318 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. LV, No. 1421 



and practical experience"— the fact being, ac- 

 cording to him, that such breaking of the 

 upper surface "causes or tends to cause hi- 

 creased evaporation." 



The statement made by the present writer 

 may possibly be contrary to "engineering" ex- 

 perience, but that it is a truism well known to 

 all practical farmers from the days of King 

 Hamurabi to date, can not be gainsaid. 



I quote from "Soil Fertility and Permament 

 Agriculture" by Dr. Cyril Hopkins, page 

 579 — "In the semi-arid regions, fallow culti- 

 vation is practiced during one season, the soil 

 being stirred after each rain to prevent eva- 

 poration, and thus store up sufficient moisture 

 in the soil to give the crop a good start" 

 (italics mine). 



There is scarcely a more well known prac- 

 tice inculcated by practical farmers, in regions 

 where droughts are feared, than the absolute 

 necessity of keeping the surface covered with 

 finely broken soil, for the specific purpose of 

 conserving the soil water. 



In semi-arid regions, this practice is abso- 

 lutely essential to the farmers' financial life, 

 and most "farm periodicals" harp upon this 

 string in season and out. 



L. S. Fkierson 

 Gatle, La. 



QUOTATIONS 



PROPOSED LEGISLATION AGAINST THE 



TEACHING OF EVOLUTION 



In Kentucky^ 



The Kentucky House of Representatives 

 spent five hours to-day [March 9] in discussing 

 and hearing discussions of the "monkey bill" 

 of Representative G. W. Ellis of Barren 

 County, forbidding the teaching of evolution in 

 public schools and universities. The measure 

 was defeated by a vote of 42 to 41, after a 

 recapitulation of the vote during which mem- 

 bers were dragged into the chamber from other 

 parts of the capital. 



Dr. F. L. McVey, president of the state uni- 

 versity, and the Rev. Dr. E. L. Powell, pastor 

 of the First Christian Church, Louisville, dis- 



lAbridsed from the Louisville Courier-Journal. 



cussed the bill by invitation. The former de- 

 clared that the legislature is not within its 

 rights in passing such a law as that proposed, 

 and urged the members not to base the inspira- 

 tion of the Bible on matters not essential, but 

 to heed teachings of the Book. He asserted 

 that the Bible is not an authority on science, 

 legislation, chemistry, or any of one thousand 

 other subjects, but on moral, spiritual and 

 religious matters. Dr. McVey went into the 

 subject of evolution, pointing out that many 

 accept the teachings as not in contradiction to 

 the Bible, and insisted that the university makes 

 no attempt to interfere with the religion of its 

 students. He told of the various religious ac- 

 tivities of the university, and warned the House 

 that it would set a dangerous precedent in the 

 passage of the Ellis bill. He recalled fights on 

 scientific theories in the past based on the 

 ground that they are opposing the Bible, and 

 reviewed briefly the manner in which various 

 scientific subjects are taught. 



Mr. Ellis brought forward Noel W. Gaines 

 of Frankfort, formerly an army officer, who 

 has been in the limelight several times in his 

 career, most recently when he was involved in 

 tlie "ground glass" controversy in a Southern 

 camp, to speak for the bill. Mr. Gaines put 

 William Jennings Bryan to shame in his denun- 

 ciation of those who believe evolution, direct- 

 ing many of his remarks directlj' at Dr. Powell 

 and Mr. McVey. He talked for nearly an hour 

 and was frequently applauded and cheered, 

 while spectators in the gallery and around the 

 walls of tlie chamber roared with laughter. One 

 of his "stunts" was a division of the sheep and 

 goats, placing Dr. McVey, Dr. Powell and 

 various zoology text books on the one side and 

 the Bible, the Declaration of Independence and 

 himself on the other. He had the books before 

 him as he ran up and down behind the clerk's 

 desk, scattering them about as he waved his 

 arms in emphatic gestures. Finally he threw 

 one of the text books to the floor and trampled 

 it under foot. 



"I am ashamed of this day in the Kentucky 

 legislature," said Representative G. C. Wag- 

 goner of Scott County, a minister and veteran 

 legislator, toward the close of the debate. 



"This bill smacks of intolerance and the 



