SCIENCE

Vou. 89 FrmAy, Marcu 10, 1939 No. 2306

Contrasts: PROFESSOR FREDERICK G. KEYES ...................... 207 Obituary: Samuel Prentiss Baldwin: Proressor Francis H. Herrick. Recent Deaths 212

Scientific Events: The Henry G. Lapham Fijian Expedition; The Work of the Commonwealth Fund; Standards for Photography; Student Affiliate Chapters of the American Chemical Society ; The Geological Society of America; The Division of the British Associa- tion for the Social and International Relations of

Science 214 Scientific Notes and News 216 Discussion : -

Microfilm Copying of Scientific Literature: Dr.

ATHERTON SEIDELL. An Easier Method for Making

an Index: MABEL Hunt DoyLe and Mary A.

BRADLEY. Evidences of a Pre-ceramic Cultural

Horizon in Smith County, Kansas: Dr. Loren C.

Scientific Books:

Travels of a Plant Explorer: Proressor T. D. A.

221 Reports:

Pilot Fitness for Night Flying: Dr. C. E. Ferrer

Special Articles:

Human Toxoplasmosis: Occurrence in Infants as an

Encephalomyelitis Verification by Transmission to Animals: Dr. ABNER WOLF, Dr. Davin COWEN and Dr. Beryt Paice. The Localization of Minerals in Animal Tissues by the Electron Microscope: Dr. Gorpon H. Scott and Dr. DONALD M. PACKER. Experimental Proliferative Arthritis in Mice Pro- duced by Filtrable Pleuropneumonia-like Microor- ganisms: Dr. ALBERT B. SaBin .. 226

Scientific Apparatus and Laboratory Methods: Devices for Visual Comparison of Spectrograms: Dr. George E. Davis. A Gasoline-torch Labora-

SCIENCE: A Weekly Journal devoted to the Advance- ment of Science, edited by J. MCKEEN CATTELL and pub lished every Friday by

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CONTRASTS’

By Professor FREDERICK G. KEYES MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Any alumnus of Brown would be very sensible of the honor of being asked to take part in as important an event as we celebrate to-day. When I received the in- vitation to speak, my first impulse was to rejoice for the opportunity to express my gratitude for the abun- dant benefits Brown extended to me some thirty years ago. My second thoughts turned to dwell on the sig- nificance and meaning of the splendid Metcalf Research Laboratory, designed exclusively for graduate study and researeh.

That this addition had long been a practical necessity was clear these many years to those who have followed at first hand the rise of the department to a position of outstanding importance. Because of my nearness to the university and my membership on the depart- ment’s visiting committee, it was easy to comprehend

‘An address delivered at Brown University, Provi- dence, R. I., on the oceasion of the dedication of the Met- ad Research Laboratory of Chemistry on December 28,

the time and patience expended under what henceforth will probably be referred to as “the old conditions.” Professor Kraus and his colleagues will no longer spend valuable time in effecting the compromises re- quired heretofore to provide adequate opportunities for a rising level of graduate students. It is a great joy to know that the efforts of the staff to promote the progress of graduate study and research will take place in a setting worthy of Brown University and of the man whose wisdom and generosity have made the dream of the research laboratory a reality. Sometimes it is a salutary procedure to pause occa- sionally, as on the present occasion, to survey the steps which have led up to the present position. The exer- cise puts events in their proper relationship, promotes a decent humility, induces a just pride, emphasizes the eternal verities, makes for simplicity and enables one to lay the course for the future on a more assured basis. Brown University was the seventh American college

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of the nine founded before the Revolution, and all were established exclusively in response to the need for an educated ministry. The college started with a presi- dent, James Manning, and one student; without build- ings, library or endowment, in the midst of Baptists hostile to ministerial education. The charter of the college was a document of extraordinary liberality, notwithstanding an age of bitter sectarianism in which it was written. It provided that the corporation be composed of four denominations, prescribing the exact number of each to prevent non-Baptists from ousting Baptists and vice versa. It stated also that all teachers except the president were to be exempt from religious tests of any kind. Finally, and most remarkable, was the exclusion of all teaching of “sectarian differences of opinion,” and “youth of all religious denominations” were on an equal footing in every respect. As a com- mentary on the present state of tolerance in certain parts of the world, the corporation voted on September 6, 1770, “that the children of Jews may be admitted into this Institution and entirely enjoy the freedom of their religion without any constraint or imposition whatever.” In 1774, by the terms of a ruling, Seventh

