130 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVII. No. 421. 



division, which is especially the division of 

 research. 



At the very outset the director of the 

 Bureau of Standards realized the advan- 

 tages of this intimate association of re- 

 search and testing, and no attempt was 

 made or will be made to separate them 

 into two divisions. The laboratory re- 

 quirements are, therefore, those of a 

 research laboratory plus whatever special 

 facilities may be needed for commercial 

 testing. In addition to the workers them- 

 selves there is then required: (1) A suit- 

 able place in which to work; (2) an equip- 

 ment of apparatus, tools and machines; 

 and (3) facilities and appliances for pro- 

 viding the proper conditions for experi- 

 mental work. 



To meet these requirements Congress 

 has already authorized the expenditure of 

 $25,000 for a site, $325,000 for buildings, 

 and $40,000 for equipment. Further ap- 

 propriations for equipment and personnel 

 will be made as needed. 



The site lies in the northwestern suburbs 

 of Washington, about three and one half 

 miles from the Treasury and 1,000 feet 

 from Connecticut Avenue, just north of 

 Cleveland Park. It is 350 feet above the 

 Potomac, and is the highest ground in that 

 vicinity. Complete freedom from the 

 jarring of street traffic is assured, and 

 magnetic distui'bances due to the only 

 electric railway in that immediate region 

 will be very slight. 



1. Two buildings have been planned, 

 one of which is now under construction; 

 the plans for the other are completed and 

 its construction will soon begin. The 

 larger of the two, which is called the 

 physical building, will provide for that 

 part of the experimental work which 

 ought to be kept free from mechanical 

 and magnetic disturbances, and to this end 

 will contain scarcely any machinery. It 



will also contain the offices for administra- 

 tion and the library, and a well-equipped 

 chemical laboratory. The mechanical lab- 

 oratory contains the mechanical plant, 

 instrument shop, and laboratories for the 

 heavier kinds of experimental work, where 

 considerable power or large electric cur- 

 rents are required. These two buildings 

 are to be united by a spacious tunnel, 

 through which air ducts, steam, gas and 

 water pipes, and electric circuits are to be 

 carried from the mechanical to the physical 

 laboratory. The mechanical laboratory 

 was begun last July, and will cost about 

 $125,000, including the heating and venti- 

 lating plant. The physical building will 

 cost about $200,000 exclusive of equipment 

 and including the connecting tunnel. 



2. Considerable progress has already 

 been made in procuring an equipment of 

 apparatus, tools and machines. In addi- 

 tion to the fifteen rooms in the U. S. Coast 

 and Geodetic Survey buildings, occupied 

 by the bureau last year, a large four-story 

 residence at 235 New Jersey Avenue, SE., 

 has recently been leased and equipped as 

 a temporary instrument shop and labora- 

 tory. A small brick building in the rear 

 has been converted into an engine and 

 dynamo room, and in the basement of the 

 house a storage battery room and a second 

 dynamo room, the latter for a distributing 

 switchboard and experimental alternators, 

 have been fitted up. A storage battery 

 of 132 cells, of 200 ampere hours capacity, 

 furnishes power for current and lighting 

 and experimental purposes. A low volt- 

 age battery giving 1,000 amperes, and two 

 high voltage batteries of 1,000 cells each, 

 have also been provided. During the past 

 year the director and two other officers of 

 the bureau (Drs. Wolff and Waidner) 

 have visited the principal government 

 laboratories and instrument makers of 

 Europe. The instrument shop is well 



