Los Angeles herald., 1908-03-16
M HEN Andrew Carnegie--fore- |
wv sighted man that he is-gave

I" HEN Andrew Carnegie--fore-
wv sighted man that he is-gave
$10,000,000 for the founding of
the Carnegie institution of Washington
he did not himself realize fully the
far-reaching work it was destined to
accomplish. Likewise, today the pub
lie at large has but vague idea of
what the Institution is doing. Founded
TO conduct, endow and assist investi-
cation In any department of science,
literature or art, and to this end to
cooperate with governments, universi-
ties, colleges. technical schools, learned
societies and individuals, its chief OBJ
jects, in the words of the founder. were
Ito secure, IL possible, for the United
States leadership In the domain of dis
covery and utilization of new forces
for the benefit of mankind"
Under this broad charter. headed by
men of the largest caliber and directed
by others who are the leaders of
thought in their respective lines, the
work of the institution has assumed
definite shape and is now being carried
forward as rapidly as the exactions of
patient, careful and thorough research
will admit. The institution was found
ed In 1902, and very naturally 1t has
taken several years to get all of the
details of the great work into opera
tion. Though nearly every one of the
eleven great departments has thus far
been engaged principally in laying the
foundations for the serious work of the
future, enough has already been ac-
complished to. give earnest of what may
be expected, and to demonstrate that
no other agency at work In the whole
scientific world promises as many and
as important results in the time to
come as the Investigations and research
under the auspices of the Carnegie In
stitution. Generally speaking, the
combined effort of those who are car
rying on their work through the bounty
of the institution represents the great
est organized incursion into the realms
of science ever undertaken by man.
The work of the institution has
grown so that 1t now requires practi-
cally the entire income to support the
enterprises already under way. This
growth Is attested by the rapid extern
sion of research work in all the de-
partments and by the enlarging needs
of that carried on by individual In
vestigators. What progress has been
made is only preparatory to the great
work of the future, yet in nearly all of
its branches the Investigations are so
fruitful and full of promise that Presi-
dent Woodward is concerned over the
prospect of finding sufficient means
for the publication of results. Efforts
are being made to keep down the ex-
penses of publication by limiting the
number of copies of each volume is
sued. So rigid have the demands be-
come that the usual edition OF the pub
lications of the institution is limited
to 1000 copies, and only the leading IL
braries of the world are supplied with
copies. It has been arranged that the
l.. trl loo tnt fNf
institution at the mere cost OF publ
cation and transportation to .pur-
chasers.
There are eleven principal 6epart-
raents in the institution. Each OF these
is liberally provided for and given am
Pile opportunity to make the most OF Its
Investigations. One of the most Inter-
esting of these departments is that OF
botanical research. 1t has a laboratory
and experimental station at tucson,
Ariz The duty of this department is
by experiment, observation and meas
urement to determine the conditions OF
growth, development distribution. MI
grafton and variation of plant life, par
ticularly in the desert regions of the
country. The location is said to
approximate the ideal in furnishing ev-
cry condition OF soil, climate, elevation,
etc. which affect vegetation.
One of the most remarkable things
accomplished in the whole field Of re-
search and experiment was the repro
duction of a new species of plant by
the application of chemical huids TO
the parent plant seeds during the Pc
riod of termination. This experiment
has such a bearing on the laws of re-
production that 1t opens up a wonder
full field for investigation and may lead
to an entirely different conception of
these laws.
The department of economics and So
GEOLOGY, of which Carroll d. Wright
is the director, is doing much important
work Its Investigations are covering
a half dozen lines within its province.
The most important preliminary un-
dertaking in the department is the
making of a classified index of the
economic material in the official docu-
ments of the different states of the
Union. The work is being done by
Miss Adelaide Hasse of the New York
public library. The volumes covering
Maine, New Hampshire. Vermont and
New York have been issued. Those
covering Rhode Island and Massa-
chusetts are now in press
The department of experimental evo-
luton, whose director is Charles b.
Davenport, formerly of the University
OF Chicago, is now investigating the
laws of heredity as they relate to both
plants and animals. The subject is
old, but it Is only recently that its
study has risen to the plane of the
older physical sciences. There are all
sorts of animals, fowls, fishes and
plants to be found at the station, which
is adtantageously located on Long