860 
as important for the nation as for men of science 
that scientific work should be adequately recog- 
nized and supported. We are consequently in the 
fortunate position of knowing that whatever we 
do to promote our own interests is at the same 
time a service to the community and to the world. 
Trade unions and organizations of pro- 
fessional men, in spite of occasional 
abuses, have been of benefit not only to 
those immediately concerned, but to so- 
ciety as a whole. President Eliot did not 
obtain commendation for calling the 
“‘seab’’ a hero. But if it is expedient to 
better the conditions under which work of 
any kind is done, this is of the utmost im- 
portance for education and research. If 
we can unite to improve the conditions of 
the academic career, so that it will attract 
the best men and permit them to do their 
best work, we make a contribution to the 
welfare of society which is permanent and 
universal. It may be that the time has 
now come when it is desirable and possible 
to form an association of professors of 
American universities, based on associa- 
tions in the different universities, the ob- 
jects of which would be to promote the in- 
terests of the universities and to advance 
higher education and research, with special 
reference to problems of administration 
and to the status of the professors and 
other officers of the university. 
The space at my disposal is exhausted 
and many problems directly and indirectly 
concerned with the control of a university 
remain untouched. I am well aware that 
this paper is written in the spirit of the 
advocate and the reformer, rather than 
from the point of view of the judge and 
the responsible administrator. Against 
most of the suggestions which have been 
made valid objections may be urged. The 
only principle that I am prepared to de- 
fend whole-heartedly is that the university 
should be a democracy of scholars serving 
the larger democracy of which it is a part. 
SCIENCE 
[N.S. Vou. XXXV. No. 909 
A government of laws is better than a goy- 
ernment by men; but better than either is 
freedom controlled by publie opinion and 
common sense, by precedent and good will. 
As that nation is happy which has no his- 
tory, so that university is fortunate which 
has the least administration, and my most 
inclusive answer to the question how to 
administer a university is—don’t. 
J. McKeen Catren 
SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 
THE cost of preparing for publication the 
unfinished manuscripts left by the late Pro- 
fessor C. O. Whitman, together with that of 
the publication of the same in the best pos- 
sible manner when ready, has been undertaken 
by the Carnegie Institution of Washington. 
Provision is also made for the maintenance of 
the large collection of pigeons, and for the 
current researches with them. Dr. Oscar 
Riddle, in charge of the work, has been ap- 
pointed a research associate in the Carnegie 
Institution. 
Tue University of California has conferred 
the doctorate of laws on Dr. George E. Hale, 
director of the Solar Observatory of the Car- 
negie Institution, and on two of its graduates, 
Dr. Sidney E. Mezes, professor of philosophy 
and president of the University of Texas, and 
Dr. E. C. Sanford, professor of psychology 
and president of Clark College. 
CampripGe University will give the hon- 
orary doctorate of science to Major Leonard 
Darwin, lately president of the Royal Geo- 
graphical Society. 
THE University of Manchester will confer 
the degree of doctor of science on Dr. B. H. 
Seott, F.R.S., the distinguished botanist. 
Proressor Nocut, director of the Tropical 
Institute at Hamburg, succeeds Professor 
Baelz as president of the German Tropical 
Society. 
Kine Atronso has given an audience at 
Madrid to Mr. Marconi, and has conferred on 
him the Grand Cross of the Order of Alfonso 
XII. 
