protruding, the distance 
through the temples narrow, and the frontal 
eminences being as feebly developed as in 
Neanderthal man. The low arch of the skull 
is not the result of head-binding, but is nor- 
mal and characteristic as is evidenced by five 
crania, two of which are fairly complete. Un- 
fortunately the occiput is fragmentary or 
wanting in the specimens now at hand. 

The skulls are brachycephalic, and extremely 
narrow in transverse diameter through the 
temples, expanding rapidly at the parietals. 
Length of skull 182 mm.; minimum breadth 
93 mm.; maximum breadth 160 mm. 

In shape and size the mandible agrees well 
with that of modern man, although the fol- 
lowing marked differences are to be noted; the 
bone, particularly in the region of the sym- 
physis, is far heavier, the muscular scars more 
prominent, and the third molar in each case is 
ground to the very gum, while the second and 
third are ground in a diminishing ratio. The 
canines are weak and scarcely distinguishable 
from the incisors, and the space between the 
molars and the base of the coronoid is wide. 

The limb bones indicate a stature of six 
feet, the femora being somewhat stronger, and 
the humeri being somewhat weaker than might 
be expected. The femora, which are massive, 
manifest an interior curvature more pro- 
nounced than ordinary, and in cross section 
they appear triangular through the great de- 
velopment of the linea aspera, all muscular 
sears and tuberosities are noticeably promi- 


SCIENCE. 


629 


nent, the scar for ligamentum teres being 
elliptical in outline, deep and nearly twice as 
long as broad. 

The skulls of the Nebraska man seem to be 
inferior to those of the mound builder, but 
for the present at least will be viewed as early 
representatives of that tribe. 

In corroboration are the flint implements or 
chips found associated with the skulls and 
bones, and the mode of burial. As work 
progresses a detailed illustrated report will 
be made. 

E. H. Barsour, 
H. B. Warp. 


THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA, 
October 27, 1906. 


THE SECOND DECENNIAL OF THE BOTAN- 
ICAL SEMINAR OF THE UNIVERSITY 
OF NEBRASKA. 

Tue botanical seminar of the University of 
Nebraska was organized, under the name of 
the ‘Sem. Bot.,’ as a secret society, by several 
advanced students in botany, on October 11, 
1886. For some years it was an exclusive 
secret society. About 1891 it changed its 
policy and became a serious, scientific organ- 
ization, aiming to promote research and, in 
particular, to organize the study of the vegeta- 
tion of the state. Since that time it has ad- 
mitted advanced students from time to time 
and has established two preliminary grades to 
which students are admitted after examina- 
tion as a preparation for ultimate membership. 
It has conducted, since 1892, the botanical sur- 
vey of Nebraska, has built up the survey 
herbarium and has published three parts of a 
‘Flora of Nebraska,’ eight reports of the 
botanical survey, and the first volume of the 
‘Phytogeography of Nebraska.’ At the same . 
time that it has been engaged in this serious 
work, it has kept up the traditional secret or- 
ganization, which now survives in certain tra- 
ditional insignia, in the three grades of mem- 
bership, and in certain traditional ceremonies. 

On October 11 the seminar celebrated its 
second decennial. In the afternoon of that 
day all work in the botanical laboratories was 
suspended, and at three o’clock an open meet- 
ing was held which took the form of a sym- 


630 


posium on field methods, presided over by Dr. 
Clements. 

In opening the symposium, Dr. Clements 
pointed out that the first decade of the organ- 
ization coincided very closely with the period 
in which the botanical laboratory reached its 
greatest development. Consequently, in 1896, 
when the first decennial was celebrated, it was 
appropriate that the subject of the symposium 
should be ‘ Laboratory Methods.’ During the 
second decade of its existence, it had fallen 
to the lot of the seminar not only to take part 
in, but also in large part to guide, the de- 
velopment of field work in ecology. For that 
reason it was especially fitting that the sym- 
posium on the occasion of the second decen- 
nial should deal with field methods. 

Dr. Bessey spoke next upon ‘The Place of 
Field Work in Botany.’ He said in part: 

The simplest kind of field work, and on many 
accounts the most productive and helpful, is that 
observation of plants and their environment which 
one makes when living much in the forests, the 
prairies, the swamps, the fields and the gardens. 
The man who lives ‘in the open’ and learns of 
plants and about plants while living with them, 
obtains a mass of most valuable botanical knowl- 
edge even though it may not be formulated in 
botanical language. Many an unlearned Thoreau 
knows much more about the habits of plants than 
the laboratory botanist who is a stranger to the 
wild plants in their native haunts. Then there 
is the more serious field—study in which with book 
or instrument the botanist tries to learn some- 
thing accurately about plants as they grow out 
of doors. Here he learns something as to their 
classification in accordance with some general 
system and by means of his instruments, he learns 
something accurately as to the factors in the 
plant’s environment that have controlled its 
growth and distribution. With such study, there 
usually comes the practise of collecting plants 
followed by the work of preserving, mounting and 
arranging in systematic order in the herbarium. 
This leads to closer and more accurate examina- 
tion in the herbarium and the laboratory, and 
especially with the smaller kinds to critical micro- 
scopical study. Field work should underlie all 
botanical study. It can not be omitted without 
making the science one-sided. The student must 
do much of his work in the fields, forests and 
gardens if he is to make botany a science of 
living plants. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 620. 


Dr. Barbour spoke upon ‘Field Work in 
Geology and Physiography.’ He called atten- 
tion to the relation of ecological and physio- 
graphical work in the field from the point of 
view of the geologist and the physiographer, 
showing, among other things, how the result 
of ecological investigation has enabled the 
physiographer to reach better results by en- 
abling him to trace more accurately the physio- 
graphical conditions which he studies, by ref- 
erence to the resulting effects upon vegetation. 

Dr. Pound spoke of the field work done in 
the past by the seminar. He suggested that 
field work as conducted by the seminar in the 
past fell into three stages. In the first period, 
from 1886 to 1892, it took the form of collec- 
tion only. During that time the object was 
simply to collect species and to make as many 
additions as possible to the reported flora of 
the state. In the second period, from 1892 
to 1898, the object of field work was floristic. 
During that time the foundations of phyto- 
geographical work were laid, while the survey 
herbarium was built up and collecting con- 
tinued. The work was chiefly directed toward 
determining the geographical distribution of 
species in the state, the working out of floral 
contrast between districts and regions, and 
regional limitation. Toward the end of that 
period, the method of study of abundance by 
the quadrat was adopted. The third period, 
from 1898 to the present, has been marked by 
research work in ecology and the development 
of improved research methods. 

Dr. Heald spoke of field work in pathology. 
He said that, while formerly pathological in- 
vestigation had been conducted almost wholly 
in the laboratory, the tendency at the present 
time was to go to the other extreme and to 
work chiefly in the field. He pointed out the 
necessary limitations upon each method of 
work in pathology and the relations of the one 
to the other. 

In closing, Dr. Clements suggested a pro- 
phecy and a warning. As botany becomes 
broader and surer in its progress, the relative 
position of laboratory work and field work 
will be changed. The field will take the first 
place. The laboratory, though indispensable, 
will become secondary in that its chief use 


NovEeMBER 16, 1906.] 


will be to assist the interpretation of field 
facts and field experiments. For many rea- 
sons, this shifting of emphasis must be slow. 
Field methods must be developed and refined 
and students must be trained in their use. 
Field work demands instruments, base stations 
and much experience not for months but 
through years. In short, with these things, 
the field will become the real laboratory which 
must always be supplemented by secondary 
laboratories of histology, by plant houses, and 
the like. Each generation of botanical stu- 
dents is apt to feel that the beginnings of 
botany do not much antedate the beginning 
of its study of the subject. It sees and reads 
and does the things that are most recent and 
rarely dips into the past. It loses sight of the 
fact that development is of necessity a slow 
process and that most of the ideas and methods 
of to-day have a history. Hence, while the 
new generation is instructed to search dili- 
gently in the field and laboratory, it must not 
ignore the records of the past to be found in 
the books. 

Following the open meeting, a regular meet- 
ing was held at five o’clock at which fifteen 
undergraduate students, who had been duly 
examined, were initiated in the preliminary 
degree of ‘ candidatus,’ and four graduate stu- 
dents were promoted to the intermediate de- 
gree of ‘novitius.’ Thereafter, at six-thirty, 
a collation was spread in one of the labora- 
tories to which a number of guests, members 
of the faculty of the university, had been in- 
vited. At the speaking after the collation, Dr. 
Pound presided. The speakers were Dr. 
Bessey, Dr. E. W. Davis, dean of the College 
of Arts, Dr. H. K. Wolfe, professor of educa- 
tional psychology, and Dr. Bolton, professor of 
psychology. 


PHYSIOLOGICAL ECONOMY IN NUTRITION. 


Irvine FisHer, professor of political econ- 
omy at Yale University, has been conducting 
experiments to discover whether proper masti- 
cation and enjoyment of food would produce 
the ‘ physiological economy’ claimed for it by 
Mr. Horace Fletcher, and also whether it would 
lead to the use of low proteid according to the 
standard advocated by Professor Chittenden. 


SCIENCE. 


631 


The result of the experiment would seem to 
answer both these questions in the affirmative. 
The experiments were conducted with nine 
Yale students and lasted from January to 
June, 1906. Careful record of the amounts 
of food taken, and the constituents in, 
proteids, fats and carbohydrates, was kept for 
each man for each day. To avoid weighing 
at the table, the food was all weighed in the 
kitchen and served in ‘standard portions’ of 
100 calories each or simple fractions or mul- 
tiples thereof, so that the men merely needed 
to record the number of portions eaten. The 
proportions of proteids, fats and carbohydrates 
were found by means of the Mechanical Diet 
Indicator described by Professor Fisher in the 
American Journal of Physiology for April. 
During the first half of the experiment the 
men followed two rules only. The first was to 
thoroughly masticate the food up to a point 
of ‘involuntary swallowing’ with the atten- 
tion, however, upon the taste and enjoyment 
of the food rather than upon the mere mechan- 
ical act of mastication. Any ‘counting of 
chews’ was discouraged as was also the forcible 
holding of food in the mouth, as experience of 
others, as well as the conclusions of Pawlow, 
had seemed to show that anything which 
tended to make eating a bore harmed rather 
than helped digestion. The second rule was to 
obey implicitly the leadings of appetite, both 
in regard to quantity of food and the choice 
between different foods. In order that this 
strict obedience to appetite might be the more 
easily followed, a wide range of choice of foods 
was supplied and no food was placed before 
the men which was not specially ordered by 
them. 

This first half of the experiment, therefore, 
was really an experiment in natural eating, if 
we may assume that it is unnatural to hurry 
through our meals and to eat what is set before 
us, out of politeness, habit or limitation of 
choice. It was found that, as a consequence 
of the thorough mastication and obedience to 
appetite, a profound change occurred in the 
diet of the men. There was a large reduction 
in the quantity of liquids of all kinds at meals 
—water, tea, coffee and even soups. There 
was a reduction in the total daily average of 


632 SCIENCE. 


calories consumed of about 10 per cent., a re- 
duction of proteids of about 15 per cent., and 
of flesh foods (meat, fowl, fish and shell fish) 
of about 40 per cent. During the second half 
of the experiment the two rules above men- 
tioned were continued in force but a third 
was added. This was, when the appetite was 
uncertain in its choice of foods, to give the 
benefit of the doubt to the low proteid and 
non-flesh foods and to foods regarded, pro- 
visionally, as the most wholesome. ‘This in- 
fluence of suggestion was never carried how- 
ever to the point of eating against appetite. 
This stili remained supreme. Suggestion was 
used merely to settle cases where appetite was 
not decisive. 

During the second half of the experiment 
there was a still more pronounced change in 
the character of the diet. Comparing the diet 
in June with that in January it was found 
that the total calories had fallen about 25 per 
cent., proteid about 40 per cent. and the flesh 
foods over 80 per cent. or to about one sixth of 
the original amount. Moreover the proteid 
had fallen to the level indicated as desirable 
in the previous experiments of Professor Chit- 
tenden, which is one and a half calories of 
proteid per pound of body weight. 

Other physiological changes were noted. 
There was reduction in the quantity of the 
excretions and in the putrefactive and fer- 
mentative properties of the feces. 

The body weights of the men during the first 
half of the experiment fell on an average of 
two pounds and in the second half fell further 
four pounds. Gymnasium tests were made 
to ascertain the strength and endurance of the 
men. It was found that their strength had 
remained practically constant through the ex- 
periment while their endurance increased dur- 
ing the first half about fifty per cent. and 
during the second half by as much more. 
A marked distinction was drawn between 
strength and endurance, strength being the 
utmost force which a muscle can exert once 
and endurance the number of times that a 
muscle can perform an exertion which is with- 
in its strength. Seven endurance tests were 
used: rising on the toes; deep knee bending; 
leg raising; raising five-pound dumb bells by 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 620. 


the triceps; raising successively dumb bells 
of fifty pounds, twenty-five pounds, ten pounds 
and five pounds by the biceps; holding the 
arms horizontal and running. In many of 
these tests it was found that the will gave 
out earlier than the muscle; in short, that 
they were tests of grit, but in others it was 
found possible to work the muscles up to the 
point where they refused to contract further. 
Many precautions were taken to prevent any 
errors in these comparisons and only those 
records were used in the final averages in 
which the men were less tired in January 
than after the corresponding tests in June or 
records in which, both in January and June, 


the muscle was operated up to the point where ~ 


it refused to contract. Even with all these 
precautions the improvement in endurance was 
found to be enormous. For instance, one of 
the men who in January could not raise a 
five-pound dumb bell with his triceps beyond 
the one hundred and cighty-fifth time, in June 
was able to do so 501 times, and another who 
could do the leg raising in January 50 times, 
in June could perform this 105 times; another 
who in January could lift the twenty-five- 
pound dumb bells with the biceps 10 times, 
in June could do so 27 times. The average 
improvement from January to June, making 
every possible allowance, was over 90 per cent. 
The men were not as stiff and sore after the 
June as after the January tests, in spite of 
the fact that they had performed double the 
amount of work. 

So far as is known, no other than dietetic 
causes could have produced this result. The 
men led sedentary lives with less rather than 
more exercise than previously. They were no 
more regular in their habits and made no 


“effort to live more hygienically except in the 


matter of diet. The dietetic factors were 
merely a wide range of choice of wholesome 
foods well cooked and appetizing, slow eat- 
ing and obedience to appetite. As to which 
of these factors was the most important, and 
as to the manner in which physiologically 
they affected an improvement in endurance, 
there is much room for speculation. In the 
light of other facts it may at least be suspected 


t 
h 
‘ 


NOVEMBER 16, 1906.] 


that one of the chief reasons for improved 
endurance was a reduction in proteid. 

Mental tests were taken consisting of the 
addition of numbers, these showing slight in- 
crease in mental quickness. 

A complete account of the experiments will 
be published shortly. It was undertaken by 
Professor Fisher in connection with a series 
of statistics which he is collecting on the sub- 
ject of labor-power, especially in relation to 
diet, somewhat similar to the series of statis- 
tics collected by the economist Nitti some ten 
years ago. In communicating to the editor 
of Science the foregoing outline of his ex- 
periment, he has asked that any readers of 
ScrencE who may be able to supply data on 
this subject from personal experience or other 
sources will put themselves in correspondence 
with him. 


FIELD WORK OF THE SCIENCE DIVISION 
OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 

Correlation Work.—The director and assist- 
ants continued the field investigations neces- 
sary to the comparative study of the New 
York Devonic faunas in their extension east- 
ward. Explorations, resulting in considerable 
and exhaustive collections, were carried on in 
northern New Hampshire and Vermont, east- 
ern Maine and in the Gaspé Peninsula, 
Canada. These field investigations, now com- 
pleted, have brought to light a very large 
amount of instructive paleontological and 
stratigraphical data. 

Areal Surveys—tThe survey of the erystal- 
line region of the Highlands of the Hudson 
has been continued. In the Adirondacks, a 
portion of the iron region of Essex County 
has been resurveyed and the Theresa quad- 
rangle in Jefferson County well covered. In 
the area of exclusively sedimentary rocks, sur- 
veys have been made in the Lake Champlain 
Valley, and the following quadrangles in cen- 
tral and western New York have been ad- 
vanced or brought to completion: Chittenango, 
Cazenovia, Syracuse, Geneva, Auburn, Nunda, 
Portage, Skaneateles and Phelps. 

Surficial Geology.—Though somewhat inter- 
rupted by the absence of the geologists in 


SCIENCE. 


633 


charge, some advance has been made in the 
interpretation of the northern Hudson and 
lower Mohawk Pleistocene phenomena and in 
the survey of the morainal deposits of western 
New York. 

Paleontology—aA. discovery of singular in- 
terest is the occurrence of Kurypterus-bearing 
shales with a novel and extensive fauna in 
the Shawangunk Mountains of eastern New 
York. The age of the Shawangunk grit, com- 
monly regarded as equivalent to the Oneida 
conglomerate (lowest Upper Siluric) of cen- 
tral New York has but recently been demon- 
strated on purely stratigraphic data, to be the 
probable equivalent of part or all of the Salina 
formations. Subsequent to this demonstra- 
tion the Eurypterus fauna was found in the 
grit, confirming the stratigraphic deduction, 
as its species are in some measure those of the 
Pittsford shale which lies at the base of the 
Salina series in western New York. The 
fauna is distributed through nearly 700 feet 
of the grit deposits. The museum has been 
enriched by very extensive collections of these 
fossils. Large acquisitions have also been 
made from the Eurypterus localities of Herk- 
imer County from the Chazy and Beekman- 
town limestones of Lake Champlain with some 
remarkable slabs of Cystideans and other fos- 
sils from the Trenton limestone of southern 
Ontario. 

Economic Geology.—A careful reexamina- 
tion of the iron regions and their ore bodies 
has been made with the definite purpose of 
indicating possibilities of future development. 
These operations have met with a result alto- 
gether unanticipated and have determined the 
presence of undeveloped ore deposits so ex- 
tensive as to put the state in the first rank 
of iron-bearing regions of the country. In- 
deed it is now probable that no equal area 
contains more available undeveloped iron ore, 
now to be reckoned by some hundreds of mil- 
lions of tons of fair to high grade ore repre- 
senting a vast increase in the potential wealth 
of New York state. 

Other metallic ore industries have also been 
exploited, an interesting example being the 
newly developed zine deposits of St. Lawrence 
County. Special examination of the sand- 


634 SCIENCE. 


stones of the state have been continued and 
completed. 

Mineralogy.—A discovery of notable inter- 
est is the location of a series of vein caverns 
lined with perfectly developed calcite crystals 
of extraordinary size. <A single crystal of re- 
markable crystallographic completeness and of 
a fine amethystine tint weighs nearly 1,000 
pounds and innumerable others from 50 to 500 
pounds each. In habit these erystals are 
highly modified rhombohedra with basal pina- 
eoids and scalenohedral faces, frequently 
twinned but exemplifying a common form 
without great modification. Probably no 
such development of calcites so gigantic in 
size and at the same time so uncomplicated, 
-eclear and well built has before been seen in 
this country. An extensive series of these 
crystals has been removed for the museum and 
measures have been taken to control the en- 
tire supply for the state’s collections. 

Caverns.—Careful exploration has been 
made of the caverns of the Helderberg lime- 
stone plateau for the purpose of ascertaining 
their relations to the existing topography and 
drainage. It has been possible to determine 
that this network of underground passages 
represents successive stages of work not de- 
pendent wholly on the joint systems of the 
region and that, as lines of drainage, these 
passages are to-day in a decadent stage. 


ARCHEOLOGY. 


For two years past options have been taken 
on various lands believed to carry sites of 
Indian villages or burial grounds, and these 
are excavated as opportunity affords. This 
year the archeologist opened a village and 
burial site near Ripley on the shore of Lake 
Erie. The encroachment of Lake Erie on 
this site has been so great as to destroy some 
part of it, this of itself aside from internal 
evidence indicating its considerable antiquity. 
One hundred and fifty graves and refuse pits 
were opened and from them were obtained an 
amazing number of all sorts of relics and 
utensils of this early Erie culture, stone im- 
plements and ornaments in great variety, 
fabrics, skin clothing, seventy pots, about 
half of which were unbroken, skeletons with 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 620. 


ornaments attached and even parts of skin and 
flesh preserved. No site ever opened in New 
York has proved so instructive and so prolific 
in the vestigia of Indian life. The additions 
thus made to the archeological collections are 
extensive and important. 


BOTANY. 


Reexamination of species of Crataegus and 
the search for additions to fungous flora have 
been the chief objects of the past field season. 


ENTOMOLOGY. 


Protective and control measures against the 
San José scale, the grape root worm, tussock 
moth and elm leaf beetle and other insect 
enemies of the fruit and shade trees have been 
actively carried out. Special investigations. 
upon the Caddis flies and gall midges have 
also been continued. 


INTERCOLLEGIATE GEOLOGICAL EXCUR- 
SION. 

Tur annual New England intercollegiate 
geological excursion was held on Saturday, 
November 3. This excursion, organized in 
1900 by Yale and Harvard, has met at Hol- 
yoke, Worcester, Boston, Salem and Meriden, 
and has annually brought together students 
from all the New England colleges and many 
of the normal schools and high schools, par- 
ticipation being limited to teachers-of geology 
and certain advanced students. The expedi- 
tions have done much to improve teaching on 
the subject and to develop friendly relations 
between the geological departments of the dif- 
ferent institutions. 

Last Saturday the excursion was conducted 
at Meriden, Conn., by Professor Gregory, of 
Yale, and was preceded by a meeting on Friday 
evening at which the geology of the Meriden 
region was described. The object of the trip 
this year was to study the sandstones and in- 
terbedded lavas of the Triassic formation, and 
special attention was given to an important 
‘fault line,’ on which the displacement 
amounts to 2,000 feet. Professor W. M. 
Davis, who worked out the structure of the 
region, pointed out the topographic features 
which were the result of the faulting; Pro- 


NOVEMBER 16, 1906.] 


fessor W. N. Rice explained the Ash Bed of 
Lamentation Mountain, and Professor J. Bar- 
rell, the two lava flows of the second or main 
sheet. In addition to advanced students from 
colleges and teachers from high schools the 
following institutions were represented: Har- 
vard, Professors Davis and Wolff, Drs. John- 
son and Huntington; Massachusetts Institute 
of Technology, Dr. Loughlin; Wellesley, Pro- 
fessor Fisher; Holyoke, Professor Talbot; 
Williams, Professor Oleland; Brown, Pro- 
fessor Brown; Wesleyan, Professor Rice; 
Trinity, Professor Genthe; Rutgers, Professor 
Lewis; Yale, Professors Gregory, Barrell and 
Schuchert and Mr. Bowman; U. S. Geological 
Survey, Dr. George Otis Smith; Salem Nor- 
mal School, Professor Moore; New Britain 
Normal School, Professor Loomis. Professor 
H. F. Cleland, of Williams, was appointed 
permanent secretary. The next meeting will 
be held at Providence, Rhode Island, under 
the leadership of Professors Brown, Emerson 
‘and Woodworth. 


LOCAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE NEW 
YORK MEETING OF THE AMERICAN 
ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCE- 
MENT OF SCIENCE AND THE 
AFFILIATED SCIENTIFIC 
SOCIETIES. 

New York Ciry having been selected at 
the New Orleans meeting of the American 
Association as the place of the next annual 
meeting, a notice was published in ScIENCE 
calling a meeting of local members at Co- 
lumbia University on January 18. At this 
meeting plans were discussed and a local ex- 
ecutive committee was elected as follows: J. 
J. Stevenson, chairman, C. C. Adams, Charles 
Baskerville, Franz Boas, N. L. Britton, H. C. 
Bumpus, Chas. A. Conant, Simon Flexner, 
Wm. J. Gies, Wm. Hallock, Alex. C. Hum- 
phreys, G. S. Huntington, Edward Kasner, 
Henry F. Osborn, C. L. Poor, Clifford Rich- 
ardson, E. B. Wilson, Frederick J. E. Wood- 
bridge, J. McKeen Cattell, secretary. This 
committee has held four meetings at the 
American Museum of Natural History. The 
business transacted and the preliminary ar- 


SCIENCE. 


635 


rangements for the meeting may be summa- 
rized as follows: 

1. The first general session will be held in 
Earl Hall, Columbia University, at 10 o’clock 
on the morning of Thursday, December 27. 
The retiring president, Dr. C. M. Woodward, 
will introduce the president of the meeting, 
Dr. W. H. Welch, and President Butler will 
welcome the members. The usual announce- 
ments will then be made. The sections of the 
association will hold at 11 o’clock their meet- 
ings for organization, followed in several cases. 
by the address of the chairman. Council 
meetings and meetings of organization of the 
special societies can to advantage be held at 
9 o’clock. All the sections of the association 
and, so far as possible, all the national socie- 
ties will meet at Columbia University on 
December 27 at 2 p.m. Several of the sec- 
tions of the association will hold sessions in 
which topics of general interest will be dis- 
cussed. At 8 o’clock the retiring president 
will give his address in Horace Mann Hall. 
From 9 to 11 o’clock the trustees of Columbia 
University will offer a reception. At 10 
o’clock there will be an informal smoker in 
the Faculty Club. 

2. On Friday the sections and the societies 
will hold their regular sessions. It is expected 
that there will be joint meetings when the 
same subjects are covered and that some meet- 
ings will be arranged of general interest to all 
members of the association. Friday evening 
is reserved for dinners and meetings of special 
societies and groups. It is also suggested that 
smokers and informal meetings be held on 
the Wednesday evening preceding the meet- 
ing. 

3. The meetings will continue on Saturday 
with some scattering. Thus Section K and 
the societies devoted to the medical sciences 
will meet at the Rockefeller Institute, and 
Section G and the American Botanical So- 
ciety will meet at the New York Botanical 
Garden. There will be a lecture at the City 
College at 12 o’clock, followed by a luncheon 
and an inspection of the new buildings. At 
3:30 o’clock ten marble busts of pioneers of 
American science, presented by Mr. Morris K. 
Jesup to the American Museum of Natural 


636 


History, will be unveiled. At 8 o’clock there 
will be a reception by the trustees of the mu- 
seum and the New York Academy of Sciences 
with an exhibition of scientific progress by the 
academy, including demonstrations and short 
addresses. At 10 o’clock there will be an in- 
formal smoker at the Chemists’ Club. 

4. The meetings will continue on Monday 
and Tuesday, or so long as is required by the 
programs, and probably several of the special 
societies will meet on those days. The meet- 
ing of the nominating committee will be on 
Monday evening. 

5. The Hotel Belmont, on 42d street, op- 
posite the Grand Central Station, will be the 
general headquarters. Adjoining this hotel 
are the Murray Hill Hotel and the Grand 
Union Hotel, at which the rates are lower. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


A SCIENTIFIC session of the National Acad- 
emy of Sciences will be held at the Harvard 
Medical School, Boston, beginning on Tues- 
day, November 20, at 11 a.m. 


THE winter meeting of Section © of the 
American Association for the Advancemerit 
of Science will be held in conjunction with 
the American Chemical Society at Columbia 
University, New York, December 27, 1906, to 
January 2, 1907. The following persons have 
been appointed to preside over the sections 
and to aid in the preparations for the meeting: 

Physical Chemistry, Alexander Smith. 

Inorganic Chemistry, E. H. Miller. 

Organic Chemistry, A. S. Wheeler. 


Agricultural and Sanitary Chemistry, L. L. 
Van Slyke. 


Biological Chemistry, P. A. Levene. 
Industrial Chemistry, A. D. Little. 


Members desiring to present papers are re- 
quested to send titles and brief abstracts to 
one of these persons or to the secretary of the 
section, Professor Charles L. Parsons, New 
Hampshire College, Durham, N. H. To make 
sure of consideration, such titles should be 
received before November 24. 


Tue American Physiological Society will 
hold its nineteenth annual meeting during 
convocation week in New York City, on 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 620. 


Thursday, Friday and Saturday, December 
27, 28 and 29, 1906. The session on the morn- 
ing of December 29 will be a joint meeting 
with Section K—Physiology and Experimental 
Medicine—of the American Association for 
the Advancement of Science, at the Rocke- 
feller Institute for Medical Research. 


THE annual meetings of the American An- 
thropological Association and of the American 
Folk-lore Society will be held in New York 
City, beginning on December 27, in affiliation 
with Section H of the American Association 
for the Advancement of Science. 


Sir Win.LiAM Perkin has received the degree 
of doctor of laws from the Johns Hopkins 
University, and the degree of doctor of science 
from Columbia University. He has been en- 
tertained by the University of Pennsylvania 
and other institutions that he has visited. 


In addition to those engineers who were an- 
nounced in ScimENcE as having been granted 
the degree of D.Sc. on the occasion of the 
dedication of the new engineering building of 
the University of Pennsylvania, the degree 
was conferred on Professor W. P. Blake. In 
presenting Professor Blake for the degree, Mr. 
Arthur L. Chase said: “ We ask you to con- 
fer the degree on William Phipps Blake, be- 
cause of his knowledge and experience in 
mining engineering, geology and mineralogy. 
The results of his activities have been useful 
to the governments of the United States, to 
Japan, to the state of California and to Ari- 
zona territory. For many years he has oc- 
cupied a distinguished position as a teacher, 
and he has written a great number of illumi- 
nating books and papers on the mining of 
the precious metals and other technical sub- 
jects.” 

Captain RoaLp AMUNDSEN sailed on Novem- 
ber 8, on the Scandinavian-American steamer 
Hellig Olav, for Christiania, where the records 
of his magnetic observations in the Arctic will 
be worked out. Captain Amundsen has pre- 
sented his entire collection to the Norwegian 
government. The new king of Norway has 
conferred upon him the highest decoration of 


the kingdom, the grand cross and cordon of 
St. Olaf. ie 


NoveMBER 16, 1906.] 


On the evening of November 3. the 
Geographic Society of Chicago tendered a 
reception and banquet to Captain Roald 
Amundsen on the occasion of his return from 
three and one half years of successful ex- 
pleration in the region of the magnetic north 
pole. Addresses were made by the guest of 
honor, and by his first officer, Lieutenant 
Hansen; by the Norwegian consul, Fredrik 
Herman Gade; by the president of the so- 
ciety, Professor Henry J. Cox, and by Pro- 
fessors R. D. Salisbury and T. C. Chamberlin, 
of the University of Chicago. 


Proressor Roianp TuHaxter, of Harvard 
University, has returned from a year’s leave 
of absence, a portion of which was spent in 
South America, and has brought back con- 
siderable collections of various cryptogams, 
most of which were obtained on the Straits 
of Magellan. 

Proressor WALTHER Nernst, of the Univer- 
sity of Berlin, has returned to Germany after 
delivering the Silliman lectures at Yale Uni- 
versity. 

Dr. Sven Hepin, who by order of the gov- 
ernment was denied access to Tibet from the 
side of India, is making good his entry into 
western Tibet from Chinese Turkestan. 

Mr. Wauter WELLMAN and Major Hersey 
have sailed for New York on the French 
steamer La Savoie. The former will return 
to Paris in six weeks to continue his super- 
‘vision of the changes in his airship. Major 
Hersey will accompany the Chicago Record- 
Herald expedition in its attempt to reach the 
Pole next summer. 


Ricuarp M. Saw, a student in the medical 
department of the University of Pennsyl- 
vania, has joined an expedition organized by 
Dr. W. G. Miller, of Philadelphia, for the 
purpose of making explorations in Alabama 
and Florida. About two months will be spent 
in Alabama, during which a number of Indian 
burial mounds will be excavated, and four 
months will be spent in making similar in- 
vestigations in Florida. 

- Dr. Henry S. Prircuert, of the Carnegie 
Foundation, will be the principal speaker at 


SCIENCE. 


637 


the thirty-fifth anniversary exercises at the 
Johns Hopkins University on February 22. 


Mr. H. Yute Oxpuam, reader in geography 
at Cambridge University, is giving a course 
of public lectures this term on ‘The History 
of Geographical Discovery,’ dealing princi- 
pally with the discovery of America. 


At the annual general meeting of the Brit- 
ish Astronomical Association Mr. F. W. Lay- 
ender was elected president to succeed Mr. A. 
C. D. Crommelin. Other officers were elected 
as follows: A. C. D. Crommelin, KE. W. Maun- 
der, S. A. Saunder and W. H. Wesley as vice- 
presidents, Mr. W. H. Maw as treasurer and 
Messrs. J. G. Petrie and J. A. Hardcastle as 
secretaries. 


Dr. R. Hertwic, professor of zoology and 
comparative anatomy at Munich, has cele- 
brated the twenty-fifth anniversary of his pro- 
fessorship. 


Dr. Franz Mertens, professor of mathe- 
matics at Vienna, has received a prize of the 
value of 5,000 Marks, given every third year 
by the Berlin Academy of Sciences for the 
most important mathematical work. 


Dr. von Eusner has been appointed asso- 
ciate in the Meteorological Observatory at 
Berlin. 


Mr. N. R. Granam, of the chemical depart- 
ment of the College of the City of New York, 
has secured a patent on a typewriter attach- 
ment which facilitates the writing of chemical 
formulas. 


The government of India has granted Mr. 
A. R. Brown, Anthony Wilkin student in eth- 
nology and archeology at Cambridge Univer- 
sity, a sum of £300 to assist him in carrying 
on his researches amongst the natives of the 
Andaman and Nicobar Islands. 


As the result of correspondence between 
Mr. Cornelius Vanderbilt, president of the 
Robert Fulton Monument Association, and 
the four surviving direct descendants of the 
inventor of the steamboat, these descendants 
have consented to the removal of the remains 


‘of Fulton from Trinity churchyard to the 


tomb and monument that the association is 
planning to erect. 


638 SCIENCE. 


Dr. Epmunp Howp Mutter, professor of 
analytical chemistry at Columbia University, 
died on November 8, at the age of thirty-eight 
years. Dr. Miller received his bachelor’s, 
master’s and doctor’s degrees from Columbia 
University, and was promoted to be assistant, 
tutor, instructor, adjunct professor and. pro- 
fessor at that institution. He was a fellow 
of the American Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science and has been chairman of the 
New York Section of the American Chemical 
Society. He had carried out researches on 
fire-assay methods, including assays of tin, 
platinum, ete. 

THE death is announced of Dr. Ernst 
Caesaro, professor of mathematics at Naples. 

CIvIL service examinations are announced 
as follows: On November 30, for the position 
of laboratory assistant qualified in practical 
optics in the Bureau of Standards at a salary 
of $1,000; on December 5, for the position 
of aid in the Coast and Geodetic Survey, at a 
salary of $720; for the position of preparator 
of fossils in the Geological Survey, at $75 a 
month; for the position of psychologist in 
the Government Asylum for the Insane, at a 
salary of $1,500, and for the position of arbori- 
eulturist in the Bureau of Plant Industry, at 
a salary of $2,000. 


THE University of California has received 
by donation the herbarium and _ botanical 
library of Mr. and Mrs. T. S. Brandegee, of 
San Diego. The herbarium is one of the 
most important in the west, since it contains 
something over 100,000 sheets of carefully 
selected plants, mostly representative of the 
Mexican flora, which for many years has been 
Mr. Brandegee’s chosen field, and of the flora 
of California and neighboring states, which 
has received careful treatment at the hands 
of Mrs. Brandegee. It contains the sole re- 
maining duplicate types of many species, the 
originals of which were lost in the recent fire 
that destroyed so large a portion of the Cali- 
fornia Academy of Sciences herbarium, as 
well as the types of practically all the new 
species described by Mr. and Mrs. Brandegee 
themselves. Among the noteworthy sets rep- 
resented are Bebb’s Willows, Parry’s Man- 


' [N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 620. 


zanitas and Chorizanthes, a majority of the 
Mexican sets distributed by Palmer, Pringle, 
Lumholtz, Purpus, ete., and a selection of 
types and. duplicate types from the Orcutt 
and Cleveland herbaria. It is probable that 
no other herbarium contains so nearly com- 
plete a representation of the North American 
Borraginacee. It is also rich in Mimulus, 
Eriogonum and other groups in which Mrs. 
Brandegee has been particularly interested. 
The university herbarium, as now enlarged, 
numbers approximately 250,000 sheets, a ma- 
jority of which are mounted in permanent 
form. The whole collection is available for 
study and occupies fire-proof quarters in one 
of the buildings recently erected on the uni- 
versity campus. Here visiting botanists de- 
siring to study the west American and Mexi- 
ean flora or to consult the working library of 
the herbarium, will be welcome and given 
every opportunity for research work. Mr. and 
Mrs. Brandegee will continue their studies at 


_ the university, where Mr. Brandegee has been 


appointed honorary curator of the herbarium. 
Mail matter may hereafter be addressed to 
them at the university. 


Tur Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila- 
delphia has recently acquired two notable 
zoological collections. One of these is the 
Gulick collection of Hawaiian land shells, 
which served as the basis of Rev. John T. 
Gulick’s well-known work, ‘ Evolution: Racial 
and Habitudinal.’ It contains elaborate series 
representing the numerous geographic and 
local races, not a few of which are to-day 
quite extinct. The other accession is the 
Tristram collection of birds numbering some 
7,000 skins and representing upwards of 3,000 
species. This is the second collection made 
by the late Canon Tristram, the first one 
having been secured some years ago by the 
Liverpool Museum. The present collection 
comprises birds from all parts of the world, 
but is especially rich in insular forms and in 
northern South American birds. Several 
other collections obtained by the academy dur- 
ing the last few years—notably the Sumatran 
collection, obtained and presented by Mr. A. 
C. Harrison, Jr., and Dr. H. M. Hiller; the 


a ee 


NovEMBER 16, 1906.] 


collection from British East Africa deposited 
by Mr. Geo. L. Harrison, Jr., and the Porter 
Philippine collection—have greatly increased 
the value of the ornithological department of 
the museum and the Tristram collection brings 
the total number of specimens up to nearly 
sixty thousand. 


TuHroucH the generous gift of Mrs. Russell, 
the library of the late Professor Israel C. Rus- 
sell has become the property of the University 
of Michigan; and by her request it will be 
kept separate to form the nucleus of a De- 
partmental Library of Geology. The regents 
of the university in accepting the gift author- 
ized changes in the museum _ building—at 
present the home of the geological department 
—and in a few weeks the books will be ar- 
ranged upon shelves in a new geological sem- 
inary room to be known as the ‘Israel C. 
Russell Room’ and prepared as a memorial 
to this distinguished geologist. The collection 
which thus comes into the possession of the 
University of Michigan is especially rich in 
the separate publications of geologists; and 
these, like the reports and bound volumes of 
the collection, are to be entered in the main 
library catalogue of the university. An ap- 
peal will be made to working geologists here 
and abroad in the hope that they will place 
upon their exchange lists in place of Professor 
Russell’s name the name ‘ Russell Library,’ 
continuing the old address, University of 
Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich., U. S. A. Con- 
tributions to the collection will be acknowl- 
edged by the university librarian, promptly 
entered in the catalogue, and sent to the Rus- 
sell Room, where they will at once be access- 
ible to all students of geology. A similar re- 
quest will be made of the directors of geolog- 
ical surveys and of other geological institu- 
tions, in order that the very valuable series 
of their publications may be kept complete. 
It is thought that means will be found to con- 
tinue the subscription on behalf of the library 
to the important geological and geographic 
journals which were regularly taken by Pro- 
fessor Russell. Printed address slips for mail- 
ing or expressing publications will be supplied 
upon application either to the university libra- 


SCIENCE. 


639 


rian or to Professor W. H. Hobbs, in care of 
the university. If notified in advance, the 
library will generally be willing to pay the 
charges upon express packages. A consider- 
able number of separate copies of several of 
Professor Russell’s shorter papers are still 
available for distribution. If geologists will 
indicate what papers they already possess, the 
attempt will be made to supply the deficiencies 
as far as is possible. 

At a eabinet meeting held in Paris on 
October 30 a measure was approved providing 
for the abolition of the death penalty. 

Tue library of the late Dr. Willard Parker, 
containing 4,000 volumes, was formally pre- 
sented to the Medical Society of the County 
of Kings, October 16. The presentation was 


_made by Dr. Willard Parker, his son, who will 


be made an honorary member of the society. 


Tue Central Committee for Scientific Re- 
search on the Brain, appointed by the Interna- 
tional Association of Academies, has recog- 
nized the Senckenberg Neurological Institute, 
Frankfort on the Main, as an international 
institute for the purpose. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


By the will of Mr. John Daglish, Armstrong 
College, Durham, will ultimately receive a 
bequest of £30,000 and the residue of the 
estate. 


Av the University of Nebraska the wing of 
the new museum building is approaching com- 
pletion. It is four stories high and is fire- 
proof throughout. The ‘Temple, intended 
for the use of the various societies of the 
university, is well under way. It occupies a 
quarter of a city block, being nearly 140 feet 
square, and is to have four stories. It is 
built of white sandstone and bronze brick. 

New buildings for a mining and metallurg- 
ical department at the University of Leeds 
are about to be erected. Plans have been 
approved and tenders invited; and it is ex- 
pected that the new buildings will be ready 
by next session. The capital fund raised for 
building and endowment purposes as part of 
the £100,000 required by the Privy Council 
now amounts to some £75,000. 


640 SCIENCE. 


Tue old Harvard Medical School, which has 
the assessed valuation of $596,000, has recent- 
ly been sold by the university. The building 
will be demolished and an office building will 
be erected in its place. 


Tue eighth annual conference of the Asso- 
ciation of American Universities will be held 
in Phillips Brooks House, Harvard Univer- 
sity, on November 23 and 24. The following 
universities are members of the association: 
California, Catholic, Chicago, Clark, Colum- 
‘bia, Cornell, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Leland 
Stanford, Jr., Michigan, Pennsylvania, Prince- 
ton, Virginia, Wisconsin and Yale. 


Tue fiftieth annual meeting of the Asso- 
ciation of Colleges in New England was held 
in New Haven on Monday and on Tuesday, 
October 29 and 30. The subjects proposed 
for discussion at this meeting were: 

Taxation of colleges, and the means of common 
action thereon by college authorities. (Suggested 
by Harvard.) 

The relation of work for the degree of A.M. to 
the case of students whose work for the A.B. is 
slightly deficient. (Harvard.) 

What should determine the amount and ar- 
rangement of college charges for tuition? ( Yale.) 

The correlation and cooperation of the depart- 
ments of instruction in a college. (Brown.) 

How can we prevent illiteracy in college gradu- 
ates? (Brown.) 

The honor system in examinations. (Will- 
lams. ) 

Religious organizations: their place in our col- 
leges and universities. (Williams.) 

Is hazing a thing to regulate or extirpate? 
(Amherst. ) 

What share, under existing conditions, should 
be allotted to the faculty in the government of a 
New England college? (Amherst.) 

What should be the qualifications of a candi- 
date for a special course in college? ( Wesleyan.) 

Is it advisable to offer a course in college to 
beginners in Greek? ( Wesleyan.) 

The abolition of material diminution of re- 
quired mathematics in college, except for scien- 
tific students. ( Wesleyan.) 

How far can the responsibility be put upon the 
student body for the conduct and deportment of 
students. (Wesleyan.) 


Mr. Freperick A. GoETzE, superintendent 
of buildings and grounds at Columbia Uni- 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 620. 


versity, has been appointed dean of the faculty 
of applied science. 


In the department of biology, Purdue Uni- 
versity, new appointments are announced as 
follows: Howard KE. Enders, Ph.D. (Johns 
Hopkins), to be instructor in zoology; Oliver 
P. Terry, M.D. (Purdue, ’02), to be instructor 
in physiology and anatomy. 


WorK in sanitary and experimental biology 
has been introduced at Williams College un- 
der Lorande Loss Woodruff, Ph.D. (Colum- 
bia). 


Dr. T. C. Strepuens, recent fellow in zool- 
ogy, University of Chicago, has been elected 
professor of biology at Morningside College, 
Sioux City, Iowa. 


THe following appointments have been 
made in the scientific departments of George 
Washington University: Professor of botany, 
Albert Mann, B.A. (Wesleyan), Ph.D. 
(Munich) formerly professor of botany in 


Ohio Wesleyan University and expert in the 


Department of Agriculture; assistant pro- 
fessor of mathematics, Paul Noble Peck, A.B. 
and A.M. (George Washington), promoted 
from an instructorship; instructor in chem- 
istry, Walter Otheman Snelling, B.S. (George 
Washington), B.S. (Harvard), M.S. (Yale), 
1906; instructor in mathematics, George Al- 
bert Ross, A.B. (William Jewell), A.M. 
(George Washington) ; instructor in civil en- 
gineering, Oscar A. Mechlin, B.A. (Dart- 
mouth), C.E. (George Washington), assistant 
engineer, District of Columbia; instructor in 
mechanical engineering, A. C. Willard, B.S. 
(Mass. Inst.), principal, University School, 
San Francisco; instructor in physics and 
electricity, Everett W. Varney, A.B. (Bow- 
doin), assistant of physics, Bowdoin College; 
instructor in electrical engineering, T. F. S. 
Maguire, B.S. (Mass. Inst.); professor of 
nervous diseases, Charles H. Clark, M.D. 
(Starling Medical College), clinical director 
of the Government Hospital for the Insane; 
professor of physiology, Shepherd Ivory Franz, 
A.B. and Ph.D. (Columbia), pathological 
physiologist at the McLean Hospital, Waverly, 
Mass. 


SCIENCE 


& WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 
OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 


Fripay, NoveMBer 23, 1906. 
CONTENTS. 
The University and the World’s Great Work- 
shop: Dr. JoHN A. BRASHEAR........... 641 


Scientific Books :— 
Hallock and Wade’s Outline of the Evolu- 
tion of Weights and Measures: PROFESSOR 
J. H. Gore. 
chemistry: PROFESSOR JOSEPH W. RICHARDS 652 


Wiechmann’s Notes on Hlectro- 


Scientific Jowrnals and Articles............ 653 


Societies and Academies :— 
The American Mathematical Society: W. H. 
Bussey. The American Philosophical So- 


654 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
Correspondence Relating to a Study of an 
Area of Crystalline Rocks in South Western 
New England: Proressor WM. H. Hosss. 635 


Special Articles :— 
A Statistical Study of American Men of . 
Science, the Selection of a Group of One 
Thousand Scientific Men: PRoressor J. Mc- 
Keen CartTertt. A Note on Assortative 
Mating: PRoressoR VERNON L. Ketnoce.. 658 


Thess alaniesmOp@ErOj;eSSOUS rise | eee 666 
Scientific’ Notes and News: 32. -24522--.5--. 671 
University and Educational News........... 672 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 
review should be sent to the Editor of SclIENCE, Garrison-on- 


Hudson, N. Y. 


THE UNIVERSITY AND THE WORLD’S 
GRHAT WORKSHOP? 

President Drinker, Trustees, Alumni, Fac- 
ulty, Students and Friends of Old 
Lehigh: 

It was with a feeling of diffidence that 
I consented to address you on this the 
fortieth anniversary of the founding of 
your university—knowing the difficult task 
I should have in following the splendid 
men who have addressed you on former 
occasions, but your president, aided by 
some of his good friends from the great 
body of your alumni in western Pennsyl- 
vania, so adroitly laid the trap for me that 
escape was well-nigh impossible. 

However, I must say that I am not at 
all reluctant to be found among my friends 
at Lehigh. For many years I have been 
more or less intimately associated with the 
men who have been telling factors in 
making Lehigh what she is to-day, men 
who have not only helped to push outward 
the borders of human knowledge, but have 
done things that count in the workshops of 
the world. The Founder’s Day you cele- 
brate must be one of very happy memory 
to many who are here. Could Judge 
Packer look upon this scene that we are 
permitted to witness to-day (and who can 
say that he does not) —could he see these 
splendid buildings you have completed, 
dedicated and used for the higher educa- 
tion, others that are being constructed for 


* An address by John A. Brashear, D.Se., LL.D., 
of Pittsburg, Pa., at Lehigh University, South 
Bethlehem, Pa., October 11, 1906. 


642 SCIENCE. 


the same purpose—surely he would rejoice 
with you in the rounding out of the grand 
scheme so long hoped for by your presi- 
dents, your board of trustees, your alumni 
and the many friends of old Lehigh. 

I come to assure you that the good people 
of the western end of our state have more 
than a passing interest in the new life that 
has come to you. Of the 1,500 alumni you 
have sent out to do the work of the world, 
we have captured no less than 175 good 
strong men who are to-day potent factors 
in the great industries of western Pennsyl- 
vania; indeed, we have many of Lehigh’s 
very best men scattered among our 5,000 
manufacturing establishments where are 
employed more than a quarter million 
workmen turning out a yearly product 
valued at $450,000,000. 

These men—your alumni—occupy no 
menial positions, but are holding places of 
honor, trust and responsibility; indeed, I 
know what I am saying when I tell you 
that many of them are at the very head of 
some of the most important industries of 
our great city of Pittsburg and its environ- 
ments. 
alumni are associated in the works of the 
Carnegie Steel Company. Many of them 
—more than a score—are associated with 
the Westinghouse Electric Company, others 
with the Crucible Steel Company of Amer- 
ica and the American Bridge Works; in 
fact, your graduates may be found in 
every important industry in western Penn- 
sylvania. 

It seems to me that you should be proud 
of the record of your alumni in the part 
they have taken in the development of the 
various ramifications of the great steel in- 
terests of our country, for no less than six 
hundred of your men have been intimately 
associated with it; the fact is, right here in 
your own Bethlehem Steel Company you 
have a goodly number of Lehigh men who 


Between forty and fifty of your. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 621. 


have made their influence felt and their 
labors count for the very best. 

But Lehigh’s record is not confined by 
bonds of iron and steel—her men haye gone 
into many of the varied avocations of life 
and have been most successful in their 
calling. JI have in my own library some 
splendid volumes that have come from your 
astronomical observatory—records of work 
of the very highest type in measurements 
of precision—volumes which have been 
criticized most favorably by astronomers 
all over the world, and I say it with much 
pride that you have turned out some of 
the best young men from this department 
that now grace the astronomical depart- 
ments of universities in both hemispheres. 
So it has been with your departments of 
mechanical, civil and mining engineer- 
ing, chemistry and physics; and you have 
also graduated men who have brought 
honor to their alma mater as statesmen, 
educators, authors, editors, scientists, law- 
makers, manufacturers—indeed, covering 
very many phases of the world’s great 
work. Surely Lehigh may well be proud 
of the record of her alumni. 

It may be a hobby of your speaker, but 
he has been of the opinion for many years 
that not only is it of paramount impor- 
tance that every student of technology 
should have enough of the so-called ‘hu- 
manities’ in his curriculum to develop the 
higher manhood, and thus broaden out his 
vision; but, conversely, every student who 
may choose the humanities should get in 
touch with at least enough of science, of 
technics, to enable him to comprehend the 
marvelous advances in every line of human 
thought and industry that will surely come 
to pass during his day and generation. 

Will not some knowledge of the starry 
heavens be of use to the man who is to 
stand in the pulpit and proclaim the 
mighty works of the Creator’s hand? How 


NOVEMBER 23, 1906.] 


about the microcosm and the macrocosm in 
the make-up of the universe of God? Will 
it add to or subtract from him who is to 
proclaim the Word of God who has a 
knowledge of and can talk about these 
noble subjects, or shall he be content to 
say: 

A primrose by a river’s brim 

A yellow primrose was to him 

And it was nothing more. 


Did not the Master say with an elo- 
quence that has lived through the cen- 
turies: 

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; 
they toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say 
unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was 
not arrayed like one of these. 

I firmly believe that every student whose 
purpose is to follow some one of the pro- 
fessions will have a more successful and a 
happier life by absorbing at least enough 
of science, of technics if you please, to 
broaden out his views, as a knowledge of 
_ the humanities will surely do for the tech- 
nically-trained student. 

In an address to the students of the 
Sheffield Scientific School my friend, Col. 
H. G. Prout, made this remark, ‘‘Scientific 
study may in itself be a great expander of 
the imagination and I venture the assertion 
that the study of chemistry and biology, 
machine design, or analytical geometry, 
geology or astronomy, is as quickening to 
the imagination as the study of Greek or 
Latin grammar, moral philosophy or rhet- 
oric, as any formal study of English lt- 
erature.”’ 

Some Founder’s Day I think you could 
not do better than to have read before you 
the splendid address of that splendid man, 
Eckley B. Coxe, which was delivered at 
the Montreal meeting of the American 
Association of Mechanical Engineers, of 
which he was then president. I had the 
ereat pleasure to hear that address on 
‘Technical Education,’ and to you who 


SCIENCE. 


643 


knew the man I need not say that it made 
a deep and lasting impression upon my 
mind. It was a mighty sermon from its 
opening to its closing sentence, showing a 
most profound knowledge of the whole 
subject. Surely Lehigh was honored by 
the association of Hekley B. Coxe as a mem- 
ber of its board, and as a noble patron who 
had your best interests at heart. 

Other names have graced your roll of 
honor, some of whom have passed over to 
the ‘summer land of song’; yet we can re- 
joice to-day that some of the old guard are 
still with you, lending a helping hand to 
lift Lehigh to a still loftier plane in the 
domain of higher education. 

As a citizen of Pittsburg I am here to- 
day to rejoice with you that my friend of 
a quarter of a century, and your friend of 
to-day, Andrew Carnegie, will from this 
time on have his name inscribed in your 
annals, in the hearts of your undergradu- 
ates and alumni and all that have the in- 
terest of your university at heart, as a 
friend and patron. 

It was a joy to me to learn that he had 
made it possible to build the dormitories 
you have needed so long, and I must con- 
eratulate your president and also one of 
his co-workers in our end of this good 
old commonwealth in having secured the 
friendship and patronage of this friend of 
science; no one knows better than he who 
addresses you what the friendship of 
Andrew Carnegie means. 

We Pittsburgers also have a Founder’s 
Day, and our next one will commemorate 
his grandest and, we think, one of his 
ereatest gifts to the world, namely, the 
splendid institute in which the arts, the 
sciences, music and literature will find a 
home and be fostered, and with this we 
shall also commemorate the founding of the 
great technical school, which has already 
nearly fifteen hundred students within its 


644 SCIENCE. 


walls, with thousands more begging for ad- 
mittance, which we expect some day to take 
care of through Mr. Carnegie’s munifi- 
cence. Surely Lehigh can rejoice with us 
on our Founder’s Day, for we hope to keep 
in close touch with your university. You 
need us. We can not do without you. We 
have already captured some of your good 
men for our technical school, perhaps we 
can reciprocate in the future, for as yet we 
are but a year old. 

And now, lest I weary you, let me hasten 
to discuss the theme I have chosen for my 
address, namely, ‘The University and the 
World’s Great Workshop.’ Of course, I 
shall speak only of the modern university, 
totally dissociating it from the scholasti- 
cism of the middle ages. 

In a recent and very excellent article by 
Professor Edward Sisson, of the Univer- 
sity of Washington, on Francis Bacon and 
the modern university, full credit is given 
to this learned man, as being the founder 
of the universities of to-day. 

I quote one or two paragraphs from the 
article referred to that are apropos to my 
theme: 

Bacon says: ‘‘I may lament that no fit 
men have been engaged to forward those 
sciences which yet remain in an unfinished 
state.’’ Professor Sisson, commenting on 
this remark of Bacon, says: 

The sciences which Bacon knew have been ad- 
vanced to a plane far beyond the highest imagina- 
tions of even his great mind and new regions of 
knowledge have been opened of which he could 
not dream. 

Even more significant is the fact that we have 
given up believing in the possibility of a finished 
science! All sciences are unfinished and it there- 
_ fore becomes the duty of every devotee to labor 
for their advancement. The universities, after 
centuries of inertia, have at last waked up, or 
rather, vigorously aroused to their duty to be 
creators as well as conservators of the store of 
knowledge. 


The use of Latin as an exclusive means of com- 
munication and the worship of Aristotle as the 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 621. 


source of final authority upon all questions were 
the two great prerogatives of the medieval uni- 
versities. All this has been changed, and we live 
in the dawn—yea, in the broad light of a better 
day. 

There was a time when a university edu- 
cation did not stand for what it does now; 
indeed, I am sure that there are those in 
this audience who can remember when the 
eraduates of our universities, particularly 
those who received a technical education, 
were looked upon with doubt or even sus- 
picion when they applied for a position in 
any of our manufactories or workshops. 
Perhaps it was in some instances in the 
earlier days a well-founded suspicion that 
the applicant had surfeited himself with 
book learning and had no knowledge what- 
ever of the practical side of the position he 
sought. Happily that day has passed and 
the time has come when our mills, factories 
and workshops, in fact every important 
industry, appeal to our universities and 
technical schools to furnish them with men 
who have not only been taught to think, 
but to do things. 

Setting aside for the moment the purely 
professional schools, where would the great 
industries of our land be to-day without 
the men who have come from our universi- 
ties and technical schools? 

I know I lay myself open to criticism by 
those who will say that many of our great 
industries have, been originated and devel- 
oped by self-made men, men who had only 
the most meager education to start with. 
Certainly we must grant all this, but let 
us take as an illustration that Nestor of 
the steel industry in America—your hon- 
ored citizen—my friend John Fritz, a man 
loved by everybody on earth and in heaven. 
Did he not go through mighty struggles, 
struggles that no man will ever know but 
himself ; did he not have to master the very 
problems which is the province of the uni- 
versity to teach your students? True, you 


¥ 
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4 
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3 
3 
E 


NOVEMBER 23, 1906.] 


can never give them that which comes only 
with the experience this splendid man has 
passed through, but you can and do train 
them so as to eliminate the empiricism that 
handicaps the man who does not possess 
what you give to your graduates. 

I know I ean say without fear of contra- 
diction that no man knows better the value 
of the higher education than just the kind 
of man I have spoken of; I need not dilate 
upon this subject, the witnesses are all with 
me. Let it be said to the honor of these 
self-made men, these men who have made 
a commercial success in their business 
career, that you will find their names on 
record as the very best friends of educa- 
tion; they are the men who have given 
millions to build up and foster the univer- 
sities and technical schools of this good 
land of ours. Not only has your patron, 
Mr. Carnegie, contributed many millions to 
higher education, but he has gone farther 
by endowing original research and also pro- 
viding a fund to care for the men who have 
borne the heat and burden of the day as 
teachers in our educational institutions. 
What a splendid work for one self-made, 
self-educated man to do. Other names I 
could mention who have done nobly for the 
cause of education, and when the book of 
God is written Ben Adhem’s name will not 
be the only one recorded of those who loved 
his fellow men. 

It is a great pleasure to me to be hon- 
ored to-day with the presence of my long- 
time friend, Mr. Charles M. Schwab, who 
has done so splendidly for technical educa- 
tion in our great manufacturing town of 
Homestead; nor did his interest cease with 
this good work, for I know what he has 
done for State College, for the Western 
University of Pennsylvania in Pittsbure 
and kindred institutions. He knows and 
appreciates what there is in the hearts of 
his workmen and how they love to learn of 


SCIENCE. 


645 


the good and beautiful things in this life 
that they ean and should have a share in 
enjoying. All honor to such men. 

Every industry, every scientific pursuit, 
every calling of to-day demands the best 
education that can be given by the best men 
in the best schools, and the magnificent 
results that have crowded in upon us in the 
last half century are largely due to the 
masterly work done in our institutions of 
higher learning. 

Let us examine for a little while some of 
the results coming to us from university 
men. In the great field of astronomy and 
astronomical physics we have been brought 
almost to the borderland of the infinite. 
In the last quarter of a century, discovery 
after diseovery has been made and so many 
new facts brought to light that no one mind 
is capable of comprehending them all. 

In the domain of solar physics we have 
thrust our spectrobolometers into the very 
depths of the sun’s photosphere. With 
our spectrographs we have taken hourly 
records of the terrific storms that rage upon 
our great luminary. That record can be 
made to tell us the very elements that go 
to make up the solar disturbance. The 
sun’s. energy has been measured and its 
source discovered—not in the old-time 
meteoric theory of accretion, but we now 
know that the shrinkage of the solar en- 
velope is all sufficient to keep up its tem- 
perature for at least ten millions of years 
to come, should no new source of its energy 
be discovered. 

The university man has also shown us 
that in all probability our sun is a variable 
star, with a variation of perhaps ten per 
cent. in its radiant energy. Some day he 
will tell us its period of variability as we 
now know with absolute certainty the 
period of many variable stars in the 
heavens. The university man has also 


‘measured the radiant energy coming to us 


646 SCIENCE. 


from our sun, and while we receive only 
about one twenty-two hundred millionth of 
that which is sent out from our great 
luminary, we know that it has conserved, 
and this old earth has stored up untold 
billions of ‘units of energy’ that we are 
now utilizing to do the work of the world. 
Some day this storage battery will run 
down and we must either renew it or go to 
the original source for our energy. The 
university man has been on the alert and 
already he has tapped the wires of the 
ereat solar dynamo by harnessing old 
Niagara’s waters as they tumble over the 
mighty rocks—lifted there by the sun’s 
potent forces. 

We have also learned that the earth’s 
atmosphere is so constituted that it eon- 
serves the long waves of energy coming 
from the sun, which if it did not do, or- 
ganic life, as we know it, would be impos- 
sible on our globe. 

Our medieval astronomers taught us the 
stars were all fixed, immovable in the 
heavens. The doubting student came along 
in later years, and with his instruments of 
precision soon discovered there were no 
fixed stars. He could readily measure 
their movements across the line of sight, 
but when moving away from or toward us, 
his mstrumental equipment utterly failed 
him. Then came the university man Dop- 
pler to his help, with the principle of 
variable wave motion now known as Dop- 
pler’s principle; then came the telespectro- 
scope, by the use of which this principle 
could be applied; and now our astronomers 
are rapidly gaining a knowledge of the 
motion of all the more important stars in 
the heavens. With this knowledge has 
come to us the interesting fact that our 
own solar system, our sun, our earth and 
our sister planets are all moving through 
the universe at the rate of about one mil- 


lion and eighty thousand miles in twenty-" 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 621. 


four hours, or twelve and one half miles a 
second, in the direction of the constellation 
of Hercules. 

But the end is not yet. Your university 
men could not reconcile certain minute dis- 
placements of the stars that were of a 
rhythmic character and they began to sus- 
pect that this old globe was not stable, 
that it had a wobble, if you please, lke a 
top after it had passed its ‘sleep.’ Here 
you will pardon me when I tell you that 
one of your best men, with a big brain, 
but rather inadequate equipment, was one 
of the pioneers who undertook to solve this 
abstruse and difficult problem, and be it 
said to the honor of Lehigh, the continua- 
tion of this work by this man has settled 
the question to a degree of precision never 
dreamed of when he commenced his work. 
Another difficult problem has been attacked 
by your astronomers at Lehigh, namely, the 
constant of aberration, the solution of 
which speaks for itself. I should like to 
tell you more about it; indeed, I should 
like to mention the names of some of your 
men who have made epochs in the world’s 
work, but I dare not, lest I overlook some 
who should be on the roll of honor. Suffice 
it to say that the published results of these 
long, difficult and patient researches have 
already become classic in the annals of 
astronomical literature. 


Patience, patience is the watchword of a sage, 
Not to-day, nor yet to-morrow, can complete a 
perfect age. 


Other volumes on double and binary 
stars have recently been given to the as- 
tronomical world by one of your alumni 
and have found immediate recognition as 
works of the highest value. J am informed 
by your president that still another volume 
is ready for publication, the results of ob- 
servations made at your observatory, the 
gift of one of your oldest and most honored 
trustees. Surely you have a right to be 


See Se 


NOVEMBER 23, 1906.] 


proud of your record in this the most exact 
and perhaps the most fascinating of all the 
sciences. 

I am sure, however, that you as univer- 
sity men are all interested in the great 
progress made in this noble science by your 
colleagues all over the world. American 
astronomers coming from American univer- 
sities are gathering, constantly gathering, 
new sheaves from the stellar fields, fields 
that seem to be perpetually ripening for 
the harvest. 

It was but yesterday we heard of a new 
star whose brilliant hight burst forth in the 
heavens, not when we first caught a glimpse 
of it, but may be a hundred years ago, and 
it is so far distant that its light, flashing 
across the stellar depths at the rate of 
186,000 miles per second, has taken all 
these years to reach us. 

Placing the slit of our telespectroscope 
upon the new star, we observe the awe- 
inspiring phenomenon ‘of a sun in flames.’ 
Our inference is that there has been a col- 
lision between two stellar worlds some- 
where in the universe, and now we witness 
the elements ‘melting with fervent heat’ 
perhaps a hundred years after the awful 
cataclysm has taken place. A year later 
the light of that brilliant star had faded 
from mortal vision, but the astronomical 
camera, penetrating far deeper into stellar 
depths than the human eye, even when 
aided by the telescope, reveals to us the 
story of a disintegrated world, now a mass 
of nebula, ready to go through its long 
evolution, possibly in countless millions of 
years to become a star again. 

"Tis a fascinating theme upon which I 
could dwell for all the time at my com- 
mand, but ‘‘I must come back to this good 
old world again, where the birds still sing 
and the fields yet are green, surely the 
place of all we have found, the best suited 
for our dwelling place.’’ 


SCIENCE. 


647 


For more than a quarter century your 
speaker has had the privilege of knowing 
and associating with the men who have 
been wresting the secrets of the heavens 
from their hiding places. The ‘new as- 
tronomy’ has taken the place of the old, 
and marvelous have been the discoveries 
made by these men, university men, in this 
beautiful science. 

But with astronomy as with all other 
sciences there are as yet many problems 
unsolved, it is an wnfinished science and 
the storehouse of heaven is still full of 
treasures for the searcher after truth. 

Ye quenchless stars; so eloquently bright, 
Untroubled sentries of the shadowy night, 
While half the world is lapped in downy dreams, 
And round the lattice creep your midnight beams. 


How sweet to gaze upon your placid eyes 
In lambent beauty looking from the skies. 


There are some problems in astronomy 
that invite the cooperation of the physicist 
and the engineer. I have already men- 
tioned the fact that the physicist has util- 
ized the solar energy very nearly at head- 
quarters, but that source, namely, of the 
ereat waterfalls, has its limits. 

For many years I had the honor to be 
associated with the late Professor Langley 
in his studies of the radiant energy from 
the sun. Many attempts were made to 
conserve this energy direct without the use 
of concentrating lenses or mirrors, one of 
which gave great promise of success. Some 
day it will be done. Perhaps there will 
come a time when our fuel supply will be 
exhausted, then why not capture the orig- 
inal source of energy and make it do our 
bidding. Professor Langley calculated 
that it would require all the coal of all the 
coal fields of Pennsylvania to keep up the 
energy of the sun one thousandth of a 
second. 

When we learn that the solar energy, if 
conserved, would approximately equal a 
horse power for each square meter of 


648 


the earth’s surface for every twenty-four 
hours, we may surely consider it a problem 
worthy of profound study by our scientific 
investigators. 

But I dare not go farther in this inter- 
esting subject. I shall only add, if ever 
the desert is ‘to blossom as the rose,’ util- 
ization of the direct energy of the sun on 
the desert wastes will bring to us a realiza- 
tion of the prophetic vision. 

What has the university done for us in 
the domain of the physical sciences? Here 


we open up another field of unlimited acre- 


age, rich in revealed and yet undiscovered 
treasures. 

Highteen years ago I was the guest of 
Professor Dewar at the Royal Institution 
in London. Among the treasures of that 
historic laboratory I was shown the first 
safety lamp made by Sir Humphry Davy 
and after I had examined it to my heart’s 
content, my friend placed in my hand the 
first induction coil made by Michael Fara- 
day in 1841. Professor Dewar remarked 
as I examined the precious, though crude 
piece of apparatus, ‘That is the father of 
all the dynamos and motors of the present 
day.’ This was eighteen years ago. What 
marvels in electrical science have been de- 
veloped in this short interval. One has 
only to walk through the great Westing- 
house works at Pittsburg, or the General 
Electric, at Schenectady, to see the mag- 
nificent dynamos and motors that are the 
direct evolution of the Faraday induction 
coil. 

Follow these finished machines to Ni- 
agara or the great power plants driving 
electric cars over a vast network of lines 
that already cover thousands of miles, both 
urban and suburban, and the end is not 
yet. I dare not undertake to predict what 
surely will be done in the very near future 
by the aid of this powerful ally of man, 
but I do know that for more than a double 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 621. 


decade the university men have been all- 
important factors in this wonderful devel- 
opment of electric machinery. Go with me 
through the Westinghouse Electric and 
Manufacturing Works at Hast Pittsburg— 
and what do you find? 

I can say from personal knowledge and 
contact with the men that are doing things 
in that great center for the output of elec- 
tric machinery that a very large proportion 
of those connected with the testing labora- 
tories, the experimental shops, in short, all 
scientific departments of this typical Amer- 
ican workshop, are dominated by graduates 
of universities. 

I am sure it would delight any of your 
men of Lehigh to spend an evening with 
the Westinghouse Club. I do not know of 
any place on earth among men where I 
have felt a greater inspiration than in 
talking to these young college graduates, 
saturated as they are with a love for their 
chosen pursuit. Here are gathered from 
four to five hundred men from the colleges 
and universities all over the land. They 
are here not only to hear lectures on the 
purely scientific side of their work, but to 
learn of men, of methods and other topics 
so necessary in modern institutions, and I 
am glad to say that the ethical relations of 
this splendid body of men are of immense 
value in their life work. 

While writing the -last paragraph I 
thought to call by telephone my friend, 
Charles F. Scott, who for a long period of 
years has been the chief electrician of the 
Westinghouse interests. In my conversa- 
tion with him I was informed that when he 
came to the Westinghouse works eighteen 
years ago there were only four or five col- 
lege men besides himself in the entire es- 
tablishment. You will be surprised when 
I tell you that of the young men who grad-. 
uated from colleges and universities last 


NOVEMBER 23, 1906.] 


June, two hundred and twenty-five secured 
positions in this great establishment. 

I do not argue here nor do I wish it to 
be understood that as soon as a graduate 
has secured his diploma he is ready to take 
a position as a full-fledged astronomer, 
electrician, engineer, chemist or other posi- 
tion for which the university has prepared 
him, but I do say and believe that the 
earnest student will in his three or four 
years become so well grounded in the fun- 
damental principles taught him that a very 
few years of practical work will placé him 
as far along as the self-made man after 
half a lifetime of hard, hard struggle to 
gain such knowledge. There are noble ex- 
ceptions to this statement, but they are all 
too rare. 

A number of years ago I was invited to 
a luncheon given by the friends of Rose 
Polytechnic Institute, of Terre Haute, to a 
body of scientific men. Richard Thomp- 
son, so well known as ‘Old Dick’ Thomp- 
son, who was Secretary of the Navy under 
President Hayes, was an honored guest, 
and when called upon for a speech, gave 
us this interesting experience that hap- 
pened when he was a member of congress 
from that district in 1844. 

He with his colleague from the state de- 
cided that year to go to New York before 
going to Washington. At the hotel he 
found several congressmen from the east. 
The day after his arrival he was asked by 
a member from Massachusetts if he would 
not go across the way and see a machine 
invented by a man by the name of Morse, 
by which, it was claimed, he could send a 
message from Washington to Baltimore in 
less than a second of time. You may be 
sure we were all deeply interested in the 
old man’s story as he stood before us with 
his flowing white hair. ‘‘I saw the ma- 
chine,’’? he said, ‘‘and after Mr. Morse 
described it to me, he very kindly said, 


SCIENCE. 


649 


‘If you will ask me a question I will answer 
it through the ten miles of wire I have 
placed through this house.’ 

‘‘T asked him,’’ said Mr. Thompson, 
‘‘who would be the next President of the 
United States. Immediately there came 
the message on a little paper ribbon, and 
the answer was Henry Clay!’’ 

‘Mr. Thompson replied that ‘he knew 
nothing about the machine, but he liked its 
politics,’ and promised to vote for a sub- 
sidy to put a telegraph line between Balti- 
more and Washington. He then told us 
that he voted for the $25,000 asked for by 
Mr. Morse, as did also his colleague. At 
the next election he was elected by ‘the 
skin of his teeth,’ but his colleague was 
defeated because he had wasted the public 
money. I need not enlarge on how Morse 
lost his signals by laying his wires under- 
ground, how Ezra Cornell, the founder of 
Cornell University, came to his rescue and 
enabled him to place his wires upon poles, 
and that one of the first messages that came 
over the wires was the announcement of 
the result of the election of the President— 
but it was not Henry Clay. 

This story is recorded here solely for the 
purpose of showing how great have been 
the results brought about in telegraphy, 
largely due to the work of college men who 
have evolved it to such a degree of perfee- 
tion that it now answers almost every de- 
mand made upon it, exacting as they are. 

I was a guest at the laboratory of my 
friend Professor Rowland some years ago 
when he was developing his system of 
quadruple telegraphy, sending four mes- 
sages both ways over one wire and printing 
the messages in letters of the alphabet. 
Your restless scientific mvestigators, not 
satisfied, have taken another step: forward 
and are now sending electric waves across 
old ocean without the conventional wire. 
Some day they may girdle the earth in this 


650 


way—who can say it will not come to pass? 

Again, your physicists, unsatisfied with 
the worlds of knowledge they have already 
conquered, earnestly seeking for others to 
vanquish, have brought to light a new form 
of energy, which they call radioactivity. 
They seem to have well nigh demolished 


the Daltonian atom as the ultimate particle 


of matter, and now they talk to us of ions, 
of electrons which we laymen are permitted 
to call corpuscles. 

We learn from these men of the uni- 
versity that an atom of hydrogen can 
be broken up into nearly a thousand cor- 
puscles, an atom of mercury into 200,000 
corpuscles, that the atom of radium has 
stored within it an energy of which our 
older science did not dream. 

Furthermore, our advanced physicists, 
or at least some of them, have relegated 
matter to a new field, and they tell us that 
negative electricity is matter, 7. ¢., that 
electrons and matter are intercontravert- 
ible terms! 

Taking these wonderfully interesting 
theories, combining them with Arrhenius’s 
theory of the pressure of waves of radiant 
energy from the sun, a new, a beautiful 
solution comes to us of the origin of the 
sun’s corona, of the zodiacal light, of 
comets’ tails—of the aurora and all cor- 
related phenomena. Surely we appear to 
be bordering on Kantian transcendentalism 
when our physicists have reached such 
dizzy heights. 

Lord Kelvin says of the atom: “‘If we 
raise a drop of water to the size of the 
earth and raise the atom in the same pro- 
portion, then will it be some place between 
the size of a marble and a cricket ball.’’ 

If you fill a tiny vessel one centimeter 
eube with hydrogen corpuscles you can place 
therein, in round numbers, five hundred 
and twenty-five octillions of them. If these 
corpuscles are allowed to run out of the 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 621. 


vessel at the rate of one thousand per see- 
ond it will require seventeen quintillions of 
years to empty it. Such a computation 
seems almost like trifling with science, in- 
deed apparently trifling with the human 
intellect, but it is with these subtle theories 
that our physicists are wrestling, delving 
into the innermost chamber of the infinitely 
minute, to build for us, upon the most 
stable foundation, the macrocosm of a 
universe. 

Lehigh has not been slow in its depart- 
ment of physical science, and her alumni 
can well be proud of the splendid set of 
text-books on physics that have come from 
within her walls. 

But I dare not dwell longer on this fas- 
cinating theme, or I shall lead you into a 
maze from which there is no egress. 

I have now taken so much time that it is 
impossible to give more than a brief review 
of other fields of work which have been so 
well cultivated by the university men of 
the past quarter century. 

Chemistry, that all-important science— 
so closely related to every industry—be it 
of the farm, the workshop, the sanitation 
and water supply of cities, aye a thousand 
and one things in which the comfort and 
conveniences of life are concerned, the uni- 
versity man has taken hold of and devel- 
oped to an astonishing degree. In one of 
these phases of the chemist’s work your 
own past president Drown took a great and 
abiding interest, namely, that of the water 
supply of towns and cities. At the New 
Orleans meeting of the American Associa- 
tion for the Advancement of Science, held 
in January of this year, Professor Kinni- 
eut, of the Worcester Polytechnic Insti- 
tute, paid a high tribute to the great value 
of President Drown’s labor in this field of 
research. 

Read over the list of famous chemists of 
later years, such men as Hoffman, Perkin, 


NOVEMBER 23, 1906.] 


Raoult, Draper, Barker, Dewar, Prescott, 
Ramsay, Remsen, Morley, Atwater, Clarke, 
Drown, Baskerville, Cooke, Mallet, Gibbs, 
Moissan, Mendeléeff, Meyer, Oswald and a 
host of others. In quoting these names I 
take no glory from the older chemists— 
Lavoisier, Berzelius, Dalton, Dana and 
their colleagues. 

Nearly all of this honored list who have 
passed away were university men. Those 
who are still with us are university men. 
You chemists know what they have done 
for the world’s work; indeed, it would 
seem to me an easier task to write of what 
they have not accomplished rather than 
what they have done. We need only look 
at the marvelous achievements of Raoult 
and Dalton in molecular and atomic chem- 
istry, of Morley in the same field, of Hoff- 
man and Perkin in the coal-tar derivatives, 
of Ramsay’s researches on the new gases in 
the atmosphere, of Dewar and his assistant, 
Travers, in the liquefaction of gases and 
other most valuable and interesting investi- 
gations made by them. 

Chemistry and the university are to-day 
inseparable and it is beyond the ken of 
man to prophesy what discoveries these 
men of your schools will bring to us in the 
years to come. 

In the domain of mechanical engineer- 
ing, structural design and kindred studies, 
Old Lehigh stands as the peer of any insti- 
tution in the land. This you may consider 
as flattery or unjust praise from your 
speaker, but the facts I have quoted in the 
beginning of this address are surely evi- 
dence enough to prove what I now say, and 
in giving you this meed of praise I do not 
wish to detract from the good work done 
by your sister colleges east and west of the 
Alleghanies. All are doing a noble share 
in the engineering work of this busy era 
of steel bridges, steel buildings, steel struc- 
tural work of every conceivable shape and 


SCIENCE. 


651 


form; surely in this age of steel there is a 
call for the university man such as there 
never has been before and he has not been 
found wanting. 

Text-books on engineering coming from 
within the walls of Old Lehigh are works 
of the highest standard, and your sister 
colleges have not been slow to adopt them. 

Engineering is now so closely related to 
all sciences that the astronomer, the physi- 
cist, the chemist, the geologist, all must 
come to him for help in their time of 
trouble and he has not failed them. The 
electrically driven locomotive, the wonder- 
ful turbine engine, are coming to stay ; they 
are the results of his handiwork—what 
shall we look for next? 

Mathematics as the handmaiden of all 
the studies I have enumerated, has a firm 
foundation in our American institutions of 
learning. Bartlett has well said that ‘the 
man endowed with the priceless boon of a 
mathematical knowledge possesses the key 
to the external universe.’ I need add 
nothing further. Bartlett’s saying may be 
adopted as a maxim rather than a pos- 
tulate. 

I have but few words to say of archi- 
tecture, geology, biology and _ kindred 
studies, for I have lingered too long in this 
fairy land, in these workshops of the world, 
to tell you what the university man has 
done in and for them, but while geology 
has long been taught in our schools of 
higher learning, it is only of late years that 
architecture has been taken up in this 
country and made a study of the impor- 
tance it should be, and that newest of all 
studies, biology, is now making deserved 
inroads into the curricula of the best col- 
leges of the land. While it is the newest 
of sciences, it seems to me that it opens up 
one of the most important and valuable 
lines of research in the whole realm of sci- 
entific investigation because it is so inti- 


652 


mately associated with all that pertains to 
organie life on this old round world of 
ours. 

The immortal Darwin gave it a mighty 
impetus when he presented to the world 
his doctrine of natural selection, and the 
researches of Brooks in our own country 
place us on a high plane in this beautiful 
study. Some day the world will be startled 
by the results of biological research. 

Perhaps the most remarkable discovery 
recently made in embryology, a branch of 
biology, is that we can trace the evolution 
of a species through its development in the 
embryo, that is to say, the very beginning 
of the embryo is identical with the most 
ancient form; throughout its development 
we see its evolution to its present condition. 
Koch’s discovery of the bacillus of tubercu- 
losis made another epoch in the science of 
biology. 

Brooks has said: ‘‘It may be some day- 
we shall be able to construct a living or- 
ganism by the combination of the proper 
elements.’’ ‘Atwater has trodden upon al- 
most forbidden ground in his remarkable 
investigations of the calorific value of 
foods in the human subject—indeed, has 
gone so far in this splendid research that 
we may dare hope some day to measure the 
food value of a thought. 

I am aware, as already remarked, this is 
treacherous ground upon which to build a 
solid foundation, but the better day has 
come when the earnest seeker for truth is 
no longer hindered in his onward course by 
that ancient barrier ‘hitherto shalt thou 
come and no further.’ 

In the broad light of the twentieth cen- 
tury the investigator, the university man, 
untrammeled by fear, save the fear of 
error, will rise to heights of knowledge 
never dreamed of in our philosophy. 

I verily believe that the storehouse of 
God’s truth is like unto the ‘widow’s 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 621. 


cruse,’ take from it as we may, it will 
never be emptied of its rich, its priceless 
treasures. 


To-day we are but learning single notes. To- 
morrow we shall blend them into chords. The 
hour will chime when all humanity shall know 
the law of harmony—when every note in every 
chord shall find its part in the sublime oratorio 
of universal life. 

JOHN A. BRASHEAR. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


Outline of the Evolution of Werghts and 
Measures and the Metric System. By 
Witu1amM Hatiock and Hersert T. WaAbdE. 
The Macmillan Company. Price, $2.25. 
THE science of metrology in its evolution 

has been regarded by many as furnishing the 
best means of tracing the history of the exact 
sciences. If this be true, we should welcome 
this carefully prepared treatise by Hallock 
and Wade—men fitted by taste, training and 
experience to write upon this topic. 

We have here presented a systematic general 
history of weights and measures, the scientific 
methods by which units and standards have 
been determined, the correct standards by 
which the units are represented, and the pres- 
ent aspect of modern systems of weights and 
measures together with the difficulties and 
advantages involved in any proposed change. 

A work of this sort is especially opportune 
just now when a determined effort is being 
made to introduce the metric system in this 
country. It will give much useful informa- 
tion to help those in doubt to decide whether 
a change in our metrology is advisable or not. 
Whatever the personal views of the authors 
are on this subject, they have wisely refrained 
from giving them undue prominence. 

The work contains chapters on the begin- 
nings and development of the science of 
metrology, origin and development of the 
metric system, extension of the metric system 
throughout Europe and elsewhere, weights and 
measures in the United States, the metric 
system in the various arts and trades, elec- 
trical units, standards and tables of useful 
constants and equivalents. 


NOVEMBER 23, 1906.] 


Extensive foot-notes point the reader to 
further sources of information and a full 
index adds to the value of the book as a work 
of reference. 

This book can well be declared the most 
complete and most authentic work extant on 
this important subject and it should be read 
by the student of. physics to whom a knowl- 
edge of units and standards is most necessary, 
as well as by all who wish to be well informed 
in regard to this interesting topic. 

A thorough test has proved that every recog- 
nized authority has been consulted and more 
than one forgotten pioneer in metrology has 
been given due credit for his contribution to 
the science. On the whole the book can be 
commended without reservation and the au- 
thors are entitled to our best thanks for 
placing in compact readable form facts that 
are accessible to the few and obtained by them 
after long and tedious research. 

J. H. Gore. 


Notes on Electrochemistry. By F. G. WircH- 
MANN, Ph.D. 5x9 in., pp. vi+144. Price, 
$2.00. New York, McGraw Publishing 
Company. 1906. 

The aim of the author, as expressed in the 
preface, has been to give ‘a clear and concise 
presentation of the general principles which 
underlie electrochemical science,’ ‘to offer a 
general survey of the subject, to serve as an 
introduction to its study and to aid in the 
securing of a proper understanding and ap- 
preciation of the work along individual lines.’ 

In pursuing this aim, the author has de- 
voted seven pages to general principles of 
science, fourteen to general principles of elec- 
trical energy, nineteen to electrochemistry 
proper, fifteen to electrolytic dissociation, 
seventeen to electrochemical analysis, forty- 
six to electrotechnology, and ended up with a 
name and subject index. Each chapter is 
prefaced by a list of the most important litera- 
ture on its particular subject. 

We differ in opinion from the author con- 
cerning the classification of electrotechnical 
processes; his division into direct-action and 
indirect-action processes seems to us to be 
logically worked out, at least as far as re- 


SCIENCE. 


653 


gards placing ‘electrodeposition from fused 
electrolytes’ among the ‘indirect action’ 
processes. On page 125, line 6, the accidental 
omission of ‘not’ makes the sentence express 
the reverse of the facts concerning the first 
news of the manufacture of calcium carbide. 
There are a few other shortcomings really not 
worthy of mention, in view of the high stand- 
ard of excellence and accuracy prevalent in 
the book. 

The plan of the work is admirable, it is 
carried out in a masterly manner, and the 
author has produced an introduction to electro- 
chemistry which most satisfactorily fulfills his 
objects, as quoted above. The style is clear 
and crisp, the information of a high stand- 
ard of reliability and surprisingly up-to-date. 
The balance is excellent. For student, tech- 
nologist, general scientist or man of affairs, 
it can be highly commended as a trustworthy, 
satisfactory and inspiring guide into electro- 
chemistry. 

JOSEPH W. RICHARDS. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 


The Journal of Experimental Zoology, Vol. 
IIl., No. 3 (September 1906), contains the 
following articles: ‘Locomotion of Ameebz 
and Allied Forms,’ by Oris P. Dellinger. 

Ameebe and Difflugias are studied from 
side view as they creep along the polished 
edge of a glass slide. From such a view the 
points of attachment and support which fur- 
nish the key to their locomotion are easily 
seen. All forms studied alternate the points 
of attachment and pull and squeeze them- 
selves along. ‘ Light Reactions in Lower Or- 
ganisms. I. Stentor Ceruleus; by S. O. 
Mast. ‘The Influence of Light and Heat 
on the Movement of the Melanophore Pig- 
ment, especially in Lizards,’ by G. H. Parker. 
A study of the color changes in the skin of 
the horned toad shows that the so-called re- 
versed color changes of certain lizards, Stellio, 
Uromastix, ete., are probably temperature re- 
actions and not light reactions, and leads to 
the conclusion that in all melanophores and 
other like pigment cells, whether they are in 
the skin or the eyes of the vertebrates or 


654 SCIENCE. 


invertebrates, the general rule seems to hold 
that light and low temperature induce a distal 
migration, and the absence of light and high 
temperature a proximal migration of the con- 
tained pigments. ‘Some Reactions of Cater- 
pillars and Moths,’ by Alfred G. Mayer and 
Caroline G. Soule. Larve of Danais plexip- 
pus are negatively geotropic, and also posi- 
tively heliotropic to ultra-violet rays. These 
reactions serve to maintain them high up 
upon their food plant, and to prevent their 
wandering away. Caterpillars have no asso- 
ciative memory lasting more than one and a 
half minute, and they do not learn a labyrinth. 
Normal gipsy moth females select against 
males if the latter be deprived of wings, but 
if the females be deprived of sight they do 
not select against such males. In moths there 
is no sexual selection in respect to color. 
‘Modifiability in Behavior. II. Factors De- 
termining Direction and Character of Move- 
ment in the Earthworm,’ by H. S. Jennings. 
This is an analytical study of the various 
factors, internal and external, which decide 
how the earthworm shall move at a given 
moment. The matter is found to be extremely 
complicated. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
THE AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY. 


Tue one hundred and thirtieth regular meet- 
ing of the American Mathematical Society 
was held in New York City, on Saturday, 
October 27, 1906, thirty-three members being 
in attendance. President W. F. Osgood pre- 
sided at the morning session, Ex-President T. 
S. Fiske at the afternoon session. The council 
announced the election of the following persons 
to membership in the society: Professor A. F. 
Carpenter, Hastings College; Dr. H. M. 
Dadourian, Yale University; Mr. T. E. Gra- 
vatt, Pennsylvania State College; Rev. A. S. 
Hawkesworth, Allegheny, Pa.; Mr. H. R. 
Higley, Pennsylvania State College; Dr. Mario 
Kiseljak, Fiume, Hungary; Dr. Emanuel 
Lasker, New York, N. Y.; Professor Ernst 
Lebon, Lycée Charlemagne, Paris; Dr. R. L. 
Moore, Princeton University; Mr. W. P. Rus- 
sell, Pomona College; Professor J. H. Scar- 
borough, State Normal School, Warrensburg, 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 621. 


Mo.; Mr. L. P. Siceloff, Columbia University ; 
Professor Oyparissos Stephanos, University of 
Athens. One application for membership was 
received. The total membership of the so- 
ciety is now five hundred and fifty-eight. 

A list of nominations of officers and other 
members of the council was adopted and or- 
dered placed on the official ballot for the an- 
nual election at the December meeting. <A 
committee was appointed to audit the treas- 
urer’s accounts for the current year. 

Professor W. F. Osgood tendered his resig- 
nation from the editorial committee of the 
Transactions, finding it impossible to assume 
the burdens of the office. The vacaney was 
filled by the appointment of Professor H. S. 
White. 

The following papers were read at the meet- 
ing: 


S. F. RicHarpson: ‘ Note on poristic systems of 


polygons.’ 

R. D. CARMICHAEL: ‘ Multiply perfect numbers 
of four different primes.’ 

- ARTHUR RANuM: ‘On Jordan’s linear con- 
gruence groups. 

BEpPO Levi: ‘Geometrie projettive di congru- 
enza e geometrie projettive finite.’ 

CHARLOTTE A. Scotr: ‘Note on regular poly- 
gons.’ 

Max Mason and G. A. Briss: ‘Some problems 
in the calculus of variations in space with vari- 
able end points.’ 

Epwarp Kasner: ‘Note on the transforma- 
tions of dynamics.’ 

G. A. Miniter: ‘Groups of order p,, containing 
exactly p + 1 abelian subgroups of order p”—1. 

G. A. Mruter: ‘The groups in which every sub- 
group is either abelian or hamiltonian.’ 

The San Francisco section of the society 
met at the University of California, on Satur- 
day, September 29, 1906. 

The next meeting of the society will be the 
annual meeting for the election of officers on 
Friday and Saturday, December 28-29, 1906. 
The Chicago section will also meet during the 
Christmas holidays. W. H. Bussey, 

Assistant Secretary. 


THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 


A sTATED meeting was held on November 
16, 1906, at 8 o’clock. Professor Harry F. 


* 5 = ees 
Te Oe ee ee ee ee a 


ee See a Pe ee 


NOVEMBER 23, 1906.] 


Keller read a paper on ‘ Alcoholic Fermenta- 
tion in the light of Chemical Investigation.’ 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 


CORRESPONDENCE RELATING TO A STUDY OF AN 
AREA OF CRYSTALLINE ROCKS IN SOUTH- 
WESTERN NEW- ENGLAND. 


To THE Epitor or Science: I have recently 
resigned my position upon the staff of the 
United States Geological Survey for reasons 
which are, I believe, of some interest to geol- 
ogists throughout the country. I am, there- 
fore, led to request the publication in SctencE 
of the letter in which my resignation was 
tendered. 

American geology has furnished many 
knotty problems for solution, and workers 
within the same or neighboring fields have not 
infrequently and quite naturally come to hold 
different interpretations of the same facts. 
In more than a single instance during the 
present administration of the survey, the geol- 
ogists of the country have known that such 
alternate views were held and shortly there- 
after have learned that a ‘conference’ had 
been held and the problem quite expeditiously 
“settled... The methods by which such for- 
ward strides have been taken can hardly fail 
to interest those who have the advance of 
science really at heart. 


Wm. H. Hosps. 


University or MicHiGcan, 
Ann Arpor, Micu., Nov. 2, 1906. 
Dr. OC. D. Watcort, Director, 
U.S. Geological Survey, 
Washington, D. C. 

Sir: I have the honor to resign my com- 
mission as assistant geologist of the United 
States Geological Survey. 

My connection with the geological staff of 
the survey has now extended over more than 
a score of years, and this action is taken after 
much deliberation and as a protest against the 
arbitrary and overbearing administration of 
your chief executive, the geologist in charge 
of geology. Permit me, therefore, to briefly 
review for your consideration the later de- 
velopments of my official work in their rele- 
tion to survey administration. 


SCIENCE. 


655 


As you are doubtless fully aware, during 
almost the entire period of my connection 
with the survey my investigations have con- 
sisted of a virtually independent study of the 
structural geological problems offered by an 
area of crystalline rocks in southwestern New 
England. The history of American geology 
shows that this region is, perhaps, the most 
complex and obseure of any that has been 
studied, and the divergence of views reached 
by different workers and the obstinacy which 
in the past has characterized the defense of 
each, have caused it to be generally known as 
the ‘ Battlefield of American Geology.’ 

My earlier studies within the district fol- 
lowed conventional lines, and I found after 
repeated trials that the body of data collected 
could not be brought within a system so 
as to fit the accepted theories. Urgent requests 
from the office of the director to prepare my 
results for publication, I was obliged to meet 
with the statement that I was not yet ready 
to publish. 

In the continuation of the areal mapping 
southward I encountered during the season of 
1899 the small area of Newark rocks lying 
within the valley of the Pomeraug River of 
Connecticut and outlining a basin which was 
found to be intersected by an intricate net- 
work of nearly vertical faults. Believing that 
in this basin lay the hitherto unsuspected key 
to the structure of the larger district, much 
attention was given to a study of the faults 
in their relation to each other and to topog- 
raphy and hydrography, not alone within the 
Newark basin itself but in the surrounding 
erystalline area as well. The results of this 
study, which are published in the Twenty- 
first Annual Report of the Director (part 8, 
pp. 1-162), have, as suspected, afforded a clue 
for working out the structure of the entire 
district by showing that the faults so clearly 
revealed within the Newark basin are also 
present (though naturally less clearly re- 
vealed) within the crystalline uplands. 

My colleague, Professor H. E. Gregory, of 
Yale University, who has studied the area to 
the east of my district, soon reached the same 
conclusion and has expressed it in an official 
report to the survey upon the Farmington 


656 SCIENCE. 


quadrangle. Brief preliminary notices of the 
new conclusions, which were printed in the 
Journal of Geology and the American Jour- 
nal of Science, aroused the stout opposition 
of the geologist in charge of geology. 

After thoroughly testing the new hypoth- 
esis during several field seasons, a monograph 
of approximately 500 manuscript pages and 
numerous plates was prepared as my final 
report upon the structure of the district. This 
monograph embodies my conclusions and rep- 
resents the best work of which I am capable. 
In submitting it I made the request, upon the 
basis of the’ novelty of certain of the conclu- 
sions reached, that the report be first read by 
Mr. G. K. Gilbert. I enjoyed no special per- 
sonal relations with Mr. Gilbert, but placed 
confidence in him because of his ripe experi- 
ence, great ability, and scientific temper. Mr. 
Gilbert kindly consented to undertake this 
task, and his extensive critique of the mono- 
graph, prepared after several days’ study of 
it, while it did not accept as proven the more 
novel conclusions of the paper, yet was withal 
so fair a review and so commendatory of the 
way in which the report had been prepared, 
that I could not feel other than complimented 
by it. Mr. Gilbert pointed out, however, that 
the larger conclusions reached, if well founded, 
must discredit in some measure the work of 
other geologists both within and without the 
district specially studied. For this reason 
he recommended that the monograph be ex- 
amined still more carefully by some other 
member of the staff of the survey, and, if 
possible, with the author in the field. The 
monograph was then referred to Mr. Bailey 
Willis whose report (as stated in correspond- 
ence of Mr. Hayes) recommended the publica- 
tion of the monograph by the survey, but con- 
sidered that the author’s reputation would be 
better served by the omission from the mono- 
graph of certain chapters. The substance of 
these radical chapters has since been pub- 
lished in slightly abbreviated form as a bul- 
letin of the Geological Society of America 
(‘ Lineaments of the Atlantic Border Region,’ 
Vol. 15, 1904, pp. 483-506, pls. 45-47. Also: 
Rept. Eighth Intern. Geographic Congress, 
1904, pp. 193-203), and the letters which I 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 621. 


have received from prominent geologists both 
here and abroad indicate that the opinion of 
this reviewer has not been an altogether gen- 
eral one. 

The recent investigation of earthquakes has 
brought a wholly unexpected verification of 
the general correctness of the views expressed 
in the above paper (see my paper, entitled 
“Some Principles of Seismic Geology,’ with 
an introduction by Eduard Suess, president of 
the Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Bertrage 
zur Geophysik, Leipzig, Vol. 8, heft 2, 1906). 

After the examination by Mr. Willis the 
monograph was referred by the geologist in 
charge of geology to Mr. George Otis Smith, 
who had been born in a remote corner of New 
England and was, therefore, presumably the 
one best qualified to discuss the geology of 
that complicated region. When placed beside 
the report of Mr. Gilbert, the report of Mr. 
Smith emphasized by its sweeping statements 
the latter’s youth and his more recent gradua- 
tion from college. The monograph had re- 
vealed to him absolutely nothing of value, 
unless perhaps what had already been pub- 
lished; and in no measured terms the methods 
of the author were condemned. Prompt ac- 
tion upon this report was taken by Mr. Hayes 
in refusing the publication of the monograph. 
At the same time an order was sent me to at 
once complete the manuscript and _ illustra- 
tions for the Litchfield folio (which covers a 
portion of the area), the correctness or error 
of which would then be adjudicated through 
conference in the field. 

When the folio had been prepared I found 
that in place of a committee made up of non- 
partisan geologists, my work was to be judged 
by Messrs. Hayes and Smith, who throughout 
had not concealed their unfavorable opinion 
of the work. Messrs. A. OC. Spencer and 
Joseph Barrell were, however, present at the 
conference (in April, 1905) as guests, the 
former upon invitation of Mr. Hayes, the 
latter upon my own initiative. 

The Newark basin of the Pomeraug Valley 
having afforded the key to the structure, it 
was first gone over, and I believe the expres- 
sions of Messrs. Barrell, Spencer and Smith 
warrant me in saying that the observations of 


a 
% 
z 


FE fg em ie ee Ee ae 


NOVEMBER 23, 1906.] 


the two days were to them a revelation of 
how intricate and extensive the fault system 
of the valley was, and how well it had been 
interpreted by my maps. Mr. Smith expressed 
the view that the faults which I had mapped 
were only a part of those present. Mr. Hayes 
merely remarked at last, ‘ Well, that is very 
convineing.’ So soon, however, as the ex- 
amination was transferred to the crystalline 
areas of the district, I found on the part of 
the two official reviewing authorities utter un- 
willingness to give any attention to the new 
methods which had been derived for locating 
faults; and in those cases where older methods 
were insufficient to prove the presence of the 
supposed fault it was assumed not to be pres- 
ent. The manuscript of the Litchfield folio 
was upon the basis of the conference accepted 
after emasculation, but the geologist in charge 
of geology would not permit the question of 
publication of my monograph to be reopened. 

I submit to you, sir, that a geologist em- 
ployed by a government bureau is entitled 
not only to the small pecuniary remuneration 
which he receives, but to the scientific fruits 
of his labor as well. If he is incompetent or 
insufficiently trained, he should be discharged; 
otherwise the ripe fruit of his labors for the 
securing of which the public money has been 
expended, should be made available for study. 
It is even possible that brother geologists may 
have as much interest in the opinion of the 
person who best knows the facts, together 
with the evidence upon which his conclusions 
are based, as in the opinion of the reviewing 
authorities. 

The creation of the office of geologist in 
charge of geology by your administration has 
in effect introduced a public censor for all 
American geological work. It is to-day prac- 
tically impossible to publish a large geological 
monograph upon any portion of the national 
domain without first securing the consent of 
the authorities of the geological survey. The 
United States Geological Survey has now 
already become responsible for a body of offi- 
cial dogma—largely the personal geological 
opinions of the geologist in charge of geology. 
The realization of this fact by European 
geologists has latterly brought the survey into 


SCIENCE. 


657 


some ridicule and fixed upon it the name of 
the ‘Great American Trust,’ a term by which 
I heard it more than once called during the 
past year. I maintain that such a policy is 
unique among geological surveys and as un- 
democratic as it is unscientific. So far as 
my knowledge extends these ‘Standard Oil’ 
methods of which I complain are not to be 
found in European bureaus of geology, where 
it is the practise to assume no responsibility 
for opinions expressed by staff members. 
Where different views have been reached by 
experienced workers within the same or neigh- 
boring fields, the scientific public is there 
given the chance to decide upon the merits 
of the controversy. The United States Geo- 
logical Survey alone officially decides which 
opinion is ‘right’ and suppresses the others. 

If we grant for the sake of argument that 
such an un-American policy is defensible, it 
is obvious that the geological censor must be 
a geologist not only fair minded and pro- 
gressive, but of unusually wide experience and 
of great familiarity with the currents of geo- 
logical thought in other countries. The man 
who holds the position of grand vizier to the 
head of the geological survey unfortunately 
possesses none of these qualifications. He 
is a hustling business manager of the sledge- 
hammer type who has transformed the survey 
of Powell—which in a notable manner ad- 
vanced the geological thought of the world 
and brought golden opinions from all sorts of 
people—into a great mining bureau with an 
auxiliary map establishment for ‘ coloring in’ 
the national domain. Notably ignorant of 
the trend of modern European geological 
thought—and apparently wholly oblivious to 
it—his stubbornness in holding an opinion 
once expressed has become a byword in the 
survey. His replies to official communica- 
tions are in many instances characterized by 
brutal abruptness and often affect the re- 
cipient like a blow in the face, I do not con- 
sider it necessary to furnish examples, since 
wholly characteristic ones can be found in the 
published correspondence with a prominent 
geologist.” 

As I shall elsewhere. attempt to show, the 

1ScIENCE, October 26, 1906. 


658 SCIENCE. 


wall of prejudice which surrounds the office 
of the geologist in charge of geology and 
makes of it a sort of national quarantine sta- 
tion for new ideas, is a direct and natural 
result of the overgrown kindergarten estab- 
lishment of the survey—the department of 
geologic folios. The great extravagance of 
this enterprise almost precludes changes in 
the completed folios, and a ready-made pat- 
tern of geological work seems absolutely essen- 
tial to its successful completion. The letters 
of the geologist in charge of geology in refer- 
ence to new views upon areas for which folios 
have been published, contain expressions like, 
‘This folio is put forward as the final and 
most satisfactory results to be reached in this 
region, and ‘The Geological Survey can not 
afford to entirely reverse itself.’ Should it 
develop that fundamental geological problems 
have not all been solved, it is conceivable 
that when the numerous map areas of the 
geologic atlas are tied together a century or 
more hence, serious difficulties will be en- 
countered in matching borders prepared at 
widely different dates. 

Reverting now to the conclusions which I 
have reached regarding the structure of south- 
western New England, I may add that during 
the past year I have found some opportunity 
to note while in Europe the conclusions which 
are now being reached by geologists respecting 
other regions of crystalline rocks. In Cala- 
bria, the Vogesen, in southern Norway and 
especially in Scotland, essentially the same 
conclusions have been reached by the official 
geologists of those countries respecting the 
relative importance of fold and fault struc- 
tures. I am informed by the director of the 
Geological Survey of Great Britain that a 
report will soon appear treating of the crystal- 
line area of Scotland, within which area a 
definite system of faults has been found to be 
superimposed upon the flexures everywhere 
present in the district. These faults are 
nearly vertical, are comprised in several 
parallel series, and are so numerous that 
though the map is covered with them, a small 
proportion only can be represented. 

I trust I have made the reasons for tender- 
ing my resignation sufficiently clear. The 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 621. 


proper function of a great national geological 
survey I conceive to be something more than 
to report upon mining regions and to bring 
together some tons of geological card cata- 
logues printed in diluted English, otherwise 
designated as folios. My resignation from the 
survey will permit me to freely express this 
view and raise my voice against what I con- 
sider a most pernicious influence upon Amer- 
ican geology. 
I am, sir, very respectfully, 
Wma. H. Hosss. 


SPECIAL ARTICLES. 


A STATISTICAL STUDY OF AMERICAN MEN OF 
SCIENCE: THE SELECTION OF A GROUP OF 
ONE THOUSAND SCIENTIFIC MEN. 


TueE psychologist, like the student of other 
sciences, can view his subject from different 
standpoints and pursue it by various methods. 
He may get what knowledge he can of mental 
processes by introspection, or he may use ob- 
jective methods. He may confine himself to 
the ‘inner life,’ or he may study the indi- 
vidual in all his psychophysical relations. He 
may give verbal descriptions, or he may make 
measurements. He may describe static men- 
tal life, or he may study the lower animals 
and human beings from a dynamic and genetic 
point of view. He may attempt to determine 
facts and laws that hold for mental life in 
general, or he may attend to individual dif- 
ferences. He may ignore the practical applica- 
tions of his science, or he may investigate 
them. Psychology has until recently concerned 
itself chiefly with the first of these various 
alternatives. But its recent progress and 
future development seem to the present writer 
to depend particularly on the second. In this 
case, our two main methods, which ean often 
be combined, are experiment and measure- 
ment in the laboratory, and the inductive and 
statistical study of groups of individuals. In 
recent years great progress has been made in 
both directions. | Experimental psychology 
has become a science coordinate with the other 
great sciences, and statistics have been ex- 
tended to include sociological and moral phe- 
nomena. 


NovEMBER 23, 1906.] 


The intensive study of groups of individuals 
has, however, only been begun. ‘The origin of 
the method may be attributed to Quetelet, 
whose ‘Essai de physique sociale’ was pub- 
lished in 1835, and its principal development 
to Dr. Francis Galton, whose ‘ Hereditary 
Genius’ (1869) has been followed by a series 
of books and articles, including ‘ English Men 
of Science’ (1874). Another work bearing 
closely on the subject matter of the present 
paper is Alphonse de Candolle’s ‘ Histoire des 
sciences et des savants depuis deux siécles’ 
(1873). Other extensive studies of groups of 
individuals are: Dr. Paul Jacoby’s ‘ Etudes 
sur la sélection’ (1881), which has as its sub- 
ject matter the 3,311 Frenchmen of the eight- 
eenth century whose biographies are included 
in the ‘ Biographie universelle,’ Professor A. 
Odin’s ‘Genése des grands hommes’ (1895), 
which is a study of 6,382 French men of let- 
ters; Mr. Havelock Ellis’s ‘ A Study of British 
Genius’ (1906, published in the Popular Sci- 
ence Monthly, February—September, 1901), 
which considers 859 men and 438 women of 
eminence, and Dr. F. A. Woods’s ‘ Mental and 
Moral Heredity in Royalty’ (1906, published 
in the Popular Science Monthly, August, 
1902—April, 1903), which treats 832 members 
of royal families. 

I have myself selected as material for study 
three groups: a thousand students of Columbia 
University ;' the thousand most eminent men 
in history;’ a thousand American men of 
science.° 


1¢Physical and Mental Measurements of the 
Students of Columbia University’ (with Dr. Liv- 
ingston Farrand). Psychol. Rev., 3: 618-648, 
1896. Cf. also the dissertation for the doctorate 
of Clark Wissler ‘The Correlation of Mental and 
Physical Tests,” Psychol. Rev., Monograph Sup- 
plements, 16: iv--62, 1901. 

2A Statistical Study of Eminent Men,’ Pop. 
Sci. Mon., 53: 359-378, 1903. 

3*Homo -Scientificus Americanus: Address of 
the president of the American Society of Natural- 
ists,” Scrence, N. S., 17: 561-570, 1903. ‘ Sta- 
tistics of American Psychologists,’ Am. Jour. of 
Psychol., 14: 310-328, 1903. Towards the cost 
of computation in connection with this research, 
I have received a grant of two hundred dollars 
from the Esther Herrman Research Fund of the 
Scientific Alliance of New York. 


SCIENCE. 


659 


Each of these groups seems to me favorable 
for such work. The students of Columbia 
College are measured, tested and observed in 
our laboratory; we are able to follow their 
academic courses and their careers in after 
life. The lives of the most eminent men of 
history are to a certain extent public prop- 
erty, open to statistical investigation and 
psychological analysis. A thousand scientific 
men in the United States will doubtless be 
willing to assist in furnishing the material 
needed, which is in any case accessible from 
other sources. 


TABLE I. THE NUMBER OF AMERICAN MEN OF SCI- 
ENCE AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION AMONG 
THE SCIENCES. 


Blebes g Cel lacs 

S lsd lse[& |Sal ee | Sees 

S (8a| 88) 26/25/28 | F| es 

m |65\|2c\2e\/sr/5,|a=|aga 

a |33) 88) 23) S2\ eo | 8) ass 

S |Eajas\e | gm| se] =| see 

a 2 oa as 

Mathematics..| 375| 81| 1/136) 61} 35) 46) 380 
ity sites escecn- 149 | 167 | 23/105 | 69) 155} 73) 556 
Chemistry.. .../1983 |174| 12|143 137) 73;:166| 656 
Astronomy ...| 125} 40| 12| 41} 16; 48) 51) 212 
Geology........ 256 |121| 13] 55| 32) 161/174) 436 
Botany......... 169/120; 7| 57| 53) 94) 70) 416 
Zoology ......-. 237 |146| 17] 83| 72) 2431131) 620 
Physiology ...| 96| 10) 2/ 53| 18] 22) 25) 156 
Anatomy...... TSG) 10) Ol SG) gla aalis lets eres 
Pathology ..... 1388| 14] 5] 68| 4) 44] 56) 224 
Anthropology) 60| 60} 3] 4| 5) 56; 37| 92 
Psychology ...| 127) 40| 1} 37| 63| 58; 21) 136 
Total........../83801 | 983 | 96 1838 |531 |1002 868'4000 


REDUCED TO PER THOUSAND. 


Mathematics..| 99| 32] 10|162|113} 35) 53) 95 
JANG NCS cosscdee 39 
Chemistry..... 
Astronomy...| 33)| 41/125) 49| 30) 47) 59) 53 


Geology........ 68 | 123 |136 | 66 | 60| 161/200) 109 
Botamniy . seers. 45 | 122| 73) 68| 99| 94| 81) 104 
Zoology .....++- 63 | 149 |177 | 99 |1384 | 243)151) 155 
Physiology ...| 25| 10] 21) 63) 34] 22) 29) 39 
Anatomy ...... SG) LO ON G72 ANS EON 28 
Pathology......| 386] 14] 52) 81) 8| 44] 64) 56 


Anthropology} 16] 61] 31| 5| 9| 56 43) 23 
Psychology ...| 34] 41/ 10) 44|118| 57) 24) 34 


‘The distribution among the sciences of those 
in the ‘ Biographical Directory of American Men 
of Science’ (published this year by The Science 
Press, New York) differs rather more than I had 
expected from this estimate, which was based on 
the first thousand entries that were written. 


660 


The accompanying table, which with most 

of the data to be discussed refers approxi- 
mately to January 1, 1903, shows how Amer- 
ican men of science are distributed among the 
principal sciences by various agencies. There 
are in the table certain facts that require 
allowance, or at least mention. The American 
Chemical Society and the doctorates conferred 
in chemistry represent in part professional 
work in applied science. Under the special 
societies there are duplications, as scientific 
men may belong to more than one society. 
The American Mathematical Society and the 
Association of American Anatomists have 
been rather liberal in the admission of mem- 
bers. As mathematics and the medical sci- 
ences are required subjects for large groups 
of students, there are many teachers, but this 
has not produced a proportional number of 
investigators. The membership of the Na- 
tional Academy represents to a certain extent 
the interests of the passing scientific genera- 
tion, the doctorates the interests of the com- 
ing scientific generation. 
In selecting a group of a thousand scien- 
tific men, the number in each science was 
taken roughly proportional to the total num- 
ber of investigators in that science, the num- 
bers being: Chemistry, 175; physics, 150; 
zoology, 150; botany, 100; geology, 100; 
mathematics, 80; pathology, 60; astronomy, 
50; psychology, 50; physiology, 40; anatomy, 
25; anthropology, 20. 


There are in the ‘Directory’ 4,131 names, of 
whom 131 are students of philosophy, education, 
economies and sociology, leaving just 4,000 in the 
twelve sciences under consideration. They are 
distributed among the sciences as_ follows: 
mathematics, 340; physics, 672; chemistry, 677; 
astronomy, 160; geology, 444; botany, 401; zool- 
ogy, 441; physiology, 105; anatomy, 118; pathol- 
ogy, 357; anthropology, 91; psychology, 194. 
These figures were not at hand when it was neces- 
sary to select the thousand men of science for 
this research. The numbers under physics and 
pathology are increased by the inclusion under 
these sciences of engineers and physicians. The 
chief discrepancy is that there are fewer zoologists 
than was indicated by the preliminary estimate 
or by the other data of the table. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 621. 


The individuals were selected by asking ten 
leading representatives of each science to ar- 
range the students of that science in the order 
of merit. There were for each science slips 
made with the names and addresses of all 
those known to have carried on research work 
of any consequence. The total number as- 


signed a position was 2,481, distributed among 


the sciences as follows: Mathematics, 201; 
physics, 261; chemistry, 389; astronomy, 165; 
geology, 257; botany, 213; zoology, 290; 
physiology, 101; anatomy, 89; pathology, 251; 
anthropology, 72; psychology, 192. These 
numbers included duplications when a man 
was given a place in more than one science. 

~The memorandum sent to those who were 
asked to make the arrangement was as follows: 


MEMORANDUM. 


The undersigned is making a study of American 
men of science. The first problem to be consid- 
ered is the distribution of scientific men among 
the sciences and in different regions, institutions, 
ete., including the relative rank of this country 
as compared with other countries in the different 
sciences, the relative strength of different univer- 
sities, ete. It is intended that the study shall 
be continued beyond the facts of distribution to 
what may be called the natural history of scien- 
tifie men. 

For these purposes a list of scientific men in 
each science, arranged approximately in the or- 
der of merit, is needed. This can best be secured 
if those who are most competent to form an opin- 
ion will independently make the arrangement. 
The average of such arrangements will give the 
most valid order, and the degree of validity will 
be indicated by the variation or probable error 
of position for each individual. 

It is obvious that such an order can be only 
approximate, and for the objects in view an ap- 
proximation is all that is needed. The judgments 
are possible, because they are as a matter of fact 
made in elections to a society of limited member- 
ship, in filling chairs at a university, ete. By 
merit is understood contributions to the advance- 
ment of science, primarily by research, but teach- 
ing, administration, editing, the compilation of 
text-books, etc., should be considered. The dif- 
ferent factors that make a man efficient in ad- 
vancing science must be roughly balanced. An 
effort may be made later to disentangle these 
factors. 


NOVEMBER 23, 1906.] 


In ranking a man in a given science his con- 
tributions to that science only should be con- 
sidered. Thus, an eminent astronomer may also 
be a mathematician, but in ranking him as a 
mathematician only his contributions to mathe- 
matics should be regarded. In such a case, how- 
ever, mathematics should be given its widest in- 
terpretation. It is more difficult to arrange the 
order when the work can not readily be com- 
pared, as, for example, systematic zoology and 
morphology, but, as already stated, it is only 
expected that the arrangement shall be approxi- 
mate. The men should be ranked for work ac- 
tually accomplished, that is, a man of sixty and 
a man of forty, having done about the same 
amount of work, should come near together, 
though the man of forty has more promise. It 
may be possible later to calculate a man’s value 
with allowance for age. 

In case there is noted the omission of any 
scientific man from the list who should probably 
have a place in the first three quarters, a slip may 
be added in the proper place with his name and 
address. In case there are names on the list re- 
garding which nothing is known, the slips should 
be placed together at the end. The slips, as ar- 
ranged in order, should be tied together and re- 
turned to the undersigned. 

It is not intended that the lists shall be pub- 
lished, at all events not within ten years. No 
individual list will be published. They will be 
destroyed when the averages have been calculated, 
and the arrangements will be regarded as strictly 
confidential. 


