ApRIL I, 1915] 
NATURE 
137 

grazing of cattle in the high Alps, deforestation, and, 
more recently, artificial reaftorestation. It was thought 
that the eastern Alps might show more primitive con- 
ditions. Dr. Stejneger visited the mountain region 
between Switzerland and the head of the Adriatic. 
Arrived at the town of Bassano, at the foot of the 
Venetian Alps, he began to study the life zones of the 
Val Sugana and the plateau of the Sette Comuni from 
that point. He made a series of excursions from 
Bassano, Levico, and Trento as successive head- 
quarters. He was able to trace the boundaries of the 
Austral life zones in considerable detail, as well as to 
gather data which connect with the previous cor- 
relation of these zones in the western Alps and with 
the corresponding zones in North America. It was 
found that the bottom of the entire Val Sugana be- 
longs to the upper Austral zone. 
Researches under Harviman Trust Fund. 
Dr. C. Hart Merriam continued during the year to 
carry on certain natural history and ethnological in- 
vestigations provided for by a special trust fund estab- 
lished by Mrs. E. H. Harriman for that purpose. 
His principal work during the year was on the big 
bears of America. In furtherance of this study, 
specimens have been placed at his disposal by 
numerous sportsmen and hunters and by the larger 
museums of the United States and Canada. In the 
course of his investigations a transcontinental line 
was run across the country to the coast of California 
by which the easternmost limits of range were deter- 
mined for a number of species of mammals, birds, 
reptiles, and plants. And while traversing Utah and 
Nevada several remote tribes of Indians were visited, 
particularly the Gosinte, from whom a long-needed 
vocabulary was obtained. 
Anthropological Research in Eastern Asia. 
For the extension of researches in eastern Asia, in 
continuation of anthropological investigations carried 
on in Siberia and Mongolia under the direction of the 
institution in 1912, an allotment has been made from 
the Smithsonian fund for work during the next fiscal 
year and for a limited period thereafter. The plan of 
operations includes a thorough study of the peoples of 
the eastern coast of Asia, Manchuria, Mongolia, Tibet, 
and Siberia, among whom it is believed lies the secret 
of the origin of the American Indian. Investigations 
thus far made by Dr. Hrdli¢ka on behalf of the insti- 
tution indicate, he says, ‘that there exist to-day over 
large parts of eastern Siberia and in Mongolia, Tibet, 
and other regions in that part of the world numerous 
remains which now form constituent parts of more 
modern tribes or nations, of a more ancient popula- 
tion (related in origin, perhaps, with the latest 
Paleolithic European), which were physically identical 
with, and in all probability gave rise to, the American 
Indian.” 
Researches under the Hodgkins Fund. 
The Hodgkins fund was established in 1891 by a 
gift of 40,oool. from Mr. T. G. Hodgkins. By 
subsequent gifts the fund has, increased to about 
50,0001. It was stipulated by the donor that the 
income of 20,0001. of his gift should be devoted 
to the increase and diffusion of more exact knowledge 
in regard to the nature and properties of atmospheric 
air in connection with the welfare of man. He indi- 
cated his desire that researches be not limited to 
sanitary science, but that the atmosphere be considered 
in its widest relationship to all branches of science, 
referring to the experiments of Franklin in atmo- 
spheric electricity and the discovery of Paul Bert in 
regard to the influence of oxygen on the phenomena 
of vitality as germane to his foundation. To stimu- 
late researches in these directions the institution 
NO. 2370, VOL. 95| 

offered a prize of 2000l. for a paper embodying some 
| new and important discovery in regard to the nature 
and properties of atmospheric air, which was awarded 
in 1895 to Lord Rayleigh and Sir William Ramsay, 
of London, for the discovery of argon, a new element 
in the atmosphere. Another prize of 2o0ol. for the 
best popular treatise on atmospheric air was awarded 
to Dr. H. de Varigny, of Paris. Numerous investiga- 
tions on the ‘t composition of expired air and its effects 
upon animal life,’ in ‘“‘atmospheric actinometry,” the 
‘“air of towns,” ‘‘animal resistance to disease,’’ ** ex- 
periments with ionised air,” ‘the ratio of specific 
heats,” and kindred topics have been carriéd on with 
the aid of grants from the Hodgkins fund. Re- 
searches have likewise been aided in connection with 
the temperature, pressure, radiation, and other features 
of the atmosphere at very high altitudes, extending 
during the past year to more than 45,000 feet, and 
many other lines of investigation have been carried 
on, through all of which it is believed that valuable 
knowledge has been acquired by which the welfare 
of man has been advanced. 
. Under a grant from the Hodgkins fund Mr. A. K. 
Angstrom carried on some observations in California 
during the year for the purpose of measuring noc- 
turnal radiations at different altitudes ranging from 
below sea-level to the summit of Mount Whitney, 
4420 metres (14,502 ff.). i 
A grant was also made to Mr. Angstrom to enable 
him to measure the ‘nocturnal radiation ’’—that is, 
loss of heat to space during the total eclipse of the 
sun, August 21, 1914, in the north of Sweden. 
In connection with the International Congress on 
Tuberculosis held in the National Museum in 1908, 
the institution offered a Hodgkins fund prize of 3ool. 
for the best treatise on ‘‘the relation of atmospheric 
air to tuberculosis.”» The prize was divided equally 
between Dr. Guy Hinsdale, of Hot Springs, Va., and 
Dr. S. Adolphus Knopf, of New York, for their essays. 
Research Corporation. 
In February, 1912, the Research Corporation was 
organised under the laws of New York as a means 
for furthering scientific and technical research. Its 
principal object is—to acquire inventions and patents 
and to make them more available in the arts and 
industries, while using them as a source of income, 
and, second, to apply all profits derived from such use 
to the advance of technical and scientific investigation 
and experimentation through the agency of the Smith- 
sonian Institution and such other scientific and educa- 
tional institutions and societies as may be selected by 
the directors. 
The Smithsonian Institution is interested in the 
management of this corporation through the member- 
ship of the secretary in its board of directors. The 
chief assets of the corporation at present are the 
Cottrell patents relating to the precipitation of dust, 
smoke, and chemical fumes by the use of electrical 
currents. A number of other patents in various fields 
of industry have been offered by officers of the Govern- 
ment and scientific institutions, as well as by manu- 
facturing corporations holding patents not available 
for their own purposes, and undoubtedly there are 
many others, both in this country and abroad, who 
will be glad to have their inventions utilised for the 
benefit of scientific research. 
National Museum. 
The growth of the museum during recent years has 
been greater than during any prior period of its 
history. The natural history collections are now given 
adequate room in the spacious halls of the new build- 
ing. Increase in every division of the three principal 
departments of the museum—anthropology, biology, 
