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 



Fkidat, June 14, 1907 



CONTENTS 

 Some Principles of Museum Administration: 

 Pbofessoe Fbanz Boas 921 



Scientific Books: — 



The Collected Works of George William 

 Hill: E. W. B. Pocket-hook of Aeronaut- 

 ics: Pbofessob a. Laweence Eotch 933 



Societies and Academies: — 



Northeastern Section of the American 

 Chemical Society: Pbofessoe Frank H. 

 Thobp. The Torrey Botanical Club: Db. C. 

 Stuart Gagee 937 



Discussion and Correspondence: — 



Elimination or First Species: Pbofessoe J. 

 S. KiNGSLEY. A Correction: Pbofessoe 0. 

 LoEw 939 



Special Articles: — 



The Behavior of the Seedlings of Certain 

 Violet Hybrids: Peesident Ezba Braineed. 

 Formulas for the Comparison of Astro- 

 nomical Photographs: Professor Harold 

 Jacobt 940 



Current Notes on Land Forms: — 



Upwarped Mountains in Alaska: I. B. The 

 Wolds and Vales of Belted Coastal Plains: 

 W. M. D. Southern Arkansas and Northern 

 Louisiana: W. M. D 946 



The Bicentenary of Linnaeus 949 



Scientific Notes and News 949 



University and Educational News 952 



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

 review should be sent to the Editor of Science, Qarrison-ou- 

 Hudson, N. Y. 



SOME PRINCIPLES OF MUSEUM 

 ADMINISTRATION 



In No. 641 of Science (April 12, 1907) 

 Dr. George A. Dorsey discusses in some 

 detail the installation of the ethnological 

 collections in the American Museum of 

 Natural History, basing his criticism essen- 

 tially on the point of view that the 

 arrangement is an unsatisfactory attempt 

 at popularizing the results of ethnological 

 research. In his discussion he assumes 

 that the essential object of a large museum 

 must be research, not instruction, with- 

 out, however, discussing the validity of 

 this fundamental assumption. 



I may be allowed in the following re- 

 marks to discuss what seems to me the 

 vital question of the uses of museums as 

 research institutions and as educational in- 

 stitutions. Since my own practical experi- 

 ence has largely been gained in ethno- 

 graphical museums, I may be allowed to 

 take my examples particularly from these, 

 indicating at the same time in what re- 

 spects ethnological museums seem to dif- 

 fer from natural-history museums. 



Museums may serve three objects. 

 They may be institutions designed to fur- 

 nish healthy entertainment, they may be 

 intended for instruction and they may be 

 intended for the promotion of research. 



The value of the museum as a resort 

 for popular entertainment must not be 

 underrated, particularly in a large city, 

 where every opportxmity that is given to 

 the people to employ their leisure time in 

 healthy and stimulating surroundings 



