48 



ASSOCIATIONS, SCIENCE. 



produces fatal results. When removed, the 

 cause of the trouble disappears: but it' even a mi- 

 nute part of the thyroid -land be left while the 

 greater part is removed a cure is not effected, 

 showing the enormous influence exercised by a 

 " next-to-nothing " process upon the general or- 

 ganism. There is no organ of the body, however 

 small, however seemingly unimportant, that we 

 can presume to neglect; for it ma) be, as with 

 the >upi\M renal capsules, the thyroid gland, and the 

 pam -rea<. that the balance of assimilation and nu- 

 trition, upon the proper maintenance of which the 

 health of the whole organism immediately de- 

 pends, hinges upon the integrity of such obscure 

 structures, and it is the maintenance of this 

 balance which constitutes health, its disturbance 

 disease. In this section the following papers 

 were presented : 



" On the I'm-inm! Diffusion of Poisons into the Or- 

 gans.' 1 l.v Paul Hoiri-r; " A New Theory of Hearing, 1 ' 

 by Mr. 'Hnr>t : " K.-a.-tion Time," by Prof. Kutlier- 

 ford ; " Vowel and Consonant Sounds," by Prof. Her- 

 mann : "An A.rotonometer and Gas Pipette," by 

 Prof. Fredurk-q ; u Local Immunity," by L. Corbett ; 

 "A Form \' Experiinentallj Produoed Immunity," 

 by Lorrain Smith ; " The Changes in Nerve Cells due 

 to Functional Activity," by Dr. Mann ; " On the 

 Cause-; and I'revention of Suffocation in Mines," by 

 Mai. lane; u Observations on the Effects of Al- 

 ter Damp," by Dr. Shaw Little ; and " Experiments 

 on Memory 1 ," by W. G. Smith. 



Popular Features. On the evening of Aug. 

 10 a discourse ''On the Value of African Explo- 

 ration in its Bearing upon Scientific Research" 

 was delivered by Dr. J. W. Gregory, while on the 

 evening of Aug. 11 Prof. W. J. Sollas gave a 

 popular lecture on " Geologies and Deluges " ; 

 also an evening discourse on Historic Progress 

 and Socialism," by Prof. J. Shield Nicholson, 

 was given on Aug. 13. Other entertainments in- 

 cluded a garden party at Christ Church, given 

 by the Dean and Mrs. Paget on the afternoon of 

 Aug. 9, and one given on the afternoon of Aug. 

 10 by the warden of Merton College. Saturday, 

 A tig". 12, was devoted to excursions. These in- 

 cluded a visit to Blenheim, the seat of the Duke 

 of Marlborongh ; to Nuneham, Dorchester, and 

 Wallingford ; to Nuneham and Abingdon ; a 

 geological expedition to Stonesfield and an ex- 

 cursiou to Silchester. On Sunday the Bishop 

 of Oxford preached in the cathedral, and at St. 

 Mary's special sermons were delivered with ref- 

 erence to the meeting. On the evening of Aug. 

 14 the ma\or's xoiree was held in the New 

 Schools. The exhibits at the meeting included 

 t h"<e of the Marine Biological Association ; mor- 

 phological models; experiments with sodium; 

 optical specimens; anthropological specimens; 

 a low-resi<!ance standard; a graphical trans- 

 former : the telautograph ; the Brausviga calcu- 

 lating machine; demonstrations of anthropo- 

 metric measurements ; linkage models of xylo- 

 nite and focornetcr; a thermo-dyimrnic model 

 for steam ; pyrometers ; a mairneiariiim ; Hittite 

 antiquities;" prehistoric antiquities from Crete ; 

 and the liberation from hard mud balls of live 

 protopteri by immersing them in vater, although 

 they had been incased in the mud for several 

 months. Many of the colleges dispensed mag- 

 nificent hospitality, entertaining the officers and 

 foreign visitors with a lavishness that long will 

 be remembered. The university testified to its 



ASTRONOMY, PROGRESS OP. 



