THE PEOGRESS OF SCIENCE. 



191 



description and explanation of phe- 

 nomena), physical and mental. The 

 practical sciences are utilitarian, regu- 

 lative and cultural. These seven divi- 

 sions are subdivided into twenty-five 

 departments and one hundred and thirty 

 sections. The congress is to open on 

 Monday, September 19, when the three 

 members of the organizing committee 

 will make introductory addresses — Pro- 

 fessor Newcomb on scientific work, 

 Professor Miinsterberg on the unity of 

 theoretical knowledge and Professor 

 Small on the unity of practical knowl- 

 edge. In the afternoon there are to 

 be addresses in each of the seven divi- 

 sions on its fundamental conceptions. 

 On the next day there will be two ad- 

 dresses in each of the twenty-five de- 

 partments, one on its development 

 during the last hundred years^ the 

 other on its methods. On the follow- 

 ing four days the seventy-one theoret- 

 ical and the fifty-nine practical sec- 

 tions will each be addressed by two 

 speakers, one treating the relation ot 

 the section to other sciences and the 

 other the problems of to-day. The ad- 

 dresses before the divisions and de- 

 partments are to be made by Ameri- 

 cans, and at least one of those before 

 each of the one hundred and thirty 

 sections by foreigners. The author- 

 ities of the exposition have made a 

 liberal appropriation — $200,000 it is 

 said — toward the expenses of the con- 

 gress. The speakers will be paid, and 

 their addresses will be published. 



CONGRESSES OF PHYSICIANS. 



The Fourteenth International Con- 

 gress of Medicine met at Madrid during 

 the last week of April ; the American 

 Medical Association held its fifty- 

 fourth annual meeting at New Orleans 

 in the first week of May, and the Con- 

 gress of Physicians and Surgeons held 

 its sixth triennial session at Washing- 

 ton during the following week. The 

 multiplicity of sections, societies^ ad- 

 dresses and papers is bewildering and 



beyond the possibility of brief descrip- 

 tion. 



At Madrid there were some 5,000 

 delegates, those from foreign nations 

 being proportioned as follows : Ger- 

 many and Austria, 1,000; France, 825; 

 Great Britain, 235; Russia, 290; Italy, 

 335; other European countries, 327; 

 United States, 193; South America, 

 13G. The prize for original research, 

 established by the city of Moscow, in 

 honor of the meeting of the congress in 

 that city in 1897, was awarded to Pro- 

 fessor Metchnikofl", and that of Paris 

 to Professor Grassi. The next congress 

 will be at Lisbon in 1906. No dis- 

 coveries of an epoch-making character 

 were presented to the congress, though 

 the programs contained the titles of 

 many papers of importance. 



The meeting of the American Medi- 

 cal Association was attended by about 

 2,000 members. Dr. Frank Billings in 

 his presidential address reviewed the 

 present condition of medical education 

 in the United States. There are in the 

 country 156 medical schools which last 

 year graduated 5,000 physicians. To 

 maintain the present ratio of one phy- 

 sician to 600 of the population, which 

 in the cities, at least, is rather an over- 

 supply, only 3,000 recruits are needed 

 annually. Dr. Billings held that the 

 overcrowding of the medical profession 

 must be controlled by higher standards 

 of education. The American Medical 

 Association has recently organi5;ed a 

 house of delegates for the discussion 

 of the interests of the medical profes- 

 sion, and this year a code of ethics 

 was adopted. According to the reports 

 presented, the association is in a 

 flourishing condition. Its membersliip 

 is over 12,000, having nearly doubled 

 within five years. In this period its 

 funds have increased fourfold, the net 

 increase last year having been $40,000. 

 The prosperity of the association is 

 largely due to its weekly journal, which 

 has a circulation of over 25,000. 



The Congress of American Physi- 

 cians and Surgeons, which meets once 



