B. A. Gould: A Number of Papers pertaining to the Stature, Proportions, Ages, and Vision of American Soldiers.

J. E. Hilgard: On a Chronograph for measuring the Velocity of Projectiles.

Among the reports made to the United States Government by the National Academy of Sciences are the following:

On the Protection of Bottoms of Iron Vessels from Corrosion.

On the Adjustment of Compasses to Correct Magnetic Deviation in Iron Ships.

On Wind and Current Charts and Sailing Directions.

On the Explosion on the United States Steamer Chenango.

On Experiments on the Expansion of Steam. On the Preservation of Paint on Army Knapsacks.

But the stupendous problems of the present great war and the endless task in solving them naturally dwarf these early plans and labors of men into comparative insignificance, leading us moreover into the most complex and often cumbersome organizations. After witnessing two years of terrific combat between the Central and Allied Powers on land and sea, using engines of devastation undreamed of in the annals of science, and with no clear vision into the horrors of possible outcome,

President Wilson was led to believe during this world wide conflagration of peace and safety, that American technology should, as developed abroad, be in some manner expanded into greater fields and mobilized.

The National Research Council

From the valuable service rendered by such men as Joseph Henry and his fellow charter members and associates in the National Academy of Sciences during the Civil War, and from the provisions of its charter for assisting the Government in investigating, examining, experimenting and reporting upon any subject of science or art, it was pointed out that it constituted logically the nucleus for greater activities in the world war.

During the month of April, 1916, President Wilson was led to express the wish that the National Academy of Sciences should act as such a nucleus and coördinate the educational and industrial and other research agencies with the Government. Dr. George Ellery Hale, in an able address under the auspices of the Engineering Foundation in the Engineering Societies' Building, in New York in May, 1918, set forth the steps in the formation of the National Research Council, of which he was Chairman, as follows: - "The Academy's con

nection with the Government, its inclusion of the whole range of science, and its many years of coöperation with the Royal Society of London, the Paris Academy of Sciences, and other similar academies abroad, pointed to it as the only body in the United States in a position to comply with the President's request.

It was clear, however, that membership in the desired organization should not be exclusively confined to the National Academy. Many technical bureaus of the Army and Navy, for example, should be represented by their chiefs ex-officiis, and in other cases a changing membership, broadly representative of research in its numerous aspects, would also be desirable. The Organizing Committee accordingly recommended the establishment of a new body, resting legally upon the character of the Academy, sharing its privileges, both at home and abroad, and at the same time affording the wide freedom of selection desired.

The National Research Council, comprising the chiefs of the technical bureaus of the Army and Navy, the heads of Government bureaus engaged in scientific research, a group of investigators representing educational institutions and research foundations, and another group including representatives of industrial and engineering research, was accordingly constituted by the Academy with the active co