August 3, 1917] 



SCIENCE 



101 



mittees, relating to the observations and 

 experiences of the members of this com- 

 mittee, in connection with which recom- 

 mendations for cooperative investigations 

 in this country are made. 



The special committees of the council 

 on the subjects of optical glass and noxious 

 gases have submitted reports, which in turn 

 have been transmitted by the executive 

 committee of the council to the General 

 Munitions Board and the Council of 

 National Defense. As a result, arrange- 

 ments have been made for providing the 

 government with optical glass through co- 

 operation between the Bureau of Stan- 

 dards, the geophysical laboratory of the 

 Carnegie Institution of Washington, the 

 Bausch & Lomb Optical Company, and the 

 Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company. Ke- 

 searches on noxious gases have been placed 

 under the charge of the director of the 

 Bureau of Mines, acting in cooperation 

 with the army and navy and the com- 

 mittee on noxious gases of the National 

 Research Council. 



It is expected that announcement may 

 be made at a later date relative to prob- 

 lems initiated by the various committees 

 of the council and means for their solu- 

 tion. 



A number of friends have generously 

 contributed to provide funds for the ex- 

 penses of the council. It is also a pleasure 

 to announce that at a recent meeting of 

 the Carnegie Corporation of New York, 

 the following resolution was passed : 



Eesolved, That the siim of fifty thousand dollars 

 ($50,000) or so much thereof as may be necessary, 

 be and it hereby is appropriated to the Carnegie 

 Institution of Washington, to be expended in the 

 discretion of the president of said institution to 

 meet expenses incurred by the National Eeseareh 

 Council during the war; and that the treasurer be 

 and he hereby is authorized to make payments as 

 needed on the certificate of the Carnegie Institu- 

 tion of 'Washington. 



PSYCHOLOGY AND NATIONAL 

 SERVICE 



Among the many scientific problems which 

 the war has forced upon the attention of our 

 military authorities there are several which 

 are either psychological or present a psycho- 

 logical aspect. In the opinion of experts many 

 of these problems are immediately soluble 

 and it therefore becomes the duty of profes- 

 sional psychologists to render national «ervice 

 by working on such problems. Per this rea- 

 son a committee on psychology has been or- 

 ganized, with the approval of the council of 

 the American Psychological Association, by 

 the National Research Council. This com- 

 mittee consists of J. McKeen Cattell, G. Stan- 

 ley Hall and E. L. Thorndike from the Na- 

 tional Academy of Sciences ; Raymond Dodge, 

 S. I. Franz and G. M. Whipple from the 

 American Psychological Association, and C. 

 E. Seashore, J. B. Watson and R. M. Terkes, 

 chairman and member of the National Re- 

 search Council, from the American Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Science. 



At the first meeting of the committee, it 

 was voted "that whereas psychologists in com- 

 mon with other men of science may be able 

 to do invaluable work for national service and 

 in the conduct of the war, it is recommended 

 by this committee that psychologists volunteer 

 for and be assigned to the work in which their 

 service will be of the greatest use to the nation. 

 In the case of students of psychology, this 

 may involve the completion of the studies on 

 which they are engaged." 



It is the function of this general committee 

 to organize and, in a general way, supervise 

 psychological research and service in the pres- 

 ent emergency. Problems suggested by mili- 

 tary ofiicers or by psychological experts are 

 referred by the committee to appropriate in- 

 dividuals or institutions for immediate atten- 

 tion. Already at the suggestion of the council 

 of the American Psychological Association 

 the chief psychological laboratories of the 

 country have been offered to the committee 

 for such use as the military situation dictates. 

 Moreover, the membership of the American 

 Psychological Association, in response to a 



