SCIENCE 



Friday, June 16, 1911 



CONTENTS 

 The Spirit of Alchemy in Modern Industry: 

 Professor Wm. H. "Walkee 913 



Appropriations for the Department of Agri- 

 culture 918 



Appropriations from the Bache Fund of the 

 National Academy of Sciences 923 



Scientific Notes and News 923 



University and Educational News 926 



Discussion and Correspondence: — 



Vitalism and Experimental Investigation: 

 Professor H. S. Jennings. The Applica- 

 tion of the Method of Least Squares: Dr. 

 Paul E. Heyl. Dr. Brush's Theory of 

 Gravitation: Professor Fernando San- 

 ford 927 



Scientific Boohs: — 

 Hopkins on Soil Fertility and Permanent 

 Agriculture: Professor F. H. King. 

 Wright's The Ice Age of North America: 

 Professor I. C. White 933 



Special Articles: — 



A Scale for Measuring the Merit of English 

 Writing: Professor Edward L. Thorn- 

 dike. Sex-limited Inheritance and Sexual 

 Dimorphism in Poultry: H. D. Goodale . . 935 



The North Carolina Academy of Science: Dr. 

 B. W. GUDGER 940 



Societies and Academies: — 

 The American Philosophical Society 944 



MSS. intended for publication and books, etCj intended for 

 review should be seat to the Editor of Science, 6arrison-oa- 

 Hudson. N, T. 



' THE SPIRIT OF ALCHEMY IN MODERN 

 INDUS TBY 



Never in the history of the world has 

 there been such a time of intense human 

 activity as the present: never a time of 

 such gigantic undertakings, such marvel- 

 ous achievements. Notwithstanding, the 

 curve of progress is still an ascending one ; 

 although for some nations it has run par- 

 alel to its axis for many centuries, yet no- 

 where on the earth is there not at present 

 a marked break in the line which for so 

 long has represented a monotonous level in 

 human affairs. 



While there has been remarkable progress 

 in ethics, culture and the tine arts, this 

 world movement in human endeavor is 

 epitomized in the expression "modern in- 

 dustry. ' ' Of the many factors which have 

 entered into the advance in industry as a 

 whole, possibly the most important is 

 found in the manufacture and use of 

 power. Where once we measured results 

 by what a man could do, or later what a 

 horse could do, now we measure the power 

 at our command by thousands of kilo- 

 watts. We have had an age of steam, and 

 we are passing through an age of elec- 

 tricity, and what next? Many think it 

 will be an age of unprecedented chemical 

 development. We have reason to be well 

 satisfied with our present achievements; 

 we do things so much more quickly and on 

 so much larger a scale than our ancestors 

 did. But at this enviable rate we can see 

 the end of our resources — coal, timber, 

 iron ore, are already measured in years. 

 We must improve our present methods. 

 We must inaugurate along every line of 

 great endeavor a systematic search for new 