interest in the welfare of science by conferring 

 the degree of D. C. L. honoris causa on the fol- 

 lowing foreign investigators present at the meet- 

 ing : Edouard van Beneden, Liege, Belgium ; 

 Ludwig Boltzmann, Munich, Germany ; E. Chau- 

 veau and Max Cornu, Paris, France ; Theodore 

 W. Engelmann, Utrecht, Netherlands ; Wilhelm 

 Forster, Berlin, Germany : Charles Friedel, Paris, 

 France ; L. Hermann, Konigsberg, Germany ; 

 Samuel P. Langley, Washington, D. C. ; Gotsa 

 Mittag-Leffler. Stockholm, Sweden; George 

 Quincke, Heidelberg. Germany; and Edward 

 Strasburger, Bonn, Germany. Among the Amer- 

 ican scientists in attendance were Edward Atkin- 

 son, Boston, Mass. ; Prof. George F. Barker, Phil- 

 adelphia, Pa. ; Dr. John S. Billings, Washington, 

 D. C. ; Prof. Douglas H. Campbell, Palo Alto,Cal. ; 

 Prof. Samuel P. Langley, Washington, I). C. ; 

 Prof. Alfred M. Mayer, Hoboken, N. J. ; Edward 

 P. North, New York city ; Prof. Henry F. Os- 

 born, New York city ; Prof. William Osier, Bal- 

 timore, Md. ; Prof. Charles V. Riley, Washing- 

 ton, D. C. : A. Lawrence Rotch, Boston, Mass. ; 

 Gen. Francis A. Walker, Boston, Mass. ; and H. 

 M. Whitney, Beloit, Wis. 



Attendance and Grants. The report of the 

 general treasurer presented at the final meeting 

 showed that 2,321 persons had attended the 

 meetings, and the receipts were 2,175, in conse- 

 quence of which 1,100 were distributed among 

 the sections in grants for research, as follow: 

 Mathematics and physics, 350; chemistry, 

 105 ; geology, 138 ; biology, 260 ; geography, 

 55 ; mechanical science, 50 ; anthropology, 

 75 ; physiology, 25 ; and corresponding soci- 

 eties, 25 ; making a total of 1,093. Says " Na- 

 ture " : " It was the opinion of all that rarely, if 

 ever, has a more brilliant meeting of the associa- 

 tion been held." 



Next Meeting. As decided last year, the 

 association will meet in 1895 at Ipswich, on Sept. 

 11. For 1896 the claims of Liverpool were pre- 

 sented, which place was then chosen for the 

 meeting of that year. An invitation for Toronto, 

 Canada, in 1897, was received. While a final deci- 

 sion was deferred until next year, a resolution was 

 adopted expressing a desire on the part of the Gen- 

 eral Committee that the invitation be renewed in 

 1895. Sir Douglas Gal ton, a high authority on 

 sanitary matters, and who had been an official 

 of the association since 1871, was chosen presi- 

 dent. The appointments of vice-presidents, local 

 secretary, and the re-election of Vernon Har- 

 court as secretary, and Arthur W. Riicker as 

 treasurer, followed. 



Australasian. The fifth annual meeting of 

 the Australasian Association was held in Ade- 

 laide, South Australia, during the week begin- 

 ning Sept. 25, 1892, and an account of it ap- 

 peared in last year's "Annual Cyclopedia." No 

 meeting was held during 1893, but the sixth an- 

 nual meeting will be held in Brisbane, Queens- 

 land, during January, 1895. 



ASTRONOMY, PROGRESS OF, IN 1894. 

 Though during the past year astronomy has 

 made considerable advance,'yet its progress has 

 not been characterized by any discovery of para- 

 mount importance. No new member has been 

 added to the solar system, nor have we attained 

 to that knowledge of the sun and its surround- 

 ings which is so greatly desired. But the fol- 



