October 15, 1920] 



SCIENCE 



355 



ena; and issue catalogues of active, dormant 

 and extinct volcanoes, and of local seismic fea- 

 tures. 



6. Central Scientific Bureau 



Dissemination of volcanologic and seismo- 

 logic knowledge will be furthered by working 

 through a body cooperating with all Pacific 

 countries; therefore the conference 



Recommends the establishment of a central 

 bureau for dissemination of scientific knowl- 

 edge among the volcano and earthquake sta- 

 tions of the Pacific. 



7. Geophysical Samoan Station 

 This conference commends highly the work 

 done at the Geophysical Observatory at Apia, 

 Samoa; and expresses the hope that the serv- 

 ice of that station will be continued. 



8. Education of Dwellers in Districts Liable to 

 Disaster 



Great injury and loss of life to persons and 

 damage to human constructions may be caused 

 by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions and may 

 be decreased by general education; therefore 

 this conference 



Recommends that countries liable to seismic 

 disaster educate the people in proper methods 

 of construction, in behavior during emergen- 

 cies, and in the history of such catastrophes 

 elsewhere. 



SAMUEL SHELDON 



Dr. Samuel Sheldon, of the Polytechnic 

 Institute of Brooklyn, died at Middlebury, 

 Vt., of Bright's disease On September 4, 1920. 

 He was a professor of physics and electrical 

 engineering at that institution for the last 

 thirty-one years, and enjoyed a wide reputa- 

 tion as a physicist, educator and consiilting 

 engineer. In appreciation of his services to 

 the Polytechnic, his colleagues of the faculty 

 and the members of the corporation at recent 

 meetings adopted the following minute: 



The oorporation and the faculty of the Poly- 

 technic Institute of Brooklyn desire to give expres- 

 sion to the great loss sustained by the death of 

 Dr. Samuel Sheldon who for thirty-one years served 



the Polytechnic as professor of physics and elec- 

 trical engineering. 



As an educator he was beloved and admired for 

 his sterling qualities of mind and heart, for his 

 earnestness and enthusiasm in the lecture-room, and 

 for his genial good humor on all occasions. The 

 personal interest he held for his students followed 

 them in their professional work, and he derived 

 pleasure from their achievements. They in turn 

 affectionately called themselves ' ' His Boys. ' ' 



As an engineer he attained eminence through his 

 integrity and straightforwardness of character; 

 and by forceful personality and keen judgment he 

 reached the highest ofi&ces in national engineering 

 societies. This broad contact with the engineering 

 fraternity and his association with men of attain- 

 ment brought him experience and vision of ines- 

 timable value to the Polytechnic. 



As a colleague he will always be remembered as 

 a man of action, of precision, yet sympathetic and 

 kind — above aU inspiring. He lived for the Poly- 

 technic, worked unceasingly for its upbuilding, 

 and was rewarded with the happiness that came 

 through the realization of his ideals. 



We, the members of the corporation and faculty 

 of the Polytechnic Institute, herewith express to 

 his family our deep respect and esteem for our 

 beloved Dr. Sheldon and the profound regret that 

 we shall henceforth be deprived of his valuable 

 assistance and counsel in the solution of our edu- 

 cational problems. 



Dr. Sheldon was born in Middlebury on 

 March 8, 1862, the son of Harmon Alexander 

 and Mary Bass Sheldon. He was graduated 

 from Middlebury College in 1883 with the 

 degree of A.B. and then pursued graduate 

 work, receiving the degree of A.M. in 1886. 

 During the next two years he studied at 

 Wiirzburg, Germany, and received the degree 

 of doctor, of philosophy there in 1888. Dur- 

 ing a part of this time he was associated with 

 Kohlrausch, the distinguished physicist, in his 

 celebrated determination of the ohm as the 

 unit of electrical resistance. He was awarded 

 the honorary degi-ee of doctor of science from 

 the University of Pennsylvania in 1906, and 

 from Middlebury College in 1911. 



Dr. Sheldon was the author and joint 

 author of several college text-books. Among 

 them were "Direct-Current Machines," "Al- 

 ternating-Current Machinery," " Electric Trac- 



