636 
pany the bolometric observations. Also a 
pyranometer is ernployed to determine the sky 
radiation. 
The young men find pleasant companions at 
the great copper mine at Chuquicamata. At 
present they are boarding with a Chilean fam- 
ily at Calama, but as both are good cooks they 
may wish to board themselves. The railway 
and the river both pass the town of Calama, so 
that there is no such desert isolation as might 
be feared. To the east are the Andes Moun- 
tains. The peaks in that neighborhood rise to 
16,000 or 17,000 feet. Some are volcanic but 
none of these are very near. 
It is hoped that the work will be continued 
for several years at least, and that nearly daily 
observations may be obtained. The applica- 
tion of the results to meteorology is something 
which may prove to have great possibilities. 
To exploit them a long and nearly unbroken 
series of solar radiation observations must be 
obtained. 
Observations were begun on July 27, under 
exceptionally favorable conditions of the ex- 
perimental equipment. At latest report, on 
October 22, complete solar constant determi- 
nations had been made on five days in July, 
twenty-seven days in August, eighteen days in 
September and nineteen days in October, a 
total of sixty-nine days out of eighty-eight 
days elapsed. 
Owing to the great zeal and industry of the 
observers and the excellent special computing 
facilities at their disposal, all of the observa- 
tions had been completely worked up to date. 
If necessary for meteorological purposes it 
would be possible for them to telegraph the 
solar constant value on the same day observed. 
Notwithstanding the high percentage of 
cloudless days, the sky conditions have not 
proved quite as satisfactory as had been hoped, 
owing to the presence of considerable haze and 
the occasional formation of cirrus clouds. 
While these modifications of transparency are 
not serious enough to introduce large errors 
in the results (all values have fallen between 
1.88 and 2.02 calories) they are serious ob- 
stacles to the investigation of variations of 
the sun which should be measured to one per 
SCIENCE 
[N. S. Von. XLVIII. No. 1252 
cent. of the solar constant or better. Efforts 
are now being made with good prospect of 
success to devise an instantaneous method of 
determining the sky transparency so as to 
avoid error from changes of transparency oc- 
curring progressively during several hours. 
The average value of the solar constant as 
thus far obtained at Calama is 1.951 calories 
per square centimeter per minute. The mean 
of all values obtained prior to 1914 was 1.932. 
At present the solar activity as measured by 
sun-spots is still large, though declining. In 
view of the past measurements of the solar 
constant and past investigations of the meteor- 
ological phenomena of the world it is to be ex- 
pected that somewhat lower values of the solar 
constant and somewhat more cloudless observ- 
ing conditions will be found at Calama after 
a year or two. 
THE HARVARD ENGINEERING SCHOOL 
Fottowine the decision of the Supreme 
Court of Massachusetts that the agreement 
with the Institute of Technology is not in 
accord with the will of the late Gordon Me- 
Kay, Harvard has reorganized its engineering 
school on a basis satisfactory both to the 
trustees of the McKay estate and to the goy- 
erning boards of the university. The new 
plan, however, will be subject to the approval 
of the Court. The full text of the vote passed 
by the Harvard Corporation and consented to 
by the Board of Overseers establishing the 
school follows: 
Voted to establish a School of Engineering upon 
the following basis: 
WHEREAS, in reconstructing an engineering school 
in Harvard University it is important to lay stress 
upon fundamental principles; to make use of the 
courses in Harvard College so far as is consistent 
with the curriculum of the school; and to conduct 
the school under a faculty of its own the corpora- 
tion hereby adopts the following plan of organiza- 
tion: 
1. Name. The name of the school shall be the 
Harvard Engineering School. 
2. Departments. The school shall provide ‘‘all 
grades of instruction from the lowest to the high- 
est’’ and the instruction provided shall ‘‘be kept 
