(Astronomical orological central stations of Vienna and Budapest. The new bureau will extend the meteorological service formerly conducted in connection with the K. k. Sternwarte, PragKlementinum (Astronomical Observatory). The director, Dr. Rudolf Schneider, is anxious to receive for the library of the bureau all the reports of observations and meteorological publications formerly sent to the Sternwarte, and he will be glad to send to other meteorological stations and offices publications of his bureau in exchange. THE British Secretary of State for the Colonies has appointed a committee to con; sider and report what steps can be taken to secure the assistance of the universities in carrying out the research work which is essential to the protection of the inhabitants of the Colonies and Protectorates from disease and to the successful development of their veterinary, agricultural and mineral resources. The members of the committee are: The Right Hon. Lord Chalmers (chairman), Sir H. Birchenough, Sir J. Rose Bradford, Sir W. Fletcher, Professor E. B. Poulton, Sir D. Prain, Sir H. Read, Sir S. Stockman, and Sir A. Strahan. WE learn from Nature that an Institute of Physics has now been incorporated in England and has begun to carry out its work. The object of the institute is to secure the recognition of the professional status of the physicist and to coordinate the work of all the societies interested in physical science or its applications. Five societies have already participated in this co-ordination, namely, the Physical Society of London, the Optical Society, the Faraday Society, the Royal Microscopical Society, and the Röntgen Society. The first president is Sir Richard Glazebrook, who will preside at the opening statutory meeting of the institute, which will be held early in the new year. The list of members now includes the names of more than two hundred fellows. Sir J. J. Thomson, the retiring president of the Royal Society, has ac-. cepted the invitation of the board to become the first, and at present the only, honorary fellow. The diploma of the institute is now being required from applicants for government and other positions requiring a knowledge of physics. DR. ROBERT KNOX, in his presidential address before the Röntgen Society, London, on November 18, discussed the radiologist's need for fresh apparatus. According to the abstract in the British Medical Journal he deplored the lack of unanimity regarding the development of instrument design, which made standardization impossible. Nevertheless, a recognition of certain special needs was emerging-the need for increasingly powerful apparatus, for X-ray tubes capable of steady output, and for a method of exactly measuring radiation. He called upon the designers of high tension apparatus to set to work to produce more powerful apparatus. It seemed likely that radio-therapeutic work would be impeded in its advance unless a more penetrating radiation were available; at all events, if such high penetration were not required for treatment, this could only be proved after extensive experimental work for which the apparatus was lacking. At the suggestion of the British Scientific Instruments Research Association a meeting of medical men, physicists, and manufacturers had been called, and this resulted in the formation of a small committee empowered to draw up a list of questions about the design of apparatus required for radiographic and therapeutic work, and those questions were now being circulated among the radiologists of the country. Dr. Knox maintained that the development of radiological apparatus and technique called for cooperative experiment by physicists, technicians, and medical men. These problems could only be handled comprehensively in a radiological research institute with a suite of laboratories, lecture theaters and demonstration rooms. The establishment of such an institute was the object of the Mackenzie Davidson Memorial Fund. It would be directed by a general committee, with subcommittees for the physical, technical, medical and photographic sides of the work, each subcommittee supervising a section of the institute, and all conferring together in cases of difficulty. An institute of physics was coming into being; why not an institute of radiology adjoining it or incorporated with it? At Petrograd a new institute of radiology had lately been inaugurated in a building of recent construction. If Bolshevik Russia, asked Dr. Knox, could erect an institute of radiology in the midst of its great upheaval, was the United Kingdom going to be outdone? THE National Research Council has established the Research Information Service as a general clearing-house and informational bureau for scientific and industrial research. This "Service" on request supplies information concerning research problems, progress, personnel, funds, etc. Ordinarily inquiries are answered without charge. When this is impossible, because of unusual difficulty in securing information, the inquirer is notified and supplied with an estimate of cost. Much of the information assembled by this bureau is published promptly in the Bulletin or the Reprint and Circular Series" of the National Research Council, but the purpose is to maintain complete up-to-date files in the general office of the council. Announcement will be made from time to time of special informational files which have been prepared. Requests for information should be addressed to the Research Information Service, 1701 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington, D. C. THE Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching distributed up to June 30, 1920, the sum of $7,964,000 in 664 retiring allowances and 245 pensions to widows of professors in 159 universities and colleges. This announcement has been made to the trustees, by Dr. Henry S. Pritchett, the president. The Foundations assets are $24,628,000. The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, established by the Foundation, during its first two years had provided for teachers in 213 institutions, 585 policies totalling $2,969,000 and 513 annuity contracts representing $540,000, or total expected payments of $6,480,000. The association's annuities have been adopted by thirty-four universities and colleges for all teachers desiring them, it was stated. President Hibben, of Princeton, President Vinson, of the University of