The ten positions assigned to each man were 
averaged, and the average deviations of the 
judgments were calculated. This gave the 
most probable order of merit for the students 
in each science, together with data for the 
probable error of the position of each indi- 
vidual. The students of the different sciences 
were then combined in one list by interpola- 
tion, the probable errors being adjusted ac- 
cordingly. The list contains 1,443 names, of 
whom the first thousand are the material used 
in this research. 

It should be distinctly noted that the fig- 
ures give only what they profess to give, 
namely, the resultant opinion of ten com- 
petent judges. They show the reputation of 
the men among experts, but not necessarily 
their ability or performance. Constant errors, 
such as may arise from a man’s being better 


SCIENCE. 


661 


or less known than he deserves, are not elimi- 
nated. There is, however, no other criterion 
of a man’s work than the estimation in which 
it is held by those most competent to judge. 
The posthumous reputation of a great man 
may be more correct than contemporary opin- 
ion, but very few of those in this list of scien- 
tific men will be given posthumous considera- 
tion. I am somewhat sceptical as to merit 
not represented by performance, or as to per- 
formance unrecognized by the best contem- 
porary judgment. There are doubtless indi- 
vidual exceptions, but, by and large, men do 
what they are able to do and find their proper 
level in the estimation of their colleagues. 

In order to obtain the 10 arrangements in 
each science, or 120 in all, it was necessary to 
ask the assistance of 192 scientific men. 
Twenty-three of these did not reply to my 
letter; 16 declined to make the arrangement, 
usually on the ground that it was not feasible; 
23 consented, but afterwards gave it up or 
did not send the slips in time, and 10 made 
arrangements that could not be used, in most 
cases because the names were arranged in 
groups instead of being ordered serially. As 
the arrangement resulted, those who made 
it and those who were asked but failed were 
distributed in the different hundreds of the 
thousand, as follows: 


TABLE II. THE STANDING OF THOSE WHO MADE 
THE ARRANGEMENTS AND OF THOSE WHO 
WERE ASKED BUT FAILED. 


HIM/S/ElE/PIEIE IK [HK] 3 
Observers..| 47/ 26] 20| 9/6 |3 |}1/113)4 |0 | 120 
Failed......| 29] 20|10] 5|1|0/3|1/0|1/2| % 
Total..... 76| 46) 30/14; 7 |3 |4 |2 |3 2 | 192 


Thus 76 of those who proved to be in the 
first hundred men of science were asked to 
make the arrangement and 47 of them did so. 
Only twelve of those who made the arrange- 
ment are not in the first five hundred. In 
anthropology, for example, there are only 
twenty representatives in the list, of whom 
but two would probably be in the first hundred, 
and of the twelve sciences there are only 


662 SCIENCE. 


three that would be expected to have more 
than ten in the first hundred. It is, there- 
fore, evident that the ten scientific men who 
gave the judgments in each science are among 
the leaders in that science. But their stand- 
ing must of necessity vary with the different 
sciences, one half of all the anthropologists 
having made the arrangement and only two 
thirty-fifths of all the chemists. 

Those asked to arrange the names were dis- 
tributed among different institutions, as shown 
in Table III. 


TABLE III. THE DISTRIBUTION AMONG INSTITUTIONS 
OF THOSE WHO WERE ASKED TO MAKE 
THE ARRANGEMENTS. 


A H | we Og ae ee 

57 | 24 | 53 | 82) 53] 58 

A Aa peo 
Hanvand’s. ees canes 66.5) 23 | .85) 7|.10] .380 
Columbia ..:..:...0.02..-.- 60.0) 20 | .383 | 13] .21| .65 
Chica ON even sue eet. 39.0) 17 | .44) 15) .38)| .88 
ComnmellleeeEe eee 33.9} 6 |.18| 4] .12) .67 
Geological Survey......... S20 Re Zen feer4a| al eo 
Depart. of Agriculture..| 32.0} 3 | .09| 3) .09 |1.00 
HELO KIS saree auescnseeeacce 30.5) 138 | .43]) 5/|.16] .38 
VERIO AAAS ARUA GA aI Edn eae tothe 26.5, 8 |.30| 6) :23)| .75 
Smithsonian Institution.| 22.0; 9 |.41| 5] .23| .55 
IMiehiganttaccsec ce sosve cece 20.0; 9 |.45| 7|.85| .78 
IWasconsinecses eee ee WERO! 8 | oily} BR ae a0 
Pennsylvania ............... 17.0) 10 | .59 |) 6) .35| .60 
Stantondae ee ee aes 16.0; 38|.19} 3) .19/1.00 
IETINNCeLO nee eee eee U4 | Pl 0;0 10 
New York University....| 9.5) 5 | .53| 4|.42| .80 
Clarke ee as tas a 7.0) 5]|.71| 3|.48) .60 
New York Bot. Garden..| 6.0) 2 | .33) 2) .33/|1.00 
One at each institution... 46 | .08| 31} .06| .67 

Ota ee Aen 192 120 


Thus 23 scientific men connected with 
Harvard University were requested to sort 
out the slips; this was done by 7 of them. 
Sixty-six and five tenths of the thousand, 
as the list resulted, are at Harvard Uni- 
versity; about 10 per cent. of them made 
the arrangement, which is about 30 per cent. 
of those asked. Seventeen of the 39 scien- 
tific men at the University of Chicago were 
asked to make the arrangement, of whom 
fifteen accomplished it and two did not. Or 
38 per cent. of all its men made the arrange- 
ment, who were 88 per cent. of those asked. 
The numbers are in most cases too few to 


than any one of them. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 621. 


give a correct measure of the cooperativeness 
in such a scheme of the different institutions, 
but, so far as they go, they are not altogether 
without interest. They are not, however, 
printed here for that purpose, but in order 
to show the geographical distribution of those 
who made the arrangement. It appears that 
different institutions are fairly well repre- 
sented, there being no great preponderance 
of any one of them. Of the 120 who made 
the arrangement 89 are connected with the 17 
institutions given in the table, although these 
institutions contain only 450 of the 1,000 sci- 
entific men. They, however, have, as will be 
shown later, a much larger proportion of the 
more eminent scientific men. 

Those who made the arrangements are not 
likely to possess equal information, impartial- 
ity and good judgment. If there were only 
two arrangements of each group it would not 
be possible to decide objectively which is the 
better. We have, however, ten arrangements, 
and the average is more likely to be correct 
The conditions are 
the same as in the case of observations in the 
physical sciences. As the personal equation 
of the astronomer is determined by comparing 
his observations with those of other astron- 
omers, so here we can measure the accuracy 
of judgment of each observer by determining 
how far it departs from the average judgment. 

I have counted up the departures of each of 
the ten observers from the average result for 
one of the groups, namely, the fifty psychol- 
ogists. The data are given in Table IV. by 
groups of ten. 

The observer A is always more accurate 
than any other observer, except in one case 
in the fifty. The validity of judgment of the 
ten observers varies from ‘7.9 to 17.26, or about 
as 1:2, which is approximately the variability 
that I have found in normal individuals in 
other mental traits, such as accuracy of per- 
ception, time of mental processes, memory, ete. 
The departures from the mean reliability of 
judgment, given in the last line of the table, 
indicate that accuracy of judgment tends in 
a general way to follow the normal distribu- 
tion of the probability curve, though with so 
few cases this may be accidental. As the 


apy, Lp ott 3 


Se ee Le 


NOVEMBER 23, 1906.] 


SCIENCE. 


663 


TABLE IV. MEASUREMENTS OF THE ACCURACY OF JUDGMENT OF TEN OBSERVERS. 

A B Cc D E F G H I J Average. 

if 1.6 5.2 2.3 onl 1.9 2.8 1.8 2.4 5.0 2.6 2.87 
jul 4.9 7.0 8.7 7.8 6.3 4,2 10.2 6.1 7.0 3.1 6.73 
III. oll 11.1 13.5 12.4 24.2 16.2 12.5 12.0 16.9 27.6 15.35 
IV. 13.8 18.0 16.7 18.4 18.8 18.1 Ppa tl 25.4 21.9 25.5 19.93 
Vv. 2ST 17.4 PAIL Pallodl 13:2 26.6 HALT 24.7 22.9 25.5 20.63 

Ay. 7.9 11.74 | 12.46 | 12.56 | 12.88 | 13.58 | 13.78 | 14.12 | 14.74 | 17.26 | 13.1 
A. —5.20 | —1.86 | —0.64 | —0.54 | —0.2 5| +0.48 | +0.68 | +1.02 | +1.64 | +4.16 +1.60 


validity of the judgments varies to a measured 
degree, the arrangements made by the indi- 
viduals could be weighted. J have not under- 
taken the somewhat tedious calculations neces- 
sary; they would not considerably alter the 
order, but would make it somewhat more exact, 
at the same time decreasing the probable 
errors. 

There is here measured for the first time, 
I think, the accuracy or reliability of judg- 
ment. This is obviously a complex and im- 
perfectly analyzed trait, depending on a large 
number of varying conditions. A man’s judg- 
ment may be good in some directions or from 
certain points of view, and bad in other ways. 
Still we understand vaguely what is meant by 
good judgment and value the trait highly in 
ourselves and in others. Thus most people 
complain that they have a bad memory, but 
I have never heard any one acknowledge that 
he had a bad judgment. It appears that the 
measurement of the reliability of judgment 
of individuals may have wide-reaching appli- 
cations in civil service examinations and in 
all cases where individuals are selected for 
special purposes, a balanced judgment being 
nearly always more important than the kind 
of information that can be tested by a written 
examination. JI have measured the accuracy 
of observation and memory’ and Dr. F. B. 
Sumner has measured the validity of beliefs.° 
When we learn to look upon our observations, 
recollections, beliefs and judgments object- 
ively, stating in numbers the probability of 
their correctness and assigning probable errors 


5* Measurements of the Accuracy of Recollec- 
tion,’ ScrencE, N. S.,.2: 761-6, 1895. 

<A Statistical Study of Belief, Psychol. Rev., 
5: 616-31, 1898. 


to them, there will be an extraordinary change 
in our attitude in religion, politics, business 
and all the affairs of life. 

There are two cases in which these judg- 
ments were subject to special conditions which 
it may be worth the while to notice—that in 
which a man of science gave his own position 
and that in which he gave the positions of his 
immediate colleagues. In sending out the 
slips, nothing was said as to whether it was 
expected that a man should include his own 
name. Of the 120 who made the arrange- 
ment, 34 gave positions to themselves; 20 as- 
signed positions to themselves lower than 
that resulting from the average judgment, 
twelve higher positions and two the same posi- 
tions. On the other hand, 22 gave themselves 
positions higher than the average grade (which 
is lower than the position, being related to it 
somewhat as the average is to the median), 
ten lower and two the same. The judg- 
ments were somewhat more accurate than 
the average judgments. In 21 cases the 
departures from the mean were less than the 
average departures and in 13 cases they were 
larger. It thus appears that there is on the 
average no constant error in judging our- 
selves—we are about as likely to overestimate 
as to underestimate ourselves, and we can 
judge ourselves slightly more accurately than 
we are likely to be judged by one of our col- 
leagues. We can only know ourselves from 
the reflected opinions of others, but it seems 
that we are able to estimate these more cor- 
rectly than can those who are less interested. 
There are, however, wide individual differ- 
ences; several observers overestimate them- 
selves decidedly, while others underestimate 
themselves to an equal degree. 


664 


We tend to overestimate the positions of 
our immediate colleagues, though the de- 
parture from the average judgment is not 
considerable. Here again there are decided 
individual differences; thus one man assigned 
positions to six of his colleagues, all of which 
were above the average, and another assigned 
positions to five of his colleagues, all of which 
were below the average. Most of us also 
overestimate those whose lines of research are 
similar to our own. 

These factors affect the order of the names 
in the list but slightly, though they increase 
the probable errors. A more considerable vari- 
ation is due to the fact that the names were 
divided among twelve sciences, whereas the 
lines between the sciences are artificial A 
man’s work may not fall naturally in one of 
these conventional sciences, or it may fall in 
two or more of them. In such cases he is 
likely to receive a lower position than he de- 
serves. It is not clear how this difficulty 
could have been avoided, for if more depart- 
ments of science had been used, the over- 
lapping would have been greater. 


TABLE V. THE NUMBERS OF THOSE WHO WERE AS- 
SIGNED A POSITION IN MORE THAN ONE SCIENCE. 


j 


. ma) 

Sess es esl ee Ss 

3) 4/2) 2/ S) 8/8) 2) 8) 83/8 

Ala] | 2/2] $| 2/8] $|s| 5) 8 

®| ml) BH) S| 0] 8] S| 4] 8/9] &\3 

SG a) &/o/ 8) S| 2) Z| 8/3) & 

lial ch OG tl 
Mathematics ...|—| 1 3 1| 6 
Eliysicoeses saat 11/—|1)4) 1 17 
Chemistry ...... 3 8 ZAP a 9 
Astronomy......| 9 — 9 
Geology ......... 1|—|1|2 2 6 
Biotamnyessencce 1 2|— 1 4 
Zoology .......-. 4| |—| 3)15) 1 23 
Physiology... .. 2 —| 1/4 i) 
Anatomy........ 4) 3—|1 WPS) 
Pathology ...... 3 2) 1|\— 6 
Anthropology.. 1 4| |—'1| 6 
Psychology..... 1 1/—| 2 

20) 4 | 7 | 8 |12| 1 | 6/11/23] 8 | 1) 5! 106 


Table V. gives the cases in which the thou- 
sand scientific men were given places in the 
lists of two or more sciences, even though in 
the science in which they were given the lower 
position they did not come within the thou- 
sand, but only in the 1,443 who made up the 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 621. 


total list. The horizontal lines of the table 
give those who were assigned the higher posi- 
tion in the science named, and the vertical 
lines those who were assigned the lower posi- 
tion. Thus there was one man whose higher 
position was in mathematics, but who was 
also given a position in physics, and there 
were eleven men who are primarily physicists 
and secondarily mathematicians. There are 
93 men who have a position in two sciences, 
five who have a position in three sciences and 
one who has a position in four sciences. It 
thus appears that about one tenth of our sci- 
entific men do work of some importance in 
more than one of the twelve sciences here 
defined. 

The chief interest of the table is that it 
gives a certain measure of the relationships 
of the sciences. Thus mathematics, physics 
and astronomy, on the one hand, and zoology, 
anatomy and physiology, on the other, are the 
most closely interrelated groups. This might 
have been foreseen, but the table gives the 
definite relations. There are but few who are 
anatomists only, whereas botany is the science 
which is the least likely to be combined with 
any other. One of the most serious obstacles 
to the advancement of science is the lack of 
men who are expert both in an exact and in @ 
natural or biological science. 

There are in all the leading countries acad- 
emies of science, whose membership is sup- 
posed to consist of their most eminent scien- 
tifie men, and one of the principal functions 
of such academies appears to be the election 
of members as an honor. The methods of 
selection used in this research are more ac- 
curate than those of any academy of sciences, 
and it might seem that the publication of the 
list would be as legitimate as that of a list 
of our most eminent men selected by less ade- 
quate methods. But perhaps its very accuracy 
would give it a certain brutality. 

Of the first hundred scientific men on the 
list who are eligible, 61 are included among 
the 97 members of the National Academy of 
Sciences, and of the first 30 men on the list 28 
are members of the academy. ‘The elections 
to the academy tend to follow the lst pretty 
closely in the order in which men are arranged 


NOVEMBER 23, 1906.] 


in the separate sciences—usually falling within 
the probable error of position. But the acad- 
emy has no method of comparing performance 
in different sciences, and if one science has 
less than its proper representation, the dis- 
parity is likely to increase rather than to de- 
crease. Thus there are in the country about 
half as many astronomers as botanists, but 
there are twice as many astronomers in the 
academy. The second principal variation in 
the membership of the academy is due to the 
fact that men do not always retain the posi- 
tions that they hold when elected. Apart 
from the somewhat greater accuracy, the su- 
periority of this list consists in the assignment 
of probable errors of position. Thus the prob- 
able error at the close of the first hundred is 
about 25 places, that is, there are about 25 
men not in an ideal academy of a hundred, 
whose chances of belonging there are at least 
one in four. A list such as this would also 
give us academies of any desired size—the 
sixty most eminent men of science, as in the 
Paris Academy, the hundred or thereabouts 
as in the National Academy, or the 450 or 
thereabouts, as in the Royal Society. 

While under existing conditions of senti- 
ment, the publication of a list of our thousand 
leading men of science in the order of merit 
with the probable errors would not be toler- 
ated, I have indicated those who are included 
in the thousand in my ‘ Biographical Direct- 
ory of American Men of Science,’ a work of 
reference that may be regarded as a _ by- 
product of this study. I did this with some 
hesitation, but it seemed best to place on 
record those who were the subjects of this 
research, more especially as this could be done 
without any invidiousness. The probable 
error toward the end of the list is about 100 
places, so there are one hundred others who 
have at least one chance in four of belonging 
to this group. Further, several scientific men 
of standing were omitted from the lists as 
originally drawn up, and were not considered 
in making the arrangements. Consequently, 
while each of those indicated in the Biograph- 
ical Directory is probably one of the leading 
thousand American men of science, there 
are others not indicated who belong to this 


SCIENCE. 


665 


group. This, however, is a minor factor, and 
we have with sufficient accuracy for statistical 
purposes a group of the leading thousand 
American men of science arranged in the 
order of merit with the probable errors of posi- 


tion known. J. McKeen. Cattetu. 
CoLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 


A NOTE ON ASSORTATIVE MATING. 


In the natural selection and topographic 
isolation theories combined there is offered a 
plausible explanation of the means whereby 
species may be derived from other species, 
granted that the derived species do not occupy 
the same geographic (topographic) range as 
the parent form. Where they do, some new 
aid to natural selection in place of topographic 
isolation must be invoked to explain how 
slight variation may be progressively increased 
until differences of selective worth exist be- 
tween parent and splitting-off types. De- 
terminate variation and physiological isola- 
tion are two such aids proposed. . The latter 
(with which Romanes’s name is familiarly as- 
sociated) assumes that among the members 
of a species living in the same locality there 
may be among the inevitable slight fluctuating 
variations some of such a character as to lead 
to assortative mating, 7. e., that individuals 
of certain like variation may tend to mate 
together, either because of mutual attraction 
between like, or of mutual repulsion between 
unlike forms. This tendency to selective or 
assortative mating between like individuals 
may come to result in time in such an increase 
of differentiation among groups of individuals 
of the species, although these groups may live 
side by side or confusedly mingled with each 
other in the same locality, that mating between 
unlike groups will become physiologically im- 
possible. That is, that these groups will con- 
stitute distinct species. 

The facts of observation or experiment ad- 
duced to support this theory are very few. 
Indeed, I do not recall any at the present 
moment. Nevertheless, the need of an aid to 
selection capable of bringing slight continuous 
fluctuating variation up to a life-and-death 
selective value, and the generally plausible 
character of this theory of Romanes (and of 


666 SCIENCE. 


other earlier evolutionists) has given it a cer- 
tain standing in the literature of bionomics. 

A student in my laboratory, Miss Lilian 
Ramsay, in a general study of variation and 
heredity in certain insects, has been able to 
gather some definite data in regard to as- 
sortative mating (the basic assumption of the 
physiological isolation theory) in the case of 
an insect species common on our university 
campus. Unfortunately the earthquake of 
last April interrupted her interesting observa- 
tions. Her data are the following: 

The lady-bird beetle, Hippodamia conver- 
gens, is an insect of much variability as to its 
dorsal color pattern (dorsal surfaces of the 
two wing-covers). The modal type shows a 
red-brown ground bearing twelve small black 
spots (six on each wing-cover). The varia- 
tion in additions to or subtractions from these 
normal twelve spots, and in their arrangement, 
is so large, extending from a condition of 
total absence of spots to that of the presence 
of eighteen distinct spots, that we have been 
able to describe, in words, some eighty-four 
‘aberrations’ or pattern’ types of this species. 
As any of these variations may appear in con- 
junction with any others in a single brood 
(one clutch of eggs), it is certain that these 
aberrations are all included within the spe- 
cles. Is there now any assortative mating 
among these variations ? 

‘In March and April Miss Ramsay found 
the beetles mating on the wild mustard on 
which their food, the mustard aphis, swarms. 
Collecting these actually mating couples, she 
brought them into the laboratory, noted the 
pattern types to see if assortative mating on 
a basis of pattern—this being largely the basis 
for specific separation in the genus—was oc- 
curring, then put each couple into a breeding 
jar to obtain the eggs and rear the young, to 
ascertain if the various matings were similarly 
fertile. The earthquake interrupted the col- 
lecting and made impossible the determina- 
tion of fertility. The actual matings of sixty 


*See Kellogg and Bell, ‘ Studies of Variation in 
Insects, Proc. Wash. Acad. Sci., Vol. 6, pp. 203- 
332, 1904, for a detailed account of the variation 
of the species. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 621. 


couples as they occurred normally in nature 
were as follows: 

Thirty cases of twelve-spotted Hippodamia 
convergens with twelve-spotted H. convergens. 

Thirteen cases of twelve-spotted H. con- 
vergens with spotless H. convergens. 

Five cases of spotless H. convergens with 
spotless H. convergens. 

Two cases of twelve-spotted H. convergens 
with two-spotted H. convergens. 

Two cases of one-spotted H. convergens with 
spotless H. convergens. 

One case of twelve-spotted H. convergens 
with ten-spotted H. convergens. 

One case of two-spotted H. convergens with 
spotless H. convergens. 

One case of spotless H. convergens (female) 
with Megilla vittigera (male), a distinct spe- 
cies with three strong, longitudinal stripes 
instead of spots. 

Also there were noted seven cases of the 
mating of plain Coccinella californica with 
plain C. californica, and one case of plain 
C. californica with two-spotted C. californica. 
Coccinella californica also frequently mates 
with Hippodamia convergens, as we have ob- 
served at various times. 

As regards relative abundance of the vari- 
ous variation types of Hippodamia and Coc- 
cinella, the twelve-spotted and the spotless 
Hippodamia individuals far outnumbered any 
other types and the spotless Coccinellas were 
much more numerous than spotted ones. 

The matings, therefore, seem obviously to 
be wholly non-selective; they are chance ma- 
tings, that is, follow the law of probability. 
All the individuals, spotless, twelve-spot and 
few-spot, mingle freely on the same mustard 
plant, so that the matings might readily be 
assortative. If not assortative, then the rela- 
tive proportion of numbers of the different 
types should determine the matings. And 
this is what apparently really obtains. 


Vernon L. KELLoaa. 
STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CALIF. 


THE SALARIES OF PROFESSORS- 


DespirE the heavy burdens upon the cor- 
1From the report of President Butler, of Co- 
lumbia University. 


NOVEMBER 23, 1906.] 


poration as referred to at length in another 
part of this report, it is not possible longer 
to avoid facing the fact that the salaries paid 
to the professors and adjunct professors of 
the university are inadequate, and that the 
effects of this inadequacy are deplorable. 

So long ago as 1857, the trustees gave seri- 
ous consideration, at the hands of a special 
committee, to the subject of the compensation 
which should properly be paid to the professors 
in Columbia College. 

On May 11, 1857, it was 

Resolved, That the incumbents of the chairs of 
chemistry, of mathematics, of moral and intel- 
lectual philosophy, of ancient and modern litera- 
ture and of history and political economy, should 
severally receive a salary at the rate of $3,000 per 
annum. 


At the same time it was provided that in 
addition to such salary there should be allowed 
to those professors to whom a dwelling was 
not assigned at the college, a sum not exceed- 
ing $1,000 per annum for house rent. In the 
course of a few years this provision resulted 
in making the salaries of the incumbents of 
the chairs named $4,000 each. 

In 1861 it became necessary to reduce the 
expenses of the corporation, and in that year 
a substantial reduction was made in the 
amount of the salaries paid to the several pro- 
fessors. Those professors who had been in 
receipt of an annual salary of $4,000 each 
had their compensation reduced to $3,600 each, 
and one professor who had been in receipt of 
a salary of $3,300 had his compensation re- 
duced to $2,900. 

At the time when this reduction in com- 
pensation was made there were, in addition 
to the president, but ten professors in the 
service of the college. 

On February 5, 1866, a select committee of 
five, which had been appointed to consider 
and report upon the amount of salaries and 
compensation received by the several members 
of the faculty, and to consider and report 
whether it was expedient or proper to make 
any changes in the rate of compensation al- 
lowed to any or all of the professors, and 
whether it was expedient or proper to dis- 
eriminate between the several professors as 


SCIENCE. 


667 


to their salaries or rate of compensation, and 
if so, as to how such discrimination should 
be made, submitted an elaborate report. 

It appeared that at the date of the report 
there were, in addition to the president, seven 
professors in active service in Columbia Col- 
lege. Of these, five received salaries of $4,000 
each, one a salary of $3,300 together with the 
free occupancy of a house, the rental of which 
was estimated at $700, and one a salary of 
$1,800. The professor of municipal law re- 
ceived a salary of $6,000 and a proportion of 
the tuition fees of the students of law, which 
for the year covered by the report had in- 
creased his salary to $7,607.64. The professor 
of political science received a salary of $4,000, 
and the three professors in the newly estab- 
lished School of Mines received salaries of 
$3,000 each. 

The special committee made inquiry as to 
the salaries paid at other institutions of learn- 
ing, and reported that at Union College the 
stated salary of a professor was $1,500, to 
which had been added for each of the two 
years past an increase of 20 per cent., or $300. 
The usual salary of a professor at Yale Col- 
lege was $2,300, and at Harvard College, 
$2,400. The committee pointed out that the 
three institutions mentioned were all situated 
in places where the expenses of living were 
less than in the city of New York, and that 
this difference should be borne in mind in 
estimating the value of the salaries received 
by the professors in the several institutions. 

The committee also stated that, inasmuch 
as Columbia College was chiefly dependent 
upon private liberality for support and had 
but slender means of its own, the compensa- 
tion then paid to its professors was inade- 
quate as a result of necessity and not from 
choice, and that, therefore, no proper conclu- 
sion could be drawn as to what the salary of a 
professor should be from the amount then 
paid. 

After reviewing all the information at their 
command, the special committee expressed the 
opinion that the salaries paid to the professors 
of Columbia College were adequate at the 
time they were established, but that the time 
had come when they should be changed. The 


668 SCIENCE. 


committee expressed a willingness to discrim- 
inate in regard to the compensation to be paid 
to the several professors, and suggested that 
the only proper basis of discrimination was to 
be found in the amount of service rendered 
by each. The committee admitted the diffi- 
culty, and perhaps the impracticability, of 
running an even line of justice in making 
such discriminations, but were prepared to 
accept usage as throwing some light upon the 
discriminations which might wisely be au- 
thorized. 

It is interesting to observe that then as 
now the professors were confronted by prob- 
lems due to the greatly increased cost of 
living. In the belief, apparently, that this 
inereased cost was the result of the civil war 
and would not continue, the committee recom- 
mended that all salaries be increased by 
twenty-five per cent. for each of two years. 
The effect of these recommendations was to 
fix the salaries of the chief chairs in the col- 
lege at $4,000, and to make an additional 
grant of $1,000 each to the incumbents of 
such chairs for each of two years. Subse- 
quently, on several occasions, the trustees 
made a temporary augmentation in the salary 
of the professors, with the result that at one 
time the incumbents of the leading chairs 
were in receipt of a compensation of $6,000. 

This was the situation when, on December 
6, 1875, the trustees received a communica- 
tion signed by each of the eight professors 
then in active service in the college, from 
which the following quotation may be made: 

In the year 1857 the trustees of the college es- 
tablished a rate of compensation for the pro- 
fessors, which they deemed just and no more than 
adequate. 

In consequence of the greatly increased cost of 
living produced by the war of the rebellion and 
other causes, the trustees increased the compensa- 
tion of their professors—but the experience of 
our body has made us feel keenly that the in- 
crease in the cost of living has been greater than 
that of the compensation. The professors were 
in better condition seventeen years ago than they 
are now, when the college has so much ampler 
means. 

Not only do we find it impossible to save any- 
thing from our salaries for future needs or for 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 621. 


our families, but we are unable to meet our 
necessary expenditures without drawing upon 
other resources or seeking uncongenial and inap- 
propriate employment. We believe that the true 
interests of our college require that the com- 
pensation of its professors should be such as to 
free them from the necessity of extraneous work 
merely for pay. Feeling severely the annually 
increasing pressure of narrowed means, and the 
distracting influence of the ever-recurring diffi- 
culty of providing for our household necessities, 
we respectfully present this statement to your 
honorable board, and request that you will give 
it a generous consideration. 


The communication was referred to a spe- 
cial committee of five members of the board, 
consisting of Mr. Rutherfurd, Mr. Nash, Mr. 
Schermerhorn, Mr. Harper and Mr. Beekman. 

On February 7, 1876, this committee pre- 
sented a careful report in which it was stated 
that the committee’s recommendations were 
governed by the following considerations: 


1. That the chairs of our principal academic 
professors should be looked upon as dignified and 
most desirable positions, capable of commanding 
the services and satisfying the reasonable ambi- 
tion of the highest grade of talent and most ex- 
tensive acquirement, and that to this end these 
professors should be placed upon a social and 
pecuniary equality with at least the average of 
successful professional men and freed from the 
erinding cares incident to a struggle to reconcile 
the demands of a conspicuous and responsible 
position with the necessities of insufficent means. 

2. Your committee are satisfied that in the city 
of New York, with its high rents, high prices, and 
countless social demands, a yearly salary of 
$6,000 is inadequate to place the professors in the 
position it is desirable they should occupy. 

3. Your committee think that it would be un- 
wise to remove the statutory restrictions which 
now prevent an academic professor from engaging 
in any professional or other pursuit. They are 
also of opinion that it is a wise discrimination 
which has not applied any such restriction to the 
professors of the Schools of Mines and of Law. 
No such restrictions exist, so far as your com- 
mittee have been able to learn, in the academic 
department of any other American college, in most 
of which the professors engage in outside work 
and in many cases hold professorships in other 
institutions; but this undesirable condition is 


I 


NovEMBER 23, 1906.] 


chiefly due to the inability of the colleges to pay 
adequate salaries. 

The committee thereupon recommended 
that the salaries of the professors of Greek, 
chemistry, mathematics and astronomy, moral 
and intellectual philosophy, mathematics, 
mechanics and physics and Latin be fixed at 
$7,500 each. 

This report was accepted and its recom- 
mendations were adopted. This very satis- 
factory scale of compensation for professors 
was not, however, maintained for more than 
a few years. One or two new chairs were 
established and their incumbents compensated 
at this rate. About this time, however, began 
the rapid expansion of the college into a uni- 
versity, and the resources of the corporation 
were far from sufficient to permit the pay- 
ment of this compensation to the large num- 
ber of new professors who were from time to 
time appointed. 

As a consequence, while the maximum sal- 
ary paid to a professor in the university has 


not been altered since the action of the trus-. 


tees in 1876, it is a long time since any ap- 
pointments have been made at that maximum 
compensation. The budget for 1906-7 shows 
that there are 119 professors and 39 adjunct 
professors in the service of the university at 
the present time, excluding clinical professors 
and those upon the Barnard College and 
Teachers College foundations. Of these, 111 
professors and all 39 adjunct professors are 
in receipt of compensation. The average sal- 
ary paid to the 111 professors in receipt of 
compensation is $3,746.85, and the average 
salary paid to the 39 adjunct professors is 
$2,126.92. It will be seen, therefore, that the 
average salary paid to a Columbia University 
professor in 1906 is almost exactly one half 
of the sum named by the trustees in 1876 as 
necessary to enable him to maintain his proper 
position in the community. 

Serious as this comparison appears at first 
glance, a consideration of all the attendant 
circumstances will make it more serious still. 
If the professors of 1876 were able to make 
successful appeal for an increase of compen- 
sation because of the increased cost of living 
as compared with 1857, what shall be said of 


SCIENCE. 


669 


the professors of 1906, who have to meet a cost 
of living increased far beyond the standard 
which prevailed in 1876? 

It is possible, by reference to undisputed 
authority, to show with some precision what 
changes have occurred during the past thirty 
years in the price of those articles which 
enter most largely into the cost of living. 

From 1860 to 1873 wholesale and retail 
prices in the United States, expressed in terms 
of the gold dollar, rose irregularly until in 
the latter year they were substantially 27 per 
cent. higher than in 1860. This conclusion 
was reached in the ‘ Senate Report on Whole- 
sale Prices’ in 1891 (Part I., page 99) and 
is substantially confirmed by the index num- 
bers made use of by the London Heonomist 
and by the computations made by Sauerbeck, 
the high German authority. Professor Mayo- 
Smith in a careful critical article on ‘ Move- 
ments of Prices,’ which appeared in the Polit- 
ical Science Quarterly for September, 1898, 
accepted as substantially conclusive the gen- 
eral agreement of Sauerbeck, the Hconomist 
and the senate report, so far as these early 
figures are concerned. 

The senate report in question was devoted 
chiefly, however, to the fall of prices alleged 
to have occurred from 1873 to 1891. Many 
statisticians hold that the senate report, be- 
cause of the particular articles selected by 
it for price quotation, greatly exaggerated the 
decline of prices between 1873 and 1891. 
Professor Mayo-Smith regarded the figures of 
Sauerbeck and ‘the Hconomist as the more 
trustworthy for the later period. After sum- 
marizing Sauerbeck’s index numbers from 
1879 to 1898, Professor Mayo-Smith reached 
this conclusion: 

It will be observed that this table is based en- 
tirely upon the wholesale prices of foods and raw 
materials. The total index number shows that 
since the period 1866 to 1877 there has been 
a fall of 36 per cent. in average prices. The 
fall has been greatest in textiles; the next heay- 
iest fall has been in sugar, coffee and tea; the 
least fall has been in animal food. In most cases 
the fall seems to have reached its lowest point 
about 1896. (Statistics and Economies, p. 203.) 


Analyzing groups of commodities used in 


670 


the senate report, Professor Mayo-Smith 
points out the important fact that it was not 
in the real necessaries of life that the fall ec- 
curred from 1873 to 1896. He says: 


But the different groups behave in a Very ex- 
traordinary way. Food is at about the same 
level as in 1860, while lumber and building ma- 
terials have actually increased 22 per cent. The 
manufactured articles, such as cloths and clothing 
and house-furnishing goods show a very great 


decrease. (Ibid., p. 205.) 


While, therefore, the cost of living was, on 
the whole, lower in 1896 than in 1876, the 
decrease appears to have been in the conveni- 
ences and comforts rather than in the imme- 
diate necessaries of life. 

For the years 1897 to the present time, we 
are so fortunate as to have a very careful 
and trustworthy record of prices compiled by 
the department of commerce and labor, and 
published in the Bulletin of the Bureau of 
Labor, No. 63, March, 1906. This report 
shows that a rapid and continuous advance of 
prices has gone on since 1896. Summarizing 
the prices quoted the Bulletin says: 


Wholesale prices, considering all commodities, 
reached a higher point in 1905 than at any other 
time during the sixteen years covered by this in- 
vestigation. * * * The 1905 average, compared 
with the year of lowest average prices during the 
sixteen years from 1890 to 1905, in each of the 
general groups of commodities, shows farm 
products 58.6 per cent. higher than in 1896; food, 
ete., 29.7 per cent. higher than in 1896; cloths 
and clothing 22.9 per cent. higher than in 1897; 
fuel and lighting 39.4 per cent. higher than in 
1894; metals and implements 41.8 per cent. higher 
than in 1898; lumber and building materials 41.4 
per cent. higher than in 1897; drugs and chem- 
icals 24.1 per cent. higher than in 1895; house- 
furnishing goods 21.5 per cent. higher than in 
1897; and the articles included in the miscel- 
laneous group 23.4 per cent. higher than in 1896. 
(P. 338.) 


A comparison of these authoritative state- 
ments appears to justify the following con- 
clusions: 

That the rise of prices since 1896 has con- 
siderably more than offset the fall from 1873 
to 1896; that there has been an advance of 
at least 10 per cent. beyond the level of prices 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 621. 


that prevailed in 1876, and that the prices of 
such fundamental necessaries of life as farm 
products and building materials are probably 
at least 50 per cent. higher than they were in 
1876, at which date they were, according to 
the senate report (Part I., p. 99), at least 10 


’ per cent. higher than they had been in 1860. 


Specifically food was 9.1 per cent. higher and 
building materials 21.7 per cent. higher. 

The important facts, then, are: (1) That 
the present average salary paid to a Columbia 
University professor is but one half of the 
sum fixed as necessary thirty years ago; and 
(2) that the cost of living has meanwhile in- 
ereased between 10 and 20 per cent. The 
purchasing power of the average salary of 
1906 is, therefore, hardly more than 40 per 
cent. of the purchasing power of the salary 
established in 1876. In other words, the great 
and noteworthy expansion of the university, 
which has been brought about by the labors of 
the university teachers, has also been brought 
about at their expense. 

Perhaps no class in the entire community 
has suffered more from the rise in the cost 
of living than the college and university 
teachers. A recent publication by the depart- 
ment of commerce and labor indicates that the 
wages of manual laborers are increasing just 
now faster than the cost of living; but with 
the college and university teacher the reverse 
is the case. 

The most important need to this university 
at the present time is an addition to the en- 
dowment fund sufficient to enable the estab- 
lishment and maintenance of a proper stand- 
ard of compensation to members of the teach- 
ing staff. When the action of 1876 was taken, 
there were but seven professors to be affected 
by it. A very small sum of money sufficed 
then to make a very substantial addition to 
the salary of each. Now there are 119 pro- 
fessors and 39 adjunct professors, 158 in all. 
To inerease the salary of each by only one 
thousand dollars on an average—not at all 
an adequate amount—would absorb the in- 
terest at 5 per cent. on a capital sum of 
more than three million dollars. Neverthe- 
less, this great sum must be obtained and > 
these compensations must be fixed and paid 


NOVEMBER 23, 1906.] 


or we cannot hope to attract and keep the best 
men in the teaching profession, nor can we 
enable those already in it to represent the in- 
tellectual and moral interests of the com- 
munity as those interests should be repre- 
sented. A capital sum of five million dollars, 
yielding 44 per cent. per annum, is required 
at the present time to establish a proper rate 
of compensation for the teaching staff of Co- 
lumbia University, without adding a single 
new instructor to that staff. This need is so 
imperative and the public interests affected by 
it are so large and so important, that the 
mere statement of it ought to bring us the 
needed sum, great though it is, from the men 
and women who are the large-minded posses- 
sors of wealth in this community. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


Tue Nobel prize in medicine for 1906 will 
be divided between Professor Camillo Golgi 
(Pavia) and Professor Ramon y Cajal 
(Madrid). 


Tue Royal Society’s medals have this year 
been adjudicated by the president and council 
as follows: the Copley medal to Professor 
Elias Metchnikoff for the importance of his 
work in zoology and in pathology; the Rum- 
ford medal to Professor Hugh Longbourne 
Callendar for his experimental work on heat; 
a Royal medal to Professor Alfred George 
Greenhill for his contributions to mathe- 
matics, especially the elliptic functions and 
their applications; a Royal medal to Dr. 
Dukinfield Henry Scott for his investigations 
and discoveries in connection with the struc- 
ture and relationships of fossil plants; the 
Davy Medal to Professor Rudolf Fittig for his 
investigations in chemistry and especially for 
his work in lactones and acids; the Darwin 
medal to Professor Hugo de Vries on the 
ground of the significance and extent of his 
experimental investigations in heredity and 
variation; the Hughes medal to Mrs. W. E. 
Ayrton for her experimental investigations on 
the electric arc and also upon sand ripples. 
The medals will, as usual, be presented at the 
anniversary meeting on St. Andrew’s Day 
(November 30). 


SCIENCE. 


671 


Lorp Ray.eicH has been recommended for 
reelection as president of the Royal Society 
and the other officers will be the same as last 
year, except that the following new members 
of the council have been nominated: Lord 
Avebury, Sir Benjamin Baker, K.C.B., Dr. H. 
F. Baker, Prof. David Ferrier, Prof. Sydney 
J. Hickson, Dr. Alexander Scott, Prof. A. OC. 
Seward, Prof. W. J. Sollas, Prof. E. H. 
Starling, Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson, and 
Dr. A. D. Waller. 


A portrait of Dr. Henry M. Hurd, super- 
intendent of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, was 
presented to the hospital by the medical staff 
at a dinner given in honor of Dr. Hurd on 
November 1. Dr. William H. Welch presided 
at the dinner and made the presentation 
speech, and speeches were also made by Dr. 
Ira Remsen and Dr. D. C. Gilman. The por- 
trait, which is by Mr. Chase, will be hung in 
the library. Dr. Hurd sailed for Europe on 
November 5, where he will remain for about 
a year. 


In the early part of October the Yale Asso- 
ciation of Japan gave a reception in honor of 
Professor G. T. Ladd, who is now in Tokyo. 


Proressor TH. W. Ricuarps, who is going 
to Berlin in the second half year as Har- 
vard’s representative in the annual exchange 
of professors, will give while there a course of 
lectures on the ‘Fundamental constants of 
physical chemistry.’ 

Proressor L. H. Baiey, director of the 
College of Agriculture, Cornell University, 
was elected president of the Association of 
Agricultural Experiment Stations at its re- 
cent meeting at Baton Rouge. 


Mme. Curie gave her inaugural lecture at 
the Sorbonne on November 5. 


We learn from The American Anthropolo- 
gist that the title of honorary curator has 
been conferred by the Cincinnati Museum As- 
sociation on Mr. Philip M. Hinkle, who has 
undertaken the care of its collections relating 
to American archeology. With him are asso- 
ciated Mr. Frederick W. Hinkle and Dr. G. 
B. Rhodes. 


Mr. Rosert H. Baker, M.A., for three years 
assistant to Professor Todd, in Amherst Col- 


672 SCIENCE. 


lege Observatory, has received an appointment 
as assistant in the astrophysical observatory 
at Allegheny, Pa. 

Dr. J. Gunnar ANDERSON has been ap- 
pointed director-general of the Geological Sur- 
vey, of Sweden. 

Dr. AtrreD C. Happon, of Cambridge Uni- 
versity, gave a lecture before the American 
Ethnological Society at the American Museum 
of Natural History on November 15. 


Proressor CHARLES LANE Poor, of Columbia 
University, gave a public lecture under the 
auspices of the New York Academy of Sci- 
ences and the American Museum of Natural 
History, on November 19, on ‘The Proposed 
New Astronomical Observatory and Nautical 
Museum for New York City.’ 


A course of illustrated lectures on ‘ The 
Logical Evolution of Industries’ is being 
given by Mr. Harlan I. Smith, of the Amer- 
ican Museum of Natural History of New 
York, to the normal domestic art students at 
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, during the school 
year 1906-7. The purpose of the course is to 
acquaint these prospective teachers of hand- 
work with primitive arts and tools that they 
may more adequately instruct elementary 
school children in the simple forms of the in- 
dustrial processes of modern life. 

A prRIZE has been established for proficiency 
in mineralogy in the Sheffield Scientific School 
in memory of the late Professor Penfield. 
The prize, of $25, is to be known as ‘ The 
Samuel Lewis Penfield Prize,’ and is founded 
by a gift of $500 from Mr. Morris B. Belknap, 
of Louisville, Ky., of the class of 1877. 


THE statue of the late Principal Viriamu 
Jones, professor of physics and the first prin- 
cipal of the South Wales and Monmouthshire 
University College, has been temporarily 
placed, pending the completion of the new 
college buildings, at the City-hall, Cardiff. 

Dr. A. F. FoxxKnr, professor of hygiene and 
bacteriology at the University of Groningen, 
has died at the age of sixty-six years. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


Tue daily papers report that the sum of 
$500,000 has been offered to enlarge the uni- 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 621. 


versity at Louisville, if an equal sum is con- 
tributed from other sources. 

‘At the meeting of the Philadelphia County 
Medical Society on November 7, Dr. S. Weir 
Mitchell announced that Andrew Carnegie will 
give the College of Physicians, Philadelphia, 
$50,000 contingent on the college raising the 
sum of $100,000. The money is to be used in 
the erection of a new building. 

THE program of the Association of Amer- 
ican Universities, which is meeting this week 
at Harvard University is as follows: Friday, 
November 23, 10 a.m., ‘The Appointment and 
Obligations of Graduate Fellows.’ Papers 
will be presented on behalf of Clark Univer- 
sity, by Professor Hall; for the University of 
Wisconsin, by Professor Comstock. 2:30 P.M., 
‘The Exemption of Educational Institutions 
from Taxation.’ Papers will be read on be- 
half of Harvard University, by President 
Eliot; for the University of Virginia, by Dr. 
J. W. Page. Saturday, November 24, 10 a.m., 
‘Should Men Bearing the Same Title in any 
Institution receive the Same Pay?’ Papers 
will be presented on behalf of Stanford Uni- 
versity, by President Jordan; for the Univer- 
sity of Michigan, by Professor Hutchins. 

Tue National Association of Presidents of 
the State Universities, which met at Baton 
Rouge last week, unanimously adopted the 
report of the committee on the University of 
the United States recommending the estab- 
lishment of a national university by the gov- 
ernment at Washington. 

At the Montana State School of Mines, 
Charles Henry Bowman, M.S., secretary of 
the faculty, has been elected president. Pro- 
fessor Theodore Simons has been elected pro- 
fessor of engineering design. 

Mr. T. D. A. CockeErELL, lecturer in ento- 
mology at the University of Colorado, has 
been promoted to a professorship of systematic 
zoology. At the same institution, Dr. Saul 
Epsteen, Ph.D. (Zurich), has been promoted 
to an assistant professorship of mathematics. 

Mr. A. C. Stewarp, tutor of Emanuel Col- 
lege, has been elected to the professorship of 
botany at Cambridge University, vacant by 
the death of Professor Marshall Ward. 


| 
. 
7 
i 
’ 
4 


A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 


OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 


Fripay, NoveMBER 30, 1906. 


CONTENTS. 


The Promotion of Agricultural Science: Pro- 
FESSOR HENRY PRENTISS ARMSBY........ 673 


Scientific Books :— 
Hilgard on Soils: Dr. F. H. Kine. Hatch 
and Corstorphine’s Geology of South Africa: 

W. M.D. Berlese’s ’Gli Insetti: Dr. L. O. 
METOWARD fuser sabia ied ata. aes Senn - 681 


Scientific Journals and Articles............ 686 


Societies and Academies :— 
The National Academy of Sciences. The 
New York State Science Teachers’ Associa- 
tion: PROFESSOR JOHN F. WOODHULL. Sec- 
tion of Geology and Mineralogy of the New 
York Academy of Sciences: PROFESSOR A. 
W. Graspau. New York Section of the 
American Chemical Society: C. M. Joyce... 686 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 

Principles which govern the United States 
Geological Survey in its Relations with the 
Geological Surveys and Working Geolo- 
gists: Dr. CHaRLes D. Watcott. A New 
Variety of Honorary Ph.D.: X. An Inter- 
mittent Flowing Well: Dr. S. W. Me- 
CaLLig. The Wireless Telegraph and Au- 
rora: ©. J. Stuarr. The Glacial Epoch: © 
DRY: (Mii SCHARBERLES fe. he Nts spice 692 


Special Articles :— 
Variation in Parthenogenetic Insects: PRo- 
FESSOR VERNON L. Kettoee. A Statistical 
. Study of American Men of Science II.; the 
Measurement of Scientific Merit: PRoFES- 
“S0R J. McK&eEN CATTELL................ 695 


Notes on Organic Chemistry :— 
‘Optically Active Compounds which contaim 
no Asymmetric Atom: Dr. J. BISHOP 
CUAGSGH CIOL AS Sad ares ee etic cee eeepc ec eee Eiger (Us 


The Convocation Week Meetings of Scientific 


IS OGLOLUCS AEN aps ner tata a eaae fel elioti eatsiacoh ides mee 708 
Scientific INOLESY UU IN CLUS ty ate ponent “i arses: 709 
University and Educational News........... » 712 


MSS. intended for publication and books, ete., intended for 
review should be sent to the Editor of ScleNcr, Garrison-on- 
Tiudson, WW. Y. 


THE PROMOTION OF AGRICULTURAL 
SCIENCE. 

THE Society for the Promotion of Agri- 
cultural Science was founded in the year 
1880, largely through the efforts of a few 
men, most of whom have now passed to 
their reward, who saw clearly the necessity 
for some such organization. 

At that time the workers in agricultural 
science in the United States were few and 
scattered. While the oldest of the agricul- 
tural colleges had been in existence for 
some twenty-five years, these institutions 
were still comparatively feeble, with, in 
most eases, few students, and struggling 
for recognition. The first agricultural ex- 
periment station in the United States had 
been established but five years before and 
had been fully taken over by the state two 
years later. At the date of the foundation 
of this society, there existed in the United 
States three state experiment stations, two 
university stations and one private station, 
and few means were available for personal 
eontact or exchange of ideas between in- 
vestigators. or for the publication of their 
results. The U. S. Department of Agri- 
culture was a comparatively small affair, 
presided over by a commissioner, and its 
seientifie work was chiefly that of its chem- 
ist, entomologist and: veterinarian. 

The twenty-six years which have since 
elapsed have witnessed a phenomenal de- 
velopment of agricultural education and 
investigation, and the young student of the 
present day can hardly realize the condi- 
tions which existed a generation ago. Now, 


674 SCIENCE. 


instead of half a dozen experiment stations, 
with an aggregate income of about twenty- 
two thousand dollars, we have, in the 
United States proper, sixty institutions, 
with a total income for the year 1904-5 of 
over one and a half million dollars. The 
U. S. Department of Agriculture has 
grown from a staff of one hundred and 
eight persons and an annual income of 
somewhat over two hundred thousand dol- 
lars, in 1881, to a great executive depart- 
ment with a total appropriation for the 
present fiscal year of nearly ten million 
dollars. The land grant colleges, too, from 
feeble and more or less destitute ‘cow col- 
leges’ have acquired an acknowledged and 
honored position among the institutions for 
technical education, with a total endow- 
ment of ever eighty-one million dollars and 
an annual income of over eleven and three 
fourths million, with faculties aggregating 
two thousand six hundred and seventy-two 
and giving instruction to a total of nearly 
sixty thousand students, of whom nearly 
nine thousand are students of agriculture. 
In place of a few scattered bulletins and 
reports, issued in small editions, the ex- 
periment stations and the Department of 
Agriculture have become great publishing 
agencies, and instead of its being difficult 
to find a medium for the presentation of 
the results of investigation, the difficulty 
more often seems to be to find suitable 
material for the numerous publications 
called for by law or popular demand. 
Finally, the organie unity of these institu- 
tions as a class has been secured through 
the Association of American Agricultural 
Colleges and Experiment Stations. Surely 
this is a magnificent record for a little over 
a quarter of a century, and the end is not 
yet. 

With this stupendous change in the situ- 
ation, it might almost seem as if there were 
no function remaining for a society like 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 622. 


this. Are not all these public institu- 
tions agencies for scientific investigation in 


_ agriculture on a scale and with resources 


such as to make a private organization 
superfluous? Is it still necessary to pro- 
mote agricultural science ? 

Let us at the outset define our terms. 
By agricultural science we understand that 
body of scientifie principles, known or dis- 
coverable, which underlies and conditions 
successful agriculture. By the promotion 
of agricultural science, we may understand 
the support of any measures calculated to 
give us a deeper and more comprehensive 
knowledge of these principles. In other 
words, it is equivalent to the promotion of 
scientifie investigation in the field of agri- 
culture. Investigation is scientific, as dis- 
tinguished from practical, when it is un- 
dertaken with the prime object of en- 
larging our knowledge of principles and 
without immediate reference to practical 
application. Its incentive is the desire to 
know more rather than the ambition to do 
more. 

Few members of this society, certainly, 
will question the fundamental importance 
of such investigation. They realize the 
truth of a recent remark by Dr. Welch,* 
of Johns Hopkins University, at the dedi- 


cation of the new buildings of the Harvard 


Medical School, that, ‘‘The same phenom- 
enon is exhibited in (medicine) as in all 
science that the search for knowledge with 
exclusive reference to its application is 
generally unrewarded.’’ Research forms 
the ultimate basis of all agricultural as of 
all other progress, whether in the school, 
the college, the correspondence course or 
on the farm. I may be permitted to fur- 
ther emphasize this truth by quoting the 
words of one whose standing both as a 
scientific investigator and as a successful 
administrator is universally recognized.’’ 
* ScrENCE, October 12, 1906, p. 460. 


NOVEMBER 30, 1906.] 


At the jubilee of the University of Wis- 
consin, in 1904, Professor T. C. Chamber- 
lin, of the University of Chicago, said: 


The fundamental and ulterior sources of educa- 
tion do not lie in the conventional schools, but 
back of them. These sources can not here be 
defined at length, but, in a simple phrase, they 
may be said to lie in the great stock of ideas 
possessed by mankind. This phrase inadequately 
embraces the whole, but let us agree that it may 
stand for the whole. In so far as the stock of 
ideas of a people is narrow, defective and errone- 
ous, on the one hand, or broad, demonstrative and 
exact, on the other, in so far the fundamental 
subject-material of education partakes of these 
qualities. In so far as the sentiments, beliefs, 
attitudes and activities of a people are narrow, 
loose and perverted, on the one hand, or free, 
generous and ethical on the other, in so far edu- 
cation inevitably shares in these qualities. For 
these are the fundamental sources of education. 
The basal problem of education is, therefore, con- 
cerned with the entire compass of the intellectual 
possessions of a people, and, in a measure, of all 
mankind. The special selections propagated in 
the schools are but a miniature reflection of the 
total possession, and this selection is usually 
noble or mean, as the whole is noble or mean. 

If these considerations are true, the fundamen- 
tal promotion of education lies in an increase of 
the intellectual possessions of a people, and in 
the mental activities and attitudes that grow out 
of the getting, the testing and using of these 
possessions. 


* * * * * * * 


The education of the individual does not neces- 
sarily lift the education of the aggregate, for if 
we convey to the rising generation only such ideas 
as we have inherited, the summit level of edu- 
cation is not raised. There may be diffusion, 
there may be an evening up, but no lifting of 
the upper levels. If the intellectuality of the new 
generation does not rise above that of the old, 
there is only a Chinese dead level of ancestral 
propagation. 

* * * % * * * 

To secure laudable progress in the fundamental 
conditions of education, systematic provision for 
scientific research is necessary. 


Granting now the need of scientific in- 
vestigation in agriculture, as in other 
branches of human activity, let us inquire 


SCIENCE. .- 


675 


what are some of the conditions which 
favor or hinder it. A recent writer,’ de- 
scribing the ‘needs of scientific men,’ says: 

We neither expect scintillating ‘ suecess,’ nor do 
we look forward to any prizes in the way of 
highly paid positions. Our needs are mainly two: 
(1) adequate time for work and (2) a living 
wage. 

After mentioning two instances of the 
lack of time for scientific research among 
his acquaintances, he continues: 

The difficulty is intimately connected with the 
other one, that of the living wage. There is no 
living wage for rescarch; research in pure sci- 
ence is at present a parasitic industry, to borrow 
a term from the economists. Both of the men 
I have just referred to get their salaries for doing 
economic work, and whatever they do in pure 
science is supported and made possible by the 
other. A still larger body of researchers lives 
upon the proceeds of teaching, while those who 
actually get a living by research are very, very 
few. The experiment stations, even, do not dis- 
obey the general rule, for the demand for im- 
mediate results of economic value is such that the 
workers are almost obliged, in the majority of 
eases, to desist from work of a broad and funda- 
mental character, while most of them, of course, 
have to do a large amount of teaching. 

In this last sentence there is indicated 
the serious danger that threatens agricul- 
tural research in the United States. Hven 
a very cursory review of the changes of 
the last twenty-five years shows a wonder- 
ful record of progress on the material and 
practical side. We have vastly increased 
our equipment for agricultural investiga- 
tion and added many-fold to the numbers 
presumably engaged in it, but it is the out- 
put of real scientific results, which will 
stand the test of time, commensurate with 
the increased facilities. 

The agencies for agricultural investiga- 
tion which have made such a phenomenal 
growth in the last quarter of a century 
were at first looked upon with suspicion or 
distrust by the public. They had to dem- 
onstrate their right to be supported from 


2 Cockerell, ScreNcE, August 11, 1906, p. 178. 


676 SCIENCE. 


the public purse, and to do this were com- 
pelled to take up first the pressing prac- 
tical problems and to give research a sec- 
ondary place. But their very success in 
demonstrating their usefulness, as shown 
by their increasing appropriations and by 
the change in the public temper familiar 
to all of us, threatens to be their perma- 
nent undoing as agencies of scientific re- 
search. From an attitude of skepticism 
the public has passed to one of undue 
credulity, and the experiment stations to- 
day have need to heed the ancient warning, 
“Woe unto you when all men shall speak 
well of you! for so did their fathers to the 
false prophets.’ Indifference has given 
place to urgent demands for assistance, 
and the pressure upon these institutions 
for facts of immediate practical utility, 
which shall justify to the public the liber- 
ality with which they are supported and 
lay the foundation for greater appropria- 
tions in the future, is so intense as to 
require unusual courage and breadth of 
vision on the part of him who will stand 
for the needs of real scientific investiga- 
tion. 

The ever-present tendencies toward pre- 
mature and sensational exploiting of re- 
sults and towards officialism in science are 
likewise dangers which need constantly to 
be guarded against. A recent writer, 
speaking of the reasons why agricultural 
science is often discredited with the prac- 
tical man, says: 

Science, too, is sometimes responsible for an- 
other form of apparent contradiction (between 
the results of science and those of practical experi- 
ence), many of her representatives being only too 
much inclined to generalize the results obtained 
in a special case, and in particular to publish pre- 
maturely. This error is more or less fostered 
both by officials and by agricultural organizations. 
When a report must be published yearly upon all 
sorts of scientific work, whether completed or not, 


in which case ‘results’ are naturally expected 
and planned for, there is produced a literary bal- 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 622. 


last that is a burden upon scientific work and 
which carries with it the serious danger that the 
agricultural public, before which these unripe 
fruits are zealously spread by the agricultural 
press (especially in the case of official reports), 
will feel the evil effects in its purse and will lose 
its appetite for all scientific results. The subse- 
quent continuation of the investigations then de- 
velops the limitations, corrections and specializa- 
tions and the unripe conclusions are altered or 
sometimes even entirely overthrown and admitted 
to be erroneous. This is most injurious to prac- 
tical agriculture, and has already led to great 


losses and brought science into deserved disrepute. 
* * + * * % * 


In my opinion it is not at all essential to bring 
new achievements before the general public with 
the utmost promptness and to publish as much 
and as speedily as possible, but rather that all 
which is published shall be trustworthy and se- 
curely grounded, not only by individual investiga- 
tion, but, as far as circumstances demand, by the 
due mention, consideration or critical discussion 
of whatever other investigators have previously 
said and discovered concerning the subject. Now- 
adays, the haste for publication has made it ac- 
tually the fashion in many circles to ignore the 
available literature, or to pirate it, and to act 
as if one were the first who had laid this egg. 
It is often the case, too, that the reader is sup- 
plied only with summaries or other average or 
final figures, while all deeper insight into the 
course of development and the details of the in- 
vestigation is prevented by their silent omission. 
This method of publication is unscientific and 
superficial, and he who uses it, especially when 
he avowedly substitutes the authority of his name, 
does not perhaps realize how great is the pre- 
sumption toward the reader of which he is guilty 
in such a method of presentation. 

The unholy thirst for notoriety, too, has alas 
struck deep root in agricultural science and has 
developed such vigorous shoots that it has be- 
come a shame for those who are guilty of it and 
has fairly compromised our science. Unfortu- 
nately, no one has yet been found to duly scourge 
and pillory the false and unscientific nature of 
these methods. 

All these growing evils are signs of degenera- 
tion. Let us guard ourselves against further 
cultivation of appearances and externalities. It 
is high time that modest, quiet, genuine work 
should take the place of this haste and false am- 
bition, for agricultural science, as a relatively 
young science, stands in much too exposed a posi- 


A na 


Pe rege ae 


nh ge a ae ae 


a een 


NOVEMBER 30, 1906.] 


tion, in relation both to other sciences and to 
agricultural practise, to permit itself such laxities. 

I quote these words from an article’ by 
Professor von Riimker, of the University 
of Breslau in Germany. 

Moreover, the agricultural experiment 
station in the United States has developed 
to a degree almost unknown in the land of 
its birth. 

Twenty-five years ago the conception of 
an experiment station was that of a com- 
paratively small institution exercising a 
police control over the manufacture and 
sale of certain agricultural products, no- 
tably fertilizers, and carrying on scientific 
research largely by laboratory methods. 
To a considerable degree this conception 
still obtains in foreign countries, but in the 
United States the stations have had an un- 
exampled development. They are rapidly 
erowing into great departments, touching 
the practise of agriculture in their several 
localities at all points, and the leaders in a 
vast propaganda for the elevation of rural 
life. We feel a just pride in this peculiarly 
American development of an adopted insti- 
tution, and in the large measure of success 
which has attended it, but it would be fool- 
ish to shut our eyes to the accompanying 
dangers, and not the least of these is the 
drying up of the sources of power and 
inspiration by the failure to duly promote 
science along with practise. Not only does 
the pressure for results tend to the sub- 
ordination of the scientific to the practical, 
but the management of these great institu- 
tions is making heavier and heavier de- 
mands on the time and energy of some of 
our best men. In fact, we seem to be de- 
veloping a new type of leader in agricul- 
ture, comparable with the university presi- 
dent, who is primarily an administrator 
and whose chief function is to set other 
people at work. All honor to the success- 


3* Landwirtschaft und Wissenschaft,’ 
Parey, 1905. 


Berlin, 


SCIENCE. 


677 


ful administrator. Through his adminis- 
trative work he is often a most efficient 
promoter of science. But let us not forget 
also to see to it that our system provides 
due honor and reward for the successful 
scientist and investigator. While the 
American type of experiment station is 
an admirable institution, and while the 
popular work of the stations and colleges 
is of vast importance and benefit, we must 
not forget that it all rests on the truths of 
science, and that unless science makes prog- 
ress the popular work will soon be marking 
time. 

The year 1906 has witnessed a notable 
forward step in the development of agri- 
cultural investigation. The passage of the 
Adams act has doubled the United States 
appropriation to experiment stations, nom- 
inally in five and practically in four years. 
This fund differs from the Hatch fund in 
that the act specifies that it is to be used 
only for ‘conducting original research or 
experiments.’ It is not teo much to say 
that the great opportunity offered by the 
passage of the Adams act, which has been 
the occasion for so much congratulation, 
will, like every other opportunity, prove 
also to be a day of judgment for the sta- 
tions, in that it will reveal to all men their 
conception of original research, and dem- 
onstrate whether or not they have a broad 
fundamental grasp of the idea of investi- 
gation. Differences of opinion regarding 
the application of this fund are already 
apparent. The stations stand at the part- 
ing of the ways. Will they simply add 
demonstration to demonstration, propa- 
ganda to propaganda, or will they grasp 
the opportunity to dedicate this new fund 
saeredly and irrevocably to original scien- 
tifie research, broadly conceived and liber- 
ally executed. 

I shall, no doubt, be characterized as an 
idealist, as failing to recognize or appre- 


678 


ciate the need and the demand for popular 
work. An idealist I am and such I hope 
to remain, but I too know something of 
that desire for results and of that lively 
sense of appropriations expected which 
seldom fails to make itself felt by the sta- 
tion administrator. The situation is by no 
means without its difficulties, especially for 
those stations which exist to so large an 
extent under pioneer conditions. Were it 
otherwise, there would be little occasion for 
these remarks. The problem calls for 
strong men with an abiding faith in the 
fundamental and ultimate importance of 
scientific research. There is still need for 
the promotion of agricultural science. 
Times have greatly changed since a dozen 
gentlemen met in Boston in August, 1880, 
and founded this society, and some of the 
functions on which emphasis was then laid 
are now of less importance or have been 
otherwise provided for, but the great un- 
derlying purpose of the society, as ex- 
pressed in its name, far from diminishing 
in importance has become even more vital 
to real progress. 

What, then, may a voluntary organiza- 
tion, such as this, hope to do to promote 
agricultural science ? 

At no time since the society was founded 
has there been greater need for maintain- 
ing and raising the ideals of what science 
is and of what constitutes research. We 
are suffering to-day from a low and inade- 
quate conception of scientific investigation. 
Now the conception of scientific investiga- 
tion which is popularly current at any time 
depends very largely upon the attitude and 
ideals of the men of science themselves. 
The stream rarely rises higher than its 
source. It is of prime importance, there- 
fore, that those professionally engaged in 
investigation in agriculture, whether in the 
experiment stations or elsewhere, should 
cherish a high ideal of their function in the 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 622. 


body politic, and a high standard of pro- 
fessional and personal obligation. How can 
such ideals be more effectively maintained 
than by association. Scattered over three 
million square miles, and more or less iso- 
lated, we inevitably feel in our daily work 
the drag of the commonplace, the tedious- 
ness of the necessary drudgery which 
makes up such a large part of investiga- 
tion, the temptation to cater to popular 
applause. What greater inspiration can 
we have than that which comes from an 
annual gathering such as this, where we 
meet, not as chemists or botanists, or ento- 
mologists, or directors, but simply as seek- 
ers after truth? Is not the mutual sup- 
port, the discussion, the friendly criticism, 
which we encounter here a priceless factor 
in promoting agricultural science? In the 
conventions of the Association of American 
Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Sta- 
tions, we meet officially, and seem tending 
more and more to the discussion of official 
and administrative problems. It is well to 
retain a meeting place frankly devoted to 
idealism. 

But I believe the society may have other 
functions besides maintaining the ideals 
and strengthening the enthusiasm of its 
members. While it is essential that we 
maintain right ideals ourselves, it is equally 
important that we secure their acceptance 
by others. Few of us are so fortunate as 
to be able ourselves to defray the expenses 
of our own investigations. Most of us are 
dependent for the necessary funds upon 
the approval of boards of trustees or other 
superior officers, or, since these usually 
represent the public, we may say that we 
are dependent upon popular approval or 
at least tolerance. That research may take 
its rightful place, the public must come to 
understand better than it does the nature 
of research and its importance from the 
point of view of the general welfare. 


NovEMBER 30, 1906.] 


Should not individuals and societies which 
stand for the promotion of science, while 
giving no less attention to specific results 
of investigation, take greater heed to the 
formation of an enlightened public opin- 
ion? We listened with pleasure and profit 
this afternoon to a discussion upon agricul- 
tural science in the experiment stations. 
Might it not be possible in the future to 
attract greater audiences to such discus- 
sions, and by means of suitable publication 
to bring them before the larger public? I 
feel sure that all legitimate influences ought 
to be brought to bear, whether in this or in 
other ways, to secure a generous and proper 
recognition of the importance of real scien- 
tific investigation in the work of our insti- 
tutions for agricultural education and ex- 
perimentation. 

But such education of public opinion 
ean not be effected in a month or a year; 
it must be a work of time, a gradual leaven- 
ing of the lump. For the present, we can 
hardly expect otherwise than that the prac- 
tieal, so called, will predominate over the 
scientific in institutions supported by pub- 
lic funds. We are led to ask, therefore, 
whether any more immediately effective 
measures for the promotion of agricultural 
science can be devised. 

Our minds naturally turn, in this con- 
nection, to the much-discussed question of 
the endowment of research. During the 
last few years we, along with others, have 
applauded the devotion of vast sums to 
this purpose, such as, to name two con- 
spicuous examples, the endowment of the 
Carnegie Institution of Washington and of 
the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Re- 
search. We have rejoiced at the testimony 
afforded by these magnificent gifts to the 
estimate put upon the value of science and 
scientific investigation by hard-headed, suc- 
cessful men of affairs. We would not, if 
we could, subtract one dollar from the sums 


SCIENCE. 


679 


assigned by these and other like founda- 
tions to the support of any line of scientific 
inquiry, however abstruse. At the same 
time, we can not but regret that the great 
basal industry of this, as of every civilized 
ecountry—the one which not only overtops 
all others in magnitude as measured in 
terms of money, but the one whose fol- 
lowers constitute the great conservative 
force of our national life—has thus far 
practically failed of recognition, and that 
the claims of agricultural science as a field 
for research have not thus far seemed to 
appeal to our men of wealth. I can hardly 
believe that this state of things will con- 
tinue indefinitely. Wealth almost ineal- 
culable is being created annually by the 
American farmer, not for himself alone, 
but as well for the great transportation and 
manufacturing interests whose prosperity 
depends so directly upon his. Is it not 
reasonable to anticipate that if the impor- 
tance of fundamental research in this field 
were properly set forth, free from the sus- 
picion of personal interest, as it might be 
by a society like this, the Carnegie or the 
Rockefeller of agriculture would in due 
time appear, and that the great endowed 
universities would find a place for it in 
their programs ? 

These, then, are some of the larger ob- 
jects which, as it seems to me, a Society 
for the Promotion of Agricultural Science 
should set before itself: 

1. To aid in maintaining among our in- 
vestigators in agriculture the highest ideals 
of scientific research, and to help to fur- 
nish the inspiration for the pursuit of these 
ideals. 

2. To seek to educate the public to a 
greater appreciation of the need for scien- 
tific investigation into the underlying prin- 
ciples of agriculture and to a realization of 
the practical benefits flowing from it, and 
thus to promote the cause of agricultural 


680 


science in the experiment stations and kin- 
dred institutions. 

3. To seek to impress upon university 
authorities, and upon wealthy donors, the 
claims of agricultural science to recogni- 
tion as a most promising and attractive 
field for the endowment of research. 

Is it not by setting before ourselves 
ends like these, even though they may 
seem somewhat utopian, that we shall most 
effectively promote agricultural science 
under existing conditions, rather than by 
simply meeting annually to read a few 
technical papers, too often prepared from 
a sense of duty or at the solicitation of the 
secretary, and paying a tax of two or three 
dollars to cover the cost of publishing them 
to an unappreciative world? 

Finally, if the ideas which I have been 
advancing be not entirely quixotic, they 
suggest, to my mind at least, a radically 
different basis of organization from that 
which has prevailed hitherto. 

At the outset, membership in this society 
was limited to forty, and the avowed pur- 
pose was to include only those who had 
already attained some degree of distinction 
in agricultural science. The idea in the 
minds of the founders, although nowhere 
perhaps clearly expressed, seems to have 
been to make membership in the society a 
distinction to be coveted. It was to be an 
American academy for agriculture, a-sort 
of ‘forty immortals.’ Subsequently, the 
limits of membership have been greatly en- 
larged, yet in general the original concep- 
tion has been adhered to, although not 
without struggles. and heart burnings. 

That conception was a high and worthy 
one, and that it has contributed notably to 
the promotion of agricultural science none 
ean doubt. All honor to the men who at 
that early day embodied it in a conerete 
form. 

But there is no impiety to their memory 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 622. 


in asking whether the original form of 
organization is that best adapted to the 
changed conditions of the present day. 
Personally, I do not hesitate to say that I 
question this. The spirit of science is 
democratic and not aristocratic. In up- 
holding her interests we need the help of 
everyone who has seen and loved her fair 
face. The man who has devoted half a 
lifetime to her service may be assumed to 
know and prize the modest rewards she 
offers. It is the young man, at the thresh- 
old of his career, dazzled by the glittering 
promises of business or commercial life, 
that we need to reach. If the society’s 
influence is worth anything—if it affords 
any stimulus to worthy endeavor in the 
search after truth for its own sake—should 
not he especially have the benefit of it? 

Moreover, why should we despise the aid 
of the man of affairs? If the promotion 
of agricultural science is also the promo- 
tion of the general weal, should we not 
rather welcome him as a new and powerful 
force through which to influence public 
opinion ? 

In brief, if the society accepts a compre- 
hensive view of its mission, should it not 
make its basis of membership correspond- 
ingly broad, imposing no test except that 
of belief in the purposes of the organiza- 
tion and willingness to aid in forwarding 
them? It would still be possible to make 
a distinetion, which need not be invidious, 
between those professionally engaged in 
agricultural science and those merely inter- 
ested in its promotion on broad grounds of 
public policy, while the effectiveness of the 
society as an agent of propaganda would 
be immeasurably increased by such a 
broadening of its membership. The ad- 
vantages of mere numbers, too, are not al- 
together to be despised. A larger member- 
ship, and more ample means, would bring 
within the range of possibility various 


NovEMBER 30, 1906.] 


means of advancing the purposes of the 
society which now are entirely beyond our 
reach. The question of publication, for 
example, might present quite a different 
aspect under such conditions. The offer- 
ing of prizes for the investigation or lit- 
erary discussion of specified topics, the 
recognition by medal or otherwise of spe- 
cially deserving investigations, even small 
erants in aid of research, loom up dimly 
on the horizon of possibility, but can not 
be further discussed here. 

I am well aware that these suggestions 
may appear revolutionary. I have little 
faith in revolutions as a means of progress, 
but they have occasionally been unavoid- 
able. We may as well frankly face the 
fact that for several years our society has 
been groping for a mission and that its 
meetings have been supported more or less 
from a sense of duty. I am not so pre- 
sumptuous as to assume that I have found 
that mission. If my words serve to stimu- 
late discussion and reflection concerning 
the functions of the society, they will ac- 
complish all that I have any right to hope. 
True, we should beware of losing the sub- 
stance while grasping the shadow, but, on 
the other hand, tradition should not blind 
us to the changed conditions confronting 
us. Are we not imperatively called upon 
to attempt in some way to make the work 
of this society such that the leaders of 
acricultural progress shall feel it worth 
their while to contribute to it liberally of 
their time and energy? If we can solve 
this problem we need have no apprehen- 
sions regarding the promotion of agricul- 
tural science. 


Henry PRENTISS ARMSBY. 
; THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE COLLEGE. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 
Soils. Their Formation, Properties, Composi- 
- tion and Relation to Climate and Plant 
Growth, in the Humid and Arid Regions. 


SCIENCE. 


681 


By E. W. Hincarp, Ph.D., LL.D., Professor 

of Agriculture in the University of Cali- 

fornia and director of the California Agri- 

cultural Experiment Station. The Mac- 

millan Company. 1906. 8vo. Pp. xxvii 

+598; 89 figures, including 37 photographic 

illustrations. $4.00 net. ; 

In the production of this volume on soils 
Dr. Hilgard has enriched agricultural science 
throughout the domain of its most basal prob- 
lems, and to a very notable extent. Moreover, 
its appearance at this time is extremely op- 
portune, coming as it does with the initiation 
of more rigid research work by the agricul- 
tural experiment stations, before the Bureau 
of Soils has been able to fully discern what 
should be its own precise problems, and when 
the materials for agricultural education have 
yet to be definitely brought together in proper 
pedagogic form. It is now more than fifty 
years since Hilgard began the application of 
rigid research methods to the elucidation of 
the processes and principles which underlie 
and determine the productive power of soils. 
During most of this long period soil problems 
have been uppermost in his mind and have 
drawn from him, to their illumination, a 
large measure of his research effort. With 
mental traits of the highest research type; 
broadly and thoroughly trained at Zurich, 
Freiberg and Heidelberg before the days of 
extreme specialization in education, he entered 
upon this, his life study, with the best of 
equipment. Thrown directly into the field 
upon the humid, washed and leached soils of 
the south, from 1856 to 1872, in his agricul- 
tural and geological survey of Mississippi; 
then transferred to the glacial soils of Mich- 
igan from 1873 to 1875; and finally, for more 
than thirty years, studying the arid soils of 
the Pacific slope, during which time he was 
also attached to the agricultural division of 
the Northern Transcontinental Survey, and 
again brought back to reconsider the humid 
soils of the south when making his extended 
report upon cotton production for the tenth 
census, it is doubtful if any man living has 
been brought so persistently, widely and in- 
timately to the personal study of soil types 
and soil conditions as he. And when it is 


682 SCIENCE. 


understood that throughout all of these ex- 
tended studies soils have been considered 
broadly (1) from the standpoints of geology 
and climate; (2) from that of their physical 
composition, condition, moisture and aeration; 
(3) from that of chemistry and plant nutri- 
tion; (4) and finally from that of the correla- 
tion of native vegetation to virgin soil condi- 
tions as indicative of relative productive 
power a very important contribution to agri- 
cultural science may well be anticipated as 
the outcome of such preparation, especially 
when, as is the case here, the author fully 
avails himself of other investigations in set- 
ting out the subjects discussed. 

Another feature which must give special 
importance to Hilgard’s views as guardedly 
presented in this volume is the fact that 
throughout his half century of study he has 
been able to deal almost entirely with soils in 
their unfertilized or entirely virgin condition, 
whereas the whole of the soil literature of 
Europe had grown up on fields centuries old 
which had been long fertilized before the 
studies began; and what is more significant, 
our author, from the outset and throughout, 
was keenly alive to the fact. that he was deal- 
ing with fundamental conditions which must 
be widely different from those which European 
students have met and from which they have 
drawn their conclusions. 

The author groups his subjects into four 
parts: (1) the origin and formation of soils, 
covering 79 pages; (2) physics of soils, to 
which is devoted 237 pages; (8) chemistry of 
soils, appropriating 131 pages and (4) soils 
and native vegetation, to the consideration of 
which are given 62 pages. Those who have 
been in the habit of attributing to Hilgard 
the view that physical properties and condi- 
tions of soils play but a small part in deter- 
mining their productive capacity will be sur- 
prised at the amount of space devoted to soil 
physics. This is done, not because of any 
change of views on the part of the author, 
for throughout all his writings no one has 
been more insistent regarding the greatest im- 
portance being attached to proper physical 
conditions as the first essential to a productive 
soil; and no one in America has done as much 


[N.S. VoL. XXIV. No. 622. 


as he to establish the causes of the physical 
differences in soils which are productive and 
which are unproductive, and to point out prac- 
ticable methods for correcting evils when they 
are known to exist. It has been his strong 
insistence during these later years, when it 
has become a fashion to ignore chemical dif- 
ferences, that these too are very important in 
influencing productive capacity, that has given 
the impression to some that Hilgard regards 
physical differences as of comparatively slight 
moment. 

In Chapter I. the physical processes of soil 
formation are discussed, followed in the sec- 
ond by a presentation of the chemical, which 
includes the exchanges of bases in zeolites and 
the action of plants and their remnants in 
soil formation. Next come two chapters treat- 
ing first of the major soil-forming minerals 
and then of the chief soil-forming rocks, where 
special stress is laid upon the nature, origin, 
determination and importance of colloidal clay 
as greatly influencing both the physical and 
chemical nature of soils; while in the last 
chapter of Part I. the minor minerals and 
ingredients of soils are treated, including 
those used as fertilizers and also those which 
are unessential or are injurious. 

Part II. begins with the physical composi- 
tion of soils and ‘since clay is the substance 
whose functions and quantitative proportions 
influence most strikingly the agricultural 
qualities of land’ it is first discussed. Then 
follows an important characterization of sands 
in humid and in arid regions, showing why 
the latter are usually and naturally so much 
more productive; the chapter closing with the 
methods, purposes and importance of mechan- 
ical analysis of soils. Chapters VIII., IX. 
and X., treating of soils and subsoils from 
the standpoints of causes and processes of 
differentiation; of organisms influencing soil 
conditions; of their relations to vegetation, 
and of the origin, nature and distribution of 
humus, will be found among the most lumin- 
ous, important and suggestive, to both the stu- 


dent and the investigator, of all the valuable ~ 


presentations which the book contains. Espe- 
cially instructive is Fig. 27, contrasting a 
type of eastern soils with two of those of 


Mi 
Ee 
£ 
@ 
i 
he 
ii 
4 
P 
¢ 
; 


NOVEMBER 30, 1906.] 


California, showing the great differences in 
depth of the soil proper, thus giving a basis 
for understanding the possibility of deep 
humification, nitrification, root feeding and 
high duty of soil moisture which distinguish 
arid from humid soils, making them relatively 
more productive and more enduring. Chap- 
ters XI., XII. and XIII, in all 78 pages, are 
devoted to the water of soils, placing the 
greatest emphasis upon the problems of semi- 
arid and arid regions, while the remaining 
three chapters of this part deal with the ab- 
sorption of solids from solution, and gases, 
the color of soils and climate. 

Part III. is an extremely cogent and clear 
presentation of the author’s and others’ ob- 
servations and conclusions regarding the 
legitimate functions, possibilities and utilities 
of chemico-physical investigations of soils in 
regard to crop production. A careful study 
of these chapters will be found a speedy and 
complete antidote for that miasma which rose 
up out of Maryland, infected the national 
capital and, on the wings of publicity, is de- 
veloping ‘ toxic’ symptoms at widely separated 
centers. The first chapter of this part, among 
other matters, gives a brief historical review 
of soil investigations; calls attention to ad- 
vantages for soil study offered by virgin lands; 
points out the physical and chemical condi- 
tions of plant growth; discusses the solvent 
action of water upon soils; the ascertainment 
of immediate plant food requirements and 
chemical tests of immediate productiveness. 
The second chapter treats of the analysis of 
virgin soils by extraction with strong acids, 
the limits of adequacy of the several plant- 
foods in virgin soils and the influence of lime 
upon soil fertility, wherein it is held that 
‘a lime country is a rich country.’ The next 
two chapters are given over to a very fruitful 
comparison of the soils of arid and humid 
regions, in which tropical soils, so far as data 
are available, come in for their share of con- 
sideration. The last two chapters of Part IIL, 
on alkali soils and the utilization and reclama- 
tion of alkali lands, all very comprehensive 
and practical discussion of those problems 
which must prove very helpful to agents of 
the reclamation service and to actual and in- 


SCIENCE. 


683 


tending settlers on those lands, 62 pages being 
very wisely given over to these important 
matters. 

Soils and Native Vegetation is the title of 
Part IV. Quoting, but not consecutively, 
the author says: 

In newly settled countries, and still more in 
those yet to be settled, the questions of the im- 
mediate productive capacity, and the future dura- 
bility of the virgin land are among the burning 
ones since they determine the future of thousands 
for weal or woe. This need has long ago led to 
approximate estimates, made on the part of the 
settler, by the observations of the native growth, 
especially the tree. growth. * * * Thus in the 
long-leaf pine uplands of the Cotton States, the 
scattered settlements have fully demonstrated 
that after two or three years cropping with corn, 
ranging from as much as twenty-five bushels per 
acre the first year to ten and less the third, fertil- 
ization is absolutely necessary to farther paying 
cultivation. * * * Corresponding estimates based 
upon the tree growth and in part also upon minor 
vegetation, are current in the richer lands also. 
The ‘black-oak and hickory uplands,’ the ‘ post- 
oak flats, ‘hickory bottoms,’ ‘gum _ bottoms,’ 
‘hackberry hammocks,’ ‘ post-oak prairie,’ ‘ red- 
cedar prairie’ and scores of other similar designa- 
tions, possess a very definite meaning in the minds 
of farmers and are constantly used as a trust- 
worthy basis for bargain and sale, and for crop 
estimates. * * * Since the native vegetation 
normally represents the results of secular or even 
millennial adaptation of plants to climatic and 
soil conditions, this use of the native flora seems 
eminently rational. * * * It seems singular 
that such well and widely understood designa- 
tions and important distinctions should not long 
ago have been made the subject of careful investi- 
gation and precise definition by agricultural in- 
vestigators. For apart from their practical im- 
portance as guides to the purchaser of land, or 
settler, this correlation of land values and natural 
vegetation is of the utmost interest in offering an 
opportunity for researches on the factors which 
determine the choice of these several trees and 
their corresponding shrubby and_ herbaceous 
growths. * * * Only very fragmentary and 
casual observations in this line are on record thus 
far. * * * Yet, to ascertain by the physical 
and chemical examination of soils what are deter- 
mining factors of certain natural vegetative pref- 
erences, which are invariably followed by certain 
agricultural results, should not be an unsolved 


684 


problem and its importance should 


justify its most active investigation. 


practical 


The author gives in some detail, fully illus- 
trating his thesis, the results of his early 
studies in Mississippi along these lines, pre- 
senting in Figs. 79, 80 and 81 the most stri- 
king illustrations of how individuals of one 
and the same species of post-oak, black-jack 
oak and deciduous cypress persistently differ 
in both stature and habit of growth when they 
recur on the same soil types in different locali- 
ties throughout the state; finally extending 
the discussion to observations in the United 
States at large and to Europe. I can not do 
better, in closing the review of this valuable 
work, than to quote again the author where he 
is discussing the influence of lime in the soil 
on the character of floras. 


What The definition 
adopted for this volume has been given in a 


is a calcareous soil? 
previous chapter; viz., that, a soil must be con- 
sidered calcareous so soon as it naturally sup- 
ports a calciphile flora—the lime vegetation so 
often referred to above and named in detail. 
Upon this basis it has been seen that some 
(sandy) soils containing only a little over one 
tenth of one per cent. of lime show all the char- 
acters and advantages of calcareous soils; while 
in the case of heavy clay soils, as has been shown, 
the lime-percentages may rise to over one half 
per cent. to produce native lime growth. 


At first thought it may appear to some that 
the adoption of such a definition is a subter- 
fuge to make observations harmonize with 
theory, but it is not so. Every one will agree 
that a moist soil, defining it from the stand- 
point of plant nutrition, is one which will 
yield moisture to a plant as rapidly as it is 
needed. On this basis a sandy soil contain- 
ing 4 per cent. of moisture is as moist as a 
clay soil carrying 20 per cent., the physiolog- 
ical difference being determined chiefly by the 
relative amounts of internal soil surface in 
the two eases. 

This volume should be introduced to a much 
wider circle of students than those of the agri- 
cultural colleges generally. It will be found 
well suited to serve as the foundation of im- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 622. 


- 


portant seminars in chemistry, in geology and 
especially in plant physiology and ecology. 


If lely leGasce) 
October 30, 1906. 


HATCH AND CORSTORPHINE’S GEOLOGY OF SOUTH 
AFRICA.” 


Tue visit of the British Association to 
South Africa was the occasion for the appear- 
ance of two noteworthy books on the geology 
of that region: Rogers’s ‘Geology of Cape 
Colony,’ and Hatch and Corstorphine’s ‘ Geol- 
ogy of South Africa. The latter is the more 
general of the two, as it treats of much the 
larger area; the former is somewhat more 
detailed, as all of its space is devoted to the 
formations that occur in the single colony 
with which it is concerned. 

The small geological map, scale, 1 :5,000,000, 
which serves as frontispiece to Hatch and 
Corstorphine’s book, provides a good introduc- 
tion to the problems considered in the text. 
The greater part of the area described is occu- 
pied by the nearly horizontal beds of the Kar- 
roo system, a vast body of continental deposits 
which has shared the fate of other stratified 
formations not containing marine fossils in 
having been explained by earlier observers as 
a lacustrine deposit, but which is now recog- 
nized as of mixed origin. Its lowest member 
is the famous Dwyka glacial conglomerate, 
or ‘tillite,” as Penck has suggested it should 
be called, unquestionably of glacial crigin. 
The overlying members of great thickness are 
probably of mixed fluviatile and lacustrine 
deposition, as they contain beds of coal and 
fossils of reptiles, as well as numerous dikes 
and sheets of dolerite. This great body of 
continental formations occupies a geosynclinal 
basin, some 600 miles east and west by 400 
miles or more north and south. It is ob- 
liquely truncated by the seacoast on the south- 
east; there the ancient lands from which the 
basin deposits were derived, appear to have 
been lost in the Indian Ocean. On the south, 
the Karroo system and the underlying forma- 
tions are folded in long east-and-west anti- 


*Macmillan, 1905, 348 pages, 2 geol. maps, 89 


figures and plates. $7.00. 


NOVEMBER 30, 1906.] 


clines and synclines which present in structure 
and topography many resemblances to the 
Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. The older for- 
mations here involved include many sand- 
stones, of which the Table mountain series is 
the basal and heaviest member. The very 
ancient Malmesbury series, under the Table 
mountain sandstone, is presumably of Ar- 
chean date; it consists largely of slates, with 
bodies of intrusive granites. This funda- 
mental complex is exposed chiefly to west of 
the Karroo basin, as far as the Atlantic. A 
recent paper by Rogers, of the Cape Colony 
survey, announces the discovery of a very 
ancient glacial deposit, much more indurated 
than the Dwyka tillite, in this series of fun- 
damental rocks. 

The older formations that underlie the Kar- 
roo system in the Transvaal, on the north, 
are much more complicated than those on the 
southwest. Beginning at the base there are 
Archean schists and slates, with granitic in- 
trusions; over these comes unconformably the 
Witwatersrand system, famous for its gold- 
bearing Banket or pudding-stone; then fol- 
lows after a second unconformity the Venters- 
dorp system with heavy amygdaloids; and 
again after a third unconformity, the Potchef- 
stroom system. This entire complex series 
was deformed by folds of moderate intensity 
and greatly eroded before a northern equiva- 
lent of the Table mountain sandstone, called 
the Waterberg sandstone, was deposited; and 
this in turn was heavily eroded before the first 
member—the Dwyka tillite—of the Karroo 
system was formed. A geological map of this 


region by Hatch on a scale of 1:1,250,000, is 


given at the end of the book. 

The younger rocks are chiefly of Cretaceous 
age, near the southern and eastern coasts. 
The ‘pipes’ of diamond-bearing volcanic 
rocks are also younger than at least some of 
the Karroo formations, inasmuch as the Kar- 
roo members are cut through by the pipes. 
The diamond mines of Kimberly and Pretoria 
and the gold mines of the Rand are described 
in some detail. The last chapter of the book 
treats the correlation of the pre-Dwyka for- 
mations, which are mostly non-fossiliferous, 
so that the occurrences in widely separated 


SCIENCE. 


685 


areas are of difficult identification. An excel- 
lent list of papers on South African geology 
and an index close the volume. 


W. Me D: 
"Gli ~Insettt, loro organtzzazione, sviluppo, 
abitudint e rapporti coll’uomo. By Pro-— 


fessor ANTONIO BrrueEsr, director of the 

Royal Station for Agricultural Entomology 

in Florence. Milan, Societé Editrice Li- 

braria. 1906. Published in parts at one 

lira each. 

With such excellent recent general Ameri- 
can books on insects as those of Kellogg and 
Folsom, it would seem difficult for a book in 
a foreign language to meet any great demand 
in this country, yet the admirable work of 
Professor Berlese, of which seventeen parts 
have already been published, will undoubtedly 
prove a very important addition to the libra- 
ries of all institutions in which advanced 
morphology is being studied and in all labora- 
tories in which the study of insects is under- 
taken from any point of view. 

Berlese is a master, a man of broad ideas, 
thorough training, admirable in technique, 
elear in demonstration, an excellent writer, 
and a capable draftsman. His work when 
completed will be both sound and comprehen- 
sive. It will comprise two volumes, of which 
the first will in a general way contain the 
anatomy and the second the biology of in- 
sects. The first volume will consist of from 
seven to eight hundred pages and will be ac- 
companied by about one thousand figures. Of 
these, 550 pages have been published in seven- 
teen parts, and the printed parts contain six 
hundred figures and four plates. 

The subjects considered in the first volume, 
by chapters, are: 

I. Brief History of Entomology. 
II. Size of Insects. 
Ill. Plan of the Insect Structure. 
IV. Embryology in General. 
V. Morphology in General. 
VI. Exoskeleton. 
Endoskeleton. 
Muscular System. 


IX. Integument and its Structure. 
X. Glands. 


686 


There still remain to be published chapters 
on the nervous system and organs of sense, 
organs of digestion, organs of circulation, 
organs of respiration, organs of secretion, 
and sexual organs. In the part already com- 
pleted the chapters on morphology are marvels 
of detail and thoroughness. The work itself 
is a large octavo, and more than ninety pages 
are devoted, for example, to the study of the 
exoskeleton of the head, while nearly eighty 
pages are occupied with the treatment of the 
muscular system. Nearly all of the numerous 
and strikingly apt illustrations are original, 
having been drawn by Dr. Berlese himself. 
Each section of the work is followed by a very 
complete bibliography, and the author has 
shown a perfect knowledge of the work of 
other men, the publications of American au- 
thors having been considered and studied with 
a thoroughness quite unusual among Euro- 
pean authors. 

The second volume, which has been reserved 
for the treatment of biology of insects, will 
contain a careful consideration of all ques- 
tions of economic importance, and it will 
undoubtedly be of interest to learn from this 
work Berlese’s final views on the subject of 
parasitism, and especially the relations of in- 
sects and birds upon which point he has long 
been at odds with other Italian zoologists. 

L. O. Howarp. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 


Tue October number (volume 7, number 4) 
of the Transactions of the American Mathe- 
matical Society contains the following papers: 
_ O. Borza: ‘ Weierstrass’s theorem and Kneser’s 
theorem on transversals for the most general case 
of an extremum of a simple definite integral.’ 

J. Prerpont: ‘ Area of curved surfaces.’ 

W. A. Mannine: ‘On multiple transitive 
groups.’ 

L. STICKELBERGER: ‘ Zur Theorie der vollstandig 
reduciblen Gruppen, die zu einer Gruppe linearer 
homogener Substitutionen gehoren.’ 

L. E. Dickson: ‘On commutative linear alge- 
bras in which division is always uniquely pos- 
sible” 

H. F. Bricnrerpt: ‘On the order of linear 
homogeneous groups.’ 

J. I. Hurcninson: ‘On automorphic groups 


SCIENCE. 


LN.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 622. 


whose coefficients are integers in a quadratic 
field.» 

F. R. Mourton: ‘A class of periodic solutions 
of the problem of three bodies with application 
to the lunar theory.’ 

J. H. McDonatp: ‘A problem in the reduction 
of hyperelliptic integrals.’ ; 

C. N. Hasxins: ‘On the differential invariants 
of a plane.’ 

This number contains also: Notes and 
Errata, volumes 6, 7; Table of Contents, vol- 
ume 7. 


Tue November number (volume 138, number 
2) of the Bulletin of the American Mathemat- 
ical Society contains: Report of the Thir- 
teenth Summer Meeting of the American 
Mathematical Society, by F. N. Cole; Report 
of the New Haven Colloquium, by Virgil 
Snyder; ‘ Theory and Construction of Tables 
for the Rapid Determination of the Prime 
Factors of a Number, by Ernest Lebon 
(translated by W. B. Fite); ‘On a Funda- 
mental Relation in Abstract Geometry,’ by 
A. R. Schweitzer; ‘On the Orderly Listing of 
Substitutions, by D. Lehman; ‘The Boston 
Colloquium’ (Review of Lectures on Mathe- 
matics by E. B. Van Vleck, H. S. White, F. 
S. Woods) by J. I. Hutchinson; Correction; 
Notes; New Publications. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 


THE autumn meeting of the academy was 
held on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 
November 20, 21 and 22, in the new buildings 
of the Harvard Medical School, Boston. The 
list of scientific papers was much longer than 
it has been at any session of the academy in 
recent years. It was, indeed, necessary to read 
by title many of the papers, which according 
to the program were as follows: 


ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL: ‘A few Notes Con- 
cerning Progress in Experiments relating to Aero- 
dromics.’ 

WILLIAM Epwarp Srory, Clark University (in- 
troduced by A. G. Webster): ‘A Method for the 
Enumeration of Algebraic Invariants.’ 

ArTHuR Gorpon WesstER, Clark University: 
‘ Acoustic Measurements.’ 

W. T. Porter, Harvard, Medical School (intro- 


NovEMBER 30, 1906.] 


duced by H. P. Bowditch): ‘Vasomotor Rela- 
tions.’ 

ArtHuR A. Noyes and others, Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology: ‘The Conductivity, Ioni- 
zation, and Hydrolysis of Salts in Aqueous Solu- 
tion at High Temperatures.’ 

R. S. Woopwagp, Carnegie Institution, Wash- 
ington: ‘Theory and Application of the Double 
Suspension Pendulum.’ 

RUSSELL H. CHITTENDEN, Yale University: ‘The 
Minimal Proteid Requirement of High Proteid 
Animals.’ 

GILBERT N. Lewis, Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology (introduced by A. A. Noyes): ‘The 
Free Energy of Oxidation Processes.’ 

GrorGe W. Pierce, Harvard University (intro- 
duced by John Trowbridge) : ‘ Wave-length Meas- 
urements in Wireless Telegraphy.’ 

Epwin H. Hatt, Harvard University (intro- 
duced by John Trowbridge) : ‘ Measurement of the 
Thomson Thermoelectric Effect in Metals.’ 


JOHN TROWBRIDGE, Harvard University: 
‘ Analogy between Electrical Energy and Nervous 
Energy.’ 


JOSEPH BARRELL, Yale University (introduced 
by W. M. Davis): ‘Continental Sedimentation 
with Applications to Geological Climates and 
Geography.’ 

THEODORE LyMAN, Harvard University (intro- 
duced by John Trowbridge) : ‘ Light of Extremely 
Short Wave-length.’ 

W. M. Davis, Harvard University: ‘The East- 
ern Slope of the Mexican Plateau.’ 

ELLSwortH HUNTINGTON, Harvard University 
(introduced by W. M. Davis): ‘ Evidence of Des- 
iccation during Historie Times discovered in 
Chinese Turkestan in 1905-06.’ 

Witt1amM H. Pickerinc, Harvard University 
(introduced by E. C. Pickering): ‘ Planetary In- 
version and the tenth Satellite of Saturn.’ 

S. I. Bamtey, Harvard University (introduced 
by E. C. Pickering): ‘The Work of the Bruce 
Telescope.’ 

THEODORE W. RicHARDS, L. J. HENDERSON and 
H. L. Frvert, Harvard University: ‘The Heat of 
Combustion of Benzol.’ 

THEODORE W. RICHARDS and GEORGE S. FORBES, 
Harvard University: ‘The Atomic Weights of 
Nitrogen and Silver.’ 

Ropert T. JACKSON, Harvard University (intro- 
duced by HE. L. Mark): ‘Structure of Rich- 
thofenia.’ 

W. E. CASTLE, Harvard University (introduced 
by E. L. Mark): ‘On the Process of Fixing Char- 
acters in Animal Breeding.’ 


SCIENCE. 


687 


HK. L. Marx and J. A. Lone, Harvard Univer- 
sity: ‘The Maturation of the Mammalian Ovum.’ 

EK. L. Mark, Harvard University: ‘The Marine 
Biological Station at La Jolla, Cal.’ 

G. H. Parker, Harvard University (introduced 
by E. L. Mark): ‘Reactions of Amphioxus to 
Light.’ 

H. C. Jones, John Hopkins University (intro- 
duced by Ira Remsen): ‘The Absorption Spectra 
of Solutions in Relation to the Present Hydrate 
Theory.’ 

S. F. Acres, Johns Hopkins University (intro- 
duced by Ira Remsen): ‘On the Salts of Tauto- 
meric Compounds.’ 

CHARLES P. BowpitcH, Peabody Museum (in- 
troduced by F. W. Putnam) : ‘ The Temples of the 
Cross, of the Foliated Cross, and of the Sun, at 
Palenque, Mexico.’ 

GEORGE C. Comstock, University of Wisconsin: 
‘Extent and Structure of the Stellar System.’ 

Henry F. Osporn, Columbia University: 
‘Tyrannosaurus: Upper Cretaceous Carnivorous 
Dinosaur.’ 

Henry F. Osporn, Columbia University: ‘ Sec- 
tion of American Tertiaries.’ 

Henry F. Osporn, Columbia University: ‘Com- 
plete Mounted Skeleton of Fin-back Lizard Neos- 
aurus of the Peruvian.’ 

Otto Fortin, McLean Hospital (introduced by 
H. P. Bowditch): ‘Metabolism of Creatin and 
Creatinin.’ 

CHARLES S. Minot, Harvard Medical School: 
“Nature and Cause of Old Age.’ 

C. 8. Perrce, Milford P. O., Pa.: ‘ Phaneroscopy, 
or Natural History of Signs, Relations, Categories, 
etc.’ A method of investigating this subject ex- 
pounded and illustrated. 

BatLey WILLIS, U. S. Geological Survey (intro- 
duced by Charles D. Walcott): ‘ Heterogeneous 
Elements of the Continent as Factors in the His- 
tory of North America.’ 

S. C. CHANDLER: ‘ Present State of Knowledge 
as to Motions of the Terrestrial Pole.’ 

CHARLES R. VAN HIseE, University of Wiscon- 
sin: ‘The Origin of the Ores of the Cobalt-silver 
district of Ontario.’ 

CuaRites D. WAtcorT, U. S. Geological Survey: 
‘Geological and Biological Study of the Cambrian 
Brachiopods.’ 

J. M. Crarts, Boston: ‘The Catalysis of Sul- 
phuric Acids.’ 

W. B. Scort, Professor of Geology, Princeton: 
‘The Miocene Mammals of Patagonia.’ 

GEORGE E. Ham, Director of the Solar Observa- 
tory of the Carnegie Institution: ‘ Sun-spot 


688 


Spectra, and their Bearing on Stellar Evolution.’ 


For the first time a conversazione was held 
in connection with the meeting. The ex- 
hibits, according to the program, were as fol- 
lows: 


- ArrHur A. Noyes, professor of theoretical 
chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 
Platinum lined bomb with insulated electrodes for 
electrical conductivity measurements with solu- 
tions at high temperatures and pressures. 

THEODORE W. RicHarps, professor of chemistry, 
Harvard University: Apparatus used in the pre- 
cise determination of chemical and physicochemical 
constants including the nephelometer, the adia- 
batic calorimeter, the device for excluding mois- 
ture from fused salts, and other apparatus. 

J. B. WoopwortH, assistant professor of geo- 


logy, Harvard University (introduced by W. M: 


Davis) : Fossil foot-prints, including those of am- 
phibians, from the Carboniferous shales of Plain- 
ville (Wrentham), Mass. 

W. M. Davis, professor of geology, Harvard 
University: Diagrams illustrating a method of re- 
constructing the original course of a river, now 
flowing in an incised meandering valley. 

JOSEPH BARRELL, assistant professor of geology, 
Yale University (introduced by W. M. Davis): 
Continental deposits of fluvial origin as indicators 
of geography and climate. Subaerial conglom- 
erates, standstones and shales: (1) From the 
Mauch Chunk Shale (Sub-carboniferous) of east- 
ern Pennsylvania; (2) from the lower Coal Meas- 
ures (Carboniferous) of eastern Pennsylvania; 
(3) from the Newark Shale (Triassic) of Con- 
necticut and New Jersey. 

B. K. Emerson, professor of geology, Amherst 
College (introduced by W. M. Davis): A new 
geological map of Massachusetts. 

W. Nortu Ricz, professor of geology, Wesleyan 
University: Superintendent Connecticut Geological 
and Natural History Survey (introduced by W. 
M. Davis): Geological map of Connecticut, on 
scale of four miles to the inch, by H. E. Cryary 
and H. H. Robinson, to be published by the State 
Geological and Natural History Survey. 

T. A. Jacear, JR., head of the department of 
geology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
(introduced by W. M. Davis): Apparatus and 
product of experiments illustrating the mechanism 
of rill erosion. Diagrams, photographs, and ap- 
paratus. 

Henry F. Osporn: (1) Recent restorations of 
extinct horses of North America, executed by 
Charles R. Knight, under direction of Henry F. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 622. 


Osborn, (A) water-colors, (B) photographs; (2) 
first complete section of the American Tertia- 
ries,—a preliminary study. 

R. DeC. Warp, assistant professor of clima- 
tology, Harvard University (introduced by W. M. 
Davis): Some new curves illustrating types of 
temperature, rainfall and cloudiness in the torrid 
and the temperate zones. These curves show the 
variations in the different elements month by 
month throughout the year. 

CHARLES P. BowpiTcH, member of faculty of 
the Peabody Museum (introduced by F. W. Put- 
nam): The temples of the cross, of the foliated 
cross, and the sun, at Palenque. Maudslay’s 
plates of Palenque. 

ELLswortH Huntineton, holder of Hooper Fel- 
lowship, Harvard University (introduced by W. 
M. Davis): Buddhist manuscripts, records and 
letters inscribed on wooden tablets in the Kha- 
roothi language, small plaster figures from a Budd- 
hist lamasery, cord shoes, small plates of leather 
armor, etc., dating from about the third or fourth 
century A.D., and collected by the exhibitor in 
1905 from the sand-buried ruins in the Takla- 
makan desert in western China. 

F. W. Putnam, curator of the Peabody Museum 
of Harvard University: Copies of mural paintings 
from the temple of the tigers, Chicken Itza, Yuca- 
tan. Copied by Miss Adela ©. Breton. 

E. C. PickERING, professor of astronomy, Har- 
vard University—Harvard College Observatory: 
Recent work of the Harvard College Observatory ; 
illustrated by diagrams, etc. Discovery of vari- 
able stars and satellites; methods and results. 
Studies in stellar spectra and in lunar detail; 
Peruvian meteorology; diurnal variations at dif- 
ferent altitudes. 

C. §S. SARGENT, 
Silvicultural exhibit. 

A. F. BLAKESLEE, Harvard Botanical Museum, 
instructor in botany (introduced by W. G. Far- 
low): Earliest states of sexuality in plants, illus- 
trated by cultures of fungi. 

M. A. CHRYSLER, instructor in botany, Harvard 
University (introduced by G. L. Goodale) : Cam- 
bium in the monocotyledons. 

CHARLES §. Minor, professor of comparative 
anatomy, Harvard University: Evolution of the 
automatic microtome; Harvard embryological 
methods. 

Harotp C. Ernst, professor of bacteriology, 
Harvard University (introduced by W. T. Council- 
man): Ultra-violet photomicrography and methods 
of use. 

J. H. Wricut, director of clinico-pathological 


Arnold Arboretum, Boston: 


NcCVEMBER 30, 1906.] 


laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital (in- 
troduced by W. T. Councilman): Demonstration 
of the histogenesis of the blood plates. 

F. B. Matuory, associate professor of path- 
ology, Harvard University (introduced by W. T. 
Councilman) : Demonstration of intracellular sub- 
stances, and differential methods of staining. 

E. E. SouTHarp, assistant professor of neuro- 
pathology, Harvard University (introduced by W. 
T. Councilman) : Demonstration of nerve cells and 
neuroglia. 

S. B. Worpacu, instructor in pathology, Har- 
vard University (introduced by W. T. Council- 
man): Demonstration of two pathogenic fungi re- 
lated to genus Oidiwm exhibiting changes in mor- 
phology and protective phenomena when inocu- 
lated into animals. 

W. T. Porter, professor of comparative physi- 
ology, Harvard Medical School (introduced by H. 
P. Bowditch) : Improved kymographions. 

M. L. FERNALD, assistant professor of botany, 
Harvard University (introduced by G. UL. 
Goodale) : Certain plants in eastern Canada. 

E. C. JEFFREY, assistant professor of vegetable 
histology, Harvard University (introduced by G. 
L. Goodale) : Photographie and photomicrographic 
illustrations of Cretaceous plants. 

OAKES AMES, assistant director of the botanic 
garden, Cambridge (introduced by G. L. Goodale) : 
New orchids from the Philippines. 

G. L. GoopaLr, professor of botany, Harvard 
University: A new form of ‘container’ for mu- 
seums of botany, plaster-plaques for museums, 
selections from recent photomicrographs of fibers. 

HK. E. Tyzzerr, director of cancer research labora- 
tory, Harvard University (introduced by W. T. 
Councilman): Photomicrographs illustrating the 
dermatitis produced by the Brown Tail moth. 

W. B. CANNON, professor of physiology, Har- 
vard University (introduced by H. P. Bowditch) : 
Movements of the stomach and intestine as seen 
in the zoetrope. 

ARTHUR GORDON WEBSTER, professor of physics, 
Clark University: A set of instruments for the 
performances of quantitative researches in acous- 
tics. 

J. C. BRANNER, professor of geology, Stanford 
University: Album of photographs relating to 
the geology of the California earthquake of April 
18, 1906. 

THEODORE LYMAN, instructor in physics, Har- 
vard University (introduced by John Trow- 
bridge) : Photographs of short wave-lengths. 

GrorcE C. Comstock, director of the Wash- 


SCIENCE. 


689 


burn Observatory: Pendulum apparatus for the 
determination of the force of gravity. 

W. B. Scorr, professor of geology, Princeton 
University: Drawings and plates of fossil mam- 
mals, etc., for the reports of the Princeton Uni- 
versity expeditions to Patagonia. Also published 
parts of reports. 

BartLtey WILLIS, Geologist, U. 8S. Geological 
Survey (introduced by Chas. D. Walcott): Geo- 
logical map of North America, prepared for the 
International Geological Congress at the City of 
Mexico. i 

CHARLES S. MENDENHALL, professor of physics, 
University of Wisconsin (introduced by George 
C. Comstock): New apparatus for pendulum de- 
terminations of gravity. 

Louis KAHLENBERG, professor of chemistry, 
University of Wisconsin (introduced by Charles 
R. Van Hise): Apparatus for the investigation 
of osmotic pressures. 

CHARLES F. BurcEss, professor of applied elec- 
tro-chemistry, University of Wisconsin (intro- 
duced by George C. Comstock): Exhibits in ap- 
plied electro-chemistry. 

EK. L. Marx, Hersey professor of anatomy, Har- 
vard University: A machine for cutting wax re- 
construction plates by means of an electrical de- 
vice; a paraffine bath heated by electricity. 

G. H. Parker, professor of zoology, Harvard 
University (introduced by E. L. Mark): Mis- 
tichthys luzonensis, the smallest vertebrate. 

W. E. CASTLE, assistant professor of zoology, 
Harvard University (introduced by E. L. Mark) : 
Wild and tame guinea-pigs and hybrids between 
the two. 

Ropert T. JACKSON, assistant professor of 
paleontology, Harvard University (introduced by 
EK. L. Mark): Binocular preparative microscope. 

J. EK. Wouirr, and C. PALACHE, professor, Har- 
vard University (introduced by W. M. Davis) : 
Examples of recent instruments, models, ete., for 
the study and exposition of mineralogy, petro- 
graphy, and optical mineralogy. 

A. G. WesstTer, Clark University, Worcester: 
Dynamical tops. 

GrorcE E. Hats, director of the solar observa- 
tory of the Carnegie Institution: Photographs 
and drawings from the solar observatory. 

C. Barus, Brown University, Providence: 
Charts of the distribution of atmospheric nuclea- 
tion in the lapse of time. 


From four to five o’clock an exhibit of lan- 
tern slides was made in the lecture room 


on the first floor, by Professors S. I. Bailey, 


690 SCIENCE. 


E. CO. Jeffrey, A. G. Webster, Harold Ernst 
and E. E. Southard. 


NEW YORK STATE SCIENCE TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION. 


Tue next annual meeting of the New York 
State Science Teachers’ Association will be 
held at Teachers College, Columbia Univer- 
sity, New York City, December 26 and 27. 

The program is as follows: 


WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. 


DEAN JAMES E. RUSSELL, address of welcome. 

Dr. Ketty, Ethical Culture School: ‘Are High 
School Courses in Science adapted to the Needs 
of Adolescents.’ 

J. M. Jameson, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn: 
‘More Interesting Mechanics.’ 

ProFEssoR MINCHEN, University of Rochester: 
demonstration, ‘The Principle of Interference 
and its Applications.’ : 

Henry R. Linvitte, De Witt Clinton High 
School, New York City: ‘ Biology as Method and 
as Science in Secondary Schools.’ iy 

Dr. Grace E. CooLtey, Newark High School: 
‘The High School Biologist and the Citizen of To- 
morrow.’ 

JENNIE T. Martin, Central High School, 
Buffalo: ‘ Field Work in Physical Geography.’ 

W. H. Puatzer, High School, Poughkeepsie: 
‘The Value of the Inductive Study of Relief 
Forms in Field Work.’ 

. PROFESSOR GALE, University of Rochester: 
‘The Place of Transformation Theory in Geom- 
etry.’ 

Proressor Kryser, Columbia University: ‘ Con- 
cerning the Introduction of Modern Notions into 
the Geometry of Secondary Mathematics.’ 


WEDNESDAY EVENING. 


Proressor D. E. Smiru, Teachers College, Co- 
lumbia University: ‘The Preparation of the 
Teacher of Mathematics in Secondary Schools.’ 

Proressor EK. L. THORNDIKE, Teachers College, 
Columbia University: ‘Science Teaching seen 
from the Outside.’ 


THURSDAY FORENOON. 


ProFessoR Mann, Chicago University: ‘The 
New Move for the Reform of Physics Teaching 
in Germany, France and America.’ 

Proressok SHERMAN Davis, Indiana Univer- 
sity: ‘Purpose of Science in the Culture of the 
Adolescent.’ 

W. M. BenNeETT, West High School, Rochester: 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 622. 


‘Some Demonstrations in Refraction and Disper- 
sion of Light.’ 

J. Y. Bergen, Cambridge, Mass.: ‘ Plant Phys- 
iology in Secondary Schools.’ 

PROFESSOR BiGELOw, Teachers College, Colum- 
bia University: ‘Some Established Principles of 
Nature Study.’ 

Lester B. Gary, High School, Buffalo; GEORGE 
T. Hareitt, High School, Syracuse, and JAMES 
T. Peasopy, Morris High School, New York City: 
“The Teaching of Biological Science in some of 
the High Schools in New York State.’ 

PROFESSOR RICHARDSON, Syracuse University: 
‘The Study of Minerals and Rocks in Physical 
Geography in the High School.’ 

Dr. JouHnN M. CuarKke, State Geologist, 
‘Barachois, Bar and Tickle.’ 

A. W. FarRnuam, Oswego Normal School: ‘ The 
Relation which School Gardens may bear to 
Industrial and Commercial Geography.’ 

W. T. Morrey, Morris High School, New York 
City: ‘ Use of Reference Books in Physical Geog- 
raphy by Pupils in the High School. 

PrRoFESSOR HAWKES, Yale University: ‘Sec- 
ondary Mathematics from a College Standpoint.’ 

C. E. BrKLE, Horace Mann High School: ‘What 
Equipment does a High School need for the Hf- 
fective Teaching of Mathematics.’ 

PROFESSOR WEBB, Stevens Institute: ‘The Rela- 
tion between High’ School and College Mathe- 
matics.’ 

THURSDAY AFTERNOON. 

Proressor HattocKk, Columbia University, 
demonstration: ‘ Optical Oddities.’ 

Frep Z. Lewis, Boys’ High School, Brooklyn, 
demonstration: ‘ Photomicrographs.’ 

Proressor Davis, Harvard: ‘ Laboratory Ex- 
ercises in Physical Geography,’ illustrated. 

W. Betz, East High School, Rochester: ‘Open 
Questions in the Teaching of Elementary Geom- 
etry.’ 

The President of the Association of Teachers 
of Mathematics in the Middle States and Mary- 
land: ‘The Necessity of Closer Affiliation of 
Mathematical Associations.’ 

Dr. BE. O. Hovey, American Museum of Natural 
History: ‘West Indian Volcanoes and their Re- 
cent Eruptions,’ illustrated. 


THURSDAY EVENING. 
Lecture by Professor C. M. Woodward, and re- 
ception by the trustees of Columbia University. 
TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, 
JoHN F, WoopHULL. 
New York ‘City. 


NovEMBER 30, 1906.] 


NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. SECTION OF 
GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. 


AT a meeting on Monday, October 8, the 
following papers were read: 


Notes on the Microscopic Examination of the 
Opaque Constituents of Ore Bodies: Dr. 
WituiaM CaMpBeELL. (Illustrated with lan- 
tern slides.) 

The first part of the paper dealt with the 
preparation of the specimen for examination; 
of the various types of microscopes used; and 
the means of obtaining illumination by re- 
flected light. Next the paragenesis of the 
constituents of certain alloys was shown by 
microphotographs. Lastly the methods were 
applied to the opaque constituents of ores 
from Butte; the cochise district of Arizona; 
Ducktown, Tenn.; Rossland, B. C.; Sudbury, 
Ont.; southeast Missouri, ete. 


Notes on the Preglacial Channels of the 
Lower Hudson Valley as revealed by Recent 
Borings: Dr. C. P. BErRKEy. 

