growing larger very slowly, from these accretions, and this may have been the process by which the earth grew from a small nuclear beginning up to its present size.

Astronomers have determined that our solar system is very completely isolated in space. We are widely separated from our neighbors. I shall not try your patience by quoting the tremendous distances in miles, for they are incomprehensible to all of us. Rays of light sent out by the sun require a little more than eight minutes to reach the earth. The outermost known planet in our system, Neptune, would be reached in four hours and a half. Rays of light leaving the sun at the same time and travelling at the same rate, 186,000 miles per second, must travel continuously during four years and a half to reach our nearest known neighbor in space, the bright double star Alpha Centauri. If the distance from the sun to the earth is 1, the distance to our outer planet is 30, and the distance to Alpha Centauri is 275,000. There appears to be an abundance of room in the great stellar system to meet the requirements of all. The spectrograph attached to the Lick telescope has determined that our sun and its family of planets is traveling through the great stellar system with a speed of twelve and a half miles per second, equivalent to four hundred million miles per year. The earth is certainly hundreds of millions of years in age, the sun is no doubt at least as old, and the early youth of the earth was lived, not where we now are, but far elsewhere in the stellar system; and its future journeyings will lead to quite other points of observation.

The question of greatest interest to presentday astronomers is that of stellar systems other than our own. The chances seem strong that the hundreds of thousands of spiral nebulæ known to exist in very distant space are other and independent systems of stars, many of them perhaps containing as many stars as our stellar systems. In other words, our stellar system may be but one of hundreds of thousands of isolated stellar systems distributed through endless space. This is not an estab

lished fact, but the evidence seems to run in its favor.

I have referred to some of the problems and results of astronomical science. The list of interesting items is a long one, but available time has its limits. In brief, it is the astronomer's duty to discover the truth about his surroundings in space, and make it a part of the knowledge of his day and generation. The ultimate and real value of his work lies in its influence upon the lives of the people of the world, in the changes for the better which it induces in their modes of thought, and in the impulse which it gives to an advancing civilization.

Would that the attractions of the sky to the average man were more potent. It is a curious comment upon the attributes of city life that hundreds of thousands of people, especially children, in London and Paris, in the darkness which gave them semi-concealment from the enemy's destructive air ships, should have obtained their first real vision of the starry heavens. What must have been their sensations? On the other hand, those who can view its beauties and wonders are prone to neglect it; to look down instead of up. Emerson has said somewhere in his immortal essays that if our sky should be clear of clouds but one night in a century, the people of this globe would look forward to the rare event, and not only prepare to behold its beauties themselves, but make sure that their friends far and wide were likewise minded. How the beauties of the night sky would surpass the expectations of the most lively imagination! The wondrous vision would be the prevailing subject of conversation for years and years, and the repetition of the vision, one hundred years later, would need no advertising.

Our knowledge of the heavens is in its infancy. We have but made a start upon the discovery of the truth about the stars, and the results of astronomical research are not so widely known amongst the people as they should be. This splendid institution, The Warner & Swasey Observatory, presented by men who are masters in telescope and observatory design and construction, by men who

have thought much of relative values in life, this institution has a field of great usefulness lying before it. In their administration of the generous gift, the trustees, the president and the faculty of the Case School of Applied Science, whether for research, for school instruction or for community education, will have the sympathetic interest of astronomers, of all lovers of the truth. This observatory may assist in the solution of important problems concerning the universe of which we form a part. The universities, the colleges and the technical schools of our country, and of other countries, are graduating every year many hundreds of young men, ready to start upon the more serious phases of their lives, who can tell us all about the lights in our houses, but not one word about the lights in our sky. This institution will do its quota in approximating to a liberal education. The casual visitor who enters its portals in search of knowledge, yea, the passer-by in the street who merely sees a dignified and purposeful observatory set upon a hill, will have his thoughts directed to higher levels.

LICK OBSERVATORY,

W. W. CAMPBELL

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

PLAN OF THE BICENTENARY EXPEDITION TO THE NORTH OF GREENLAND

IN the year 1721 Hans Egede left Copenhagen for Greenland; with this event the systematic colonization of the vast arctic territory by the Danish State began. In celebrating the bicentenary of this colonization it is natural not only to review what has been achieved, but also to look forward to what still remains to be done both in administration and in research.