Texas, President Perry, of Hamilton College and President Neilson, of Smith College, have been elected trustees to fill vacancies. President Humphreys, of Stevens Institute has been elected chairman; President Thwing, of Western Reserve University, vice chairman, and Chancellor Kirkland, of Vanderbilt University, secretary of the board. WE learn from Nature that the English courts gave on November 17, a decision on the motion for an injunction to prevent Messrs. Brunner, Mond and Co., from distributing £100,000, as it was authorized to do by an extraordinary general meeting on August 5. It will be remembered that at this meeting the directors were empowered to distribute that sum to such universities or other scientific institutions in the United Kingdom as they might select for the furtherance of scientific education and research. The money was to be provided from the investment surplus reserve account. It was urged that in carrying out the resolution the directors would be acting a way which was outside the scope of the stated objects of the company, but Mr. Justice Eve ruled that the resolution came within the bounds of what was likely to lead to the direct advantage of the company, and therefore refused to make an order on the motion. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL FRANCIS LYNDE STETSON has bequeathed his residuary estate, estimated at from $1,000,000 to $1,500,000, to Williams College, of which he was a senior trustee for many years and a benefactor during his life. He gave $100,000 additional to the college to establish eight scholarships for worthy students from Clinton County. The testator directs preference be given to students from the city of Plattsburg and the towns of Champlain, Chazy and Ausable in that order. AN anonymous donor has given Yale University bonds valued at over $100,000 for the department of university health. STANFORD UNIVERSITY will have on its campus for the 1923 intercollegiate contests a stadium seating at least 60,000 spectators and costing approximately $750,000. The engineering commission, composed of Professors W. F. Durand, C. D. Marx, and C. B. Wing of the engineering departments of the university, has been requested to proceed at once with the preparation of the final plans of construction. SAMUEL W. DUDLEY, at present chief engineer of the Westinghouse Airbrake Company, has been appointed professor of mechanical engineering on the Strathcona Foundation at Yale University. DR. EDWARDS A. PARK, associate professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University, has been elected professor of pediatrics in the Yale Medical School. Dr. Park graduated from Yale with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1900. FRANCIS MARSH BALDWIN, (Ph. D. (Illinois), associate professor of physiology in the department of zoology at Iowa State College, has been raised to the rank of professor. F. A. Fenton, Ph.D. (Ohio State), has been advanced to the rank of associate professor of entomology, and is acting chief of the Entomological Section of the Experiment Station, during the absence of Professor E. D. Ball, now assistant secretary of agriculture. DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE WRATTEN FILTERS TO THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: My attention has been called to the fact that some biological workers have been using Wratten filters for measurements of the response of living animals to light, and that there is a possibility that results obtained in this way may be vitiated by the infra-red transmission of such filters. Measurements show that practically all these filters transmit the infra-red; the monochromatic series, for instance, transmit over 50 per cent. of the radiation of longer wave-length than 750 μ which is transmitted by glass and gelatine. The filters were made for photographic work and are suitable for visual research, but no attempt has been made to eliminate the infra red, and they are quite unsuitable for work where infra red radiation may introduce errors unless that radiation is absorbed by some suitable filter such as the solution of copper chloride recommended by W. W. Coblentz, Bulletin of the Bureau of Standards, Volume VII.. 1911, p. 655. C. E. K. MEES RESEARCH LABORATORY, KODAK PARK, ROCHESTER, N. Y. THE COST OF GERMAN PUBLICATIONS TO THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: Mr. Howe's communication seems to deserve some further remarks. A recent letter from a prominent dealer in Leipzig tells me that prices for Germany are doubled for foreign customers and that he has no reason to believe that American dealers will be able to furnish at a lower rate. Postage is ten times higher and there is a government expert tax of 8 per cent. of the invoice. The course I took was to write the dealer not to send me anything; that in future I would not buy anything as an individual in Germany and would try to do the necessary reading through libraries, thereby dividing the cost among a number. I added that I objected particularly to the export tax. GEORGE DOCK SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY A QUESTION OF BIBLIOGRAPHY TO THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: In his wellknown volume on "Fur-bearing Animals," the author, Elliott Coues, described on the authority of "Mr. Lockhart," an extraordinary act of the wolverene in the presence of man. The wolverene will squat on his haunches and shade his eyes with one of his 1 U. S. Geol. Surv. Misc. Publ. VIII., Washington, 1877. JONATHAN EDWARDS AS A FREUDIAN SINCE Jonathan Edwards has been brought forward as a precursor of Einstein, I wish to file a claim in his behalf as a pre-Freud Freudian. In that very remarkable record of autoanalysis, his Diary, he notes under date of May 2, 1722: I think it a very good way to examine dreams every morning when I awake; what are the nature, circumstances, principles and ends of my imaginary actions and passions in them; in order to discern what are my prevailing inclinations, etc. Not only did Edwards use dream analysis for the discovery of his secret sins, but he also employed the Freudian therapeutics of frank self-examination starting with random reverie and following the thread of association until he reached the complex that he desired to eradicate by confession and sublimation. For instance, the entry dated "Saturday August 10, about sunset," reads: As a help against that inward shameful hypocrisy, to confess frankly to myself all which I find in myself, either infirmity or sin; also to confess to God and open the whole case to him, when it is what concerns religion, and humbly and earnestly implore of him the help that is needed; not in the least to endeavor to smother over what is in my heart but to bring it all out to God and my conscience. By this means I may arrive at a greater knowledge of my own heart. When I find difficulty in finding a subject of religious meditation in vacancies, to pitch at random on what alights in my thoughts, and to go from that to other things which that should bring into my mind, and follow this progression as a SCIENTIFIC BOOKS Plant Indicators. The Relation of Plant Communities to Process and Practise. By FREDERC E. CLEMENTS. 