184 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 735 



lieve but that the illustrations of species pub- 

 lished in connection with the " Manual " -will 

 do away with most of the usefulness it may- 

 have had as a training subject preliminary to 

 advanced studies upon plant life. 



Henry L. Bolley 

 NoBTH Dakota Agbicultueal College, 

 December 26, 1908 



DISTRIBUTION OF THE NOBEL PRIZE 



To THE Editor of Science : In his interest- 

 ing and important address as retiring presi- 

 dent of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science, printed in your 

 issue of January 1, Professor Nichols makes 

 two statements regarding which I wish to 

 submit a bit of confirmatory evidence, de- 

 rived from the awards of the Nobel prizes for 

 the eight years that they have been estab- 

 lished. 



The two statements are: (1) "The men 

 who have laid the foundations upon which 

 civilization is built have nearly all been 

 teachers and professors." (2) " We have less 

 than our share of men of science." 



Each year five Nobel prizes of a value of 

 about $40,000 each are awarded, three of 

 which alone, those in physics, in chemistry, 

 and in physiology and medicine, concern us at 

 present. These are awarded to the persons 

 who have been most serviceable to mankind 

 during the preceding year by making the most 

 important discovery, invention or improve- 

 ment in the designated field. The other two 

 prizes are for work in literature and for work 

 in the interest of international peace. Of 

 the 24 prizes for scientific work of this de- 

 scription 16J have been awarded to univer- 

 sity professors, 3 more to directors of scien- 

 tific research institutes, 3 more to teachers in 

 scientific schools of high grade, viz.. Royal 

 Institution of London, ]6cole Polytechnique, 

 and School of Physics and Industrial Chem- 

 istry of Paris (a divided prize) and the 

 Academy of Military Medicine in St. Peters- 

 burg, and only 1^ to persons apparently not 

 engaged in teaching. Even if allowance is 

 made for one or two cases, like that of Major 

 Ronald Ross, in which the scientific work was 



done first and the position as a teacher re- 

 sulted from it, it seems clear that at least four 

 fifths of these prizes have been awarded to 

 teachers in institutions designed to encourage 

 research. 



With reference to the second point quoted 

 above it should be noticed that the Swedish 

 committees of award have shown no tendency 

 to favor Swedish or Scandinavian scien- 

 tists. They have allotted the prizes to per- 

 sons in the various countries as follows : 



Germany 8 Sweden 1 



England 5J United States 1 



France 4 J Italy i 



Denmark 1 Spain i 



Netherlands 1 ^^^^j ^ 



Russia 1 



Does not the above grouping correspond 

 roughly to the order in which most scientists 

 would arrange the great countries with refer- 

 ence to their important contributions to the 

 advance of knowledge and support in an in- 

 teresting way the second claim of Professor 

 Nichols? 



Walter F. Willcox 



COENELL UNIVEKSITT, 



January 11, 1909 



QUOTATIONS 



HARVARD university AND THE MASSACHUSETTS 

 INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 



It seems probable that the taking from the 

 institute by Harvard of two of its leading 

 professors will bring up again the question of 

 a consolidation or of an alliance between these 

 two educational institutions. Recognizing the 

 position occupied by the institute. President 

 Eliot, of Harvard, throughout the whole of 

 his long administration has refrained from 

 developing technical education along extensive 

 lines. His attitude in this respect is the more 

 noticeable when the great development of the 

 university in all other professional fields is 

 considered, and it is also remarkable because 

 during this period there has been great devel- 

 opment in technical education in almost all 

 other institutions, the students in technical 

 subjects forming in many institutions by far 

 the larger part of the undergraduate depart- 

 ment. 



