WOLCOTT GIBBS FUND. The directors report that during the current year ending April 1, 1922, no applications for grants have been received and no further grants authorized. They report also that, to their very great regret, Prof. Charles Loring Jackson has found it impossible to continue his work as chairman of the board and has therefore resigned. The directors desire to put on record their high appreciation of the devoted services which he has rendered to the academy, and to this board as its chairman, since the foundation of the fund 30 years ago, and to express their deep regret that he should be obliged to resign from the board. His successor has not yet been appointed. According to the report of the treasurer and bursar of the National Academy, the condition of the fund on March 30, 1922 was as follows: Uninvested cash income.. Invested income..... Invested capital.... $277.87 500.00 5, 545.50 T. W. RICHARDS. Report received. COMSTOCK FUND. As chairman of the committee in charge of the Comstock fund I beg to report as follows: (1) That since the previous award of the Comstock prize was made to Samuel Jackson Barnett in April, 1918, the next forthcoming award will be due in 1923, at which time the committee hopes to make suitable recommendations. (2) That the treasurer of the academy states the available income from the fund to be $2,227. 30. For the committee. Report received. MURRAY FUND. EDWARD L. NICHOLS, Chairman. We are informed by the treasurer that the condition of the fund at present is as follows: Owing to world conditions and the cessation during several years past of active oceanographic work, the committee is unable to advise that the medal be awarded this year, no conspicuous evidence of progress in oceanography being reported at present. Very respectfully, Report received. ELLIOT FUND. WM. H. DALL, Chairman of the Committee. The committee has unanimously voted the medal and honorarium for 1920 to Othenio Abel for his inspiring work, entitled "Methoden der paläobiologischen forschung." HENRY FAIRFIELD OSBORN, Chairman. Report received and recommendation approved. MARY CLARK THOMPSON FUND. Because of inadequate income, no award can be made of the Thompson medal this year. JOHN M. CLARKE, Chairman. Report received. MARSH FUND. Permit me to report for the Marsh fund committee the following grants which were read before the meeting of the academy on April 24 and approved by vote of the academy: 1. One hundred and fifty dollars to Dr. Carl O. Dunbar of Yale University for collection and study of Permian insects. 2. Seventy-five dollars to Miss Winifred Goldring of the State museum, Albany, N. Y. for investigation of the Devonian plants of Gaspe. 3. Three hundred dollars to Dr. W. J. Sinclair, of the department of geology of Princeton University, for continuation of his studies on the stratigraphic sucession of mammalian faunas of the White River Oligocene. 4. Two hundred dollars to Dr. Rudolf Ruedemann of the State museum, Albany, N. Y., for studies on the graptolites of North America. 5. One hundred and fifty dollars to Dr. F. Canu and Dr. R. S. Bassler, of the United States National Museum, for continuation of monographic studies on recent and fossil bryozoa. 6. Three hundred dollars to Dr. C. W. Gilmore, of the United States National Museum, for continued work on a monographic study of the fossil lizards of North America. The grants approved by the academy total a sum of $1,175, there being available to the committee for this year the sum of $1,177.16. J. C. MERRIAM, Chairman. Report received and recommendations approved. Dr. C. G. ABBOT, Home Secretary, National Academy of Sciences, WASHINGTON, D. C., May 5, 1922. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR DOCTOR ABBOT: In consideration of the policy of the Marsh fund committee relative to recommendation of grants, the committee unanimously approved the application of two principles for determination of its action in the future. I do not believe that these principles should be considered as rigid rules, but they are accepted as governing the action of the Marsh fund committee wherever possible. These definitions of policy are, first, to the effect that the committee requests of grantees under the Marsh fund, a report at the end of the year for which a grant is made, with the understanding that such report should give in general the progress made in the investigation, the statement being in such form that it may be filed as part of the record of the Marsh fund committee. The second principle is in effect that extensions of grants for investigations supported by the academy through the Marsh fund may, in certain instances, be made for important work requiring continuous effort over a period longer than one year. It is, however, understood that, in general, such extension of grants will not be carried over a period longer than three years, and it is further understood that extension of grants beyond one year will not be considered unless satisfactory reports of advance in work are made before consideration is given to the question of continuation of the grant. In making the report of the Marsh fund committee to the academy these principles were stated, but it is not my understanding that they were voted upon by the academy. With best wishes, I am, Very sincerely yours, Approved. JOHN C. MERRIAM. GOULD FUND. During the year the directors of the Gould fund have made two grants, one of $1,000 to Prof. Benjamin Boss for the support of the Astronomical Journal, and one of $150 to Dr. William Bowie for the support of the International Latitude Observatory, Ukiah, Calif. Acting for Dr. W. F. Durand, chairman of the Joseph Henry fund, permit me to report the following grants recommended to the National Academy: 1. The sum of $1,000 to Prof. Carl T. Compton, of the Palmer physical laboratory, Princeton, N. J., for researches on the electric moments of molecules. 