620 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



fessor emeritus of chemistry at the 

 University of Virginia and eminent for 

 his contributions to chemistry; of Dr. 

 John Monroe Van Vleck, professor of 

 mathematics at Wesleyan University 

 from 1853 until his retirement as 

 emeritus professor in 1904, and of 

 Major General Robert Maitland 

 O'Reilly, U.S.A., retired, former sur- 

 geon general of the United States 

 Army. 



Dr. Andrew D. White, the first 

 president of Cornell University, distin- 

 guished for his work in education and 

 diplomacy, and for his publications on 

 history and science, celebrated his 

 eightieth birthday on November 7.— 

 Dr. Edward W. Morley, the American 

 chemist, has been made an honorary 

 member of the Swiss Association for 

 the Advancement of Science. — The gold 

 medal for science of the Prussian gov- 

 ernment has been conferred on Dr. 

 Robert Helmert, director of the Geo- 

 detic Institute of Potsdam. 



The American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science and the na- 

 tional scientific societies affiliated with 

 it will hold their convocation week 

 meeting at Cleveland, Ohio, beginning 

 ,on Monday, December 30. Cleveland 



is centrally situated between the At- 

 lantic seaboard and the scientific cen- 

 ters of the central states, and Western 

 Reserve University, the Case School of 

 Applied Science, and the other scien- 

 tific institutions of the city will supply 

 excellent places of meeting. The ad- 

 dress of the retiring president is made 

 by Dr. C. E. Bessey, of the University 

 of Nebraska, while Dr. E. C. Pickering, 

 director of the Harvard College Ob- 

 servatory, will preside over the meet- 

 ing. A large number of important and 

 interesting addresses are assured from 

 the vice-presidents of the association, 

 the presidents of the affiliated societies 

 and others who will take part in the 

 scientific proceedings. There is sure to 

 be a large attendance of scientific men. 

 In recent years, however, the American 

 Association has fallen behind the Brit- 

 ish Association in its influence on the 

 general public and in the number of 

 those not professionally engaged in 

 scientific work who are attracted to its 

 meetings. Those who are interested in 

 such a meeting and might like to be- 

 come members of the association should 

 write to the permanent secretary, Dr. 

 L. O. Howard, Smithsonian Institution, 

 Washington, D. C. 