Day Baptists were not required to attend church and Quakers were exempted from a law prohibiting stu-

dents from wearing hats indoors. Tolerance relative

to science was written into the charter, which stated that “the publie teaching shall in general respect the seiences.”* This liberal and catholic spirit is remark- able, for the temper of the time was quite the contrary.

Thus, at Yale a student could only be admitted who was

“grounded in polemical divinity according to the As-

semblies’ Catechism, Dr. Amos Medulla, and cases of

conscience,” and similar restrictions existed at each of the six colleges whose founding preceded that of Brown.

Chemistry had been taught in medical schools abroad in the 1790’s, but instruction in the science at Brown does not appear until the medical school was established in 1811 under President Asa Messer (1802-1826), in the course of whose administration enlarged courses were given in mathematics as well as instruction in mechanies, astronomy, animal and vegetable physiol- ogy, pneumatics, hydrostatics and geology. Moreover, the “almost worthless” philosophical apparatus was re- placed through the generosity of Nicholas Brown and Thomas P. Ives, “adapted for all purposes of illustra- tion.” The first laboratory, also due to the generosity of Nicholas Brown, was set up in Rhode Island Hall in 1841, which contained a museum and lecture rooms. -This patron’s gifts and bequests amounted in all to $160,000 and set an example to friends of Brown and other colleges. A sum of possibly eight to ten times

2Science probably included geography, arithmetic, algebra, Euclid, trigonometry, surveying, navigation and astronomy.

Vou. 89, No. 2306

this amount would represent equal purchasing power at the present period. | |

Following the Civil War the physical equipment was much improved and the friends of the university gaye the library building, Slater Hall, Sayles Hall, Rogers Chemical Laboratory, Wilson Hall for Physics, the Ladd Observatory. At the close of Benjamin Ap. drews’s administration there were nearly a thousand students, of which 101 were graduate students and the staff had grown to 90. Under W. H. P. Faunce’s ad. ministration the university funds were considerably in- creased; in 1914 to a total of more than three times that in the previous 150 years, while the physical plant was further enlarged.

The foregoing hasty sketch brings us to the moment of a great change in the role which the universities of the United States were to play in the future; a role, we hope, that will last a long time, provided humanity is tough enough to resist the collective madness surging through the world these twenty years.

The interval between the Civil War and 1914 was of course one of steady development of science, industry and transportation in the United States. The country depended almost entirely upon Europe for goods of exceptional quality, for scientific apparatus, for dyes, pharmaceuticals and numerous other products. Grad- uate study and systematic research in the universities had made a beginning in the 1880’s under the guidance of a few German trained chemists, physicists and mathematicians. By the turn of the century, however,

Germany had become the foremost scientific nation in

the world and was beginning to straddle it like a Colos- sus. Nothing apparently could resist the progressively dominating influence of Germany in every department of art, science, industry and world commerce. An in- sistently proclaimed excellence in every field set the ultimate standard as German, and the hall-mark of the American scholar was a German university degree. The models of scientific research and graduate study were faithfully copied in the American universities, while an increasing stream of freshly Ph.D.’d students from Géttingen, Berlin, Heidelberg and elsewhere in Germany was not infrequently distinguished by a curi- ously accented German speech which often disdained American pronunciations of the commonest chemical substances. The American student content with grad- uate study in an American university was believed to be distinctly second rate and was usually offered second-rate opportunities, if any.

Our large-scale manufacturers employed none or few scientific men, and employers frequently selected Ger- man and Austrian engineers for responsible positions. Many manufacturers took over, in their entirety, de- velopments perfected abroad for American exploita- tion, and in general cut themselves off from the great

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Marcu 10, 1939

body of organized and coordinated knowledge brought together by thousands of university and industrial in- vestigators. When German or other foreign competi- tion reduced profits, it was always possible to raise the tariff.

