"

The

master, the other a fencing master. Under the latter the young man became so mighty with the palash that he wounded to the death a young English opponent; whereupon, instead of vaingloriously seeking more victims, he gave up fencing. His foreign professors included, besides the two Ordentliche" above named, two "Ausserordentliche " in the persons of a landlady's daughters, who gave lessons in German, cards and dancing, with well conducted practical exercises. youthful Raphael also met von Roemer and was shown his fossils; and he saw something of the Hanover Polytechnic students, of whom the most capacious exceeded four fold and more the untrained young America's modest maximum of twenty Schoppen at a sitting; but a single season of such carousing was his first and last; its excesses had no attraction for him. Indeed, in this and other lines his education seems to have been conducted on a strictly experimental basis and to have led to wise conclusions: proficiency was repeatedly reached in one art or another, but if the acquired art proved undesirable it was given up and another was tried. The young man therefore had all manner of adventures, pleasant and unpleasant; things were always happening to him. He tramped along the Rhine, collecting rocks and minerals; he rode over the Taunus hills with a fair American companion; he secretly pawned his mother's watch to a Jew at Marburg to get money for railway fares; and he tried his luck on the gambling tables at Wiesbaden. Then after a summer trip in Switzerland, of which little is told, mother and son went to Paris for the winter; manifestly his European education was becoming cosmopolitan.

The French capital proved attractive in various directions. Soon after arriving there, research led him to pick up a fine two-inch Brazilian topaz for a couple of francs from a dealer on the quais. The youth always had the luck with him. A little later he declined the cajoleries of a beauteous and tearful actress, and made instead a lasting friendship with an octagenarian baroness. Truly in friendship-making he had a magnificent.

and enviable capacity, and always chose from among the best: but the nonchalance of his daily doings was also magnificent, and is equalled only by the naïveté of the narrative in which the daily doings are recorded.

From Paris he went to Italy, still accompanied by the faithful mother, whose apron strings were slow to untie, whichever way he pulled them. At Naples, it came over him that he was not securing the education for which he had crossed the ocean-but on this point we venture to disagree. He climbed Vesuvius and gathered its minerals; he exhausted the family letter of credit, but soon prevailed upon a discriminating banker to advance needed funds; he went to Rome and had an interview with the Pope; and then to Florence. There waking one morning with a wish to wander forth in search of new educational experience, he took leave of his mother for a day or two and set out for Leghorn, with a letter of credit in his pocket for baggage. By the merest chance he went from Leghorn to Corsica, where he spent four months like a knight-errant in the Middle Ages; first enjoying an idyll-platonic-with a forester's young French wife, who sang to him of spring and youth; then roving over the wild mountains with shepherds and bandits galore; meanwhile keenly using his eyes and writing a few explanatory letters to his mother, which the trusty mountaineers failed to post.

Finally returning to Italy, as thoughtless as Theseus though with no Ariadne, he found his distressed parent, who instead of classically leaping from the Leghorn rocks, had as fruitlessly set the police looking for her lost boy all over Europe. She embraced but did not upbraid him, and the happy pair went to Vienna, where education was again taken under consideration; and from Vienna, on the advice of the osculatory old Noeggerath, the youth of nineteen went to Freiberg, with the beginnings of a beard that became famous in later life. On the way there at Dresden the apron strings were at last untied; the mother turned homeward alone and the son turned seriously to his studies—at least as seriously as any one studied in the Freiberg of that

time. But Corsica had charmed him; he revisited that romantic isle the following summer, and this time carried back the famous Mouflon, hero of great adventures, the telling of which in print to the invisible public can not, however, compare with the oral recital, not many years after the event, to a group of admiring boys around a camp fire in the woods of upper Michigan.

