198 



SCIENCE 



[N. 8. Vol. XLI. No. 1049 



cost (22 cents per cubic foot) of this building, 

 and to tbe reasons why it, like the geophysical 

 laboratory and the nutrition laboratory, has 

 been economically built. These reasons are 

 found mainly in deliberate preparation of pre- 

 liminary programs, in carefully drawn plans 

 and specifications by competent architects, and 

 in responsible superintendence of construction. 



Near the end of the preceding fiscal year the 

 non-magnetic ship Garnegie returned to New 

 York City, where she underwent such exten- 

 sive repairs as are always required by wooden 

 vessels after long cruises in tropical waters. 

 After refitting, she left New York, June 8, 

 1914, for a cruise in the North Atlantic. In 

 this, the third of her expeditions, she traversed 

 about 10,600 miles, making a first stop at 

 Hammerfest, Norway, July 3, reaching the 

 high latitude 79° 52' off the northwest coast of 

 Spitzbergen, touching at Reykjavik, Iceland, 

 August 24, and returning to the base station 

 at Greenport, Long Island, October 9, and to 

 Brooklyn, New York, October 21. During this 

 cruise the Carnegie was in command of Mr. 

 J. P. Ault. She is now refitting for a longer 

 cruise during 1915-1916, in southern latitudes 

 (50° to 75°), where magnetic observations re- 

 quire supplementing. 



An attempt at an ocean expedition into 

 Hudson Bay was made under the charge of 

 Mr. W. J. Peters during the past summer, 

 but on account of unusual obstacles from ice 

 this proved only partly successful. Entrance 

 into the bay with the auxiliary schooner, 

 George B. duett, chartered for this purpose 

 from the Grenfell Association, was blocked 

 until September 2, leaving less than a month's 

 time available for surveys. 



Determinations of magnetic elements on 

 land have « been continued in six parts of 

 Africa, in as many states of South America, 

 and in Australia, bringing the surveys of all 

 these continental areas to a well-advanced 



Attention may be called to an interesting 

 summary given by the director in his cur- 

 rent report of work accomplished by the de- 

 partment during the past decade, as well as to 

 accounts of the investigations now in progress 



under the department at its laboratory, of the 

 operations on land and sea, and of the depart- 

 mental publications of the year. Of these 

 latter. Volume II. of the " Eesearches of the 

 Department of Terrestrial Magnetism," under 

 the sub-title " Land Magnetic Observations, 

 1911 to 1913, and Reports on Special Re- 

 searches," by L. A. Bauer and J. A. Fleming, 

 is now in press. 



THE SOLAR OBSERVATORY 



With the end of the current year the Mount 

 Wilson Solar Observatory, like most other de- 

 partments of the institution, will have com- 

 pleted a first decade of its history. Quite 

 appropriately, this establishment was founded 

 at an epoch of maximum sun-spots, and a 

 marked increase in solar activity during the 

 past year furnishes similarly auspicious con- 

 ditions for entrance into a second decade of 

 research. But much more auspicious condi- 

 tions are found in the extensive experience 

 and in the effective equipment acquired along 

 with the capital progress attained during this 

 first decade. The most sanguine astronomer 

 would have hesitated at the earlier epoch to 

 predict that these latter conditions could be 

 realized at the present epoch. Herein also is 

 found a signal illustration of the superior 

 effectiveness of establishments primarily de- 

 signed for and exclusively devoted to research 

 as compared with establishments in which 

 research is a matter of secondary interest. 



The work of the observatory for the year 

 is much too extensive to permit of adequate 

 summary here. But this is unnecessary, since 

 the director's report, in addition to detailed 

 accounts of observations, investigations and 

 construction, gives a condensed abstract of 

 the salient results arrived at. These results 

 are briefly and clearly stated in 59 paragraphs. 

 They refer to correspondingly numerous meas- 

 urements, calculations and inductions made in 

 studies of the sun and other stellar bodies 

 whose characteristic properties are now stimu- 

 lating extraordinary advances in cosmic 

 physics. 



Progress in construction of the 100-inch tele- 

 scope has been made as rapidly as could be 