Borings made by the Board of Water Sup- 
ply of New York City, in connection with the 
project of bringing water from the Catskill 
Mountains, have shown the existence of nu- 
merous deeply buried channels representing 
preglacial stream courses. Many of them in- 
dicate channels cut far below present sea level 
at considerable distances back from the Hud- 
son River. From engineering records it ap- 
pears that the depth to bed-rock in the Hud- 
son River has never been determined at any 
point in its lower course. Profiles of supposed 
rock-bottom based upon wash-borings have 
been proven by the recent work to represent 
simply the bottom of the finer silt filling. The 
results show that more than 200 feet of more 
compact material lies below this silt at the 
point now being tested, and that the rock 
bottom of the ancient Hudson lies more than 
450 feet below the present river level through- 
out a large part of its lower course. 


Notes on the Character and Origin of the 
Pottsville Formation of the Appalachian 
Region: Dr. A. W. GraBav. 

The character of the overlap of the several 
divisions of the Pottsville, and the material 
and type of cross-bedding were discussed and 


SCIENCE. 


691 


the conclusion reached that the formation is 
of the nature of an alluvial cone—or several 
confluent ones, with occasional marine inter- 
calations. 

Professor D. S. Martin exhibited a large 
erystal of pink beryl, which he had lately 
obtained at Haddam Neck, Conn. The old 
quarry in the albite pegmatite at this locality, 
long famous for its colored tourmalines, is 
not now being worked; but a new one has 
been opened closely adjacent, and apparently 
on a continuation of the same vein or dike. 
This one has yielded less tourmaline than the 
former, but much more beryl, and particularly 
the heretofore very rare pink variety. Of 
these, a number of fine large crystals have 
been obtained, comparable with those lately 
developed from the gem-tourmaline mines in 
San Diego County, California. 

The present specimen measures about four 
inches in both length and diameter; it is a 
fine termination, of the type characteristic of 
this variety. It has been recently shown by 
Ford (Am. J. Scz., Sept., 1906) that these 
pink beryls, from whatever locality, present a 
peculiar type of erystallization. Instead of 
the long hexagonal prism with flat basal term- 
ination, usually seen in the green beryls of 
New England, the pink ones tend to a strong 
development of pyramidal planes, especially 
the pyramid of the second order (s), while 
the prismatic faces are short. It is very in- 
teresting to see how perfectly this crystal, 
from a new locality, conforms to this state- 
ment. It shows three very short and partly 
broken prismatic faces, and a large and per- 
fect hexagonal pyramid of the second order; 
the basal plane is reduced to a small irregular 
face about one inch in its longest diameter, 
and bears several shallow pits or depressions, 
of which the inclined sides conform to the 
pyramid of the first order. Altogether, the 
specimen is one of unusual interest. 


‘A, W. Grapau, Secretary. 


THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 
SECTION. 
Tue first regular meeting of this section 
was held on November 9 at the Chemists’ 
Club, 108 W. 55th Street... 


NEW YORK 


692 


Professor A. A. Breneman, chairman of the 
section, presented his opening address, which 
was, in the main, an account of the history of 
organization among chemists in America, with 
remarks upon the present status of chemistry 
as a profession. He described the origin of 
the American Chemical Society and the 
Chemists’ Club and urged the importance of 
maintaining a high standard of education 
among chemists. 

Professor Winslow, of the biological depart- 
ment of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- 
nology, spoke ‘On the Disposal of City 
Sewage.’ Professor Winslow presented the 
prominent features of the development of 
sewage treatment in a clear and comprehen- 
sible manner, showing numerous slides to 
illustrate the various types of sewage plants. 
He indicated the research work now in prog- 
ress at the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- 
nology sewage experiment station and finally 
spoke of the latest developments in the purifi- 
cation of sewage, noting especially the trick- 
ling system. 

The subject was supplemented by remarks 
from Professor Pellew on an _ interesting 
sewage problem in White Plains and by Dr. 
Soper, who spoke of the coming need of puri- 
fying sewage before dumping it into New 
York Bay. C. M. Joyce, 

- Secretary. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 


PRINCIPLES WHICH GOVERN THE UNITED STATES 
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY IN ITS RELATIONS WITH 
OTHER GEOLOGICAL SURVEYS AND WORK- 

ING GEOLOGISTS. 

To tHe Epiror oF ScIENCE: Certain ques- 
tions raised by the correspondence published 
by Professor Branner in Science for October 
26 are, as he says, of general interest; and, 
in view of the manner in which they are there 
presented, require a statement of the prin- 
ciples which govern the United States Geolog- 
ical Survey in its relations with other geolog- 
ical surveys and working geologists. 

There is among scientists in general a rule 
of courtesy that denies to others the privilege 
of investigation in a direction which one has 
made his own by reason of his contributions 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XXIV. No: 622. 


to knowledge along that line. The rule is 
variously construed in different countries and 
by different men, but it is no part of my pur- 
pose to minimize its force. It has been recog- 
nized by the national survey since the days of 
Director King, and is now effective in rela- 
tions with individuals and state surveys. It 
is, however, necessarily controlled by the prog- 
ress of the general survey and the development 
of general plans, which sometimes require that 
work shall be done by the national organiza- 
tion notwithstanding meritorious individual 
claims. Moreover, professional courtesy on 
the part of a public official is subject to limita- 
tions imposed by his obligation to Congress 
and to the people to render prompt and efh- 
client service. 

A long experience, including relations with 
nearly all the working geologists of the coun- 
try, has clearly demonstrated that men whose 
first obligation is to a university can not work 
as efficiently for the national survey as can 
the geologists constantly in its employ, and 
recognition of this fact has led in recent years 
to a reduction of the proportional amount of 
work allotted to teachers of geology, who can 
give but a share of their time to it. 

These considerations governed the national 
survey in the matter of the Arkansas coal 
fields. Not only professional courtesy but 
also personal regard prompted the offer of co- 
operation made to Dr. Branner under date of 
January 31, 1906, the purpose of which was to 
secure to him the publication of his results 
and the credit due him for his service to the 
state, as well as to avoid unnecessary duplica- 
tion of field work. The obligation to execute 
the surveys with that promptness and efficiency 
which could follow only from undivided atten- 
tion required that his desire to finish the work 
should be disregarded. 

It appears from Dr. Branner’s latest letter 
that he still regards the survey of a coal field 
worth many millions of dollars and capable 
of serving several millions of people as his 
personal affair. This bureau is directed on 
broader lines. He is led by his personal 
view of the question to misconstrue not only 
the correspondence which has passed, but also 
the administrative policy of the national sur- 


NOVEMBER 30, 1906.] 


vey. The insinuation that the proposal to 
pay for the Arkansas reports could have had 
an improper motive may be set aside as un- 
worthy of his own standing and mine. But I 
deny his charge that the survey is an un- 
democratic organization which abuses its 
power to the disadvantage of state surveys or 
of individual geologists. It encourages the 
organization of state surveys and seeks to co- 
operate with them in all practicable ways. It 
endeavors to maintain cordial cooperative re- 
lations with all working and teaching geolo- 
gists, and welcomes all practical suggestions 
which may lead to a closer touch with them. 
That its attitude in these relations is neces- 
sarily controlled by the obligations of a na- 
tional bureau to the people has already been 
said. 

The last quarter of a century has been one 
of extraordinary development in geology. The 
leaders in this progress have been members of 
the United States Survey, and by virtue of 
their services it has had a dominant influence 
in the development of methods and of knowl- 
edge. To serve on its staff, in whatever ca- 
pacity he is qualified by experience to fill, is 
no discredit to any geologist, nor is it a reflec- 
tion on any geologist, however able and hon- 
ored, that the work which he did a decade or 
two ago should require revision and should be 
revised according to the latest standards of 
topographie and geologic skill by the specially 
trained members of the national survey’s per- 


manent staff. 
Cuarites D. Watcort. 


A NEW VARIETY OF HONORARY PH.D. 


Wuart constitutes an acceptable thesis for 
a Ph.D. degree is a problem which at some 
time has engaged the attention probably of 
every department and surely of every graduate 
faculty in our real universities. Of course 
it matters little to those institutions which 
_ still continue, in defiance of the best opinion 
and practise both here and abroad to grant the 
‘degree honoris causa or as a reward for the 
completion of a set time or of a specific series 
of courses. But it was a matter of astonish- 
ment to learn that graduate schools with 
higher ideals are given to accepting as theses 


SCIENCE. 


693 


publications which have no evident relation 
to themselves, if indeed these papers reflect in 
any way the influence of the degree-granting 
institution. Within the past two years and 
at two different universities of good standing 
in the country, I have asked by chance what 
the work of a newly introduced doctor had 
been and was shown in each case a voluminous 
government document. Careful examination 
not only demonstrated that the publication 
was everywhere attributed to the direction and 
support of the particular division, the name 
of which appeared prominently printed on 
the cover and title pages, but also failed to 
disclose anywhere in the text the most ob- 
scure reference to the institution which had 
crowned the writer with the coveted laurel. 
Perhaps it is wrong to question the procedure, 
but the student had not been actually in resi- 
dence for more than a brief period ‘ because 
you know,’ the professor in charge naively re- 
marked, ‘he could not find the material or the 
literature for that work here, and then, too, 
the bureau paid all the expenses of the work.’ 
One could not help wondering what part in 
the work the aforesaid professor had played 
when he had evidently not even assigned the 
topic for investigation. 

But the climax appeared in a communica- 
tion which one of my own colleagues received 
the other day. A long-time student and good 
friend of his had left his work for the doctorate 
partly finished to take a government position 
in the national capital, and after some time 
there wrote regarding his still unfinished 
thesis, “Unless some arrangements can be 
made by which the university will accept, as 
has been done in recent instances, and as is 
done by other universities, an official publica- 
tion as fulfilling the thesis requirements, I 
shall have to abandon the plan of taking my 
degree from ——————————__—Y——- and try 
another institution.” The cordial relations 
existing between the two parties preclude any 
thought that an intellectual hold-up was at- 
tempted; it was merely the frank statement 
of the facts as the younger man in his official 
intercourse had found them. If the plan is 
recognized as feasible in official circles, as 
this and other circumstantial evidence would 


694 


serve to show is the case, then what of it from 
the university standpoint? No one would 
question that many government publications 
are abundantly worthy of the honor, but con- 
sider first the usually composite authorship 
which makes it exceedingly difficult to at- 
tribute to any single individual his due share 
of the work or to stamp it in any sense as 
research on his part; add to this the full 
financial and legal responsibility of the partic- 
ular government bureau for the character and 
scope of this piece of: investigation. Con- 
sider further the absolute lack of control on 
the part of the university over the correctness 
of the results reached, together with the omis- 
sion of even its name from the text of the 
paper, and it is hard to say wherein this pro- 
cedure differs from granting the degree purely 
honoris causa. After all, there are many men 
in actual work to-day who achieve results 
which per se would warrant granting them a 
doctorate. The best elements in university 
circles unite in agreeing that such a practise 
is dangerous, subversive of the best interests 
of graduate work and tending to break down 
the real university which we are now striving 
to build up in this country. This new tend- 
ency is equally disastrous and if seen in its 
true light is only another form of the ancient 
error against which university men should be 
on their guard. X. 


AN INTERMITTENT FLOWING WELL. 


SoME months ago the city of Albany, 
Georgia, in order to get rid of an objection- 
able pond of water in the suburbs, attempted 
to drain it off underground by boring a well 
to a cavernous limestone, ninety or one hun- 
dred feet below the surface, when this rather 
singular phenomenon was discovered. Mr. 
Charles Tift, former city engineer, and a very 
accurate observer, gives the following descrip- 
tion of the well: 

A low place in the city requiring drainage 
and there being no natural outlet, it was 
decided to bore an eight-inch well to the 
cavernous limestone, by which method other 
ponds in the city had been drained. This 
special pond covered an area of about one 
half of an acre, the water having an average 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 622. 


depth of eighteen inches. The well was bored 
at the edge of the pond, a small dam having 
been previously made to keep back the water. 
At the depth of ninety feet, the drill dropped 
some six or eight feet into a cavity. The 
drill was then withdrawn and the dam re- 
moved. The water at once began to run very 
rapidly into the well, not completely filling 
the bore hole, however. Jn six and one half 
minutes the well filled and the water began 
to bubble and almost immediately thereafter 
the entire column of water was ejected with 
considerable violence to an estimated height 
of about thirty feet. When the ejecting force 
spent itself, the water again commenced to 
flow into the well, and the same phenomenon 
was again repeated. 

For about an hour the ejections continued, 
but with gradually decreasing violence and at 
longer intervals, but ceased entirely only when 
the static head of the water in the pond be- 
came greatly reduced. This well is said to 
repeat its geyser-like action whenever a heavy 
rainfall fills the pond. 

S. W. McCatuir. 


GEORGIA SCHOOL OF TECHNOLOGY, ATLANTA. 


‘THE WIRELESS TELEGRAPH AND AURORA.’ 


SomeE time ago I conceived the idea that the 
wireless telegraph might give assistance in un- 
ravelling the mystery of the aurora. The 
result was not exactly what I expected, and at 
the present time seems to add more complica- 
tion to what was already complicated. 

I have a record of observation by the wire 
on six nights during the last year, grouped 
in three, one and two, respectively, giving 
what are known as ‘ freak distances,’ during 
spells of aurora, or the brilliant clear weather 
associated with aurora. During these three 
periods we received signals and read messages 
over abnormal ranges of 700 to 1,600 miles 
with an apparatus that ordinarily will not 
operate over more than 250 miles. 

The apparatus could receive, but not send, 
and directly the aurora ceased or diminished, 
in at least four cases, the long distance mes- 
sages also ceased to reach our wire. 

My facilities are woefully inadequate, and 
I hope some weather service station with 


NOvEMBER 30, 1906.] 


wireless equipment, or one of the several wire- 

less telegraph companies will take the matter 

up; for although it may not lead to a better 

understanding of aurora, it might help to the 

understanding of ‘freak distances’ over the 

wire. C. J. Stuart. 
MontTrREAL, October 29, 1906. 


THE GLACIAL EPOCH. 


To THE Epiror or Science: While I much 
regret having overlooked the references to 
which Professor Chamberlin calls attention 
in the first few lines of his communication to 
ScreNcE (October 26, page 531), his further 
remarks (tending to demonstrate that Dr. 
Manson’s theory is untenable), when consid- 
ered in connection with the equally modern 
and equally reliable views of Professor E. W. 
Hilgard (as expressed in the last paragraph 
of his paper quoted on page 440 of this jour- 
nal) afford an instructive illustration of how 
difficult it is, even for an able and con- 
scientious investigator, to avoid dogmatism in 
science. J. M. ScHAEBERLE. 

ANN ARBOR, 

October 29, 1906. 


SPECIAL ARTICLES. 


VARIATION IN PARTHENOGENETIC INSECTS. 


Ir, as the Neo-Darwinians claim, amphi- 
mixis is the principal cause of variation (of 
the continuous or fluctuating sort taken by 
Darwin and Weismann to be the material used 
by natural selection for species-building), it 
would seem to follow that much less varia- 
tion, of this type, should occur among par- 
thenogenetically produced individuals than 
occurs among individuals of bi-sexual parent- 
age. The Neo-Darwinians explain variation 
as a product of sex and sex as a product of 
the necessity for variation. 

The variation of bisexually produced indi- 
viduals is proved by limitless miscellaneous 
observation and the more recent better com- 
piled and expressed work of biometricians. 
But data and facts concerning the variation 
in parthenogenetically produced individuals 
are not so readily accessible. In the following 
paragraphs will be found a summary state- 
ment of the results of certain observations 


SCIENCE. 


695 


made by several assistants * and myself, on the 
variation exhibited in certain series of par- 
thenogenetically produced insect individuals. 

It is obvious that a comparison of the varia- 
tion in agamically produced individuals with 
that of those of bi-sexual parentage in the 
same species would be particularly pertinent. 
And this we have been able to make in the 
case of the honey-bee. The variation? of 
various wing characters (dimensions of wings 
and vein-parts, modification of venation, num- 
ber of costal hooks of hind-wing, etc.) has been 
studied in series of drones (parthenogenetic- 
ally produced individuals) from queen-laid 
eggs (and also in series from worker-laid (!) 
eggs) and in series of workers, which are of 
bi-sexual parentage. Among these series are 
some (both of drones and of workers) in which 
the individuals were taken directly from the 
brood-cells (just as they were ready to issue) 
and hence before their exposure to any intra- 
specific (individual) selection on a basis of 
their adult characters (among which are all 
wing characters), and other series made up 
of actively flying, 7. e., exposed individuals. 
There are also series of drones hatched from 
worker-laid eggs and reared in worker cells 
Ginstead of in the usual larger drone cells), 
the variation in these series having a special 
interest because of the possibility of its modi- 
fication by the extrinsic factor, size of cell. 
In addition to the bee series the variation in 
wing characters in a series of parthenogenet- 
ically produced female plant-lice (Aphidide) 
has been studied. The studies are all statis- 
tical and quantitative and have been compiled, 
tabulated and summarized according to the 
now fairly familiar methods of biometric 
variation study. In this note only the baldest 
statement of results can be made, and their 
presumable significance suggested. 

Variation in drone (parthenogenetically 
produced) and worker honey-bees (of bi- 


*R. G. Bell, B. E. Wiltz, A. Wellman and F. 
Yantis. 

?Some of these data of variation in the honey- 
bee have already been published by Kellogg and 
Bell, ‘Studies of Variation in Insects,’ Proc. 
Wash. Acad. Sct., Vol. 6, pp. 203-332, 1904. 


696 SCIENCE. 


sexual parentage)——The honey-bee, Apis 
mellifica, is an insect with complete meta- 
morphosis. The larve are footless, soft- 
bodied, white grubs which are born from eggs 
laid in cells, and which live for their whole 
life protected and cared for in the cells, those 
of any one community living under identical 
conditions of light and temperature and pre- 
sumably of food and care. Even those of 
different communities have practically an 
identical environment. The larve pupate in 
the cells and the imaginal bees issue with 
wings, legs and numerous other structures 
wholly formed and in definitive character, and 
not corresponding to any functional larval 
parts. The variations, therefore, in the wings 
—to select structures particularly available 
for quantitative comparison, and wholly for- 
eign to the larval body as functional parts, 
1. €., parts capable of use or subject to disuse 
—must be looked on as variations as strictly 
congenital and independent of modifying ex- 
trinsic influences (%. e., without trace of modi- 
fications acquired during development due to 
varying environment) as it is possible to find 
among animals. The wings, also, are struc- 
tures possessed by all the three kinds of indi- 
viduals composing the honey-bee species, and 
in all three kinds function identically, so that 
any variations the wings may exhibit can not 
be attributed to differences in the special 
function of the wings in the different kinds 
of individuals, but may be safely associated 
with the other general features in the make- 
up of each kind of individual, and be referred 
to as fair indicators of the kind and extent 
of variation characteristics of the different 
kinds of individuals. 

The right and left fore and hind wings 
(removed and mounted on glass slides) of 
various lots of drones and workers were ex- 
amined and measured for variations in (a) 
modifications of the normal (~—modal) vena- 
tion, consisting of the addition of vein spurs 
in ‘slight,’ ‘fair’ or ‘marked’ condition, and 
interpolated new incomplete or complete cells; 
(b) dimensions, as length and breadth of the 
whole wing, and length of vein-parts, these 
parts determined by the giving off of branches 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 622. 


in the insertion of cross-veins; and (c) the 
number of grasping hooks along the costal 
margin of the hind wings. 

The lots studied were: (1) a lot of 300 
Italian drones taken from a laboratory hive, 
(2) a lot of 300 workers taken from same hive, 
(3) a lot of 48 Italian drones from a field hive, 
(4) a lot of 300 workers from this hive, (5) a 
lot of 100 German workers from another field 


‘hive, (6) a lot of 200 Italian drones from a 


field hive which were taken from their brood 
cells when just ready to issue, (7) a lot of 
54 Italian workers from the laboratory hive 
taken from brood cells, (8) a lot of 25 Italian 
workers taken from cells and 50 workers act- 
ing as nurses (not yet having ventured from 
the hive) from a field hive, (9) a lot of 26 
Italian drones from a field hive, taken from 
worker cells, (10) a lot of 200 drones from a 
queenless field hive (these drones hatched from 
worker-laid eggs and reared in worker ceils), 
and (11) a lot of 60 Italian drones from 
worker eggs in worker cells taken from the 
cells at time of emergence. The lots of indi- 
viduals taken from the brood cells just when 
ready to emerge (in fully formed imaginal 
condition with all wing-parts fully developed 
and in fixed definitive condition) were ob- 
tained for the purpose of ascertaining what 
difference, if any, exists in the amount of 
variation (in venation of wings) between bees 
exposed to the struggle for existence and bees 
not yet so exposed. If selection is really 
rigorous and intra-specific, that is, if varying 
individuals are preserved or extinguished on 
a basis of rigorous selecting among these 
variations, then one would expect that a series 
of individuals of any one species examined 
after exposure to this rigorous individual 
selection would show less variation than a 
series of individuals of the same species not 
yet exposed to this personal selection. The 
unexposed series should reveal the total amount 
of the variation characteristic of the species; 
the exposed series should reveal the amount 
of variation tolerated by a rigorous intra- 
specific selection. Also, as the workers in 
their constant going and coming outside the 
hive, carrying heavy loads of pollen, and ex- 


it 
ie 
i 
ci 
a 
P 
Be 
ft 
{ 
; 
& 
i 
Hy 
af 


+e 


leary 


NovEMBER 30, 1906.] 


posed to any danger which slow or imperfect 
flight might induce, as capture by birds and 
robber flies, may be fairly said to run much 
more risk in their life than the drones which 
make but a single brief daily flight (and that 
not every day), it might be thought or as- 
sumed that this strenuous life of the workers 
would tend to weed out by life-and-death selec- 
tion every slight disadvantageous variation in 
the supporting skeleton (the venation) of the 
wings, all-important organs in this outside 
life. The series of drones reared in worker 
cells were obtained for the purpose of testing 
the assumption of Casteel and Phillipps (Biol. 
Bull., V., 6, pp. 18-387, 1903) that extrinsic 
factors, depending on the shape and size of 
the brood cells, are of large importance in 
producing the drone variation. The series of 
drones hatched from worker eggs were ob- 
tained for the purpose of ascertaining the 
differences, if any, in the amount of variation 
exhibited by individuals normally partheno- 
genetically produced (from queen-laid eggs) 
and those abnormally parthenogenetically pro- 
duced (from worker-laid eggs). 

Now, the results of all this examination, 
mensuration and compilation (and this work, 
extending over several years, has been not in- 
considerable) might be presented in a detailed 
way by curves and mathematical expressions, 
with, I hope, some special interest and profit 
to students of bionomics (which is evolution), 
but for the purposes of this note the baldest and 
most summary statements of them must suffice. 
These statements are the following: (a) In 
aH but one of the characteristics studied, the 
amount of variation, both quantitative and 
qualitative, is markedly larger among the 
drone bees than among the workers, and in 
the one exceptional characteristic it is no less; 
(b) no more variation in wing characters is 
apparent among drones or workers that have 
not been exposed in imaginal condition to the 
rigors of personal selection than exists among 
bees, drones or workers, that have been so 
exposed; (c) the variation in wing characters 
in drone bees reared in worker cells is no 
greater than that among individuals reared in 
drone cells; (d) the variation among drones 


SCIENCE. 


697 


hatched from worker-laid eggs is markedly 
larger than that among drones hatched from 
queen-laid eggs (the drones of worker parent- 
age are considerably smaller than those of 
queen parentage). 

The significance of these results may be 
suggested to be: of result a, that the blasto- 
genic variation among bees does not depend 
on amphimixis but is a result of some other 
factor; of result b, that the assumed rigorous 
intra-specific selection among slight continu- 
ous variations, which is a basic assumption in 
the natural-selection theory of species-form- 
ing, does not appear to exist in the case of 
honey-bees; of result c, that the larger varia- 
tion of drone (parthenogenetically produced) 
bees compared with worker bees (of bi-sexual 
parentage) is not an ontogenetic phenomenon 
due to special extrinsic factors (size of cell) 
operative during development; and of result d, 
that the farther we get from amphimixis the 
greater we find the blastogenic variation to be! 

I do not mean to insist too strongly on this 
last conclusion! There are two possible facts 
which may tend to invalidate it. One is that 
of the abnormality of parentage; the lack of 
practise, as it were, of the worker parents in - 
the complex business of reproduction; the 
other is that our series of drones of queen 
parentage reared in worker cells is unfortu- 
nately too short to safeguard properly the 
conclusions derived from the study of the 
variation in it. While, as already stated as 
result c, the variation in this series showed 
no signs, except perhaps in one characteristic, 
of being proportionally larger than among 
drones reared in drone cells, a larger series 
might have revealed this possible larger varia- 
tion. But the data of this short worker-cell 
series are typical of short-series data generally, 
and the marked lessening of the range in vari- 
ation shown is quite in consonance with what 
should be found in a normal fractional part 
of a large series. However, it is well to ac- 
cept result c with some reservation and hence 
to carry that reservation over to result d, in- 
asmuch as the drones of worker parentage 
were all reared in worker cells. The actual 
fact, however, stated in result ¢ is wholly true, 


698 SCIENCE. 


namely, that the drones of worker parentage 
show a much larger variation than those of 
queen parentage. Their coefficient of varia- 
tion is from 50 per cent. to 75 per cent. greater. 
Also if results d and ¢ are to be accepted with 
reservations, then so are the interpretations of 
their significance. 

It may be said by some that the larger vari- 
ation in the drones as compared with the vari- 
ation in the workers may be due to the 
fact (?) that ‘males vary more than females.’ 
This generalization, which is one of Darwin’s 
variation canons, has long been disproved as 
a general law. It is true in certain cases or 
classes of cases, these being mostly those in 
which the males possess certain secondary 
sexual characters of ornament and _ bizarrie, 
such as tufts, plumes, horns, processes, ete. 
The variation in such characters seems to be 
larger than in other body parts or at least 
this is generally believed to be true, although 
I do not now recall the detailed variation 
studies on which this belief is based, or should 
be based. But the characters chosen for study 
in the bees are precisely such as are not sec- 
ondary sexual ones or special adaptations but 
are characters common in structure and use 
to both drones and workers. In other varia- 
tion studies of exactly these characters, name- 
ly, characters of wing venation, in other kinds 
of insects, for example, the mosquito, we have 
not found the males to show a larger variation 
than the females. In these other cases both 
sexes are of bi-sexual parentage. 

Variation in female aphids (parthenogenet- 
ically produced).—In the following paragraphs 
is presented a brief statement of the variation 
conditions found to exist in the venation of a 
series of parthenogenetically produced female 
insects. Unfortunately, the variation of these 
parthenogenetically produced females can not 
be compared with that in series of bi-sexual 
parentage of either sex in the same species, 
but, thanks to the methods of the biometri- 
cians, the mathematical expression of this 
variation (the coefficient of variation accord- 
ing to Pearson’s formula) allows us to com- 
pare its extent with the variation of venation 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 622. 


characteristics in other kinds of insects, male 
or female, of bi-sexual parentage. 

In a series of 200 winged females of the 
mustard plant louse (species unknown), pro- 
duced viviparously by agamic stem-mothers, 
and collected on the university campus, the 
variation in wing size, in dimensions of vein- 
parts, in modification of the venation (addi- 
tion or loss of branches and cells, ete.) in fore 
and hind wings, and the number of grasping 
hooks on the hind wings were studied. In all 
these characters a notable variation is ap- 
parent. In modification of venation (addi- 
tion or loss of branches, change of forking, 
interpolated cells and the like), 76 wings out 
of the 800 show notable variation. No bio- 
metric expression can, of course, be given for 
this substantive variation. For the meristic 
variation, however, in number of costal hooks, 
in length and breadth of wings, in length of 
various vein-parts (varying independently of 
the varying size of the wings) the coefficients 
of variation have been determined, and are 
notably large. For example, they are as large 
as the coefficients of the variation in similar 
wing-parts in mosquitoes, ants and worker 
bees, in all of which amphimixis is the rule. 
We have not been able to compare the varia- 
tion in parthenogenetically produced aphids 
with that in the early spring generation of 
stem-mothers that comes from eggs of bi- 
sexual parentage. Perhaps we shall be able 
to do this in another year. But what we have 
already before our eyes is sufficient to show 
us that variation actually exists among these 
parthenogenetic individuals in extent and 
character sufficient to serve natural selection 
as a species-building basis, if the familiar 
fluctuating, continuous or Darwinian variation 
ever is sufficient for this purpose. Amphi- 
mixis is not only not necessary in order to 
insure Darwinian variation, but there is no 
evidence (that I am aware of) to show that it 
increases this variation. There is, on the 
other hand, a little evidence, some of it pre- 


’For determinations of variation conditions in 
these other insects see Kellogg and Bell, “Studies 
of Variation in Insects,’ Proc. Wash. Acad. S¢ci., 
Vol. 6, pp. 203-332, 1904. 


NOVEMBER 30, 1906.] 


sented herewith, to show that such variation 
occurs, whether the offspring be of uni- 
parental or bi-parental ancestry, and to show 
that this variation is no greater in amphi- 
mixis than among parthenogenetically pro- 
duced individuals. Yet Weismann’s plausible 
assumption will probably long continue to 
hold its unproved own. 
Vernon L. KELtoae. 
STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CALIF. 


A STATISTICAL STUDY OF AMERICAN MEN OF 
SCIENCE. II. 


THE MEASUREMENT OF SCIENTIFIC MERIT. 


Many of the problems that the writer had 
in view in the present research might be 
solved by the study of any group of a thou- 
sand American men of science, so long as 
they had been objectively selected. The ob- 
jective selection of a group sufficiently large 
for statistical treatment is, however, essential. 
As cases can be quoted to illustrate the cure 
of nearly every disease by almost any medi- 
cine, so examples can be given in support of 
any psychological or sociological theory. The 
method of anecdote, as used by Lombroso, 
may be readable literature, but it is not sci- 
ence. A thousand names might have been 
selected by lot from all the scientific men of 
the country, assuming a list to have been 
available, but a group of the thousand leading 
men of science arranged in the order of merit 
has certain advantages. Information in re- 
gard to them can be better obtained than in 


SCIENCE. 


THE ORDER ASSIGNED TO TEN ASTRONOMERS 


699 


the case of those who are more obscure. Cor- 
relations can be determined between degrees 
of scientific merit and various conditions. 
The comparison with a similar group selected 
ten or twenty years hence, or with a similar 
group of British, French or German men of 
science, would give interesting results. The 
list itself, if printed after an interval of 
twenty years, would be a historical document 
of value. Lastly, the data can be so used as 
to carry quantitative methods a little way 
into a region that has hitherto been outside 
the range of exact science. It is the last 
problem that I wish to take up in this paper. 

It will be remembered that we have in each 
science the workers in that science arranged 
in the supposed order of merit by ten com- 
petent judges, who made their arrangements 
independently. If the ten arrangements 
agreed exactly, we should have complete con- 
fidence in the result, except in so far as it 
was affected by systematic or constant errors. 
If there were no agreement at all, the futility 
of any attempt to estimate scientific merit 
would be made clear. The conditions are 
naturally intermediate. There is a certain 
amount of agreement and a certain amount 
of difference of opinion. Thus taking, for 
example, the ten astronomers—I., I1., HI, 
ete.—whose average positions were the highest, 
the order given to them by each of the ten 
observers, A, B, C, etc., is as shown in the 
table: 


TABLE I. BY TEN OBSERVERS. 

I II. III. IV V VI. VII. VIII. IX. x 
A 1 2 4 3 10 6 9 3) 11 8 
B 1 4 2 5 6 g 9 3 8 if 
C 1 4 ? 5) 2 *16 6 17 7 eZee 
D ? 2 4 3 1 5 i 13 8 6 
E 1 ang) 2 5 6 3 8 4 if 11 
F 1 4 10 2 5) 6 3 a 8 11 
G 1 3 “15 *16 2 6 7 13 4 8 
H 1 3 5) G 6 4 9 ? 8 2 
I 1 2 8 4 10 6 7 3 11 5 
J 1 2 4 5 12 8 3 6 13 a 
AY. 1.0 3.5 4.8 5.0 6.0 6.6 6.8 7.8 8.5 8.6 
av. 1.0 2.9 4.8 4.3 6.0 5.9 6.8 7.8 8.5 7.2 
m.Vv 0.0 1.4 iY) 2.4 2.8 2.3 ioe 4.3 i133) 3.4 
P.E. 0.0 46 .09 84 .84 .85 .48 1.15 04 1.09 
p.e. 0.0 39 BY ei .68 TY) .69 .48 1.28 54 | 96 


700 


Here we find complete agreement that I. 
is our leading astronomer. He has been se- 
lected as such by nine competent judges from 
the 160 astronomers of the country. The 
probability that this is due to chance is en- 
tirely negligible. II. stands next in scientific 
merit. He is placed second by four of the 
observers, third by two, fourth by three and 
ninth by one. The conditions are similar to 
observations in the exact sciences. The av- 
erage position or grade is 3.5, and the prob- 
able error of this position is 0.45, 2 e., the 
chances are even that this grade is correct 
within one half of a unit. The grade of the 
astronomer who stands third is 4.8, and that 
of the astronomer who stands fourth is 5.5. 
There is consequently one chance in about 
fifty that II. deserves a grade as low as that 
of III., and one in about one thousand that 
he deserves a grade as low as that of IV. The 
order thus has a high degree of validity, and 
this has itself been measured. As we go 
further down the list, the probable errors tend 
to increase, the order is less certain, and the 
difference in merit between a man and his 
neighbor on the list is less. The variations 
in the sizes of the probable errors are, as a 
rule, significant. When the error is small 
the work of the man is such that it can be 
judged with accuracy; when it is larger it is 
because the work is more difficult to estimate. 

The probable errors depend on the assump- 
tion that the individual deviations follow the 
exponential law, and they do so in sufficient 
measure for the purposes in view. For those 
near the top of the list, the distribution of 
errors is ‘skewed’ in the negative direction, 
that is, there are relatively more large nega- 
tive than positive errors. Thus in the table 
there are four judgments marked with a star, 
the deviation of each of which is more than 
three times the average deviation, and these 
observations would be omitted by an ap- 
proximate application of Chauvenet’s cri- 
terion. If these four observations are omit- 
ted, the grades of the ten astronomers are 

*JIn three cases where a question mark appears 
the astronomer did not give a position to himself. 


In one case the name was not included among the 
slips. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S.- Von. XXIV. No. 622. 


those given in the second line of averages. 
The omitted judgments are not extremely di- 
vergent, barely exceeding the limits set by 
Chauvenet’s criterion, and I do not regard 
them as invalid. Indeed, I believe that in 
view of the presence of systematic errors in 
these estimates the chance that they represent 
correct values is greater than that assigned 
by a strict application of the theory of proba- 
bilities. But the incidence of an extreme 
judgment might in special eases do injustice 
to an individual, and in the order used Chau- 
venet’s criterion has been applied. This 
means that a compromise has been adopted 
between the median and the average judg- 
ment; but the departure from the average 
judgment is small, affecting less than one fifth 
of the individuals and only to a slight degree. 
The average deviations and probable errors 
used are those found when all the judgments 
are included. Two probable errors are given 
in the table, the first obtained through the 
error of mean square, the second by taking it 
as directly proportional to the average devia- 
tion. The differences are not significant, and 
for work of this character I regard it as use- 
less to calculate the probable errors by the 
ordinary formula. JI have published else- 
where’ a more technical discussion of the 
treatment of errors or deviations of this char- 
acter, and may return to the subject at some 
subsequent time. The theory of errors com- 
monly applied in the exact sciences is too 
erude for psychology, and probably for the 


*Among the some 15,000 observations under 
consideration several variations might be expected 
to occur in a normal distribution as much as six 
times as large as the probable error, and among 
the 1,500 or more individuals, several might be 
expected to deserve positions departing consider- 
ably from those assigned. But assuming that we 
have ‘normal errors’ to deal with, there is no 
reason why the particular individuals on whom 
the divergent errors fall should receive them 
rather than any other individuals. Such errors 
should apparently be distributed among all the 
individuals. Similar conditions must occur in 
the case of errors of observation in the exact 
sciences, but so far as I am aware their signifi- 
cance has not been considered. 

‘Am. Journ. of Psychol., 14: 312-328, 1903. 


NovEMBER 30, 1906.] 


sciences in which it is used. Progress here 
will be blocked until there are psychologists 
who are mathematicians or mathematicians 
who are psychologists. 

In order to illustrate further the serial dis- 
tribution and the probable errors, I have 
made a diagram for the fifty psychologists. 
The grade of each, no judgments being omit- 
ted, is shown by the vertical mark, and the 


0 10 £0 30 


Gauls 


length of the line indicates the probable error 
or range within which the chances are even 
that the true position falls. Thus the psy- 
chologist who stands first on the list, was, like 
the astronomer, given this position by the in- 
dependent judgment of all. The psychologist 
who stands second has, as shown on the dia- 
gram, a position of 3.7 and a probable error 
of 0.5, 2. e., the position 3.7 is the most prob- 
able, but the true position is equally likely 
to be within the short horizontal line, between 
3.2 and 4.2, or outside it. It must, however, 
be remembered that the chances of the true 


SCIENCE. 


701 


position being far outside the range of this 
line decrease very rapidly. Over it is roughly 
drawn the bell-shaped curve of the normal 
probability integral. The true position is 
along the base line covered by this curve, and 
the chances of its being at any given point 
are proportional to the ordinate or height of 
the curve above the base line. There is only 
one chance in about six that the true grade 


LO 50 60 


~ 


The positions and probable errors of the fifty psychologists. 


is above 2.7 or below 4.7, and only one chance 
in about 150 that the true grade is above 1.7 
or below 5.7. It will be seen from the dia- 
gram that while the positions of the psycholo- 
gists IL., ITI. and IV. are the most probable, 
the relative order is not determined with cer- 
tainty. On the other hand, the chances are 
some 10,000 to one that each of these psy- 
chologists stands below I. and above V. 

It is evident that the probable errors in- 
crease in size as we go down the list. The 
curve of distribution drawn over No. XL. in- 
dicates that the chances are even that the true 


702 SCIENCE. 


position falls between the grades of XXXIV. 
and L. and that there is one chance in four 
that he does not belong among our fifty lead- 
ing psychologists. The increase in the size 
of the probable errors is irregular, it being 
more difficult to assign a position to some 
men than to others. 

It will be noted that the psychologists fall 
into groups, the first twenty being set off from 
the next group, though the two groups are 
bridged over by three cases. At this point 
also the probable errors become almost sud- 
denly about three times as large. There are 
altogether about 200 psychologists in the 
country, and it looks as if the first tenth 
forms a separate group of leaders. There is 
a similar, though less marked group of the 
first twenty astronomers, but these groups 
seem to be partly accidental. There is, how- 
ever, aS shown below, an inflection point in 
the curve of distribution after about the first 
tenth of our scientific men. The first twenty 
psychologists fall into four distinct groups, 
and there are groupings in the other sciences. 
They do not, however, appear to be sufficiently 
marked to lead us to distinguish species, such 
as men of genius and men of talent. It is, 
however, possible that the complicated condi- 
tions may ultimately be analyzed so as to give 
such groups. 

The probable errors not only tell the accu- 
racy with which the psychologists can be ar- 
ranged in the order of merit, but they also 
measure the differences between them. ‘This, 
indeed, I regard as the most important result 
-of this paper, as science is advanced chiefly 
by the extension of quantitative methods, and 
it might not have been foreseen that it would 
be possible to measure degrees of scientific 
merit. Our data are concerned with the recog- 
nition of scientific performance, not with ab- 
stract ability, if such a thing is conceivable. 
Merit is in performance, not in non-perform- 
ance, and expert judgment is the best, and in 
the last resort the only, criterion of perform- 
ance. 

The difference in scientific merit between 
any two of the psychologists whose positions 
and probable errors are shown in the chart is 
directly as the distance between them and 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 622. 


inversely as their probable errors. If two of 
them are close together on the scale, and if 
the probable errors are large, the difference 
between them is small, and conversely. 

If the psychologists II. and IIT. were sepa- 
rated by 0.5 and their probable errors were 
0.5, as is approximately the case, then the 
difference between them is so small that there 
is one chance in four that the position of III. 
is above the grade of II. If again the psy- 
chologists XL. and XLIX. were separated by 
6 and their probable errors were 6, as is ap- 
proximately the case, then there is again one 
chance in four that the true position of 
XLIX. is above the grade of XL. The dif- 
ference between II. and III. is thus about the 
same as that between XL. and XLIX. 

If we take the fifty psychologists in groups 
of 10, and thus partly eliminate the chance 
variations, the average probable errors of the 
five groups are 0.7, 1.8, 4.2, 5.8, 6.2. These 
probable errors are subject to a correction for 
the range covered by the grades. Thus the 
first ten cover a range of about eleven points, 
and the last ten a range of about six points, 
and the differences between the psychologists 
at the top of the list would be nearly twice as 
great as between those at the bottom of the 
list if the probable errors were the same. 
When we take account of both factors, the 
probable errors in the five groups are 0.6, 1.9, 
1.8, 6.4 and 10.7. While the probable errors 
are determined with a considerable degree of 
exactness, which is itself measured, the ranges 
covered by the grades seem to depend on the 
special conditions in the science; they are not 
the same in the different sciences, and their 
validity can not be determined with any 
exactness. Subject, however, to a consider- 
able probable error, the range of merit covered 
by the fifty psychologists is inversely as the 
figures given, and reduced to a scale of 100 
would be: 55.6, 17.5, 18.5, 5.2 and 3.2. 

Thus we can say that the psychologists at 
the top of the list are likely to differ from 
each other about 18 times as much as the 
psychologists at the bottom of the list. We 
have no zero point from which we can meas- 
ure psychological merit. Men who are 6 ft. 
2 in. tall are likely to differ from each other 


. 
} 
r 
j 
? 
if 
‘ 


\ 


NOVEMBER 30, 1906.] 


about ten times as much as men who are 
about 5 ft. 8 in. tall, though the difference 
in their height is only as 68:74. Even though 
we assumed the zero point to be where psy- 
chological performance begins or at the sur- 
vival minimum of human ability, we should 
only obtain relative differences. 

The astronomers and the psychologists have 
been used as illustrations. The number of 
students of astronomy and of psychology in 
the country does not differ greatly, and it is 
assumed that they represent an equal range of 
scientific merit. I+ is possible that it requires 
more ability to be an astronomer than to be 
a psychologist, and it is equally possible that, 
in view of the larger endowments, longer his- 
tory and more conventional problems, less 
ability will suffice for the astronomer. The 
curves of distribution might also vary; for 
example, it might be relatively easier to be 
an astronomer of moderate performance, but 
more difficult to be a great astronomer. There 
are indications of such differences, but the 
data at hand do not disclose them with any 


SCIENCE. 


degree of certainty. 


703 


There are 100 geologists and 100 botanists 
on the list, who are about one fourth of all 
the geologists and botanists of the country. 
These are assumed to cover about the same 


range of scientific merit as the astronomers 


or the psychologists. The average difference 
between the geologists would consequently be 
about half that between the astronomers, and 
the probable errors of position should theoret- 
ically be about twice as large. The anthro- 
pologists are the smallest class of scientific 
men, numbering in all about ninety, of whom 
20 are included in the thousand under con- 
sideration. They are again assumed to cover 
a range of performance equal to that of the 
astronomers or geologists, the average differ- 
ence between them being two and a half times 
as great as between the astronomers or five 
times as great as between the geologists. The 
chemists are the most numerous class of scien- 
tifie men, 175 being included in the thousand. 
There are 150 physicists, 150 zoologists, 80 
mathematicians, 60 pathologists, 40 physiolo- 
gists and 25 anatomists. 

In the accompanying table are given the 


TABLE II. GRADES AND PROBABLE ERRORS OF THE TWENTY MEN OF SCIENCE WHO STAND FIRST IN EACH 


OF THE SCIENCES. 


g : : a ; - Bb S 

is| A Te r= Co a 3° fo) () ifs) Q, ° 

3 a q 6 3 $ 6 "s 3 a ° g 

8 a Z 5 g fa K 2 5 3 E = 

S iS) < Ay x my & Ay 
Sve Ss Se Bie SS Se Se) Sve Sve Sse Ss Sle ei) Ss Se 
PE ||) Se ey aa | a ae Sle ee, TS a ea trct ft ch er pe ice || oe, 
I. Py a) LG. S| BG O28), UO) 0) ORI) Abilis Ota) 33 OP 2:07 23 iy 383 ON 20} alee 2h | ORO) 
le 3.3 3.0} 3.2 2.5) 4.4 .5/*2.9 .4 sha) oh | BB oD 3.2 1.0 PAG oe) |): ales} 2) one) 8 RB i) BO. om 
Ill.| 3.7.7] 8.7 2.7| 5.5 1.7/*43 .6| 5.4 16/ 5016/ 43 18] #438 5] 571.0] 39 1.5] 2.7 .8| 3.2 .4 
IV. 5.7 .5| 9:0 .8] 6.8 1.2) 4.8 .5 7.0 2.2} 6.7 1.1 46 .9 tof) 6.6 1.3 48 .6| 45 .4| 4.4 .6 
V.| 5.7 1.6] 9.6 7.9| 88 1.5] 5.5 .7/ 88 12) 713.9] 7.0 .9| 61 .6] *6.7 .9| 861.7] 4611] 62 .9 
~ VI. | *5.7,3.9 | 11.5 1.8| 9.7 1.4] 6.0 .8] 11.3 1.9] 7.5 .6 8.9 .9 6.2 1.1 7.0 1.2) 11.1 1.5 7.2 1:0) | ede 122 
VII 9.2 1.0 |*11.7 6.7] 9.8 1.6) 6.8 .4) 12.2 15] 8126] 12.6 52 7.5 1.1 SO ea DON Qi Seas eo o: 
VIII. 9.6 3.6 | 11.8 2.1)11.4 1.7|- 7.2 1.0) 17.1 2.3) 85 .8] 18.1 1.5] 103 .8| #85 1.4! 13.3 .7] 85 .9| 7.5 12 
IX. | 12.1 2.0} 12.0 5.3 |15.5 2.9) 7.8 1.2) 17.1 2.5|11.3 1.7] 13.4 1.8 110 .9/ *8.8 .8] 148 5.6|10.41.6) 80 .3 
XK. | 13.1 1.5) 12.2 1.7]15.8 1.5] 80 .5| 183 2.5/12.31.8] 14.1 1.8] 18.0 .8 | *15.2 1.7] 16.9 3.7]11.0 .8| 9.5 .6 
XI. | 14.0 1.3) 18.5 1.7/16.4 6.1/10.2 .3) 19.8 4.5]13.2 1.3] 17.8 5.0 | 15.2 1.7 | *15.7 2.2 | 17.6 2.5 | 11.4 1.5] 12.3 1.1 
XII. | 14.6 2.0] 14.2 6.2/16.8 3.6/11.0 .3) 19.4 3.7]13.71.9] 17.6 5.2] 15.7 2.2 | *16.2 2.2) 18.0 2.6 | 15.8 2.4| 14.7 1.4 
XIII. | 14.7 3.1) 14.8 8.0/17.8 3.7|18.6 1.1) 19.4 4.6 | 14.81.38] *19.1 5.0} 19.1 3.1 | *16.4 1.5] 18.5 4.1 | 17.5 1.8] 17.1 1.5 
XIV. | 17.4 1.7) 18.8 8.5 )19.8 3.7)14.2 1.2) 19.5 2.9|16.31.9] 19.7 2.2 | 20.1 2.6] 16.8 2.1 | *20.6 2.2 | 18.0 1.2/17.9 2.3 
XV. | 19.1 3.4) 19.4 4.8 /20.7 1.5}14.3 .4) 21.5 2.9119.8 2.0] 20.1 2.9] 21.2 2.2 18.5 2.3 | 22.7 3.6 | 18.6:1.8| 18.1 2.3 
XVI. | 21.5 2.8 | 19.5 2.2 |21.8 3.4)17.0 .7| 22.1 2.3 |202 3.2] 20.4 3.4 | *21.3 2.7 18.6 2.8; 25.5 2.7 | 19.1 1.6) 18.7 1.5 
XVII. | 21.8 3.1} 19.7 5.6 | 22.0 4.6)21.4 1.4) 22.2 1.5] 23.9 3.9] 20.8 3.1] 21.8 2.2] 18.8 4.0! 26.8 2.7 | 19.5 1.4] 19.2 1.1 
XVIII. |*22.8 2.6 | 21.1 2.3 | 24.7 2.5)22.7 1.2) #248 5.1 | 27.2 4.0} 20.8 3.5] 22.4 3.0] 19.3 1.5 | 27.4 4.4 | 20.5 1.7|)19.616 
XIX. | 23.1 2.9] 21.2 8.7/25.3 6.4/22.9 3.0) 26.5 3.5 27.9 3.2] 23.0 3.2 | 244 3.0] 21.1 1.9 | 27.5 4.5 | 21.8 1.5} 20.0 3.4 
XX. | 23.8 2.6} 22.1 4.9 |25.412.7/23.3 2.6) #27.4 4.5 27.94.5] 24.4 2.3 | *25.4 3.7 | 22.7 3.7 | 29.9 4.0 | 22.0 3.6 | 204 1.3 


704 


grades and probable errors of the twenty men 
of science who were assigned positions at the 
head of each of the twelve sciences. All the 
_anthropologists are thus included in the table, 
but only two fifths of the astronomers, one 
fifth of the geologists, ete. In cases in which 
an individual stands relatively higher in an- 
other science a star is attached. 

It will be observed that the grades are, as 
a rule, lower than the positions. As has been 
stated, the distribution of the judgments or 

errors in the upper part of the list is ‘skewed’ 

in a negative direction, so that the average 
judgment is lower than the median judgment. 
Further down the list this tendency disap- 
pears, and towards the bottom, not given in 
the table except for the anatomists and an- 
thropologists, the ‘skew’ is in the opposite 
direction. Chauvenet’s criterion has been ap- 
plied; it causes but an insignificant difference 
in the order, and for statistical purposes the 
extra calculations involved were superfluous. 
As has been explained, however, the incidence 
of a divergent judgment, which might be due 
to ignorance or prejudice, might be unjust to 
an individual. ‘The probable errors have been 
obtained by taking them directly proportional 
to the average deviation and assuming that 
there were always ten judgments. In the 
comparatively few cases where there were less 
than ten judgments the probable errors of the 
average are too small, but the differences are 
not significant. In the measurement of sci- 
entific merit, we are concerned not with the 
probable error of the average, but with the 
average probable error, which does not depend 
on the number of cases. Figures for both 
might be given, but they are so nearly alike 
and so lacking in significance that it is not 
worth while. 

As the table shows, there are in astronomy, 
pathology and psychology men who are placed 
distinctly at the head. Jn the other sciences 
those who stand first have grades varying from 
1.6 to 3.6. In most cases the differences in 
grade are less than the probable errors, or not 
much larger, and the position is not deter- 

mined to a single place, though it is deter- 
mined with a theoretically high degree of 
validity within a very few places. Various 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 622. 


groupings occur, which seem to represent the 
existing conditions of the sciences. Thus 
there are breaks of two or more units after 
chemists 4 and 8; physicist 2; zoologists 4 


and 6; geologists 2, 5 and 7; botanist 8; mathe- 


maticians 3, 6 and 8; pathologists 1, 4, 5 and 
9; psychologist 1; physiologists 7 and 9; anat- 
omists 2 and 9, and anthropologist 5. On the 
other hand, there are cases in which consecu- 
tive numbers are bracketed or practically 
bracketed. Thus mathematicians 4, 5 and 6 
have a grade of 5.7. These various groupings 
appear to be about what the probable errors 
would lead us to expect. 

The probable errors tend to increase as we 
go down the lists, but with considerable ir- 
regularity. This irregularity is in part due 
to normal variability where the number of 
observations is small and the average devia- 
tions are relatively large, but the larger de- 
partures are usually significant, it being 
easier to assign a position to some men of 
science than to others. Thus, for example, 
it is not easy to compare a man who has made 
one or two important discoveries with a man 
who has accomplished a large mass of useful 
work. 

The tendency of the probable errors to in- 
crease is, however, significant. It is easier to 
assign the order at the top of the list, and the 
difficulty increases as we go downward. ‘This 
subjective fact is measured by the probable 
errors. It is in part due to less knowledge 
of those whose work is less important. I 
know of no way to eliminate this factor or to 
measure its influence. But the main factor 
is the real differences between the men, and 
these are assumed to be inversely as the prob- 
able errors and directly as the differences in 
grade. 

In table III. are given all the probable 
errors averaged in six groups for each of the 
sciences. In the first and second groups are 
included one tenth of those in each science, 
and in the remaining groups one fifth. That 
is, the probable errors are divided into five 
equal groups, but the first group is divided 
into two subgroups, in view of the fact that 
the probable errors of the first tenth are dis- 
tinctly smaller than those of the second tenth. 


NovEMBER 30, 1906.] 


SCIENCE. 


705 


TABLE III. PROBABLE ERRORS IN EACH OF THE SCIENCES, THE MEN OF SCIENCE BEING DIVIDED INTO 
SIX GROUPS. 
[SEIN eee feted Ve | : Cae hacen cen baa 
3 g 8 A Ee b % 3 q e S ey a 
= a a =I ie) 2 g i) 2 S S. S s Sj 
s Spal iris A PN aitaa atl (= 
CRUDE PROBABLE ERRORS. 
- TS gies ol] “ones Pane aeraaleteGuuln Ot4 4 A 9 2 5 
: { 2.2 | 4.0 | 5.7 Yalu oA aM eal 9 LO) AO 3 9 
Il. Real Wass al GO ee Sully koe Ani GeOhal LOM ote Stn 8r7 O04) 188 
THE AB MOM ASeAy She CUTE Mere GH Oe ln WrS Onal is Dalal lake. Gyn luutn Gul aano, 
IV. GO| Node SO | SG Oe Teka IMOLG OO Ota na Om lt TeaiuliicaiS 
Vv. Goan Gish. Ne elGry aSeomtmeGey Heese sm TONG OCOnn RNS lai RUGlO. nt OkOiINGko 
PROBABLE ERRORS CORRECTED FOR THE RANGE 
: { TS ah Bee Moan) A IGE see 109 3 2 5 2 A 
: Tish ONS Fs 4 SG iv iniaiGry |roleren 383 Pr ete ONOsS A 9 
Il. 3.0 | 6.2 | 5.0 SGA ol kc oererdt a Ws ig | 83 56h ho 
iT. Fel IMO NAG Aaa Geo | Gan eS Oat 3 OL9.2 i Suen BrG fou ainens 
IV. a osts sont eeiguy) ‘Bish gi5°7 15.3 7» 916 Ail Og a oKG ne Beg eed 
Vv. G2 ee Gu-O5iSe| e4b6s le 728) 15.6). 17.0) 1" 42 | S888 | GIy lh Dai LON 7 
THE SAME REDUCED TO A COMMON STANDARD FOR THE THOUSAND MEN OF SCIENCE. 
- 1G) Ip Gib) all | 8 Onassis is 8 8 8 | 10 pe bie alles 
; { SOMO MeOs Sel TSG MTT a We DOr bts, 1h vGS ) uedin «le Telit sale! sal -0GkGn moO 
ie ale oO Gal Oye lento) 1 95) ul SS ese ls asm le S00 mourns ean RmOND 
III. af ag | OAM ITA | RAN Eo IP Ge ON a hae api hie iigys  Wacyircl (fl 
IV. 91 | 190 | 199 | 78 | 88 | 88 | 102 | 65 | 104 | 210 | 160 | 128 |118.6/ 9.1 
V. Te PALES. URS Oo aes GE } 113 | 105 | 152 | 103 | 105 | 214 | 195.4] 84 


In the middle part of the table the probable 
errors have been adjusted to the ranges cov- 
ered by each group, and in the lower part these 
figures have been reduced to a common stand- 
ard of a thousand, so that the results for the 
different sciences may be comparable. 

If the range of ability is the same in each 
science and if the difficulty of assigning the 
order in each science is the same, then the 
figures in the lower third of the table should 
tend to be the same in the different sciences. 
As the averages include from 2 to 35 eases, 
they are subject to a probable error which 
varies considerably. Thus, to take, for ex- 
ample, an intermediate case—the botanists— 
the probable errors of the six entries in the 
upper part of the table are: 0.25, 0.33, 0.18, 
0.28, 0.22, 0.25. They thus seem to be de- 
termined with considerable validity. When 
the probable errors are adjusted for the ranges, 
a considerable ‘chance’ variation is intro- 
duced. If the figures were broken up into 


groups of different sizes, the results would be 
different. The figures in the last three groups 
of each of the sciences seem scarcely to be 
significant of real differences in the sciences, 
though they to a certain extent measure the 
actually existing conditions. 

The figures in the table give the validity 
with which the positions are determined, and 
at the same time measure the relative differ- 
ences between the men in the several groups. 
Thus the first tenth of the chemists have on 
the average their positions determined rela- 
tively to other chemists with a probable error 
of two places and the last fifth with a probable 
error of 25 places. In relation to the first 
hundred scientific men, a chemist in this 
group has his position determined on the 
average (apart from the error due to the in- 
terpolation) with a probable error of 11 places, 
whereas in relation to the last 200 scientific 
men, the place is determined with a probable 
error of 145 places. 


706 SCIENCE. 


The figures also show that the average dif- 
ferences between the chemists who are in the 
first tenth are about eight times as great as 
between the chemists towards the middle of 
the list and about twelve times as great as 
between the chemists towards the bottom of 
the list. 

As has been stated, there are considerable 
variations in the figures for the different sci- 
ences. In general, however, those in the first 
hundred differ from each other about ten 
times as much as those in the last four hun- 
dred, among whom there are no constant dif- 
ferences. It is scarcely safe to draw infer- 
ences from the variations in the different 
groups and in the different sciences. If the 
probable errors in one science were consist- 
ently higher than in another, it would mean 
that in the former science it is more difficult 
to make the arrangement, which might be due 
to greater diversity in the work to be com- 
pared or to greater similarity in the men. 
The greater similarity in the men would prob- 
ably be due to there having been relatively 
too many men included in that science. But 
such consistent differences do not appear. 
Thus the psychologists have the largest prob- 
able error in the last group, but the smallest 
in the third group, and the mathematicians 
have the second smallest probable error in the 
last group, but the second largest in the first 
group. In so far as these figures are signifi- 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 622. 


cant, they might mean that our able psycholo- 
gists are more able than our able mathemati- 
cians, whereas our lesser psychologists are less 
able than our lesser mathematicians. It is 
probably true that our leading psychologists 
would compare more favorably with those of 
Germany, France and Great Britain than our 
leading mathematicians, but inferences as to 
the variation in the distribution of ability in 
the different sciences can not be made from 
the data at hand with any considerable degree 
of validity. It would, however, be of interest 
to have comparable data for different nations 
and for different periods. 

The workers in the twelve sciences have 
been combined into one series by interpola- 
tion, it being assumed that the range of ability 
in each science is the same. The probable 
errors have at the same time been increased to 
correspond with a thousand cases, as shown in 
table IIJ. This makes the probable errors 
relatively correct, but does not allow for the 
additional chance variations caused by the 
interpolation. The list is of considerable in- 
terest, as it enables us to compare with more 
or less accuracy men of science working in 
diverse directions. 

The order, grades and probable errors of 
the fifty who stand first are given to illustrate 
the method. We can thus say that the work 
of a certain physicist is\ equal in value to the 
work of a certain zoologist, or that a certain 


TABLE IV. THE ORDER, THE SCIENCE, THE GRADE AND THE PROBABLE ERROR OF EACH OF THE FIRST 
FIFTY MEN OF SCIENCE ON THE LIST. 


Order. | Science. | Grade.| P.E. Order Science. | Grade.| P. E. Order. Science. |Grade.| P.E. 
I. | Astron. 2 0 XVIII. | Chem. 38.8 | 6.9 XXXV. | Physiol. | 65.0 | 7.0 
II. | Path. ? 0 XIX. | Math. 41.3 | 37.1 XXXVI. | Psychol. | 65.0 | 7.3 
III. | Psychol. h 0 XX. | Math. 46.3 | 8.7 XXXVII. | Path. 65.0 | 24.7 
TV. | Physics. | 10.7 | 4.8 XXI. | Zool. 46.7 | 6.0 || XXXVIII. | Chem. 65.1 | 9.9 
V. | Zool. 1S OR ewes XXII. | Physiol. | 50.0 | 7.7 XXXIX. | Bot. 67.8 | 10.6 
VI. | Chem. 20.5 | 3.2 XXIII. | Bot. 50.0 | 15.9 XL. | Geol. 70.0 | 21.8 
VIL. | Zool. 21.3 | 6.9 XXIV. | Chem. 50.2 | 8.3 XLI. | Math. TAS ROL 
VIII. | Physics. | 21.3 | 18.2 XXYV. | Geol. 54.4 | 16.2 XLII. | Math. 71.3 | 19.6 
IX. | Geol. 25.0 | 4.7 XXVI. | Chem. 55.4 | 7.8 XLII. | Bot. 71.3 | 39.2 
X. | Chem. 25.1 | 2.4 || XXVIT. | Chem. 56.0 | 9.3 XLIV. | Bot. 75.5 | 6.2 
XI. | Zool. 28.7 | 8.6 ||X XVIII. | Physics. | 58.0 | 17.7 XLV. | Physics. ; 76.7 | 11.8 
XII. | Bot. BY Ip otebal XXIX. | Zool. 59.3 | 6.2 XLVI. | Physics. | 78.7 | 14.2 
XIII. | Zool. 30.7 | 5.9 XXX. | Physics. | 60.0 | 5.2 XLVII. | Path. 80.0 | 10.7 
XIV. | Math. 31.3 | 7.0 XXXI.| Psychol. | 60.0 | 9.8 XLVIII. | Physics. | 80.0 | 35.3 
XV. | Chem. 31.4 | 9.8°|| XXXII. | Anat. 60.0 | 12.3 XLIX. | Bot. 81.1 | 27.2 
XVI. ! Bot. 33.0 | 5.3 ||XXXIIT. | Physics. | 64.0 | 53.4 L. | Physics. | 81.3 | 11.2 
XVII. | Geol. 33.3 | 4.7 || XXXIV. | Path. 65.0 | 4.2 


| 
: 


NOVEMBER 30, 1906.] 


chemist has one chance in four of being as 
competent as a certain pathologist, a result 
that would not be possible by direct compari- 
son. The various factors which limit the ex- 
actness of the method should be kept in mind, 
but we have at least the beginning of a method 
which with further effort can be made more 
accurate. Similar methods can be applied to 
comparing the value of performance in fields 
even more diverse than the several sciences. 


0 ano 60 50 100 


Fig. 2. 
science. 


Distribution of the thousand men of 


In the accompanying curve—which is based 
on substantially the same figures as are given 
in table III., except that a man is given a 
position only in the science in which he stands 
the highest—is shown the distribution of the 
thousand men of science. The 1,000 scientific 
men are divided into ten groups, the range of 
eminence or merit covered by each hundred 
being proportional to the space it occupies on 
the axis of the abscissas, and the number of 
each degree of ability being proportional to 
the ordinates. The range of merit covered 
by each hundred becomes smaller and there 
are more of each degree of merit as we pass 
from the first to the second hundred and so 
on for the first five hundred, after which the 
differences become very small. The first hun- 
dred men of science cover a range of merit 
about equal to that of the second and third 
hundreds together, and this again is' very 
nearly equal to the range covered by the re- 
maining seven hundred. The average differ- 


SCIENCE. 


707 


ences between the men in the first hundred are 
about twice as great as between the men in 
the second and third hundreds, and about 
seven times as great as between the men in the 
remaining groups. Or the differences among 
the first hundred are almost exactly ten times 
as great as among the last five hundred, who 
differ but little among themselves. It would 
be desirable to compare this distribution with 
that of the normal probability integral and 
with the salaries paid to scientific men, but 
the data are not as yet at hand. 


J. McKeen Carte. 
CoLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 


NOTES ON ORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 


OPTICALLY ACTIVE COMPOUNDS WHICH CONTAIN 
NO ASYMMETRIC ATOM. 


OpTicaL activity, or the power of causing 
deviation in the path of a ray of polarized 
light, is shown by hundreds of organic com- 
pounds, all of which contain one or more 
asymmetric atoms of carbon, nitrogen, sul- 
phur, ete. A carbon atom is asymmetric 


when it is linked to four, and a nitrogen 


atom when it is linked to five dissimilar atoms 
or groups. The only exception to the above 
connection of asymmetry and optical activity 
is the compound inosit, which has the formula 
CH(OH)CH(0OH) 
HOCH < GH OH)CH(OH) > CHOH 
and is said to exist in two modifications of 
opposite activity. Quite recently a second 
exception has been discovered by W. Marck- 
wald and R. Meth. Their starting point is 
1-methyleyclohexanone-(4), 
CH,CH 
4 H,CH << 2a 
( ) C gC < CH.CH, > 9: 
from which, by a few simple steps, they ob- 
tain the corresponding acetic acid derivative. 
This is called 1-methyleyclohexylidene-(4)- 
acetic acid, 
CH,CH. 
CH,CH < CH,CH, >C:CHCOOH. 
By means of its chinchonine salts this acid is 
resolved into two new acids of opposite, and 
practically equal optical activity, just as is the 
+ Ber. d. Chem. Ges., 39, 2404 (1906). 


708 SCIENCE. 


ease with the corresponding tartaric acids, for 
example. 

Should these observations be confirmed it 
can hardly fail to modify profoundly our con- 
ception of the spatial relations and stereo- 
chemistry of organic compounds. The authors 
believe that their new compounds are similar, 
spatially, to allene (isoallylene) derivatives of 
the type, 


pec 


which might exist in two forms, each one of 
which would be the mirror image of the other, 
as was pointed out by Van’t Hoff in his clas- 
sical work on the spatial relations of the atom. 
J. BisHop TINGLE. 
JOHNS HoPKINS UNIVERSITY, 
October, 1906. 


THE CONVOCATION WEEK MEETINGS OF 
SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 


Tur American Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science and the national scientific 
societies named below will meet in New York 
City during convocation week, beginning on 
December 27, 1906. 


American Association for the Advancement 
of NScience——December 27—January 1. Retiring 
president, Professor C. M. Woodward, Washing- 
ton University, St. Louis, Mo.; president-elect, 
Professor W. H. Welch, The Johns Hopkins Uni- 
versity, Baltimore, Md.; permanent secretary, Dr. 
L. O. Howard, Cosmos Club, Washington, D. C.; 
general secretary, Dr. John F. Hayford, U. 8. 
Coast and Geodetic Survey, Washington, D. C.; 
secretary of the council, President F. W. McNair, 
Houghton, Mich. 

Local Eaecutive Committee—J. J. Stevenson, 
chairman, C. C. Adams, Charles Baskerville, 
Franz Boas, N. L. Britton, H. C. Bumpus, Chas. 
A. Conant, Simon Flexner, Wm. J. Gies, Wm. 
Hallock, Alex. C. Humphreys, G. S. Huntington, 
Edward Kasner, Henry F. Osborn, C. L. Poor, 
Clifford Richardson, HK. B. Wilson, Frederick J. 
E. Woodbridge, J. McKeen Cattell, secretary. 

Section A, Mathematics and Astronomy.—Vice- 
president, Professor Edward Kasner, Columbia 
University; secretary, Professor L. G. Weld, Uni- 
versity of Iowa, Iowa City, Lowa. 

Section B, Physics.—Vice-president, Professor 
W. C. Sabine, Harvard University; secretary, Pro- 
fessor Dayton C. Miller, Case School of Applied 
Science, Cleveland, Ohio. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 622. 


Section C, Ohemistry.—Vice-president, Mr. 
Clifford Richardson, New York City; secretary, 
Professor Charles L. Parsons, New Hampshire 
College of Agriculture, Durham, N. H. 

Section D, Mechanical Science and HEngineer- 
ing.—Vice-president, Mr. W. R. Warner, Cleve- 
land, O.; secretary, Professor Wm. T. Magruder, 
Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. 

Section E, Geology and Geography.—Vice-presi- 
dent, Dr. A. C. Lane, Lansing, Mich.; secretary, 
Dr. Edmund O. Hovey, American Museum of 
Natural History, New York, N. Y. 

Section F, Zoology.—Vice-president, Professor 
E. G. Conklin, University of Pennsylvania; secre- 
tary, Professor ©. Judson Herrick, Denison Uni- 
versity, Granville, Ohio. 

‘Section G, Botany.—Vice-president Dr. D. T. 
MacDougal, Washington, D. C.; secretary, Pro- 
fessor F. E. Lloyd, Desert Botanical Laboratory, 
Tucson, Arizona. 

Section H, Anthropology.—Vice-president, Pro- 
fessor Hugo Miinsterberg, Harvard University; 
secretary, George H. Pepper, American Museum 
of Natural History. 

Section I, Social and Economic Science.—Mr. 


Chas. A. Conant, New York City; secretary, Dr. 


J. F. Crowell, Bureau of Statistics, Washington, 
D. C. 

Section K, Physiology and Hxperimental Medi- 
cine.—Vice-president, Dr. Simon Flexner, The 
Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research; secre- 
tary, Dr. Wm. J. Gies, College of Physicians and 
Surgeons, Columbia University, New York City. 

The American Society of Naturalists.—Decem- 
ber 28. President, Professor William James, 
Harvard University; secretary, Professor W. E. 
Castle, Harvard University. 

The Astronomical and Astrophysical Society of 
America.—December 28. President, Professor H. 
C. Pickering, Harvard College Observatory; secre- 
tary, Professor Geo. C. Comstock, Washburn Ob- 
servatory, Madison, Wis. 

The American Physical NSociety.—President, 
Professor Carl Barus, Brown University; secre- 
tary, Professor Ernest Merritt, Cornell Univer- 
sity, Ithaca, N. Y. 

The American Mathematical Society. Decem- 
ber 28, 29. President, Professor W. F. Osgood, 
Harvard University; secretary, Professor F. N. 
Cole, Columbia University. 

The American Chemical NSociety—December 
27—January 2. President, Professor W. F. Hille- 
brand, U. S. Geological Survey; secretary, Dr. 
William A. Noyes, the Bureau of Standards, 
Washington, D. C. 


ats ee 


NovEMBER 30, 1906.] 


The Geological Society of America.—December 
26-29. Acting president, Professor W. M. Davis, 
Harvard University; secretary, Professor Her- 
man L. Fairchild, Rochester, N. Y. 

The Association of American Geographers.— 
December 31—January 1. President, Cyrus C. 
Adams, New York City; secretary, Albert P. 
Brigham, Colgate University. 

The American Society of Zoologists——Decem- 
ber 27, 28, 29. President (Eastern Branch), Pro- 
fessor W. FE. Castle, Harvard University; secre- 
tary, Professor H. 8. Pratt, Haverford College. 
President (Central Branch), Professor C. C. Nut- 
ting, University of Iowa; secretary, Professor T. 
G. See, University of Michigan. 

The Association of Economic Entomologists.— 
President, A. H. Kirkland, Malden, Mass.; secre- 
tary, A. F. Burgess, Columbus, O. 

The Society of American Bacteriologists.— 
President, Dr. E. F. Smith, U. S. Department of 
Agriculture; secretary, Professor 8. C. Prescott, 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

The American Physiological Society.—Decem- 
ber 27, 28, 29. President, Professor W. H. 
Howell, the Johns Hopkins University; secretary, 
Professor Lafayette B. Mendel, 18 Trumbull St., 
New Haven, Conn. 

The Association of American Anatomists.—De- 
cember, 27, 28, 29. Professor G. Carl Huber, 333 
East Ann St., Ann Arbor, Mich. 

The Botanical Society of America.—December 
27, 28, 29. President, Dr. F. 8. Earle; secretary, 
Dr. William Trelease, Missouri Botanical Garden, 
St. Louis, Mo. 

The American Psychological Association.—De- 
cember 27-28. President, Professor James R. 
Angell, University of Chicago; secretary, Pro- 
fessor Wm. Harper Davis, Lehigh University. 

The American Philosophical Association.—De- 
cember 27-29. President, Professor William 
James, Harvard University; secretary, Professor 
John Grier Hibben, Princeton University. 

The American Anthropological Association.— 
December 27—January 3. President, Professor F. 
W. Putnam, Harvard University; secretary, Dr. 
Geo. Grant MacCurdy, Yale University, New 
Haven, Conn. 

The American Folk-lore Society.—December 
27—January 3. President, Dr. A. L. Kroeber, 
University of California; secretary, W. W. 
Newell, Cambridge, Mass. 

New York State Science Teachers Association. 
—December 26, 27. Secretary, John F. Wood- 
hull, Teachers College, Columbia University. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

A MEETING to commemorate the life and 
services of Samuel Pierpont Langley, secre- 
tary of the Smithsonian Institution from 1887 
to 1906, will be held in the lecture room of 
the United States National Museum on Mon- 


SCIENCE. 709 


day evening, December 3, at 8:15 o’clock. 
The following addresses will be delivered: 
‘Introductory Remarks,’ by the chancellor of 
the Smithsonian Institution, the Honorable 
Melville W. Fuller, Chief Justice of the 
United States; ‘Memorial on Behalf of the 
Board of Regents,’ by the Honorable Andrew 
D. White, LL.D.; ‘Mr. Langley’s Contribu- 
tions to Astronomy and Astrophysics,’ by Pro- 
fessor E. C. Pickering, director of the Har- 
vard College Observatory; ‘Mr. Langley’s 
Contributions to Aerodynamics, by Octave 
Chanute, Esq., of Chicago. 


Tur Alumni Association of New York Uni- 
versity has planned a testimonial to Professor 
J. J. Stevenson on the completion of thirty- 
five years of service as professor of geology in 
the university. A dinner will be given in his 
honor on December 7 at the Hotel Astor, and 
a silver loving cup will be presented to him. 


Tue formal presentation of the new portrait 
of President James B. Angell, of the Univer- 
sity of Michigan, will take place on Saturday 
afternoon, December 8, in University Hall, 
Ann Arbor. This painting, which is by Wil- 
liam M. Chase, of New York, is the gift to 
the university of the students, faculty and 
alumni. ‘The picture will be presented to the 
university by Professor Henry M. Bates, of 
the law department, on behalf of all the thou- 
sands of donors, while the formal acceptance 
will be made by Regent Loyal E. Knappen. 
A formal address will also be delivered on 
that occasion by Professor Jeremiah W. Jenks, 
of Cornell University, an alumnus of the 
university. 


Sir Victor Horstey, who has been con- 
nected with University College, London, as a 
student and as a teacher for thirty years, has 
resigned his professorship of clinical surgery 
and his position as surgeon to the hospital on 
account of increasing public and private pro- 
fessional duties. The council, in accepting 
his resignation, adopted unanimously the fol- 
lowing resolution: “That the council, having 
received with great regret Sir Victor Hors- 
ley’s resignation of his professorship of clin- 
ical surgery and his position of surgeon to 
University College Hospital, whereby his offi- 


710 | SCIENCE. 


cial connection with the college is severed, 
desire to put on record their recognition of 
his long service to the college and the distinc- 
tion he has conferred upon it by his eminence 
as a scientific investigator.” 

Accorpine to Nature, the honors conferred 
by King Edward on the occasion of his sixty- 
fifth birthday appear to be mainly for political 
services, and there is little recognition of the 
claims of science. Mr. John Tweedy, presi- 
dent of the Royal College of Physicians, has 
received the honor of knighthood; Colonel R. 
C. Hellard, director-general of the Ordnance 
Survey, and Mr. F. G. Ogilvie, principal as- 
sistant secretary (Technology and Higher 
Education in Science and Art) Board of Edu- 
cation, have been appointed Companions of 
the Order of the Bath; Colonel D. A. John- 
ston, formerly drector-general of the Ord- 
nance Survey, has been appointed a Knight 
Commander of the Order of Saint Michael 
and Saint George; Professor R. W. Boyce, 
F.R.S., has received the honor of knighthood; 
and Dr. J. M. Lang, vice-chancellor and prin- 
cipal of the University of Aberdeen, has been 
appointed a Commander of the Royal Vic- 
torian Order. 

Dr. William Osler, of Oxford University, 
will sail for America on November 28, to visit 
Toronto, Baltimore and other cities. 

Dr. W. A. Keuuerman, of the Ohio State 
University, will shortly make his third collect- 
ing trip to Guatemala for the purpose of col- 
lecting parasitic fungi, returning next March 
or April. He will be accompanied by two 
student assistants, and will be glad to execute 
any minor commissions of specialists so far 
as possible. 


Dr. Met. T. Cook, who recently resigned 
his position as chief of the department of 
plant pathology of the Central Agricultural 
Experiment Station of Cuba, expects to devote 
several months to studies at the New York 
Botanical Garden. 

Dr. J. C. W. Frazer, of the Johns Hopkins 
University, has been appointed head of the 
research department of the United States 
Fuel-testing Plant, temporarily located at St. 
Louis, Mo. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 622. 


Dr. E. B. Copenann, who has been connected 
with the government laboratories at Manila, 
has been elected horticulturist of the West 
Virginia station and will enter on his work 
about the middle of November. He is a grad- 
uate of Leland Stanford University, and 
previous to going to Manila was instructor in 
botany in this university. 

Dr. J. K. Smauu, of the New York Botan- 
ical Garden, left for Southern Florida, on 
October 23, accompanied by Mr. J. J. Carter. 
Dr. Small will continue his investigations of 
the flora of this region. 

Dr. W. Morris Travers, F.R.S., late pro- 
fessor of chemistry at Bristol University Col- 


lege, left Marseilles, on November 2, in the 


mail steamer Victoria, for Bangalore, to take 
up his work as first director of the Indian 
Institute of Science, to which he has been 
appointed by Mr. Morley, on the recommenda- 
tion of the Royal Society. 

Tue Gedge prize of Cambridge University 
has been awarded to Patrick Playfair Laidlaw, 
B.A., of St. John’s College, for his essay en- 
titled, ‘Some Observations on Blood Pig- 
ments.’ 

Dr. E. A. Mincuin, professor of proto- 
zoology in the University of London, delivered 
his inaugural address at the university on 
November 15. The subject was ‘The Scope 
and Problems of Protozoology,’ 


Dr. WitLiAM H. CHANDLER, emeritus pro- 
fessor of chemistry at Lehigh University, died 
on November 28, aged sixty-five years. 

THERE will be a civil service examination 
on December 12-13, to fill a vacaney in the 
position of miscellaneous piecework computer 
in the Naval Observatory. The department 
states that miscellaneous computers are paid 
by the hour, and earn from $800 to $1,000 per 
annum. An examination will also be held 
for the position of forest assistant in the 
Forest Service at a salary of $900 a year. 

_ Tue nineteenth annual meeting of the Geo- 
logical Society of America will be held in 
New York City on December 26-29, The 
opening session on Wednesday will take place 
at Columbia University, Schermerhorn Hall, 


‘and will be called to order at 2 o’clock P.M., 


NOVEMBER 30, 1906.] 


by Acting-President Davis. There will be no 
session on Thursday, the opening day of the 
American Association for the Advancement 
of Science, unless the council decides other- 
wise. The sessions of Friday and Saturday 
will be held at the American Museum of Nat- 
ural History, 77th Street and Central Park, 
West. The customary dinner will probably 
occur on Friday evening, December 28. Under 
the rule securing rotation of subjects the order 
of papers at this meeting will be as follows: 
physiographic, cartographic, economic, phys- 
ical and structural, glacial, stratigraphic, 
areal, paleontologic, petrographic. The meet- 
ing of the Cordilleran Section will be held 
on December 28 and 29, at Stanford Uni- 
versity, California. 


Tue American Breeders’ Association will 
hold its regular winter meeting at Columbus, 
Ohio, January 15-18, 1907. The sessions will 
be held at the university and board of trade 
buildings. 

THE annual public meeting of the Academic 
Chambers composing the Institute of France 
was held on October 25, under the presidency 
of M. Gedhardt, who, after an allusion to the 
members of the institute who had died since 
the last meeting, announced that the linguistic 
prize had been won by Professor Jespersen, of 
the University of Copenhagen, for a treatise 
on comparative philology. 

THE foundation-stone of the new German 
National Museum at Munich was laid by the 
German Emperor on November 13, in the 
presence of a distinguished and representative 
company. 

THE collection of shells of British Mollusca, 
comprising about 5,600 specimens, belonging 
to the late Mr. Richard Rimmer, has been 
presented to the natural history department 
of the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh. 

THE Carnegie Museum has acquired by 
purchase a fine skull, with the horn-cores and 
horns ensheathing them, of Bison crassicormis 
Richardson. It was found in gold-bearing 
gravel at the bottom of a mine on Sulphur 
Creek forty miles east of Dawson. Associated 
with it were the remains of a mammoth. It 

is probably the most perfect specimen repre- 


SCIENCE. 


711 


senting this huge creature which has thus far 
been discovered. 

Tue fire which recently occurred at the 
Carnegie Institute in Pittsburg was confined 
to the new engine-room, and the only damage 
done was to the great switchboard which runs 
along the north wall of the room. ‘The splen- 
did collections of the institute were never for 
one moment in any danger, as the building is 
practically fireproof. The damage consisted 
in the charring and burning of the insulation 
of the wires on the switchboard, which had 
not yet been taken over from the firm which 
had contracted for the installation. The 
origin of the fire is a mystery, as there was 
no current on any of the wires and there 
could have been no crossed wires. The loss 
will amount to a heavy sum, but the delay in 
completing the electrical equipment of the 
building which must result is a still more 
serious matter. 

THE paleontological expedition of the Car- 
negie Museum to northwestern Wyoming, 
undertaken during the past summer under the 
direction of Mr. Roy L. Moodie, fellow in 
paleontology of the University of Chicago, as- 
sisted by Mr. E. B. Bartholow of the Univer- 
sity of Kansas, has secured what is perhaps 
the best collection of plesiosaurian and am- 
phicelian crocodile remains ever brought 
together in any American museum. The beds 
explored were the Hailey shales of the upper 
Benton Cretaceous, described by Professor 
Williston in Science for October 20, 1905, and 
the explorations were made under his advice. 
The material collected, weighing more than 
five tons, includes two nearly complete skele- 
tons, with excellent skulls, of plesiosaurs, one 
of the Trinacromerum type, the other of a 
broad-headed, short-necked form; about 
twenty-five other specimens of plesiosaurs, 
representing most parts of the skeleton; sev- 
eral specimens of hollow-boned amphicclian 
crocodiles, probably either Teleorhinus or 
Hyposaurus, one of them a nearly complete 
skeleton with skull; a number of excellent 
turtles having well ossified carapaces and 
plastrons, perhaps allied to Toxochelys, and 
doubtless new to science; a small reptilian 
skull a few inches in length, of undetermined 


712 


relationships; and some fish remains. This 
material when worked out will add very ma- 
terially to our knowledge of the marine Cre- 
taceous fauna, and especially to our knowledge 
of the plesiosaurs of America. 


- Yate UNiversity has appropriated a sum 
sufficient to cover the cost of publishing in 
book form the Mathematical Society’s col- 
loquium in New Haven last September. This 
is-to be issued as a Yale publication. Copies 
will be forwarded to all subscribing members 
of the society and the remainder of the edition 
will. be placed at the disposal of the librarian 
of the university for exchange and other pur- 
poses. 


Witn the view of bringing together the 
cattle and most of the deer in the London 
Zoological Gardens the authorities have con- 
structed a range of buildings in the south 
garden, between the lion-house and the pheas- 
antries. The former deer-sheds have been 
improved and others built at the eastern end, 
the latter being furnished with paddocks cor- 
responding to those of the older structure. 
South of this, but under the same roof, the 
new cattle-sheds have been put up, and the 
land cleared by pulling down the old ones has 
been thrown into the five large paddocks. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


Presipent JoHn E. Goucusr, of the Wo- 
man’s College, Baltimore, Md., has deeded to 
the college his private residence for use as an 
administration building. 


AN anonymous gift of $50,000 has been re- 
ceived by Yale University to establish the 
John Slade Ely professorship in the medical 
school in memory of Professor Ely, who died 
in the spring. 


A NEW science hall at the University of 
Mississippi is in process of construction. This 
will be a large three-story building, and it is 
hoped that it will be completed in time for 
the geological and other collections to be trans- 
ferred next summer. Other buildings under 
construction are a hospital and four residences 
for professors. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 622. 


THE annual meeting of the trustees of the 
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of 
Teaching was held at the offices of the founda- 
tion in New York on November 20. The ex- 
ecutive officers of the foundation are Dr. 
Henry S. Pritchett, president, and T. Morris. 
Carnegie, treasurer, while the general officers 
of the board itself are: Chairman, President 
Eliot; vice-chairman, President Jordan; sec- 
retary, President Thwing. emp 

WeE learn from the Harvard Bulletin 
that the Harvard Graduate School of Ap- 
plied Science, which was established last 
spring, begins its work this fall with an en- 
rolment of thirty students. Courses are of- 
fered leading to degrees in the following sub- 
jects: civil engineering, mechanical engineer- 
ing, electrical engineering, mining, metallurgy, 
architecture, landscape architecture, forestry, 
physics, chemistry, zoology, geology. The 
school will differ from the Lawrence Scientific 
School in that a bachelor’s degree will be re-. 
quired for admission, and original work will 
be done, as is true of the Graduate School, in 
relation to the department of arts and sciences. 
The new institution will give to Harvard stu- 
dents five-year courses in both departments, 
the first three in each case being undergrad- 
uate. 7 

THE resignation of Professor James Lee. 
Love as secretary of the Lawrence Scientific 
School of Harvard University was received 
and accepted, to take effect November 12, 
1906. | 

THE establishment of a chair of economic 
geology in the Sheffield Scientific School of 
Yale University is announced, with the ap- 
pointment of Professor John Duer Irving, 
professor of geology at Lehigh University, as 
the first incumbent; Dr. G. R. Wieland has 
been appointed lecturer in paleobotany. 


Dr. Herpert J. WEBBER, director of plant- 
breeding investigations in the Department of 
Agriculture, has been appointed professor of 
plant biology in the College of Agriculture 
of Cornell University. 


Tue council of King’s College, London, has 
appointed Mr. Arthur Whitfield; M.D., pro- 
fessor of dermatology. — 


SCIENCE 


&@& WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 
OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, 


a 


FripAy, DECEMBER 7, 1906. 


CONTENTS. 


The Budapest Conference of the International 
Geodetic Association: O. H. Trrrmann, Dr. 
DOEUN ME VEDAS ORD! fs otueslviae aleleln sina 713 


Scientific Books :— 
Morse on Mars and its Mystery: PROFESSOR 
WintiamM H. PickrRIne. Galloway’s Zool- 
OO S: KCl NSH 8 EA Al cava Sunn tee ENE Ueto Ea 719 


Scientific Journals and Articles.......... 4 hy neal 


Societies and Academies :— 
The Torrey Botanical Club: C. StTuarr 
CONGR Ure sienetaredy clay sve neua eames eer avian IG LIM Te 721 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
The Policy of the U. S. Geological Survey 
and its Bearing upon Science and EHduca- , 
tion: Proressor J. C. BRANNER. FHvolu- 
tion (Cook) and Mutation (Waagenw): Dr. 
A. E. ORTMANN. Discontinuous Variation: 
Dr. D. T. MacDouear. The Public Health 
Deence Lea gavel) NEDA VVis i da cou aici vale nial 722 


Special Articles :— 3 
A Statistical Study of American Men of 
Science, III.; The Distribution of American 
Men of Science: Proressor J. McKErn 
CaTTELL. Brachiopod Nomenclature: S. S. 
TS OLOR EY Oar Ripa a ae dalle see ne aa Po Mens A 732 


Current Notes on Meteorology :— 
The Cyclonic Theory; Climatological Atlas 


of India; Monthly Weather Review; 

Notes: Proressor R. DEC. WaArD........ 743 
Recent Important Anti-malaria Work: Dr. L. 

OR METONWZAUR Dye yet se) CMe asi ey a a Hau ala at 744 


The Convocation Week Meetings of Scientific 


ISHARES 8 teh iil esse ats call tN REA ai NAN a 746 
Scientific Notes and News............ sehen 747 


University and Educational News........... 752 


MSS. intended for publication and books, efe., intended for 
review should be sent to the Editor of Sciunck, Garrison-on- 
Hudson, N. Y. 


THE BUDAPEST CONFERENCE OF THE 
INTERNATIONAL GEODETIC 
ASSOCIATION. 


TuHIs account of the recent meeting of 
the International Geodetic Association is 
necessarily unbalanced and incomplete. It 
must be brief. The formal minutes of the 
meeting were not available for use while 
preparing the report. It is not easy for 
one to appreciate fully all that occurs in 
a meeting in which the proceedings are 
carried on in three languages. Neverthe- 
less, it is believed that a prompt report, 
ealling attention to some of the more im- 
portant features of the meeting will be of 
value, even if the report has defects. 

The Fifteenth General Conference of 
the International Geodetic Association was 
held at Budapest, September 20-28, 1906. 
Such conferences of the association are, in 
general, held at intervals of three years. 

There were present 61 delegates, repre- 
senting 18 nations. Nearly every part of 


' Kurope was represented, as well as Japan, 


Mexico, the United States and Argentina. 
Argentina was represented in the associa- 
tion for the first time at this meeting. 

The United States was represented by 
the undersigned. 

The activities of the conference may con- — 
veniently be grouped in four classes and 
such grouping is favorable to a clear un- 
derstanding of the purpose and effect of 
the conference. The activities were: (1) 
The presentation by the representatives of 
the different countries of reports of the 
progress in geodetic operations during the 


714 _ SCIENCE. 


past three years in those countries; (2) the 
presentation of special papers bearing upon 
improvements in instruments, methods of 
observation and methods of computation, 
(3) the transaction of the business of the 
association itself at the conference, in con- 
nection with the continuous operation of 
the central bureau maintained at Potsdam 
and in connection with the field work be- 
ing done by the association as an organ- 
ization; and (4) the social features of the 
meeting. 

Through this and similar conferences a 
close and effective cooperation of many men 
of many nations, acting as an association, 
is secured in a certain few lines of research. 
Of these the greatest now being carried for- 
ward is an investigation of the variation 
of latitude. 

Aside from this cooperation, all the ac- 
tivities of the conference served to make 
it a clearing house for ideas, a place where 
each may learn what ideas, old or new, are 
being acted upon in geodetic work in other 
countries than his own. In this process 
the social functions play an important part 
in bringing men together and helping them 
really to understand each other. 

The association, as such, does not fix the 
methods of observation or computation in 
any country. It controls only the methods 
used in its own central bureau and in the 
field work paid for from the association 
funds. But, by virtue of the active inter- 
ehange of ideas which takes place at the 
conferences, the association undoubtedly 
exerts a strong influence in making the 
methods used in various countries much 
more uniform and progressive than they 
otherwise would be. 

The reports of progress within the past 
three years which were submitted show 
that the rates of progress in accumulating 
new results are very different in different 
countries, depending upon a great variety 
of conditions. Each country brought 


[N.S. VoL. XXIV. No. 623. 


some contribution and the total represents 
a rapid increase in the mass of geodetic 
facts available for future use. It would 
be tiresome to summarize these reports here 
and the summaries would be of little value. 
Three items are, however, of special inter- 
est. Progress has been made within the 
last three years in the observations and 
computations connected with an are in 
Spitzbergen and in connection with the 
remeasurement of the elassical Peruvian 
are, extended. Progress has also been 
made in South Africa on the measurement 
of an are which is expected, ultimately, to 
extend from the Cape of Good Hope to the 
northern part of Russia, a total length of 
104°. 

Let us turn now to the special papers 
bearing upon improvements in instruments, 
methods of observation and methods of 
computation. 

Th. Albrecht, of Germany, presented a 
report on a thorough investigation made 
at and near Potsdam, of the applicability 
of wireless telegraphy to the accurate de- 
termination of differences of longitude. 
The transmission time was found to be ex- 
tremely small and sensibly independent of 
the particular receiver used and of the in- 
tensity of the sending. 

Though not a delegate to the conference, 
Ch. .Ed. Guillaume, of the International 
Bureau of Weights and Measures, by 
special invitation occupied the greater part 
of one session in presenting the results of 
the many tests of the Invar (nickel-steel) 
wires made at the International Bureau, 


- describing the apparatus devised there for 


the rapid measurement of bases with In- 
var wires, and in giving a general state- 
ment in regard to the use of this appa- 
ratus in the measurement of a base extend- 
ing the entire length of the recently com- 
pleted Simplon tunnel. The extensive in- 
vestigations of the International Bureau 


] 
F 

) 
4 
i 


DECEMBER 7, 1906.] 


show that the changes in length to which 
the Invar wires are subject are so small, 
and that the Invar wires have such phys- 
ical properties, that they are suitable for 
the measurement of primary bases. The 
experience in the Simplon tunnel confirms 
this conclusion. The base apparatus there 
used is elaborate in comparison with that 
now in use in the United States for the 
measurement of primary bases with steel 
and Invar tapes. It also differs radically 
from the Coast and Geodetic Survey (U. 
S.) apparatus in having the entire meas- 
urement carried forward on movable tri- 
pods, just as measurements with base bars 
are made, instead of being carried forward 
on stakes driven in the ground, as are the 
tape measurements in the United States. 
The Simplon tunnel base was 20 kilometers 
long. The tunnel was placed entirely at 
the disposition of the measuring party for 
five consecutive days, no trains being run 
during that time. The measurement was 
made continuously in each direction 
through the tunnel, the party working in 
shifts of eight hours, day and night. The 
forward measurement was made in 59 hours. 
The remeasurement was made, after a day 
of rest, in 27 hours. The total number of 
persons employed on the measurement at 
any one time was 28. Seventy-seven dif- 
ferent persons in all were involved in the 
measurement. This performance and its 
results leave no doubt that the necessary 
accuracy can be secured more quickly and 
eonveniently with Invar wires than with 
any bar apparatus. Any one who will 
carefully compare this work, in all respects, 
with what has been accomplished with steel 
and nickel-steel tapes in the United States, 
on primary base work, will also be convinced 
that all the advantages claimed for wires 
may also be claimed for tapes, and that the 
use of tapes, rather than of wires, and of 
stakes, rather than of tripods, makes the 


SCIENCE. 


715 


measurement much more rapid, economical 
and convenient, and that the tapes are 
more reliable, as to length, than the wires. 

Baron Hotvos, of the University of 
Budapest, occupied the greater part of one 
session in presenting a discussion of the 
results secured by him with certain torsion 
balances of special design. <A similar pre- 
sentation may be found in Wiedemann’s 
Annalen, 1896, and another in the report 
of the Congrés International de Physique, 
Paris, 1900. He evidently aroused much 
interest. The conference visited his labo- 
ratory in a body to see the apparatus. He 
derives from the observations the first dif- 
ferentials of gravity with respect to dis- 
tance measured along the three rectangular 
axes at the point of observation. From 
these observed quantities may be derived 
various other quantities, such as, for ex- 
ample, the radii of curvature of the geoid 
at the point of observation. The claims 
made as to the simplicity of the manipula- 
tion of the apparatus, the accuracy of the 
results, and the certainty with which the 
positions of the excesses and defects of 
mass within the earth may be determined 
by such observations, are astonishing. If 
the validity of these claims is established by 
future investigations, these torsion balances 
will become very important as being the 
most powerful means available for deter- 
mining the distribution of density within 
the earth. 

Dr. O. Hecker exhibited the very inter- 
esting apparatus which has been used by 
him, under the direction of the association, 
for determining the value of gravity at 
sea. He presented the results of recent 
observations made with this apparatus on 
the Pacific on two voyages between Sidney, 
Australia, and San Francisco, and between 
San Francisco and Yokohama. The at- 
mospheric pressure is determined in terms 
of millimeters of mercury by a mercurial 


716 SCIENCE. 


barometer and simultaneously the pressure 
is also determined in absolute units by an 
accurate observation of the boiling point 
of water, using mercurial thermometers. 
From these simultaneous observations the 
intensity of gravity at the point of ob- 
servation is computed. This method is 
entirely successful in determining gravity 
with the accuracy necessary for an effective 
study of the anomalies in gravity. This is 
the only successful method yet devised for 
determining gravity at sea with sufficient 
accuracy. Such observations are of ex- 
treme importance to geodesy, because they 
are the only geodetic measurements possible 
over three fourths of the globe. Hecker’s 
observations show that, in general, over the 
deep Pacific gravity has nearly its nor- 
mal value, as computed by Helmert’s for- 
mula of 1901, fixing the relation between 
gravity and latitude. Parenthetically, it 
may be remarked that this indicates that 
the condition called isostasy exists. Four 
regions with large anomalies, with refer- 
ence to Helmert’s formula, were found. 
Near Oahu, one of the Sandwich Islands, 
gravity is considerably in excess at sea, 
just as it has already been observed to be 
on the island. There is a region of excess- 
ive gravity in shallow water near New 
Zealand. Over the submerged Tonga pla- 
teau, where the depth is 3,000 meters, grav- 
ity is largely in excess and in the adjacent 
Tonga deep (5,000-10,000 meters) there is 
a large defect of gravity. 

H. Kimura, of Japan, reported on a 
harmonic analysis of the variation of lati- 
tude which has been made by him. The 
analysis develops the very interesting fact 
that in addition to its other motions, al- 
ready approximately known, the pole has 
a reciprocating motion approximately 
along a straight line, with a period of about 
0.75 year, a period which is not commen- 
surable with any of the other known 
periods of the polar motion. 


Lallemand, of France, for many years 
the authority on precise leveling, stated 
that a series of experimental comparisons 
had been made in France between the 
French instrument and method and the 
instrument and method used in the U. 8. 
Coast and Geodetic Survey since 1900. The 
conclusion reached was that the degree of 
accuracy is sensibly the same in the two 
eases, because in each the instrumental 
errors have been made so small that the 
errors in the results are mainly due to 
meteorological conditions, that is to con- 
ditions between the object glass and the 
rod. | 

On the part of our own country there 
was presented a special report upon a re- 
cent determination of the figure of the 
earth, made by the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey and based entirely upon deflections 
of the vertical observed in the United 
States. This report showed that to secure 
the highest degree of aceuracy in such de- 
terminations the theory of isostasy must 
be taken into account; that the United 
States is not maintained in its position 
above sea level by the rigidity of the earth 
but is, in the main, buoyed up, floated, 
because it is composed of material of defi- 
cient density; and that the defect of 
density is limited to the depth of 71 miles, 
if it is uniformly distributed with respect 
to depth. This report, if it is convincing, 
must ultimately produce radical changes 
in the methods of computation used by 
geodesists. It also has a direct bearing 
upon several of the greater problems of 
geology and of geo-physics. 

The activity of the association itself, as 
distinguished from the activities represent- 
ed by reports of progress and special 
papers, is indicated by the fact that the 
average rate of expenditure for the past 
three years has been $19,000 per annum. 
This covers administration, printing and 
postage, the maintenance of the central 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 623. 


DECEMBER 7, 1906.] 


bureau and such field work as is paid for 
by the association. 

The principal work of the central bu- 
reau, under the direction of Dr. F. R. Hel- 
mert, may be summarized as follows: 

Relative gravity determinations in vari- 
ous countries have been furthered by spe- 
cial examinations in detail of apparatus to 
be used for this purpose and by instructing 
the observers. 

Professor Borrass has been occupied in 
studying the existing relative gravity de- 
terminations with a view to their proper 
combination in a gravity net extending 
over the globe. 

A systematie study of deviations of the 
vertical in Europe has been continued by 
Professor Borsch, and progress has been 
made in the publication of the results. 

A systematic study by Dr. Helmert of 
the curvature of the geoid along certain 
meridians and parallels, in countries where 
there is extended triangulation, has been 
nearly completed. 

The determination by Dr. Kitihnen and 
Dr. Furtwangler of the absolute value of 
gravity at Potsdam which has been in prog- 
ress for several years has been completed 
and the final results are now being printed. 
In these determinations, five different pen- 
dulums have been used at Potsdam and a 
very extensive series of observations have 
been made with great care. It was found 
that the general experience of the past was 
repeated and that systematic differences, 
much too large to be accounted for as 
errors of observation, were found between 
the results from different pendulums. In 
trying to account for the large residual 
furnished by one of the five pendulums, 
which was of peculiar form, the suspicion 
arose that possibly the stem of this pendu- 
lum was subject to flexure, as the pendu- 
lum took various positions during each 
swing. Accordingly, a mathematical the- 
ory of such a possible flexure was developed 


SCIENCE. 


717 


fully for the first time. The effect of the 
flexure upon the value of gravity given by 
each of the five pendulums was then com- 
puted, using this mathematical theory 
which expresses the effect in terms of the 
modulus of elasticity of the material com- 
posing the stem, the dimensions of the 
stem, and the masses of different portions 
of the pendulum. The corrections brought 
the results into closer agreement. The 
same theory was, with similar success, ap- 
plied to six other series of pendulum ob- 
servations made at various times and at 
places connected with Potsdam by accurate 
relative determinations of gravity. In 
these series, pendulums of various designs 
have been used. The adopted value of 
eravity at Potsdam is a simple mean of the 
seven values, one of these being the value 
observed at Potsdam. The adopted mean 
differs by one part in 25,000 from the 
Potsdam determination. Helmert states 
that he believes the possible error of the 
adopted mean to be less than one part in 
100,000. The total range of the seven 
values is one part in 33,000. 

Two of the seven values depend upon 
observations made with the Bessel ball and 
wire pendulums. For these the complete 
theory developed by Bessel for taking ac- 
count of the flexure of the wire was used 
without modification. 

The gravity determinations at sea by 
Dr. Hecker, already referred to, were made 
under the direction of the central bureau 
and paid for by the association. 

The principal field work, supported by 
the association, is the determination of the 
latitude variation. For the latitude obser- 
vations and the necessary computations of 
them, made at the central bureau, the ex- 
penditure has been, on an average, $14,000 
per year, during the past three years, more 
than two thirds of the total expenditure of 
the association. From 1899 to date, obser- 
vations have been made continuously at 


718 


six stations, all in latitude 39° 08’ north, 
and surrounding the pole. In 1906, two 
stations in the southern hemisphere were 
established, in Argentina and in Australia. 
The observations at all of these eight sta- 
tions will be continued at least until 1909. 
The accuracy with which the motion of the 
pole is followed by these observations may 
be inferred from the fact that Kimura 
writes with confidence that the movement 
having a period of 0.75 year exists, though 
its total amplitude is apparently 0.06” (6 
feet) or less. 

By a formal resolution, transmitted to it 
in advance of this meeting, the association 
was asked by the International Association 
of Academies in what way it could sustain 
or promote international cooperation in 
the following two matters: (4) Leveling 
of precision in chains of mountains sub- 
ject to earthquake, with a view of deter- 
mining whether such chains are subject to 
changes in elevation; (B) measurements of 
the value of gravity for the purpose of 
throwing light upon the internal distribu- 
tion of terrestrial masses and upon the 
rigidity or isostasy of the crust of the 
earth. This resolution is the result of ac- 
tion taken at the International Geological 
Congress, held in Vienna in 1903. 

A special report on that part of the reso- 
lution which refers to leveling was, by re- 
quest, prepared in advance by Lallemand 
of France. He set forth the rather dis- 
couraging past experience in this line and 
indicated the essential difficulties of the 
problem. He reported that determina- 
tions of the stability of the ground by 
means of precise leveling, repeated at long 
intervals, should be made in all regions, not 
simply in chains of mountains subject to 
earthquakes; that ordinarily a _ general 
change of elevation of less than one deci- 
meter can not be detected with certainty; 
and that each country should repeat the 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 623. 


leveling, over at least the principal lines 
of its precise level net, two or three times 
in each century. 

Darwin, of England, prepared in ad- 
vance, by request, a report on that portion 
of the resolution which refers to gravity 
determinations. He suggested a resolution 
in reply to the effect that the association 
welcomes the resolution transmitted to it 
as showing that geodetic observations 
throw lhght on the science of geology, and 
that the association further desires to 1m- 
press on geodesists who may be planning 
future gravity observations that it is de- 
sirable that the sites for observation should 
be chosen with reference to such use of 
the observations. 

The recommendations made by Messrs. 
Lallemand and Darwin were incorporated 
in a resolution passed by the association. 
At the suggestion of Darwin the resolution, 
as passed, also definitely recognized that ob- 
servations of the direction of gravity, that 
is of deflections of the vertical, may also 
be used in determining the isostasy or 
rigidity of the crust of the earth, as well 
as observations of the intensity of gravity. 

Nearly all of the party lived at the same 
hotel. Numerous social functions also 
kept the party together and served to make 
the delegates acquainted with each other. 
Among the social functions were a recep- 
tion by the Archduke Josef, at the Royal 
Palace, a dinner given by the city of Buda- 
pest, a dinner given by Count Apponyi, 
the Minister of Public Instruction, an in- 
formal dinner given by the delegates in 
honor of their entertainers, an evening of 
Hungarian opera and several afternoon ex- 
cursions. 

The surroundings in which the confer- 
ence met were especially interesting. It is 
a surprise to find that Budapest, the Hun- 
garian capital, is a rapidly growing 
modern city, with all modern improve- 


DECEMBER 7, 1906.] 


ments. One finds in it an intense national 


life and, at the same time, many interest- 
ing evidences of the influence of several 
different civilizations. Eleven different 
“languages are officially recognized by being 
printed upon the paper money. 
O. H. Trrrmann, 
JOHN F. HAyrorp. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


Mars and its Mystery. By Epwarp L. Morse. 
Boston, Little, Brown and Company. §8vo. 
Pp. 192. 

This book is distinctly a plea for the exist- 
ence of intelligent inhabitants upon our sister 
planet, the argument being based largely on 
the observations of Professor Lowell at Flag- 
staff, Arizona. The author begins by point- 
ing out that because a man is an astronomer, 
this fact by no means qualifies him to act as a 
judge upon a question of this sort. It is 
doubtless true that astronomers as a rule 
know little of the appearance of the surface 
of Mars, and but few of them have ever seen 
it under favorable conditions. Nevertheless, 
it must be admitted that a man who is 
familiar with the difficulties of telescopic ob- 
servations, under varying atmospheric condi- 
tions, would be a better judge of the value of 
telescopic evidence than one who had never 
looked through a telescope, and took it for 
granted that the planet looked exactly as it 
is drawn on paper. 

A large part of the book is devoted to an 
examination of the views of various astron- 
omers and amateurs as to the interpretation 
of the various markings seen upon the planet’s 
surface. The book is marred in one or two 
places by a rather savage personal attack upon 
a British astronomer in good standing, partly, 
apparently, on account of his religious con- 
victions! Considerable attention is paid to 
the appearance of various systems of natural 
eracks, such as appear in pottery, dried mud, 
and the surface of the moon. ‘Two interesting 
plates are given, in which these are compared 
with maps of railway systems, canals, and the 
markings upon Mars. The argument is 
drawn that the last look, and are distributed, 


SCIENCE. 


719 


much more like the artificial than like the 
natural lines. Whether such is the case or 
not, the critic will be likely to ask “ But 
would the markings on Mars, if we could see 
them well, really resemble the drawings that 
Professor Morse publishes of them?” This is 
the very crux of the whole question, and until 
this has been definitely decided, most astron- 
omers will consider the existence there of in- 
telligent inhabitants as unproved, although 
perhaps not impossible. 

The main and generally accepted facts re- 
lating to the planet’s surface are briefly stated, 
and are followed by an interesting and rather 
amusing account of the author’s own difficul- 
ties in seeing even the well-known and most 
clearly defined markings of the planet. He 
certainly had much more difficulty than would 
have been expected, considering the careful 
training of his eye in his own professional 
work. 

One of the most interesting chapters of the 
book is that devoted to the discussion of the 
variety of conditions under which life exists 
upon the earth. Here our author is more 
nearly on his own ground, and states a num- 
ber of interesting facts, many of which it is 
safe to say will be new to the majority of his 
readers. From them he argues that the 
slightly dissimilar physical conditions that 
exist upon Mars would not interfere with the 
existence there of life in some of its various 
forms, such as we know it upon the earth. 

Tn closing, it may be said that the book is 
interesting, and well worth reading to all those 
who wish to learn the opinions of various 
authorities on the most fascinating of all the 


planets. WiuuiamM H. PIcKERING. 
HARVARD COLLEGE OBSERVATORY. 


First Course in Zoology. A text-book for 
secondary schools, normal schools and col- 
leges. By Tuomas Watton Ga.Loway, 
Ph.D., Professor of Biology in James Mil- 
likin University. P. Blakiston’s Son and 
Company. 

This book adds another to the list of text- 
books in zoology, of an elementary nature, 
which have appeared within the past half 
dozen years, and is indicative of the growth 


720 


of interest in the subject among educators. 
Unlike most of this number, the present book 
purports to be adapted to either secondary 
school, normal school or college grade. In 
one respect this is a point worthy of consid- 
eration, in that it seems to recognize the cor- 
rect pedagogical principle of the essentially 
similar aims and methods of the elementary 
course, whether in school or in college. On 
the other hand, it involves the difficult problem 
of furnishing a course of instruction, suited 
in character and extent to students of the 
varying capacity and training of the second 
or third year of the high school and the cor- 
responding second or third year of the normal 
school or college, the periods in which such 
course is likely to have its place. The task is 
not, perhaps, impossible, but confessedly diffi- 
cult; and to the reviewer’s thought the present 
book hag not clearly solved the problem. 

For the average school course the book in- 
eludes too much, and too difficult work; while 
for the college course it seems to fall as far 
short. For the normal school, and this is 
probably the grade of work more directly 
aimed at by the author, the book would seem 
to be well suited. 

In method of arrangement the book follows 
rather closely the well-known ‘ Lehrbuch der 
Zoologie’ of Hertwig, best known to American 
teachers of zoology through Kingsley’s trans- 
lation under the title ‘Manual of Zoology.’ 
That is, there are two parts to the book. (1.) 
General Principles; (II.) Special Zoology. 
Under the first part is a series of chapters 
dealing with protoplasm, the cell, the tissues, 
physiology, adaptation, ete. Under the second 
part is taken up a review of the entire animal 
kingdom, from protozoa to mammals. That 
there are elements of value in this method of 
presentation will not be questioned. That 
they are of the fundamental and supreme 
importance assumed by their authors is not 
so clear. To the writer the method has always 
seemed open to serious objections. For ex- 
ample, to begin such a course with the study 
of the morphology and physiology of proto- 
plasm, followed by an attempt to clear up the 
intricacies of cell morphology, including the 
details of cleavage, chromosomes, centrosomes, 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 623. 


spiremes, with prophase, metaphase, etc. (cf. 
pp. 22-35), reverses one of the fundamental 
canons of sound pedagogy, long since pointed 
out by Huxley, and now generally recognized 
by most teachers of zoology. 

A similar criticism holds with reference to 
the chapters devoted to tissues, promorphol- 
ogy, and adaptations. To formulate these 
points in advance, outline the problems of 
evolution, ete., and rally about them the vari- 
ous data involved in their solution, is again 
to reverse the inductive order, presenting first 
that which ought to form the climax and con- 
clusion of the course, thus depriving the stu- 
dent of the privilege of coordinating the facts 
as they develop. The chapters on general 
animal functions and something of tissues 
are, perhaps, very appropriate, though it has 
always been the method of the reviewer to 
develop these points as they arise in the prog- 
ress of the course. And to devote fully one 
third of the entire book to such a preliminary 
study seems altogether disproportionate. In- 
deed, this course seems to include something 
of two ideals, namely, biology as distinguished 
from zoology, or in other words including two 
courses under a single caption. 

In another respect the book is open to some 
criticism.. The author postulates for the ele- 
mentary course in zoology a four-fold purpose, 
viz., ‘(1) laboratory work, chiefly physiolog- 
ical, and in tle larger problems of morphology 
rather than in minute dissection; (2) to field 
observation on physiology, life histories, the 
simpler problems of distribution and life rela- 
tions; (3) to the body of the descriptive text, 
and (4) to classes of questions demanding 
reference to classical zoological authorities.’ 
To each of these phases he would give an 
equal apportionment of time. It may be 
doubted whether for elementary pupils this 
would not prove impracticable, especially 
reference to such ‘classical authorities’ as 
Darwin, Wallace, Davenport’s ‘ Experimental 
Morphology,’ Lloyd Morgan’s ‘Animal Life,’ 
Eimer’s ‘ Evolution,’ ete. 

Of actual errors in statement of facts or 
principles there seem to be relatively few. In 
speaking of the larval life of echinoderms the 
author refers to them as ‘ free-swimming— 


DECEMBER 7, 1906.] 


pelagic—’ ete., seeming to use the terms as 
synonymous. Again, there is something of 
doubt in the validity of certain references to 
symbiotic relations, as in the following: 
* Hydractinia and even the sea-anemone form 
interesting partnerships with the hermit-crab.’ 
This is all admirable and beyond dispute. But 
that ‘the polyps cover up the shell occupied 
by the crab, thus concealing it from its ene- 
mies and its prey’ may be seriously doubted. 
Indeed, every observer knows that there are 
more hermit-crabs without the hydroid colo- 
nies than with them. And furthermore, the 
reviewer has found larger colonies of this par- 
ticular hydroid on bits of water-logged spars 
and on the piles of a dock than the combined 
colonies of scores of crab-shells. 

The figures are for the most part well se- 
lected and executed. In a few cases figures 
are rather too diagrammatic for accuracy. In 
its mechanical aspects the book is a creditable 
piece of press-work. The typography is excel- 
lent and mistakes few. A slight one may be 
noted in the description of Fig. 68, where the 
expanded and contracted vorticelle are wrong- 


ly indexed. C. W. H. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

The American Naturalist for October con- 
tains but two papers: ‘ The Naidide of Cedar 
Point,’ by L. B. Walton, and the ‘ Mechanism 
of the Odontophoral Apparatus in Sycotopus 
canaliculatus, by J. C. Herrick. The micro- 
scopic Oligochzta have received little atten- 
tion in this country and Professor Watson’s 
paper deals with the local species systematic- 
ally, giving a key to the genera and describing 
seven new species. Professor Herrick de- 
seribes in detail the structure and workings 
of the rasping apparatus by means of which 
the winkle bores through and destroys so many 
clams and similar mollusks. He decides that 
Husxley’s views were correct and that the 
radular membrane bearing the teeth slides 
back and forth over the supporting cartilage 
like a chainsaw. 


The Bulletin of the College of Charleston 
Museum for October is mostly devoted to the 
early history of the museum which may pos- 


SCIENCE. 721 


sibly claim to be the oldest public museum of 
natural history in the United States. The 
rival claimant is the collection of minerals 
of Harvard which dates back to 1798. 


The Museum News of the Brooklyn Insti- 
tute for November has articles on the ‘ House- 
keeping of a Large Museum,’ ‘ The King Pen- 
guin’ and on ‘The Woodward Jade Collec- 
tion.” This last contains a good réswmé on 
the history of jade objects and the methods 
of working. The principal article in the 
Children’s Museum section is devoted to ‘ Bird 
Life in Bedford Park.’ 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB. 


On May 23, 1906, the club held a special 
meeting in commemoration of the tenth anni- 
versary of the commencement of work in the 
development of the New York Botanical 
Garden. 

The meeting was held in the lecture hall 
of the Museum Building at the Botanical 
Garden. President Rusby presided, and there 
was an attendance of 125. The following per- 
sons were elected to membership: Perey L. 
Ricker, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 
Washington, D. C.; Miss Winifred J. Robin- 
son, Vassar Oollege, Poughkeepsie, N. Y.; 
Miss Bina Seymour, 115 West 84th Street, 
New York City. 

After the election of new members the club 
listened to an illustrated lecture by its presi- 
dent on ‘The History of Botany in New 
York City.’ 

