226 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. L. No. 1288 



THE BRUSSELS MEETING OF THE 



INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH 



COUNCIL 



A FEDERATION of National Researcli Coun- 

 cils met in Brussels on July 18-28. From an 

 article in Nature we learn that the following 

 countries and dominions were represented by 

 their deleg-ates : Belgium, Canada, France, 

 Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, Eoumania, 

 Serbia, the United Kingdom and the United 

 States of America. 



On the morning of July 18, the delegates 

 met in the Palais des Academies, where King 

 Albert was present. M. Harmignie, the min- 

 ister of science and arts, welcomed them in a 

 short address in which he dwelt on the impor- 

 tance of the occasion and on the valuable 

 results which would be obtained from inter- 

 national cooperation in science, and wished 

 them success in their deliberations. 



M. E. Picard, the president of the executive 

 committee, was prevented by ill health from 

 being present, M. A. Lacroix presided at the 

 meetings of the general assembly. The first 

 business was the consideration of the statutes 

 of the International Eesearch Council which 

 had been provisionally agreed upon in Paris, 

 and now came up for consideration in the final 

 form as recommended by the executive com- 

 mittee. 



The objects of the council are therein de- 

 fined to be: 



(o) To coordinate international efforts in the 

 different branches of science and its applications. 



(6) To initiate the formation of international 

 associations or unions deemed to be useful to the 

 progress of science. 



(c) To direct international scientific action in 

 subjects which do not fall within the province of 

 any existing association. 



(d) To enter, through the proper channels, into 

 relations with the governments of the countries 

 adhering to the council to recommend the study 

 of questions falling within the competence of the 

 council. 



The countries adhering to the council are 

 those already mentioned as represented by 

 their delegates as well as Brazil, Australia, 



South Africa, Greece and Portugal — that is, 

 those of the allied nations who were originally 

 invited to form the International Council as 

 possessing academies of science, and being 

 engaged in scientific work. To these, other 

 nations may be added at their own request or 

 on the proposal of a country already belonging 

 to the council, or union, by a three-fourths 

 vote in favor of admission. 



The work of the council will be directed by 

 the general assembly, which will meet or- 

 dinarily every three years, but in the interval 

 between its successive meetings business will 

 be transacted by an executive committee of 

 five members nominated by the general as- 

 sembly and holding office until the next meet- 

 ing of the general assembly. In the present 

 case the executive committee, consisting of 

 Professor E. Picard, Dr. A. Schuster, Dr. 

 G. E. Hale, M. Volterra and M. Lecointe, has 

 been reelected and will consider its character 

 and constitution and report to the next meet- 

 ing of the general assembly before its organi- 

 zation is finally laid down. 



The concluding meeting of the council was 

 held on July 28, when it was decided that all 

 neutral nations should be invited to join the 

 International Research Council and the Inter- 

 national Unions created under its auspices, 

 thus providing for the reeonstitution of inter- 

 national scientific associations so far as is 

 practicable at the present time. 



SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 



THE GALTON LABORATORY 



In a letter to the London Times Professor 

 Karl Pearson calls attention to the fact that 

 in 1908 Sir Francis Galton died and left the 

 residue of his estate to the University of Lon- 

 don for the maintenance of a laboratory for 

 the study of eugenics. The objects of that lab- 

 oratory were to be: (1) Eesearch concerning 

 all that tends mentally or physically to the 

 improvement of the race; (2) dissemination of 

 the knowledge thus acquired by public lec- 

 tures and publications; and (3) the accumu- 

 lation of material bearing on problems of ra- 

 cial fitness. Owing to the generosity of Sir 

 Herbert Bartlett, a building for the housing 



