SCIENCE 



Friday, April 29, 1921 



CONTENTS 



Beorgandsation of tJie WcrTc of the Federal 

 Government : Herbert Hoover 397 



The American Engineering Council: Pro- 

 fessor Dexter S. Bjmball 399 



Plagiarisms: Dr. Jonathan Wright 402 



Conservation Conference on Resources of In- 

 terior Waters 406 



Scientific Events: — 



The American Engineering Council; The 

 Classification and Salaries of Government 

 Employees; The Museums and Collections 

 of Tale University ; The JSecTcscher Fund 

 Grants of Cornell University 407 



Scientific Notes and News 410 



University and Educational News 411 



Discussion and Correspondence: — 



On the Use of tlw Terms "Denudation," 

 ' ' Erosion, " " Corrosion ' ' and ' ' Corrosion ' ' : 

 Dr. Malcolm H. Bissell. Euclid of Alex- 

 andria and tJie Bust of Euclid of Megara: 

 Professor Florian Cajori. Bainlow by 



light: C. J. Elmore 412 



ons: — 

 British Dyestuffs Corporation 415 



Scientific BooTcs: — 



Onslow's Plant Biochemistry: Dr. Clar- 

 ence Austin Morrow. Hrdliclca's Anthro- 

 pometry: Dr. E. a. Hooton 416 



Special Articles: — 



Subepithelial Glycogen Cells in Embryo 

 and Recently Hatched Fish: Dr. Prederick 

 "W. Ellis. The Ovarian Cycle of Swine: 

 Dr. George W. Corner 418 



The National Academy of Sciences 421 



MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 

 review should be sent to The Editor of Science, Garrison-on- 

 Hudson, N. Y. 



REORGANIZATION OF THE WORK OF 

 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENTi 



There is one problem of tlie new adminis- 

 tration that has received the attention and 

 thought of the organized engineers of Amer- 

 ica for many years past This is the problem 

 of the reorganization of the federal govern- 

 ment. The inadequacy, the wastefulness, and 

 the inefficiency of our federal organization 

 was evident enough under pre-war conditions. 

 These inadequacies, these inefficiencies, these 

 wastes were exhibited to the country during 

 the war at the cost of millions. 



Congress has placed the problem in the 

 hands of a very able congressional joint com- 

 mittee. But if this joint committee succeeds 

 in securing the imminently necessary results 

 it will only be by full insistent support to it 

 by public opinion. Many attempts have been 

 made at reorganization before but all of them 

 have gone to the same crematory — the inter- 

 minable differences in opinion among the 

 executive and legislative officials over details. 



To any student of federal organization, one 

 sweeping and fundamental necessity stands 

 out above all others, and that is that the 

 administrative units of the government must 

 be re-grouped so as to give each of the great 

 departments more nearly a single purpose. 

 The hodge-podge of aims in certain adminis- 

 trative branches is scarcely believable when 

 we consider our national pride and skill 

 in organization. Such functions as public 

 domain, public works, assistance to veterans, 

 public health functions, aids to navigation, 

 to industry, to trade, purchasing of major 

 supplies, are each and every one scattered 

 over from four to eight departments, most of 

 which are devoted to some other major 

 purpose. 



1 Summary of an address by Mr. Herbert 

 Hoover, made at the ditmer given in his honor by 

 the Engineers' Club of Philadelphia, April 16. 



