396 
E searlet S white 5 white 
F pink T red 6 white 
G— — — U golden brown 7 golden 
H yellow V_ gray 8 brown 
I white W=--—-— 9 red 
J white x — — — 0 black 
K — — — Y white 
L——— Z red 
M olive green 
WN olive green 
Although I have never associated colors with 
letters or figures, from my earliest recollection 
I have always thought of letters and of figures 
arranged in the relative positions shown on 
page 395. The origin of this I do not know. 
It might have been something in the presenta- 
tion of these things by my first teacher, or 
the manner in which little wooden sticks were 
laid out on my desk in the first number work. 
These little sticks, each about 3 mm. in diam- 
eter and 20 mm. long, had been split out of 
pine for me by my father. Occasionally I used 
to chew up one of them, because it tasted 
sweet. 
ArtHur B. SMITH 
EVANSTON, ILL. 
QUOTATIONS 
WAR AND ENGINEERING EDUCATION 
Last week some 500 colleges opened their 
doors to receive some 150,000 students. These 
young men were inducted into the Students’ 
Army Training Corps and have thus become 
candidates for commissions in the army. The 
part of the engineering colleges will be to 
train men especially for the Engineer Corps, 
the Signal Corps and the Chemical Warfare 
Service, and it may be noted with pardonable 
pride that the training previously given in 
engineering is considered the best preparation 
for these branches of the service. Under the 
new regime, however, the maximum time al- 
lowed for the full engineering course is two 
years, including work in the summer quarters, 
and the further training of men with ad- 
vanced standing will be curtailed accordingly. 
Each college will be expected to outline its 
courses much on its own initiative, especially 
for men who have already spent a year or 
more in that institution. 
At this stage of the development of engi- 
SCIENCE 
[N. 8. Vou. XLVIII. No. 1242 
neering education for war we are reminded of 
the work done by teachers in the engineering 
colleges beginning a year ago last May, when 
they were asked on about two weeks’ notice 
to prepare to receive men for training in 
military aeronautics. While the lecture mate- - 
rial and laboratory apparatus were collected 
and arranged under difficult circumstances, the 
officers in responsible charge in Washington 
were enabled to choose the best methods deyvel- 
oped in the six different schools and thus 
quickly arrange a satisfactory training course. 
It is to be hoped, however, that the engineer- 
‘ing colleges will not follow in the footsteps of 
the aviation schools in at least two respects. 
It seems undesirable to put civilian instruc- 
tors in uniform and certainly a mistake to have 
them decorated with brevet officers’ bars. An 
instructor with any character should have no 
trouble in gaining the respect of his classes in 
this serious undertaking. Again, in the mat- 
ter of standardization we trust the engineering. 
colleges will not make animated phonographs 
of their teachers. 
It is quite evident that the War Department 
has outlined an excellent device for producing 
a high grade of men to lead the army. Those 
who are left behind in their college work are 
transferred to army cantonments, while those 
who complete their college courses with credit 
are sent to officers’ training camps and there 
must prove their ability to handle men before 
they receive commissions. Only the most 
capable men will survive such tests. 
While we are thus assured that the primary 
purpose of developing a high class of officers 
will be attained, it is interesting to speculate 
upon the effect of this intensive training on 
engineering education. Much of the prelim- 
inary work in mathematics, languages and 
science will be eliminated or curtailed, and we 
shall have an opportunity to view the results 
of this system of education, provided that the 
war lasts several years. On the one hand, it is’ 
doubtful if thése men will have the training 
which will probably be required for meeting 
the tremendous problems of reconstruction. It 
would seem desirable, therefore, to encourage 
them to complete their engineering prepara- 
