52 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. LV, No. 1411 



Number 

 of funds 



Yielding income annually of more than $1,000,000 3 



Yielding income annually of $1,000,000-$100,001 7 



Yielding income annually of $100,000-$10,001 67 



Yielding income annuaUy of $10,000-$1,001 150 



Yielding income annually of $1,000-$101 298 



Yielding income annually of $100 or less 40* 



565 



Many of tlie smaller funds in the last two items are research scholarships in various universities. 



Virginia, (24) North Carolina, (25) Arizona, 

 (26) North Dakota. The District of Columbia 

 ranks next to New York. 



There are in all some 565 funds available for 

 research in our country, and these may be clas- 

 sified according to size, as in the above table: 



The donations made for such funds have 

 greatly increased during the lAst twenty years, 

 as will be seen from the following table : 



Period covered No. of new funds Annual yield 

 established in each 

 period 



*The Eocliefeller Foundation, which is included 

 in this last amount, yields nearly five times the 

 amount of all other funds so far established. 



It is interesting to note that out of the great 

 number of people of large means in our 

 nation, no less than five hundred, in round 

 niunbers, have been sufficiently interested in the 

 advancement of scientific research to make 

 donations for its maintenance ; and that of these 

 five hundred individuals, it is a mere score of 

 men that has furnished by far the larger part 

 of the money available for such purposes. 

 Among these we note Smithson, Rockefeller 

 and Carnegie, two of whom are known as 

 among the wealthiest men in our nation. 



Though it appears that most donators have 

 provided that the gifts they have made should 

 be used in some particular branch of research, 

 nevertheless by far the largest bequests have 



been given to research in general; that is, the 

 selection of the particular work to be done has 

 been left to those in trust of the funds. The 

 following table will emphasize these points: 



Branch of research specified 

 by donor 



Number 

 of funds 

 established 



General research work 125 $17 



Medicine 135 



Biology and natural history... 35 



Phj'sics 34 



Astronomy 22 



Geology 15 



Archeology and anthropology.... 24 



Botany 14 



Chemistry 65 



Engineering 31 



Zoology 9 



Industrial research 34 



Psychology 8 



Mathematics 3 



$ 4, 



Annual 



yield 



0007000 



,000,000 



352,009 



241,000 



173,000 



137,000 



117,000 



100,000 



78,000 



55,000 



49,000 



49,000 



29,000 



2,600 



It will be noted that medical research heads 

 the list, with 135 established funds and an an- 

 nual income of $4,000,000. This is doubtless 

 because medical knowledge is generally recog- 

 nized as of the greatest practical importance 

 to the welfare of mankind. Mathematics brings 

 up the rear. It would probably appear to most 

 of us to be the subject farthest removed from 

 practical interests. Biology, which ranks sec- 

 ond, has much to do with the procuring of 

 food; and Psychology, which ranks next to the 

 last, is not yet generally recognized as a sub- 

 ject of practical application. 



Copies of the paper here reviewed can no 

 doubt be secured from The National Research 

 CouncU, 1701 Massachusetts Ave., Washington, 

 D. C. 



J. A. Udden 



University op Texas 



