tamination of food products. In several instances, industrial associations have approached the council for assistance in the development of research agencies and in carrying out specific investigations. These have all been sympathetically received.

6. One of the most difficult problems which the division has faced has been in securing assistance for individual investigators. There has always been some uncertainty about the desirability of doing this, but, as a matter of trial, several individual investigators have been assisted. So far these efforts have all resulted satisfactorily. In some instances the assistance has been provided by securing financial support for the individual and in others by securing from his institution relief from routine work so that he might devote himself to a special investigation.

7. Another form of assistance in research projects considered is that of cooperative effort in the solution of a particular problem. There has already been reported the study of physiological salt requirements of cultivated plants which is being continued and which promises to give definite scientific and practical results. There is also the case of the study of protein requirements of animals begun during the war. This has resulted in an extended report, a summary and discussion of which will soon be published by the council. In this case the collaborators will be free to publish from their own institutions the detailed results of their investigations, while the council, through the chairman of the committee, will publish the digest and summary. The cooperative study under the direction of the committee on forestry is proceeding actively and it is anticipated that valuable results will soon be ready for publication.

Naturally such cooperative investigations suggested themselves in relation to large comprehensive problems where the time and training of the individual investigator is not sufficient to enable him to accomplish the work desired. It would appear that in such cases as this the promotion of cooperative investigations should be one of the most valuable features of the council's work. Among such suggested investigations are those upon the conservation of meadows and pastures, oceanographic studies, and ecological study of the air. These are all under consideration and a committee has been provided for the last mentioned. The Ecological Society of America has a large committee which is making a study of existing areas of the country which it is desired to preserve for future biological study in an undisturbed condition. This committee has been actively at work for some time but its efforts have been crippled by a lack of financial support. Accordingly, on recommendation of the division of biology and agriculture, the council has provided money for the further prosecution of the work of this committee.

8. It was the hope that in establishing the council a definite means would be provided for better mutual understandings between workers in different fields of science. The various divisions of the council were set up so as to bring together the most nearly related sciences, thus providing for intimate association, and then means within the council were provided for contacts between representatives of these groups of science. The large amount of time required for organization within the divisions and for the council as a whole has in a way prevented the full development of relations between these different divisions. However, in several instances our division has entered into cooperation with the others of the council. There may be mentioned here the work with the division of research extension in forming the Crop Protection Institute and in providing the advisory board for the American Institute of Baking. Recently there has been occasion for cooperation with the engineering division and the division of chemistry and chemical technology in developing a project for the study of the marine borer in San Francisco Bay. With the cooperation of the division of physical sciences, also, there is arranged a conference on biophysics to be held at Woods Hole this summer. Outside of the council the particular contact of the division has been with the United States Department of Agriculture.

9. One of the most valuable features of the council's organization is the opportunity which it gives for bringing together groups of individuals particularly interested in some subject. Such conferences are essential to the full understanding of a problem and for the mutual adaptations between individuals required for their successful prosecution. Reference has already been made in previous reports to such conferences upon the condition of science in the Philippines, to conferences of committees on agronomy, horticulture, food and nutrition, fertilizers, and phytopathology. At the present time, in cooperation with the division of medical sciences, arrangements are being made for similar conferences upon the very serious animal disease called contagious abortion.

10. Another form of outside contact is with organizations having purposes similar to the council. Reference has already been made to the Second International Eugenics Congress to be held in New York in September of this year. This is now well organized and gives promise of being very successful. The Sigma Xi Society is an organization in universities devoted to the promotion of scientific research. For a number of years it has had under consideration a plan to establish a system of research fellowships. Lack of financial support has made this difficult to start, and so the council voted a small sum of money to get this under way. Already this has resulted in the collection of a sufficient sum of money to establish at

least two research fellowships comparable to those in physics and chemistry under the research fellowship board of the council. The Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole is an outstanding example of cooperative effort within a scientific group, and because of this the council has lent its support in an effort to increase the facilities of the laboratory. While no definite results have been obtained as yet, there is reason to believe that eventually we should be able to assist this national cooperative laboratory.

11. The results of the war have placed upon American science increased responsibilities, especially in the matter of the publication of scientific work. Continued efforts have been made to assist in this matter, and the council has contributed directly to the support of Botanical Abstracts. Also it has made a small contribution to the Wistar Institute at Philadelphia to assist in the wider dissemination of certain zoological and anatomical journals which it published in the desire to extend more widely the influence of American biology and also to promote international good will by placing these journals for a time free of charge in laboratories where they would not otherwise go.

