472 



NATURE 



[September 15, li 



Agricultural Societies, advised that the co-operation of 

 these bodies should first be invited. The committee was 

 re-appointed for this purpose, and sent in a report, the 

 principal recommendation of which was adopted by the 

 Council, and is as follows: — "Your committee recom- 

 mend that the Board of Agriculture be informed that, in 

 the opinion of the British Association, there is an urgent 

 need for the co-ordination of existing institutions for 

 agricultural research, and that the Association hopes 

 that steps may be taken towards this end, including the 

 strengthening of the scientific work of the Board of 

 Agriculture and the provision of the means for dealing 

 adequately with scientific questions which may come 

 before it" At the request of the Council this report was 

 brought by the President to the notice of the President 

 of the Board of Agriculture, from whom the following 

 reply, dated July 26, was received :— " I have laid before 

 the Board of Agriculture your letter of the i8th inst., 

 and I am desired to express to the Council of the British 

 Association for the Advancement of Science the thanks 

 of the Board for the attention which the Council have 

 been so good as to give to the important subject of 

 agricultural research. The Board will not fail to bear in 

 mind the views set out in the resolution communicated 

 to them in the letter above referred to." 



(2) That a committee was appointed to report to the 

 Council whether, and, if so, in what form, it is desirable 

 to bring before the Canadian Government the necessity 

 for a hydrographic survey of Canada, and that the follow- 

 ing formed the committee : — Prof. A. Johnson (chair- 

 man and secretary), Lord Kelvin, Prof. G. H. Darwin, 

 Admiral Sir W. J. L. Wharton, Prof. Bovey, and Prof. 

 Macgregor. The committee reported to the Council, 

 and it was decided, in conformity with the recommend- 

 ation contained in the report, that the following resolu- 

 tion should be sent to the Canadian Government : — 

 *'The Council of the British Association have learnt with 

 regret that the Government of the Dominion of Canada 

 is contemplating the discontinuance of their tidal survey 

 of Canadian waters. Whilst the work already carried 

 out is primarily connected with hydrography and navi- 

 gation, they consider that science will incur a great loss 

 if the work of the survey is discontinued. They would, 

 therefore, urge on the Government the desirability of 

 continuing the tidal survey as heretofore." The Presi- 

 dent transmitted the resolution to the Governor-General, 

 who forwarded it to the Government of the Dominion of 

 Canada for their favourable consideration. In reply, the 

 Council were informed that "in view of the limited 

 appropriation made by Parliament, it has been deemed 

 advisable to defer the prosecution of the survey for the 

 present and to confine the work to the maintenance and 

 operations of the tidal gauges already established, and 

 the preparation of tide tables." 



(3) That a committee was appointed by the Council to 

 consider the following resolution : — "That, in view of the 

 facts {a) that a committee of astronomers appointed by 

 the Royal Society of London, in consequence of a com- 

 munication Irom the Royal Society of Canada, has 

 recently considered the matter, and has arrived at the 

 conclusion that no change can now be introduced in the 

 Nautical Almanac for 1901, and ifi) that few English 

 astronomers are attending the Toronto meeting of the 

 Association : the committees of sections A and E are not 

 in a position to arrive at any definite conclusion with 

 respect to the unification of time ; but they think it 

 desirable to call the attention of the Council to the 

 subject, in which the interests of mariners are deeply 

 involved, with the view of taking such action in the 

 matter as may seem to them to be desirable." Several 

 members of this committee had also served on the com- 

 mittee of the Royal Society, and after careful consider- 

 ation of the whole question the committee saw no good 



NO. I 507, VOL. 58] 



reason for dissenting from the conclusion which had 

 been recently adopted by the Royal Society and reported 

 in the following terms :— " The committee report that as 

 there is a diversity of opinion amongst astronomers and 

 sailors as to the desirability of the adoption of civil 

 reckoning for astronomical purposes, and as it is im- 

 possible to carry out such a change in the Nautical 

 Almanac for the year 1901, they do not recommend that 

 the Council of the British Association should at present 

 take any steps in support of the suggested change of 

 reckoning." The President has transmitted this report 

 to the Royal Society of Canada. 



