EDITOR'S TABLE. 



847 



Michigan, showed how inseparable are 

 pure and applied science in the field of 

 chemistry, making a forcible plea for 

 the endowment of original research. 

 No laboratory work worth doing, he 

 argued, can ignore laboratory work al- 

 ready done ; study of the latest books, 

 memoirs, and periodicals must go hand 

 in hand with experiment. Nature is 

 best known face to face, but the printed 

 page is usually essential for the intro- 

 duction. 



In Section A, that of Mathematics 

 and Astronomy, Prof. J. E. Eastman, of 

 Washington, as vice-president, delivered 

 an address on Neglected Fields in Funda- 

 mental Astronomy in determining the 

 absolute position of the stars. Interest 

 in this section centered in the spectro- 

 heliographs taken and exhibited by Mr. 

 George E. Hale, of the Kenwood Astro- 

 physical Observatory, Chicago. These 

 pictures mark a notable advance in the 

 application of photography to astronom- 

 ical research, the solar faculas for the 

 first time being clearly seized. In ac- 

 quiring information regarding the earth, 

 Mr. R. S. Woodward described how he 

 had been able to approach accuracy 

 within one part in five millions : in 

 measuriDg the base-lines for the United 

 States Coast and Geodetic Survey he 

 had secured constancy of length in a 

 standard bar by immersing it in melt- 

 ing ice. 



In Section B, that of Physics, Prof. 

 B. F. Thomas, of Columbus, Ohio, chose 

 for the subject of his address as vice- 

 president, Technical Education in Col- 

 leges and Universities. He held that 

 their mathematical courses of educa- 

 tion are usually too elaborate, are rarely 

 drawn as they should be from practical 

 examples, and ought as much as possi- 

 ble to be adapted to the special career 

 the student means to enter upon. He 

 noted with gratification how Stevens 

 Institute was doing one thing well, and 

 would rejoice to see other technical in- 

 stitutes each devoting itself to thorough 

 education in civil, mining, and other dis- 



tinct departments of engineering or other 

 science. He commended literary studies 

 and the art of clear and ready speaking. 

 It is not so much what a man knows, he 

 said, as the proportion of it that he can 

 communicate, that makes him useful. 

 Papers of value in this section dis- 

 cussed the sensitiveness of photographic 

 plates, the photographic analysis of 

 vowel-sounds, and a photographic map- 

 ping of the magnetic field. Interest- 

 ing ascertainments of the distribution 

 of energy in the spectra of the glow- 

 lamp and the arc-light were also pre- 

 sented. 



In C, the Chemical Section, the vice- 

 president, Prof. Alfred Springer, of Cin- 

 cinnati, spoke upon Micro-organisms of 

 the Soil, indicating the important part 

 they play in the chemistry of vegeta- 

 tion. Prof. H. C. Bolton, of New 

 York, stated that his bibliography of 

 chemistry, comprising ten thousand ti- 

 tles, is in press. Mr. Alfred Tucker- 

 man, also of New York, read a brief 

 note on a list of mineral waters, with 

 analyses, which he is preparing for pub- 

 lication. 



In Section D, that of Mechanical Sci- 

 ence and Engineering, Prof. J. B. John- 

 son, of St. Louis, delivered an address 

 on The Applied Scientist. Much atten- 

 tion in this section was bestowed upon 

 instruments of precision and the diffi- 

 culties attending their manufacture. 

 Prof. W. A. Rogers, of Waterville, Me., 

 had found the lack of homogeneity in 

 even the highest grades of steel to be a 

 grievous obstacle. Mr. J. A. Brashear, 

 of Allegheny, Pa., stated that he had 

 found a fortnight's labor necessary in 

 bringing a plate two inches square to a 

 satisfactory surface as a plane. 



In E, the Geological Section, Prof. H. 

 S. Williams, of Yale, the vice-president, 

 gave a masterly address on The Scope 

 of Paleontology and its Value to Geol- 

 ogy. Prof. R. T. Hill, of Washing- 

 ton, read a paper on The Volcanic 

 Craters of the United States, of much 

 interest. 



