798 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXII. No. 831 



resolved that first, the executive committee be 

 instructed to safeguard the interests of the fol- 

 lowing classes of oases: (a) those who have re- 

 search work in view and have shown themselves 

 unmistakably fit to pursue it; (6) those whose 

 twenty-five years of service includes service as a 

 college president; and (c) those in whose mind a 

 definite expectation has been created by oiBcial 

 action that they will be accorded the benefit of 

 the foundation within the year 1910; and that, 

 secondly, the executive committee be authorized 

 to formulate regulations in accordance with these 

 instructions. 



This statement seems not to agree with the 

 resolution which the trustees are said to have 

 adopted. According to the resolution pro- 

 fessors who have shown themselves unmis- 

 takably fit to pursue research work are en- 

 titled to retire, whereas you speak of the 

 " rare professor." According to the resolution 

 all presidents may retire, whereas according 

 to your statement they must have displayed 

 distinguished ability. According to the reso- 

 lution the right to retire was continued 

 through 1910, whereas no reference is made 

 to this in your report. 



In view of these discrepancies I venture to 

 ask whether the resolution passed by the trus- 

 tees was correctly given by President Jordan 

 and for permission to make public your reply. 

 Respectfully, 



J. McK. Cattell 



President's Eoom 



Western Eeseeve IJNn-EESiTY 



Adelbert College 



Cleveland 



11 November, 1910 

 My dear Mr. Cattell: Let me thank you for 

 your note of November eighth. I find, on re- 

 ferring to my minutes, that the question 

 which you ask can be more comprehensively 

 and definitely answered by President Pritchett 

 than by me. I am, therefore, sending your 

 letter to him with a copy of this note to you. 

 Believe me, with much respect and regard. 

 Ever yours, 



Charles F. Thwing 

 Mr. J. McK. Cattell, 

 Professor, etc. 



Gaerison-on-Hudson, N. T., 



November 8, 1910 

 Dr. Henry S. Pritchett, LL.D., 



President of the Carnegie Foundation 

 for the Advancement of Teaching. 



Sir: I venture to ask the ruling of the Car- 

 negie Poundation for the Advancement of 

 Teaching as to whether I shall be entitled to 

 retire for length of service in 1913, when I 

 shall have served for twenty-five years as full 

 professor of psychology, three years at the 

 University of Pennsylvania and twenty-two 

 years at Columbia University. I do not know 

 that I shall wish to do so, but since the an- 

 nouncement of the rules of the foundation, I 

 have regarded it as a privilege to which I am 

 entitled and have shaped my plans accord- 

 ingly. 



The resolution passed at the last annual 

 meeting of the trustees, as printed by Presi- 

 dent Jordan in the N. Y. Evening Post, con- 

 tinues the privilege of retirement for length 

 of service to " those who have research work 

 in view and have shovm themselves unmis- 

 takably fit to pursue it." The Fourth Annual 

 Eeport does not print the resolution of the 

 trustees, but says : " The trustees are never- 

 theless willing to grant a retiring allowance 

 after the years of service set forth in Eule 1 

 to the rare professor whose proved ability for 

 research promises a fruitful contribution to 

 the advancement of knowledge if he were able 

 to devote his whole time to study or research." 



I assume that I should be entitled to retire 

 according to the resolution passed by the 

 trustees, though I have no claim to be classed 

 as a " rare professor." It seems difficult to 

 reconcile the two statements quoted, and in 

 any case it is not clear how the executive com- 

 mittee will decide on the merits of professors 

 or that it is desirable for it to exercise such a 

 function. 



For the guidance of my colleagues as well 

 as my own I consequently address this letter 

 to you and ask that I be permitted to make 

 public your reply. 



EespectfuUy, 



J. McK. Cattell 