Dr. Rusby presented a historical sketch of 
the development of botany in the city of New 
York, giving special attention to the history 
of local botanical gardens, of the botanical 
department of Columbia College and of the 
Torrey Botanical Club. The earliest local 
work related to the botanical gardens of 
Colden, Michaux and Hosack, and to the publi- 
cation of local catalogues and floras. The 
second period was that of text-books, man- 
uals and other educational works. Out of the 
associations resulting from local work, the 
Torrey Botanical Club developed so gradually 
that it was impossible to fix the date of its 


122 SCIENCE. 


actual beginning. Portraits of its early mem- 
bers were exhibited and brief biographical 
sketches presented. Out of the activity of the 
club and of the botanical department of Co- 
lumbia, grew the demand for a great botanical 
garden, which was satisfied by the establish- 
ment of the present New York Botanical Gar- 
den. The contemporary botanical forces at 
work in the city were briefly described, and 
their most important present needs outlined. 
The complete address was published in Tor- 
reya for June and July, and separates will 
be furnished at ten cents each. 

The lecture was followed by an informal 
reception in the library, and by an inspection 
of the library, laboratories, herbaria and the 
museum exhibits. 

©. Stuart GaGer, 
Secretary. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 


THE POLICY OF THE U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
AND ITS BEARING UPON SCIENCE AND 
EDUCATION. 


To THE Epitor or Science: It is but fair to 
Director Walcott that his reply to my letter 
insisting upon my resignation should be laid 
before those who have seen the earlier letters. 
The following is a copy of it: 


U. S. GronocicaL Survey, 
Wasuineton, D. C., Nov. 9, 1906. 
Dr. J. C. BRANNER, 

STaNForD UNIVERSITY, CALIFORNIA. 

Dear Sir: Your letter of October 13 was 
received at this office on October 22, and in 
my absence was acknowledged by Dr. Hayes 
on October 23. I was naturally surprised on 
my return to find that this letter, together 
with other correspondence on the subject of 
surveys in the Arkansas coal field, had been 
published in ScrENcE on October 26. I am at 
a loss to understand your reasons for publish- 
ing the correspondence, inasmuch as I do not 
think anything is to be gained by a public 
controversy. I have sent a brief communica- 
tion to ScIENCE (copy enclosed) explaining the 
principles which govern the United States 
Geological Survey in its relations with other 
geological surveys and working geologists. 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 623. 


In your letter, on page 2, you state seven 
reasons, deduced from my letter of March 8, 
for the course followed in this matter, and 
reply to them. Permit me to add a word of 
comment to your replies. 

1. “The field work on the Arkansas coal 
region was done 18 years ago.” You recognize 
that work done so long ago needs to be brought 
up to date before publication. Your conten- 
tion is that, “ having originated and directed 
the survey of the Arkansas coal fields,” you 
should be allowed to bring the work and the 
report up to date. This, of course, is the gist 


of the whole matter, and I shall revert to it. 
again. 


2. “It was based upon poor maps.” There 
is no difference of opinion on this point. In- 
asmuch, however, as the scale of publication 
proposed by this Survey is only half that in- 
sisted upon by yourself, and as the map will 
be published without contours, the defects in 
the topographic base are very much less seri- 
ous than they would have been if your proposi- 
tion had been ‘accepted and an attempt had 
been made to publish maps on the 62,500 scale. 

3. “The work is not ‘up to present stand- 
ards’ and therefore could not be accepted for 
publication by the Survey.” You state that 
“neither you nor any of your assistants have 
read the report and you can not therefore 
know anything about its relations to standards 
of any kind.” While the report has not been 
read, you will recall that the maps were ex- 
amined in December, 1901, by Dr. Hayes in 
connection with the proposition to publish the 
report at that time. These maps bore such 
evidence of inaccuracy and generalization that 
the scale proposed for their publication was 
not regarded as suitable and the reeommenda- 
tion was made that they should be reduced, 
preferably to one-quarter, and at least to one- 
half, the scale proposed. He made no state- 
ment regarding the standard of the written 
report, but considered the maps as amply 
justifying the statements made regarding the 


character of the work. You will recall that 


in the correspondence of 1901, when the 

proposition to publish your report was being 

considered, an essential condition to such pub- 

lication was that additional field work should 
/ 


| 
i 
4 


DECEMBER 7, 1906.] 


be done by some member of this survey, 
Messrs. Taff and Adams being mentioned in 
this connection. You are mistaken, therefore, 
in supposing that there was any intention on 
the part of this survey to accept your report 
without thorough examination and additional 
field work. 

4, “ New uses for the coals have been found 
by the fuel testing plant of the survey.” This 
has little bearing on the subject except that it 
increases the urgency for information regard- 
ing this coal field. 

5. “Losses have been caused by errors in 
the map of the Arkansas coal field for which 
I am responsible.” This is based upon very 
definite and emphatic statements made by 
large coal operators in the Arkansas field. 
They have stated that on the basis of the map 
published in the twenty-second annual exten- 
sive holdings were transferred from one, re- 
gion to another and on testing it was discoy- 
ered that productive had been exchanged for 
unproductive territory. It was on account of 
the representations of these coal operators, and 
their urgent requests, that the work was un- 
dertaken in Arkansas, and not through the 
recommendation of any member of Congress. 

6. “ The salaries of regular assistants of the 
survey being provided for, work must be given 
them.” Three geologists whose salaries had 
been provided for to the end of the year had 
completed their office work and were available 
for field assignment. If the money asked for 
the payment of yourself and assistants for the 
Arkansas work had been allotted, it would 
have been impossible to send these men into 
the field and they would practically have re- 
mained idle until the new appropriations be- 
came available. 

7. You say “I was anxious to obtain your 
unpublished data, for which ample payment 
would have been made and full credit given.” 
In reply to this you say “the reports of the 
Arkansas Geological Survey not being my 
personal property, I leave others to character- 
ize your proposition to pay me for one of 
them.” You imply in this statement that 
something dishonorable was contemplated in 
the transaction. I must remind you that on 
July 9, 1901, a check for $200 was sent to you 


SCIENCE. 723 


in payment for a report on the clays of Ar- 
kansas, which presumably was as much the 
property of the state as the coal report. It 
was distinctly stated at that time that this 
payment was “for the necessary office work 
required to put your reports into shape for 
publication.” The “adequate payment” for 
your coal report would have been for precisely 
the same purpose. If you had felt that you 
were not entitled to the payment, it would 
have been a simple matter to turn it over to 
the state of Arkansas. 

As distinctly stated, I desired to obtain your 
report in order, first, that the results of your 
work might not be entirely wasted, and, sec- 
ond, that you might receive the credit to which 
you would have been justly entitled. However 
inadequate a report on the geology of a region 
may be, and whatever errors it may contain, 
it is of some benefit to another geologist who 
is taking up the study of the region, and I 
considered that a reasonable expenditure 
would be justified because of the benefit your 
report would be to a geologist entering the 
field. 

I am quite willing to accept your statement 
of the seven reasons for my action which you 
have deduced from my letter of March 8. 
These reasons are all good and were regarded 
as fully justifying the course pursued. You 
are correct further in your conclusion that 
there are other reasons which it was not con- 
sidered necessary to state in my former letters. 
In that correspondence I ought, perhaps, to 
have been less careful of your feelings. The 
additional reasons which had weight in the 
matter are as follows: 

1. It was extremely desirable that the re- 
port on the Arkansas coal field should be is- 
sued at the earliest date possible. This was 
made a point of special urgency in the requests 
received from those most directly interested 
in the field. In order to secure this result it 
was deemed essential that the work should be 
done by regular members of the survey, who 
should bring their results to Washington and 
work them up here. I need only refer to the 
experience of the survey with your own re- 
ports to indicate the grounds for fearing that 
if the work were turned over to you prompt- 


724 


ness in publication would be impossible. The 
clay report above mentioned was paid for on 
July 9, 1901. The manuscript was received, 
after several urgent requests, at the end of 
March, 1904. The manuscript for the Santa 
Cruz folio was promised for July, 1903. It 
was received March 17, 1906. 

2. An examination of your preliminary coal 
report published by the Arkansas Survey, to- 
gether with the map furnished Mr. Taff for 
publication in the Twenty-second Annual, in 
the light of subsequent work on the coal meas- 
ures in the region immediately adjacent in 
Indian Territory, led the geologists familiar 
with the matter to the conclusion that you 
had made serious errors in correlation and in 
the interpretation of structure in the Arkansas 
field. It was believed that these errors might 
very easily be perpetuated if the resurvey of 
the field should be made by yourself—that you 
would be handicapped by your belief in the 
correctness of your former conclusions, and 
hence that better results would be secured if 
the work were done by some one entirely free 
from preconceptions as to stratigraphy and 
structure. 

3. During the last ten years much attention 
has been paid by this survey to the examina- 
tion of coal fields in various parts of the coun- 
try. A body of experts has been developed 
whose experience is probably not anywhere 
surpassed. On the other hand, so far as I 
am aware, you have, since leaving Arkansas, 
devoted little if any attention to the investi- 
gation of coal fields; also those whom you 
would probably secure for assistants in the 
work, with the possible exception of Dr. New- 
som, would have had little if any experience 
in this kind of work. In this age of special- 
ization it will, I think be conceded by all that 
even the examination of a coal field can be 
done more eflficiently by coal experts than by 
those whose training has been in other lines of 
geology. 

Concerning the last three pages of your let- 
ter I shall make very brief comment. The 
relations of this survey with existing state 
surveys are uniformly cordial. Every effort 
is made to strengthen state surveys and to 


SCIENCE. 


LN. S. Von. XXIV. No. 623. 


cooperate with them in such a way as to render 
their usually limited resources most productive 
of good to the people of the state. Coopera- 
tion is never forced upon a state organization, 
and extreme care is exercised to prevent dupli- 
cation by this survey of any work being car- 
ried on by any state organization. As to the 
invasion of fields occupied by professors of geol- 
ogy, there are in the files of the survey many 
letters to such professors urging them to work 
up the local geology and offering financial as- 
sistance and means of publication of their 
results. The case of the Fayetteville quad- 
rangle is perhaps an apparent exception. It 
should be stated, however, that when the work 
was undertaken there Professor Purdue was 
practically unknown as a geologist and was, 
as a matter of fact, not sufficiently experienced 
to carry on independent work. Since his 
season with Adams he has been employed each 
summer and has submitted three folios for 
publication. It has been necessary, however, 
in connection with this work, to send more 
experienced men into the field with him, al- 
though he will receive the entire credit for 


the work. 


The right of any geologist to restrict the 
field of operations of this survey in opposition 
to the public interests can not be admitted. 
Where work is being done by a private geolo- 
gist or an institution or an organization, or 
where the-work has been done, and there is 
prospect that the results will be published, it 
is manifestly contrary to good policy for an- 
other organization to enter the field and do the 
same work over again. The survey has scru- 
pulously refrained from such invasion of an 
already occupied field. The fact that a field 
has been occupied does not, however, give 
exclusive rights to the first occupant indefi- 
nitely if there is no prospect that the results 
will ever be published. Eighteen years is suf- 
ficient time in which to secure publication of 
results, and in this case the interests of the 
publie far outweigh any private interests you 
may have retained in the field. 

Your letter of February 26, 1906, tendering 
your resignation as geologist in the United 
States Geological Survey has been forwarded 


DECEMBER 7, 1906.] 


to the Secretary of the Interior with recom- 
mendation that the same be accepted. 
Very respectfully, 
Cuas. D. Watcort, 
Director. 


Some of the points mentioned in this and 
in the letter to the editor of SCIENCE, espe- 
cially those relating to maps, scales, qualifica- 
tions, errors both topographic and geologic, 
may be left to one side as being of little im- 
portance in this connection, though I should 
not hesitate for a moment to submit my own 
case on every count mentioned to any jury of 
scientific men. It is quite evident to any 
unbiased geologist that the reasons put for- 
ward for the survey’s invading my field are 
mere subterfuges for an inexcusable course of 
conduct. 

It is worth while, however, to note certain 
points in passing. Mr. Walcott does ‘not 
think anything is to be gained by a public 
controversy.’ Perhaps not; but it is certain 
that nothing is to be gained by an appeal to 
courtesy or by a private controversy with a 
public bureau that has the whip-hand of every 
working geologist in this country. And 
neither is anything to be gained by a cringing 
submission to such a bureau. This is a mat- 
ter of public concern, and so long as one gets 
no hearing in private he has no remedy but 
to bring the subject to the attention of the 
public. 

To the charge of making mistakes my reply 
is that I have made them and do make them. 

Mr. Walcott says: “It appears from Dr. 
Branner’s latest letter that he still regards the 
survey of a coal field worth many millions of 
dollars and capable of serving several millions 
of people as his own personal affair. This 
bureau is directed on broader lines.” This is 
merely a bit of political dust, and the broad 
lines on which he directs the survey do not 
appear to preclude the use of such materials. 
I regard the work on the area concerned as 
my own personal affair just so far as the work 
done on it entitled me to finish it and no 
further. 

Leaving these minor matters, attention is 
asked to four propositions that vitally concern 


SCIENCE. 


725 


scientific work and scientific education in this 
country as affected by the attitude of the U. 8S. 
Geological Survey toward state surveys and 
towards the geologists of the country not regu- 
larly employed on the survey. 

.First, it is maintained that the U. 8S. Geo- 
logical Survey can and does encroach upon 
fields that, by the rules of equity and common 
courtesy, belong to state surveys and to local 
individual workers in geology. 

Mr. Walcott meets the first proposition 
squarely in his letter to me. The italics are 
mine. He says: “ The relations of this sur- 
vey with existing state surveys are uniformly 
cordial. * * * Cooperation is never forced 
upon a state organization, and extreme care 
as exercised to prevent duplication by this sur- 
vey of any work being carried on by any state 
organization.” Near the end of his letter to 
me he says: “The survey has scrupulously 
refrained from such invasion of an already 
occupied field.” 

My own experience as state geologist of 
Arkansas is far from bearing out these state- 
ments; but as the survey of which I had 
charge is no longer in existence, and as he 
seems to wish to confine the question to those 
that have not yet been killed, let us take one 
that has managed to survive. One of the state 
geologists writes me under date of October 
29, 1906, as follows: “ My own experience offi- 
cially has been as bitter and wholly unjusti- 
fiable as yours. By repeated and vigorous 
personal appeal * * * and only by resort to 
* * * our representatives in congress have I 
been able to save this * * * state survey from 
a most humiliating exigency. Indeed I have 
not wholly succeeded, and am grimly con- 
scious to-day that though I have dislodged 
the U. S. Geological Survey corps from most 
all parts of the state, zfs representatives have 
held on to one region where we were busily 
engaged at the time of their arrival, and 
agnoring entirely all our work, have carried 
their humiliating procedure to a finish. We 
have spent some thousands of dollars in cor- 
recting the unskilful and erroneous work of 
these gentry. * * * To tell our experience 
would be a long story, perhaps bootless to re- 
hearse, but I join with you and many others 


726 SCIENCE. 


in deprecating the present policy of the sur- 
vey in the matter of intrusion upon states to 
the great discredit of the state organizations 
and the individual geologists.” 

And this Mr. Walcott calls ‘ uniformly cor- 
dial’ relations, ‘strengthening and coopera- 
ting with the state surveys,’ and ‘ scrupulously 
refraining from invasion of an already occu- 
pied field”! 

But whether the relations of the state sur- 
veys to the national survey are cordial or not 
(and I am far from doubting that some of 
the state surveys know that unless they keep 
up the appearance of cordiality they will soon 
cease to exist), I assert, without the slightest 
fear of successful contradiction, that there is 
not a single state geologist in this country 
to-day who does not know that his work, his 
field of operations, his livelihood, and his very 
reputation are wholly at the mercy of the 
national survey. And I ask any person who 
has the blood of a free man in his veins if 
this is not an intolerable state of affairs. 

Mr. Walcott says that ‘ cooperation is never 
forced’ on a state survey. I beg to refresh 
his memory with the fact that when a bill 
providing for a state geological survey was 
lately before a certain state legislature, he 
himself wrote to prominent members of the 


legislature advising that unless cooperation. 


with the U. S. Geological Survey was provided 
for, the bill should not pass. If that is not 
forcing cooperation on a state then I fail to 
understand the English language. 

So far as individuals are concerned the sur- 
vey seldom takes them into consideration save 
when they do something or turn up something 
that is likely to serve the purposes of the sur- 
vey. If the individual undertakes any special 
bit of work, whether in field or laboratory, the 
survey is in position to invade his territory, 
to drive him out of it, and to discredit him. 
Is it not a most humiliating fact that scien- 


tific men, in this the twentieth century, should | 


be compelled by a federal bureau to hide them- 
selves like whipped curs to gnaw their small 
bones in obscure corners? For if an investi- 
gator does not keep quiet about his work he 
knows perfectly well that, upon one pretext or 
another, he is likely to be pounced down upon 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 623. 


and his work taken out of his hands—and 
“due credit given, of course! It is all very 
well for the director of the survey to say that 
he had no intention of doing such things. 
He has the power to do them and he does 
them. _ 

The second proposition is that the national 
survey has discredited and enfeebled the state 
surveys, and that it prevents their normal 
growth even when it does not entirely drive 
them out of existence. 

The truth of this statement is so self-evi- 
dent that it hardly admits of discussion. The 
eases quoted above are proof enough, and in- 
stances more or less similar can be found in 
almost every state where state surveys still 
exist, and in other states where the surveys 
have been killed off through the influence, 
direct or indirect, of the national survey. 
This is the more important because the state 
surveys are vastly more useful to the states 
and to state industries than is the national 
survey. The state surveys, however small 
they may be, are in touch with the people, 
keep alive an active local interest in geology, 
and serve as a valuable training school for 
young geologists. And this widespread in- 
terest in science is not only important, but 
above all is it important that the people of 
this country be left to manage their own home 
affairs even though they may not manage 
them so well, rather than to have them directed 
by a bureau at Washington, run as a great 
scientific trust and paid for at the rate of 
millions of dollars a year out of the public 
funds. 

It is no part of the functions of a national 
government to interfere with and to discredit 
state and other local governments, and just as 
little should it be a function of any national 
scientific bureau to weaken, patronize, or in 
any way discredit state and other local scien- 
tifie work. 

The third proposition is that a systematic 
effort is being made by the present director to 
deprive university professors of the support of 
the national survey to carry on work that falls 
or should fall naturally to them. 

It is a matter of common. knowledge that 
many of the professors of geology over the 


. 
: 
; 


DECEMBER 7, 1906.] 


country have received from the U. S. Geolog- 
ical Survey small allotments of money that 
enabled them to spend their holidays and odd 
hours in doing geologic work in which they 
were especially interested. This work has 
yielded excellent and far-reaching results both 
for the national survey and locally. It has 
greatly encouraged the younger geologists, for 
it has generally been regarded as a sort of offi- 
cial recognition of their professional ability 
and standing, it has enabled them to widen 
their knowledge and experience, and not infre- 
quently it has enabled the poorly-paid teachers 
to keep their heads above water financially. 
This policy has justly strengthened the survey 


throughout the country. The survey seems to ~ 


feel, however, that it has now outgrown the 
necessity of this kind of support, and the 
time has come when these professors are to 
be dropped as rapidly as it can be done with- 
out precipitating matters. The director prob- 
ably realizes at the same time that, as long as 
the names of these professors are on the pay- 
roll of the survey, they are not going to quar- 
rel with their bread and butter. The pro- 
fessors must face the situation whether they 
wish to do so or not, for here is the policy set 
down in black and white: 

Mr. Walcott says in his letter given above 
that the professors “can not work as efi- 
ciently for the national survey as can the 
geologists constantly in its employ, and recog- 
nition of this fact has led in recent years to 
a reduction of the proportional amount of 
work allotted to teachers of geology, who can 
give but a share of their time to it.” This 
statement of the case is straightforward and 
the question is well defined. Even if it were 
not so clearly put, the course of the survey 
during several years past made this plan ap- 
parent. Mr. Walcott’s policy has lately made 
itself quite apparent also in the conduct of 
the Carnegie Institution of which he was for 
several years the secretary, and of whose ex- 
ecutive committee he is still a member. 

This plan on the face of it seems reasonable. 
Tt is to be noted that there is no complaint of 
the grade or character of the work done by 
the professors, it is simply that they can not 
give their entire time to it, and that they are 


SCIENCE. 


(127 


therefore and necessarily slow in handing in 
results. 

The fourth proposition is that such a sys- 
tem of discrimination by a national bureau 
against the scientific work of university pro- 
fessors discredits scientific instruction in the 
universities, and must inevitably react against 
the men who devote themselves to scientific 
work and study, against the dignity and use- 
fulness of the teacher’s vocation, against the 
high character and efficiency of scientific in- 
struction in our institutions of learning, and 
eventually against science itself. 

Science in this country has come chiefly 
from the educational institutions. It is in 
them that standards are set and maintained, 
and it is from them that the most incisive 
scientific thought has come. If the professors 
have been slow, they have also been pains- 
taking and trustworthy. They have worked 
at science because they loved it, and their deep 
interest in their work and their unselfish and 
often fatal devotion to it has been a constant 
inspiration to their students, and a source of 
strength to the institutions with which they 
have been connected. Unfortunately, these 
professors have small salaries and they have 
little or no money with which to carry on 
their researches or original work, and even 
the little they have often comes out of their 
own slender private funds. There is another 
reason for this slowness of the professor that 
is not likely to appeal to the director of the 
survey: I refer to the fact that the amount of 
money allotted to the work to be done by a 
professor in the survey’s employ is sometimes 
so small that he is unable to finish a given 
piece of work within a specified time and to 
do it as he thinks it should be done. In his 
letter of November 9 my own case is cited in 
evidence of the delay of the professors in 
handing in their results. The allotments 
made for the work mentioned (the Santa Cruz 
quadrangle) were so small that in order to do 
the work properly I was obliged to spend about 
a thousand dollars of my own money. Dr. 
Newsom, who joined me in this work, hkewise 
paid out about seven hundred dollars to help 
put the work in better shape. Dr. Newsom’s 
bill was finally presented to the survey and 


728 SCIENCE. 


was paid; I have never asked for reimburse- 
ment. This case is not mentioned for the 
purpose of excusing my own delay, but as 
affording an explanation of why university 
professors are sometimes slow, and to suggest 
at the same time that slowness may not be 
quite as bad as haste when that haste brings 
forth slip-shod results. 

Here again the slowness of the professors 
is liable at any moment to be made an excuse 
for invading our fields of operations. Thus 
the whole tendency of -the survey’s policy of 
haste is towards more haste and poorer work. 

I acquit Mr. Walcott of any intention to 
discredit professors by his policy. With his 
intentions, however, we have nothing to do; it 
is with his methods and results that we are 
eoncerned. We can not discredit the source 
of instruction and keep the instruction efi- 
cient. This wholesale discrimination against 
the universities can have no other results than 
those mentioned: discredit te the professors, 
eventual loss of efficiency and a corresponding 
reaction upon the universities and upon sci- 
ence. 

Finally, if this policy were confined to the 
geological survey proper there would be less to 
fear from it. But unfortunately the geolog- 
ical survey has expanded far beyond the 
legitimate fields of geologic work. Forestry, 
irrigation, water-supply, reclamation and en- 
gineering have been added to its functions, 
and it has occasionally looked longingly to- 
ward the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and I 
know not what more besides. This expansion, 
under Mr. Walcott’s policy, simply increases 
the field of its possible powers of demoraliza- 
tion for education and science. 

Furthermore, this same policy is already 
being put into active operation in the Car- 
negie Institution, and Mr. Walcott is now a 
candidate for the position of secretary of the 
Smithsonian Institution, where he could be 
counted upon to put it in still further practise. 
With a great overgrown national bureau al- 
ready committed to this policy and with these 
two endowed institutions of research under 
similar control, the university professors of 
the sciences in this country and the universi- 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 623. 


ties themselves are face to face with a serious 
problem. 

In connection with this question I have fre- 
quently been reminded that the geological 
survey has come to bea great scientific trust; 
that trusts and trust methods are in the air, 
and that there is little hope of success in 
fighting them, especially in view of the sup- 
port commanded by the millions of dollars 
they receive every year. Very true; but there 
is also in this same air protest, rebellion and 
resentment against these high-handed meth- 
ods, and especially so when they are paid for 
out of the national treasury. 

J. C. BRANNER. 

STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CALIFORNIA, 

November 22, 1906. 


EVOLUTION (COOK) AND MUTATION (WAAGEN). 


Dr. O. F. Cook recently has published* a 
reply to my criticism of his views published 
some time ago, but it only evades the main 
point at issue, and introduces, in its stead, a 
new topic, which had not entered the discus- 
sion before. 

While I practically said, with reference to 
a previous article of Dr. Cook’s,* that his dis- 
tinction between ‘ evolution’ and ‘ speciation,’ 
although correct, is not new, and objected to 
the term ‘evolution,’ he meets this with the 
rejoinder, that there is a distinction between 
‘heterism’ and ‘evolution’; and since he re- 
gards this distinction as new, as a progress 
in science, he claims the right to use the old 
term evolution in a new, restricted sense. 

However, also this new point in the dis- 
cussion does not justify Dr. Cook, for it is 
not new to science. ‘ Evolution,’ as he under- 
stands it, has been often classed with ‘ varia- 
tion,’ as I have also done in my previous 
article. Nevertheless, as Dr. Cook main- 
tains, there ts a distinction between ‘ evolu- 
tion, the ‘progressive transformation of 
species’ in time, and ‘ heterism’ (or variation 
proper) of coexisting individuals. But in this 
sense ‘evolution’ is absolutely identical with 


1 SCIENCE, September 7, 1906, p. 303. 
? Science, April 27, 1906, p. 667. 
’ ScieENcE, March 30, 1906, p. 506. 


© 


DECEMBER 7, 1906.] 


what Waagen* called ‘ mutation,’ a term that 
has been accepted and frequently used by 
paleontologists (for instance Neumayr,’ W. 
B. Scott *® and also the present writer"). The 
same idea is implied in Eimer’s term ‘ ortho- 
genesis,’ ° which has also been used by subse- 
quent writers.” Thus, ‘other terms being 
available,’ * there is absolutely no need to ac- 
cept the confusing change of the meaning of 
the word ‘ evolution.’ 

Dr. Cook holds, that ‘evolution’ (correctly, 
according to the rule of priority, ‘ mutation,’ 
Waagen) is made possible by two factors, 
‘heterism’ (the normal diversity of individ- 
uals) and ‘symbasis’ (interbreeding = amphi- 
mixis, Weismann). ‘This is by no means cor- 
rect, for it is unintelligible how interbreeding 
of different individuals should be able to re- 
sult in a ‘ progressive change’ of the species. 
Amphimixis only serves to maintain the aver- 
age of a number of individuals, which vary 
around this average,” and, moreover, it is not 
an absolutely necessary factor in evolution 
(old sense), which is evident at once, when 


“*Die Formenreihe des Ammonites subradiatus,’ 
in Benecke’s ‘Geogn.-Paleontol. Beitr., 2, pp. 
179-256. 

®*Die Staemme des Thierreichs.’ 1, 1889, pp. 
60, 61. 

**On the Osteology of Mesohippus and Lepto- 
meryx, with Observations on the Modes and Fac- 
tors of Evolution in the Mammals,’ in Journ. 
Morphol., 5, 1891, p. 387, 388. ‘On Variations 
and Mutations, in Amer. Journ. Sci., 48, 1894, 
p. 355. 

"*Grundztige der marinen Tiergeographie,’ 
1896, pp. 30, 31. ‘On Natural Selection and 
Separation, in Pr. Amer. Phil. Soc., 35, 1896, p. 
176. 

®*Die Artbildung und Verwandtschaft bei den 
Schmetterlingen, 2, 1895, p. 3. ‘* Orthogenesis 
der Schmetterlinge,’ 1897, pp. i-xii. 

*For instance, quite recently by Paul Sarasin, 
in Verh. deutsch, zool. Ges., 1906, p. 137. 

* Ortmann, in SCIENCE, l. c., p. 668. ‘ Trans- 
formation’ might also answer; it corresponds to 
the German ‘ Umwandlung,’ as used by Pfeffer. 

“ See Ortmann, in Biolog. Centralblatt, 18, 1898, 
pp. 146-149. (In opposition to Weismann’s view 
of the action of amphimixis; see Weismann, ‘ Am- 
phimixis,’ 1891.) 


SCIENCE. 


729 


we consider that there are organic forms, 
which lack sexuality. 

As to the real causes of mutation (Waagen) 
I refer to my discussion of this subject in a 
previous paper,” which in the main accepts 
the views set forth by Pfeffer in a special 
treatise on this question.” According to this, 
mutation of a species, its transformation in 
time, is the evolutionary process restricted to 
a single species; it includes all factors of evo- 
lution (old sense) except one, segregation, 
which, when added, causes the splitting up of 
one species into two or more. 

With reference to my belief that acquired 
characters are transmitted, and that all varia- 
tion is due to environment, Dr. Cook main- 
tains that ‘heterism,’ the diversity of co- 
existing individuals, is ‘normal,’ that is to 
say, an innate quality of organisms, and he 
asserts that there are no facts which sup- 
port the doctrine that conditions of environ- 
ment cause this diversity. I recommend to 
him to read again the last two paragraphs of 
my article,” and further, what I have said on 
these topics elsewhere,* for he has not paid 
attention to these arguments. The thesis pro- 
pounded by Dr. Cook, that ‘individual di- 
versity persists in spite of uniformity of con- 
ditions, may be met by the antithesis: if 
the environment remains uniform, perfect 
uniformity of individuals will result’ But 
since it is practically impossible that any two 
individuals grow up under precisely the same 
conditions, a diversity of individuals results. 
This is a fundamental law. It is, however, 
not an innate, inexplicable quality of organ- 
isms, but is due to the external conditions, 
which continuously are changing and varying, 


@ Pr. Amer. Phil. Soc., 1. ¢. 

*8 Pfeffer, “Die Umwandlung der Arten, etc.,’ in 
Verh. Naturw. Ver. Hamburg (3), 1, 1894. 

“ SCIENCE, l. c., p. 669. 


* Biol. Centralbl., 1. ¢., p. 153. Screncr, June 


.22, 1906, p. 951. 


© SCIENCE, 1. ¢., p. 306. 

*See Davenport, in ScrencE, November 25, 
1904, p. 704: ‘ Two individuals of the same family 
develop alike only under the same conditions of 
environment.’ See also Copeland, in Bot. Gaz., 
38, 1904, p. 426. 


730 SCIENCE. 


and thus a uniform response of individuals to 
environment is rendered impossible.” 
A. E. ORTMANN. 


CARNEGIE MUSEUM, PITTSBURG, PA., 
September 22, 1906. 


DISCONTINUOUS VARIATION. 


Dr. Jorpan’s kindly comment upon my 
Wood’s Hole lecture would place me at a 
great disadvantage if I were inclined to be 
controversial (Scirncz, 24: 399, 1906). This, 
however, is farthest from my purpose, and in 
fact is unnecessary since I find myself in 
agreement with him on most of the points 
brought up. 

Too much emphasis can not be put upon 
some of the statements reiterated or advanced 
by Dr. Jordan, and he has certainly performed 
a very useful service by approving the prin- 
ciple that the students of a group, or of any 
phase of life are more likely to acquire better 
first-hand knowledge of it, and to render 
truer interpretations of the facts obtained 
than other writers. As vividly obvious as 
this may be, it has been necessary to be un- 
pleasantly insistent upon it upon various occa- 
sions during the last few years, and to re- 
assert that botanists are better fitted by oppor- 
tunities and training for the comprehension 
of the nature and behavior of plants than any 
other class of naturalists. The dictum of 
Darwin so aptly quoted has never been more 
strictly applicable than at the present time, 
and an intimate and accurate acquaintance 
with a large number of species constitutes a 
very important share of the competency for 
profitable study of evolutionary problems. 
Whether or not the investigator publishes his 
descriptions is purely incidental. 

On the other hand, it is not to be granted 
(and happily it is not) that a keen critical 

8 See Brooks, ‘ Heredity and Variation: Logical 
and Biological, in Pr. Amer. Philos. Soc., 45, 
1906, p. 75. ‘The species is * * * in that recip- 
rocal interaction between the living being and the 
natural world, of which it is a part.’ This paper 
of Brooks is quite interesting and important. 
Although largely written in terms rather unusual 
in the discussion of evolutionary matters, it brings 
out ideas, which, if I correctly understand them, 
are essentially in agreement with my own views. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 623. 


sense in nomenclature, or a zeal for the ac- 
quisition, making or conservation of type speci- 
mens forms a suitable equipment for the intel- 
ligent consideration of genetics, although 
when coupled with detailed studies in life- 
histories, cultures and field observations, the 
activities in question become of very great 
value in this connection. 

During the last few years I have had occa- 
sion to discuss the species-idea with several of 
the more active systematic botanists, and find 
that the theoretical conceptions of species 
formulated by them vary widely, although 
overlapping in many essential points in all 
instances. Now these differences of opinion 
by no means lead me to deprecate species- 
making, or to distrust the value of the species 
erected by these workers, although known to 
apply differing standards. This knowledge 
and this confidence are shared by the general 
botanical public. The difficulty in delimiting 
in so many words the difference between con- 
tinuous and discontinuous variation is of a 
similar character, and was recognized by my- 
self in the earliest review of the work of de 
Vries on the subject published in an American 
journal in the following words: “ From the 
reviews and discussions which have already 
been made of de Vries’ papers it is to be seen 
that the greatest misunderstanding which may 
likely arise in the consideration of his results 
will be that founded on the error of confusing 


fluctuating variability and mutability.” In 


this as well as in the consideration of species 
it is found that our difficulties disappear when 
we deal with concrete examples, especially if 
embraced in a pedigreed culture. To be able 
to examine a number of organisms in the field 
and determine which are continuous and 
which are discontinuous variants is not pos- 
sible, for riumerous reasons, although many 
botanists have assumed to do so. 

What the actual origin of @nothera La- 
marckiana may have been can not be said: we 
ean vouch for the actual origin of but few 
species. If records are to be trusted, however, 
it was in cultivation in the Paris Garden a 
century ago. My own breeding experiments 
have included a number of crosses involving 
various combinations of species from eastern 


DECEMBER 7, 1906.] 


North America as indicated, have been under 
way for several years, have been visited by 
perhaps a dozen zoologists interested in prob- 
lems of heredity as well as by a large number 
of botanists. When the major purpose of the 
cultures shall have been accomplished it will 
be possible to publish the account of the whole 
to some advantage. 

In re hybrids I venture to suggest that if I 
were a ‘ Mendelist’ of the strictest sect I would 
welcome a challenge to bring the oak and wal- 
nut hybrids under the chess-board diagrams 
for the exposition of the possible combinations. 
The unflinching advocates of the Mendelian 
formule are confronted with much more seri- 
ous difficulties than the examples in question. 
The enormous accretions being made in the 
range of authenticated facts of inheritance in 
hybridization have thrown the whole subject 
into a state of flux and not for a long time 
may we hope to work under such simple gen- 
eralizations as those which contented us a 
decade since. 

It is not intended to maintain that the horse 
has climbed up on his tiptoes, the bacterium 
settled into its highly specialized medium and 
that the orchids have come by their intricate 
flower-mechanism by the same process. Selec- 
tion undoubtedly plays an important part, al- 
though we seem unable to agree upon the 
manner in which it operates. One can not be 
a field student of plants to any great extent 
without coming upon striking facts in segre- 
gation and isolation. This is found especially 
in the studies now being made of the distribu- 
tion of the components of the flora of the 
Bahamas and West Indies. Until we see fur- 
ther around the bend of the road, however, we 
may make but futile guesses as to the direction 
of the straight-away beyond. The great 
amount of energy now being put on detailed 
studies in this subject at the Desert Labora- 
tory and elsewhere is yielding a great range 
of diverse data, and affords the hope that some 
definite conclusions may be expected, within 
a time comparatively brief, when contrasted 
with the long barren period in which nothing 
of definite value as evidence in evolutionary 
problems has been produced. 

In this and other phases of the subject we 


SCIENCE. 731 


are confronted with the necessity of placing 
ourselves alongside some of the organisms 
which share the earth with us, in order to 
follow with them along their devious trails — 
for what distance we may, and thus gain some 
clue as to the rate, direction and character of 
their movements. D. T. MacDougat. 
DEPARTMENT OF BOTANICAL RESEARCH, 
CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON, 
October 8, 1906. 


THE PUBLIC HEALTH DEFENCE LEAGUE. 


To THE EpiTor oF ScIENCE: With the object 
of devising ways and means for the preserva- 
tion of the public health and morals there was 
held in New York City on November 15, an 
important conference, which should be of in- 
terest to readers of Science. Several hundred 
delegates from over a hundred well-known 
organizations then gathered in the Hudson 
Theater and launched the Public Health De- 
fence League. The inclement weather with- 
out did not in any way dampen the enthusiasm 
of those who were enlisting themselves in a 
fight to down quackery in any of its various 


forms and to enforce existing laws for the 


securing of pure food and drugs, for the sup- 
pression of the criminal abortionist, and for 
other lines of work of a similar nature. 

The conference committee consisted of: 
Dr. Wendell C. Philips, Silas F. Hallock, Dr. 
Floyd M. Crandall, Dr. Henry W. Cattell, 
Walter F. C. Tichborne, Albert M. Austin, 
Dr. Walter Lester Carr, Mr. Howard J. 
Rogers, Dr. Ernest J. Lederle, Mr. J. M. Rice, 
Harold P. Brown, Dr. Henry S. Stearns, Liv- 
ingston Farrand, Rev. J. J. Wynne, Dr. Wil- 
liam M. Polk, O. E. Edwards, Gaylor S. White, 
Dr. Frank Van Fleet, Eugene O’Dunne, Rev. 
Thomas R. Slicer, Dr. Thomas Darlington, 
Austen G. Fox, Dr. William L. Browning, 
Robert E. Belcher, John S. Cooper and 
Champe S. Andrews, much credit being due 
to the latter gentleman for his work in organ- 
izing the meeting. 

Mr. Austen G. Fox, who did such good work 
as attorney for the committee of fifteen some 
years ago in regard to the social evil, presided 
at the meeting. The delegates were welcomed 
by President McGowan, of the Board of Alder- 


732 


men, the first speaker being Mr. Charles F. 
Stewart, a reporter on the Cleveland News. 
He most entertainingly described how, after 
a thorough physical examination had shown 
him to be in good health, the various quacks 
and charlatans in Cleveland, one of whom was 
able to expend $80,000 a year for postage 
stamps alone, pronounced him suffering from 
various diseases of an unmentionable nature. 
Among the other speakers were Mr. Eugene 
O’Dunne, of Baltimore; Mr. Thomas W. Bar- 
low, of Philadelphia, and Mr. Anthony Com- 
stock, of New York. 

It seems as if polities can not be run with- 
out a boss or the laws upon our statute books 
be properly enforced without special societies 
for this purpose. The success of such a move- 
ment started from without the medical pro- 
fession, but with every aid extended to it by 
physicians, will be even more marked than if 
it had been undertaken under the auspices of 
such an organization as the American Medical 
Association. The chief difficulty to cope with 
will be to formulate a working plan so that 
the various branches will be able to cooperate 
most efficiently with the parent chapter. As 
was pointed out in the remarks of Dr. Charles 
A. L. Reed, of Cincinnati, one of the first 
things to do is to make the laws of our dif- 
ferent states bearing upon public health and 
morals uniform. Thus it would be advisable 
to have the present United States pure food 
and drug law passed by the legislature of each 
state, and to frame a law making it a penal 
offence to offer to perform a criminal opera- 
tion and to revoke the license of any physi- 
cian who upon due process of law has been 
convicted and sentenced for the performance 
of such illegal act. To prosecute work of 
this character and the sanitation of to-day 
there should be created a national department 
of health with its head a member of the 
Cabinet, as so ably advocated by Professor 
Norton, of Yale. H. W. 


SPECIAL ARTICLES. 


A STATISTICAL STUDY OF AMERICAN MEN OF 
SCIENCE. Iii. 
THE DISTRIBUTION OF AMERICAN MEN OF SCIENCE. 
From a conventional point of view the dis- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 623. 


tribution of men of science would not be 
regarded as a psychological problem, perhaps 
not even as a scientific problem. But in re- 
cent years the distribution of plants and ani- 
mals has received increasing attention in bot- 
any and zoology, and apart from its perti- 
nence as a correct description of the world in 
which we live, it has proved, on the one hand, 
to have certain practical applications, and, on 
the other hand, to throw light on certain 
general problems of heredity and evolution. 
Similar results may accrue from a scientific 
study of the distribution of human ability 
and performance. 

The birthplace and the present residence of 
the thousand leading men of science of the 
United States are shown on the accompanying 
table, the divisions used being those of the 
census. Figures are given separately for the 
five hundred (I-V.) who are more distin- 
guished and for the five hundred (VI—X.) 
whose reputations are less, followed by the 
totals and their number per million of the 
population. As the average age of the scien- 
tific men is about 45 years, their birth rate 
is referred to the census of 1860.° Thus the 
first line of the table shows that 29 of the 
1,000 scientific men were born in Maine, and 
four now reside there. Of the 29 scientific 
men born in the state, 19 are among the 500 
who are more eminent and 10 among the 500 
who are less eminent. The number born was 
at the rate of 46.1 per million of the popula- 
tion at the approximate time of their birth, 
or one for each 22,000. The scientific popula- 
tion of the state is now only at the rate of 5.7 
per million of the population, or scarcely more 
than one for each 200,000. 

There are striking variations in the origin 
and in the present residence of scientific men 
throughout the United States. Massachusetts 
and Boston have been the intellectual center of 
the country. The birth rate of these leading 
men of science is in Massachusetts 108.8 per 
million population; it is 86.9 in Connecticut, 


1This is not exact, as the age distribution is 
not symmetrical, and the rate of increase of the 
population in the different states is not uniform, 
but the results are as nearly correct as is neces- 
sary. 


DECEMBER 7, 1906.] 


and decreases continually at greater distances 
from this center. It is reduced to about one 
half in the surrounding states—46.1 in Maine, 
46 in New Hampshire, 57.1 in Vermont and 
47.2 in New York. There is a further reduc- 
tion to one half in Pennsylvania—to 22.7—and 
this proceeds as we go southwards, the rate 


SCIENCE. 


733 


being 8.8 in Virginia, 5 in North Carolina, 
2.8 in Georgia, 2.1 in Alabama, 1.3 in Missis- 
sippi and 1.4 in Louisiana. In the north 
central states the conditions are intermediate 
between New York and Pennsylvania. Thus 
the birth rate per million is 32.1 in Ohio and 
36 in Michigan. Here again it decreases as 


TazsiE J. DisrripurTion oF THE THOUSAND MEN oF SCIENCE. 


Birthplace. Per Residence. Per 
Million Millio 
I.-V. VI.-X. Total. 1860. I,-V. VI.-X. Total. 1900. 
North Atlantic Division. 
IN Re ray =ye SRO Ue Cota 19 10 29 46.1 0 4 4 5.7 
New Hampshire............... 7 8 15 46.0 2 6 8 19.4 
WGidTNO Lae nenoe mesa eencenedens 9 9 18 vel 0 2 2 5.8 
Massachusetts. ............0s000. 60 74. 134 108.8 74 70 144 51.8 
hodesdslandesssuescsccseuceee: 4 1 D 28.6 7 1 8 18.7 
Wonmecticut)seicc.ds-sscscseeeees 26 14 40 86.9 27 16 43 47.8 
ING Wa VOLK ees vncaecenesoee 99 84 183 47.2 93 99 192 26.4 
AN i) CLK) eoccccsc-+ oc seteeses 9 19 98 41.6 17 18 Bia) 18.6 
Rennsylvantar.: 2.32.2 -350+50 32 34 66 22.7 28 37 65 10.8 
South Atlantic Division. 
Melawaresce: ssa eee C 2 2 17.8 0 1 1 5.4 
Meryland) vs:2-o50-2 LABS aa 12 14 26 87.8 24 2S 4G 89.5 
District of Columbia ......... 1 2 3 89.9 69 50 119 426.9 
WATSON URE “ape sneabepsecoonosooeD 5 8 13 8.8 8 2 10 5.4. 
WES VEE OTM A scdss0ce- ccceants 1 0 1 ; 2 1 3 $.1 
North Carolina................. 1 4 5 5.0 3 3 6 RZ 
South Carolina ..............06. 9} 3 i) oI 
Georgia...... Ree ee Aa 1 2 B 2.8 0 1 1 1.4 
South Central Division. 
Wiemtue lyn cise cscsa ist crese lacs 6 2 8 6.9 1 2 3 1.4 
Mennesseececwe see eee neko 5 1 6 5.4 2 1 3 1.8 
JN) OT Ey sb abee nae coce aE oroeGons i 1 2 2.1 1 1 2 a 
IMUESIBRID DIc-cesssse senseeesceee = th 0 1 des 
OUISTANA seeeeasee ee cerdiakes ones 1 0 1 14 0 1 1 st 
eb Gr ah ede a aa 0 3 3 4.9 2 5 v( DE: 
North Central Division. 
OTOL eM ei 492 33 (6) BD. il 13 21 o4 8.2 
Andtanaensccseceseocseds oes 17 11 98 20.7 4 8 12 4.7 
MIMO IS ese eos see sone 24 18 49 24.5 36 Dy 63 18.1 
Machagan\ (3 beset ees tee 12 15 27 36.0 22 5 2% yo hal 
WTO, sa dassccccnsbdbnsonanee 11 94 35 45.1 11 12 93 ial 
Minnesotans tcasecr ene teeen ese 1 3 4 23.2 3 10 13 ett 
POW eyesore eee ena 6 14 20 29.6 5 2, v4 8.1 
IMGSSOULI ences ee eee eee 4 10 14 11.8 7 14 1 6.7 
iNorthiWalkatay eeeesee scence nes 0 2 2 6.2 
Southey Dakotancss-ceccescctoesecs 0 2, 2 3.9 
INebraskas tess soossaackecceone 1 1 | 2 69.8 4 5 9 8.4 
IKansastees see sees: saree ee 5 2 q 65.8 By 3 5 3.4 
Western Division. 
Montanac. 200s cstec eee seeaeteaes 0 2 2 8.2 
Wyoming edavez sc toot ccrsecses 0 1 1 10.8 
Colorado see teak eee eau 0 3 3 87.2 3 5 8 14.8 
News Miextcomaeesstestse stones 0 2, 2 10.2 
SATIZONALe accor seme ie ere tee 1 1 2 16.8 
Washinetonyt:c. ++... asec: 1 0 1 86.2 
Californiase sce cece 5 6 11 28.9 23 30 58 85.7 
DAG ag eal aa a) Slee crite, Rete tee Ne 0 1 1 15.7 
Liaw auc steers Ret cena iL 0 1 
Philippine Islands............... 2 1 3 
id Boy ay ben Aer ah eG 432 435 867 27.6 496 498 994 13.3 


734 SCIENCE. [N.S. Vox. XXIV. No. 623. 
Birthplace. Per Residence. Per 
Million |—— Million 
T= Ve ev ke) erotale 1860. bai, Viepxe Total. 1900. 
Canad acer eee eae 11 23 a4 28.7 1 1 2 
Brazile irene ancimean ga ene cata a: 1 0 1 
Ci baer eno eee tac Sate 0 1 1 
ino land) 2epkecs ean deeckesssseee 10 15 95 29.6 1 0 vl 
Mrelandises eposenesenes seses sees 2 1 3 1.8 
Scotlanditc ie use aasseccneen en 6 3 9 87.9 
IWWiallesy comic tees taidik tenner ana aan 0 1 1 10.7 
West Indies Mss tsenestedecaeeeae 0 1 1 69.1 
Genmaniyes er. so Side cones scevesaeaue 15 4 19 Hod 
Austria-Hungary .........0.00006 4 2 6 10.4 
NOT Ways.gocscsecentue concn odeeee st 1 0 1 2.9 
Sweden su ceen seen oe recent teaees 2 1 3 $6.2 
Denmarkie seis ccesseeess econ seen aes 0 2 2 12.9 
Switzerland ..........c.sesscesseees Ae 4 8 68.9 
TRATES Es a A CR UR in 4 2 6 7.4 
Mitallayn ee eee cubic eons se eae 1 1 Boll 
Spalmes eset wane can cee sceedvaties 0 1 187.8 
Nina ay ABS ena aries A ea ai Re ne it 0 1 
era Glin en eas pe Cees PN Me BS 4 0 4 193.3 
nial se es Ma ON SI ea 1 1 ED, 18.7 
IDO talligeteeascsmeteeseo wien: 64 62 126 4 2 6 
Grand Total............... 496 49% 993 500 500 1600 


we go southward. The rate is 45.1 in Wis- 
consin, 24.5 in Illinois, 11.8 in Missouri and 
6.9 in Kentucky. Westward the total num- 
ber of scientific men is too small and the pop- 
ulation has been too rapidly increasing for 
the figures to be reliable. Each individual 
should be considered in connection with the 
population at the time of his birth, but even 
in this case the validity of the results would 
be small. 

Of the 1,000 scientific men, 126 were born 
in foreign countries—34 in Canada, 38 in 
Great Britain and 19 in Germany. The 
birthplace of seven is not known. The num- 
ber per million is for the native population 
13.2, and for the foreign-born population 12. 
These figures have, however, no significance, 
as the foreign-born population contains a 
much larger proportion of adult males. The 
percentage of the white native population in 
the United States over 40 years of age is 18.4, 
and of white foreign-born is 44.4. The native 
population consequently produces more than 
twice aS many scientific men as the foreign- 
born, even without regard to the excess of 
males among the foreign-born, the inclusion 
of the colored races among the native-born 
and the fact that many of the foreign-born 
have been called to this country on account of 


their scientific standing. The different na- 
tions contribute scientific men in very unequal 
measure, the numbers per million foreign- 
born being as follows: Switzerland, 68.9; 
Scotland, 37.9; England, 29.6; Canada, 28.7; 
Austria-Hungary, 10.4; Russia, 7.4; Germany, 
7.1; Sweden, 5.2; Italy, 2.1; Ireland, 1.8; 
France, 0. These differences can not be at- 
tributed to race, as they do not represent the 
scientific productivity of these nations, but 
only of the classes that have emigrated to this 
country. While it is not possible to deny 
that the variations are dependent on the kinds 
of family stocks, it is probable that they are 
due in much larger measure to social and 
economic conditions. The native-born sons of 
Irish-born parents may not be inferior in 
scientific productivity to other classes of the 
community. 

The inequality in the production of scien- 
tific men in different parts of the country 
seems to be a forcible argument against the 
view of Dr. Galton and Professor Pearson 
that scientific performance is almost exclu- 
sively due to heredity. It is unlikely that 
there are such differences in family stocks as 
would lead one part of the country to produce 
a hundred times as many scientific men as 
other parts. The negroes may have a racial 


DECEMBER 7, 1906.] 


disqualification, but even this is not proved. 
The main factors in producing scientific and 
other forms of intellectual performance seem 
to be density of population, wealth, oppor- 
tunity, institutions and social traditions and 
ideals. All these may be ultimately due to 
race, but, given the existing race, the scien- 
tific productivity of the nation can be in- 
ereased in quantity, though not in quality, 
almost to the extent that we wish to increase it. 

There may be no significant difference in 
the distributions of the first and second groups 
of 500. Some states have produced men of 
higher average standing than others, but the 
differences are within the range of possible 
chance variations. Thus Maine has produced 
19 men of the first rank and 10 of the second. 
But if 29 pennies are tossed up, there is one 
chance in 14 or 15 (P=.068) that there will 
be 19 or more heads. It is, however, true, as 
a matter of fact, that Maine, Connecticut, 
Ohio, Indiana and Illinois have produced men 
of decidedly higher average standing than 
New Jersey, Wisconsin, Iowa and Missouri. 
Those born in Germany are considerably above 
and those born in Canada are below the av- 
erage, and the figures may here represent a 
real difference in the classes drawn to this 
country. 

The fact that there is not a significant dif- 
ference in the average standing of scientific 
men born in different regions of the country 
tends to support the conclusion that scientific 
performance is mainly due to environment 
rather than to innate aptitude. If the fact 
that Massachusetts has produced relatively to 
its population four times as many scientific 
men as Pennsylvania and fifty times as many 
as the southern states were due to a superior 
stock, then we should expect that the average 
standing of its scientific men would be higher 
than elsewhere; but this is not the case. Like 
most arguments intended to disentangle the 
complex factors of ‘nature and nurture,’ this, 
however, is not conclusive. If scientific abil- 
ity were innate, each tending to reach his level 
in spite of environment, then a potentially 
great man of science would become such 
wherever born, and we might expect a favor- 
able environment to produce mediocre men, 


SCIENCE. 


739 


but not great men. But this argument is 
answered by the small number of scientific 
men from certain regions of the country. 
Differences in stock can scarcely be great 
enough to account for this; it seems to be due 
to circumstance. A further analysis of the 
curves of distribution might throw light on 
the problem. Thus it might be that the men 
of greatest genius were independent of the 
environment, while men of fair average per- 
formance were produced by it. Examples 
might be given in favor of this view, but I 
can not see that it is supported by the forms 
of the curves of distribution. I hope at some 
time to take up the question from a study of 
individual cases, but I have not as yet the 
data at hand. My general impression is that 
certain aptitudes, as for mathematics and 
music, are mainly innate, and that kinds of 
character and degrees of ability are mainly 
innate, but that the direction of performance 
is mainly due to circumstances, and that the 
environment imposes a veto on any perform- 
ance not congenial to it. 

The present distribution of the 1,000 men 
of science is somewhat the same as their 
origin. The population of the country has 
more than doubled since 1860, and the num- 
ber of these scientific men per million popula- 
tion is consequently less than half the num- 
ber per million at the period of their birth. 
There are in Massachusetts 144 of the 1,000, 
which is 51.3 per million of the population, 
according to the census of 1900. The num- 
bers then decrease to 26.4 per million in New 
York, 10.3 in Pennsylvania, 13.1 in Illinois, 
8.2 in Ohio, 3.1 in Iowa, 1.1 in Alabama, 0.7 
in Louisiana and 0 in Mississippi. The most 
striking development has been the attraction 
to Washington of a large group of scientific 
men, 119 of the thousand, nearly all in the 
service of the government. This number has 
been almost exactly supplied to the country by 
the excess of scientific men born abroad—120. 
This leaves an equal balance between the gains 
and losses of other parts of the country. The 
greatest gain has been made by California, 
which has drawn 42 of the scientific men from 
other states; Illinois and Maryland have each 
gained 21. Other states have gained consider- 


736 


ably in proportion to their total scientific pop- 
ulation—New Jersey, 7, Minnesota 9, Mis- 
souri 7, Nebraska 7 and Colorado 5. These 
gains appear to be significant, attributable to 
the establishment and growth of universities. 

Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania 
have remained nearly stationary. Massachu- 
setts has gained ten of the scientific men and 
New York nine, while Pennsylvania has lost 
one. The conditions in New York are by no 
means creditable to that state, in view of its 
great increase in wealth. Outside New York 
City, the state has lost 31 men of science, 
nearly one third of those it has produced, and 
half the others are concentrated at Ithaca. 
The conditions are somewhat similar in Massa- 
chusetts and Pennsylvania, outside Boston, 
Cambridge and Philadelphia. 

The rural New England states, Maine, New 
Hampshire and Vermont, have lost 48 of the 
62 scientific men whom they have produced. 
This is a loss that they can ill afford; it signi- 
fies a distinct decadence. Had each of these 
states provided an income of $50,000 to retain 
these men in their service, they would have 
been repaid manyfold, commercially as well as 
intellectually. The conditions in some of the 
north central states are also ominous, though 
more likely to improve. Thus Ohio has lost 
forty-one of its scientific men, more than half 
of those whom it has produced; Indiana has 
also lost more than half and Iowa just half. 
The south remains in its lamentable condition 
of scientific stagnation, but we may hope that 
material progress will be followed by an intel- 
lectual awakening. All these figures become 
more impressive when we remember that they 
indicate performance in scholarship, in litera- 
ture and in art, as well as in science. It would 
be well if they were widely known, as they 
would tend to awaken civic pride and to im- 
prove the conditions of intellectual activity. 

The average standing of the scientific men 
residing in different parts of the country 
varies a little more than the standing of those 
produced in different regions and is perhaps 
less likely to be due to chance variations. 
This appears to be somewhat paradoxical from 
the point of view of the theory of probabilities. 
The fact that of the 75 scientific men born in 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 623. 


Ohio, 42 belong to the first group and 33 to 
the second is a natural result of chance dis- 
tribution, and the fact that of the 34 scientific 
men remaining in the state, 13 belong to the 
first group and 21 to the second might equally 
well be the result of chance distribution. But 
apparently it is not. Ohio has lost more than 
half the scientific men it has produced; it has 
lost two thirds of its better men and one third 
of its more mediocre men. The state has not 
provided for its scientific men, and has pro- 
vided less adequately for the better men than 
for those who are not so good. Indiana has 
lost three fourths of its men of the first elass 
and one fourth of those of the second class. 
The three rural New England states have lost 
seventeen eighteenths of their men of the first 
class and one half of those of the second class. 
These conditions are significant and serious. 

Other states have improved their positions. 
Thus, thanks to its great university, Michigan 
has 22 men in the first group as compared with 
five in the second. Thanks again to its uni- 
versities, Illinois has increased its number of 
scientific men from 42 to 63, of whom 36 are 
in the first class. California, Missouri and 
Minnesota have, on the other hand, called men 
who are below the average. 

The large centers of scientific population in 
Massachusetts and New York have about 
maintained their positions, having produced 
men of about average standing and their resi- 
dent men of science being of about average 
standing. Massachusetts has, however, gained 
a little and New York has lost a little. Of 
the 119 scientific men in Washington, 69 are 
in the first group and 50 in the second. This 
appears to me to be a fact of very great impor- 
tance. It is commonly said that less able sci- 
entific men are attracted to the government 
service, that those who are able leave it for 
university positions and that those who stay 
are not encouraged to do their best work. 
Such statements are refuted by these statistics. 
The average performance of the scientific men 
at Washington is higher ‘than in Massachu- 
setts or in New York. This conclusion is 
most gratifying to those of us who believe that 
the future of scientific research depends large- 


DECEMBER 7, 1906.] 


ly on its support by the nation, the states and 
the municipalities. 

The writer has on various occasions called 
attention to the economic conditions which 
limit scientific research. As one of the ob- 
jects of the present work is to improve these 
conditions, it may be well to repeat here the 
argument. Our economic system rests on the 
free exchange of services. A state of society 
may some day be reached in which each will 
aim to give as much as he can and to take as 
little, but at present it appeals to our sense of 
fairness that each should ask for his services 
what someone else is willing to pay. In the 
increasing complexity of our society this 
method is working two serious injustices. 
One of these is the formation of monopolies. 
Thanks chiefly to the applications of science, 
many services can now be supplied at a cost 
less than people would be willing to pay. 
When free competition is excluded, either by 
the conditions of the case or by ingenious 
combination, people may be made to pay more 
than a fair return for certain services. The 
problems of monopoly are being discussed on 
all sides, and remedies are being sought in all 
’ directions; but the injustice which in a way 
is the converse of monopoly has scarcely been 
noticed. This is the case in which an indi- 
vidual gives services without an adequate re- 
turn, owing to the fact that they are not ren- 
dered to a single individual or group who will 
pay for them, but to society as a whole. A 
surgeon may ask for an operation for appendi- 
citis as large a fee as his patient is willing to 
pay, but should he after years of research dis- 
cover a method of preventing appendicitis 
altogether, he would receive no payment at all, 
but would, om the contrary, give up all future 
fees for the operation. The surgeons who 
by risking and sacrificing their lives discov- 
ered how to suppress yellow fever have re- 
ceived no return for their great work. 

The two most important services for society 
—the bearing and rearing of children and 
creation in science and art—are exactly those 
for which society gives no economic returns, 
leaving them dependent on instincts which are 
in danger of atrophy. This state of affairs 
not only does injustice to the unrewarded in- 


SCIENCE. 


137 


dividual, but works immeasurable harm to 
society—a greater injury probably than all 
existing monopolies. There are more than a 
hundred thousand physicians in the United 
States who are practising on their patients 
for fees, while there are scarcely two hundred 
who are studying seriously the causes of dis- 
ease and the methods of preventing it. The 
conditions are similar in law and in all pro- 
fessions and trades. The scientific investi- 
gator is usually an amateur. He has wealth 
or earns his living by some profession, and 
incidentally does what he can'to advance sci- 
ence for love of the work. This has its good 
side in producing a small group of men who 
are not subject to purely commercial stand- 
ards. But this is after all a minor factor, 
and the scientific man is likely to look for 
fame, which is scarcely more ideal than money 
and can be supplied to but.few. Satisfaction 
in the work itself is the best reward for work; 
but no one can know that his work is of value 
except by the reflected appreciation of others, 
and in the existing social order the simplest 
and probably the most adequate expression 
of this appreciation is direct payment for the 
service rendered. 

The methods that society has devised to 
meet this situation, apart from the conferring 
of honors and fame, are recent and inadequate. 
Copyrights and patents are the most direct 
acknowledgment of property in ideas. They 
have accomplished a good deal, and their scope 
should be extended. At present only a small 
part of discovery is covered by the patent 
office, and this perhaps not the part requiring 
the greatest genius. It is, however, leading, 
especially in Germany, to the development of 
discovery on a sound commercial basis. It is 
said that one chemical firm employs three 


_ hundred doctors of philosophy to carry on sci- 


entific investigations. Research has hitherto 
been forwarded mainly by the universities, 
where again Germany has led the way. The 
professorship is given as a reward for success- 
ful investigations, and the holder of a chair 
is expected to devote himself to investigation 
as well as to teaching. There is a tendency 
to permit certain professors to engage almost 
exclusively in research. Thus the astronom- 


738 


ical observatories of Harvard, Chicago and 
California universities are purely research in- 
stitutions. A further step has been taken in 
the endowment of institutions, such as the 
Carnegie Institution and the Rockefeller In- 
stitute, explicitly for research. The most log- 
ical and important advance, however, consists 
in the direct conduct of research by the gov- 
ernment. As the government should control 
monopolies, so it should conduct the work 
which is not for the benefit of a single indi- 
vidual, but for the people as a whole. There 
are, of course, no end of difficulties in the 
control of monopolies or the conduct of re- 
search by a municipality, state or nation; but 
it is exactly these difficulties that it is our 
business to overcome. We may congratulate 
ourselves that our national government is at 
present accomplishing more for research and 
the applications of science than the govern- 
ment of any other nation, and that the men 
of science working under the government are 
doing their full share for the advancement of 
science. 

Table II. gives the cities in which five or 
more of the thousand scientific men were born, 
and the cities in which five or more of them 
now reside. The tendency towards concentra- 
tion which we know to exist is here measured. 
Two hundred and twenty-seven of the scien- 
tifie men were born in places producing five 
or more, and 782 of them live in places where 
there are five or more. This is, of course, 
natural, and probably desirable; scientific 
work is accomplished where men gather to- 
gether. Still the fact that three fourths of 
our scientific men live in 39 places—with a 
good many more in the suburbs—leaves rather 
a scanty number for the rest of the country. 
We have, however, more separate scientific 
centers than foreign countries, and by this 
circumstance we both gain and lose. The 
lack of men of distinction in whole regions 
and large cities is a serious indictment of 
our civilization. The existence of cities such 
as Brooklyn and Buffalo is an intellectual 
scandal. 

Of the 866 men native to the United States, 
224 were born in the cities which in 1900 had 
a population of more than 25,000. These 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 623. 


TaBLE II. DisTRIBUTION IN DIFFERENT PLACES. 


Accordin 
to Beales: Minne 
Tay Svnose orien ce 
New York, N. Y...... 33 25 58 71.2 
Boston, Mass............ 24 at) 43 241.8 
Philadelphia, Pa...... 12 16 28 49.5 
Baltimore, Md.......... 9 11 20 94.1 
Cincinnati, O............ 6 6 12 74.5 
Brooklyn, N. Y.......) 3 8 11 39.4 
Chicago, Ills............ 5 3 8 78.2 
Biurttalo; UN io NGc cece sees 3 4 r{ 86.2 
St. Louis, Mo.......... 2 5 v4 48.5 
Cambridge, Mass...... 4 2 6 BRU 
Cleveland, O............ 4 2 6 140.5 
Salem, Mass............. 1 5 6 269.6 
Milwaukee, Wis....... 1 AN Sa) 11035 
Newark, N. J.......... 3 2 5 69.5 
San Francisco, Cal....| 2 3 i) 88.0 
NOtalaacenereaeene 112 | 115 227 
Accordin 
to Resence Aree 
Lev, |Viex rota) 2° 
Washington, D. C....) 69 50 | 119 426.9 
New York, N. Y.)...| 61 54 | 115 56.1 
Brooklyn, N. Y. J ... 1 3 4 8.4 
Cambridge, Mass...... 30 22 52 576.8 
Chicago, Ills............ 29 16 45 26.5 
Baltimore, Md......... 22 16 38 74.6 
New Haven, Conn....| 24 10 3o4 314. 
Philadelphia, Pa...... 14 20 34 26.8 
Boston, Mass............ 14 19 33 58.8 
TthacaweNe Noise ecce 17 15 32 | 2436.1 
Ann Arbor, Mich...... 20 5 25 | 1723.1 
Madison, Wis........... 7 11 18 989.2 
Berkeley, Cal........... 8 9 1% | 1286.5 
Palo Alto, Cal.......... 9 7 16 | 9650.2 
Princeton, N. J........ 8 6 14 | 3590.6 
Minneapolis, Minn.... 3 8 11 54.8 
St. Louis, Mo.......... 6 5 1i 19.1 
Worcester, Mass....... 7 4 11 229.6 
Cleveland, O............ 6 4 10 26.2 
Columbus, O............ 3 7 10 79.6 
San Francisco, Cal....). 1 9 10 29.1 
Columbia, Mo.......... 1 8 9 | 1592.6 
Lincoln, Nebr.......... 4 5 9 224.0 
Syracuse, N. Y......... 0. 9 9 &3.0 
Cincinnati, O............ 2 6 8 24.5 
Bryn Mawr, Pa........ 2 5 ri ? 
Evanston, Ills.......... 5 2 vf 368.4 
Middleton, Conn...... fn 5 q 730.0 
Bloomington, Ind..... 3 3 6 928.8 
Brookline, Mass....... 4 2 6 300.9 
Charlottesville, Va....| 5 1 6 930.7 
Towa City, Ta............ 4 2 6 751.2 
Mt. Hamilton, Cal....) 4 2 6 ? 
Northampton, Mass...) 2 4 6 821.8 
Providence, R. I...... 5 1 6 84.2 
Adlbanys INGE te ccmcee 3 2 5) 53,1 
Amherst, Mass......... 3 2 3 994.9 
Chapel Hill, N. C..... 3 2 3 | 4549.6 
Lawrence, Kans.......) 2 3 5 460.3 
New Brunswick, N.J.| 2 3 3 249.9 
Rotel: y ihe 415 | 367 :=«| 782 


DECEMBER 7, 1906.] 


places had in 1860 a population of about 
4,500,000 as compared with a rural population 
of about 27,000,000. The urban population 
was about one sixth of the rural population 
and produced more than a quarter of the sci- 
entifie men. The urban birth rate was 50 
and the rural birth rate was 23.8. The su- 
perior position of the towns is doubtless due 
to a more favorable environment, but it may 
also be in part due to the fact that the parents 
of these scientific men were the abler clergy- 


men and others of their generation who were 


drawn to the cities. 
Table III. gives the institutions with which 
three or more of the scientific men are con- 
nected, and in the case of institutions in which 
there are more than fifteen the details of their 
rank are shown, I., II., ete., representing the 
first hundred, the second hundred, ete. I give 
this table with some hesitation, but it appears 
that in the end it will be for the advantage 
of scientific research if it is known which 
institutions obtain and retain the best men. 


SCIENCE. 


739 


Harvard has 66.5 of the scientific men, the half 
(0.5) being used when a professor is emeritus 
or gives only part of his time to an institu- 
tion. Columbia follows with 60, and Chicago 
comes next with 39. In both the U. S. Geo- 
logical Survey and the Department of Agri- 
culture there are 32. About half of the sci- 
entific men are connected with 18 institutions. 
Harvard has not only the largest number of 
scientific men, but they are also of the highest 
rank, 19 being in the first hundred and 8.5 in 
the second hundred. Johns Hopkins has nine 
in the first hundred and Columbia and Chi- 
cago each has seven. A table such as this 
might have some practical influence if the 
data were made public at intervals of ten 
years. 

Table IV. gives the institutions at which 
the 1,000 men of science pursued their studies. 
A man is credited for his degree to the first 
institution at which he took it, but in the case 
of graduate study, he may have attended sev- 
eral institutions. He is not, however, credited 


TABLE II].—DIstTRIBUTION ACCORDING TO PRESENT POSITION OF THE THOUSAND MEN OF SCIENCE. 


I. II. III. IV. Vy. Vi. VII. VIII. IX. X. Total. 
MACAU AN Ge ohn seein clsa Uaiainw cen seen 19 8.5 | 3 GOR novo G 45 | 5.5 | 3.5 6.5 | 66.5 
Wolttintbials ccc etossossssecsesecnnes ye a 6 6.5 | 45 | 5 4.5 | 5.5 | 6 i 11 60 
POMC A Ores ete ocet saeco se ecnsseas 7 10 3 6 2 eats) all 01s) 2 1.5 2 | 39 
Wore le. sab nagucsecy ste sweer ene $ 6 3 2 3 TSS ans: 3.5 | 4 4.5 | $3.5 
U. S. Geological Survey........| 6 3 4 4 4 1 3 3 2 2 32 
U.S. Department Agriculture.| 3 + 2 t 3 2 3 3 3 5 32 
Jahns HOPKINS s:.-.csseccocsoeses 9 2 5.5 | 0 AP OY 2 45 | 0.5 ; 1 4.5 | 30.5 
WallilGrnia sis. verg.vssch otc 76 ee 1 2 2 4 3 4 1 5 1 4 27 
Parc cose gece-centensoeeeneennce. 2 row les Deol OLN | aes i 0 2 2 26.5 
Smithsonian Institution......... 3 2 4 4 2 0 il 3 1 2 22 
MIG CHIR ANI, scceescosecaciseccstectes: 1 3 6 3 3 0 0 1 1 2 20 
Wass insta eCbo ceanessceosesaees 1 2 2.5 | 4 2 3 2 0 0 3 19.5 
NVISCONISIMIa cess Sacks skbodecs ss oes 1 3 i 2 0 3 2 4 2 0 18 
ennsylivanilale seeosoeec aos see ese 2 1 i Spi Za) will liad | al 2 0.5 2 17 
Leland Stanford, Jr.............. 3 1 1 1 3 2 2 1 1 1 16 
Hotel mcr ewree ects auc ccuec ere Sucre hu cseuccc tea Sat mcneen suse comeuahnua gauercineaceasnaeeceens mau nemes masaneaeeneceoet 459.5 
PEMIECOLOM rej scusoamee aed aaa tes aioe, Buns ebarc neu acs wasmeunnees coecen se Sk eclla de esione mean atiod sos ne MAc eee? salsge salad siietane tne 14.5 
Minnesotas Ohio Statesstyes sc scce.srawtasnccwenaet nd segusea cee sacds coueainiow sub cece netuce net vest slebabelecancursee ancnscetererecas 10 
INE Wa Worle OAV CESIE yo cey ace cae oe tectnesatoacesartencamentsec-eceen sattobaiseaercctoeanecs «onennee stare ubiosatmaestecekcaere 9.5 
MissourineNebrasicariN ont yy es tering. sac eac se aceon aesae sew auesoaaat canoe amen co echicaanamcbineetb a doametcm tie asaatenncs 4 
National Bureau of Standards, U. S. Navy, Am. Mus. Nat. History............scccesssseeeseccenseeceseseeeerece § 
Carnegie Institution, Clark, Towa, Syracuse, Virginia, Wesleyan ................cscesscees secceeseeenseesceseerens 7 
Bryn Mawr, Cincinnati, Dartmouth, Illinois, Indiana, N. Y. Botanical Garden, Smith.....................55 6 
Brown, Kansas, North Carolina, Texas, Washington (St. Louis))..2.-..0---<s..cooossnsecsaece-evesoneoons cnsencass 3 
an poluabinn Museum, General Electric Co., St. Louis, Western Reserve, Pennsylvania State, Rutgers . 
MOT eclss seeese ce ee atiace ire aera ney ee AON CE Ue ea cllels na Sones Sc ea a IMU Mena aa Soe aly-sived dees tee Coe 
Philadelphia, Acad. Nat. Sciences Amherst, Case, College of City of New York, Colorado College, 
Colorado University, Haverford, Purdue, Rockefeller Institute, Simmons, Tufts, Vassar, Worcester...| 3 
Canara doe Gta co. geen access seo ne caustics se esac ates eo eae sam serace me ite MGR aan s oubiew Ah aie lvicul sic an esicaneeiaemeer eee 430 


740 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 623. 


TABLE IV. ATTENDANCE OF THE THOUSAND MEN oF SCIENCE AT DIFFERENT INSTITUTIONS. 


Bachelor’s Degree. Graduate Study. Ph.D Grand 

Davey vin rota | reve if van) ota ney eel erate ee 

Eavard eee eeeeseeee 55 51 106 38 36 74 380 27 57 237 
Johns Hopkins ...... 12 15 27 27 15 42 50 52 102 171 
Vial] eyewear Ny 35 ile 52 9 4 13 14 14 28 93 
Columbia. 3.0.3 12 16 28 9 8 12 ll 27 88 %8 
Cornell ee ee. 19 12 $1 4 13 i 10 16 26 V4 
Michigane ened: 23 12 85 4 4 8 8 2 10 O38 
iPrincetonkers.sos ee 11 12 23 - 5 7 12 4 4 & 43 
Chea or eyes ee 0 2 2 3 11 4 12 11 23 39 
Mass. Inst. Tech....| 13 13 26 3 6 9 0 0 0 30 
Amiberstic.cs sa eee WP 11 28) 2, 3 § 0 1 il 29 
Vara eno eon 0 0 0 5 11 16 4 8 12 28 
Pennsylvania......... 10 15 2 2 4 3 6 9 28 
Wisconsin............. 4 10 14 1 4 § 2 2 4 23 
California ............. 5 7 12 3 3 6 3 1 4 22 
Wesleyan.............. 9 7 16 2 3 5 0 0 0 21 
Indiana ole 4 4 8 2 4 6 4 0 4 18 
INebraskare esses soe 5 5 10 4 2 6 1 1 2 18 
Walltam'siescsese soe 6 8 4 0 2 2 0 1 1 17 
Dartmouth............ 5 5 10 2 1 3 0 1 it 14 
Oberlingew eye 6 4 10 2 2 4 0 0 0 14 
College City N. Y.. 7 4 11 1 1 2 0 0 0 13 
Geo. Washington... 3 2 5 oF 0 2 3 3 6 13 
JBYRO WAN sdonpansueas soosce 4 4 8 1 2) 3 0 0 0 il 
Lowa ee een 2 4 6 1 2 3 1 0 1 10 
ANOTROTMND) con secoocononane 5 13 18 3 3 6 0 0 0 24 
Bdimbureh 2 1 3 0 3 3 2 3 5 11 
Cambridge ............ 2 0 2 3 5 8 0 0 0 10 
Berlintcsee teens 58 49 95 11 11 22 117 
Weipaig ss Vee oe 30 15 46 27 12 89 84 
Gottingen ............. 18 18 36 it) 14 83 69 
Heidelberg............ 27 14 41 7 8 15 06 
Mrimichseseeee 13 5 18 6 a 13 By 
SPLASWUnOne esses seep 13 4 17 3 3 6 23 
Breibunovecce seers 10 5 15 3 1 4 19 
Bornes ee 10 4 ly 2 2 4 18 
Viimiehs sues es 5 6 11 1 2 3 14 
Wiennaisoaccccn le: 9 3 12 0 0 @) 12 
Waiezbure sss secs-se) se 4 3 Z| 3 2 5 12 
Bariseeesceeseenae 21 7 28 0 1 1 29 
Totalea ges 266 249 515 dol 278 629 244 243 48% 1631 


as a graduate student to the institutions from 
which he received the doctorate. The total 
influence of Harvard is 237, of the Johns 
Hopkins 171, of Yale 93, of Columbia 78 and 
of Cornell 74. About one tenth of the men 
of science received their bachelor’s degree from 
Harvard and about the same number their 
doctor’s degree from the Johns Hopkins. It 
is not certain that a preponderance of scien- 

*The doctorates include the comparatively few 


cases in which the degree of doctor of science has 
been conferred in course. 


tific men has been produced at any institution 
as compared with the total number of stu- 
dents, and it appears that those who attend 
the larger universities are not of higher av- 
erage performance than others. ‘Thus of the 
106 who have taken the bachelor’s degree at 
Harvard, 55 are in the first rank and 51 in 
the second. Yale, Cornell and Michigan have 
produced men above the average rank, and the 
excess is such that it is probably significant, 
though the departures fall within the limits 
of possible chance variation. On the whole, 


DECEMBER 7, 1906.] 


however, there is no significant difference in 
rank between the 515 men who attended the 
larger institutions and those who attended 
smaller colleges or none. It might be sup- 
posed that abler students would be attracted 
to a university such as Harvard, and that 
they would have greater opportunities there, 
but this appears not to be the case. So far 
as it goes, this favors the theory that men of 
science are born such and are not dependent 
on the environment for the quality of their 
performance. It may, however, be that rela- 
tively more men of mediocre ability are led to 
take up scientific work at an institution such 
as Harvard, whereas only those of genius are 
likely to break through the barrier of an un- 
favorable environment. 

The conditions are similar in the ease of 
\ the doctor’s degree. Of the 487 men who 
have received it from the larger institutions, 


SCIENCE. 


741 


244 are of the first rank and 2438 of the second; 
nor do any institutions excel, unless it be 
Leipzig and Gottingen. Those who pursue 
graduate studies at institutions from which 
they do not take the degree are of distinctly 
higher standing than the average A.B. or 
Ph.D. This is probably because the abler and 
more energetic men have attended several in- 
stitutions, more especially abroad, many of 
them having worked in foreign universities 
even after having obtained scientific distinc- 
tion. 

The thousand men of science under consid- 
eration pursued their graduate studies on the 
average from fifteen to twenty years ago. 
Since that time a considerable change has oc- 
curred in the relative numbers of students 
attracted to different institutions. Owing to 
the improvement of our universities relatively 
fewer students now frequent foreign institu- 


TABLE VY. SUBJECTS OF THE THOUSAND MEN OF SCIENCE WHO HAVE PURSUED GRADUATE STUDIES OR 
TAKEN THE Doctor’s DEGREE AT DIFFERENT INSTITUTIONS. 
Graduate Study. Ph.D. 

i ; | i 3 
SS APs itp cee LESH Ea EE eal See ene sens Seas 2 
$/8| 8/8) 8) s/slsi8)2 isl a || S|] 8) &| S| B/S) 8/8) 8) sa) ci a) a 
a|Els|sl | g)sia)sisigis) & | a] &) $13] s/s sisigisjsisis| 8 
2/8) 8/6) 2| 2/3/51 8/5) 4/8) © || 2) 8/8) S) 2 /eis/e)8) Bali | 3 

o ss || a) 4) 5 S) S/%| 2) | a] 8 
Johns Hopkins} 3) 8! 5} 4/ 3) 5) 7) 2 3| 2) 42 || 18 | 24) 22) 9) 1] 8} 1] 6] 2)10)1) |202| 144 
Harvard........./ 10} 8/13} 8/12/10} 1) 7} 1) 3) 1 74 9} 2/20| 7/10) 3 4 2\ 57) 131 
Columbia........ 3) 14 2 1 iL il 12 SON Oh deh a eouIG 2) 2 1} 38 50 
Cornell eae TY Ae Ba OR Ba iyi 17 ne LAS 5} 1 3 26) 43 
Wiley site eeie: Sealer ar: 1 1 13 BF a A Gy Ty Dano, 28\ Ad 
Chicacone nine 3 i PA a PA Te TEM TEM S35) aN 1)1 23| 383% 
Clark....... ee Ty 26 5 muha 16 Tp An? iL TO 1| 1| 12) 98 
Princeton....... eG, it Alen 1 12 SH he, if 1 8; 20 
Michigan........ Aan, i 1 8 D4lhe 4 3 10; 18 
Pennsylvania... 1 2) 1 Atos line il 1 Giles 
Californias sees Ls ee 1; 2 6 || 1 Ly 4| 10 
Imdiianal.ce.-0--- 2 1 2 6 PAW Lh ab 4| 10 
Berlinpeeecee: 18} 24) 5} 3} 5| 5{|10)14) 3} 4) 3) 1) 95 |) 3/12) 1 2 1/3} 22) 117 
CIP ZAR.) ea cces: HO) Bye NB BA a ae fe A Ou AN ay WE SE AN yp aE a3 a 9 i 39) 84 
Gottingen....... LOW Su deless 9} 3) 5 86 ||17| 2 2 12 33, 69 
Heidelberg......| 18} 2) 2! 8 3} 2) 4 1 1) 47 |} 12 3 15| 56 
Minmirchiscsnssses 10 PANG 1) 1 1) 1 ESP WS I Shi 1) 1 13| 31 
Strasburg........ 4, 1| 4 2| F| 2 2 1 vis 2| 1 iL) 1 - 6| 28 
Hretburo...\ ol ier val 2| 2 1 TES Na 2 1 4 19 
Bonne ie seatoce 2 a 1) 1 1| 1 Qi 4, 18 
Zurich Gi) eel 1 11 2 1 3) 14 
Witennaess cies: i TL 10 12 o| 12 
Wiirzburg ...... 2 3 1 1 7 4| 1 5| 12 
arise sis Za Sa 3 4| 31 6 =| 1 1) 29 
Mota wes 113! 83) 741 43 | 38 | 53 47/59/12 24:13 1 563 98 78! 90 36! 41 149! 5 35/10/18! 2 | 4466/1029 


742 SCIENCE. 


tions. The number of doctorates conferred 
in the natural and exact sciences during the 
past nine years is as follows: Johns Hopkins, 
147; Chicago, 145; Columbia, 1387; Harvard, 
129; Yale, 120; Cornell, 94; Pennsylvania, 85; 
Clark, 75. There is then a drop to universi- 
ties that have conferred fewer than 25 de- 
grees in the sciences during this period. 
Relatively more work is done in the sciences 
in some institutions than in others. Thus the 
percentage of degrees in the sciences in these 
universities is as follows: Clark, 95; Cornell, 
58; Johns Hopkins, 54; Columbia, 49; Chi- 
cago, 48; Pennsylvania, 43; Harvard, 42, and 
Yale, 41. 

Table V. shows the institutional origin of 
men who have pursued different sciences. The 
Johns Hopkins University has excelled rela- 
tively in chemistry, physics, zoology and 
physiology; Harvard in zoology and botany; 
Columbia in zoology, botany and mathematics; 
Cornell in physics and botany; Clark in psy- 
chology, and Michigan in botany and pathol- 
ogy. Of the foreign universities, Berlin has 
excelled in physics, Leipzig in psychology and 
Gottingen in chemistry and mathematics. 

The table also shows that men are more 
likely to pursue graduate studies and to take 
the doctor’s degree in some sciences than in 
others. Of the fifty psychologists, 35 have 
received the doctor’s degree from the institu- 
tions given in the table, and of the 150 zoolo- 
gists 90 have received it, whereas only two of 
the 25 anatomists and only five of the 60 
pathologists have received a non-technical 
higher degree from these universities. While 
important improvements in the practise of 
surgery and medicine have been made in this 
country, it must be admitted that we are not 
doing our share for the advancement of pathol- 
ogy, anatomy and physiology. 

It would be desirable to compare the scien- 
tific men and the scientific work of the United 
States with those of other nations, and I hope 
to collect data on this subject. It is my im- 
pression from such information as is on hand 
that we produce from one seventh to one tenth 
of the world’s scientific research, but that we 
have not produced one tenth of its recent 
great discoveries or of its contemporary great 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 623. 


men. With our vast population and unlimited 
resources, it would be shameful and. intolerable 
to let the future be no better than the present. 
It is obvious that we should collect without 
delay the information that would tell us where 
we stand among the nations. 

It is not altogether without interest to find 
that it is possible to reduce to order facts which 
might be supposed to be outside the range of 
the natural and exact sciences. The present 
articles are, however, only a beginning of a 
study of scientific men as a group and of the 
conditions on which scientific performance de- 
pends. We have in a large measure explored 
the material world and subdued it to our uses; 
it is now our business to secure an equal in- 
erease in our knowledge of human nature and 
to apply it for our welfare. If he is a bene- 
factor to mankind who makes two blades of 
grass grow where one grew before, his services 
would be immeasurably greater who could 
enable two men of science to flourish where 
there had been but one. 


J. McKeen Carte. 
CoLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 


BRACHIOPOD NOMENCLATURE. 


Tue following is an epitome of the results 
of some recent investigations; a fuller account 
of them has been handed to the editor of the 
Annals and Magazine of Natural History 
(England). 

The genera FEpithyris, Hypothyris and 
Cleiothyris can not be used, as they are now, 
on King’s authority: they must stand or fall 
by what Phillips did. From what Phillips 
says of the first two (Pal. Foss. Devon., ete., 
1841, pp. 54, 55) the types are as follows: 
Genus Hpithyris, Phillips. 

Type Terebratula mazillata, Sowerby. 

This will be the generic name for the Tere- 
bratula maxillata group of the Jurassic. 
Genus Hypothyris, Phillips. 

Type Terebratula concinna, Sowerby. 

This would be the name for a series of 
Jurassic Rhynchonelle, but it is preoccupied, 
and so must drop altogether. However, the 
terms epithyrid and hypothyrid will be found 
extremely useful to describe the beak-char- 
acters which Phillips noted. 


| 


———— 


DECEMBER 7, 1906.] 


Genus Cleiothyris, Phillips. 

Type Terebratula concentrica, von Buch. 

The type here is not so certain; but this 
seems to be the solution of Phillips’s rather 
ambiguous phrases. At any rate Cleiothyris 
can not be used as King intended. 

The genus Seminula has hitherto been in- 
correctly used, with Spirifer ambiguus as 
type, on a doubtful identification of David- 
son’s—that JT. pentaédra, the true genotype, 
was a synonym of S. ambiguus. But T. pen- 
taédra is hypothyrid, that is, it has a rhyn- 
chonelliform beak; while S. ambiguus is epi- 
thyrid, that is, it has a terebratuliform beak. 
T. pentaédra is what would at present be 
called a Camarophoria. 8. ambiguus happens 
to have been taken as type of a genus Com- 
posita in 1845, but it has always been over- 
looked. Therefore— 

Genus Seminula, McCoy. 

Type Terebratula pentaédra, Phillips. 

Non Seminula, auct. - 

The genus is not of the family Athyride, 
but is a pentamerid, allied to the later named 
Camarophoria, which may, perhaps, be re- 
tained for the transverse multiplicate forms, 
Seminula designating the globose paucipli- 
cate species. 

Genus Composita, Brown. 

Type Spirifer ambiguus, Sowerby. 

Syn. Seminula, auct. non McCoy. 

Ref. T. Brown, ‘Illustr. Fossil Conch. G. 
Britain and Ireland,’ p. 181, 1845. This work 
of Brown’s has been altogether neglected, and 
his names overlooked; but he was quite defi- 
nite about his type. His work appeared in 
parts from 1837 to 1849; and the date of p. 
' 181 is 1845. (Vide, Sherborn, Proc. Malacol. 
Soe., VI., 358, 1905.) All the athyrids hith- 
erto assigned to Seminula will have to bear 
the name Composita. 

Genus Leptodus, Kayser. 

Syn. Lyttonia, Waagen. ~ 

Leptodus is generally given as a synonym 
of Lyttonia; but Waagen was not justified in 
suppressing Kayser’s name merely because he 
placed it among fishes. 

Genus Cyclothyris, McCoy. 
Type, the species figured by McCoy, ‘ Carb. 


SCIENCE. 743 


Foss.,’ p. 150, fig. 29 == Terebratula latissima, 
Sowerby. 

Davidson made this suggestion, and it ap- 
pears correct. Therefore, the bulk of the 
Mesozoic Rhynchonelle—all those that are 
multiplicate and hypothyrid—should go under 
this genus rather than under Rhynchonella, 
which should be applied only to the species 
congruous with the R. loxia series of paucipli- 
cate hypothyrids. 

New names are required for Hypothyris, 
auct. non Phillips and Clevothyris, auct. non 
Phillips. The following were suggested: Hy- 
pothyridina, vice Hypothyris, and Clevothyri- 
dina, vice Cleiothyris. 

| S. S. BuckMan. 


CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 
THE CYCLONIC THEORY. 


To the interesting discussion concerning 
temperatures in cyelones and anticyclones, H. 
H. Clayton contributes an article in the Bev- 
trage zur Physik der freien Atmosphare, Vol. 
II., No. 2, on ‘A Discussion of the Observa- 
tions obtained by the Blue Hill Observatory 
with Ballons-sondes at St. Louis.’ As the 
readers of these notes are aware, this discus- 
sion has been going on for some time, and has 
been participated in chiefly by Hann, Clayton 
and Bigelow. To go into the details as each 
article appeared has always seemed to the com- 
piler of these notes too technical a matter for 
the columns of a general scientific journal 
like Sctencr, and to do so would have occupied 
a good deal more space than could be devoted 
to meteorology in this publication. We are 
glad to note the emphasis which Mr. Clayton 
lays upon the points upon which general agree- 
ment has been reached, for further discussion 
will be more helpful and more to the point if 
the matters which have found general accept- 
ance are clearly established. To quote: ‘“ The 
results of all the investigators agree in show- 
ing that the highest temperatures at all 
heights within an area of low pressure are in 
advance of the barometric minimum and the 
lowest in the rear; while in the area of high 
pressure the lowest temperature is in advance 
of the barometric maximum and the highest 


T44 SCIENCE. 


in the rear.” This conclusion, Mr. Clayton 
believes, “will probably find general accept- 
ance as representing the conditions up to 
6 kms. everywhere in temperate latitudes.” 
In answer to a criticism made by Hann (Met. 
Zeitschr., Nov., 1905, 491) to the effect that 
Mr. Clayton had determined the central areas 
of cyclone and anticyclone from the time of 
high and low pressure at Blue Hill, and not 
from the weather maps, our author points out 
that the weather maps were used. We our- 
selves carelessly omitted to point out that Dr. 
Hann was mistaken in his objection, on the 
occasion of our mention of this matter in 
these notes some months ago. 


CLIMATOLOGICAL ATLAS OF INDIA. 


One of the most attractive, as well as one 
of the most important publications in clima- 
tology ever issued is the new ‘ Climatological 
Atlas of India,’ prepared by Sir John Ehot, 
lately meteorological reporter to the govern- 
ment of India, and published by Bartholomew, 
of Edinburgh. This atlas contains one hun- 
dred and twenty colored maps, showing with 
great detail and in well-selected, harmonious 
colors, the distribution of the climatic ele- 
ments over the Indian empire. We learn 
from the preface that a handbook of the 
weather and climates of India is in prepara- 
tion and will be a companion volume to the 
atlas. India has for many years been well 
known for its admirable meteorological service 
and for its long series of valuable meteorolog- 
ical publications. Sir John Eliot has now 
fittingly ended his term of service as head of 
that organization by preparing this magnifi- 
cent volume which will always stand as a 
monument to his work. 


MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. 


Tue last number of the Monthly Weather 
Review (No. 6, 1906) contains an illustrated 
paper by Professor J. E. Church, Jr., of the 
University of Nevada, on the new ‘ Mount 
Rose Weather Observatory,’ in Nevada; a plea 
for the ‘Use of the Lantern in Teaching 
Meteorology,’ by Professor J. P. Goode, of the 
University of Chicago; a further instalment 
of his ‘Studies on the Thermodynamics of 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 623. 


the Atmosphere,’ by Professor F. H. Bigelow; 
a description of a waterspout near Tarrytown, 
N. Y., July 16, 1904, illustrated by six half- 
tones; an account of ‘The Tornado of June 
6, 1906, near La Crosse, Wis.,’ by G. A. Ober- 
holzer, and of ‘The Tornado of April 12, 1906, 
at Stafford, Kansas,’ by W. E. Seright; and 
several short papers on ‘The Structure of 
Hailstones.’ 
NOTES. 


Proressor W. I. MinHam has published a 
‘Syllabus of a Course on Meteorology,’ given 
by him in Williams College. The course is a 
three-hour elective for juniors and seniors, 
and is much more thorough than most of the 
courses at present being given in American 
colleges. Practical work in making observa- 
tions, in generalizing from meteorological 
data and in making forecasts, is required as 
part of the course. 

Ciel et Terre for September 1, 1906, con- 
tains articles on the dust from Vesuvius ob- 
served at Brussells last spring, and on atmos- 
pheric waves noted at the observatory of Meu- 
don, by Millochau, by means of the telescope. 

Tue Annual Report of the Transvaal Me- 
teorological Department for the year ending 
June 30, 1905, contains several charts showing 
the distribution of the various meteorological 
elements; also half-tones of lightning views 
taken at Vereeniging in 1904-5. - 

R. DEC. Warp. 


RECENT IMPORTANT ANTI-MALARIA 
WORK. 

Tue latest reports on the measures taken 
to abolish malaria from Klang and Port Swet- 
tenham in Selangor, Federated Malay States, 
indicate the most admirable results. These 
measures were undertaken first in 1901 and 
1902, and have been reported upon from time 
to time in the Journal of Tropical Medicine. 
The expenditure undertaken by the govern- 
ment with a view to improving the health of 
the inhabitants of these towns has been fully 
justified by the results which promise to be 
of permanent value. The total expenditure 


for the town of Klang, down to the end of 


1905 was £3,100, and the annual permanent 
expenditure is about £60 for clearing earth 


DECEMBER 7, 1906.] 


drains and £210 for town gardeners. For 
Port Swettenham the total expenditure to the 
end of 1905 was £7,000 and the annual cost 
of keeping up the drains, etc., is approximately 
£40 for clearing earth drains and £100 for 
town gardeners. 

The careful tabulation of cases and deaths 
and of the results of the examination of blood 
of children in especially drained areas indi- 
cate the following conclusions: (1) Measures 
taken systematically to destroy breeding places 
of mosquitoes in these towns, the inhabitants 
of which suffered terribly from malaria, were 
followed almost immediately by a general im- 
provement in health and decrease in death 
rate. (2) That this was due directly to the 
work carried out and not to a general dying 
out of malaria in the district, is clearly shown 
by figures pointing out that while malaria has 
practically ceased to exist in the areas treated 
it has actually increased to a considerable 
extent in other parts of the district where anti- 
malaria measures have not been undertaken. 

The statistics for 1905 are even more favor- 
able than those for 1902, which gives a very 
strong evidence in favor of the permanent 
nature of the improvement carried out. In 
fact, it seems as though malaria has been 
permanently stamped out at Klang and Port 
Swettenham by work undertaken in 1901, and 
this experience in the Malay States should be 
of value to those responsible for the health of 
communities similarly situated in many other 
parts of the world. 

Another striking example of excellent work 
of this kind is found in the recently published 
report on the suppression of malaria in Is- 
mailia, issued under the auspices of the Com- 
pagnie Universelle du Canal Maritime de 
Suez. Ismalia is now a town of 8,000 inhabit- 
ants. It was founded by DeLesseps in April, 
1862, on the borders of Lake Timsah, which 
the Suez Canal crosses at mid-distance be- 
tween the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. 
Malarial fever made its appearance in very 
severe form in September, 1877, although the 
city had up to that time been very healthy, 
and increased so that since 1886 almost all 
of the inhabitants have suffered from the 
fever. In 1901 an attempt to control the dis- 


SCIENCE. 


‘per cent. 


745 


ease was made on the mosquito basis, and 
this attempt rapidly and completely succeeded, 
and after two years of work all traces of 
malaria disappeared from the city. The work 
was directed not only against anopheles mos- 
quitoes, but against other culicids, and com- 
prised the drainage of a large swamp and the 
other usual measures. The initial expense 


- amounted to 50,000 francs, and the annual 


expenses since have amounted to about 18,300 
francs. 

The results may be summarized about as 
follows: Since the beginning of 1903 the 
ordinary mosquitoes have disappeared from 
Ismailia. Since the autumn of 1903 not a 
single larva of anopheles has been found in 
the protected zone, which extends to the west 
for a distance of one thousand meters from 
the first houses in the Arabian quarter and to 
the east for a distance of 1,800 meters from 
the first houses in the European quarter. 
After 1902 malarial fever obviously began to 
decrease, and since 1903 not a single new case 
of malaria has been found in Ismailia. 

Last May Dr. Ronald Ross, of the Liver- 
pool School of Tropical Medicine, to whom 
the writer is indebted for information con- 
cerning these instances just cited, was asked 
by the Lake Kopais Company in Greece to 
make a study of the malaria which has long 
been prevalent on their estates in that part 
of Greece. He made the trip and carried out 
the investigation which revealed an unexpect- 
edly high degree of malarial infection in most 
of the localities examined. He also learned 
from members of the Grecian Anti-malaria 
League that the district of Kopais is by no 
means exceptional in this respect, and that 
malaria is very prevalent in many rural areas 
throughout the country. 

As an example of the conditions, Dr. Ross 
found that in the village of Moulki, near the 
ancient Heliartos on the Kopaic Plain, of 
eighty persons examined, in thirty-eight there 
was an enlargement of the spleen—nearly fifty 
per cent.; at the village of Mazi he found it 
in thirteen cases out of forty; at Skripou (the 
ancient Orchomenos) it occurred in twenty- 
five out of fifty school children—exactly fifty 
He suggests the query as to how 


m6. SCIENCE. 


far malaria has influenced the past history 
and the modern development of Greece, and 
shows that the regions maintaining most of 
the rural population are the ones most seri- 
ously affected—in fact, a vigorous country 
life can not exist under the conditions found. 
Where villages, churches, inns and country 
houses should be seattered about the land- 
scape, the villages are few and poor and coun- 
try houses are almost entirely absent. 

The Antimalarial League of Greece, of 
which H. M. the King of Greece is patron, 
has already commenced work against malaria, 
and appeals for help to all those interested. 
The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine 
has published an appeal for subscriptions, 
and H. R. H. Princess Christian has con- 
sented to be the patroness of the subscription 
in Great Britain. Subscriptions may be paid 
to the secretary of the Liverpool School of 
Tropical Medicine, B 10 Exchange Buildings, 
Liverpool, England. 

So many excellent and most practical and 
convincing evidences of the possibility of the 
extermination of malaria are now culminating 
that it is obvious not only that with a certain 
expenditure of money the disease can be wiped 
out in a country like Greece, but that in our 
own territory the question is simply one of 
funds and an enlightened public spirit. 

L. O. Howarp. 


THE CONVOCATION WEEK MEETINGS OF 
SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 


Tue American Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science and the national scientific 
societies named below will meet in New York 
City during convocation week, beginning on 
December 27, 1906. 


American Association for the Advancement 
of Science.—December 27—January 1. Retiring 
president, Professor C. M. Woodward, Washing- 
ton University, St. Louis, Mo.; president-elect, 
Professor W. H. Welch, The Johns Hopkins Uni- 
versity, Baltimore, Md.; permanent secretary, Dr. 
L. O. Howard, Cosmos Club, Washington, D. C.; 
general secretary, Dr. John F. Hayford, U. S. 
Coast and Geodetic Survey, Washington, ID, Obs 
secretary of the council, President F. W. McNair, 
Houghton, Mich. 

Local Haecutive Committee.—J. J. Stevenson, 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 623. 


chairman, C. C. Adams, Charles Baskerville, 
Franz Boas, N. L. Britton, H. C. Bumpus, Chas. 
A. Conant, Simon Flexner, Wm. J. Gies, Wm. 
Hallock, Alex. C. Humphreys, G. S. Huntington, 
Hdward Kasner, Henry F. Osborn, C. L. Poor, 
Clifford Richardson, E. B. Wilson, Frederick J. 
EK. Woodbridge, J. McKeen Cattell, secretary. 

Section A, Mathematics and Astronomy.—Vice- 
president, Professor Edward Kasner, Columbia 
University; secretary, Professor L. G. Weld, Uni- 
versity of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa. 

Section B, Physics.—Vice-president, Professor 
W. C. Sabine, Harvard University; secretary, Pro- 
fessor Dayton C. Miller, Case School of Applied 
Science, Cleveland, Ohio. 

Section OC, Ohemistry.—Vice-president, Mr. 
Clifford Richardson, New York City; secretary, 
Professor Charles L. Parsons, New Hampshire 
College of Agriculture, Durham, N. H. 

Section D, Mechanical Science and Engineer- 
ing.—Vice-president, Mr. W. R. Warner, Cleve- 
land, O.; secretary, Professor Wm. T. Magruder, 
Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. 

Section H, Geology and Geography.—Vice-presi- 
dent, Dr. A. C. Lane, Lansing, Mich.; secretary, 
Dr. Edmund O. Hovey, American Museum of 


Natural History, New York, N. Y. 


Section F, Zoology.—Vice-president, Professor 
EH. G. Conklin, University of Pennsylvania; secre- 
tary, Professor C. Judson Herrick, Denison Uni- 
versity, Granville, Ohio. 

Section G, Botany.—Vice-president Dr. D. T. 
MacDougal, Washington, D. C.; secretary, Pro- 
fessor F. E. Lloyd, Desert Botanical Laboratory, 
Tucson, Arizona. 

Section H, Anthropology.—Vice-president, Pro- 
fessor Hugo Miinsterberg, Harvard University; 
secretary, George H. Pepper, American Museum 
of Natural History. 

Section I, Social and Hconomic Science.—Mr. 
Chas. A. Conant, New York City; secretary, Dr. 
J. F. Crowell, Bureau of Statistics, Washington, 
D. C. 

Section K, Physiology and Experimental Medi- 
cine.—Vice-president, Dr. Simon Flexner, The 
Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research; secre- 
tary, Dr. Wm. J. Gies, College of Physicians and 
Surgeons, Columbia University, New York City. 

The American Society of Naturalists —Decem- 
ber 28. President, Professor William James, 
Harvard University; secretary, Professor W. E. 
Castle, Harvard University. 

The Astronomical and Astrophysical Society of 
America.—December 27. President, Professor E. 
C. Pickering, Harvard College Observatory; secre- 


DECEMBER 7, 1906.] 


tary, Professor Geo. C. Comstock, Washburn Ob- 
servatory, Madison, Wis. 

The American Physical Society——President, 
Professor Carl Barus, Brown University; secre- 
tary, Professor Ernest Merritt, Cornell Univer- 
sity, Ithaca, N. Y. 

The American Mathematical Society.—Decem- 
ber 28, 29. President, Professor W. F. Osgood, 
Harvard University; secretary, Professor F. N. 
Cole, Columbia University. 

The American Chemical Society—December 
27-January 2. President, Professor W. F. Hille- 
brand, U. S. Geological Survey; secretary, Dr. 
William A. Noyes, the Bureau of Standards, 
Washington, D. C. 

The Geological Society of America.—December 
26-29. Acting president, Professor W. M. Davis, 
Harvard University; secretary, Professor Her- 
man L. Fairchild, Rochester, N. Y. 

The Association of American Geographers.— 
December 31-January 1. President, Cyrus C. 
Adams, New York City; secretary, Albert P. 
Brigham, Colgate University. 

The American Society of Zoologists—Decem- 
ber 27, 28, 29. President (Hastern Branch), Pro- 
fessor W. HE. Castle, Harvard University; secre- 
tary, Professor H. 8. Pratt, Haverford College. 
President (Central Branch), Professor C. C. Nut- 
ting, University of lowa; secretary, Professor T. 
G. See, University of Michigan. 

The Association of Economic Entomologists— 
December 28, 29. President, A. H. Kirkland, 
Malden, Mass.; secretary, A. F. Burgess, Colum- 
bus, O. 

The Society of American Bacteriologists.— 
President, Dr. HE. F. Smith, U. 8. Department of 
Agriculture; secretary, Professor S. C. Prescott, 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

The American Physiological Society.—Decem- 
ber 27, 28, 29. President, Professor W. H. 
Howell, the Johns Hopkins University; secretary, 
Professor Lafayette B. Mendel, 18 Trumbull St., 
New Haven, Conn. 

The Association of American Anatomists.—De- 
cember 27, 28, 29. President, Professor Frank- 
lin P. Mall; secretary, Professor G. Carl Huber, 
333 Hast Ann St., Ann Arbor, Mich. 

The Botanical Society of America.—December 
27, 28, 29. President, Dr. F. 8. Earle; secretary, 
Dr. William Trelease, Missouri Botanical Garden, 
St. Louis, Mo. 

The American Psychological Association.—De- 
cember 27-28. President, Professor James R. 
Angell, University of Chicago; secretary, Pro- 
fessor Wm. Harper Davis, Lehigh University. 

The American Philosophical Association.—De- 
cember 27-29. President, Professor William 
James, Harvard University; secretary, Professor 
John Grier Hibben, Princeton University. 

The American Anthropological Association.— 
December 27-January 3. President, Professor F. 


SCIENCE. 


T47 


W. Putnam, Harvard University; secretary, Dr. 
Geo. Grant MacCurdy, Yale University, New 
Haven, Conn. 


The American Folk-lore Society—December 
27-January 3. President, Dr. A. L. Kroeber, 
University of California; secretary, W. W. 


Newell, Cambridge, Mass. 
New York State Science Teachers Association. 
—December 26, 27. President, John F. Wood- 


hull, Teachers College, Columbia University. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


Dr. Henry FairFietp Ossorn, Da Costa 
professor of zoology in Columbia University, 
curator of vertebrate paleontology and vice- 
president of the American Museum of Natural 
History, geologist and paleontologist of the 
U. S. Geological Survey, has been elected 
secretary of the Smithsonian Institution to 
succeed the late Samuel Pierpont Langley. 


Tue Botanical Society of America (a union 
of the Botanical Society of America, the So- 
ciety for Plant Morphology and Physiology 
and the American Mycological Society) will 
hold its first meeting, under the federation 
effected last winter, in New York City, during 
convocation week. The council will meet at 
9 a.m. on Thursday, in Schermerhorn Hall, 
and a very important business session will be 
held in the same place at 11 o’clock the same 
morning. Scientific meetings will be held at 
Schermerhorn Hall on Friday afternoon, and 
at the Botanical Garden both morning and 
afternoon on Saturday. It is also possible 
that sessions may be held on the following 
Monday. Professor F. S. Earle, of Herra- 
dura, Cuba, is president and Dr. Wm. Tre- 
lease, of St. Louis, is secretary. 


Tue American Physiological Society will 
meet, as already announced, on December 27, 
28, 29 in New York City. The meetings will 
be held on December 27 in the physiological 
laboratories of the University and Bellevue 
Hospital Medical College, 338 East 26th St.; 
on December 28 in the physiological labora- 
tories of the College of Physicians and Sur- 
geons, 487 West 59th St.; on December 29, 
joint meeting with Section K of the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science 
in the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Re- 
search, 66th St. and Avenue A. All commu- 
nications should be addressed to the secretary, 


748 SCIENCE. 


Professor Lafayette B. Mendel, 18 Trumbull 
St., New Haven, Conn. 


Emeritus PRoressoR CAMPBELL FRASER was 
presented on November 6, by the senatus and 
former pupils, with addresses of congratula- 
tion on the occasion of his jubilee as professor 
of logic and metaphysics in the University 
of Edinburgh. The principal, Sir William 
Turner, presided over a large representation 
of the senatus, and the class room was filled 
with the general public and students. 


Dr. Aucust TosLEr, docent in paleontology 
at Basle, will make an expedition to the East 
Indies, lasting several years. 


Dr. E. Grosse, associate professor of eth- 
nology at Freiburg, has received leave of ab- 
sence to carry on researches in east Asia. 


Tue fourth lecture in the Harvey Society 
course was delivered by Professor J. G. Adami, 
of McGill University, Montreal, on December 
1, at 8:30 p.m., at the New York Academy of 
Medicine. Subject: ‘The Myelins and Po- 
tential Fluid Crystals of the Body.’ 


At its annual dinner, on November 21, the 
Society of Ex-Internes of Kings County Hos- 
pital, Brooklyn, presented to the hospital asso- 
ciation a bronze memorial tablet in memory 
of the late Walter Reed, who was an interne 
there in 1871, prior to his entrance into the 
medical department of the United States 
Army. 


7 
A MARBLE bust of Dr. Wilhelm Hittorf has 
been placed in the physical laboratory of 
Minster University, on the occasion of the 
celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of his 
doctorate. 


Masor Horatio N. Rust, noted both for his 
work on behalf of the Indians of southern 
California and for his archeological and eth- 
nological collections and publications, died at 
South Pasadena, California, on November 14. 


Dr. von RorHmMunp, professor of ophthal- 
mology in the University of Munich, has died 
at the age of sixty-eight years. 


Tue Rey. Dr. Johannes Dzierzon, known 
for his studies on bees, has died at the age of 
ninety-five years. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 628. 


Tue U. S. Civil Service Commission an- 
nounces the postponement, to January 3-4, 
1907, of the examination scheduled for De- 
ecember 5-6, to fill at least four existing va- 
cancies and vacancies as they may occur in 
the position of aid in the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey, at $720 per annum. A vacancy as 
computer at $1,400 to $1,800 per annum, ac- 
cording to experience, and one as draftsman, 
at $1,400 to $1,800, according to experience, 
both in the service of the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey at Manila, P. I., may also be filled 
from the eligibles resulting from this exam- 
ination, provided suitable eligibles are secured. 
As the commission has experienced consider- 
able difficulty in securing a sufficient number 
of eligibles for this position to meet the needs 


. of the service, qualified persons are urged to 


enter this examination. There will also be a 
civil service examination on December 12, to 
fill a vacaney in the position of assistant in 
animal husbandry in the Bureau of Animal 
Industry, Department of Agriculture, at 
$1,800 per annum. 

Amone the New York State civil service 
examinations in December is one of chem- 
ist in the Department of Agriculture at a 
salary of $1,200. The examination will have 
special reference to the analysis of food and 
dairy products. 

A SetsmMotocicaL Society has been formed 
in California. The letter calling a prelim- 
inary meeting says: “The formation of such 
a society would seem to be both proper and 
opportune. The fact that the Pacific coast 
has been the center of much seismic activity, 
and that the city of San Francisco has now a 
historic interest in matters seismological, may 
be offered as valid reasons why this section of 
our country should take the initiative in the 
formation of such an organization. The State 
Earthquake Commission is on record as favor- 
ing the formation of a seismological society. 
Several earnest investigators, including Dr. 
Omori, who recently visited the coast, have 
urged that organized effort be attempted 
through such a society, to collect, preserve 
and utilize all records, reports and studies of 
seismic phenomena. The prime object of such 
an organization as in Japan should be to 


Se 


DECEMBER 7, 1906.] 


mold public opinion, to advise wisely, to set 
forth the truth and to provide funds for re- 
search and investigation. It is expected that 
such a-society will be able, with the funds 
entrusted to its care, to publish from time to 
time the best information obtainable concern- 
ing earthquakes, and in every way work for 
the benefit and welfare of not only our own 
community but all mankind, so far as the 
effects of earth movements are concerned.” 

THE second meeting of the Southern So- 
ciety for Philosophy and Psychology will be 
held in Montgomery, Alabama, in connection 
with the Southern Educational Association, 
December 27-29. Further particulars will be 
given later. 


Mr. Lester F. Warp would be glad to be 
informed of as many as possible of the native 
plants, especially trees and shrubs, of the 
country which possess the sympodial type of 
branching, either complete or partial. Names, 
_ lists, notes, ete., may be sent to him at Brown 
University, Providence, R. I. Observations 
of sufficient importance might be sent to Sct- 
ENCE for publication. Any estimates of the 
proportion of sympodial to monopodial plants 
would be of interest. The subject is a neg- 
lected one, and references to the best treat- 
ment of it would be useful. 


Iy an interesting and well-written article 
on ‘ The Lure of the Pearl’ in the November 
Century, Mr. Frederick Courtland Penfield 
has this amusing bit of zoology: “It should 
be known that the pearl-bearing oyster of the 
Indian Ocean is only remotely related to the 
edible variety of America and Europe. It is 
the Margaritifera vulgaris, said to belong to 
the animal kingdom, and not to the fish fam- 
ily, and is never eaten.” 


We learn from The Journal of Experi- 
ment Statrons that the Chinese government 
has approved a request made by the native 
board of commerce at Peking for the use of 
the Loshan garden, which is situated on the 
Imperial Road outside of the Hsichih. Gate 
of Peking, with an area of 1662 acres, as a 
field for agricultural experiments. In 1905 
the board was authorized to take measures 
for the encouragement of agriculture, but up 


SCIENCE. 


749 


to the present, with the exception of the few 
experimental fields and agricultural schools 
established in Chihli, Shantung, Shansi, Ho- 
nan and Fukien, little has been done along 
this line. 


Tue Journal of the American Medical As- 
sociation states that the Berlin Academy of 
Sciences has been examining the rich material 
of ancient medical MSS. in its library, and 
has just published the first volume of a de- 
scriptive catalogue, devoted to works dealing 
with Hippocrates and Galen. The work has 
been in charge of Professors H. Diels and G. 
Schine. After the complete catalogue is is- 
sued it is proposed to publish all the MSS. in 
full. Professor Heiberg, of Copenhagen, is 
to help in this task, especially with the Egyp- 
tian papyri. 


Tue Medical Relief Committee, represent- 
ing the New York Academy of Medicine, and 
the Medical Societies of the counties of New 
York and Richmond, announces that the total 
sum transmitted to the Medical Relief Com- 
mittee at San Francisco amounted to $7,701.10. 


Tue daily papers state that ‘broadly speak- 
ing, the northern hemisphere will after No- 
vember 1 report daily on its weather condi- 
tions to the Weather Bureau in Washington.’ 
An arrangement made with the Central 
Physical Observatory at St. Petersburg en- 
ables reports to be received from the great 
land area lying between the Russian capital 
and the Pacific, while the opening of cable 
communication with Iceland will render pos- 
sible telegraphic reports of the area of low 
winter barometer of the North Atlantic. As 
a consequence of these additional services, it 
is hoped that the bureau will be in a position 
to deal with world conditions and to make 
accurate forecasts for a longer time than ever 
before. 


We learn from Nature that the board of 
directors of the great manufacturing firm of 
Kynoch (Litd.) has decided to introduce the 
metric system of weights and measures into 
all their works. A small committee has been 
appointed to consider the details of the change 
and to provide the necessary instruments, and 


750 SCIENCE. 


as soon as the committee reports the change 
will be made. All the weights and measures 
used by the firm, whether lineal, square or 
cubic, will be metric. For money calculations 
the pound sterling will be adopted as the unit, 
and this will be subdivided decimally. 


THE Wisconsin Natural History Society 
announces the following series of nine public 
lectures to be given during the season of 
1906-7 at the Public Museum, Milwaukee. 
This society is one of the oldest of its kind 
in the west, having been founded in 1857. At 
the May meeting the fiftieth anniversary of 
its foundation will be celebrated. 


October 25.—Dr. R. M. Strong, University of 
Chicago, ‘Colors of Birds.’ (Illustrated by stere- 
opticon. ) 

November 22.—Dr. E. C. Case, Wisconsin State 
Normal School, ‘Geological Development of 
Scenery.’ (Illustrated by stereopticon.) 

December 20.—Professor C. O. Whitman, Uni- 
versity of Chicago, ‘The Origin of Species.’ 
(Illustrated by charts.) 

January 31.—C. T.  Brues, Milwaukee Public 
Museum, ‘The Role Played by Imsects in the 
Transmission of Certain Diseases of Man and the 
Higher Animals.’ (Illustrated by stereopticon. ) 

February 28.—Professor 8. W. Williston, The 
University of Chicago, ‘The Phylogeny of the 
Elephant.’ (Illustrated by stereopticon.) 

