El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-07-11
By FREDERIC J. aASKIN.

ASHINGTOE, D. C., July IL
N/ With an endowment of S22,-
w 100000, yielding an annual
income Of s1,1OOOOO. the Carnegie
institution of washington is today
day the richest institution Of research
in the World. 1t low has passed the
first decade OF its existence, and its
contributions to knowledge have been
such as to lead to the hope that many
of the unsOIved Pre- blems of science
ultimately will yield up their myster-
tient Ircbers Of the unknown who
worl, under its patronage.
With it's great astronomical observ-
atory at Noun Wilson, California, il
has charttd thousands of new worlds
in the skies and the approaching COM
pIetlon Ct the most powerful telescope
ever built promises &c bring the stars
closer to earth than they ever have
been before. J he non magnetic yacht
Carnegie is completing great mag
netic survey of the earth, and in
every one of The ten departments now
in operation some work is being car
ried forward. which. however imprac-
teal it may seem to the layman, viii
serve as the foundation upon which
will DC huilt W some useful invention
OF dist; cry when viii Intimately al
feet the lives Of many million of the
inhabitants of the earth.
starts With SlU,OUO,OOO.
Andrew Carnegie gave his first S1O,-
900, 900 for the founding of the insti-
tuition in 1902 The results achieved
in the succeeding five years were SO
satisfactory to his practical mind that
he added another 100000 in 1907.
Again in 1911 he substantially signi-
fled his pleasure with the program
of the work by adding another $1O,-
600, 600. In making this latter gift he
asked that one-half OF the income
from il for 10 years be set aside for
the creation of a reserve fund to pro-
vide against losses, emergencies, re-
auctions Of income and the diminish
ing purchasing power Of money he
also declared that this would give the
institution more time to study sugges-
lions submitted to it and permit it 10
avoid the danger of premature action,
holding that new ideas ought TO be
tested on a small scale before going
into them deeply.
One of the departments of the insti-
tuition is that of botanical research
Few laymen may understand what is
meant when it is stated that definite
progress may be reported in the at
tainment of experimental results con-
corning envirOnmental response and
physical relations of plants and animals
in the determination and celebration of
phOtosynthetic and other photOchemical
activities of green plants, in the CO.
ordination Of data which establish
some major conclusions as to climatic
logical history during recent time, and
in the accomplishment of systematic
observations which yield conclusions
of Importance as to the origin and
fate of the plant population in the
course of climatic alterations; but
when it is stated that much has been
learned about the effect of surround
ings on plants, and the relations that
exist between them and animals, about
how they bring forth each after its
own kind" what climatic conditions
have obtained for the past two or three
thousand years as is revealed by the
records written in the mOnarchs of
the forest, and about how plant spe-
cies have originated and died, it viii
be seen that the studies of the depart
ment of botanical research have re-
vealed many secrets hitherto safely
locked away from science.
Searching the SaltOn sea.
The Salton sea has afforded an at
tractive field for the seeker after DO