NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL 
439 
the Chairman of the Council. It was voted to call a joint meeting of the 
Executive Committee and the Military Committee in Washington on Febru- 
ary 17 to act upon this question. 
The general poHcy of the Research Council in regard to the giving out of 
information was discussed; and it was voted that the chairmen of all com- 
mittees be requested not to give out any statements, written or oral, regarding 
matters of public pohcy or interest, save through the intermediary of the office 
of the Council. 
Dr. Bogert gave an informal account of some of the work of the Chemistry 
Committee. He recommended the appointment of older, retired chemists as 
advisory members of the committee. He also reported the appointment of 
Wilder D. Bancroft, of Cornell University, as Chairman of the Sub-Com- 
mittee on Electro-chemistry. All of Dr. Bogert's recommendations were 
agreed to by the Committee. 
The twehth meeting of the Executive Committee, consisting in a joint ses- 
sion with the Military Committee of the National Research Council, was held 
on February 17, 1917, at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington. Messrs. 
Carty, Chittenden, Conklin, Dunn, Millikan, Pearl, Pupin, Stratton, Vaughan, 
Walcott, and Welch, and the Secretary of the Executive Committee, and 
General Gorgas, General Squier, Admiral Taylor, and Admiral Griffin of the 
Mihtary Committee, were present; also, by invitation. Dr. Bogert, Chairman 
of the Chemistry Committee. 
Dr. Stratton, speaking as Secretary of the Mihtary Committee, told of two 
important problems that are already under way, which had originated with 
this committee. The first is the disposition of the opium confiscated by the 
Government; the second, the preparation of a specification for a good blanket. 
The Military Committee was of the opinion that the Government should use 
confiscated opium, turning it into harmless salt rather than to destroy it. Ac- 
tion to this end has been taken. Conferences regarding the matter of bla ket 
specifications are under way. 
The procedure to be followed by the Military Committee was discussed; 
and the Executive Committee agreed that the Military Committee shall 
correspond with the chairmen of the various other committees of the Council 
which may be concerned in the problems originating with the Military 
Committee. 
It was voted to recommend to the President of the National Academy of 
Sciences that Admiral Ralph Earle, Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance of the 
Navy Department, and Mr. Herbert C. Hoover be made members of the Re- 
search Council. The former thereby becomes a member of the Military 
Committee. 
The Secretary reported that Eliakim H. Moore had been made a member 
of the Council and Chairman of the Mathematics Committee. 
It was voted that an Engineering Committee be authorized and that the 