March 28.—Dr. S. Graenicher, Milwaukee, ° The 
Adaptive Coloration of Insects.’ (Illustrated by 
steropticon. ) 

April 25.—H. lL. Ward, Milwaukee Public 
Museum, ‘Museum Collecting.’ (Illustrated by 
stereopticon. ) 

May 30.—The Fiftieth Anniversary of the 
Founding of the Society.—C. H. Doerflinger will 
give a brief sketch of the founding of the society, 
followed by Professor E. A. Birge, The University 
of Wisconsin, ‘Science and the People.’ 

June 27.—I. N. Mitchell, Wisconsin State 
Normal School, ‘ Burbank’s Work with Plants.’ 
(Illustrated by stereopticon. ) 


Proressor A. R. Croox, curator of the Illi- 
nois State Museum of Natural History, an- 
nounces that a course of popular lectures on 
natural history and travel will be given in the 
Arsenal Auditorium on Saturday evenings at 
eight o’clock as follows: 


December 1.—A. R. Crook, Ph.D., Curator, Tli- 
nois State Museum cf Natural History, ‘The 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 623. 


Making of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado.’ 
(Illustrated. ) 

December 8.—O. C. Farrington, Ph.D., Curator 
of Geology, Field Columbian Museum, ‘ American 
Caverns.’ (Illustrated.) 

December 15.—H. G. Keppel, Ph.D., North- 
western University, ‘Holland and the Hollanders.’ 
(Illustrated. ) 

January 12.—Chas. F. Millspaugh, Ph.D., 
Curator of Botany, Field Columbian Museum, 
“Japan Resourceful.’ (Illustrated.) 

January 19.—Professor 8. W. Parr, University 
of Illinois, ‘ What is Coal?’ . (Illustrated.) 

January 26.—H. Foster Bain, Ph.D., State 
Geologist, ‘ Origin of Fuels.’ 

The Educational Times states that an im- 
portant international inquiry into the methods 
and results of moral training in schools at 
home and abroad has been initiated in London. 
It is proposed to institute an inquiry, con- 
ducted by trained investigators, who will visit 
many European countries, the United States 
and Japan, to ascertain the conclusions which 
the best authorities in the different countries 
have reached as the outcome of their recent 
efforts. It is hoped to complete this inquiry 
and to publish the reports of the investigators 
by the autumn of 1907. The committee, which 
it is desired to strengthen by the admission 
of many more distinguished names, already in- 
cludes, among others, the Bishops of Ripon, 
Hereford and Stepney, Sir Edward Fry the 
Right Hon. A. Dyke Acland, former minister 
of education, Sir Oliver Lodge, the Rev. J. B. 
Paton, D.D. (of Nottingham), Mr. Harrold 
Johnson, Secretary of the Moral Instruction 
League and Professor M. E. Sadler, LL.D., 
who is acting as hon. secretary at 8 Bucking- 
ham Street, Strand, W. C. 


THE Copenhagen correspondent of the Med- 
acal Record writes: “ Dr. Schaldemose will be 
appointed successor to Professor Wanscher, 
who died six months ago. The competition 
has been very close, not less than eight of 
our most prominent younger surgeons having 
entered it. Each competitor had to publish 
a work of no small size on a surgical topic of 
his own choosing and to deliver a clinical lec- 
ture with three hours’ preparation. Three of 
the competitors, Drs. P. N. Hansen, Lendorf, 
and Schaldemose, were then admitted to the 


DECEMBER 7, 1906.] 


final trials, consisting in a lecture on a sur- 
gical theme, the same for all of them, and 
communicated to them twenty-four hours in 
advance. It is generally reported that the 
judges found it very difficult to decide which 
of the three mentioned surgeons was most 
qualified to succeed to the disputed chair.” 

Accorpine to Nature the promise of an in- 
teresting and useful addition to the local 
museums in the London district has been 
furnished by the spirited action of the Totten- 
ham Local Board. In 1892 the Board pur- 
chased the fine ‘Queen Anne’ mansion known 
as Bruce Castle from Mr. Joshua Pedley at 
the price he had given for it, 15,0001., toward 
which sum he contributed 700l., in the hope 
that some day the house would become the 
home of a museum for Tottenham. The 
estate included twenty acres of garden and 
timbered land, which was soon thrown open as 
a public park. The idea of a museum having 
been grasped, many specimens and offers of 
aid came in from neighbors and friends. By 
gift, and as a result of a public subscription, 
- several important collections were acquired. 
Especially worthy of mention are the long 
series of birds, small mammals and insects in 
cases and cabinets, made by Mr. H. W. 
Roberts, formerly a resident in Tottenham; a 
collection of minerals and fossils formed by 
Mr. Penstone, a friend of John Ruskin; and 
the collections of fossils and wax models made 
and lent by Mr. H. E. H. Smedley. Mr. 
Smedley is acting as honorary curator, and 
has generously devoted much time and skill to 
getting the collections into a fit state for 
public exhibition. Other important gifts have 
been made by Mr. C. C. Knight, the Hon. 
Walter Rothschild, Mr. Ruck, Mr. Currie, and 
others. The museum was publicly opened by 
Mr. W. W. Lewin, chairman of the libraries 
committee, and Councillor Knight on October 
26. Mr. Smedley is responsible for the scheme 
of the museum, which will embrace a purely 
local collection of Middlesex natural history 
and illustrations of ancient Tottenham, while 
the educational aspect will be kept well in 
view, including exhibitions of living animals 
and plants designed to encourage observation 
at first-hand in the field. 


SCIENCE. 


Tol 


Tue Scottish Geographical Magazine has 
received from Dr. J. P. Thomson some partic- 
ulars of a great irrigation scheme which the 
New South Wales government proposes to 
carry out in the Murrumbidgee Valley and the 
Lachlan, Namoi, and Gwydor basins. The 
first work which it is proposed to undertake 
is the construction of a dam and reservoir at 
Barren Jack. Barren Jack is about thirty 
miles from Bowning Railway Station on the 
Sydney to Melbourne line. ‘The site is a deep 
gorge, where the river has cut through a solid 
ridge of granite. The sides of the gorge are 
between 300 feet and 400 feet high. The 
proposal embraces constructing a wall 200 feet 
in height right across the Murrumbidgee, thus 
damming the waters back for a distance of 40 
miles. The reservoir will contain one and a 
half time more water than Sydney Harbor, 
and, in fact, will be little inferior to the great 
Nile dam. Much of the area of the actual 
dam site is now under cultivation as agri- 
cultural farms, and these will all have to be 
resumed. The full capacity of the reservoir 
will be 33,380,864,000 cubic feet, and the cost 
of the dam, including resumption of lands, is 
£758,000. The dam will first be built to a 
height of 120 feet, and its full height will be 
reached, it is anticipated, in seven years from 
the date of its commencement. ‘The catch- 
ment area is 5,000 square miles, embracing the 
whole of the country drained by the head- 
waters of the Murrumbidgee. One great fea- 
ture of this scheme is that the waters will be 
brought to the land irrigated entirely by gravi- 
tation, and pumping will not be necessary. 
The new dam when constructed will be one of 
the greatest sights in the commonwealth, and 
the New South Wales government have 
selected a proposed site for the Federal capital 
right in its immediate neighborhood. This 
site is known as Makoolma. Two or three 
alternative lines for a light railway have been 
surveyed to connect Bowning with the dam. 

Tue total value of the stone produced in 
the United States during 1905, according to a 
forthcoming report of the United States Geo- 
logical Survey, was $63,798,748. This total 
includes granite at $17,563,139, trap rock at 
$3,074,554, sandstone, not including grind- 


102 SCIENCE. 


stones and whetstones, at $8,075,149, bluestone 
at $1,931,625, marble at $7,129,071, and lime- 
stone at $26,025,210. As the corresponding 
value for 1904 was $58,765,715, it appears that 
the production showed a gain of $5,033,033 
during 1905. The increased output for 1905 
was caused by more activity in the building 
trades, and chiefly by a large increase in the 
output of limestone for use as furnace flux, 
which the reopening of many iron furnaces 
demanded. Granite, marble and limestone in- 
ereased in value of output, while sandstone 
decreased slightly. Limestone showed the 
largest increase, from $22;178,964 in 1904 to 
$26,025,210 in 1905, or $3,846,246. Granite, 
including trap rock, gneiss, basalt, etc., in- 
creased in value from $20,015,025 in 1904 to 
$20,637,693 in 1905, a gain of $622,668. The 
trap rock increased in value from $2,823,546 
in 1904 to $3,074,554 in 1905, or $251,008. 
Other granite increased in value from $17,- 
191,479 in 1904 to $17,563,139 in 1905, a gain 
of $371,660. Marble increased in value from 
$6,297,835 in 1904 to $7,129,071 in 1905, a 
gain of $831,236. Sandstone, including blue- 
stone, decreased in value from $10,273,891 in 
1904 to $10,006,774 in 1905, a loss of $267,117. 
Bluestone increased in value from $1,791,729 
in 1904 to $1,931,625 in 1905, a gain of $139,- 
896. The sandstone figures showed a decrease 
in value of $407,018—from $8,482,162 in 1904 
to $8,075,149 in 1905. The production of these 
different kinds of stone by individual states is 
set forth in detail in this report, which was 


prepared by Miss A. T. Coons, under the di- 


rection of Mr. Edwin C. Eckel. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


THE General Education Board held a meet- 
ing last week when Acting-president Henry 
Pratt Judson, of the University of Chicago; 
President E. A. Alderman, of the University 
of Virginia, and President H. B. Frisell, of 
the Hampton Institute, were elected trustees. 
The following grants were made: 


Drury College, Springfield, Mo........... $ 50,000 
Iowa College, Grinnell, Iowa........... 100,000 
Richmond College, Richmond, Va........ 150,000 
Lawrence University, Appleton, Wis..... 50,000 


Washington and Lee University, Lexing- 
OTH Visiter ena eee Paaney ater ataitanatialseaehs oilole ale 5,000 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 623. 


Mercer University, Macon, Ga........... 75,000 
Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Va.... 100,000 


The gifts made within the last six months, in 
addition to those already mentioned, are: 


Tulane University, New Orleans......... $75,000 
Washburn College, Topeka, Kan......... 25,000 
Coe College, Cedar Rapids, lowa........ 50,000 
Wofford College, Spartansburg, S. C....... 35,000 
Furman University, Greenville, S. C....... 25,000 
Wake Forest College, Wake Forest, S. C... 37,500 
Howard College, Birmingham, Ala....... 25,000 
Mississippi College, Clinton, Mass........ 25,000 


Southwestern University, Jackson, Tenn... 25,000 


We understand that the institutions are re- 
quired to raise three times the amount of the 
appropriation from the board. 


THE daily papers state that Mr. Andrew 
Carnegie has founded a scholarship in physics 
at the University of Paris with the sum of 
$2,500, in honor of the late Professor Curie 
and Mme. Curie. 

Sir J. T. Brunner has endowed a chair of 
Egyptology in the University of Liverpool. 

A NEw laboratory for experimental physics 
is in course of erection at the University of 
Toronto. The building is planned on the 
unit system and will cost when completed, 
with equipment, approximately $350,000. The 
laboratory is designed to accommodate the 
students in physics of the faculties of arts, 
medicine and applied science, which at the 
present time number about eight hundred. 


THE John C. Green School of Science at 
Princeton University has this year a larger 
enrollment than the academic department. 
The numbers in each class are: senior, 78; 
junior, 67; sophomore, 144; freshman, 183. 
The registration in the academic department 
is: senior, 207; junior, 181; sophomore, 167; 
freshman, 139. ’ 


Dr. H. E. Annurt has been elected to a 
newly established chair of comparative pathol- 


ogy in the University of Liverpool. 

Dr. Emit Puitippi, docent in Berlin, has 
been elected to the Haeckel chair of geology 
and paleontology in the University of Jena. 

Dr. Orro JAECKEL, curator in the Berlin 
Museum, has been called to a chair of geology 
at Greifswald. 


SCIENCE 


A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 
OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 


Fripay, DECEMBER 14, 1906. 
SaaS 


CONTENTS. 


The New York Meeting of the American As- 
sociation for the Advancement of Science 
and the National Scientific Societies...... 


Scientifie Books :— 
Chalfant on Early Chinese Writing: Pro- 
FESSOR EDWARD S. Morse. Graves’s Forest 
Meénsuration: Dr. B. E. FERNow. Christen- 
sen’s Index Filicum: PROFESSOR LUCIEN M. 
UNDERWOOD 


Scientific Journals and Articles............ 


758 
763 


Societies and Academies :— 
The Society for Experimental Medicine and 
Biology: Dg. WILLIAM J. Gigs. The Philo- 
sophical Society of Washington: CHARLES 
K. Weap. The Torrey Botanical Club: C. 
Stuart Gacer. The Elisha Mitchell Scien- 
tific Society; Dr. A. S. WHEELER, The St. 


Louis Chemical Society: C. J. BORGMEYER.. 763 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
The ‘Elimination’ and ‘First Species’ 
Methods of Fixing the Types of Genera: 
Dr. J. A. ALLEN. Misrepresentations of 
Nature in Popular Magazines: A. R. CRooK. 
Special Anatomy and Physiology of the 
Gasteropoda of the United States; JOSEPH 
Lepy, Jr. Harly Types of Man in Iowa: 
C. W. Malay and Filipino Basketry: PrRo- 
FEessogR O. T. Mason. The Rigidity of the 
Earth: Proressor L. M. Hosxins. The 
Lightning-rod Coincident with Franklin’s 


Kite Experiment: A. LAWRENCE RoTcH... 773 


Special Articles :— 
A New Miocene Rhinoceros, Diceratherium 
Arikarense: PROFESSOR ERWIN HINCKLEY 
Barsour. The Term ‘ Colluvial as applied 


to Clay Deposits’: OTTO VEATCH......... 780 


Quotations :— 


‘Botany in England’—a Reply.......... 782 


Current Notes on Meteorology :— 
Peruvian Meteorology; Cirrus and Rain; 
Meteorological Notes in Labrador; Africa 


and the White Man: Proressor R. DEC. 


WARD Pa stiarciet ii etoare atclinre: otttalaccee rotate ttneye ots ec 785 
Paleontological Notes :— 

Fossil Chrysochloride in North America: 

Dr: W.. Di MATTaEW?:. 2). so. ek 786 
Scientific Notes and News........+..02+s00- 788 
University and Educational News........... 792 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 
review should be sent to the Editor of SclENcE, Garrison-on- 


Hudson, N. Y. 


THE NEW YORK MEETING OF THE AMEKI- 
CAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCE- 
MENT OF SCIENCE AND THE 
NATIONAL SCIENTIFIC 
SOCIETIES. 

THE scientific meetings to be held in 
New York City during convocation week, 
beginning on December 27, should be of 
more than usual interest and importance. 
This is the fifth of the convocation week 
meetings, the first having been held at 
Washington in 1902-3, followed by those 
at St. Louis, Philadelphia and New Or- 
leans. The large meetings at Washington 
and at Philadelphia must be regarded as 
important steps in the organization of sci- 
entific men and of scientific work, and it is 
to be hoped that the New York meeting will 
be even more influential in unifying the 
diverse scientific interests of the country. 

There are obvious objections to too great 
centralization, and there are doubtless 
many men of science who would prefer to 
see the different societies hold their sepa- 
rate meetings, but this has become almost 
impossible, if only because there are such 
close relationships between the sciences. 
For a while there was a tendency for the 


104 


societies to meet in two main groups, those 
devoted to the exact sciences holding their 
principal meetings with the American 
Association in the summer and those de- 
voted to the natural sciences holding their 
principal meeting with the American So- 
ciety of Naturalists in the winter. But 
it seems in many ways desirable that these 
two groups should not become separated, 
and in any case each group is so large as 
to interfere with the real advantages of 
compact and isolated meetings. Thus sev- 
eral years ago the president of Princeton 
University wrote that the university town 
could not accommodate the Naturalists and 
the affiliated societies. It has thus in any 
case become necessary to select a large city 
for the meetings, and when this is done it 
certainly seems desirable for the two prin- 
cipal groups of scientific men to meet to- 
gether rather than apart. 

The advantages and dangers of central- 
ization as compared with local autonomy 
are similar to those which confront us in 
civil government. We must make as good 
a compromise as we can. The fundamental 
unit for scientific organization is obviously 
a group of men in the same neighborhood 
and interested in the same kind of work. 
The men of science in the same neighbor- 
hood should unite in so far as it serves their 
common interests into an academy for the 
city or state, and those pursuing the same 
science should unite in a national society. 
This organization has to a certain extent 
taken place. We have numerous local and 
state academies, often divided into sections 
or consisting of affiliated societies, and we 
have national societies for each of the sci- 
ences, often divided into local sections. 

Probably many men of science regard 
an organization that would inelude these 
groups as too cumbersome to be workable, 
and it must be admitted that an annual 
plebiscite of all American men of science 
is out of the question. But the different 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 624. 


sciences and the separate local groups have 
interests in common. It may be Utopian 
to faney that scientific men will some day 
have control of the scientific interests of 
the country, but even under existing con- 
ditions they have real influence and serious 
responsibilities which require proper or- 
ganization. 

It is probable that the American Asso- 
ciation will ultimately become an associa- 
tion of societies rather than of individuals, 
and that its work for the advancement and 
diffusion of science will in the main be 
performed by a house of delegates. We 
should perhaps consider the organization 
effected by the American Medical Associa- 
tion and the possibility of reorganizing the 
association: to let it represent state acad- 
emies, on the one hand, and national socie- 
ties, on the other. It might be wise for 
the association to meet even now in three 
main sections: one for the eastern, one for 
the central and one for the western states, 
letting the council only migrate from one 
section to the other. 

But whatever may happen in the fu- 
ture, it is just now the business of scien- 
tific men to make the approaching meeting 
as useful and profitable as possible, and 
each can accomplish the most by being 
present and taking part in the scientific 
sessions and social gatherings. This will 
require some sacrifice of convenience, espe- 
cially for those living at a distance from 
the Atlantic seaboard. The holidays are 
short and the meetings follow closely on 
Christmas day. It is unfortunate that 
convocation week has not been completely 
established. It was hoped that our educa- 
tional institutions and government offices 
would set aside the week in which New 
Year’s day falls, or even the week follow- 
ing New Year’s day, for scientific meetings. 
It should be recognized that attendance on 
these meetings is as important a part of 
the duties of scientific men as any in which 


DECEMBER 14, 1906.] 


they are engaged. The committee of the 
American Association which had charge 
of the arrangements for convocation week 
secured assent to the plan from over sixty 
institutions, including all our larger uni- 
versities, but in many cases the assent ex- 
tended only so far as to give leave of ab- 
sence to those who wished to attend the 
meetings. It is, of course, impossible for 
classes to be continued if all the officers of 
the institutions are absent, and it appeared 
to be necessary this year to hold the meet- 
ing in Christmas week, owing to the fact 
that New Year’s day comes as early in the 
week as Tuesday. It is to be hoped that 
some joint effort can be made in coopera- 
tion with the societies devoted to history, 
economics, philology, art and other subjects 
that will ultimately establish a convocation 
week at some time in the year as part of 
the regular academic program. 

It is to be feared that owing to the inci- 
dence of Sunday most of the program this 
year will be crowded into Thursday, Fri- 
day and Saturday, although some of the 
sessions will extend into the following 
week, and the meeting of the nominating 
committee of the association will be on 
Monday evening. The main features of 
the program, some of which have already 
been printed in ScreNcz, are as follows: 
The executive committee of the council of 
the American Association will meet at the 
Hotel Belmont on December 26 at noon 
and the register for the meeting will be 
open at two o’clock. On Wednesday even- 
ing there will be informal smokers and 
gatherings of members arriving in New 
York City at the Hotel Belmont and else- 
where. The council of the association will 
meet at nine o’clock on Thursday morning. 
At ten o’clock there will be a general ses- 
sion of the association and affiliated socie- 
ties, when the retiring president, Dr. C. M. 
Woodward, will introduce the president of 
the meeting, Dr. W. H. Welch, and Presi- 


SCIENCE. 


700 


dent Butler will welcome the members to 
Columbia University. The usual announce- 
ments will then be made. ‘The sections of 
the association will hold at 11 o’clock their 
meetings for organization, followed in sev- 
eral cases by the address of the chairman. 
Most of the sections of the association and 
the national societies will meet at Columbia 
University on December 27 at 2 p.m. Sev- 
eral of the sections of the association will 
hold sessions in which topics of general 
interest will be discussed. At 8 o’clock the 
retiring president will give his address in 
Horace Mann Hall, his subject being ‘Sci- 
ence and Education.’ The addresses by the 
vice-presidents, in so far as the subjects 
have been announced, are: Professor C. F. 
Mabery, of the Case School of Applied 
Science, ‘The Education of the Professional 
Chemist’; Professor Henry B. Ward, of 
the University of Nebraska, ‘The Influence 
of Parasitism on the Host’; Professor 
Henry Crew, Northwestern University, 
‘Fact and Theory in Spectroscopy’; Dr. 
Erwin F. Smith, of the U. S. Department 
of Agriculture, ‘Problems in Plant Pathol- 
ogy’; Professor Wm. T. Sedgwick, of the 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 
‘The Expansion of Physiology’; Dr. George 
Grant MacCurdy, of Yale University, 
‘Some Phases of Prehistoric Archeology.’ 
Other vice-presidential addresses, the sub- 
jects of which are not yet announced, will 
be given by Dr. W. S. Hichelberger, of 
the U. S. Naval Observatory; Professor 
William North Rice, of Wesleyan Univer- 
sity; Professor Irving Fisher, of Yale Uni- 
versity, and by President F. W. MeNair, 
of the School of Mines, Houghton, Mich. 

The presidents of most of the national 
societies meeting at the same time will give 
addresses, many of which will be of gen- 
eral interest. The presidents of these so- 
cieties are: The Astronomical and Astro- 
physical Society of America, Professor H. 
C. Pickering, of Harvard College Observa- 


756 SCIENCE. 


tory; the American Physical Society, Pro- 
fessor Carl Barus, Brown University; the 
American Mathematical Society, Professor 
W. F. Osgood, Harvard University; the 
American Chemical Society, Professor W. 
F. Hillebrand, U. S. Geological Survey ; 
the Association of American Geographers, 
Mr. Cyrus C. Adams, New York City; the 
American Society of Zoologists, Professor 
W. E. Castle, Harvard University; the 
Association of Economie Entomologists, 
Mr. A. H. Kirkland, Malden, Mass.; the 
Society of American Bacteriologists, Dr. 
Erwin F. Smith, U. S. Department of Agri- 
culture; the American Physiological So- 
ciety; Professor W. H. Howell, the Johns 
Hopkins University; the Association of 
American Anatomists, Professor Franklin 
P. Mall, the Johns Hopkins University; 
the Botanical Society of America, Dr. F. 
S. Earle, Herradura, Cuba; the American 
Psychological Society, Professor James R. 
Angell, University of Chicago; the Ameri- 
ean Philosophical Association, Professor 
William James, Harvard University; the 
American Anthropological Association, 
Professor F. W. Putnam, Harvard Uni- 
versity; the American Folk-lore Society, 
Professor A. L. Kroeber, University of 
California; the New York State Science 
Teachers’ Association, Professor John F. 
Woodhull, Teachers College, Columbia 
University. In the case of the American 
Society of Naturalists the address will be 
given by Vice-president Davenport, on 
‘Cooperation in Science.” Owing to the 
lamented death of Professor Israel C. Rus- 
sell, the president of the Geological Society 
of America, Professor W. M. Davis, of 
Harvard University, has become acting 
president, but it is understood that an ad- 
dress prepared by Professor Russell will 
be read. Among the numerous discussions 
may be mentioned one before the American 
Society of Naturalists on ‘The Origin of 
Sex’ and one before Section K on ‘Protozoa 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 624. 


as Factors in the Diseases of Animals and 
Plants.’ 

On Thursday evening the trustees of 
Columbia University offer a reception to 
the visiting societies and on Saturday even- 
ing the trustees of the American Museum 
of Natural History and the council of the 
New York Academy of Sciences offer a 
reception. There will be in connection 
with the latter a conversazione and an 
exhibit of scientific progress by the New 
York Academy. The academy has on sey- 
eral previous occasions arranged conversa- 
ziones of this character which have proved 
very successful. The scientific exhibit will 
also be open on Friday and on Saturday 
morning, while on Saturday evening there 
will be demonstrations and short addresses. 
Following the receptions at Columbia Uni- 
versity and the American Museum of Nat- 
ural History there will be smokers, the one 
at the Faculty Club and the other at the 
Chemists’ Club. Friday evening is re- 
served for the dinners and the smokers of 
the special societies. 

The City College has invited the mem- 
bers to luncheon and to an inspection of 
its beautiful new buildings on Saturday. 
At twelve o’clock, immediately preceding 
the luncheon, there will be addresses at the 
City College by Professor C. F. Chandler, 
of Columbia University, and by Professor 
John M. Clarke, of the Science Division of 
the New York State Education Depart- 
ment, the former speaking on the indus- 
tries, the latter on the geology of Niagara 
Falls. On Saturday afternoon members 
are invited to the unveiling of ten marble 
busts of pioneers of American science, pre- 
sented by Mr. Morris K. Jesup to the 
American Museum of Natural History. 

While most of the meetings will be held 
at Columbia University, some of them will 
take place at the American Museum of 
Natural History, the New York Botanical 
Garden, the Rockefeller Institute and else- 


a a ~ 


os Te ee ee eS ee ee re 


ee ee 


ee, ere 


DECEMBER 14, 1906.] 


where. It is almost impossible in the 
middle of the winter in a city like New 
York to arrange for general excursions, but 
there will be a number of excursions and 
visits arranged for various groups of scien- 
tific men. 

The Hotel Belmont, Park Avenue and 
42d St., opposite the Grand Central Sta- 
tion, has been selected as the headquarters 
of the association. Other hotels in the 
immediate vicinity are the Murray Hill, 
the Grand Union and the Manhattan. 
Hotels between the headquarters and Co- 
lumbia University that can be recom- 
mended are the Empire, the St. Andrew 
and the Endicott. In view of the fact 
that there are many visitors in New York 
City at Christmas time, reservation of 
rooms should be made in advance. 

The societies that will meet in New York 
City in convocation week and their officers 
are as follows: 


American Association for the Advancement 
of Science—December 27—January 1. Retiring 
president, Professor C. M. Woodward, Washing- 
ton University, St. Louis, Mo.; president-elect, 
Professor W. H. Welch, The Johns Hopkins Uni- 
versity, Baltimore, Md.; permanent secretary, Dr. 
L. O. Howard, Cosmos Club, Washington, D. C.; 
general secretary, Dr. John F. Hayford, U. S. 
Coast and Geodetic Survey, Washington, D. C.; 
secretary of the council, President F. W. McNair, 
Houghton, Mich. 

Local Eauecutive Committee—J. J. Stevenson, 
chairman; C. C. Adams, Charles Baskerville, 
Franz Boas, N. L. Britton, H. C. Bumpus, Chas. 
A. Conant, Simon Flexner, Wm. J. Gies, Wm. 
Hallock, Alex. C. Humphreys, G. S. Huntington, 
Edward Kasner, Henry F. Osborn, C. L. Poor, 
Clifford Richardson, E. B. Wilson, Frederick J. 
E. Woodbridge, J. McKeen Cattell, secretary. 

Section A, Mathematics and Astronomy.—Vice- 
president, Professor Edward Kasner, Columbia 
University; secretary, Professor L. G. Weld, Uni- 
versity of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa. 

Section B, Physics.—Vice-president, Professor 
W. C. Sabine, Harvard University; secretary, Pro- 
fessor Dayton OC. Miller, Case School of Applied 
Science, Cleveland, Ohio. 


Section C, Chemistry.—Vice-president, Mr. 


SCIENCE. 


707 


Clifford Richardson, New York City; secretary, 
Professor Charles L. Parsons, New Hampshire 
College of Agriculture, Durham, N. H. 

Section D, Mechanical Science and Engineer- 
ing.—Vice-president, Mr. W. R. Warner, Cleve- 
land, O.; secretary, Professor Wm. T. Magruder, 
Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. 

Section EH, Geology and Geography.—Vice-presi- 
dent, Dr. A. C. Lane, Lansing, Mich.; secretary, 
Dr. Edmund O. Hovey, American Museum of 
Natural History, New York, N. Y. 

Section F, Zoology.—Vice-president, Professor 
E. G. Conklin, University of Pennsylvania; secre- 
tary, Professor C. Judson Herrick, Denison Uni- 
versity, Granville, Ohio. 

Section G, Botany.—Vice-president, Dr. D. T. 
MacDougal, Washington, D. C.; secretary, Pro- 
fessor F. E. Lloyd, Desert Botanical Laboratory, 
Tucson, Arizona. 

Section H, Anthropology.—Vice-president, Pro- 
fessor Hugo Miinsterberg, Harvard University; 
secretary, George H. Pepper, American Museum 
of Natural History. 

Section I, Social and Economic Science.—Mr. 
Chas. A. Conant, New York City; secretary, Dr. 
J. F. Crowell, Bureau of Statistics, Washington, 
D. C. 

Section K, Physiology and Experimental Medi- 
cine.—Vice-president, Dr. Simon Flexner, The 
Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research; secre- 
tary, Dr. Wm. J. Gies, College of Physicians and 
Surgeons, Columbia University, New York City. 

The American Society of Naturalists——Decem- 
ber 28. President, Professor William James, 
Harvard University; secretary, Professor W. EH. 
Castle, Harvard University. 

The Astronomical and Astrophysical Society of 
America.—December 27. President, Professor E. 
C. Pickering, Harvard College Observatory; secre- 
tary, Professor Geo. C. Comstock, Washburn Ob- 
servatory, Madison, Wis. 


The American Physical Society.—President, 


‘Professor Carl Barus, Brown University; secre- 


tary, Professor Ernest Merritt, Cornell Univer- 
sity, Ithaca, N. Y. 

The American Mathematical Society.—Decem- 
ber 28, 29. President, Professor W. F. Osgood, 
Harvard University; secretary, Professor F. N. 
Cole, Columbia University. 

The American Chemical Society—December 
27-January 2. President, Professor W. F. Hille- 
brand, U. 8. Geological Survey; secretary, Dr. 
William A. Noyes, the Bureau of Standards 
Washington, D. C. 

The Geological Society of America.—December 


758 SCIENCE. 


26-29. Acting president, Professor W. M. Davis, 
Harvard University; secretary, Professor Her- 
man L. Fairchild, Rochester, N. Y. 

The Association of American Geographers.— 
December 31—January 1. President, Cyrus C. 
Adams, New York City; secretary, Albert P. 
Brigham, Colgate University. 

The American Society of Zoologists.—Decem- 
ber 27, 28, 29. President (Eastern Branch), Pro- 
fessor W. E. Castle, Harvard University; secre- 
tary, Professor H. S. Pratt, Haverford College. 
President (Central Branch), Professor C. C. Nut- 
ting, University of Iowa; secretary, Professor T. 
G. See, University of Michigan. 

The Association of Economic Entomologists.— 
December 28, 29. President, A. H. Kirkland, 
Malden, Mass.; secretary, A. F. Burgess, Colum- 
bus, O. 

The Society of American Bacteriologists.— 
President, Dr. E. F. Smith, U. 8. Department of 
Agriculture; secretary, Professor 8. C. Prescott, 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

The American Physiological Society—Decem- 
ber 27, 28, 29. President, Professor W. H. 
Howell, the Johns Hopkins University; secretary, 
Professor Lafayette B. Mendel, 18 Trumbull St., 
New Haven, Conn. 

The Association of American Anatomists.—De- 
cember 27, 28, 29. President, Professor Frank- 
lin P. Mall; secretary, Professor G. Carl Huber, 
333 East Ann St., Ann Arbor, Mich. 

The Botamcal Society of America— December 
27, 28, 29. President, Dr. F. 8. Earle; secretary, 
Dr. William Trelease, Missouri Botanical Garden, 
St. Louis, Mo. 

The American Psychological Association.—De- 
cember 27-28. President, Professor James R. 
Angell, University of Chicago; secretary, Pro- 
fessor Wm. Harper Davis, Lehigh University. 

The American Philosophical Association.—De- 
cember 27-29. President, Professor William 
James, Harvard University; secretary, Professor 
John Grier Hibben, Princeton University. 

The American Anthropological Association.— 
December 27—January 3. President, Professor F. 
W. Putnam, Harvard University; secretary, Dr. 
Geo. Grant MacCurdy, Yale University, New 
Haven, Conn. 

The American Folk-lore Society—December 
27-January 3. President, Dr. A. L. Kroeber, 
University of California; secretary, W. W. Newell, 
Cambridge, Mass. 

New York State Science Teachers Association. 
—December 26, 27. President, John F. Wood- 
hull, Teachers College, Columbia University. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 624. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


Early Chinese Writing. By Frank H. CHaAt- 
FANT. Memoirs of the Carnegie Museum, 
Vole TYo No. ae 
The director of the Carnegie Museum, Dr. 

W. J. Holland, deserves the thanks of oriental 

scholars for his wisdom in inducing Mr. Chal- 

fant to prepare this valuable and interesting 
memoir on early Chinese writing. Mr. Chal- 


fant has been a missionary in China for nine- ~ 


teen years, and he certainly employed his time 
to good purpose in collecting data concerning 
the early forms of Chinese ideographs. His 
preliminary chapter on early writing derived 
from ancient inscriptions is an excellent dis- 
cussion of the meaning of these primitive 
hieroglyphs, which began in the form of rude 
pictographs, and afterwards developed into 
what are commonly known as Chinese ideo- 
graphs with their phonetics, radicals, ete. 
The author justly says that it was unfortu- 
nate that the word radical should have been 
applied to certain characters which usually, 
though not always, are associated with their 
meaning. He ealls attention to a marked 
example of this incongruity in the group of 
symbols under the radical corpse very few of 
which have any relation to death." Mr. Chal- 
fant says that the radicals should more prop- 
erly be called ‘determinates’ or ‘ classifiers.’ 
The Chinese character used to express the idea 
means word-class or classifier, the colloquial 
term being word-mother, which after all con- 
veys the meaning of radical or root. We may 
add that Dr. Edkins, the distinguished sino- 
logue, in his ‘Introduction to the Study of 
Chinese Characters’ says the word radical is 
misleading. He says the equivalent pu means 
classes, and corresponds to our word kingdom 
in natural history, and orders in botany and 
zoology. 

The student will find Mr. Chalfant’s memoir 
of the greatest value in studying the evolution, 
so to speak, of the Chinese ideogram. At the 

1JIn no better way can one appreciate the utter 
absence of scientific method in the Chinese than 
by a study of their ideographs. It is enough to 
say that European philologists alone have the 
ability to make clear the origin and classification 
of their symbols. 


| 
| 


DECEMBER 14, 1906.] 


outset a character began as a rough outline of 
the object represented, and then by successive 
repetitions the outlines became more and more 
conventionalized until it reached its present 
form.’ A suggestion of this evolution is given 
by Mr. Chalfant in twenty-nine plates with 
the characters arranged in horizontal lines, to 
the number of 403, each line presenting a 
number of variants, derived from ancient in- 
scriptions. He gives first the modern char- 
acter, its radical, the seal method of writing 
it in the early part of our era, and then several 
older forms with the suggestion of the original 
figure. The student will be greatly interested 
in the lucid discussions of these early forms 
which Mr. Chalfant illustrates so clearly. 
Edkins, in the book above mentioned, gives 
only one ancient form with each character, 
though in a supplement he gives many in- 
scriptions from ancient Chinese bronzes. 

Dr. John Chalmers published, in 1882, a 
book entitled ‘ The Structure of Chinese Char- 
acters Under 300 Primary Forms, after the 
Shwoh-wan, 100 a.p., and the Phonetic Shwoh- 
wan, 1833.’ Here also only a single ancient 
form is associated with the modern character. 
This book, by the way, is the best one in 
English for the study of Chinese characters, 
for under each radical many important deriva- 
tives are given so that if one mastered all these 
he would have made a sound beginning in this 
fascinating study. Chalfant gives in twenty 
additional plates 489 of the Shuo Wen* rad- 
icals with their modern equivalents. In this 
memoir is also presented a fac-simile of the 
San Edict, filling nine pages with these an- 
cient characters which date back to 1122 B.c., 
accompanied with a tentative translation. 
Mr. Chalfant says the text ‘may be regarded 
as rightly belonging to the early date ascribed 
to it and I see no reason for suspecting it a 
forgery.’ The writing was found inscribed on 
a bronze vessel, and the translation of it must 
have been a most difficult task. The inscrip- 


2Of course there are thousands of characters 
which are made up of combinations of others act- 
ing as phonetics, or radicals, and these radicals 
in turn are often greatly abbreviated. 

8 Edkins gives this word Shwo wen, Chalmers 
gives it Shwoh-wan. ; 


SCIENCE. 709 


tion consists of a royal edict concerning the 
domain of San. “The instrument is executed 
in the form of an indenture with description 
of land and names of adjacent land-holders, 
as in modern Chinese deeds.” The minute 
details show an advanced organization of so- 
ciety and might well belong to the Chow 
dynasty. We may add that a confirmation 
of the civilization of the Chinese at that early 
date may be gathered from W. R. Gingell’s 
remarkable translation of a work known as 
the Institutes of the Chow Dynasty. Mr. 
Gingell entitles his translation ‘The Cere- 
monial Usages of the Chinese, B.c. 1121 as 
Prescribed in the Institutes of the Chow 
Dynasty, Strung as Pearls.’ No one can read 
this record without being impressed by the 
elaborate system of government, the compli- 
cated ceremonies attending every function, 
the minute rules observed in every employment 
and the overpowering forms of etiquette. 
Indeed, so extraordinary are many of these 
observances that one is inclined to believe 
them fabulous, the more so, as with such an 
advanced civilization as these records imply 
one wonders how a people could be content 
with a method of rude picture writing that 
would hardly do credit to an untutored savage. 
The mystery becomes the deeper when one con- 
siders that these people had on their western 
border an example of phonetic writing in the 
Sanskrit, and yet never abandoned their picto- 
graphic methods. 

The evolution of these rude drawings into 
definite conventional characters is very in- 
structive; as an example, a rude drawing of 
bushes which were formerly used for hedges 
to define the boundaries of a field, finally be- 
comes developed into a character which means 
‘ indicator.’ 

The interest attaching to Mr. Chalfant’s 
memoir extends quite beyond the matter of 
Chinese characters and their origin. For 
those who still have a lingering idea that in 
the past there was some culture contact be- 
tween the people of middle America and 
China it is natural to inquire if any resem- 
blance can be found in the early writings of 
these two peoples, both of which wrote in pic- 
ture symbols at the outset. This method of 


760 SCIENCE. 


writing naturally depicted in many cases the 
same objects. Colonel Garrick Mallery, in 
his great volume on ‘ Picture Writing of the 
American Indian,’ a publication of the Bureau 
of Ethnology, says: “The present collection 
shows the interesting psychologic fact that 
primitive, or, at least, very ancient man made 
the same figures in widely-separated regions, 
though it is not established that the same 
figures had a common significance.” The 
rude pictographs of bow, sun, moon, eye and 
other objects may be found cut in rock 
throughout the world, but these coincidences 
do not indicate community of origin any more 
than do the rude stone arrow head and spear 
point which are world-wide in their distribu- 
tion, and which Huxley said may be regarded 
as ‘weapons of necessity.’ Interesting coin- 
cidences do occur, as, for example, the Maya 
glyph for division is represented by an oblong 
oval figure with an inner oval outline having 
two vertical lines. This has been supposed 
to represent an obsidian knife. The Chinese 
ideogram for division represents a knife of 
another kind with two lines above representing 
a thing divided. The Egyptian glyph repre- 
sents a knife like a chopper with a handle used 
in cutting leather, this also means division. 
Mr. Chalfant gives a reproduction of rude 
characters found on fragments of tortoise 
shell and on bone arrow heads which were 
exhumed in the province of Honan in 1899. 
Many of these characters are rude pictures of 
objects, such as horse, stag, bird, scorpion, 
halberd, bow and arrow, wine-jar, hill, field 
and others. They are considered examples of 
the earliest writing of the Chinese. The pro- 
found difference between the Maya and asso- 
ciated glyphs of middle America, and the 
Chinese ideographs may be seen at a glance. 
Ranging over a period of 3,000 years, at least, 
the Chinese character has been in the form 
of lines either enclosing spaces as in sun, 
moon, field, etce., or lines running out from 
the figure like twigs from a tree. In the Maya 
and other glyphs of like character the lines of 
the drawing invariably enclose spaces. In 
other words the glyphs are made up of con- 
ventional drawings of skulls, feet, vessels, etc., 
in the solid. Here, indeed, one finds a funda- 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 624. 


mental difference in the two methods; the 
Maya glyph more nearly approaches the Egyp- 
tian hieroglyph in which the picture of the 
object is portrayed, though differing from the 
rude, conventionalized Maya in being drawn 
with remarkable fidelity and taste. The Maya 
glyphs have been derived from larger draw- 
ings, but in their condensed and abbreviated 
forms remind one of those shrunken and 
diminutive black human heads from South 
America, which though greatly reduced in 
size, still preserve the characteristics of the 
full-sized head. The Maya glyphs were evolved 
from more complex pictures, yet let one try 
to imagine a slow evolution of these glyphs at 
all paralleling the progressive development of 
Chinese characters and he is forced to admit 
their entire difference. As an example, take 
the modern Chinese character for turtle, and 
one can detect the back, the fore and hind 
legs, tail, ete.; the Maya glyph for turtle, on 
the contrary, represents the head alone with 
a few rudimentary designs below or at the 
sides, but unmistakable in its character with 
its recurved beak and peculiar turtle snout. 

This brief review does scant justice to Mr. 
Chalfant’s memoir, but we trust that his con- 
tributions may inspire others to enter this 
interesting field of research. 

Epwarp S. Morse. 
Forest Mensuration. By Henry Soon 

GRAVES. 

1906. Pp. 458. 8vo. 

That forestry is a business—the business of 
making a revenue from wood crops—is now 
perhaps grasped by even the most recent 
novice in the ranks of propagandists for for- 
est preservation. Every business requires the 
measuring of financial effects; inquiries as to 
the profitableness of its operations—the statics 
of expenditure and return—occupy the man- 
ager of every business. So in forestry, the 
recurring inquiry is: Will it pay? 
effort and expense of making a plantation or 
of leaving parts of a forest uncut to secure a 
natural regeneration find eventually its proper 
reward ? 

How complicated and difficult the answer 
to this question must be can be realized when 


New York, John Wiley and Sons. 


Will the 


— eee, ee ee ee 


DECEMBER 14, 1906.] 


one contemplates the long time which is in- 
volved, the many changes to which the crop 
is subjected during that time, varying its rate 
of growth from period to period, and its 
character, which the forester must be able to 
foresee. Finally, where finances are involved, 
market conditions must also be predicted: the 
forester must be a seer! 

As in the factory, cost of output and sale 
value of product are compared, so in forestry 
the cost of producing wood and its eventual 
sale value need to be placed in relation. But, 
before a financial calculation can be made, 
we must be able to measure the product itself, 
and the methods that are employed to measure 
the volume of trees or parts of trees, of stands, 
forests, and of their increments from period 
to period are comprised under the name of 
forest mensuration. 

It was quite natural that the first American 
professional text-book of forestry, worthy of 
the name, should occupy itself with this 
branch of the subject, which is to a large 
degree basic of all other branches. Dealing 
mainly with mathematical questions, it was 
possible to bodily transfer the European 
knowledge and practise, ready for our use. 

The art of forest mensuration, as all other 
branches of forestry, has naturally been main- 
ly developed in Germany, and as regards 
methods of procedure in the measurement, 
especially of standing timber and of incre- 
ment, the author could add litttle to the con- 
tents of the latest German text-books. But 
in the matter of measuring felled timber, es- 
pecially logs, the American method of em- 
ploying the board-foot or some similar stand- 
ard gave opportunity to add the matter 
contained in chapters II. to V. on log rules 
and sealing of logs, which would naturally 
not be found in European literature, the neces- 
sity for which we consider, however, a na- 
tional misfortune. 

It is unfortunate that we are doomed to 
remain in the backwoods as regards our units 
of measurement. If it is a pity that we have 
not yet adopted the metric system, it is almost 
a sin that we persist in continuing the use of 
the absurd log scales, and we regret that Pro- 
fessor Graves has not used the opportunity 


SCIENCE. 761 


of inveighing more severely against this in- 
cubus. 

There are not less than forty-five standards 
or units of measurement for logs employed in 
the United States, all varying in the board- 
foot contents they give for logs of the same 
cubical contents. It is a matter of experi- 
ence that the results at the mill invariably 
belie the log scale. Professor Graves has 
treated this subject most fully and with an 
elaboration worthy of a better cause, admit- 
ting at the same time that ‘the cubic foot 
will unquestionably be used more and more, 
as the value of timber increases and eventu- 
ally replace the present rough unit, the board- 


_ foot.’ 


The other parts of the book are treated with 
similar clearness and elaboration, and the - 
whole must be recognized as much a standard 
work—the first in the English language on 
the subject—as any of the best German text- 
books. Indeed, this book is in some respects 
an improvement by the addition of results of 
measurements in tables, which are usually not 
given in such text-books. The methods of 
estimating standing timber are also more 
elaborated than in European literature. 

We welcome this contribution to profes- 
sional forestry literature as distinctly an ad- 
vance to our forestry movement. 

B. E. Frrnow. 


THE NUMBER OF KNOWN FERNS. 


Frew persons not familiar with fern litera- 
ture can begin to appreciate the scattered 
nature of the information that must be 
gleaned and sifted in the systematic study of 
the ferns of any region outside of temperate 
North America and Europe. The last sum- 
mary of the ferns of the world was published 
a generation ago (1874) and proved a most 
useful work, notwithstanding two facts: (1) 
that its conservative authors, throwing geo- 
graphic distribution to the winds, often in- 
cluded from two to twenty species under the 
single name of one of their so-called species 
of general distribution; and (2) that the use 
of the Kew method of citation for the author 
of the species made it practically impossible 
to trace a given species to its original descrip- 


762 SCIENCE. 


tion and so to its type-locality. ‘Synopsis 
Filicum’ served a useful purpose in its day, 
but the days of indiscriminate ‘lumping’ of 
species are over, and the really serious-minded 
who wish to attain accuracy in the scientific 
delimitation of species must have, even for 
the species known before 1874, a more accu- 
rate and available guide than this work. Be- 
sides this, the species that have been described 
in the last thirty-two years nearly equal those 
described before 1874. 

It is, therefore, with the greatest delight 
that fern students of all lands will hail the 
completion of a publication whose earlier 
parts, already reviewed in this journal, have 
proved only a fair sample of what is, without 
question, the most useful single work on ferns 
that has ever been published. 

“Index Filicum,’ by Carl Christensen, now 
completed in a volume of eight hundred oc- 
tavo pages is the work in question.’ In this 
work each described species is entered not only 
under its original genus, but also under every 
successive generic name to which it has been 
referred in a century and a half of genus 
making, unmaking and remaking. For ex- 
ample the common male-fern of Europe is 
cited as Polypodium filiz-mas, under which 
Linneeus first described it, and successively 
as Dryopteris filix-mas, Polystichum filix-mas, 
Aspidium filix-mas, Nephrodium filix-mas and 
Lastrea filix-mas, under which names it has 
successively appeared commencing with Adan- 
son (1763), and under each of which it is 
known to-day in some part or other of Europe. 
Each reference gives a full citation with date, 
following almost exactly the American system 
for citation, and each entry has a cross refer- 
ence to the generic name adopted in the work. 
Under the accepted one in the above case, 
Dryopteris filix-mas, the principal synonymy 
is given, together with the geographic distri- 
bution of the species. Genera and species are 
both included in one alphabetical series and 


1 Carl Christensen: Index Filicum; sive enumer- 
atio omnium generum specierumque Filicum et 
Hydropteridum ab anno 1753 ad finem anni 1905 
descriptorum; adjectis synonymis principalibus, 
area geographica, ete. 8vo, pp. Ix, 744. Hafniae, 
1905-1906, apud H. Hagerup. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 624. 


selected forms of type readily distinguish ac- 
cepted genera and species from synonyms, 
and these in turn from names of horticultural 
origin. Following this alphabetical index is 
a bibliography containing titles of all the 
works and papers in which genera and species 
of ferns have been defined, arranged alpha- 
betically by authors, followed in turn by a 
systematic index of the bibliography by means 
of which one can quickly ascertain the extent 
of the literature bearing directly on the ferns 
of any continent, country or island, or on 
any genus or family of ferns. 

The summary of entries includes 819 gen- 
eric names and 22,680 specific names, which 
shows (1) the magnitude of the work, since 
these names are all entered at least twice, and 
(2) the extent of the synonymy, since the 
number of accepted genera is 149 and the 
number of accepted species is 5,940. To show 
the growth of our knowledge during a genera- 
tion, we give in the following table a list of 
a few of the genera whose limits are alike in 
all the works cited, with the number of species 
in each as recognized in 1874 in Synopsis 
Filicum, as estimated by Diels and others in 
Die natiirlichen Pflanzenfamilien in 1898, 
and as actually listed by Christensen in Index 
Filicum to the end of 1905. 


zo a q pel Bo 8 2 3 
ered | Beeee see 
Genus. 2 Soh a8 24S 
ot) nA g2oes 35" 
Trichomanes, 91 80 228 
Hymenophyllum, 80 74 231 
Cyathea, 80 100 + 182 
Hemitelia, 30 44 59 
Alsophila, 90 112 185 
Woodsia, 14 15 25 
Cystopteris, 5 5 13 
Adiantum, 890 80 184 
Vittaria, 13 10-20 46 
Gleichenia, 27 25 79 
Marattia, 8 12 28 
Ophioglossum, 10 30 43 
Botrychium, 6 16 34 


In sixty preliminary pages issued with the 
last part (12) of the work, Christensen gives 
a concise systematic enumeration of the gen- 


: 
4 
i 
2 
: 
4 


DECEMBER 14, 1906.] 


era adopted in the index, with synonyms and 
sectional divisions. This follows in the main 
the treatment in Die natiirlichen Pflanzen- 
familien, departing from it where recent 
monographic work seems to render it neces- 
sary, and changing generic names where pri- 
ority requires. In this connection, it will be 
a rude shock to some of our conservative fern 
students to see the names Dryopteris, Denn- 
stedtia, Phanerophlebia, Phyllitis, Pteridium, 
Matteuccia, Cyclophorus and Ceropteris ac- 
cepted in place of names long cherished, but 
progress is inevitable and these names will 
stand because they are right. 

To those people who still name ferns as new 
which are ‘not described in Synopsis Fuli- 
cum, to whom it makes no difference whether 
the type locality of the name given to a West 
Indian fern is New Zealand, Mauritius or 
Jamaica, or to whom the mere priority of 
publication is of no concern, Mr. Christensen’s 
book will be only a thorn in the flesh. To 
those whose ambition is to place fern delimita- 
tion and our knowledge of fern distribution 
on a stable and scientific foundation for accu- 
rate study, his work will be worth its weight 
in gold as a time saver, and a datum line for 
departure into new fields. Conceived in the 
same spirit as Index Kewensis for flowering 


plants, Mr. Christensen’s work will far out- 


rank it in accuracy, completeness and rational 
point of view. 

The novice might well ask: Are the ferns 
all described in these 5,940 accepted species? 
Unhesitatingly we would say, No! Not all 
these names will stand, for there has been 
much avoidable and some unavoidable rede- 
scription in the absence of such an index as 
we now have before us. On the other hand, 
countries supposed to have been exhaustively 
studied are yielding frequent novelties. A 
single capital illustration is fresh from the 
antipodes. The island of Java has been classic 
ground for fern study since the time of Blume 
(1828). Raciborski has recently (1898) given 
us a fresh manual of the ferns of the vicinity 
of Buitenzorg. This last work includes only 
a single terrestrial Ophioglossum. An Amer- 
ican morphologist visits Buitenzorg specially 
in quest of material bearing on this primitive 


SCIENCE. 


763 


type and what does he find? No less than 
four well-marked terrestrial species of Ophio- 
glossum snatched from under the eyes of the 
slower European botanists who have exploited 
rather than exhausted the fern flora of the 
old world. 
Lucien M. UNbDERWoop. 
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, 
November 10, 1906. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 


The Botanical Gazette for November con- 
tains the following papers: ‘The Ovule and 
Female Gametophyte of Dioon, by C. J. 
Chamberlain. This genus is endemic in Mex- 
ico and it is probable that plants often reach 
the age of more than 1,000 years. The struc- 
tures studied were the ovulate strobilus, the 
megasporophyll, the integument, the vascular 
system of the ovule, the megaspore membrane, 
the archegonium and the egg, the general con- 
clusions being reached that Dioon resembles 
Cycas more than does any other living genus. 
‘Temperature and Toxic Action, by Charles 
Brooks, the purpose of the experiments re- 
corded being to determine what might be the 
modifying effect of temperature on the toxic 
properties of certain chemicals as shown by 
the effect of these substances on germination 
and growth in certain fungi. ‘The Embry- 
ogeny of some Cuban Nympheacee,’ by Mel. 
T. Cook, giving an account of the development 
of the embryo sac, the endosperm and the 
embryo. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


THE SOCIETY FOR EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY AND 
MEDICINE. 


THE eighteenth meeting of the Society for 
Experimental Biology and Medicine was held 
at the Cornell Medical School, in New York 
City, on Wednesday evening, October 17. The 
president, Simon Flexner, was in the chair. 

Members present.—Atkinson, Auer, Beebe, 
Buxton, Crile, Dunham, Elser, Emerson, 
Ewing, Field, Flexner, Flournoy, Foster, Gib- 
son, Gies, Hatcher, Lee, Levene, Levin, Loeb 
(L.),’ Lusk, Mandel (A. R.), Meltzer, Meyer, 


1 Non-resident. 


764 SCIENCE. 


Murlin, Norris, Park, Richards, Salant, 
Schwyzer, Shaffer, Torrey, Wallace, Wolf, 
Wood, Yerkes.* 


Abstracts of Original Communications. 


The Formation of Glycogen from Sugars by 
Muscle, with a demonstration of a perfusion 
apparatus: R. A. HatcHer and C. G. L. 
WoLr. 

Contrary to the findings of Kiilz, saccharose 
does not yield glycogen in muscle. Glucose 
is a direct glycogen-former in muscle. No 
glycogen is formed from either glucose or 
saccharose in the glycogen-free muscles of 
animals which have been starved and treated 
with strychnin. 

A perfusion apparatus was shown which 
permits the simultaneous and separate per- 
fusion of the hind limbs of an animal and 
the arterialization of the blood by the lungs 
of two animals, each pair of lungs being used 
for an individual limb. 


Bile Media in Typhoid Diagnosis: B. H. 

Buxton. 

In the author’s work 10 ¢.c. of blood, drawn 
directly from a vein, were distributed into 
three flasks containing 20 ec. each of steril- 
ized ox bile. This medium was used with 
great success in typhoid diagnosis. 


The Inconstant Action of Muscles: WarrEN 

P. Lomparp and F. M. Assortt. 

The movements of the hind leg of the frog, 
which are generally ascribed to finely adjusted 
nervous coordination, are in fact largely the 
result of the mechanical conditions under 
which the muscles act. These conditions dif- 
fer with each new position of the bones enter- 
ing into the joints of the limb, and conse- 
quently alter the effect of the contraction of 
the muscles as the positions of the bones 
change during the course of any given move- 
ment. Thus a muscle which in one position 
of a bone acts as a flexor, in another position 

* The abstracts presented in this account of the 
proceedings have been greatly condensed from ab- 
stracts prepared by the authors themselves. The 
latter abstracts of the communications may be 
found in number one of volume four of the 
society’s proceedings. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 624. 


acts as an extensor, and a muscle which in one 
position of a bone may carry it dorsally, in 
another position may carry it ventrally. Mani- 
festly it is absurd to try to class muscles as 
flexors and extensors, for example, or to try 
to name them according to the movements 
which they are supposed to produce. <A study 
of central coordination must be postponed 
until the effects of peripheral coordination 
based on joint and muscle mechanics has been 
ascertained. 


The Senses and Intelligence of the Chinese 

Dancing Mouse: Ropert M. YERKES. 

For a few days during the first month of 
post-natal life dancing mice respond definitely 
to sounds, but neither direct nor indirect 
methods of testing auditory sensitiveness fur- 
nish any evidence of it in the adult. Bright- 
ness vision is fairly acute; color vision is 
poorly developed. In visual discrimination 
the mice apparently depend upon brightness 
differences. The behavior of the dancing 
mouse is readily modifiable. Modifications of 
behavior occur more rapidly in the male than 
in the female. Individual differences in plas- 
ticity and in the permanency of modification 
are marked. There is little evidence of any 
form of imitative tendency in behavior. 


On the Motor Activities of the Alimentary 
Canal after Splanchnic and Vagus Section. 
W. 3B. Cannon. (Presented by S. J. 
Meltzer.) 
Movements of the Esophagus.—Splanchnie 

section resulted in no deviation from the nor- 

mal. Bilateral vagus section resulted in the 
well-known paralysis of the thoracic esoph- 
agus. A distinction must be drawn between 
the immediate paralyzing effect on the esoph- 
agus of cutting the vagi, and the later partial 
or almost complete recovery of efficiency by a 


- local mechanism in the esophageal wall. 


Movements of the Stomach.—Splanchnic 
section caused no alteration from the normal 
movements. The immediate effect of vagus 
section was tardiness in the starting of gastric 
peristalsis after food was introduced into the 
stomach. Again a distinction must be drawn 
between the first and the later effects of vagus 
section. ; ; 


} 
f 
f 
j 


RS ee ee ee ee. 


eg 


ee ee ee eS ee ee ee se ee 


DECEMBER 14, 1906.] 


When all the extrinsic nerves were cut the 
gastric waves passed at the usual rhythm, but 
were unlike those seen when the vagi alone 
were cut in being, from the first, deep and 
‘powerful contractions. After death in these 
cases the stomach was usually found to be 
strongly contracted. 


Passage of Carbohydrate and Protein Food: 


from the Stomach.—After total suppression 
of impulses through the splanchnics both car- 
bohydrate and protein foods are discharged 
through the pylorus at practically the normal 
rate. In the absence of impulses through the 
vagi and in the presence of impulses through 
the splanchnics the discharge of both carbo- 
hydrate and protein is notably retarded. But 
this retardation, especially when protein is 
fed, is much more marked soon after the 
operation than it is later. Again a distinc- 
tion must be drawn between the immediate 
depressing effect of vagus section and the 
later considerable recovery of normal func- 
tioning. 

When all extrinsic nerves have been cut, 
there is, as in the cases of vagus section alone, 
a difference between the immediate defect and 
the later partial recovery of normal function. 

Passage of Food through the Small In- 
testine-—After splanchnic section the rate of 
transit from pylorus to ileocolie sphincter, 
when protein was fed, was much accelerated, 
and after vagus section it was much slower 
than normal. The rate was slower also when 
all nerves were cut. The variation from the 
normal was in all cases less with carbohydrate 
food than with protein. 

Rhythmic segmentation of the food in the 
small intestine was observed in every condition 
of nerve section. 

The persistence of characteristically dif- 
ferent rates of discharge of protein and of 
carbohydrate food through the pylorus, after 
splanchnic section, after vagus section, and 
after severing both sets of nerves in the same 
animal, definitely proves that the control of 
this differential discharge is local and not 
mediated through the central nervous system. 


Experimental and Clinical Observations upon 
Direct Transfusion of Blood: G. W. Crite. 


SCIENCE. 765 


By means of end to end anastomosis by 
suture, blood was transfused in 74 dogs. 
Blood was transfused, retransfused and re- 
versely transfused over a period of a month 
in the same dogs. There were no agglutins 
or hemolysins produced, no hemoglobinuria 
and no nephritis. Blood was found physi- 
ologically interchangeable. Every degree of 
hemorrhage, even to cessation of the arterial 
stream, was successfully treated. 

In six clinical cases of hemorrhage treated 
by transfusion of blood the results were the 
same as in the laboratory. The hemorrhage 
factor was eliminated. 


On the Normal Peristalttec Movements of the 

Ureter; D. R. Lucas (by invitation). 

In dogs narcotized with morphin the peri- 
staltie contractions of the middle part of the 
ureter occur at intervals varying between 6 
and 15 seconds. The curves representing 
these contractions were of variable but gener- 
ally of fairly good size. These peristaltic con- 
tractions are apparently the same as those 
which Engelmann and other writers observed. 
The author found, however, that the renal 
pelvis as well as the uppermost part of the 
ureter exhibits peristaltic contractions of an- 
other kind; they are small, of short duration 
and oceur every three or two seconds. 

In some animals, in which the contractions 
from the middle part of the ureter presented 
fairly large curves, it frequently happened 
that these curves were superimposed by finer 
undulations. From the lower end of the 
ureter only a few tracings were obtained. It 
seems that in the lower end, also, the small 
and more frequent contractions predominate. 

Anesthetics, e. g., chloroform or ether, exer- 
cise pronounced inhibitory effects on ureteral 
peristalsis. The relatively slight and more 
frequent contractions appear to be less affected 
than the others by anesthetics. 


Gastric Peristalsis under Normal and Certain 
Experimental Conditions: Joun Avugr. 
The author has devised a very simple and 

satisfactory means of studying gastric peri- 

stalsis. He finds that if a well-fed rabbit is 
stretched out on its back and the hair of the 
epigastrium clipped, any observer may see 


766 SCIENCE. 


active gastric peristalsis under a closer ap- 
proximation to physiological conditions than 
the saline bath affords. Mere inspection of 
the abdomen of a rabbit in this position shows 
that the stomach is far from inert. A short 
time after preparing the animal, peristaltic 
waves are seen coursing over the stomach from 
left to right, increasing in strength as the 
pyloric third is approached. These waves are 
easily registered by placing a tambour over 
the stomach region to be studied and connect- 
ing it with a writing tambour or manometer. 
The writing tambour registers not only the 
change in volume of the stomach part it over- 
lies, but also the respiration of the animal; 
in many cases, with delicate adjustment of 
the writing pen, the heart beats are also 
marked. 

A study of gastric peristalsis by this method 
has shown that as a rule the stomach is 
motionless for awhile after the animal is 
placed upon its back and its limbs are ex- 
tended, but that active peristalsis is reestab- 
lished a few minutes afterward. Cessation of 
gastric peristalsis is also caused by the opera- 
tion of opening the abdominal cavity, by sec- 
tion of both vagi in the neck and by subcu- 
taneous injection of morphin. Inhibitory ef- 
fects are also caused by ordinary inhalation of 
ether and by fasting. Intravenous injection 
of curare does not abolish gastric peristalsis 
so long as artificial respiration is maintained. 
Feeding reestablishes peristalsis after its dis- 
continuance from fasting. 


Reflex Inhibition of the Cardia in Rabbits by 
Stimulation of the Central End of the 
Vagus: S. J. Mentzer and JoHn AUvER. 
At the last meeting the authors reported 

that by stimulation of the central end of the 

vagus a tetanic contraction of the entire 
esophagus can be produced in dogs and cats, 
but not in rabbits. In continuation of their 
studies the authors have found that stimula- 

tion of the central end of the vagus causes a 

distinct inhibition of the cardia in rabbits. 


The cardia of the rabbit is normally con-- 


tracted in a moderate degree. Furthermore, 
at each deglutition the peristaltic movements 
of the esophagus terminate in a characteristic 
contraction of the cardia—it sinks into the 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 624. 


stomach. Finally, after a stimulation of the 
peripheral end of the vagus the cardia con- 
tracts in the same characteristic way. The 
authors found that these three states of ccon- 
traction can be definitely inhibited by a stim- 
ulation of the central end of the vagus. In 
the first place the cardia relaxes—bulges up 
during such stimulation. In the second place, 
if deglutition occurs, the cardia fails to con- 
tract so long as the central end of the vagus 
is being stimulated. Finally, the interrup- 
tion of the stimulation of the peripheral end 
of the vagus does not bring on a contraction 
of the cardia while the central end is being 
stimulated. 


Continuous Anesthesia by Subcutaneous In- 
jection of Magnestum Sulfate in Neph- 
rectomized Animals: D. R. Lucas and S. J. 
MELTZER. 

Nephrectomy prevents rapid excretion of 
magnesium sulfate after its subcutaneous in- 
troduction. Consequently half the dose of 
this salt that is required per kilo to anes- 
thetize a normal rabbit suffices for a neph- 
rectomized rabbit. Furthermore, the anes- 
thesia caused in nephrectomized rabbits by 
half the usual dose is deeper and lasts longer, 
because most of the magnesium compound is 
unable to leave the body. The anesthetic 
results with magnesium sulfate, in normal and 
nephrectomized rabbits, are in sharp contrast 
to the toxic effects of strychnin under an- 
alogous circumstances. 


Remarks on and Exhibition of Specimens of a 
Metastasising Sarcoma of the Rat: Stmon 
FLEXNER and J. W. JoBLING. 

The exhibited specimens consisted of a 
mixed-cell sarcoma, of the seminal vesicle of 
a white rat, which had been transplanted suc- 
cessfully into a series of white rats. The 
original tumor, which was found in a rat 
dying spontaneously in the laboratory, was as 


large as a walnut. Its surface was covered ~ 


with peritoneum and its consistence was firm. 
Thus far it has been transplanted to full- 


grown and young rats both by subcutaneous 


and by intraperitoneal inoculation. The fea- 
tures of the tumor which the authors especial- 
ly emphasized were the large and numerous 


Se ee nee ee ee 


ee eee a ee ee 


DECEMBER 14, 1906.] 


metastases which have appeared in the in- 
oculated rats. The rat containing the original 
tumor did not show visible metastases. But 
in the animals which have succumbed after 
successful inoculation, the metastases have 
been numerous and of large size. They have 
appeared in the lungs and kidneys, and in one 
instance, following intraperitoneal injection, 
in the ribs and intercostal muscles. As the 
specimens showed, the nodules in the lungs 
and kidneys reached large dimensions, taking 
in a segment of a kidney or an entire lobe 
of the lung. The animal in which metas- 
tases existed in the intercostal muscles showed 
large nodules in the lung; in this animal a 
growth from the lung into the pericardium, 
and from the pericardium into the heart wall, 
took place. The secondary tumors had the 
same structure as the primary tumors. They 
were made up of spindle-shaped and polygonal 
cells; the latter were often of large size, with 
lobed or regular nuclei. Intercellular sub- 
stance was present, and in places was fibril- 
lated. 

The epicardium in the rat, in which growth 
occurred in the myocardium, showed invasion 
of the serosa by the sarcomatous cells, having 
spread doubtless from the nodule mentioned 
and caused sarcomatosis of the serous mem- 
brane. This tumor is being further trans- 
planted and studied in its biological relation- 
ships. 

The Influence of Water on Gastric Secretion 
and the Combining Affinity of Mucus for 
HCl in the Stomach: N. B. Foster and A. 
V. S. LamMBert. 

Pawlow called attention to water as a 
stimulant of gastric secretion, but the degrees 
and limitations of stimulation produced by 
water in food Pawlow has not recorded. 
Using dogs with Pawlow fistulas, it was ob- 
served that with definite amounts of cracker 
meal as food the amount and rate of gastric 
secretion depend to some extent on the 
amount of water given the dog with his meal, 
2. €., when small amounts of water are given, 
the secretion is slow and scanty. If larger 
quantities of water are mixed in the food the 
secretion is more abundant. 

The degree of acidity of gastric juice de- 


SCIENCE. 167 


pends upon the amount of secretion. When 
this is considerable it is much more acid than 
when the secretion is scanty. Pawlow is of 
the opinion that the degree of acidity of the 
gastric juice is constant; this can hardly be 
correct, however, for the total acidity changes 
from hour to hour. Pawlow evidently deter- 
mined free HCl only, but the amount of free 
acid is dependent on the amount of mucus 
secreted, since mucus like other protein prod- 
ucts combines with HCl. Mucus in the pres- 
ence of pepsin combines with HCl to a very 
considerable extent and undergoes digestion 
with formation of proteoses. 


The Action of the Electric Current on Toxin 
and Antttoxin: Cyrus W. Fietp and Oscar 
TEAGUE. 

The authors alluded to the unsuccessful at- 
tempts of various observers to ascertain defi- 
nitely the nature of the electric charges 
earried by particles of toxins or antitoxins. 
Believing that such failures were due to the 
disturbing influences of products of elec- 
trolysis, the authors successfully eliminated 
the latter in their experiments. They found 
that both toxin and antitoxin particles travel 
toward the cathode and must therefore carry 
positive charges. This holds true when the 
tested fluid is made either acid or alkaline in 
reaction. 

Since a true chemical reaction can take 
place only between ions carrying charges of 
opposite sign, the fact that toxin and anti- 
toxin are both electro-positive would indicate 
that the combination of these two substances 
represents not a chemical union, but rather 
the adsorption of one colloid by another. 


Nuclein Metabolism in a Dog with an Eck 

Fistula: J. E. Sweet and P. A. Levene. 

A dog with an Eck fistula was maintained in 
nitrogenous equilibrium on a diet consisting 
of cracker meal, plasmon and lard. In this 
dog the output of uric acid was greater than 
from the normal animal. During fasting, 
after administration of nuclein, nucleic acid 
or of adenin, and during a period of feeding 
with a diet containing a small proportion of 
protein but of high caloric value, the excre- 
tion of uric acid was also increased. Ingested 


768 SCIENCE. 


thymin was recovered in large proportion 
from the urine. It was impossible to detect 
thymin in the urine after feeding nuclein or 
nucleic acid. 


On the Fractioning of Agglutinins and Anti- 
toxin: R. B. Gipson and K. R. Couuins. 
The results of the work thus far accom- 

plished have demonstrated the untrustworthi- 

ness of a differentiation of the antibodies into 
those contained in euglobulin and those in 
pseudoglobulin, a finding in accord with the 
recent criticisms of salt fractionation by 

Haslam, and by Osborne and Harris. 

No evidence has been found in these experi- 
ments to show that the agglutinins developed 
in rabbit, goat or horse serum can be either 
euglobulin or pseudoglobulin, or that these 
antibodies can be separated from one another 
by ammonium sulfate fractionation. 


Further Observations of the Effects of Ions on 
the Activity of Enzymes: Witu1aM N. Brera 
and WIiLuiAm J. GIEs. 

The authors have found that the sequence 
of zymolysis in both velocity and extent in 
given groups of equivalent (percentage, molec- 
ular, normal, dissociated) acid or basic solu- 
tions varies considerably with the nature of 
the protein. This fact makes it impossible 
accurately to formulate statements regarding 
various phases of peptolysis or tryptolysis 
without specifying the particular protein in- 
volved in the process; it also renders doubtful 
various general conclusions of common ac- 
ceptance pertaining to digestion that have 
been derived, in one research or another, from 
the use of a single protein. A study of the 
peptolysis of many proteins in a given series 
of acid solutions has therefore been under- 
taken, and an effort will be made to extend 
the observations to the tryptolysis of the same 
proteins in a similar series of basic solutions. 

The speed and degree of both peptolysis and 
tryptolysis are resultants of conflicting in- 
fluences. In the case of peptolysis, for 
example, the hydrogen ions in a given acid 
solution are always essential and _ positive 
factors, whereas, the accompanying anions or 
molecules (perhaps both) appear to be, as a 
rule, non-essential and inhibitory factors. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 624. 


That acid molecules are not necessarily in- 
hibitory in peptolysis, however, was shown in 
a number of experiments with acetic acid, 
which neither favored nor interfered with 
peptic digestion materially when present in 
different amounts in solutions containing con- 
stant proportions of hydrochloric acid. 
WILLIAM J. GIES, 
Secretary. 


THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 


THE 620th meeting was held on October 13, 
1906, President Abbe in the chair. 

The evening was devoted to the subject of 
earthquakes. 

Mr. C. F. Marvin, of the Weather Bureau, 
said the present year has been noteworthy 
because already 58 shocks have been recorded, 
while there were only 23 in the previous three 
years. He exhibited the Washington record 
of the San Francisco shock, showing a dura- 
tion of about four hours, for the horizontal 
motion, while near the seat of the disturbance 
the duration was only a few minutes. The 
general nature and peculiarities of such rec- 
ords and the formule based on them by Jap- 
anese seismologists were presented briefly. 

Mr. F. B. Littell spoke on ‘Spirit-level 
Disturbances at the Naval Observatory due 
to the Chilean Earthquake.’ While observing 
with the alt-azimuth instrument, which has 
two levels in the north and south plane, sensi- 
tive to 0.1” or 0.2”, he observed oscillations 
amounting to 2” and having a period of 18 
seconds; these were reduced to 1” after five 
minutes and to 3” after about twenty minutes. 
The time was 7:49. 

A large number of lantern views taken in 
and near San Francisco by Mr. G. K. Gilbert 
were then exhibited and briefly explained by 
Mr. Nutting. 

Informally Mr. Press spoke of some experi- 
ments made with large hailstones; some on 
eracking appeared to have a bubble of air, 
but when stones of similar appearance were 
dissolved in water no bubbles rose. The presi- 
dent stated that this was the general experi- 
ence except for one observer who wrote many 
years ago. 

THE 621st meeting was held on October 27, 


Ce ee ae Se 


eX 


DECEMBER 14, 1906.] 


1906, Vice-president Hayford in the chair. 

R. A. Harris presented a paper entitled 
‘Elementary Notions relating to Integrals in 
General Function Theory’ which treated of 
integration around a pole of a function, and 
of Cauchy’s theorem. 

It was pointed out that any element Zdz, 
where Z—=1/z—c and dz is an elementary 
are of a small circle about c, is simply a 
vector in the y-direction, 27/n in length, n 
denoting the number of parts into which the 
circumference is divided. Consequently, 

fate x n= 2m. 


n 


This established, it readily follows that 


Jf Zaz = 2rif(c) where Zt) 
f having no zero in the neighborhood of ec. 

Cauchy’s theorem was demonstrated for cir- 
cular paths, for paths enclosing slender areas, 
and for any path. 

In the first case the truth is obvious if Z 
denote a power-series. For, the argument of 
Z dz varies y-+1 times as fast as does the 
argument of dz, and as dz takes all directions 
uniformly on account of the path being cir- 
cular, so does Z,dz. (vy refers to any par- 
ticular term of the power-series.) The aggre- 
gate of the dz’s being zero, so must be the 
aggregate of the 7 dz’s or of the Zdz’s. 

For slender strips the theorem is obvious 
because the variation in the value of the func- 
tion for an infinitesimal z-rectangle or square 
can be ignored in such products as Xdz, etc., 
if only oo’ of these rectangles go to make up 
the given strip. 

Finally, by taking into account the varia- 


tion of the function when z describes an in- - 


finitesimal square, so that instead of X, say, 
we have for the X-coordinates of the middles 
of the sides of the transformed square 

ax ae 
Ft a Geb X35, &, ete. 
With these values for X and similar ones for 
_Y, the value of Zdz for the four sides of the 
elementary square is readily obtained. This 
sum will vanish, including infinitesimals of 
the second order, if the conditions for a mono- 


SCIENCE. 


769 


genic function are satisfied. A given area 
comprises oo” elementary squares, and so the 
neglected infinitesimals of the third order are 
of no consequence in the result. 

Mr. A. Press presented ‘Studies in Soil 
Capillarity.’ 

There seems to have been considerable mis- 
conception of what constitutes the capillary 
height of soils. A mere presence of moisture 
can not be an index of how much water will 
rise in a soil by virtue of capillary action. If 
one will drive home the analogy of capillary 
movement in fine bore tubes the ‘ capillary 
height’ can be defined as that height to which 
moisture will rise in a soil where there is com- 
plete filling of the pore-space of the soil. This 
maximum height will be definite just in pro- 
portion as the soil-particles are homogeneous 
in size. However, if an equilibrium-condition 
is established in a soil, the indefiniteness of 
the capillary height is not so marked. This is 
proved by the experiments of Professor King 
when ten-foot cylinders of soil were employed, 
and after being first surcharged with moisture 
draining was continued for a period of about 
two years. Moisture above the capillary 
height can only be adsorption moisture and 
the pore-space need not necessarily be entirely 
filled. There are two types of adhesion-water: 
the one dry, the other wet; the first is hygro- 
scopic water and is explained on Laplace’s 
theory of molecular (surface) attraction; the 
second is of the same nature but differs in 
degree, because in the one the water-vapor has 
first to be condensed to water before strict 
adhesion can take place, and in the other no 
extra amount of energy is called for, because 
by wetting the soil (above the capillary height) 
the bonds of attraction of soil for moisture 
are more easily satisfied. Mulching, to be 
beneficial, depends upon whether the capillary 
height is exceeded or not. A so-called ‘ natural 
mulch’ would be where the capillary height is 
below the surface of the soil. 

Dr. Parks’s experiments, in the Philosoph- 
ical Magazine, show that the attraction of 
powders for moisture practically follows the 
law: 

dw 


= AW 0), 


=<) 


where » is the water content and W is the 
maximum moisture of (wet) adhesion, and 
where also A is a constant. If this law of 
attraction is used, we can determine the gen- 
eral equation of water-flow in one direction in 
soils by considering the attraction at two 
points removed by the distance dx of length, 
and taking into account the resistance of flow 
due to viscosity. The equation is, by employ- 
ing the generalized Ohm’s law, 


dw \2 dw 
LRN Danan 
(F) Tepe we 


If the boundary conditions can be satisfied 
the flow of moisture can be determined from 
one part of a soil to another with regard to 
time. 


THE 622d meeting was held on November 
10, 1906, Vice-president Bauer in the chair. 

Mr. A. L. Day presented some results of in- 
vestigations on ‘ Lime-Silica Mixtures’ made 
at the Geophysical Laboratory. Considering 
first the materials separately: silica is melted 
with great difficulty and becomes very viscous; 
the first traces of melting appear about 1,600° 
C.; powdered quartz heated in the electric fur- 
nace and cooled shows traces of crystallization 
as tridymite about 1,000°; lime melts to a 
thin liquid in the are and when recrystallized 
is very insoluble in water. Mixtures of the 
two were studied pyrometrically, chemically 
and microscopically. As the percentage of 
silica increased the melting point generally 
rose, the graph showing two maximum points, 
corresponding nearly to definite chemical com- 
binations, separated by sharp minima not 
much lower in temperature. 

Mr. J. F. Hayford gave an account of the 
‘Meeting at Budapest of the International 
Geodetic Association’ in September, 1906. 
(See Science, December 7.) 


Cuartes K. Weap, 
Secretary. 


THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB. 

The second stated fall meeting of the club 
was held at the museum building of the New 
York Botanical Garden on October 31, 1906, 
at 3:30 p.M. In the absence of the president, 


10 SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 624. 


Professor H. M. Richards presided. Twenty- 
three persons were in attendance. 

Dr. Britton presented the matter of the 
elub’s action in connection with the meeting 
of the American Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science, to be held in New York City, 
December 27-31. The program of meetings 
for the association week was read and motion 
was made that a committee of five, including 
the chairman of the meeting, be appointed by 
the chair, with power, to arrange for a recep- 
tion to visiting botanists in Schermerhorn 
Hall, Columbia University, on the evening of 
December 26. The motion was carried. The 
personnel of the committee is as follows: Pro- 
fessor H. M. Richards, Professor L. M. Under- 
wood, Dr. H. H. Rusby, Mrs. E. G. Britton, 
Dr. C. Stuart Gager. 

The following papers were presented: 


Remarks on the Formation of Aerial Tubers 
in Solanum tuberosum: Dr. COC. Stuart 
GaAGER. 

A brief outline was first given of the steps 
in the germination of the potato seed, up to 
and including the growth of the primary rhi- 
zomes, and the formation at their distal ends 
of the first tubers. Reference was then made 
to two recent publications in TYorreya (6: 181 
and 211, 1906), describing an anomalous for- 
mation of a tuber of Solanum tuberosum, on’ 
a sprout from a seed tuber, in daylight, and 
briefly summarizing the pertinent literature. 

The specimen in question, with photograph, 
was then exhibited, and possible causes of the 
anomaly discussed. Prunet’s researches (Rev. 
gen. d. Bot. 5: 49. 1893) led him to the con- 
clusion that, at maturity, the apical and basal 
ends of the mature tuber are physiologically 
different, due to a redistribution, after the 
cessation of growth, of the reserve materials 
stored in the tuber while it was forming. The 
validity of this conclusion has never been 
tested by other investigators, and it was 
thought improbable that such a condition, 
even if it existed in the seed tuber which bore 
the anomaly, would enter as a causative factor. 

The specimen exhibited, and numerous other 
recorded cases of the formation of tubers on 
aerial branches, render very improbable the 


DECEMBER 14, 1906.] 


suggestion of Noél Bernard (Rev. gen. d. Bot. 
14: 139, 269. 1902), and of Jumelle (Rev. 
gen. d. Bot. 17: 49. 1905), that potato tubers 
are caused by a fungus, a species of Fusarium, 
endotrophie with S. tuberosum. 

In the normal formation of tubers two kinds 
of factors are doubtless involved: the first 
organic, consisting of specific peculiarities in 
the protoplasts; the second environmental, 
comprising external conditions, especially of 
light and moisture, and the stimulus of the 
various metabolic products within the stem. 
The ability to induce tuberization in aerial 
stems by depriving them of light and reducing 
their transpiration, as Vochting did, and the 
sport described by Vilmorin (Torreya, l. c.), 
suggest that the specific cellular peculiarities 
obtain throughout the entire shoot system, 
and need only the stimulus of definite en- 
vironmental conditions, either external or in- 
ternal, to make them operative. 

In this connection it would be desirable to 
know whether the presence, in any portion of 
the potato stem, of a superabundance of food 
materials would operate as a stimulus, causing 
the excessive formation of parenchymatous 
eells, which, gorged with the reserve food, 
make up the greater part of the bulk of the 
tubers. It is well known, through the re- 
searches of Knight and others, that, if the 
flow of food materials is diverted from in- 
cipient underground tubers by removing them 
as fast as they begin to form, this material 
will accumulate in portions of the aerial stem, 
causing tubers there. In the specimen in 
question, translocation of digested food be- 
came established toward and into the develop- 
ing ‘sprouts,’ but elongation of the latter was 
not favored because of the very slight water- 
supply from without. It does not seem im- 
probable that a combination of these two con- 
ditions alone would be sufficient to produce 
the tuber, even in daylight. 


Two New Coralline Alge from Culebra, Porto 

Rico: Dr. MarsHatu A. Howe. 

Dr. Howe exhibited and discussed briefly 
specimens representing two rather large and 
conspicuous kinds of non-articulated corallines 
which were secured during a visit made last 
March to the island of Culebra. These have 


SCIENCE. 


771 


been studied in collaboration with Dr. M. 
Foslie, of Trondhjem, Norway, and a joint 
paper, in which the two new species are to be 
described and illustrated, is soon to be pub- 
lished. One of the species is a Gontolithon 
which seems to have its closest affinity among 
the forms already described in a species orig- 
inally found on the island of Funafuti, of the 
Ellice Islands group, in the South Pacific. 
The second species, a Lithophyllum which 
forms columnar flat-topped masses sometimes 
a foot in height, is evidently a reef-builder 
at Culebra, and, like the other, curiously 
enough, finds its nearest relative in a species 
originally described from Funafuti and since 
reported from the Maldives in the Indian 
Ocean. The speaker remarked upon some of 
the general characteristics of the non-articu- 
lated corallines, and showed microtome sec- 
tions and photomicrographs illustrating the 
structure of the two species that were under 
discussion. In reply to a question as to the 
ecological relationships of the coralline alge 
and the true corals, it was stated that though 
certain species of both groups are reef-build- 
ers and inhabit similar places, each of the 
groups seems to be somewhat inimical to the 
other. A place in which corals are flourishing 
is not a good place in which to look for coral- 
line alge, and vice versa. It is a common 
thing to find corallines attached to dead or 
moribund corals, but comparatively rare to 
find the corals growing on calcareous alge. 
In one ease a crustaceous coralline was noticed 
to be encroaching upon and covering a living 
coral. ! 


Remarks on the Flora of Nova Scotia: Dr. C. 

B. Rosinson. 

The province of Nova Scotia consists of a 
peninsula connected with New Brunswick by 
an isthmus of very slight elevation, and the 
island of Cape Breton separated from the rest 
of the province by the Strait of Canso, which 
at the narrowest place is less than a mile 
broad. The northern part of the island is 
composed of hills between 800 and 1,400 feet 
high, except narrow strips along the coast and 
in the river valleys. 

In general the flora of the peninsula and 
island is composed of plants which have mi- 


CUZ 


grated from the west or southwest through 
New Brunswick, many species having their 
northeastern limit in the province. A second 
source lies in the introduction, chiefly from 
Europe, of weeds in ballast, etc., and many 
species thus added to the flora are very con- 
spicuous and troublesome. But the main pur- 
pose of the paper was to call attention to the 
presence in northern Cape Breton of a third 
element, namely, species that are believed not 
to occur anywhere upon the peninsular portion 
of the province, and in some cases not in New 
Brunswick. Such cases are always open to 
the suspicion of incomplete collection, but this 
can hardly be held to explain the gap in the 
distribution of the male fern, Dryopteris filiz- 
mas (L.) Schott., known from about twenty 
localities in this region, although nowhere 
abundant there, and not found otherwise east 
of Vermont. Another conspicuous fern re- 
ported from two rather widely separated dis- 
tricts in northern Cape Breton is the holly 
fern, Polystichum Lonchitis (L.) Roth., and 
no other stations are recorded east of Ontario. 
A similar statement may be made about many 
flowering plants, those referred to being Carex 
abacta Bailey, Blephariglottis blephariglottis 
(Willd.) Rydb., Sangutsorba canadensis L., 
Aster nemoralis Ait., not known from penin- 
sular Nova Scotia, Drosera intermedia Hayne 
and Solidago macrophylla Pursh, only so far 
found there immediately east of the Strait of 
Canso. 

It was attempted to correlate this with the 
observations of Canadian geologists to the ef- 
fect that the region in question had escaped 
glaciation, the limit of the ice-sheet being not 
far from Pictou. 

Specimens were also shown of several spe- 
cies not hitherto recorded from the prov- 
ince, among them Tetragonanthus deflexus 
(J. E. Smith) Kuntze, Sparganium fluctuans 
(Morong) Robinson, Meibomia canadensis 
(L.) Kuntze, Vicia hirsuta (L.) Koch, Falcata 
comosa (L.) Kuntze, Chenorrhinum minus 
(L.) Lange, and Triglochin palustris L. 


Account of a Collecting Trip to the Sierra 
Mestra of Cuba: Mr. Norman Taytor. 
Before giving an account of the various 

trips made during the expedition, a descrip- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vox. XXIV. No. 624. 


tion was given of the Sevilla Estate, which is 
a local name for the area visited. This is a 
tract about forty miles long, having for its 
southern limit the Caribbean Sea. Its north- 
ern boundary is the ridge of the Sierra Mestra 
range. At its eastern and lower end this 
range is about 3,500 feet high, but rises in 
altitude, and gradually approaches the coast 
as it goes to the westward, reaching its cul- 
minating point near El] Turquino, a mountain 
credited with an elevation of 8,400 feet. 
There is no gradual descent from the ridge 
of the Mestra to the sea, but numerous other 
mountains intervene. This feature, together 
with the river valleys, makes the country very 
rugged and precipitous. 

The chief rivers, the Sevilla, Guama, Ba- 

yamita and Peladeros, rise in the Mestra it- 
self, while numerous others of uncertain local 
names rise in the front ranges. All the rivers, 
at this time of the year, flow under the ground 
for the last two miles, so that it is easily pos- 
sible to get across near the coast, but in the 
rainy season they flow in the surface bed and 
are quite impassable. 
- The prevailing wind is the moisture-laden 
northeast trade. On this account the rainfall 
is abundant on the windward side of the 
Meestra while the leeward side of the range is 
dry and arid. The increasing altitude of the 
mountains from east to west and the decrease 
in the width of the strip of land lying between 
them and the sea make the effect of this great 
wind-shield still more marked as one travels 
westward. Here at least two species of 
Cereus, and an Agave, together with many 
other sub-xerophytic plants, were found. 

Among the interesting plants collected were 
specimens of Pinus occidentalis. This pine 
occurred on the mountains at elevations be- 
tween 1,000 and 2,300 feet, and was plentiful 
in many places. The great size and inaccessi- 
bility of the trees of Ceiba pentandra that 
were found in the mountains was cited as a 
factor that must have some bearing on the 
probable new world origin of the species. 

Discussion followed by Dr. Britton and Dr. 
Howe, the former giving recent evidence col- 
lected by him in Jamaica, pointing toward the 


DECEMBER 14, 1906.] 


conclusion that the Ceiba may very probably 
be considered as a native of the new world. 
C. Stuart GacEr, 
Secretary. 


THE ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY OF 
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA. 


THE 168th meeting of the society was held 
in the main lecture hall of the new chemical 
laboratory on Tuesday evening, November 20, 
at 7:30 P.M., with the following program: 

ProressoR A. S. WHEELER: 
Alcohol.’ 

Proressor J. E. Mirus: ‘The Mutual Absorp- 
tion of Attraction by the Attracting Particles.’ 

A. S. WHEELER, 
Recording Secretary. 


‘ Denatured 


THE ST. LOUIS CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 


At the meeting of the St. Louis Chemical 
Society on November 12, Dr. H. M. Whelpley 
presented a paper, entitled ‘ The United States 
Pharmacopeia and National Formulary, the 
Standard Authority of the Food and Drugs 
Act of June 30, 1906.2. The paper was due to 
the interest in the pharmacopeia developed 
by the new law. The speaker gave a brief 
history of pharmacopeeias in general and of 
the United States Pharmacopeia in particular, 
dwelling especially on the methods pursued 
by the Pharmacopeial Convention, in the de- 
cennial revisions of the national standard. 

C. J. BorGgMeyer, 
Corresponding Secretary. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 


THE ‘ELIMINATION’ AND ‘ FIRST SPECIES’ METH- 
ODS OF FIXING THE TYPES OF GENERA. 


- In a recent number of Science Mr. Witmer 
Stone has very ably presented the evidence in 
favor of the adoption of the ‘first species’ 
method of fixing types of composite genera.’ 
As a strenuous advocate for many years of the 
‘elimination’ method, I beg space for a few 
comments on Mr. Stone’s paper. 

1“ The Relative Merits of the ‘ Elimination’ and 
‘First Species’ Method in Fixing the Types of 
Genera—with Special Reference to Ornithology,” 
Scrence, N.'S8., Vol. XXIV., No. 618, pp. 560-565, 
November 2, 1906. 


SCIENCE. 


T73 


It must be admitted that he has made a 
pretty favorable showing for the ‘ first species’ 
principle. I have always conceded that this 
would be the ideal method if we were at the 
threshold of our work, and my opposition to 
it has always been due to the fact that we did 
not begin in this way, and that to adopt it 
now would introduce serious confusion in 
nomenclature. Mr. Stone’s researches in the 
matter seem to have convinced him that the 
rigid and uniform enforcement of either prin- 
ciple would result in practically the same 
number of changes in generic names; while 
the alleged ease and simplicity in application 
seems to render the ‘first species’? method 
preferable to the ‘elimination’ process. I re- 
gret, however, that in his enthusiasm for his 
view of the case he has been (doubtless un- 
consciously) led into a few misleading state- 
ments with regard to the ease of its applica- 
tion and to various other matters, only a few 
of which, owing to the vastness of the subject, 
can be here noticed. First, he makes the as- 
tounding statement that “ Elimination has 
never been practised in Europe and does not 
seem to be understood by foreign writers, and 
in the vast majority of cases the first species 
is taken by them as the type.” The implica- 
tion is that the ‘first species’ principle not 
only now prevails abroad, but ever has been 
the guiding rule in selecting types of com- 
posite genera when no type was specified. The 
truth of the matter is just the reverse! The 
B. A. Code of 1842 expressly provided that 
when no type was clearly indicated the author 
who first subdivided a composite genus might 
restrict the original name to such part of it 
as he might deem advisable, and that such 
assignment should not be subject to subse- 
quent modification. This ruling has been one 
ef the corner-stones of all subsequent codes, 
down even to the latest, ‘The International 
Code’ of 1905. The elimination principle fol- 
lowed as a necessary corollary, and has been 
used, consciously or unconsciously, with a few 
individual exceptions, by all subsequent nat- 
uralists, in dealing with the question of types, 
unlimited evidence of which could be cited 
did space permit. The B. A. Committee sug- 
gested, however, that ‘in many cases’ it might 


774 


be ‘correctly inferred’ that the first species 
was regarded by the author as the type of his 
genus, provided that it proved ‘ accurately to 
agree’ with the definition of the genus. At 
the same time, the principle of tautonomy, 
only recently formally adopted, and only by a 
few authors, was foreshadowed as an impor- 
tant aid in determining types, and whenever 
in this way a certain species was distinguished 
from the others, the B. A. Committee ruled 
that this particular species ‘must be regarded 
as the original type of a genus,’ and in ease 
some other species had been taken as the type, 
‘we are justified in restoring the name of the 
old genus to its typical signification, even 
when later authors have done otherwise.’ It 
was recognized also that by invariably taking 
the first species as type, the author’s real in- 
tention in establishing a genus might be an- 
nulled. While some authors are known to 
have placed their typical species first on the 
list, it is known that others gave it a central 
position. 

The method of determining generic types, 
abroad as well as in America, has not been 
uniform, but has often been done loosely and 
without rigid system of any sort: and hence 
the present confusion. While some authors 
may have consistently followed the first spe- 
cies principle, and other may have done so 
occasionally to tide over an emergency, the 
first species rule has never been incorporated 
into any code of zoological nomenclature, 
while the elimination principle has ever been 
a basic principle in all—not in express terms, 
but as an inevitable result of the rules for 
determining types. Consequently, the large 
number of originally composite genera having 
the first species as type, shown by Mr. Stone’s 
statistics, is the result of coincidence rather 
than the conscious application of a ‘ first spe- 
cies’ principle. 

It has been claimed that a large number of 
‘minute rules’ are necessary for the applica- 
tion of the principle of elimination, a point 
emphasized by Mr. Stone in his reference to 
Dr. Stiles’s method, which is by no means so 
complicated and abstruse as Mr. Stone’s pass- 

2See Scrmnce, N. S., Vol. XVI, pp. 114, 115, 
July 18, 1902. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 624. 


ing reference to it would imply. As I have 


said in another connection: 

The method of fixing generic types by elimina- 
tion is merely the process of applying the rule 
of priority to genera formed by the breaking up 
of comprehensive groups originally designated as 
genera. It has been objected to as abstruse and 
difficult of application, even by some who have, 
but unconsciously, been in the habit of using 
it. * * * 

(a) An author who first subdivides a genus 
may restrict the original name to such part of it 
as he may judge advisable, and such assignment 
shall not be subject to subsequent modification 
(=A. O. U. Code, Canon XXI.). 

(6) When, however, any of the original species 
of a genus have been removed by subsequent au- 
thors, and have become types of, or are strictly 
congenerie with the types of, other genera, with- 
out the designation of any of them as the type of 
the original genus, the type must be ehosen from 
the remaining species; if, however, all have been 
removed, the last species thus removed shall be 
taken as the type of the original genus. If, how- 
ever, the genus originally contained both exotic 
and non-exotic species—from the standpoint of the 
author—and the generic term is one originally ap- 
plied by the ancient Greeks or Romans, the last 
of the non-exotic species to be removed shall be 
taken as the type of the original genus. 


This is the elimination method—simple and 
perfectly easy of comprehension, but liable to 
give rise to perplexing complications through 
questions of synonymy, arising from the fact 
that certain groups that have been separated 
and named as generic are treated by some 
authors as genera and by others relegated to 
synonymy. It necessitates, however, a thor- 
ough knowledge of the literature of the cases 
involved, and of the zoological relationships 
of all the species concerned in the inquiry. 
It is, therefore, not a task a novice should 
meddle with; but there is no prohibitory law 
against incompetents, to whose meddling in 
the past our present state of uncertainty in 
not a few cases is due. 

On the other hand, according to Mr. Stone’s 
presentation of the case, it is perfectly easy 
for anybody able to read to determine the type 
of a genus. He says: “It is necessary to 
consult only the original reference to ascer- 
tain the type of the genus.” “The question 


DECEMBER 14, 1906.] 


is settled independently for each genus, the 
result does not depend upon the fixing of the 
type of some other genus.” Again he says: 
“That we have in the ‘first species’ rule a 
method that can lead to but one result and 
can be practised by: any one, and by which 
the type of a genus can be ascertained at once 
by consulting one reference, instead of in- 
volving the examination of many works and 
the expenditure of much time and thought.” 

Unfortunately, this method is not always so 
simple and direct as here stated, as the cita- 
tion of a single instance from among many 
will show. The case of the Linnzan genus 
Vultur, I find, has given a correspondent of 
mine some trouble in trying to determine the 
type by the ‘elimination’ method, and in 
despair he fell back on the ‘ first species’ prin- 
ciple as the only way out of the difficulty open 
to him. This case will also show that an 
intimate knowledge of the literature of the 
subject is sometimes necessary, and that more 
than ‘one reference’ must be consulted even 
under the ‘first species’? rule. Vuléur is also 
a genus the currently accepted type of which 

ust be changed in any event, whether the 
‘first species’ or the ‘elimination’ method be 
employed. 

Vultur,’ as originally established, contained 
Six species, each of which, in the course of 
time, became, from the standpoint of current 
nomenclature, the type of a distinct genus, 
leaving no species in the original genus Vul- 
tur. The species now currently recognized as 
the type was not described till eight years 
after the genus was founded, and hence under 
all codes is inadmissible as its type. The 
species originally included in Vultur are: 

1. gryphus, 4, aura, 

2. harpyja, 5. barbatus, 

3. papa, 6. percnopterus. 
They were removed to other genera in the 
following order: 

1784, barbatus, as type and only species of 
Gypaétus Storr. 

1806, gryphus and papa to Sarcorhamphus 
Duméril. 

1808, percnopterus, as type and only species 
of Neophron Savigny. 

’ Linneus, ‘Syst. Nat.,’ 10th ed., 1758, p. 86. 


SCIENCE. 


775 


1811, papa and aura to Cartharites Illiger. 

1816, papa and gryphus to Gypagus Vieil- 
lot. 

1816, harpyja, as type and only species of 
Harpia Illiger (preoccupied), vice Thrassaétus 
Gray, 1840. 

Of the genera formed from Vultur three— 
Gypaétus, Neophron, and Harpia—were orig- 
inally monotypic and require at this point no 
further consideration. Sarcorhamphus con- 
sisted originally of three species, indicated by 
vernacular names, namely: 

1. Le condor—=V. gryphus Linn. 

2. Le papa=V. papa Linn. 

3. Le ouricou=V. auricularis 
1800. 

Carthartes originally contained two species: 

1. V. papa Linn. 

92. V. aura Linn. 

Taking the ‘ first species’ rule, and the as- 
surance that ‘It is necessary to consult only 
the original reference to ascertain the type 
of the genus,’ we arrive at the following re- 
sults: 

The type of Vultur must be gryphus, the 
first species. 

The type of Sarcorhamphus must be gry- 
phus, the first species; Sarcorhamphus thus 
becomes a synonym of Vultur, it having the 
same type. 

The type of Catharites must be papa, the 
first species. 

The type of Gypagus must be papa, the first 
species; Gypagus thus becomes a synonym of 
Cathartes, it having the same type. 

Taking all the species involved in the case 
of Vultur, the nomenclature resulting from 
the application of the first species rule, com- 
pares with that now current, as follows: 


Daudin, 


Current Names. 
Sarcorhamphus gryphus. 
Gypagus papa. 
Cathartes aura. 

Vultur monachus. 
Otogyps auricularis. 


First Species Rule. 
Vultur gryphus, 
Cathartes papa, 
@nops aura, 
Aigypius monachus, 
Otogypus auricularis, 


By this method two genera are reduced to 
synonymy and the generic designation is 
changed for four species. 

Under the principle of elimination the case 
works out as follows: 


776 


Sarcorhamphus, 1806; species: gryphus, 
papa, auricularis. The species papa was re- 
moved to Cathartes in 1811, gryphus to Gypa- 
gus in 1816, leaving auricularis as the type of 
Sarcorhamphus. 

Cathartes, 1811; species: papa, aura. The 
species papa was removed to Gypagus in 1816, 
leaving aura as the type of Cathartes. 

Gypagus, 1816; species: papa, gryphus. The 
species gryphus was removed to the genus 
Gryphus (Bonap.) in 1854, leaving papa as 
the type of Gypagus. 

Gryphus, 1854; species: cuntur Dum. 
(—gryphus Linn.), californianus. By both 
tautonomy and elimination, gryphus is the 
type of the genus Gryphus, as californianus 
became the type of Gymnogyps Lesson in 
1842. 

Recapitulation: 


1784. Gypaétus—type barbatus. 

1808. Neophron—type percnopterus. 

1811. Cathartes—type aura. 

1816. Gypagus—type papa. 

1816. Harpia (vice Thrassaétus)—type har- 
pyjd. ; 

1850. Gryphus—type gryphus. 


As gryphus was the last species removed 
from the genus Vultur it is its type by elim- 
ination, as well as by the ‘ first species’ rule. 

The nomenclature resulting from the elim- 
ination method for all the species involved 
in the case of Vultur compares with current 
nomenclature as follows: 


Current Names. 
Sarcorhamphus gryphus. 
Gypagus papa. 
Cathartes aura, Cathartes aura. 
Algypius monachus, Vultur monachus. 
Sarcorhamphus auricularis, Otogyps auricularis. 


By Elimination. 
Vultur gryphus, 
Gypagus papa, 


The result is, by coincidence, the same as 
regards the type of Vultur by both methods, 
but two genera long in current use are con- 
served. 

If, in the case of Vultur, the first species 
had been barbatus instead of gryphus, the 
‘first species’ rule, if enforced, would conflict 
with the universally accepted rule that a 
monotypic genus takes its sole species as its 
type, thus throwing out the genus Gypaétus, 
based on the first species removed from Vul- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 624. 


tur. In other cases just this state of affairs 
is undoubtedly to be expected, in some in- 
stances. 

There are four conditions, any one of which, 
when present, determines the type of a genus 
beyond appeal, under current assage: 

1. A genus that is monotypic when founded 
necessarily takes its only species as the type. 

2. When the type is designated by its au- 
thor at the time of founding the genus. 

3. When the name of the genus is the same 
as that of one of its species, or like that of a 
synonym of one of its species, or is based 
upon such a name—in other words, by the 
rule of tautonomy. 

4, When some subsequent author has select- 
ed one of its species as its type. 

As shown by Mr. Stone, nearly 75 per cent. 
of the bird genera come under one or the 
other of the first three of these provisions; 
and this ratio would probably hold good for 
most of the other classes of animals. This 
leaves only about one quarter of the names of 
zoological genera open to more or less doubt, 
or within the scope of some special rule for 
the fixation of types. So that whatever rule 
may be adopted, a comparatively small num- 
ber of genera will be affected by it. Con- 
trary to all codes of nomenclature, and in 
defiance of almost universal usage, Mr. Stone 
ignores the fixing of a type by a later author 
than the founder of the genus; this needlessly 
increases the number of open cases by from 
probably 50 to 75 per cent. 

The trouble with elimination is that the 
manner of its application has never been prop- 
erly defined, leaving those who attempt to 
apply the principle largely to their own de- 
vices as to the method of its use. Only ex- 
perts, or those endowed with a natural clever- 
ness in handling such questions, have been 
able to apply it with proper discretion and 
success. The A. O: U. Code simply says 
(Canon XXIV.): “ When no type is specified, 
the only available method of fixing the orig- 
inal name to some part of the genus to which 
it was originally applied is by the process of 
elimination, subject to the single modification 
provided for in Canon XXIII.” This is to 
the effect that if a “ genus contains both exotic 


DECEMBER 14, 1906.] 


and non-exotic species—from the standpoint 
of the original author—and the generic term 
is one generally applied by the ancient Greeks 
or Romans, the process of elimination is to 
be restricted to the non-exotic species.” This 
provision was intended to prevent the incon- 
gruity of applying an ancient Greek or Latin 
name to species wholly unknown to the an- 
cients, and thus using it in a grossly inap- 
plicable sense. This, however, is an unneces- 
sary provision, inasmuch as one of the funda- 
mental rules of all modern codes is (A. O. U. 
Code, Canon XXXI.): “Neither generic nor 
specific names are to be rejected because of 
barbarous origin, for faulty construction, for 
inapplicability of meaning, or for erroneous 
signification.” Since under this rule we tol- 
erate all sorts of absurdities and inconsist- 
encies in names, why should we make this 
single exception to guard against a mild in- 
congruity? Why, in other words, ‘strain at 
a gnat and swallow a camel’? As this pro- 
vision is open to diversity of construction in 
regard to what are ‘non-exotic species from 
the standpoint of the author,’ it should by all 
means be eliminated. If enforced in the case 
of Vultur, gryphus could not be its type. If 
abrogated, the method of elimination is sim- 
plicity itself, as is clearly shown in a later 
paragraph of this paper. The framers of the 
code were apparently themselves so familiar 
with the elimination principle that the neces- 
sity of prescribing rules regarding the method 
of its use for those less fortunate in this 
respect did not occur to them. It is, there- 
fore, not to be wondered at that in inexpert 
hands dissimilar results follow its faulty ap- 
plication. Dr. Stiles’s rules and suggestions, 
referred to by Mr. Stone, relate only in small 
part to the method of elimination; they cover 
the whole field of the determination of generic 
types, including the ‘ four conditions’ enumer- 
ated above, and relate mainly to a single one 
of them, being suggestions for the selection 
of types under the prerogative of the ‘ first 
reviser.’ 

Much of the perplexity and uncertainty in 
determining types by the elimination method 
is unjustly ascribed to it, being due to the 
lack of conviction on the part of authors as 


SCIENCE. 


Cie 


to just what groups that have been awarded, 
by one author or another, the rank of genera 
are or are not entitled to such recognition, 
and to the complications of synonymy that 
necessarily result from this uncertainty. The 
application in such eases of the first species 
rule instead of the elimination method does 
not in the least help the matter, as is obvious 
from the nature of the case. Yet the onus of 
the trouble has time and again been saddled 
on elimination. 

Elimination, properly applied, is an exceed- 
ingly simple and definitive process. We have 
a genus, composed originally of several spe-. 
cies, the type of which it is necessary to de- 
termine. 

(1) Species added subsequent to the found- 
ing of the genus are excluded from considera- 
tion. (2) If some or all of the original spe- 
cies have been made the types of other genera, 
or are strictly congeneric with such types, 
they can not be taken as the type of the orig- 
inal genus, unless all have been so removed, 
when the last species thus removed becomes 
the type. (38) If only a part have been re- 
moved, the type is to be selected by the re- 
viser from those that remain. (4) If none 
have been removed, any one of them may be 
taken as the type, at the discretion of the 
reviser—either the first species or any other. 

By the first species rule the work of the 
first reviser is eliminated; hundreds of gen- 
era which have had their types thus fixed are 
in current use, and in many cases have been 
in current use for decades, and to displace 
them through the introduction of a new rule 
would cause great and needless confusion. 
The tendency has been, during recent years, 
to preserve old names, whether generic or 
specific, wherever possible. 

By the first species rule, if the first species 
is unidentifiable in a genus originally contain- 
ing a number of species, but for which the 
founder gave no type, the genus is eliminated 
as having no standing, although the type may 
have been fixed by some later author, and the 
genus be in good standing under current rules 
of nomenclature. 

By the first species rule, where the first 
species happens to be the same in two or more 


778 


genera, no matter how differently the genera 
may be constituted—whether containing two 
species or a much greater number—all the 
later genera become pure synonyms of the 
earliest genus, necessitating the giving of new 
names to the later genera and the consequent 
changing of the generic designation for all the 
species contained in them. 

It is thus evident that Mr. Stone’s statistics 
greatly underestimate the number of changes 
in names that would result from the adoption 
of the first species rule. 

In a footnote (I. c., p. 561) Mr. Stone sug- 
gests that in the case of Linnean genera we 
may accept them arbitrarily, inasmuch as 
there is ‘practical unanimity of opinion’ as 
to their types. This may be true as regards 
birds, and possibly some other groups, but it is 
not true in general. The A. O. U. Committee, 
if it sees fit, and is so authorized by the 
A. O. U., ean adopt such a rule with reference 
to the A. O. U. Check List of North American 
birds, but there is no assurance that such a 
ruling would be generally adopted by other 
ornithologists, while the contrary is quite cer- 
tain as to zoologists at large. The appalling 
results that would follow the adoption of the 
first species rule without such a reservation 
might force its adherents to its adoption, since 
otherwise its strict enforcement would result 
in such radical changes as the transference of 
many Linnean genera to other families than 
those with which they are now associated, and 
entail also the changing of many family 
names, and bring in endless confusion in 
nomenclature instead of the stability we all 
profess to be striving to secure. 


Mr. Stone in his endeavor to show “the 
various ways in which ‘elimination’ is ap- 
plied in practise,” publishes a series of hypo- 
thetical questions sent out by him to various 
naturalists, with a summary of their replies. 
These show practical unanimity in only about 
50 per cent. of the cases, and that in many 
others the answers were widely divergent. 
The real cause of the discrepancy is not diffi- 
cult to discover. The questions were stated 
in so ambiguous a manner that they were 
open, in a number of instances, to diverse in- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 624. 


terpretations. JI have met personally at least 
one third of those who sent replies, and thus 
know that in several cases two and sometimes 
three different interpretations were put upon 
the same question. If actual cases had been 
cited, with proper references to the book and 
page, so that the real conditions could be 
studied, it might then have been claimed that 
a real test had been made of how ‘ elimina- 
tion’ works in practise. 

One of the most surprising statements in 
this remarkable paper is the assertion: “ Elim- 
ination has never been practised in Europe 
and does not seem to be understood by foreign 
writers, and in the majority of cases the first 
species is taken by them as the type.” The 
history of nomenclature gives no warrant for 
such a statement. In the first place, the first 
species rule has never been included in any 
zoological code. On the contrary, the provi- 
sions for determining generic types either ex- 
pressly prescribe elimination or distinctly in- 
volve that method. The ‘ Proceedings’ of the 
fourth International Zoological Congress, held 
in London in 1898, includes a report, some 70 
pages in length, of an International Commit- 
tee of Entomologists on the ‘ Nomenclature 
of Lepidoptera.’ The burden of the report is 
any method except the first species rule. One 
prominent entomologist says: “The selection 
of the first in the list of those originally in- 
cluded has no justification whatever; we might 
as well choose the last, and better the middle 
one. The species placed first is usually not 
the most typical but the most exceptional.” 

The first species rule has been tried in the 
past and found wanting. More than half a 
century ago it was adopted by prominent 
leaders in different branches of zoology, par- 
ticularly in ornithology and ichthyology; they 
secured a small following, which soon dropped 
away, leaving only here and there, among the 
older authors, a disciple who consistently per- 
sisted in its use. 

‘Elimination,’ or the rule of priority 
method, is interwoven throughout the whole 
fabric of nomenclature. It is practised every- 
where in delimiting the ‘type form’ in a 
heterotypie species, in which the earliest name 
is reserved for the form first deseribed. Here, 


ty Wie se Joes 


DEcEMBER 14, 1906.] 


as in the determination of generic types, elim- 
ination is simply the application of the most 
fundamental of nomenclatural rules, the law 
of priority. 
J. A. ALLEN. 
AmeERIcAN Museum or NATURAL HISTORY, 
NEw YorRK. 


MISREPRESENTATIONS OF NATURE IN POPULAR 
MAGAZINES. 

In the December number, 1906, of The 
Wide World EK. W. G. Wesson claims to have 
passed by boat on the Colorado River through 
the Grand Canyon. The greater part of his 
descriptive matter has been taken, paragraph 
by paragraph from R. B. Stanton’s account 
of the descent made years ago by Stanton’s 
second party, and of the descriptions which 
are original with Wesson, some are so original 
as to be totally outside of the realm of truth. 

That he never made the journey which he 
claims to have made is evident, and the maga- 
zine which publishes such falsehoods does 
much harm and discredits itself. 

A. R. Crook. 


SPECIAL ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE GAS- 
TEROPODA OF THE UNITED STATES—LEIDY. 
A CORRECTION. 


To THE Eprror or Science: Through an 
oversight when preparing a bibliography of the 
late Professor Joseph Leidy’s contributions 
to science, published (1904) under the auspices 
of the Smithsonian Institution and incorpo- 
rated in a publication under the title ‘ Re- 
searches in Helminthology and Parasitology 
by Joseph Leidy, M.D., with a bibliography 
of his contributions to science,’ 1904, the 
writer neglected to incorporate the title to a 
work on the ‘ Special Anatomy of the Gastero- 
poda of the United States,’ Boston, 1851, pp. 
65, plates 16, published in conjunction with 
the work of Amos Binney and W. G. Binney, 
entitled ‘Terrestrial Breathing Mollusks of 
the United States and Adjacent Territory of 
North America,’ edited by A. A. Gould, Bos- 
ton, 1851-9. 

The work of Leidy devoted to the special 
anatomy and physiology of various gasteropod 
mollusks may be found in section 11, Vol. I. 


SCIENCE. 


T1719 


The writer regrets the oversight, particu- 
larly as it is a work to which frequent refer- 
ence is made by investigators along similar 
lines of research, and more so since the publi- 
cation was well known and special care was 
taken to see that it appeared in the original 
bibliography. 

JOSEPH Leipy, JR. 


EARLY TYPES OF MAN IN IOWA. 


To tHE Epiror or Science: In connection 
with the article on the discovery of an early 
type of man in Nebraska, I wish to call atten- 
tion to what seem to be similar types from 
mounds in Iowa. In the proceedings of the 
Davenport Academy, Vol. VI., is a paper by 
Professor Frederick Starr on a ‘Summary of 
the Archeology of Iowa,’ in which are figured 
two skulls, said to be of the Neanderthal type. 
One of these was found in a mound in 
Chickasaw County and the other in Floyd 
County. While it is difficult to decide from 
the illustrations, as to whether these skulls are 
of the Neanderthal type, it is obvious that 
they bear striking resemblances to it. It is 
also suggestive that these skulls should be 
found west of the Mississippi and in a part 
of the same geographical area from which 


comes the Nebraska man. 
C. W. 


MALAY AND FILIPINO BASKETRY. 


To tHe Eprror oF Science: No doubt this 
will fall under the eyes of more than one who 
has examined Malay or Filipino basketry. 
Everywhere in Malaysia is to be found a knot 
in coarse or fine splits and stems of tough 
and pliable plants, used in place of nails, 
screws, pegs and the like. This knot is prac- 
tically two round turns and two half hitches. 
It may be described thus: (1) Pass the free 
end of the split or other binder toward the 
right to where the knot is to be tied; (2) then 
under and around these parts and behind the 
standing-part; (3) pass the free end again 
around in the same direction, bringing it this 
time in front of the standing-part and under 
the two round turns toward the right; (4) 
take a half hitch around the standing-part 


780 


from down upward and make all tight. Re- 
peat at will, working always toward the right. 
I am now writing up the Dr. W. L. Abbott 
basketry, from southwestern Malaysia, and 
desire to use nomenclature that will stand for 
the Philippines, where the ‘ Malay knot’ is in 
vogue. The trouble with the name is two- 
fold, there are other Malay knots and other 
peoples who use the same knot. Perhaps 
‘Malay double hitch’ would be better, but it 
is somewhat nautical. 
O. T. Mason. 


THE RIGIDITY OF THE EARTH. 


ProFessor SEE’S computation of the mean 
hydrostatic pressure within the earth, deduced 
from Laplace’s law of density, is doubtless 
correct. That the modulus of rigidity is 
equal to the hydrostatic pressure is, however, 
purely an assumption. 

