January 5, 1917] 



SCIENCE 



The executive, legislative and judicial 

 functions of government are recognized, 

 but it is scarcely yet appreciated that there 

 should be a scientific or expert department 

 coordinate with these. As the courts theo- 

 retically interpret legislation and the exec- 

 utive carries it into effect, so there is needed 

 a body which will provide the impartial 

 advice and scientific knowledge on which 

 legislation should be based. This need is 

 being gradually recognized by the creation 

 of scientific bureaus of the departments 

 and the different government commissions. 

 Its adequate appreciation may, however, be 

 hastened by the formation of a body repre- 

 senting the scientific interests of the coun- 

 try and competent to speak for them. 



The various scientific events of the meet- 

 ing are in part recorded in the report of 

 the general secretary printed in this issue 

 of Science and in the programs that were 

 published in advance. They will also be 

 somewhat fully represented by the various 

 addresses and papers and by the proceed- 

 ings of the different societies and sections 

 to be printed in Science. A few of them, 

 however, may be recorded here. At the 

 opening general session, after the admir- 

 able address of the retiring president, Dr. 

 W. W. Campbell, director of the Lick Ob- 

 servatory, there was a largely attended re- 

 ception given by the president and trustees 

 of the museum and the honorary reception 

 committee. The two public lectures to the 

 citizens of the city could hardly have been 

 better from the point of view of subject- 

 matter or of lecturer. Dr. Simon Flexner, 

 director of the laboratories of the Rocke- 

 feller Institute, lectured at Columbia Uni- 



versity on "Infantile Paralysis and the 

 Public Health," and Dr. A. A. Noyes, pro- 

 fessor of physical chemistry in the Massa- 

 chusetts Institute of Technology, lectured 

 at the American Museum of Natural His- 

 tory on "Nitrogen and Preparedness." In 

 each ease the lecture concerned a subject 

 of vital public interest and was given by 

 the man most competent to survey it. 



There was held at the United Engineer- 

 ing Societies Building a meeting under the 

 auspices of the four engineering societies 

 which have their headquarters in New York 

 to discuss the interrelations of engineering 

 and pure science. Dr. Henry M. Howe, 

 the distinguished metallurgist, professor 

 emeritus in Columbia University, the chair- 

 man of the section, presided, and Dr. Bion 

 J. Arnold, the retiring vice-president and 

 past-president of the American Institute 

 of Electrical Engineers, gave his address, 

 which was followed by addresses by Mr. 

 Clemens Herschel, president of the Amer- 

 ican Society of Civil Engineers, and Dr. 

 Ira D. Hollis, president of the American 

 Society of Mechanical Engineers. The 

 scientific session was followed by a recep- 

 tion. 



The addresses given by the other retiring 

 chairmen of the sections are noted in the 

 report of the general secretary and may be 

 looked for in Science. Other addresses 

 by the presidents of the societies and papers 

 presented before them will also be printed 

 here. Of the latter, it is only possible to 

 mention several of the symposiums and 

 general-interest sessions. These included 

 "Biology and National Existence" before 

 the American Society of Naturalists ; ' ' The 



