630 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLVI. No. 1200 



Millikan, Michael I. Pupin and S. W. Strat- 

 ton. 



The action of the ISTational Eesearch Coun- 

 cil in forming a committee of this sort is 

 understood to be in conformity with the 

 wishes of Commissioner of Patents J. T. New- 

 ton and Secretary of the Interior F. K. Lane, 

 and to be in accord also with the following 

 resolutions originally adopted by the Patent 

 Office Society and concurred in by Mr. Ewing 

 while commissioner of patents: 



Whereas a section of the charter of the Na- 

 tional Academy of Sciences provides that ' ' The 

 academy shall, whenever called upon by any de- 

 partment of the government, investigate, examine 

 and report upon any subject of science or art, ' ' 



AND WHEEEAS, ait the request of the President of 

 the United States, the academy has organized a 

 National Research Council, to bring into effective 

 cooperation existing govermnental, educational 

 and other research organizations, 



AND WHEREAS th© National Eesearch Council is 

 now perfecting its organization for the perform- 

 ance of the above duties, 



AND WHEREAS a fundamental activity of the 

 Patent Office is research upon questions of novelty, 

 "in order to promote the progress of science and 

 the arts ' ' by the prompt issuance of proper grants 

 and the refusal of improper grants of patent 

 monopolies. 



Now therefore T)e it resolved 63/ the Patent 

 Office Society: 



1. That in its judgment a request for coopera- 

 tion, advice and assistance should be promptly 

 forwarded to the National Eesearch Council, at- 

 tention being called to such problems as ade- 

 quacy of force, adequacy of space, adequacy of 

 library, adequacy of facilities for test and dem- 

 onstration, adequacy of classification, adequacy of 

 organization, adequacy of scientific, legal and pro- 

 fessional standards, adequacy of incentives and op- 

 portunities, simplification of procedure, responsive- 

 ness to present national and international re- 

 quirements and to the important advances that 

 might be expected either from an independent 

 study of the above by the National Eesearch 

 Council or from an early effort on its part to co- 

 ordinate, in the interest of an improved public 

 service, the endeavors of the various national so- 

 cieties, manufacturing interests, patent bar asso- 

 ciations, and all others aiming at genuine pat- 

 ent reform. 



2. That the concurrence of the Commissioner of 



Patents and the Secretary of the Interior in these 

 resolutions be solicited. 



3. And that a copy hereof be forwarded to the 

 National Eesearch Council with some expression of 

 the appreciation of this society for the interest 

 already shown, and some appropriate assurance of 

 the determination of this society to render every 

 possible assistance and support to the work of the 

 National Eesearch Council. 



The implied deteiTaination of the Patent 

 Office Society to do its part in an effort to 

 improve the work and conditions of the Pat- 

 ent Office, and to gain therein all possible sup- 

 port on the part of scientists, engineers and 

 manufacturers, is further indicated in the ac- 

 companying resolutions relating to the pro- 

 posed Institute for the History of Science, for 

 which a Washington location is by it advo- 

 cated — this latter proposal being already ac- 

 corded the invaluable support of the Wash- 

 ington Academy of Sciences. 



RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE PATENT OFFICE SO- 

 CIETY, BY ITS AUTHORIZED EXECUTIVE 

 COMMITTEE 



That the attention of all interested in the 

 possibilities of the proposed Institute for the His- 

 tory of Science be called to the advantages of 

 such a location and organization for that insti- 

 tute, whenever it shall be established, as shaU 

 render its resources easily available not only to 

 highly trained specialists but also to practising 

 engineers, to examiners of patents, and, so far as 

 practicable, to the general public. 



That, in the judgment of the Patent Office So- 

 ciety, the present moment of prominence of 

 American ideals and of recognized dependence 

 upon the facts and principles of science is none 

 too early for preliminary steps toward the estab- 

 lishment in this country of an Institute of the 

 general character already proposed (by George 

 Sarton, and others, in Science, March 23, 1917), 

 such institute to be independent, liberally endowed 

 and adequate not only to the requirements of our 

 present national life, but also to that great era of 

 internationalism and general enlightenment upon 

 which even the avoidance of war may hereafter 

 depend. 



That the special committee in hand relations 

 with the National Eesearch Council be directed to 

 emphasize to that body the foregoing conclusions 

 as perhaps pertinent to purposes shared by it; to 



