76 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vor,. XXXU. No. 811 



presidents this ratio becomes approximately 

 three and four, respectively. The large aver- 

 age of the French presidents is due to the 

 names Poincare, Picard, Borel, Hadamard 

 and D'Ocagne. 



It would have been of interest to include the 

 Italians in these comparisons, as they have re- 

 cently become one of the most active nations 

 as regards mathematical work. It is, however, 

 somewhat doubtful whether any one Italian 

 society represents as completely the national 

 mathematical activity during the period under 

 consideration as those which were selected 

 above. The Circolo Matematico di Palermo 

 would, however, have been placed in the list if 

 the writer had had a complete roll of its presi- 

 dents for the given period. 



A noticeable feature as regards American 

 mathematical publications is that they are to 

 a very large extent confined to journals de- 

 voted exclusively to mathematics. Our mathe- 

 maticians do not assume as prominent a place 

 in the proceedings of our academies as Euro- 

 pean mathematicians do in the corresponding 

 proceedings. There is a danger of too much 

 isolation on the part of our mathematicians. 

 It is true that this has not been without its 

 advantages. The journals confined to mathe- 

 matics generally have editors who are better 

 judges as regards the importance of a par- 

 ticular mathematical article than the editors 

 of the more general publications, and hence 

 it has been possible to raise the standard of 

 our mathematical products more rapidly than 

 would have been feasible otherwise. 



The question, however, remains whether it 

 would not be better to give more freedom to 

 authors as regards publication and to let 

 such critical reviews as those of the Fort- 

 schritte der Mathematik make it clear to the 

 young writer that it does not pay to publish 

 while one is in ignorance as regards novelty 

 or importance. The author's position should 

 be dignified by every possible latitude that is 

 consistent with efficiency and his feeling of 

 responsibility should extend far beyond edi- 

 torial surveillance. 



G. A. Miller 



HOME ECONOillCt^ 



The American Home Economies Associa- 

 tion held a sectional conference on household 

 and institution management June 28-July 2, 

 1910, at the Lake Placid Club, Lake Placid, 

 ]Sr. Y., meeting there by invitation. The at- 

 tendance was large and many valuable papers 

 were presented which had to do with institu- 

 tion food problems and dietary standards and 

 with the training of dietitians and other ex- 

 perts, as well as with institution architecture 

 and institution accounting. The need for 

 standardization in various departments of in- 

 stitution work was one of the subjects which 

 came up for discussion. 



As a whole the meeting was of great inter- 

 est, as it showed the progress which has been 

 made in applying to problems of home and 

 institution management the scientific and 

 technical data accumulated in the past few 

 years, particularly in the group of sciences 

 included under the subject of home economics. 



The Graduate School of Home Economics 

 is to be held at Ames, Iowa, July 6-20, 1910, 

 at a period which falls within the time covered 

 by the Graduate School of Agriculture at the 

 same place. The two schools will hold a num- 

 ber of public meetings in common and ar- 

 rangements will be made for students to take 

 advantage of both courses of lectures. Many 

 prominent educators will take part in the 

 work. 



The Graduate School of Home Economics is 

 the outgrowth of the Summer School of Chem- 

 istry and Biology of Middletown, Conn., which 

 was held in the month of July, 1902, through 

 the influence of the late Professor W. O. At- 

 water. Subsequent meetings were held at the 

 University of Illinois and at Cornell Uni- 

 versity. 



The Graduate School of Home Economics 

 is closely afiiliated with the American Home 

 Economics Association. 



MATHEMATICS FOR ADMISSION TO 

 COLLEGE 

 A CONFERENCE of representatives of the de- 

 partments of mathematics of fifteen of the 

 New England colleges and universities was 



