April 7, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



bTl 



By vote of the board of trustees it was de- 

 cided last year that at the close of the school 

 year 1911 the academy of the University of 

 Illinois, which has existed since 1876, should 

 be discontinued. Mr. J. P. Gilbert, who was 

 an instructor in zoology, has just been elected 

 head of the department of biology and agri- 

 culture in the Southern Illinois Normal at 

 Carbondale. Another member of the academy 

 force, Mr. S. E. Boomer, goes also to the 

 Southern Illinois Normal as head of the 

 mathematics department. 



Dr. Hans Zinsser has been promoted to be 

 professor of bacteriology in Stanford Univer- 

 sity. 



The School of Engineering of the Univer- 

 sity of Pittsburgh announces a new course in 

 mechanical railway engineering which will be 

 under the direction of Mr. D. F. Crawford, 

 general superintendent of motive power, 

 Pennsylvania lines west of Pittsburgh. Stu- 

 dents working in this course will combine 

 their theoretical course with practical work in 

 connection with the Pennsylvania lines west 

 of Pittsburgh. 



The Bryn Mawr European fellowship has 

 been awarded this year to Miss Helen Tred- 

 way, who specialized in physics and chemistry ; 

 the president's European fellowship to Miss 

 Mary E. Pinney in biology, and the Mary E. 

 Garret European fellowship to Miss Margaret 

 E. Brusstar, in mathematics. 



DISCUSSION AND COBBESFONDENCE 



THE ACOUSTICAL ENGINEER 



The subject of acoustics as applied to audi- 

 toriums deserves a much greater interest on 

 the part of physicists and architects. It is 

 not just, however, to offer criticism without 

 considering some of the reasons for this lack 

 of attention. The physicist realizes that there 

 are many practical problems which constantly 

 tempt him to turn from the performance of 

 his proper function. Moreover he knows that 

 physicists (Sabine and others) have already 

 obtained results far in advance of what are 

 actually utilized by architects to-day. On the 

 other hand, the architect is a man of many 



troubles and is therefore not inclined to add 

 to his cares by indulgence in experimental 

 work or by applying Sabine's formula to a 

 proposed auditorium. His fee does not cover 

 such expert work and he very naturally at- 

 tempts to do well that for which he is paid. 

 In short, there is not a sufficient incentive for 

 active interest on the part of either the phys- 

 icist or the architect. 



In spite of the excellent work that has been 

 done, particularly by Sabine, our knowledge 

 of the subject of architectural acoustics is 

 quite limited. It is true (although doubted 

 even by some physicists) that one can not only 

 correct excessive reverberation of an audi- 

 torium already constructed, but he can even 

 compute what effect will be had in a proposed 

 structure. This, however, is only a small part 

 of the achievement that will some day be pos- 

 sible. Again, our methods of correcting ex- 

 cessive reverberation are not entirely satis- 

 factory either to an architect, or to a layman 

 who desires the remedy to be both permanent 

 and sanitary. It is not for the physicist to 

 improve our present methods of remedying 

 excessive reverberation for this is a practical 

 problem involving structural knowledge. 

 Neither can he be expected to think of the 

 problems of theoretical interest which wiU 

 sooner or later confront one engaged in ap- 

 plied acoustics. 



It seems, then, that the future progress of 

 the subject of acoustics as applied to audi- 

 toriums rests in a very large measure upon 

 the activity of what might be termed the 

 " acoustical engineer." This engineer must be 

 an architect of scientific training — one who 

 will be interested alike in the architectural 

 and scientific aspects of the problems. Gen- 

 erally speaking, each auditorium needs a 

 slightly different study and one who is to suc- 

 ceed must have sufficient scientific interest 

 and ability to make the necessary investiga- 

 tions. As so well known, absorbing material 

 applied to the proper area of surface will cor- 

 rect for excessive reverberation. But the 

 amount of area that can be utilized, the char- 

 acter of the interior finish, etc., enter into the 



