THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE 



509 



most important astronomical research 

 institutions in the world. The waters 

 of the Pacific ocean teem with life 

 which forms a rich material background 

 for the investigations of the marine 

 naturalist that can be prosecuted under 

 unusually favorable climatic conditions. 

 This accounts for the presence of a 

 chain of biological laboratories stretch- 

 ing from San Diego to Puget Sound. 

 In the Mohave Desert, fossils have re- 

 cently been discovered that throw im- 

 portant light upon the evolution of ani- 

 mal forms in the old as well as in the 

 new world. jSTorthern California pos- 

 sesses not only the one active volcano in 

 the limits of the United States but has 

 long harbored the last living repre- 

 sentative, for years unknown and ne- 

 glected, of a tribe of Indians that, in 

 contact for half a century with the 

 frontiers of civilization, continued to 

 live the life of the stone age. It is 

 doubtful whether this remarkable con- 

 trast of cultures shows itself anywhere 

 else in our country. 



The barriers that have isolated the 

 Pacific coast have more or less success- 

 fully shut out tradition. The freedom 

 with which social and political experi- 

 ments have been made in this region 

 is only paralleled by the experimenta- 

 tion that has drawn the eyes of the 

 world to the pioneer communities of 

 New Zealand and Australia, Th^t 

 freedom to experiment which is the 

 life of science, the necessary compan- 

 ion to discovery, is usually denied in 

 our older communities to social and po- 

 litical pioneers. Whether for good or 

 ill, the citizens of the Pacific states have 

 in numerous cases voted themselves this 

 freedom. The impressive record of the 

 fruits of their boldness will speak in 

 this number for itself. 



The Panama Canal will break in upon 

 a certain long remoteness. It will 

 overcome geographical barriers. It will 

 bring new elements to the population 

 that will inevitably produce effects upon 

 social and political institutions. What 

 effects and how? The west is awaiting 

 this new experiment with keen zest and 

 high hopefulness. 



TEE PACIFIC DIVISION OF THE 

 AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOB 

 THE ADVANCEMENT OF 

 SCIENCE 



Since the Pacific coast of the United 

 States is remote from the centers of 

 population of this country, it has been 

 difficult for members of the American 

 Association living within this area to at- 

 tend the annual meetings in eastern 

 cities. Meanwhile, members on the 

 Pacific coast have made substantial 

 contributions to the progress of science, 

 and the strength of their interest in 

 1 organized science has been shown by 

 the federation of sixteen societies or- 

 ganized within this region into the Pa- 

 cific Association of Scientific Societies 

 about four years ago. Four successful 

 annual meetings of the Pacific Associa- 

 tion have been held, one at Stanford 

 University, Palo Alto, California, two 

 at the University of California, Berk- 

 eley and the latest meeting in May, 

 1914, at the University of Washington, 

 Seattle. 

 , In extending the work of the Ameri- 

 ' can Association actively on the Pacific 

 coast it was felt that any new organi- 

 zation must cooperate with the work of 

 organizations already on the ground. 

 Plans for the merging of the Pacific 

 Association of Scientific Societies with 

 a Pacific Division of the American As- 

 sociation have accordingly been com- 

 pleted. A constitution drafted for the 

 Pacific Division has been approved by 

 the American Association and ratified 

 by eleven of the constituent societies of 

 the Pacific Association. 



The affairs of the Pacific Division 

 i have been placed in charge of the Pa- 

 cific Coast Committee of the American 

 Association of which the chairman is 

 I Dr. W. W. Campbell, director of the 

 ' Lick Observatory, and president of the 

 j American Association for 1915. The 

 first meeting of the Pacific Division will 

 be held in 1916, and thereafter annual 

 meetings will occur successively in the 

 1 cities west of the Rocky Mountains. 

 The Pacific Division as an organiza- 

 tion consists of all members of the 

 American Association residing within 



