as follows: Professor George F. Swain, Professor Harry E. Clifford, Professor Fred Wheeler, Associate Professor George C. Shaad, and Associate Professor William E. Mott have resigned. The vacant professorships of Civil Engineering, Theoretical and Applied Electricity, and Military Science have been filled respectively by the appointments of Professors Charles M. Spofford, Harold Pender, and Captain Alpha T. Easton. Professor William E. Wickenden has been appointed Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering. The following promotions have been made within the Faculty: Associate Professors Louis Derr, Augustus H. Gill, William H. Lawrence, and Arthur G. Robbins have been advanced to the grade of full professors; Assistant Professors Harry W. Gardner, Samuel W. Prescott, and Charles H. Warren to that of associate professors; and Instructor Clarence L. E. Moore to that of assistant professor.

In a number of cases these changes have involved the loss of instructors who were trained at the Institute and whose services to their Alma Mater have been very highly appreciated. Such losses are, however, inevitable in a great scientific school whose function it is, not only to educate engineers and architects, but to train men to impart to other schools the Institute's most effective methods and ideals.

WORK OF THE YEAR.

The work within the Institute during the year is clearly indicated by the heads of departments and other administrative officers in the reports that are appended. It will be seen from these that the year has been one of steady progress, not marked by any striking modification of the conditions or the methods of the previous year. The total number of students has risen slightly-from fourteen hundred and sixty-two to fourteen hundred and seventy-nine, the entering class being with the exception of that of last year -the largest in the history of the Institute for more than ten

years. The number of students coming from a great distance gives some measure of the reputation of a school, and is specially significant for this Institute whose fees are relatively very high. The number from beyond the borders of Massachusetts is at present six hundred and twenty-seven. Of these, seventy-nine come from thirty different foreign countries, China and Mexico being the largest contributors. The remaining five hundred and forty-eight are from fortytwo states and two territories of the Union, the District of Columbia, Philippine Islands, Porto Rico, and the Canal Zone. The number of graduate students is two hundred, and they represent eighty-four colleges and universities. It is evident from this that our students live in a community whose members have been brought up in widely different conditions. They thus have the opportunity of a liberal education by the simple process of mixing with their fellows. Unfortunately, the conditions under which they live do not make it possible to take advantage of such opportunities to the full.

An important step in the development of the social life of the students was taken last year and referred to in the report of the Acting President. This was the opening of the new Technology Union, designed to serve the purpose of a students' club house. It has continued throughout this year to be the center of social life among the students and has contributed largely to the marked increase of social activities that is referred to by the Dean in his report. The successful management of the dining-room at the Union has proved a problem of considerable difficulty and one that has not yet been solved in a thoroughly satisfactory manner. The health of the students as a whole continues excellent, and it is particularly gratifying to find that their health seems to improve steadily as they stay longer at the Institute. Interesting statistics on this matter are given by the Dean and Medical Adviser; and from these it appears that the very hard work that the Institute demands from its

students is a good thing for them physically as well as mentally.

The most important change in the carrying on of our work during the year has been the establishment of a separate Course in Electrochemistry. The purpose and leading features of this Course are lucidly set forth in the report of Professor Cross.

Besides doing the regular work of instruction, several of the departments have devoted a considerable share of their resources and energies to the conduct of scientific research. This has for some time been a marked feature of the Institute, and it is of the first importance that it should be maintained. Doubtless in various schools many educational sins have been committed in the name of research, but there can be no question that the spirit of research is the very breath of life to a scientific school. The Institute has been peculiarly fortunate in having on its faculty men who recognize this thoroughly; and it is not a little remarkable that many of the most important contributions to pure science that have been made within recent years in America have been made by graduates of the Institute of Technology, which on its scientific side is popularly, although of course quite erroneously, supposed to be almost exclusively a school of applied science. It is interesting, too, to note that a number of the gifts recorded in the Treasurer's report are for the prosecution of research. Amongst these is the gift from an anonymous friend for sanitary research work; from a member of the Corporation for research in applied chemistry; from several contributors to the fund of seismological research; from Dr. Charles Weld for research in naval architecture; and from Dr. Noyes for research in the department of physical chemistry. One of the most gratifying of the gifts is that from Mrs. William Barton Rogers, whose interest in and enthusiasm for the Institute could not have been greater when it was founded by her husband nearly half a century ago. The largest item on the Treasurer's list of

gifts is that of over $40,000 from the Alumni Fund. This, of course, has been contributed, not by one individual, but by a large number of the alumni.

RELATION WITH THE ALUMNI.

There have been many proofs during the year of the continued and increasing interest of the alumni in the welfare of their Alma Mater. The contribution towards the alumni fund, to which reference has just been made, was a practical demonstration of allegiance which has greatly helped the Institute at a critical stage of its development. Indeed, but for such support it would have been impossible to carry on the work without a very serious diminution of efficiency. The great Reunion of the alumni in June surpassed anything of its kind in the history of the Institute, both in the magnitude of the gathering and the intensity of loyalty and enthusiasm displayed by those who came. As the success of the Institute must depend in large measure on the attitude of the alumni, any movement that tends to bring about a closer relationship between the alumni and your Corporation must be of interest to this body. During the last year an important change has been made in the constitution of the governing body of the Alumni Association, which has become more truly representative in character. By the new constitution an Alumni Council has been established, to which the Corporation might appropriately refer any question with reference to which an authoritative expression of opinion on the part of the alumni might be desired. This Council may also render great assistance to the administration by considering various problems of interest to the Institute and reporting the views of the alumni as to the best method of dealing with them. At the first meeting of the Council, committees were set up at the suggestion of Dr. Noyes, then Acting President of the Institute, to consider the following questions: the establishment of a camp for the summer school

of civil engineering; the equipment and instruction in refrigerating, gas engineering, and aeronautics; the foundation of scholarships to connect the Institute with the more important high schools in this section of the country; the development of a research laboratory of engineering; the establishment of a committee on Student Welfare.

SOCIETY OF ARTS.

With regard to the Society of Arts, I am pleased to be able to report that there has been a gratifying revival of interest in its proceedings. This Society has played a conspicuous part in the educational development of Boston; but like other similar societies elsewhere it has suffered in its popularity by the change of conditions since its foundation. The interest in science has not diminished; on the contrary, it is intenser and more wide-spread; but science has become much more specialized. This has led to the establishment of numerous technical societies dealing with special branches of science, and the proceedings of these societies attract the attention and monopolize the time of a large number of those who are most seriously interested in science and its applications. Apart from this, there has been a marked falling off of the "lecture habit" in most communities in which, a generation ago, lectures by competent men attracted a great deal of attention. If the recent revival of popular interest in the proceedings of the Society be maintained, it will, of course, be an encouragement to continue the work on the lines that have been followed so long. Unless, however, this be the case, the Society will doubtless divert its energies into some different channel. The next few years will therefore be critical ones in its history.

POLICY FOR THE FUTURE.

As to the future policy of the Institute as a whole, there seems no call for radical change as regards its educational