life. Lapham was quiet and modestly demonstrative, but Dr. Hoy so bubbled over with enthusiasm that he easily set the pace in demonstrative interest. He was chosen as the second president of the academy. Dr. J. G. Knapp, of Madison, was a frequent contributor in several naturalistic lines, as was also Dr. Engelmann, of Milwaukee, but the former soon moved from the state and the latter was removed by death.

In the physical sciences, Dr. John E. Davies, of the state university, was at first perhaps the leading contributor, with Dr. J. H. Eaton, of Beloit, and Drs. R. Z. Mason and J. C. Foye, of Appleton, as almost equally active coworkers. Dr. Eaton was perhaps the only original member of the academy who had any notable academic training in technical research. A graduate of Amherst, he had won a Ph.D. at Göttingen by his researches on the compounds of manganese.

In the field of political economy and social science, at the outset, advancement was sought more by rational discussion than by rigorous determinations of basal data; and so there was more general participation in the discussions than in the more specific sciences. The most active leaders were President A. L. Chapin, of Beloit (chosen third president of the academy), President G. M. Steele, of Appleton, Superintendent Samuel Fallows, the Reverend Charles Caverno, Professor A. O. Wright, and later President John Bascom, Reverend Dr. Holland and others.

Though not active at the very outset, Dr. Wm. F. Allen, of the state university, soon began a memorable series of papers replete with specific historical research. These set a high standard of true original investigation in humanistic lines. From his scholarly papers some of us caught our first real

izing sense of what constitutes original research in history.

Dr. Feuling, of the state university, was at the start a rather lonesome leader in philological research, but the fewness of workers in this line was offset by the quality of the papers offered.

An attempt was made to give speculative philosophy a distinct place in the work of the academy under the leadership of Dr. S. H. Carpenter, of the university, but the effort scarcely survived his early death.

Diversity and picturesqueness were given to the heavier parts of the program by the sprightly literary contributions of the in

imitable Dr. Butler.

EARLIER AND LATER TRENDS OF THE ACADEMY

As already noted, the formal organization of the academy was distinctly broad, and there was a general desire and a definite effort to preserve an appreciative and balanced attitude toward all phases of research and of culture. None the less almost inevitably distinct trends disclosed themselves almost from the start, and new trends appeared in close succession, partly due to the new men that came to the state, and partly to the development of young talent within it. Of the papers presented during the first two years, 35 per cent. related to geological subjects, 23 per cent. to biological, 17 per cent. to physical and mathematical science, 15 per cent. to political and sociological subjects, and the remaining 10 per cent. to historical and philological subjects or to topics not readily classified. A distinct geological trend at the outset is thus disclosed and the preponderance grew for a time. This special activity was due partly to charter members, particularly Lapham, Eaton and Chamberlin, but also, in a quite notable degree, to the advent of Professor R. D. Irving, who came to the state in the year following the founding of

the academy. He came with excellent training and the advantage of some field work, and at once took an active part in leading geological inquiry along sound scientific lines. Irving was chosen fourth president of the academy. Two years later a systematic Geological Survey was instituted by the state, largely through the influence of members of the academy, and this not only gave unusual opportunities for productiveness in this line, but helped to develop young talent that made itself felt in the later activities of the academy.

Soon after the founding of the academy, the great movement toward a higher order of things in agricultural science and practise began and at first was most definitely represented by the chemical work of Professor W. W. Daniells. The developments in agriculture were more closely connected with the State Agricultural Society and particularly with the state university than with the academy, but the academy claims some little merit for this most signal development.

About the same time also Major Nicodemus and Captain Nader took the lead in developing interest in engineering themes by notable and stimulating discussions.

There has been occasion to lay emphasis on the type of study of plants and animals, most familiarly known as natural history, which prevailed at the founding of the academy and in the preceding pioneer stage. The career of the academy was scarcely more than under way before this began to give place to modern biological inquiries, and this led on to those important ecological and other studies that characterized the later official surveys and that mean so much to the intellectual and material welfare of the people of the state. This was perhaps the most notable change of trend in the intimate work of the academy. It was led by a young man who came to the

state in the fifth year of the academy and has given the academy one of its most prolonged and valued series of papers. Then a young man, we now delight to honor and revere him as president at once of the academy and of our state university, President Birge. A systematic phase in this modern departure was a little later admirably illustrated by the important contributions of Professor and Mrs. Peckham.

By the end of the first decade of the academy's life, it had undergone further changes and had taken on much more distinct diversity. It thus began the better to represent the varied intellectual development which the state was rapidly coming to enjoy, and which it has more fully realized in these later years.