In their report last year at Toronto, the Council in- 

 formed the General Committee that the establishment of 

 a Bureau for Ethnology was under the consideration of 

 the trustees of the British Museum. In the course of 

 their reply, dated December 15, 1897, the trustees state 

 " that they are quite of opinion that such a bureau might 

 be administered in connection with the Ethnographical 

 Section of their collections, with advantage both to the 

 objects in view of the Association and to the enlargement 

 of the British Museum collections. They are, therefore, 

 willing to accept in principle the proposal of the British 

 Association, and they would be ready to take the neces- 

 sary steps for carrying it into effect as soon as certain re- 

 arrangements affecting space, &c., which are now taking 

 place within the museum, shall have been finished, as it 

 is expected, in the course of the coming year." 



In accordance with the regulations, the retiring mem- 

 bers of the Council are : Prof. Edgeworth, Mr. Victor 

 Horsley, Mr. G. J. Symons, Prof. W. Ramsay. The 

 Council recommended the re-election of the other 

 ordinary members of the Council, with the addition 

 of the gentlemen whose names are distinguished 

 by an asterisk in the following list : — Mr. C. 

 Vernon Boys, F.R.S., Captain E. W. Creak, R.N., 

 F.R.S., Mr. F. Darwin, F.R.S., the Hon. Sir C. W. Fre- 

 mantle, K.C.B., *Dr. W. H. Gaskell, F.R.S., Prof. W. 

 D. Halliburton, F.R.S., Prof. L. F. Vernon Harcourt, 

 Prof. W. A. Herdman, F.R.S., *Dr. J. Scott Kehie, 

 *Major P. A. MacMahon, F.R.S., Mr. J. E. Marr, F.R.S., 

 Prof. R. Meldola, F.R.S., Prof. E. B. Poulton, F.R.S., 

 Mr. W. H. Preece, C.B.. F.R.S., *Mr. L. L. Price, Prof. 

 J. Emerson Reynolds, F.R.S., Mr. W. N. Shaw, F.R.S., 

 Mr. J. J. H. Teall, F.R.S., Mr. W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 

 C.M.G., F.R.S., Prof. S. P. Thompson, F.R.S., *Prof. 

 J. M. Thomson, F.R.S., *Prof. W. A. Tilden, F.R.S., 

 Prof E. B. Tylor, F.R.S., Prof W. C. Unwin, F.R.S., 

 Sir W. H. White, K.C.B., F.R.S. 



As to the financial position of the Association, the 

 statement presented by Prof. Riicker showed that the 

 receipts for the past year were 4623/. \Zs. 2d., and that 

 there was a balance of 1703/. 3J. 8^. in the treasurer's 

 hands. 



At a meeting of the General Committee held on 

 Monday, it was decided to accept the invitation of the 

 municipal authorities at Bradford to meet there in the 

 year 1900. Dr. Michael Foster was elected President for 

 the meeting at Dover next year. The following Vice- 

 Presidents were also elected :— The Archbishop of 

 Canterbury, the Marquis of Salisbury, the Mayor of 

 Dover, Lord Herschell, the General Commanding the 

 South-Eastern District, Mr. Akers-Douglas, M.P., the 

 Dean of Canterbury, Sir Norman Lockyer, and Prof. G. 

 H. Darwin. Prof. Riicker was appointed a trustee, in 

 succession to the late Lord Playfair. Profs. Schafer and 

 Roberts-Austen were re-elected general secretaries, and 

 Mr. Griffith assistant general secretary. Prof. G. Carey 

 Foster was elected to succeed Prof. Riicker as general 

 treasurer. 



At the meetings of the Committee of Recommenda- 

 tions, the following sums of money were voted for 

 scientific purposes : — 



