198 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIX. No. 997 



The importance of the part played by 

 these funds in advancing science may be 

 illustrated by reference to some of the re- 

 sults obtained. 



The Agassiz Fund has proved to be of 

 great value in meeting the general expenses 

 of the Academy, for which there was for- 

 merly no provision except the dues of the 

 members. 



The Bache Fund made twelve appropri- 

 ations to Hilgard for his magnetic survey 

 of the United States, four to Langley for 

 his important studies of the physical con- 

 stitution of the sun, six to Wolcott Gibbs 

 for his researches on complex inorganic 

 acids and his studies of the action of chem- 

 ical compounds upon the animal system, 

 one each to Newcomb and Michelson for 

 their classic determinations of the veloc- 

 ity of light, three others to Michelson for 

 his equally fundamental optical researches, 

 six to Rowland for his great work in map- 

 ping and identifying the lines of the solar 

 spectrum, three to Pickering for his pio- 

 neer researches in stellar photography, two 

 to Gould for his measurements of the Cor- 

 doba photographs of the southern heavens, 

 six to Boss for his studies of solar and 

 stellar motions and his precise measures of 

 standard stars, and two to Osborn for the 

 work of the Academy Committee on Corre- 

 lation. These cases include only a fraction 

 of the total number of grants from the 

 fund. 



The Barnard Gold Medal for Meritorious 

 Services to Science, awarded every five 

 years by^ Columbia University to the nomi- 

 nee of the National Academy, has been 

 given to Rayleigh, Rontgen, Becquerel and 

 Rutherford. 



The first award of the Comstock Prize of 

 fifteen hundred dollars was made last 

 April to Professor Robert Millikan, of the 

 University of Chicago, for his researches 

 on the charge of the electron and related 

 investigations. 



The Henry Draper Gold Medal for astro- 

 physical research has been awarded to 

 Langley, Pickering, Rowland, Vogel, 

 Keeler, Huggins, Hale, Campbell, Abbot 

 and Deslandres. Several grants to assist 

 investigation have also been made from the 

 surplus income. 



The capital of the "Wolcott Gibbs Fund 

 for chemical research is being increased by 

 additions of accumulated income, and no 

 grants are being made at present. The in- 

 come of the Marsh Fund is also being 

 added to the capital. 



A large number of investigations have 

 been assisted by the Gould Fund, includ- 

 ing those of Doolittle, Parkhurst, Tendell, 

 Newcomb, Leavenworth, Comstock and 

 others. At present the income is used 

 mainly for the support of the Astronom- 

 ical Journal. 



The Alexander Agassiz Gold Medal, es- 

 tablished by Sir John Murray for oceano- 

 graphic research, was awarded for the first 

 time last April to Dr. Johan Hjort, of the 

 Norwegian Fish Commission, for his val- 

 uable contributions to knowledge relating 

 to deep-sea life. 



The Lawrence Smith Gold Medal for the 

 investigation of meteoric bodies has been 

 awarded but once, to H. A. Newton, of 

 Yale, for his researches on the orbits of 

 meteors. Appropriations from the fund 

 have supplied Yale University with appa- 

 ratus for the photography of meteors, and 

 provided for the publication of a catalogue 

 of meteorites, for their chemical analysis 

 and for the study of their luminous trains. 

 The Watson Fund has aided the impor- 

 tant work of Chandler on the variation of 

 latitude, and that of Comstock on the con- 

 stant of aberration, in addition to many 

 other important grants. Since 1901 the 

 income has been very effectively used by 

 Leuschner in the computation of the per- 

 turbations of the asteroids discovered by 

 Watson. The Watson Gold Medal, with 



