384 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. A'OL. XLYII. No. 121ff 



The duties of the institution have been so ar- 

 ranged that it is believed entirely satisfactory re- 

 sults have been attained, vrhile the operations move 

 vrith a common purpose known to the entire staff. 

 The council has held its regular meetings and spe- 

 cial meetings for the consideration of matters re- 

 quiring prompt action. 



The Naval Observatory consists of an astronom- 

 ical department for securing the most accurate 

 positions of the heavenly bodies possible; a nau- 

 tical department in which are tested and repaired 

 navigational instruments for the Navy; an office 

 for the preparation of a nautical almanac by which 

 the ships ascertain their positions at sea; a time 

 service by which the operation of all railroads, 

 ships and commercial bodies are furnished accu- 

 rate time daily ; a compass office in which the latest 

 form of compasses are examined, as well as a 

 means to show the younger naval officers the latest 

 improvements in them; an inspection department, 

 with inspectors at New York, Boston and San 

 Francisco, under direct supervision of the ob- 

 servatory. These inspectors are on duty at the 

 factories of manufacturers engaged in the produc- 

 tion of navigational material for the Navy and 

 United States Shipping Board. There is not 

 another national observatory in any country that 

 has all these departments combined under one 

 head and carried on in one plant. Therefore, when 

 this question of expense arises and comparisons 

 are made, those separate departments should be 

 combined to get the true cost. 



A few of the complimentary notices from com- 

 petent authorities are appended. 



GIFT TO THE RED CROSS FOR MEDICAL RE- 

 SEARCH IN FRANCE 



The Atlantic Division of the American Red 

 Cross lias announced that hereafter all expendi- 

 tures for vivisection would come from a fund 

 which had heen contributed by an individual. 

 The announcement, which came here from 

 Harvey D. Gibson, general manager of the Red 

 Cross in "Washington, said that this fund also 

 would be used to reimburse the treasury of the 

 organization for money already spent in ex- 

 periments on living animals. Mr. Gibson's 

 statement in part was as follows : 



Considerable public and private criticism has 

 been made of an appropriation of the American 

 Eed Cross in August, 1917, for medical research 

 work in France, because partly involved in this 

 work was experimentation upon living animals 



for the purpose of finding methods of prevention 

 and remedies for new and strange diseases among 

 soldiers. This appropriation was made at a time 

 of emergency, upon the recommendation of army 

 medical officers and of a number of eminent scien- 

 tists in this country. Prompt action was necessary, 

 and it seemed to officers of the Eed Cross at the 

 time that the use of money in this way was proper 

 from the Red Cross point of view, for it would be 

 difficult to imagine any more imperative duty upon 

 the Eed Cross than to seek for every means of pre- 

 vention and remedy for sickness among soldiers. 



The Eed Cross did not, as has been stated, ap- 

 propriate this money for abstract medical research 

 and experimentation. It was to be used for the 

 direct and immediate purpose of finding ways to 

 prevent or cure wounds and sickness among 

 American soldiers. It was strictly a war meas- 

 ure. It develops, however, that there are large 

 numbers of earnest Eed Ci'oss members who have 

 sincere convictions against the use of animals for 

 discovery of remedies for sickness. We rMOgnize 

 that it should be an obligation of the Eea Cross 

 management to show deference to such honest con- 

 viction. 



Eealizing the situation, an individual has come 

 forward and has offered to supply money neces- 

 sary for this work so that none shall be taken 

 from the general funds of the Eed Cross. The 

 fund provided will also be used to reimburse the 

 Eed Cross General Fund for any expenditures in 

 connection therewith in the past. The War Coun- 

 cil decided to accept this offer without in any way 

 taking a position either for or against the ques- 

 tion in controversy, but becali^e they do not wish 

 their acts to be considered to be in conflict with 

 the sincere convictions of Eed Cross members. 



The New York Times says in an editorial 

 article : 



It win be with regret deeply tinged with indig- 

 nation that all sane and reasonably enlightened 

 people will hear of the decision by the heads of the 

 Eed Cross not to use for animal experimentation — 

 often and almost always incorrectly called "vivi- 

 section" — the money hitherto appropriated by 

 them for that purpose. The decision may mean 

 avoiding the loss of a few contributions to the 

 Eed Cross funds, but it also means the triumph of 

 vicious ignorance over common sense, and it will 

 encourage to further efforts the members of the 

 most detestable and not the least dangerous group 

 of men and women to be found in the United 