To-day, a scant twenty-five years later, we look back on an interesting phenomenon: a miracle, as far as pure and applied science is concerned, in every respect as striking as the Greek revival some 2,400 years ago. From a relatively second- or third-rate contributor to scientific advance prior to 1914, the United States is now leading the world in nearly all scientific fields, and the quality of the product as well as the volume is growing steadily. It is a justifiable cause for satis- faction to the university, its graduates and friends, that Brown has contributed generously to this prog- ress in all fields, and particularly in the field of chem- istry. It is often the pleasant custom on occasions like the present to permit oneself the indulgence of a good measure of generous comment. In the presence of this audience I shall merely note as every one does the fine quality of the physical plant and the esprit de corps of the scholarly staff of this early American university. The satisfaction arising from the oppor- tunities Brown generously offered have grown richer with the years, and we may now rejoice that these op- portunities are preserved and further enlarged for the benefit of the students of the present and the future.

It would be interesting, did time permit, to digress and survey the exploitation of science by industry which runs parallel with the extraordinary revival of science just cited. Relative to the first decade of the century, progress has been striking, but due consider- ation of the many aspects of the subject convinces one that continued advance in science and industry can not be maintained unless scientific methods and an endur- ing probity are practiced in the conduct of government, in the drafting and application of laws, and in the conduct of publie business generally. Indeed the pos- sibility is by no means negligible that the effects gen- erated in the past six years through the amazing spread of irrationality and emotionalism in government may have been given sufficient momentum to bring about the collapse of as splendid a foundation as ever existed for the most alluring prospect in civilization the world has ever known.

It is quite evident that this remarkable period in the United States, which the future history of science will duly record, is based on a substantial preparatory period. We know that this was the case with the Greek revival, although the induction period appar- ently extended over several centuries, whereas it is difficult to assign more than a hundred years at most in our own ease. That it should be short seems reason- able in view of the character of the people, amongst

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whom were a normally disproportionate number of intelligent, independent and courageous men and

women who were able to function in an atmosphere

of freedom without restrictive interferences of political origin. Generous consideration must also be given to the influence of nineteenth century European contri- butions to scientific development, often brought directly by students returning from study in the foreign uni- versities.

Only a cursory reading of the Federalist papers is

enough to show the character, probity and insight of |

the men available for leadership in the states during the eighteenth century. That they would recognize the fundamental necessity of providing educational faeili- ties for the developing nation goes without saying, and the impulse grew finally to a veritable passion. Per- haps the stimulating climate of the North Atlantic sea- board played its part as well’ as the intellectual and moral qualities of the early settlers, but the fact re- mains that the progress of the American colleges was uninterrupted and scientific work of the first order was accomplished in the early period by Franklin, Joseph Henry, Priestley, Hare and others.

As already stated, after the Civil War large numbers of our younger men attended the German universities. Thus, J. W. Gibbs, A. G. Webster, Rowland and many others. came under Helmholtz’s influence, while the number of chemists awarded the doctor’s degree grew year by year down to 1914. I believe it is substan- tially true that in science the influence of these German- trained young men provided a technically deep and sound foundation which, functioning under American conditions, produced American chemistry as well as American physics and mathematics. Beginning with the turn of the century, their influence had begun to have a pronounced accelerating effect on research.

The presence of a relatively large number of enthusi- astic and talented young scientific men in our univer- sities is certainly one of the necessary factors for good progress, but this alone would have been insufficient to account for the American miracle. The factor of tre- mendous importance, perhaps even decisive, was indubitably the existence of our free institutions, financially independent and unhampered by centralized bureaucratic control. Their liberating influence over successive generations produced a type well suited to widening intellectual frontiers. Self-reliance and re- sourcefulness probably come to be inherent character- isties in a people who have the stamina needed to settle a continent in a relatively short time.

