162 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIV. No. 344. 



as compared with 1900, of 29 as compared 

 with 1899, and of 19 as compared with 1898. 

 This probably represents the largest num- 

 ber of degrees conferred during any year 

 since the development of our university 

 system. The degree was conferred in the 

 sciences in nine more cases than in the 

 humanities, a gain for the sciences as com- 

 pared with preceding years. In 1898 there 

 was an excess of 24 degrees in the human- 

 ities ; in 1899 of six degrees in the sciences, 

 ^nd in 1890 of seven degrees in the human- 

 ities. There appears to be consequently a rel- 

 ative increase in the number of those who 

 pursue advanced studies in science. Wehave 

 in previous years called attention to the fact 

 that the division of the subjects into sci- 

 ences and humanities is somewhat artifi- 

 cial. Those that have been allotted to the 

 exact and natural sciences are shown in the 

 accompanying table. Of the 253 degrees, 

 three were doctors of science, one each being 

 given by Cornell, New York and Vander- 

 bilt. In view of the rareness with which 

 this degree is conferred and the desirability 

 of using it for an honorary degree, it seems 

 evident that it should no longer be used as 

 a practical equivalent for the Ph.D. The 

 Ph.D. degree, we are glad to note, was not 

 given causa honoris by any university from 

 which reports have been received. It will 

 be noticed that the universities are divided 

 into two fairly distinct classes. Seven — 

 namely, Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, Har- 

 vard, Johns Hopkins, Pennsylvania and 

 Yale — have almost invariably given be- 

 tween 20 and 40 degrees each year, whereas 

 none of the other universities reaches an 

 average of 10. This year, for example, the 

 seven universities mentioned gave 205 de- 

 grees as compared with 48 degrees by the 

 twenty other universities on the list. We 

 may doubtless, however, expect a rapid in- 

 crease in the number of degrees given by 

 the State universities of the Middle and 

 Western States. 



Harvard and Yale have this year given 

 as many degrees in the sciences as in the 

 humanities, whereas in previous years the 

 humanities have predominated, as the 

 sciences have at Johns Hopkins and Cor- 

 nell. There was a relative excess in the 

 number of degrees in chemistry at Johns 

 Hopkins ; in physics at Cornell and Johns 

 Hopkins ; in mathematics at Yale ; in zool- 

 ogy at Chicago; in psychology at Clark, 

 Yale and Harvard, and in geology at Johns 

 Hopkins and Harvard. 



The number of doctorates in the sciences 

 last year and in the three preceding years 

 is as follows : 



1898. 



Chemistry .... 



Physics 



IMathematics. . 



Zoology 



Psychology.... 



Geology 



Botany 



Astronomy.... 



Sociology 



Education .... 

 Physiology.... 

 Anthropology 

 Paleontology . 



Anatomy 



Bacteriology . 

 Engineering... 

 Mineralogy .. 

 Meteorology... 



Total 



27 

 11 

 11 

 12 

 18 



6 

 11 



3 



105 



The names on whom the degrees were 

 conferred and the titles of their theses are 

 as follows : 



Johns Hopkins University. 



■>*■ - Eobert Montgomery Bird : The Action of Ammonia r> 

 and of Alcohols and Alcoholates on the Chlorides of 

 Orthosulphobenzoic Acid. 



^c Jay Allan Bonsteel : The Soils of St. Mary's 'K 

 County, Md., showing the Eelationships of the Ge- 

 ology to the Soils. 



■^x'i Lyman James Briggs : On the Absorption of Water '^ 

 Vapor, Carbon Dioxide and certain Substances in 

 Aqueous Solution by Finely Divided Quartz. 



-"- Benjamin Palmer Caldwell : On the State of 

 Equilibrium of Certain Double Iodides, Cyanides, 

 Nitrates and Sulphates in Aqueous Solution. 



