EDITOR'S TABLE. 



125 



regard for others which bring Salvation- 

 ists into the streets with their drums 

 and tambourines. But the opportunity 

 would be thrown away, and the move- 

 ment would assume a thoroughly com- 

 monplace and almost mercenary char- 

 acter, if it were to be fed with the pro- 

 ceeds of taxation. "We trust that the 

 leaders of the movement will resolve to 

 have nothing to do with politics save to 

 purify and elevate them by the direct 

 action of sound instruction on the pub- 

 lic mind. It will not help our politics a 

 bit to have university extension hang- 

 ing round the Capitol for an appropria- 

 tion. 



A GROUP OF SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS. 

 The meeting of the American As 

 sociation was held this year in the 

 midst of the meetings, beginning Au- 

 gust 11th and closing September 1st, 

 of a number of societies cultivating 

 special fields of science, which have 

 grown up out of and around it. The 

 multiplication and division of socie- 

 ties in tliis way is a natural result of 

 the increasing expansion and speciali- 

 .zation of scientific studies in the United 

 States, and one of the most certain signs 

 of them. The fields which one society 

 was able to cultivate have become too 

 large and too many to be adequately 

 tilled by it alone, and it has been found 

 convenient to distribute the details 

 among separate workers, while the old 

 Association remains the central organi- 

 zation and chief, under which the whole 

 is unified. This grouping of meetings 

 promises to be a permanent feature, and 

 to make our annual scientific conven- 

 tion an event of larger and growing in- 

 terest. The meetings held in advance 

 of the larger meeting were those of the 

 American Microscopical Society, the So- 

 ciety of Official Chemists, the Associa- 

 tion of Agricultural Colleges, the Socie- 

 ty for the Promotion of Agriculture, a 

 body which is limited to forty mem- 

 bers ; and the Association of Economic 



Entomologists. The discuss* ons in these 

 assumed, to a large extent, a practical 

 shape, and aimed directly or indirect- 

 ly at the advancement of agricultural 

 interests. Among the important feat- 

 ures of the meetings were the arrange- 

 ments that were made for the fusion of 

 the chemical societies of the United 

 States into a single body. Eight socie- 

 ties were represented in the Union, viz. : 

 The American Chemical Society, the 

 Washington Chemical Society, the As- 

 sociation of Official Chemists, the Chemi- 

 cal Societies of Cincinnati, the Brook- 

 lyn Institute, the Franklin Institute, 

 the Association of Manufacturing Chem- 

 ists, and the Louisiana Association of 

 Sugar Chemists. Under the terras of 

 union, which have yet to be approved 

 by the societies separately, the new or- 

 ganization will be called the American 

 Chemical Society, and each local society 

 will retain its identity as a branch. The 

 name of the general society is the best 

 that could be chosen for a body repre- 

 senting the whole country, and gives, 

 besides, a fitting recognition to the old- 

 est and one of the most efficient and 

 active of our chemical associations. 



The meeting of the American Asso- 

 ciation itself was one of the largest and 

 best that have been held in recent years. 

 The number of members reached 653, 

 and was greater than had been recorded 

 since the New York meeting of 1887, 

 when 729 members were registered. 

 Three hundred and seventy -one new 

 members were elected, and 235 papers 

 were entered to be read. Permanent 

 Secretary Putnam has been quoted as 

 saying that the papers read were above 

 the average in interest and importance, 

 and this opinion appears to be well 

 founded. Among the subjects inform- 

 ally talked of as things to which the 

 Association should give the support of 

 its approval and influence were those 

 of the establishment of a fund for the 

 encouragement of scientific research, 

 which was supported by Prof. Brash- 

 ears and President Prescott ; the with- 



