l v l Scientific Intelligence. 



carrying on its work now for sonic twelve years and the presenl 

 time is an important one as bringing to a conclusion the results 

 of the study and experience of this period. Briefly, as noted in 

 the reports immediately preceding, this has been to show the 

 inadequacy of free pensions, such as were planned at the out- 

 set, as contrasted with a contributory system. "The presenl 

 report records the provision of new funds amounting to thirteen 

 million dollars, which, together with the interest from the pres- 

 ent endowment, will enable the Foundation to expend fifty mil- 

 lion dollars during the next forty-five years in concluding its 

 present system. This will gradually be replaced by a contrib- 

 utory system of insurance and annuities provided by The 

 Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, an insurance com- 

 pany incorporated under the laws of the State of New York for 

 the provision at cost of insurance and annuities for university 

 and college teachers all over the country." 



In addition to presenting this special subject in detail, which 

 will be at once recognized as the greatest advance which the 

 Foundation has made, the subject of pensions in general is also 

 discussed as they are administered elsewhere. Further there 

 are given these results in the line of Educational Inquiry. The 

 special studies here which the Foundation has now in hand relate 

 to legal education, to engineering education, to the training of 

 teachers in Missouri and of federal aid for vocational education. 



On the financial side, it is stated that for the year ending June 

 30, 1917, the total endowment was $15,414,000 with an accumu- 

 lated surplus of $1,361,000. The total number of allowances 

 now in force is 336, the total number of widow's pensions 144. 

 the general average being $1,540. The total number of allow- 

 ances granted since the beginning of the Foundation is 736, the 

 total expenditure for this purpose having been $5,457,000. 



4. Soil Physics and Management ; by J. G. Mosier and A. F. 

 G-ustafson. Pp. xiii, 442, with 202 illustrations. Philadelphia, 

 1917 (J. B. Lippincott Co.). — The authors of Soil Physics and 

 Management have succeeded in the difficult task of preparing a 

 useful text book for colleges without destroying its value for 

 the practical agriculturist. The chapters on Water of Soils 

 (186-221), Control of Moisture (222-277), Alkali Lands and 

 their Reclamation (278-292), Tillage (325-354) are particularly 

 commendable. An interesting feature of the book is the agri- 

 cultural charts in the Appendix. H. e. g. 



5. Elementary Economic Geography ; by Charles R. Dryer. 

 Pp. 415, 222 illustrations. New York, 1916 (American Book 

 Co.) — Economic geography is defined by Dryer as "a study of 

 the different kinds of environments as they affect the different 

 ways in which men get a living, and deals with natural resources, 

 industries, and the distribution of useful products." In har- 

 mony with this viewpoint the world-wide relations of resources, 

 life, and economies are presented (9-92) and followed by a 

 carefully worked out presentation of resources and human rela- 