The financial independence of our universities per- mits great freedom in the development and exploita- tion of a variety of educational objectives which has had an extraordinary stimulating effect on our univer- sity students, in spite of the fact that good judgment

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210 SCIENCE

has not always been exercised. It has also made pos- sible abundant laboratory facilities, which accounts for the manipulative skill characteristic of the American student. The rising prosperity of all classes of the rapidly growing population in the midst of unparal- leled natural resources is another factor not to be neglected. Under such conditions the probability that all grades and varieties of talent in the population will

be given an opportunity to develop is very great. This

is the fruition of the principle of equality of oppor- tunity, without which no society can discover a large fraction of the varied abilities latent in its people.

The phenomenon of the founding and the endowment of large numbers of colleges and universities generously and consistently supported for three hundred years by private enterprise and generosity is certainly without parallel in recorded history. The growth of this almost universal generous public spirit is moreover a distinctly American phenomenon’ and it is responsible for the establishment of every sort of institution in the public interest. It should be remarked that in isolated in- stances free institutions have been established in Europe by groups of public-spirited citizens. These at the present time have become defunct or seriously damaged financially. Where, however, in the estab- lished cirele of history can an institution resembling the Rockefeller Foundation be found, to name only one conspicuous example of a product of private generosity characteristic of, shall I say, “economic royalists” and “entrenched greed”? Where also does there exist in the record of the past a single instance of privately endowed organizations establishing research institutes, repairing war’s destruction, feeding the starving and clothing the naked the world over? It would take more than my allotted time this afternoon to even outline the manifold beneficences and varied civilizing influences that have flowed in an ever-increasing volume from the remarkable public spirit characteristic of the citizens of the United States. Fundamentally we owe our free institutions to the existence of this spirit, and through the opportunities afforded, the talented men and women of the United States have been given unparalleled facilities to exploit their abilities in an atmosphere of freedom according to the scale of their inherent abil- ities. It is unquestionably our free institutions that have provided the essential basis for the greatest sci- entifie and industrial awakening on record.

Brown University is one of the institutions that has helped to bring about this great miracle. The question arises inevitably : Will the conditions and cireumstances

8 Private charities and the establishing of independent institutions proceeded in England during the nineteenth century, but the magnitude of the development was far less than in the United States, as would be expected, on the basis of the greater natural resources in the latter country.

VoL. 89, No. 2306

which have supported the movement persist and allow continued progress? What, for example, is the prog. pect that we will often again assemble to rejoice under like cireumstances in the gift of a building provided by private generosity? Unfortunately we are not without indications that influences and trends have been de. veloping more or less parallel with the scientific anq industrial rise which may eventually erush or even destroy the unique qualities of enterprise, courage, independence, resource, tolerance and public spirit inherently responsible for the American phenomenon, These influences for the most part have the appearance of being of direct political origin, although fundamen. tally, in a country organized as the United States is, subversive political influence is traceable either to lack of popular understanding and interest or to stupid human inability to defer apparent temporary advan- tage for future permanent gain. Certainly if the pres- ent destructive financial and other governmental tendencies continue, the descent from the heights to which we are ascending will be spectacularly rapid. It can not be overemphasized that processes of destruction once in motion come to a halt on levels where the dis- tribution of poverty can contrast sharply with the widest diffusion of prosperity and well-being ever known to mankind. The incentives to public generosity are certainly in danger of drying up, due largely to unwise fiscal policies, intemperate legislation and in- creasingly huge taxes. Little imagination is required to foresee that if the trend is not halted, all private endowments will be irreparably damaged and the evolu- tion of democratic institutions retarded. The loss of financial freedom on the part of our universities and manifold public institutions involves not only a stag- gering material loss to the people of the United States but the destruction of social values and the obliteration of a civilizing spirit which is sorely needed in a world where the terrors of ancient human savagery press upon us from every side. __

