ASSOCIATIONS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 



45 



public questions, the most important was the 

 passage of a series of resolutions at the session 

 of Aug. 28, concerning the Coast Survey. They 

 were passed apropos of the report of the United 

 States Treasury Department Commission on 

 the Coast Survey, and condemned certain criti- 

 cisms directed agaiust the survey which were 

 said to have been made by it. The resolu- 

 tions expressed high approval of the work of 

 the organization in question. The printed vol- 

 ume (pp. 736) containing the report of the 1884 

 meeting was issued just prior to the 1885 meet- 

 ing. The proceedings were opened by the 

 president's address, delivered by Prof. J. P. 

 Lesley, of Philadelphia, Pa. In Section A, 

 Prof. Newton, of Yale College, read a paper 

 on the effect of small bodies passing near a 

 planet upon the planet's velocity. It was 

 quite technical, and was followed by papers 

 by Prof. William Harkness, of the United States 

 Naval Observatory: Prof. G. W. Hough, of 

 Dearborn Observatory ; and Mr. 0. H. Rock- 

 well, of Tarrytown, N. Y., all upon the sub- 

 jects of instruments for astronomical observa- 

 tions. The last-named gentleman gave the 

 results of observations with a newly invented 

 instrument, the almucantar of Mr. Chandler, 

 which gives a radically new and very accurate 

 method of determining star positions. 



In Section B, Prof. Langley, of Ann Arbor, 

 read a most interesting paper on the measure- 

 ment of the wave-lengths of radiant heat as 

 radiated by the earth. His observations tended 

 to prove the existence of wave-lengths as great 

 as five ten-thousanths of an inch, twenty times 

 the length of the longest wave of the visible 

 solar radiations. Mr. J. A. Brashear supple- 

 mented this by a paper describing his method 

 of polishing the rock-salt prisms used in the 

 investigation. Other papers by Com. Jewell 

 on phenomena of gun-cotton explosions, by 

 Prof. Dolbear on telephonic and electric sub- 

 jects, and by Prof. E. L. Nichols on spectro- 

 scopy, disagreeing in some conclusions with the 

 statement of Prof. Langley, may be mentioned. 



In Section C, Prof. W. R. Nichols read a pa- 

 per on sanitary chemistry, treating of food adul- 

 teration, ventilation, and the need of courses 

 in sanitary engineering in our colleges. Prof. 

 A. B. Prescott treated the limits of detection 

 of poisons when mixed with meat, bread, 

 and organic substances. Messrs. Cowles and 

 Mayberry presented a most interesting paper 

 on an electric furnace and aluminum alloys 

 made in it. The voltaic arc is the source of 

 heat, and has power enough to reduce alumi- 

 num from its oxide and silicate. It produces 

 aluminum alloys much cheaper than does the 

 old method (St. Clair Deville's). Alloys of 

 boron and copper can also be obtained. Great 

 tensile strength is the most important property 

 of these compounds. Miss Helen 0. D. Abbott 

 read an exhaustive paper on the chemical com- 

 position of Yucca angmtifolia. Discussions 

 on the questions " What is the best initiatory 

 work for students entering upon laboratory 



practice ? " and " To what extent is the knowl- 

 edge of molecular physics necessary for one 

 who would teach theoretical chemistry ? " were 

 participated in by various members. 



In Section D, Prof. S. Burkitt Webb, of Cam- 

 bridge, read a very abstruse paper on thermo- 

 dynamics. Prof. Thurston, of Cornell Univer- 

 sity, read a very valuable paper on cylinder 

 condensation in steam-engines. Other papers 

 in this section related to practical questions on 

 the instruments arid processes of engineering. 

 This section also indulged in a discussion on 

 the best methods of teaching its subject. 



In Section E, Prof. Orton, State Geologist of 

 Ohio, read a paper on recent geological prog- 

 ress and one on coal. Papers were contrib- 

 uted by Profs. Winchell, James D. Dana, Ed- 

 ward Orton, and others. Prof. Henry S. Will- 

 iams's paper on the relations between stratig- 

 raphy and changes in fauna excited much at- 

 tention. 



In Section F, Prof. Wilder, of Cornell Univer- 

 sity, spoke on educational museums of verte- 

 brates. He described the collections at Cornell, 

 arranged to show the comparative relations 

 of vertebrate animals. Several papers, dealing 

 with botanical questions, were given by Prof. 

 Sturtevant, of the New York Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station, Prof. Bessey, of the Univer- 

 sity of Nebraska, and others. 



In the now abolished Section G, papers were 

 presented by Profs. Gage, of Cornell University, 

 W. H. Walmsley, T. J. Burrill, and 0. P. Hart. 



In section H, Capt. W. H. Dall, of Washing- 

 ton, read a most interesting paper on the In- 

 dians of Alaska ; the Rev. Mr. Darcy spoke of 

 the Oregon Indians at the Siletz agency, and 

 the Rev. Mr. W. M. Beauchamp treated of the 

 Iroquois clans and sachemships. Mr. A. W. 

 Butler spoke of the ruins at San Juan Teoti- 

 huacan, Mexico. This was followed by a pa- 

 per on the significance of flora to the Iroquois, 

 by Mrs. Erminnie A. Smith. The paper was 

 a study of the names given to various trees 

 and plants in the different nations of the Iro- 

 quois, and a comparison of these names, tracing 

 them up to the parent stock. Another lady, 

 Miss Alice 0. Fletcher, read a paper that ex- 

 cited much interest, on the sacred war-tent 

 and some war-customs of the Omahas. She 

 subsequently read a paper entitled " An Aver- 

 age Day amon$ the Sioux." Dr. 0. S. Minot, 

 in a paper on the number-habit, referred to ex- 

 periments conducted by the American Society 

 for Psychical Research. These did not tend to 

 prove the possibility of mind-reading, the spe- 

 cial object of the investigation. 



In Section I, Mr. Edward Atkinson spoke 

 of the application of science to the production 

 and consumption of food, alluding in it to Prof. 

 Atwater's admirable tables of food-values. (See 

 " Annual Cyclopedia " for 1883, p. 346.) Mrs. 

 Ellen B. Richards, of Boston, treated the sub- 

 ject of elementary science-teaching in gram- 

 mar-schools. Gov. John B. Hoyt, of Wyoming, 

 spoke of the need of a systematic reorganization 