12. It was hoped that the establishment of the National Research Council, representing the scientific forces of the country, would provide a definite agency for giving expression to the collective judg ments of scientific groups. In a measure the success of the council would be in the degree to which it was appealed to for an expression of such group judgments. Already there is satisfactory evidence that the council is thus recommending itself. Through the division of biology and agriculture it has been asked to express its judgment upon a number of important scientific projects which have sought financial support from different foundations.

DIVISION OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY.

[CLARK WISSLER, Chairman.]

(For present personnel, see Appendix A.)

This division has initiated a number of important conferences. two of which were held during the period-one conference on vestibular research and one on the relation of psychology to medical practice. Both were financed by an appropriation from the council amounting in the aggregate to $1,150.

The former revealed a distinct need for a standing committee. which was later authorized by the council. As now organized this committee comprises the leading investigators in this field, all of whom are actually engaged in research. For the support of these investigations the council has appropriated $1,400. Mention should also be made of the generosity of the University of California in

appropriating $400 for vestibular investigations by its representative on the committee. A number of other institutions have signified their intention to cooperate in the near future. The ultimate objective of the research is an understanding of the nervous mechanism by which equilibrium of the pilot of an airplane is maintained.

The conference on the relations of psychology to medicine was attended by six representatives of the medical profession and an equal number of psychologists, and concerned itself with the psychological training in medical schools and the legal status of psychological advisers and practitioners. This proved a very successful conference and promises to make for progress in this important problem.

During the interval the division was called upon to consider a number of extensive plans for research and make recommendations on the same. Since several of these requests referred to problems of fundamental importance, the division was able to render a real service.

The project for the prediction of success of students entering higher institutions was completed during the period, $500 having been appropriated by the council last year for that purpose. The project for the encouragement of research talent was taken up by the division of educational relations and will be reported under that head. The encouragement of State archæological surveys has proceeded under the direction of the special committee on that subject. Progress has been made in Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, and Illinois, the chairman of the division having held conferences with representatives from these States.

The annual meeting of the division was held on April 22, 1921.

APPENDIX A.

OFFICERS, MEMBERS, AND COMMITTEES.

OFFICERS ANE EXECUTIVE BOARD.

OFFICERS.

Honorary chairman, George E. Hale, director of the Mount Wilson Observatory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Pasadena, Calif.

Chairman, H. A. Bumstead,' professor of physics and director of the Sloane Physical Laboratory, Yale University, New Haven, Conn.

First vice chairman, Charles D. Walcott, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution; president of the Academy of Sciences, Washington, D. C.

Second vice chairman, Gano Dunn, president of the J. G. White Engineering Corporation, 43 Exchange Place, New York City.

Third vice chairman, R. A. Millikan, professor of physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.

1 Deceased.

Permanent secretary, Vernon Kellogg, National Research Council, Washington, D. C.

Treasurer, F. L. Ransome, geologist in charge, section of metalliferous deposits, United States Geological Survey; treasurer of the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D. C.

By reciprocal arrangement with the Engineering Foundation

Assistant secretary, Alfred D. Flinn, secretary of the Engineering Foundation, 29 West Thirty-ninth Street, New York City.

EXECUTIVE Board.

Chairman, H. A. Bumstead.1

MEMBERS EX OFFICIO.

Officers of the council.

President of the National Academy of Sciences, Charles D. Walcott, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.

Home secretary of the National Academy of Sciences, C. G. Abbot, director of the Atrophysical Observatory, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Eliakim H. Moore, professor of mathematics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL Past chairmen of the National Research Council: George E. Hale, director of the Mount Wilson Observatory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Pasadena, Calif.; John C. Merriam, president of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D. C.; James R. Angell, president of the Carnegie Corporation, 522 Fifth Avenue, New York City.

Chairmen of the divisions of general relations.

Chairmen and vice chairmen of the divisions of science and technology.

MEMBERS AT LARGE.

Edward D. Adams, vice chairman of the Engineering Foundation, 71 Broadway, New York City.

John J. Carty, vice president of the American Telephone & Telegraph Co., 195 Broadway, New York City.

Gano Dunn, president of the J. G. White Engineering Corporation, 43 Exchange Place, New York City.

Van H. Manning, director of the division of research, American Petroleum Institute, 15 West Forty-fourth Street, New York City.

R. A. Millikan, professor of physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.

A. A. Noyes, director of chemical research, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif.

Raymond Pearl, professor of biometry and vital statistics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.

M. I. Pupin, professor of electro-mechanics, Columbia University, New York City.

S. W. Stratton, director of the United States Bureau of Standards, Washington, D. C.

C. P. Townsend, patent attorney, Washington, D. C.

William H. Welch, director of the School of Hygiene and Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.

R. S. Woodward, trustee of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D. C.

1 Deceased.