OP ARTS AND SCIENCES. 605 



investigations be requested to make a report annually as to the state of 

 the work for which the grant was made." 



June 8, 1898. " It was voted that in the judgment of the Committee, 

 persons carrying on researches with the aid of the Rumford Fund should 

 submit to the Academy an account of their researches not less complete 

 than that published elsewhere. These researches may be published in 

 any place or form, with the proviso that due recognition be made of the 

 grant, and the presentation of the paper to the Academy." 



In answer to this request, reports have been received of which the 

 following are summaries : — 



Professor Henry Crew has published a paper " On the Sources of 

 Luminosity in the Electric Arc " in the Proceedings of the Academy for 

 June, 1898. He expects to continue the prosecution of his research 

 during the coming summer with the aid of the further appropriation 

 made by the Rumford Committee for that purpose. 



Professor B. O. Peirce reports that a continuation of his work upon 

 the thermal conductivity of poor conductors is in progress, the substance 

 vulcanite being at present a particular subject of study. An extended 

 paper " On Thermal Conductivities of Certain Poor Conductors " was 

 published in the Proceedings of the Academy for August, 1898. 



Professor E. H. Hall is pursuing his studies upon the thermal con- 

 ductivity of wrought iron, having published in the Proceedings for 

 February, 1899, a paper " On the Thermal Conductivity of Cast Iron." 



Professor Edward L. Nichols reports that his research upon the radia- 

 tion from carbon at high temperatures is making good progress. The 

 study of the acetylene name as a standard of light, the calibration of 

 thermo-elements, and the application of the platinum-rhodium thermo- 

 element to the determination of the actual temperature of the carbon, 

 have occupied much time. Measurements with the spectro-photometer 

 are now in progress upon the visible radiations from carbon rods as com- 

 pared with those of like character with the acetylene flame. A study of 

 the distribution of energy in the spectrum of the acetylene flame and in 

 that of incandescent carbon will follow. 



Professor W. C. Sabine says with regard to his investigation upon the 

 study of very short light waves : " In order to explain the advance which 

 he has made [Mr. Theodore Lyman, who has made the actual measure- 

 ments], it will be necessary to refer to the work of Schumann. This 

 work was done with a fluorite prism, and wave lengths were found by 

 extrapolation, the statement being made that speculum metal would not 

 reflect the shorter waves. Mr. Lyman has been using a concave grating 



