580 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVI. No. 406. 



the Custom House, Mining Bureau, Forest- 

 ry Bureau, Agricultural Department and 

 Board of Health; diagnostic work for the 

 hospitals and others interested, and re- 

 searches in gutta-percha, rubber and gums 

 found in the islands, as well as investiga- 

 tions of some previously unknown forms 

 of tropical diseases. The scope of the work 

 is continually widening, and there is no 

 doubt but that the bureau offers large op- 

 portunities for young men who desire to 

 acquaint themselves with the products of 

 the tropics and to advance our knowledge 

 of lines of work which are each year con- 

 centrating more and more of the interest of 

 the scientific world. 



The positions in the bureau, outside of 

 the directors, are all under the Civil Ser- 

 vice, and qualifications can be obtained 

 through the Civil Service Commission at 

 Washington. The scheme of the bureau 

 contemplates the following additions to the 

 laboratory force during the next year : 



1 Soil and water analyst $1,500 



1 Plant pathologist 2,500 



1 Physical chemist 2,400 



1 Analytical chemist for mineral 



analysis 2,000 



1 Assayer 1,500 



1 Entomologist 2,500 



1 Animal parasitologist 2,500 



1 Pathologist 2,400 



1 Drug assayer and toxicologist 1,800 



The candidates for the higher salaried 

 positions by understanding will not be sub- 

 jected to a rigid examination, but their pre- 

 vious research work, experience, university 

 degrees and general knowledge will qualify 

 them, after the facts have been submitted 

 to the Civil Service Board and found satis- 

 factory. 



The salaries for young men are good, and, 

 although expenses in Manila are higher 

 than in the United States, nevertheless, the 

 difference in salaries is large enough so 

 that prospective workers will be better paid 

 here than -they would in the beginning po- 



sitions in the United States. It is the in- 

 tention to engage none but the most efficient 

 workers in the corps, and it is hoped, in 

 the course of a few years, a connection with 

 the Bureau of Government Laboratories 

 will be equivalent to a certificate of the su- 

 perior attainments. 



The plan of the institution contemplates 

 the reservation of a certain number of re- 

 search rooms in the laboratory building. 

 These are to be at the disposition of inde- 

 pendent investigators who wish to come to 

 the islands for a temporary period as the 

 guests of the laboratories. These workers 

 will be furnished all the laboratory facili- 

 ties they desire, and it is hoped that the 

 opportunities offered will render scientific 

 study in the tropics easy of access to all 

 who have planned to undertake certain 

 lines of work in which they are interested. 

 Paul C. Freer, 



Superintendent of Government Laboratories. 



THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTION. 



Aid to research may be given either to 

 individuals or to groups or organizations 

 of individuals. 



One of the chief obstacles in this country 

 at present to research by individuals is the 

 lack of time for continuous, well-adjusted 

 work. The majority of the persons engaged 

 in active scientific investigation in the 

 United States are connected with colleges 

 or universities, and in nearly every instance 

 definite accomplishment is expected from 

 them in the way of instruction and admin- 

 istration. The exigencies— real or fancied 

 — of university administration often lead to 

 wasteful repetition of courses and to the 

 exhaustion of energy in barren details of 

 executive routine and elementary instruc- 

 tion. The most common complaint heard 

 from American men of science is not re- 

 garding inadequate salaries, but regarding 

 the scanty time afforded them for the work 

 of investigation. While in some cases this 



