March 31, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



465 



value was chosen by Gray and Ramsay on 

 purely genetic grounds, in accord with the 

 then accepted value for radium of 226.Jf. 

 (The actual average of the experimental re- 

 sults of Gray and Eamsay was 2ZS.0.) The 

 genetic principle once having been thus recog- 

 nized in the atomic weight table, it would now 

 appear requisite that the atomic weight of 

 niton should be changed automatically to ac- 

 cord with that of radium. Of course from the 

 standpoint of radioactivity the adoption of 

 this change is automatic, but from the afore- 

 mentioned considerations regarding the choice 

 of Gray and Ramsay, there appears also no 

 sufficient reason to retain the old value in the 

 Atomic Weights Table. 



S. C. LiND 

 Bureau op Mines Experiment Station, 

 Foster Building, 

 Denver, Colo. 



the bruce medal 



The notice of the award of the Bruce medal 

 of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, as 

 recorded on page 285 of the February 25 issue, 

 contains the first public statement that has 

 come under my notice of the very ingenious 

 method of award of this medal, " probably the 

 most unique in the history of science." 



The plan is due to the late Dr. Edward S. 

 Holdpn, then director of the Lick Observatory, 

 who secured the gift of the fund for this 

 international medal. The plan he devised was 

 designed to preserve the value of the medal as 

 an international honor of high character, in 

 spite of the fact that many of the directors 

 of the society who would determine the awards 

 would not be professional astronomers and 

 often would not be capable of forming inde- 

 pendent judgments as to the value to science 

 of the distinguished services. In short, it was 

 his purpose to make practically impossible an 

 award to those who appear to be unable to keep 

 their names out of prominent locations in the 

 daily press. A glance at the list of recipients 

 of the medal as published in your said notice 

 shows how very successfully have worked out 

 the plans thus contrived by him. 



While the deliberations of the directors in ma- 



king these awards are kept strictly confidential, 

 a sidelight or two may be interesting. The rules 

 provide that the six observatories named shall 

 be invited to nominate not more than three 

 men distinguished in astronomy. Ordinarily, 

 this insures eighteen names, only one of which 

 can receive the award; but in reaching the 

 decision the directors often have been guided 

 by the number of times the proposed recipient 

 has been nominated. Occasionally, an elderly 

 nominee, nearing the end of his activities, has 

 been preferred over a younger man with the 

 prospect of useful years ahead of him. It is 

 worthy of note that the lists of every one of 

 the six nominating observatories, for the first 

 award of the medal, contained the name of 

 Simon Newcomb. 



One very well-known foreign observatory, 

 however, added weight to its nominations in 

 entirely different fashion. The first year it 

 nominated Newcomb, Auwers and Gill, in the 

 order named. !N"eweomb was the first medal- 

 ist. The second year it nominated only 

 Auwers and Gill. Auwers was the second 

 recipient. The third year it nominated Gill 

 alone, and Gill was the third. The fourth year 

 it nominated three. 



Only thirteen awards have been made in 

 eighteen years because of the comparatively 

 large sum spent out of the fund in the design 

 and cutting of the dies. Designs were re- 

 quested from experts both in this country and 

 abroad, and the competition was arranged so 

 that the name of the designer was unknown to 

 the committee. When the designs were opened, 

 although all were of high degree of excellence, 

 one stood out in such contrast that only one 

 choice was possible, and, with certain minor 

 modifications, it was adopted. Alphee Dubois, 

 of Paris, was the successful artist, and during 

 his lifetime he personally engraved on the 

 medals the names of the recipients, the dies 

 being kept in the French Mint for this pur- 

 pose. 



This medal fund is only one of a number of 

 such gifts of the late Miss Bruce, she having 

 contributed frequently to the advancement of 

 science. 



Allen H. Babcock 



