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suggests a higher grade of work, on the part of the instructors; and may warrant or call for an increase in the salaries paid or allowed them. To provide for such an increase without augmenting the budget of the Department, it may be well to take advantage of the next vacancy in the instructing staff to make a permanent reduction of its force.

The experiment of having summer reading in foreign languages, as well as in English, was repeated last year with the results indicated in the following table:—

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The Society of Arts.

To the President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology:

Sir,-From time to time it is well to pause to consider the objects of our endeavor and how far we are attaining them. In the "Objects and Plan of an Institute of Technology" (Edition 2, 1861), President Rogers points out the connection between industrial progress and an enlarged acquaintance with the objects and phenomena of nature and with physical laws, and he speaks of the benefit which the most enlightened communities of Europe have obtained from this practical co-operation of education and the arts by the establishment of museums, societies, and colleges of technology. He says: "With the view of securing the great industrial and educational benefits above alluded to, it is proposed to establish, on a comprehensive plan, an institution devoted to the practical arts and sciences, to be called the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, having the triple organization of a society of arts, a museum or conservatory of arts, and a school of industrial science and arts."

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It will be seen that in the plan the Society of Arts was placed first, and in regard to it President Rogers says that "under the first of these characters" the Institute would form itself into a department of investigation and publication intended to promote research in connection with industrial science by the exhibition at the meetings of the society of new mechanical inventions, products, and processes, by written and oral communications and discussions, as well as by more elaborate treatises on special subjects of inquiry. Another line of activ

ity proposed was the publication of a series of reports exhibiting the conditions of the departments of industry, with the progress of practical discovery in each and the discussion of the scientific questions involved. In order to carry out these plans for publication, it was proposed to found a journal, which, it was hoped, would be a powerful means for advancing the interests of the industrial arts and practical education.

With these plans the Society of Arts was founded, and it is with these objects in view that we have continued our activities until the present day. Advance in complexity and specialization of the various arts and sciences have resulted, however, in the formation of many special societies and in the publication of journals devoted to narrow lines of science and industry. There still remains, however, in every community the need of bringing to the attention of those who are not specialists the advances in arts and sciences which may have an influence upon the life of the people. This function may very well be filled for Boston by the Society of Arts. That we are accomplishing this object to some extent is shown by the gratifyingly large attendance in our meetings.

We have in the Technology Quarterly a journal which aims to fulfil the objects of the founder in regard to publication. This is done in two ways: first, by printing the proceedings of the Society of Arts, and so far as possible publishing in full the communications that have been presented to the Society; second, by publishing original papers, giving the results of investigations carried on in the laboratories of the Institute. In fulfilling the second function the Technology Quarterly is hampered by two circumstances, the most serious of these being that the investigators generally desire to publish their results in journals devoted especially to the sciences or arts to which they appertain. In order that the Technology Quarterly might be more truly representative of the work done in the Institute, a special committee of the Faculty and the Board of Publication, sitting as a joint committee, recommended the following resolution:

That in future every member of the instructing staff be requested to send to the Editor of the Technology Quarterly a full and exact title of every volume or paper published by himself as soon as this appears. With such title he shall also be requested to send a concise and comprehensive abstract or description of the volume or paper, and if possible a copy of the same as printed. Some papers might, perhaps, be reprinted in the Quarterly, but in general only the title and abstract will be given.

This resolution was adopted by the Faculty, and in co-operation with the Editor the Faculty Committee on Publications have sent out circulars in pursuance of the above resolution, and this department of titles and abstracts appeared for the first time in the Technology Quarterly for June, 1907.

The second difficulty is that lack of sufficient funds makes it impossible to print in full the results of many investigations, which consequently appear elsewhere.

During the past year the Editor has been fortunate in securing an unusually large number of papers read before the Society for publication in the Quarterly, and also a number of papers presented to classes of students by distinguished visitors. Besides these, several of the departments have made valuable contributions, and the book reviews continue to be an interesting feature.

During the year there have been thirteen lectures delivered before the Society, as follows:

October 28, 1906. Dr. George W. Pierce, "The Wave Lengths in Wireless Telegraphy."

November 8, 1906. William Lyman Underwood, "The Work of the River Drivers in the Maine Woods."

November 22, 1906. Dr. George A. Soper, "The Air of the New York Subway."

December 13, 1906. A. E. Brown, "The Application of Hoisting Machinery to Shipbuilding."

December 27, 1906. Richard L. Humphrey, "The California Earthquake."

January 10, 1907. H. E. Warren, "The Governing of High Pressure Water Wheels."

January 24, 1907. Dr. Walter E. Winship, "Storage Battery Regulations."

February 14, 1907. F. L. DuBosque, "The Marine Interests of a Railroad.'

February 28, 1907. Edward S. Cole, "Water Works Losses, and the Use of the Photo-Pitometer."

March 14, 1907. Professor A. H. Sabin, "Paint as a Preservative Coating."

March 28, 1907. Dr. L. A. Bauer, "Recent Results of Terrestrial Magnetic Observations.”

April 11, 1907. Hon. Willard Howland, "The Cape Cod Canal." April 25, 1907. Frank M. Gilley, "Preparatory Trade Instruction in Holland, and the Instrument Makers' School in the University of Leyden."

May 9, 1907.

W. R. Warner, "The Panama Canal."

The meetings have been advertised, with two or three exceptions, in the Saturday Evening Transcript on the Saturday preceding the lecture, but it is questionable if the attendance has been largely increased in this manner.

The attendance at the meetings has been comparatively good, the smallest number about twenty-eight and the largest one hundred and forty. Sixty seems to be the average attend

ance.

The membership of the Society has been decreased during the past year by ten. One new member has been elected and one cannot be found, no address being known. At present there are on the books of the Secretary three hundred and six names. Of these, fifty-four are in arrears to the extent of two years of more, the sum total of the delinquent dues amounting to $774. Since September, $921 have been collected-$729 dues of the current year and $192 arrears, varying in sums from $6 to $24. A personal letter of appeal has been sent to each of the delinquents, and it is believed that persistent efforts will result in the collection of at least half of the amount still due.

For the Executive Committee,

EDMUND H. HEWINS, Chairman.
WALTER S. LELAND, Secretary.

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