182 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIII. No. 1365 



state there is, on an average, one automobile 

 for every six persons.) Farmers, who, a few 

 years ago, seldom went further than their 

 nearest town now go many miles in their 

 automobiles. When they reach a town new 

 to them they want to see whatever is of 

 interest. If all automobilists and other 

 travelers knew a list such as the above could 

 be found in the post-office they would first go 

 there for information. 



There is another important reason why such 

 lists should be on exhibition in jwst-offices. 

 It is very desirable that some person or per- 

 sons in every community should know what 

 has been written about their region. If those 

 government and state publications pertaining 

 to a region were listed and on sale at the 

 post-offices, the postmasters and their assist- 

 ants would know about them and through 

 them this knowledge, which at present is con- 

 fined to comparatively few, would be dissemi- 

 nated. 



All this could be accomplished if congress 

 should pass the following laws: 



1. A law ordering the exhibition of a list 

 of the publications pertaining to the region in 

 which the post-office is situated, of somewhat 

 the same character as that for Williamstown, 

 Massachusetts. 



2. A law ordering the scientific bureaus to 

 send to each first, second, and third class post- 

 office all of the government publications of 

 local interest, and directing the postmasters 

 to offer them for sale. 



3. A law ordering that state publications be 

 offered for sale by the postmasters if the state 

 legislatures so direct. 



It is hoped that all scientists and others 

 interested will write to their congressmen 

 urging the enactment of such a law as that 

 outlined above so that our excellent govern- 

 ment and state publications may become 

 better known and so that our post-offices may 

 become centers of greater usefulness. 



Herdman F. Cleland 



SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 



THE INSTITUTE OF HUMAN PALEONTOLOGY 



On December 23, 1920, the Institute of Hu- 

 man Paleontology ia Paris was formally de- 



clared open by Prince Albert of Monaco, its 

 founder. The account in Nature states that 

 the institute is situated in the Boulevard 

 Saint Marcel. The building, which was Hear- 

 ing completion when war broke out, contains 

 a large amphitheater for lectures and meet- 

 ings, a spacious library, and a number of 

 rooms fitted up as laboratories, for examining 

 and photographing the material furnished by 

 excavation. Collections of specimens from 

 the sites which have already been explored, as 

 well as reproductions of the paintings and 

 drawings found on the walls of the French 

 and Spanish paleolithic caves, are exhibited 

 in the building. An endowment of two mil- 

 lion francs is attached to the Prince of 

 Monaco's fovmdation, and an additional sum 

 has been promised should it be rendered nec- 

 essary by any further increase in the cost of 

 living. The institute is under the direction 

 of M. Marcelin Boule, assisted by a coimcil 

 consisting of MM. Salomon Eeinach, Dislere, 

 Verneau and Louis Mayer. 



Among those who were present at the open- 

 ing ceremony were the President of the 

 French Eepublic, M. Millerand, H.I.H. 

 Prince Roland Bonaparte, M. Honnorat, then 

 Minister of Public Instruction, the Belgian 

 and Italian Ambassadors, the Argentine and 

 Persian Ministers, M. Lacroix, secretary of 

 the Academy of Sciences, the president of the 

 Academy of Medicine, and representatives of 

 the College of Medicine, the College de 

 France, the Pasteur Institute, and the various 

 scientific societies. An inaugural address was 

 delivered by the Prince of Monaco, who de- 

 fined the broad aims of human paleontology. 

 At the conclusion of the prince's address brief 

 speeches were made by M. Honnorat, minister 

 of public instruction, M. Perrier, and M. Le 

 Corbeiller, president of the Municipal Coun- 

 cil, the last named speaking on behalf of the 

 city of Paris. Lastly, M. E. Cartailhac, the 

 veteran archeologist, expressed his joy at the 

 creation of the institute, which, he said, had 

 been his dearest wish throughout his career 

 as an archeologist. 



A NEW CANADIAN AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL 



The problems of technical agriculture in 

 the adjoining provinces of Canada are essen- 



