Octobee 20, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



569 



where Professor Nutting saw it. I observed the 

 same thing on that evening at Starr's Point, 

 near Wolfville, Nova Scotia. The same great 

 extent of the display was evident, but the 

 brightness was not equal to that described by 

 Professor Nutting. At intervals the display 

 would vanish, to reappear shortly in as great 

 an extent as before. The focus of the aurora 

 seemed to be near the zenith as Professor 

 Nutting describes it. 



The aurora was noticed as soon as it was 

 dark, which in that latitude and at that time 

 was about eight p.m., and lasted for two hours 

 at least; how much longer I am unable to say. 

 The color was uniformly a pearly white; no 

 trace of any other tint appeared. 



Paul E. Heyl 

 Philadelphia, Pa. 



the scientific appointments of 



PRESIDENT WILSON 



To the Editor op Science: In the pub- 

 lished discussions of the wisdom of the presi- 

 dent's appointments in the so-called scientific 

 bureaus of the government and especially in 

 those regarding his recent choice of a superin- 

 tendent for the Coast and Geodetic Survey I 

 have seen no reference to one phase of the sub- 

 ject that seems to me to be, at the present 

 time, of the utmost importance. 



Great emphasis is now placed by the presi- 

 dent and his cabinet on the necessity for 

 " mobilizing " all of the resources of the coun- 

 try, both material and human, so that these 

 resources shall be instantly and completely 

 available for the defense of the country in 

 case such defense shall be called for and ex- 

 traordinary measures are being resorted to for 

 that purpose. 



Those familiar with the work and history 

 of the service will be inclined to think that 

 in the event of an attack by any great power 

 possessed of a strong navy (we are in little 

 danger from any other) the success of our 

 defense will depend in large measure upon the 

 efficiency of the small corps of men constitu- 

 ting the United States Coast and Geodetic 

 Survey. These men have an intimate knowl- 

 edge of our coast in all its vast extent, of all 



the avenues of approach, of obstacles that exist 

 and where such may be easily created, and of 

 the topography of a wide strip of land border- 

 ing on the sea, possessed by no other body, and 

 in time of war involving naval attack and at- 

 tempted landing of troops their knowledge will 

 be invaluable. This fact was fully recognized 

 during the civil war of half a century ago and 

 almost from the beginning the regular opera- 

 tions of the survey were suspended that its 

 officers might be detailed to various military 

 operations on the coast. The superintendent 

 himself personally undertook preparations for 

 the defense of the city of Philadelphia. 



Military and naval officers everywhere gave 

 unstinted praise to the work of the officers of 

 the Coast Survey, declaring in many instances 

 that without their cooperation important mili- 

 tary operations would have been impossible. 

 Under the conditions of modern warfare, 

 when fighting is directed by maps and charts, 

 the enemy being often so far away as to be 

 quite invisible, it is clear that such services 

 as the Coast Survey can render will be im- 

 mensely more important than they were dur- 

 ing the civil war. Indeed it is no exaggeration 

 to say that this small but unique group of 

 highly trained experts under proper leadership 

 should be worth more than half a dozen super- 

 dreadnaughts. One may be rash to compare 

 their possible usefulness with that of the re- 

 cently organized and mobilized aggregation of 

 assorted geniuses from which the president and 

 the country at large are expecting so much, 

 but some knowledge of the work of the officers 

 of the survey during the civil war and a study 

 of the newly developed methods of warfare 

 may justify or excuse such rashness. Thesa 

 facts alone, without considering others, some 

 of which were presented by Dr. Evermann in 

 a recent number of Science, seem sufficient to 

 account for the surprise and disappointment 

 that were almost universal among those having 

 knowledge of the situation when the presi- 

 dent selected as the head of this, the oldest and 

 one of the most important of the scientific 

 bureaus of the government, not one of a con- 

 siderable number of men who by reason of 

 their reputation and accomplishments are 



