560 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IV. No. 94. 



a progressive ratio, tlie succession of estates 

 exceeding $1,000,000, for the benefit of waifs 

 and strays; or, as the author put it, to make 

 the Nation a joint and preferred heir of the 

 very rich for the benefit of the destitute 

 orphans — a sort of poetic or divine retribu- 

 tion. Attention was called to the fact that 

 evasion would be resorted to by giving, in- 

 stead of bequeathing, the excess property, 

 which, the author contended, could be 

 thwarted, as by the French law, by taxing 

 such gifts. No one called attention to the fact 

 that aside from general objections of policy 

 and the discrimination against millionaires, 

 this is not a proper subject of Federal legis- 

 lation, unless the District of Columbia be a 

 trifling exception. Its jurisdiction qualifies 

 that population as a proper seed-plat for 

 experimental legislation, but otherwise all 

 such matters are domestic, appertaining to 

 each State of the United States for its sep- 

 arate trial. 



Of similar purport was the argument of 

 James S. Skilton, a practicing attorney at 

 in New York, advocating the incorporation 

 of a 'Sociological Institution, ' for which a Bill 

 (H. E. 8,192) has been introduced in Con- 

 gress. The headquarters of this proposed 

 Association are to be in Washington, D. C, 

 and its first Board of Managers comprised 

 of the heads of the principal political de- 

 partments. It is modelled closely upon the 

 act incorporating the Smithsonian, with 

 this notable difference that in the latter 

 case there was already in the Treasury a 

 handsome bequest of money, with specific 

 recommendation of the donor (and with 

 nobody's dissent) that it should be used to 

 promote the diffusion of sound learning. No 

 definition of its aims and purposes is given 

 beyond the capacity to receive gifts of 

 money and to loan the same to the public 

 Treasury at four per cent., unless it be 

 found in the words 'for the increase and 

 diffusion of sociological science among 

 men.' Something is said later about ' the 



duties of librarian and of keeper of the 

 sociological exhibits and material of the 

 Institution. ' This raises the very pertinent 

 question : what is sociology, and what is in- 

 cluded or excluded in the term ? Whether 

 this new term which it is thus attempted to 

 christen and fasten upon the National stat- 

 utes is likely to stick, and in what sense, 

 or whether it is likely to be restricted in fu- 

 ture use to merely human social forces, are 

 questions which will be raised among phi- 

 losophers, legislators and reformers. The 

 endorsement of the American Association 

 is sought for the Bill and will come up for 

 action of the Council at the next regular 

 meeting. Perhaps the long argument in 

 its favor by its author may meanwhile ap- 

 pear in Dr. Small's Journal of Sociology, so 

 that its merits may be more generally 

 known. 



Fifteen papers in all were considered, 

 having a wide range of topics, as will be 

 seen by the following, in addition to those 

 specially mentioned above: 



' Fashion, a Study,' by S. Edward War- 

 ren. 



' The Value of Social Settlement,' by 

 Aaron B. Keeler. 



' Citizenship, its privileges and duties,' 

 by Stillman F. Kneeland. 



' Eelics of Ancient Barbarism (legal),' by 

 Stillman F. Kneeland. 



'Suicide Legislation,' by W. Lane 

 O'Neill. 



' Better Distribution of Weather Fore- 

 casts,' by John A. Miller. 



' Human Reciprocity (Vanishing Neigh- 

 borship),' by Mary J. Eastman. 



Students and teachers of the group of 

 subjects included in Social Science and 

 Economics are invited to take part in the 

 next meeting at Detroit, so as to lend addi- 

 tional zest and dignity to this important 

 and fascinating field. 



Richard T. Colbuen, 



Elizabeth, N. J. Secretary. 



