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SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXII. No. 571. 



character and amount of water rights. 

 Experiments are being made to determine 

 how far drainage can be made to protect 

 hillsides from destructive effects of erosion. 

 In the whole country there are 100 million 

 acres of swamp and poor lands, which can 

 be reclaimed only through drainage. 



Of the new buildings the secretary says 

 that the structures now being built will 

 cost about one and one half million dollars, 

 and should be completed in two years, by 

 which time it is hoped that further appro- 

 priations will be available to continue the 

 building work inaugurated. 



Speaking of the growth of the depart- 

 ment, the secretary reports the number of 

 persons on the rolls July 1, 1905, to be 

 5,446. Of these, 2,326 are rated as scien- 

 tists and scientific assistants. This shows 

 an increase since July 1, 1897, of 3,003 

 persons on the rolls of the department, of 

 which the increase in the number of the 

 scientific staff in the same period was 1,401. 



In conclusion, the secretary says it has 

 been a grateful task to present to the presi- 

 dent and thus to the American people a 

 pen picture of the American farmer as he 

 is to-day, to make clear the position of the 

 farming industry, its wonderful produc- 

 tiveness, and its large contribution to the 

 general prosperity of the country. He has 

 also pointed out some of the more impor- 

 tant work illustrative of the methods by 

 which the department seeks to benefit the 

 farmer. Its work is two-fold. It seeks to 

 add to the sum of intelligence in the man 

 and to increase the productive capacity ,of 

 the acre. In this work the department has 

 the hearty cooperation of the agricultural 

 colleges and experiment stations, all work- 

 ing Avith the department to the same great 

 end. The gratifying evidences of well-be- 

 ing in the farming community, the extra- 

 ordinary progress made, and the enlarged 

 recognition of the true position of the 

 farming industry in the economic life of 



the country are mainly the result of this 

 continued and combined effort on the part 

 of these agencies to add to the sum of the 

 farmer's knowledge, and must be regarded 

 as the triumph of intelligence in the ap- 

 plication of scientific knowledge to the till- 

 age of the soil. This he maintains is so 

 true that it would be superfluous to urge 

 the generous maintenance of the depart- 

 ment in its grand work. 



Great as has been the work undertaken and ac- 

 complished, gratifying as have been the results as 

 shown in the first few pages of this report, be it 

 remembered that we are still at the threshold of 

 agricultural development and that the educational 

 work which has led to such grand results has only 

 been extended as yet to a portion of our agri- 

 cultural population. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 



newcomb's reminiscences.^ 

 When a man lays down the arduous pen 

 of the mathematician, which he has used 

 throughout a long life to the admiration of 

 the world, and takes up in leisurely fashion 

 that of the autobiographer, he is tolerably 

 sure of our respectful attention. But Pro- 

 fessor Newcomb has won from us far more 

 than this : he has earned our lasting gratitude 

 by the production of a book which is delight- 

 ful to read and which makes several contribu- 

 tions to ,the history of astronomy. Of the 

 eminently readable character of the book it is 

 easy to assure oneself by opening it at random, 

 for on almost ^. every page there is an anecdote 

 or the equivalent, rendered accessible to the 

 lay reader, where necessary, by admirable ex- 

 position of astronomical terms and touched 

 infallibly with a genial humor. The variety 

 of topic is specially noteworthy; the author is 

 as much at home in explaining why the United 

 States results from the Transits of Yenus 

 were not reduced (because after spending 

 $375,000 on the observations it was found to 

 be impossible to secure $5,000 for the com- 

 putations — see p. 178) as he is in vividly 

 sketching Mr. Gladstone thus: 



^ ' The Reminiscences of an Astronomer,' by 

 Simon Newcomb. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.. 1903. 