Let no one imagine that a glance over these selected items can replace the reading of the delightful autobiography which they introduce. What is here too briefly told is only a curtain raiser to the kaleidoscopic life led by this fascinating boy after he reached manhood. No abstract can do justice to his thrilling adventures as a mining engineer in Arizona-amazing revelations of the conditions that existed when there really was a western frontier; had Beadle, a famout littérateur of that time, known them, they would have made him despair over the poverty of his dime-novel inventions. Mining and smelting in Arizona were followed by geological explorations in Japan and China; it was in that epoch that our hero during a smallpox delirium, playfully fired his revolver, which had been, Arizona-fashion, left handy under the mattress, at his Chinese nurse, who thereupon selfishly resigned his post. The winter journey homeward across Siberia in a sleigh, during which, as a chapter-heading might put it, "A whiff of cigarette smoke passes the time o'day," is not likely to be repeated by the modern traveler, who finds even the TransBaikal express too slow. Then came a period of conventional life in New York where some commonplace years were passed; and this was followed by a humdrum engagement as professor of mining at Harvard; but very little did the professorial Pumpelly of those days. resemble the customary philosopher plodding across the Common to a lecture, or the expectable mathematician trudging through the Delta after a faculty meeting. Indeed, it was credibly reported at the time that a streeturchin-a "mucker" in the slang of Harvard Square on seeing this strange apparition in felt hat, long flowing beard, velveteen suit and

riding boots, cantering along Kirkland Street, stopped in astonishment, exclaiming: "Golly, what a swell!"

Naturally enough the cantering gait, which so well suited the apparition, soon carried him out of Cambridge and into all parts of the country, as mining engineer, state geologist, director of the Northern Transcontinental Survey, and otherwise; until in 1903-04 he welcomed the approach of old age by conducting a rare journey of exploration, a CarnegieInstitution search for primitive man, into central Asia. Ten years later an excursion was made to Arizona: in the shadow of the loss of wife and mother, the father with son and daughters, who left their own children at home to make themselves boy and girls again, visited the frontier of 1860, where desperados then dwelt and where railroads, hotels and automobiles now flourish locally in the wide arid spaces. "Incidents" occurred of course, such as the near-loss of a toe, and a possible death from thirst in a dry stream bed; but these little affairs did not prevent a deep appreciation of the great empty wilderness with its glaring days of vast distances, and its calm nights below the starlit vault of the cloudless heavens. And from the desert the septuagenarian, once the boy pirate of Owego, the knight errant of Corsica, the student of Freiberg, the Arizona miner, the traveler in the Far East, the expert geological surveyor, the archeological explorer, all reaching their culmination in the genial grandfather, returned to his home in Newport to write his "Reminiscences." There his friends now find him in beautiful serenity. There the good wishes of many greatful readers attend him.

W. M. D.

PROFESSOR WILLIAMS AT YALE1 CORNELL and Yale are singularly linked in the life of Henry Shaler Williams. Professor Williams was born at Ithaca, graduated from Yale, then returned to Ithaca to teach at

1 Address by Herbert E. Gregory, representing Yale University at the exercises in memory of Henry Shaler Williams, held at Sage Chapel, Cornell University, October 20, 1918.

Cornell. In 1892 he is again at Yale, returning in 1904 to Cornell, where his life work was finished. Six years of his young manhood were spent at Yale in undergraduate and graduate studies and eight years as professor of geology. Just twice that time was devoted to active service at Cornell. Yale thus shares with Cornell the prestige which comes from a great scientific name, and it is fitting that the two universities should join in commemoration of the life and services of Professor Williams.

The Yale records reveal little of Williams as an undergraduate except that his class work was well done, but it is easy to picture the boy taking walks along the shore of Long Island Sound collecting materials, bringing them home for study, and building the foundations for penetrating observation which later yielded such large returns to science. For Williams, the graduate student, the eager boy already devoted to the search for the hidden meaning of natural phenomena, the distinction between teacher and student broke down. Williams was a member of a small company of sympathetic, earnest men-faculty and students who together carried on their investigations. The quality of his work as a graduate student is indicated by his thesis for the doctorate, which is not the elaboration of a task assigned by an instructor, but an exhaustive study and a significant contribution to science.

