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money will be used to erect in Washington a home of suitable 
architectural dignity for the two beneficiary organizations. The 
remainder will be placed in the hands of the Academy, which 
enjoys a federal charter, to be used as a permanent endowment 
for the National Research Council. This impressive gift is a 
fitting supplement to Mr. Carnegie’s great contributions to science 
and industry. Other gifts have been made to the Council for 
the carrying out of specific scientific researches under its 
direction. 
The Council is a democratic oveanieatien based upon some 
forty of the great scientific and engineering societies of the 
country, which elect delegates to its constituent Divisions. It is 
not supported or controlled by the government, differing in this 
respect from other similar organizations established since the 
beginning of the war in England, Italy, Japan, Canada, and 
Australia. 
The Council was organized in 1916 as a measure of national 
preparedness, and its efforts during the war were mostly con- 
fined to assisting the government in the solution of pressing war- 
time problems involving scientific investigation. Reorganized 
since the war on a peace-time footing, it is now attempting to 
stimulate and promote scientific research in agriculture, medi- 
cine, and industry, and in every field of pure science. The war 
afforded a convincing demonstration of the dependence of modern 
nations upon scientific achievement, and nothing is more certain 
than that the United States will ultimately fall behind in its 
competition with the other great peoples of the world unless 
there be persistent and energetic effort expended to foster scien- 
tific discovery. The Council was reorganized in 1918, by an 
executive order of the President, on a permanent peace-time 
basis. ; 
At the suggestion of Mr. Herbert L. Bridgman, member of the 
Board of Regents of the State of New York, the library of the 
Botanic Garden has been presented with a copy of the “ Wild 
Flowers of New York,” Part I, by the state botanist, Homer D. 
House. The book comprises 143 colored plates accompanied by 
