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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



ber who reply, only three are decidedly 

 adverse — prelates in the Catholic and 

 Greek churches — though several protes- 

 tant clergymen write guardedly. The 

 identification of Darwinism with the 

 doctrine of organic evolution in the pub- 

 lic mind is unfortunate, for when a 

 scientific man argues that Darwin's 

 theory of natural selection is not an 

 adequate causal explanation of the 

 origin of species, this is distorted to be 

 a ' ' confession ' ' that there has been no 

 organic evolution. 



Sentiment among the churches against 

 the doctrine of evolution, especially in 

 the south, is widespread. A curious ex- 

 hibition is given in a statement re- 

 cently made by a committee on behalf 

 of the Galveston (Texas) Ministerial 

 Association, which reads as follows: 



We wish to say to the public in gen- 

 eral, but to the fathers and mothers of 

 the children of Galveston in particular, 

 that we, the committee appointed last 

 week by the Ministerial Association to 

 confer with the state superintendent of 

 public instruction, with reference to the 

 expurgation of certain statements in 

 Tarr's New Physical Geography plainly 

 teaching the Darwinian and atheistic 

 theory of man 's origin, have done so, 

 and with most gratifying results. 



Referring to our letter to him, Mr. 

 Doughty says : "In reply thereto, per- 

 mit me to say that the copy of the book 

 to which you refer is of the unrevised 

 edition" (the one now in use in the 

 schools — Committee). "Soon after as- 

 suming the duties of this office on Sep- 

 tember 1, 1913, an objection to this 

 paragraph was referred to me as chair- 

 man of the revision committee on the 

 adopted text, and I immediately took up 

 the matter with the publishers and suc- 

 ceeded in securing a satisfactory re- 

 vision of the objectionable paragraph. 

 ... It is my desire to do everything 

 within my power to give the children of 

 this state wholesome instruction, and 

 permit me here to say that I am 'n 

 hearty accord with the ideas and pur- 

 poses of the Christian faith." 



These are noble words on the part of 

 our state superintendent, and in them 

 we have the pleasing assurance that the 

 new edition to be placed in the hands 

 of our children next fall will not con- 

 tain the Darwinian theory of evolution 

 — and this is all we have been contend- 

 ing for. 



SCIENTIFIC ITEMS 



Dr. Alfred E. Barlow, of Montreal, 

 distinguished for his work in Archean 

 and mining geology, with Mrs. Barlow, 

 was drowned in the wreck of the Em- 

 press of Ireland. We regret also to re- 

 cord the deaths of Jesse J. Myers, as- 

 sistant professor of physiology and 

 zoology at the Michigan Agricultural 

 College; of Dr. Paul von Mauser, in- 

 ventor of the Mauser rifle; of Mr. Rob- 

 ert Kaye Gray, an electrical engineer, 

 active in the promotion of scientific re- 

 search in England, and of M. Paul 

 Louis Toussaint Heroult, known for his 

 work with aluminum and the electric 

 furnace. 



A committee has been formed in 

 Prance, under the patronage of M. Poin- 

 care, president of the Republic, for the 

 erection of a monument in honor of J. 

 H. Pabre, the famous entomologist. 

 The idea is, not only to erect a monu- 

 ment at Serignan, but to preserve and 

 to convert into a museum the estate of 

 Harmas, the dwelling of the great nat- 

 uralist. Subscriptions are asked from 

 naturalists all over the world, and may 

 be sent to the president of the com- 

 mittee, M. Henri de la Paillonne, 

 mayor of Serignan (Vaucluse), France. 

 Dr. Thomas H. MagBride, professor 

 of botany, has been appointed presi- 

 dent of the Iowa State University by 

 the State Board of Education. — Dr. S. 

 J. Meltzer, head of the department of 

 physiology and pharmacology of the 

 Rockefeller Institute for Medical Re- 

 search, has been elected president of 

 the Association of American Physi- 

 cians in succession to Dr. Simon Flex- 

 ner. — The Franklin Institute, Philadel- 

 phia, on May 20, presented its Elliott 

 Cresson medals to Dr. Edgar Fahs 

 Smith and Dr. Orville Wright. 



An additional endowment has been 

 provided for the Rockefeller Institute 

 for Medical Research, for the estab- 

 lishment of a department of animal 

 pathology. It is to be organized and 

 conducted by Professor Theobald 

 Smith, of Harvard University. 



