880 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXX. No. 781 



tional institutions from one another is by no 

 means an innovation, and its legality seems 

 out of serious question. At any rate, the 

 function of the new association is merely, 

 through its secretary, to inform members as 

 to where they can horrow (if they like) 

 urgently needed research chemicals while 

 waiting for them to arrive from Germany. I 

 have received a number of letters prophesying 

 usefulness for the undertaking. 



M. A. EOSANOFP, 



Secretary 

 Clark Univeesity, 

 WoECESTER, Mass., 

 November 20, 1909 



THE CIVILIZATION OF BOHEMIA 



To THE Editor of Science : In the first para- 

 graph of the address by Dr. M. Toch, on the 

 first page of Science, of November 19, there 

 occurs a certain generalization on the effects 

 of illiteracy in several European countries. 

 The writer says : " In many of the countries 

 of Europe illiteracy is universal "—which, of 

 course, is not correct itself. And this is fol- 

 lowed further on, as in illustration of the ef- 

 fects of the illiteracy, by the sentence : " What 

 have those countries like Eoumania, Bulgaria, 

 Bohemia (italics my own), Hungary, Rus- 

 sia and dozens of others, ever amounted 

 to, and what are their commercial relations 

 with the rest of the world, compared with 

 Germany, France, England or the United 

 States?" Now all I desire is to say a word 

 regarding Bohemia, which is the land of my 

 birth. The inclusion of that country in the 

 above sentence is extremely unjustifiable, for 

 as any statistics on that question, including 

 the data of the U. S. Bureau of Immigration, 

 will show, Bohemia leads all the coun- 

 tries of Europe, including the greater part of 

 Germany, in the lowness of the percentage of 

 the illiterate, these being practically reduced 

 to the defectives. And as to whether that 

 country ever amounted or now amounts to 

 anything in the sciences, arts, industries, etc., 

 it is sufiicient to refer to history and to the 

 commercial and tax statistics of the Austrian 

 empire. In view of these facts the above 

 statement must be characterized as a very 



loose one and it is regrettable that it found 

 place in this esteemed journal. 



Ales Hrdlicka 

 Washington, D. C, 

 November 19, 1909 



mars as the abode op life 

 To the Editor of Science: On page 339 of 

 Science I notice " 2 " has been printed for 

 " r " in the denominator of the right side of 

 the formula in the middle of the page. It 

 reads correctly in my copy of the proof. The 

 thing is evident as a misprint to any mathe- 

 matician from the deductions — ^but it may as 

 well be stated. Percival Lowell 



QUOTATIONS 



the u. s. naval observatory 

 The President's recommendation concern- 

 ing the Naval Observatory is eminently 

 sound. He urges that the official head of that 

 great astronomical establishment should be an 

 eminent astronomer, and not a naval officer 

 detailed for service for a shorter or longer 

 term. This mode of filling the post of head 

 of the observatory could not have survived 

 so long as it has were it not for the en- 

 tirely false notion conveyed in the name of 

 the institution. As the President truly says, 

 all the uses of the observatory specifically re- 

 lated to the needs of the navy might be sub- 

 served at a small fraction of the cost involved 

 in the maintenance of the Naval Observatory. 

 The part it really plays is that of a great na- 

 tional observatory, and its material equip- 

 ment is of a character befitting such a part. 

 The President calls it " the most magnificent 

 and expensive astronomical establishment in 

 the world." Alongside its important observa- 

 tional work is carried on the Nautical Alma- 

 nac, in connection with which the labors of 

 Simon Newcomb and of George W. Hill have 

 made American mathematical astronomy illus- 

 trious the world over. The whole of this ac- 

 tivity should, as a matter of course, be 

 presided over by an astronomer of the first 

 rank, under a permanent tenure, and not by 

 a man who, in the nature of the case, must be 

 comparatively an amateur, and who is likely 

 to look upon the post as a pleasant berth 



