Maech 31, 1922] 



SCIENCE 



329 



The new laboratory is the latest step in this 

 practical direction, but by no means the last 

 step. It is being equipped with all the prac- 

 tical things its designers could think necessary 

 — but no human mind can foresee what new 

 machinery may be needed on tomorrow — or 

 some other morrow. In this particular the end 

 is not yet; and the equipment will never be 

 finished. It will always be growing and 

 changing. 



Another inspiration came out of a search for 

 a good place for a Carnegie Observatory for the 

 study of the sun and other stars. Should it be 

 located here or across the sea; or across the 

 equator? It must be put in the best place — for 

 millions of money were sure to be spent upon 

 it. The incomparable director of that work 

 soon demonstrated the natural advantages of 

 Mt. Wilson for the observatory. More than 

 that, as this region bristles witli scientific prob- 

 lems and interrogation points, he saw that here 

 was the place of election for a great scientific 

 school of the future. It not only belonged here, 

 but it would be a wholesome neighbor to the 

 Observatory. Then it was that Dr. Hale con- 

 sented to become a trustee of this corporation, 

 on the condition that the Board should fix a 

 standard for the school, a little higher than that 

 of- any. other then in existence. The Board, 

 under the enthusiastic leadership of the then 

 President, Dr. Scherer, promptly accepted the 

 challenge ; and it has, I believe, kept its prom- 

 ise, and maintained the condition. 



But the plans for this higher emprise could 

 not have been carried out, but for the vision, 

 faith and unfalteringness of the Chairman of 

 the Board, Mr. Fleming. His wisdom has, if 

 possible, exceeded his determination; he has 

 asked from others large gifts and got them; 

 and, like the true soldier he is, he has led the 

 way by making larger gifts himself. To use a 

 colloquialism, he has been for years the very 

 "angel" of the Institute. He does more good 

 things, and talks less about them, than anybody 

 else — and I nominate him as the most useful 

 citizen in this community. 



The evolution of a great laboratory is an ab- 

 sorbing subject — absorbing both in interest and 



money. Two years ago a laboratory of the 

 physical sciences became a vital need of the 

 Institute, if it were to go on in its progress 

 without halting. It required a large expendi- 

 ture of money. Some folks at our house, who 

 had watched the growth of this movement from 

 its beginning — and helped through its first two 

 decades and more — had for long expected to do 

 something more substantial toward its perfec- 

 tion than they had done before. Of course they 

 knew of this urgent need and opportunity. But 

 they were unable to see how they could provide 

 even a small laboratory without losing so much 

 time that opportunities and treasures of the 

 first order were likely to be lost before the 

 building could be completed. And the need 

 was for a great laboratory, not a small one. 

 Then a new light dawned, a hint from a genius, 

 and the laboratory began to take form as a 

 reality. 



The program of this occasion says that the 

 presentation of the laboratory is to be made by 

 the donor. It ought to have said donors. For 

 myself and Mrs. Bridge, some personal facts 

 should be stated here; and one of them is that 

 I appear here rather under false pretences. We 

 could not have rapidly provided this magnificent 

 and elaborate structure without the influence 

 and connivance of that remarkable man already 

 named, the wise and unselfish Chaii-man of the 

 Board of Trustees. So, constructively he is in 

 very essence one of the donors. Without his 

 wisdom and faith, this building could not have 

 been provided in time to function early, and 

 early to embrace the greatest opportunity the 

 institution has ever had. And as I am speaking 

 in the presence of — as well as at, the head of 

 the governing council of the Institute, who is 

 also the Director of the Laboratory, I will, at 

 the moment, spare his embarrassment by merely 

 hinting at what that opportunity was. This 

 community and the educational world are fast 

 finding out what it was; and if God and the 

 fates spare his life, they shall in good time 

 realize it completely. 



Tor myself, I beg to make a personal explana- 

 tion and a confession — wherein may appear the 

 evidence of the amazing vacillation of man. I 



