420 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLI. No. 1055 



noon was devoted to an inspection of the new 

 building of the Mellon Institute. 



The recipients of honorary degrees were the 

 guests of the university at the annual alumni 

 banquet held at the Schenley Hotel from 6 :00 

 to 8 :30 P.M. The speakers at this dinner were 

 Dr. Eaymond F. Bacon, director of the Mellon 

 Institute, who responded to " The Mellon Insti- 

 tute"; Dr. Walther Eiddle, who gave a his- 

 torical sketch of the department of chemistry 

 of the university; Hon. Elbert H. Gary, chair- 

 man of the United States Steel Corporation; 

 Dr. Theodore William Richards, who spoke on 

 " The Practical Use of Eesearch in Pure Sci- 

 ence " and extended Harvard's congratulations 

 to Pittsburgh upon the acquisition of the 

 Mellon Institute; and Chancellor Samuel 

 Black McCormiok, who completed the toast 

 list with an eloquent response to " The Uni- 

 versity," in which he stated that the gift of 

 the Mellon Institute had placed a great respon- 

 sibility upon the University of Pittsburgh as 

 well as having been a priceless acquisition; 

 that the university was ready to meet the 

 responsibility and, he felt sure, would show 

 the donors and the country at large that it 

 would make the most of the great benefaction. 



Judge Gary's address was in part as follows : 



In humankind there is an element which is in- 

 terested in, if, indeed, it does not actually enjoy 

 reading or listening to, adverse references to the 

 character or conduct of an individual or association 

 of individuals, and, by reason of this fact, agencies 

 for the collection and distribution of unfavorable 

 comments have become more or less popular. A 

 questionable kind of success is often realized by the 

 individual or the publication whose energies are 

 devoted to frequent and furious personal attack 

 against the standing or the action of others. These 

 efforts sometimes take the form of individual work, 

 investigations by committees or commissions cre- 

 ated by the legislatures or congresses, or, in excep- 

 tional eases, even by judicial branches of govern- 

 ment, such as grand juries, with their inquisitorial 

 power. Oftentimes the investigators are not only 

 utterly incompetent, but they are prejudiced and 

 ■willfully repress many of the pertinent and mate- 

 rial facts. They seek to produce for circulation and 

 criticism only information calculated to bring re- 

 proach upon the persons involved in the inquiry. 

 No one is exempt from these criticisms. 



Circumstances seem to show that we are ap- 

 proaching the time when the investigator will be 

 investigated; when the oritieizer will be criticized; 

 when committees and commissions will be brought 

 before other similar bodies for judgment. It would 

 be interesting to the public if it could be in- 

 formed of the real motives which have prompted 

 some of the official inquiries, and if it could learn 

 of the unfair methods which have been sometimes 

 pursued, and if it should know the amount of gov- 

 ernmental funds which have been appropriated for 

 the use of committees and how they have been dis- 

 bursed; in fact, if some of those participating 

 could be subjected to the same scrutiny which they 

 have exercised. 



The general attitude of the great newspapers of 

 to-day is fair and just. They influence and are 

 influenced by the general public. They reflect the 

 general sentiment. This is most important in con- 

 sidering the future welfare of this country. 



If the picture which I have drawn is a true one, 

 then the course before us, which leads to prosperity, 

 success and happiness, is plain and we will pursue 

 it. We must conduct affairs in our charge with the 

 expectation that we shall be criticized. 



After the banquet, the new building of the 

 Mellon Institute was thrown open for a recep- 

 tion of friends of the institute. The rooms of 

 the main floor were used for the reception, 

 although the entire building was open for in- 

 spection. On the evening of February 27, the 

 first Mellon lecture was delivered by Professor 

 John Jacob Abel, of Johns Hopkins Univer- 

 sity, in the assembly hall of the institute; 

 Dr. Abel's subject was " Experimental and 

 Chemical Studies of the Blood and Their 

 Bearing on Medicine." 



W. A. Hamor 



The Mellon Institute of 

 indtisteial eesearch 



CBAELES EDWIN BESSEY 

 The Botanical Society of Washington at its 

 one hundred and third regular meeting, March 

 2, 1915, unanimously passed the following 

 resolutions upon the death of Doctor Charles 

 E. Bessey, dean and professor of botany at the 

 University of Nebraska. 



Whereas, In the recent death of Professor 

 Charles E. Bessey, botany has lost one of its ablest 

 investigators and teachers, one of the pioneers in 



