RECORDS. 161 



merely ornamental, and there is lack of the symbolic conver- 

 sationalism found among such people as the Arapahoes and 

 Sioux. In their stories the coyote figures as the most frequent 

 character representing the fool and schemer. There are strik- 

 ing similarities between the Shoshone and Nahuatl languages 

 of Mexico, each using the same grammatical processes in its 

 pronoun, noun, preposition and verb, and the order of words 

 and structure of the sentence being practically the same in both. 



James E. Lough, 



Secretary. 

 BUSINESS MEETING. 



February 2, 1903. 



The Academy met at 8:1 5 P. M., Professor WilHam Hallock 

 presiding. The reading of the minutes of the previous business 

 meeting was dispensed with. 



No bu.siness was presented by the Council. 



Adjourned. 



Henry E. Crampton, 



Recording Secretary. 



SECTION OF ASTRONOMY, PHYSICS AND 



CHEMISTRY. 



February 2, 1903. 



Section met at 8:15 P. M., Professor Wm. Hallock presiding. 

 The minutes of the last meeting of Section were read and ap- 

 proved. 



The following program was then offered : 



Herschel C. Parker, Experiments Concerning very Brief 

 Electrical Contacts. 



Marston T. Bogert, Some Products Derived from Coal 

 (illustrated by samples). 



Summary of Papers. 



Mr. Parker's paper was as follows : A series of electrical 

 contacts giving a fairly accurate range of adjustment from o.i 

 second to 0.00001 second would furnish a valuable means of 



