NOTES BY THE EDITOR 



ON THE 



PROGRESS OF SCIENCE FOR THE YEAR 1859. 



THE Twelfth Meeting of the American Association for the Promo- 

 tion of Science was held at Baltimore, Md., April 28th to May 5th, 

 1858. In the absence of both President and Vice-President elect, 

 the chair was taken by Professor Caswell. The attendance of members 

 was somewhat smaller than usual, and the whole number of papers 

 presented was ninety-five ; of these thirty-three pertained to the sec- 

 tion of Astronomy, Physics, and Mathematics ; nine to Meteorology ; 

 fourteen to Geology and Geography ; eighteen to Chemistry, Mineral- 

 ogy, and Geology ; and twenty-one to Philology and Miscellaneous. 



The meeting adjourned to meet at Springfield, Massachusetts, on 

 the first Wednesday of August, 1859. Professor Stephen Alexander, 

 of Princeton, was chosen President for the ensuing year, and Professor 

 Edward Hitchcock, of Amherst, Vice-President. 



The Association was addressed at length by Dr. Hayes, the Sur- 

 geon of the Kane Arctic Expedition, in behalf of a renewed effort to 

 reach the open Polar Sea, described by Dr. Kane. He proposes to or- 

 ganize and lead an expedition, starting in the spring of 1860, and fol- 

 lowing the route pursued by Dr. Kane. The details of the plan, as 

 given by Dr. H., were as follows : 



The expedition would require two years for its operations, and in 

 view of the rich and valuable experience of the last, he could not but 

 deem it probable that the next attempt would prove successful. There 

 was needed for the expedition one vessel of one hundred tons, equipped 

 for two and a half years, and twelve men. It would greatly add to the 

 convenience of the party to be provided with a small steam-tender of 

 thirty tons, with a shifting screw ; except for the necessity of conveying 

 provisions, even so large a vessel as one of one hundred tons would not 

 be necessary. The party should leave the States early in April, giving 

 time to lay in additional fresh provisions on the Greenland coast, and 