I realize there are those who think otherwise, at least in part. The great state universities will be cited as examples of politically supported institutions. But does any one doubt that they would stand at their present level, in serious activities, were it not for the example, performance and competition of the indepen- dent universities that still serve as models and which function for half the college and university students in the country. Should any one doubt the dire caiamity that would attend the passing of our free institutions, let him investigate the opportunities, equipment and facilities of European universities at the mercy of political functionaries. The experience of residence abroad will show the interested observer the utter poverty of physical equipment except in a very few centers, and also disclose the restrictions and central-

functi¢ rewar advan that p' As Estate’ there V follow world today “With the dir larger age ma fast, p the ere: of man Prof shown univers the un about what s ciated | that conseql are of sities a insurar museur tions ; mortga credito: classes import: laws w limited That tl Ther indeper additio search adoptic prineiy made i} Zens to

MARCH and W labors while by the i The fe of the 4

zed bureaucratic control that retard progress while suppressing enterprise and initiative. University men and women abroad too often carry on their scientific labors in poverty, with poor facilities and no assistance, while burdened with teaching and routine prescribed by the political bureaucracy in power at the moment. The few of genius and talent upon whose efforts much of the prosperity and well-being of the masses depend function (in Europe) with difficulty, without adequate rewards or incentives, while spiritual evolution and advance in physical welfare are slowed to a fraction of that possible under our favorable conditions.

As Arthur D. Little says in his fine essay “The Fifth Estate’—“Our civilization is certainly imperiled, but there will be no downfall if mankind can be taught to follow the light already before it.” “In the past the world suffered grievously from lack of knowledge; today it suffers from its rejection or misapplication.” “With the recognition of the spirituality of science and the divinity of research and discovery should come larger interests and a new breadth of vision to the aver- age man, and to us all an acknowledgment of the stead- fast, purposeful striving shown in the development of the created world, together with a reverent appreciation of man’s privilege to aid and further this development.”

Professor Kemmerer, of Princeton University, has shown in a recent article that the endowments of our universities are already in danger and indicated clearly the undermining of democratic institutions brought about by unsound government financing.* He cites what should be an obvious fact, curiously unappre- ciated by the holders of 113,000,000 insurance policies, that it is the ereditors who must pay ultimately for the consequences of unwise fiseal policy. These creditors are of course the people who hold bonds, our univer- sities and edueational institutions (1 and 4 billion), insurance companies (100 billion dollars), hospitals, museums, libraries, foundations, religious organiza- tions; in faet, every institution holding bonds and mortgages. As Professor Kemmerer states: “These creditors are our most conservative investing classes— classes whose welfare is a matter of such great social importance that we protect many of them by special laws which restrict the investment of trust funds to a limited and supposedly safe field of investments.” That the situation is now grave is beyond question.

There is also the further problem. Where are our independent institutions to turn in the future for the additional financial support needed to promote re- search and improve educational procedures? The adoption of the ineome tax formulated on the so-called principle of “the eapacity to pay” has, to say the least, made it very difficult for generous public-spirited citi- zens to give money to the universities or other public

‘E. W. Kemmerer, Atlantic Monthly, 160: 729, 1937.

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institutions and it has already gone far to promote the tendency to “let the government do it.” That is sad enough, but the “highly progressive income, inheritance and gift taxes on the part of both the national govern- ment and the states, taxes whose combined rates in the higher brackets are already the highest of any advanced country in the world” (to quote Professor Kemmerer) makes it likely that the impulse to generous giving will soon die for want of the means of reasonable exercise.

