l-'El!i;i ARY 3, lliOo.] 



SCIENCE. 



18'J 



ezuela, India, Australia and Shaii-si in China 

 were mentioned. 



The necessary connection between the coal 

 fields and any great development of the iron 

 and steel industry was emphasized and the 

 future of the three great iiroducers of to-day 

 forecast as involved in the permanency of the 

 coals. The reserves of coal are greater iii 

 Germany and America than in Great Britain. 

 The province of Shan-si, China, having rich 

 stores of both coal and iron, seems to be the 

 one possible new location of the future great 

 iron industry. 



After a lengthy discussion, the meeting ad- 

 journed. A. W. Gr.vbac, 



Secretary. 



C'oLUMBi.\ University. 

 New York City. 



thi;: science club of the univeusity of 

 wisconsin. 



The third regular meeting of the club for 

 the year 1904-5 was held on December 13 at 

 7:30 p.m. in the physical lecture room of sci- 

 ence hall. The lecture of the evening was 

 delivered by Professor B. W. Snow, head of 

 the department of physics of the university, 

 on the subject, ' Electrons, Radio-activity, and 

 the Electrical Theory of Matter.' 



F. W. WOLL, 



Sscretary. 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 



.\ BIOLOGICAL STATION IN GREENLAND. 



To THE Editor of Science: The establish- 

 ment during recent year.s of biological stations 

 in various parts of the world has proved to 

 be of the greatest importance in furthering 

 the progress of science. The great station of 

 Naples has now a worthy competitor at Wood's 

 Hole, and the botanical laboratory at Buiten- 

 zorg is aptly represented in this country by the 

 Carnegie Desert Laboratory. The already 

 large number of lesser institutions of similar 

 nature is rapidly increasing, both in this 

 country and abroad, and all add to the oppor- 

 tunities available for the working biologist. 



Up to the present time the foundation of 

 such stations has been confined, however, to 

 regions with temperate or tropical climate. 



and no attempt has been made to establish 

 a piermanent station for biological research 

 within the Arctic, until recently. A Danish 

 botanist, Morten P. Porsild, has proposed to 

 his government the appropriation of funds for 

 such a station, to be located on the southern 

 coast of DIsko Island in North Greenland, 

 not far from the colony Godhavn (lat. 69" 15' 

 N.). The proposal is well worth the atten- 

 tion and support of American scientists, and 

 I shall here briefly review Mr. Porsild's plan, 

 according to information supplied by himself. 



Danish naturalists have, during the last 

 twenty-five years, systematically explored 

 Greenland; more than fifty scientific expedi- 

 tions have been sent to that country, and the 

 results are comprised in a series of about 

 thirty volumes (' Meddelelser om Gronland'). 

 It is with pardonable pride Mr. Porsild points 

 to the fact that this has been accomplished 

 at a cost not greater than the exix^nse for one 

 of Peary's expeditions. 



The estimated cost for the establishment of 

 the proposed station reaches the very mod- 

 crate amount of $9,400, which would cover 

 the erection of building, purchase of a motor 

 launch, boats, sledges, tents and other material 

 for shorter expeditions, instruments, books, 

 etc. The running expenses, including salary 

 for a resident investigator and native assist- 

 ants, are estimated at $2,960. Mr. Porsild 

 has asked the Danish government for this 

 sum, and in the interest of science it is sin- 

 cerely to be hoped that his request will be 

 granted. If that is done, Mr. Porsild expects 

 to have the station in working order before 

 next summer, and its doors will then bo thrown 

 open for investigators from any country. The 

 geographical position of Greenland, and the 

 similarity of conditions there with those of 

 the northernmost part of this continent must 

 necessarily appeal to Americans, and until the 

 time arrives when a permanent biological sta- 

 tion can be established in a suitable locality 

 in Alaska, those engaged in arctic work will 

 find the now proposed institution a place of 

 interest. For reasons which will be given 

 Greenland will always be the classical ground 

 for certain lines of research, and, as Mr. Por- 

 sild says, there is no other place in the Arctic 



