Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1908 [PAGE 58]

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U N I V E R S I T Y OP

ILLINOIS.

[Dec. 11

possible to form even an approximate estimate of the significance of birds in the general system of life and in their relation to man. T w o expert ornithologists, traveling always 100 .yards apart, and making a detailed record of all distances traveled over and each kind of crop or other vegetation, note the species, n u m b e r s and precise situation of all birds flushed on the strip between t h e m or passing over it within 100 yards of their front. T h e y are thus traversing the various parts of the State in various directions, and are to continue at this work for a full year. T h e data thus obtained will enable me to compute the average numbers per acre and per square mile of each species of bird, and of birds in general, for all parts of the State, for each season, for each crop, and for each class of situation. These assistants likewise note all other ornithological facts, of either scientific or merely practical interest, which come under their observation. T h e y are thus accumulating a mass of data concerning the bird life of Illinois such as has never been brought together for any other region. This n e w method of field ornithology was t.ested by us last year by several months work of a similar kind on the 400 acre farm of the University, and the value and interest of these preliminary results led to this broader application of it. T h e most important laboratory publication of the current year is a catalogue of the m u l lusks of the State, based in part u p o n a study of our collections and prepared by F . C. Baker, curator of the Chicago Academy of Sciences. T w o additional articles of the seventh volume of our Bulletin are now in press, one by Mr. C. A. Hart, of m y laboratory staff, and Dr. H . A. Gleason, of the University Department of Botany, on the peculiar plant and animal life of the sand areas of the State, and another by myself on the local distribution and biological relationships of a family of Illinois fishes. I am now preparing a paper on the local distribution and the associate relationships of the fishes of the Wabash valley in Illinois, and a list of Illinois Orthoptera by Mr. Hart is well advanced in preparation. I have had in hand for some time the manuscript for a second volume on the plankton work of the biological station—a continuation and completion of Dr. Kofoid's report on that subject—the first volume of which was printed in 1903. This manuscript is sufficient to make another volume of about 500 pages, but the funds available for publication have, been i n sufficient to enable me to print it. This is a unique and important piece of work of a very high scientific value, and I greatly regret that the Appropriation Committees of .the Legislature declined to provide for its printing at the last legislative session. T h e laboratory staff comprises, at the present time, C. A. Hart, systematic entomologist, JR. E. Richardson and F..E. Wood, assistants in the biological survey; A. Q- Gross and H. A. Ray, field ornithologists; Mary J. Snyder, secretary; Grace O. Kelley, librarian; and W. G. H u m m e l , accountant. • T h e appropriations for the State laboratory a m o u n t to $9,500.00 per a n n u m , of which $8,000 00 is for the expenses of the natural history survey, $500.00 for the supply of natural history specim e n s to the public schools, and $1,000.00 for the publication of bulletins and reports. T h e u n e x p e n d e d balance December 1st was $6,317.29, of which $4,803.99 is in t h e natural history survey fund, $323.15 in the fund for the supply of natural history specimens, and $1,190.15 in the publication fund. Permit m e finally to call your attention to the fact that the State biological survey—although it is, for historical reasons, separately organized and independently managed—is, under e x isting conditions, and to all intents and purposes, a research department of the University, and that three of its four research assistants are students or graduates of the University of Illinois, while it has on its pay-roll each year a long list of undergraduate students temporarily e m p l o y e d in its service. Its library especially is constantly and extensively used by the University zoologists, entomologists, botanists, and physiologists, and is frequently resorted to by members of other departments, I venture to h o p e , consequently, that the State Laboratory of Natural History, which is essentially a part of a fully developed university department of zoology, may have its due share in the rapidly growing interest manifested in the d e v e l o p m e n t of research and graduate work at the State University. Respectfully submitted,

S. A. F O R B E S .

Director of Laboratory.

ACCOUNTANCY MATTERS. 5. A letter from the chairman of the University Committee on Accountancy calling attention to the fact that the case of Eric J. Everett, applicant for the diploma of certified public accountant, has not yet been concluded by the board of trustees.

On motion of Mr. Abbott, the report of a special committee on the Everett case was taken from the table. Voted that the case of Eric J. Everett be referred to the University Committee on Accountancy and the board of examiners for further report, together with a copy of the opinion of the Attorney General and the report of the board of trustees' committee appointed to consider this matter, presented at the June meeting. An application of Oliver Coxon for the certificate of certified public accountant was also presented, and the case was referred to a special committee consisting of Messrs. Abbott and Davison. Voted also that the president of the University be authorized to