SCIENCE 



Friday, Mat 28, 1909 



CONTENTS 



The American Association for the AdvoMce- 

 ment of Science: — 

 Race Problems in America: Professor 

 Franz Boas 839 



The International Congress of Applied Chem- 

 istry 849 



The Summer Meeting of the American Chem- 

 ical Society: Professor Chables L. Par- 

 sons 850 



Formation of the Joint Committee on the 

 Unification of Methods of Analysis of Fats 

 and Oils 851 



The Puget Sound Marine Station 851 



The Biological Station of the University of 

 Michiga/n, 851 



lo Notes and News 852 



and Educational News 855 



Discussion and Correspondence: — 



Some New Data on the Professor's Fiimn- 

 cial Position: J. G. Coffin. Fair Play and 

 Toleration in Science: Professor T. J. 

 J. See 855 



Scientifio Books: — 



Annals of the Astronomical Observatory of 

 Harvard College: Professor R. DeO. Ward. 

 Bulletins of the American Museum of Nat- 

 ural History: L. P. Geatacap 861 



Special Articles: — 



Radium in Spiral Nebulce and in Star Clus- 

 ters : Dr. Monroe B. Sntder. Observations 

 on the Shifting of the Charmel of Missouri 

 River: H. B. Dtjncanson. The Proper 

 Name of the American Eel: B. A. Bean . . 865 



The American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science: — 

 Section L — Education: Professor C. R. 

 Mann ^. . . 872 



The Entomological Society of America: J. 

 Chester Bradlet 873 



Societies and Academies: — 



The Michigan Academy of Science: Pro- 

 fessor Alexander G. Ruthven 877 



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

 review should be sent to the Editor of Science, Garrison-on- 

 Hudson, N, Y. 



RACE PROBLEMS IN AMERICA^ 

 The development of the American na- 

 tion through amalgamation of diverse 

 European nationalities and the ever-in- 

 creasing heterogeneity of the component 

 elements of four people have called atten- 

 tion to the anthropological and biological 

 problems involved in this process. 



I propose to discuss here these prob- 

 lems with a view of making clear the 

 hypothetical character of many of the gen- 

 erally accepted assumptions. It will be 

 our object to attempt a formulation of the 

 problems, and to outline certain directions 

 of inquiry, that promise a solution of the 

 questions involved, that, at the present 

 time, can not be answered with scientific 

 accuracy. It is disappointing that we have 

 to accept this critical attitude, because the 

 events of our daily life bring before our 

 eyes constantly the grave issues that are 

 based on the presence of distinct types of 

 man in our country, and on the continued 

 influx of heterogeneous nationalities from 

 Europe. Under the pressure of these 

 events, we seem to be called upon to formu- 

 late definite answers to questions that re- 

 quire the most painstaking and unbiased 

 investigation. The more urgent the de- 

 mand for final conclusions, the more needed 

 is a critical examination of the phenomena 

 and of the available methods of solution. 



Let us first represent to our minds the 

 facts relating to the origins of our nation. 

 When British immigrants first flocked to 

 the Atlantic coast of North America, they 

 found a continent inhabited by Indians. 

 The population of the country was thin, 



'Address of the vice-president and chairman of 

 Section H, American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science, Baltimore, 1908. 