L. M. Hoskins. 

Pato Auto, Cal., 

November 10, 1906. 


THE LIGHTNING-ROD COINCIDENT WITH FRANKLIN’S 
KITE EXPERIMENT. 


A FILE of the Pennsylvania Gazette for the 
year 1752 furnishes facts which corroborate 
my conclusions, in Vol. XXIV., pages 374- 
376, that the lightning-rod was in use about 
the time Benjamin Franklin flew his elec- 
trical kite. The supposition there discussed, 
that the news of the successful experiments 
in France by MM. Dalibard and Delor during 
the month of May did not reach Philadelphia 
in June, during which month Franklin is said 
to have brought down electricity from the 
clouds, is supported by the fact that a letter 
from Paris describing the French experi- 
ments, and dated May 26, N. S., 1752, was 
not published in the Pennsylvania Gazette 
until August 27 of the same year. 

That Franklin did not fly his kite until 
later in the summer than June is likewise 
indicated by the circumstance that the first 
account of the experiment appeared in the 
Gazette. of October 19. This account is 
identical with the oft-quoted letter to Peter 
Collinson, which was read before the Royal 
Society in December and printed in the Philo- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 624. 


sophical Transactions, excepting that it lacks 
the closing statement about the experiments 
in France with ‘points’ and their prior use 
in America. 

Finally, my assumption that the directions 
for erecting lightning-rods, which appeared 
in Poor Richard’s Almanac for 1758, must 
have been written not later than October, 
1752, is proved correct by an advertisement 
in the Gazette of October 19, stating that this 
issue of the Almanac was in press and would 
be published shortly. 

The collateral evidence here adduced favors 
the belief that Franklin performed his kite 
experiment some two months later than has 
been supposed, and proves conclusively that at. 
the time when it was first described Franklin 
had already prepared for publication precise 
directions for placing lightning-rods upon all 
kinds of buildings. 


A. Lawrence Rotcu. 
BLuE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY, 
November 15, 1906. 


SPECIAL ARTICLES. 


NOTICE OF A NEW MIOCENE RHINOCEROS, 
DICERATHERIUM ARIKARENSE. 


THE accompanying sketches represent the 
skull of a species of rhinoceros, Diceratherium 
artkarense, supposedly new, discovered by the . 
geological expedition of 1905, sent from the 
University of Nebraska by the Hon. Charles 
H. Morrill to the Loup Fork beds at Agate, 
Nebraska, on the ranch of Mr. James Cook. 

The genus Diceratherium was established 
by Marsh in 1875 on material from the Mio- 
cene beds near the John Day River in eastern 
Oregon, and two species, armatum and nanum, 
were recognized. A third species, advenum, 
was based on material from the Eocene (pos- 
sibly Miocene) of Utah. Difference of hori- 
zon, and distance seem to warrant the specific 
name herein proposed. In comparing numer- 
ous individuals such variation was noted as to 
justify the belief that this group might legiti- 
mately enough be divided into several species. 

The figures seem sufficiently explanatory, so 
descriptions will be brief. A pair of anterior 
protuberances or horn cores constitute the dis- 


DECEMBER 14, 1906.] 


tinguishing feature of the genus. Many skulls 
were found, but unfortunately no single one 
was complete. They were found in a very 
limited area, and together with them were 
great numbers of rhinoceros bones, many of 


SCIENCE. 


781 


Syndyoceras, Oxydactylus, a species of horse, 
tapir, rhinoceros, ete., being associated consti- 
tute an interesting new fauna for the region. 
Dental formula: I 1/?, C 2/0, P 4/3, M 3/3. 
Measurements: Length of skull, 375 mm. 


. sy 
b 


2 é pr 
= ees ak wh! my 
by 


Sy: 


~-. 


se end 


Fie. 1. Skull of Diceratherium arikarense, side view, drawn from a specimen in the collections 
of Hon. Charles H. Morrill. 


Fig. 2. Top view of the above. 


which presumably belong to this genus, in 
which event a complete restoration is assured. 
The mandible is strong, and its angles are ex- 
~ panded and flare outward. Some crania are 
so short and saddle-shaped that they must be- 
long properly to another speciesi ° 
Diceratherium, Elotherium, Chalicotherium, 


(14.75 inches); extreme width across zygoma, 
220 mm. (8.75 inches); distance between post- 
orbital processes, 180 mm. (5 inches); width 
across horn cores, 68 mm. (2.75 inches). 
Erwin Hincetey Barsour. 
THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA, 
July 4, 1906. Feat 


182 


THE TERM ‘COLLUVIAL’ AS APPLIED TO CLAY 
DEPOSITS. 

WHILE investigating clay deposits in the 
northern part of Georgia, my attention was 
called to a large number of recent deposits 
of some economic value, which were neither 
residual nor alluvial in origin, and in attempt- 
ing to classify them the need for a special 
term was apparent. The term ‘ colluvial’ is 
proposed to designate a type of clay deposits 
which occur in sinks or depressions and at 
the foot of slopes. The term ‘ colluvial’ is 
used by G. P. Merrill* to include talus and 
elit débris, and the soil resulting therefrom. 
By extending somewhat the meaning of the 
term as used by Dr. Merrill, the particular 
type of clay deposits in question can be in- 
cluded under it. The term, in connection 
with clay deposits, has been very little used, 
but deserves recognition, both from a scien- 
tific and economic view point. 

Colluvial clay deposits differ from residual 
deposits in that they have been transported, 
and from alluvial deposits in that they have 
not been carried in suspension by streams and 
are not flood-plain deposits. They occupy a 
position midway between residual and alluvial 
deposits, and may, by gradual transition, pass 
into either. They are due to the transporta- 
tion of residual material, by gravity and wash, 
to the foot of slopes. 

The factors in the formation of colluvial 
clay deposits are: surface decay of rock masses, 
producing residual deposits, transportation of 
this residual material by gravity and wash, 
and rearrangement by mechanical and chem- 
ical changes. To illustrate the formation of 
a deposit take as an example a hill of residual 
material derived from a crystalline rock. The 
section of this residue is, beginning at the 
top, red clay soil containing coarse quartz 
fragments, yellow to gray clayey residue, dis- 
integrated rock, and, finally, unaltered rock. 
By wash by rain water, the finer clay and min- 
eral particles of the residue are carried fur- 
thest and lodged at the slope of the hill, form- 
ing the clay deposit. In granite regions, the 
clay at the foot of a slope may be almost 


** Rocks, Rock Weathering and Soils,’ p. 319. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 624. 


white, gradually changing into the red and 
yellow soil higher up the slope. 

An analysis of one of these colluvial clays, 
from a granite region, is: 


Moisture at 100° C.............. 2.462 
ess’ one Tonittionay 042 Gare. eee 8.654 
SiOs) (totaly es Ons itat pam ae 60.110 
SiO] i(Sandy series se eae a, 31.150 
DWE O FEM sith, Sea NEE ie Oecd 5 trae enen 24.256 
a Se Oe CA ana en eine atare: ponte avant 2.080 
Caius (iSO UA SPINE, GES ass ss -110 
IMO) ace sah seeueran a eked. 2 eee COI trace 
BA Dre Gece eareaer eet am oe ate nana ass Nrice trace 
SIN as Oy er ee ak a ee svat ie NESE Toman a .262 
BO) ene Ue 5 VS Sp ean aie RE 1.647 
TIOYS Sp ecient uaa toe aks aan eee 154 

ANOLE H Ue ete Gane t ena piensa 100.331 


Orto VEATCH. 
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA. 


QUOTATIONS. 


‘BOTANY IN ENGLAND’: A REPLY. 


In the September number of the Journal of 
Botany Mr. James Britten deals at consider- 
able length with the portion of my presiden- 
tial address to the botanical section at the 
recent meeting of the British Association at 
York, which was printed under the title ‘ Bot- 
any in England.’ 

As Mr. Britten’s criticism seemed based on 
a misapprehension of the drift of my remarks, 
and as it was printed in a medium often con- 
sulted by systematic botanists, I naturally sent 
a reply which I hoped might be inserted in a 
forthcoming number of the same journal. In 
his capacity as editor, however, Mr. Britten 
did not see his way to insert my reply in the 
form in which I had written it. As I was 
unable, in my turn, to fall in with the restric- 
tions imposed by Mr. Britten, hospitality for 
a rejoinder had to be sought elsewhere. It is 
under these circumstances that the present 
note appears in the pages of the New Phytolo- 
gist. 

Whilst welcoming any criticisms that Mr. 
Britten may think fit to make, I may, perhaps, 
be permitted to express the hope that the tone 
which animates his recent utterance may find 


- +¥From New Phytologist, Oct., 1906, pp. 173-176. 


DECEMBER 14, 1906.] 


no permanent place in botanical controversy. 
When one’s shortcomings are so rudely ex- 
posed there is the temptation to emulate one’s 
critic and take reprisals. 

In my York address I endeavored to show 
that in the general advance of botany in this 
country during the last twenty-five years our 
great centers of systematic botany had become 
incased, as it were, in a sort of water-tight 
compartment, and this from causes inherent 
in their organization. I do not think it can 
be seriously questioned that the herbaria pur- 
sue their work apart. One has only to turn 
to the utterances of men so well qualified to 
speak for systematic botany as Sir George 
King and Sir William Thistleton-Dyer. The 
former speaks of its neglect and decadence; 
in his presidential address to Section K, 
British Association, Dover, 1899, p. 16, the 
latter refers to its decline as a ‘serious peril.’ 
It is not even an open secret, it 1s common 
knowledge. Mr. Britten, when his remarks 
are stripped of the irrelevancies and innu- 
endoes which adorn them, tells us in effect 
that my apprehensions are groundless and 
that systematic botany jogs on happily with- 
out the schools. Now this is dangerous op- 
timism, or it would be if taken seriously. 

The position seems to be this: rightly or 
wrongly and in spite of warnings we are per- 
mitting the herbaria to become stranded: the 
universities, schools and other institutions 
which diffuse and stimulate an interest in 
botany are not laid under contribution as they 
might be. Systematic botany hardly gets its 
fair proportion of the best that is available. 
To my mind this is a great misfortune, a 
source of weakness; nor do I believe I am 
indisereet in ventilating the subject. My 
eritic would say, perhaps, ‘Teach systematic 
botany by all means and then send your people 
on to us.” But that is not the way to get 
recruits worth having. A mere pious opinion 
in favor of a given branch of knowledge will 
effect nothing, even if you put your precepts 
into practise. If one takes stock of the vari- 
ous places which are centers of activity in 
turning out students equipped and keen to 
pursue science, one finds, with hardly an ex- 
ception, that those who guide these institu- 


SCIENCE. 783 


tions place original investigations in the fore- 
front. Heads of departments are selected 
largely on the strength of their qualifications 
for research, and so far as circumstances per- 
mit support is afforded for its prosecution. 
Hence, if the great school of systematic bot- 
any is to be revived in this country, the sys- 
tematists themselves, 7. e., those with the 
equipment of the great herbaria behind them, 
must take the leading share in the campaign. 
This was my principal contention at York, 
and I do not think matters will be remedied 
until the herbaria become attached or related 
in some way to the educational system. Un- 
less our work is to be sterile we must take our 
share in training those who are to come after 
us. Robert Brown and Sir Joseph Hooker 
are exceptions to every rule: if only we could 
control genius in respect of time and place 
of its appearance, all would be well; but ex- 
perience shows that we have to depend on the 
normal, and that these two men were not 
normal is shown by the fact that none like 
them have been produced for the past half 
century. 

I should like to see members of herbarium 
staffs ipso facto members of the neighboring 
university, or, at any rate, a selection from 
among them. It may be urged that if the 
systematist is to discharge professorial func- 
tions it must be at the sacrifice of some of the 
duties which he at present performs. This is 
very true. But it was one of my points that 
much of the routine work which falls to his 
lot is within the capacity of subordinates. 
You want two classes in a herbarium: the 
scientific workers who really advance the sub- 
ject, and subordinates who would carry on a 
great deal of the routine work. The former 
would be free not merely to write monographs, 
etc., along the accustomed lines, but also to 
open up new lines of attack on old problems. 
Tf ever there was a time when the future of 
systematic botany was full of promise, it 
should be the present. The perfecting of cy- 
tological and anatomical technique and the 
improvement in breeding methods place new 
implements at its disposal for broadening and 
deepening its work. Botanists should pull 
together with a view to so modifying the 


784 


system that we in this country may take our 
proper place in the general advance. If we 
look abroad to centers of activity in systematic 
work, I think we shall find the relation be- 
tween the university, the herbarium and the 
garden, to be an important factor in the case. 

When Mr. Britten says I would have botany 
the sole possession of the schools, he falls into 
error. He depicts me as one who would lock 
the door and have a bonfire. His readers may 
rest assured that the unique and precious col- 
lections of our herbaria will suffer no hurt 
should ‘men of my stamp’ ever get a finger 
in the pie; nor would the interests of the 
various classes who consult them be preju- 
diced. Possibly Mr. Britten has allowed him- 
self to be misled by a too literal interpretation 
of figures somewhat ineautiously employed. 
My meaning was this: We must not be afraid 
to go ahead and if necessary modify the line 
of attack on systematic problems, even if by 
so doing our present collections should cease 
to hold the same relative scientific value that 
they now are supposed to possess. They will 
always retain their interest; whilst their his- 
toric value will ensure their being cherished. 

To read his words one might suppose violent 
annexation of the herbaria and their cus- 
todians had been advocated. But if Mr. Brit- 
ten will turn to my address he will find noth- 
ing more revolutionary than a proposal for a 
working arrangement. 

These things, alas, are not burning ques- 
tions—like district railway fares and the 
Times Book Club. Some day let us hope a 
minister will arise; one who sees and cares. 
The readjustment will be effected without a 
revolution and the only wonder will be that 
we remained so long on the old lines. 

Regarding the question of fusion of the 
herbaria of Kew and the Natural History 
Museum, surely this ancient proposal (which 
Mr. Britten tells us dates from 1848) may be 
discussed without emotion. In any ease it is 
of relatively secondary importance and the 
cease for it rests largely on the need of util- 
izing effectively our resources. My motive in 
raising it in my address was the knowledge 
that unless you pack something concrete into 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 624. 


the loading of your gun, the smoke clears off 
and there is no effect. 

On its merits and for reasons already ad- 
vanced I am disposed to view the proposed 
fusion with favor, though age and wisdom, 
according to my critic, are ranged on the 
other side. As a site, Kew seems preferable 
for ‘the united herbaria in view of the con- 
tiguity of the gardens, which offer such un- 
limited facilities for the attack of systematic 
problems from the cultural side. The disad- 
vantage of distance is less serious than Mr. 
Britten supposes, for the students who, it is 
contemplated, would avail themselves of the 
improved facilities would be mainly of the 
post-graduate type, devoting the whole of their 
time to systematic botany. The question of 
‘openings for trained students,’ by which Mr. 
Britten means remunerated posts was never 
raised by me in this connection. It is re- 
markable what a number of persons, thor- 
oughly trained, remain in the universities 
carrying out original investigations for love 
of the thing, often making considerable sacri- 
fices so to do. This is a hopeful sign for the 
future of science, and it affects botany in 
common with the other sciences. Perhaps 
Mr. Britten will consider whether it is worth 
while for the herbaria to lay this source under 
contribution. All the same, I fully appreciate 
Mr. Britten’s point when he thanks heaven 
that the museum is managed by trustees. In 
so far as the trustees may be regarded as a 
sort of half-way house between a government 
office and a university, that is something to 
be thankful for. Once you make connection 
between the systematic institutions and the 
university, the new growth will begin. In 
time the university will be worthy to enter 
more fully into the possession of its heritage. 
Of course an immense part of the work of 
Kew must remain outside direct university 
influence. All the same my dream of the 
future is a modified Kew discharging its eco- 
nomic and imperial functions, and at the 
same time supporting a great university de- 
partment. It may not be realized in our time; 
its development at best must be slow; what 
we want is a beginning, towards which, indeed, 
the way is mostly paved. F. W. O.iver. 


DECEMBER 14, 1906.] 


CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 
PERUVIAN METEOROLOGY. 


THE meteorological work of the Harvard 
College Observatory in Peru has frequently 
been brought to the attention of the readers 
of ScIlENCE in these notes, especially during 
the visit of the present compiler of these notes 
to South America in 1897-8. In 1899 there 
was published the first volume on ‘ Peruvian 
Meteorology, 1888-1890,’ containing observa- 
tions made at Mollendo, Arequipa, Vincocaya, 
Puno and near Chosica (Annals Harv. Coll. 
Obs’y, XX XIX., Pt. I.). In this same volume 
there was an account of the voleano El Misti, 
on whose summit there was maintained for 
some years the highest meteorological observa- 
tory in the world, and also a paper on the con- 
figuration and heights of the Andes. Both of 
these chapters were written by Professor Solon 
I. Bailey, and the compilation and reduction 
of the observations was also carried out by 
him. We now have a second publication, 
entitled ‘Peruvian Meteorology, 1892-1895’ 
(Annals Harv. Coll. Obs’y, XX XIX., Pt. IL., 
1906), in which there are tabulations of the 
observations made at Mollendo (80 ft.), La 
Joya (4,140 ft.), Arequipa (8,050 ft.), Cha- 
echani (16,650 ft.), Misti Summit (19,200 ft.), 
Mt. Blane (15,600 ft.), Huesos (18,300 ft.), 
Cuzco (11,100 ft.) and Santa Ana (3,400 ft.). 
Mollendo is on the seacoast; La Joya is on 
the Desert of Islay; the Chachani station was, 
until the establishment of that on the Misti, 
the highest meteorological station in the world. 
The so-called Mt. Blanc station is on the flank 
of the Misti, at about the altitude of the top 
of Mont Blanc, and the Huesos shelter is on a 
lofty pampas at the base of the Misti. Cuzco 
is the old Inca capital. And Santa Ana is 
‘beyond the eastern Cordillera, near the limits 
of civilization. Details concerning the loca- 
tion and establishment of these different sta- 
tions are given in the introduction, and also 
a description of the tables. The extraordi- 
mary interest which has attached to these 
meteorological undertakings in Peru, carried 
on under great difficulties and often also, in 

the establishment of some of, these stations, 
at considerable risk, has made the meteorolog- 


SCIENCE. 


785 


ical world impatient to have access to the 
records. This volume will, therefore, be given 
a warm welcome. In spite of breaks in some 
records here, and inaccuracies in other records 
there, the publication is one of unusual value. 
Excellent views are given of each of the sta- 
tions; a cross-section shows the relative dis- 
tances and altitudes in each case, and curves 
are given in some eases. A discussion of the 
famous crescentic sand dunes of the desert 
of Islay will prove interesting to geologists 
and physiographers. The volume was com- 
piled and prepared for publication by Pro- 
fessor Solon I. Bailey. 


CIRRUS AND RAIN. 


At the Royal Observatory of Belgium, in 
Uccle, Vanderlinden has, for the years 1892- 
1905, studied the relation between the direc- 
tion of movement of cirrus clouds and the 
subsequent occurrence of rain. The direc- 
tions which are oftenest followed by rain are 
S.W., W. and N.W. The opposite directions 
are in the majority of cases followed by days 
without rain. The latter are, however, sel- 
dom observed, and the general result is that, 
omitting the S.E., E. and N.E. cases, there is 
almost always the same probability of rain or 
no rain. The probability exceeds 50 per cent. 
in the case of the W. and S.W. octants only. 
Cirrus clouds, then, do not appear always to 
be the prognostics of rain which they have 
been said to be. It may be noted that at 
Blue Hill Mr. H. H. Clayton has shown that 
cirrus clouds are not, as a whole, an indica- 
tion of coming rain, but are somewhat less 
frequently followed by rain than the average 
probability of rain (Annals Harv. Coll. Obs’y, 
XXX., Pt. IV., 474). 


METEOROLOGICAL NOTES IN LABRADOR. 


ALTHOUGH the Moravian missionaries on 
the Labrador coast have supplied remarkably 
complete series of meteorological data from 
that region, the interior of Labrador is very 
little known meteorologically, and even frag- 
mentary accounts are of interest. In an ac- 
count of ‘Labrador, from Lake Melville to 
Ungava Bay’ (Bull. Amer. Geogr, Soc., 38, 


786 


1906, 529-539), Mrs. Leonidas Hubbard, Jr., 
notes that during her trip in June-August, 
1905, the weather was very fine. The maxi- 
mum temperature was 77°. In the higher 
lake country the clear nights were frosty, and 
on August 10 a coating of ice an eighth of an 
inch thick formed on a basin of water out- 
doors. Snow flurries occurred on three days. 
Thunderstorms were rare and very mild. 
Passing showers gave rise to remarkably beau- 
tiful rainbows. The clearness of the atmos- 
phere made objects miles away seem very near. 
The plague of flies and mosquitoes, which is 
a well-known characteristic of some northern 
lands in summer, is noted as one of the dis- 
agreeable features of the trip. 


AFRICA AND THE WHITE MAN. 

Reports from Africa note the increase of 
the white populations in regions which have 
hitherto been occupied by natives only. Boer 
farmers are immigrating into the northern 
part of German East Africa, which is de- 
scribed as an ‘elevated and healthful region.’ 
These Boers are chiefly cattle-raisers. Mr. H. 
Buttengach, a mining engineer who has spent 
two years in Katanga, the southeastern prov- 
ince of the Congo Free State, is convinced 
that European colonization is warranted by 
the climate of this high plateau (Bull. Soc. 
Belge d'Etudes Coloniales, No. 6, 1906), and 
that agriculture may have great development 
on these wide alluvial plains. M. Auguste 
Chevalier believes that the cultivation of cacao 
will have enormous growth in French West 
Africa. The seventh report on the German 
cotton experiments in German Africa (Der 
Tropenpflanzer, No. 6, 1906) shows that the 
natives are making good progress under Ger- 
man tuition. The prospects in the Camer- 
oons are encouraging in certain districts, as 
they are in the northern part of German 
Southwest Africa. 

R. DeC. Warp. 


PALEONTOLOGICAL NOTES. 
FOSSIL CHRYSOCHLORIDZ IN NORTH AMERICA. 


Tue Chrysochloride, or golden moles, are 
one of the several mole-like types which take 
the place of the true moles in the southern 


) 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 624. 


continents. True moles (family Talpidez) 
are found in the subarctic and temperate 
zones of all the northern continents, but not 
in or south of the tropics. But in the south 
temperate zone several animals are known 
which have adopted mole-like habits, and 
superficially resemble the true moles to a 
greater or less degree. In Australia there 
is a marsupial mole, Notoryctes; in Mada- 
gascar certain members of the Centetide are 
mole-like; and in South Africa we have the 
Chrysochloridex. The latter two families are, 
like the true moles, included in the order In- 
sectivora, but belong to the primitive or 
archaic division of Zalambdodonta, while the 
true moles belong to the more progressive, 
modernized and dominant group of Di- 
lambdodonta. In South America there are 
at present no mole-like Insectivores or Mar- 
supials, but in the Upper Miocene (Santa 
Cruz formation) of Patagonia have been 
found remains of an extinct mole, Necrolestes, 
of the Chrysochlorid family, most nearly re- 
lated to the modern Golden Mole of South 
Africa. 

The geographical range of these Chryso- 
chloride, limited to the southern extremities of 
the two southern continents, and their sup- 
posed absence from any of the modern or fossil 
faunas of the northern continents, is not 
easily explained with the present distribution 
of land and water on the earth’s surface. 
They form one of several peculiar elements 
common to the fauna and flora of the two 
continents which have suggested former land 
connection, probably via the Antarctic conti- 
nent at a time when the polar climate was 
comparatively warm and Antarctica a habit- 
able region. There is a considerable weight 
of evidence for the former connection of Aus- 
tralia and South America via Antarctica, but 
the evidence that South Africa was formerly 
connected is much weaker, and the geological 
and physiographic difficulties in the way are 
much more serious, as a much broader ocean 
intervenes, of abyssal depth and every indica- 
tion of long permanency. 

The discovery of Chrysochlorid moles in a 
Lower Miocene ‘formation in North America, 


. 


DECEMBES 14, 1906.]> 


and their probable presence in earlier forma- 
tions in this country, is therefore of interest 
in paleogeography, as it further weakens the 
evidence for the former connection of South 
Africa with the other southern land masses, 
by subtracting this family from the commoh 
faunal elements peculiar to the two southern 
continents. 

The specimen which enables us to positively 
identify Chrysochlorid moles from this coun- 
try was found by Mr. Albert Thomson, of the 
American Museum Expedition of 1906, in the 
Arickaree formation (Rosebud beds) south of 
White River, South Dakota. It consists of a 
humerus, complete and well preserved but 
without any other parts of the skeleton. The 
humerus of Chrysochloris is, however, so pe- 
culiar and characteristic in form, as described 
by Dobson (Monograph of the Insectivora) 
and shown in the figures and specimens with 
which comparison has been made, that there 
can be no doubt that the fossil specimen be- 
longs to the family, although somewhat less 
specialized than the modern genus. Dobson’s 
detailed description (p. 116) of the humerus 
of the modern Chrysochloris applies word for 
word to the fossil; but his figure and those in 
de Blainville’s ‘ Osteographie,’ as well as the 
actual skeleton, show a less degree of special- 
ization in several parts. The associated fos- 
sils make its age equally certain. Only a 
small part of the collection has been examined 
in the museum as yet, but this is amply suffi- 
cient to fix the fauna as intermediate between 
the John Day (Upper Oligocene) and the 
Deep River (Middle Miocene), and of nearly 
the same age as the magnificent fossil fauna 
recently obtained by the Carnegie Museum at 
the Agate Springs Quarry in Nebraska. 

I have for some time suspected that the 
skull described by Mr. Douglass in 1906 as 
Xenotherium from the Lower Oligocene of 
Montana, belonged in or near the Chryso- 
chloridsz, which it resembles in a much more 
significant manner than it does the Mono- 
tremes to which it was provisionally referred 
by the describer. The proof that Chryso- 
chloride did inhabit North America in the 
Middle Tertiary makes it reasonable to refer 
Xenotherium definitely to the same family. 


SCIENCE. 


187 


Apternodus Matthew, from the same forma- 
tion and region as Xenotherium, is probably 
the lower jaw of that genus or some closely 
related form. It is possible also that one or 
more of the Insectivora described by Marsh 
in 1872 from the Bridger formation (Middle 
Eocene) may prove to be ancestral types of 
Chrysochloride. 

The distribution of this rare and interesting 
family of Insectivora as now known is: 

Modern—South Africa. 


Upper Miocene—South America (Pata- 
gonia). 
Lower Miocene—North America (South 


Dakota). 


Lower Oligocene—North America (Mon- 
tana). 


(?) Middle EKocene—North America (Wy- 


-oming). 


Insectivora are exceedingly rare as fossils, 
and this is no doubt but a small fraction of 
the real distribution of the family during the 
Tertiary. We can not regard the South 
American representative in the Upper Miocene 
as descended from the North American spe- 
cies of the Middle Tertiary, for South Amer- 
ica, during the Middle Tertiary at least, was 
an insular continent, and its mammal faunze 
from the early Eocene until the beginning of 
the Pliocene, contain no elements of northern 
origin, but develop on entirely independent 
lines of evolution. It would appear rather 
that the North and South American chryso- 
chlorids are descended from a common pre- 
Tertiary ancestor. The modern South African 
form, on the other hand, may be more nearly 
related to the North American genera if we 
suppose that the middle or early Tertiary 
range of the family extended to Europe and 
Asia, whence it might readily have reached its 
present home. All authorities are agreed that 
Asia and North America were united during 
most of the Tertiary, and Africa was united 
to the northern land in the Oligocene and 
subsequently. Hence there are no geographic 
difficulties in the way of this supposed wider 
distribution—nor adequate evidence to take it 
out of the region of conjecture. In fact, until 
the mutual relationships of the Chrysochloridze 


788 SCIENCE. 


of the three continents are determined by 
exact and thorough comparison of their struc- 
ture, any explanation of their curious geo- 
graphical distribution is highly conjectural. 
It is clear, however, that, as now known, they 
can no longer be regarded as an exclusively 
southern group, nor is there any necessity for 
believing that the South African genus is 
derived from South America via Antarctica. 
The most reasonable conjecture appears to be 
that we have here the scattered remnants of a 
group of very early specialization and wide 
distribution in pre-Tertiary times, which with 
the rest of the zalambdodont insectivores and 
many other archaic types, disappearing before 
more progressive competitors, found its last 
place of refuge in the southern continents and 
the greater tropical islands. 


W. D. MattTHew. 
AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTOBY, 
October 25, 1906. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


Tue Nobel prizes were on December 10 
awarded as follows: Physics, Professor J. J. 
Thomson, of Cambridge; chemistry, M. Mois- 
san, of Paris; medicine, Professor S. Ramén 
y Cajal, of Madrid, and Professor Camillo 
Golgi, of Pavia; literature, Professor Giosué 
Carducci, of Bologna; for the promotion of 
peace among nations, President Roosevelt. 


Mrs. SHALER is preparing to write a life of 
the late Nathaniel Southgate Shaler, which is 
to be published in the near future. She has 
made an appeal for letters or reminiscences 
that would be useful and has asked that these 
be sent to her at 1775 Massachusetts Avenue, 
Washington, D. C. 

Unper the auspices of the Peary Arctic 
Club, Commander Robert E. Peary gave an 
account of the voyage of the Roosevelt and 
his expedition ‘furthest north’ at the Amer- 
ican Museum of Natural History on Saturday 
afternoon, December 8. Commander Peary 
was introduced by Mr. Morris K. Jesup, presi- 
dent of the Peary Arctic Club and of the 
museum. It is said that some thirty thousand 
people tried to obtain entrance to the hall and 
to the informal reception which was held after 
the address. A dinner was given by the Peary 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 624. 


Arctic Club to Commander Peary at the Uni- 
versity Club on December 12. 


M. Mascart will retire from the director- 
ship of the Central Bureau of Meteorology in 
Paris on January 1. He will be succeeded 
by M. Angot. 


Proressor GariEL has resigned the secre- 
taryship of the council of the French Associa- 
tion for the Advancement of Science, a posi- 
tion which he has held for the past thirty 
years. 


Dr. Wituiam H. Brooks, director of Smith 
Observatory and professor of astronomy at 
Hobart College, Geneva, N. Y., has received 
a medal from the Astronomical Society of 


Mexico, for his discoveries of twenty-five 


comets. 


Mr. L. A. Pertncury has been appointed to 
the directorship of the South African Mu- 
seum, Cape Town, to fill the vacaney caused 
by the resignation of Mr. W. L. Sclater. 


At the recent meeting of the Association of 
Teachers of Mathematics of the Middle States 
and Maryland, Professor Edwin 8. Crawley, 
of the University of Pennsylvania, was re- 
elected president. - 


Dr. WitiiaM J. Mayo, of Rochester, Minn., 
retiring president of the American Medical 
Association, has recently been visiting Phila- 
delphia as a guest of the dean of the medical 
department of the University of Pennsylvania. 


Tue fifth lecture in the Harvey Society 
course will be given by Dr. S. J. Meltzer, of 
New York, on Saturday evening, December 
15, at 8:30 p.m., at the New York Academy 
of Medicine, on ‘The Factors of Safety in 
Animal Structure and Animal Economy.’ All 
interested are cordially invited to be present. 


ProFessor PIERRE JANET, of the University 
of France, has delivered three lectures in the 
Johns Hopkins University on ‘Mind and 
Medicine.’ 


Dr. Huco Munsterserec, professor of psy- 
chology at Harvard University, has received 
leave of absence from November 21, 1906, to 
January. 12, 1907, for a visit to Germany. 


DECEMBER 14, 1906.] 


Dr. Hiram BincHam has sailed for Vene- 
zuela, where he will make explorations in the 
region of eastern Colombia. 


Mr. A. B. Strout, of Baraboo, Wisconsin, is 
working out plans for the preservation of the 
man mound described in his bulletin on the 
* Archeology of Eastern Sauk County.’ It is 
the last of the three mounds of that character, 
and is said to be the only man mound now 
known to be in existence. 

Tuer Swiss government has awarded a pre- 
mium of 5,000 franes to Dr. M. Rickli, of 
Zurich, and Professor H. Bachmann, of 
Lucerne, toward the expenses of a botanical 
expedition to Greenland. 


A MONUMENT in honor of Servetus is to be 
erected at Vienne in the department of Isére 
where he lived for twelve years. It will be 
remembered that Michael Servet, who was 
burned at Geneva in 1533 for his theological 
opinions, discovered the pulmonary circulation 
and made important contributions to geog- 
raphy. 

Dr. WILHELM LosseEn, formerly professor of 
chemistry at Konigsburg, has died at the age 
of sixty-seven years. 


We learn from the British Medical Journal 
of the death of Dr. Nikanor Chrzonszezewski, 
sometime professor of general pathology in 
the University of Kieff, aged seventy; Dr. 


Lew Pawlow, of St. Petersburg, physician to ~ 


the Czar and president of the Russian Medi- 
eal Association, aged fifty-nine; Dr. Plantau, 
professor of histology in the Medical School 
at Algiers; Professor Liugu Casati, for many 
years editor of the Raccoglitore Medico, and 
founder, in conjunction with Professor Ruata, 
of the Institute for the Orphans of Medical 
Practitioners at Perugia, aged seventy-six; and 
Dr. Reinecke, who reorganized the public 
health administration of Hamburg. 


THERE will be a civil service examination on 
December 26, to fill the position of chief of 
the Laboratory of Physiological Chemistry, in 
the Bureau of Chemistry, Department of 
Agriculture, at a salary of $2,500. On Jan- 
uary 4, there will be examinations to fill the 
positions of laboratory assistants, qualified in 
chemistry, in the Bureau of Standards, at a 


SCIENCE. 


789 


salary of from $900 to $1,000; and to fill the 
position of dairy chemist in the Bureau of 
Animal Industry, at a salary of $1,200 to 
$1,800. 


Proressor Ragna, of Bologna, is making an 
appeal for funds to rebuild the observatory 
there on a new site, and provide it with instru- 
ments suited to modern requirements. 


Peasopy Museum, Yale University, has re- 
ceived as a gift from Professor Schuchert a 
collection of antiquities gathered by him dur- 
ing his recent trip through Mexico. 


Tue annual dinner of the National Geo- 
graphic Society will be given in Washington 
December 15. Invitations have been issued 
by Professor Willis L. Moore, president of the 
society, and a dinner committee. 


Tue New York Association of Biology 
Teachers will hold its next meeting at the 
High School of Commerce on December 14 
at 8:15 p.m. Dr. C. Stuart Gager, director 
of the laboratories at the New York Botanical 
Garden, and Dr. M. A. Bigelow, head of the 
department of biology of Teachers College, 
will lead a discussion on ‘ How can secondary 
school teachers of biology maintain a spirit 
of investigation while engaged in teaching.’ 


Tue ninth International Congress of Geog- 
raphy will be held at Geneva from July 27 
to August 6, 1908. 


Tue fourth International Congress for the 
Welfare and Protection of Children will be 
held in Berlin on May 22-26, 1907. 


Accorpine to foreign papers, the Journal 
Officiel is about to publish statistics of the 
marriages, births and deaths that took place 
in France in 1905. The figures show that, 
while marriages increased as compared with 
1904, births fell off, the rate being the lowest 
on record. In forty-four departments (as 
compared with thirty-six in the previous year) 
the deaths were actually in excess of the 
births, and in certain provinces the difference 
was enormous, the record being three deaths 
as against two births.. An increase in the 
death rate helps to aggravate the situation. 


Nature states that visitors to the old 
Swedish cathedral and university town of 


790 


Lund will find no little interest in the com- 
paratively recent collections at the ethnograph- 
ical museum illustrating many phases of rural 
life. Old peasant houses have been taken 
down, brought from considerable distances, 
and set up at Lund, among the buildings be- 
ing an old church and an inn. Models of 
interiors of houses with costumed figures of 
inmates give an excellent idea of rustic condi- 
tions, reminding one, though on a smaller 
seale, of the Cecho-Slavonie museum in the 
Kinsky Park at Prague. 


Proressok CHARLES BASKERVILLE, of the 
College of the City of New York, has closed 
a series of six lectures, at the Brooklyn Insti- 
tute of Arts and Sciences, on physical chem- 
istry under the title of ‘The Elements.’ The 
lectures were extensively illustrated with ex- 
periments and samples; the subjects treated 
were the following: (1) Chemistry at Low 
Temperatures. Stability of the Elements. 
(2) Chemistry at High Temperatures. Insta- 
bility of the Elements. (3) Ultra-Violet Light 
and its Réle in Chemistry. Production of 
the Elements. (4) The Methods for Deter- 
mining the Integrity of a Chemical Element 
and their Defects. (5) Radium and the 
Transmutation of the Chemical Elements. 
(6) Phase Rule and the Elements. Harmon- 
izing of Divergent Views. 


THE following letter has been received by 
the Academy of Natural Sciences, of Phila- 
delphia, in acknowledgment of the receipt of 
books sent to the California Academy of 
Sciences as a help toward the replacing of the 
library destroyed by earthquake and fire: 


CALIFORNIA 
ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, 
San FRANCISCO. 
1812 GoueH STREET, 
San FRANCISCO, CAL., 
November 16, 1906. 
Mr. Epwarp J. Notan, Recording Secretary and 
Librarian, 
Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 
Philadelphia, Pa. 

Dear Sir:—Your letter of September 26th 
reached us some weeks before the books arrived 
through the Smithsonian Institution. 

You have certainly sent us a magnificent gift, 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 624, 


and no pleasanter task has ever been given us 
than the unpacking and shelving of box after box 
of such treasures. The shelving capacity of one 
room in our temporary quarters is taxed to the 
utmost, and by common consent it is generally re- 
ferred to as ‘The Philadelphia Academy room.” 

We appreciate it all,—your own publications, so 
complete and so beautifully bound, the magnificent 
folios, the rare old books, the early volumes of so 
many valuable sets, the goodly number of works 
relating to expeditions, some of which we had 
long desired but had never owned, the great 
variety of subjects represented by the collection, 
and the book-plate, the mute reminder of the 
friends who succored us at the time of our almost 
overwhelming disaster. And so we thank you, 
with hearts full of gratitude for your generous 
gift of books and time and labor. 

A formal vote of thanks will be passed at the 
next meeting of our members, and a copy will be 
sent you. 

Cordially yours, 
LEVERETT Mitts Loomis, 
Director of the Museum. 


(Signed ) 


Tue New York Evening Post says: “The 
poorly paid college professor has even his 
financial compensations. No one has more 
brilliant opportunities to get rich without 
effort than he. During the present fall he has 
been kindly offered at least half-a-dozen dif- 
ferent positions on the ground floor of a 
western marble quarry containing nearly a 
billion feet of marble which is to be taken 
out and sold at a profit of nearly two billions 
of dollars, as soon as a little necessary ma- 
chinery is secured by the sale of a few bonds 
at about par, with something like an equiva- 
lent amount of stock thrown in. When one 
considers that this investment is to pay 100 
per cent. profit annually as soon as it gets its 
machinery well oiled, it is evident that, as a 
benefactor to indigent college professors, Car- 
negie has been easily distanced. For such as 
have any moral objections to profits of that 
size, the same company has an alternative in 
an Ohio coal proposition which is practically 
certain not to net more than 50 per cent. clear 
annual gain.” The above scheme is promi- 
nently supported by the name of a professor 
in an American university. If this is done 
without his knowledge, he should take early 


DECEMBER 14, 1906.] 


opportunity to see that his name is not further 
used in this way. 

WE learn from the Electrical World that at 
the opening of the regular monthly meeting 
of the American Institute of Electrical Engi- 
neers, held November 23, Secretary Ralph W. 
Pope announced that on the evening before 
upon the invitation of the trustees of the 
United Engineering Society, the boards of di- 
rectors of the three founder societies inspected 
the new building. The office floors are prac- 
tically complete and ready for occupancy; the 
auditorium and grand entrance hall on the 
first floor are yet in the hands of the con- 
tractors. All were impressed with the stately 
character of the building, and all felt satis- 
faction with the way the architects have car- 
ried out the great work. There was an in- 
formal dinner at half-past six, and although 
the meeting was of an informal character, 
resolutions were passed authorizing the trus- 
tees of the United Engineering Society to pro- 
ceed with arrangements for the formal dedica- 
tion of the building in April next. The socie- 
ties will, however, occupy their suites in the 
building in the course of a month or two. At 
this informal gathering Chairman Thomas 
Commerford Martin, of the Building Fund 
Committee, announced that Mr. George West- 
inghouse, for himself and as representing the 
various Westinghouse Companies, had con- 
tributed to the land, building and endowment 
fund the sum of $50,000, to be equally divided 
between the three founder societies toward the 
payment for the land. This was followed by 
the announcement that the Allis-Chalmers 
Company had contributed the sum of $3,500, 
to be similarly divided between the three socie- 
ties. This brings the amount pledged toward 
the payment of the A. I. E. E. proportion of 
the land to $155,000, out of $180,000, which is 
the sum total. Chairman Martin assured the 
gentlemen present that he felt that when the 
building was formally dedicated, so far as the 
American Institute of Electrical Engineers 
was concerned, it would assume its respon- 
sibility, one-third of the land, free from debt. 
Mr. Pope said that from his knowledge of the 
situation he feels quite assured that this will 
be the case, and that the American Institute 


SCIENCE. 791 


of Electrical Engineers, which twenty years ago 
was following the trail of the other engineer- 
ing societies, will assume its responsibilities 
free from debt and with an income that will 
assure the handling its part of the building 
for all time to come, with the generous sup- 
port of the members of the institute. The 
building is admirably calculated to accommo- 
date meetings of various societies, from an 
audience of 1,000 down to 150, and the accom- 
modations are such that all will feel well 
satisfied personally with the situation, when 
they come to meet in the building and inspect 
the offices and the general quarters, the library 
and all the accessories. 


We learn from the London Times that the 
departmental committee which was recently 
appointed to “inquire and report what dis- 
eases and injuries, other than injuries by ac- 
cident, are due to industrial occupations, are 
distinguishable as such, and can properly be 
added to the diseases enumerated in the third 
schedule of the workmen’s compensation bill, 
1906,” has now begun its inquiry. The com- 
mittee proposes to investigate the following 
diseases and injuries which have been sug- 
gested for its consideration, viz., gradual 
poisoning from the vapor of carbon disulphide, 
dinitrobenzol, dinitrotoluol and anilin; grad- 
ual poisoning from carbonic oxide gas, sul- 
phuretted hydrogen gas, and chlorine gas; 
alkaloidal poisoning from African boxwood in 
shuttlemaking; illness set up by nitrous 
fumes, hydrochloric acid fumes, ammonium 
chloride fumes and sulphur fumes; com- 
pressed air illness (caisson disease); chrome 
ulceration of the skin; various trade eczemas; 
fibrosis of the lungs from inhalation of 
silicious or metallic particles (potter’s asthma 
and grinder’s phthisis); pneumonia from in- 
halation of basic slag dust; miner’s nystagmus 
and miner’s ‘beat knee’ and ‘beat hand’; 
neurosis due to vibration; cardiac dilatation 
in slate quarries; and glanders. Correspond- 
ence relating to the inquiry should be ad- 
dressed to Frank Elliott, Esq., secretary to 
the committee at the Home Office, Whitehall, 
S: W. Anthrax, ankylostomiasis and poison- 
ing by lead, mercury, phosphorus and arsenic 


792 


are already included in the third schedule of 
the workmen’s compensation bill, and are not, 
therefore, within the committee’s terms of 
reference. 


Proressor C. H. Jupp, of Yale University, 
gave an address on ‘ Visual Perception’ before 
the Washington Academy of Sciences on No- 
vember 27. The address was illustrated by 
lantern slides, showing the method of photo- 
graphing the eyes and giving the results of 
the study of eye movements. It was discussed 
by Professor George M. Stratton, of Johns 
Hopkins University. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


Mr. WILLIAM SmiTH, of Geneva, has given 
$500,000 to Hobart College to endow a college 
for women. 


It is announced that Mr. Andrew Carnegie 
has offered to give $100,000 to Queen’s Uni- 
versity, Ontario, on condition that the addi- 
tional sum of $400,000 be collected. 


THE trustees of the late Mr. T. Graham 
Young have presented to the governors of the 
Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical Col- 
lege a sum of £10,000 to assist in inaking pro- 
vision for the teaching of dyeing and bleach- 
ing in connection with the chair of technical 
chemistry in the college. Mr. Young’s trus- 
tees have also voted a sum of £850 for the 
equipment of the laboratory. 


THE majority of the committee of alumni 
of the Andover Theological Seminary has 
handed in a report adverse to the removal of 
the seminary to Cambridge and its affiliation 
with Harvard University. 


It is reported that the University of War- 
saw will be removed to Saratoff and the War- 
saw Polytechnic School to Rostoff-on-the-Don. 
This would leave Russian Poland without a 
university. 


ASSISTANT Proressor ALEXANDER W. Evans 
has been promoted to fill the Eaton professor- 
ship of botany in the Sheffield Scientific 
School of Yale University. 


Dr. S. M. Linpsay, professor of sociology 
in the University of Pennsylvania, has been 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 624. 


called to a newly-established chair of social 
legislation at Columbia University. 


JoHn L. Stewart, professor of economics 
and history at Lehigh University, has been 
appointed director of the library of that insti- 
tution to succeed the late Professor William 
H. Chandler. 

THE registration of the University of Maine 
for the present year shows an attendance of 
56 in the College of Agriculture, and 391 
in the College of Technology, with 29 in the 
faculty of the former college and 85 in the 
faculty of the latter. The new members of 
the faculty and changes in the various scien- 
tific departments follow: 

W. M. Munson, Pomologist in the Experiment 
Station. 

W. D. Hurd, Acting Dean of the College of 
Agriculture. 

A. C. Jewett, and W. K. Ganong, promoted to 
professorships in Mechanical and Electrical En- 
gineering. 

W. J. Morse, Vegetable Pathologist in the Ex- 
periment Station. 


A. W. Gilbert, promoted to Assistant Professor 
of Agronomy. 


P. A. Campbell, Instructor in Animal Industry. 

R. W. Seabury, Instructor in Biological and 
Agricultural Chemistry. 

C. B. Brown, Instructor in Civil Engineering. 

E. E. Moots, Instructor in Mathematics. 

H. A. Emery, Instructor in Civil Engineering. 

M. J. Dorsey, Instructor in Horticulture. 

C. J. Carter, Instructor in Machine Work. 

G. F. Wittig, Instructor in Electrical Engineer- 
ing. 

A. C. Whittier, Assistant Chemist in the Ex- 
periment Station. R 

J. C. Colcord, Assistant Chemist in the Experi- 
ment Station. 

F. Balentine, Tutor in Biology. 

H. W. Bearce, Tutor in Physics. 


Mr. R. P. Grecory, of St. John’s College, 
has been appointed senior demonstrator in 
botany in Cambridge University. 

At Cambridge University the Cavendish 
professor of experimental physics and the 
Lucasian professor of mathematics have ap- 
pointed Mr. F. Horton, fellow of St. John’s 
College, to be Clerk Maxwell student in suc- 
cession to Mr. O. W. Richardson, of Trinity 
College. 


SCIENCE 


A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 
OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 


Se 


Frmwpay, DECEMBER 21, 1906. 


CONTENTS. 


Unversity Registration Statistics: PROFESSOR 
HUDOLE POMBO) URsa shies: s cle as a see cane 793 

Scientific Books :— 5 
Metcalf on the Theory of Organic Evolu- 
tion: J. P. MoM. Winton’s Microscopy of 
Vegetable Foods: Dr. HENRY KRAEMER. 
Kraus on the Essentials of Crystallog- 
raphy: PROFESSOR WILLIAM HERBERT HOBBS 805 


Scientific Journals and Articles............ 808 
Societies and Academies :-— 
The American Physical Society: PROFESSOR 
PANS DT UMM RRENT i. SEP MRISe Lk ciel taste eh « 808 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
‘Hlimination’ in Fixing Genotypes: Dr. 
PBle etre SEPAUDEDISRto00 0 no chcy wearatm aie eee Natey cece 809 

Special Articles :— 
Polyembryony and the Fixing of Sex: Dr. 
L. O. Howarp. Le Fondule (Fundula 
Cyprinodonta) of Carbonmuer an Umbra: 
ALN TION A CriTalicy. cdo. chovdirapaicccae Were tees we Rel wiicho bees eit 8 


Notes on Physics :— 
The Tungsten Lamp; Normal versus Selec- 
tive Radiation, Selective Hacitation: PRo- 
FESSOR W. S. FRANKLIN................- 819 


Notes on Organic Chemistry :-— 
The Nitration of Aniline: Dr. J. BISHOP 
ARNG TERY BH ee CH BIGAING Kisry ae 3 oicie eisiie eletels oor cas 821 
Notes on the History of Natural Science :— 
Sir John Mandeville: Dr. C. R. EASTMAN ._ 822 
Current Notes on Meteorology :— 
Lantern Slides for Teaching Meteorology ; 
Land and Sea Breezes on the German 
Coast; Monthly Weather Review; Climate 
of Fort Grant, Arizona: PRoFESSOR R. DEC. 


810 


VIVZAT EADY Uy ne ee et ed en eam 823 
Evening Technical Courses at Columbia Um- 
DGRSUID) | ke Bae gO tole Gi = cIbiGig Hea 824 


Professor Osborn and the Secretaryship of 
the Smithsonian Institution.............. 825 

Preliminary Program of the New York Meet- 
_ing of the American Association for the 
Adwancement of Science and the Affiliated 


ISCLENLTTIC YS OCICTICS =e) eine toil) on te mice ee 825 
Scientific Notes and News................-- 828 


University and Hducational News........... 832 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 
geview should be sent to the Editor of SclENCE, Garrison-op- 


Hudson, N. Y. 


UNIVERSITY REGISTRATION STATISTICS. 


THE statistics given on page 798 are, 
with few exceptions, approximately as of 
November 1, 1906, and relate to the regis- 
tration at twenty-three of the leading uni- 
versities throughout the country. Two 
new institutions have been added to the 
list, the University of Kansas and New 
York University. The figures have in 
every case been secured from the proper 
officials of the university concerned; wher- 
ever detailed information has been fur- 
nished with reference to causes of increase 
or decrease in registration, changes in 
equipment, ete., the material is set off by 
smaller type. At the majority of institu- 
tions, additional registrations during the 
remainder of the academic year will in- 
crease somewhat the figures given in the 
table. This is especially true in the ease 
of an institution like Columbia, which ad- 
mits new students to its academic depart- 
ment in February, as well as in September. 

Comparing the figures for 1906 with 
those for 1905, it will be seen that a num- 
ber of institutions show a loss, which, in 
the case of California (—10.61%) and 
Leland Stanford (—4.73%), may be traced 
to external causes. The other universi- 
ties that have suffered a decrease in at- 
tendance are Johns Hopkins (—10.17%), 
Northwestern (—5.59%) and Columbia 
(—2.21%). The greatest gains have been 
made by Pennsylvania (14.69%), New 
York University’ (12.74+%), Indiana 


+The Kansas and New York University figures 
for 1902 to 1905, and the Nebraska figures for 


794 
(10.02%), Missouri (9.75%), Syracuse 
(8.21%), Virginia (7.04%), Nebraska 


(6.52%), Ohio (5.98%), Cornell (5.27%), 
Illinois (4.81%), Chicago (3.59%) and 
Michigan (3.38%). Harvard (1.14%) 
and Wisconsin (0.52%) show slight gains, 
while the registration: at Kansas,* Minne- 
sota, Princeton and Yale has, to all intents 
and purposes, remained stationary. 

If we compare the registration of 1906 
with that of 1902, we shall find that every 
university, with five exceptions, has in- 
ereased its registration during the in- 
tervening period, the exceptions being 
California (—11.71%), Northwestern (— 
8.35%), Indiana (—8.07%), Johns Hop- 
kins (—7.62%) and Harvard (—2.29%). 
The largest gains during this period have 
been made by Pennsylvania (54.34%), 
New York University (49.16+%), Mis- 
souri (47.09%), Ohio State (86%), Kan- 
sas (30.60+%) and Virginia (27.13%). 
Next come Cornell (24.20%), Michigan 
(24.18%) and Yale (24%), and these are 
followed by Minnesota (12.52%), Stan- 
ford (11.03%), Chicago (10.13%), Ne- 
braska (9.65-+%), Columbia (8.09%) and 
Wisconsin (7.46%). The enrollment at 
Princeton has remained stationary, the in- 
crease being one of only 0.52%. In the 
case of several institutions the large gains 
may be ascribed to the establishment of 
summer sessions. 

According to the figures for 1905, the 
twenty-one universities included in the 
table ranked as follows: Harvard, Colum- 
bia, Chicago, Michigan, Minnesota, Cornell, 
Illinois, California, Yale, Pennsylvania, 
Wisconsin, Northwestern, Syracuse, Ne- 


braska, Ohio State, Missouri, Leland Stan-. 


ford, Indiana, Princeton, Virginia and 
Johns Hopkins. Comparing this with the 
order for 1906, we notice that for reasons 
to be discussed more in detail later, several 
changes have occurred. Harvard still has 


1902, are those for the close of the respective 
academic years. 


SCIENCE, 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 625. 


the largest registration, but is followed by 
Chicago, with Michigan third and Colum- 
bia fourth. Cornell has this year a larger 
registration than Minnesota, Pennsylvania 
and Yale have passed California, and the 
former has made other gains, the order 
this year—after Cornell—being Minnesota, 
Pennsylvania, Illinois, Yale, New York 
University, California, Wisconsin, Syra- 
euse, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, 
Missouri, Kansas, Indiana, Princeton, Vir- 
ginia and Johns Hopkins. Omitting the 
summer session registration, the order 
would be as follows: Harvard, Michigan, 
Columbia, Chicago, Pennsylvania, Cornell, 
Minnesota, Illinois, Yale, New York Uni- 
versity, Syracuse, California, Wisconsin, 
Nebraska, Northwestern, Chicago, Ohio 
State, Missouri, Kansas, Stanford, Prince- 
ton, Indiana, Virginia and Johns Hopkins. 

I desire at this place to express the hope 
that this article will not be interpreted by 
the reader as desiring in any way to place 
undue emphasis upon mere numbers as the 
most important factor in the development 
of a higher institution of learning; at the 
same time it will no doubt be of interest 
to notice where and how gains and losses 
have been experienced. No sensible per- 
son will regard the number of students in 
attendance at a university as the sole eri- 
terion of the advantages that one institu- 
tion has over another. 

Examining the different faculties, we 
notice that most of the institutions this 
year show an increase in enrollment in the 
academic department. This is true as far 
as men are concerned of every institution 
in the table, with the exception of Johns 
Hopkins and Wisconsin, and it is a rather 
remarkable fact, since several universities 
for a number of years have registered con- 
tinual losses in their academic departments 
—these losses being in many cases due to 
corresponding gains in the scientific schools. 
A reaction has apparently set in in this 
direction, at least at a number of institu- 


DECEMBER 21, 1906.] 


tions. At Princeton, for example, the num- 
ber of academic students has increased 
from 629 to 758, at Yale from 1,323 to 
1,350, at Columbia from 557 to 606; where- 
as the number of scientific students at the 
same institutions has decreased from 624 
to 484 in the case of Princeton, from 1,028 
to 929 in the case of Yale and from 566 to 
524 in the case of Columbia. At Harvard 
the discrepancy is even greater, the reason 
for which will be given later. The only 
other institution, in addition to those men- 
tioned above, which shows a loss in the 
enrollment of the scientific schools is the 
University of California, and there the de- 
erease is scarcely worthy of mention. The 
largest gain in the number of scientific 
students has been made by Illinois (from 
880 to 1,020). As far as the number of 
women in academic courses is concerned, 
there has been a decrease at California and 
Stanford, while in all of the other institu- 
tions there has been a noticeable gain, par- 
ticularly at Indiana, where the number has 
increased from 299 to 397; at Missouri, 
where a gain from 281 to 354 may be 
noted, and at Wisconsin, where the number 
of women has grown from 653 to 718. 

The professional schools of law and medi- 
cine show a general falling off in attend- 
ance, appreciable gains in law having been 
made only by Chicago, Illinois, Indiana, 
Missouri, Northwestern, Syracuse, Virginia 
and Yale; and in medicine only by Indiana, 
Northwestern, Pennsylvania, Virginia and 
Yale. Strange to say, a number of the in- 
stitutions show a decrease also in the en- 
rollment in the graduate schools, appre- 
ciable gains having been registered only in 
the case of Cornell, Missouri, Virginia and 
Wisconsin. In pharmacy some of the in- 
stitutions have made slight gains, while 
others show a loss. None of the institu- 
tions has lost veterinary students and the 
same holds true for forestry, although the 
gains are in no case large. The only dental 


SCIENCE. 


795 


schools that show an increase are those of 
Michigan and Pennsylvania. Arehitecture 
and music exhibit gains all along the line, 
with few exeeptions. Minnesota and Ohio 
are the only institutions which have ex- 
perienced a loss in students of agriculture. 
The divinity school at Harvard is prac- 
tically as large as it was last year, while at 
Northwestern there is a loss of forty-six, 
at Yale of six and at Chicago of four 
students. Pedagogy shows a healthy in- 
crease in all but one of the institutions 
(Wisconsin ). 

Harvard still maintains the large lead 
that it has had for a number of years in 
the academic department. Inasmuch as a 
number of universities do not separate men 
from women in the academic statistics, it is 
difficult to determine the exact order for 
men only, but taking both men and women 
into consideration, the order would be 
Harvard, Michigan, Wisconsin, California, 
Leland Stanford, Minnesota, Yale, Chicago, 
Syracuse, Columbia. It will thus be seen 
that of the ten universities having an en- 
rollment of over one thousand academic 
students, six are situated in the west. Cor- 
nell still leads in the number of scientific 
students, Michigan occupying second place, 
as was the case last year. [Illinois comes 
third, followed by Yale, Wisconsin, Ohio 
State, California, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, 
Minnesota, Missouri and Columbia. Of 
the twelve institutions in the table with an 
enrollment of over five hundred scientific 
students, eight are located in the western 
states. New York University has the 
largest law school among the institutions 
in the list, with Michigan second, Harvard 
third and Minnesota fourth, Harvard being 
the only one of ek four requiring a bac- 
calaureate degree for admission. Penn- 
sylvania has the largest medical school, 
with Northwestern second and_ Illinois 
third. As for the graduate schools, Co- 
lumbia with an enrollment of 808 students 


796 


is by far the largest, Harvard with 437, 
Chicago with 358 and Yale with 357 fol- 
lowing in the order named. Minnesota 
has by far the largest school of agriculture, 
while Pennsylvania leads in the students 
of architecture and Syracuse in those of 
art; Pennsylvania also has by far the 
largest school of dentistry, Northwestern 
leads in divinity and Yale in forestry 
(although some of the western institutions 
that include forestry under agriculture 
may actually have more forestry students 
than Yale) ; Syracuse has the largest school 
of music, Columbia the largest teachers’ 
college, as well as the largest school of 
pharmacy, Ohio State the largest number 
of veterinary students. As far as the sum- 
mer session of 1906 is concerned, Harvard 
and Columbia attracted more than one 
thousand students, Michigan, California, 
Indiana and Cornell following in the order 
named. 

Taking up the different institutions in- 
cluded in the table in alphabetical order, 
we come first to the University of Cali- 
fornia. 

The total number of undergraduates in the 
colleges of letters and science (including engineer- 
ing) is 2,365, a gain of just three as compared 
with November 1, 1905. This is the largest num- 
ber of undergraduates ever enrolled at this period 
of the academic year. The number of graduate 
students is 204, a loss of 67. This loss, however, 
is more apparent than real. Last year there was 
an unprecedented increase in the enrollment of 
graduate students, due to a new regulation which 
made it necessary for the graduates of 1905 who 
were applicants for the teachers’ certificate to re- 
turn to the University for at least a half-year 
of graduate study. For various reasons due to 
local conditions, this regulation was temporarily 
suspended for the class graduating in the summer 
of 1906. As a result very few of the graduates of 
last summer who were aiming at teachers’ certifi- 
cates have found it necessary to come back to the 
University for work in the graduate department. 
Hereafter, by action of the State board of educa- 
tion, high school teachers in California are not 
to be certificated on University credentials with- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 625. 


out a year of professional study following the 
baccalaureate degree. 

Turning now to the professional colleges, in 
San Francisco, it will be noticed that the school 
of art has been temporarily discontinued. The 
building and the equipment of the school were 
totally destroyed by fire, though a few of the most 
valuable paintings in the gallery were rescued. 
As regards the loss of students in the other pro- 
fessional colleges, it is to be said that existing 
conditions in San Francisco are only in part 
responsible. Some of these colleges have been 
losing heavily during recent years and others have 
been barely holding their own. As was reported 
a year ago, the college of medicine has revised its 
admission requirements and demands, in addition 
to the equivalent of a four years’ high school 
course, at least two years of properly selected 
university work. Eight or ten years ago the 
colleges of law, dentistry and pharmacy began 
to decline in number of students. During the 
last four years the enrollments of law and phar- 
macy have been practically stationary, and that 
in dentistry has continued to decline. 

The principal additions to our equipment during 
1905-6 were as follows: California Hall was com- 
pleted and occupied. The administrative offices 
and the departments of history, economics, poli- 
tical science and education as well as the Bancroft 
library are housed in this building. The cost of 
the building, including equipment, was $292,000. 
In the men’s gymnasium, new dressing rooms and 
showers were added at a cost of $30,000. In the 
women’s gymnasium similar improvements were 
installed at a cost of $8,100. Temporary accom- 
modations were provided for the departments of 
architecture and entomology at a combined cost 
of about $7,000. The university has established 
on the campus a students’ infirmary. For the 
present, a wooden building upon the campus, 
formerly used as a dwelling-house, will be refitted 
and equipped as an infirmary and dispensary. 
For the maintenance of the infirmary the students 
here at Berkeley (colleges of letters and science, 
including engineering) are assessed two dollars 
and a half per half-year. 

I have recently taken some pains to investigate 
the precise result of the San Francisco disaster 
upon the living accommodations of the students. 
It will help in understanding the questions at 
issue if the reader be reminded that the Uni- 
versity of California has never maintained 
dormitories for the students; and that in 1894— 
95 only 51% of the students attending the colleges 
at Berkeley had their lodgings in Berkeley dur- 


DECEMBER 21, 1906.] 


ing the university sessions, The remainder of the 
students found their lodgings in Oakland, San 
Francisco, and other nearby cities and towns. 
During the past twelve years the proportion of 


students lodging in Berkeley has_ increased 
steadily. In 1905-6, 78.6% of the under- 


graduate students and 75.4% of the graduate 
students had their lodgings in the University 
town. This great increase took place in spite of 
the fact that during these twelve years there were 
remarkable improvements in the means of inter- 
urban transportation in this vicinity. One might 
have supposed that this increased convenience in 
transportation would have induced a relatively 
larger number of students to live in Oakland or 
San Francisco or Alameda. Happily for the soli- 
darity of university life and spirit, no such result 
has come about. 

During the weeks following the earthquake and 
fire in April last, many thousands of people from 
San Francisco made their homes in the suburban 
towns, including Berkeley. For a time it seemed 
as if the students of the summer session would 
not be able to find lodgings in Berkeley. Even 
more strongly it was feared that accommodations 
for the 2,500 or more students who were to be 
registered during the regular session beginning in 
August, would be far from adequate. There were 
not wanting prophets who declared that it would 
be necessary for the students to live in tents or 
portable houses or to find rooms in Oakland or in 
settlements miles from the university. It is 
found, however, that the number of under- 
graduate students who have taken lodgings here 
in Berkeley this year is two per cent. greater 
than one year ago. As for the graduate stu- 
dents, the relative increase in Berkeley residents 
BS eh /4 

For the student who finds it necessary to 
economize, the cost of comfortable board and 
lodging in Berkeley is estimated to have in- 
creased not to exceed 10%, which increase is 
doubtless a temporary condition following the 
influx of San Francisco residents in and after 
April last. In many of the students’ clubs and 
fraternities there has been no increase at all in 
living expenses. 

Perhaps the most distinctive new feature of 
our university life during the past year has been 
the series of university symphony concerts, given 
in the Greek theater under the direction of Pro- 
fessor J. Frederick Wolle, who began his work 
in the university as professor of music in Sep- 
tember, 1905. The first series of symphony con- 
certs was begun in February and continued until 


SCIENCE. 


7197 


May. The maximum attendance at any one per- 
formance reached 7,000 and at no time fell below 
4,000. A second series is now being given and 
will be continued until late in November. 

One of the most notable acquisitions of the 
past year is the Bancroft historical library of 
50,000 volumes and 125,000 manuscripts, which 
has recently become the property of the univer- 
sity. Following the installation of this library, 
there has been established an academy of Pacific 
Coast history. 


As for the Unwersity of Chicago, atten- 
tion has been ealled to the fact that it is 
very difficult to compare the enrollment at 
Chicago with that of other institutions, 
on account of the four-quarter system in 
vogue at the former institution, during 
each or all of which a student may be in 
residence. _To quote from the Boston 
Evening Transcript of October 20: 


To enable an exact comparison of student at- 
tendance with that of other institutions having 
the customary three-quarter (equal to nine 
months) system, the attendance of students is 
usually reduced to the three-quarter system. A 
student in residence one-quarter equals one-third 
of a unit; in residence two-quarters equals two- 
thirds of a unit; in residence three-quarters 
equals one unit; and in residence four-quarters 
equals four-thirds of a unit. On this three- 
quarter basis the total enrollment for 1905-6 
would be 3,205. The attendance during the sum- 
mer quarter of 1906 was the largest in the his- 
tory of Chicago summer quarters. The total 
registration for the first term of the summer of 
1906 was 2,385, as against 1,999 in 1905, showing 
a gain of 19.3%. The attendance the second 
term was 1,583, as against 1,347 last year, a 
gain of 17.5%. The total number of different 
students for the entire summer of 1906 is 2,702; 
the total number of different students in both 
terms in 1905 was 2,293, showing a gain of 17.8%. 
Gains were distributed rather uniformly through 
the different schools and colleges, the largest 
percentage of gain, however, being in the divinity 
school; the college of education also showed a 
large increase in attendance. Of the total num- 
ber of students in the different schools, 2,702, 
it may be added that 1,308 were men and 1,394 
were women. 


An inspection of the accompanying table 
will show that there has been a slight de- 
erease in the total registration of Columbia 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 625. 


SCIENCE. 


798 


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‘SHUNDIA NOILVALSIOGY FAILVaVdNOO 


DECEMBER 21, 1906.] 


University in comparison with last year, 
the decrease being due primarily to losses 
in several of the professional faculties. 
Columbia College shows a considerable in- 
crease over last year, the registration in 
this faculty having reached the high-water 
mark. There will no doubt be forty or 
fifty new students in February, which 
would bring the total registration at the 
close of the year to about 650, as against 
589 for 1905-6. The entering class in the 
College is the largest in its history. Bar- 
nard College continues to show an increase 
and the figures will probably pass the 400 
mark before the close of the year. The 
graduate faculties of political science, phi- 
losophy and pure science all have practi- 
cally as many students as they had last year. 
This year for the first time the period of 
registration was reduced considerably, and 
as a result a number of students who did 
not report at the university in time failed 
to register altogether. The faculty of ap- 
plied science again shows a decrease over 
the preceding year, although the number 
of new students is equal to that of last year. 
The requirements for advancement in this 
faculty have been increased considerably, 
and as a result a number of students who 
were unable to maintain their standing 
found it desirable to leave the institution. 
There has, accordingly, been a considerable 
improvement in the quality of the material, 
from the standpoint of scholarship. Under 
the faculty of fine arts, the school of archi- 
tecture shows a decrease, due to the in- 
creased requirements for entrance—two 
years of college preparation—to the course 
leading to the degree. The law school 
shows a slight falling off this year, although 
the entering class is much larger than that 
of 1905. To the 92 students in the first- 
year class should be added 22 men from 
Columbia College enrolled also under the 
law faculty. The requirements for ad- 
vancement in the law school have been 


SCIENCE. 799 


strengthened considerably, and this ac- 
counts to a certain extent for the decrease 
in the second-year and third-year classes. 
All four classes of the medical school are 
classes that entered under the increased 
requirements, whereas last year there were 
only three such classes. The probabilities 
are, therefore, that the attendance at the 
medical school has reached its minimum 
this year, and from 1907 on there should 
be a gradual increase in the size of the 
entering class. Conditions at the College 
of Pharmacy are similar to those in the 
medical school, inasmuch as both of the 
present classes entered under the increased 
admission requirements, whereas last year 
one large class which had entered the year 
before the strengthened requirements be- 
came operative still remained. The in- 
crease in the number of graduate students 
at the College of Pharmacy is very en- 
couraging. In spite of the fact that the 
first-year class at Teachers College has been 
abolished, this school shows an increase in 
primary registration of fifty-one over last 
year. In 1905 and the years preceding, 
Columbia and Barnard students who were 
also candidates for a diploma in teaching 
were included under Teachers College, but 
if the primary registration only is counted, 
it would show an increase from 667 in 1905 
to 718 in 1906. 

In connection with the development of 
material equipment, attention may be 
ealled to the fact that the Chapel and 
Hamilton Hall (a half-million-dollar build- 
ing for the use of the undergraduate col- 
lege for men) are ready for occupancy and 
that the corner-stone of Brooks Hall, a 
dormitory for Barnard College—the un- 
dergraduate department for women—has 
been laid. Among other important devel- 
opments may be mentioned the establish- 
ment of a faculty of fine arts, comprising 
schools of architecture, design and music, 
the courses in design to be conducted in 


800 


cooperation with the National Academy of 
Design. In connection with the faculty of 
fine arts a course of study is offered for the 
first time leading to the degree of bachelor 
of music, and several students have become 
enrolled as candidates for this new degree. 
The Theodore Roosevelt professorship of 
American history and institutions in the 
University of Berlin and the Kaiser-Wil- 
helm professorship of German history and 
institutions at Columbia University were 
founded during the past year, Professor 
John W. Burgess, dean of the faculty of 
political science, being the first incumbent 
of the chair at Berlin, and Hermann Schu- 
macher, of the University of Bonn, being 
the first incumbent of the Columbia chair. 
President Arthur T. Hadley, of Yale, has 
been appointed second Theodore Roosevelt 
professor. Columbia and Yale have coop- 
erated in the establishment of courses in 
preparation for foreign service, and several 
Columbia students have become candidates 
this year for the consular certificate. The 
joint course of study is intended for the 
benefit of young men preparing for work 
in foreign countries, whether in the service 
of the United States government, in busi- 
ness enterprises, or aS missionaries or scien- 
tific investigators. Barnard College has 
established a course leading to the degree 
of bachelor of science. The work of the 
first two years of the collegiate course of 
Teachers College will be transferred from 
Teachers College to Columbia College, for 
men, and to Barnard College, for women. 
In other words, a candidate for the B.S. 
degree in education spends the first two 
years at Columbia or Barnard College, 
respectively, and the last two years at 
Teachers College. In accordance with this 
arrangement the first-year class at Teachers 
College has been abolished this year; the 
second-year class will fall out in 1907. 

At Cornell Unwersity there has been a 
noticeable gain in the academic department, 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 625. 


as well as in the scientific schools. Under 
‘scientific schools’ are included only those 
of mechanical engineering (with an enroll- 
ment of 1,084 students) and civil engineer- 
ing (with an enrollment of 460 students), 
the students in chemistry being included 
under the academic department, and not 
under the scientific department. Practi- 
cally all of the gain in the scientific schools 
has been made in the department of civil 
engineering, the enrollment of Sibley Col- 
lege (the department of mechanical engi- 
neering) having remained stationary. The 
schools of law and medicine show a de- 
crease, the graduate schools and the school 
of agriculture an increase, while the school 


of architecture and the veterinary college 
have practically the same enrollment as in 


1905. The summer session shows a gain 
from 619 to 642, although the number of 
summer-session students who returned for 
work in the fall has decreased from 312 to 
266. 

The total attendance at Harvard Uni- 
versity shows an increase, to which the 
academic department particularly has con- 
tributed. The law school and the graduate 
schools, as well as the school of dentistry, 
show a falling off, while divinity has the 
same enrollment as last year. Medicine 
shows an increase of six. 


The increase in Harvard College (from 1,898 
to 2,236) and the noticeable reduction of the 
Lawrence Scientific School (from 507 to 242) is 
due to changes of classification and also to new 
plans of study adopted by scientific undergradu- 
ates in connection with the establishment this 
year of the new graduate school of applied science. 


- This year students formerly registered in the 


Lawrence scientific school were given their choice 
of remaining in the four-years prescribed pro- 
grams leading to the degree of B.S. in a desig- 
nated field of study, such as mining engineering 
or architecture, or of shifting their registration to 
Harvard College, there to receive the plain degree 
of B.S. on an elective course of study. Those 
who have chosen the latter alternative will in 
many cases take a more liberal course of study 
than would have been open to them in the Law- 


DECEMBER 21, 1906.] 


rence scientific school, postponing their advanced 
professional work until they enter the graduate 
school of applied science, where they will spend 
two or three years. Owing to these changes, the 
body of students corresponding to that which has 
heretofore been catalogued as scientific, that is, 
in the sense that they are actually working 
toward a professional degree in science, can only 
be found by adding to the students in the old 
undergraduate four-year programs in_ science, 
all those students now in Harvard College who, 
while candidates for the elective B.S. or the 
A.B., are continually pursuing such elementary 
or introductory studies in science as shall most 
effectively advance their subsequent candidacy for 
one of the degrees of the graduate school of ap- 
plied science. 

To extricate these undergraduates so as to 
furnish a satisfactory comparison with last year 
is so complicated and futile a task, that it seems 
best to let the category ‘scientific schools’ stand 
with its apparently heavy loss. It may be pre- 
dicted that the undergraduate portion of this 
category (212 in 1906) will disappear in a few 
years, while the graduate portion (30 in 1906) 
will slowly increase, until the scientific profes- 
sional branches are completely established at 
Harvard on the graduate level on which its 
schools of divinity, law and medicine already 
stand. 

As among the most important events of this 
period at Harvard should be mentioned the estab- 
lishment of the medical school in its five great 
white marble buildings on land already arranged 
for the neighboring occupancy of a group of im- 
portant hospitals—an equipment which is note- 
worthy not only for its present adaptation to 
medical instruction and research, but also for its 
generous and minutely elaborated allowances for 
future growth. The other important addition to 
Harvard’s equipment of buildings is the new 
building for the law school, to be called Langdell 
Hall, in honor of the late dean of the school. 

In the financial administration of the Uni- 
versity an important feature this year is the 
establishment in the departments within the 
faculty of art and sciences of a new system of 
tuition fees, whereby each student is obliged to 
pay in addition to the lump sum of one hundred 
and fifty dollars a year, twenty dollars for each 
course beyond the minimum number required for 
a full year’s work. 

Harvard is offering this year for the first time 
a considerable group of afternoon and Saturday 
courses for teachers. The students thus enrolled 
are not counted in the table. 


SCIENCE. 


801 


At the University of Illinois there has 
again been a good increase in the grand 
total, but the increase aside from the sum- 
mer session is also quite marked. Gains 
have been made in every department, with 
the exception of medicine, dentistry and the 
graduate schools, the largest increase hav- 
ing been made (as was the ease last year) 
by the scientific schools. The 42 students 
mentioned under ‘other courses’ are en- 
rolled in the library school, which offers a 
five-year course leading to the degree of 
B.LS. 

The enrollment in Indiana Umversity 
shows a satisfactory increase all along the 
line, the growth being noticeable especially 
in the academic department for women, 
where the enrollment has increased from 
299 to 397, and in the school of medicine, 
which has increased from 26 to 65 students. 

At Johns Hopkins University there has 
been a decrease in enrollment, the college 
registration having dropped from 188 to 
166, that in medicine from 293 to 264, that 
in the graduate schools from 160 to 156, 
and in ‘special courses for physicians’ from 
47 to 32. 

As the figures of the University of Kan- 
sas for 1902 to 1905 are those for the close 
of the respective academic years, no accu- 
rate comparisons can be made. No doubt 
the final figures for 1906-7 will show a 
gain over last year. The large increase in 
1905 was due to the merging of the uni- 
versity medical school and three medical 
schools in Kansas City, Mo. This univer- 
sity is at present. erecting a $100,000 gym- 
nasium, which is to be occupied in the fall 
of 1907. 

Leland Stanford University shows a 
slight decrease, the reason for which is self- 
evident. This decrease has made itself felt 
in all departments but law, which has re- 
mained stationary. It should be noted in 
connection with the statistics of this uni- 
versity that the number of women is lim- 


802 


ited to 500, and that in future the number 
of men also will be strictly limited, prob- 
ably on the following basis; about 500 in 
the general courses, 500 in the engineering 
and law courses and an unlimited number 
of graduate students. 

The University of Michigan shows no 
such remarkable gains in attendance as was 
perceived last year at the same date; never- 
theless, there has been a considerable in- 
erease everywhere except in the depart- 
ments of law and homeopathic medicine, 
and in the graduate schools. The decrease 
in the professional schools mentioned may 
be due partly to the increased requirements 
for admission. While the number of 
women remains approximately the same, 
the number enrolled as first-year students 
is smaller and those coming with advanced 
eredits from other colleges correspondingly 
larger. The attendance of women by de- 
partments is as follows: academic 655, 
medicine 22, homeopathic medicine 10, 
dentistry 5, pharmacy 2, engineering 1, 
graduate schools 25. The inability to se- 
cure absolutely accurate returns from the 
University of Michigan has somewhat 
marred the value of the figures from this 
institution. 

The University of Minnesota shows a 
slight loss ever last year in the fall regis- 
tration, although an increase in the enroll- 
ment of the summer school brings the grand 
total four in advance of last year’s figures. 

The total of 3,944 does not show the complete 
registration for the year, as the law school is 
conducted on a term system, and students will 
enter late for work of the different terms. Also 
at the beginning of the second semester we shall 
have from fifty to one hundred students entering 
the various departments. The graduate registra- 
tion will also be increased somewhat before the 
year is over. The other departments will remain 
almost exactly as stated. A conservative esti- 


mate therefore of the total enrollment for the 
current year will be something over 4,000, be- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 625. 


tween 4,000 and 4,100. A comparison of the 
statistics of this year with those of last shows a 
slight increase in nearly all departments except 
the graduate school. The decrease there is due 
undoubtedly to the establishment of a graduate 
school with a dean at its head and a regular 
system of fees, and more rigid requirements 
regarding the registration of graduate students. 
The matter of conducting graduate work has been 
definitely systematized and the fees increased 
from $10 a year to $10 a semester. This will 
explain in part the difference in the two registra- 
tions. A falling off in the scientific schools, due 
to the increased standard for admission to the 
engineering college, was expected, but did not 
take place. On the contrary, there was an in- 
crease from 576 to 615. Entrance examinations 
are required for one year of elementary algebra, 
one half-year of higher algebra, one year of plain 
geometry and one half-year of solid geometry of 
all students entering this college, regardless of 
the standard of the schools from which they 
come. The college of medicine and surgery has 
increased its entrance requirements from one year 
to two years. This new requirement is to go 
into effect in 1907-8. A college of education has 
just been established with a dean at its head, but 
because of the newness of the organization, stu- 
dents are classed this year with the college of 
science, literature and the arts. A slight decrease 
is expected in the college of dentistry due to the 
increase in annual fees from $100 to $150. The 
college has all the students it can take care of 
and no more would be admitted. 

There is a slight decrease in the number of 
women in the college of science, literature and 
the arts, and quite a large increase in the number 
of men. This is explained in two ways. First, 
the rigid requirements in mathematics have 
turned some away from the college of engineering 
and they perforce enter the college of arts, where 
the bars are not so high. Secondly, the college 
of science, literature and the arts has made a 
slight change in the entrance requirements, which 
really lowers its standard for admission. Here- 
tofore students were required to present a certi- 
ficate of graduation from an accredited high 
school and in addition were held for fifteen year- 
credits. As the choice of these fifteen year-credits 
was somewhat limited, it was found that students 
taking the manual training and commercial courses 
in the high schools had not the proper credits 
for admission to the college of science, literature 


DECEMBER 21, 1906.] 


and the arts, whereas those taking the general, 
scientific, or Latin courses were admitted without 
question. As the regulation now stands, students 
are admitted from any accredited school, pro- 
vided the certificate of graduation shows the 
completion of four years of English and two 
years of mathematics, the other subjects being 
optional. This would naturally lead to an in- 
erease in the number of men in the college of 
science, literature and the arts. 

The attendance at the University of Mis- 
sourt continues to Increase, the total gain 
in the fall registration (exclusive of the 
summer session) being no less than 178 
this year, as against a gain of 89 last year. 
This gain is distributed over all the de- 
partments, with the exception of medicine. 

In the department of medicine there has been 
an increase of two years work in the entrance 
requirements. For the session of 1905-6, three 
years of high school work was required. For the 
present session, students must have completed one 
year’s college work in specified subjects in addi- 
tion to the four years’ high school work required 
for entrance to the college. This increase in 
entrance requirements is in large part responsible 
for the decrease in enrollment in the department 
of medicine. For the past eighteen months there 
has been considerable agitation for the removal of 
the work of the two last years in medicine to St. 
Louis or Kansas City. While no definite deci- 
sion has been made, as yet, it is probable that 
the uncertainty contributed in some measure to 
the loss in this department. 

The large increase in pedagogy is a continua- 
tion of the movement which commenced in 1904, 
as a result of the organization of the teachers 
college and the strengthening of the instruction 
in this department. 

The increase in the academic department (col- 
lege of arts) is partly due to the increased 
tendency of students to take the A.B. degree 
before beginning professional work. This has 
been promoted by the establishment of combined 
The increase in the entrance 
requirements to the department of medicine, re- 
ferred to above, has also affected the increase in 
enrollment in the academic department. The 
large increase in the number of women in the uni- 
versity, too, has affected the enrollment in the 
academic department and teachers college. This 
marked inerease commenced in 1903 with the 
opening of Read Hall. a dormitory for women. 


six-year courses. 


SCIENCE. 


803 


Of the 2,071 students, 1,483 are men and 588 are 
women as compared with 1,388 and 499 respect- 
ively, in 1905, at the same date. 

The Unwersity of Nebraska shows an in- 
crease in every faculty, with the exception 
of law, and there has also been an increase 
in the summer session. The 200 students 
mentioned under ‘other courses’ represent 
the estimated enrollment in the short course 
in agriculture, which begins on January 2. 
It is rather difficult to make accurate com- 
parisons for the earlier years, inasmuch as 
the figures for 1902, 1903 and 1904 repre- 
sent the final figures for the respective 
academic years, while the 1905 figure rep- 
resents the enrollment as of November 1 of 
that year. No doubt the total enrollment 
for the academic year 1906-7 will reach 
2,900. 

As New York Uniwersity was not in- 
cluded in the table last year, no compari- 
sons of individual faculties can be made, 
but there has been a considerable gain in 
the total over 1905. Among the changes 
which may have affected the enrollment 
should be mentioned the increase in the 
tuition fee in the schools of applied science 
from $100 to $125; the increase of the fee 
in the law school from $100 to $130, and 
the raising of the requirements for the 
Ph.D. degree in the graduate school from 
six to eight courses; the addition of a $5 
matriculation fee, and the requirement of 
a seven-years’ degree from graduates of 
the New York City Normal College. In 
the veterinary college, the entrance require- 
ments have been raised from thirty-six 
regents counts to forty-eight. 

Northwestern University shows a loss in 
attendance, which is partly due to the fact 
that there were no summer-session students 
in 1906, while there were 194 in 1905, al- 
though of the latter 152 returned for work 
in the fall. The gains in the college and 
the schools of law, medicine, music and 
oratory, are not sufficient to offset the losses 


804 


im the graduate school and the departments 
of dentistry, divinity and pharmacy. The 
students enrolled under ‘other courses’ are 
registered in the department of oratory. 

Ohio State University shows an increase 
over last year, the only departments show- 
ing a loss being those of agriculture and 
forestry. Of the 180 students in the school 
of agriculture, 51 are enrolled in the so- 
ealled short course, which is two years in 
length. Of the 62 students under ‘other 
courses,’ 15 are registered in the so-called 
short course in domestic science, which is 
also two years in length. 

The University of Pennsylvania has made 
considerable gains, especially in the scien- 
tifie schools, and the schools of medicine, 
architecture, dentistry and veterinary medi- 
eine. The academic department and the 
graduate schools have remained stationary, 
while the department of law shows a fall- 
ing off. The greatest increase is to be 
found under ‘other courses,’ namely, one 
from 621 to 1,028. The students given 
here are enrolled in the courses in finance 
and commerce, both day and evening, and 
in the teachers’ courses. Some of the lat- 
ter no doubt fall in the category of exten- 
sion students, which are omitted in the 
case of Harvard, Columbia and other insti- 
tutions, and should therefore not be in- 
cluded here, but it was impossible to ascer- 
tain in time just how many of the students 
enrolled in the courses for teachers should 
be omitted. The largest increase was in 
the summer school, which grew from 214 
in 1905 to 275 in 1906. The increase in 
the Towne scientific school is to be found 
chiefly in the departments of mechanical 
and electrical engineering. New require- 
ments have been adopted for admission to 
the law school which exclude all but college 
graduates, unless the applicants are more 
than twenty years old, the law school hav- 
ing heretofore admitted all applicants who 
passed the college entrance examination, 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 625. 


irrespective of age. A splendidly equipped 
engineering building has been occupied for 
the first time this fall. 

The enrollment at. Princeton University 
shows a slight decrease over that of 1905. 
As has already been pointed out, the aca- 
demic department shows a gain of over 100, 
while the scientific schools show a similar 
decrease, the registration in the graduate 
schools having remained stationary. The 
entering class is not as large as it was last 
year, the loss being attributed to increased 
requirements and the more rigid enforce- 
ment of the same. There has been a marked 
increase in the number of students entering 
Princeton on advanced standing from other 
colleges, although this increase does not 
quite offset the loss in the entering class. 

At Syracuse University the only depart- 
ment that shows a decrease is that of art, 
the schools of medicine, architecture and 
music, as well as the graduate schools, hav- 
ing remained stationary, while the remain- 
ing departments show considerable gains, 
the academic enrollment having increased 
from 1,218 to 1,332. 


The new buildings at Syracuse University now 
in process of erection and nearing completion are: 
(1) The general library, the gift of Mr. Andrew 
Carnegie, with stack accommodations for three- 
quarters of a million volumes, a reading room 
to accommodate three hundred students, and 
twenty seminar rooms, besides ample accommoda- 
tions in the first story for the school of library 
economy. (2) A hall of natural history, erected 
at a cost of about $200,000. (3) A $100,000 
mechanical laboratory for the engineering courses 
in applied science. (4) A dormitory for men, 
with capacity for two hundred; cost about $150,- 
000. (5) A chemical laboratory. (6) Fourteen 
acres of land adjoining the campus and a large 
structure known for many years as the Castle, the 
proportions of which are finely adapted to the 
work of the teachers college have been purchased. 
(7) A stadium is being built with a seating 
capacity of about twenty thousand people; it is 
an excavation and after the Athenian or ancient 
Syracuse style. The campus of Syracuse to-day 
comprises ninety-eight acres. The total number 
of educational buildings is twenty-one. 


DECEMBER 21, 1906.] 


The University of Virginia shows a con- 
siderable increase all along the line, and its 
enrollment this year is the largest in the 
history of the institution. The department 
of engineering began with 58 students in 
the academic year of 1903-4, there were 88 
the following year and 118 at the close of 
the academic year 1905-6. The final regis- 
tration for this year will no doubt pass 125. 
Among recent material improvements and 
additions may be mentioned the repairing 
and better equipment of the anatomy hall; 
the provision and equipping of a histolog- 
ical laboratory; further equipment of bac- 
teriological and pathological laboratory ; 
provision and equipment of a laboratory 
for physiology and physiological chemis- 
try; provision and equipment of an addi- 
tional chemical laboratory; a residence for 
the president of the university; the uni- 
versity commons, and a north wing to the 
hospital. 

The University of Wisconsin shows a 
slight decrease in the fall figures, which, 
however, is more than offset by the increase 
in the enrollment of the summer session. 
The chief decrease has been experienced in 
the number of men in the academic depart- 
ment, all of the other departments, with 
the exception of pedagogy, showing a gain 
or having remained stationary. Attention 
should be called to the fact that graduate 
students are assigned to the different col- 
leges in which their work principally lies, 
the total number of graduate students indi- 
cated under the caption of ‘graduate 
schools’ having been included in the deduc- 
tion made for double registration. The 
entrance requirements for admission to the 
college of engineering were increased this 
year, more mathematics being demanded 
than heretofore. No short-course students 
have been included in the summary. If 
the students enrolled in the winter course 
in dairying and in the short course in agri- 
eulture were included, it would increase the 


SCIENCE. 


805 


enrollment at this university considerably. 
The fall registration at Yale University 
still continues to inerease, although the 
grand total (on account of a decrease in 
the number of summer-session students) is 
exactly the same as it was last year. The 
departments that show a loss in their regis- 
tration are those of art, divinity and music, 
and the graduate schools, although the de- 
crease is in no case large. A striking fact 
is the slow but regular gain of the aca- 
demic department during the last five 
years. RupotF Tomso, JR., 


Registrar. 
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


An Outline of the Theory of Organic Evolu- 
tion, with a Description of some of the 
Phenomena which it explains. Second 
Edition, revised. By Maynarp M. Mer- 
cALF. New York, The Macmillan Com- 
pany. 1906. 8vo. 

Of popular treatises on the doctrine of 
organic evolution there is a goodly number, 
but in none is there such clearness in exposi- 
tion combined with such abundance of well- 
chosen and well reproduced illustrations as is 
to be found in Professor Metcalf’s volume. 
This is a sufficient explanation of early ap- 
pearance of a second edition of the book, 
which, the author informs us, is ‘ not intended 
for biologists, but rather for those who would 
like a brief introductory outline’ of the the- 
ory of evolution. To all teachers of biology, 
however, as well as to the general public, the 
book will be welcome, especially on account of 
the numerous excellent figures which serve to 
illustrate, almost without description, many 
of the facts upon which the theory is based. 
Especially valuable is the series of seventeen 
plates, several of them colored, illustrating 
variation in domestic animals and cultivated 
plants, and especial mention may also be made 
of the beautiful examples of color printing 
shown in the figures illustrating color in ani- 
mals. The extent to which the author has 
relied on illustrations for the exposition of 
his subject may be gathered from the fact that 


806 


no less than one hundred plates and forty-six 
text-figures accompany the one hundred and 
ninety-nine pages which compose the text. 

The book is divided into two parts, the first 
of which treats of the theory, briefly discuss- 
ing inheritance, variation, the struggle for 
existence, mutation, artificial selection, sexual 
selection, segregation, and the inheritance of 
parental modifications. The second part con- 
siders the phenomena explained by the theory, 
under the headings of comparative anatomy, 
embryology, paleontology, geographical distri- 
bution, and the color of animals, and con- 
cludes with a chapter on the evolution of man 
and some general considerations. 

Within the brief limits to which the text is 
confined a consideration of all the factors 
which have been proposed or recognized as 
contributing to organic evolution is impos- 
sible. The difficulty before the author of such 
a book is to decide what to omit, and, on the 
whole, Professor Metcalf may be said to have 
grappled successfully with his difficulty. But 
little extra space, however, would have been 
required for a presentation of the theory of 
orthogenesis, and a brief account of the obser- 
vations of Bumpus on sparrows and Weldon 
on Carcinus would have given a more definite 
meaning to the term ‘selection-value.” Fur- 
ther, it may be remarked, that in the list of 
works on evolution given in an appendix no 
mention is made of Haeckel’s ‘ Evolution of 
Man,’ which surely deserves a place in such a 
list, even if Plate’s admirable treatise be ex- 
cluded, because as yet un-Englished. 

These omissions are, however, but minor 
faults, if faults they may be ealled. More 
deserving of criticism is the title of the book, 
which is really an exposition of the theory of 
natural selection. In the popular mind the 
theories of evolution and natural selection are 
so intimately associated that recent criticisms 
of the latter and suggestions of various addi- 
tional factors of evolution have led, in many 
cases, to the belief that the doctrine of evolu- 
tion is tottering on its base and is well-nigh, 
if not entirely, discredited. Nor is the con- 
fusion of the two theories altogether confined 
to the popular mind, and anything which 
tends to foster it is to be deprecated. Whether 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vout. XXIV. No. 625. 


natural selection in the Darwinian sense 
stands or falls, the doctrine of evolution re- 
mains unshaken. 

And this is not the only confusion that ex- 
ists with regard to the theory. It has been 
discussed both as a factor in the origin of 
species and as a factor in the preservation of 
species, or rather of adaptations which may 
or may not be specific. In its former appli- 
cation it is certainly open to criticism; in the 
latter, and stated as the theory of the elim- 
ination of the unfit, it is almost self-evident. 

Professor Metcalf’s book, unfortunately, 
tends to perpetuate these confusions; but even 
with this fault it is a book worth reading and 
well deserves its success. 

J. P. MoM. 


The Microscopy of Vegetable Foods, with 
special reference to the detection of adul- 
teration and the diagnosis of mixtures. By 
Anprew L. Winton, Ph.D., in charge of the 
Analytical Laboratory of the Connecticut 
Agricultural Experiment Station, Instructor 
in Proximate Organic Analysis in the Shef- 
field Scientific School of Yale University. 
With the collaboration of Dr. Joser Moet- 
LER, Professor of Pharmacology, and Head 
of the Pharmacological Institute of the 
University of Graz. With 589 illustrations. 
New York, John Wiley and Sons; London, 
Chapman and Hall, Limited. 

This work is a very timely one in view of 
the fact that the pure-food bill will go into 
effect on January 1, 1907. Owing to the 
importance of the subject, whether from the 
point of view of the manufacturer or that of 
the consumer, it seems rather strange that 
until now so few good working books have 
appeared on this subject. While there are 
several good books by German authors on the 
subject of the microscopical examination of 
foods, there is nothing that can compare with 
the volume at hand. 

Both Doctors Winton and Moeller are well 
known for their valuable researches on the 
subject of food products. Dr. Winton is a 
former student of the eminent pharmacog- 
nosist, Professor Moeller, and it is rather 
unique to find a student associated with his 


DECEMBER 21, 1906.] 


teacher in this way, each contributing his 
part to a common work, and the whole ap- 
pearing almost simultaneously in two lan- 
guages. In the American edition it is Dr. 
Winton with the collaboration of Professor 
Moeller, while in the German edition it is 
Professor Moeller with the collaboration of 
Dr. Winton. This is a beautiful acknowl- 
edgment of their confidence in each other, and 
we have seldom seen the work of two men that 
is so much alike in both drawings and de- 
scriptions as in this instance. 

The work is divided into ten parts, as fol- 
lows: (1) Equipment, methods and general 
principles; (2) grain, its products and im- 
purities; (8) oil seeds and oil cakes; (4) 
legumes; (5) nuts; (6) fruit and fruit prod- 
ucts; (7) vegetables; (8) alkaloidal products 
and their substitutes; (9) spices and condi- 
ments; (10) commercial starches. The work 
contains in addition a general bibliography, a 
useful glossary and a good index. 

A eareful examination of this book of Win- 
ton and Moeller’s shows that in order to carry 
on analyses of vegetable food products suc- 
cessfully it is essential for the analyst to have 
special botanical training, and that with the 
knowledge gained by this training the de- 
termination of purity and the detection of 
adulterants is reduced to a degree of scien- 
tific accuracy hardly possibie in any other 
kind of analytical work. The teachers of 
chemistry and those in the biological depart- 
ments of colleges and technical schools should 
cooperate in arranging courses which would 
not only qualify their students to examine 
vegetable products, but also enable them to 
devise methods for their manufacture. 

This book could be used as a text-book, and 
will be found an invaluable reference book 
for the food analyst, the agricultural chemist, 
the pharmacist and others engaged in the 
examination of foods, as well as the physician 
who may ke called upon to identify vegetable 
substances in stomach contents and feces. 

Henry Kraemer. 


Essentials of Crystallography. By Epwarp 
Henry Kraus, Ph.D., Junior Professor of 
Mineralogy in the University of Michigan. 


SCIENCE. 


807 


Ann Arbor, Mich. 

figures. 

Unlike some related sciences crystallography 
is not over-burdened with texts, certainly not 
with those printed in the English language. 
The appearance, therefore, of a new crystal- 
lography is an event of considerable impor- 
tance to teachers of mineralogy. The author 
of ‘ Essentials of Crystallography ’ was trained 
in the laboratory of Professor Paul vy. Groth, 
of Munich, and in the two brief years that he 
has been in the faculty of the University of 
Michigan, has developed a flourishing depart- 
ment which already requires the services of a 
professor, an instructor and two assistants. 

Most writers of books upon crystallography 
appear to go out from the idea that the sub- 
ject is adapted to study by a very limited 
number of persons, and those only who are to 
become thorough masters of the subject and 
advance it through original research upon 
general lines. Thus the texts published in 
England have laid stress upon mathematical 
theorems rather than upon the symmetry of 
erystals. The great development of organic 
chemistry in recent years, and the prominence 
which erystal symmetry and habit have ac- 
quired as means for identifying chemical 
compounds, has demonstrated that erystallog- 
raphy is a necessary part of the training of 
chemists as well as of mineralogists and geol- 
ogists. For such students much must be 


1906. Pp. 162; 427 


- eliminated from consideration in order that 


essential facts may be grasped, and the course 
be given a practical value. 

The requirements of such students were 
singularly well met by the ‘ Elements of Crys- 
tallography’ of the late George Huntington 
Williams, as was, perhaps, shown by the rather 
extensive use of the book by American teach- 
ers. Since the profound changes brought 
about by the acceptance and introduction of 
Gadolin’s thirty-two classes of erystals, Wil- 
liams’s work has been no longer serviceable as 
a text, and its place has not been filled by any 
later work. 

Professor Kraus apparently makes the fun- 
damental assumption that crystallography can 
not. be learned outside of a crystallographical 
laboratory or without the guidance of a 


808 


teacher. He has thus been able to cut down 
his text to 160 pages and to offer his book for 
sale at a price corresponding to one cent per 
page. The large number of figures for a book 
of such small compass, shows that so far as 
possible the training is to be through the eye, 
and the identification of models and crystals 
made easy. 

The order of treatment is by systems and 
their subordinate classes, beginning with the 
forms of highest symmetry; and the holo- 
hedrism, hemihedrism and tetartohedrism of 
forms is indicated, though made secondary. 
The systems of nomenclature of Weiss, Nau- 
mann and Miller are used side by side. The 
relationships of the forms belonging to classes 
within the same system are indicated by tables 
and diagrams, in which the apparently holo- 
-hedral forms and those which bring out in 
their development the real symmetry of the 
group, are sharply differentiated. 

The six pages devoted to compound erystals 
will seem to many inadequate, in view of the 
great prominence of twins in the case of a 
large number of species. Not the least valu- 
able part of the work is an appendix giving a 
tabular classification, which shows the sym- 
metry elements and the simple forms of each 
of the thirty-two classes of erystals. 

Wituiam Hersert Hosss. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 


The American Naturalist for November 
contains three long papers: ‘ Variation in the 
Number of Seeds of the (American) Lotus,’ 
by Raymond Pearl; ‘The Causes of Extinc- 
tion of Mammalia,’ by Henry F. Osborn; and 
‘A Preliminary Study of the Finer Structure 
of Arcella, by Joseph A. Cushman and 
William P. Henderson. Professor Osborn’s 
paper, which is to be continued, discusses 
seriatim the external causes, such as varia- 
tions in climate, increasing cold, heat or mois- 
ture, with their concomitant changes in plant 
and insect life; and the relations of plants 
and insects to mammals, with their bearing 
on extinction. Discussion is desired and criti- 
cisms and suggestions will be welcomed. 
Messrs. Cushman and Henderson show that 
the generally accepted idea of the structure 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XXIV. No. 625. 


of the test of Arcella is incorrect, and that 
the framework instead of consisting of simple 
hexagons, touching one another at their sides, 
consist of hexagons touching at their angles 
and thus leaving triangular interspaces which 
permit the interpolation of new columns of 
hexagons as growth proceeds. There are many 
ichthyological notes, while those relating to 
botanical publications are, as usual, numerous. 
The American Museum Journal for October 
is termed the Sponge Number, the principal 
article being ‘A Guide to the Sponge Alcove 
in the American Museum of Natural History,’ 
by Roy W. Miner. This is well written and 
well illustrated. Incidentally, it may be re- 
marked that it is very difficult to find in any 
text-book a consecutive definition of a sponge; 
we are told all about the structure and em- 
bryology of sponges, but what a sponge really. 
is and its position in the animal kingdom has 
to be gathered by much reading. The Journal 
contains brief reports of several of the Mu- 
seum expeditions, including those to Tahiti, 
Colorado, North Carolina and East Africa. 
The Museum News of the Brooklyn Insti- 
tute for December has articles dealing with 
‘The Question of Common Names’ and, in 
connection with a recently installed group, 
“The Golden Eagle, its Haunts and Habits.’ 
It is noted that the museum has acquired the 
Ward collection of sponges and corals, the 
former containing 150 specimens of siliceous 
sponges and 660. of horny sponges; the latter 
comprising 234 species of corals. The collec- 
tion of sponges was brought together by the 
late Professor Henry A. Ward and is ex- 
tremely valuable from both the scientific and 
the popular standpoint, comprising as it does 
selected specimens from many years of collect- 
ing. The leading article of the Children’s 
Museum section, under the title of ‘ General 
and Mrs. Green,’ deals with two bullfrogs 
that have lived in the museum for four years. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY. 


Tue fall meeting of the Physical Society 
was held in Chicago on December 1. In the 
absence of President Barus, Past-president A. 


DECEMBER 21, 1906.] 


A. Michelson occupied the chair. The meet- 
ing was well attended, members coming not 
only from the vicinity of Chicago, but also 
from points in Kansas, Iowa, New York and 
Nebraska, more than five hundred miles dis- 
tant. 

A resolution was adopted urging upon the 
council the desirability of holding a regular 
yearly meeting in Chicago or some other suit- 
able point in the middle west. 


The following papers were presented: 

Joun E. Aumy, University of Nebraska: ‘Spark 
Discharges in Gases and Vapors.’ 

Bruce V. Hitt, University of Kansas: ‘On the 
Magnetic Behavior of Certain Alloys of Nickel.’ 

FREDERICK E. Kester, Ohio State University: 
“An Experimental Gyroscope for Quantitative 
Work.’ 

R. A. MILLIKAN and GrorGE WINCHESTER, Uni- 
versity of Chicago: ‘Upon the Discharge of Elec- 
trons from Ordinary Metals under the Influence 
of Ultra-violet Light.’ 

A. B. Porter, Chicago: ‘An Inanimate Demon.’ 

A. B. Porter, Chicago: ‘On Multiple Crossed 
Gratings.’ 

A. A. MICHELSON, University of Chicago: ‘On 
the Ruling of Diffraction Gratings.’ 

H. G. Gate, University of Chicago: ‘ The Effect 
of Temperature on Metallic Spectra.’ 

C. E. MENDENHALL and L. R. INGERSOLL, Uni- 
versity of Wisconsin: ‘The Radiation Constants 
and Temperature of the Nernst Glower.’ 

K. E. GuTHE and C. L. von ENpE, University 
of Iowa: ‘Standard Cells.’ 

F. L. BisHop, Bradley Polytechnic Institute: 
‘Heat of Dilution.’ 

LAWRENCE E. GuENrEY, University of Idaho: 
‘The Viscosity of Water at Low Rates of Shear.’ 
Introduced by A. A. Michelson. 

FREDERICK E. Kester, Ohio State University: 
‘The Bridge Method for Comparison of Con- 
densers.’ 

A. H. Taytor, University of Wisconsin: ‘A 
Method for the Determination of Electrolytic 
Resistance and Capacity.’ 

C. F. Lorenz, Johns Hopkins University: ‘On 
the Effects of the Electrical Discharge on the 
Acetylene Flame.’ 

Wo. R. Buarr, University of Chicago: ‘ Change 
of Phase due to the Passage of Electric Waves 
Through Thin Films and the Index of Refraction 
of Water for Such Waves.’ 

Wma. W. CosLentz, Bureau of Standards, Wash- 


SCIENCE. 


809: 


ington: ‘The Temperature of the Moon.’ 
Title. ) 

F. W. Very: ‘The Temperature of the Moon.’ 
(By Title.) 

Ernest Merritt, Cornell University: ‘Note on 
the Fluorescence of Sodium Vapor.’ 

H. V. McCoy and W. H. Ross, University of 
‘The Relation between Uranium and 

Ernest Merritt, 
Secretary. 


(By 


Chicago: 
Radium.’ 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
‘ELIMINATION’ IN FIXING GENOTYPES. 


To tHe Epitor or Science: The valuable 
article on this subject by Mr. Witmer Stone, 
in SoreNcE for November 2, contains a list of 
twenty-five systematists to whom certain prob- 
lems were submitted. The names given are 
all those of well-known workers in the United 
States, and I wondered why Mr. Stone had 
made no attempt to obtain the opinions of his 
foreign colleagues. The reason was found in 
the penultimate paragraph: “ Elimination has 
never been practised in Europe and does not 
seem to be understood by foreign writers.” 
Possibly it did not occur to Mr. Stone that, 
if foreign writers had never practised elimina- 
tion, it might have been because they had 
always shared his unfavorable opinion of the 
method, and not from any lack of intelligence. 
The statement, however, is incorrect; at least 
some of us in the British Museum, who as- 
suredly did not get our training in systematic 
zoology from any other part of the world, have 
always practised elimination when other prin- 
ciples, such as the fixing of a genotype by the 
author or the first reviser, did not intervene. 
I will accept Mr. Stone’s assertion that we do 
not seem (to him) to understand the matter; 
but I hope to convince him that some of us 
do understand it at least as well as the ma- 
jority of those who have replied to his ques- 
tions. While reading his article I jotted down 
in the margin my answer to each question, 
and finished doing so before turning the page. 
The result was as follows: My answers to 
questions I, IJ, III, IVb, Va, Vb, Ve, VI, 
Vila, VIIb, Villa, that is to eleven out of 
thirteen questions, were in agreement with the 
majority. In VIIIb there was no majority, 


810 


since 4 say ‘sp. 4’ and 4 say ‘sp. 3’; I agree 
with the latter. In IVa, 7 say 1855, 8 say 
1880, one says date when synonymy was first 
recognized: the answer depends on the mean- 
ing of the word ‘removed’; if this be taken 
literally, the answer is ‘either 1880 or any 
previous date when the synonymy may have 
been recognized’; but if we regard the spirit 
of the question, it will be obvious that when 
a genus is once established it includes all 
species congeneric with its genotype whether 
they have been ‘removed’ to it or no—there- 
fore my answer was 1855. Ambiguity in this 
question may have been the cause of the 
equality of votes. In the case of question 
VI, the pronounced majority is perhaps due 
to ambiguity in the answer: what I say is 
that the reviser can not select as genotype of 
an early genus any species that is already 
genotype of a subsequent genus, so long as 
there remains any species free among the orig- 
inally included species; therefore I wrote 
‘yes’ to the first clause of the question, and 
‘no’ to its second clause. 

Adding my replies to those given, it appears 
that I agree with the majority, usually a large 
absolute majority, in twelve out of the thir- 
teen cases, and that the thirteenth case, which 
is ambiguous, is a draw. After this Mr. 
Stone will probably admit that the method is 
understood by me, and he will perhaps accept 
my assurance that I am only an insignificant 
unit among a fairly large number of old- 
world writers of similar views and all provided 
with the small amount of intelligence re- 
quired. 

The considerable agreement attained by 
those who have answered his questions should 
prevent the wholesale condemnation of the 
elimination method; but it would add interest 
to the figures if we were told whether the 
minority was generally composed of the same 
writers. If so, they would probably yield 
only to force majeure; but if not, they might 
be brought into line by gentle argument. 

Mr. Stone makes out a very strong case for 
the ‘first species’ method; but is he correct 
in saying that it ‘can lead to but one result’? 
Would he kindly refer to Annals and Mag. 
Nat. Hist. (2), XVI., pp. 95, 96, and say 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. VoL. XXIV. No. 625. 


what, on that method, is the genotype of 
Hemipedina? F. A. Batuer. 
Lonpon, ENGLAND, 
November 12, 1906. 


SPECIAL ARTICLES. 
POLYEMBRYONY AND THE FIXING OF SEX. 


Naturauists have long been familiar with 
certain curious and unexplained phenomena 
connected with the life histories of certain 
parasitic hymenopterous insects of the fam- 
ily Chaleidide. DeGeer in 1752 figured a 
minute black species with dirty-white wings, 
which he reared from minute cocoons attached 
together side by side in the larva of one of 
the pear-leaf miners. Westwood, in the sec- 
ond volume of his Introduction, says of this 
insect: “The figure has somewhat the air of 
Encyrtus; but the pupe are naked in that 
genus.” 

In the American Naturalist for February, 
1882, in the second installment of an article 
entitled ‘On some Curious Methods of Pupa- 
tion among the Chalcidide,’ the writer de- 
seribed a precisely similar object found in the 
mines of an oak-leaf miner, Lithocolletis fitch- 
ella, at Washington and bred from it a num- 
ber of specimens of an encyrtid of the genus 
Copidosoma. He further described somewhat 
similar cocoon-like formations within the lar- 
val skin of the pine-leaf miner, Gelechia pini- 
foliella; also in the skin of the larva of the 
twig borer, Anarsia lineatella, in the larva 
val skin of the pine-leaf miner, Gelechia pini- 
solidaginis), and finally described at some 
length the strange habits of a congeneric para- 
site which attacks the larva of Plusia bras- 
sice. The latter was described as follows: 

The Plusia larva, up to the time of commencing 
to spin, appeared quite healthy, although perhaps 
a little sluggish. Then suddenly its torpor in- 
creased, and through the semitransparent skin 
were seen hundreds of small white parasitic 
larve. In two days at the most the host was 
dead, having perhaps partially finished its cocoon, 
while its entire body was completely packed with 
the parasitic larve or pup, each surrounded by a 
eocoon-like cell. A cross-section of the host at 
this stage showed a regular honeycombed struc- 
ture. After remaining in. the pupal state not 
longer than twenty days, the chalcidids com- 


DECEMBER 21, 1906.] 


menced to emerge by the hundreds. My friend, 
Mr. Pergande, took the trouble to count the para- 
sites which actually issued from one Plusia larva, 
and, to our utter astonishment, the number 
reached 2,528. An interesting problem now pre- 
sents itself as to the nature of the cocoon-like cell 
surrounding each chalcidid pupa in all these dif- 
ferent hosts from Lithocolletis up to Plusia. In 
the first place it is no silken cocoon, as is readily 
shown by the microscopic structure. Neither is 
it a membrane secreted in the general surface of 
the chaleidid’s body, for but a single wall exists 
between two adjoining pupe. For the same rea- 
son it is not the loosened last larval skin of the 
parasite. But one hypothesis remains, and that 
is that it is a morbid or adventitious tissue of the 
host. * 


The same phenomenon was referred to by 
the writer in Insect Life, Vol. IV., p. 193, 
with illustrations, and again in his paper on 
the ‘ Biology of the Hymenopterous Insects 
of the Family Chalcidide,’ in the Proceedings 
of the U. S. National Museum, Vol. XIV., 
p. 582 (1892). In the latter paper the state- 
ment was made that in no case had it been 
possible to count over 160 eggs in the ovaries 
of a single Copidosoma, and that the number 
of parasites issuing from a single Plusia, 
therefore, was puzzling and only to be ex- 
plained on the ground that several females 
oviposited in a single larva at the same:time, 
as all larve develop together, and transform 
together, and issue nearly together. 

In the meantime E. Bugnion, in a most in- 
teresting and important paper entitled ‘ Re- 
cherches sur le Développement Postembryon- 
naire, Anatomie et les Moeurs de l’Encyrtus 
fuscicollis’ (Recueil Zool. Suisse, Vol. V., 
pp. 435-536, 1891) had studied with care one 
of these interesting insects parasitic upon a 
little Tineid larva, Hyponomeuta cognatella, 
and he found that if one opens the little cater- 
pillar at the end of April or the first half of 
May, almost always, or at least with some of 
them, the embryos of the Hncyrtus (or Copi- 
dosoma) will be found associated together in 
the form of chains or strings. These chains 
are composed of from 50 to 100 or even 
120 individuals. The sac which contains 


the parasites looks like a whitish tube, often 


bi- or trifureate, flexuous, folded upon itself, 


_ SCIENCE. 


811 


floating in the lymph of the caterpillar out- 
side of the intestine. Formed of a cuticu- 
lar membrane, it is clothed on the interior 
with a layer of epithelial-like cells and en- 
closes a fatty-albuminous mass in which the 
embryos are enclosed. Later, according to 
the observations of Bugnion, when the larve 
have attained a certain size, say at the end of 
May or the beginning of June, the string or 
chain, which may be 3.5 em. long, presents a 
series of swellings and constrictions. Each 
swelling contains an undeveloped larva in the 
nutritive substance. At the end of June, the 
parasites having passed their first molt, break 
the epithelial tube which envelops them, and 
find themselves free in the body of the cater- 
pillar. This period (second larval stage) lasts 
about eight days. Finally the larve, having 
cleaned out the interior of the caterpillar, each 
one pupates by enclosing itself in an ovoid 
cocoon, and the caterpillar, whose skin molds 
itself exactly upon these cocoons, becomes only 
a rigid, bossy mass. The change from the 
larva to the nymph takes place by a new molt, 
and about twenty days afterwards the Hn- 
cyrtus emerges. 

In 1898 Alfred Giard (Bul. Soc. Ent. 
France, pp. 127-129) published a note on the 
development of JLitomastix (Copidosoma) 
truncatellus, a parasite of Plusia gamma, in 
which he describes precisely the same phe- 
nomenon previously described by the writer 
with the same parasite infesting Plusia bras- 
sice, but he reared more than three thousand 
specimens of the parasite from a single cater- 
pillar. He showed that a single female can 
lay not more than a hundred eggs and that, 
therefore, since all of the parasites emerge at 
the same time, it is almost necessary to sup- 
pose that several females (twenty-five to 
thirty) simultaneously attacked the caterpil- 
lar. This, however, Giard thought was most 
unlikely, and he believed, therefore, that the 
phenomenon with Plusia must be explained 
on the basis of Paul Marchal’s preliminary 
note published the same year. This leads us 
to Marchal’s observations. 

Dr. Paul Marchal, entomologist of the | 
agronomic station under the Ministry of 
Agriculture at Paris, a naturalist trained in 


812 


the very latest morphological methods, a 
skilled embryologist, and a man of broad eul- 
ture, in 1897 began to study the development 
of Encyrtus fuscicollis, a parasite of several 
species of the genus Hyponomeuta; publish- 
ing his preliminary announcement of his first 
discovery in the same year, indicating that 
from a single egg of the parasite there de- 
velop many true embryos. His announced 
results were received with the greatest interest 
in France, as evidenced by the appreciative 
remarks of Giard in his own article just cited. 

With an admirable skill, with extreme 
powers of observation, and with an indomi- 
table perseverance, Marchal continued these 
investigations during six or seven years, pub- 
lishing four important papers, and finally, in 
1904, his startling work entitled ‘ Recherches 
sur la Biologie et le Developpement des 
Hymenopteres Parasites ’—La Polyembryonie 
Specifique ou Germinogonie, Arch. Zool. Exp. 
(4), Vol. IT., pp. 257-335, pl. [X.—XJII. 

