July 22, 1921] 



SCIENCE 



75 



first intended to furnisli the materials for dem- 

 onstration, become centers of active investi- 

 gation. What a chain of famous names and 

 brilliant discoveries is associated with this 

 private enterprise! In July, 1801, Thomas 

 Young became the first resident professor; he 

 was the father of all our knowledge of color 

 vision and of the properties of the lens of the 

 human eye, the discoverer of " interference " 

 and the first to define " energy." Humphry 

 Davy joined the institution in 1801, at a sal- 

 ary of £100 a year, a room, coal and candles, 

 in return for which he gave his patrons lec- 

 tures which drew all London, and gave the 

 world the anaesthetic nitrous oxide, the safety- 

 lamp, the process of electrolysis by which 

 he discovered potassium and sodium, and 

 many of the foundation stones of modern sci- 

 entific knowledge. To Davy succeeded Fara- 

 day, a name inseparable from the history of 

 science, and to him Sir James Dewar, the 

 present resident professor, joint inventor of 

 cordite, inventor of the thermos flask, the first 

 man to liquefy hydrogen, the profoundest stu- 

 dent of low temperatures. So far as can be 

 traced, the sole support given by the state to 

 this brilliant and beneficent accomplishment 

 was a Civil List pension of £300 enjoyed by 

 Faraday for a few years. Still more wonder- 

 ful is the sma'll total cost, amounting for the 

 whole of the nineteenth century to only 

 £100,620 for the professors, attendants, and 

 laboratories with their apparatus and ma- 

 terials. Gifts and donations have been few 

 and small in amount; the revenue has been 

 derived almost wholly from fees paid by the 

 audiences who wished to see and hear the 

 professors. There is no institution of which 

 London should be prouder, none for which the 

 world should be more grateful. Fortunately 

 it flourishes, and offers no pretext for absorp- 

 tion by any state department. — The London 

 Times. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 



Lake MaxinkucTcee, a Physical and Biological 

 Survey. By Barton Warren Evermann, 

 Director of the Museum of the California 

 Academy of Sciences, and Howard Walton 



Clark, Scientific Assistant, U. S. Bureau of 

 Fisheries Biological Station, Fairport, Iowa. 

 Vol. 1, 660 pages; 36 colored plates; 8 half 

 tone plates; 24 text figures. Vol. 2, 512 

 pages. Publication 7 of the Department of 

 Conservation, State of Indiana. 

 The work on Lake Maxinkuckee by Dr. 

 Evermann and Mr. Clark is the most com- 

 prehensive and most symmetrical treatment 

 of the organisms and their physical environ- 

 ment of one of the numerous small inland 

 lakes of America, yet published. The mate- 

 rial of the volumes is almost entirely that 

 obtained from the investigations in the 

 region, there being scant reference to similar 

 work done elsewhere. It is contributory 

 largely to aquatic biology and ecology, but it 

 appeals to a wide range of interests among 

 naturalists. There is much for the specialist 

 in ichthyology, ornithology, botany, and other 

 special fields of natural science. Persons at- 

 tractediby the recreational offerings of such a 

 body of water as Lake Maxinkuckee, such as 

 anglers, sportsmen, and campers will find 

 much of interest in these books. Science 

 teachers can use the work advantageously for 

 developing in school pupils a wider and deeper 

 interest in nature and outdoor life. The clear 

 and readable style is favorable for teaching 

 purposes as well as for a general use of the 

 publication. 



The work on Lake Maxinkuckee is likely to 

 promote proper measures for conserving wild 

 life since it contains information pertaining 

 to the direct and indirect relations of the 

 animals and plants of the region to man. 

 This value was undoubtedly recognized by 

 The Department of Conservation of the State 

 of Indiana and determined its assuming the 

 responsibility of the publication and distribu- 

 tion of the work. 



The field investigations were carried on 

 from 1899 to 1914 by the United States 

 Bureau of Fisheries. Dr. Evermann, who 

 was in charge, and Mr. Clark did most of the 

 field work, but with them were associated at 

 different times and for varying intervals 

 eleven other investigators, who were: Dr. J. 

 T. Scovell, Thomas Large, Chancey Juday, 



