alo 
NATURE 
| Maveot. <19n4 
Among many researches carried on by the director, 
mention may be made of his cultivation of second and 
third generations of mutants arising from  ovarial 
treatments of plants and resulting in further note- 
worthy morphological and physiological departures 
from the original parent stocks. 
The work of the year in the department of experi- 
mental evolution records, among many other advances, 
additional contributions to the laws of human inherit- 
ance; the results of further and more conclusive 
studies of the transmission of traits in plants of the 
genera Bursa and Cfnothera; and some preliminary 
indications of specially instructive investigations in 
the field of biochemistry. The director has divided his 
time between researches based on breeding experi- 
ments carried on at his station and studies of data 
bearing on human heredity collected under the 
auspices of the Eugenics Record Office, of which he 
is also the directing head. 
In his annual report the director of the geophysical 
laboratory gives instructive accounts of the effects of 
pressure in the formation of minerals, of progress in 
the perfection of adequate appliances for calorimetric 
measures of minerals, of the factor of temperature in 
optical studies of crystals, of the results thus far 
obtained in volcano studies, and of the important 
economic investigations of the secondary enrichment 
of copper sulphide ores. It had been hoped that the 
signal success attending the studies of Kilauea a year 
ago might be followed up during the past year, but in 
this the staff has met disappointment, for the volcano 
has been inactive and gives no warning of renewed 
opportunities. 
When the laboratory of the department of marine 
biology was established on Loggerhead Key, Dry 
Tortugas, Florida, now nearly ten years ago, Fort 
Jefferson, on an adjacent island, was an important 
base station of the United States Navy, and trans- 
portation to and from points on the Gulf coast was a 
matter of daily occurrence. In the meantime, how- 
ever, this station has steadily diminished in import- 
ance, and is now virtually abandoned as a naval base. 
This change of conditions shifts the burden of trans- 
portation between the laboratory and the nearest port, 
Key West, about thirty miles distant, wholly upon the 
department; and the resulting increased cost and in- 
convenience have led the director to recommend a 
gradual transfer of his laboratory and activities to a 
more favourable site. Preliminary investigations indi- 
cate that such a site may be had in Jamaica, where 
health conditions and transportation facilities have 
been much improved in recent years, where the cost 
of labour and subsistence is low, and where such an 
international scope as best befits marine biology could 
be readily developed. It may be anticipated that 
definite plans for an advantageous change of site will 
be matured during the present year, and ready for 
submission to the board of trustees in December, 
1914. 
The extensive computations. essential in the deriva- 
tion of the great number of stellar positions observed 
at the temporary observatory at San Luis, Argentina, 
are going forward in the department of meridian 
astrometry at a favourable rate, so that the inclusive 
catalogue of precise positions for stars in both hemi- 
spheres may be expected in due time. Some instruc- 
tive results of these computations, showing the 
stability of the San Luis meridian mark (mire), the 
diurnal variation of the clock corrections, and the 
changes of personal equation for day and night ob- 
servations are given in the report. As in most lines 
of fruitful research, the work of this department is 
noteworthy for its by-products, or for contributions it 
is making to allied lines of inquiry. Obviously, a first 
requisite to a knowledge of stellar motions lies in 
precise determinations of stellar positions at different 
epochs. The so-called proper motions of stars are thus 
| brought to light, and from these it is possible to deter- 
mine also the motion of our solar system. But now 
comes the surprising discovery that these proper 
motions, hitherto supposed to be of a random char- 
acter, are of a systematic nature dependent in large 
degree, apparently, on the stage in evolution any 
individual star has reached and on the group to 
which it belongs. A new and peculiarly fascinating 
field is thus opened to astronomers of all kinds, and 
the by-products referred to seem destined to prove not 
less important than its primary object in positional 
astronomy. The world of astronomy, however, is 
anxiously awaiting the attainment of this object, as is 
well shown by the fact that the preliminary catalogue 
issued by the department three years ago is already 
out of print. 
One of the noteworthy events of the year for the 
department of terrestrial magnetism is the com- 
pletion of the second cruise of the non-magnetic 
ship Carnegie. She arrived in New York in 
February last, having been continually in ser- 
vice. Since’ June 20, 1910.. The aggregate, dis- 
tance traversed in her two cruises is in round 
numbers 100,000 miles. The corresponding distance 
covered by the chartered ship Galilee, in the Pacific 
Ocean during 1905-8 is 60,000 miles. Thus the total 
distance traversed up to date in the magnetic survey 
of the oceans is 160,000 miles, or about six times the 
circumference of the earth. Accurate magnetic data 
have been obtained thereby in all of the oceans be- 
tween the parallels of 50° north and 50° south latitude, 
or near the courses usually followed by vessels. By 
reason of the expedition attained in deriving from 
these surveys the results of chief interest to mariners, 
it has been practicable for chart-publishing establish- 
ments to make prompt revision of defective sailing 
charts or to issue corrections thereto; and a distinct 
improvement in these aids to navigation is already 
noticeable in the charts issued by the leading mari- 
time nations. In the near future it is considered that 
the Carnegie should make surveys in areas not yet 
covered and along some stretches already traversed 
where cloudy or stormy conditions have prevented the 
securing of adequate observations. She will at the same 
time cross her previous tracks as often as practicable in 
order to determine for such intersections the informa- 
tion now most needed by chart-makers, namely, the 
annual changes in the magnetic elements. 
In the near future it is anticipated that the depart- 
ment will have sufficient data to permit the con- 
struction of a new set of magnetic charts, including 
all three magnetic elements (declination, dip, and 
intensity), especially for that part of the globe in- 
cluded between the parallels of 50° north and 50° 
south of the equator. It will then be practicable to 
study the general problem of the earth’s magnetism 
by aid of a large mass of homogeneous data surpass- 
ing in definiteness any mass hitherto available for this 
purpose. In anticipation of the need of experimental 
facilities for studies of this problem and others closely 
related thereto the office and laboratory building of 
the department was authorised a year ago and has 
recently been completed. 
From the date of its establishment nine years ago 
the solar observatory has been one of the most im- 
portant of the enterprises fostered by the institution. 
It has called for heavy annual appropriations; it has 
grown with extraordinary rapidity and with equally 
extraordinary productivity ; and it is now an organisa- 
tion of which the staff of investigators, research 
associates and collaborators, constructors, computers, 
designers, mechanicians, and operators includes up- 
wards of sixty individuals. The report of the director 
