Maech 11, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



379 



sun, in conjunction with observations made 

 by the department of terrestrial magnetism 

 on " storms " to wbicli the earth's magnetism 

 is subject, will result in a distinct advance in 

 this field of research. 



Capital results have been achieved also 

 during the past year by other departments of 

 the institution. At the Geophysical Labora- 

 tory in Washington, where geological and 

 mineralogieal experiments are being carried 

 on, there has been an important addition to 

 the equipment in the form of apparatus for 

 subjecting materials under observation to 

 high pressures and high temperatures. At the 

 Marine Biological Laboratory at Tortugas, 

 Florida, research has been widely extended by 

 a corps of specialists. The equipment of the 

 Nutrition Laboratory in Boston has proved 

 highly effective in ascertaining the influence 

 of nutrition upon pathological as well as upon 

 normal subjects. The search for the sources 

 of American history, which is being conducted 

 by the department of historical research, has 

 been vigorously carried forward in Mexico, 

 Italy, France, Germany, Great Britain and 

 the United States. 



The investigations of the department of bo- 

 tanical research have been continued success- 

 fully. Among these the experiments of the 

 director in the production of mutants in 

 plants seem destined to play a fundamental 

 role in the determination of the absorbing 

 biological question of the derivation of species. 

 The progress made in the researches in ex- 

 perimental evolution being conducted at Cold 

 Spring Harbor has also been significant, and 

 the facilities of this department have been in- 

 creased by the purchase of Goose Island, in 

 Long Island Sound, where the development 

 of plants and animals in a state of isolation 

 may be observed. 



The publication work of the institution has 

 proceeded actively. Nineteen volumes, with 

 an aggregate of 4,907 pages, have been issued, 

 bringing the total number of the institution's 

 publications to 141, with a total aggregate of 

 approximately 35,000 pages of printed matter. 

 One of the most important publication pro- 

 jects thus far undertaken by the institution 

 was inaugurated during the year, namely, 



that of an addition of the Classics of Inter- 

 national Law. Under the general editorship 

 of Professor James Brown Scott, the early 

 master-works in international law are to be 

 issued. Each work is to be reproduced by 

 photographic process from the best available 

 edition, and accompanied by a complete 

 translation into English, and supplied with an 

 introductory commentary. The work already 

 begun includes the "Juris et judicii fecialis, 

 sive juris inter gentes " of Zouche, and the 

 " De jure belli ac pacis " of Grotius. 



THE ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION 

 As readers of Science have learned from 

 the daily papers, a bill has been introduced 

 into the United States Senate incorporating 

 the Rockefeller Foundation, the object of 

 which is " to promote the well-being and ad- 

 vance the civilization of the peoples of the 

 United States and its territories and posses- 

 sions, and of foreign lands, in the acquisition 

 and dissemination of knowledge, in the pre- 

 vention of suffering and in the promotion of 

 any and all the elements of human progress." 

 The bill names as incorporators of the founda- 

 tion John D. Eockefeller, John D. Eockefeller, 

 Jr., Fred T. Gates, Starr J. Murphy and 

 Charles O. Heydt. The principal ofiices of 

 the foundation would be in the District of 

 Columbia, though the bill also gives the right 

 to establish branch offices elsewhere and to 

 hold meetings of the trustees at any place they 

 may see fit. The amount of the endowment 

 has not been announced. It is said that Mr. 

 Eoekefeller's gifts have amounted to about 

 $150,000,000, and that his present fortune is 

 in the neighborhood of $300,000,000. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 

 Dr. Adolf von Baeyer, professor of chem- 

 istry at Munich, has been elected a foreign 

 member of the Paris Academy of Sciences. 



The following fifteen candidates have been 

 selected by the council of the Eoyal Society to 

 be recommended for election into the society: 

 Mr. J. Barcroft, Professor G. C. Bourne, Pro- 

 fessor A. P. Coleman, Dr. F. A. Dixey, Dr. L. 

 N. G. Filon, Mr. A. Fowler, Dr. A. E. Garrod, 



