May 19, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



769 



competent men willing to accept perma- 

 nent positions there will probably not ex- 

 ceed the demand of the insular adminis- 

 trative bureaus to which reference has been 

 made in a preceding paragraph. On the 

 other hand, there seems no essential diffi- 

 culty in embracing this area, like any other 

 territory of the United States, in the fields 

 occupied by existing national bureaus. 

 Members of these organizations would be 

 willing to be detailed for two or three years 

 to so interesting a region as the Philippine 

 Islands, with the prospect of resuming 

 duty at home. 



In order to secure cooperation and to 

 preserve due proportions between the vari- 

 ous surveys under the charge of the na- 

 tional bureaus, to arrange for suitable 

 forms of publication of repoi-ts, prepare 

 estimates, recommend legislation, deter- 

 mine upon the system of measurements, 

 and to settle other questions of common 

 interest, there must be frequent consulta- 

 tions in "Washington between the represen- 

 tatives of the various branches of the work. 

 For this purpose it is suggested that a 

 board of Philippine surveys be created and 

 put in charge of the work. It is manifestly 

 of the utmost importance that such a board 

 should be composed exclusively of eminent 

 scientific experts, who alone are competent 

 to direct the work. For administrative 

 reasons it is essential that the board should 

 consist of officers selected from the national 

 scientific bureaus, and in the opinion of the 

 committee these should be : 



Superintendent of United States Coast and 

 GJeodetic Survey. 



Director of United States Geological Survey. 



Chief of United States Biological Survey. 



Botanist of United States Department of Agri- 

 culture. 



Chief of Bureau of Forestry. 



Chief of Scientific Staff of Fish Commission. 



Chief of Bureau of American Ethnology. 



From these members one should be ap- 

 pointed chairman by the President, with 



the consent of the Senate, and the chair- 

 man should report to the President. There 

 are precedents for such an organization in 

 the Smithsonian Institution and in the 

 boards of commissioners appointed to rep- 

 resent the government at various exposi- 

 tions. 



The chief necessary expense of such a 

 board would be a very moderate sum for 

 clerical assistance; but it would probably 

 be expedient and economical for the board 

 to employ an officer, to be stationed at 

 Manila, to perform functions analogous to 

 those of quartermaster and commissary for 

 all field parties, which will have many ma- 

 terial wants in common. 



While the methods of work and the selec- 

 tion of men should be left to the chiefs of 

 the national scientific bureaus, viz., the 

 members of the Board of Philippine Sur- 

 veys, much latitude must be allowed the 

 officers in charge of field work in so remote 

 and exceptional a region as the Philippine 

 Islands. On the other hand, if these offi- 

 cers are left entirely to their own judg- 

 ment as to areas in which work is to be 

 done in any given season, and as to the 

 amount of detail requisite, there will be 

 danger of lack of harmony in the results 

 and delay in the progress of the work. To 

 insure cooperation and to avoid duplication 

 in the field work the following plan is sug- 

 gested : 



Let a scientific council be created in 

 the Philippine Islands, presided over by a 

 member of the Philippine Commission, to 

 consist of the chief field officers of the 

 several scientific bureaus present in the 

 islands, as follows: 



One geodesist, designated by the superintendent 

 of the Coast Survey. 



One hydrographer, designated by the superin- 

 tendent of the Coast Survey. 



One topographer, designated by the director of 

 the Geological Survey. 



One geologist, designated by the director of the 

 Geological Survey. 



