418 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. LVI, No. 14.50 



MEASUREMENTS OF HUM.A,N CRANIA 



To THE Editor of Science : For many years 

 students of physical anthropology have been 

 handicapped by the lack of reliable cranial 

 measurements from the American area. The 

 National Museum in Washington and several 

 other museums contain rich collections of 

 crania, but no satisfactory measurements of 

 these have been published. 



After some discussion of the situation with 

 Dr. Ales Hrdlicka, curator of physical anthro- 

 pology at the National Museum, and corre- 

 spondence with the secretary of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, a plan has finally been 

 adopted by which the large collections in 

 Washington will soon be made available. 

 Measurements of the entire series of human 

 crania will be made under Dr. Hrdlicka's direc- 

 tion and published in the form of a catalog 

 which will be issued in parts in the Proceedings 

 of the U. S. National Museum. It is expected 

 that several parts will be printed each year, the 

 first being already in press. 



It is to be hoped that other museums will 

 now follow the lead, and that in this way the 

 large mass of materials which they contain for 

 the study of the physical anthropology of the 

 American Indian will, in similar fashion, be 

 made available for students. 



Roland B. Dixon 

 Hakvaed XJNivERsrrT, 

 September 15, 1922 



BIBLIOGRAPHY AND RESEARCH 



To THE Editor of Science: A clearer por- 

 trait of the "book sciences" than that in Mr. 

 W. W. Bishop's "The Record of Science," I 

 have never seen in the ten years that I have 

 been engaged in library work. 



Many of the thoughts expressed in Mr. 

 Bishop's address have been uppermost in the 

 minds of many of the directors of the labora- 

 tories of book science, if I maj' be pennitted 

 to borrow Mr. Bishop's phrase. Many of us 

 have seen this college and that college, this 

 large concern and that large industry, endowed 

 with munificent funds for research. In 1920- 

 1921 there appeared in our leading index to 

 technical periodicals over 100 'titles relating to 



research work. The National Research Council 

 has published a second edition of "Research 

 Laboratories in Industrial Establishments in 

 the United States," listing some 526 industrial 

 houses operating laboratories devoted to re- 

 search in one form or another. The same insti- 

 tution later published a list of the sums invest- 

 ed in research fellowships and endowments. 

 The total endowments and fellowships amount- 

 ed to 565, representing, in round numbers, over 

 $22,000,000. 



Now Mr. Bishop has pointed out that bibliog- 

 raphy is the foundation of research. Yet I 

 fail to find any specified sum set aside for a 

 well equipped laboratory of book sciences. 

 I doubt if 50 per cent, of these 526 industrial 

 concerns supporting laboratories own and 

 operate respectable laboratories for research in 

 facts, or as I choose to call these libraries, 

 laboratories for "research fact-oring." In fact, 

 I know of one organization that spent over 

 $400,000 for a research laboratory and yet in 

 its laboratory for research fact-oring, it did 

 not invest one tenth of that amount. 



Now, then, why not promote sentiment for 

 the establishment of endowments for research 

 laboratories in "fact-oring" and fellowships in 

 book sciences? 



K. C. Walker 



AN UNUSUAL SOLITAIRE GAME 



Deal at random 25 cards from a pack of 52 

 playing cards and arrange them in five com- 

 plete poker hands any one of which may be a 

 flush (such as any five hearts), a straight 

 (such as 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or Ace, K, Q, J, 10, not 

 necessai'ily of one suit), or a full-house (three 

 of one kind and two of another). 



Various persons have tried this solitaire sev- 

 eral hundred times and worked it without find- 

 ing a single case of failure, occasionally after 

 many attempts. It was believed that it would 

 always succeed. After some refiection, the 

 writer invented the following impossible deal: 



Diamonds: 2, 7, Q. 



Hearts: 3, -i, 9, Q, K. 



Clubs: 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, J. 



Spades: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, J, K. 



with exactly two of each kind, excepting the 



