Septembeb 9, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



343 



as occurring farther north than Denver, Colo, 

 (lat. 39° 40' 36" N.); nor do I know of any 

 previous record of their having been found in 

 Utah. 



A. 0. Garrett 

 Salt Lake High School 



the government of american universities 

 The articles under the above caption by 

 Professors Jastrow and Creighton in recent 

 issues of this journal are timely contributions 

 to one of the most important problems nov? 

 engaging the attention of American educators. 

 That interest in it is widespread, I am assured 

 by personal conversation with representatives 

 of college faculties from all sections of the 

 union east of the Mississippi River. 



About two years ago, local conditions forced 

 the faculty of the Randolph-Macon Woman's 

 College to adopt some means of conserving 

 the scholarly status of the institution and of 

 safeguarding the instructor's pedagogic lib- 

 erty. A committee, appointed for the purpose, 

 drafted a constitution for the college, which, 

 after undergoing certain modifications sug- 

 gested in conference with the president and 

 board of trustees, was adopted by the board 

 at its session in June of the current year. Its 

 essential features are the following items, of 

 which I would call particular attention to the 

 fifth, sixth and seventh: 



1. The fields of instruction which are at present 

 recognized as distinct shall be constituted de- 

 partments. 



2. The senior professor in each field shall be 

 head of the department, given its entire control, 

 and held responsible for results. 



3. The following grades shall be established in 

 the instructional staff: (a) professor and head 

 of department, (6) associate professor, (c) ad- 

 junct professor, (d) instructor, (e) assistant. 



4. The president shall nominate heads of de- 

 partments. 



5. The heads of departments shall nominate 

 their subordinates. 



6. All questions affecting the educational policy 

 of the institution shall be presented to the execu- 

 tive committee upon resolution of the faculty. 



7. Only heads of departments may vote on ques- 

 tions affecting the educational policy of the col- 

 lege. 



8. All members of the faculty except instructors 



and assistants may vote on questions of routine 

 business. Fernando W. Martin 



Randolph-Macon Woiian's College 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 

 Canada Department of Mines, Geological 

 Survey Branch. Catalogue of Canadian 

 Birds. By John Macoun, Naturalist to the 

 Geological Survey, Canada, and James M. 

 Macoun, Assistant Naturalist to the Geo- 

 logical Survey, Canada. Ottawa, Govern- 

 ment Printing Bureau. 1909. Pp. viii + 

 Y61 4- xviii. 



This excellent piece of technical work is es- 

 sentially a compend of known facts concern- 

 ing the distribution and breeding habits of the 

 birds of the Dominion of Canada, Newfound- 

 land, Greenland and Alaska — of all America, 

 in short, north of the main northern boundary 

 of the United States. It is a second edition, 

 largely rewritten and considerably expanded, of 

 the well-known "Catalogue of Canadian Birds," 

 prepared by John and James M. Macoun, 

 father and son, and first published in three 

 installments between 1900 and 1904. An im- 

 portant part of the contents of this volume is 

 the product of field observations by the au- 

 thors and by Mr. Wm. Spreadborough, made 

 during many years of service on the Geolog- 

 ical Survey of Canada, those of the senior au- 

 thor beginning in 1879, of the junior Macoun 

 in 1885, and of Spreadborough in 1889. 

 With their personal notes have been incor- 

 porated aU pertinent data from the published 

 work of other naturalists, and from manu- 

 script lists and notes of more than a score of 

 observers whose materials have been placed at 

 the disposal of the compilers. 



The plan of the work is extremely simple 

 and unassuming. Preceded by no introduc- 

 tory discussion, and followed by no general 

 summary, the catalogue begins at once with 

 a discussion of the species, giving for each, in 

 systematic succession, without descriptive 

 matter, the details of its Canadian distribu- 

 tion, both geographical and ecological, its 

 movements in migration, and its breeding 

 habits, with descriptions of nests and fre- 

 quently of eggs. The precise authority for 

 observations reported is carefully given. 

 Seven hundred and sixty-eight species are 