By the end of the second decade the divergencies toward the later phases of the academy became still more marked. The distinctions of departments, that were rather formally defined at the outset, began to fade away, while the departments themselves grew more divergent. A more cosmopolitan spirit arose which made less of subjects and more of method and real intellectual advance. The formative period was being merged into what now seems to a founder "the Golden Era" of the academy. Doubtless intrinsically, it was no better than later stages-perhaps not so good but these are the days of relativity and to one who felt the struggle and the weakness of the start, it seemed golden.

With it there came rapid changes in the personnel. The veteran naturalists passed away and other losses were many and grave. But the chief changes came from two other sources. The educational institutions of the state were rapidly developing in research lines and there came to the state many able men, well equipped and productive. It would be easy to begin the listfor there was Trelease and the lamented

Barnes and to go on at length, but where could I end it? Besides, it is not my function to deploy the Golden Age of the academy, but merely its founding. The other source of change came even closer to the hearts of the founders, the coming of choice youth of the state into productive membership in the academy, the children of the academy. They were equally and perhaps more the children of the educational institutions of the state, but we claim them as children of the academy none the less. Very notable among these was President Van Hise, who rapidly rose to leadership in the state, in the nation and beyond. It would be a delight to name many others, but how could the parental affection of a founder permit him to stop short of naming all the children of the academy? The dilemma is in itself evidence that the formative stage of the academy had already passed away. The founding of the academy had really taken place.

THOMAS CHROWDER CHAMBERLIN UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

SCIENTIFIC EVENTS

AITOFF'S EQUAL-AREA PROJECTION OF THE

SPHERE

A PROJECTION of the whole sphere on an equivalent or equal area system devised by

Aitoff, has just been issued by the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, size 11 inches, price, 15 cents.

The sphere is represented within an ellipse with major axis twice the minor axis. No shoreline has been included since it is intended primarily for the plotting of the stars in astronomical work, its value for this kind of work being suggested by Professor Benjamin Boss, of the Dudley Observatory, Albany, N. Y.

The projection is bounded by an ellipse similar to that which is used in Mollweide's equal area projection but, since the parallels are curved lines, the distortion in the polar regions is less in evidence. The net-work of meridians and parallels is obtained by the orthogonal or perpendicular projection of a Lambert meridional equal area hemisphere upon a plane making an angle of 60° to the plane of the original.

The fact that it is an equivalent or equal area projection combined with the fact that the celestial sphere is represented in one continuous map, will show at a glance the relative frequency of stars in the different regions of the expanse of the heavens. As constructed the radius of the sphere to be projected is taken as a decimeter so that the graticule has a very convenient size for general use.

As used for a map of the world, this projection is well adapted to replace the Mercator

projection in atlases of physical geography or for statistical purposes and has the advantage over Mollweide's in that its representation of the shape of countries far east and west of the central meridian is not so distorted because meridians and parallels are not so oblique to one another.

By employing the meridian of Greenwich as a central meridian, the continental masses can be mapped where the projection is at its best and the greater distortion transferred to the Pacific Ocean.

RETIREMENT OF CIVIL SERVICE

EMPLOYEES

THE act providing for the retirement of civil service employees is now effective. It applies to employees who have been in the classified service 15 or more years and who have reached the age of 70 years (65 years in the case of mechanics). Employees eligible for retirement are divided into six classes depending on length of service, and the maximum and minimum annuities in each class are specified by law, being contingent on the average annual basic salary for the last 10 years of service. The classes, maximum rates and annuities are as follows:

A. Service, 30 years or more; annuity, 60 per cent. of salary; maximum, $720; minimum, $360. B. Service, 27 years; annuity, 54 per cent. of salary; maximum, $648; minimum, $324.

C. Service, 24 years; annuity, 48 per cent. of salary; maximum, $576; minimum, $288.

D. Service, 21 years; annuity, 42 per cent. of salary; maximum, $504; minimum, $252.

E. Service, 18 years; annuity, 36 per cent. of salary; maximum, $432; minimum, $216.

F. Service, 15 years; annuity, 30 per cent. of salary; maximum, $360; minimum, $180.

Employees to whom the retirement provisions of the act apply shall, within 90 days of the passage of the act or within 90 days after reaching the retirement age, be automatically separated from the service. In cases where the responsible administrative officers certify to the Civil Service Commission that employees who have reached the retirement age but by reason of efficiency and willingness to remain may be advantageously continued in the public service, such employees may be retained for successive terms of two years.

Beginning with August 1, 1920, there will be withheld each month 24 per cent. of the basic salary of each employee in the classified service.

THE MEYER MEMORIAL MEDAL1

FRANK N. MEYER was an agricultural explorer in the Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture. For thirteen years he searched through China, Turkestan and other parts of Asia, for plants which might be valued additions to American agriculture and horticulture. When he lost his life on the Yangtze River in 1918,' he left a bequest of a thousand dollars to the staff of the Washington Office. The individuals of the Office have put the bequest into a permanent tribute to his memory, in the shape of a medal, designed by Theodore Spicer-Simson, which is to be awarded for distinctive service in plant introduction. The awards are to be made by the Council of the American Genetic Association.