The facts upon which he throws light may 
be summed.up as follows, and in this summary 
the writer follows Bugnion: 

1. The EHncyrtus [Litomastiz or Copido- 
soma| has, as well as its host the Hypono- 
meuta, a single annual generation. 

2. The oviposition of the Hncyrtus takes 
place after that of the Hyponomeuta, in July 
or in August, according to the species para- 
sitized, and it is in the egg of the moth that 
the parasite introduces its own egg. 

3. Each chain of embryos comes from a 
single egg, following the division of the germ 
into several distinct individuals in the morula 
phase. | 

4, A Hyponomeuta egg receives ordinarily 
only one Hncyrtus egg. While it is possible 
that the Hyponomeuta egg may be pierced 
two or three times (perhaps by different indi- 


viduals), in each case it forms in the cater- ° 


pillar a corresponding number of chains of 
embryos. 

5. The nutritive mass in which the embryos 
are encased results from the proliferation of 
the amniotic cells furnished by the germ of 
the Encyrtus (derived from the paranucleus). 

6. The anhiste membrane, as well as the 
epithelial-like cellules which clothe the in- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 625. 


terior, are formed at the expense of mesen- 
chymatal elements furnished by the organism 
of the host. These formations can be assim- 
ilated to an adventitious cyst destined to iso- 
late the parasites. 

It is upon the eggs of Hyponomeuta malin- 
ella that the act of oviposition of the Encyr- 
tus was for the first time observed (1897). 

Marchal having enclosed a branch of apple 
in a covering of gauze, placed some cocoons 
of the moth within. The adult insects 
emerged during the latter part of June and 
the early part of July. On the fourth several 
pairs copulated. On the sixth several freshly 
deposited egg masses were seen on the branch- 
es. On the eighteenth, a large number of 
Encyrtus having issued from parasitized cater- 
pillars placed in the cage, Marchal noticed at 
half past one in the afternoon (at the time 
when the rays of the sun were warmest) an 
Encyrtus which, poised upon an egg batch of 
the Hyponomeuta, seemed to be about ovi- 
positing. Profiting by such a favorable op- 
portunity, he was able, during the four suc- 
ceeding hours, to follow with a lens the minute 
parasite which passed from one egg batch to 
another, piercing the eggs with its ovipositor. 
The operation lasted each time a little more 
than half a minute (two minutes toward the 
end of the day). 

Other observations were carried on upon 
the parasites of H. mahalebdella. As this 
insect issues later than the others, Marchal 
was able, thanks to this fact, to obtain new 
layings of the Encyrtus through a period ex- 
tending from the twelfth to the twenty-second 
of August, and to complete at the same time 
the material which he needed for his work. 
He concludes from his latest observations that 
the Hncyrtus does not live more than a dozen 
days in the imago state. 

The search for the egg of the Encyrtus in 
the egg of the Hyponomeuta being extremely 
difficult if one is obliged to dissociate the 
vitellus, Marchal used the method of cross- 
section. Having collected on the tenth of 
September, 1901, the parasitized egg masses 
of H. mahalebdella; having fixed them in Gil- 
son’s liquid, colored with carmine and having 
cut them into fine sections, he succeeded in 


DECEMBER 21, 1906.] 


discovering the egg of Hncyrtus enclosed in 
the general cavity of the embryo of the Hypo- 
nomeuta already voluminous and well ad- 
vanced. The size of the egg is so small that 
it was not possible to make more than four 
or five serial sections of its substance. Its 
contour is ovoid, distinctly limited, and there 
is no trace of the shell and pedicel observed 
before laying. There are in the interior five 
nuclei in the as yet undivided protoplasmic 
mass, of which four are smaller, rounded, 
equal in size, and one more voluminous, placed 
excentrically, of an irregular lobate form, pre- 
senting a finer and denser reticulum. It may 
be stated that the four little nuclei are des- 
tined to engender by successive proliferation 
all the chain of embryos while the larger 
nucleus (paranucleus or amniotic nucleus) 
constitutes the first outline of the amnion. 

At this stage the egg of the Encyrtus is not 
surrounded by any membrane. One observes 
only in its neighborhood the presence of cer- 
tain mesenchymatous cellules belonging to the 
host. It is a little later, when the number of 
embryonic nuclei has risen to eight or ten, 
that an adventitious cyst commences to form 
by the drawing together of the mesenchyma- 
tous elements which apply themselves against 
the egg and form a clothing of even cellules. 
As to the amniotic cellules derived from the 
paranucleus, their réle is to form the albu- 
mino-fatty mass which surrounds the embryos 
and which serves indeed as food for the young 
larvee. 

At the end of September the little larve of 
the Hyponomeuta hatch, but they feed only 
upon the débris of the eggs and remain until 
springtime protected by the covering of the 
egg mass. In opening these larve under the 
microscope it is noted with certain ones that 
there are sometimes two or three little rounded 
bodies still difficult to distinguish floating 
among the viscera. These little bodies are 
the eggs of the Hncyrtus. Examined by 
transmitted light at the end of autumn, the 
ege shows a globular or ovoid mass of proto- 
plasm in which are situated, first, a mass of 
embryonic nuclei pressed together to the num- 
ber of from fifteen to twenty; second, a large 


SCIENCE. 


813 


excentric paranucleus frequently divided into 
two segments. 

This condition just described persists al- 
most without modification through the winter. 
Meanwhile in a considerable number of eggs 
may be found, in the month of March and 
even in February, a grouping of the embryonic 
nuclei which already announces the divi- 
sion of the germ into several embryos. The 
formative vitellus (characterized by its clear 
tint) is divided into several rounded masses 
isolated from each other and each surrounding 
a group of nuclei. These last, which formerly 
had two nucleoli, now show multiple nuclei 
often placed in two rows. 

But the phenomenon of polyembryony 
reaches its greatest intensity at the period 
when the young larve of the Hyponomeuta 
leave their winter shelter and commence to eat 
the leaves. 

The egg, at first spherical, grows with an 
extraordinary rapidity and takes upon itself 
little by little an elongated ellipsoidal form. 
It is of this shape and with a considerably 
increased diameter that it is found in the in- 
terior of the larve of H. cognatella about the 
twentieth of April. The same condition is 
found in H. mahalebdella toward the tenth of 
May. 

Studied at this time in a fine cross-section, 
the germ of E’ncyrtus is found to be composed 
of small, rounded masses, which have already 
in certain instances commenced to shape them- 
selves at the end of winter. 

Having become more numerous, these are 
formed of small collections of protoplasm sur- 
rounding the nuclei (to the number of eight 
to twelve to each mass) and offering already 
quite distinct cellular limits. Each one of 
these masses is lodged in a round and well- 
differentiated cavity hollowed out of the com- 
mon nutritive granular protoplasm. These 
bodies, which may be likened to gemmules and 
which may be called hereafter muriform, in- 
crease by the multiplication of their elements 
until reaching a certain size—each one com- 
prising then twelve to fifteen cellules—they 
divide by cleavage. 

In the latter days of April, when the com- 
plex polygerm of Hncyrtus has reached a half 


814 SCIENCE. 


millimeter in length and has taken the form 
of a sausage, there are about forty muriform 
bodies in the interior, all distinct from each 
other and surrounded by the common granular 
mass. The number of cellules which com- 
poses them is always somewhat reduced. 

Toward the middle of May the complex 
polygerm has become a string of from three 
to four millimeters in length; the gemmules 
have multiplied until they are often more than 
a hundred. They have on an average twenty 
to forty cellules which, by reciprocal pressure, 
seem polygonal. From this period the em- 
bryonic buds begin to issue and the form of 
the body to become fixed. The embryo, aban- 
doning its spherical form, becomes more dis- 
coidal and takes on a reniform aspect. This 
very characteristic form is generally found 
about the twenty-fifth of May with H. cog- 
natella. Finally toward the tenth of June, 
the embryo having passed to the larval condi- 
tion, the chains of the Hncyrtus reach their 
definite length and show the typical form 
described at the beginning of this article. 

The most striking fact in the development 
of the Hncyrtus is then that a single egg 
placed in the egg of the moth proliferates by 
the division of the nucleus in such a way as 
to form a certain number of plurinuclear 
masses, and that these, dividing in their turn, 
give rise to as many morules as there will be 
embryos in each of the chains. 

Polyembryony being, as appears from what 
precedes, the ordinary method of development 
of Encyrtus fuscicollis, one can predict that 
the study of the Chalcicidz, especially of the 
Encyrtine, will show other analogous cases. 

Marchal cites already Ageniaspis testaceipes 
Ratz., parasite of Lithocolletis cramerella, a 
miner of oak leaves. He has been able to see, 
it is true, only the advanced stages of the 
evolution of this species, his observation hav- 
ing been made in the month of October. The 
larve to the number of twelve or fifteen to 
each caterpillar had for the most part already 
formed their cocoons. But in some eater- 
pillars the parasites were grouped in an epi- 
thelial tube similar to that of E. fuscicollis. 
The structure of the tube being absolutely 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 625. 


the same, it is probable that the development 

goes on in the same way. 
Another case of polyembryony has been ob- 

served by Marchal: Polygnotus minutus Lin- 


deman, a minute prototrypid, .6 mm. long, ~ 


parasite of the Hessian fly. The embryos, 
which are found to the number of ten to 
twelve in the gastric sac of the larva of the 
Hessian fly, are grouped in such a manner 
as to form a single ovoid mass. 

The author, it is true, has not observed the 
Polygnotus in the act of oviposition, but, 
having found freshly-laid eggs in the gastric 
cavity, he has succeeded in following the mul- 
tiplication of the nuclei, then the grouping of 
the cellules in several individuals as distinctly 
as with the Encyrtus. Polyembryony is then 
well established for this species. The only 
differences from Encyrtus fuscicollis are, first, 
that to the morula stage succeeds a true blas- 
tula with a central cavity before the forma- 
tion of the embryo; second, that the prolifera- 
tion of the germ being much less active, the 
number of individuals issuing from the egg 
does not appear to exceed twelve. 

Following the publication of this remark- 
able paper, the subject of polyembryony was 
taken up by Dr. Filippo Silvestri, of the 
Royale Seuola Superiore di Agricoltura, at 
Portici, Italy, who published in 1905 a paper 
entitled ‘Uno Nuovo Interessantissimo Caso 
di Germinogonia,’ ete. (Rendiconti della R. 
Accademia dei Lincet, Vol. XIV., 2d sen., 
Serie 5%, fac. 10°), which consisted of a pre- 
liminary note on the study of polyembryony 
with Litomastix truncatellus, the same species 
which had been observed by the writer and by 
Giard. 

In 1906, in a paper entitled ‘ Contribuzioni 
alla Conoscenza Biologica degli Imenotteri 
Parassiti,’* the same writer, Silvestri, goes 
into detail, with text figures and plates, re- 
garding a most interesting series of observa- 
tions, in which he sums up practically as 
follows: 

Intomastix truncatellus lays its egg in the 
egg of Plusia gamma. 


1]. Biologia del Litomastix truncatellus 


(Dalm.); 2d. Nota Preliminare, Portici, 1906, 


pp. 1-45, pl. I-V. 


ee Bec 


DECEMBER 21, 1906.] 


The larva of Plusia parasitized by the Lito- 
amastix lives in summer three or four days 
jJonger than the healthy larva and reaches a 
greater size. 

Each generation of the Plusia corresponds 
to a generation of the Litomastiz. 

The maturation of the egg is identical with 
fertilized and unfertilized (parthenogenetic) 
individuals. In the development of the egg 
of the Litomastix we have a process of germ- 
Inogony or specific polyembryony, quite dif- 
ferent from that found by Marchal in Encyr- 
tus fuscicollis and Polygnotus minutus. 

From one egg of Litomastix there originate 
about a thousand: sexual larve and some hun- 
dred or more asexual larve. The first trans- 
form into adults, while the second are de- 
stroyed, serving probably as aids to the sexual 
larvee in lacerating the internal organs of the 
host larve. 

Asexual larve are notable from their form, 
in the structure of the exoskeleton, and by the 
lack of a circulatory system, of a respiratory 
system, of the malpighian tubules, and, above 
all, of the reproductive system. 

Each embryo of the sexual or asexual larva 
is surrounded by two involucres, of which the 
external one is derived from the ooplasm and 
the polar nucleus; the internal from a layer 
of cellules derived by delamination from the 
embryonal morule. 

The fecundation of the egg with Litomastix 
determines the female sex. 

And now, what are the broad bearings of 
this interesting work? 

Giard had already in 1898, in his note cited 
above, in discussing the value of Marchal’s 
discovery as announced in his preliminary 
note, stated that if one wishes to seek in other 
classes of animals embryonic peculiarities 
comparable to those revealed by Marchal, it is 
perhaps in the degraded platyhelminths of the 
families Orthonectide and Dicyemide that 
something analogous may be found. The 
sporocysts of Rhopalura are in effect, he 
‘stated, filled with embryos by a process of 
ovular multiplication which is not unlike that 
which takes place in the embryonal tubes of 
the Hncyrtus. 

Marchal himself publishes an important 


SCIENCE. 


815 


section entitled ‘Relations existing between 
Specific Polyembryony of the Hymenoptera 
and Other Modes of Agamic Reproduction.’ 
These instances are well summed up by Bug- 
nion in a paper entitled ‘La Polyembryonie 
et le Déterminisme Sexuel’ (Bulletin de la 
Société Vaudoise des Sci. Nat., XLII., No. 
153, March, 1906), in which he also includes 
a consideration of certain additional observa- 
tions, and we may adopt in a very free trans- 
lation Bugnion’s summary: 

Other examples taken from the whole range 
of the animal kingdom somewhat approach the 
polyembryony of insects. 

With the cyclostomes (Bryozoa) one finds a 
budding which takes place in the egg at the 
beginning of development. In the genus 
Lichenopora this budding is replaced by the 
dissociation of the primitive embryo into a 
great number of secondary embryos. We have 
then here a phenomenon comparable to that 
which we have seen with the parasitic Hymen- 
optera. It is necessary to note, however, that 
the secondary embryos thus formed offer al- 
ready an indication of embryonic buds, while 
the morules of Hncyrtus or the blastules of 
Polygnotus present no apparent differentia- 
tion. With other Bryozoa (Lophopus, Cris- 
tatella) there is also to be seen a budding in 
the egg, but this takes place at a later period. 

With the worms, Kleinenberg announced in 
1879 the curious case of Lumbricus trapezo- 
ides, in which the egg develops into two em- 
bryos; here the multiplication takes place by 
a sort of internal budding intervening in the 
gastrula stage, at which time differentiation 
of the buds is already effected. 

With the tunicates, the species of Diplo- 
soma offer a curious case of precocious bud- 
ding which gives the appearance of the simul- 
taneous formation of two embryos in the same 
egg, but in reality this proceeds from the in- 
ternal budding of an embryo already differen- 
tiated (Salensky, Caullery, Pizon, Perrier). 
With Pyrosoma the budding also takes place 
in the egg, but by a slower method, and it is 
only when the embryo is organized that it. 
pushes out a ventral stolon immediately cleav- 
ing transversely into four buds which. each © 


816 


develop into a new individual (according to 
Huxley, Kovalevsky, Seelicer, etc.). 

From the cases mentioned, where the bud- 
ding takes place in the egg, one passes insen- 
sibly to more frequent and better-known phe- 
nomena in which agamic reproduction takes 
place after the individual has already issued 
from the egg (as in the Celenterates, Ortho- 
nectide, Dicyémide, Platyhelminths, Tuni- 
cates). The preceding observations seem 
then to establish a continuous series connect- 
ing the polyembryony of Hymenoptera with 
the cases of agamogenesis occurring in ad- 
vanced stages of development. 

In general the facts of polyembryony may 
be also said to approach the cases of experi- 
mental blastotomy recently observed by vari- 
ous authors. 

Dreisch (1892), passing a temperature of 
31° over the eggs of echinids, obtained a sepa- 
ration of the blastomeres into two or more 
groups; and Loeb (1893), by mixing distilled 
water in equal parts with the sea-water in 
which the eggs were found, produced the same 
result. 

Another experiment of Loeb, 1894, upon the 
eggs of Echinus, and by Bataillon, 1900, upon 
the eggs of Petromyzon and of teleosts, con- 
sists in dissociating the egg into several groups 
of blastomeres by means of a heated needle. 
Both obtained complete larvee, each blastomere 
or group of blastomeres forming an embryo. 

Ryder in 1893 obtained double monsters by 
the shaking of the eggs of trout. The vitellus 
forming on both sides of the egg made two 
distinct individuals. 

One can even make two complete larve of 
Triton united only by the skin of the ab- 
domen, by constricting the egg with a silken 
thread (Endres 1895, Speman 1900 and 1901). 

These facts favor, it may be seen, what is 
called the isotropic condition of the egg, each 
blastomere or group of blastomeres isolated by 
one of the methods indicated being capable of 
forming a complete individual. 

Marchal expresses this very well in saying 
that both in spontaneous polyembryony and in 
experimental blastotomy each part of the egg 
contains the complete hereditary patrimony 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 625. 


capable of ending in the formation of an in- 
dividual conforming to the specific type. 

In the papers of Marchal and Bugnion no 
reference is made to the recent very important 
work of Professor Conklin in which he shows 
that the eggs of the Ascidians, Cynthia partita 
and Ciona intestinalis, are not isotropic and 
that the cytoplasm of the egg is not equipo- 
tential. Dr. Conklin concludes that “ Experi- 
ments which demonstrate the totipotence of 
blastomeres or regions of the egg prove noth- 
ing with regard to the presence or absence of 
differentiation in these parts. Some eggs 
with a high degree of differentiation have at 
the same time great capacity for regulation.” 
Workers in this field must reckon with these 
important results. 

Another question which presents itself is 
that of knowing whether among insects poly- 
embryony ought to be considered as having 
preceded or followed phylogenetically the 
other methods of agamic reproduction such as 
pedogenesis among the Cecidomylide or cyc- 
lical parthenogenesis among the Aphidide 
and the Cynipide. Harmer, for the Bryozoa, 
arrived at the conclusion that embryonic scis- 
sion is a consequence of the blastogenetic fac- 
ulty of the adults. Perrier extends the same 
point of view to all budding animals. 

Considered from this point of view, the 
polyembryony of the Chalcidide appears not 
as an initial phenomenon, but as a secondary 
adaptation due to an acceleration of embryo- 
genetic process (tachygenesis of Perrier, 
1902). The result of this adaptation is, con- 
sidering the short and precarious existence of 
the adult Encyrtus, to assist in the preserva- 
tion of the species by pushing its multiplica- 
tion to the highest possible degree. 

As to the determining cause of the division 
of germ, Marchal thinks that it is from the 
sudden surrounding with more dilute liquids 
in the interior of the nourishing mass and in 
a concomitant modification of the osmotic ex- 
changes in the interior of the cellules. One 
sees, in fact, with Hncyrtus that polyembry- 
ony reaches its greatest intensity at the mo- 
ment when the larva of the Hyponomeuta 
commences to feed (in the early days of 
April), and for the Polygnotus at the period 


DECEMBER 21, 1906.] 


when the young larva of the Hessian fly en- 
gorges itself with sap. Now, the production 
of the rapid changes bringing about osmotic 
pressure constitutes precisely the procedure 
employed to bring about the separation of the 
blastomeres and their evolution into several 
distinct individuals, as has been shown by the 
experiments already mentioned of Loeb and 
Bataillon. 


Polyembryony is connected with the ques- 


tion of the fixation of sex, and offers from 
this point of view an especial interest. 

Bugnion observed already in the course of 
his studies upon Hncyrtus (1891) that all of 
the individuals coming from a single cater- 
pillar most often belonged to a single sex. 
A total of twenty-one observations carefully 
controlled gave the following result: five times 
of males exclusively; nine times of females 
exclusively; three times a great majority of 
males; once a great majority of females; 
three times males and females in nearly equal 
numbers. 

Marchal has stated similarly that with 
Polygnotus, those coming from a single larva 
of the Hessian fly almost always belong to the 
same sex. 

These facts, which Bugnion thought should 
be attributed to an occasional parthenogenesis 
(the caterpillars giving birth exclusively to 
males having been, according to his supposi- 
tion, those which had been pierced by a non- 
fertilized Encyrtus), are now to be explained 
in a much more rational manner. 

With man, true twins enclosed in the same 
chorion probably come from a single egg. 
While different hypotheses have been suggest- 
ed, especially lately (Rosner, 1901), it is nat- 
ural to suppose that twins develop by the sepa- 
ration of the egg into two parts. (spontaneous 
blastotomy). Then it is established that true 
twins are always of the same sex. Exceptions 
to this rule are explained by the fact that cer- 
tain unusual twins are formed by the joining 
of two eggs. 

Another case presents itself with the mam- 
mals, which seems much more comparable to 
those of Hncyrtus and Polygnotus, namely, 
that of the armadillo (Dasypus or Tatusia). 
These animals give birth, according to the 


SCIENCE. 


817 


species, to a litter of from four to eleven 
young which are all and always of the same 
sex. It has been noted by Ihering (1886) 
that all of the foetuses are enveloped in a com- 
mon chorion and belong, therefore, to the type 
of true twins. Rosner (1901) explains this 
fact by the habitual presence of several ovules 
in a single graafian follicle, and has even con- 
cluded that all of the cases of monochorial 
multiple birth can be explained in the same 
way. But Cuenot (1903), reviewing the ques- 
tion, has found that with the species studied 
by Rosner (Tatusia novemcincta Linnzus) 
the monovular follicles are twenty times more 
numerous than the pluriovular follicles. It 
is then impossible to admit that the latter 
only furnish the fertilizable eggs, and the 
author concludes that, according to all proba- 
bility, the multiple births of armadillos come 
from a single egg. 

The discovery of Marchal, therefore, comes 
extremely apropos to throw new light upon 
this interesting and greatly discussed ques- 
tion. In the cases where Encyrtus and Polyg- 
notus issuing from the same larva are almost 
all males or all females, it must be admitted 
that this is a natural consequence of poly- 
embryony, and that one would expect the 
sexes to be separated in this way wherever the 
embryos come from the division of a single 
egg. 

The fundamental fact coming from this 
study is that every caterpillar or larva which 
contains a single chain of embryos gives birth 
to imagos of the parasite belonging to a single 
sex, but as the same caterpillar frequently 
contains two or three chains it will not be 
astonishing to find males and females given 
out in quite equal number. ‘The cases in 
which we find individuals of both sexes, but in 
unequal numbers, are to be explained by the 
partial aborting of one of the chains and the 
survival of only a few individuals, while the 
other chain develops normally. 

Tt is seen, therefore, that the discovery of 
polyembryony confirms a fact already sus- 
pected but until now incompletely demon- 
strated, and that is that the determination of 
the sex in the fecundated egg is definitely 
brought about before the first segmentation 


818 


of its nucleus. If then the facts drawn from 
the observation of parasitic Hymenoptera ap- 
ply equally to the higher animals, it will be 
inexact to speak, as has sometimes been done, 
of an embryonic period which is indifferent 
from the sexual point of view. The indiffer- 
ence is probably apparent rather than real, 
and it appears probable that once fecundation 
is effected the sex is irrevocably fixed. 

It is strange that Marchal’s work and that 
of Silvestri following it have received so little 
attention from English-speaking naturalists. 

The extraordinary nature of the discov- 
eries and their wide bearing upon profound 
biological problems render them among the 
most important discoveries in biology of re- 
cent years. Recently published volumes on 
insects contain no mention of them; no com- 
petent reviews have been published in Amer- 
ican or English journals, so far as I am aware, 
and it is for the sole purpose of directing the 
attention of American workers to this ex- 
tremely important field that I have written 
this lengthy account. After reviewing one of 
Marchal’s preliminary papers in ScieNcE in 
1898, I endeavored to induce several univer- 
sity teachers, possessing well-equipped labora- 
tory facilities, to take up the subject of this 
investigation, but without success. It is a 
fertile field. In the parasitic Hymenoptera 
there are many thousands of species, and an 
unlimited material exists at our very doors. 
The most promising fields of investigation 
have recently been pointed out by the writer 
in a paper read before the Entomological So- 
ciety of Washington. Marchal has studied 
two or three species; Silvestri has studied 
another; and both workers have found radical 
and interesting differences in all. There is, 
therefore, a vast and unexplored field whose 
richness can well be predicted from the results 
of Marchal’s work. L. O. Howarp. 


LE FONDULE (FUNDULA CYPRINODONTA) OF 
CARBONNIER AN UMBRA. 


I HAVE been several times asked what the 
Fondule of Carbonnier (1874) was. The 
breeding habits of this American fish were 
noticed in considerable detail by P. Carbon- 
nier in the Bulletin Mensuel de la Société 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 625. 


d’Acclimatation for November, 1874 (pp. 
665-671), but under a strange name which 
has evaded and even prevented identification. 
The article in question is entitled ‘Le Fon- 
dule (Fundula cyprinodonta Cuv.)’ and it is. 
especially claimed: “Ce poisson américain a 
été désigné par Cuvier sous le nom de Fun- 
dula cyprinodonta.” But Cuvier never gave 
such a name to a fish, neither in the first or 
second edition of the ‘Régne Animal,’ nor 
(with Valenciennes) in the ‘ Histoire Nat- 
urelle des Poissons.’ Carbonnier was prob- 
ably told by some one who looked casually at 
his fish that it was a Fundulus, a cyprinodont, 
but the slight notice given of it by Carbonnier 
does not agree with any cyprinodont. The 
only means he has given to determine what it 
was are meager data respecting size, color, 
sexual differences and habits. The size was 
small—12 to 15 centimeters at most; there 
were numerous longitudinal parallel lines; 
there was no constant difference in color be- 
tween the sexes, but the females were twice 
as large (bulky) as the males; they were 
noticeable for immobility’ and also for ap- 
parent power to turn the head.” Here we 
have a combination of characteristics which 
is not true of any cyprinodont but which is 
on the whole realized by an Umbra or mud- 
fish (U. pygme@é), and doubtless specimens: 
of that mudfish (to be found abundantly about 
New York) were the fishes sent to Carbonnier. 
The sender was a ‘M. Godillot,’ a Frenchman 
doing business in New York, as appears from 
a previous notice by Carbonnier in the Bul- 
letin (1871, p. 650). 

Interesting details are given of the play of 
the sexes, the change in color during the 
nuptial season, the mode of oviposition, the 
eare of the female for her eggs® and the char- 

1L’immotilité qui est un caractére de cette 
espece (p. 666). 

2 J’ai dit elle tourne la téte, et avee intention, 
ear cet organe chez le Fondule parait ne pas étre 
invariablement soudé 4 la charpente du trone, et 
jouit, au contraire, d’une certaine mobilité (p- 
669). 

’Pendant tout le temps que dure l’incubation, 
qui est de treize 4 quatorze jours, la femelle 


veille avee une tendre sollicitude sur ses cufs 
(p. 669). 


DECEMBER 21, 1906.] 


acteristics of the larval fish. These were the 
first observations made on the breeding Umbra 
and should be repeated before they are fully 
accepted. Although many years ago I kept 
several specimens in a small aquarium, no 
attempt to breed was noticed, and none has 
been observed in an aquarium of the U. S. 
Fish Commission containing a number of 
them. I therefore call attention to the in- 
teresting article by Carbonnier. 
THEO. GILL. 


NOTES ON PHYSICS. 
THE TUNGSTEN LAMP. 


Many readers of SciENCE may be interested 
to know that ‘the electric lighting industry 
is face to face with a change of almost revolu- 
tionary character,’ to quote from the con- 
eluding paragraph of a paper read before the 
American Institute of Electrical Engineers by 
Dr. C. H. Sharp, of the Electrical Testing 
Laboratories of New York City, on Friday 
evening, November 23. 

The two papers of the evening were, a paper 
by Dr. C. P. Steinmetz on the general aspects 
of the problem of the transformation of elec- 
trie power into light, and one by Dr. Sharp on 
some tests of new types of incandescent lamps; 
and the subject was discussed by several in- 
vestigators who are working upon the prob- 
lem of the tungsten lamp in this country. 

It is generally conceded that within a year 
an electric glow lamp, the tungsten lamp, will 
be on the market and that the output of light 
per unit of power consumed will be increased 
at least threefold above that which is now 
obtained by the carbon filament glow lamp; 
which means that the light-producing capacity 
of every electric lighting station in the world 
will be at once multiplied by three, and that 
there will be at once the possibility of greatly 
reduced prices per unit of light and greatly 
increased profits to the electric lighting com- 
panies. 

Those who are interested in the scientific or 
technical aspects of the problem of electric 
lighting will find it worth their while to read 
the papers of Dr. Steinmetz and Dr. Sharp in 
the forthcoming monthly issue of the Pro- 


SCIENCE. 


819 


ceedings of the American Institute of Elec- 
trical Engineers. 


NORMAL VERSUS SELECTIVE RADIATION. 
SELECTIVE EXCITATION. 

To obtain a highly efficient lamp is either 
to discover a substance which will stand an 
excessively high temperature under which 
conditions a very large percentage of the 
radiant energy is light, or to discover a sub- 
stance which at a moderately high tempera- 
ture radiates selectively and gives off a large 
percentage of luminous radiation. Thus the 
Welsbach gas light owes its high efficiency 
very largely to the selective radiation of tho- 
rium and cerium oxides. 

The idea of selective radiation is, however, 
profoundly modified in most illuminants and 
made to depart widely from that form of the 
idea which is based upon thermodynamics, 
where the idea grows out of the necessarily 
complementary character (in a_ substance 
nearly in thermal equilibrium) of emission, 
transparency and reflection.’ 

This modification of the idea of selective ~ 
radiation is so important in the problem of 
light production that it should be more gen- 
erally recognized, and its very intimate con- 
nection with that principle in the kinetic 
theory of gases which is known as the prin- 
ciple of the equi-partition of energy should 
be pointed out. Indeed, this modification of 
the idea of selective radiation is intimately 
connected with the apparent inapplicability 
of the principle of the equi-partition of 
energy. 

Jeans has shown that the apparent failure 
of the principle of the equi-partition of en- 
ergy in a gas may be explained by the hy- 
pothesis that when energy is given to a gas 
in a particular form, say as energy of trans- 
lational molecular motion, it takes a very long 
time for this energy to become properly par- 
titioned among all the possible modes of mo- 
lecular motion. 

The application of Jeans’s idea to the ques- 
tion of selective radiation is that when energy 

1See Nichols & Franklin’s ‘Elements of Phy- 


gies, Vol. III., chapter on Radiation for an out- 


line of the argument. 


820 


in a particular form is imparted to a sub- 
stance it spreads out very slowly among the 
various possible modes of molecular motion 
and if the substance is losing energy continu- 
ously by radiation we must have a very wide 
departure from black body radiation because 
of the wide and persistent departure of the 
substance from thermal equilibrium. I think 
this departure of the radiation of a substance 
from black body radiation should be attributed 
to its actual cause, selective excitation, and it 
should not be spoken of as selective radiation 
in the strict sense of that term. 

The extent to which the radiation from a 
selectively excited substance departs from 
black body radiation or rather’ from its own 
characteristic normal emission (when it is 
nearly in thermal equilibrium) depends great- 
ly upon the speed at which the energy of a 
given mode of molecular motion spreads out 
into all the possible modes, and we have evi- 
dence that this speed of spreading is very 
slow even in many solid and liquid substances. 
Thus we have in the fire-fly a case of selective 
excitation and the wide departure of the radi- 
ation of the fire-fly from normal black body 
radiation shows that the energy which is de- 
veloped by the selective excitation is nearly 
all radiated before it spreads out to any great 
extent among the various possible modes of 
motion. 

In the ease of the Welsbach mantle it is not 
at all certain that we have a genuine case of 
selective radiation free from the effects of 
selective excitation, for, although the exciting 
agent in this case is the extremely disordered 
movements of combustion, still even the dis- 
ordered movements of combustion do no 
doubt depart very widely from the type of 
molecular motion which would exist in the 
same substance in thermal equilibrium. 

When energy is imparted to a glowing sub- 
stance by the electric current, whether the 
substance be solid, or liquid, or gas, we have 
in all probability a strongly marked case of 
selective excitation. 

The upshot of this whole matter is that in 
the solution of the important problem of the 
efficient production of light we are not con- 
strained by the thermodynamic laws of radia- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 625. 


tion, and not to a very great degree dependent 
upon selective radiation properly so called, but 
we are left free in the field of unlimited possi- 
bilities of selective excitation and we may look 
forward with some hope of a highly efficient 
lamp independently of the discovery of a sub- 
stance which will stand temperatures of many 
thousands of degrees. 

In the tungsten lamp we have certainly a 
filament which stands a very high temperature 
(several hundred degrees higher than the ecar- 
bon filament can stand), we have a filament 
which certainly shows selective radiation in 
the strict sense of this term, and we have most 
certainly some degree of selective excitation. 
To what extent the high efficiency of the 
tungsten lamp is to be attributed to one or 
another of these three things it is impossible 
to decide from present data. 

In the mercury-vapor lamp and in the 
titanium-are lamp we have certainly a sub- 
stance (a vapor) which can stand an unlim- 
ited degree of temperature, but we know that 
the vapor is not very hot in either case; also 
in both lamps the light-giving vapor most 
certainly shows selective radiation in the strict 
sense of this term, and in both cases we most 
certainly have very pronounced selective ex- 
citation. Furthermore, in the case of a gas 
or vapor it seems that the speed of spreading 
out-of a given mode of molecular motion into 
all possible modes is very slow, so that select- 
ive excitation in a vapor or gas shows itself 
in very pronounced departure of the radiation 
from the normal characteristic radiation of 
the given gas or vapor. - 

The most striking instance of selective ex- 
citation as shown by extremely abnormal 
radiation is that afforded by the long-con- 
tinued glow of the air in a Geissler tube at 
liquid-air temperature after the cessation of 
the exciting current. It seems, indeed, that 
the lower the temperature of a substance the 
slower the energy of a given exaggerated mode 
of molecular motion spreads into other modes, 
and the higher the temperature the more this 
spreading is accelerated. A remarkable con- 
sequence of which is that a selectively excited 
gas should be cold to give the greatest possible 
luminous efficiency, whereas a very hot gas 


DECEMBER 21, 1906.] 


when selectively excited tends to give off per- 
ceptible intensities of radiation corresponding 
to every possible mode of molecular motion. 

Another aspect of increased rapidity of 
spreading of energy among the various modes 
of motion of a gas with increased temperature 
is that the spectrum of a very hot gas when 
excited by the electric current tends to show 
many lines that are invisible when the gas is 
relatively cool. Thus the spectrum of the 
mereury arc has no red lines when the vapor 
is relatively cool, but when the vapor is very 
hot red lines appear. 

W. S. FRANKLIN. 


NOTES ON ORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 
THE NITRATION OF ANILINE. 


It is generally stated in text-books of or- 
ganic chemistry that aniline and nitric acid, 
of tolerably high concentration, yield resinous, 
tarry, or carbonaceous material from which no 
definite compounds can be isolated, whereas, 
in the presence of a large excess of concen- 
trated sulphuric acid, nitration of the aniline 
takes place without difficulty. This behavior 
is explained by assuming that in the first case 
the nitric acid attacks the amino group of 
aniline more readily than it affects the benzene 
nucleus, but that the former is ‘ protected’ by 
the concentrated sulphuric acid. 

Several objections can be made to this ex- 
planation, among which the following may 
be mentioned: (1) Aromatic amines form 
stable compounds (nitrates) with nitric acid, 
but with nitrous acid the products (nitrites, 
diazonium derivatives, ete.) are, in general, 
highly unstable. (2) The primary products 
of the action of aniline on nitric acid or sul- 
phurie acid are, presumably, aniline nitrate, 
C,H,NH,NO,, and aniline hydrogen sulphate, 
C,H,NH,SO,H, respectively, and it is not ap- 
parent why the amino group is less well ‘ pro- 
tected’ in the former compound than in the 
latter. 

Guided by these and other considerations, 
we began, some months ago, a study of the 
action of nitric acid on aniline and on aniline 
nitrate, and of the behavior of certain deriva- 
tives of aniline towards nitric acid alone and 


SCIENCE. 


821 


when mixed with acetic acid, oxalic acid, tri- 
chloracetic acid and sulphuric acid, respect- 
ively. The aniline derivatives employed in- 
cluded only those in which one or both of the 
hydrogen atoms of the amino group have been 
replaced, such as acetanilide, C,H,NHCOCH,, 
or oxanilide, 
1 DNC, 
CoO 

A preliminary account of our work has re- 
cently appeared, and we hope to publish fur- 
ther communications on the subject in the 
course of a few months. The object of this 
note is to call attention to certain of our re- 
sults which we think may be of some general 
interest. Nitric acid of any concentration 
up to 75.33 per cent. when mixed with aniline 
in equimolecular proportion forms the nitrate, 
provided a suitable temperature is maintained, 
but the slightest excess of acid, if of compara- 
tively high concentration, changes this color- 
less nitrate to a reddish pink compound. This 
may be kept for a day or two if it remains 
sufficiently cool, but, more or less quickly, 
depending on the temperature and on the ex- 
cess of acid, it darkens, blackens and may 
become incandescent. The color is instantly 
discharged by a drop of water and is regener- 
ated by more acid. 

In the formation of mononitro deriva- 
tives of the substituted anilines referred 
to above, the position taken by the nitro 
group (ortho, meta, para) appears to de- 
pend on two factors: (a) the nature of this 
substituting group, 2. e., whether it be nega- 
tive (acidic), positive (basic), or neutral; (b) 
the strength, not concentration, of the acid 
which has been mixed with the nitric acid. 
Should this conclusion be justified by our 
subsequent experiments, it will be seen that, 
as we can vary each of the above factors be- 
tween very wide limits, the possibility is af- 
forded of varying a in the same direction as 
b or in an opposite one, in order to prepare 
some desired isomer. Moreover, similar con- 
ditions might reasonably be expected to apply 
to the nitration of compounds in general, and 
if to nitration, then also, so far as experi- 

14mer. Chem. Jour., 36, 605 (1906). 


822 SCIENCE. 


mental conditions permit, to other similar 
reactions involving substitution. 

We desire to call special attention to the 
discovery that acetic acid and sulphuric acid 
play a definite part in determining the posi- 
tion of the entering nitro group, because, 
heretofore, the belief has been quite general 
that when present with nitric acid the func- 
tion of the sulphuric acid was confined to with- 
drawing from the sphere of activity the water 
formed during the process of nitration, while 
the acetic acid was regarded as a diluent to 
reduce the activity of the nitric acid. Oxalic 
acid and trichloracetic acid do not appear to 
have been previously employed in nitration 
experiments. 

J. BisHop TINGLE, 
F. C. Buancx. 


JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, 
November 24, 1906. 


NOTES ON THE HISTORY OF NATURAL 
SCIENCE. 


SIR JOHN MANDEVILLE. 


To that dauntless literary freebooter of the 
fourteenth century who: ‘styled himself Sir 
John Mandeville, and whose ‘ Voiage and 
Travaile’ enjoyed for a long time enormous 
popularity, very little consideration is given 
by historians of natural science. Yet this 
extraordinary compilation contains many mat- 
ters of interest to the zoologist, botanist and 
even geologist of our day, to say nothing of 
its value from a purely literary or philological 
standpoint. 

A fruitful theme for investigation has been 
an analysis of the sources, contemporary, early 
medieval and ancient, from which the narrator 
made wholesale robberies. Claiming to have 
been the traveling companion of Friar Odorie, 
the Bohemian (1286-1331), he appropriated 
bodily large portions of that noted traveler’s 
itinerary, and precisely these portions are of 
chief interest to the naturalist. Concerning 
this question of sources, one may consult the 
splendid bilingual edition published by the 
Roxburghe Club, with notes by Mr. Warner, 
of the British Museum, and the valuable essay 
by Albert Bovenschen, published by the Berlin 
Geographical Society in 1888. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 625. 


A point of interest to the geologist is Sir 
John’s mention, in chapter 8, of the eruptive 
condition of Etna and the Lipari Isles. Very 
incomplete records have been preserved of 
early Liparian eruptions, and it would be in- 
teresting to find the statement confirmed by 
other writers that ‘ there be seven swelges that 
burn.’ In the original French version this 
passage concludes: “Kt de Ytaille iusques a 
ces voleans nad pluis de xxv. lieuez; et dit 
homme ge ces sunt chymenes denfern.” This 
last remark is evidently a localization of a 
familiar legend, but whether original or not 
on the part of the author is hard to say. A 
parallelism exists, though I am not aware of 
any one having called attention to it, with 
one of the ‘ Dialogues’ of St. Gregory, where 
the hermit of Lipari is described as having 
seen Theodoric the Great, on the day of his 
death, carried in bonds between Pope John 
and Symmachus, and thrown into the Voleano 
of Lipari. It was also a popular belief during 
the middle ages that Charles Martel had been 
banished within the crater of Stromboli. 

Concerning the animal lore _ scattered 
throughout Sir John’s book, it has been ob- 
served that “all the old legends of the 
Alexander saga and of the ‘ Miracles of the 
Orient’* are here amalgamated with much 
that is new about those fabulous monsters 
with which the medieval fancy populated the 
mysterious East.” Yet besides these fables 
there is much authentic information of real 
value. A single point, of minor interest to 
be sure, is worth mentioning on account of its 
having engaged Cuvier’s attention. A curious 
subversion of the Andromeda legend occurs in 
chapter 5 of Mandeville’s book, where it is 
said that one of the ribs of the monster found 
at Joppa measured forty feet in length. The 
statement is evidently borrowed from Solinus 
(chapter 34), who obtained his information in 
turn from Pliny (‘ Nat. Hist.,’ v. 14; 1x., 4). 
According to the latter, the total length of 
the creature, whose bones were conveyed to 
Rome and exhibited there, was forty feet; and 
as shown by Cuvier, the description could not 
have applied to any other animal than a whale. 

1 References to the spread of this literature are 
given in Science, Vol. 23, p. 195. 


DECEMBER 21, 1906.] 


Other instances of the stranding of whales 
are reported by the same classic author. 


C. R. Eastman. 


CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 


LANTERN SLIDES FOR TEACHING METEOROLOGY. 

THE Geographic Society of Chicago has 
done an excellent work for the development 
of meteorological instruction in the United 
States. It has collected a set of 270 lantern 
slides of various meteorological subjects. It 
has published a good descriptive text to ac- 
company them. It sells the slides at cost. 
This is one of the more important. meteorolog- 
ical contributions along educational lines 
which has been made in this country within 
the last few years. The plan was inaugurated 
in 1905 by Dr. J. Paul Goode, then president 
of the Chicago Geographic Society, and on 
the committee which was put in charge of the 
work were Dr. Goode, Professor Henry J. Cox, 
of the U. S. Weather Bureau in Chicago, the 
chief observer of the Weather Bureau in Chi- 
eago, and three teachers. The slides are copied 
from maps and diagrams in the Atlas of Mete- 
orology, recent text-books, and in the Monthly 
Weather Review; from photographs, and from 
weather maps and weather records selected 
and prepared by the committee. A wide 
range of subjects is covered, and any teacher 
of meteorology, climatology or geography will 
surely find many slides suitable for use in his 
particular line of teaching. The text to ac- 
company the slides embraces 180 pages. It 
includes a ‘General Introduction,’ by Pro- 
fessor Cox; a paper on ‘ The Use of the Lan- 
tern in Teaching Meteorology,’ by Dr. Goode; 
a short working bibliography for the use of 
teachers, and then the descriptive text (110 
pages). The latter is subdivided according to 
the subjects covered by the slides, including 
the following: weather observatories; meteor- 
ological instruments and instrument records; 
temperature distribution; atmospheric press- 
wre and circulation; sunshine and _ other 
optical phenomena; humidity, cloudiness and 
precipitation; cyclones and _  anticyclones; 
thunderstorms and tornadoes; floods; syn- 
chronous weather conditions; life response to 


SCIENCE. 


823 


climate. This descriptive text is almost a 
small text-book in itself, and will be very 
helpful to teachers (unless perchance it be 
so complete that it tempts them to limit their 
reading to this alone). We welcome most 
heartily the Chicago Geographic Society’s 
valuable contribution to meteorological edu- 
cation. 

LAND AND SEA BREEZES ON THE GERMAN COAST. 

THE phenomena of land and sea breezes on 
the eastern coast of Germany bordering the 
Baltic have been studied by Max Kaiser, of 
Halle (‘ Inaugural-Dissertation,’ Halle, 1906), 
who has made use of anemograph records for 
the period 1901-5 at five stations extending 
over a strip of 300 miles of coast-line; of the 
observations taken thrice daily at storm-warn- 
ing stations of the Deutsche Seewarte, and 
of observations on light-ships and on passing 
vessels. The sea breeze was found to begin 
at various times, often at 8 A.M. and often not 
until 2 p.m. or later. The absolute maximum 
velocity was 138.2 miles per hour; the absolute 
minimum was 0.8 miles per hour. The mean 
velocity is 4.5 to 6.7 miles per hour. April 
to September are the months of occurrence. 
Only those days were taken as sea-breeze days 
which had an offshore wind early, an onshore 
wind at noon and an offshore wind again in 
the evening. The ‘roundabouts’ which have 
been noted on the New England coast and in 
other places are but partially developed on the 
Baltic coast of Germany. An interesting 
study of the place of beginning of the sea 
breeze, based on observations from vessels off- 
shore, makes a decided addition to our present 
knowledge on this subject. In the region 
under discussion the sea breeze, when condi- 
tions are favorable, begins between four and 
five nautical miles offshore, and the land 
breeze extends as far out as eight nautical 
miles. 

MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. 

No. 8, Vol. 34, 1906, of the Monthly 
Weather Review contains the following 
papers: ‘The International Symbols,’ by H. 
H. Clayton. It is pointed out that the Amer- 
ican term ‘frostwork’ is equivalent to the 
German ‘ Rauhfrost,’ and the English term 
‘silver thaw’ is the equivalent of the Amer- 


824 


ican ‘ice storm.’ ‘The Meteorological Optics 
of Professor J. M. Pernter’ is a review of 
Pernter’s standard work, recently published, by 
Professor R. W. Wood. ‘The Meteorological 
Conditions Associated with the Cottage City 
Waterspout’ (August, 1896), by Professor F. 
H. Bigelow. A full review and discussion of 
the weather conditions leads to the conclusion 
that a sheet of cold air, in front of an ap- 
proaching anticyclone, overran the lower, 
warmer air, the cold air following at the sur- 
face a few hours later. This gave ‘ the exact 
conditions required to produce the observed 
powerful convection.’ ‘ Variation in Tempera- 
ture over a Limited Area,’ by Professor W. I. 
Milham, of Williams College, embodies the 
results of studies at Williamstown, Mass., 
supplementary to those previously discussed 
in the Monthly Weather Review (July, 1905) 
by the same writer. ‘Monthly Review of 
the Progress of Climatology throughout the 
World’ This is a comparatively recent addi- 
tion to the regular contents of the Review; 
the notes are prepared by C. F. Talman, and 
will be found useful by teachers of meteorol- 
ogy and climatology. ‘The First Daily 
Weather Map from China,’ by the same 
writer, notes the publication of this new map 
on July 1, 1906. 


CLIMATE OF FORT GRANT, ARIZONA. 

WE note the publication of a paper on ‘ The 
Climate of Fort Grant, Graham County, Ari- 
zona’ in the Journal of the Outdoor Life for 
November. The writer is Dr. I. W. Brewer, 
and special attention is paid to the relations 
of this climate to disease. 


R. DEC. Warp. 


EVENING TECHNICAL COURSES AT 
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 

Tue Board of Extension Teaching of Co- 
lumbia University announces a series of nine 
evening technical courses. which will be given 
at the University this winter, beginning De- 
cember 38, and lasting twenty weeks. The 
courses are under the immediate direction of 
Professor Walter Rautenstrauch, of the Fac- 
ulty of Applied Science, and are to be given 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 625. 


by professors and instructors of the university 
and other persons especially qualified. Mod- 
erate fees ($7.50 to $15) are charged and 
most of the courses are for two evenings a 
week. The courses are as follows: 


Engineering Physics—As illustrated 
mechanical plants of modern buildings. (1) An 
elementary study of physics: (2) a _ practical 
study of steam and electrical machinery, heating, 
ventilating, water system, wiring, elevators, etc., 
included in the plant of Columbia University. 
For two classes of students: those wishing an 
introductory study of physics as preparation to 
advanced study in electricity, steam, etc., another 
winter; those desiring practical training for posi- 
tions as superintendents of buildings, engineers, 
janitors, ete. 

Elementary Mathematics—Those parts of 
arithmetic, algebra, geometry and trigonometry 
used in technical work. Practice with engineer- 
ing hand-books, tables, ete. 

Drafting.—A beginner’s course; fits for posi- 
tions as draftsmen; reading of drawings, ete. 

Strength of Materials—A lecture course for 
those who design or manufacture machinery, or 
modern structures. With this course should be 
taken either the first or second of the two follow- 
ing courses in design. 

Machine Design—Advanced drafting, com- 
putations, and designing for persons engaged in 
the design and manufacture of machinery. 

Structural Design.—Advanced drafting, compu- 
tations, and designing for those who do structural 
work. 


in the 


Electrical Engineering.—A course especially for 
those engaged in electrical work of any sort. 

Steam Engineering.—A course for those en- 
gaged in the manufacture or management of steam 
machinery of any sort. 

Special Engineering Problems.—A study of any 
special elementary or advanced engineering prob- 
lems desired by the student: Individual instruc- 
tion will be arranged for such a period of time 
as the special problem may demand. 


The courses will be given in the buildings 
of Teachers College, Columbia University, at 
West 120th Street and Broadway, which af- 
fords necessary lecture rooms, laboratories, 
drafting rooms, ete. A complete catalogue of 
these courses will be sent on request, by ad- 
dressing Evening Technical Courses, Exten- 
sion Teaching, Columbia University. Per- 
sonal information may be secured on Tuesday 


DECEMBER 21, 1906.] 


and Thursday evenings, between 7:30 and 9 
o’clock from Mr. Benjamin R. Andrews, Room 
111, Teachers College. 


PROFESSOR OSBORN AND THE SECRETARY- 
SHIP OF THE SMITHSONIAN 
INSTITUTION. 

Proressor Henry FairFirtp Osporn has 
declined the secretaryship of the Smithsonian 
Institution, to which he was elected by the 
regents on December 4. His letter to Hon. 
Melville W. Fuller, chancelor of the Smith- 
sonian Institution, dated New York, Decem- 
ber 11, contains a full statement of all the 
reasons which, after reconsideration, finally 
render Professor Osborn unable to accept the 
post of secretary. Chief among these reasons 
is the fact that he is nearing the completion 
of several monographs and books, the prose- 
eution of which is dependent upon the collec- 
tions which he has brought together in New 
York and the staff of trained assistants who 
are working with him. Among these works 
especially is the ‘ History of the Tertiary or 
Fossil Mammals of North America,’ the 
‘ Titanothere Monograph’ and the ‘ Sauropoda 
Monograph’ for the United States Geological 
Survey, which were begun by the late Pro- 
fessor O. C. Marsh, a monograph on the 
evolution of the horse in preparation for the 
American Museum of Natural History series, 
also a popular volume on the evolution of the 
horse to be published by Columbia University, 
in addition to a large number of minor or sup- 
plementary papers and researches. The main 
tenor of Professor Osborn’s letter is shown in 
the following abstract: 


I was absolutely taken by surprise and deeply 
moved by your generous action in voting to elect 
me to the most honorable post of Secretary of the 
Smithsonian Institution. It is the greatest honor 
I have received or expect to receive; yet after 
several days which I have devoted almost ex- 
clusively to refiection on this matter from every 
standpoint, I find myself unable to accept your 
invitation. 

I desire to explain to you fully why I have 
reached this conclusion, and I trust I may be able 
to convince you it is through no lack of the sense 
of public duty which should inspire every Ameri- 
can. I hope I may convince you also that accept- 


SCIENCE. 825 


ance would involve a change of career just at a 
time when I am trying to publish the results 
of thirty years of research. These results would 
have been partly or entirely in print at this time 
had it not been that for the past sixteen years 
I have been interrupted and drawn away by execu- 
tive and administrative work of the very char- 
acter which would be demanded of your new secre- 
tary on a grander scale. The possibility of 
continuing and completing these researches and at 
the same time serving the office as it should be 
served is the point on which my attention has 
been centered during the past few days. 

As to time for research, my friend Dr. Alex- 
ander Graham Bell in the course of two confer- 
ences has assured me that the Regents especially 
desire an investigator as well as an administrator; 
in other words, that the secretary should continue 
his scientific researches, whatever they may hap- 
pen to be, and I have tried to convince myself that 
even with my peculiar temperament I might be 
able to withdraw from time to time to pursue 
and complete these publications. On this point 
I have chiefly reflected, reviewing my experience 
here in far less responsible positions. Naturally 
there is some strong pressure here against my 
acceptance of the post; but to reach an impartial 
conclusion I have listened chiefly to those who 
desire to see me accept. In these conferences and 
among the numerous letters of congratulation 
which I have received from scientific workers in 
all parts of the country, I have not found one to 
hold out the hope or expectation that my scien- 
tifie researches will continue even as they have in 
the past. I am myself convinced that even with 
the assured cooperation of a very able staff, the 
ideal development of the Smithsonian with all its 
auxiliary institutions will require nothing less 
than the entire time, thought, energy, and 
strength of the secretary for four or five years to 
come. The quiet days of Joseph Henry and even 
of Spencer F. Baird in this country have passed. 
The enormous growth of the country, the tele- 
phone, the telegraph, the wireless, the great news- 
paper, make the seclusion and quiet absolutely 
essential for research increasingly difficult every 
day. 

Failure in the post or anything short of com- 
plete success would disappoint you and would 
disappoint the public, who naturally cannot ap- 
preciate the undisturbed conditions essential to 
the prosecution of successful intellectual work. 
Other men may be so constituted as to assume a 
grand office like the secretaryship, with its splen- 
did possibilities for the future, and not have it 


826 


on their minds day and night; unfortunately 
perhaps, I am not so constituted. 

The matter of materials for the completion of 
my work presents a still more serious difficulty, 
because paleontology differs substantially from 
many other branches of zoology. We have here the 
finest paleontological collection in existence, as 
the result of sixteen years of exploration and pur- 
chase, a staff of over twenty highly trained as- 
sistants, preparators, field workers and artists, 
all harmoniously working toward a common end. 
The opportunity could not be recreated in Wash- 
ington because it is in a branch of pure science 
which least of all bears upon human welfare and 
happiness and is, moreover, extremely expensive. 
As secretary of the Smithsonian I could not con- 
scientiously recommend the annual appropriation 
of $25,000 to $30,000, to this branch, and I know 
I should not have the support of Congress for 
other more vital subjects if I did. In other 
words, a change of residence would cut me off from 
my materials of research. 

In brief, I have finally and for many reasons 
very regretfully reached the conclusion that the 
secretaryship would mean a change of career, just 
at the moment when I feel that without selfishness 
I am on the point of bringing out the results of 
many years’ labor. I trust that these results are 
really important, that they will tend to advance 
American science, and that they will inspire 
younger men to broad and thorough standards 
and to strive for absolute truth rather than for 
brilliant and short-lived generalizations. 

I hope I have been able in this long letter to 
win you over to the point of view which I have 
reached after most conscientious reconsideration 
of this matter, and that I shall retain the confi- 
dence and esteem which prompted you to vote for 
me, which I value far more highly than I can 
possibly express. May I beg also that you will 
make it generally understood that I am clearly 
unable to reach any other decision. 


PRELIMINARY PROGRAM OF THE NEW 
YORK MEETING OF THE AMERICAN 
ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCE- 
MENT OF SCIENCE AND THE 
AFFILIATED SCIENTIFIC 
SOCIETIES. 


Wednesday, December 26. 
Registration—Hotel Belmont, opposite the 
Grand Central Station, W. 42d Street. 


1This program -contains only certain of the 
main features of the meeting. Members should 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XXIV. No. 625. 


Executive committee of the council of the 
American Association. Hotel Belmont, noon. 

Smokers. Hotel Belmont and Murray Hill 
Hotel, 8:30 P.M. 


Thursday, December 27. 

Registration. Earl Hall, Columbia University 
(Broadway, Amsterdam Avenue and 116th St.). 
To be reached by subway express trains on 
Broadway from the hotel headquarters and rail- 
way terminals. 

Council of the American Association. Trus- 
tees Room, Library, Columbia University, 9 A.M. 

General session. Introduction of the president 
of the meeting, Dr. William H. Welch, Johns 
Hopkins University, by the retiring president, 
Dr. C. M. Woodward, Washington University. 
Welcome by President Butler, Columbia Uni- 
versity. Announcements. Ear] Hall, 10 a.m. 

Organization of Sections.—Addresses of Vice- 
president F. W. McNair in mechanical science and 
engineering; Vice-president George Grant Mac- 
Curdy on ‘Some Phases of Prehistoric Arche- 
ology.’ Programs of Sections.—The sections will 
meet as follows: Mathematics and Astronomy, 506 
Fayerweather Hall; Physics, 301 Fayerweather; 
Chemistry, 309 Havemyer; Mechanical Science 
and Engineering, 302 Engineering; Geology and 
Geography, 305 Schermerhorn; Zoology, 618 
Schermerhorn; Botany, 502 Schermerhorn; An- 
thropology, 306 Mines; Social and Economic Sci- 
ence, 301 Engineering; Physiology and Experi- 
mental Medicine, College of Physicians and Sur- 
geons, West 59th Street. These meetings will be 
held at 11 o’clock, following the adjournment of 
the general session. 

Luncheon. University Commons, Columbia 
University—table d’hote, 30 cents, 4 la carte, 5 
cents and upwards, 12 to 2 P.M. 

Address of Vice-president W. S. Hichelberger, 
of the U. S. Naval Observatory, before the Sec- 
tion of Mathematics and Astronomy. Vice-presi- 
dent C. F. Mabery, Case School of Applied Sci- 
ence, on ‘The Education of the Professional 
Chemist.’ Vice-president William North Rice, 
Wesleyan University, on ‘The Contributions of 
America to Geology.’ Vice-president Henry B. 
Ward, University of Nebraska, on. ‘The Influ- 
ence of Parasitism on the Host.’ Vice-president 
Wm. T. Sedgwick on ‘The Expansion of Physiol- 
ogy.’ These addresses will be given at 2:30 P.M. 


secure the program of the American Associa- 
tion, which will be distributed at Earl Hall on 
December 27, and the programs of the special 
societies in which they are interested. 


wie witeryaee 


Ne ee en ee 


DECEMBER 21, 1906.] 


Programs of the sections and societies in their 
respective rooms, in the main as given above, 2 or 
2:30 P.M. 

Section of Physiology and Experimental Medi- 
cine. Discussion on ‘ Protozoa as Factors in the 
Diseases of Animals and Plants.’ College of Phy- 
sicians and Surgeons, 3:30 P.M. 

Meeting of the council of the American Chem- 
ical Society, 3:30 P.M. 

Address of the retiring president of the Ameri- 
can Association, Dr. C. M. Woodward, on ‘ Science 
in Education,’ Horace Mann Hall, Teachers Col- 
lege, Columbia University (Broadway and 120th 
Street), 8 P.M. 

Reception by the president of Columbia Uni- 
versity. Earl Hall, 9 to 11 P.M. 


Smoker. Faculty Club, Columbia University, 
9.30 P.M. : 


Friday, December 28. 

Registration, validation of railway tickets, ete. 
Earl Hall. 

Council of the American Association. 
room, 9 A.M. 

Meetings of the sections and societies in their 
respective rooms, 10 a.M. and earlier. 

Joint meeting of the Section of Mathematics 
and Astronomy, the American Mathematical So- 
ciety, the Astronomical and Astrophysical Society 
of America. Room 405, Schermerhorn Hall, 10 
A.M. 

Joint meeting of the Section of Physiology and 
Experimental Medicine and the American Bac- 
teriological Society. Rockefeller Institute for 
Experimental Medicine (66th Street and Avenue 
A), 10 a.m. 

Geological Society of America. 
seum of Natural History, 10 a.m. 

Luncheon, 12 to 2 p.m. 

Luncheon. The Schultz Mineral Water Com- 
pany (440 First Avenue), for the American Chem- 
ical Society and Section C, followed by excursions. 

Address of Vice-president Henry Crew, North- 
western University, on ‘ Fact and theory in Spec- 
troscopy.’ Vice-president Erwin F. Smith, U. S. 
Department of Agriculture, on ‘ Problems of Plant 
Physiology.’ Vice-president Irving Fisher, Yale 
University, before the Section of Social and Eco- 
nomic Science, 2:30 P.M. 

The sections and societies will meet at 2 or 2:30 
P.M. in their respective rooms. 

Meeting of the American Society of Naturalists. 
305 Schermerhorn Hall, 2:30 p.m., followed by a 
discussion at 3:30 on ‘ The Biological Significance 
and Control of Sex,’ by Dr. A. F. Blakeslee, Har- 
vard University; Professor F. R. Lillie, Univer- 
sity of Chicago; W. T. Swingle, U. 8. Depart- 


Trustees 


American Mu- 


SCIENCE. 


827 


ment of Agriculture; Professor E. B. Wilson, 
Columbia University; Professor R. A. Harper,. 
University of Wisconsin; Professor T. H. Morgan, 
Columbia University; J. B. Nichols, Washington. 

Address by President William James before the 
American Philosophical Association on ‘Surplus 
Stores of Energy.’ 

Dinners. The American Society of Naturalists. 
University Commons, Columbia University. The 
American Chemical Society, the American Geo- 
logical Society of America and other societies and 
groups, places to be designated, 6:30 or later. 

Address of -Vice-president Davenport, on ‘Co- 
operation in Science,’ before the American So- 
ciety of Naturalists. 8 P.M. 

Smoker of the American Society of Naturalists. 
Faculty Club, 9 p.w. Other smokers and informal 
meetings have also been arranged. 


Saturday, December 29. 


Registration, ete. Earl Hall. 


Council of the American Association. Trustees 
room, 9 A.M. 
Meetings of the societies and sections. 10 A.M. 


and earlier. 

Botanical Society of America. 
den, morning and afternoon. 

Addresses. Professor C. F. Chandler, Columbia 
University, on ‘The Electrical Industries of 
Niagara Falls.’ Dr. John M. Clarke, of the Sci- 
ence Division, New York State Educational De- 
partment, on ‘The Effort to Save Niagara.’ 
Townsend Harris Hall, City College (138th Street 
and Amsterdam Avenue), 12 o’clock, followed by 
a complimentary luncheon in the gymnasium and 
an inspection of the new buildings. 

Unveiling of ten marble busts of American men 
of science with addresses. American Museum of 
Natural History, 3 P.M. 

Reception by the trustees of the American Mu- 
seum of Natural History and the council of the 
New York Academy of Sciences; exhibit of scien- 
tifie progress by the New York Academy of Sci- 
ences with demonstrations and short addresses. 
American Museum of Natural History, 8 P.M. 
The exhibit will also be open on Friday afternoon 
and evening and on Saturday afternoon. 

Address of the president of the American 
Chemical Society, Dr. W. F. Hillebrand, U. S. 
Geological Survey, on ‘The Present and Future: 
of the American Chemical Society,’ Chemists Club. 


(108 West 55th Street), 8 P.M. 
Smoker. Chemists Club, 9 P.M. 


Botanical Gar- 


Monday, December 31. 


Registration, ete. Earl Hall. 


828 

Council of the American Association. Trustees 
room, Columbia University, 9 A.M. 

Meetings of the sections and societies, 10 a.m. 
or earlier; 2:30 P.M. or earlier. 

Luncheon, 12 to 2 P.M. 

Complimentary dinner to the President of the 
Association by men of science of New York City. 
University Club, 7:30 P.M. 

Banquet of Sigma Xi. 
designated. ~ 

Nominating Committee. 
P.M. 


Place and time to be 
Hotel Belmont, 9:30 


Tuesday, January 1. 

Registration, etc. Earl Hall. 

Council of the American Association. 
room, Columbia University, 9 A.M. 

General session. Ear] Hall, 10 a.m. 

Meetings of the sections and societies, 10 A.M. 
or earlier; 2:30 P.M., or earlier. 

Luncheon. 12 to 2 P.M. 


Trustees 


The societies that will meet in New York 
City in convocation week and their officers 
are as follows: 


American Association for the Advancement 
of Science——December 27—January 1. Retiring 
president, Professor C. M. Woodward, Washing- 
ton University, St. Louis, Mo.; president-elect, 
Professor W. H. Welch, The Johns Hopkins Uni- 
versity, Baltimore, Md.; permanent secretary, Dr. 
L. O. Howard, Cosmos Club, Washington, D. C.; 
general secretary, Dr. John F. Hayford, U. S. 
Coast and Geodetic Survey, Washington, D. C.; 
secretary of the council, President F. W. MeNair, 
Houghton, Mich. 

Local Executive Committee—J. J. Stevenson, 
chairman; C. C. Adams, Charles Baskerville, 
¥ranz Boas, N. L. Britton, H. C. Bumpus, Chas. 
A. Conant, Simon Flexner, Wm. J. Gies, Wm. 
Hallock, Alex. C. Humphreys, G. S. Huntington, 
Edward Kasner, Henry F. Osborn, C. L. Poor, 
‘Clifford Richardson, E. B. Wilson, Frederick J. 
E. Woodbridge, J. McKeen Cattell, secretary. 

Section A, Mathematics and Astronomy.—Vice- 
president, Professor Edward Kasner, Columbia 
University; secretary, Professor L. G. Weld, Uni- 
versity of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa. 

Section B, Physics.—Vice-president, Professor 
W. C. Sabine, Harvard University; secretary, Pro- 
fessor Dayton C. Miller, Case School of Applied 
Science, Cleveland, Ohio. 

Section CO, Chemistry.—Vice-president, Mr. 
Clifford Richardson, New York City; secretary, 
Professor Charles L. Parsons, New Hampshire 
College, Durham, N. H. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 625. 


Section D, Mechanical Science and Engineer- 
ing.—Vice-president, Mr. W. R. Warner, Cleve- 
land, O.; secretary, Professor Wm. T. Magruder, 
Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. 

Section E, Geology and Geography.—Vice-presi- 
dent, Dr. A. C. Lane, Lansing, Mich.; secretary, 
Dr. Edmund O. Hovey, American Museum of 
Natural History, New York, N. Y. 

Section F, Zoology.—Vice-president, Professor 
EK. G. Conklin, University of Pennsylvania; secre- 
tary, Professor C. Judson Herrick, Denison Uni- 
versity, Granville, Ohio. 

Section G, Botany.—Vice-president, Dr. D. T. 
MacDougal, Washington, D. C.; secretary, Pro- 
fessor F. E. Lloyd, Desert Botanical Laboratory, 
Tucson, Arizona. 

Section H, Anthropology.—Vice-president, Pro- 
fessor Hugo Miinsterberg, Harvard University; 
secretary, George H. Pepper, American Museum 
of Natural History. 

Section I, Social and Economic Science.—Mr. 
Chas. A. Conant, New York City; secretary, Dr. 
J. F. Crowell, Bureau of Statistics, Washington, 
D. C. 

Section. K, Physiology and Experimental Medi- 
cine.—Vice-president, Dr. Simon Flexner, The 
Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research; secre- 
tary, Dr. Wm. J. Gies, College of Physicians and 
Surgeons, Columbia University, New York City. 

The American Society of Naturalists —Decem- 
ber 28. President, Professor William James, 
Harvard University; secretary, Professor W. E. 
Castle, Harvard University. 

The Astronomical and Astrophysical Society of 
America.—December 27. President, Professor E. 
C. Pickering, Harvard College Observatory; secre- 
tary, Professor Geo. C. Comstock, Washburn Ob- 
servatory, Madison, Wis. 

The American Physical Society.—President, 
Professor Carl Barus, Brown University; secre- 
tary, Professor Ernest Merritt, Cornell Univer- 
sity, Ithaca, N. Y. 

The American Mathematical Society.—Decem- 
ber 28, 29. President, Professor W. F. Osgood, 
Harvard University; secretary, Professor F. N. 
Cole, Columbia University. 

The American Chemical MSociety—December 
27-January 2. President, Professor W. F. Hille- 
brand, U. S. Geological Survey; secretary, Dr. 
William A. Noyes, the Bureau of Standards, 
Washington, D. C. 

The Geological Society of America.—December 
26-29. Acting president, Professor W. M. Davis, 
Harvard University; secretary, Professor Her- 
man L. Fairchild, Rochester, N. Y. 


DECEMBER 21, 1906.] 


The Association of American Geographers.— 
December 31-—January 1. President, Cyrus C. 
Adams, New York City; secretary, Albert P. 
Brigham, Colgate University. 

The American Society of Zoologists.—Decem- 
ber 27, 28, 29. President (Eastern Branch), Pro- 
fessor W. E. Castle, Harvard University; secre- 
tary, Professor H. S. Pratt, Haverford College. 
President (Central Branch), Professor C. C. Nut- 
ting, University of Iowa; secretary, Professor T. 
G. See, University of Michigan. 


The Association of Economic Entomologists.— 


December 28, 29. President, A. H. Kirkland, 
Malden, Mass.; secretary, A. F. Burgess, Colum- 
bus, O. ; 

The Society of American Bacteriologists.— 
President, Dr. E. F. Smith, U. S. Department of 
Agriculture; secretary, Professor 8. C. Prescott, 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

The American Physiological Society.—Decem- 
ber 27, 28, 29. President, Professor W. H. 
Howell, the Johns Hopkins University; secretary, 
Professor Lafayette B. Mendel, 18 Trumbull St., 
New Haven, Conn. 

The Association of American Anatomists.—De- 
cember 27, 28, 29. President, Professor Frank- 
lin P. Mall; secretary, Professor G. Carl Huber, 
333 East Ann St., Ann Arbor, Mich. 

The Botanical Society of America.—December 
27, 28, 29. President, Dr. F. S. Earle; secretary, 
Dr. William Trelease, Missouri Botanical Garden, 
St. Louis, Mo. 

The American Psychological Association.—De- 
cember 27-28. President, Professor James R. 
Angell, University of Chicago; secretary, Pro- 
fessor Wm. Harper Davis, Lehigh University. 

The American Philosophical Association.—De- 
cember 27-29. President, Professor William 
James, Harvard University; secretary, Professor 
John Grier Hibben, Princeton University. 

The American Anthropological Association.— 
December 27—January 3. President, Professor F. 
W. Putnam, Harvard University; secretary, Dr. 
Geo. Grant MacCurdy, Yale University, New 
sdaven, Conn. 

The American Folk-lore Society—lDecember 
27-January 3. President, Dr. A. L. Kroeber, 
University of California; secretary, W. W. Newell, 
Cambridge, Mass. 

New York State Science Teachers Association. 
—December 26, 27. President, John F. Wood- 
hull, Teachers College, Columbia University. 


All railways have granted a rate cf one and 
one third fare for the round trip to those 
attending the meeting. Certificates should 


SCIENCE. 


829 


be obtained for the meeting of the American 


Association for the Advancement of Science. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


Dr. Witiiam H. Wetcu, professor of pathol- 
ogy in the Johns Hopkins University, and 
Dr. Henry S. Pritchett, president of the Car- 
negie Foundation, have been elected trustees 
of the Carnegie Institution. 


Tue New York Academy of Sciences held 
its annual meeting on December 17. Follow- 
ing the dinner Dr. N. L. Britton, director of 
the New York Botanical Garden, gave the 
presidential address. The officers for next 
year are as follows: 


President: Nathaniel L. Britton. 

Vice-Presidents: Section of Biology, H. HE. 
Crampton; Section of Geology and Mineralogy, 
Amadeus W. Grabau; Section of Astronomy, Phy- 
sics and Chemistry, Charles C. Trowbridge; Sec- 
tion of Anthropology and Psychology, Robert 
MacDougall. 

Corresponding Secretary: Richard E. Dodge. 

Recording Secretary: Edmund Otis Hovey. 

Treasurer: Emerson MeMillin. 

Librarian: Ralph W. Tower. 

Editor: Chas. Lane Poor. 

Councilors: To serve three years, William M. 
Wheeler, Charles Baskerville. 

Finance Committee: John H. Caswell, George 
F. Kunz, Frederic S. Lee. 

Proressor T. W. Ricuarps has been elected 
an honorary member of the Royal Institution 
of Great Britain. 


Mr. ALexaNpDeR AGassiz has chartered the 
steam yacht Virginia for a cruise to the West 
Indies. The yacht will sail from New York 
the first week in February to be absent for 
three months. 


Proressor Ricuarp E. Dope, of Teachers 
College, Columbia University, has been made 
an honorary member of the Royal Geograph- 
ical Society of Australasia. He will con- 
tribute a paper on ‘The Geographer and 
School Geography’ to the twenty-first anni- 
versary meeting, at Queensland. 

The Journal of the American Medical Asso- 
ciation states that the fact that the Nobel 
prize this year has been awarded to Cajal and 
Golgi has roused their compatriots to do them 


830 


exceptional honor. It has been proposed that 
one street in Madrid and one in Pavia be 
named after Cajal and Golgi, respectively, 
and the name of Golgi is to be given to one 
of the hospitals of Pavia. Various other 
projects also are being discussed. It is re- 
ported that Cajal may be knighted and made 
a senator for life and that endowed prizes 
may be given in his name. 


Proressor JOHN R. S. StTerrett, of Cornell 
University, sailed on December 15 for Athens 
with a party which will spend two years in 
archeological field work in the near east. 


Mr. Wituiam E. D. Scort, curator of orni- 
thology at Princeton University and director 
of the Worthington Society for the Investiga- 
tion of Bird Life, is spending the winter at 
Trudeau, New York, in the interest of his 
health, on a six months’ leave of absence from 
the laboratory of the Worthington Society at 
Shawnee, Pennsylvania. 


Proressor G. W. A. Luckey, of the depart- 
ment of education of the University of Ne- 
braska, has been given a leave of absence for 
the next semester to allow him to go abroad 
to study secondary education in European 
countries. : 

Dr. R. S. Woopwarp, president of the Car- 
negie Institution, gave an address on ‘ Tech- 
nical Education’ at the meeting of the Wash- 
ington Society of the Massachusetts Institute 
of Technology on December 12. 


Dr. Wittiam R. Brooks, director of the 
Smith Observatory and professor of astron- 
omy at Hobart College, Geneva, N. Y., deliv- 
ered two illustrated astronomical lectures re- 
cently before the Franklin Institute, Philadel- 
phia. The subjects were ‘Other Worlds than 
Ours’ and ‘ The Evening and Morning Stars.’ 


Sir Victor Horstry’s Hughlings Jackson 
lecture before the Neurological Society of the 
United Kingdom on November 29 was en- 
titled ‘The Illustration by Recent Research 
of Dr. Hughlings Jackson’s Views on the 
Functions of the Cerebellum.’ 


On December 12, 1906, in the chapel of the 
University of Nashville, a portrait of Gerard 
Troost was unveiled with appropriate cere- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vout. XXIV. No. 625. 


monies. Troost was the pioneer geologist of 
the state of Tennessee, was state geologist 
from 1831 to 1850, and was professor of geol- 
ogy, mineralogy and chemistry in the Univer- 
sity of Nashville from 1828 to the time of his 
death in 1850. Addresses were made by 
James D. Porter, LL.D., chancellor of the uni- 
versity; J. I. D. Hinds, Ph.D., LL.D., pro- 
fessor of chemistry, and P. H. Manning, A.M., 
professor of geology. The geological building 
and the cabinet which it contains have also 
been named in honor of Gerard Troost. 


A sTaTUE of the late Principal Viriamu 
Jones, F.R.S., first principal of the University 
College of South Wales and Monmouthshire 
and the first senior vice-chancellor of the Uni- 
versity of Wales, was unveiled at Cardiff on 
December 1 by Viscount Tredegar. The 
statue, which is the work of Mr. Goscombe 
John, A.R.A., has been placed temporarily in 
the new city hall, but will be removed to the 
new college buildings when they are completed. 


Mr. ArtHUR VAUGHAN ABBOTT, a well- 
known electrical engineer in New York City, 
author of important works on telephony and 
electrical transmission of energy, has died 
from pneumonia at the age of fifty-two years. 


FitzHucH Townsenp, A.B., E.E., instructor 
in electrical engineering at Columbia Uni- 
versity, died of typhoid fever on December 
11, at the age of thirty-four years. 


Sir Epwarp J. Reep, F.R.S., chief con- 
structor of the British navy from 1863 to 1870 
and later lord of the treasury and member 
of parliament, died on November 30, aged 
seventy-six years. 


Tue Central Branch of the American So- 
ciety of Naturalists and Affiliated Societies 
will hold its next annual meeting during 
the Easter vacation, at the University of Wis- 
consin. There will consequently be no con- 
flict with the convocation week meeting in 


New York City. 


Tue following lectures will be given during 
the winter by Lewis M. Haupt, Se.D., pro- 
fessor of civil engineering of the Franklin 
Institute, Philadelphia. ‘ The Chesapeake and 


DECEMBER 21, 1906.] 


Delaware Canal as the Keystone of the Coast- 
wise System,’ before the Franklin Institute, 
December. ‘The Relation of the Govern- 
ment to its Waterways,’ at the Carnegie Insti- 
tute, Pittsburg, January 10, to be followed by 
an address to the Pittsburg Board of Trade 
on the ‘ Railroad Crisis’ on the next evening, 
January 11. The Connecticut Society of 
Civil Engineers will entertain Professor 
Haupt at its annual banquet on February 12 
(Lincoln’s birthday), when it will hear his 
address on ‘ Transportation Economics.’ On 
Washington’s birthday he will address the 
students of the Sheffield Scientific School at 
New Haven on ‘Commercial Waterways and 
their Economics.’ The College of Engineer- 
ing of Cornell University has in view a lec- 
ture on the ‘Isthmian Canals’ at a date to 
be determined. 


Av the anniversary meeting of the Royal 
Society it was announced that in May last the 
council learned that the funds (£36,000) pro- 
vided by the British South Africa Company 
for the South African meridian are had been 
exhausted. The are had been extended be- 
yond the Zambezi towards Lake Tanganyika, 
but a gap of 120 miles existed in the middle 
of it. It was estimated that £1,600 was re- 
quired to fill this gap, and the matter was 
most urgent in view of the pending disband- 
ment of the surveying parties. The officers 
had intimated by authority from the president 
that the Royal Society would probably be able 
to subscribe £300 from its private funds on 
condition that the remainder of the money 
required were provided; and, on the strength 
of this information, Sir G. Darwin obtained 
a promise of £800 from the British South 
Africa Company, £100 from the Royal Geo- 
graphical Society, £100 from Wernher, Beit 
and Co., and cabled to Sir David Gill that 
the surveying party was to proceed, thus as- 
suming responsibility for the remaining £300. 
This £300 has since been subscribed by the 
British Association from its special South 
African fund. - 


WE learn from the London Times that what 
is probably the largest male mandrill (Papio 
mormon) ever received at the London Zoolog- 


SCIENCE. 


831 


ical Gardens has just been deposited, and will 
be exhibited in the open-air cage at the west 
end of the monkey-house. At present it is in 
temporary quarters in a stout traveling cage 
on the green at the back of the anthropoid 
house. Lest unwary visitors should be tempt- 
ed to overstep the low railing and feed the 
mandrill, the cage bears a label, ‘ This animal 
is dangerous.’ This baboon, native in West 
Africa, from Senegambia to the Congo, pre- 
sents a remarkable appearance from its un- 
gainly form and strange coloration. Its body 
is stoutly built, with short powerful limbs and 
massive head sloping from the occiput to the 
muzzle; the ears are small and triangular, and 
the large circular nostrils pig-like in having a 
raised border. No other baboon shows such 
striking color contrasts; the fur is blackish 
olive, the nose red, and on each side of the 
face are large transverse sausage-shaped swell- 
ings of a light blue tint with the grooves be- 
tween them deep purple; the beard is citron 
yellow, and the seat pads are scarlet. No 
large mandrill has been exhibited in the gar- 
dens for nearly thirty years; in 1878 a female 
in the collection produced a hybrid young one 
to a male macaque (Macacus cynomolgus). 
A young Kashmir stag (Cervus cashmirianus) 
has been presented by the Duke of Bedford, 
from the herd at Woburn, and placed in the 
deer sheds. Only once before has the species 
been representd in the collection, and from 
the official catalogue that appears to have 
been so long ago as 1865. This deer is some- 
what larger than the red deer; dark reddish 
brown above, lighter beneath and the rump 
patch dirty white. There is no cup in the 
antlers, and the tines on each side are nor- 
mally five, though eight have been noted in 
Mr. Rowland Ward’s ‘ Records of Big Game.’ 
In the pairing season old stags squeal like 
wapiti instead of roaring like red deer, and 
the spotting in the fawns persists much longer 
than it does in fawns of the last-named spe- 
cies. Captain Pam has once more presented 
a fine collection of South American birds, 
principally tanagers and finches, most of 
which are now on view in the insect-house. 
The only species determined as new to the 


832 SCIENCE. 


collection is a green toucan (Aulacorhamphus 
sulcatus), though a grosbeak and two siskins 
remain to be identified. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


ANNOUNCEMENT has been made by President 
Charles F. Thwing that gifts of $100,000 each 
have been made to Western Reserve Univer- 
sity, Cleveland, O., by Mr. H. M. Hanna and 
Colonel Oliver H. Payne. The $200,000 thus 
subscribed is to be used in establishing and 
endowing a laboratory of experimental medi- 
cine in the medical school. A professorship 
of experimental medicine has been created 
and Professor George N. Stewart, of the Uni- 
versity of Chicago, has been elected to the 


chair, the first of its kind, it is said, to be, 


created in this country. 


THE trustees of Hobart College have ac- 
cepted the proposition of Mr. William Smith, 
of Geneva, N. Y., to found a woman’s college. 
The name of the new college will be the 
William Smith College for Women, and it 
will have an endowment of about $350,000. 
The new college will have five members on the 
board of trustees, two of whom must be 
women. ‘Two new buildings will be erected, a 
dormitory and a biological and psychological 
laboratory, to be known as the William Smith 
Hall of Science. 


Mr. Joun D. RocKEFELLER has sent word to 
the Board of Foreign Missions of the United 
Presbyterian Church that he will give $100,- 
000 toward educational work in Egypt and the 
Soudan. 


A ‘Cart ScHurz memorial professorship’ 
is to be established at the University of Wis- 
consin as a result of the movement recently 
started in Milwaukee by a number of promi- 
nent German-Americans. The plan is to 
raise an endowment of $50,000, the income of 
which will be used for the establishment of 
an annual course of lectures at the state uni- 
versity, to be given by prominent professors 
of German universities. It is hoped that the 
establishment of this new chair will lead to an 
exchange of professors between the University 
of Wisconsin and German universities. 


LN. S. VoL. XXIV. No. 625. 


Presipent Puass, of Washburn College, 
Topeka, Kans., a congregational institution, 
has announced that Mr. Andrew Carnegie has 
offered to give the college a second $50,000 
for its endowment fund, provided the total 
endowment reaches $200,000 by January 1, 
1908. 


AccoRDING to a cablegram from Tokio mem- 
bers of the Furukawa family, who are prom- 
inent Japanese mine owners, have given 1,- 
000,000 yen (about $500,000) to establish the 
nucleus of new universities at Fukuoka, Sap- 
poro and Sendai. 


As a result of Bishop O’Connell’s mission 
to Japan the Vatican will establish shortly a 
Catholic University at Tokio. It will be con- 
trolled by Jesuits of the American province. 

Dr. A. Lawrence Rotcu, the founder and 
director of the Blue Hill Meteorological 
Observatory, has been elected professor of 
meteorology at Harvard University. 

Dr. A. EK. Hatsteap has been elected pro- 
fessor of surgery in the Northwestern Univer- 
sity Medical School. 


At the annual meeting of the trustees of 
Oberlin College on December 5 it was voted 
that under the provisions of the Carnegie 
Foundation retirement is to be at the option 
of the teacher or college at the age of sixty- 
five, but obligatory at sixty-eight. The office 
of dean of the college of arts and sciences was 
created, and Charles E. St. John, professor 
of physics, was elected to the office. Mr. Earl 
F. Adams, now at Harvard University on 
leave of absence, was made associate principal 


and associate professor of physics in the 


academy. Dean Edward T. Bosworth was 
granted leave of absence for the second 
semester. Two associate professorships were 
created, one in English and one in political 
science. The bids for the new library exceed 
the $125,000 given by Mr. Carnegie. After 
some modifications in the plans bids will be 
obtained again. 

Mr. F. J. Dykes, M.A., fellow of Trinity 
College, Cambridge, late lecturer in mechanics 
at the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth, has 
been appointed lecturer in mechanics at Trin- 
ity College. 


SCIENCE 


A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 
OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 


Fray, DECEMBER 28, 1906. 


CONTENTS. 
Address of the President of the American As- 
sociation for the Advancement of Sci- 
ence :— 


The Science of Education: PROFESSOR 
CaLvIn M. WOODWARD............-.+2006 


Scientific Books :— 
Johnston’s Nervous System of Vertebrates: 
Proressor C. Jupson Herrick. Scheffer’s 
Loose Leaf System of Laboratory Notes: 
C. W. H. Jastrow on the Subconscious: 


833 


PROFESSOR KNIGHT DUNLAP....:......... 845 
Scientific Journals and Articles...........+- 849 
Societies and Academies :-— 

The Biological Society of Washington: M. 

C. MarsH. The Torrey Botanical Club: 

C. Sruarrt Gacer. The New York Sec- 

tion of the American Chemical Society: 

(Gi IM Ei Kap 0 of ate oe Nene reese en accra ier 850 
Discussion and Correspondence :— 

The Teaching of Crystallography: PRo- 

FESSOR Epwarp H. Kraus. Chamberlin 

and Salisbury’s Text-book of Geology: PRo- 

FESSOR ELIOT BLACKWELDER. The Determi- 

nation of the Types of Genera: Dr. J. A. 

PASTEESIONG eaters cirazccsite clic tal ons Ss sits tee a ete olsy oil 855 
Special Articles :— 

Characters of the Bacterial Flora of Carniv- 

orous and of Herbivorous Animals: Dr. C. 

A. Herter. The Haceptional Nature and 

Genesis of the Mississippi Delta: Pro- 

HES SOR Hise Wie ELMGGARD': 5 5.2, 2 ats oleiec otis sieves 859 
Current Notes on Meteorology :— 

Blue Hill Observatory; Thunder-storms 

and the Moon; Lantern Slides illustrating 

Climate: Proresson R. DEC. WARD...... 866 
Notes on Entomology: Dg. NATHAN BANKS. 866 
Botanical Notes :— 

‘Progress in Botany’; Vegetation Photo- 

graphs; Short Notes: PRoressoR CHARLES 

PETSEPES HIS SEW spe vo easy Svat aro fal shor spy Sisberele. aie (ot Sle fer: i 868 
NSeientific Notes and News.......++..e2ee00. 870 
University and Educational News........... 872 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 
review should be sent to the Editor of SclENCE, Garrison-on- 
Hudson, N. Y. 


—— 


ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE 
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE 
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE? 

THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

THE record of the year 1906 exhibits so 
many kinds and degrees of progress; such 
evidence of improvement in national and 
international well-being; such a develop- 
ment of the arts of peace in all lands; such 
exhibitions of zeal, individual and social, 
in behalf of corporate and governmental 
integrity; such abundant industrial and 
commercial prosperity; and finally such a 
universal tendency to promote education, 
to advance science and to foster higher 
standards of civilization—in short, the 
year just past is so full of noble endeavor, 
and endeavor crowned with success, that I 
stand almost mute in the presence of what 
ought to be said of the advancement of 
science, as science grows from more to 
more, and more and more is applied to the 
myriad arts of life. 

I agree heartily with Huxley and others 
that there is no valid distinction between 
pure science and applied science. The final 
test of the value of what is called science 
is its applicability, and it is one of the sig- 
nal triumphs of the last few years that 
much of what was rated as ‘pure science,’ 
and ‘pure’ because useless, has proved to 
be invaluable either in widening the bound- 
aries of scientific attainment, or in the de- 
velopment of the useful arts. 

All genuine science should be both pure 
and applied. In a word, let the purity and 
the application be taken for granted; and 


1New York meeting, December, 1906. 


834 


let every man who finds in the formula of 
the mathematician, or in the formula of 
the chemist, or in the formula of the biolo- 
gist, the key which unlocks the storehouse 
of nature’s secrets; solves a hitherto un- 
solved problem of matter; or throws light 
upon one of the hard questions of vegetable 
or animal life, still claim that his science 
is pure, when science enables us to in- 
vent a new prime mover, to produce a new 
material of construction, or create a new 
article of food, let us give credit where 
eredit is due—to science, and to associa- 
tions which aim to advance all true science 
and which foster every effort to make that 
science useful to mankind. 

The false, though inherited, notion that 
polite learning and true culture admit no 
contact with utility, is, thank Heaven, fast 
dying out. Occasionally a voice from the 
‘inner circle’ shouts gleefully: ‘‘Here’s to 
mathematics! May she never be prosti- 
tuted to any human use!’’ But we can 
afford to smile at the conceit of such ‘a 
Levite of culture, and pity him for his 
narrowness and lack of human sympathy. 
However, those ‘pure’ scientists often 
build better than they know. Even the 
professor who boasted that he had never 
wittingly either learned or taught anything 
useful has become the servant of real 
learning by extending the limits of scien- 
tific knowledge, which refuses to be hin- 
dered or circumscribed by its mistaken 
votaries. 

There is, as every careful observer can 
testify, an abundance of useful fruit in 
every department of scientific research. 
Note the uses of electricity, chemistry and 
thermodynamics; of botany in fruit cul- 
ture; of bacteriology in the warfare for 
human and animal health; and how the 
discoveries of science in a hundred fields 
is made useful in inventions for the trans- 
formation, transmission and utilization of 
energy. ; 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 626. 


It is not my purpose to point out the 
progress made during the past year in the 
discovery of scientific truths, and in their 
utilization in the various directions indi- 
cated by the different sections of this asso- 
ciation. The task would be too great for 
me or for any one man. ‘The printed re- 
ports and proceedings of the sections them- 
selves will furnish the best permanent rec- 
ord. It is, however, my purpose to eall 
the attention of the association to the im- 
portance of the science and art of educa- 
tion, and to suggest the propriety of cre- 
ating a new section devoted to the advance- 
ment of the science of education. 


THE SCIENCE OF GOOD GOVERNMENT. 


Before taking up the subject which, for 
fifty years, has been more or less directly 
my life and my delight, I desire to express 
my estimate of the unparalleled achieve- 
ment of our national government in the 
interests of peace and international brother- 
hood. I refer, of course, to our interven- 
tion, in accordance with our contract, with 
Cuba, to restore and maintain peace, order 
and good government in that long-suffering 
and badly-educated island. Never before, 
in the history of the world, did a strong 
nation go with an army and navy to the 
aid of a weak and inexperienced national- 
ity when it was torn into factions by jeal- 
ousies and distrust so deep and bitter as to 
overcome their desire for good order and 
self-government; and then, without firing a 
shot or taking a prisoner, establish order, 
disarm hostile bands, promote mutual con- 
fidence and restore the occupations of 
peace; and finally, having accomplished 
this remarkable feat, our army and navy 
came home again, with no booty, with no 
trophies, with no captives, with no tri- 
umphal procession—with nothing but the 
consciousness of having done an act of in- 
ternational good-will. The spectacle is one 


for the world to look upon and admire. 


DECEMBER 28, 1906.] 


There is most surely a science of good gov- 
ernment, and that science we, as a people, 
are rapidly advancing in this western 
world. 

Let no one try to take away from the 
essential nobility of this act by pointing 
to the interest of a few American planters 
in Cuba. We are glad to have their in- 
terests protected, but those interests were 
relatively unimportant, and I firmly be- 
lieve that had there not been an American 
planter or merchant in Cuba, our govern- 
ment’s course of action would have been 
just the same, with the same splendid re- 
sult. So let not the glory of this transac- 
tion be dimmed by unworthy detractions 
or by neglect. It was a great and noble 
work two years ago to prevail upon Russia 
and Japan—when those two nations stood 
face to face, each with an army of half a 
million men, ready to crush and slay till 
the blood of a hundred thousand young 
men should again stain the soil of Man- 
churia—to stop fighting, to withdraw their 
forces, and to submit the issues of their 
quarrel to a council of peace. That was a 
great work, and we glory in its accomplish- 
ment—but the work done in Cuba is not 
less fine, though less spectacular. Its mod- 
esty, its example of purity and restraint, 
of justice and respect for law, its vindica- 
tion of the principles and duties of a re- 
public—all combine to make this year of 
our Lord 1906 an epoch in international 
courtesy if not in international law. 


EDUCATION IN THE ARTS OF PEACE VS. 
EDUCATION IN THE ARTS OF WAR. 

One word more of immediate interest. 
The great exposition at St. Louis, in 1904, 
gave an epitome of the civilizations of all 
the nations and tribes of the earth. Their 
representatives dwelt or camped side by 
side and exhibited with marvelous fidelity 
and fullness their industries, their com- 
merece, their science, their art, their systems 


SCIENCE. 


835 


of education and their modes of life. It 
was, indeed, a great educational institute 
carried on for seven months in the presence 
of millions of visitors from every nation 
under the sun. Probably no human in- 
strumentality was ever more potent in 
promoting the advancement of science 
than that exposition. The great congress 
brought together the best of living men, 
and they offered their best tributes for the 
service of science and human progress, and 
we had the supreme spectacle of the tri- 
umphs of the arts of peace. 

The exhibit of instruments designed to 
kill human beings, and of appliances for 
the destruction of ships and forts, was mini- 
mized, and the pageantry of war offered 
few attractions and claimed small atten- 
tion. The glory of the exposition was its 
devotion to education, and the application 
of science to the useful arts. 

I have thus characterized the exposition 
of 1904, in order to show more clearly what 
I consider an unfortunate tendency on the 
part of the management of the proposed 
Jamestown Exposition at Norfolk, Va., in 
1907. I refer to the prominence which 
military and naval exhibits and evolutions 
occupy in the prospectus of attractions. 
The emphasis would seem to be on the sci- 
ence and the art of war, as though the glory 
of our American manhood lay in our abil- 
ity to overawe, crush and destroy the very 
peoples who, two and a half years ago, 
joined hands with us and with each other 
in fostering the growth of an international 
brotherhood which should relegate the 
waste and horror of war to the pages of 
history. 

Are we not in danger of cultivating over- 
much a warlike attitude and of encour- 
aging the growth of a taste for warfare? 
The maxim, ‘In time of peace, prepare for 
war,’ has done infinite mischief. It has 
misled statesmen, and sent millions upon 
millions of young men to untimely graves. 


836 


It means arsenals and forts, great standing 
armies and vast fleets of battleships; and 
yet those are the very things we wish to 
reduce to the lowest possible terms. I ap- 
prove of a single military academy and a 
single naval academy, since both are needed 
by a modest army and navy; but I do not 
wish to see military academies multiply, 
nor would I have the mimicry of war be- 
come a pastime in our schools. I doubt if 
a correct science of education will include 
the science of shooting our fellow men. 
The episode of the early Jamestown was 
not a military campaign nor a naval vic- 
tory; it was rather a step in the conquest 
of nature, and a chapter in human prog- 
ress. I trust it is not too late to give to 
the Jamestown Exposition a tone less war- 
like, and to put the emphasis where it must 
in future belong, upon education, science, 
industry, commerce and social progress. 


EDUCATIONAL THEORIES, ANCIENT AND 
MODERN. 

Coming now to the special message of 
this address, I propose for your serious 
consideration the organization of an addi- 
tional section devoted to the ‘science of 
education.’ 

As one looks over the history of educa- 
tion he is struck by its chaotic condition. 
From Aristotle to the men now living, we 
find the problem of Education discussed 
from many points of view, with many dif- 
ferent objects in mind, and under widely 
different social conditions. 

The Greek idea of education and culture 
was based upon the existence of a privi- 
leged class, fed, clothed and sheltered by 
the labor of slaves—a real aristocracy de- 
voted to war, art, literature and luxurious 
living. The sway of the so-called classic 
idea of education has been and still is one 
of the marvels of history. The splendor 
of Greek art, the brillianey of Greek litera- 
ture and the keenness of Greek logic have 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 626. 


held the world as in a trance, unable to 
break away from its charms—though it has 
been unsuited to other peoples and other 
social conditions. 

I need not turn the pages of history to 
name the writers and teachers who have 
risen in protest or set forth new doctrines. 
In many cases the new prophet or teacher 
has had in mind a privileged individual, 
or a privileged class, the education of a 
prince, of a nobleman, of a statesman, a 
monk, a scholar, a gentleman—always an 
exceptional person or class. The common 
people, the toilers in the fields and mines, 
the rank and file of soldiers and sailors, the 
builders of houses and ships, the craftsmen 
at looms and benches—for all such there 
were no educational theories. Such people 
had no education and they were supposed 
to need none beyond that gained in follow- 
ing the occupations or crafts themselves. 
The assumption was not only that there 
was no education suited to the common 
people, but that an interest and partici- 
pation in the practical arts was degrading 
to the taste and deadening to the mind. 
To be sure, a Rabelais, or a Rousseau saw 
abundant reason for rebelling against the 
scholasticism of the grammarians, and ad- 
vocated a return to a study of the external 
world and the methods of controlling and 
utilizing the forces of nature, but even they 
had no science of education, and they had 
small following. 


THE RECOGNITON OF UTILITY AND SCIENCE. 

Francis Bacon, more than any other 
man, showed the inadequacy of the classic 
method, fine as it was along certain lines, 
and the comparative worthlessness of scho- 
lasticism, and he opened the eyes of the 
educated people of his time to the wealth 
of opportunity for interesting and profit- 
able study in the great laboratory of na- 
ture; and better than all else, he set forth 
the dignity and intellectual value of science 


DECEMBER 28, 1906.] 


study—and he vigorously scouted the idea 
that the usefulness of scientific truth to 
any degree detracted from its educational 
value. 

But none of the writers touching on 
education, with the possible exception of 
Froebel and Pestalozzi, not even Locke, 
Milton or Dr. Samuel Johnson, looked at 
the matter from the scientific standpoint 
which takes into account: first, the physi- 
ological laws which govern the growth and 
development of the brain; second, the ex- 
terior stimuli for promoting that growth 
most successfully; and thirdly, the kind 
and quantity of knowledge and skill one 
must have in order to meet most completely 
the demands of a carefully-selected occu- 
pation. 

The history of education is full of the 
records of whims and fancies, of experi- 
ments real and imaginary, conducted in 
order to prove the worthlessness of some 
theories and the worthiness of others. 
Every parent has a dimly-defined theory 
of how his boy ought to be educated, and 
every teacher looking back over his own 
experience as a pupil formulates more or 
less clearly a ‘system’ for the proper edu- 
cation of his pupils. It goes without say- 
ing that such theories and so-called systems 
are generally shallow and inadequate, and 
I say this with no disrespect to either 
parent or teacher. Iam both a parent and 
a teacher, and I know only too well how 
inevitably we theorize and plan, and how 
inevitably we go astray through lack of 
scientific guidance. 

I do not claim to have formulated the 
science of education, and I know of no one 
living who has ventured to make such a 
claim; and yet I believe that a science of 
education is possible—and it is high time 
that we set about a systematic study of its 
essential features with a view to a formal 
statement of its main principles. Where 
can that important work be begun and 


SCIENCE. 


837 


carried on more appropriately and success- 
fully than in the American Association for 
the Advancement of Science? Here we 
can bring the results of long experiences 
under a great variety of conditions, with 
unequaled opportunities for comparison 
and elimination. 

In his ‘Tractate on Education’ Milton 
defined a complete and liberal education 
to be that ‘which fits a man to perform 
justly, skilfully, and magnanimously all 
the offices, private and public, of both peace 
and war.’ That is comprehensive enough, 
yet Milton had in mind only the offices 
which pertain to the five professions which 
were then open to liberally educated men, 
viz., those of the lawyer, the physician, the 
clergyman, the soldier and the gentleman. 
A ‘gentleman’ as defined by Milton was 
one ‘who retires himself to the enjoyments 
of ease and luxury.’ He had no thought 
then, as had not the educational writers of 
ancient or medieval days any thought, of 
the sixth estate, the great mass of the 
people who are coming to be the charac- 
teristic force in the civilization of to-day, 
viz., those actively doing the world’s work, 
the constructive and distributive, and pro- 
viding agencies of modern life. We are 
offering education to-day to every child, a 
comfortable home to every family, citizen- 
ship and self-respect to every graduate of 
our schools. The education we must study 
is the universal education of the American 
people. We have put science, and ever 
more science, into the world’s work; we 
must now give science and culture and skill 
to the world’s workers. 

When a privileged class lived in luxury, 
relying upon the labor of slaves who were 
purposely and sometimes legally kept un- 
educated, and when education for culture 
and the accomplishments of polite society 
were natural and logical, it was not sur- 
prising that philosophers should hold that 
practical affairs were degrading. Seneca, 


838 


who lived in the first century, was indig- 
nant because Posidonius had so far for- 
gotten himself as to credit philosophy with 
the invention of the arch and the introduc- 
tion of the uses of metals. 

Philosophy, according to Seneca,’ ‘‘had 
nothing to do with teaching men how to 
rear arched roofs over their heads; and 
they were not concerned with the various 
uses of metals. She teaches us to be inde- 
pendent of all material substances, of all 
mechanical contrivaneces.’’ The wise man, 
said the Roman Philosopher, lives accord- 
ing to nature. Instead of attempting to 
add to the physical comfort of his species, 
he regretted that his lot was not cast in 
that golden age when the human race had 
no protection against the cold but the skins 
of wild beasts, no screen from the sun but 
a cave in the earth. To impute to a phi- 
losopher any share in the invention or im- 
provement of a plow, a ship or a mill was 
an insult. The invention of such things, 
wrote Seneca, is drudgery for the lowest 
slaves. Philosophy lies deeper. It is not 
her office to teach men how to use their 
hands. The object of her lessons is to 
form and nourish the soul. 

The above wish of Seneca can be fairly 
paralleled by an utterance of Matthew 
Arnold in his famous essay on ‘Sweetness 
and Light’ (a phrase he borrowed from 
Swift). Arnold asks, with no evidence of 
doubt as to the superiority of the ‘brave 
days of old’: 

If England were swallowed up by the sea to- 
morrow, which of the two, a hundred years hence, 
would most excite the love, interest, and admira- 
tion of mankind—the England of the last twenty 
years, or the England of Elizabeth, a time of 
splendid spiritual effort, but when coal and our 
industrial operations depending on coal were very 
little developed? 


That is, he would prefer an age when they 
had no mills, no canals, no steam engines, 


no railroads, no steamboats, no manhood 
+ Kpisto, 90. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 626- 


suffrage, no common schools, few books, 
few newspapers and few magazines, be- 
cause a great majority of the people of 
England could neither read nor write. De 
gustibus non—as I always say of Ruskin. 

I have quoted Seneca at some length be- 
cause he is a type of a class of people, 
ancient, medieval and modern, who, living 
like Seneca in great luxury upon their in- 
come, look with disfavor, if not contempt, 
upon all studies which have, or may have, 
a positive value in multiplying human 
comforts and in ameliorating human suf- 
ferings. 

It is not many years since a president of 
Princeton University expressed his regret 
that the higher mathematics had been 
found useful in the study of electrical ap- 
pliances, for, said he, ‘as the utility of a 
subject increases its educational value de- 
creases.” Such was the view of the fathers 
and the disciples of Greek philosophy from 
Socrates to Patton, but such was not the 
view of Lord Bacon, and Lord Macaulay, 
and Professor Huxley, nor is it your view, 
I trow; certainly it is not mine. I would 
as soon adopt the educational scheme of 
Machiavelli as that of Seneca. The former 
in all frankness and candor pictured the 
intellectual and moral dishonesty and hy- 
pocrisy of his time; but his life was rela- 
tively clean. As for Seneca, he sang the 
praises of virtue and literary culture, and 
then closed his eareer by an exhibition 
of meanness, ingratitude and corruption 
which threw a blanket of infamy over his 
fine advocacy of a philosophy which was 
to form and nourish the soul. 

Is it not evident from the standpoint of 
the subjects to be studied that we need a 
science of modern education? Educational 
values are to be determined, taking into 
consideration age, sex, environment, taste, 
brain development and probable sphere of 
usefulness. 


DECEMBER 28, 1906.] 


THE DOCTRINE OF INTEREST. 

Here two important subjects crowd upon 
me for consideration, and they are just the 
subjects which I wish to lay before a sec- 
tion devoted to the science of education. 
They are closely related, and I suspect 
they are strictly modern. I refer to the 
doctrine of interest, as a valuable or as a 
harmful characteristic of study; and to the 
wisdom or the folly of a free election of 
studies in our secondary schools and col- 
leges. Consider for a moment how much 
we are at sea and how far we have drifted 
apart on these two matters—and then you 
will agree with me as to the need of sys- 
tematic study and observation that we may 
find our bearings and lay our courses cor- 
rectly. 

The question of taste and interest is a 
very perplexing one. Antecedent interest 
is, we all know, quite accidental and a very 
unsafe guide. The whims of boys and girls 
are generally due to the suggestions of com- 
panions and of external opportunity. It 
has been my fortune, as well as my duty, 
to warn hundreds of parents of boys from 
fourteen to eighteen years of age not to 
take seriously their early interest in par- 
ticular studies or their haphazard plans 
for future occupation. 

Some choice is Inevitable, and plans for 
the distant future are as plenty as castles 
in Spain, but nothing can be more evident 
than the unfitness of a boy in his teens to 
select definitely the course of study best 
suited to his inherited and acquired c¢a- 
pacity; and nothing can be more certain 
than his practical ignorance of the condi- 
tions of a successful career. Hence his 
declared preferences and elections are to be 
treated with a loving sympathy, as are a 
hundred other youthful fancies, but the 
wise parent and the wise teacher decide 
to leave open all the avenues of culture 
and skill, and to hold off the great final 
choice till the boy has had time and oppor- 


SCIENCE. 


839 


tunity to make two important discoveries, 
viz., the intellectual world within him, and 
the material and spiritual world without. 
Here we need the pronunciamento of sci- 
ence, telling us how much weight we shall 
attach to the preferences of a boy of twelve, 
of fifteen, of eighteen, in regard to the 
scheme of education and training which 
Shall enable him to make the most of him- 
self and be of the most use to his time and 
generation. 

Every gcod teacher aims to make his 
subject as interesting as possible to his 
pupils. If they fail to take a lively in- 
terest in it, something is wrong; either it 
is not properly presented, or it is over their 
heads; or it is clearly of no earthly use. 
Natural lack of capacity on the part of the 
child is rarely a valid reascn for failure, 
if the child be healthy and normal. I have 
learned to discredit the truth of the oft- 
told tale that ‘John has no capacity for’ 
such a subject—mathematics, for example. 
““We never could learn mathematics—he 
takes no interest in algebra and he hates 
geometry,’’ ete. Our higher schools and 
colleges are full of young people who pro- 
test vigorously that they never could and 
never can understand, or take any pleasure 
in, or gain any profit from, certain studies. 
On the other hand, I firmly believe that 
every normal person, at least nine out of 
ten of the children and youth at school and 
college, can fairly master and actually en- 
joy and profit by not only mathematics, 
but by every subject in the curriculum, if 
it be properly taught, and under proper 
conditions as to age and preparation. 

I know a man who when a boy was put 
too early and too rapidly to arithmetic, 
algebra, geometry, trigonometry and an- 
alytics. He must have had the worst pos- 
sible teachers, for he comprehended noth- 
ing of what he glibly recited from memory. 
So they called him a dunce, reported him 
home as a dunce, and the boy accepted the 


840 


oft-repeated verdict and believed himself a 
dunce in mathematics. He would have 
gone through lfe with that conviction 
stamped into his brain had not chance 
thrown a West Point appointment in his 
way. Spurred by pride and ambition, he 
resolved to review arithmetic by himself 
and at least pass the entrance examination 
to the military academy. To his great sur- 
prise he found arithmetic easy to his ma- 
turer powers and very interesting, and he 
entered the military academy with flying 
colors. Then he took all of the mathe- 
matics which he had hated over again. 
They were a delightful revelation to him. 
He graduated among the engineers, a fine 
mathematician, and he is to-day at the head 
of an engineering school of high grade. I 
have the story from his lips. 

I have had unusual opportunity to ob- 
serve similar cases, and in a measure to 
help students who have been the victims of 
bad judgment on the part of teachers or 
parents, and so have been led or allowed to 
dislike subjects which they should have en- 
joyed, and to underrate their mental facul- 
ties because they had attempted to exercise 
brain cells which were not yet properly 
developed. 

The importance of this subject can not 
be overestimated. How many lives have 
been shortened; how many intellects have 
been dwarfed and stunted; how many ¢a- 
reers have been partial failures—all due 
to early and inconsiderate teaching. Op- 
portunities to redeem and save those of 
great possibilities, like the one I have men- 
tioned, are rare—and the vast majority of 
victims never fully recover. In our zeal 
we have often overshot the mark. The 
proverbial intellectual strength and vigor 
of country boys coming up to the univer- 
sity is due not wholly to outdoor life, phys- 
ical exercise and plain food. I am inclined 
to believe it is due in part, and perhaps a 
great part, to their escape from too much 
schooling and too much crowding. What 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 626. 


the country boy needs (and what he often 
lacks) is not so much longer sessions and 
rapid promotions as more accomplished 
teachers. 

A word more about the importance of 
interest as a condition of healthy mental 
growth. I maintain that attention is as 
necessary to the growth and development 
of the brain as exercise is to the develop- 
ment of a muscle; and that interest is the 
condition of a lively attention. When in a 
school or lecture room the limit of close 
attention is reached, the lesson or lecture 
should close, for the educational process has 
already stopped. It is not only useless, 
but it is worse than useless, to go on when 
the class or audience refuses for any reason 
to attend. I, therefore, doubt the educa- 
tional value of subjects which are not, and 
perhaps can not be, made interesting. 

Of course I do not claim that all selected 
studies can be made equally interesting, or 
that any one study can be made equally 
interesting to all pupils, even when the 
pupils are properly graded; but I do claim 
that a lively interest is necessary, and that 
educational progress is very nearly propor- 
tional to the strength of that interest. 

But all educators do not agree with me 
here. A Harvard professor recently wrote 
as follows: ‘‘The practical aim of a general 
education is such training as shall enable a 
man to devote his faculties intently to mat- 
ters which of themselves do not interest 
him. The very fact that the abstractions 
of mathematics must generally seem repel- 
lently lifeless, is part of the secret of their 
educational value.’’ He praises the ‘elder 
education’ which ‘‘through daily hours, 
throughout all their youthful years, com- 
pelled boys, in spite of every human reluc- 
tance, to fix their attention on matters 
which, of themselves, could never have held 
attention for five minutes together.’’? 


?Professor Wendell, North American Review, 
September, 1904. 


DECEMBER 28, 1906.] 


This advocacy of ten or twelve years of 
uninteresting studies, none of which could 
hold the attention for five minutes unless 
they were forced upon the student—as the 
best preparation for dealing with the in- 
teresting matters of real life, such as earn- 
ing one’s bread, building a home, rearing 
a family, contributing to the common 
weal, and achieving the highest success— 
this remarkable doctrine is the product of 
our own age. No ancient or medieval 
teacher, so far as I am informed, ever pro- 
mulgated or defended it. The credit or 
diseredit of its authorship belongs to our 
own day and generation. On the other 
hand, that veteran and very sensible writer, 
John Locke, two hundred and fifty years 
ago, said: ‘‘The great skill of a teacher is 
to get and keep the attention of his scholar. 
To attain this, he should make the child 
comprehend the usefulness of what he 
teaches him, and let him see, by what he 
has learned, that he can do something which 
he could not do before; something which 
gives him some power and real advantage.’’ 

I join Professor Wendell in discounting 
the whims and fancies of children, and in 
his estimate of the value of an unintelligent 
choice of studies; but we must part com- 
pany when he would force me to accept 
the doctrine that I must be careful not to 
make my mathematics and mechanics very 
interesting, lest their educational value be 
impaired. May I not refer this matter 
also to a section on education ? 


FREE ELECTION OF STUDIES. 

Closely related to the above is the great 
question of elective courses of study in our 
colleges. Personally, I am less concerned 
with this, since in the school or college of 
engineering with which I am connected, 
the curriculum is carefully laid down, and 
there is no election till the end of the fresh- 
man, and generally not till the end of the 
sophomore, year—and even then only a 
single election of a carefully prepared line 


SCIENCE. 


841 


of study is allowed. But I have been a 
more or less interested observer of the 
working of a free elective system elsewhere. 
I am not now going to discuss it, or to 
weigh it in the balance of experience. 
Such a discussion of its theory and practise 
would occupy a full paper before an educa- 
tional section. Science teachers and scien- 
tific men are, or should be, deeply inter- 
ested in this matter, for, if I mistake not, 
the rush for certain branches of science, 
and away from the traditional studies, has 
led in many cases to the ealling of a halt 
in the freedom of election. My own con- 
viction is that the pendulum has swung too 
far. The number of required studies 
should be increased and the later years 
should be given to a group of subjects se- 
lected from a list of groups prearranged by 
the faculty. It is perhaps not quite safe 
to condemn a system which permits a stu- 
dent, having entered college on substan- 
tially the old requirements, to go through 
and graduate with honor, without giving 
during his entire college course a single 
hour to any one of the three corner-stones 
of the old curriculum of my college days: 
Latin, Greek and mathematics—but it cer- 
tainly raises a question in the mind of every 
reader of educational history. Is there not 
a golden mean between predestination and 
free-will in the matter of studies and edu- 
cational values? 


OTHER EDUCATIONAL QUESTIONS—ATHLETICS. 


Never, since the days of Grecian games 
at Olympia, has physical culture, including 
field athletics, been so prominent a feature 
of student life as now. We ean truthfully 
say that to-day athletics is the mcst ccn- 
spicuous part of an academic education. 
Unquestionably the curriculum is out of 
balance, and a readjustment is necessary. 
The healthy, normal boy (and I may add, 
the healthy normal girl) requires and en- 
joys vigorous exercise in the shape of 


842 


games. While I advocate rational athlet- 
ics, I deeply deplore semi-gladiatorial ex- 
~ hibitions which put the emphasis in the 
wrong places, and which mislead and de- 
moralize the entire student-body. There 
has been a drift backward of late years 
towards a species of barbarism, which we 
had fancied we had outgrown. It becomes 
scientific men to restore, or better, to estab- 
lish, a condition of educational equilibrium. 

I can not even mention all the matters 
of prime importance which would speedily 
come before an educational section. The 
organization and functions of boards of 
education are matters of the greatest mo- 
ment at the present time, and I suspect they 
have a perennial interest. It is already on 
the program of one of your sections. 

Some thirty years ago kindergartens 
were incorporated into the course of in- 
struction of the public schools of St. Louis, 
and later into the schools of many other 
cities. The constitution of the state of 
Missouri—very unwisely, I think—does not 
allow children under six years of age to 
attend any form of a public school; yet we 
shall all agree that the best kindergarten 
ages are the fifth and sixth years. Never- 
theless, nearly every child in St. Louis for 
the last thirty years has attended kinder- 
garten during his entire seventh year, 
taking up the primer for the first time 
upon entering the ‘first grade’ when seven 
years old. 

In spite of cccasional protests and claims 
that valuable time is thereby wasted, the 
plan is fairly popular and there is no near 
prospect of change. The later progress of 
the relatively mature children in the first 
grade is remarkable, and many observant 
principals think that ultimately no time is 
lost. As for myself, my judgment is in 
suspense, and yet I have sent five children 
to the kindergarten. It is always difficult 
to compare what has been with what might 
have been, and with what would have been, 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 626. 


had things been different. Suppose I refer 
this all-important matter to scientific edu- 
cators. 


PHYSIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY. 


