THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. 



187 



bureau it might be excused, but as he 

 is known to have shown lack of sym- 

 pathy with its work in the past, it is 

 naturally supposed that he purposes to 

 subordinate the research work of the 

 bureau to the collections of the 

 museum. It seems extraordinaiy that 

 a bureau supported by an appropria- 

 tion from Congress should be entirely 

 at the mercy of one who is not an 

 officer of the government and whose 

 action is apparently exempt from any 

 control. The office of director of the 

 Bureau of American Ethnology, though 

 not created by Congress, has been offi- 

 cially acknowledged by an act of Con- 

 gress, and it does not seem possible 

 that this office can be summarily 

 abolished or that Congress will agree 

 to the subversion of the bureau. It is 

 not likely that a physicist, supposed 

 not to be in full sympathy with work 

 in natural history, will be allowed to 

 dictate the policy of the National Mu- 

 seum, the National Zoological Park 

 and the Bureau of American Ethnol- 

 ogy, when it is known that his actions 

 are almost unanimously disapproved 

 by the scientific men of the country. 

 It is obvious that the situation is 

 complicated rather than relieved by the 

 fact that the secretary of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution and those whom he 

 has placed in charge of its dependencies 

 are men of eminent scientific attain- 

 ments and of the highest character. 



It is probable that the result will be 

 the separation of these institutions 

 from the Smithsonian Institution. The 

 National Zoological Park will then be 

 made not merely a toy for the enter- 

 tainment of children, but also a labor- 

 atory for scientific work. The Na- 

 tional Museum will no longer be re- 

 garded chiefly as one of the sights for 

 visitors to Washington, but will take 

 its place with the museums of the 

 British, French and German govern- 

 ments. The Bureau of Ethnology will 

 extend its work, so that it will include 

 in its scope the native tribes of our 

 newly acquired possessions, the negroes, 



the immigrant races and the general 

 ethnology of the people, affording in- 

 formation of the utmost importance 

 for their government. The president 

 of the United States recommended in 

 his first message to congress that the 

 scientific bureaus be concentrated under 

 the Department of Agriculture, and it 

 is to be hoped that Congress will find 

 time to consider the question in the 

 approaching session. If this occurs 

 there is no question but that the insti- 

 tutions supported by the government 

 but administered by the Smithsonian 

 Institution will be transferred to the 

 Department of Agriculture. This will 

 not only give these institutions scope 

 for free development, but will release 

 the Smithsonian Institution from irk- 

 some official duties, and will permit it 

 to carry forward more effectively its 

 mission for the increase and diffusion 

 of knowledge. 



THE UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT. 



Four important institutions of learn- 

 ing have witnessed the inauguration of 

 new administrations during the past 

 month. Hereafter we must speak of 

 President Wilson of Princeton, Presi- 

 dent Swain of Swarthmore, President 

 James of Northwestern and Chancellor 

 Strong of Kansas. Dr. Carroll D. 

 Wright has also been installed as pres- 

 ident of the collegiate department of 

 Clark University. The duties of a uni- 

 versity president are so comprehensive 

 and diverse that it is not surprising 

 that men of varying qualifications and 

 types of character are chosen. To run 

 back ten years we find a professor of 

 Semitics at Chicago, a zoologist at 

 Stanford, a philosopher at Cornell, a 

 man of business at Pennsylvania, a stu- 

 dent of Greek at California, a clergy- 

 man at Brown, an economist at Yale, a 

 chemical investigator at Johns Hop- 

 kins, a student of education at Colum- 

 bia and so on. Those acquainted with 

 these men and even those who have 

 merely seen them together on the stage 

 at one of the inaugural exercises or 



