April 9, 1920] 



SCIENCE 



359 



The instructing staff of an educational in- 

 stitution is made up, at least theoretically, of 

 men peculiarly adapted to render great public 

 service by conducting research of a funda- 

 mental character, i. e., they are seekers after 

 new knowledge, and yet, at the same time, are 

 teachers and trainers of young men. It is im- 

 portant that these men be not withdrawn into 

 purely industrial work by reason of the greater 

 financial return offered by great corporations, 

 or the acute pleasure which many red-blooded 

 men feel in being professionally connected with 

 great technical developments. Hence, the 

 Technology Plan provides a method by which 

 the staff is enabled to profit by contact vdth 

 men ,of affairs and receive the inspiration which 

 comes from the capitalization of effort, and, at 

 the same time, fertilize and capitalize the in- 

 structional work of the teaching staff. 



The institute, therefore, agrees that if the 

 contractor has special technical problems re- 

 quiring extended consultations, investigations, 

 test, or research work, it will advise the con- 

 tractor where and by whom such service can 

 best be rendered. When one considers the 

 splendid laboratories with which the Institute 

 of Technology is equipped, covering as they 

 do, alm.ost every department of applied science, 

 and its staff, trained in the use of such labora- 

 tories, it is obvious that much of the work will 

 be done within its own organization. But it is 

 neither the desire nor the intention of the 

 Technology Plan to limit the contractor to the 

 facilities of the institute. It is the hope of 

 the Division of Industrial Cooperation and 

 Research, the organization set up to handle 

 the one hundred and ninety contracts already 

 made, that it can enlist the interest of the 

 great body of able consulting engineers 

 throughout the country. When, therefore, con- 

 sultations, tests, investigations, or research 

 work are of such a nature as can be best fur- 

 nished by established commercial organiza- 

 tions, the institute will advise the contractor 

 where, in its judgment, the work can best be 

 cared for. 



' The Technology Plan is, therefore, a more 

 effective means of introducing technical re- 

 search to the manufacturer ; of making the ap- 



plication of science to industrial problems 

 popular; of creating an appreciation on the 

 part of the leaders of industry of the value of 

 science and the necessity of providing, not 

 alone for its application, but for its continued 

 growth and development. 



It is earnestly hoped that the plan here out- 

 lined will be adopted with improvements by 

 other educational institutions for the benefit 

 of both education and industry. 



William H. Walker 



Massachusetts Institute op Technology 



DOLOMIEU 



We have again to thank Professor Alfred La- 

 croix, of the Academic des Sciences, for the 

 publication of a manuscript account by the 

 French mineralogist Deodat Dolomieu of his 

 travels in Sicily in the year 1781.^ 



Dolomieu, who was a Knight of Malta, had 

 in 1771 incurred the displeasure of the Grand 

 Master of the Order on account of his partici- 

 pation in a duel, and was obliged to absent 

 himself from the island for several years. 

 During this time he came to Paris, where he 

 became acquainted with many of the leading 

 scientists of the period, and frequented much 

 the Jardin du Eoi, the forerunner of the pres- 

 ent Jardin des Plantes. The mineralogist Dau- 

 benton urged him to imdertake a geological 

 trip to the island of Sicily and gave him much 

 valuable advice as to the observations he could 

 make there. In a letter written June 9, 1776, 

 to his patron, Duke Alexandre de La Roche- 

 foucauld, Dolomieu says that by pursuing his 

 investigations under the guidance of Dauben- 

 ton's notes, he believes that he would be able 

 to make a collection of characteristic marbles, 

 which he would gladly share with the duke 

 (p. T). 



By 1779, Dolomieu had made his peace with 

 the Order of Malta, and had returned to the 

 island, whence he started in 1781 for his trip 

 to Sicily (p. 8). In a letter of August 6 to his 

 friend Chevalier Gioeni, a distinguished nat- 



1 "TJn voyage g^logique en Sieile en 1781, notes 

 inedites de Dolomieu," by Alfred Laorodx, Seer6- 

 taiire Perpgtuel de I'Acad^mie des Soieneea, Paris, 

 Imprimerie Nationale, 1919, 190 pp. 8vo. 



