deltas and geographies of the geologic past may be discerned in the sediments or stratified rocks that make up the greater portion of the geologic record. This work brings out especially the importance in earth history of the ancient formations laid down upon the lands by the fresh waters and the wind, in contradistinction to those deposited by the seas and oceans. The length of geologic time was another problem that deeply interested Barrell. In his "Rhythms and the Measurements of Geologic Time," he came to the conclusion that through the rhythmic oscillations of the terrestrial processes which the earth has undergone, its age is many times greater than even geologists in general have imagined-in fact, that it is of the order of about 1,500 million years. A fourth line of research which occupied Barrell was the origin and genesis of the earth, and here he extended in modified form the Chamberlin-Moulton planetesimal hypothesis, i. e., that the planets and their moons arose out of the sun during a time of induced tidal disruption. Some of his best work was to develop along this line, and an extensive manuscript on The Genesis of the Earth" is ready for publication. Since 1913, Barrell has on a number of occasions taken opportunity to point out that the supposed Mesozoic peneplain of southern New England was in reality "stairlike or terraced in its character, facing the sea, and bore the marks of ultimate control by marine denudation. These terraces [more than five in number] are now dismantled by erosion except in regions favored by the presence of broadly developed resistant rock structures. . . . All are regarded as younger than the Miocene." With this view, he adds, we get "a suggestion of the geological rapidity of completion of an erosion cycle in a region near the sea and of a sequence of diastrophic rhythms there recorded." Here too there is considerable manuscript that will be published later on. Finally, the evolutionary problems connected with paleontology claimed his interest, and he has presented evidence to show that fishes probably arose in the early Paleozoic in the fresh waters of the lands, and thence migrated to the seas. Also that lungs developed out of air-bladders in water-breathing animals caught in recurrent epochs of semiaridity. Such great environmental changes brought about the necessity for change from a water habitat to seasonal dry ones, and hence "the piscine fauna which endured these conditions came through profoundly changed." The primitive sharks of Silurian time, having no air-bladder, were driven to the seas. The fresh-water fishes which remained were ganoids and dipnoans, fishes with air-bladders efficient for the direct use of air." Finally, from crossopterygian ganoids, under the stimulus of the semiaridity of the Devonian, there emerged the amphibians, able to carry forward their activities as terrestrial animals. 66 Similarly, he held that man was brought to his present high physical and mental state not merely as the "product of time and life,” but that he is "peculiarly a child of the earth and is born of her vicissitudes." The changing climates during the Pliocene and Pleistocene, acting upon the vegetation of these times, caused the prevalent forests of Asia, he thinks, to dwindle away, producing "a rigorous natural selection which transformed an ape, largely arboreal and frugivorous in habits, into a powerful, terrestrial, bipedal primate, largely carnivorous in habit, banding together in the struggle for existence, and by that means achieving success in chase and war. The gradual elimination, first of the food of the forests, lastly of the refuge of the trees, through increasing semiaridity, would have been a compelling cause as mandatory as the semiaridity which compelled the emergence of vertebrates from the waters, transforming fishes into amphibians." YALE UNIVERSITY CHARLES SCHUCHERT SCIENTIFIC EVENTS THE SOLAR ECLIPSE1 TELEGRAMS received by the Astronomer Royal report that at the station at Sobral, in Brazil, occupied by Dr. Crommelin and Mr. 1 From Nature. Davidson for photographing the field of stars round the sun on the occasion of the total eclipse of the sun last week (May 29), the sky was clear for at least part of totality, and that the program was satisfactorily carried out. The photographs have been developed, and all the stars expected are shown on the plates taken with the astrographic lens, as well as on those taken with a second telescope lent by Father Cortie. The expedition will remain at Sobral until the necessary comparison photographs are taken in situ. The message from Professor Eddington at Prince's Island, off the coast of West Africa, which reads "Through cloud, hopeful," may be taken to imply that some success will also be derived from the work of this expedition. It will be remembered that Professor Eddington and Mr. Cottingham were provided with the 13-inch object-glass of the astrographic telescope of the Oxford University Observatory, whilst the observers in Brazil had the similar object-glass from Greenwich, and that the program of both stations was to take photographs of the stars that surrounded the sun, of which there are at least twelve within 100' of the sun's center of photographic magnitude ranging from 4.5 to 7.0, for the purpose of testing Einstein's relativity theory of gravitation, and also the hypothesis that gravitation, in the generally accepted sense, acts on light. Photographs that have been taken during the eclipse will be compared with others that have been, or will be, taken of the same stars in the night sky to detect any displacement that may be considered to be due to the presence of the sun in the field. There is at present no information as to the type of the corona, and apparently few observing parties have been organized to make observations to record this. From a note in the daily press last week, said to emanate from the Yerkes Observatory, it seems not unlikely that a large prominence may have been on the limb of the sun at the time of the eclipse. It had been announced that the Cordoba Observatory would dispatch an expedition to Brazil, and that possibly Professor Abbot, of the Smithsonian Institution, would proceed to La Paz, Bolivia, where