The whole coast-line of Greenland is now known. Every point of the coast, extensive as that of a continent, commemorates by its name the glorious achievements of explorers. As a rule, the big nations were before us as far as the discovery itself was concerned, but we may safely say that Danish research

has deepened and perfected the knowledge of the new coast-lines. Stubbornly and unweariedly we have carried our flag to the North on both coasts.

The coast of Peary Land, the remotest, most inaccessible part of Greenland we have reached from both sides. The "Danmark" Expedition reached Peary's Cairn on Cape Bridgeman and the Second Thule Expedition, in which I took part myself, reached the De Long Fiord. There still remains a stretch of coast which no Dane has ever seen, and the interior of this country, almost as large as Denmark, is absolutely unknown.

On the Second Thule Expedition, conducted by Knud Rasmussen, it fell to me not only to map out great ice-free territories, which had hitherto been unknown, but also to demonstrate that these new territories are geologically among the most interesting in Greenland, and that the so-called Caledonian Fold, which had hitherto been known to exist only in northern Europe stretched across to the other side of the Atlantic.

Though our results are confirmed by the collections which we succeeded in bringing home in spite of the greatest difficulties, I realized even while working in the field, that great problems still remained to be solved. Another expedition is planned the aim of which will be exclusively geological and geographical research.

Headquarters with a wintering station will be established in Robertson Bay in Inglefield Gulf. From here the following expeditions will be made:

1. A large provision cache for future journeys is to be taken across the Inland Ice from Inglefield Gulf to Warming's Land.1 The transport will take place in the late summer, when the temperature is comparatively high and the surface snow is melted down or compressed. For this reason it is to be undertaken by Cleveland Tractors, which will be able to work across the ice-free marginal zone at Inglefield Gulf.

1 South of Sherard Osborne Fiord. The writer's map of the regions surveyed by the Thule Expedition has been printed and will soon be published.

Fiord. From thence to the main cache, from which the homeward journey will be made.

My Danish companion on these travels will be Mr. C. F. Slott, an engineer who during many years and in many countries has almost exclusively devoted himself to the study of tractors and their practical working. On the sledge-journeys I shall be accompanied by Polar Eskimos.

The cost of the expedition is estimated at 110,000 Danish Kroner, part of which has been guaranteed by the Danish State. The remainder was raised by a committee consisting of:

MR. C. F. WANDEL, former rear-admiral of the Royal Danish Navy, Chairman. MR. A. ERLANDSEN, shipowner, Treasurer. MR. J. DAUGAARD-JENSEN, director of the administration of the colonies in Greenland. MR. V. GLÜCKSTADT, of the Merchants' Guild, consul general for Italy.

MR. EUGENE WARMING, former professor of the University of Copenhagen.

The state has placed a ship at our disposal in order to take the expedition and its stores to Inglefield Gulf. This ship left Copenhagen on July 15, 1920.

COPENHAGEN

LAUGE KOCH

SCIENTIFIC EVENTS UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO CONFERENCE ON RECENT ADVANCES IN PHYSICS

WITH a view to stimulating interest in research, the president and the board of governors of the University of Toronto have heartily approved of a proposal made to them to convene, during the present session, a conference on recent advances in physics. This conference will be held in the physics laboratory of the university between January 5 and 26, 1921.

Dr. Ludwik Silberstein, late professor in the University of Rome, and at present mathematical adviser to the Eastman Kodak Co., of Rochester, N. Y., has kindly consented to take the leading part in the conference. Dr. Silberstein is a distinguished mathematician and mathematical physicist and, during the period of the war, served as expert adviser to the im

portant British optical firm, Messrs. Adam Hilger, Ltd., of London, England. By his training in Europe and by his own contributions to modern science, he is eminently fitted to speak with authority on his chosen themes. Dr. Silberstein will deliver a course of eighteen lectures on the special and generalized theories of relativity and gravitation and on some of the recent advances in spectroscopy and theory of atomic structure. In the latter courses there will be presented the theories put forward by Bohr and by Sommerfield on the origin of radiations, and by Epstein on the Stark effect, in addition to Dr. Silberstein's own investigations on non-spherical nuclei. From the nature of the subject the treatment will be chiefly from the mathematical standpoint.

