34 



ASSOCIATIONS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 



lished for electricity, heat, and light, and ar- 

 rangements made for the issue of authenticated 

 copies of the same. 



Election. The following officers for the next 

 meeting were elected : President, Major John 

 W. Powell, of Washington; Vice-Presidents, 

 by sections: Mathematics and Astronomy, 

 Prof. Ormand Stone, of the University of 

 Virginia; Physics, Prof. Albert A. Michelson, 

 of Cleveland, Ohio; Chemistry, Prof. C. E. 

 Monroe, of the U. S Navy, Newport, E. I.; 

 Mechanical Science, Prof. C. W. Woodward, of 

 the Washington University, St. Louis ; Geology 

 and Geography, Prof. G. H. Cook, New Bruns- 

 wick, N. J. ; Biology, Prof. C. V. Riley, Wash- 

 ington; Anthropology, Prof. Charles C. Ab- 

 bott, Trentoo, N. J. ; Economic Science and 

 Statistics, C. W. Smiley, Washington; Per- 

 manent Secretary, Prof. F. W. Putnam, Cam- 

 bridge; General Secretary, Prof. J. C. Ar- 

 thur, Lafayette, Ind. ; Secretary of the Coun- 

 cil, Prof. C. Leo Mees, Athens, Ohio; Treas- 

 urer, William Lilly, Mauch Chunk; Secretaries 

 of sections, in order, Prof. C. L. Doolittle, Beth- 

 lehem, Penn. ; Dr. A. L. Kimball, Johns Hop- 

 kins University; Prof. W. L. Dudley, Nash- 

 ville; Prof. George II. Williams, Johns Hopkins 

 University; Prof. Arthur Beardsley, Swarth- 

 more College ; Dr. N. L. Britton, Columbia 

 College; Prof. Frank Baker, Smithsonian In- 

 stitution ; and Prof. C. S. Hill, Washington. 



The place for the next meeting is Cleve- 

 land, and the date the fourth Wednesday in 

 August, 1888. 



British. The British Association for the Ad- 

 vancement of Science held its fifty -seventh an- 

 nual meeting in Manchester beginning August 

 31, 1887. Great preparations were made to in- 

 sure the success of the third Manchester meet- 

 ing of the Association. Owens College was 

 selected as the place of meeting. Nearly every 

 distinguished man of science abroad it is said 

 had a letter of invitation to attend the meet- 

 ing. The total attendance amounted to nearly 

 4,000. Among those Americans who accepted 

 may be noted the following : Prof. C. V. Riley, 

 Washington, D. C. ; Prof. II. A. Rowland, of 

 Baltimore, Md. ; Asa Gray, of Cambridge, 

 Mass. ; Charles A. Young, of Princeton, N. J. ; 

 Frank W. Clarke, of Washington, D. C. ; John 

 W. Langley, of Ann Arbor, Mich. ; Cleveland 

 Abbe, of Washington, D. C. 



President's Address. The inaugural address by 

 the president, Sir Henry E. Roscoe, treated of 

 the progress of science during the last fifty 

 years. The speaker uttered a plea for the ac- 

 ceptance of the elements as final constituents 

 of matter, at least for the present, seeming in- 

 clined rather to resist Crooke's recent generali- 

 zations. He traced the history of chemical and 

 physical science through the line of workers of 

 the past five decades, and ended by a brilliant 

 allusion to the delights of seeking truth and 

 acquiring knowledge. 



Section Presidents' Addresses. In Section A, de- 

 voted to mathematical and physical science, the 



president, Sir Robert Ball, Astronomer Royal 

 of Ireland, spoke on " A Dynamicable Parable," 

 the theory of screws. This gave a review of 

 its subject in the form of a disputation between 

 a number of fictitious characters, such as Mr. 

 Helix, Mr. Querulous, Mr. Anharmonic, etc. 

 The address reads well, and is probably mi 

 generic as far as the annals of the Association 

 are concerned. 



In Section B, devoted to chemical science 

 the address was delivered by Dr. Edward 

 Schunck. The speaker first described the 

 chemistry of fifty years ago as he first studied 

 it, contrasting it with that of the present day. 

 Then, with this as a basis, he endeavored to 

 outline what the chemistry of the future would 

 be. The address, from so old a representative 

 of science, possessed a peculiar interest, and 

 will repay careful perusal. 



In Section C, devoted to geology, the ad- 

 dress was delivered by Sir Henry Woodward. 

 He treated of the world's work in geology. He 

 referred to Sir William Dawson's ideas as to a 

 a Federal Union of Geologists with great ap- 

 proval. The International Congress of Geolo- 

 gists was then spoken of with special reference 

 to the 1888 London meeting thereof. Finally, 

 the work of the world's geologists was de- 

 scribed briefly, each authority being cited by 

 name, and a valuable resume of the work now 

 going on being thus presented. 



In Section D, devoted to biology, the ad- 

 dress was delivered by Prof. A. Newton. It 

 was largely devoted to the Darwinian theory, 

 of which the speaker appeared as an eager ad- 

 vocate. He spoke of the fauna of the British 

 colonies, and lamented their rapid extinction, 

 affirming that from them biologists might draw 

 their most valuable lessons. 



In Section E, devoted to geography, the ad- 

 dress was given by Maj.-Gen. Sir Charles War- 

 ren. It was local in its scope, the speaker dwell- 

 ing upon the importance to the English nation 

 of the dissemination of goegraphical knowledge 

 among its people. 



In Section F, devoted to economic science 

 and statistics, Dr. Robert Giffen, on " The Re- 

 cent Rate of Material Progress in England." 

 This, too, was of local character, applying to 

 England only. 



In Section G, devoted to mechanical science, 

 the address was delivered by Prof. Oshorne 

 Reynolds. It was devoted to the progress of 

 the steam-engine toward theoretically perfect 

 results. The lecturer took for a starting point 

 the labors of Clausius, Carnot, Regnault, and 

 the other great students of thermodynamics, 

 and traced the progress from them to the prac- 

 tical results of the present day. 



In Section H, devoted to anthropology, the 

 address was delivered by Prof. A. H. Sayce, on 

 the evidence to be obtained from a study of 

 language as to the history and development of 

 mankind. 



Other Papers. Among the papers presented 

 by Americans may be noted those hy Prof. C. 



