Vol. 54, No. 2 BULLETIN, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY January, 1919 Entered December 3, 1904, at the Post-office, Boston, Mass., as second-class matter, under Act of Congress of July 16, 1894 Massachusetts Institute of Technology President's Report January, 1919 Cambridge, Massachusetts 1919 II -· ;~;i~~~·x~-~-UU--·-···------------------ ·~·~;;·`·-----'-""~"~~~ ~·`-~'^^~`'~~~ Published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge in December, January, March and June MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY REPORTS OF THE PRESIDENT AND TREASURER ! -, -..• ,.; •.. ' THE TECHNOLOGY PRESS CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 1919 A i0 TABLE OF CONTENTS THE CORPORATION. PAGE Members of the Corporation . ................ 5 Committees of the Corporation . ............... 6 REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT ................... 9 REPORTS OF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS. Report of the Dean . .... Report of the Librarian .......... Report of the Registrar: Statistics ..... I I II II I I REPORTS OF THE DEPARTMENTS. Civil Engineering and Sanitary Engineering .. ...... 41 Mechanical Engineering . ......... ........ 43 Mining Engineering and Metallurgy . ...... .. 46 Architecture . .. ........ 50 Chemistry and Chemical Engineering .... ... ... 55 Electrical Engineering ........ ... ...... 59 Biology and Public Health . .. ...... ... 63 Sanitary Research Laboratories and Sewage Experiment Station School of Public Health . .................. Physics ................ Geology ........ .. .. Drawing and Descriptive Geometry . ............. English . ...... ..... ...... .. .. Economics and Statistics . Modern Languages ..... ................ Mathematics ...... ....................... SOCIETY OF ARTS ................ REPORT OF THE TREASURER. MEMBERS OF THE CORPORATION* President Secretaryt RICHARD COCKBURN MACLAURIN JAMES PHINNEY MUNROE Treasurer, FRANCIS RUSSELL HART Life Members HOWARD ADAMS CARSON FRANCIS RUSSELL HART FRANCIS HENRY WILLIAMS THOMAS COLEMAN DU PONT HIRAM;FRANCIS MILLS ARTHUR FREDERIC ESTABROOK SAMUEL MORSE FELTON JOHN MUNRO LONGYEAR DESMOND FITZGERALD EVERETT MORSS CHARLES WELLS HUBBARD THEODORE NEWTON VAIL GEORGE WIGGLESWORTH WILLIAM ENDICOTT JOHN RIPLEY FREEMAN WILLIAM CAMERON FORBES WILLIAM HENRY LINCOLN ALBERT FARWELL BEMIS ABBOTT LAWRENCE LOWELL HOWARD ELLIOTT JAMES PHINNEY MUNROE EDWIN SIBLEY WEBSTER WILLIAM LOWELL PUTNAM PIERRE SAMUEL DU PONT ELIHU THOMSON FRANK ARTHUR VANDERLIP ELLIOT CABOT LEE OTTO HERMANN KAHN JAMES PIERCE STEARNS EDMUND HAYES FREDERICK PERRY FISH CHARLES HAYDEN CHARLES AUGUSTUS STONE CHARLES THOMAS MAIN Term Members Term expires March, 1919 Term expires March, 1921 FREDERIC HAROID FAY HARRY JOHN CARLSON FRANKLIN WARREN HOBBS HENRY JOHN HORN GERARDI4SWOPE SAMUEL JASON 'MIXTER Term expires March, 1920 Term expires March, 1922 WILLIAM HERBERT KING ELISHA LEE JAMES WINGATE ROLLINS EDWARD WARREN ROLLINS JASPER ,~WHITING WILLIS RODNEY WHITNEY Term expires June, 1923 PAUL WEEKS LITCHFIELD ARTHUR DEHON LITTLE EBEN SUTTON STEVENS Representatives of the Commonwealth HIs EXCELLENCY, CALVIN COOLIDGE, Governor HON. ARTHUR PRENTICE RUGG, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court DR. PAYSON SMITH, Commissioner of Education *As of January, 1919 tAddress correspondence to Profeesor Allyne L. Merrill, Secretary of the Faculty COMMI/ITTEES OF THE CORPORATION Executive Committee RICHARD C. MACLAURIN Ex fficii FRANCIS R. HART Ex Oicii -- CHARLES T. MAIN FREDERICK P. FISH EDWIN S. WEBSTER EVERETT MORSS ELIHU THOMSON Finance Committee FRANCIS R. HART GEORGE WIGGLESWORTH CHARLES W. HUBBARD JAMES P. STEARNS ARTHUR F. ESTABROOK Auditing Committee WILLIAM L. PUTNAM FRANK A. VANDERLIP EDWARD W. ROLLINS Committee on Membership GEORGE WIGGLESWORTH WILLIAM H. LINCOLN JOHN R. FREEMAN CHARLES A. STONE EBEN S. STEVENS VISITING COMMITTEES Department of Civil Engineering DESMOND FITZGERALD SAMUEL M. FELTON HOWARD A. CARSON JOHN R. FREEMAN ELISHA LEE Department of Mechanical Engineering FRANKLIN W. HOBBS HOWARD ELLIOTT CHARLES W. HUBBARD PAUL W. LITCHFIELD Departments of Mining and Geology CHARLES HAYDEN JOHN M. LONGYEAR T. COLEMAN Du PONT SAMUEL J. MIXTER VISITING COMMITTEES Department of Architecture HARRY J. CARLSON A. LAWRENCE LOWELL OTTO H. KAHN Department of Physics WILLIS R. WHITNEY ELLIOT C. LEE HOWARD A. CARSON GERARD SWOPE Department of Electrical Engineering CHARLES A. STONE THEODORE N. VAIL ELIHU THOMSON GERARD SWOPE Department of Political Economy JASPER WHITING FRANK A. VANDERLIP W. CAMERON FORBES WILLIAM H. KING JAMES W. ROLLINS Departments of Modern Languages and English JAMES P. MUNROE PAYSON SMITH EDMUND HAYES WILLIAM H. KING Department of Mathematics WILLIAM L. PUTNAM HOWARD ELLIOTT FRANKLIN W. HOBBS Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering WILLIS R. WHITNEY PAUL W. LITCHFIELD JASPER WHITING ARTHUR D. LITTLE Department of Biology and Public Health FRANCIS H. WILLIAMS FREDERIC H. FAY HIRAM F. MILLS SAMUEL J. MIXTER Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering A. FARWELL BEMIS CHARLES A. STONE WILLIAM H. LINCOLN FREDERIC H. FAY HENRY J. HORN iiii- iilii-; --~-~( iiii' ".'