FEBRUARY 16, 1912] 
firmity partially disabled him in later years. 
He was made professor emeritus in 1905 and 
freed from any obligation to do university 
work, yet he voluntarily continued his classes 
for two years in spite of failing eyesight. 
The necessity of submitting to an operation 
for cataract finally compelled him to give up 
lecturing. Although the operation was but 
partially successful, several papers were pre- 
pared by him in these later years. Professor 
Davidson’s indomitable will kept him at work 
when he was able to read only through a nar- 
row slit in blackened cardboard under favor- 
able light and with the help of the strongest 
glasses. 
Under such circumstances he wrote and 
published in 1908 his paper on “ Francis 
Drake on the Northwest Coast of America” 
and, in 1910, the paper on “The Origin and 
Meaning of the Name California.” Both 
these papers necessitated the careful reading 
of old maps and manuscripts and yet every 
point was verified and compared in his manu- 
seript and also in final proof with his original 
source of information. 
To the last he stood as erect as a young 
soldier, and his voice rang with the courage 
that he never lost. To those who knew him 
personally his memory will be treasured be- 
cause of his warm heart and manly character. 
The record of his life is an inspiration toward 
untiring conscientious scientific work. 
Rouutrr S. Horway 
MUSEUM EXTENSION WORK IN CHICAGO 
THREE years ago the Chicago Academy of 
Sciences undertook an educational and mu- 
seum extension policy which was new in that 
city. The work has been done in coopera- 
tion with the public and private schools of the 
city. Nearly one hundred museum loan col- 
lections have been prepared for distribution 
among the schools. During the year 1911, 279 
loans were made to 44 different schools. Each 
collection thus loaned was used with at least 
fifty children and, in many cases, with sev- 
eral hundred children before it was returned 
to the academy. It is estimated that in this 
way the loan collections have been used dur- 
SCIENCE 
261 
ing the past year with upwards of 20,000 chil- 
dren. 
Instructional courses were offered at the 
academy free of charge to the children who 
wished to come. These classes were so 
crowded that a delegate plan was devised 
which is probably unique in museum work. 
Each school room of a given grade may select 
a representative and that representative 
comes to the academy as a “little reporter.” 
With note-book and pencil in hand, and with 
ready questions, these “reporters” make 
every effort to be well prepared to transmit to 
their classmates the lessons of which they 
have had the advantage. In this way the in- 
structional work of the academy has been 
reaching thousands of children in the public 
schools each week. Fifty-six schools were 
represented by 553 delegates in the instruc- 
tional courses at the academy. Through this 
method of representatives from the different 
classes, the work of the academy during the 
past year has been reported to many children. 
Instructional courses to teachers were 
given. Some of these courses were in the 
laboratory and others in the field. The teach- 
ers were organized into groups to carry on 
special studies in the plant and animal life of 
the Chicago region. The study of birds and 
wild flowers were perhaps the most popular 
courses thus undertaken. 
The transition of the academy from a nat- 
ural history museum, organized chiefly for the 
benefit of its members, to an active educa- 
tional institution conducted chiefly for the 
benefit of the community, has been carried on 
under the leadership of the president, Pro- 
fessor T. C. Chamberlin, head of the depart- 
ment of geology at the University of Chicago. 
The educational work was entrusted, three 
years ago, to Dr. Wallace W. Atwood, who 
has had immediate charge of the development 
of this phase of museum extension work and 
has organized the various courses of instruc- 
tion and the methods of taking the museum 
to the people and especially to the children 
in the schools. Mr. La Verne W. Noyes, 
president of the board of trustees, has taken 
an active interest in the development of this 