2. The sum of $250 to Dr. H. J. Muller, of the University of Texas, for the purchase of a microscope especially designed for selective illumination of given cells or portions of cells by means of visible or ultraviolet light for use in studies in cytology, embryology, and genetics. 3. The sum of $500 to Dr. Ales Hrdlicka, of the United States National Museum, for support of investigations relating to the origin and antiquity of man on the American and Asiatic continents. The total of the grants approved amounts to $1,750, there being available to the committee this year a total of $2,275.67. It is expected that consideration will be given to further grants from this fund after the return of Dr. W. F. Durand, and before the fall meeting of the academy. J. C. MERRIAM, Acting Chairman. Report received and recommendations approved. RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE COUNCIL. The following recommendations from the council were adopted: That the annual dues for the fiscal year July 1, 1922, to June 30, 1923, be $10, of which $5 shall be for the general fund and $5 for the Proceedings. That the election of new members, and of the foreign secretary and two members of the council, be held Wednesday morning, April 26, 1922. That the American Security & Trust Co., of Washington, D. C., and Spencer, Trask & Co., of New York, be designated fiscal advisers of the academy for the year 1922–23. That the invitation of the New York members to hold the autumn meeting of 1922 in that city be accepted, and that the time be left to the president and home secretary with power. That in view of the absence of Henry Norris Russell as a delegate of the academy to the meetings in Rome of the International Astronomical Union, the presentation to him of the Henry Draper medal, which has been awarded to him, be deferred until the autumn meeting. That the following resignation of E. W. Morley as member of the Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures be accepted with regret and that the home secretary be directed to express to him the appreciation of the academy for his long and faithful service: Dr. T. C. MENDENHALL, 8 WESTLAND AVENUE, WEST Hartford, Conn. Chairman Committee on Weights, Measures, and Coinage, National Academy of Sciences. SIR: Since I am not likely to be able to attend meetings of the academy or of this committee, I hereby resign from membership in the committee. Your obedient servant, MARCH 30, 1922. EDWARD W. MORLEY. That the following resignation of C. L. Jackson as chairman and member accepted by the Committee on the Wolcott Gibbs Fund be received with regret and that the home secretary be directed to express to him the appreciation of the academy for his long and faithful service: To the Directors of the Wolcott Gibbs Fund for Chemical Research. GENTLEMEN: It is with great regret that I find myself obliged to resign my position as a member of your board, because I am no longer able to perform the duties connected with it. Very respectfully, March 21, 1922. CHARLES LORING JACKSON. SECTIONAL ORGANIZATION AND PERSONNEL. The following resolution, presented by Henry Fairfield Osborn, was referred to the committee on nominations: Whereas there are important omissions in the academy membership of men of international distinction: Be it therefore Resolved, That the academy reconsider its present sectional organization and personnel. ELECTIONS. R. A. Millikan was reelected foreign secretary for the term expiring in 1926. Messrs. Joseph S. Ames and Gano Dunn were elected members of the Council, their terms expiring in 1925, in succession to Messrs. John J. Carty and H. H. Donaldson. Albert Einstein, of the University of Berlin, was elected a foreign associate. The following were elected to membership: Berry, Edward Wilber, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. Cole, Rufus, Rockefeller Hospital, New York, N. Y. Eisenhart, Luther Pfahler, Princeton University, Princeton, N. J. Merrill, George Perkins, United States National Museum, Washington, D. C. Stockard, Charles Rupert, Cornell University Medical School, New York, N. Y. Wright, William Hammond, Lick Observatory, Mount Hamilton, Calif. The home secretary was requested to transmit the thanks of the academy to the Smithsonian Institution and to the Department of Agriculture for courtesies extended to its members during the annual meeting. SCIENTIFIC SESSIONS. MEETINGS OF APRIL 24, 25, AND 26, 1922. MONDAY, APRIL 24. C. D. Walcott: The new building of the National Academy and National Research Council (illustrated). D. H. Campbell: Queries concerning the origin of the Australian floras. L. R. Jones, J. G. Dickson, and J. C. Walker: Inquiries into the nature of disease resistance or immunity in certain plants (illustrated). L. O. Howard: A side effect from the importation of parasites of injurious insects (illustrated). E. L. Mark and L. C. Wyman: Mitochondrial bodies in the spermatogenesis of Chorthippus curtipennis (Scudd) (illustrated). A. F. Blakeslee (introduced by C. B. Davenport): Vegetative types in Datura due to somatic number of chromosomes (illustrated). W. G. MacCallum and E. H. Oppenhiemer: A method for the study of filterable viruses as applied to vaccinia. Simon Flexner and H. L. Amoss: Continuation report on experiments in epidemiology (illustrated). W. S. Halsted: Replantation of entire limbs without suture of blood vessels (illustrated). H. F. Osborn and C. A. Reeds: Recent discoveries on the antiquity of man (illustrated). A. Hrdlicka: Stature and head form in Americans of old families. A. H. Clark (introduced by C. G. Abbot): Animal evolution. F. M. Chapman: The distribution of the Motmots of the genus Momotus. A. O. Leuschner: New results on the theory of the minor planets. (10 minutes.) H. N. Russell: Dark nebulæ. C. G. Abbot, F. E. Fowle, and L. B. Aldrich: The larger results of 20 years of solar radiation observations (illustrated). H. A. Lorentz: Problems of modern physics. 26865°-S. Doc. 285, 67-4 3 |