SCIENCE 



A WKEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 



OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 



FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 



Friday, Octobee 23, 1908 



CONTENTS 



The Function of the Engineer in the Con- 

 servation of the Natural Resources of the 

 Country: Pbesident Chaeles S. Howe . . 537 



The Increasing Importance of the Barer Ele- 

 ments : Peofessob Phiup E. Bbowninq . . 548 



Scientific Notes OMd News 555 



University and Educational News 558 



Discussion and Correspondence: — 



The Proceedings of the Association of Offi- 

 cial Agricultural Chemists: Peofessob F. 

 W. WoLL. Appointments in Colleges and 

 Universities: Peofessob G. A. Miixee. 

 On the Origin and Age of the Sedimentary 

 Rocks: De. J. M. Schaebeble. Clouds 

 over a Fire: Wm. F. Wallis 559 



Quotations : — 

 Daniel Coit Oilman 565 



Scientific Books: — 



The Harvey Lectures: Peofessob Feedebic 

 S. Lee. Jackson on the Pollution of New 

 York B arbor: A. Abs£;ne Gieault 566 



Scientific Journals and Articles 569 



The Loco-weed Disease : Db. Eeid Hunt . . . 570 



Special Articles: — 



The Effect of Lesio?is of the Dorsal Nerve 

 Roots on the Reflex Excitability of the 

 Spinal Cord: Clyde Bbooks. A Note on 

 the Occurrence of two West Indian Fishes 

 at Beaufort, N. C: Baetis McGlone. 

 Catalytic Reduction of Fats and Oils: 

 Peofessob J. Bishop Tingle 571 



Societies and Academies: — 



Joint Meeting of Geologists of the North- 

 eastern United States with the Section of 

 Geology and Mineralogy of the New York 

 Academy of Sciences: De. Chaeles P. 

 Bbbkey 573 



MS8. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 

 TCTiew should be sent to the Editor of Sciehce, Garrison-on- 

 Budson, N. Y. 



TEE FUNCTION OF THE ENGINEER IN 



THE CONSERVATION OF THE NATURAL 



RESOURCES OF THE COUNTRY 



The prosperity of a eoimtry depends 

 primarily upon its natural resources. The 

 raw material which the farmer and the 

 manufacturer use and the products of 

 which furnish business for the merchant, 

 come from or depend upon timber, fuel, 

 minerals, soil, water. These are the nat- 

 ural resources of any country, and as they 

 exist ia large or small quantities, as they 

 are easy of access, as their quality is good 

 or bad, must depend the agricultural and 

 industrial prosperity and success of the 

 nation. Some countries have large sup- 

 plies of one or more of these natural prod- 

 ucts and a few are blessed with them all. 

 This country is especially fortunate in that 

 it originally had within its bounds not only 

 all of these natural resources, but large 

 quantities of each of them, and that they 

 were rich in quality and easy of access. 

 "When the country was first settled by 

 Europeans, the new inhabitants gave little 

 thought to the question of natural resources 

 except in so far as these directly concerned 

 their daily life. They established them- 

 selves where the soil was rich because they 

 wished to pursue agriculture as a vocation, 

 but they made no study of soils further 

 than this. Forests were regarded as an 

 encumbrance to be cleared away as soon 

 as possible, for they interfered with agri- 

 culture, which was the chief business, and 

 they were the lurking places of wild beasts 

 and wilder men. They were useful only 

 for the purpose of furnishing lumber and 



