SCIENCE 



A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 



OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 



FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 



Editoeial Committee : S. Newcomb, Mathematics ; B. S. Woodward, Mechanics ; E. C. PiCKEUiNa, 

 Astronomy ; T. C Mendenhall, Physics ; E, H. Thurston, Engineering ; Ira Eemsen, Chemistry ; 

 Charles D. Walcott, Geology ; W. M. Davis, Physiography ; Henry F. Osboen, Paleon- 

 tology ; W. K. Brooks, C. Haet Merriam, Zoology ; S. H. Scudder, Entomology ; C. E. 

 Bessey, N. L. Britton, Botany ; C. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology ; H. P. Bow- 

 ditch, Physiology ; J. S. Billings, Hygiene ; William H. Welch, 

 Pathology ; J. MoKeen Cattell, Psychology. 



Friday, October 17, 1902. 



GONTEWTS: 



The. Carnegie Institution: Dr. W. J. Hol- 

 land, Professok Charles E. Bessby, Pro- 

 fessor Tiieo. D. a. Cockerell, Professor 

 W. F. Ganong, Professor E. B. Titchejxer, 

 Dr. W J McGee 601 



Professional Schools and the Length of the 

 College Course: President Nicholas Mur- 

 ray BUTLEE 613 



The Address of the President of the British 

 Association for the Advancement of Science, 

 III.: Professor James Dewae 621 



Scientific Books :^ 



Notes on Naval Progress: Professor R. H. 

 Thurston 631 



Scientific Journals and Articles 632 



Shorter Articles: — 



On the Structure of the Nucleus: Pro- 

 fessor C. Barus 633 



Current Notes on Physiography : — 



Rivers of Southern Indiana; Rivers of 

 South Wales; Dissection of Laccoliths: 

 Professor W. M. Davis 636 



Scientific Notes and News 637 



University and Educational Neios 639 



MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 

 for review should be sent to ttie responsible editor, Pro- 

 fessor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson, N. Y. 



THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTION. 



To THE Editor op Science: I certainly 

 appreciate your kind letter inviting me to 

 join with you and others in publicly dis- 

 cussing in the columns of Science the 

 question of the endowment of scientific re- 

 search with special reference to the possi- 

 bilities which are wrapped up in Mr. Car- 

 negie's recent gift to the institution in 

 Washington. Without such an invitation 

 coming from you I should have hesitated 

 to give utterance to any of the thoughts 

 which naturally have arisen in my mind 

 in this connection. I feel delicacy in mak- 

 ing suggestions touching matters in refer- 

 ence to which my opinion has not been 

 solicited. But when the editor of Science 

 asks me to speak I cannot refuse to comply 

 with his request. 



There is but one truly scientific mind in 

 the universe, whose vision sweeps from Sol 

 to Alcyone, which notes the sparrows as 

 they fall, and numbers the hairs of our 

 heads. Every effort of the human intel- 

 lect to ascertain the unknown as to the 

 whole of things is an effort to apprehend 

 the thought which lies in the great Syn- 

 thetic Mind. As a philosopher I have 

 long ago been taught the folly of calling 

 anything great or anything little which In- 

 finite Wisdom has planned and called into 

 being. Nothing knowable is in certain as- 

 pects fundamentally more important than 



