74 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LII. No. 1334 



ogist with his microscope, the physicist with 

 his spectroscope, and the mathematician with 

 his logic are all busily engaged in unravel- 

 ling the mysteries of the structure of the uni- 

 verse. They do not always think of their work 

 in this relation. Ordinarily they will tell you 

 that their work is directed towards the answer 

 to some specific question in a relatively cir- 

 cumscribed field. But eventually the mental 

 pictures which result from this detailed work 

 are integrated into one grand picture of the 

 structure of the universe itself, and all that 

 is trustworthy in this grand picture rests upon 

 the labors of the individual workers in their 

 various fields. 



There are certain questions, however, of a 

 very fundamental character which no amount 

 of labor will ever answer, and to these ques- 

 tions we are at liberty to return such answers 

 as happen to please us. In other words, they 

 belong to the domain of esthetics and not to 

 the domain of science; and yet they are so 

 deep and fundamental that all of our scientific 

 pictures rest upon them. For example: Is the 

 physical universe limited in space, or is it 

 not limited? If it is not limited, or infinite as 

 we say, is the portion of it which we see pe- 

 culiar, or is it fairly representative? Is the 

 epoch of time in which we live a peculiar 

 epoch, or is it a fairly representative one? Is 

 the universe as a whole definitely changing 

 from its present state, or is it a permanent 

 thing, the same yesterday, to-day and forever? 

 I might continue with other and similar ques- 

 tions but there is not time now. You are at 

 liberty to choose your own answers and upon 

 them to rest your interpretation of the uni- 

 verse, or your philosophy. 



For myself, I wish to think of the physical 

 universe as infinite — it jars upon my sensibili- 

 ties to think of it otherwise. I am unwilling to 

 admit that we occupy an essentially peculiar 

 position in either space or time. As for the 

 universe as a whole, it has always been and 

 always will be essentially as it is to-day. It is 

 infinite, eternal and unchangea;ble. 



"William Duncan MaoMillan 



The IjNrvEKSirf of Chicago 



THE PAN-PACIFIC SCIENTIFIC CON- 

 GRESS AND THE BISHOP MUSEUM 

 OF HAWAII 



During the month of August, 1920, a con- 

 gress will be held at Honolulu to outline the 

 scientific problems of the central and southern 

 Pacific Ocean, and to suggest methods for 

 their solution. Delegates from Australia, 

 New Zealand, the United States, and possibly 

 Japan will take part in the discussions, and 

 will formulate a program of research for 

 future guidance in anthropology, geography, 

 geology, and biology. Also it is hoped to lay 

 a foundation for a greater utilization of the 

 econoraic resources of the Pacific. The dele- 

 gates are to be the guests of the Bernice 

 Pauahi Bishop Museum of Polynesian Eth- 

 nology and Natural History, situated in the 

 city of Honolulu. It should be noted here 

 that the idea of a wider Pacific exploration 

 was first put forth by this museum in 1906, 

 and that during the past thirty years the 

 museum has been at work on the ethnology 

 and biology of the central Pacific. Its trus- 

 tees now desire to take up the wider prob- 

 lems of the Pacific — and they are of funda- 

 mental importance — in cooperation with other 

 institutions of research. Yale University, as 

 a result of a gift from Mr. Bayard Dominick 

 of $40,000 for scientific exploration in the 

 southern Pacific, is enabled to enter upon 

 thorough cooperation in the plan, and Pro- 

 fessor Herbert E. Gregory, of the Yale fac- 

 ulty, is now the director of the Bishop 

 Museum and the leader of the congress. 

 Other institutions which have expressed a 

 desire to cooperate are the National Academy 

 of Sciences, the National Research Council, 

 the U. S. National Museum, the U. S. Coast 

 and Geodetic Survey, the Carnegie Institu- 

 tion of Washington, Harvard University, the 

 American Museum of Natural History, the 

 California Academy of Sciences, and the 

 Scripps Institution for Biological Research. 



That the results already accomplished by 

 the Bishop Museum are extensive may be 

 gathered from the following account. Eernao 

 de MagalhaeSj making his way southwest 

 across the rough Atlantic, was the first to 



