February 24, 3922] 



SCIENCE 



199 



tns is especially troublesome. Almost any 

 metal except gold or platinum will corrode 

 rapidly if given half a chance. A number of 

 experiences soon bring this to the attention of 

 a new an-ival in the islands. Wire paper fas- 

 teners must be made of brass if it is desired to 

 keep pamphlets and magazines in good condi- 

 tion. After a short time, ordinary iron wire 

 fasteners corrode to such an extent that the 

 paper in contact with them is discolored from 

 iron rust. Ordinary iron wire paper clips rust 

 so rapidly that after a year or two they cannot 

 be removed without being bent out of shape. 

 The frames of cameras made of metal covered 

 with leather go to pieces in some cases. The 

 alloy becomes oxidized and pushes off the 

 leather cover. Of course, it is an easy matter 

 to remove the covering of oxide and replace the 

 leather, but in a short time, more moisture has 

 been absorbed and corrosion has taken place a 

 second time. 



These are trivial things compared with what 

 happens to delicate physical apparatus of all 

 kinds. It seems almost impossible to protect 

 instruments from atmospheric moisture to such 

 an extent that corrosion does not begin, and if 

 this continues long enough the piece of appara- 

 tus is worthless. In many cases the corrosion 

 does not justify replacement, bvit does demand 

 restandardization. In order to get satisfactory 

 results with pyrometers, galvanometers and the 

 like it is necessary to restandardize them fre- 

 quently, and this requires considerable time. 

 Too long a time would be required to return the 

 apparatus to the manufacturers for repairs and 

 restandardization. Even glass lenses of micros- 

 copes, telescopes, cameras and the like are not 

 immune. If they are not used for a time, they 

 become spotted, and often have to be repolished. 



Reliable skilled assistants are difficult to ob- 

 tain. The demand for them is somewhat lim- 

 ited and every position is filled. However, 

 there does not seem to be a position vacant nor 

 a man out of employment. Most of the posi- 

 tions are filled by Europeans or Americans, 

 though there is an ever increasing body of 

 Filipinos trained in science. The difficulty is 

 that there is very little flexibility to the system. 

 If one man returns to the States or leaves his 



regular position for any reason, it is almost 

 impossible to replace him without a long delay 

 of correspondence back and forth to the United 

 States and during this time, it often happens 

 that valuable pieces of research are held up and 

 interest is lost in them, because no one can be 

 found to carry on the work. 



Thus far I have mentioned only the tribula- 

 tions of scientists in the tropics and I wish to 

 protest against any charge of exaggeration. 

 The account is not overdrawn and all of the 

 items mentioned have come under my personal 

 observation, and I believe anyone who has had 

 experience in the tropics will verify them. 

 However, there is another side, as I have pre- 

 \'iously mentioned. In this connection, the first 

 thing which I shall discuss is the great interest 

 and fascination of the various research prob- 

 lems which one encounters in the Philippines. 

 The field is comparatively new and if one has 

 some idea or plan for research, the chances are 

 that on investigation, he will not find that it 

 has been trampled over, but that he has practi- 

 cally a cai-te blanche. Although extensive re- 

 search has been carried on at the Bureau of 

 Science and elsewhere for the past decade or 

 two, nevertheless the vast number of problems 

 waiting to be solved have scarcely been touched. 



While skilled assistants are few and difficult 

 to obtain, unskilled help is plentiful. Filipinos 

 are adapted physically to careful manipulation 

 and some of them are very satisfactory indeed. 

 The salary for such a position is much lower 

 than here and a number of helpers are often 

 available — which greatly expedites the work. 

 The climatic conditions make the average 

 American irritable and perhaps unusually hard 

 to please, and while he is in the islands he is 

 likely to believe that his unskilled assistants 

 possess little merit and are difficult to direct, 

 but when he looks back at his experiences, he is 

 likely to change his mind materially and wish 

 he could have half a dozen muchachos in his 

 laboratory in the States. 



Generally the laboratory is in a building of 

 only one or two stories. This is very satis- 

 factory because there is much less danger from 

 fires and accidents. The uniform temperature 

 greatly adds to the flexibility of the laboratory. 



