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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



THE PKOGKESS OF SCIENCE. 



THE CAMBRIDGE MEETING OF 

 THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION 

 FOR THE ADVANCEMENT 

 OF SCIENCE. 

 The meeting of the British Associa- 

 tion at Cambridge was an event of suffi- 

 cient scientific importance to deserve 

 attention here as well as in Great 

 Britain. We are pleased, therefore, to 

 be able to devote the present number of 

 the Monthly to it. President Prit- 

 chett, of the Massachusetts Institute 

 of Technology, contributes an interest- 

 ing account of the general features of 

 the meeting. The address of the presi- 

 dent of the association and of the presi- 

 dent of the section of mathematics and 

 physics are printed in full, and parts 

 of other addresses are given. These 

 addresses appear to give the best avail- 

 able survey of the range and problems 

 of modern science. It is possible that 

 some of them are in part too technical 

 for the purposes of the general scien- 

 tific reader, but he must meet the man 

 of science half way. The difficulty is 

 more in the terminology than in the 

 ideas. When the pages are scattered 

 over with statoliths and gametes there 

 is a natural tendency to skip rather 

 than to add to our usable vocabulary. 

 But the entire terminology needed to 

 understand the main results of modern 

 science is not more difficult than one 

 foreign language and not more exten- 

 sive than that of the sporting field. 

 The language of science should be ac- 

 quired by people of intelligence, but 

 at the same time men of science should 

 learn on occasion to address those who 

 are not specialists. 



In addition to the presidential ad- 

 dresses before the sections, the British 

 Association makes arrangements for 

 several still more popular lectures, one 

 addressed explicitly to ' working-men.' 



This lecture was given by Dr. J. E. 

 Marr, of Cambridge, his subject being 

 the ' Forms of Mountains.' Other lec- 

 tures were given on ' Ripple Marks and 

 Sand Dunes,' by Professor George Dar- 

 win; on 'The Origin and Growth of 

 Cambridge University,' by Mr. J. W. 

 Clark, and on ' Recent Paleontological 

 Exploration,' by Professor H. F. Os- 

 born, of Columbia University. On the 

 other hand, the papers before the sec- 

 tions were mostly technical in charac- 

 ter, though geography, anthropology, 

 political science and education always 

 give occasion for popular papers and 

 discussions. 



The entertainments and excursions 

 at meetings of the British Association 

 are always well arranged; it has in- 

 deed been urged that they are too at- 

 tractive to camp followers. The social 

 conditions in Great Britain are favor- 

 able to dinners and garden parties, 

 and there is nearly always a duke or at 

 least a lord ready to offer hospitalities. 

 At Cambridge the entertainments were 

 naturally academic in character, the 

 principal functions being at Trinity 

 and St. John's Colleges. Honorary de- 

 grees were conferred on some fifteen of 

 the visitors, America being represented 

 by Professor Osborn. 



Cambridge proved to be an attractive 

 place for the meeting, and no wonder, 

 for a large part of the active British 

 scientific workers have studied there, 

 and the university unites scientific pre- 

 eminence and medieval charm. The 

 registration was 2,783, the sixth larg- 

 est in the history of the association, 

 and representing probably the largest 

 gathering of scientific men. At Man- 

 chester and Liverpool, where the larg- 

 est meetings have been held, the 

 registration is swollen by local asso- 

 ciates who pay the fees without taking 



