Apkil 28, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



657 



Promotions : 



Robert E. Swain, to be professor of physiolog- 

 ical chemistry. 



Lillien J. Martin, to be professor of psychology. 



John O. Snyder, to be associate professor of 

 zoology. 



Percy E. Davidson, to be associate professor of 

 education. 



Eufus C. Bentley, to be associate professor of 

 education. 



LeRoy Abrams, to be associate professor of 

 botany. 



Clara S. Stoltenberg, to be associate professor 

 of physiology. 



David M. Folsom, to be associate professor of 

 mining. 



Galen H. Clevenger, to be associate professor of 

 metallurgy. 



DISCUSSION AND COMBE SFONDENCE 



FACULTY BUSINESS ACCELERATOR 



For the purpose of facilitating the despatch 

 of business the following electrical device is 

 suggested. The method of operation will be 

 evident from an inspection of the diagram of 

 the electrical circuits. All the chairs of the 

 faculty room are fitted with electric circuits as 

 indicated in the three chairs shown. Each 

 chair has two switches; those indicated by B 

 are automatically closed when the chair is 



occupied; those indicated by A are push-but- 

 ton switches concealed on the arm of the 

 chair to be closed by hand. B, R, B, etc., are 

 suitable rheostats all of the same resistance. 

 It is evident that when any number of chairs 

 are occupied the combined current through 



the switches B will excite the electromagnet 

 D. If the electromagnet G has twice as many 

 turns of wire as D then, when a majority of 

 those present at any meeting close the hand 

 switches A, the magnet C will exert more pull 

 upon the armature than D, thus causing the 

 contact E to be closed and the bell to ring. 



The apparatus is not intended primarily a3 

 a means of taking formal votes but as an im- 

 personal means of calling for the previous 

 question. In place of the bell it might be con- 

 sidered desirable to use an electric sign with 

 the exhortation " sit down." 



S. 



MUSEUM LABELING 



On the first two pages of the March issue of 

 the Museum News of the Brooklyn Institute 

 of Arts and Sciences are many ideas pleasing 

 to those interested in museum labeling. These 

 stand out in contrast to some ideas with which 

 museum men in this country, especially dur- 

 ing the last decade, have been overwhelmed. 

 The art of label writing, as there stated, is 

 truly a gift. Many people fail to understand 

 this and few realize that one must sometimes 

 let an unsatisfactory label stand for a time, 

 just as a minister sometimes preaches a poor 

 sermon. 



The Museum News is almost an ideal ex- 

 ample of what a museum newspaper should be. 

 It is dignified, conveys not only interesting 

 but true information and also has a distinct 

 tendency to cause the reader to wish to help 

 not only the museums of Brooklyn, but the 

 museums of the country. 



Harlan I. Smith 



Wilkes's Antarctic discoveries 

 To the Editor op Science: The Zeitschrift 

 of the Geographical Society of Berlin re- 

 cently published a short notice' or review of 

 my article " Why America should Eeexplore 

 Wilkes Land." ^ The reviewer finds fault with 

 the article and attempts to straighten it out in 

 the following words: 



^ Zeitschrift der Oesellsohaft fiir Erdkunde zu 

 Berlin, 1910, No. 7, p. 469. 



' Proceedings American Philosophical Society, 

 Vol. XLVIII., 1909. 



