OX THE -PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. 5 



commencement of the meetings of the Association. At the meeting held 

 in Washington, in 1853, it was proposed to increase the number of the 

 Standing Committee to twenty-six ; the constitutional draft submitted 

 at Providence reduces the number to eighteen, and also provides for 

 the creation of the office of Vice-President, while arbitrary power is 

 placed in the hands of the Committee. It is to assign papers, arrange 

 the business, suggest places and times of meeting, examine or exclude 

 papers; appoint the Local Committee ; nominate persons for mem- 

 bership ; decide upon publications, etc., etc. Power like this should 

 not be wielded by a limited number. 



The meeting for 1855 was closed with a complimentary dinner 

 given to the Association by the citizens of Providence, and presided 

 over by Prof. Caswell, of Brown University. 



The meeting of the Association at Albany for the present year will 

 be in every respect most important and interesting. Upon the action 

 which may be taken in regard to the constitution, and the future 

 government of the Association, its harmony and prosperity will essen- 

 tially depend. During the session of the Association also, it is under- 

 stood that the new Dudley Observatory, founded and endowed by the 

 munificence of the citizens of Albany, will be dedicated with suitable 

 ceremonies. Many European savans have been invited to join in this 

 inauguration ; and Liebig, of Germany, and Airy, Astronomer Royal 

 of Great Britain, have already signified their intention of attending. 

 The discourse will be given by Hon. Edward Everett. At the same 

 time, the new State Geological Hall, built by appropriations from the 

 Legislature of New York for the reception of the splendid cabinet of 

 geology and natural history belonging to the State, will be formally 

 opened. Hon. "W. H. Seward, under whose administration as Govern- 

 or the Geological Survey of the State of New York commenced, and 

 who wrote the introduction to the Natural History of the State, will 

 deliver the oration. 



The annual meeting of the British Association for the Promotion 

 of Science for 1855, the Duke of Argyle, President, was held at Glas- 

 gow, Scotland, commencing September 12th. The meeting in every 

 respect was eminently successful, and the attendance of British and 

 foreign scientific men was unusually large. The whole number of 

 papers read was 315, divided among the different sections as follows: 

 in Mathematics and Physics, 47 ; in Chemistry, 60 ; in Geology, 42 ; 

 in Zoology and Physiology, 62 ; in Geographical Science, 35 ; in 

 Statistics, 31 ; in Mechanics, 38. Among the communications which 

 excited the most popular interest was one by Colonel Rawlinson on 

 Assyrian and Babylonian Antiquities and Ethnology, in which he 

 described his gradual decipherment of the cuneiform inscriptions, and 

 showed the great value of the information thus curiously obtained. 



