200 



SCIENCE 



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



Bay, Wisconsin; Tacubaya, Mexico; and 

 Mount Wilson, California. 



A new solar observatory, which is about 

 to be established in New Zealand through 

 the generosity of Mr. Thomas Cawthron, 

 will fill the gap in longitude between Cali- 

 fornia and India, and thus aid in keeping 

 the rapidly changing phenomena of the 

 solar atmosphere constantly under obser- 

 vation. At the Mount Wilson meeting of 

 the Union, it was decided to enlarge its 

 scope so as to include the whole range of 

 astrophysics, and a representative com- 

 mittee was appointed to report on the 

 classification of stellar spectra. It is now 

 evident that the Solar Union is destined to 

 play an increasingly important part in the 

 field of international research. 



The Solar Union is one of the organiza- 

 tions endorsed by the International As- 

 sociation of Academies, to which it makes 

 regular reports. Another of the interna- 

 tional investigations conducted under the 

 auspices of the association is that of the 

 Brain Commission, the American Com- 

 mittee of which is also closely related to 

 the National Academy. 



The Committee on International Paleon- 

 tologic Correlation, appointed by the Acad- 

 emy in 1908, has recently completed its 

 work. Aided by the Bache Fund, the com- 

 mittee has pushed forward the important 

 work of correlating the geologic forma- 

 tions of Europe and America on the basis 

 of their paleontologic contents. The re- 

 sults have been published in a series of 

 papers, by members of the committee, most 

 of which treat of the mammals of the ter- 

 tiary epoch and the formations which con- 

 tain them in North America. Marsh and 

 Cope dealt with the formation of the 

 American Eocene as units, even when their 

 thickness ranged from 1,000 to 2,000 feet. 

 These formational units have now been 

 split up into sub-units, or life zones, 



usually distinguished by geologic discon- 

 tinuity. At the same time there has been 

 a marked increase in the precision of re- 

 cording the succession of species in certain 

 formations which contain several levels of 

 life zones, thus permitting exact compari- 

 sons with other life zones to be instituted. 

 The importance of such work is obvious in 

 connection with the trend and rate of de- 

 velopment in different parts of the world, 

 the possibility of geographic intercourse at 

 certain epochs, and the cycles of physio- 

 graphic and climatic change. 



It is thus evident that the Academy is in 

 a most favorable position to extend its oper- 

 ations in the field of international research, 

 where the advantages of its national and 

 representative character are felt to the full, 

 and the disadvantages of its scattered mem- 

 bership are of minor importance. 



From this brief survey it appears that 

 the National Academy of Sciences, in spite 

 of many obstacles, has played an impor- 

 tant part in the development of American 

 science. The time is now favorable for an 

 extension of its work into new fields, which 

 must be occupied if the special opportuni- 

 ties and obligations implied by the Acad- 

 emy's national charter are to be fully 

 realized. In a later article some of the 

 possibilities of future progress will be con- 

 sidered. 



George Ellert Hale 



Mount Wilson Solar Observatory 



TSE PLAN OF WORK IN CONNECTION 



WITH A NEW MARINE LABORATORY 



ON TSE PACIFIC 



During the past summer a new marine sta- 

 tion was erected at Laguna Beach, California. 

 At this place the varied and rocky coast offers 

 peculiar advantages for the study of plant 

 and animal life. The situation, too, is con- 

 venient for those in southern California, be- 

 ing within fifty miles from Los Angeles and 

 easily accessible from other cities and towns. 



