160 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLV. No. 1155 



concerned only with matters as they stand. 

 Some of the conditions of which we com- 

 plain are accidental and deplored as much 

 by the administrative officers who happen 

 to be in charge as by the scientific workers 

 in the laboratories. Others are the result 

 of a more or less wholesale desire to exploit 

 a situation which enjoys large appropria- 

 tions of public funds. This is the element 

 that must be sloughed off at all cost. 



The public who is to be served and who 

 pays the bills will ultimately clean the 

 stables, if only the scientists and the insti- 

 tutions who have permanent reputations to 

 defend and who outlive successive genera- 

 tions of appointed overseers will be true to 

 their responsibilities and insist upon work- 

 ing conditions favorable to reasonable re- 

 sults. 



No other branch of science is so richly 

 endowed as is agriculture; no other prom- 

 ises such important results ; no other has so 

 large an army of men faithful to their 

 duties; no other so enjoys the confidence 

 of the public. The question is, shall agri- 

 cultural science with all these advantages 

 weighed against the disadvantages be 

 stronger or weaker than other branches of 

 study, and can the publicly supported insti- 

 tutions with superior revenues afford equal 

 advantages for research as compared with 

 independent institutions resting upon pri- 

 vate funds? 



B. Davenport 



Univeesitt op Illinois 



SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 



SIGMA XI IN DULUTH, MINN. 



The " Quarter Century Kecord and His- 

 tory " of Sigma Xi appeared in 1913. It con- 

 tained, among other valuable information, the 

 names and addresses of all those elected to 

 Sigma Xi up to December 31, 1911. Mr. Eu- 

 gene Van Cleef conceived the idea of organ- 

 izing the members residing in Duluth, believ- 

 ing that such an organization could prove more 



or less successful. Aa a result of a little corre- 

 spondence and personal interviews " The So- ' 

 ciety of Sigma Xi of Duluth, Minn.," was 

 consimimated with 10 charter members in 

 July, 1913. 



Meetings are held bimonthly. A dinner is 

 served after which an informal paper is pre- 

 sented by one of the members and discussed by 

 all. The wives of the members and a lady 

 friend of each of the unmarried members may 

 be guests at any meeting. Their attendance 

 has been almost as regular as that of the men. 



Each paper has covered some phase of the 

 work in which the respective members are en- 

 gaged. The nature of these presentations may 

 be gained from some of the following titles se- 

 lected at random: Heredity and Environment; 

 The Valuation of Public Utilities; Design and 

 Construction of the Aerial Bridge at Duluth; 

 Climate and Man; The Learning Process and 

 Acquisition of Skill, etc. 



At present the membership consists of 3 

 mechanical engineers, 1 civil engineer, 1 agri- 

 culturist, 1 geographer, 1 physician and 1 

 psychologist. With such a variety of inter- 

 ests represented each one is assured of receiv- 

 ing information worth while at each meeting. 

 The discussions are thoroughly alive and 

 stimulating. 



That the meetings have been worth much to 

 each one is attested by the fact that the attend- 

 ance for the past four years has been almost 

 perfect, no one being absent unless because of 

 circumstances over which they have had no 

 control. 



This announcement is made to the readers 

 of Science, in the belief that others may care 

 to adopt the idea in the locality in which they 

 are now residing. There seems to be no rea- 

 son for the cessation of interest in the welfare 

 of Sigma Xi just because one is not engaged 

 in academic work. The spirit of research 

 should live after college days among all mem- 

 bers of Sigma Xi, regardless of the course in 

 life which they may pursue. Details of the 

 organization in Duluth, not cited above, will 

 be gladly given to any who may apply to the 

 undersigned. Eugene Van Cleef 



State Normal School, 

 Ddluth, Minn. 