388 pages, 92 plates. Publication 290 of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D. C. This is a companion volume to Dr. Clements's book on Plant Succession.1 The aim of the present work is to show the value of the natural vegetation as indicating climatic and soil conditions, and hence, indirectly, the suitability of the areas covered for agriculture, grazing and forestry. The earlier literature is briefly reviewed, with especial emphasis upon publications which have appeared since the plant indicator concept became definitely established (Hilgard, 1860, Chamberlin, 1877), and especially since quantitative methods began to be employed in the study of vegetation. The indicator concept is discussed on pages 28-34, stress being laid upon the superiority of the plant community to any single species. The author's point of view is illustrated by the following quotations: As is shown later, plants may indicate conditions, processes, or uses. The simplest of these is the first, the most practical is the last. The plant may indicate a particular soil or climate, or some limiting or controlling factor in either. This would seem to be axiomatic, but it is well known that grassland, which is typically a climatic indicator, often occupies extensive areas in forest climates. Thus, the presence of a plant, even when dominant, is only suggestive of its meaning. It is necessary to correlate it with the existing factors and, better still, to check this correlation by experimental planting, or an actual tracing of the successional development. Indicators of processes usually require a double correlation, namely, that of the plant with the controlling factor, and that of the factor with the causal process, such as erosion, disturbance, fire, 1 Clements, F. E., "Plant Succession," Publication 242, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1916. It is necessary to recognize that every dominant can be used as an indicator of past and future as well as of present conditions. This is due, of course, to the fact that every dominant or subdominant has a definite position in succession. . . Bases and criteria are treated (pages 35-75) under the following main headings: The Physical Basis, The Physiological Basis, The Associational Basis, The Successional Basis, Indicator Criteria, Life-forms, Habitat-forms, Growth-forms, and Communities as Indi cators. The third chapter (pages 76-104) deals with the kinds of indicators, which are classified as Factor Indicators, Process Indicators and Practise Indicators. Among the factors considered are water, light, temperature and solutes. In this connection, the author considers lack of oxygen as the most important factor affecting plant growth in acid soils. Discussing climatic and edaphic (soil) indicators, it is stated: The The local or edaphic conditions find their expression in the seral dominants and subdominants, and the communities which they constitute. widespread climatic conditions are reflected in the climax formation, associations, and societies. Process indicators belong to successional rather than to climax associations and indicate the effects of disturbances of the habitat, either "natural" or brought about by the agency of man. Practise indicators show whether the land is suitable for agriculture, grazing, or forestry, and with less certainty, to what kinds of crop and methods of production it is best adapted. A large part of the book (pages 105-236) is devoted to descriptions of the climax formations of western North America, comprising the various associations of grassland, scrubland or chaparral and forest. Agricultural indicators are discussed on pages 237-269. Here the author develops his ideas as to the classification of the remaining public land on an indicator plant basis, stating: it should become a cardinal principle of land classification to rate as grazing or forest land all areas in which it is impossible to produce an average crop three years out of four. This would insure an adequate and permanent development of agriculture wherever possible and would warrant the introduction of scientific and economic systems of grazing, which would change it from a game of chance into an industry. The subject of grazing indicators is treated at greater length (pages 270-335), the author pointing out that, "the simplest and most obvious indication of a plant community is that which denotes the possibility of grazing." In regard to the carrying capacity of range land, it is stated: With respect to the plant cover alone, the carrying capacity of a grazing type is summed up in the total amount of the annual crop of forage, but the total yield must be interpreted in terms of value and utilization. Hence, it is necessary to take into account the composition of the type, the palatability and nutritive value of the dominants and subdominants, the duration and timeliness of the grazing season, and the effects of the climax cycle. Forest indicators are discussed on pages 336-363, and the book closes with an extensive bibliography. Field investigations extending over many years and covering practically the whole of the western United States have fitted Dr. Clements to deal with his topic in a comprehensive and illuminating manner. The philosophical point of view is predominant throughout the work, and the relation of the subject to other branches of science, as well as to practical affairs, is convincingly presented. The care used in preparing this handsome volume and its numerous excellent illustrations deserves high commendation. THOMAS H. KEARNEY |