August 26, 1897] 



NA 7 URE 



413 



necessitated by too great haste in formulation and too great 

 rashness in publication. The freedom to change which he 

 exercised, and which was exercised too little by at least one of his 

 predecessors, was an offset to his rashhess. He exercised a 

 proper scientific spirit in refusing to be always consistent at the 

 expense of truth." 



We have received copies of addresses delivered before some of 

 the sections : — " A Chapter in the History of Mathematics " was 

 the subject of an address delivered before the section of 

 Mathematics and Astronomy, by Prof. W. W. Beman. An in- 

 teresting address was delivered before the section of Physics, by 

 the vice-president, and chairman of the section. Dr. Carl Barus, 

 upon the subject of " Long Range Temperature and Pressure 

 \ariables in Physics." The section of Chemistry received an 

 address from Prof. W. P. Mason, upon "Expert Testimony," 

 which is practically a handbook for experts. Prof. J. Galbraith 

 addressed the section of Mechanical Science and Engineering, 

 upon "The Groundwork of Dynamics." The section of Botany 

 listened to an address upon " Experimental Morphology," by 

 Prof. G. F. Atkinson. 



Papers of interest were presented in each section. The Physics 

 section was unusually full, and received a large proportion of 

 electrical papers. Two professors from the Weather Bureau read 

 papers : Prof. Frank H. Bigelow, on international cloud observ- 

 ations made by that bureau ; and Prof. C. F. Marvin, on kites 

 and their use by the bureau in exploring the upper air. One or 

 two joint sessions of this section and the mathematical section 

 were held. Several joint sessions of other sections took place. 

 A debate on evolution was conducted before the joint session of 

 lx)tanical and zoological sections by Prof. Henry F. Osborn 

 and Prof. E. B. Poulton. The zoological section was specially 

 interested in the notes on a collection of Cephalopods from the 

 Albatross expedition, by Mr. Wm. E. Hoyle, Keeper of the 

 Manchester Museum. Prof. L. O. Howard was elected vice- 

 president of this section, to fill the vacancy caused by death 

 of Prof. G. Brown Goode. Prof. Howard's address as vice- 

 president was on the distribution of species by man, with par- 

 ticular reference to insects. He also read other papers; and 

 was elected permanent secretary of the Association, in place of 

 Prof. Putnam. 



A joint session of the geological and anthropological sections 

 was held to discuss the discoveries of aigillite implements near 

 Trenton, by Prof. Putnam. Profs. Putnam and Wright main- 

 tained that these discoveries proved the existence of paleolithic 

 man ; an inference disputed by others. 



Startling conclusions with reference to the region where the 

 Association met, were presented to the geologists by Dr. J. W. 

 Spencer and Prof. G, K. Gilbert, who by joint labour and 

 investigation had determined that the earth's surface about the 

 great lakes is sinking at nearly the rate of one inch in ten 

 years, as Dr. Spencer says. Prof Gilbert adds that the rise is 

 more rapid towards the north and east, amounting to five inches 

 in a century in points lOO miles apart. The result will be that 

 in a few centuries Chicago and Detroit will be flooded ; within 

 1000 years water will flow freely from Lake Michigan into the 

 Mississippi, and within 3000 years Niagara will be dry, and the 

 St. Lawrence will drain only the Lake Ontario basin. Prof. 

 E. W. Claypole was elected to preside over this section in the 

 absence of the vice-president. 



The time and place of the next meeting, fifty years after the 

 formation of the Association, will be Boston, August 22, 1898 ; 

 at which city arrangements were made in 1847 to meet at 

 Philadelphia in 1848, and then to change the old Association 

 of American Geologists and Naturalists into the American 

 Association for the Advancement of Science. 



The following were nominated as officers : President, Prof. 

 Frederick Ward Putnam, of Cambridge, Mass. Permanent 

 Secretary, Prof Leland O. Howard, of Washington, D.C., 

 (iovernment entomologist. General Secretary, Prof. D. S. 

 Kellicott, of Columbus, Ohio. Secretary of the Council, Prof. 