It is in order to ask what can be done to halt the danger. In a free country we have the glorious right to diseuss a situation, and a danger promptly recog- nized is often partly forestalled. In a true democracy it is moreover the business of every one to exert himself in the public interest according to the measure of indi- vidual ability. First: Every citizen should be made aware that the qualities of public spirit and public gen- erosity so wide-spread in the United States are unique in the history of the world, and without parallel any- where except to a far lesser degree in England. Sec- ond, the examples by suitable classification of our pri- vately endowed educational institutions, hospitals, sei- entific and medical foundations, charitable and re- ligious organizations, museums and student-aid organi- zations should be clearly described and the present amounts of the endowments given. It is important also to give for comparison the number of similar institu- tions in the rest of the world with the amounts of their endowments, before the war and at present. I under- stand Professor P. G. Wright has prepared a report under the Duke University Endowment which gives data for certain independent institutions in Germany, Austria and France. Third, the viciously-false unsup- portable statements incessantly promulgated in the United States that only a few wealthy individuals pay the taxes expended by government should be vigorously refuted by appeal to the facts. These facts are avail- able, and there are many ways in which their signifi- cance and importance can be made clear to every one. An important item related to this which seems to have escaped the attention of a very large number is that a continuation of the present fiscal and other government policies is endangering the hundred billion dollars worth of insurance back of 113,000,000 widely held policies. Fourth, the attention of people should be focussed on the relation of our free institutions to the publie welfare and to the astounding progress in civil- izing influences they have promoted. This can perhaps be most strikingly exhibited by comparisons with con- ditions in other countries since 1900, and especially the contrasting wide-spread prosperity in the United States amongst those possessing industry and good- will should be made erystal clear by numerical elabora- tion. Fifth, much of the criticism about the incompe- tence and demagogery of politicians, while too often

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justified, should be abandoned for a policy of positive assistance to those in public office who are capable and sincere. It is commonplace that under our system politicians must have “causes,” and other things being equal, it is ridiculous to suppose they wilfully prefer false,ones. It seems clear that it is the people with insight and intelligence who should provide the causes and support the politicians who demonstrate their sincerity by doing effective work for them in the form of providing and disseminating accurate data and in- formation relevant in the promotion of all causes which will insure the preservation and growth of a free, just and liberal society.

We belong to a group which has been selected by the so-called higher educational system of our country. Favored by natural endowment we have been enabled to utilize magnificent advantages provided by our free institutions. Advantages, facilities and an environ- ment of freedom which ean exist on the present level only as long as the good will, the generosity, the toler- ance and the unique public spirit which created them are preserved.

Many of you will join with me in confessing, how- ever, that while passively grateful for our advantages, we have scarcely done anything actively to insure that the advantages we enjoy will be passed on undimin- ished and enhanced, to our successors. I am convinced

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that the greater part of the men in public office 4, not realize the nature or value of that which jg % commonplace in our country. It is our duty to take action without delay, perhaps through our scientig, societies in a concerted effort to preserve our heritage of financially free institutions, and save from perish the priceless spirit of public generosity which brough them to their present flowering.

The message I bring has a somber cast; perhaps to serious a tone at the hour of rejoicing. But we haye come upon evil times and see the finest fruit of oy labors being misused increasingly to blight the spirit of mankind and to blacken his soul. Alas, no on wishes more than I do that the poisons distilled int the world by addled brains since I trod this campy thirty years ago could be spontaneously neutralized, We, however, more than any one else, have the imagins. tion to envisage the evils and the power to neutralize the poisons by uniting and exerting ourselves promptly and courageously. In doing so, we will give tangible evidence of gratitude for gifts received, and which is more important, save from perishing the divine civiliz. ing spirit that gave Brown University the Metcalf Research Laboratory.

FREDERICK G. Keyes MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

OBITUARY

SAMUEL PRENTISS BALDWIN

SAMUEL PRENTISS BALDWIN, widely known for his pioneer work in the trapping-and-banding of wild birds and for his Research Bird Laboratory, was born at Cleveland, Ohio, on October 26, 1868, and died of eoronary thrombosis in that city on December 31, 1938. He was the son of Charles Candee and Sophia (Pren- tiss) Baldwin.

His father, a judge of the circuit court of appeals, was one of the founders and principal supporters of the Western Reserve Historical Society and was deeply interested in archeology and geology. The son in- herited his father’s tastes, and was a trustee of the Historical Society from 1907 until the end of his life.

After graduation from Dartmouth College in 1892, Prentiss studied in the Law School of Western Reserve University and was the first to receive its degree of LL.B. in his class of 1894. For six years he was a member of law firms in Cleveland, but withdrew in 1900, and for a considerable time thereafter was engaged more or less continuously in business.

