JANUART 31, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



187 



tion of advising relative to legislation on 

 scientific matters was urged as highly im- 

 portant. 



The address was closed by an earnest advo- 

 cacy of the value of the spirit and method of 

 science to the state and nation as an essential 

 element in the solution of its gTeat social, 

 political, and ethical problems. The habit of 

 conscientious search for the precise truth and 

 the systematic control and guidance of opinion 

 and action in accordance with the canons of 

 scientific procedure were urged as means of 

 supreme value in the elevation and purifica- 

 tion of the common thought and feeling of 

 our people. More than perhaps anything else, 

 are the intellectual and moral methods of sci- 

 ence a protection against current fevils and a 

 guarantee of safety in the future. 



S. A. Forbes, University of Illinois, gave a 

 history of the formation and existence of 

 former state natural history societies. He 

 called attention to the small number of scien- 

 tific men in the state at the time when such 

 organizations had their existence; pointed out 

 the difference in present conditions; and 

 showed the promise which there is of an im- 

 portant present and glowing future for the 

 state organization. His address has been 

 printed in Science. 



The chair appointed as committee on or- 

 ganization : S. W. Williston, University of 

 Chicago, Wm. A. Noyes, University of Illinois, 

 and 0. B. Atwell, Northwestern University. 

 And these three selected to complete the com- 

 mittee of nine called for: T. 0. Chamberlin, 

 University of Chicago, S. A. Forbes, Univer- 

 sity of Illinois, A. E. Crook, State Museum, 

 Fred L. Charles, State Normal School, H. V. 

 Neal, Knox College, and B. B. James, James 

 Millikin University. 



At 2 P.M. the committee on organization re- 

 ported with a constitution. The report was 

 considered item by item and the constitution 

 was adopted. The following officers were 

 elected : 



President — Professor T. C. Chamberlin, LL.D., 

 University of Chicago. 



Vice-President — Professor Henry Crew, Ph.D., 

 Northwestern University. 



Secretary — A. E. Crook, Ph.D., curator Stat© 

 Museum. 



Treasurer — Professor J. C. Hessler, Ph.D., James 

 Millikin University. 



Dr. H. Foster Bain, state geologist, was ap- 

 pointed a member of publication committee. 



The committee on membership consists of: 

 Professor S. A. Forbes, LL.D., University of 

 niinois. Professor T. W. Galloway, James 

 Millikin University, Professor J. P. Magnus- 

 son, Ph.D., Augustana College, Dr. C. H. 

 Smith, Hyde Park High School, Chicago, and 

 Professor B. B. James, James Millikin Uni- 

 versity. 



After the organization was completed ten- 

 minute addresses were given in a symposium 

 on the outlook for young men in science. All 

 of the speakers took an optimistic view of the 

 situation. 



W J McGee, as a guest of the occasion, 

 represented the outlook in anthropology. The 

 recognition and financial rewards to the 

 worker in this branch are probably less than 

 in many other branches of science, but the 

 amount of work which remains to build the 

 science into goodly proportions is great. 



Dr. Coulter called attention to the many 

 fields which are open to the worker in botany. 

 Rewards are promised to the original worker, 

 to the teacher and to men who would be satis- 

 fied with the less attractive, but none the less 

 useful, work of cataloguing the flora of various- 

 regions. 



Dr. Noyes finds the outlook for workers in 

 chemistry not only attractive scientifically, but 

 financially as well. 



Dr. Bain considers the work of investiga- 

 tion and of practical application of geology 

 to be in the main very alluring. 



Dr. Crew pointed out the vast amount of 

 investigational work which lies before the 

 physicist, although any one who enters the 

 door of pure physics will find written before 

 the entrance " Leave behind the hope of 

 wealth! All ye who enter here." 



Dr. Neal read letters from various leaders 

 in the teaching of zoology in many institu- 

 tions, showing that the call for workers and 

 investigators in zoology is great, and concluded 

 that zoology ofiers a most attractive field for 



