ipis] William J. Gies 273 



A copy of the proposed amendment was sent to each member of 

 the Society in time for due consideration before the annual meeting 

 in St. Louis last December (p. 182). Every member, whether pres- 

 ent at the meeting or not, was free to cast a ballot for or against 

 the amendment. The Secretary's pubHc Statement regarding the 

 result of the vote, as printed in the Proceedings of the Society, 

 announces that " the amendment was lost"* 



Our convictions support completely democratic management 

 of scientific societies, whatever their special scientific objects or their 

 methods of election to membership. We beUeve it to be in the 

 interest of the advancement of science to oppose all non-democratic 

 tendencies or influences in the executive conduct of scientific societies. 



We desire to call special attention to Dr. Auer's remarks (page 

 186) on the undesirability of holding important scientific meetings 

 Objection to seien- during the Christmas holidays. He voices the 

 tific meetings dur- earnest sentiments of many of his colleagues in 

 ing the Christmas serious objection to the infringements upon the 

 hohdays domestic, social, religious, and vacation interests 



and preferences of scientific men, which attendance at out-of-town 

 meetings at that particular time of year entails. Future issues of 

 the BiocHEMicAL Bulletin will present further comment on this 

 subject. 



The writer has had charge informally of the editorial section 

 of the BiocHEM. Bull., from the beginning. Contrary to editorial 



customs regarding anonymity, but in füll accord 



Editorials to be in ^j^.^ scientific ideals pertaining to truth and re- 



respons?ble°edhor üability, the editorials in this Journal will here- 



after be published under the avowed authorship 

 of a responsible editor, or of accredited contributors. It is pur- 

 posed to extend, in the near future, the scope of the editorial de- 

 partment of the Bulletin. Our new policy of fixing personal 

 accountability for the Contents of the editorials may be expected uni- 

 formly to insure a sense of responsibility, and to impose the pre- 

 cautions affecting credibility, that might not always obtain under 

 the less exacting conditions of editorial impersonality. 

 * Personal communication by the Secretary to the writer. 



