THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE 



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alumni of the institute. The former 

 plan would have in large measure 

 merged the institute in Harvard Uni- 

 versity; the present plan seems to use 

 the funds of the university for the sup- 

 port of the institute. It may, however, 

 be that both institutions will gain by 

 the arrangement and both President 

 Lowell and President Maclaurin em- 

 phasize the fact that educational insti- 

 tutions do not exist for their own glory, 

 but for the welfare of the community 

 as a whole, and that the combination 

 of resources of the two institutions will 

 provide a school of engineering at 

 present unequalled in this country and 

 perhaps in the world. 



TBACK SCALE TESTING EQUIP- 

 MENT OF THE BUBEAU OF 

 STANDABDS 



About four years ago the bureau be- 

 gan to investigate the subject of rail- 

 read track and elevator scales with the 

 idea of standardizing them. It soon 

 became evident that the greatest diver- 



sity of opinion existed among the ex- 

 perts regarding these subjects and that 

 there was very little reliable informa- 

 tion on the subject. In order to se- 

 cure reliable data, and to be in a posi- 

 tion to test large scales upon the request 

 of the railroads, elevators, shippers or 

 state officials the bureau secured an 

 appropriation of $25,000 from congress 

 last winter to purchase an equipment 

 and to provide the necessary expenses 

 for its operation. This appropriation 

 became available July 1, 1913. The 

 equipment was completed October 1, 

 and over thirty -five track scales were 

 investigated in Connecticut, Vermont 

 and New York during the following 

 six weeks. Throughout this whole 

 period the car met with every expecta- 

 tion and is ready for further tests. 



The car designed by the bureau dif- 

 fers radically from those ordinarily 

 used by the railroads. The usual test- 

 weight car is a heavy compact steel 

 body with four wheels and a base of 

 approximately six feet. It may weigh 

 from 25,000 to 80,000 pounds and has 



Truck Scale Testing Equipment. 



