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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



THE PKOGKESS OF SCIENCE. 



CONVOCATION WEEK IN PHILA- 

 DELPHIA. 



The American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science has heen fortu- 

 nate in its associations with Philadel- 

 phia. In our last issue we called 

 attention to the fact that its first 

 meeting was held there in 1848, and it 

 was there again in 1884 that the regis- 

 tered attendance reached its maximum 

 of 1,261, including 303 representatives 

 of the British Association. If we in- 

 clude the members of societies which 

 met in affiliation with the association 

 at the third Philadelphia meeting, held 

 during convocation week in December, 

 the number of scientific men in attend- 

 ance must be estimated as about 1,200, 

 although only 581 members registered 

 under the several sections of the asso- 

 ciation. Perhaps there has never been 

 a larger gathering of American workers 

 in science. More significant than mere 

 numbers is the representative character 

 of the men in attendance, the spirit of 

 the convocation as a whole and its in- 

 fluence upon the general public. In all 

 these respects the recent meetings at 

 Philadelphia were eminently successful. 

 There were, in addition to the nine 

 sections of the association which were 

 in session, thirty affiliated societies 

 and scientific clubs, including a ma- 

 jority of the national societies in 

 the exact and natural sciences. More 

 than 500 papers were read, cover- 

 ing even a wider range of topics than 

 the names of the societies would indi- 

 cate. 



The societies were comfortably ac- 

 commodated in the beautiful build- 

 ings of the University of Pennsylvania, 

 many of which were independent ob- 

 jects of interest to visiting members. 



The material conveniences were but 

 typical of the hospitality which the 

 several societies enjoyed at the hands 

 of the provost, vice-provost and faculty 

 of the university and the local commit- 

 tee. A feature in the entertainment 

 of guests was the lunch provided daily 

 for all in attendance. There were the 

 usual receptions, smokers, etc., and ex- 

 cursions to many places of interest to 

 all scientific men or to special groups, 

 including such important local insti- 

 tutions as the Baldwin Locomotive 

 Works, Cramp's Ship Yard, the United 

 States Mint and the Navy Yard. 



The number and variety of papers of 

 popular interest was notable, including 

 discussions of some of the most promis- 

 ing applications of science in invention 

 and industry, in agriculture, in medi- 

 cine and in social economics. All the 

 societies were fortunate in that the 

 American Association had secured the 

 services of Mr. Theodore Waters, as 

 press secretary, in older to insure more 

 adequate reporting of the meetings than 

 has been possible hitherto. This is an 

 important consideration, as it is as- 

 suredly one of the purposes of the 

 association to impress upon the general 

 public the dignity and importance of 

 science. Modern civilization is in- 

 creasingly dependent on the progress of 

 science, and men of science must profit 

 by the sympathy and support of the 

 public benefiting by their labors. Ow- 

 ing partly to geographical conditions, 

 partly to inadequate organization, 

 though doubtless not wholly to these 

 causes, there is here less public interest 

 and general participation in the annual 

 meetings of the American Association 

 than is the case in England with re- 

 gard to the British Association. It is 

 evident, however, that our public inter- 



