ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 131 



REPORT OF THE RECORDING SECRETARY 



J. VV. GORE. 



THIRTY-SEVENTH MEETING. 



Person Hale, September 11, 1888. 



The Society was called to order by the Vice-President, Professor Graves, 

 who presented a paper on — 



1. The Principle of Duality. (Abstract). The author's remarks were con- 

 fined to the application of the principle to plane figures. We may consider in 

 a plane figure either the point or the right line as the element. The co-exi-t- 

 ence of figures and their properties (correlative), as the different elements are 

 chosen, constitutes the Principle of Duality. Several illustrations were given 

 (c. f. Cremona's Projective Geometry).- The subject also may be considered 

 from an analytical stand-point (c. f. Clebsch's Lessons in Geometry;. Tan- 

 gential co ordinates were explained and compared with the more familiar 

 point co-ordinates. A series of parallel, and analytically identical, operations 

 may be executed on certain equations which lead to results which have a simi- 

 lar algebraic form but bear different and correlative interpretations. 



2. An Account of the Meeting for 1888 of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science was then yiven by Professor Gore. Points of inter- 

 est with regard to this meeting, and statistics as to papers read, with titles 

 and outlines of same, were given. . 



3. Report on Progress in Chemistry. (Abstract). Dr. Venable described 

 some of the recent discoveries in Chemistry and the progress made in that 

 branch of science. 



The Vice-President announced the committees which were to report, at the 

 meetings during the year, on the progress in the different branches of scien- 

 tific work. There were nine of these committees and the reports were limited 

 to fifteen minutes each. 



The Secretary reported large additions to the library during vacation. Since 

 the May meeting 484 books and pamphlets had been received. The list of 

 exchanges had increased to 184. The names of the following new members 

 were read : 



Dr. S. J. Hinsdale, Fayetteville, N. C. 



Dr. P. B. Barringer, Davidson College, N. C. 



