To the Board of Managers of The Franklin Institute: The December number of the JOURNAL OF THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE Will complete its one hundred and ninety-eighth volume. A comparison of this volume with the first furnishes a striking record of the material changes that have taken place since the year of the first publication in 1826. At that time the emphasis was placed upon the material things that could be seen, handled and used in industrial pursuits and the results are seen in the outstanding progress in industrial applications of the past one hundred years. At the present time a determined attack is being made upon the constitution of matter and in order to solve this problem use is made of the most highly specialized forms of scientific apparatus. In volume one its sixty-four pages treated of such topics as the proposed exhibition of October, 1826, with a list of sixty-one prizes to be awarded for such practical purposes as the best stove or grate for burning anthracite; the best soft iron castings; the best black broadcloths; the best beaver hat, price nine dollars, etc. The one hundred and fifty-seven pages of the issue for September, 1924, contain such articles as Early Days in Radio-activity" and "Spectroscopy and Bohr's Theory of Atomic Structure." During the past year your Committee on Publications has held its usual stated monthly meetings at which the contents of the JOURNAL have been determined. During the year two hundred and seventy-seven copies of Doctor Humphreys'" Physics of the Air" were sold, leaving on hand two hundred and ninety-six copies. The articles previously printed in the JOURNAL OF THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE on "The Electron in Chemistry," by Sir J. J. Thomson, were collected in book form and revised, three thousand copies being printed. Of these two thousand and fifty-nine copies have been sold. The expenses of the Committee for the year are as follows: The net expenses are less than this amount, the receipts being : To the Board of Managers of The Franklin Institute: Your Committee has received the two following Endowments this year : To the President and Members of The Franklin Institute: In order to have the yearly report of the Chairman cover the exact months of his Chairmanship, this report includes a record of the work of the Committee on Science and the Arts, from October 1, 1923, to January 31, 1925. The year 1924 was the ninetieth in which the Committee has rendered service to the Institute. During the period which this report covers, investigation and final disposition of eighteen cases were made, and there are now pending seventeen cases. The appendix of this report gives the name of the inventor, the name of the invention and the award made in each case. Eleven of the eighteen cases investigated received awards, one was tabled, one was withdrawn and five were dismissed without prejudice. The standing Sub-Committee on The Franklin Medal and the standing Sub-Committee on Literature met as required during the year, and on their recommendation the awards shown in the appended statement were made. In commemoration of the long and valued service to The Franklin Institute, through its Committee on Science and the Arts, the family of Mr. Louis Edward Levy contributed the sum of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) to establish a fund to be known as the Louis Edward Levy Medal Fund, from the income of which medals are to be awarded for papers on presentations of original work, published in the Institute's JoURNAL. The first Levy Medal was awarded to Dr. Harvey Fletcher, of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company of New York, as detailed in the appendix. Mrs. George R. Henderson, whose husband was an active and interested member of the Committee on Science and the Arts from 1912 until 1921, also contributed the sum of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) for the establishment of a medal fund in memory of her husband to be known as the George R. Henderson Medal Fund, from the income of which medals are to be given for inventions and improvements in railway engineering. The Sub-Committee on New Subjects and Preliminary Examination met each month, except July, August and September, and considered fifty-nine subjects. Applications were received covering eleven of these subjects and sub-committees of investigation were appointed. The work of this SubCommittee is of especial value since by its examinations the Committee is prevented from having unsuitable subjects called to its attention. Recipients of awards were invited to attend the Stated Meetings of the Institute to receive the awards from the hand of our President, and except in four instances the invitation was accepted. Two Franklin Medals were presented at the May Meeting of the Institute, one to Sir Ernest Rutherford, of Cambridge, England, and one to Dr. Edward Weston, of Waverly Park, Newark, New Jersey. After a statement by Dr. Joseph S. Ames of the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, relative to the contributions of Sir Ernest Rutherford to the present state of knowledge of the elements, their constitution and relationships, the medal awarded Sir Ernest was received by Mr. M. G. Chilton, Counsellor of the British Embassy. After a statement by Dr. Frank J. Sprague, of New York City, N. Y., relative to the work of Doctor Weston in the electric art, the medal was placed in the hands of the Secretary for transmission to Doctor Weston, who was too ill to attend the meeting. The Committee has suffered serious loss during the past year in the death of four of its active members: Doctor Harry F. Keller-February 5, 1924. In January, 1924, the office of the Committee on Science and the Arts was removed from the Institute on Seventh Street to a room in one of the buildings on Nineteenth Street that have been reconditioned in connection with the work of the Bartol Research Foundation. A meeting room has also been supplied at the Nineteenth Street buildings provided with a projection lantern. The first meeting held in this room was on February 6, 1924. Dr. Wm. C. L. Eglin was present at this meeting and spoke in words of highest praise of the valuable work done each year by the Committee on Science and the Arts. On account of the Celebration of the Centenary of the Institute on the 17th, 18th and 19th of September and the necessary work of preparation, the September meeting of the Committee was omitted. A detailed statement of the Committee's work during the period which this report covers is appended. Respectfully submitted, GEO. H. BENZON, JR., Chairman. APPENDIX STATEMENT OF THE COMMITTEE'S OPERATION FROM OCTOBER 1, 1923, THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE AWARDS OCTOBER 1, 1923, TO JANUARY 31, 1925 THE FRANKLIN MEDAL ΤΟ Sir Ernest Rutherford, of Cambridge, England, “in recognition of longcontinued and fruitful research, signally contributing to the present state of knowledge of the elements, their constitution and relationships." Doctor Edward Weston, of Waverly Park, Newark, New Jersey, "in recognition of discoveries and inventions in the field of electricity immeasurably fruitful and fundamentally contributory to the establishment of the electric art." THE LOUIS EDWARD LEVY MEDAL ΤΟ Harvey Fletcher, of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, New York, for his paper entitled "Physical Measurements of Audition and Their Bearing on the Theory of Hearing" in the JOURNAL. THE HOWARD N. POTTS MEDAL ΤΟ John A. Anderson, of Pasadena, California, for his work in Spectroscopy and his inventions embodied in the Seismograph. William Gaertner, of Chicago, Illinois, for his Design and Manufacture of Scientific Instruments. THE EDWARD LONGSTRETH MEDAL ΤΟ William Swan Elliott, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for his Process and Apparatus for the Deæration of Liquids. Thomas C. McBride, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for his inventions embodied in the Locomotive Feed Water Heater. Carl P. Nachod, of Louisville, Kentucky, for his inventions embodied in the Nachod Electric Railway Signal System. Harry S. Parks, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for his inventions embodied in the Pneumercator Tank and Draft Gauge. Milton Roy Sheen, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for his inventions embodied in the Expansion Machine for Tunnel Construction. William R. Zimmermann, of Newark, New Jersey, for his inventions embodied in the Hob for Worm Gears. |