November 14, 1902. J 



SCIENCE. 



793 



lem or problems which have engaged their at- 

 tention " and reiterated in diii'erent vcords by 

 Gage, Jordan, Holland, Cockerell, Ganong, 

 Titchener, Clayton, Coulter and others is un- 

 doubtedly the one that has impressed the ma- 

 jority of scientific men as the important 

 element in the Carnegie plan. Stain manu- 

 facturers, mechanics, publishers, bibliograph- 

 ers, etc., are but servants of the investigator 

 and deserve but secondary consideration. The 

 extent to which buildings are to be erected 

 has been decided by Carnegie himself. 



What are we, the exceptional men, able to 

 do without the Carnegie Institution, and what 

 will his endowment enable us to do that we 

 cannot do without it or can do only with 

 great difficulty? What, in other words, are 

 our greatest needs? 



If we are connected with a university we 

 can by hook or crook manage to get some 

 time for research — if we cannot, we are per- 

 haps not worth considering by the Carnegie 

 Institution. All of us can get room without 

 any great difficulty — in fact, the universities 

 are running to marble palaces with such 

 luxuriant enthusiasm that in many eases 

 there is little left to maintain their perma- 

 nent inhabitants. There is as vulgar pride 

 in elaborate university buildings as there is 

 discreet silence as to the salaries of the pro- 

 fessors filling them. We in the universities 

 can also get apparatus and books, though as 

 we approach these less conspicuous parts of 

 the equipment there is greater hesitancy in 

 adequately supplying the needs. Wlien it 

 comes to svipplying the means of keeping ani- 

 mals for experimental work or to make expe- 

 ditions . for securing needed material for a 

 definite research, we either meet with increas- 

 ing difficulty in the university or we must 

 look entirely to outside help. Such outside 

 help can be secured in a limited way from a 

 few research institutions, as the Elizabeth 

 Thomson Science Fund, the American Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science, the 

 American Botanical Society, etc. Beyond 

 this, existing institutions do not help us. We 

 are not able to begin a life-long research de- 

 manding much time or money or both with 

 the assurance that, as long as our results are 



commensurate with the outlay, our work will 

 not have to be abandoned at a critical time. 

 Here, it seems to me, the Carnegie Institution 

 can step in to good advantage. It can do this : 

 (1) By buying part of the time of an ' excep- 

 tional man ' from his institution by paying 

 part of his salary if time is the prime requi- 

 site of his work; (2) by providing the means 

 of carrying on an expensive research (travel- 

 ing expenses, assistants, providing and main- 

 taining aquaria, etc.), in many cases doubtless 

 on condition that his university grant him the 

 time needed for his research; (3) by appoint- 

 ing him a Carnegie professor without routine 

 duties or stipulated place of residence. It 

 ought to make no difference whether a paleon- 

 tological Carnegie professor has his residence 

 on the plains of Wyoming or Patagonia, an 

 American or at times some European mu- 

 seum. If no mistake is made in selecting the 

 right man there need be no fear as to the re- 

 sults to be obtained. The exceptional man 

 with his problems may be selected in the way 

 already adopted by the institution, i. e., by 

 committees of specialists. 



The salary of the Carnegie professorships 

 need not be larger than the average university 

 salaries and they may still be looked upon as 

 the highest and most desirable positions to be 

 obtained by American men of science. 



With such a plan the entire income of the 

 Carnegie Institution can be profitably em- 

 ployed without interfering with existing insti- 

 tutions and without devising cumbersome ad- 

 ministrative machinery or buildings. When 

 we consider the needs and possibilities along 

 this line, so far from being overwhelmed by 

 the magnitude of the endowment, we may 

 even be permitted to regret that the institu- 

 tion was not started with at least twice its 

 present income. C. H. Eigenmann. 



AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF 

 SCIENCE. SECTION D, ANTHEOPOIiOGy. 



The fifty-second meeting of the American 

 Association for the Advancement of Science 

 will be held at Washington, D. C, during 

 Convocation Week, December 29, 1902-Jan- 

 uary 3, 1903. This meeting is the first of the 

 general Society to be held at this time. Dr. 



