ASSOCIATIONS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OP SCIENCE. (AMERICAN.) 



27 



evident relations between it and vision by faint 

 light in which all the colors fade and tend to be- 

 come white. A definite and highly probable func- 

 tion has been assigned to the visual purple, that of 

 adaptation and of causing or aiding vision in faint 

 light. " Further than these few principles we can 

 hardly go. The number and variety of known hu- 

 man phenomena are very great and constantly in- 

 creasing. Their interrelations grow every day 

 more complex, and the actual mechanism govern- 

 ing those relations still remains almost entirely un- 

 known. The various theories have arrived at such 

 a state of flexibility that, thanks to subsidiary hy- 

 potheses, almost any kind of visual result might be 

 explainable. Perhaps the most hopeful line of re- 

 search is that which, like the study of the visual 

 purple, seeks to find a relation between color sensa- 

 tions and physical properties." In concluding he 

 said : " It seemed not surprising if the next great 

 step in advance might come from the chemical in- 

 vestigations rather than from the sides of physics, 

 physiology, or psychology, which have held the 

 field so long." 



Owing to the resignation of Edward B. Rosa, of 

 Wesleyan University, William S. Franklin, of Le- 

 high University, was chosen secretary of the sec- 

 tion. 



Subsequently the following-named papers were 

 read and discussed before the section : " The Meas- 

 urement of Thermal Conductivity in Iron," by Ed- 

 win H. Hall ; " Second Report on the Magnetic 

 Survey of Maryland," by Louis A. Bauer ; " The 

 Resistance of Iron Wires for Alternating Currents 

 of Ordinary Frequencies " and " On the Magnetic 

 Deflection of Diffusely Reflected Cathode Rays," 

 by Ernest Merritt; "On the Electrical Properties 

 of the Vapor from the Arc," by Ernest Merritt and 

 Oscar M. Stewart ; " The Heat of Fusion of Ice de- 

 termined in Electrical Units," by Edward L. Nich- 

 ols ; " The Hysteresis of Iron and Steel at Ordi- 

 nary Temperatures and at the Temperature of Solid 

 Carbon Dioxide," by A. M. Thiessen ; " The Elec- 

 trical Resistance of Lead Amalgams at Low Tem- 

 peratures," by G. W. Gressman ; " The Most Effi- 

 cient Thickness of Transformer Plate," by Fred- 

 erick Bedell, R. M. Klein, and T. P. Thompson; 

 ' Photographic Studies of the Electric Arc," by N. 

 H. Brown ; " Exhibition of Certain Models in Phys- 

 ics and Dynamics," by Carl Barus; "Temperature 

 and Vapor Gradients in the Atmosphere," by Ed- 

 ward H. Bigelow ; " Report on the Velocity of 

 Light in a Magnetic Field," by ?]dward W. Morley, 

 Henry T. Eddy, and Dayton C. Miller ; " A Study 

 of Standard Meter Scales ruled on Nickel, Silver, 

 and Glass," by Dayton C. Miller; "An Apparatus 

 for determining Coefficients of Induction," by Sid- 

 ney T. Moreland ; " Study of Elastic Fatigue by 

 the Time Variation of the Logarithmic Decrement," 

 by Joseph O.Thompson; "A Redetermination of 

 the Ampere," by George W. Patterson and Karl E. 

 Guthe ; " Polarization and Internal Resistance of 

 the Voltaic Cell," by Karl E. Guthe ; " A New Gas," 

 by Charles F. Brush ; " Hysteresis Loss in Iron for 

 very Small Ranges of Induction (B)." by Henry S. 