Dr. Irving Langmuir, of the research laboratory of the General Electric Co., of Schenectady, N. Y., has also kindly consented to take part in the conference on January 17, 18 and 19. On these days he will deliver a short course of lectures on Theories of atomic structures, and other topics.

Provision has also been made in the conference for a course of sixteen lectures on a more or less popular nature. This course will be given by Professor McLennan. It will deal with various aspects of recent researches on the structure of matter and on the origin and characteristics of radiation. The dominant aim will be to present as simply and as clearly as possible the results of investigations which have been made up to the present on various phases of the subjects treated. The lectures of this course should prove of interest to science workers generally and to those of the public who are especially interested in the philosophical aspect of science or in some of its important applications.

A course of lectures will also be given on the fundamental properties of colloidal solutions. More and more in industry is a knowledge of colloids and their chemical properties becoming essential and it is expected that these lectures will prove interesting and profitable to manufacturers as well as to scientific workers. Professor E. F. Burton, both on account of his investigations in this subject and from

his training is highly qualified to deal with the subjects of colloids from its theoretical standpoint, as well as its practical side.

Arrangements will be made for holding a series of discussions during the conference on the subjects treated in the lectures.

The conference will be opened by Sir Robert Falconer, LL.D., president of the University of Toronto, on Wednesday, January 5, at five o'clock, when Professor McLennan will deliver the opening lecture on "Molecules and atoms." J. C. MCLENNAN, Professor of Physics

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, November 22, 1920

MEETING OF THE AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION

THE meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union in Washington, D. C., November 8-11, 1920, was one of the largest in the history of the union. One half of the Fellows and about ten per cent. of the entire membership were in attendance. The business meetings on Monday were held at the Cosmos Club and the other sessions at the U. S. National Museum. The election of Fellows and Members included Robert Cushman Murphy, of Brooklyn, N. Y., as Fellow; E. C. Stuart Baker and Dr. Percy Lowe, of London, Honorary Fellows; 13 Foreign Corresponding Fellows; 5 Members and 307 Associates. The election of officers for 1921 resulted as follows: President, Dr. Witmer Stone, Philadelphia; Vice-president, Dr. George Bird Grinnell and Dr. Jonathan Dwight, New York; Secretary, Dr. T. S. Palmer, 1939 Biltmore St., Washington, D. C.; Treasurer, W. L.McAtee, Biological Survey, Washington, D. C. The single vacancy in the council was filled by the selection of Dr. W. H. Osgood, of Chicago, and the other six members were reelected. The program of nearly 40 papers, five of which were illustrated by motion pictures, covered a wide range of subjects relating to North American birds and also included papers on the birds of Argentina, Nicaragua, Peru, Europe and Madagascar. In connection with the meeting an exhibition

of drawings, paintings and photographs of birds by American artists, supplemented by a series of prints showing the development of zoological illustration as applied to birds from the earliest times down to date, was arranged in the Division of Prints in the Library of Congress. T. S. PALMER,

Secretary

THE BULAWAYO MEETING OF THE SOUTH
AFRICAN ASSOCIATION

THE eighteenth annual session of the South African Association for the Advancement of Science was held in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia, on July 14-17, with Dr. I. B. Pole Evans, as president. From the report in Nature we learn that there were the usual receptions and functions, together with visits to the Khami ruins, the Matoppos, the Victoria Falls and Livingstone. A party, after the conclusion of the official meeting, visited the Great Zimbabwe. More than sixty papers were read in the various sections, and the attendance was a large one more than 130 members proceeding by special train from the Transvaal, as well as some from the Cape Peninsula and Natal.

The president Dr. I. B. Pole Evans, chief of the Division of Botany and director of the Botanical Survey of the Union, gave a most interesting address on "The veld: its resources and dangers," the address being illustrated by a series of beautiful lantern-slides. He reviewed recent progress in botanical knowledge, and outlined the notable advance that had been made by the members of the Botanical Survey in respect to systematic ecology, indigenous grasses, fungi and poisonous plants. Mr. H. E. Wood, of the Union Observatory, Johannesburg, as president of Section A, gave an address on Recent progress in astronomy," noting that the present year was the centenary of the foundation of the Royal Observatory at the Cape. "Geology in relation to mining" was the subject of the presidential address to Section B, given by Mr. F. P. Mennell, who has seen all the later developments in the mining industry of Rhodesia. Dr. T. R. Sim, late government