The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-04-24

will promote the cause of science in ell It's branches, getting together the records of the past for the historian the great mass of historical data which the lack of means has put beyond the reach of fndiriduAls; aiding hundreds of meritorious plodders after truth In their efforts to add some mite to the sum total of benefieent human know ledge. the work of the Carnegie lnsti- tuition of Washington has been the most brilliant in It's results during the past year than in any other year of tfs existence. Even as the foundations of Europe's oldest cathedrals were laid broad. accurate and firm. so have been laid the principles of the Carnegie In- stifution. Aiming at greater results than were ever before accomplished under the auspices of a single institu- ton, 1t sought to lay its foundations so broad, so accurate, and so firm that 1t would hold any scientific super structure the future might erect there- on. With infinite pains and patience 1t is going down to the very bed rock of first principles.
 In many of the departments of activi- ty which 1t pursues. the results % tar found are meaningless to the layman. The most profound patience is required Not days. not years. not even lifetime are expected to serve to bring out the ultimate truth but slowly and surely. the work of Investigation will go on until the treasures hidden in the rock of truth are exposed to the worlds view. Take, for instance, the depart ment of experimental evolution. Since the very beginning of the Institution 1t has been plugging away at the solu- ton of the mysteries of life, the laws of hercdffy and allied problems.
 It will be years and years before any great truths can be arrived at, yet by wholesale. if slow experimentation. the truth will certainly be brought to light in the end. Taking the human as a study the department has verified the theory that the children of bIue-eyed parents are certain to be blue-eyed. while if one of the parents has brown eyes. some of the children are apt to have eyes of that color. In the matter of hair 1t was shown that the children of parents, both of whom have straight hair. cannot have curly hair. It is also proved that seldom does the child have hair darker than that of the darker of its parents. Applying this theory ana carrying 1t to it's logical conclusion 1t is hoped that the improvement of the human family may become one of the actualities of the future. s
 From his studies Director Davenport concludes that the offspring tends to rise to no higher grade in quality Of character than the parents, which ac. counts for the deIeterious effect of in- breeding, wherever 1t occurs. Doctor Lutz has gathered clear evidence of the degeneration of the wings of. vinegar perfect sense organs and low inteili- gence are some of the results in the human family. These few examples are only hints of the vast deal of patient research that Is being made by the department of experimental evolution. The experiments of Luther Burbank are being studied from the scientific standpoint by Q represenfa, tive of the Institution and he is getting together many remarkable things with reference to plant heredity.
 In the department of botanical re. search much wonderful work has been accomplishej The investigations into plant life have revealed many things hitherto unknown. and have laid the foundations for many broader experi- ments in the future. Perhaps the most remarkable series of experiments was with reference to, the generation Of piants. :, By the use of chemicals in- jected into the flowers at the proper moment, the experimenters have been. able to break the laws of plant heredity, and to force the plants to go contrary to the principle. after his own kind shall each bring forth. Director McDougal believes that after a further study, man may be able to modify the entire progeny or q plant and to give those modifications definite trend or direction, by which man might control the evolution of other organ isms and produce relations among liv- ing things not now existent
 The work of the department of economics and sociology has been high ly fruitful of results during the past year The department has eo4 people at work collecting contributions to American economic history. The pur- pose of the department Is not to write itself. but to get together In logical and chronological form the dtstn for the historian. The work of the ie- partment is divided into number of branches pr. Walter F. Wilcox of Cornell, is in charge of that branch re- lating to population and immigration. He holds that the central theme of modern history is not the growth of liberty or the spread of democratic in- stitutions, but rather the expansion of the white race. He finds that there are now more Europeans living outside of Europe than there were living in Europe at the time Columbus discover ed America, and that two-thirls of these live in the United States. He further points out that the number of Europeans by blood has quadrupled in the past 150 years. while other racial stocks which have not been yivified by the touch of Europe have dwindlad in numbers and power Ambassador Bryce said years ago that Europe ends at the Mississippi pr. Wilcox goes further and says 1t will soon end at the Golden Gate.
 The divisions engaged in collecting historical data concerning mining, sociology, agriculture and forestry manufacturing. transportation etc, are turning out some most interesting work. The collection of data from the archives of the national government, from those of Spain, of England. of Mexico. and of other nations has added. a wealth of detail to the available his torical matter. yet these investigations have just begun. This work has been under the department of historical re- search. Its next activity will be to gather data from German sources.
 The department of marine biology at Dry Tortugas. Florida, is making considerable progress toward learning the secrets of ocean life. Davenport Hooker has discovered that newly matched loggerhead turtles are strong ly attracted by the color blue. They twill crawl quickly toward a piece of blue glass or paper but they have no proconceived idea of the appearance of the ocean, crawling away from the sea if it is seen through a glass of other color than blue. He concludes that they are attracted to the ocean solely through the color of its waters Neither the sound nor the smell of the