At intervals in this early period the law had to give way to geology, when Mr. Baldwin took part in geo- logical expeditions to the Muir Glacier and to New

Mexico; but after 1900 he returned to his first love, natural history, and devoted himself more or less con- pletely to ornithology.

In 1914 Prentiss Baldwin became interested in the newly devised method of banding wild birds—eneir- cling one of their legs with a numbered, aluminum ring —so that, if later recovered and reported, incontrovert- ible data upon their wanderings and longevity could be secured. In the course of these practises, which wer systematically conducted at his Gates Mills farm in Ohio, in summer, and at Thomasville, Ga., in winter, Dr. Baldwin devised traps for securing large numbers of living birds, and originated the method of trapping: and-banding adult birds, which by 1920 had become 8 successful that it was approved by the Biological Su: vey. This governmental agency, which took over the work of the American Bird-Banding Society in 1921, soon became the “clearing house” for the registration of the recovered aluminum bands, that began to flow from all parts of the country. Asa result of this move ment four Bird-Banding Associations, The Inlan(, Eastern, Northeastern and Western, were established; thus covering a large part of the continent of Nort America, and affording all necessary assistance to the!

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MakcH 10, 1939

thousands of volunteer workers. It is estimated that Dr. Baldwin, who became the honorary president of all ‘these organizations, and his assistants alone have panded between 50,000 and 60,000 individuals.

Since 1914 Prentiss Baldwin was devoted to the intensive study of ornithology at what became known js “The Baldwin Bird Research Laboratory” at his Gates Mills farm, from which have issued upwards of thirty more or less elaborate papers, relating to the physiology, development and life-history of birds, and based upon his own work and that of his associates. The elaborate treatises on “The Physiology of the Temperature of Birds,” which involved more than fifty thousand determinations, and “The Measurements of Birds” appeared in the Scientific Publications of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

Dr. Baldwin soon fixed upon the little house wren as the one species that was best suited for the study of many avian problems, touching distribution, migration, anatomy, physiology, development, behavior and, more specifically, body-temperature and sexual relations in domestic life, to mention some of the subjects which had engaged his attention. In short, the house wren, through studies at the Baldwin Laboratory, became in some measure for ornithology what the diminutive fruit-fly, Drosophila, is for the science of heredity or s cenetics. The wren, like Drosophila, is easily handled and controlled; it nests readily in artificial boxes, wherever placed, and can be trapped in its nestbox and quickly caught in a hand-net for examination. If it does not submit complacently to interference, it seldom or never deserts its young. Through the testimony of the numbered bands it was shown that house wrens do not mate for life, but that on the contrary they often change mates between seasons, and even between broods of the same year. It was also proved that not more than one third of all marked individuals return to their nest or to the locality in which the young were hatched in two successive years.

Many ingenious electrical recording devices, originat- ing in the Baldwin Laboratory, were used in determin- ing the temperature changes which the growing young undergo from an early egg-stage to adolescence and in recording visits of the parent birds to their nest when tending their young. Experimenters in this laboratory also perfected an instrument for taking motion pictures of the living embryo in ovo, thus showing successive stages in embryonic development by use of a micro- scope with a camera-attachment, the wren’s egg making — subject because of its small size and hardi- ood.

Dr. Baldwin was a trustee of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History for nearly sixteen years, or from 1923 until his death, and in many ways gave it his generous support. He received the degree of D.Se. from Dartmouth College in 1932, was a fellow in the

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American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Geological Society of America, the American Orni- thologists’ Union and the Ohio Academy of Science, and was a member of the American Society of Natural- ists, the American Society of Zoologists, the British Ornithologists’ Union, Deutsche Ornithologische Gesell- schaft and the Australasian Ornithological Union.

Through his efforts and those of his assistants Dr. Baldwin had gathered through the years a rich store of scientific data upon birdlife, which, if properly edited, should make a most outstanding monograph. On this achievement Prentiss Baldwin’s mind and heart were fixed, and he had worked on it with great singleness of purpose for many years. It is to be hoped that this work, for which he had labored so industriously, but which, unfortunately, he did not live to complete him- self, may yet be given to the world.

