SCIENCE 



Friday, August 18, 1911 



CONTENTS 

 Doctorates conferred by American Univer- 

 sities 193 



Forecast of the Portsmouth Meeting of the 

 British Association 203 



Automatic Increases in Salaries at the Uni- 

 versity of California 209 



Scientific Notes and News 209 



University and Educational News 212 



Discussion and Correspondence: — 



Concerning the "Nematocysts of Micros- 

 toma" : Wm. a. Kepner 213 



Scientific Boohs: — 



Willey on Convergence in Evolution: V. L. 

 K. Ortmann on the Naiades of Pennsyl- 

 vania: Dr. Wm. H. Ball. Chapin on the 

 Sources and Modes of Infection : Dr. Har- 

 old C. Ernst 214 



Botanical Notes: — 



A Meadable Boole; A New Text-book of 

 Botany : Professor Charles E. Besset . . 215 



.Special Articles: — 



Progressive Variation in Decapterus: J. T. 

 Nichols 217 



'The American Chemical Society: Professor 

 Charles L. Parsons 218 



MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 

 review should be sent to the Editor of Science, Garrison-ou- 

 :Hud3on, Jf. y. 



DOCTOBATES CONFERRED BY AMERICAN 

 UNIVERSITIES 



The universities of the United States have 

 this year conferred the degree of doctor of 

 philosophy' on 437 candidates, a considerable 

 increase over the number in any preceding 

 year. In the ten-year period from 1898 to 

 1907 the average number was 272.4, in the 

 four last years the numbers have been 378, 

 389, 358 and 437. About 50 Americans 

 receive annually the degree of doctor of 

 philosophy or its equivalent abroad, and 

 about three fourths of those who carry for- 

 ward scientific research hold the degree. 

 The writer has compiled data, not yet pub- 

 lished, which show that about three fourths 

 of those who receive the doctor's degree in 

 science continue to do scientific work. 

 From these figures it appears that about 

 four hundred a year are added to those 

 engaged in scientific and scholarly work. 

 This is a small number comjjared with 

 those who enter other professions, but it 

 is at all events gratifying that it has 

 about doubled since the publication of 



' Including two doctorates of science, one at 

 Harvard and one at New York, and two doctorates 

 of engineering, one at the Massaeliusetts Institute 

 and one at the Ohio State. The latter degree may 

 be desirable, the former is not. When 239 de- 

 grees are given in the natural and exact sciences 

 it is rather absurd to call 237 of them doctorates 

 of philosophy and two doctorates of science. At 

 Harvard the doctorate of philosophy does not 

 mean that the candidate has studied Latin in 

 the secondary school, but the doctorate of science 

 means that he has not. In the interests of con- 

 sistency the degree of master of science was estab- 

 lished several years ago at Harvard, but it was 

 soon abandoned. The doctorate of science should 

 be permitted to follow it. 



