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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 740 



fluence of the doctrines of natural selection 

 and evolution on the development of thought 

 and the progress of humanity. Dr. Arthur 

 Ervcin Brovsm, one of the vice-presidents, re- 

 ferred to the fact that the academy had heen 

 the first society in America to recognize the 

 importance of Darwin's v^ork and quoted from 

 his letter to Lyell, of May 8, 1860,in which he 

 says : " This morning I got a letter from the 

 Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadel- 

 phia, announcing that I am elected a corres- 

 pondent. ... It shows that some naturalists 

 there do not think me such a scientific proili- 

 gate as many thinly me here." Dr. Brown also 

 read a letter addressed by Darwin to Dr. 

 Joseph Leidy, under date of March 4, 1860, 

 acknowledging receipt of publications, ex- 

 pressing appreciation of Dr. Leidy's work and 

 returning thanks for his support of the doc- 

 trine of natural selection. Dr. Edwin G. 

 Conklin, also vice-president, then read a 

 memoir of Darwin dwelling on the importance 

 of his work in science and on the relation of 

 the doctrine of natural selection to modern 

 thought. A collection of Darwin's worlds and 

 his letter of acknowledgment of election as 

 correspondent of the academy were exhibited. 



The biological and botanical departments 

 of Brown University held a meeting com- 

 memorative of the Charles Darwin Centennial 

 on February 12. The program was: 



Introductoi-y remarks with exhibition of por- 

 traits of Darwin and his contemporaries, by A. 

 D. Mead. 



"Darwin's Relation to Theories of Heredity," 

 by Professor W. E. Castle, of Harvard University. 



"Darwin's Influence on Practical Breeding in 

 the Work of Luther Burbank," by Dr. George H. 

 Shull, of the Carnegie Institution, Station for 

 Experimental Evolution. 



The State University of Iowa celebrated the 

 Darwin Centennial by two addresses at the 

 assembly of all colleges. Professor C. C. Nut- 

 ting spoke upon the personal traits of Dar- 

 win, and Professor T. IT. Maebride upon his 

 contributions to botany. The Baconian Club 

 devoted its evening program to the memory 

 of Darwin and addresses were made on his 

 contributions to zoology, botany and psychol- 



ogy by Professors G. L. Houser, B. E. Shimek 

 and C. E. Seashore, respectively. 



The Society of Arts held a meeting in com- 

 memoration of the birth of Charles Darwin 

 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

 Addresses were made by Professor William T. 

 Sedgwick, of the biological department, and 

 Professor Percival Lowell, non-resident pro- 

 fessor of astronomy at the institute and di- 

 rector of the Lowell Observatory at Flagstaff, 

 Ariz. 



THE CARNEGIE FOUNDATION FOB THE 

 ADVANCEMENT OF TEACHING 



Two special recommendations have been 

 made by the exeeiitive committee of the Car- 

 negie Foundation to the board of trustees and, 

 having been adopted by the board, have been 

 incorporated in the rules of the foundation. 

 By one of these recommendations the maxi- 

 mum amount of a retiring allowance is raised 

 from $3,000 to $4,000, and by the other the 

 executive committee is directed to grant a 

 pension to the widow of a professor in an 

 accepted institution who has been for ten 

 years married to the professor, the pension to 

 be one half of what the husband would have 

 been entitled to receive. Heretofore the pen- 

 sions to widows have been only permissory. 

 They have now been raised from discretionary 

 ones to a certain provision by the adoption of 

 the following rule: 



Any person who has been for ten years the wife 

 of a professor either in receipt of a pension or 

 entitled to receive one shall receive during her 

 widowhood one half of the allowance to which her 

 husband was entitled. 



The rules for the granting of retiring allow- 

 ances in force January 4, 1909, are as follows : 



A normal retiring allowance is considered 

 to be one awarded to a professor in an accepted 

 college, university or technical school, on the 

 ground either of age or of length of service. 

 The term professor, as here used, is understood 

 to include presidents, deans, professors, asso- 

 ciate professors and assistant professors in 

 such institutions of higher learning. 



In reckoning the amount of the retiring 

 allowance the average salary for the last five 



