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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVIII. No. 977 



organized. It takes its name from the initial 

 letters of two Greek words signifying " Com- 

 panions in Zealous Eesearch." The object of 

 the organization, as given in its constitution, is 

 to encourage original investigation in science, 

 pure and applied, by meeting for the discussion 

 of scientific subjects; by the publication of such 

 scientific matter as may be desirable; by estab- 

 lishing fraternal relations among investigators in 

 the scientific centers; and by granting the priv- 

 ilege of membership to such students as during 

 their college course have given special promise of 

 future achievement. 



Membership in this society is of three kinds : 

 active, alumni and honorary. Naturally the 

 first class is the most important and includes, 

 as a rule, professors, instructors, graduates 

 and such undergraduates as may be found 

 worthy. The undergraduates are usually 

 chosen in the senior year, following in this re- 

 spect the custom of Phi Beta Kappa, although 

 in some institutions, as, for instance, the Uni- 

 versity of Chicago, it has been the policy to 

 admit only graduate students to membership. 

 The alumni members are chosen from gradu- 

 ates of at least five years' standing, who have 

 demonstrated their right of membership by 

 investigation, while honorary members may be 

 selected from those who have achieved emi- 

 nence as scientific workers, although as yet 

 none such have been elected. 



Prom the beginning it was evident that the 

 society would succeed. Chapters were organ- 

 ized at Eensselaer and Union in 1887, at 

 Kansas in 1890, and at Tale in 1895. In addi- 

 tion to the foregoing there are now chapters 

 at Minnesota (1896), Nebraska (1897), Ohio 

 (1898), Pennsylvania (1899), Brown (1900), 

 Iowa (1900), Stanford (1901), California 

 (1902),, Columbia (1902), Chicago (1903), 

 Michigan (1903), Elinois (1903), Case (1904), 

 Indiana (1904), Missouri (1905), Colorado 

 (1905), Northwestern (1906), Syracuse (1906), 

 Wisconsin (1907), Washington (1907), 

 Worcester (1908), Purdue (1909) and Wash- 

 ington, St. Louis (1910). 



The membership in 1886 was but 14, but it 

 has grown steadily and persistently ever since ; 

 for in 1891 it was 267, in 1901, 1,559, and in 

 1911, 7,498, which number is annually in- 



creased by between 600 and 700 (659 in 1911) 

 new members, of which in 1911 324 were 

 undergraduates. 



Annual conventions are held on the Tuesday 

 evening of the week of the meeting of the 

 American Association for the Advancement of 

 Science, at which time the policy of the so- 

 ciety comes up for discussion and such other 

 public business as may be desired. Delegates 

 from the chapters, together with the general 

 oiEcers, are members of the Council. 



It is not easy to review the achievements of 

 Sigma Xi during its existence of a little more 

 than a quarter of a century. This difficulty 

 lies in knowing jiist what to say. There is no 

 danger of saying too much, but there is de- 

 cided danger in saying too little. Its mission 

 is to encourage science and to foster original 

 investigation. 



Science has been distinctly advanced by the 

 popular public lectures and addresses made 

 before many of the chapters by such eminent 

 authorities as Charles P. Chandler, R. H. 

 Chittenden, George W. Goethals, G. E. Hale, 

 L. O. Howard, David Starr Jordan, A. A. 

 Michelson, C. S. Minot, E. W. Morley, E. L. 

 Nichols, C. E. Van Hise, Arthur G. Webster, 

 Harvey W. Wiley and many others. 



In the celebrations of the centenary of Dar- 

 win's birth, it took an active part, and impor- 

 tant commemorative meetings with appropri- 

 ate addresses were held when the bicentenary 

 of Pranklin's birth occurred. 



Of far-reaching importance was the investi- 

 gation by the California chapter of the con- 

 dition actually existing in the region about 

 San Prancisco concerning the bubonic plague 

 and the results of the report were most potent 

 at a time when the existence of that frightful 

 disease on the Pacific coast was disputed. 



Not the least of its valuable contributions 

 is the fact that it has brought about an in- 

 creased interest in Phi Beta Kappa. It affili- 

 ates agreeably with its older rival at Co- 

 lumbia, Kansas,, Minnesota and Pennsylvania, 

 alternating addresses at commencement at 

 certain of these universities, and holding 

 joint meetings at others. The existence of 

 Tau Beta Pi, the honor fraternity in institu- 