 \\Vbb ; " Note on the Testing of Optical Glass " 

 and "A Lecture-Room Experiment in Electrostat- 

 ics," by William S. Franklin ; " A Study of Gal- 

 vanic Polarization," by Barry McNutt ; " On a 

 Normal Curve of Magnetization of Iron," by Schuy- 

 ler S.Clark; "Some Determinations of Dielectric 

 Strength," by Thomas Gray ; " On the Efficiency of 

 Condensers " and " A Calorimetric Determination 

 of the Energy dissipated in Condensers," by Ed- 

 ward B. Rosa and Arthur W. Smith; "Graphical 

 Treatment of Mutually Inductive Circuits with 

 Special Reference to the Case of Variable Frequen- 

 cy," by Henry T. Eddy ; " The Effect of Fibrous 



Structure in Iron on its Change of Length when 

 Magnetized," by Edward Rhoads ; " Progress in the 

 Exploration of the Air with Kites at the Blue Hill 

 Observatory," by A. Lawrence Rotch ; " On the 

 Use of Window Glass having a Diffusive Action on 

 Light," by Charles L. Norton : " On the Relative 

 Brightness of Pigments by Oblique Vision," by 

 Frank P. Whitman ; "Notes on the Effect of Sili- 

 con on the Magnetic Permeability of Iron," by 

 Frank C. Caldwell ; " On the Osmotic Pressure of 

 Certain Ether Solutions and the Validity of the 

 Boyle-Van't Hoff Law," by H. M. Goodwin and 

 George K. Burgess; "On the Dielectric Constant 

 and Electrical Conductivity of Liquid Ammonia," 

 by Harry M. Goodwin and Maurice de Kay Thomp- 

 son, Jr. ; " A New Instrument for the Measure- 

 ment of the Intensity of Sound," by Arthur G. 

 Webster and B. F. Sharpe; "A New Chronograph 

 and a Means of rating Tuning Forks " and "A 

 Geometrical Method for investigating Diffraction 

 by a Circular Aperture," by Arthur G. Webster; 

 " On the measurement of Electrical Oscillations of 

 Short Period and their Absorption by Water," by 

 Alfred D. Cole ; " The Effect of the Secondary on 

 the Period of Oscillation in a Primary Condenser 

 Circuit," by J. H. Smith; "Exhibit of an Automat- 

 ic Mercurial Air Pump designed by Prof. E. W. 

 Morley," by Dayton C. Miller; ''An Improved 

 Method for rating Tuning Forks " and " An 

 Acoustical Micrometer," by John 0. Reed ; " An 

 Instrument for measuring Radiance," by Knut 

 Angstorm; "A Device for Recording Photometer 

 Readings," by C. P. Matthews ; '' Polarization in 

 the Zn H 2 SO 4 Cell," by William A. Anthony; "A 

 Harmonic Piano and Organ," by Levi Orser ; and 

 " On Certain Constants relating to Arc Lighting," 

 by William Harkness. 



C. Chemistry. This section had as its presiding 

 officer Prof. Edgar F. Smith, who fills the chair of 

 Chemistry in the University of Pennsylvania. The 

 subject of his address was ' The Electric Current in 

 Organic Chemistry." He said : " It is almost a cen- 

 tury since Volta made his 'grand discovery,' which 

 led to further investigations, with the final demon- 

 stration that animal and metal electricity are one. 

 It also opened the way to the construction of the 

 battery bearing the name of this honored investi- 

 gator." Of the chemical phenomena, which were to 

 Volta also entirely devoid of interest, were men- 

 tioned the discovery of the electrolytic decompo- 

 sition of water and others of value, culminating in 

 Davy's isolation of the two valuable alkali metals, 

 sodium and potassium. After reviewing the im- 

 portant discoveries made by the application of the 

 electric current to various compounds, Prof. Smith 

 discussed more particularly the results won by the 

 introduction of the current into the field of pure 

 chemistry. Of its use in analysis he said : " It was 

 our own Dr. Gibbs who in 18(55 first called the at- 

 tention of the chemical world to that simple yet 

 beautiful and extremely satisfactory determination 

 of copper in the electrolytic way which proved 

 the incentive to further study in this direction, so 

 that at present 21 metals lend themselves to electro- 

 lytic determination from solutions of the most varied 

 character, and in the same manner at least 120 

 separations have been made, all of which, for accu- 

 racy, neatness, and rapidity, leave little to be de- 

 sired." Its application in the establishment of 

 industries of national importance was described. 

 Then, reaching the main topic of his address, and 

 beginning with the experiments made by Kolbe in 

 1848 of the electrolysis of concentrated solutions of 

 potassium, acetate, and valerate, he gave a complete 

 historical summary of the work accomplished by 

 the application of the electric current to organic 

 compounds. In closing, he quoted the words of 



