NOVEMBEB 20, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



729 



flames. It is not difficult to reconcile a theory 

 such as this with that of Arrhenius. 



Alfred Sang 



recessive characters 

 For the past two years there has been ex- 

 hibited at the Trenton (New Jersey) Agri- 

 cultural Show a cow without trace of the body 

 hairs. This cow was crossed with a normal 

 bull, according to the owner, Mr. Frank Fraun- 

 felter, of Pennsylvania, and a male calf was 

 born last September which has the ordinary 

 hairy coat. This result indicates that the 

 presence of the hair follicles is dominant over 

 their absence. This adds another case to the 

 law that the presence of a quality is dominant 

 over its absence or that a retrogressive or 

 retarded condition is recessive to the more 

 developed conditions. 0. B. Davenport 



QUOTATIONS 



THE PRESIDENCY OP THE MASSACHUSETTS 

 INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 



The Institute of Technology has now 

 solved a problem of some delicacy and diffi- 

 culty in selecting for the head of that insti- 

 tution Professor Eichard 0. MacLaurin, at 

 present at the head of the mathematical phys- 

 ics department of Columbia University, and 

 he has accepted the honor and the responsi- 

 bility. The institute ha^ been under capable 

 direction during the nearly two years that have 

 elapsed since the resignation of President 

 Pritchett. Acting President Noyes has main- 

 tained its high standards and manifested a 

 degree of executive skill that probably would 

 have given him the full title and lodged the 

 full authority of the position in his hands had 

 he been disposed to accept them. But his 

 chosen iield of chemical research has possessed 

 more attractions for him. In it he has oppor- 

 tunity to blaze new trails in scientific advance, 

 and he is to be commended for his clear and 

 loyal following of his own light and leading 

 in this matter. 



The new president evidently understands in 

 its general features the nature of the work to 

 which he has been called, and his record in 

 educational service indicates that he is one 



who readily becomes master of detail. The 

 experience will be not less new to him than 

 to the institution, which now for the first time 

 will be under the direction of a man born in 

 another country and trained in foreign schools 

 and universities. That is not necessarily an 

 objection. It may prove a positive gain. 

 Professor MacLaurin is a comparatively young 

 man. His attainments are more than excel- 

 lent; they are extraordinary, and few men of 

 his years have won more flattering recognition 

 from sources that bear the stamp of authority. 

 Of course, mere scholarship, even of the 

 highest order, is not enough to meet all the 

 requirements of this new responsibility. His 

 executive ability and his adaptability can be 

 proved only by actual service. But Scotch 

 scholars are thorough; their standards are 

 high and shrewdness and personal tact are 

 among their national characteristics. When 

 Princeton called Dr. McCosh to the presidency, 

 he was a man well along in years, but a famous 

 metaphysician, and he filled the place with 

 distinction. The institute does not need meta- 

 physicians, and the new president has not 

 turned his researches in that direction. He 

 has made great advances in modern science; 

 he is learned in the principles of law and is 

 undoubtedly an enthusiast with respect to the 

 various lines of research with which he has 

 been so conspicuously identified. The insti- 

 tute authorities, the alumni and the public 

 have a well-grounded hope that under his ad- 

 ministration a new era of prosperous service 

 will open up for this famous school. — The 

 Boston Transcript. 



BURDENS OF COLLEGE PRESIDENTS 



President Eliot's impending retirement 

 from the presidency of Harvard is bound to 

 give an impetus to the movement to divide the 

 functions of that office. " The governing 

 boards and the alumni will understand better 

 in six months than they do even now what a 

 void Eliot will leave," writes one of the most 

 prominent of the Boston alumni. But this is 

 not only because Mr. Eliot towers above all 

 other college presidents and is the foremost 

 American citizen. The magnitude of his 

 office is such that it would be a most difficult 