..... I-."-"N~~X~.;· REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT To THE MEMBERS OF THE CORPORATION: It has long been the custom for the President to present at the December meeting of the Corporation a report regarding the affairs of the Institute fbr the preceding year. A recent change in the by-laws requires this report to be made at the annual meet- ing in October instead of in December as formerly. This is a more logical and, under normal circumstances, a more convenient arrangement, making the reports of the President and of the heads of the various departments cover a single academic year instead of portions of two different years. THE WAR In these days everything of importance is related to the war, and most of the leading events at the Institute associated with war-like ends have already been referred to in verbal communica- tions made by me at meetings of the Corporation held since the last annual report was presented. However, for the sake of a permanent record it may be expedient to refer again to some of these, but not to presume too long upon your patience I shall make these references brief. The work of the Institute during the last year is conveniently divided into two sections, one dealing with the regular courses and the other with the special schools founded to meet the exi- gencies of the war. The main changes in the regular courses have been due to the necessity of meeting the war conditions, the chief necessity being that of speed, owing to the urgent demand for technically trained men in the Army and in the Navy and in the industries essential to the prosecution of the war. The speeding up of courses has necessitated some considerable modifications of the ordinary curricula and has called for the continuous operation of the Institute throughout the summer. The Faculty has met these unusual conditions with characteristic self-sacrifice and :eadiness for service, the members unhesitatingly giving up their vacations and working earnestly and steadfastly to meet the national needs. Some departments have been somewhat short- 10 MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY handed in the matter of instructors owing to the large number who have been drawn away for active service, but on the whole the Institute has been fortunate in being able to retain almost the normal relation between the number of instructors and the number of students. Amongst the many innovations due to war conditions that may suggest some permanent changes when peace comes is that of introducing a new freshman class in the middle of the academic year. At the beginning of the second term announcements were made that a limited number, namely one hundrel, would be admitted on certificates from high ,schools, those only being ad- mitted who were highly recommended by the authorities of the schools. The experiment has been eminently successful, nearly all the students thus admitted having maintained high standards considerably above the average of those admitted in the more regular way. How far this is due to abnormal conditions is, of course, a matter for further consideration before any permanent policy along these lines will be adopted by the Faculty. Amongst the special schools that have been established to meet the national needs, seven of different types are worthy of enumeration: 1. The United States School of Military Aeronautics, main- tained at the Institute by the Signal Corps, was opened at the Institute on May 21, 1917. Some reference to this School was made in the last President's Report. It continued as a school for flying cadets until January 5, 1918, and during that period eight hundred fifty-one cadets were enrolled. Towards the end of 1917 the need for engineer officers with a sound knowledge of aircraft construction became steadily more urgent, some being required for the maintenance of airplanes at the flying fields, others to supervise their construction and transportation. The training of engineer officers for this service had been undertaken by the Government at Kelley Field, Texas, but the results had not been satisfactory. In December the Signal Corps expressed the hope that the Institute would undertake this training. This we agreed to do, but owing to the limitations of space and of competent instructors it was arranged that the school for flying cadets should be temporarily removed from the Institute while the engineer officers' school was in operation. The latter school was opened REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT on January 7, 1918, and continued until July 20, 1918. During