THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. 



667 



THE PEOGEESS OF SCIENCE. 



SCIENTIFIC WORK IN THE 

 PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



The civil government of the Philip- 

 pine Islands has been prompt in rec- 

 ognizing the importance of scientific 

 work. The commission established in 

 1901 a Bureau of Government Labora- 

 tories and authorized the preparation 

 of plans for a suitable building for 

 the installation of biological and chem- 

 ical laboratories. The commission was 

 fortunate in securing as superintendent 

 Dr. Paul C. Freer, professor of chem- 

 istry in the University of Michigan, 

 under whose able direction the work 

 has been organized and a building 

 erected. 



The illustration shows the building, 

 which was designed with the assistance 

 of the chief of the Insular Bureau of 

 Architecture, Mr. E. K. Bourne, and is 

 of pleasing and suitable architecture. 

 Jn laboratory construction a low build- 

 ing has many advantages, and in the 

 Philippine Islands the danger from 

 earthquakes must be taken into con- 

 sideration. In a tropical country cool- 

 ness and ventilation are of great im- 

 portance. Corridors, ten feet wide, 

 run the entire length of the building, 

 and as these are open at both ends a 

 breeze usually passes through them. 

 The laboratories are comparatively 

 small rooms opening from the cor- 

 ridors. The building is divided into 

 two symmetrical parts, the east half 

 being used for biological and the west 

 half for chemical work, with a library 

 in the center. The power house has 

 been placed in the rear, and in it is a 

 serum laboratory. In addition to heat 

 and electric power there are gas gen- 

 erators, compressed air, vacuum pumps 

 and a refrigerating machine. The 

 separate laboratories are provided with 



these conveniences for research and are 

 well equipped with apparatus. The 

 collection includes fifteen microscopes 

 of the best Zeiss pattern, five Schanze 

 microtomes and two Minot microtomes, 

 incubators, balances, electrical furnaces 

 and the like. The equipment is of 

 special importance, as it takes at least 

 seven months to procure new supplies 

 from Europe or America. The library 

 contains some 12,000 volumes and 

 seventy sets of publications, and these 

 again are essential where there is no 

 access to large libraries. 



The work done in the laboratories 

 appears to be of much scientific value, 

 twenty-two publications having been 

 issued by members of the staff. It is, 

 however, naturally difficult to secure 

 scientific workers in distant and trop- 

 ical regions unless they are attracted 

 by the special problems that can only 

 be solved there. The director of the 

 laboratories hopes that facilities may 

 be given similar, for example, to those 

 at the Naples station, which will at- 

 tract scientific workers to the islands. 

 He also thinks it possible that the labo- 

 ratories may be supported by gifts 

 from those who are interested in the 

 development of the islands or in the 

 special problems that can only there be 

 undertaken. 



In addition to the scientific work un- 

 dertaken by the Philippine govern- 

 ment, the president of the United 

 States has recommended that a scien- 

 tific survey of the Islands be under- 

 taken at the expense of the federal 

 government. At his request the Na- 

 tional Academy of Sciences appointed 

 a committee to report on the desira- 

 bility of instituting scientific explora- 

 tions of the Islands, and this report 

 was transmitted to the last congress 



