SCIENCE 



Friday, June 11, 1920 



CONTENTS 

 The Future of the State Academy of Science: 

 Peofessob Paul P. Boyd 575 



Preliminary Besults of Analysis of Light De- 

 flections observed during the Solar Eclipse 

 of May Z9 : Dr. L. A. Bader 581 



The Fourth Year of the Neotropical Eesearch 

 Station : Dr. Henry Fairfield Osbokn . . . 585 



Scientific Events: — 



Collections of the National Museum; Appro- 

 priations from the Henry Draper Fund of 

 the National Academy of Sciences; Associa- 

 tion of Scientific Apparatus Makers of the 

 United States of America; The Graduate 

 School of Medicine of the University of 

 Fennsylvania; Officers of the NationM Be- 

 search Council 587 



Scientific Notes and News 599 



University and Educational News 992 



Discussion and Correspondence: — ■ 



Modern Interpretation of Differentials 

 again: Professor Edward V. Huntington. 

 Popular Scientific Literature: Joseph L. 

 Wheelee. Sules of the International Com- 

 mission of Zoological Nomenclature: Dr. C. 

 W. Stiles 593 



Special Articles: — 

 Echinoderms in Birds' Stomachs: Dr. 

 Hubert Lyman Clark 594 



The American Philosophical Society: Pro- 

 fessor Arthur W. Goodspeed 595 



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

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

 Hudflon, N. Y. 



THE FUTURE OF THE STATE 

 ACADEMY OF SCIENCEi 



In SciEJfCE of December 5, 1919, Mr. D. D. 

 Whitney presents certain data and conclu- 

 sions on State Academies of Science. Omit- 

 ting mention of a number of large academies 

 centering in cities bis figures sbow that mem- 

 bership varies from 25 to 350; that annual 

 dues run from 50 cents to $10; tbat annual 

 receipts from state or private sources vary 

 from none to $1,500, 9 out of the 18 enjoying 

 such receipts; that 4 out of 18 pay their 

 ofScers salaries, from $75 to $1,000; and that 

 the annual publications by 12 out of the 18 

 academies contain 50 to 600 pages. 



In these academies Mr. "Whitney finds great 

 variation as to interest and vitality, com- 

 ments from the officers being "dead " in three 

 cases, " apathetic " in others, and " very 

 lively " in a few. Assigning grades to in- 

 dicate the various degrees of health and 

 vitality, we may say that of the eighteen 

 academies considered, two would be graded 

 A or " superior " ; one B, or " good " ; eight C, 

 " passing " ; four D, " poor but passing " ; and 

 three E, " failure." This result seems to 

 follow the probability curve fairly well, and 

 should perhaps cause us to look upon the 

 situation with some complaisance. It might 

 be unreasonable to expect all of the group to 

 come up to the highest standard of excellence. 



Our own academy is reported as having 96 

 members, no annual state appropriation, no 

 salaries for officers, no annual publication, 

 and as manifesting an interest " fairly lively." 

 This ranks us as of about C grade, passing 

 but without distinction. Our growth, however 

 from 46 charter members in 1914 to 110 mem- 

 bers in 1920, indicates a persistent vitality, 

 and the classification of our membership, 25 

 per cent, of our resident members being un- 



1 President 's address before the Kentucky Acad- 

 emy of Science, Lexingtou, May 8, 1920. 



