JAnuaey 2, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



receiving more attention, at the present 

 time, than these objects, and in general 

 the motion of the stars in the line of sight. 

 The Lick, Terkes, Greenwich, Potsdam, 

 Bonn and Ottawa observatories are only a 

 portion of those directing a large part of 

 their energy to this subject. 



One of the most important generaliza- 

 tions of recent times is the discovery by 

 Professor Campbell that the velocity of a 

 star depends upon its class of spectrum. 

 The proper motion of a star was similarly 

 found by the late Lewis Boss to be de- 

 pendent on the same quantity. 



In conclusion, the United States has at- 

 tained an enviable position in the newer 

 departments of astronomy. Can this be 

 maintained? In Europe, especially in 

 Germany, observatories and instruments 

 of the highest grade are now being con- 

 structed, the government furnishing appli- 

 ances with the most liberal hand. Perhaps 

 the most promising sign for the future is 

 the friendly cooperation of American as- 

 tronomers, which has never been more 

 marked than at the present time. 



The possibilities of work are now greater 

 than ever before. A small fraction of the 

 effort expended in teaching science if de- 

 voted to its extension and progress would 

 fulfil the objects of the American Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Science. 



Edward C. Pickering 



PZOGBESS OF TEE CHEMISTBY OF AGEI- 

 CULTUMEi 



It is the object of this address to pre- 

 sent briefly the important recent advances 

 made in agricultural chemistry. In so 

 doing, it is not my intention to go back 

 one hundred years or fifty years or even 

 to the period included in the memory of 



1 Presidential address before the Association of 

 Official Agricultural Chemists of Nortli America 

 (November 18, 1913). 



the veterans of this association; but only 

 to consider such a period as is within the 

 memory and the experience of a youngster 

 like myself. 



Agricultural chemistry is so closely in- 

 terwoven with the other sciences which 

 have been applied to agriculture, that it is 

 practically impossible to disentangle 

 them. Hence, to a certain extent, the prog, 

 ress of the chemistry of agriculture is 

 closely related to the progress of other 

 agricultural sciences, and to agricultural 

 science, in general. The contributions of 

 the chemist to agricultural science have 

 been so many, so varied and so important, 

 that for a long time the sciences applied 

 to agriculture have been termed agricul- 

 tural chemistry. This period is passing, 

 and the term agricultural chemistry is 

 being more restricted in its significance, but 

 the field is still broad, and the harvest 

 bountiful to the worker who seeks to 

 garner the grain of knowledge. 



There has been a tendency in some col- 

 leges to discontinue the teaching of agri- 

 cultural chemistry, and to divide the sub- 

 ject-matter between the agronomist and 

 the animal husbandman. It is a serious 

 question whether such tendency is in ac- 

 cord with the known laws of specialization 

 in science. There is no doubt but that, as 

 time goes on, the agricultural chemist must 

 specialize more and more in one of these 

 fields of work, but there is a difference be- 

 tween the specialization of the scientist in 

 his own field, and the attempt of other 

 branches of agricultural science to take 

 over the work of the chemist, or the chem- 

 ist to take over other branches of agricul- 

 tural science. As I see it, both the agron- 

 omist and the animal husbandman have 

 their special problems. They must have 

 their special training in their own fields, 

 and while this training must include some 

 chemistry, it is not sufficient in quantity to 



