4 I2 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC r 

 CONGRESSES MEETING IN 

 AMERICA 



The progress of international coop- 

 eration in scientific work is exhibited 

 by the large and growing number of ' 

 congresses holding migratory meetings 

 in different countries, and the greater 

 share taken by America in the ad- 

 vancement of science is born witness 

 to by the fact that these congresses 

 meet with increasing frequency in the 

 United States. The Eighth Interna- 

 tional Congress of Applied Chemistry 

 has just closed its meeting in Wash- 

 ington and New York, and the Fif- 

 teenth International Congress of Hy- 

 giene and Demography will be meeting 

 in Washington when this issue of the ( 

 Monthly appears. These are among 

 the most important of such gatherings. , 

 Chemistry is the science which, owing 

 to its industrial applications, attracts 

 the largest number of workers, and 

 hygiene and demography occupy an 

 equally important place in our modern 

 civilization. 



There were enrolled about 4,500 

 members for the Congress of Applied 

 Chemistry, of whom 2,173, coming 

 from thirty different countries, were 

 in attendance. They presented 724 

 papers before the twenty-four sections 

 and the joint sessions of these sections. 

 570 of the papers were printed in ad- 

 vance in 24 volumes and were dis- 

 tributed to members at the time of 

 the meeting. After preliminary meet- 

 ing and entertainments in New York 

 City, the congress went to Washington 

 by special train, where the members 

 were received by the president of the 

 United States, who acted as patron of 

 the congress. After the return to New 

 York, the sectional meetings were or- 

 ganized and there were many public 

 lectures, receptions, dinners and excur- 

 sions. The public lectures included the 

 following: M. Gabriel Bertrand, on 

 ' ' Chemical biology ' ' ; Dr. Samuel 

 Eyde, on "The oxidation of atmos- 

 pheric nitrogen, and the resulting in- 



dustries in Norway ' ' ; Dr. Carl Duis- 

 berg, on ' ' The synthetic production of 

 rubber ' ' ; Dr. Giacomo Ciamician, on 

 "The photo-chemistry of the future"; 

 Professor William Henry Perkin, on 

 ' ' The permanent fireproofing of cot- 

 ton goods," which is printed in this 

 issue of the Monthly. The entertain- 

 ments included receptions at the Amer- 

 ican Museum of Natural History, the 

 Metropolitan Museum and the Chem- 

 ists' Club; afternoon teas at Columbia 

 University and the College of the City 

 of New York; an excursion up the 

 Hudson, and a grand banquet at the 

 Waldorf-Astoria. At the conclusion of 

 the meeting excursions were arranged 

 to Chicago and to the Pacific coast. 

 Dr. Edward W. Morley was honorary 

 president of the congress and Dr. Wm. 

 H. Nichols was the active president, 

 to whom with the other officers the 

 successful organization and conduct of 

 the congress was in large measure due. 

 The ninth congress will be held three 

 years hence at St. Petersburg under 

 the presidency of Professor Paul T. 

 Walden. 



The Fifteenth International Con- 

 gress of Hygiene and Demography, 

 under the presidency of Dr. Henry P. 

 Walcott, of Massachusetts, will un- 

 doubtedly be equally notable. An im- 

 portant and interesting scientific pro- 

 gram and exhibit have been arranged. 

 Some 300 German physicians have al- 

 ready arrived in New York to attend 

 the meetings. Mention should also be 

 made of the International Otological 

 Congress at Boston under the presi- 

 dency of Dr. Clarence J. Blake, which 

 though smaller and attracting less at- 

 tention, has brought to this country a 

 number of distinguished foreign otol- 

 ogists. Two further gatherings of for- 

 eign scientific men in this country de- 

 serve mention — the transcontinental 

 excursion of the American Geograph- 

 ical Society and the dedication of the 

 Rice Institute. The former is quite 

 unique in character. The American 

 Geographical Society, to celebrate the 



