THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE 



287 



small grants made up to the present . 

 time for minor researches and for re- 

 search assistantships." There are given 

 in the report the names of forty indi- 

 viduals and institutions which have 

 received minor grants and of six re- 

 search assistants, and they appear to 

 be of about the same standing and 

 largely the same individuals as those 

 who have received grants in previous 

 years. It is not easy to decide which 

 grants the president refers to in his 

 report, as it might be supposed that 

 every one of them would yield direct 

 returns. The grantees include many 

 of our most eminent men of science, 

 such as Professors S. Newcomb, W. W. 

 Campbell, L. Boss, A. A. Noyes, T. W. 

 Richards, T. C. Chamberlin, R. S. Chit- 

 tenden, E. L. Mark and E. B. Wilson, 

 and it is inconceivable that money en- 

 trusted to them would not be spent to 

 advantage. It is, however, possible 

 that equally good results would have 

 been obtained if twenty of the grants 

 had been distributed by lot among 

 members of the National Academy of 

 Sciences and the other twenty among 

 the fellows of the American Associa- 

 tion, and this would have obviated the 

 suspicion of favoritism and indirect in- 

 fluence which is almost inevitable when 

 such largesses depend mainly on the 

 decision of a single individual. 



The president recommends that in 

 general minor grants shall be given 

 only to eminent investigators who shall 

 for the time become research associates 

 and advisers of the institution. That 

 the institution needs a board of scien- 

 tific men is obvious. Its trustees, as 

 is usual in America, consist mainly of 

 prominent men of affairs, most of 

 whom are too busy to give attention to 

 the control of the institution, even if 

 they were competent to do so. The sec- 

 retary, originally an eminent resident 

 man of science, is now a business man 

 of New York City. The by-laws speak 

 of special advisers and advisory com- 

 mittees, but if such exist they are not 

 mentioned in the annual report. The 

 only possible reference in the by-laws 



to the scientific men who should be the 

 institution is a clause to the effect 

 that the president ' shall have power 

 to remove and appoint subordinate em- 

 ployees.' If the trustees could fulfil 

 their proper function in the care of the 

 property, and the president could be a 

 constitutional executive officer, and 

 there were a legislative board consist- 

 ing of scientific men, elected by the 

 scientific bodies of the country, a great 

 advance in organization would be ef- 

 fected. Perhaps we may hope that the 

 advisers nominated by the president 

 may ultimately become a board of this 

 character. 



The larger projects of the institu- 

 tion last year were: botanical research, 

 D. T. MacDougal, director; economics 

 and sociology, Carroll D. Wright, di- 

 rector; experimental evolution, Charles 

 B. Davenport, director; historical re- 

 search, J. F. Jameson, director; horti- 

 culture, Luther Burbank; marine biol- 

 ogy, A. G. Mayer, director; meridian 

 astrometry, Lewis Boss, director; nu- 

 trition, F. G. Benedict, R. H. Chitten- 

 den, L. B. Mendel and T. B. Osborne; 

 solar physics, George E. Hale, director; 

 terrestrial magnetism, L. A. Bauer, 

 director; work in geophysics, F. D. 

 Adams, G. F. Becker, A. L. Day. For 

 these departments the sum of $552,000 

 was appropriated, the largest grants 

 being: Solar Observatory, $150,000; 

 geophysical research, $115,500, and 

 terrestrial magnetism, $54,000. Ap- 

 pended to the president's report are 

 extremely interesting accounts of the 

 research work accomplished under the 

 large projects and minor grants. Illus- 

 trations showing the site of the solar 

 observatory and the laboratories for 

 experimental and marine biology are 

 here reproduced. 



MR. ROCKEFELLER'S GIFT TO 



THE GENERAL EDUCATION 



BOARD 



Mb. John D. Rockefeller has an- 

 nounced his intention to give, not later 

 than April 1, securities valued at about 