 Frederick Bedell, of Ithaca. Treasurer, Prof. R. S. Wood- 

 ward, of New York. Vice-Presidents: Section A (Mathematics 

 and Astronomy), Prof. E. E. Barnard, of the University of 

 Chicago; Section B (Physics), Prof. Frank D. Whitman, of 

 Cleveland, Ohio ; Section C (Chemistry), Prof Edgar F. Smith, 

 of Philadelphia ; Section D (Mechanical Science and Engineer- 

 ing), Prof. Wm. E. Cooley, of Ann Arbor; Section E (Geology 

 and Geography), Prof. H. L. Fairchild, of Rochester, N.V. ; 

 Section F (Zoology), Prof. A. S. Packard, junr., of Providence, 

 R.L; Section G (Botany), Prof. W. G. Farlow, of Harvard 



NO. 1452, VOL. 56] 



University ; Section H (Anthropology), Prof. J. M. Cattell, of 

 New York ; Section I (Economic Science and Statistics), Mr. 

 Archibald Blue, of Toronto, Canada. Secretaries of Sections : 

 Section A, Prof. Alexander Ziwet, of Ann Arbor ; Section B, 

 Prof. Y.. B. Rosa, of Middletown, Conn. ; Section C, Prof 

 Charles Baskerville, of the University of North Carolina ; 

 Section D, Prof W. S. Aldrich, of Morgantown, W.Va. ; 

 Section E, Prof. Warren Upham, of St. Paul, Minn. ; Section 

 F, Mr. C. W. Stiles, of Washington, D.C ; Section CJ, Mr. 

 Erwin Smith, of Washington, D.C. ; Section H, Dr. M. H. 

 Saville, of New York ; Section I, Dr. Marcus Benjamin, of 

 Washington, D.C. 



NOTES. 



As already announced, the sixty-ninth meeting of German men 

 of science and physicians will take place at Brunswick on Sep- 

 tember 20 to 25. On the Sunday before, September 19, there 

 will be a display of popular and juvenile games on the Bernhard 

 Platz, in the afternoon. In the evening the first general recep- 

 tion will take place. There will be two general meetings, on 

 September 20 and 24 respectively, at 9 a.m. Prof. Richard 

 Meyer (Brunswick) will give a paper on the relations between 

 chemical research and chemical technology, and Prof. Waldeyer 

 (Berlin) on impregnation and heredity, on the Monday. At 

 Friday's meeting, September 24, there will be a lecture by Dr. 

 Orth (Gottingen), on medical instruction and practice ; and by 

 Dr. H. Meyer (Leipzig), on the sources of the Xingu river, 

 Central Brazil. The sections will begin to meet on Monday 

 afternoon, September 20, but on Wednesday there will be a joint 

 meeting of the sections on the subject of scientific photography, 

 for which some highly interesting papers are promised by Prof. 

 H. W. Vogel, Rene du Bois-Reymond, Lassar, Selenka, and 

 others. The evenings throughout the week will be enlivened 

 by operas, concerts, and balls, and excursions are arranged to 

 Wolfenbiittel, Konigslutter, and other attractive places in the 

 neighbourhood. 



The Imperial Leopold-Carolina Academy of Halle has 

 awarded the Gold Comenius Medal to Prof. A. von KoUiker, 

 professor of anatomy in Wiirzburg University, who recently 

 celebrated the completion of his eightieth year and the jubilee 

 of his appointment to the chair he occupies. 



It is announced in the Titnes that Sir Robert Giffen, K.C.B., 

 F.R.S., Controller-General of the Commercial, Labour, and 

 Statistical Department of the Board of Trade, having reached 

 the age at which he is at liberty to retire from the Civil Service, 

 has decided to do so. The Board of Trade will thus lose his 

 invaluable services ; but Sir Robert Giffen will be given more 

 leisure to complete some important studies upon which he has 

 lately been engaged. 



It is stated that Prof. Koch is about to return to South 

 Africa to carry out further experiments in relation to rinderpest. 



The British Medical Journal states that one hundred sets of 

 Rontgen ray apparatus are to be supplied to the Army Medical 

 Department. 



We learn from the Revue Scientifique that the late M. J. 

 Jackson l.eft a sum of one hundred thousand francs to each of 

 the following organisations : — Societe nationale d'acclimatation, 

 Soci^te de linguistique, Societe geologique de France, Societe 

 fran9aise de photographie. Association franc^aise pour I'avance- 

 ment des sciences, Societe astronomique de France. 



We regret to announce the following deaths :— Dr. Karl 

 Vogel and Prof. Wilhelm Liebenow, the veteran German carto- 

 graphers ; Prof. Karl Wilhelm Petzold, of Brunswick, known 

 by his works on physical and astronomical geography; Dr. 

 Theophil Chudzinski, a member of the Paris Anthropological 

 Society, and a frequent contributor to its bulletins and the Revue 

 d^ Anthropologie ; Dr. J. H. Trumbull, a distinguished philologist 



