THE MUSEUM 



A Monthly Magazine Devoted to Research in Natural Science. 



"Vol. III. 



ALBION, N. Y., OCTOBER 15, 189; 



No. 12 



The British Association for the 

 Advancement of Science. 



BV MARCUS BENJAMIN, PlI. D. 



In the jubilee year of the British 

 Empire, and for the second time in its 

 history, the British Association for the 

 Advancement of Science met on this 

 ^ide of the Atlantic. From Aug. 18 

 to Aug. 25 the sixty- seventh annual 

 meeting of this organization was held 

 iu the Queen City of Toronto, Canada. 

 A brief account of this most important 

 event in the history of science will be 

 gladly leceived by our readers. It 

 will be nece^sai}', therefore, to treat 

 the meeting chiefly in chronological 

 order. 



The first gathering was held in the 

 pavilion of the Horticultural Garden 

 on the afternoon of Aug. 18. At the 

 hour appointed Mayor shaw appeared 

 on the platform, followed by Lord 

 Aberdeen, Governor General of Cana- 

 da; Lord Lister, the president of the 

 association; Sir John Evans, the presi- 

 dent-elect; Lord Kelven, a past-presi- 

 dent, and other eminent scientists, in- 

 cluding George F. Barker, Edward S. 

 Morse and Theodore Gill, past presi- 

 dents of the American Association for 

 the Advancement of Science. The 

 meeting was opened by Mayor Shaw, 

 who introduced the Governor-General. 

 In a few well-chosen words Lord Aber- 

 deen welcomed the association to Can- 

 ada, and the Mayor followed with a 

 warm greeting from the municipality. 

 Replies were made by Lord Lister, 

 Sir John Evans and Lord Kelvin. Oth- 

 er addresses followed, and the meeting 

 closed with the singing of the national 

 anthem. 



The opening meeting of the associa- 

 tion was held in Massey Hall on the 

 evening of Aug. 18. It was a parlia- 

 ment of science in evening dress, and 



graced with the presence of many of 

 Toronto's fairest dames. The beauti- 

 ful assembly hall with its Moorish 

 arches, was an ideal setting for the 

 brilliant scene — Lord Lister presiding 

 at the opening meeting. At his right 

 sat Lord and Lady Aberdeen, and 

 about them were grouped nearly a hun- 

 dred distinguished members of the as- 

 sociation, including President-elect Put- 

 nam of the American association. Lord 

 Lister introduced his successor as "a 

 man who had won world-wiJe distinc- 

 tion as a geologist and an antiquarian." 

 Sir John Evans then delivered his ad- 

 dress on the theme of "The Antiquity 

 of Man." The usual vote of thanks 

 was made by Lord Aberdeen and sec- 

 onded by Lord Kelvin. With the sing- 

 ing of "God Save the Queen" the meet- 

 ing closed. 



The regular session of the associa- 

 tion began promptly on the morning of 

 Aug. 19, when the presidents of the 

 sections delivered their addresses. 

 That before Section A. the Mathema- 

 tical and Physical section, was by Prof. 

 A. R. Forsyth, who described some of 

 the relations of pure mathematics to 

 other sciences, and made the claim 

 that the unrestricted cultivation of pure 

 mathematics was desirable in itself and 

 for its own sake, and deplored the fact 

 that English thought had had relative- 

 ly so small an influence upon its vast 

 modern developments. Section B, on 

 Chemistry, was presided over by Prof. 

 William Ramsay, the discoverer of ar- 

 gon, who made a brilliant argument in 

 favor of "An Undiscovered Gas," 

 which, for theoretical reasons, should 

 exist in the Mendeleeff classification 

 between argon and helium. Dr. Geo. 

 M. Dawson of the Canadian Geologi- 

 cal Survey presided over Section C. on 

 Geology, and discussed with mort than 



