429 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



The Presidency of the Chemical Society. 



In the May number of Natural Science you have called attention to the recent 

 contest for the presidency of the Chemical Society, and the extraordinary character 

 of the two circulars put forward by prominent members of the official party in the 

 Society has been very justly commented upon by you. 



I shall regard it as a favour if you will permit me to supplement your notice 

 with a statement of the facts which have come to light. 



The total number of votes recorded at the anniversary meeting was about 380, 

 and the number of votes for Dewar has been officially declared to be 166. It is, 

 therefore, quite clear that Dewar did not receive the votes of a majority of the voters. 

 There were about 214 votes, cast by voters, who certainly indicated their will that 

 Dewar should not occupy the presidency. 



Inasmuch as the names of both Dewar and Ramsay had been, in the most formal 

 manner, proposed for the presidency, the 214 must be taken as votes for Ramsay. I 

 am informed, however, that, on the first Thursday in this month the statement 

 made from the chair at the meeting of the Society was that the votes for Ramsay 

 were 152, and that no mention was made of the 62 votes, which apparently were 

 regarded as void. 



J. Alfred Wanklyn. 

 II May, 1897, Laboratory, New Maiden, Surrey. 



[We have verified Dr. Wanklyn's statement, which indicates a more serious 

 attempt on the part of the Council to override the will of the Fellows than we had 

 suspected. According to the Charter of the Society, the President must be elected 

 by a majority of those voting ; this condition has not been complied with. There is 

 nothing in the Charter or Bye-laws of the Society to justify the rejection of votes 

 which, though of clear intention, did not absolutely comply with all the require- 

 ments of a cumbrous ballot-paper. We conclude that Professor William Ramsay 

 is legally the President of the Chemical Society, and we hope that the Fellows will 

 see their will enforced. — Ed. Nat. Sci.] 



The Numerical Variations in Ranunculus repens. 



Upon closer examination of my figures, I find, that the whorls of Ranunculus 



repens do not vary independently as previously stated (Nat. Sci., May, 1897, p. 325), 



only 39 per cent, of the possible variations being recorded. As I am about to 



proceed with a second series, I will reserve further particulars for a future occasion. 



115 Richmond Road, London, N.E. John H. Pledge. 



[Others than Mr. Pledge will see with pleasure that the Revue Scientifiqiie, after 

 devoting a column to an account of his paper, concludes: " Mr. Pledge's work is 

 conscientious ; in such matters there is need of care and a spirit of accuracy, and 

 this is undoubtedly an example that might be followed by many with profit to 

 science." — Ed. Nat. Sci.] 



Polych/eta in the Cambridge Natural History. 



It would be a pity if Mr. Goodrich's " gratitude " and " wonder " were to lead 

 him to use the book he esteems so highly as the basis of future researches on the 

 Polychseta. If this were, as Mr. Goodrich says it " undoubtedly " is, " the best 

 general account " of the group " in any single work, in any language," I should feel 

 sorry indeed for all who are intending to devote their energies to this particular field 

 of zoology. Nor do I think that the author himself would claim such high rank for 

 his work. No one who is at all familiar with the admirable monograph of Eisig — 