The first award was made on May 3, 1920, when the medal was presented to Mr. Barbour Lathrop. Dr. David Fairchild, in behalf of the Council, presented the medal. Mr. Lathrop had a large part in the founding of the Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction, and has been intimately connected with it since. He and Dr. Fairchild comprised one of the first exploration expeditions, and visited the West Indies, South America, Europe, Egypt, India, Ceylon and the East Indies. Many introductions now growing in this country were secured on this and subsequent trips which Mr. Lathrop conducted and financed. The first seed of the Egyptian cotton, the culture of which now amounts to $20,000,000 a year in Arizona, was brought in by them. The tropical mangos, now an industry in Florida; the Persian Gulf dates, peculiarly successful in the Imperial Valley; Sumatra wrapper tobacco, now famous in Connecticut; the first large collection of Japanese flowering cherries; Rhodes grass, which has been called the timothy of the

1 From the Proceedings of the Washington Academy of Sciences.

South; and varieties of soy beans and the oriental timber and edible bamboos of Japan, which are now represented by groves in various parts of the south, were also secured.

HONORARY DEGREES AT YALE UNIVERSITY

AT the recent commencement of Yale University the degree of doctor of science was conferred on Dr. H. P. Armsby and the degree of master of arts on Dr. William Darrach, Professor H. E. Hawkes and Mr. E. W. Nelson. In conferring these degrees President Hadley said:

HENRY PRENTISS ARMSBY: A graduate of the Sheffield Scientific School in 1874, specializing in chemistry; doctor of philosophy at Yale, 1879; for several years he was associated with that admirable institution, the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. He has been a teacher in various universities; he is a leading authority on animal nutrition at Pennsylvania State College. He is now director of the Institute of Animal Nutrition at Pennsylvania State College. After the signing of the armistice, he was chosen to go abroad in the commission concerned with food problems in Europe. His career has been a multitudinous blessing.

WILLIAM DARRACH: Was graduated from Yale College in 1897; member of Phi Beta Kappa; took the degree of M.A. and M.D. at Columbia; is now dean of the medical faculty at the College of Physicians and Surgeons. He was attached to Base Hospital No. 2, with commission as captain, and sailed for France in May, 1917; was advanced to the rank of colonel in 1919, and became senior consultant in surgery at headquarters. His publications in scientific research are important. He is a surgeon, a scholar, a teacher and a patriot.

HERBERT EDWIN HAWKES: B.A., Yale, 1896; Ph.D., 1900; like many of his classmates, Dr. Hawkes became a member of the Yale faculty, and taught mathematics for twelve years. In 1910 he was called to Columbia as professor; he was such a conspicuous success in administration that he was made dean of the college. He is the author of books in his chosen field, but his chief distinction is a worker of miracles-he has made hundreds of young men love mathematics. Perhaps they would not love mathematics so much if they did not love him even more. A living force in education.

EDWARD WILLIAM NELSON: A distinguished naturalist and one of the first ornithologists in the

world. He has been on scientific expeditions in the Arctic and Torrid Zones, and is at home everywhere. He was in Alaska in 1877, with the expedition in search of the Jeanette in 1881, and has spent many years of scientific conquest in Mexico. He has published authoritative monographs on the birds of Bering Sea and on the squirrels of Central America. He is chief of the Biological Survey in the U. S. Department of Agriculture. During the war, he was constantly employed, and he discovered the best method of ridding the trenches of undesirable visitors; thus making the study of natural history contributory to social science. He leaves for Alaska to-day.

The degree of doctor of laws was conferred on Sir Auckland Campbell Geddes, member of British Parliament, formerly professor of anatomy, British ambassador to the United States.

SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS

THE Albert medal of the Royal Society of Arts has been awarded to Dr. A. A. Michelson, professor of physics in the University of Chi

cago.

DR. EDGAR F. SMITH, retiring provost of the University of Pennsylvania, after conferring degrees and giving the commencement address, received from Dr. William Pepper, dean of the medical school, the doctorate of medicine, conferred at the special request of the faculty of the school of medicine.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY has conferred its doctorate of science on Dr. W. W. Keen, of Philadelphia, and Dr. H. M. Biggs, of New York.

THE doctorate of science has been conferred by Tufts College on Dr. Arthur B. Lamb, professor of chemistry at Harvard University.

THE degree of master of science was conferred on Major Edward Hall Bowie, forecaster, U. S. Weather Bureau, at the commencement of St. John's College.

THE semi-centennial celebration of Iowa State College was held in connection with commencement in June this year, having been delayed nearly two years on account of the war. Four hundred and thirty-five degrees were awarded. No honorary degrees had been given in recent years. Thirteen were conferred