414 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XI. No. 272. 



by tVie United States and in charge of oflScers of 

 the United States, for investigations and researches, 

 under regulations to be prescribed by the said Re- 

 gents, and as far as shall be mutually agreed upon 

 between the said Regents and the heads of the several 

 executive departments of the Government, the Li- 

 braiian of Congress, Commissioner of Labor, Com- 

 missioner of Fish and Fisheries, and the Secretary of 

 the Sii ithsonian Institution, with a view of carrying 

 out the policy of Congress, declared in the Joint Reso- 

 lution of April 12, 1892. 



2. That the Regents be requested to ask the general 

 public for gifts of money, to be used in providing 

 buildings, laboratories, equipment and endowments, 

 for purposes of instruction, such instruction to be 

 limited to students who are graduates of properly ac- 

 credited institutions, or those who are otherwise 

 properly qualified, it being understood that it shall 

 not be the purpose of the Smithsonian Institution to 

 confer degrees of any kind in connection with such 

 instruction. 



3. That the Regents be requested to formulate a 

 plan for the appointment of an Advisory Board ; the 

 members of said Board to represent the leading edu- 

 cational institutions of the country, with a view to 

 securing the active co-operation of the colleges and 

 universities of the country in carrying on this under- 

 taking. 



If, however, it is decided that the Bureau 

 of Education is the best administrative 

 center for this work, then we recommend 

 the following course of action : 



1. That the Congress be requested to erect the Bu- 

 reau of Education into an independent department, 

 on a plane with the Department of Labor, and to 

 provide a salary of not less than $5000 for the Com- 

 missioner of Education 



2. That the Congress be requested to provide for 

 an Assistant Commissioner of Education, at a salary 

 of not less than $4000, whose duty it shall be to 

 ascertain and make known what facilities for research 

 exist in the government departments and collections 

 at Waehington ; to formulate, in connection with the 

 heads of the several departments and the officers in 

 charge of Government collections, rules and regula- 

 tions under which suitably qualified persons may 

 undertake research in those departments and collec- 

 tions, with a view to carrying out the policy of Con- 

 gress as declared in the joint resolution approved 

 April 12, 1892; and to exercise general supervision 

 over the persons permitted to undertake such re- 

 search. 



3. That the Department of Education, so organ- 

 ized, be requested to formulate a plan for the ap- 



pointment of an advisory board, representing the col- 

 leges and universities of the country which receive 

 aid from the government or which have not fewer 

 than 25 resident graduate students in any one year, 

 with a view to securing the active co-operation of such 

 colleges and universities in organizing and maintain- 

 ing the work of research at Washington. 



4. That in accordance with a plan to be prepared 

 and adopted by the Department of Education, in 

 consultation with such advisory board or its executive 

 committee, the colleges and universities of the coun- 

 try be asked to give credit, toward the requirements 

 for their higher degrees, for research carried on at 

 Wasliington under the supervision of the Department 

 of Education. 



Under the terms of either of the plans 

 proposed it is assumed that the persons ad- 

 mitted to carry on research will be grad- 

 uates of a college or university in good 

 standing, or will have had an equivalent 

 training. 



Such a bureau of research, whether it be 

 placed under the care of the Smithsonian 

 Institution or under that of the Department 

 of Education — which would supersede the 

 existing Bureau of Education — would be a 

 source of strength to the higher education 

 of the United States and a great advantage 

 to the Government in its work of promot- 

 ing the progress of science and the useful 

 arts, and in applying the result of scientific 

 investigation to the development of the 

 natural resources of the country, of agri- 

 culture, of manufactures, and of commerce. 



We regret that our colleague, Dr. J. L. 

 M. Curry, has, through absence from home, 

 been prevented from sharing in the formu- 

 lation of this report. 



EespeetfuUy submitted, 

 William E. Harper, 

 Nicholas Murray Butler. 

 Chicago, III., 



Feb. 26, 1900. 



ASSOCIATION OF AMEBIC AN ANATOMISTS. 

 The Association held its twelfth session 

 December 27 and 28, 1899, at New Haven, 

 Connecticut, in conjunction with the afiBl- 

 iated societies. There were present nine- 



