44 



ASSOCIATIONS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 



Indebtedness. The State DOW owes the fol- 

 lowing undisputed debt: 



Bonds drawing 5 per rent, interest $22,000 



Bonds drawing 6 per een t. interest 8,291,000 



Bonds drawing no interest 8,100 



Interest overdue and unpaid 2,103,043 



Aggregate principal and Interest $5,108,043 



Sufficient funds are in the treasury to re- 

 deem the $8,100 non-interest-bearing bonds 

 not yet presented for redemption. There will 

 be in the treasury on the 1st of January, 1885, 

 about $250,000. The bonded debt outstand- 

 ing is composed of the original $3,000,000 au- 

 thorized to be issued for the establishment of 

 a Real Estate and State banks, from which the 

 $500,000 Holford bonds are to be deducted. 

 Most of these bonds are funded under the act 

 of 1869, and the interest is paid up to 1873. 

 The question of a new funding act, by which 

 all this indebtedness is to be refunded in a 

 new bond, will occupy the attention of the in- 

 coming Legislature. 



Wealth of the State. In 1883 the taxable 

 property of the State was $126,862,392. The 

 assessment for 1884 will show an increase of 

 about $5,000,000. This is based on official re- 

 turns from fifty-three out of the seventy-five 

 counties in the State. 



Population. Immigration has steadily poured 

 into the State during the year, the population 

 now being estimated at 1,000,000. 



Crops. From crop statistics made to the 

 Secretary of State, it is ascertained that a much 

 larger acreage was planted during the year 

 than in 1883, and the yield was greater by 

 one fourth, both of cotton and corn. The au- 

 tumn season was exceptionally fine for the 

 gathering of cotton, and the staple was exceed- 

 ingly good. 



Pnblie Lands. The Commissioner of State 

 Lands reports that the State now has for dis- 

 posal 80,000 acres of swamp and overflowed, 

 and 2,000,000 acres of lands forfeited for the 

 non-payment of taxes. The former are dis- 

 posed of at one dollar an acre, the latter at 

 fifty cents an acre, or, upon occupation and 

 settlement, each head of a family can have 160 

 acres by simply paying an office-fee of five 

 dollars. 



ASSOCIATIONS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF 

 SCIENCE. American. The thirty-third meeting 

 of the American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science was held in Philadelphia, Sept. 

 4 to Sept. 11, 1884. Owing partly to the re- 

 cent meeting of the British Association, it was 

 more largely attended than ever before. Prof. 

 C. A. Young, of Princeton, the retiring Presi- 

 dont, was succeeded by Prof. J. P. Lesley, of the 

 University of Pennsylvania. At the opening 

 meeting the necrologicnl list for the year, and 

 the list of proposed new members, the contribu- 

 tions received, etc., were read. The principal 

 gift was one of $1,000 from Mrs. Elizabeth 

 Thompson, of Stamford, Conn., to be expended 

 in researches in heat and light. Governor Pat- 

 tison, of Pennsylvania, delivered the address 



of welcome. A short history of the Association 

 was given by Prof. Young. It was founded in 

 1840, as a geological society, under the presi- 

 dency of Prof. Hitchcock. The name was soon 

 changed to American Association of Geolo- 

 gists and Naturalists, and in 1847 its present 

 title was adopted. During the civil war no 

 meetings were held. For this meeting the 

 following were the sections of the society, with 

 their presidents and vice-presidents : 



A. Mathematics and Astronomy H. T. Eddy, of 

 Cincinnati ; G. W. Hough, of Chicago. 



B. Physics John Trowbridge, ot Cambridge ; N. 

 D. C. Hodges, of Salem. 



C. Chemistry John W. Langley, of Ann Arbor ; 

 K. B. Warder, of North Bend. 



D. Mechanical Science E. H. Thurston, of Hobo- 

 ken ; J. Burkitt Webb, of Ithaca. 



E. Geology and Geography N. H. Winchell, of 

 Minneapolis ; Eugene A. Smith, of Tuscaloosa. 



F. Biology E. D. Cope, of Philadelphia ; C. E. 

 Bessey, of Ames. 



G. Histology and Microscopy T. G. Wormley, of 

 Philadelphia ; Eomeyn Hitchcock, of New York. 



H* Anthropology E. S. Morse, of Salem ; W. H. 

 Holmes, of Washington. 



I. Economic Science and Statistics John Eaton, of 

 Washington ; C. W. Smiley, of Washington. 



The reading of papers, of which over 200 

 were announced, and of which 304 were finally 

 read, was begun immediately on the opening 

 of the sessions of the sections. Five sections 

 met daily at 2.30 p. M., and the remaining four 

 at 4 P. M. The papers of Prof. Langley on 

 "The Study of Chemical Affinity," of Prof. 

 Eddy on " The Modern Teaching of Mathemat- 

 ics in our Universities," and of Prof. Winchell 

 on " The Geology of the Crystalline Rocks of 

 the Northwest," were among the important 

 papers of the first day. On the second day, in 

 the Anthropological Section, much attention 

 was excited by a paper read by Mrs. Alice 0. 

 Fletcher on the habits and customs of the 

 Omaha Indians. On this and succeeding days 

 several papers in this section were read by la- 

 dies. In Section E, an interesting paper was 

 read by Prof. J. E. Hilgard on u The Relative 

 Level of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexi- 

 co, with Remarks on the Gulf Stream and 

 Deep-Sea Temperature." In it the difference 

 of level of the ocean at the mouth of the Mis- 

 sissippi and at Sandy Hook, N. J., was stated 

 to be forty inches. This was regarded as a 

 startling assertion, requiring the high author- 

 ity of its author to sustain it. Other more 

 technical papers were read in the other sec- 

 tions. At a general meeting in the forenoon 

 Prof. Minot presented a petition, signed by 

 many eminent scientists, reading as follows : 



The undersigned respectfully request the British 

 Association for the Advancement of Science and the 

 American Association for the Advancement of Science 

 to consider the advisability of forming an Interna- 

 tional Scientific Congress, to meet at intervals in the 

 different countries, and, if it should be found desira- 

 ble, to take measures to initiate the undertaking. 



The same petition had been presented to the 

 British Association in Montreal. The Ameri- 

 can Association referred it to a committee, 



