622 



SCIENCE 



[X. S. Vol. XXXVII. No. 956 



nation of "Geological Survey" should be 

 changed to "Geological and Natural His- 

 tory Survey." Some legislators are fear- 

 ful of the change. The important thing is 

 to get an appropriation and start work. 

 If a good start is made and the survey 

 shows its desert, the change in title can 

 come later. 



In summarizing, I will but mention the 

 few points I have tried to emphasize in 

 this paper: 



1. With but seven states in the union 

 supporting natural history surveys, the 

 present condition of such work the country 

 over is unsatisfactory. 



2. Though efforts have been made to in- 

 duce numerous states to establish natural 

 history surveys, such efforts have been at- 

 tended with but little success. 



3. The probable cause of failure lies in 

 the difficulty experienced by the promoters 

 of such surveys in stating definite and im- 

 portant results that the survey will ac- 

 complish. 



4. The suggestion is made that if the 

 plea for a natural history survey propose 

 a biogeographie regional survey whose re- 

 ports can be used as guides for study by 

 the schools, the proposal will be definite 

 and the object such as to interest a large 

 body of supporters. 



5. To make these reports serve the pur- 

 pose of scientific treatises as well as guides 

 to the study of natural history and bio- 

 geography, special care must be used in the 

 organization and presentation of the ma- 

 terial in written form. 



6. The successful preparation of local 

 guides for the study of natural history, 

 phytogeography and zoogeography will en- 

 able the survey to carry on other scientific 

 work. 



F. C. Newcombe 

 Ann Arbor, Mich. 



RECENT LEGISLATION AFFECTING EDU- 

 CATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN KANSAS 



The state of Kansas, through its legislature 

 which has just closed its biennial session, has 

 finally decided to enter upon what may ap- 

 peal to many as a doubtful experiment in 

 educational administration, although it is 

 hoped that a step forward has been taken. 

 Essentially, the new arrangement consists in 

 the application of the commission form of 

 government, somewhat modified, to all of the 

 state supported educational institutions. 



Two years ago a bill to place the state uni- 

 versity, agricultural college and normal school 

 under one board of administration was passed. 

 It will be recalled that Governor Stubbs at 

 that time obtained the opinion of many prom- 

 inent educators and administrators as to the 

 probable success of the plan. Finding that 

 there was almost a unanimous sentiment 

 against this method of university administra- 

 tion, the governor finall,y vetoed the measure. 



The present state officials were elected on a 

 platform which pledged them to a reform 

 measure which would place all higher educa- 

 tional institutions of the state under a single 

 board. The motive for this change is a desire 

 to secure a more efficient, and at the same time 

 less expensive, administration, in that costly 

 duplication of work in three separate institu- 

 tions might be avoided without decreasing the 

 efficiency or impairing the present high stand- 

 ards of all the institutions. In addition, it is 

 believed that such a plan should lead, if prop- 

 erly carried out, to a better cooperation of all 

 the parts of a complex educational system. 



The act to bring about the centralization of 

 authority in the management of the large state 

 institutions was passed by the legislature, and 

 signed by the governor on February 11. This 

 measure includes the following institutions 

 which are all placed under a single board of 

 three members : The State University of Kan- 

 sas, with the school of mines at Weir City; 

 The Agricultural College at Manhattan, with 

 its experiment stations located at Hays City, 

 Dodge City, Garden City and Colby; the Nor- 

 mal School at Emporia, with the Manual 

 Training Normal at Pittsburgh and the Nor- 



