THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE 



411 



THE SESEARCE WORK OF THE 

 CARNEGIE INSTITUTION 



Mb. Caenegie's recent gift of $10,- 

 000,000 in bonds of the U. S. Steel Cor- 

 poration to the institution which he es- 

 tablished in Washington nine years ago 

 gives it an endowment of $22,000,000 in 

 securities bearing 5 per cent, interest 

 and worth at least $25,000,000. The 

 endowment of Stanford University is 

 about the same, and Mr. Eockef eller 's 

 endowment of the University of Chicago 

 is abgut $10,000,000 greater. Each of 

 these institutions through the gift of a 

 single man has resources larger than 

 any university has had until very re- 

 cently, and aproximately equal to the 

 present endowments of Harvard and 

 Columbia. If this country does not as- 

 sume the leadership in scientific re- 

 search and productive scholarship, it 

 will not be through lack of endowment. 



The work of the Carnegie Institu- 

 tion is each year reported with clear- i 

 ness and fullness in the year-book. 

 The president gives an account of the 

 financial operations and a summary of | 

 the investigations accomplished and in i 

 progress and the heads of departments 

 and the recipients of grants describe 

 their work. Liast year the sum of 

 about $440,000 was appropriated for 



the ten research departments, about 

 $90,000 for minor grants and research 

 associates, about $100,000 for publica- 

 tions and about $45,000 for adminis- 

 tration. Among the research depart- 

 ments astronomy fares the best with 

 an appropriation of over $150,000, and 

 geophysics and terrestrial magnetism 

 next, with over $125,000. 



The solar observatory on Mt. Wilson 

 reports the results of nineteen re- 

 searches concerned largely with sun- 

 spots and the sun's speetrum, but ex- 

 tending also to stellar spectroscopy and 

 photography. The tower telescope, 

 shown in the accompanying illustration, 

 is now complete except the spectro- 

 scopic attachments. A well in the rock 

 below 75 feet deep forms part of the 

 tube of the instrument. The meeting 

 of the Solar Union at the observatory 

 has been described in this journal. The 

 department of meridian astronomy has 

 conducted observations in Argentina 

 and compilations at the Dudley Obser- 

 vatory. 



The geophysical laboratory has con- 

 cerned itself with the study of rocks un- 

 der experimental conditions more espe- 

 cially with reference to temperature and 

 pressure. The non-magnetic ship of 

 the department of terrestrial magnet- 



