12 



SCIE^'CE. 



[Vol. VII. , No. 152 



the iron was devoid of any thing like a crust. I 

 would repeat that the iron was found in October, 

 1883, in two masses aggregating at least twenty-five 

 pounds in weight, and that both these masses were 

 covered with a crust. I presented an analysis of the 

 iron made bv Mr. James B. Mackintosh of the School 

 of mines, New York, and also cuts showing two 

 views of the iron, and one of the crystalline structure 

 of its surfaces. The iron which I described is un- 

 questionably that mentioned by the writer in your 

 last issue. 



Instead of being found near Greenbrier county, it 

 was found two counties farther off, or one hundred 

 miles. Hence it is scarcely credible that all these 

 pieces are fragments of a meteorite which burst in 

 mid-air. 



It is exceedingly important in the study of meteor- 

 ites that wrong localities should not creep into print. 

 If this instance were allowed to pass unnoticed, it 

 would result in the recording: of two distinct falls ; 

 i.e., one at Charleston, Kanawha county, W.Va., and 

 the other at Jenny's Creek, Wayne county, W.Va. 

 The two small pieces brought to me from Wayne 

 county are identical with the original piece loaned 

 to me for description, and the danger of meeting 

 with these remaining fragments as supposed new 

 finds was touched upon in the paper read at the 

 Academy of sciences. George F. Kdnz. 



A national university. 



In No. 149 of Science (Dec. 11), in an article on 'A 

 national university,' is a criticism upon that part of 

 the report of Secretary Lamar recommending the 

 establishment of a national university in Washington. 

 The writer urges that there must be a fatal defect 

 in any congressional bill to establish a university, so 

 long as the principles of appointment to United States 

 offices, and the tenure of those offices, remain what 

 tbey are.'' The writer is ignorant of the fact that 

 we now have established in Washington, by congres- 

 sional bill, the Columbia institution for the deaf and 

 dumb and the Howard university. Both of these in- 

 stitutions, in their present form, were established by 

 congress, and are supported by yearly appropriations. 

 No greater degree of permanence in tenure of office 

 is found in any university of the country than in 

 these, and no difficulty is experienced in finding com- 

 petent and able professors and instructors. 



The next objection is, that " the government of a 

 national university would necessarily be in the hands 

 of some board of officers, and the constitution of 

 such a board would lead to many difficulties." 



We supposed that all universities were in the con- 

 trol of some board, and in almost every one of our 

 large universities the constitution of such a board has 

 led to many difficulties : the board of Yale college is 

 now no exception. The Smithsonian institution is 

 OOntroHed by a board of officers appointed by con- 

 g£M>, and it has not led to the difficulties suggested. 

 The influence of sectional feeling has not been felt, 

 and we doubt if any plan could have been devised 

 by which ni'.rc good could have been accomplished 

 than lias been by the board of the Smithsonian, with 

 Professors Henry and Baird as its secretaries. 



The writer objects that "the gift of such an edu- 

 cation would rest in the hands of the members of 

 congress, and would only place 80 much injurious 

 patronage at their disposal." 



There would be no necessity for any thing of this 



kind. Such patronage does not exist either in the Co- 

 lumbia institution or the Howard university; but, even 

 if it should rest in the members of congress, the results 

 in analogous cases prove that the objection has no 

 weight. The appointments both to West Point and 

 the Naval school at Annapolis are in the gift of the 

 members of congress, and there are no institutions of 

 the kind in the world where abler men or better 

 scholars have been graduated. These institutions 

 have educated and trained commanders of the army 

 and navy, and they have in war and in peace shown 

 the excellence of their education. 



The last objection is, that a national university 

 would be un-American in principles. Washington, 

 Jefferson, Madison, and Adams thought a national 

 university was necessary. We do not understand 

 how an institution which the founders of our country 

 recommended can be considered un-American. 



There is no place in the country which possesses 

 such advantages for a national university as Wash- 

 ington. Here are the Smithsonian institution with 

 its various departments, the geological survey, the 

 coast survey, the nautical almanac, the hydro- 

 graphic office, the signal-service bureau, the national 

 museum, the medical museum, the patent office, the 

 libraries in the various departments, and the con- 

 gressional library, — each of these bureaus presided 

 over by gentlemen of the highest ability, aided by a 

 corps of men the equals of those of any of our uni- 

 versities ; the whole forming a nucleus for a univer- 

 sity, when grouped together and combined, superior 

 to any in the world. Washington is the capital of 

 the country, and is to-day a centre of more scientific 

 apparatus and more scientific men than any other 

 city in the union. G. G. H. 



It is perhaps unnecessary to point out the differ- 

 ence between a 'national university' and a univer- 

 sity incorporated by act of congress. 



i think the writer of the above letter must be un- 

 aware that the absolute permanence of tenure of 

 office during efficiency is the one great inducement 

 which leads young men of good parts to enter the 

 service of such a college as Harvard. It goes with- 

 out saying, that it would be out of the question to 

 induce one of the full professors at Harvard, except 

 for much larger pay, to give up his reasonable salary, 

 his position for life, and his comparative freedom 

 from the necessity of explaining his work to unsym- 

 pathetic critics, to accept a position under the United 

 States government, where he could, by constitutional 

 provision, only be sure of his salary and place from 

 year to year ; whereas I know of the anxiety felt 

 by instructors in colleges under city control to escape 

 from their bondage to the politician. 



It is true that there are a large number of scientific 

 men in government employ, but they are there for 

 the simple reason that there is the one great market 

 for their services. It has never been my fortune to 

 meet with any teacher who would not prefer to be in 

 the employ of a private school or college, rather than 

 in that of city, state, or United States. The con- 

 stant parleying with politicians which government 

 employ entails is simply unbearable for many of the 

 men, whose disposition leads them to choose the 

 teacher's life. 



The scientific bureaus were established by the 

 United States with the view of making surveys of 

 the country, and the work of scientific investigation 

 is carried on at present only with the object of mak- 



