570 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 1138 



eminently fitted for the important office, but 

 one who, though personally quite irreproach- 

 able, was totally ignorant of the operations 

 of the great organization which he was called 

 upon to direct and whose previous training 

 and experience are such as to leave little hope 

 that he will ever be able to acquire more than 

 a very superficial knowledge of these opera- 

 tions. 



The incident, with others of a similar char- 

 acter recently brought into public notice, 

 serves to illustrate the folly of making ap- 

 pointments to places in the government de- 

 manding special qualifications for either per- 

 sonal or political reasons. Happily the prac- 

 tise is becoming more infrequent as adminis- 

 trations come and go and the more the people 

 realize its costly and disastrous consequences 

 the sooner it will disappear entirely. 



E. 



THE CARNEGIE FOUNDATION FOR THE 

 ADVANCEMENT OF TEACHING 



In view of the critical importance of the 

 issues pending before the Carnegie Foundation 

 for the Advancement of Teaching, it is impor- 

 tant that a general expression of views by col- 

 lege and university professors be available. 

 The issues relate to the privileges of retire- 

 ment and the proposed provisions for insurance 

 and annuities which the foundation has offered 

 in their place. The report of the Committee 

 on Pensions of .the American Association of 

 University Professors will soon be available. 

 A group of influential universities have pub- 

 lished replies to the proposals of the founda- 

 tion. The undersigned has published in School 

 and Society (October 1, 1916) a general re- 

 view of the ten years of activity of the founda- 

 tion with special reference to the pending 

 issues. These several expressions indicate a 

 general and emphatic opposition to the steps 

 proposed by the foundation; they enter into 

 detailed consideration of the grounds upon 

 which such opposition is based. Upon the basis 

 of these documents individual opinions are de- 

 sired indicating how far and in what respects 

 the contentions are approved. Statements of 

 general approval and disapproval as well as 

 of specific positions approved or disapproved 

 will be helpful in reaching a fair indication of 



the judgment of those interested. Communi- 

 cations should be made promptly. 



Joseph Jastrow 

 Madison, Wis. 



QUOTATIONS 



THE BRITISH COMMITTEE FOR SCIENTIFIC 

 AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH 



The report of the Committee of the Privy 

 Council for Scientific and Industrial Re- 

 search for the year 1915-16 has recently been 

 issued. The sum at its disposal for the finan- 

 cial year 1915-16 was £25,000, out of which 

 £4,250 was granted to the Royal Society. Por 

 the current financial year 1916-17 the vote 

 was £40,000, and at the close of the academic 

 year a sum not exceeding £6,000 will have 

 been granted to a number of individual re- 

 search workers, students and others. In an 

 appendix is the first annual report of the 

 advisory council. It consists of Sir William 

 S. McCormick (chairman), Lord Rayleigh, 

 Sir George T. Beilby, Mr. W. Duddell, Pro- 

 fessor J. A. McClelland, the Hon. Sir Charles 

 A. Parsons, Professor J. F. Thorpe and Mr. 

 Richard Threlfall. There are three standing 

 committees — on engineering, metallurgy, and 

 mining, respectively. A sketch is given of 

 government action in the present century 

 previous to May, 1915, when the presidents 

 of the boards of trade and education received 

 a deputation from the royal and other learned 

 societies, urging the need for government as- 

 sistance for scientific research for industrial 

 purposes, and the establishment of closer rela- 

 tions between the manufacturers and scien- 

 tific workers and teachers. The government 

 scheme was issued a couple of months later, 

 and the special committee of the privy council 

 and the advisory council itself were there- 

 upon set up. .The object of both committee 

 and council was to be the establishment of 

 " a permanent organization for the promotion 

 of industrial scientific research." Thus was 

 recognized the necessity for organizing the 

 national brain power in the interests of the 

 nation at peace. War has remained as much 

 an art as ever, but its instruments are now 

 not only forged by the man of science, but 

 they need a scientific training for their effect- 



