574 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVII. No. 693 



indirect results arising from such confer- 

 ences may prove to be in the aggregate of 

 as great value in the advancement of knowl- 

 edge as the direct results of departmental 

 investigations. 



THE GEOPHYSICAL LABOKATOEY 



The completion and occupancy of the 

 Geophysical Laboratory mark a noteworthy 

 advance in the progress of the novel and 

 difScult experimental work carried on in 

 this department of research. This work 

 was started in a tentative way by Dr. Day, 

 now director of the laboratory, while he 

 was a member of the staff of the U. S. 

 Geological Survey. The results of his pre- 

 liminary investigations and the limited 

 quarters available in the survey building 

 rendered the construction of a special labo- 

 ratory essential to adequate development 

 and prosecution of the work. Accordingly, 

 as explained more fully in my last report, 

 provision was made by the board of trus- 

 tees at their meeting in December, 1905, 

 for the purchase of a site and for the con- 

 struction and equipment of such a labora- 

 tory. In compliance with the contract 

 made in July, 1906, the laboratory was 

 completed and ready for occupancy within 

 a year, so that the director and his staff 

 were in possession of their new quarters 

 early in July of this year. At the present 

 writing the equipment of the laboratory is 

 also nearly secured and installed. 



Attention is invited especially to a de- 

 scription, with appropriate illustrations, of 

 this laboratory, to be found in the report 

 of Dr. Day on- pages 85-96 of this volume. 

 It may suiSce here, therefore, to remark 

 that the building is in many respects no 

 less novel than the work for which it is 

 designed. Substantially, though econom- 

 ically, built, nearly fire-proof, admirably 

 situated as regards isolation, elevation, 

 light and ventilation, it is worthy of in- 

 spection by those interested in physical 



laboratories in general as well as by those 

 interested in the special work to which this 

 one is devoted. 



Naturally the time and energies of the 

 staff of the laboratory have been absorbed 

 largely by the duties of construction, trans- 

 fer and installation of equipment and by 

 the attendant preparatory work. Several 

 publications from members of the labora- 

 tory staff have been issued, however, as 

 explained in the director's report and as 

 recorded on pages 46-54. 



DEPARTMENT OP HISTORICAL RESEARCH 



With many departments devoted to as 

 many different fields of research there must 

 be of necessity a corresponding diversity 

 of aims, methods and results. It is im- 

 possible, therefore, to measure adequately 

 departmental activities by any common 

 standard. This diversity and this lack of 

 common terms of comparison are forcibly 

 suggested in passing abruptly from the 

 physical to the historical sciences. But the 

 work which the Department of Historical 

 Research has entered upon is not so re- 

 motely allied to the physical sciences as 

 might at first appear. It is, for example, 

 in one respect, strikingly similar to the 

 work of the Department of Meridian As- 

 trometry; for while the latter has for one 

 of its main objects the construction of a 

 catalogue of the positions of the stars for 

 the use of astronomers and navigators, the 

 former has for one of its main objects the 

 construction of a comprehensive series of 

 catalogues of historical documents for the 

 use of historians and investigators in Amer- 

 ican history. 



In addition to the line of work just 

 named, the department serves also as a sort 

 of American clearing-house for the dis- 

 semination of historical data and for the 

 promotion of historical research. Thus the 

 guides in preparation to materials of Amer- 

 ican history found in the archives of Can- 