In 1892 Yale was confronted with a difficult problem. It became necessary to select a successor to James D. Dana, America's foremost geologist, and to fill the chair which for nearly a century had been made famous by Silliman and Dana. There were many able geologists in the country, but Professor Dana insisted on a man who combined preeminent attainments with personal character and faith, for the task in hand was not merely to present the facts and principles and methods of geology to successive groups of students, but to stand as an interpreter of the truths of nature. The doctrine of evolution in many quarters appeared to be in conflict with Christian faith. Great truths were to be reconciled and a

great man was demanded for the task. Dana chose Professor Williams. And so it came about that after twenty years of distinguished service at Cornell, Williams came to Yale as Silliman professor of geology. He came at the time when the great "Manual of Geology" was taking final form, and took part in the statement of the theory and facts of evolution which brought the teaching of the "Manual " in harmony with the leading scientific thought of the day.

The

In the early nineties at Yale little room was found in the curriculum for geology. The subject was offered only to juniors and seniors and was so restricted that relatively few men could elect it. The records show that during the first two years of Professor Williams's professorship students elected geology for no particular reason, but soon the class was found to consist of men who were seriously interested in problems of nature and their bearings on life. Williams was not a popular" teacher, as voted by the senior class. He knew no tricks of the lecture platform and cared little for applause. He found it difficult to formulate dramatic situations and impossible to be dogmatic; his statements were accompanied by qualifications and exceptions. Williams loved the truth as few men love it; he was not content with half truths. effect of this style of teaching was easily seen in the reaction of the class. At first the teaching seemed confusing; few clear-cut sentences could be written in a note book and cramming for tests on the basis of catch phrases was a very difficult task. Before the end of the course, however, the class realized that under the name of geology they were learning the greatest lesson open to men-the method of weighing evidence and thus arriving at truth. Many students of Williams have duplicated my experience. I came in from classes in philosophy and classics and was surprised at the method and content of the course. I asked myself the question: Is this geology? I had thought that geology was the study of rocks and fossils and valuable minerals, but found it a method of clear thinking—a road to the fundamentals of intellectual and spiritual life.

As presented by Professor Williams geology was not a guide to making money or to the collection and labelling of natural objects. It was a method of adjusting one's thinking to great truths. The many students who came under Williams's influence learned to view the world in a new light. Space and time and matter and living organisms took on new meaning, and somehow assumed a spiritual aspect, so that knowledge was not mere acquisition of facts and methods, but a something which ennobled its possessor. Someway also the search for truths untarnished by mercenary or selfish motives tended to dissolve doubts and to land one on a solid foundation. Teaching which produces such results

is a man's work.

Williams exerted a large influence through an advanced course in the philosophy of life and organisms-a course sometimes enrolling a dozen, sometimes one hundred or two hundred, as arrangement of the curriculum allowed choice on the part of students. The teachings of this course became campus discussion, and entered into the thinking of graduates, undergraduates and faculty. Its value was so obvious that after Williams returned to Cornell the course was again organized and is now one of the prominent features of the Yale curriculum.

as a man

At Yale we remember Professor Williams wholly unselfish, who would not magnify his importance, who would not fight for what might be considered his rights. He was ready to use poorly equipped laboratories and class rooms and to take undesirable hours for teaching in order to advance the work of others. He freely shared his great fund of knowledge and experience and seemed more interested in the success of others than in his own success. Unselfishness and devotion to truth are the traits we remember in Williams. They characterized his personal relations, his teaching and his writing. More than any man of my acquaintance he exemplified the text: "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make ye free."

Williams's work lives in his writings and per

SCIENTIFIC EVENTS

AN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL RESEARCH FOR JAPAN1

THE outbreak of the great war in 1914, which at once cut off the import, mainly from Germany, of dyestuffs, drugs and other products of daily necessity, and at one time almost gave rise to a panic in business, was responsible for producing a profound change in the mental attitude of the government officials, the business men, and, in fact, the whole nation towards science. Those who had in vain been preaching the supreme importance of cultivating science with all activity and pleading for public support now saw at once that the right opportunity presented itself, and lost no time in drawing up a definite plan for an institute of physical and chemical researcha plan which, though not ideal, was deemed to be practical and to meet the most urgent need. This, fortunately, obtained the cordial support of some of the most influential and publicspirited of the business men, particularly of Baron Shibusawa, and afterwards also of the government of which Count Okuma was at the time premier.

