196 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVII. No. 944 



Treasurer — Samuel M. Barton, University of the 

 South, Sewanee. 



Editor — E. M. Ogden, University of Tennessee, 

 Knoxville. 



The following resolutions were passed on the 

 conservation of Tennessee's water power and ex- 

 hibits at the national expositions : 



"Wheeeas, it is becoming increasingly evident 

 that the water power of our state is becoming 

 appropriated to corporate use and alienated, per- 

 haps forever, from the control of the common- 

 wealth, to the great detriment of this and future 

 generations, we, the Tennessee Academy of Sci- 

 ence, respectfully recommend to his excellency, the 

 governor, and to the legislature of the state of 

 Tennessee, the immediate passage of a law author- 

 izing the governor to appoint a conservation com- 

 mission which shall have power (1) to grant, 

 under such restrictions as are hereinafter sug- 

 gested, renewable franchises for a limited term, 

 to all corporations desiring to make use of said 

 water power; (2) to secure a permanent water 

 supply, provide for the cooperation of the state 

 in forestry conservation, and the eventual creation 

 of a state forest reserve; (3) to prevent the 

 diversion of the electric power derived from the 

 natural waters of Tennessee to the enrichment of 

 other states, and to encourage its utilization 

 within our own borders, and to that end (4) to 

 cooperate with the boards of trade and other civic 

 bodies to secure the location of industrial plants 

 in all localities where power is cheap and abun- 

 dant, and (5) to assure a more permanent and 

 lasting supply of cheap power throughout this 

 state in all parts thereof, whether blessed with 

 water power or not, by the prevention of waste in 

 mining and use of coal. 



' ' We further recommend that the commission be 

 instructed to investigate the feasibility of a state- 

 wide system of power conservation, development 

 and transmission, whereby every section of the 

 state may enjoy an equitable share of the benefit 

 thereof; and that the commission report its find- 

 ings to the next session of the legislature. 



' ' We suggest further the appointment on said 

 commission of a practical expert in each of the 

 following departments of activity: hydro-electric 

 engineering, forestry, mining and scientific busi- 

 ness management. 



' ' To these ends we recommend the enactment of 

 legislation similar to that already in force in the 

 states of New York and California, providing for 

 the conservation of their natural resources. ' ' 



' ' In view of the three great expositions which 

 are to be held in the near future, viz., the National 

 Conservation Exposition, Knoxville, Tenn., 1913, 

 the National Exposition, San Diego, Cal., 1914, 

 and the Panama Canal Exposition, San Francisco, 

 1915, the Tennessee Academy of Science, at its 

 annual convention in Knoxville assembled, urges 

 that the present session of the legislature should 

 take immediate action to provide for an exhibit 

 that shall properly and adequately set forth the 

 resources of the state, especially in her water 

 powers, her agricultural opportunities, her forests, 

 her mineral wealth and her manufacturing advan- 

 tages. 



"It is suggested that an exhibit that could be 

 used successively in the different expositions above 

 named would advertise the state widely, without a 

 proportionate cost, and would prove to be of ex- 

 treme material value to the state." 



Members from all sections of the state were 

 present at this, the first annual meeting of the 

 academy. 



Wilbur A. Nelson, 



Secretary 



Capitol Annex, 

 Nashville, Tenn. 



THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 

 The academy and its affiliated societies held 

 their annual dinner, Monday evening, December 

 16, at the Hotel Endicott. After the dinner, the 

 annual meeting of the academy was held, at the 

 conclusion of which Mr. Emerson McMillin gave 

 his address as retiring president, in which, after 

 reviewing the present condition of the academy 

 as derived from conference with a large number 

 of the men who have long been active in carrying 

 on its various lines of work, he made several 

 recommendations regarding the plans which might 

 be adopted for enlarging the usefulness and in- 

 terest of the organization and its meetings. The 

 address will be printed in full in the concluding 

 portion of Vol. 22 of the Annals. At the close of 

 President McMillin 's address, Mr. V. Stefansson. 

 gave a most interesting summary account of the 

 expedition which he and Dr. R. M. Anderson made 

 along the arctic coast of western North America, 

 from Point Barrow to Coronation Gulf, during the 

 years 1908-12 inclusive. At the close of his lec- 

 ture, Mr. Stefansson outlined the plans of the 

 second expedition which he is now organizing for 

 geographical and ethnological work on Victoria, 

 Banks and Prince Patricks Islands in the years 



