REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT, 1905. 21 



RESUME OF WORK OF THE YEAR. 



One of the tasks the President has undertaken is that of confer- 

 ring personally with all investigators at work under the auspices 

 of the Institution and inspecting all laboratories, 

 observatories, or other establishments where proj- 

 ects of the larger type are under way. Since there have been about 

 three hundred and sixty men and women at work under grants 

 during the past year, and since they reside in widely separated local- 

 ities, it has been impossible to complete this task in the three hun- 

 dred days thus far available for the work. Nearly all of the more 

 important establishments have been visited, however, and confer- 

 ences have been held with nearly all of the investigators. 



Considering the wide range and the technical character of the 

 researches of these investigators, it would be presumptuous to attempt 

 in a general report anything more than a summary of their work, 

 and this summary may be brief, since the reports of individual 

 investigators, which will be found on pp. 51-52 of this volume, are 

 designed to give all needed details. 



Specially worthy of mention in this connection are the ten larger 

 projects now under way. Without seeking to designate them by 

 inelastic terminology, for they are in a process of development, they 

 may be classified departmentally as shown in the following list, which 

 gives also the names of the principal investigators conducting these 

 works of research : 



Experimental evolution in biology : Charles B. Davenport. 



Marine biology : Alfred G. Mayer. 



Desert plant biology : D. T. MacDougal and F. V. Coville. 



Horticulture : Luther Burbank. 



Economics and sociology : Carroll D. Wright. 



History : Andrew C. McLaughlin and J. F. Jameson. 



Geophysics : F. D. Adams, George F. Becker, and Arthur L. Day. 



Nutrition : F. G. Benedict, R. H. Chittenden, L,. B. Mendel, and T. B. 



Osborne. 

 Solar physics : George E. Hale. 

 Terrestrial magnetism : L. A. Bauer. 



Of these departments of research, four have semi-permanent quar- 

 ters constructed or under construction by the Institution. These 

 are the Station for Experimental Evolution in Biology at Cold 

 Spring Harbor, Long Island, New York, in charge of Prof. Charles 

 B. Davenport ; the Marine Biological Laboratory at Dry Tortugas, 

 Florida, in charge of Dr. Alfred G. Mayer ; the Desert Botanical 

 Laboratory at Tucson, Arizona, at present in charge of a non-resident 



