Apbil 10, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



573 



of the noteworthy advances in modern biol- 

 ogy. Mention may be made here also of 

 the important contribution of Professor 

 Lloyd, formerly an associate of the depart- 

 ment, on the "Physiology of Stomata," 

 now in press as publication No. 82 of the 

 institution. Scarcely less important and 

 promising in their ultimate applications 

 are the descriptive studies of the desert 

 flora of Professor Spalding, the investiga- 

 tions of the physics of plant life by Dr. 

 Livingston, and the histological researches 

 on hybrids by Dr. Cannon. In the last- 

 named work Dr. Cannon has derived valu- 

 able assistance from Mr. Burbank, whose 

 unrivaled production of hybrid plants fur- 

 nishes ample and varied material for the 

 histologist as well as for the horticulturist. 



DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS AND SOCIOLOGY 



As may be inferred from its name, this 

 department includes a wide range of work 

 and requires a correspondingly large corps 

 of collaborators. During the past year 185 

 individuals have participated in its work. 

 Its investigations are under the following 

 titles: Population and Immigration; Agri- 

 culture and Forestry; Mining; Manufac- 

 tures; Transportation; Domestic and For- 

 eign Commerce; Money and Banking; The 

 Labor Movement ; Industrial Organization ; 

 Social Legislation; Federal and State Fi- 

 nance, including Taxation; The Negro in 

 Slavery and in Freedom. 



The names of the experts in charge of 

 these divisions and the abstracts of progress 

 given in the report of the director afford 

 a sufScient guaranty of an abundant har- 

 vest from these varied fields of research. 

 Many preliminary results have already 

 been published and many more are forth- 

 coming. 



One of the first necessities which con- 

 fronted this department was that of a sys- 

 tematic search for early as well as recent 

 economic material in the official documents 



of the several states of the United States. 

 To meet this need the preparation of a 

 classified index of economic material in the 

 state documents has been undertaken for 

 the department by Miss Adelaide Hasse, 

 of the New York Public Library. Three 

 volumes of this important work, namely, 

 those for the states of Maine, New Hamp- 

 shire and Vermont, have been issued by 

 the institution during the past year, and 

 volumes for New York and Rhode Island 

 are now in press. 



DEPARTMENT OF EXPERIMENTAL EVOLUTION 



The work of this department is pro- 

 gressing favorably along lines explained in 

 preceding reports, the principal problems 

 under investigation being those of heredity 

 in plants and animals. Old as these prob- 

 lems are, it is only recently that their study 

 has risen to the level of the older physical 

 sciences in which measurement and calcu- 

 lation are so advantageously applied. It is 

 now clear, however, that these powerful 

 adjuncts of research may be applied with 

 equal advantage in biological investiga- 

 tions. Thus the more important work of 

 our Departments of Experimental Evolu- 

 tion, Botanical Research and Marine Biol- 

 ogy serves to mark the advance of biolog- 

 ical science from the qualitative to the 

 quantitative stage. 



One of the most interesting and gratify- 

 ing results flowing from the larger projects 

 undertaken by the institution is the stim- 

 ulus they are producing amongst individual 

 investigators at home and abroad. This is 

 especially the case with the Department of 

 Experimental Evolution, whose location 

 close to the main routes of travel makes 

 inspection of its work somewhat more easy 

 than in the case of other departments. The 

 reciprocal advantages arising from visits 

 to our departments of experts in similar 

 lines of work are of the highest significance. 

 Indeed, it appears not improbable that the 



