October 21, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



547 



4. That the Permanent Secretary of the Board of 

 Trade should be an ex-officio member of the governing 

 body; and that such body should be consulted by the 

 Standards Office and the Electrical Standardizing 

 Department of the Board ot Trade upon difficult 

 questions that may arise from time to time or as to 

 proposed modiiications or developments. 



THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE. 



The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, found- 

 ed in 1824, makes an appeal for an increased 

 endowment. The present endowment is small, 

 and although the membership of nearly 2,000 

 contributes an annual addition to the income, 

 this is not sufficient to carry on the work. The 

 membership is largely composed of artisans, and 

 the dues ($8 per year) are properly low, so that 

 the benefits of the Institute may reach as many 

 as possible. A fund of $350,000 is needed, of 

 which it is hoped that at least $100,000 may be 

 provided by the present effort. 



The Franklin Institute is able to point to the 

 following record of achievements in behalf of 

 science and its applications : 



The Institute held its first exhibition of 

 American manufacturers in October, 1824, and 

 subsequently twenty-eight exhibitions. It in- 

 stituted the movement that culminated in the 

 Centennial Exhibition of 1876. Its Interna- 

 tional Electrical Exhibition in 1884 contributed 

 the impulse which has resulted in bringing the 

 United States to the leading position in the 

 utilization of electricity. It founded the School 

 ' of Design for Women. It established the first 

 high school in Philadelphia. It established a 

 uniform system of machine screw threads. It 

 made tests of the strength of materials for 

 the United States government. It investigated 

 the causes of the explosions of steam boilers, 

 at the request of the Treasury Department. It 

 was the pioneer in making and recording sys- 

 tematically meteorological observations, culmi- 

 nating in the establishment of the Weather 

 Bureau. The publication in its journal of ab- 

 stracts of specifications and claims of United 

 States patents, from 1826 to 1843, now affords 

 the only available reference to this information, 

 the government having failed to publish them 

 prior to 1843. It aided in founding the Penn- 

 sylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art, 

 by lending a helping hand and sheltering roof 



in its infancy. It investigated the various forms 

 of water wheels for giving economical value to 

 water power. The law of Pennsylvania rela- 

 ting to our system of weights and measures was 

 enacted as the result of the report made by the 

 Institute at the request of the Legislature of 

 the State. In response to a request of City 

 Councils, it nominated an expert commission to 

 report on a future water supply for Philadel- 

 phia. In response to a request by the Board of 

 Health, it has recently investigated and re- 

 ported upon the subject of the abatement of the 

 ' Smoke Nuisance ' in Philadelphia. Its jour- 

 nal, published continuously since 1826, now in its 

 146th volume, constitutes an invaluable record 

 of the arts and manufactures, especially as de- 

 veloped in the United States. The Institute 

 keeps constantly in touch with science as ap- 

 plied to the useful arts, by its lectures and the 

 papers read at its meetings, and those of its 

 Chemical, Electrical and Mining and Metallur- 

 gical Sections. Its drawing school, established 

 in 1824, devoted to mechanical and architectural 

 drawing, has been maintained uninterruptedly 

 for seventy-five years. Its library is one of the 

 most complete scientific and technical libraries 

 in the world and is open to the public for refer- 

 ence from 10 a. m. to 3 p. m. , to members from 

 9 a. m. to 10 p. m. 



general. 



M. Henri Moissan, Sir William Crookes and 

 Professor J. H. Van't Hoflf have been elected 

 honorary members of the American Chemical 

 Society. 



The Harveian Oration before the Royal Col- 

 lege of Physicians of London, by Sir Dyce 

 Duckworth, was delivered on October 18th. 

 The Bradshaw Lecture will be delivered by Dr. 

 W. M. Ord on Thursday, November 10th, his 

 subject being ' Myxosdema and allied Condi- 

 tions.' The Goulstonian Lectures will be given 

 next year by Dr. G. K. Murray, of Newcastle, 

 who has taken for his subject the ' Pathology of 

 the Thyroid Gland.' The Lumleian Lectures 

 for next year will be given by Dr. Samuel Gee. 

 The Croonian Lecturer for 1899 is Professor 

 Bradbury, of Cambridge, and for 1900 Dr. F. 

 W. Mott, F. R. S. 



Professor Volney M. Spalding (botany),* 