the eclipse happened at sunrise, with coronal cameras and with instruments for measuring the sky radiations by day and night, but it is too early to have heard of any results of such observations. Also it has been announced that Professor D. P. Todd would take photographs of the eclipse from an aeroplane at a height of 10,000 feet from the neighborhood of Monte Video, where the eclipse would only be partial. REVISTA MATEMATICA HISPANO-AMERICANA UNDER the above title a new mathematical periodical began to appear at the beginning of the present year, which may be of some general scientific interest both on account of territory covered by its title and also on account of some of its unique aims. One of these is the publication of corrections of errors found anywhere in the mathematical literature. These corrections are to appear in a special section headed Glosario Matematico. While mathematics is an exact science its literature is by no means free from different types of errors, varying from slight oversights to those relating to matters of fundamental importance. The majority of these errors are readily recognized by the careful reader and need only to be pointed out to be acknowledged; but, as mathematics grades gradually into various inexact sciences -such as philosophy, history and physics-it is clear that a part of its literature relates to the eternal approximations towards an unstable limit and here the question of errors connects up with endless words. The corrections in the Revista, published at Santa Teresa, 8, Madrid, Spain, are supposed to be confined to the former type of errors and these corrections may serve the double purpose of curtailing the repetition of such errors and of pointing out somewhat slippery ground in mathematical fields. It is also of interest to walk securely over ground where experts slipped by overlooking lurking dangers which their slipping caused to change to wellmarked pitfalls. General interest in this new mathematical periodical may perhaps be enlisted by the can did manner in which the unfavorable mathematical situation among the Spanish-speaking people is depicted in a short note appearing in the first number of this journal. The comparatively slight contributions made by these people along the line of mathematical research stands in great contrast with the large advances made by the people living immediately north of Spain. One of the most important steps towards the remedy of an unfortunate public situation is to exhibit the great need of such a remedy. It is hoped that the present journal may be successful in this direction and also in awakening interest in a field which is so fundamental for the further scientific development of the people using the Spanish language. The editor of the journal is J. Rey Pastor. G. A. MILLER EXPEDITIONS OF THE CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES MISS ALICE EASTWOOD, curator of botany, of the California Academy of Sciences, has just returned from a three months' study of the flora of Arizona and New Mexico. Miss Eastwood's special mission was to collect trees and shrubs but chiefly cottonwoods for Professor C. S. Sargent of the Arnold Arboretum in connection with the revision of his Trees of North America. At the same time Miss Eastwood made important additions to the herbarium of the academy. The academy is undertaking exploration work this summer in lower California. Mr. Joseph R. Slevin, assistant curator of the department of herpetology, sailed on June 14 on the steamer Alliance for La Paz, Mexico, with the purpose of investigating the reptiles and amphibians of the cape region of the peninsula. Mr. Slevin is accompanied by Mr. Gordon F. Ferris, instructor in entomology of Stanford University. Mr. Ferris is commissioned by Stanford University to make a special study of the scale insects of the region and will also collect for the departments of entomology and invertebrate zoology of the California Academy of Sciences. This work will be chiefly in the lower third of the peninsula and will require about three months time. Dr. Roy E. Dickerson, honorary curator of the Department of Invertebrate Paleontology, sailed May 31 with Mrs. Dickerson for Manila, Philippine Islands. Dr. Dickerson will make an investigation of the Phillippine Islands with a view to the location of oil deposits. During Dr. Dickerson's connection with the California Academy of Sciences as curator of the department of invertebrate paleontology important research work was carried on in the geology of the Pacific coast area, which received publication in the Proceedings of the academy. These papers are much in demand at present by the commercial interests engaged in oil production. FOREIGN DELEGATES AND GUESTS AT THE ATLANTIC CITY MEETING OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION PHYSICIANS from fourteen foreign countries were in attendance at the meeting. Apart from Canadians they were as follows: Lehman, Wilmer S., Lolodorf, Cameroon, W. Casier, Baron Ernest, Belgium. Peter, William Wesley, Shanghai, China. Fernandez, Francisco M., Havana, Cuba. Somodevilla, Santiago U., San Luis, Cuba. Newsholme, Sir Arthur, England. Thompson, Sir St. Clair, London, England. Bégouin, Paul, Bordeaux, France. Lemaitre, Fernand, France. Picqué, Robert, Bordeaux, France. Allen, Belle Jane, Baroda, India. Uchimo, Senichi, Tokio, Japan. Holst, Peter F., Norway. Ingvar, Sven, Lund, Sweden. HONORARY DEGREES AT YALE UNIVERSITY Ar the commencement exercises on June 18 Dr. Theodore Salisbury Woolsey, professor of international law, emeritus, in presenting candidates for honorary degrees said as public orator: MASTER OF ARTS Orville Wright: The survivor of two brothers who by their mechanical skill, ceaseless experimentation and accumulated knowledge. of physics, have led the way in mastering human flight. The inventive genius of Mr. Wright in a brief sixteen years has filled the sky with its creations, has changed the methods of warfare, has captivated the youth of all lands and now ventures to cross the ocean. Samuel Hosea Wadhams: A graduate of Sheffield, in 1894, a surgeon in the regular army, serving in the Spanish War, early sent to France as an observer, placed later on the General