PROCEEDINGS: WASHINGTON ACADEMY 347 



galaxy of which the sun is a member. As the age of star clusters, as 

 clusters, within our own galaxy may be measured in thousands of mil- 

 lions of years, it may become possible to estimate the age of the galaxy 

 itself in enormously magnified time units in the same sense in which 

 we measure the distances of the stars in terms of light years rather than 

 in terms of our usual standards of length. And, finally, we may pass 

 from the contemplation of the age and extent of our galaxy to that of 

 the age and extent of these great aggregates of galaxies, or super-gal- 

 axies, which are by no means beyond the scope of the human mind. 



The 131st meeting of the Academy was held at the Assembly Hall of 

 the Cosmos Club, the evening of Tuesday, February i8, 1919. Prof. 

 Robert F. Griggs, of the Ohio State University, Director of the 

 National Geographic Society Katmai Expeditions, delivered an ad- 

 dress on Katmai and the Ten Thousand Smokes. The lecture, which 

 was profusely illustrated by lantern slides, reviewed the more general 

 features of this remarkable region, which have been made familiar 

 through the very interesting series of illustrated articles published by 

 the speaker in the National Geographic Magazine, and dealt also with 

 some of the more technical aspects of the subject as discussed in several 

 recent papers published in Volume 19 of the Ohio Journal of Science, 

 under the titles. The recovery of vegetation at Kodiak (pp. 1-58), Are 

 the Ten Thousand Smokes real volcanoes? (pp. 9 7- 11 6), The great hot mud 

 flow of the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes (pp. 11 7-142), The character 

 of the eruption as indicated by its effect on nearby vegetation (pp. 173-209). 



The i32d meeting of the Academy was held jointly with the Phil- 

 osophical Society of Washington at the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos 

 Club, the evening of Saturday, March 15, 19 19. Dr. H. D. Curtis, 

 of the Ivick Observatory, Mount Hamilton, California, delivered an 

 illustrated address on Modern theories of the spiral nebulae. This lec- 

 ture has subsequently been published in the Journal (9: 217-227. 

 April 19, 1919). 



The 133rd meeting of the Academy was held at the Assembly Hall 

 of the Cosmos Club, the evening of Thursday, March 20, 1919. Lieut. 

 Col. John R. Murlin, U. S. A., Director of the Division of Food and 

 Nutrition, Sanitary Corps, U. S. Army, delivered an illustrated address 

 on Food efficiency in the United States Army. "The United States, in 

 conjunction with her AlUes, has waged war effectively. Many people 

 are concerned to know also whether the war has been conducted effi- 

 ciently, which is a very different matter. It may be safely said that 

 in one respect at least we have done far better than in any previous 

 war, viz. in the nutritional care of the soldier. 



"Army regulations lay a clear responsibility for the character of the 

 food and quality of the cooking upon the Medical Department. It 

 has always been a routine matter of inspection by medical officers to 

 pass upon the sanitation, .including the character of food and quality 

 of cooking, of the mess. Feeling this responsibility, in view of the 



