112 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVII. No. 681 



of certain parts of the income for the purpose 

 of ascertaining that the prizes are worthily 

 awarded : 



This miglit be justifiable if the money were 

 spent for this purpose. If the committees used 

 the laboratories and libraries they have established 

 out of the Nobel fund for the purpose of testing 

 the real value of alleged inventions it would do 

 much to promote science and assist in the dis- 

 covery of struggling genius. But no man is al- 

 lowed to present his own claims. He must first 

 have the endorsement of scholars occupying cer- 

 tain narrowly specified official positions in his 

 own land. 



It would be interesting to know how much 

 the writer of this article referred to knows 

 about the work done at the Nobel Institutes, 

 whether this is done for the purpose indicated 

 or not. It is evident how unpractical it would 

 be if each man presented his own claims to a 

 discovery, and the committee on awards had 

 to test in each case the actual value of the 

 claims. It would be equally interesting to 

 know what method of selection the writer of 

 the article referred to would suggest. To 

 persons with ordinary intelligence it seems 

 fairly evident that the foremost specialists in 

 each country are the best judges as to dis- 

 coveries in their own line, let it be that these 

 specialists may occupy " certain narrowly 

 specified olBcial positions " only, and do not 

 represent the general public. A popular vote 

 would hardly be the correct method for judg- 

 ing the value of scientific discoveries or 

 achievements in literature. 



It must be remembered in regard to the 

 Nobel Institutes that they are not by any 

 means reserved for Swedes, as is often claimed. 

 Paragraph 12 of the Code of Statutes provides 

 that " the adjudicating corporations are at 

 liberty' to appoint foreigners, either men or 

 women, to positions at the Nobel Institutes." 

 Of the more than thirty prizes so far dis- 

 tributed only one has been awarded a Swede, 

 and there is no man who could raise any ob- 

 jection in that case. One prize has been given 

 a Norwegian, and this was done not on ac- 

 count of love or relationship, as any one con- 

 versant with Scandinavian politics can testify. 

 One prize was awarded a Dane, whose dis- 

 covery was generally recognized as fully merit- 



ing this encouragement. All the other prize- 

 winners have been non-Scandinavians. One 

 American has received a prize so far, and it 

 was not given him on account of nationality, 

 but for his personal accomplishments in the 

 line in which he received a prize.' 



It can not rightly be claimed that parts 

 of the Nobel funds have been diverted for 

 local purposes, as the institutes are in every 

 way of the most international nature, as aU 

 science should be. When the writer in The 

 Popular Science Monthly makes the statement 

 that the Nobel Institutes " have been founded 

 in dishonor " he is going too far, and by such 

 an unverified accusation he certainly does him- 

 self no credit. 



I have repeatedly been approached by 

 countrymen on this side of the Atlantic to 

 reply to some of these attempts at discrediting 

 not only our foremost Swedish scientific in- 

 stitutions, but the Swedish government and 

 nation which have sanctioned the actions of 

 the administrators of the Nobel Fund. I have 

 hesitated to do so, but a recent letter received 

 from a university in the United States 

 brought up the question again, and the new 

 awards of prizes that will be made to-day, on 

 the anniversaiy of the death of Dr. Alfred 

 Nobel, will probably cause a renewed outburst 

 of co mm ents from newspapers and others. It 

 is well that at least American scientists hear 

 the other view of this question. 



Pehr Olsson-Seffer 



Mexico Citt, 

 December 10, 1907 



UNIVERSITY REGISTRATION 



To THE Editor of Science: In connection 

 with the university registration statistics 

 published in the issue of November 29, I wish 

 to call your attention to the following cor- 

 rections : 



The students of the University of California 

 credited to com m erce and architecture con- 

 stitute a group of students who at other insti- 



'■ The recent award of the prize in physics to 

 Professor A. A. Michelson, of Chicago, is further 

 evidence that those concerned in the distribution 

 of the prizes are recognizing true merit, without 

 considering nationality. — P. O.-S. 