Staff, in tact, in vision, in ability preeminent, Colonel Wadhams, more than any one else, has shaped the policy of his department. During our share in the war, he has borne the entire responsibility for the wounded in the battle area, has won the admiration of his fellow workers and has earned the honor which his university desires to pay. DOCTOR OF SCIENCE Samuel Wesley Stratton: Mathematician, physicist, professor in the Universities of Illinois and Chicago, a naval officer in the Spanish war, since 1901 director of the National Bureau of Standards in weight and measures. Dr. Stratton's work in this bureau has been conspicuous and constructive, recognized beyond our own limits, vitally important in war and war research. A man weighed in the balance and not found wanting. Harvey Cushing: Son of Yale and Harvard professor, a leader in the new field of neurological surgery, in operations of the brain preeminent, surgeon in chief of the model Brigham Hospital, honored at home and abroad. Colonel Cushing served with the French in 1915 and 1917, with the British at Messines and Passchendaele, being mentioned in dispatches. At this time organizing intensive study of penetrative skull wounds, he reduced their mortality by one half. Under our own flag he became chief consultant in neurological surgery for the A. E. F. A gentleman, a bold investigator, an artist in the operative field. SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS PRINCETON UNIVERSITY has conferred the doctorate of science on Dr. John M. Clarke, director of the State Museum of New York, and the degree of master of arts on Mr. Lester E. Jones, director of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. DR. DAVID F. HOUSTON, Secretary of agriculture, has received the degree of LL.D. from Brown University. THE honorary degree of doctor of science has been conferred upon Dr. Raymond Foss Bacon, director of the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, by De Pauw University. ON the occasion of the annual commencement of the University of Pittsburgh on June 13, the honorary degree of doctor of engineering was conferred upon Mr. Vannoy H. Manning, director of the United States Bureau of Mines, in recognition of his noteworthy accomplishments in the investigation of problems of mineral technology. The university also conferred the honorary degree of doctor of chemistry upon Dr. Willis R. Whitney, director of the Research Laboratory of the General Electric Company, Schenectady, New York, because of the valuable service which he rendered to the government as a member of the Naval Consulting Board. These honorary degrees were given upon the recommendation of the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, an integral part of the University of Pittsburgh. DURHAM UNIVERSITY has conferred its doctorate of science on Sir E. Rutherford, Sir G. T. Beilby, Professor A. A. Herdman and Professor J. J. Welsh. SIR J. J. THOMSON has been appointed a member of the advisory council to the committee of the privy council for scientific and industrial research. DR. GISBERT KAPP is about to resign the professorship of electrical engineering in the University of Birmingham. PROFESSOR Robert W. Wilson has retired from the chair of astronomy at Harvard University. THE Royal Society of Arts, London, has awarded its Albert medal for 1919 to Sir Oliver Lodge "in recognition of his work as the pioneer of wireless telegraphy." The medal was instituted in 1864 to reward "distinguished service in promoting arts, manufactures and commerce." PROFESSOR G. ELLIOT SMITH has been elected president of the Manchester Literary and Philosophic Society. DR. RAY LYMAN WILBUR, president of Stanford University, who has always taken particular interest in the sociological problems connected with diseases, has been elected president of the California State Conference of Social Agencies. Ar the annual meeting of the Linnean Society on May 24, Dr. A. Smith Woodward, of the British Museum of Natural History, was elected president. CHARLES W. LENG, secretary of the New York Entomological Society and research associate in the American Museum of Natural History, has been appointed director of the Museum of the Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences. Mr. Leng has been interested in the natural history of Staten Island, where he was born and lives, since boyhood. Entomologists and other naturalists, visiting New York City, can reach the museum of the institute by a pleasant half hour's sail across the bay on the Staten Island ferry. UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL AMONG the gifts announced at the commencement of Harvard University were the following: From the estate of Mrs. Robert D. Evans, $15,687; one half each to the Arnold Arboretum and the Dental School. The James C. Melvin Fund, anonymous $53,750 for tropical medicine. Anonymous gift of $11,250 for the departments of agriculture and landscape architecture. Estate of Mrs. Charles H. Colburn, $97,052, for the study of tuberculosis. Mrs. Winthrop Sargent, $27,500, of which $25,000 goes to the Blue Hill Observatory. From the Nathaniel Canners' Association, $15,000 for studies in public health. DR. LEROY S. PALMER, assistant professor of dairy chemistry in the college of agriculture of the University of Missouri, has been appointed associate professor of agricultural biochemistry in the college of agriculture, University of Minnesota, and dairy chemist in the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station. George E. Holm, Ph.D., Minnesota, 1919, has been appointed assistant professor of agricultural biochemistry and assistant agricultural biochemist in the Experiment Station. He will devote his time almost exclusively to research on the proteins. A. F. KIDDER has resigned as professor of agronomy in the college of agriculture of the Louisiana State University to accept the position of agronomist and assistant director of the State Agricultural Experiment Station, Baton Rouge. DR. ALBERT SCHNEIDER, of the pharmaceutical department of the University of California, will go next September to the University of Nebraska as professor of pharmacognosy and director of the experimental medicinal plant garden. |