Apkil 1, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



tain all earnest students who wish to visit 

 this remarkable volcano. Similar local or- 

 ganizations will be encouraged in the Philip- 

 pines, South America, Mexico and other 

 volcanic countries, where, by a little encour- 

 agement, local observation will be stimulated. 



The committee on permanent organization 

 consists of Capt. T. C. McLean, Commander 

 of the League Island Navy Yard, Philadel- 

 phia; Professor I. C. Eussell, of the Univer- 

 sity of Michigan ; Lieut. Com. J. B. Bernadou, 

 of the U. S. Navy; Major H. J. Gallagher, of 

 the U. S. Army; Professor E. O. Hovey, of 

 the American Museum of Natural History; 

 Professor T. A. Jaggar, of Harvard; Messrs. 

 A. F. Jacacci and George Kennan, the well- 

 known writers, and Messrs, J. Martin Miller, 

 W. M. Mason and J. O. Hammitt, of the press. 



The president of the society is Mr. Eobert 

 T. Hill, the secretary, Mr. H. H. Smith, and 

 its address is "Washington, D. C. 



PRESIDENT ELIOT. 

 The following letter with some ten thou- 

 sand signatures was presented to President 

 Eliot on his seventieth birthday. 



March 20, 1904. 



Dear Mr. President: As with undiminshed 

 power you pass the age of seventy, we greet you. 



Thirty-five years ago you were called to be 

 president of Harvard College. At the age of 

 thirty-five you became the head of an institution 

 whose history was long, whose traditions were 

 firm, and whose leading counselors were of twice 

 your age. With prophetic insight you anticipated 

 the movements of thought and life; your face 

 was towards the coming day. In your imagina- 

 tion the college was already the university. 



You have upheld the old studies and uplifted 

 the new. You have given a new definition to a 

 liberal education. The university has become the 

 expression of the highest intellectual forces of the 

 present as well as of the past. 



You have held from the first that teacher and 

 student alike grow strong through freedom. 

 Working eagerly with you and for you are men 

 whose beliefs, whether in education or in religion, 

 differ widely from your own, yet who know that 

 in speaking out their beliefs they are not more 

 loyal to themselves than to you. By your faith 

 in a young man's use of intellectual and spiritual 



freedom you have given new dignity to the life 

 of the college student. 



The universities and colleges throughout the 

 land, though some are slow to accept your prin- 

 ciples and adopt your methods, all feel your 

 power and recognize with gratitude your stim- 

 ulating influence and your leadership. 



Through you the American people have begun 

 to see that a university is not a cloister for the 

 recluse, but an expression of all that is best in 

 the nation's thought and character.. From Har- 

 vard University men go into every part of our 

 national life. To Harvard University come from 

 the common schools, through paths that have 

 been broadened by your work, the youth who 

 have the capacity and the will to profit by her 

 teaching. Your influence is felt in the councils 

 of the teachers and in the education of the 

 youngest child. 



As a son of New England you liave sustained 

 the traditions of her patriots and scholars. By 

 precept and example you have taught that the 

 first duty of every citizen is to his country. In 

 public life you have been independent and out- 

 spoken; in private life you have stood for sim- 

 plicity. In the great and bewildering conflict 

 of economic and social questions you have with 

 clear head and firm voice spoken for the funda- 

 mental principles of democracy and the liberties 

 of the people. 



More precious to the sons of Harvard than 

 your service as educator or citizen is your char- 

 acter. Y''our outward reserve has concealed a 

 heart more tender than you have trusted yourself 

 to reveal. Defeat of your cherished plans has 

 disclosed your patience and magnanimity and 

 your willingness to bide your time. 



Fearless, just, and wise, of deep and simple 

 faith, serene in affliction, self-restrained in suc- 

 cess, unsuspected by any man of self interest, you 

 command the admiration of all men and the 

 gratitude and loyalty of the sons of Harvard.- 



8CIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 



The annual stated session of the National 

 Academy of Sciences will be held in Wash- 

 ington, D. C, beginning on Tuesday, April 19, 

 1904. 



To celebrate President Eliot's seventieth 

 birthday, Harvard graduates and students 

 have subscribed $5,000 for a portrait or bust 

 to be placed in the Union. 



Dr. S. p. Langley, secretary of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, has been made a corre- 



