SCIENCE 



Friday, April 9, 1920 



CONTENTS 



The Division of Anthropology and Psychol- 

 ogy of the National Besearch Council: Peo- 

 PESSOR W. V. Bingham 353 



The Technology Plan : Peopessor William H. 

 Walker 357 



Dolomieu: Dr. George P. Kunz 359 



Scientific Events:— 

 TJie Mackenzie Davidson Memorial; The 

 English Union of Scientific WorTcers; The 



> Harvard Engineering School and Indus- 

 trial Corporation; The Forest Club Conven- 

 tion in New Haven; Meeting of the Inter- 

 national Eugenics Congress in New York 

 City 360 



Scientific Notes and News 363 



University and Educational News 365 



Discussion and Correspondence: — 



The Attainment of High Levels in the At- 



' mosphere: Db. J. 0. Coppin. Concerning 

 Ballistics: Propessor Arthur Gordon 

 Webster 366 



Scientific Books: — 

 Knowlton's Catalogue of Fossil Plants: 

 Professor Edward W. Berry 469 



Notes on Meteorology : — 



The West Indian Hurricane of September, 

 1919 : Dr. Charles P. Brooks 369 



Special Articles: — 

 Technique of operation on Chick Embryos: 

 Dr. Eliot E. Clark 371 



The American Chemical Society: Dr. Charles 

 L. Parsons 373 



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

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

 Hudflon, N. Y. 



THE DIVISION OF ANTHROPOLOGY 

 AND PSYCHOLOGY OF THE NA- 

 TIONAL RESEARCH COUNCILi 



A GENERAL of the regular army listening to 

 a description of the National Eesearch Coun- 

 cil remarked, " Tou are the General Stafi of 

 the army of American men of science." The 

 analogy is suggestive. Our war against the 

 realm, of the unknown calls for a determina- 

 tion of broad policies of strategy, as well as for 

 skill in the tactics of attack. Ample resources 

 must he planned for. The relative need for 

 men trained in the various specialized duties 

 of a complex organization must be ascer- 

 tained. The most eilective plans for employ- 

 ing both men and materials must be blocked 

 out. Programs for meeting possible contin- 

 gencies must be thoughtfully elaborated. New 

 suggestions of method in organization must be 

 pondered and tested. The Division of Anthro- 

 pology and Psychology of the National Re- 

 search Council should serve the army of re- 

 search workers in ways similar to these. 



But the analogy breaks down absolutely in 

 one respect. The National Research Council 

 must not, will not, be autocratic. With a rep- 

 resentative membership democratically consti- 

 tuted by election from the scientific societies of 

 America it is in no sense our province to dic- 

 tate, but only to serve. A better analogy com- 

 pares the National Research Council with the 

 Coordination Branch of the General Staff. 



The Division of Anthropology and Psychol- 

 ogy of the National Research Council aims to 

 be of service chiefly in three directions: first, 

 assistance in the coordination of research ac- 

 tivities already in progress or in contempla- 

 tion, to encourage team work, minimize dupli- 

 cation of effort, and decrease the magnitude of 



1 Address delivered at Cambridge, December 30, 

 1919, before a joint session of the American 

 Anthropological Association and the American 

 Psychological Association. 



