4IO 



NATURE 



[January 26, 191 1 



THE MINNEAPOLIS MEETING OF THE 

 AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. 



I"' HE sixty-second meeting of the American Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science was held 

 on December 27-31, 1910, at Minneapolis, Minnesota, 

 under the presidency of Dr. A. A. Michelson, of the 

 University of Chicago. 



The membership of the association lives for the 

 most part in the large educational and scientific 

 centres of the more eastern States, and, as a result, 

 the larg^e attendance always obtained at Boston, New- 

 York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washing^ton could 

 noi be expected during the Christmas holidays at a 

 point so far removed as Minneapolis, which, by the way, 

 is about thirty-six hours bv rail from New York or 

 Washington. There was, therefore, an attendance of 

 approximately between seven and eight hundred. As 

 often happens, however, with the smaller meetings 

 the interest was quite as keen, if not keener, and 

 the quality of papers presented reached the usual high 

 standard. 



At the opening session, held on Tuesday night, 

 December 27, addresses of welcome were delivered 

 by Dr. Cyrus C. Northrop, president of the University 

 of Minnesota, and Mr. Wallace G. Nye, president of 

 th° local Chamber of Commerce. President Michel- 

 son made an address in reply, after which the retiring 

 president, Dr. David Starr Jordan, president of the 

 Leland Stanford Junior University, delivered his 

 address on "The Making of a Darwin," published in 

 Nature on January 12. The people of Minneapolis 

 were present in numbers and the audience at this 

 session was very large. 



All the meetings were held in the buildings of the 

 University of Minnesota, one of the largest, most 

 progressive and wealthiest of State universities. The 

 handsome and admirably equipped buildings are con- 

 centrated in a reasonably compact campus, and no 

 time was lost in going from one section to another. 

 This was in striking relief from conditions existing 

 ill previous years. In Boston the meeting places were 

 distributed through Harvard University, Massachu- 

 setts Institute of Technology, and Harvard Medical 

 School, all very widely separated. 



Apart from the opening meeting, there were only 

 two other gfeneral sessions, one devoted to an 

 address by Mr. A. B. Stickney, on the subject, 

 " Should Practical Agriculture and the Physical 

 Development of Childhood be Added to the Curri- 

 culum of the City Public Schools? " in the neighbour- 

 ing city of Saint Paul, on Wednesday night; the other 

 by Mr. William Alanson Bryan, on Thursday -night, 

 on the subject of "The Volcano Kilauea." 



Probably on account of the distance involved, many 

 of the affiliated societies which customarily meet with 

 the American Association for the advancement of 

 Science met at other cities, but the following were 

 present and listened to excellent programmes : — 



.'\inerican Chemical Society, American Physical Society. 

 American Psychological Association, Botanical Society of 

 America, Botanists of the Central States, Entomological 

 Society of America, American Association of Economic 

 Entomologists, American Federation of Teachers of the 

 Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Association of Horti- 

 cultural Inspectors, American Mathematical Society 

 (Chicago Section), American Microscopical Society, 

 American Nature-study Society, American Phytopatho- 

 logical Society, SuUivant Moss Society, Western Philo- 

 sophical Association, American Society of Zoologists 

 (Central Branch). 



Following the policv first formulated by the council 

 three years ago, and reiterated by the council this 

 year under formal resolution, the sections of the asso- 

 ciation, as a rule, did not present long programmes 



NO. 2152, VOL. 85I 



of shorter and more technical papers; but, aside from 

 the addresses of the vice-presidents, devoted their time 

 to the general discussion of topics of broad interest 

 and conducted symposia on four subjects. 



The addresses of the vice-presidents (presidents ot 

 sections) were as follows : — 



A (Mathematics and Astronomy), Ernest W. Brown, 

 Yale University, New Haven, Conn., " The Relations of 

 Jupiter with the Asteroids." B (Physics), Louis A. Bauer, 

 Carnegie Institution, Washington, D.C., " The Broader 

 .'\spects of Research in Terrestrial Magnetism." C (Chem- 

 istry), William McPherson, Ohio State University, 

 Columbus, Ohio, " The Formation of Carbohydrates in the 

 Vegetable Kingdom." D (Mechanical Science and 

 Engineering), John F. Hayford, College of Engineering, 

 Evanston, Illinois, " The Relations of Isostasy to Geodesy, 

 Geology, and Geophysics." E (Geology and Geography), 

 Reginald W. Brock, Geological Survey of Canada, Kings- 

 ton, Canada, " Northern Canada." F (Zoology), William 

 E. Ritter, Marine Biological Laboratory, San Diego, 

 California, " The Controversy between Mechanism and 

 Vitalism: Can it be Ended?" I (Social and Economic 

 Science), Byron W. Holt, New York, N.Y., " Causes and 

 Effects of High Land Values." K (Physiology and Ex- 

 perimental Medicine), Charles Sedgwick' Minot, Harvard 

 Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, " The Method of 

 Science." 



The principal symposia were as follows :■ — Section K 

 presented a series of excellent papers by well-known 

 experts on "Disease Due to Filterable Organisms," 

 including two papers on the mysterious Rocky Moun- 

 tain spotted fever, another on "Acute Anterior Polio- 

 myslitis," and another on "Yellow Fever, Dengue 

 Fever, and Pappataci Fever." In the same sym- 

 posium, general attention was given to animal 

 diseases, plant diseases, and experimental diseases. 

 The diseases of domestic animals considered were 

 rabies and hog cholera. 



Under the Section of Mechanical Science and 

 Engineering, an important symposium was held on 

 the subject of aeronautics, the papers for the most 

 part being technical; but the list included an "Appre- 

 ciation of Dr. Octave Chanute and His Work in 

 Engineering and Aeronautics," an historical paper on 

 the " Earlv Attempts to Navigate the Air," a sug- 

 gested programme of aeronautical research at the 

 colleges, and a paper on "Technical Education in 

 Aeronautics." 



Many joint programmes were held between the sec- 

 tions and the affiliated societies. An important con- 

 ference on botany teaching was held bv all of the 

 botanists present, and the question of the water supply 

 of Minnesota was discussed by the geologists. Ques- 

 tions of sewage pollution and the smoky atmosphere 

 of western cities and many other practical topics were 

 discussed in the Section of Chemistry. Section L 

 (Education) joined with the American Psychological 

 Association in discussing general questions relating to 

 school children. 



No actions of great importance were taken bv the 

 council aside from the resolution looking to the 

 generalising and broadening of the sections and the 

 restriction of purely technical programmes to the 

 affiliated societies. 



Two British subjects, and members of the British 

 Association, were in attendance and were made 

 honorary members for the meeting. They were Dr. 

 Marie C. Stopes. of the University, Manchester, and 

 Prof. A. H. R. Buller, of the LIniversitv of Manitoba. 



The general committee designated Washington as 

 the place for the next meeting, with recommendations 

 that Cleveland and Toronto be chosen in the succes- 

 sion indicated for following meetings. 



The following: officers were elected for the Wash- 

 ington meeting : — 



