334 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIV. No. 348. 



plan is scarcely fair to the candidate if the con- 

 ferring of the degree depends on the result of a 

 public examination ; it is scarcely fair to the 

 faculty if it is a mere formality, and, as a matter 

 of fact, members of the faculty often do not at- 

 tend. The plan adopted by the University of 

 Pennsylvania is to let the candidate pass a 

 written examination and then bring him before 

 the faculty, where he is presented by the pro- 

 fessor under whom he has taken his major sub- 

 ject. The presentor reads a sketch of the can- 

 didate's academic life and an outline of the scope 

 and contents of his thesis, after which any mem- 

 ber of the faculty may make enquiries of the 

 candidate or the presentor. As an example of 

 the way in which the candidates are presented 

 and as the biographies are themselves of in- 

 terest, we reproduce the credentials of the first 

 candidate presented in each of the sciences : 



Professor Smith, Presentor. 



Gilbert Hillhouse Boggs was born at Memphis, 

 Tenn., October 2, 1875. He received bis early educa- 

 tion in the public schools of Athens, Ga., and entered 

 the University of Georgia as a freshman in 1892, 

 graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Science in 

 1896. He entered the Department of Philosophy of 

 the University of Pennsylvania, February 25, 1897 

 and remained in residence until February 10, 1898. 

 He reentered October 5, 1898, and has remained in 

 residence for the past three years. His major has 

 been in inorganic chemistry, his minors in organic 

 chemistry and analytic chemistry. He was granted 

 a university scholarship in chemistry for the years 

 1897-98 and 1898-99, and was appointed to a Harri- 

 son Fellowship at Large in the same subject for the 

 years 1899-1901. He was admitted to candidacy for 

 the degree of Doctor of Philosophy when appointed 

 to the Fellowship. 



He has completed under the jurisdiction of Group 

 Committee XI V. thirty three standard lecture courses, 

 exclusive of the laboratory work which has occupied 

 the greater part of his time for four academic years. 

 He has satisfactorily passed written examinations in 

 inorganic, organic and analytical chemistry on May 

 28-30, 1901, with Professor Smith, Drs. Lorenz and 

 Shinn. 



Mr. Boggs has presented a thesis entitled ' I. The 

 Separation of Vanadic Acid from Metals by means 

 of Hydrochloric Acid Gas. II. The Occurrence of 

 Molybdenum in the Mineral Endlichite,' of which 

 the following is an. abstract : 



Vanadium is being frequently found present in 



traces in rocks and minerals. Its separation from 

 allied metals is extremely difficult, and in this re- 

 search the purpose has been to ascertain how com- 

 pletely hydrochloric acid gas will eliminate the vana- 

 dium, it being well established that from the alkali 

 metals the vanadic acid is completely removed by 

 this reagent. This study shows that with the excep- 

 tion of the alkali group of metals the new reagent is 

 inadequate. An additional point of interest is that 

 the metal molybdenum exists in the mineral end- 

 lichite, and that its presence there accounts for the 

 fact that the vanadic acid of endlichite is removed by 

 hydrochloric acid gas, probably because it exists as a 

 vanado-molybdate of lead, a form different from that 

 in which it is observed in vanadinite. 



Mr. Boggs' thesis is now in the hands of the printer, 

 and the required number of copies will be delivered 

 to the Dean within a few weeks. Mr. Boggs is 

 unanimously recommended by Groiap Committee 

 XIV. to the Faculty of Philosophy for the degree of 

 Doctor of Philosophy. 



Professor Macfarlane, Presentor. 



Henry Shoemaker Conard was born in Philadelphia, 

 September 12, 1874. He received his early education 

 at the Friends' Select School and Westtown Boarding 

 School. He entered Haverford College as a junior in 

 1892, and graduated with the degree of Bachelor of 

 Science in 1894. He was a graduate student at 

 Haverford 1894-95, receiving the degree of Master of 

 Arts in 1895. During the four years, 1895 to 1899, 

 he was teacher of science in the Westtown School. 

 He entered the Department of Philosophy, of the 

 University of Pennsylvania, September 26, 1899, as 

 Harrison Fellow in Biology, being thereby made a 

 candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. He 

 elected his major in botany, his minors in botany and 

 zoology. He has completed in this University, under 

 the jurisdiction of Group Committee XV., twenty 

 standard lecture courses, besides spending practically 

 all his spare time for two years in the laboratory, and 

 has also received credit for his work at Haverford to 

 the extent of four standard courses, making a total of 

 considerably more than twenty-four. He has satis- 

 factorily passed written examinations as follows : On 

 May 28 and 29, 1900, in zoology ; on February 7 

 and 11, 1901, in botany as a minor, and four further 

 examinations in botany as a major, running from 

 May 21 to 22, 1901. 



He has presented a thesis entitled ' Water Lilies : 

 a Monograph on the Genus Nymphxa. ' It will be 

 published in the next volume of the Series in Botany, 

 issued by the University of Pennsylvania. A brief 

 abstract of this thesis is subjoined : 



Mr. Conard has described about thirty natural spe- 