Dr. Baldwin was married on February 15, 1898, to Miss Lilian Converse, daughter of Leonard Hanna, of Cleveland.

In his personal relations Prentiss Baldwin will be remembered as a loyal friend, who was ever ready to extend a helping hand, especially to young men who were devoted to science, and was determined that all should receive their just dues. He took a broad view of his opportunities, and freely gave his time, his effort and his means for the protection and preservation of the wild life of the countryside. The many friends of Dr. and Mrs. Baldwin, and particularly the members of Western Reserve University, of which he was a re- search associate in biology, can never forget the gener- ous hospitality which they have enjoyed in their beauti- Francis H. Herrick RECENT DEATHS

Dr. EpMunp B. Wiison, Da Costa professor emer- itus of zoology at Columbia University, died on March 3 at the age of eighty-two years.

Dr. CHARLES SUMNER PLUMB, professor emeritus of animal husbandry at the Ohio State University, died on March 4 in his eighty-ninth year.

Dr. ARTHUR ALFRED BRYAN, agronomist of the Iowa State College, died on February 22. Since 1934 Dr. Bryan had been in charge of the corn improve- ment program carried on by the Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station in cooperation with the U. S. Department of Agriculture.

Dr. ARTHUR PHILEMON COLEMAN, professor emer- itus of geology and formerly dean of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Toronto, died on February 26 in his eighty-seventh year.

Howarp Carter, known for his discovery and ex- ploration, in association with the fifth Earl of Car- narvon, of the tomb of Tut-ankh-Amen, died on March 2 at the age of sixty-six years.

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214 SCIENCE

VoL. 89, No, 934

SCIENTIFIC EVENTS

THE HENRY G. LAPHAM FIJIAN EXPEDITION

On June 27 Dr. C. M. Cooke, Jr., leader and mala- ecologist, Mr. Y. Kondo, assistant malacologist, and Mr. Elwood C. Zimmerman, entomologist, Bishop Museum scientists, departed from Honolulu aboard the 8. 8. Monterey for Suva, Fiji, to collect mollusks and insects for the museum. The duration of the trip was three months.

The expedition was named for Mr. Henry G. Lap- ham, of Boston, in appreciation of his interest and financial assistance to the museum’s program of ex- ploration in the Pacific. Dr. C. M. Cooke, Jr., also gave generously to the fund and personally financed exploration in Lau Province. Without the aid of these two men it would have been impossible for the staff to have made the trip. The museum is greatly indebted to them.

Because of illness at home Dr. Cooke was recalled to Honolulu after three weeks in the field. Mr. Zimmer- man assumed the post of acting leader and with Mr. Kondo and Jacob Ulumira, a Fijian assistant, con- tinued exploration, following closely the itinerary made up at the beginning of the expedition.

During the course of the expedition collections were made in the following areas: first, Ovalau island; sec- ond, Viti Levu, the largest island of Fiji, upon which exploration was done in the Rewa, Serua and Tholo north districts; and third, in Lau Province, or the eastern Fijian islands, where Munia, Vanua Mbalavu, Mango, Lakemba, Oneata, Naiau and Moala islands were visited. Approximately sixty islands were seen and notes were taken on the appearance and, where they were viewed closely enough, the extent of the forests upon them.

The expedition was principally one of reconnais- sance. It was a preliminary survey of the region, and one of its main purposes was to determine the best type of exploration for this area and the places where intensive field work should be done when funds are available for future expeditions. As a result of the experience gained in this exploration it will be much easier for the staff to plan future Fijian expeditions.

The staff returned from the field on September 28 with outstanding success and comprehensive collec- tions. It is estimated that the entomologist procured approximately twenty-five thousand specimens; the number of land shells taken has not yet been ascer- tained, but a splendid cross section of the fauna was obtained by concentrated work. In entomology and malacology many “lost species” were rediscovered which evidently had not been collected since the types were taken. The museum’s collections of Fijian land shells and insects is now second to none in numbers

and comprehensiveness. Many new species of |gyj §

shells were collected, and the number of new species af insects