According to the plan, which was ultimately adopted, a fund of 5,000,000 yen (10 yen = £1) was to be raised by public subscription. Of this sum just about one half has already been promised, and is being paid in, almost wholly by those who have either commercial or industrial concerns in Tokyo and Yokohoma. The other half is, with good reason, expected to be contributed within a few years by those in Osaka, Kobe and other large and wealthy cities in the southwestern districts. The plan also included an application for a government subvention, and, in accordance with the bill passed by the Diet in its 1915-16 session, the government is giving the institute a subvention of 2,000,000 yen in ten years, whilst H.M. 1 From Nature.

the Emperor has made a gift of 1,000,000 yen for promoting the object of the institute. The total fund, supposing that the public subscription comes up to the expected sum, would thus amount to 8,000,000 yen, of which about 2,500,000 yen has to be invested in land, buildings and equipment. But since the interest accruing from the fund is calculated to exceed the annual expenditure for the first six or seven, or even more, years, when the activity of the institute can not of necessity be very great, it is expected that at the end of ten years there will be left over a fund of about 6,000,000 yen, which, calculated at 5 per cent. interest, would yield an annual income of 300,000 yen. To this extent, herefore, the institute would be self-supporting, and it is roughly estimated on this basis that the number of staffs of all grades and of mechanics, laboratory boys, etc., would be between 100 and 120 in all. But it is evident that the institute must grow in both size and activity, and that, therefore, the above income would soon be found to be inadequate to meet the necessary expenses demanded by this growth. As the institute grows in activity, however, its importance will be more and more evident, and it is believed that there would then be no great difficulty in obtaining more money.

THE DEPLeted herds of ENGLAND, FRANCE AND ITALY

LARGER importations of meat and pork products from the United States, thus lessening the slaughtering of native animals, will be the most effective means of restoring the depleted animal herds of the United Kingdom, France and Italy. This is the information recently received from Dr. Vernon Kellogg, of the United States Food Administration, while in France on official business. Dr. Kellogg declares that the losses in cattle in France and Italy are especially serious, not only on account of the meat and milk ordinarily obtained from this source, but also on account of the loss of the services of cattle, through depletion, which are used as work animals on farms in both countries. He writes:

The most recent statistics on animal herds, indi

cating the number now existing in allied countries, show a loss of cattle in France of 17 per cent.; in Italy of 14 per cent., with the United Kingdom showing no loss; sheep and goats, France, 41 per cent.; Italy, 1 per cent.; United Kingdom, 10 per cent.; pigs, France, 49 per cent.; Italy, 12.5 per cent.; United Kingdom, 25 per cent.; horses and mules, France, 37.5 per cent.; Italy, 25 per cent.; United Kingdom, not including animals not employed in agriculture, 4.5 per cent.

The losses in cattle in France and Italy are not only serious on account of the meat involved, but are especially serious on account of milk and also of work, as cattle are used largely in both countries as work animals on the farms. It is highly important that the herds be restored as rapidly as possible, which can be done most effectively by larger importations of meat and pork products from America to lessen the slaughtering of native animals.

The French and Belgian people now being released from formerly occupied territories are demanding and needing increased amounts of food over the former relief ration in order to restore health and strength so as to be able to work, thus making larger demands on imports from America. I have now been in France three weeks, eating in restaurants and hotels of all grades, and I have had butter on the table once and a total of six lumps of sugar. Saccharine is universally used in coffee and tea. The smaller sugar ration is mostly reserved for cooking.

THE USE OF NITRATE DURING THE WAR

FACTS concerning the importation and use of nitrate during the war period, hitherto suppressed for military reasons, have been made public by C. H. MacDowell, director of the Chemicals Division of the War Industries Board.

In the fall of 1917 the Congress appropriated $10,000,000 to be used by the Agricultural Department in importing nitrate of soda to be sold by them to the farmers at cost. This was later made a revolving fund. Under this the War Industries Board procured for the Department of Agriculture some 109,000 long tons of nitrate for shipment from Chile during the winter and spring. Owing to disturbed shipping conditions in the early spring, it was impossible to bring in for February-March arrival the tonnage expected, and with the