Perhaps: the most valuable contribution 
to the science of education has come 
through a study of the laws which obtain 
in the growth and development of the 
brain, and: the conditions under which that 
erowth and development is most healthy 
and complete. There are times and sea- 
sons for the development of the mental 
and moral faculties as there are of the 
physical faculties. While such times and 
seasons are not precisely the same for all 
children, we find that all attempts at pre- 
mature development are not only worthless, 
but are permanently injurious. Precocity 
is now regarded as a species of brain de- 
formity. Plants and animals may be 
forced, and unusual and interesting results 
may be produced by forcing, but no one of 
us wishes a son or a daughter to be a 
prodigy in one direction at the cost of 
normal development in other directions. 

The psychologists tell us that the brain 
cells develop as do other physical organs, 
not only through thought, but through 
muscular activity and the exercise of our 
senses. Accordingly, a healthy and timely 
erowth and development of the brain is to 
be promoted by an education involving a 
ereat variety of activities, skilfully adjust- 
ed as to quality and quantity to the mental 
and physical status of the child. I have 
often thought, when candidates for admis- 
sion to Washington University present 
themselves, that, mstead of asking them 
several sets of questions on a variety of 
somewhat conventional subjects, I would 
like to take off their skulls and brain cov- 
erings, and see how fully their primal brain 
cells were developed, and the extent to 
which the network of intercommunication 
between cells had been established and was 


DECEMBER 28, 1906.] 


in good working order. Such an examina- 
tion would tell far more than any mere 
written examination. To be sure, I might 
find it difficult to read and interpret what 
would be written there, but the record 
would be there to the minutest particulars. 

This branch of my subject outruns both 
my time and my ability. But there are 
experts, and they are veritable men of sci- 
ence, and they are most welcome to the 
companionship and fellowship of this asso- 
elation, 

MANUAL TRAINING. 


Closely related with this of brain culture 
is the subject of manual training, which 
has recently gained a foothold in our 
scheme of rational education. Its nature 
and educational value are still under dis- 
cussion. This relationship is well shown in 
a paragraph which I take from one whom 
I am always glad to quote.* Said he: 


In man, the size of the motor area in the 
brain depends far more on the complexity of the 
movements affected by a group of muscles, and on 
the fine coordination of these movements, than 
on the mere mass of the muscles involved. Phy- 
sical energy implies a good motor brain area. 
The man of energy is a man of brains, no less 
really than the man of thought. 

Physiologists distinguish muscles as ‘ funda- 
mental’ and ‘accessory.’ The fundamental 
muscles are the large masses of muscles used 
in locomotion and in performing movements re- 
quiring strength rather than fine adjustments and 
delicate coordinations. They are, for the most 
part, the muscles which we have in common with 
the lower animals and which we have probably 
inherited from our forefathers who dwelt in trees. 
The accessory muscles are those which involve fine 
coordinations. They are principally the muscles 
of the forearm and hand, and those of the vocal 
organs. Now it might be argued that manual 
training is not necessary for the development of 
the motor centers in the brain, on the ground 
that gymnastics and outdoor physical exercise are 
quite adequate to accomplish it. The answer to 
this objection is the fact that gymnastics and 
physical exercise in general, appeal almost ex- 

® Professor Thomas M. Balliet, of the University 
of New York. 


SCIENCE. 


843 


clusively to the fundamental muscles and their 
brain centers, and rarely to the accessories. Noth- 
ing short of manual training will reach effectively 
the important brain cells governing the fine motor 
adjustments of the muscles of the hand, as noth- 
ing short of actual speaking and actual singing 
can ever effectively develop the equally important 
brain cells governing the muscles of the vocal 
organs. The motor cells of the brain controlling 
the muscles of the joints nearest the trunk develop 
first, and later, in regular order, those which con- 
trol the muscles of the more distant joints. Edu- 
cation ought to follow this order of growth; it 
should avoid training the fingers to make finely 
coordinated movements at a period when nature 
has not yet got beyond developing brain cells to 
make the coarser adjustments of the shoulder and 
elbow joints. Physical training, which appeals to 
these more fundamental muscles of the proximal 
joints, should at first precede manual training, 
which appeals especially to the muscles of the 
forearm, hand and fingers. 


We have in the above statement a scien- 
tific explanation of the educational value 
of manual training, so far as it relates to 
the growth and development of the brain. 

As some of you know, I have had some- 
thing.to do with the introduction and de- 
fense of manual training as an educational 
feature. There was from the first no ques- 
tion of its economic value to the great mass 
of American boys, and largely for that 
reason it met with favor among people who 
were more concerned with the work the 
boy would be given to do after his brain 
and hands had been developed, than with 
the means and activities by which the finest 
and most useful development of the whole 
boy could be secured. 

A study of the whole field of education, 
classical and technical, led me, in 1879, to 
organize a school for boys of high-school 
age in which manual training should be 
combined with intellectual training; to put 
the liberal arts and the mechanic arts side 
by side in the same curriculum; to deal 
simultaneously with material forces and 
appliances and with spiritual forces and 
appliances; to cultivate not alone or chiefly 


844 


the memory and the understanding, the eye 
to read and the mouth to speak, but the 
judgment and the executive faculties as 
well; to extend the humanities so as to 
include human interests and human activi- 
ties as they exist now and here. Many 
wise and excellent educators had grave 
fears as to the result of the experiment. 
It was thought that the introduction of 
tools, machinery, materials, the theories of 
construction, and draughting, might not 
only break up the orderly program of the 
school, but they would lower its intellectual 
and moral tone. It is now known that all 
such fears were groundless. Manual train- 
ing, when properly adapted to the boy’s 
status of brain development, and when 
incorporated into the daily and weekly 
program with due regard to the other es- 
sential features, has proved to be a more 
valuable element in education than even 
the most sanguine advocate dared to expect. 
The moral, intellectual and economic fruit 
of this combination, as shown in the char- 
acters and careers of the boys who formed 
the first classes in the pioneer schools, is the 
best possible evidence of its value. The 
gloomy predictions made of its effect upon 
the pupils, and upon our American system 
of schools, have been forgotten, and early 
opponents are fast friends and enthusiastic 
advocates. 

This is no place nor time for me to give 
an exposition of manual training; I have 
preached its gospel elsewhere and often. 
But I mention it as one of the important 
matters which must be carefully weighed 
and adjusted. We must defend it from 
frivolity on the one hand, and from mis- 
direction and undue emphasis on the other. 
At first it was suspected that our motives 
were sordid; that we were likely to de- 
grade our schools, to teach narrow trades, 
and to turn out ‘mere mechanics’ instead of 
educated men. On the other hand, a recent 
report of a Massachusetts commission (for 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XXIV. No. 626. 


whose membership I cherish high respect) 
regards the manual training movement as 
almost exclusively educational and not suffi- 
ciently industrial. I suppose the earlier 
and the later estimates are still held by 
many sincere and able teachers. One does 
not easily lay aside the convictions of a 
lifetime. The manual training movement 
stands inevitably as a criticism upon the 
system of education which came down the 
ages through the fathers to us, and nat- 
urally the latter stands on the defensive. 
It is also a standing reproof to the old 
wasteful, unscientific method of teaching to 
apprentices the theory and uses of tools. 
It is for educational science to justify the 
ways of progress which lays aside the idols 
of the past and erects new temples and 
opens new kingdoms. Of all the temples, 
none is finer, none is more glorious and 
none should be more scientifically planned 
and reared than that of education. While 
no section of this association can enforce 
the dictates of science, it would be helpful 
if we were able to establish these two things 
as true, viz: 

1. That usefulness does not impair edu- 
cational values. 

2. That a so-called culture-study like 
Latin may properly stand side by side with 
manual training in the curriculum. 

We are all pleased (though perhaps sur- 
prised) when we learn that a man who 
reads blue-prints, and can make and use a 
diamond-point machine-tool, is also a lin- 
guist and at home in the calculus; and yet 
we are more than likely to assume that the 
boys who are studying the theory and use 
of tools have little need of literature; and 
that the student of the classics is wasting 
his time in a laboratory of the mechanic 
arts. 

‘“What are these boys studying Latin 
for?’’ said an English visitor at the manual 
training school as he looked in upon a class 
reading Cesar. 


DECEMBER 28, 1906.] 


‘““What did you study Latin for?’’ was 
my illogical but American response. 

““Why, I am a bachelor of arts!’’ was 
his prompt reply, with the air of one who 
had given a conclusive answer. 

‘Perhaps these boys will be bachelors of 
arts by and by,’’ I added cheerfully. 

‘“Then, what in the world are they in a 
manual training school for?’’ he exclaimed, 
with almost a sneer at my evident lack of 
acquaintance with the etiquette of educa- 
tional values. 

I tried to explain my theory of an all- 
round education—and my practise of ‘put- 
ting the whole boy to schecl’—but he would 
not be convinced. He could not see the 
propriety of mixing utility and tool dex- 
terity with culture. Our visitors are not 
all Englishmen; yet I venture the estimate 
that fully one half of the bachelors of arts 
who leok through our study rooms and our 
work rooms have about the same prejudice 
as the Englishman had, though they do not 
so openly express it. 


THE NEW EDUCATION. 


The evolution of the fully fledged tech- 
nical school, or the technical department of 
the university, has taken place during the 
last half century, and yet its broad stimu- 
lating, attractive features have a following 
which bids fair to double the attendance of 
college and university students. This does 
not mean that letters and polite learning 
are being neglected, but that a new con- 
stituenecy is eager for the new education. 
This new education, though it recognizes 
at all points a high order of usefulness, and 
contains little that is conventional, is only 
remotely professional. If ever its curric- 
ulum becomes narrow, it is quickly con- 
-‘demned by the best representatives of an 
education which combines utility with cul- 
ture. No longer can the ‘Levites of cul- 
ture,’ as Huxley calls them, claim to mon- 
opolize liberal education. The new educa- 


SCIENCE. 


845 


tion can be as liberal as the old, and both 
ean be narrow. Fortunately, they flourish 
side by side and the future shall choose the 
excellencies of each. An adequate science 
of twentieth-century education will evalu- 
ate the characteristics of each, and bring 
the wisdom of the past, not its foolishness, 
to nourish the wisdom of the future. 

In conclusion, let us not fear to lay the 
foundations of the science of education 
broad enough to carry and to advance our 
twentieth-century civilization. Let us not 
fear to strike out for ourselves when the 
age presents new demands. Progress is 


essential to life, as Browning says: 
What comes to perfection perishes. 


I see nowhere, in either ancient or mod- 
ern times a people whose youth have been 
trained as our Americans should be trained. 
Neither Greece nor Rome with their pin- 
nacles of culture resting on the barbarous 
foundation of human slavery, nor the 
blooded aristocracies of modern times, can 
teach us how to educate, train and adorn 
an American citizen. We must not expect 
all our students to rule, nor yet all to be 
ruled; to direct, nor yet to be directed; to 
employ, nor to be employed. They must 
be capable of all these things. No narrow, 
selfish aim, no prejudice of caste, no false 
claim of high culture which scorns service, 
must mislead the growing, expanding 
minds. Give them a generous, symmet- 
rical training; open wide the avenues to 
usefulness, to happiness, to power; and 
this age of scientific progress and material 
wealth shall be also an age of high intel- 
lectual and social achievement. 


CaLvIN M. Woopwarp. 
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY. 


SOIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

The Nervous System of Vertebrates. By J. 
B. Jounston, Professor of Zoology in West 
Virginia University. Pp. xx-+370; 180 
figures. Philadelphia, P. Blakiston’s Son 
and Company. 1906. 


846 


The study of comparative neurology has 
always been regarded as difficult, often as 
uninteresting and sometimes as unprofitable. 
However much we may ameliorate the first 
of these difficulties by improved pedagogic 
devices, we can not hope to make much prog- 
ress in this direction until the stigma implied 
in the second and third is eliminated. The 
mere descriptive anatomy of the nervous sys- 
tem is truly uninteresting and, like any other 
uncoordinated mass of intricate detail, rela- 
tively unprofitable. Only in so far as the 
nervous system can be described in terms of 
its functions has its study any value from 
any point of view; and it is in respect to just 
this correlation that the past literature of 
neurology (both text-books and monographs) 
has been notably weak. 

The technique of modern neurological re- 
search is so very difficult and diversified and 
the mass of intricate anatomical detail which 
must be carried in mind during the progress 
of investigation so vast, that the neurologists 
have not, as a rule, been able to control their 
anatomical findings physiologically as the work 
progressed. Though anatomical research nor- 
mally precedes physiological, yet the gap be- 
tween them can not properly be left so wide 
as neurologists have been inclined to leave 
it. Even in pathology, though a few years 
ago there was a vigorous movement toward a 
correlation of anatomical and clinical observa- 
tion, yet the results were disappointingly 
sterile, and now the tendency is to lay more 
emphasis on clinical work alone, leaving 
anatomical research to be cultivated apart by 
specialists in that field. This surely is not a 
creditable situation. And though it would 
doubtless be unjust to place the responsibility 
on any one specialty alone, yet clearly the 
anatomists must carry their full measure. 
For it should frankly be recognized that, 
though neurology has contributed much to 
physiology, psychology and psychiatry, yet the 
direct positive help given to these sciences is 
not at the present time commensurate with 
the vast accumulation of laborious research 
represented in our literature of neurology. 
And this is particularly true of comparative 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 626. 


neurology, which should logically lead in prac- 
tical fruitfulness. 

Professor Johnston’s manual strikes at the 
root of this evil. It is a text-book of func- 
tional neurology. The unit of his descrip- 
tions is the functional system of neurones, 
that is, the aggregate of related neurones 
which cooperate in the performance of any 
given type of reflex movement. The analysis 
of these functional systems is a matter of 
extreme difficulty, involving the collective use 
of various refined anatomical and physiolog- 
ical methods, but it is obviously so much 
easier in the brains of lower vertebrates than 
in the human brain that the comparative 
method has been here most fruitful. After 
four introductory chapters, Johnston devotes 
himself in the remainder of the book to an 
exposition of the functional divisions of the 
vertebrate nervous system and their phylo- 
genetic history. The style is direct and clear 
and the illustrations numerous, so that the 
student who is equipped with an elementary 
knowledge of vertebrate anatomy and embry- 
ology should be able to follow the author, even 
though his method and subject matter are for 
the most part distinctly different from those 
of the other text-books in general use. 

Chapters five to thirteen include the defini- 
tions and tabulation of the functional systems, 
followed by a detailed description of each and 
its phylogeny. Chapters fourteen to nine- 
teen follow with a similar exposition of the 
structure and evolutionary history of the cen- 
ters of correlation, including the cerebeilum, 
mid-brain, thalamus, fore-brain and neo-pal- 
lium. ‘These fifteen chapters taken as a whole 
constitute the most ambitious attempt which 
has yet been made to elaborate a phylogeny 
of the vertebrate nervous system. At no time 
previous to this could such an endeavor be 
expected to yield more than a limited measure 
of success; but by basing his phylogenies upon 
functional units of internal structure instead 
of superficial external features the author has 
succeeded in demonstrating the unity of plan 
of the vertebrate nervous system with grati- 
fying completeness and in showing that this 
plan is unexpectedly simple. Ail of the im- 
portant known stages in the evolutionary his- 


DECEMBER 28, 1906.] 


tory of these functional systems are illustrated 
by clear diagrams. The mastery of these 
simple diagrams will give the student the 
principal landmarks for all of his subsequent 
study of cerebral morphology. 

While this work is primarily a text-book of 
the morphology of the nervous system, its 
great merit lies in the fact that its facts so 
far as they go also express the functions of 
the parts, so that comparative physiology and 
comparative psychology will both find in it an 
immediate point of departure for their special 
researches. It will form the natural prepara- 
tion for such courses and also for courses in 
human neurology, for it is not designed to 
take the place of any of the manuals on the 
human nervous system. Very little space is 
devoted to the human brain alone except in 
the chapter on the neo-pallium, yet every 
chapter is essential to the comprehension of 
the corresponding human structures, a claim 
which can hardly be made for any previous 
work on comparative neurology. 

This book is an outgrowth of the work on 
nerve components inaugurated by the Amer- 
ican school of comparative neurologists and 
no estimate of the validity of the conclusions 
arrived at is possible without a study of the 
series of memoirs on nerve components and 
functional divisions of the brain upon which 
it is based. This work is still so incomplete 
that any attempt to summarize its results is 
necessarily fraught with the dangers of too 
hasty generalization. And it would be rash 
to claim that all of Johnston’s suggested 
homologies will stand the test of time. This 
much may be said, that they are not out of 
harmony with the facts as at present known, 
and where his conclusions can not be regarded 
as definitely proved they are sure to be stimu- 
lating and helpful in pointing the way toward 
the truth; for the basis of the work is sound 
and the leading conclusions abundantly sup- 
ported by the singularly concordant results 
of the studies of the new school of compara- 


tive neurologists. C. Jupson Herrick. 
DENISON UNIVERSITY. 


The Loose Leaf System of Laboratory Notes. 
By Tueo. H. Scurrrer, A.M., Kansas State 


SCIENCE. 


847 


Agricultural College. P. Blakiston’s Son 
and Company. 

The laboratory note-book is a subject of 
more or less interest and importance to every 
laboratory teacher. In some eases its value 
may be underestimated, and as a consequence 
the note-book, as an index of the laboratory 
work of the student, is an almost negligible 
quantity. On the other hand, there is the 
tendeney to exaggerate its value and over- 
estimate its importance, with the result that 
it may become the inflated repository of 
elaborate compilations from every available 
source, including elaborately detailed draw- 
ings, artistically executed, and involving an 
immense outlay of time and energy, and 
finally bound up in morocco covers. 

Between these extremes are to be found all 
sorts of intermediate ideals and practises, 
somewhere among which the ‘Loose Leaf 
System’ under review may be listed. Briefly 
distinguished, it consists of a series of printed 
laboratory directions for the study of some 
twenty-one types of animals, from protozoa 
to birds, the whole loosely tied up in binders’ 
boards, and so arranged as to allow the inclu- 
sion of the students’ notes in connection with 
directions given for each type. 

So far as the directions themselves are con- 
cerned they furnish about what every labora- 
tory teacher provides, namely, a manual of 
directions, either printed or typewritten, to 
facilitate and systematize the students’ work. 
The directions here provided furnish a fairly 
adequate outline for an elementary course in 
zoology of perhaps a single semester. The 
chief criticism, from the writer’s point of 
view, is that the directions follow too closely 
the verification method of the older manuals, 
rather than the interrogatory method; that is, 
the student is too fully advised as to what is 
to be seen and how, instead of suggestively 
presenting him with a series of problems for 
solution, or opening before him avenues of 
discovery. 

In general, the subjects are well presented, 


and with comparatively few errors of state- 


ment. One such may be pointed out in con- 
nection with the study of the medusa, Goni- 
onemus, where it is said that ‘ like all hydroid 


848 SCIENCE. 


meduse it buds off from plant-like masses of 
fixed hydroid polyps.’ As a matter of fact, 
this medusa forms a conspicuous exception to 
the general rule and does not arise by bud- 
ding, as in Obelia or Pennaria. The typog- 
raphy and press work are excellent. The 
mode of binding is, however, far from ideal. 
Much better covers for such notes are now 
provided, which are far simpler and more 
effective than the rather crude ‘shoe-string’ 
method used in this book. 
Cl We He 


The Subconscious. JosEPH JasTRow. Boston 
and New York, Houghton, Mifflin and Co. 
Pp. ix + 549. 

This book is not so much a theory of the 
subconscious or an analysis of the concept of 
subconsciousness, as an attempt to schematize 
certain portions of normal and abnormal psy- 
chology, on the basis of a definite assumption 
of a subconscious, the conception of which, 
however, is very indefinitely outlined. The 
course of the whole exposition is directed 
toward a specific development of a familiar 
theory of the self. The treatise throughout is 
furnished with a wealth of illustration which 
may be of use to the instructing psychologist, 
but it is embellished with a profusion of 
metaphor, simile and analogy, which, under 
the author’s mastery of polysyllabic verbiage, 
gives rise to a florid fluency apt to cause the 
newly introduced reader to lose the path of 
the argument amidst the rhetorical gardens 
which surround it. 

In the ten chapters of Part I., which deals 
with the normal consciousness, the author 
takes us through an elaborate exposition of 
the doctrines of habit, attention, automatic 
action, will and self-consciousness, with which 
we have been made familiar by James. This 
part seems apt to be found of much use for 
students covering intensively these topics of 
psychology. 

It is in this part, however, that the concept 
of the subconscious (or perhaps we should say 
the term subconscious) is made a useful 


basket for the reception of the odds and ends 


left loose by more timid authors. First is 
shown how processes go on without conscious- 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 626. 


ness. Then in Chapter VI. (The Mechanism 
of Consciousness) is assumed a subconscious 
control without definite definition of the same, 
and the ‘apportionment of mental life to the 
subconscious and conscious participants’ is 
discussed, the topic being continued through 
the succeeding chapters. 

In the course of this discussion, not only 
are various types of automatic and habitual 
action handed over to the responsibility of 
the subconscious, but active recall, and spon- 
taneous trains of association in sleep or 
waking, are construed as the ‘ bringing of the 
subconscious activity to bear for the service 
of the conscious.’ The associative mechanism 
in general is said to ‘ find its sphere of activity 
largely in the subconscious realm.’ Self feel- 
ing is said to be strongly tinged with subcon- 
scious elements; subconscious feelings of our 
own importance, of the attitude of others, ete. 
By way of strengthening the useful concept, 
the experimentally ascertained effects of im- 
perceptible stimuli on consciousness are cited. 

So far, the term subconscious covers the 
general field of (1) unconscious control of 
activity, (2) production of conscious effects 
by factors not themselves in consciousness, 
and (3) vague consciousness. 

In Part IL, which deals with abnormal 
phenomena, dreams, hypnagogic hallucina- 
tions, deliria, drug intoxications, somnambu- 
lisms, hypnotic states, hysterias, and altera- 
tions of personality, or the psychological side 
of these, are considered and described on the 
basis of the same concept (or term) of the 
subconscious. The principal factor in these 
abnormalities is almost stated to be the dom- 
inance of the subconscious as over against 
the dominance of the conscious in normal 
experience. 

In general the réle this subconscious plays 
is shown as identical with that in the actions, 
perceptions and associations of normal con- 
sciousness. The important new phases which 
are reduced to a basis of subconscious activity 
are: (1) anesthesias, which are shown to be 
not physical losses of sensibility, and to be 
even psychically contradictory, (2) confusion 
of hallucination with reality, and (38) the loss 
of conscious control over actions which yet go 


i 
Mi 
4 
" 
Hi 
q 


DECEMBER 28, 1906.] 


on with physical perfection and certain teleo- 
logicality, and are somehow registered. The 
standard cases of alteration of personality are 
cited in some detail, but their bearing on the 
general problem, aside from their nature as 
extreme cases of dissociation, is not made 
clear. 

This part of the book is rather a miscellany 
of illustration and comment which might be 
interesting to the lay reader, than a systematic 
treatise available for the student. 

In the third or theoretical part the author 
goes again over the whole field, discussing the 
participation of the subconscious, and raising 
the question of its status, but evading any 
answer more definite than that it ‘though 
not in consciousness may be said to be of it.’ 
In the second part he expressed his belief 
that dissociation involves a ‘central domi- 
nating agency from which the dissociation 
takes place,’ that an experience is made ours 
only by a synthetic ‘act of incorporation,’ 
and that the nebulously conceived subcon- 
scious is the ‘non-personal, non-synthetized ’ 
experience. To this factor of selfhood he now 
adds two others, leading finally to the state- 
ment that it is the privilege of the psychic 
experience to arouse a realization of its place 
in the series (incorporation), and of the back- 
ground that is passing (orientation), and of 
the fact that it is moving (initiative). Such 
realization involves the conception of a con- 
scious self. Anesthesias of abstraction, som- 
nambulism, hypnosis and hysteria are ‘ prac- 
tical symbols’ of impairments of incorpora- 
tion, ‘a state of mind in which the psychic 
movement persists, but without obtaining nor- 
mal acknowledgment.’ Loss of orientation 
manifests itself characteristically as confusion 
of subjective and objective: the crediting of 
hallucination as in hypnosis, delirium and 
hysteria, being consequent on anesthesia, 
which cuts off the normal corrective judgment 
on which orientation is based. Light forms 
may be mere bewilderment or doubt. Im- 
paired initiative is ‘impulsion’ or loss of con- 
trol over motor activities, as in automatism. 
The typical form is ‘substitution for spon- 
taneous action of an impulse imposed from 
another source than the directive will.’ 


SCIENCE. 


849 


These three realizations are the character- 
istics of self, and therefore, when they are 
impaired, the self is impaired. The various 
abnormalities previously treated lend them- 
selves very nicely to generalization under these 
heads, which, however, to the reviewer seem 
to add very little to the explanation or better 
understanding of the phenomena. 

The general course of the schematization in 
terms of the three components of selfhood 
would lead us to expect a vital impairment of 
all three in decided alteration of personality. 
‘With the conjoint impairment of all, an 
altered state (of the self) is induced,’ the 
author says, but comes no nearer to an an- 
alytical application to the cases of alteration 
cited in Part II., leaving us, therefore, to be 
content with the inference that although ‘ con- 
joint impairment’ would produce decided al- 
teration of personality, the typical and ac- 
cepted cases depend entirely or largely on 
‘loss of incorporation.’ 

In spite of the few criticisms above incor- 
porated the book is a strong and interesting 
one, displaying the extent and intent of Dr. 
Jastrow’s grasp on the field which it covers. 
It is to be hoped that the volume is what it 
appears to be, namely, an expression of inten- 
tion or preliminary filing on the said field, 
and that it will be followed shortly by a more 
exact and basic work from his pen, a contribu- 
tion which would be highly appreciated by all 
students of this obscure portion of the psy- 
chological domain. 

Kwyicut Dunwap. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 


Bird-Lore for November-December opens 
with an account, by Edgar F. Stead, of ‘ The 
Wry-bill Plover of New Zealand,’ the only 
bird in which the bill is noticeably bent side- 
wise. It is stated that this bird is dying out 
without apparent cause. Other articles are 
‘Our Garden Mockingbird,’ by Mrs. F. W. 
Roe; ‘Tame Wild Geese’ (visitors to Golden 
Gate Park), by W. K. Fisher and ‘Italian 
Bird Life as it impresses an American To- 
day,’ by F. H. Herrick. This might better 
be called, the absence of bird life, small birds 
being scarce in Italy, their place as insect 


850 SCIENCE. 


destroyers being taken by lizards. W. W. 
Cooke gives the seventeenth, and last, paper 
on the ‘ Migration of Warblers.’ It is noted 
that the colored plates of warblers will be 
followed by those of the thrushes, and these 
in turn by the flycatchers, it being the laud- 
able ambition of the editor to figure in time 
(a slip in the types makes it in the next vol- 
ume) every species of North American bird. 
The number contains the Annual Report of 
the Audubon Societies, which shows a grati- 
fying increase in bird protection throughout 
the country, though much yet remains to be 
done in arousing public sentiment in favor of 
protection, and the enactment and—what is 
more important—the enforcement of laws. 


The Museums Journal of Great Britain for 
November contains articles on ‘The Signifi- 
cance and Scope of a Museum in Lienz,’ by 
A. B. Meyer, being advice as to the objects 
and administration of a local museum; ‘ The 
Equipment of a School Museum,’ by Oswald 
H. Latter, showing the museum from the 
teacher’s point of view; and, under the head 
of ‘International Bureau of Ethnography,’ a 
free translation of the memorial adopted by 
the congress at Mons, Belgium, in 1905. The 
object of the bureau, which is to be established 
in Brussels, is the organization at common 
expense, of services pertaining to the scientific 
documentation relative to the social state, the 
manners and customs of different peoples, 
especially peoples of inferior civilization. 


THE Geological Survey of Canada has re- 
cently issued a ‘Catalogue of Publications’ 
that forms a most acceptable addition to the 
literature of geology. It is divided into vari- 
ous parts, the first containing ‘ Reports of 
Progress, Annual Reports and Summary Re- 
ports in Order of Publication.’ Part II. con- 
tains ‘Publications arranged according to 
Locality’; Part III. contains ‘ Authors’ Re- 
ports,’ arranged alphabetically; Part IV. is a 
list of reports according to their principal 
topics, economics, paleontology, ete.; Part V. 
comprises the ‘ Principal Reports in the Di- 
rector’s Summary Reports since 1894’; Part 
VI. is devoted to ‘ Reports on Economic Sub- 
jects included in the Reports of the Mines 
Seetion’ and Part VII. is a list of maps. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 626. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


THE BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 

THE 418th meeting was held on October 20, 
1906, President Knowlton in the chair and 
about fifty persons present. 

Dr. Evermann called attention to the cap- 
ture last August (28) of a Pacific Chinook 
salmon, weighing 52 pounds, in Sunapee Lake, 
N. H., the second example of this species 
known to have been taken in Atlantic waters. 
This is the result of the introduction by the 
State Fish Commission in the spring of 1904 
of fry hatched from eggs furnished by the 
U. S. Bureau of Fisheries. The bureau has 
made numerous plants of Chinook salmon in 
eastern waters, but, though a 14-pound speci- 
men was caught in Lake Ontario several years 
ago, had despaired of establishing the species, 
and had begun to introduce the silver and 
humpback salmon with which it feels more 
confident of success.~ The Sunapee specimen 
was not over two and a half years old, and it 
seems probable that the conditions in that lake 
are favorable and will resuit in the perma- 
nence of the species on the Atlantic side. 

Dr. Rose exhibited a photograph and speci- 
men of a very curious compact desert plant’ 
which resembled a giant puff ball, but with 
corky bark and grass-like leaves. The plant 
was introduced into England sixty years ago, 
but female flowers and fruit had never been 
collected until found by Dr. Rose in Mexico 
in 1905. These show that the plant is near 
Nolina and Dasylirion, but of very different 
habit and fruit. 

Mr. Piper showed a specimen of the Japa- 
nese ‘hagi,’ a plant, Lespedeza bicolor, from 
the Arlington farm, and called attention to 
the peculiar form of fasciation which con- 
sisted in the flattening of the branches. 

Mr. W. J. Spillman presented a paper on 
the ‘ Mechanism of Heredity.’ It was pointed 
out that our present knowledge of cytology 
apparently enables us to form a satisfactory 
theory of heredity. The fundamental assump- 
tions necessary to the theory are as follows: 

1. The chromatin is the material in which 
hereditary qualities inhere. This assumption 


1“ Calibanus, a New Genus of Liliaceous Plants,’ 
Contr. Nat. Herb., 10: 90, 1906. 


Ss |). oe 


OTN 


DECEMBER 28, 1906.] 


accords with the views of practically all biolo- 
gists. 

2. The chromosomes retain their identity. 
' This assumption has been arrived at independ- 
ently of any theory of heredity, and repre- 
sents the opinion of many investigators. It 
has not, however, been fully established. In 
case it is shown that the chromosomes do not 
retain their identity, the reasoning by which 
the present theory of heredity is developed 
may be applied to the subdivisions of chromo- 
somes which are the ultimate biological units, 
so that the theory, in its essential outlines, is 
independent of the theory of chromosome in- 
dividuality. 

3. Synapsis in organisms exhibiting alter- 
nate inheritance consists of the union of 
homologous chromosomes received from dif- 
ferent parents. This is the view arrived at 
independently of theories of heredity by the 
majority of investigators. 

4, If the chromosomes themselves are the 
ultimate biological units, in the first post- 
synaptic division the position of bivalent chro- 
mosomes is so far governed by chance that 
any given segment of the bivalent is as liable 
to go to one pole as the other. This conclu- 
sion was arrived at by Sutton independent of 
theories of heredity, and its possibilities have 
been pointed out by Cannon, Boveri, Wilson 
and others, who have also called the attention 
of the relation of this phenomenon to the laws 
of alternate inheritance. 

If independent unit characters reside in the 
same chromosome, alternate inheritance shows 
that two homologous chromosomes must ex- 
change character determinants. There is no 
eytological evidence of such exchange. It is 
admitted as a possibility. If it does occur, 
the theory here developed will apply to char- 
acter determinants consisting of subordinate 
constituents of the chromosomes as it is here 
developed for the chromosome itself. Since 
there is evidence of the chromosome distribu- 
tion called for by alternate inheritance and no 
evidence of such distribution of parts of chro- 
mosomes, we accept tentatively the simpler 
assumption that chromosomes retain their 
identity and are the bearers of hereditary 
characters. The following facts follow as 


SCIENCE. 


851 


necessary consequences of the above assump- 
tions: 

Two characters inhering the same chromo- 
some are transmitted together. Cases of such 
gametic coupling of characters were cited. 
The facts of alternate inheritance and of evo- 
lutionary changes are made clear without re- 
sort to ids, pangens or other elements subor- 
dinate to the chromosomes themselves. Illus- 
trations were given of the mechanism by which 
Mendelian characters, both simple and com- 
pound, are distributed to progeny. 

Many mutations may be accounted for as 
the sudden appearance of characters which 
have developed through an indefinite period 
unsuspected until a chance cross revealed their 
identity. Examples of such characters were 
given. 

Mendelian unit characters are, for the most 
part, non-essential characters. When vital 
characters attempt to become Mendelian, 
which they continually do, they lead to elim- 
ination by natural selection. 

The chromosomes of a given nucleus are 
not essentially differentiated with regard to 
vital characters. That is, vital characters are 
functions common to all chromosomes, and 
hence do not. obey Mendel’s law, but a different 
law, which was stated. 

Mendelian unit characters (simple charac- 
ters) are functions of single chromosomes or 
a single pair of homologous chromosomes. 
(Homologous chromosomes are those that 
unite in synapsis to form a bivalent and are 
supposed to relate to the same characters.) 
Homologous chromosomes are of common re- 
cent descent. 

Non-homologous chromosomes are not of 
common recent descent, but are of common 
descent in the distant past. 

Synapsis and reduction require the finest 
adjustment of function of any office performed 
by the chromosome, as shown by the sterility 
of hybrids. Hence, organisms that interbreed 
freely must vary together if they vary at all. 
Tsolation (cessation to interbreed) is, there- 
fore, the prime condition in the differentia- 
tion of species. 

Natural selection affects 
changes in the following ways: 


evolutionary 


852 


1. Homologous chromosomes must retain 
sufficient similarity of function to function 
together in synapsis and reduction. They 
may vary in function, but must vary together. 

2. Non-homologous chromosomes must fune- 
tion together in mitosis and in synapsis and 
reduction. Hence, if they vary in a given 
interbreeding group, they must vary together 
within narrow limits. 

3. Chromosomes must not disagree in the 
expression of vital characters to such a degree 
as to interfere with the development of a per- 
fect organism. 

4. In non-essential characters that do not 
interfere with proper functioning in mitosis, 
synapsis, and reduction and in the develop- 
ment of a perfect organism, chromosome func- 
tions are free to vary. 

5. If a change in the expression of a char- 
acter changes an essential relation between 
the organism and its environment, natural 
selection favors or retards variation according 
as the variation affects the relation to environ- 
ment favorably or unfavorably (protective 
adaptation, for example). 

6. Chromosome variation is limited by the 
constitution of the chromatin itself. 

Organisms that reproduce asexually are 
freer to vary than others. An organism con- 
tinuously propagated by cuttings may, by un- 
restrained variation of chromosome function, 
lose the power of sexual reproduction, e. g., 
the banana plant. Presumably, variation is 
here so rapid as to secure the advantages or- 
dinarily conferred by sexual reproduction. 

Evolutionary changes may, in general, be 
accounted for as the result of slow, gradual 
changes in the functions of the chromosomes. 
It was shown, however, that bud variations 
are possibly marked changes in chromosome 
function due to a new adjustment. between 
the constitution of chromatin and the food 
supply or other elements of the environment. 
Presumably, such changes are most likely to 
occur in forms propagated asexually. and es- 
pecially when propagated under conditions of 
forced growth, where the food supply is ab- 
normally large. Bud variations may possibly 
be correlated with changes in the numbers of 
chromosomes. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Vou. XXIV. No. 626. 


It was pointed out that a widely distributed 
species might present a series of forms, ad- 
jacent sections of which might differ so little 
as to interbreed freely, while the extremes, 
if they met, might not be able to interbreed 
at all. 

In the discussion which followed Dr. O. F. 
Cook pointed out that the doctrine of the 
permanent identity of the chromosome has 
not been established, and that the indications 
of the more recent cytological research were 
against it. Mr. Spillman replied that a dif- 
ferent interpretation might be placed upon 
the cytological phenomena cited by Dr. Cook. 

In response to a question by Mr. M. B. 
Waite, whether the view set forth by Mr. 
Spillman, in addition to explaining geograph- 
ical species, would not tend also to explain 
what a species is, Mr. Spillman replied that 
the theory formed important evidence on this 
question, stating that while specific distinc- 
tions differ in different groups and in the 
minds of different investigators, we might go 
so far as to say that two groups which can 
not interbreed must be distinct species. Even 
if they do not present morphological differ- 
ences that will permit their identification 
variation will soon bring about such differ- 
ences in the absence of interbreeding. On 
the other hand, the term species has acquired 
such a meaning that we can not state that two 
groups that can interbreeed are the same spe- 
cies. Inability to interbreed may be taken 
as the outer margin of the field of specific 
distinction. 

Mr. Doolittle cited as examples analogous 
to that of the goldenrod referred to by Mr. 
Spillman (as a widely distributed group ad- 
jacent sections of which interbreed but ex- 
treme forms of which might not interbreed) 
certain species of rodents described by Dr. 
Merriam, and Dr. Stejneger mentioned two 
butcher birds (Lantus), subspecies in Central 
Asia which came together by different routes 
in the Scandinavian peninsula as separate 
species. M. C. Marsu, 

Secretary. 
THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB. 

THE meeting of the club on November 13, 

1906, was called to order by President Rusby 


DECEMBER 28, 1906.] 


at 8:15 o’clock, at the American Museum of 
Natural History. 

The following scientific program was pre- 
sented: 


Account of a Collecting Trip in the Adiron- 
dack and in the Catskill Mountains: Dr. 
Per AxeL RYDBERG. 

Dr. Rydberg gave an account of botanical 
field studies and collecting in the regions 
“mentioned, giving special attention to the 
blackberries. The talk was richly illustrated 
by herbarium specimens collected on the trip. 


Remarks on the Flora of China: Dr. Aucts- 

TINE HENRY. 

Dr. Henry gave a very interesting account 
of some features of the flora of China, point- 
ing out its richness and great diversity, which 
are correlated with diversity of topography 
and climate, and emphasizing both the slight 
amount of collecting that has as yet been done 
there, and the important results to be obtained 
by ecological and systematic studies in that 
region. As an illustration of this he called 
attention to the fact that several genera, 
recorded in existing manuals as monotypic, 
are known to be represented in China by sev- 
eral distinct species. 


Tue club met on November 28, 1906, at the 
museum building of the New York Botanical 
Garden, at 3:30 p.m. In the absence of 
President Rusby, Dr. H. L. Lighthipe was 
called to the chair. 

The following scientific program was pre- 
sented : 


Some Costa Rican Orchids: Mr. GrorcE V. 

Nasi. 

The speaker referred to the little known 
country of Costa Rica, and the desirability 
of securing material from there. Mr. Wm. 
R. Maxon, of the United States National Mu- 
seum, during the early part of the year, made 
an exploration in this region in the interests 
of the New York Botanical Garden, and 
brought back with him, not only a valuable 
collection of herbarium material, but also a 
large collection of living plants, representing 
mainly the orchid, fern, bromeliad and cactus 


SCIENCE. 


853 


families. This material, owing to the care 
taken by Mr. Maxon in collecting and pack- 
ing it, arrived in excellent condition. <A great 
many orchids were among the lot, and several 
of these have already flowered, revealing new 
and interesting species. Living material is 
especially desirable in this family of plants, 
as the color and shape of the flowers play a 
large part in their classification, and these 
characters are difficult to determine from 
dried material. The genera Pleurothallis, 
Elleanthus and Zygostates have each already 
yielded one species new to science. The new 
species of Zygostates is a particularly inter- 
esting discovery, as it proves not only to be 
a species hitherto unknown, but also brings 
into the flora of North America a genus 
known formerly only from Brazil and Peru. 
Among other things worthy of note are: 
Warscewiczella Wendlandii discolor, originally 
described and known only from Costa Rica; 
Maxillaria iridifolia, found throughout trop- 
ical America, but certainly differing much in 
general appearance from the other members 
of the genus; and Cycnoches Rossianum, orig- 
inally described from a plant which flowered 
in cultivation in the Garden of Mr. Ross, at 
Florence, Italy, in 1889. The origin of this 
plant was unknown, and it is now interesting 
to have its home revealed in this collection 
of Mr. Maxon’s. The remarks were illus- 
trated with living plants of the species re- 
ferred to, supplemented with herbarium speci- 
mens, drawings and material preserved in 
formalin. 


The Sedges of Jamaica; Dr. N. L. Brirtoy. 

Dr. Britton exhibited specimens of all spe- 
cies of Cyperacee known to occur on the 
island of Jamaica, including several species 
new to that island, collected by Professor 
Underwood, or by himself during a visit to 
Jamaica in the month of September. He 
remarked on the distribution of many of these 
species, and on the fact that a number of 
them are found in the West Indies only in 
Jamaica, their further distribution being 
Central America and South America. This 
distribution of these sedges is paralleled by 
that of a considerable number of species in 


854 | SCIENCE. 


other families, so that the South American 
relationship of the Jamaica flora is more inti- 
mate than that of Cuba, Hayti or Porto Rico, 
and it is suspected that this may be an indi- 
eation of a former land connection between 
Jamaica and the continent to the west or 
southwest. Dr. Britton’s paper included a 
complete enumeration of the species now 
known, together with diagnostic keys for their 
determination and as much of their synonymy 
as relates to Jamaican records. No unde- 
scribed species were found, but the collections 
made by recent explorers added a number to 
those recorded by Mr. Clarke in his mono- 
graph of the West Indian Cyperaces, pub- 
lished in the second volume of Professor 
Urban’s ‘Symbole Antillane.’ 


Exhibition of Photomicrographs of North 
American Woods: Dr. C. Stuart GacEr. 
Numerous specimens were shown from a 

collection of photomicrographs of cross-sec- 

tions of North American woods, recently ac- 

quired by the garden from Mr. James A. 

Weale, of the firm of Williams, Weale & Co., 

of Liverpool, England. These photomicro- 

graphs are all enlarged ten diameters, thus 
facilitating comparison. They are of very 
superior quality, so that many finer elements 
of the histology of the various woods can be 
demonstrated under a lens with nearly as 
great satisfaction as from the original sec- 
tions. They possess the advantage of being 
less fragile than the sections themselves, and 
of serving better than they for purposes of 
demonstration before classes and otherwise. 

The collection contains representations of 

practically all North American species. 

By way of comparison, specimens were 
shown of Hough’s ‘ American Woods’ and of 

Nordlinger’s ‘ Holzquerschnitte.’ 


C. Stuart GaceEr, 
Secretary. 


THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. NEW YORK 
SECTION. 

THE second regular meeting of the session 
of 1906-7 was held at the Chemists’ Club, 
108 W. 55th St., on December 7. The present 
councilors, Messrs. Leo Baelkeland, F. D. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 626. 


Dodge, T. J. Parker, W. J. Schieffelin and 
Hugo Schweitzer, were reelected. 
The following papers were presented: 


A Necessary Modification of Volhard’s Method 
for the Determination of Chlorides: M. A. 
Rosanorr and ArtHuR EK. Hitt. 

The authors set forth the advantages of 
filtering off the insoluble silver chloride 
formed in the reaction demonstrating by ex- 


periment the indefinite end point obtained - 


when this is not done. The subject awakened 
considerable discussion among several mem- 
bers present who had made many determina- 
tions by Volhard’s method and who questioned 
the advantage of the modification. 


The Color Change in Chromic Chloride Solu- 
tions: ArTHUR B. Lams. 

The speaker showed, by an experiment on 
the lecture table, that the change in color 
from green to violet of a solution of green 
chromium chloride was accelerated by adding 
a salt of a weak acid like acetic and greatly 
retarded by adding a strong acid as hydro- 
chloric. The application of the principles of 
the ionic theory to this and related transfor- 
mations was dealt with at some length. At- 
tention was called to the explanation, afforded 
by this investigation, of some results by Wein- 
land and Koch, showing the varying amount 
of chlorine precipitated from solutions of 
green chromium chloride by different silver 
salts. 


Some New Double Phosphates: L. J. CoHEN. 

The properties of a number of salts of phos- 
phoric acid were described and their analyses 
compared with the theoretical. 


Note on a Strange Case of Poisoning: M. T. 

BoceErt. 

A ease of poisoning in the distillation of 
certain bromine compounds, where deep de- 
struction of tissue, with no apparent external 
injury, was caused by very brief contact of the 
hand with the vapors. Professor Bogert fur- 
ther spoke of the desirability of calling atten- 
tion to injuries received in handling corrosive 
materials in order that suitable precautions 
might be taken by future investigators. 

C. M. Joycs, 
Secretary. 


DECEMBER 28, 1906.] 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
THE TEACHING OF CRYSTALLOGRAPHY. 


SEVERAL weeks ago Professor A. F. Rogers 
called attention through the columns of this 
journal’ to a number of points concerning the 
teaching of crystallography, especially as a 
part of the work in an elementary course in 
mineralogy. In order to discuss Professor 
Rogers’s paper, the end to be attained by such 
a course must be clearly understood. If the 
work in the elementary or beginning course 
has as its object the training of professional 
erystallographers much may be said in favor 
of a course similar to the one outlined by 
Professor Rogers. If, however, on the other 
hand, the course is to be only a part of the 
general education of the geologist, chemist, 
civil or mining engineer, forester, or teacher 
of science in the secondary school, the prac- 
tical side of the work must be emphasized as 
much as possible. In such a course crystal- 
lography must, hence, be considered simply as 
a means to an end, that is, it should train the 
student in the rapid recognition of crystal 
forms. The handling of a large number of 
forms—models and erystals—tends to train 
the eye better than do extended discussions 
concerning the measurement, calculation, and 
projection of crystals. 

The question which confronts most students 
of mineralogy—here it may be mentioned that 
in most institutions where mineralogy is 
taught at all only a very small percentage 
of the students have time to pursue more 
than the elementary course—is the rapid de- 
termination of minerals and, hence, theoret- 
ical considerations, which are of vital impor- 
tance to the crystallographer, may in general 
be dispensed with. To be sure, some theory 
must be given, but all the theory necessary 
can be readily given by means of lectures and 
the laboratory work devoted entirely to the 
acquiring of a comprehensive knowledge of 
forms by contact and inspection rather than 
by analysis. (Formenanschauungsunterricht 
of von Groth.) 

The writer agrees with Professor Rogers 
that the classification of crystal forms based 


1N. S., Vol. XXIV., pp. 620-621. 


SCIENCE. 


855 


upon symmetry is the best to use even with 
beginners, but would add that the older ideas 
of holohedrism, hemihedrism, ete., should— 
even though there be no structural connection 
between such forms—be retained on account 
of the many advantages they offer in ac- 
quiring a clear understanding of the forms 
possible in the various classes of symmetry. 
That these advantages are recognized as of 
considerable importance, it may be well to 
state that most of the German texts on crys- 
tallography, designed for beginners, retain 
them; among such works those of Bauer 
(1904), Bruhns (1904), Klockmann (1903), 
Linck (1896) and Naumann-Zirkel (1901) 
may be mentioned. 

It is also common practise with German 
mineralogists to follow the older methods in 
the elementary course of instruction and treat 
the cubic or isometric system first and then 
the others in order. Even von Groth, who is 
no doubt one of the strongest advocates of the 
newer classification, retained to the knowledge 
of the writer, who was a student in his labora- 
tory during the years 1899-1901, the older 
method of treatment (including holohedrism, 
hemihedrism, ete.!) in his beginning course 
rather than discuss the forms as outlined in 
his ‘ Physikalische Krystallographie,’ the third 
edition of which had appeared several years 
before, namely, in 1895.2 In fact Professor 
von Groth was accustomed to state in an in- 
troductory lecture that from the theoretical 
point of view the order as outlined by him— 
begin with class of lowest grade of symmetry 
and discard ideas of holohedrism and so forth 
—was the natural one to follow, but that cer- 
tain practical and pedagogical reasons de- 
manded that the reverse order be pursued es- 
pecially when discussing crystallography with 
beginners. 

There is no denying the fact that the meas- 
urement, calculation and projection of crystals 
are of great value to obtain a clear insight 
into the true meaning of crystallography and, 
hence, ought to be pursued by at least all 

?Compare Bruhns, ‘Elemente der Krystallog- 
raphie,’ 1904, preface and foot-note on page 2. 
Also Baumhauer, ‘Die Neuere Entwickelung der 
Krystallographie,’ 1905, pp. 26-53. 


856 SCIENCE. 


graduate students in geology, chemistry and 
physics. But such work should follow the 
introductory course. In this advanced course 
a full treatment of the Miller indices, axial 
ratios, ete., finds its proper place. Would it 
not be the height of folly to recommend that 
extended philological researches be introduced 
into the beginning course of one of the 
modern languages? At any rate, Professor 
Rogers’s statement that ‘without something 
of the sort (meaning crystal measurement, 
calculation and drawing) the time given to 
crystallography may almost be a waste of time 
unless it is taken up at some future time’ is 
to my mind altogether too sweeping and cer- 
tainly needs qualification. I would like to 
ask what student of mineralcgy has not found 
a course in elementary crystallography of the 
highest value and interest, even though it did 
not include the work supposed by Professor 
Rogers to be of paramount importance. 
Epwarp H. Kraus. 
MINERALOGICAL LABORATORY, 
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, 
November 20, 1906. 


CHAMBERLIN AND SALISBURY’S TEXT-BOOK OF 
GEOLOGY. 


THE review of the three-volume ‘ Text-book 
of Geology’ by Professors Chamberlin and 
Salisbury in a recent number of ScIENCE, is 
likely to convey to the general reader an 
erroneous impression of that publication. 
Certain idiosyncrasies of style and little errors 
of detail, some of which are not real, are dwelt 
upon at such length that one becomes imbued 
with the idea that such mistakes are abundant 
and that they detract largely from the value 
of the text. It is natural that in a book of 
this size a number of things may be found 
worthy of criticism, and especially is this true 
of little matters which are likely to escape 
notice in reading the proof of the first edition. 
Mistakes of this class are better brought to 
the attention of the authors through the me- 
dium of a personal communication than by 
making them the subject of complaint in the 
public prints. Enough of such details can be 
found in any work to convey a wrong impres- 
sion of the whole, if they are given so large a 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 626. 


space that the main features of the work re- 
ceive subordinate notice. It should be the 
function of a review to give the reader a cor- 
rect understanding of the important and read- 
able qualities of the book, whether they are 
good or otherwise, and not simply to recount 
trivialities. While in this case the reviewer 
finally gives adequate expression of his appre- 
ciation of the high value of the books con- 
cerned, this expression is prefaced by so many 
criticisms of details that the effect of his com- 
mendation is largely lost. 

Some of the criticisms affect mere over- 
sights in proof-reading, which are bound to 
occur in any publication of this magnitude. 
Several of these have been corrected in the 
second edition of volume I. Such an error 
was the use of ‘syncline’ for ‘anticline’ as 
pointed out by Dr. Branner. 

A large number of the specific faults men- 
tioned in the review are found on closer in- 
spection to be imaginary rather than real, 
and one is forced to conclude that the reviewer 
was somewhat hasty in his perusal of the text. 
Of this nature is the criticism of the state- 
ment that “theoretically the rotation of the 
earth should increase erosion on the right 
bank of streams in the northern hemisphere 
and on the left bank in the southern,” because 
“no reference is made to the direction of the 


streams,” for this tendency is not dependent 


upon the direction of the streams, and the 
authors were correct in leaving their state- 
ment unqualified in this particular. 

The reviewer takes exception to the state- 
ment that the advent of the Ammonites oc- 
curred in the Permian and cites Monograph 
XLIT., U. S. G. S., as showing that they were 
abundant in the coal measures. The genera 
described in that work, however, belong to the 
types most widely known as Goniatites and 
Ceratites, the occurrence of which was duly 
mentioned by the authors. These are am- 
monoids, of course, but not Ammonites as 
the term is generally understood. The spe- 
cific statements of the authors are therefore 
discriminative. 

The statement of the authors that ‘ differ- 
ences in density of sea water are due to dif- 
ferences in temperature and salinity’ is ecriti- 


DECEMBER 28, 1906.] 


cized on the ground that salt is not the only 
mineral in solution. Probably few students 
would understand ‘salinity’ to refer solely to 
common salt, since it is commonly used in its 
broader sense in scientific treatises. 

It is a matter of surprise that Professor 
Branner should say that ‘no mention is made 
of increase of temperature’ in connection 
with the deposition of mineral matter from 
solution, for the influence of temperature on 
solution and deposition is distinctly recog- 
nized by the statement that ‘reduction of 
temperature often causes deposition’ with the 
added statement that ‘in general, hot water 
is a better solvent of mineral matter than 
cold,’ with the further recognition in a foot- 
note (p. 218, 1) of exceptional cases, lime 
carbonate being specified. The statement 
might have been more fully explained, but 
doubtless the authors had in mind at all times 
the necessity of keeping the length of the 
treatise within reasonable limits. 

The reviewer makes the authors affirm that 
‘the deposition of mineral matter from boil- 
ing water is the same process as that by which 
it is deposited upon evaporation.’ The state- 
ment in the text is that ‘the proccss of deposi- 
tion by evaporation is illustrated when water 
is boiled, which is obviously true. The state- 
ment might have been made clearer by ampli- 
fication; yet there is no reason to give the 
abbreviated statement an adverse interpreta- 
tion. 

Complaint is also made that ‘in discussing 
river terraces’ (p. 198) ‘no mention is made 
of a stream swinging back and forth across its 
flood plain.’ On the page cited only the ex- 
ceptional modes of terrace-formation are out- 
lined, whereas if the reviewer had glanced at 
pp. 196-197 he would have found the normal 
process of terrace-making fully discussed. 

Another group of criticisms is based upon 
misinterpretation of the text, where the true 
meaning is obvious upon careful reading. 
Perhaps the authors might have explained 
their statements, so as to forestall all possible 
misinterpretations, thus increasing the size of 
the volumes, but no doubt it was expected that 
the student would find the correct interpreta- 
tion from briefer statements which were some- 


SCIENCE. 


897 


times capable of being twisted into another 
meaning. 

With reference to the statement that ‘ faults 
rarely show themselves in the topography of 
the surface’ the reviewer says that ‘a Cali- 
fornia geologist could hardly be expected to 
uphold such a statement with a straight face.’ 
The original sentence is ‘since faults rarely 
show themselves in the topography of the sur- 
face, their detection and measurement are 
usually based on the study of the relations of 
the beds involved.’ Topographic features 
which are known from other evidences to have 
arisen from faulting, but which could not be 
proved to have originated in that way except 
by the other means indicated, are clearly not 
embraced in the statement. On a previous 
page, fault scarps are discussed and the fact 
stated that they are, before they become ob- 
scured by erosion, notable topographic fea- 
tures. While it is unquestionably true that 
in some parts of the world recent fault scarps 
are still prominent, it may also be affirmed 
without hesitation that the vast majority of 
faults have no topographic expression. 

In discussing the formation of deltas, the 
statement is made in the text that ‘the pro- 
jected stream current is ineffective, all load 
except that in suspension is dropped and a 
depositional slope is established’ The re- 
viewer assumes that matter in solution is 
meant, whereas obviously the material rolled 
or pushed along the bottom is referred to. 
This is clearly implied by the context, for a 
little below it is stated that ‘the finest sedi- 
ment will be carried beyond the steep slope 
and conform to the topography of the bottom 
beyond” The wording of the sentences could 
have been improved and has been so altered 
in the second edition of volume I., which the 
reviewer seems not to have had before him. 

The criticism of the authors’ statement with 
reference to fiords is hardly deserved, since 
subsidence is explicitly recognized as a factor 
in fiord-making in several places in the vol- 
umes. On the particular page cited the ques- 
tion of the effect of glaciation in the develop- 
ment of fiords was the special case under dis- 
cussion. 

Most of the above criticisms relate to small 


858 SCIENCE. 


matters, but the following touches one of 
much importance. The reviewer says that the 
reasons are not clear for the inference that ‘a 
vegetal covering of the land extended as far 
back in the history of the earth as clay slates, 
quartzose sandstones and limestunes formed 
the prevailing sediments.’ He proceeds. to 
give reasons for thinking that decomposition 
and the deposition of limestone may take place 
without the aid of vegetation, overlooking the 
meaning of the phrase ‘the prevailing sedi- 
ments,’ and that of the context, in which it is 
stated that “if the surface be bare of vegeta- 
tion, the crystalline rocks are usually disag- 
gregated before they are decomposed, since 
destructive action occurs best at the junctions 
of crystals and along cleavage lines and hence 
the crystals are usually separated from one 
another before they are fully decomposed. In 
the absence of a covering to hold them in 
place until they are decomposed they are apt 
to be washed away, and the resulting deposit 
consists in considerable part of grains of 
feldspar, mica, hornblende and other minerals 
which do not usually occur in well decomposed 
sediments.” It is difficult to see how a care- 
ful student can fail to note that there is here 
a recognition of decomposition, on a small 
seale, independent of vegetation. The point 
to be emphasized was, on the other hand, that 
in the absence of the protection of a vegetal 
covering mechanical disintegration so far over- 
powers decomposition that in most cases the 
disaggregated particles on the naked surface 
are carried away by erosion, and give rise to 
a formation which is only partially decom- 
posed. When, therefore, the ‘ prevailing 
formations ’—not exceptional or possible ones 
—consist of the products of mature decom- 
position CIL., p. 199, where the matter is again 
stated) it is reasonable to suppose that the 
land possessed a vegetal covering. 

The authors are scored for not treating the 
Pacific coast geology of Mesozoic and Ter- 
tiary times more fully. It may be that they 
would reply that it is because relatively few 
good sections of the strata of the Pacific coast 
have been published. Nevertheless, sections 
from that part of the country, illustrating the 
systems referred to appear as figures on no 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 626. 


less than twelve pages in volume III. and 
additional columns are furnished at the close 
of that volume. These sections receive as 
much consideration in an interpretative way 
as one could expect in a treatise so cosmo- 
politan in its field. Not improbably the geolo- 
gists of Dakota think that the geology of 
Dakota has not received adequate recognition, 
while the geologists of Texas have the same 
feeling with reference to the geology of their 
state, and so on indefinitely. It is but natural 
that those regions which have been most thor- 
oughly investigated should receive the. largest 
share of attention. 

It is in view of such points as these that 
the reviewer takes occasion to say that ‘ these 
are oversights which must annoy teachers of 
geology.’ It is the present writer’s observa- 
tion, in using these volumes as a text-book 
with students, that the number of misinter- 
pretations put upon the text is extremely 
small; and while teachers of geology may re- 
eret any and every imperfection in the vol- 
umes they may well be gratified that so com- 
plete and readable a treatise is now available. 


Eiot BLACKWELDER. 
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN, 
November 7, 1906. 


THE DETERMINATION OF THE TYPES OF GHNERA. 
A CORRECTION. 


In my recent article on the ‘ Determination 
of the Types of Genera” the sentence, “ As 
gryphus was the last species removed from the 
genus Vultwr it is its type by elimination 
* * *” requires modification. In reality 
gryphus was the second species removed from 
the genus, but the last species to be disposed 
of by assignment to a special genus of its 
own, which is the statement intended. From 
the modern standpoint, no two of the original 
six species of Vulture were congeneric, and 
gryphus was the last species to be provided 
with a distinctive generic name. 

J. A. ALLEN. 

*“The ‘Hlimination’? and ‘First Species” 
Methods of Fixing the Types of Genera,” SciENcE, 
N. S., Vol. XXIV., No. 624, pp. 773-779, No- 
vember 14, 1906. 

2? Page 776, at middle of first column. 


ee 


a 


= 
= 


See: 


SEIS ES 


Ses ee 


DECEMBER 28, 1906.] 


SPECIAL ARTICLES. 
CHARACTER OF THE BACTERIAL FLORA OF CAR- 


NIVOROUS AND OF HERBIVOROUS ANIMALS. 

In the course of the study of anaerobes of 
the human intestine it appeared desirable to 
learn something about the characters of the 
bacterial flora inhabiting the large intestine 
of various domestic and wild animals. It was 
noticed that in the dog, which is frequently 
exclusively carnivorous, the intestinal contents 
often showed the presence of large numbers of 
spores, spore-bearing bacilli and vegetative 
forms of anaerobes. The numbers present in 
the feces were noted to be especially large in 
some animals which had been exclusively fed 
on meat. A study of a grown cat fed upon 
raw meat showed the presence of Gram-posi- 
tive vegetative anaerobes from one end of the 
digestive tract to the other. Flora derived 
from the stomach, small intestine and large 
intestine were inoculated and grown in bouil- 
lon flasks and showed an abundant production 
of methyl mercaptan as well as hydrogen 
sulphide. The numbers of colon bacilli pres- 
ent in this case were relatively small as com- 
pared with the anaerobes. The study of the 
colonies obtained on anaerobic plates showed 
that a large portion of the organisms present 
in the intestinal tract were B. aerogenes cap- 
sulatus. Intravenous infusion of these organ- 
isms into a rabbit which was afterwards killed 
and incubated showed in a high degree the 
typical gas-formation.’ 

Observations on other cats showed the pres- 
ence of considerable numbers of spore-holding 


*'The incubation method of Welch and Nuttall 
is based on their observation that the gas bacillus 
produces gas abundantly in the blood, organs and 
tissues of rabbits killed a few minutes after in- 
travenous injection. Here the blood and tissues 
of the rabbit act as a peculiarly favorable culture 
medium for the growth of the gas bacillus, the 
latter having been thoroughly spread by the blood 
through the body, and the conditions being 
anerobic. A suspension of the feces to be tested is 
prepared by grinding 1 gram of the fresh material 
with 9 cc. of 0.85 per cent. salt solution and 
filtering through absorbent cotton. One or two 
cubic centimeters of this suspension are then in- 
jected intravenously into a rabbit which is quickly 
killed and incubated for five hours at 70°C. 


SCIENCE. 


859 


x 


bacilli and free spores, sometimes in chains, 
in addition to vegetative forms of anaerobes. 
The position of these spores and spore-holding 
bacilli has not been established in a bacterio- 
logical sense. Observations were also made 
upon the intestinal contents of the wolf, tiger 
and lion. Several different tigers were studied 
and the observations were not confined to the 
examination of one lion and one wolf. The 
material from the lion showed the presence of 
many free spores. It also showed the presence 
of considerable numbers of Gram-positive 
bacilli, suggesting B. aerogenes capsulatus. 
Gram-stained preparations from wolves showed 
findings similar to those observed in the lion 
except that the spore-holding bacilli were more 
numerous. The findings in the case of sup- 
posedly healthy tigers were not essentially 
different from these in the case of the wolf 
and lion. In the ease of one tiger, suffering 
from osteomalacia, greatly impaired nutrition 
and loss of strength, the microscopical fields 
derived from several different samples of feces 
revealed the presence of immense numbers of 
free spores and smaller numbers of immature 
Gram-negative spore-holding bacilli. These 
spores developed into organisms which pos- 
sessed all the generally known cultural and 
biochemical characters of B. aerogenes cap- 
sulatus, including the ability to develop a 
high grade of gas-fermation in rabbits in- 
jected and incubated. 

It was found that bouillon cultures of the 
mixed fecal flora from the lion, tiger, wolf 
and cat all developed quickly a sufficient quan- 
tity of methyl mercaptan to give promptly a 
very well developed reaction with isatin-sul- 
phuric-acid. 

Experiments were made with the mixed 
fecal flora from these carnivorous animals to 
determine their pathogenicity when injected 
into the subcutaneous connective tissue. It 
would have been better to have worked with 
pure cultures of the anaerobes in question, 
but opportunity has not yet arisen to isolate 
them. The result of the inoculations into 
guinea-pigs was the same in each instance. 
The animals died within twenty-four hours 
and usually in fifteen to eighteen hours. At 
autopsy the subcutaneous connective tissues 


860 


were hemorrhagic, edematous and showed 
necrotic changes which extended in some in- 
stances to the muscles. Gas-formation was 
not usually noted as a prominent feature. 
These pathological alterations were not con- 
fined to the site of inoculation but had ex- 
tended to the subcutaneous connective tissues 
throughout the body and were especially pro- 
nounced in the axille and in the groin. It is 
unnecessary to enter here into the details as 
to the character of the organisms recovered 
from these lesions. 

We may contrast with these findings the 
observations made upon herbivorous animals, 
including the buffalo, goat, horse, elephant 
and camel. In the case of the camel, elephant 
and horse the preponderant bacteria in the 
Gram-stained fields were small Gram-negative 
organisms which were regarded as_ special 
forms of B. coli. In the case of the goat the 
fields contained some Gram-positive bacteria 
and of the Gram-negative ones a considerable 
number were of considerably greater length 
than the dominant small forms which were 
regarded as belonging in the class of colon 
bacilli. In the case of the buffalo, mixed 
fields were found as regards the Gram-staining 
and many of the positive organisms were 
found to be small diplococci and small bacilli. 
In none of these animals were seen any organ- 
isms suggesting B. aerogenes capsulatus ex- 
cepting in the case of the buffalo where the 
number of bacilli of this type was very small. 
Spore-holding organisms were not observed, 
but moderate numbers of free spores were 
noticed in all the fields except those from the 
elephant. In the fields showing the largest 
number of spores their occurrence was far less 
frequent than in the lion, tiger, wolf or cat. 

The mixed flora of these different herbivo- 
rous animals, grown upon peptone bouillon, 
failed to show the production of methyl mer- 
captan excepting in the case of the horse, 
where a moderate reaction was obtained. 

Observations were also made upon the effect 
of suspensions of the mixed flora from her- 
bivorous animals when injected subecutane- 
ously. The quantities of suspension used 
were usually about twice as great as in the 
case of the suspensions from the carnivorous 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Vou. XXIV. No. 626. 


animals. With the exception of the suspen- 
sions obtained from the horse, the pathogen- 
icity of these suspensions was found to be 
slight, the guinea-pigs frequently living two 
or three days or entirely recovering. In the 
horse were found hemorrhagic and cedematous 
lesions with necrosis, similar to those found 
in the carnivorous animals. These lesions 
were, however, less pronounced than in the 
case of the suspensions from the carnivorous 
animals. In the case of the elephant a con- 
siderable quantity of fibrinous exudate was 
found about the point of inoculation. No 
cedema or necrotic change was observed in the 
subcutaneous tissues. ; 

A further confirmation of the radical differ- 
ences existing in the intestinal tracts of car- 
nivora and herbivora is furnished by a series 
of observations with the Welch-Nuttall incu- 
bation test. Suspensions were made from the 
feces of all the types of animals mentioned 
and equal quantities of these suspensions were 
infused intravenously into a series of living 
rabbits. The rabbits were then quickly killed 
and incubated. On examination after twenty- 
four hours it was found that all the rabbits 
infused with suspensions from carnivora 
showed in an extreme degree the characteristic 
putrefactive changes in the liver, cellular tis- 
sues, etc., induced by pure cultures of B. 
aerogenes capsulatus or of the bacillus of 
symptomatic anthrax. The rabbits infused 
with suspensions made from the feces of the 


_herbivora showed similar but very much 


slighter changes in each case. The results 
for each group of animals separated the her- 
bivora sharply from the carnivora. Examina- 
tion of the livers showed the number of bac- 
teria in the carnivorous series to be many 
times greater than in the herbivorous series. 
The microorganisms were regarded as being 
almost certainly B. aerogenes capsulatus on 
account of their morphology and failure to 
sporulate. The bacilli of symptomatic an- 
thrax readily sporulate in the incubated rab- 
bits. The gas-bacillus (B. aerogenes capsu- 
latus) does not sporulate under these circum- 
stances. 

These differences in the appearance and be- 
havior of the bacteria derived from typical 


DECEMBER 28, 1906.] 


carnivora and herbivora suggest that the habit 
of living upon a diet consisting exclusively of 
raw meat entails differences in the types of 
bacteria that characterize the contents of the 
large intestine. The occurrence of consider- 
able numbers of spore-bearing organisms in 
the carnivora points to the presence of an- 
aerobic putrefactive forms in great numbers. 
The results of subcutaneous inoculations into 
guinea-pigs bear out this view and indicate 
that the numbers of organisms capable of pro- 
ducing a hemorrhagic cdema with tissue 
necrosis, with or without gas-production, are 
very considerable. Unfortunately, the data 
pertaining to the biological properties of these 
pathogenic anaerobes are at present insufii- 
cient to permit us to classify them or to say 
more of their nature than that they are organ- 
isms representative of a definite group of 
putrefactive anaerobes which make butyric 
acid and hydrogen and exert a peptonizing 
action upon living tissues. Nevertheless, the 
observations here recorded are of much in- 
terest in relation to the bacterial processes 
and nutrition of herbivorous’ as distinguished 
from carnivorous animals and are significant 
furthermore for the interpretation of bac- 
terial conditions found in man. The question 
arises whether the abundant use of meat over 
a long period of time may not favor the de- 
velopment of much larger numbers of spore- 
bearing putrefactive anaerobes in the intes- 
tinal tract than would be the case were a dif- 
ferent type of proteid substituted for meat. 
Inquiries made of Dr. Blair, the pathologist 
at the New York Zoological Park, elicited the 
fact that while, upon the whole, the carnivo- 
rous animals are apt to live somewhat longer 
than the herbivorous animals of about equal 
size, the carnivora are much more likely to 
develop conditions of advanced anemia in the 
later years of their lives than is the case with 
the herbivora. Dr. Blair states that it is usual 
in the later years of life for the carnivora to 
show a much diminished volume of blood and 
at least a moderate fall in the hemoglobin. 
Instances are stated to be not uncommon in 
which a pernicious type of anemia has devel- 
?Many of the herbivora yielded mixed flora in- 
capable of making gas on dextrose bouillon. 


SCIENCE. 


861 


oped in the carnivora. On the contrary, 
among the herbivora it is said that pronounced 
anemias are very occasional. The examples 
of severe anemia encountered among the her- 
bivora were said by Dr. Blair to be in nearly 
all instances referable to gross animal para- 
sites. 

The information now available indicates 
that man occupies a position between the her- 
bivora and carnivora with respect to the num- 
bers of putrefactive anaerobes that are present 
in the digestive tract and their proportion to 
the total number of bacteria. The influence 
of a purely vegetable diet on the one hand 
and of a strict meat diet on the other, upon 
these anaerobes, is much in need of careful 
investigation. C. A. Herter. 


THE EXCEPTIONAL NATURE AND GENESIS OF THE 
MISSISSIPPI DELTA. 


At the December meeting of the Cordilleran 
Section of the American Geological Society, 
1905, I read a paper under the above title, an 
abstract of which, printed on the program, is 
copied below: 


This paper discusses the wholly exceptional ma- 
terials and form of the lower delta of the Missis- 
sippi river, as observed by the writer in 1867 and 
1869, and described and discussed in the American 
Journal of Science in 1871. Following out the 
suggestions of Lyell, and the disputed statement 
of Humphreys and Abbott that the alluvial de- 
posits of the great river are only of slight depth, 
the writer investigated the extreme mouths of the 
Passes, the ‘ Neck’ and the similar minor, bird- 
foot-like arms projecting beyond. It became ap- 
parent that the silty river deposit on these nar- 
row dikes or banks is only superficial, and that 
their resistance to erosion during overflows is due 
to their being mainly composed of tough, inerod- 
able ‘mudlump clay.’ That these mudlumps, ob- 
served and described by Lyell, are upheavals of 
the river bottom, and are formed of such clay as 
is deposited outside of the bar, where the turbid 
water of the river meets, and is clarified by, the 
saline sea water. Also, that the mudlump up- 
heavals occur in the main outJets or passes of the 
river, as a direct result of their being the main 
outlets. No mudlumps then existed in the South 
Pass, but now that it has been artificially made 
the main channel, mudlump upheaval has taken, 
and is taking, place. Mudlump formation is thus 


862 SCIENCE. 


the normal mode of progression of the delta of 
the main Mississippi. 

No such phenomena are known to occur in any 
other river of the world, hence no other river has 
such birdfoot mouths. The Mississippi delta 
should not, therefore, be longer presented as the 
type of a normal delta, as is done by Russell in 
his ‘ Rivers of North America.’ 

The above paper was not written out for 
publication, as I then thought it sufficient to 
have called the attention of geologists to the 
omission of so exceptional and unique a fea- 
ture, already elaborately discussed by Sir 
Charles Lyell in the tenth edition of his 
‘Elements’ (pp. 448-454), and belonging to 
the principal river of North America. I find 
the same misconception and omission, how- 
ever, in Chamberlin and Salisbury’s ‘ Hand- 
book of Geology’; hence it seems desirable to 
call attention more pointedly, as was suggested 
to me by Russell, shortly before his death. 


Upon the ‘ correction’ of the mouths of the 
great river, rendered necessary by the peculiar 
phenomenon of the mudlumps, the govern- 
ment has in the past been obliged to spend 
many millions. I¢ is still compelled to keep 
dredgers constantly at work, notwithstanding 
the fact that the enormous volume of the 
river has been turned into the single channel 
of the ‘south pass’ of the delta. Why does 
not the scouring action of the current keep 
this channel permanently open, once for all? 
And why does not the river, in its twice- 
annual overflows, break and wash permanent 
lateral channels through the narrow barriers 
or levees that jut out into the gulf in bird- 
foot shape, unlike all other deltas in the 
world ? 

A simple examination of the material of 
which the banks of the ‘passes’ and of the 
uprising mudlumps in the channels are com- 
posed, answers these questions categorically. 
The material in both cases is a tough clay, 
wholly unlike any of the visible sediment car- 
ried by the stream; the latter forms only a 
thin surface layer on the main clay mass 
bordering and confining the currents of the 
river, whose scouring action is powerless so 
long as the clay remains permanently sub- 
merged. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 626. 


Whence this clay, and why should it be 
brought up forcibly from the channel of the 
river, of all places the one where the scouring 
should be most effectively done? 

Of this forcing-up there can be no question 
whatever. Pilots and ship-captains have seen 
the channel in which they passed to sea a 
short time before, completely blocked by a mass 
of tough clay on their return. A ship thus 
run aground in several feet of water in the 
evening has found its bow raised out of the 
water in the morning, requiring several tugs 
to pull it off backward. For years, tugs with 
gigantic engines pulled the entering and the 
sea-going ships through the tough mud, which 
all the dredging and artificial scouring done 
by the U. S. River Service could not control. 
Frequently the mud kept rising as fast as the 
dredger worked. 

Soundings around newly risen mudlumps, 
and sometimes direct inspection, generally 
show them to have the form of a rounded 
bubble, from whose highest point there fre- 
quently issue gas bubbles, and sometimes a 
flow of liquid mud visible even below water. 
Gas bubbles were also noted whenever the 
dredgers disturbed a lump in the channel. 

When a mudlump rises above tide level, as 
is frequently the case, there are usually 
formed on its summit one or several vents, 
like the craters of mud volcanoes, from which 
there issues a steady flow of semi-fluid mud, 
agitated from time to time by gas bubbles; 
the gas is combustible and, as ascertained by 
the writer, is such a mixture of marsh gas 
and carbonic dioxid as is evolved from organic 
débris in their first stages of decay. This gas 
is undoubtedly derived from the large masses 
of trees and other vegetable matter carried 
and buried by the river in its deposits. But 
its amount, as Lyell correctly estimated, is 
wholly inadequate to account for the copious 
and steady flow of fluid mud, which gradually 
builds up flat cones of solidified material, 
sometimes attaining the height of fifteen to 
eighteen feet above tidewater, but more com- 
monly six to ten feet. Usually other craters 
are formed before the extreme height is 
reached; or several mud-bubbles coalescing 
may form a small island with several vents. 


DECEMBER 28, 1906.] 


The latter in the end are usually choked by 
solidified mud; and so soon as this happens 
the work of destruction begins. Sometimes 
the lump collapses bodily, segments of circular 
fissures forming all over it, often leaving a 
small lagoon in the middle; this occurs espe- 
cially where the material is not a very stiff 
clay, as in the southwest pass. On the eastern 
portions of the birdfoct area the destruction of 
the lumps usually occurs by the waves washing 
over the dried mud of the cones, and bringing 
it down, to be partly washed away, partly de- 
posited in the intervals between adjacent 
lumps, connecting them and thus gradually 
forming a solid, continuous clay dam, on 
which the river current exerts no sensible 
eroding effects while it remains submerged. 

It is in this way that the narrow bands that 
bound the outer passes of the Mississippi are 
formed and maintained, and are made to 
progress seaward. In other words, mudlump 
formation is at present the normal mode of 
progression of the visible delta into the gulf. 

How far back in time or distance this mode 
of progression reaches is, of course, unknown 
at present; but the peculiar, onion-like struc- 
ture of mudlumps that have risen above the 
surface and become mud volcanoes, should 
render this not a difficult problem to solve 
where sections exist or shall be made within 
the delta. The peculiar material, so different 
from any now deposited by the river above its 
mouth, and which in fact can only have been 
deposited in slack-water, is enough to dis- 
tinguish the mudlump formation. It is this 
same clay that has for ages withstood the 
impact of the main river-current at the ‘ head 
of the passes,’ whence the several outlets 
diverge; the same material forms the narrow 
banks of the ‘neck,’ at the head of which, 
where it diverges from the main delta-mass, 
forts Jackson and St. Philip are located. 
Were it otherwise, the narrow barrier sepa- 
rating the neck from Garden-island Bay could 
not have survived a dozen years of floods; 
whereas even the channels purposely cut 
through it by duck-hunters to avoid the long 
détour through the passes into the bays, have 
hardly been enlarged in fifty years. 

If any more evidence were needed, it is 


SCIENCE. 


863 


supplied by the existence of an active mud- 
volcano in the marsh, seven miles above the 
mouth of the southwest pass, where the writer 
saw it spouting mudspatters and emitting 
mudstreams in 1869. This mudlump (then 
known as Morgan’s lump) projected at least 
eight feet above the tall rushes (Scirpus lacus- 
tris), and rose, therefore, at least sixteen feet 
above the level of the marsh. 

Sir Charles Lyell (‘ Elements,’ ete., tenth 
edition, p. 452) inclines to carry the mud- 
lump-genesis of the delta as far up as New 
Orleans, from information given him by Col. 
Sidell, of the River Service, U. S. Topograph- 
ical Engineers. It should not be difficult to 
verify this in excavations made at New Or- 
leans; mere borings can not, of course, de- 
termine the question. 

As to the origin of the mudlumps, Lyell 
(loc. cit.) considers them to be formed on the 
principle of the ‘creeps’ so familiar to engi- 
neers and miners; he justly ascribes only a 
secondary part to the gases brought up with 
the mud, which according to my measure- 
ments amount to only one twentieth to one 
thirtieth of the volume of the material ejected. 
Lyell says: “ The initiatory power may prob- 
ably be derived from the downward pressure 
of the gravel, sand and sediment accumulated 
during the flood season off the various mouths 
or passes, upon a yielding bottom of fine mud 
and sand; materials which, as being very fine 
and impalpable, had long before been carried 
out farthest from the land.” The great mass 
of river sediment “may well be conceived to 
exert a downward pressure capable of dis- 
placing, squeezing, and forcing up laterally, 
some parts of the adjoining bottom of the 
eulf, so as to give rise to new shoals and 
islands.” 

There can be no questicn of the general 
correctness of Lyell’s explanation of this phe- 
nomenon, which certainly constitutes the most 
gigantic example of creep known, and as such 
should concern the geologist quite as much as 
the engineer. For why should the Mississippi, 
of all rivers in the world, alone exhibit this 
remarkable feature and mode of progression ? 
and how, in view of the known average annual 
progression of the delta into the gulf (838 


864 


feet) shall we account for the continued ex- 
istence of a fluid mud-layer for more than a 
century, in the case of Morgan’s lump—why 
has not this mud been squeeezed dry into a 
sheet of clay long ago? 

In my view, the entire phenomenon rests 
upon and is conditioned by the existence of 
the ‘blue delta clay’ and ‘blue clay bottom’ 
long commented on respectively by the engi- 
neers in charge of the river work, and the 
pilots off the Mississippi mouths. This blue 
clay constitutes a shelf reaching out about 
twenty-eight miles beyond the present mouths, 
where there is a steep descent into deep water. 
Wherever this clay is exposed along the gulf 
shore, it contains cypress stumps and other 
vestiges of swamp origin. It constitutes the 
main body of the formation which in my 
Mississippi report of 1860 is doubtfully desig- 
nated as Coast Pliocene, but to which subse- 
quently, finding it most characteristically de- 
veloped at Port Hudson, I gave the latter 
name. Its existence and nature imply that 
swamp or marsh conditions prevailed to gulf- 
ward for nearly thirty miles beyond the pres- 
ent coast line, prior to the advent of the Mis- 
sissippi River of to-day. Since that time the 
land has been depressed and reelevated to the 
extent of some 450 feet at least; but a prior 
elevation, indicated by stream-gravel beds 
now 450 feet below sea-level, must have thrown 
the Mississippi Valley drainage northward 
toward the Arctic, the divide between the two 
drainages being very low. This former north- 
ward direction of the drainage has been dis- 
cussed somewhat widely before, by Tight and 
others, but not, so far as I know, with special 
reference to the gulf datum-plane and its 
bordering formations. The lower Mississippi 
River of to-day is evidently a very ‘young’ 
stream. 

However that may be, the blue-clay shelf is 
there, and is practically water-tight and proof 
against erosion so long as it remains sub- 
merged and no gravel is carried by the cur- 
rent. It is in this respect much like the mud- 
lump clay itself. It is constantly found by 
the sounding-lead outside of the river bar; 
but before reaching it the lead sinks slowly 
for some distance in a semifluid mud, which is 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vor. XXIV. No. 626. 


undistinguishable from that flowing from the 
mudlump vents. It is manifestly the result 
of the precipitation of the finest clay and silt 
when the river water mixes with that of the 
sea. 

In its annual advance of 388 feet to sea- 
ward, the sandy bar-material covers this fluid 
clay much faster than the latter can escape 
to seaward under the pressure. It is covered 
by the heavy bar-sand, which from a boat in 
the shallow water over the bar-crest can be 
seen being carried rapidly over, shallowing the 
water outside; while the deepest water inside 
the bar 1s found near the base of its landward 
slope. And it is just there, 7. e., just inside 
the bar, and not, as Lyell seems to imply, on 
‘the adjoining bottom of the gulf,’ that the 
rise of mudlumps chiefly takes place; right 
where the strongest current seems to indicate 
the best channel for ships to pass. In other 
words, the current excavates the river bed 
immediately inside the bar, and, relieving the 
superincumbent pressure, thus enables the 
mud-bubbles to rise. 

It is not clear whether Lyell considers the 
bar as such to exert the pressure causing the 
rise; it is, at any rate, difficult to see how the 
static pressure of a submerged bar could cause 
the same material to rise from ten to fifteen 
feet above tide-level." But there is no doubt 
that the weight and wide base of the bar is 
able to materially obstruct, if not prevent, the 
squeezing of the semi-fluid mud to seaward, 
despite a considerable vis-a-tergo from land- 
ward. 

Given a semi-fluid layer of mud on an im- 
pervious clay bottom, reaching as far land- 
ward as Morgan’s lump at least, the source of 
pressure is not far to seek. The sediment 
annually deposited on the marsh areas above, 
with their heavy growth of rushes and other 
aquatic vegetation, supplies ample weight; 
and the statement of the pilots that the mud- 
lump springs always become more active when 
these marshes are overflowed, adds cogency to 
this explanation. The vis-a-tergo is the ever- 
increasing weight of the river-sediments 


*The specific gravity of the outflowing mud 
ranges from a minimum of 1.25 to as much as 
1.75. 


DECEMBER 28, 1906.] 


proper, deposited in the marshes above during 
the twice-annually recurring floods of the 
great river. 

Among the details of the investigation, 
given in my article above referred to, the 
following are of interest as corroborative of 
the above explanation of mudlump phenomena. 
The microscopic character of the ejected mud 
is precisely that of the mud brought up by 
the sounding-lead from the seaward slope of 
the river bar. There is a mixture of fresh- 
water organisms and débris with marine 
forms such as foraminifera; but these in the 
mudlump ejecta are in a macerated condition. 
The water accompanying the outflowing mud, 
or sometimes welling up clear from old or 
sandy vents, shows the chemical nature of 
diluted sea-water subjected to maceration with 
decaying organic matter. That is to say, its 
sulphates have been reduced to iron pyrites, 
which is scattered in shining crystals through 
the mud, while the water is strongly impreg- 
nated with bicarbonates of lime, magnesia and 
iron, so that it turns turbid on exposure to the 
air. Taking the common salt as the basis 
of comparison, the proportion of magnesium 
ehlorid is increased, that of potash decreased ; 
the latter doubtless by the absorption of the 
base into zeolithic combination. 

The gas from a vent on the Passe a l’Outre 
consisted of 86.20 per cent. of marsh gas, 9.41 
ef carbonic dioxid, and 4.39 of nitrogen. This 
approximates closely to the average composi- 
tion of the gas from ordinary swamps. No 
oxygen was present. 

The commercial importance of the forma- 
tion of mudlumps is well illustrated in the 
history of the several outlets or passes during 
historic times. The earliest navigation from 
the gulf to New Orleans was almost wholly 
through the ‘ Passe 4 l’Outre,’ the most north- 
erly of the mouths, whose very name indicates 
its chief importance as the outlet for deep- 
sea vessels destined for ‘ outre-mer’; with the 
northeast pass, it remained the main outlet in 
use even to the first third of the past century. 
Then it became so contracted and shallowed 
by mudlumps that the northeast and southeast 
passes were for a while the main channels 
used by vessels; but these also being soon 


SCIENCE. 


865 


heavily obstructed by lumps, and the south 
pass being too narrow and shallow for deep- 
sea ships, the southwest pass was, during the 
greater part of the past century, the main 
outlet for navigation. Its channel being very 
wide and its deposits more sandy by reason 
of its being most nearly in line with the main 
river at the head of the passes, its use in- 
volved the additional difficulty of shifting 
sand bars. To keep a navigable channel 
through these and the copious mudlump for- 
mations was an endless task, and cost the gov- 
ernment millions; besides necessitating the 
use of enormously powerful tugs for the ship- 
ping. After many unsuccessful attempts for 
permanent relief, all of which were frustrated 
by the rise of mudlumps, came Eads’s proposi- 
tion to turn the river into the south pass, the 
mouth of which was then free from mud- 
lumps. While this matter was before con- 
gress, the writer called Eads’s attention to the 
almost certainty that whenever the south pass 
should be made the main outlet, mudlump 
upheaval would surely occur. Eads replied 
that he hoped that the increased velocity of 
the current in the narrow channel inclosed by 
his jetties would keep it scoured out to a much 
greater extent than the shallow southwest 
pass had been, and that at any rate it should 
be tried as an ultima ratio, and allowed to 
go unchallenged. To this, of course, I agreed. 

The event has in the end justified both 
Eads’s and my anticipation. Not many years 
after the completion of the jetties and wing- 
dams, mudlump upheaval began inside of the 
south pass bar; but the watchful activity of 
dredgers, together with the scouring action of 
the full river current, are successfully keep- 
ing the channel in navigable condition, at 
very much less current expense, and much 
more effectually, than could ever be accom- 
plished in the southwest pass. 

Taken altogether, these unique Nc 
characterizing the formation and progression 
of the Mississippi delta seem to be of sufficient 
importance, both theoretical and practical, to 
render their omission from handbooks of 
American geology and hydrology hardly ex- 
cusable. It is expected of those who write 
such treatises that they should acquaint them- 


866 


selves with all previous literature on the same 
subjects; but notwithstanding the elaborate 
bibliographies now so commonly appended to 
papers on special topics, the crediting and 
utilization of the more remote publications 
seems in danger of falling into innocuous 
desuetude. E. W. Hiucarp. 
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, 
December, 1906. 


CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 
BLUE HILL OBSERVATORY. 


Vou. LVIIL., Part II., of the Annals of the 
Harvard College Observatory contains ‘ Ob- 
servations and Investigations made at the 
Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory in the 
Years 1903 and 1904’ From the introduc- 
tion we learn that Mr. H. H. Clayton, well 
known as one of the foremost meteorological 
investigators in the world, has completed 
twenty years of service at Blue Hill, and that 
Mr. S. P. Fergusson, who, by his skill as a 
mechanician and his general ability along 
many lines of meteorological inquiry has con- 
tributed largely to the success of the Blue Hill 
work, has completed eighteen years of service. 
The introduction also contains a review of the 
principal work done at Blue Hill in the twenty 
years since its opening, but as readers of Sci- 
ENCE are familiar with much of this, we do 
not summarize here. Mr. A. Lawrence Rotch, 
the founder of the observatory, without whose 
untiring devotion to his science and unfailing 
readiness to assume the increasing financial 
burden of maintaining this institution the 
United States would occupy a far less promi- 
nent place in meteorological advancement, 
may well look back on the past twenty years 
of work at Blue Hill with pride and satisfac- 
tion. American men of science can have but 
one hope and wish in connection with the 
Blue Hill Observatory: that its next twenty 
years may be as fruitful in results as the last 
twenty have been. 


THUNDER-STORMS AND THE MOON. 
Mucu time has been spent by various in- 
vestigators in the attempt to show some rela- 
tion between the occurrence of thunder-storms 
and the phases of the moon. The latest con- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 626. 


tribution to this discussion comes from C. W. 
Hissink, of Zutphen, who in the September 
number of ‘Hemel en Dampkring’ presents 
the results of a study of thunderstorm days 
in Holland for the period 1883-1908. The 
means for these years show so complete an 
agreement for different phases of the moon 
that there can be no question that no lunar 
influence is shown. Evidently the supposed 
connection between moon and thunder-storms 
depends for the results obtained upon the 
period which any investigator uses, and upon 
the length of the series of observations. 
When a long series of observations is avail- 
able, no lunar influence is, on the whole, 
manifest. 


LANTERN SLIDES ILLUSTRATING CLIMATE. 

WE note the publication, by the Diagram 
Company, of New Malden, Surrey, England, 
of the seventh issue of ‘The Diagram Series,’ 
designed by B. B. Dickinson, assistant master 
at Rugby, and A. W. Andrews, extension lec- 
turer. This series comprises a considerable 
number of lantern slides iliustrating the cli- 
mate of the world as a whole, and of the 
separate continents. Among these we observe 
charts of isotherms, isobars, winds, ocean cur- 
rents and rainfall. It is encouraging to see 
the rapid increase in the demand for such 
teaching materials in meteorology and clima- 
tology for use in colleges and schools. 

R. DEC. Warp. 


NOTES ON ENTOMOLOGY. 


A MOST interesting and attractive paper is 
that of Arnold Pictet,* on the influence of 
food and humidity on Lepidoptera. A great 
number of experiments were made by the 
author on the larve of twenty-one different 
species of Lepidoptera, among them the gipsy 
and brown-tail moths. His results show that 
changing the usual food is apt to cause varia- 
tion in adults. A food difficult of assimila- 
tion hinders the growth of the caterpillar and 
lengthens larval life; in consequence the pupal 

**Tnfluence de Valimentation et de l’humidité 
sur la variation des papillons,’ Mém. Soc. Phy- 
sique et d’Hist. Nat. de Geneve, Vol. 35, pp. 45- 
127, 4 pl., 1905. . : 


DECEMBER 28, 1906.] 


period is shorter and there is a scarcity of 
pigment at emergence, resulting in a more or 
less albinic specimen. Insufficience of the 
normal food will produce the same result. 
On the contrary, abundant and rich food 
shortens larval life, lengthening the pupal 
period, so that there is an abundance of pig- 
ment, and a highly colored or melanic speci- 
men appears at emergence. Color varieties of 
larve are often associated, but not always, 
with color varieties of the adults. Some 
caterpillars feeding on the same food may be 
either brown or green. The development of 
secondary sexual characters is also influenced 
by the kind and abundance of food. He finds 
that the size of the adult is proportioned to 
the size of the caterpillar; and that males 
vary more than females. Varieties produced 
by feeding increase in intensity and distinct- 
ness at each generation on the same food; 
however, there is always some tendency to re- 
vert to the normal form. Humidity in larval 
life is a partial factor in melanism, but much 
depends upon the temperature of the hu- 
midity and the time of its application. In 
some cases of cold humidity paler and more 
spotted forms were produced in a rather dark 
butterfly. The variation from humidity ap- 
pears mostly on the front wings, and melanism 
usually starts along veins. Four fine plates 
illustrate the results of his experiments. 


Dr. O. M. Reuter has presented an im- 
portant work on the classification of the 
Hemipterous family Capsidex.’ The author, 
who has spent much of his life studying this 
one family, gives a long historical, critical 
and constructive account of the classification 
of these plant-bugs. He devotes considerable 
attention to a criticism of Mr. Distant’s work 
on this family. After an examination of the 
structures most useful for genera and higher 
groups, he divides the family into twenty 
‘divisions,’ or tribes, an elaboration of his 
previous classification, in the ‘Hemiptera 
Gymnocerata Europea.’ He finds the best 
characters for the divisions in the pronotal 
carina, the cell of the wing-membrane, the 
tarsal joints, and especially in the arolia of 


2°Die Klassifikation der Capsiden,’ Festschrift 
fiir Palmén, No. 1, Helsingfors, 1906. 


SCIENCE. 


867 


the claws. Genera are based largely on shape 
of the head and the antenne. Following this 
there is a phylogeny of the family, and a 
‘tree’ to illustrate his views. 


Dr. Walter Rothschild and Karl Jordan 
have published a revision of the American 
swallow-tail butterflies.” It is based on the 
collections in the Tring Museum and that of 
Oberthiir. Full references and syncnomy are 
given for all species and varieties. There are 
descriptions of some new species and many 
new subspecies, mostly from South America 
and the West Indies. Three new names are 
given to forms from the United States: P. 
thoas subsp. autocles from Texas; P. glaucus 
subsp. canadensis from Canada and New- 
foundland; and P. marcellus subsp. lecontez, 
from various parts of the United States, to 
replace the P. ajax marcellus of Edwards, the 
true marcellus applying to the P. ajax walshi 


ot Edwards. 


The second report of the Wellcome Research 
Laboratories at the Gordon Memorial College, 
Khartoum, Egypt, 1906, contains a number of 
interesting papers. Theobald makes an addi- 
tional report on the mosquitoes of the Sudan. 
He gives also notes on the ‘ maggot fly’ (Ben- 
galia depressa), the larve of which live under 
the skin of man, and other animals; also notes 
on the ‘ Congo-floor-maggot’? (Auchmeromyia 
luteola), the larve of which crawl at night 
from crevices in the floor to suck blood from 
sleeping persons. He also gives notes on some 
stingless bees, a new pupiparous fly from the 
ibex, some Sudanese Hippoboscide, a melon 
fruit-fly (Dacus sp.), and on the Dura plant- 
bug (Lygeus militaris). Mr. E. E. Austen 
treats of several blood-sucking Diptera, de- 
scribes two new species of Tabanide, and 
gives notes on various other species. 


A little-known phase of entomology is 
touched by K. Leinemann in his article on the 
number of facets in the eyes of insects.“ He 


**A revision of the American Papilios,’ Novi- 
tates Zool., XIII., pp. 431-752, 6 plates, 1906. 

“*Uber die Zahl der Facetten in den zusammen- 
gesetzten Augen der Coleopteren,’ Dissertation, 
Miinster, 1905, pp. 64. 


868 


has had the patience to count the facets in the 
eyes of 150 species of beetles. He finds that 
the larger the specimen, the more numerous 
are the facets, and that usually there is not 
much difference in the sexes. The male in 
many cases, however, has more facets than 
the female. In Lampyris splendidula the 
male has 2,500 facets, while the female has 
but 300. Melolontha vulgaris has, male, 5,300, 
female, 4,850; and Saperda carcharias, male, 
2,200, female, 1,800. There is no general re- 
duction in nocturnal species. 


South American termites are the subject of 
an exhaustive paper by Dr. N. Holmgren.” It 
is based on collections made in parts of Peru 
and Bolivia. Out of the thirty-nine species 
taken, twenty-six are described as new. He 
adopts the genera of Wasmann. Nearly one 
half of the article treats of the ethology and 
postembryonal development; the latter subject 
being almost entirely new. There are chap- 
ters on swarming, the founding of colonies, the 
enlargement of the nest, the use of the soldier, 
symbiosis of different species, classification by 
the nesting habits, and the geographical dis- 
tribution of all the species known from South 
America. 


Dr. K. Escherich describes some interesting 
new genera of exotic Thysanura, the most 
remarkable being Assmuthia, with two new 
species from India. This genus bears much 
general resemblance to some Collembola, with 
nearly equal segments, a strongly convex body, 
and very short anal stylets. 
nests. 


It oceurs in ants’ 


A. Diicke publishes a supplement to his 
former article on the habits of Brazilian social 
wasps.’ The nests of nearly ninety species 
are now known to him. He gives a key to the 
genera of South American Vespidx, and a 


5*«Studien iiber siidamerikanische Termiten,’ 
Zool. Jahrb., Abt. Syst., XXIII, pp. 521-676, 
60 figs., 1906. 

°* Beitrige zur Kenntnis der Thysanuren,’ 
Zool. Anzeiger, XXX., pp. 737-749, 1906. 

7*Sobre as Vespidas sociaes do Para—Supple- 
mento,’ Bol. do Museu Goeldi, IV., No. 4, 1906, 
pp. 652-698. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XXIV. No. 626. 


classification by nests and habits. Photo- 
graphs of nests are on four double plates. 
NatHan Banks. 


BOTANICAL NOTES. 
‘PROGRESS OF BOTANY.’ 

Unper this alternative English title Doctor 
J. P. Lotsy, of Leiden, has begun the publica- 
tion of an annual summary of the recent ad- 
vances in botany to be known under its Latin 
title as ‘Progressus Rei Botanicae’ (Gustav 
Fischer, Jena, 18 mk.). Only the first Heft 
of 317 pages has come to hand, but the pros- 
pectus promises the completion of the first 
volume during the present winter. Hereafter 
it is the intention of the editor to publish the 
Heften at intervals of about four months, the 
three Heften making an annual volume of 
from six to eight hundred pages. The part 
before us contains four articles, viz.: ‘ Die 
Ontogenie der Zelle seit 1875,’ by Professor 
Eduard Strasburger; ‘The Present Position 
of Palaeozoic Botany,’ by Doctor D. H. Scott; 
‘Bibliography of Literature on Palaeozoic 
Fossil Plants,’ by E. A. Newell Arber, and 
“Les progrés de la Géographie botanique 
depuis 1884,’ by Professor Ch. Flahault. The 
treatment is considerably different in these 
papers. The first, by Strasburger, is an ad- 
mirable summary of the steps by which our 
present knowledge of the process of cell divi- 
sion, and especially of karyokinesis, has been 
built up by additions made by many investi- 
gators. Dr. Scott’s paper is an attempt to 
give a sketch of our present knowledge of 
paleozoic plants, and his treatment is some- 
what more general than the preceding one. 
In Professor Flahault’s paper the treatment 
is still more general, and is much more like a 
somewhat popular lecture on the subject to a 
company of botanists who were not specialists 
in phytogeography. It is an admirable intro- 
duction to the present development of this 
branch of Botany as understood by the author 
of the paper. The bibliographical paper by 
Mr. Arber is thoroughly classified, and must 
prove of great service to paleobotanists. 

A full review of this promising publication, 
which must be indispensable to every botanist, 


DECEMBER 28, 1906.] 


is reserved until the completion of the volume, 
which is promised within a few months. 


VEGETATION PHOTOGRAPHS. 


ArtEeNnTION has already been called to the 
admirable reproductions of photographs of 
vegetation issued under the editorship of Pro- 
fessors Karsten and Schenck, and bearing the 
title of ‘ Vegetationsbilder.’ The publication 
consists of quarto Heften, each containing six 
plates, and as there are eight Heften for each 
volume, it follows that the latter will contain 
forty-eight plates. Three volumes are already 
completed, and five Heften of the fourth vol- 
ume have appeared. With each plate is a 
short descriptive text covering a page or two. 
The Heften which have appeared during 1906 
include ‘ Vegetationsbilder aus Kleinasien,’ 
by Emerich Zederbauer; ‘ Vegetationstypen 
von der Insel Koh Chang im Meerbusen yon 
Siam,’ by Johs. Schmidt; ‘ Ameisenpflanzen 
des Amazonasgebietes,’ by E. Vle; ‘ Das siid- 
liche Togo,’ by Walter Busse; ‘ Vegetations- 
bilder aus Feuerland, von den Falkland-Inseln 
und von Sudgeorgien,’ by Carl Skottsberg; 
‘ Westafrikanischen Nutzpflanzen,’ by Walter 
Busse. The beauty of the photographs and 
the admirable manner of their reproduction 
merit the highest praise. They must con- 
stitute an indispensable addition to every 
botanical library. 


SHORT NOTES. 


SEVERAL months ago, H. A. Gleason pub- 
lished in the Bulletin of the New York 
Botanical Garden (Vol. 4, No. 18) ‘A Revi- 
sion of the North American Vernonieae’ 
which should go far toward clearing up the 
confusion regarding the species of this tribe 
of Compositae. Seventeen genera are recog- 
nized, of which one—Orthopappus, a segre- 
gate of Hlephantopus, is new. Of the 143 
species here described, 99 are referred to the 
genus Vernonia, and of these, twenty-five are 
new to science. No less than ten of the 
genera are monotypic.—The genus Ptelea, 
represented in the northern states by the well- 
known hop-tree (P. trifoliata) expands won- 
derfully in the west and southwest, where, 
according to a recent monograph entitled ‘ The 


SCIENCE. 


869 


Genus Ptelea in the Western and South- 
western United States and Mexico’ (Contrib. 
U. S. Nat. Herb., Vol. X.) by Dr. Edward L. 
Greene, there are fifty-nine species. In this 
paper, fifty-five of the species are described as 
new. It is noteworthy that in framing names 
for these species, the author has most com- 
mendably not found it necessary, excepting in 
one instance, to make use of the names of 
persons.—Botanists may now read an official 
account of the proceedings of the inter- 
national botanical congress which took place 
in Vienna in 1905. A committee, consisting 
of Professors Wettstein and Wiesner, and 
Doctor Zahlbruckner, has issued a thick octavo 
pamphlet of 268 pages, entitled ‘ Verhand- 
lungen des Internationalen Botanischen Kon- 
gresses in Wien, 1905’ which gives the history 
of the movement which culminated in the con- 
gress, its personnel, the programs of the 
sessions, the discussions, ete., and the result- 
ing ‘ International Rules of Botanical Nomen- 
elature.’ The latter are given in French, 
English and German. Along with the latter 
is given the list of generic names (‘nomina 
conservanda’) which are to be retained, the 
rule of priority to the contrary notwithstand- 
ing. The pamphlet may be obtained from the 
publisher (Gustav Fischer of Jena) for 12.50 
Marks.—The same committee has issued a 
similar but somewhat larger (452 pages) 
pamphlet under the title of ‘ Résultats scien- 
tifiques du Congrés international de Botan- 
ique Vienne 1905.’ It is edited by Dr. J. P. 
Lotsy, and is published also by Fischer (20 
marks). It contains twenty-seven papers, 
mostly in German (one in English) which 
were presented during the scientific sessions 
of the Vienna Botanical Congress in 1905. 
The only paper by an American botanist is 
one by Professor Doctor Arthur on the struc- 
ture, development and classification of the 
Uredineae.—A little book, issued three years 
ago by the same German publisher entitled 
‘Dendrologische Winterstudien’ by C. K. 
Schneider, should be of much value to stu- 
dents of trees in these days when so many 
are fitting themselves for work in forestry. 
About sixty pages are given to the general 
organography of trees, including their general 


870 SCIENCE. 


form, arrangement of twigs, bark, lenticels, 
buds, ete., and this is followed by somewhat 
more than 160 pages describing the species of 
trees arranged according to winter characters. 
Following this is a systematic synopsis of the 
species, arranged in their appropriate fami- 
lies. A short bibliography and a full index 
complete the volume of nearly 300 small 
octavo pages. The work is very freely illus- 
trated with drawings or half-tones of twigs, 
buds, hairs, sections of buds, twigs, bark and 
wood. 


CuHarues E. Bessey. 
THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


Tue American Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science and the national scientific 
societies affiliated with it are this week hold- 
ing, in New York City, a meeting which 
promises to be one of the most important and 
largest gatherings of American men of sci- 
ence. Programs of the meetings have been 
printed here, and there is printed above the 
address of the retiring president of the asso- 
ciation, Dr. C. M. Woodward, of Washington 
University. There will be published in the 
next and succeeding issues of Scrence full 
reports of the proceedings. 


Proressor J. A. Bownocker, of the State 
University, has been appointed state geologist 
of Ohio to succeed Professor Edward Orton, 
Jr., resigned. 

M. Vipau DE LA Buacue, professor of geog- 
raphy at the Sorbonne, has been elected a 
member of the Paris Academy of Sciences in 
the room of the late Albert Sorel. 


Masor Epcar A. Mearns, known for his 
important contributions to natural history, 
who has been chief surgeon of the depart- 
ment of Mindanao, has been relieved from 
duty in the Philippines and will proceed to 
the United States. 


Dr. ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL delivered an 
illustrated address before the Washington 
Academy of Sciences on December 13 ‘On 
Aerial Locomotion, with a few Notes of 
Progress in the Construction of an Aero- 
drome.’ The address was discussed by Pro- 


[N. 8. Vou. XXIV. No. 626. 


fessor A. F. Zahm, of the Catholic University, 
Washington, D. C., and Mr. C. M. Manly, of 
New York City, formerly assistant to the late 
Secretary Langley. 


Proressor R. 8. CHITTENDEN, of Yale Uni- 
versity, will deliver a series of lectures next 
spring before the faculty and students of the 
College of Science of the University of Illi- 
nois. The general subject of the lectures will 
be the physiology of nutrition. 


On Monday evenings in February and 
March Professor Henry Edward Crampton, 
of Columbia University, will deliver a series 
of lectures upon ‘ The Doctrine of Evolution: 
its Basis and its Scope,’ at Cooper Union. 


TuE first public lecture of the winter will 
be delivered in the Academy of Medicine, New 
York City, on Saturday evening, December 
29. The lecturer will be Dr. Wilfred T. Gren- 
fell, C.M.G., physician to the missions of the 
Labrador coast, who will take for his subject, 
‘The Work of a Labrador Doctor.’ 


A MAGNETIC survey of Mexico is now in 
progress under the joint auspices of the Mexi- 
can Government and the Department of Ter- 
restrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institu- 
tion of Washington. The Mexican Govern- 
ment has two parties in the field under the 
direction of the Observatorio Astronomico 
Nacional Mexicano, Engineer Seftor Abel Dias 
Covarrubias having charge of the eastern 
party and Seficr Manuel Moreno y Anda be- 
ing in charge of the western party, embracing 
the Pacific Coast from Manzanillo to Guay- 
mas, inclusive of Lower California. The 
Carnegie Institution observer, Mr. J. P. Ault, 
will confine his operations to the part of 
Mexico north of the 25th parallel, upon the 
completion of which he will then proceed to 
Campeche, Yucatan and the Central American 
countries. The early completion of the gen- 
eral magnetic survey of Mexico being thus 
assured, it will be possible within the next 
year to construct accurate magnetic maps for 
the region between the parallels of latitude 
20° and 49° North and meridians of longitude 
65° and 125° West of Greenwich. 


On the twenty-first of August last Pro- 
fessor Olof Hammarsten was sixty-five years 


a ea a ais te Se 2 


DECEMBER 28, 1906.] 


of age and in accordance with the laws of 
Sweden retired from the chair of physiolog- 
ical chemistry at the University of Upsala. 
A large volume, a ‘ Festschrift,’ containing 
twenty-two papers on physiological and bio- 
chemical subjects had been prepared for the 
occasion by the friends and former pupils of 
Professor Hammarsten and the day was 
widely observed throughout the Scandinavian 
countries. Professor Hammarsten has been a 
teacher in the University of Upsala for thirty- 
seven years and his activity as an investigator 
dates from 1866. His most noted contribu- 
tions deal with the coagulation of milk and of 
blood, with the chemistry of bile and the 
nature of mucin. Within each of these fields 
his keen observations and accurate descrip- 
tions serve as landmarks, the accuracy of 
which has never been successfully questioned. 


Art its recent meeting in Mexico City the 
American Public Health Association elected 
the following officers: President, Dr. Do- 
mingo Orvafianos, Mexico; vice-presidents, 
Dr. Quitman Kohnke, New Orleans; Dr. R. 
M. Simpson, Winnipeg; Dr. G. T. Swartz, 
Providence; secretary, Dr. C. O. Probst, Co- 
lumbus, Ohio; treasurer, Dr. Frank Wright, 
New Haven. Atlantic City, N. J., was 
selected as the place of meeting for 1907. 


A TABLET has been placed in the rotunda of 
Memorial Hall, Yale University, to the 
memory of Elias Loomis, LL.D., who was pro- 
fessor of natural philosophy and astronomy in 
the college from 1860 to 1889, the year of his 
death. The tablet reads:—“In grateful re- 
membrance of Elias Loomis, LL.D., who was 
graduated in 1830 from Yale College and 
twenty-nine years here served—1860—1889. 
An exact scholar, an astronomer of wide re- 
pute, in meteorology a pioneer, and a large 
benefactor of this university. This tablet is 
placed by a few of his old students to keep 
fresh the memory of the man and his teach- 
ing. 1906.” 


Tue Cartwright prize of the Association of 
the Alumni of the College of Physicians and 
Surgeons of Columbia University will be 
awarded at commencement. This prize, which 
is of the value of $500, is open to general 


SCIENCE. 


871 


competition for an essay containing original 
investigations in the medical sciences. Fur- 
ther information can be obtained from Dr. H. 
K. Hale, secretary of the association, 752 West 
End Avenue, New York City. 


Tue University of Michigan has come into 
possession of a tract of land that with proper 
attention may be developed into a garden 
meeting all the requirements of the present- 
day European botanic gardens. This tract of 
land has been deeded by Dr. Walter H. 
Nichols, 91, and Mrs. Esther B. OC. Nichols, 
94. It comprises about thirty acres, and ad- 
joins Forest Hill Cemetery on the east, having 
a frontage of about fifteen rods on Geddes 
Avenue. The land is separated from the 
Huron River by an approximately equal area 
owned by the city of Ann Arbor. By an 
agreement entered into by the regents of the 
university and the council of the city of Ann 
Arbor, the two pieces of land mentioned are 
to be developed as one, thus insuring a garden 
and park of at least sixty acres. This area 
will not make one of the largest gardens in the 
world, but it will make one of the large gar- 
dens of the world. It will be the same size 
as the St. Louis and Edinburgh gardens, 
nearly as large as the Paris garden, but much 
smaller than the New York garden, the Arnold 
Arboretum of Harvard University, the Kew 
gardens of England and the Buitenzorg gar- 
den maintained by Holland on the island of 
Java, each of which has over 200 acres of land, 
the last 1,100 acres. The following four aims 
for its use will be observed in the development 
of the garden: (1) teaching, in which students 
are instructed in the various orders and func- 
tions of plants; (2) scientific, in which genetic 
relationship is studied and experimental work 
is carried on; (8) economic, in which collec- 
tions of medicinal and economic plants are 
made, and the effect of horticulture and agri- 
culture is shown, and (4) esthetic and pop- 
ularly educational, in which landscape effects 
are introduced and special provision is made 
to make the plantings, the drives and walks of 
interest and value to the public. 


Measures have been taken by the Connecti- 
eut Academy of Arts and Sciences to affiliate 


872 


with Yale University. Ata recent meeting it 
was voted that the academy was willing to 
enter into an agreement with Yale. The gist 
ot the proposed agreement is that the univer- 
sity will pay to the academy the sum of $1,500 
annually toward defraying the expenses of 
publishing the ‘ Transactions,’ which will here- 
after be issued under the title of ‘ Publica- 
tions of Yale University.’ The academy, on 
its part, will endeavor to increase its member- 
ship, and agrees to give adequate representa- 
tion on its board of officers to the various de- 
partments of study in the university that may 
wish to avail themselves of the opportunity to 
publish scientific and literary papers. 
- Tue American Public Health Association 
at its thirty-fourth annual meeting held this 
month in Mexico City, passed the following 
resolutions: 


WHEREAS, A correct registration of births, mar- 
Tiages and deaths is necessary to indicate not 
only the natural increase of population, but also 
the measure of the health conditions and the 


effectiveness of sanitary operations in any 
country. 
WHEREAS, With the increase in numbers, 


wealth and age of the populations of the several 
states and provinces, the necessity for evidence 
of births, marriages and deaths in cases of wills, 
pensions, insurance, crimes, etc., becomes daily of 
increasing urgency. 

WHEREAS, Comparisons of the health conditions 
of different countries and districts and climates 
is only possible through the existence and study 
of such records. 

WHEREAS, International comity and _ treaty 
stipulations not infrequently involve agreements 
touching the transmission of records relating to 
the births, marriages or deaths of individuals 
traveling or residing in foreign countries; and 

WHEREAS, Such registration is imperfect or 
wholly wanting in some of the states of the 
countries registered in this Association, therefore, 
be it 

Resolved, That .se secretary of this association 
be instructed to transmit a copy of this resolution 
to the governors and boards of health of such 
states and provinces urging the desirability of 
effective legislation on this subject. 

WHEREAS, The American Public Health Asso- 
ciation is of the opinion, and has heretofore so 
expressed itself, that public health matters con- 
fronting the four countries embraceu in this asso- 
ciation can only be adequately administered by 
extending the powers and duties of their several 


chief executive and administrative health officers, 


and 
WHEREAS, This association believes that such 
questions can only be satisfactorily dealt with by 


SCIENCE. 


4 aA, ae 
ANNE 


[N.S. Vou. XXIV. No. 626. 


the establishment of a national department of 
health with a cabinet minister at its head in each 
country. 

Therefore, this association, with a view to 
prosecute so desirable an end creates a committee 
consisting of three members from each of the 
four countries represented in the association and 
to be nominated by the president, the first-named 
member for each country to be chairman of. that 
subcommittee and the chairman of the subcom- 
mittee of the United States to be its general 
chairman. This committee shall formulate what 
in the opinion of the Association should be the 
extent of the work, powers and duties of a na- 
tional department of health and the subcommittee 
of any of the four countries shall take any steps 
deemed practicable by it to carry out the purpose 


of this resolution, and to this end be empowered 


to enlarge its committee as it. may deem proper. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


CotumsBia University and Barnard College 
will receive $10,000 each under the will of 
Mrs. Annie P. Burgess. Dr. Daniel M. Bur- 
gess, her husband, will receive a life interest 
in the residuary estate, which will ultimately 
be divided into three equal parts, one of which 
will go to Columbia University, one to Bar- 
nard College, and the third to Hamilton 
College. 


Pians have been drawn for the new bio- 
logical and geological building of Amherst 
College, made possible by a $75,000 gift from 
Mr. Andrew Carnegie, and an equivalent 
amount raised by alumni and friends. 


A CLASS in general chemistry has been 
opened for women at Evening High School 
No. 78, on East Forty-sixth Street, between 
Second and Third Avenues, New York City. 
The class, which is conducted by Miss Rose 
Levy, is open every week-day evening except 
Friday and Saturday, from 7:30 to 9:30 
o’clock, and is free to all who have had a 
public school education. 


Mr. A. G. Tanstey, M.A., of Trinity Col- 
lege, Cambridge, assistant professor of botany 
at University College, London, and editor of 
the New Phytologist, has been appointed lec- 
turer in botany in succession to Mr. A. O. 
Seward, who has succeeded the late Professor 
Marshall Ward in the chair of botany. 


S,