36 



NATURE 



[March 13, 1919 



recalls the attitude of Plato. It was an insistence 

 that the method of thought was more important than 

 its content. 



Summed up, his legacy to thought may be regarded 

 as accuracy of method, criticism of authority, and 

 reliance on experiment — the pillars of modern science. 

 The memory of such a man is surely worthy of 

 national recognition. Charles Singer. 



THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR 

 THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 



np HE seventy-first meeting of the American Associa- 



-*- tion for the Advancement of Science was held 

 at the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., 

 on December 23-28, 1918, under the presidency of Dr. 

 John Merle Coulter, of the University of Chicago. 



The arrangements for the meeting were made before 

 the close of the war, and the armistice in November 

 was, naturally, not anticipated. It had been intended 

 originally to hold this meeting in Boston, but the place 

 was changed on account of the fact that Baltimore 

 (in close proximity to Washington) was most con- 

 venient for the small army of scientific workers who 

 were engaged at the national capital. In the interval 

 between November 11 and the Christmas holidays, 

 however, the character of the programme was largely 

 altered, and reconstruction papers were substituted in 

 many cases for war papers, and some of the symposia 

 were altered accordingly. The total attendance ap- 

 proximated eight hundred, and the following affiliated 

 societies met with the association : — Americal Physical 

 Society, Optical Society of America, Association of 

 American Geographers, Geological Society of America, 

 American Society of Naturalists, American Society 

 of Economic Entomologists, Ecological Society of 

 America, Botanical Society of America, American 

 Phytbpathological Society, American Anthropological 

 Association, Psychological Association, American 

 Metric Association, Society of American Bacterio- 

 logists, American Society of Horticultural Science, 

 Society of American Foresters, School Garden Associa- 

 tion of America, and American Association of the 

 University Professors. 



The outstanding character of the meeting is indi- 

 cated by the titles of some of the addresses and sym- 

 posia, a few of which raay be mentioned. The address 

 of Dr. H. J. Waters, of Section M, is entitled "The 

 Farmers' Gain from the War," and this was followed 

 by a symposium on "The Agricultural Situation in 

 Europe and Measures for Reconstruction." Members 

 of the American Agricultural Mission, recently re- 

 turned from Europe, took part in this symposium. 

 The address by Dr. H. S. Drinker, before Section D, 

 was on " The Need of Conservation of our Vital and 

 Natural Resources as Emphasised bv the Lessons of 

 the War." 



The American Foresters' Association held a sym- 

 posium on "Forest Reconstruction." Section L held 

 one on "The Education of the Disabled Soldier." 

 The Optical Society of America presented a sym- 

 posium on applied optics, and the address of the 

 president. Dr. F. E. Wright, was on the optical 

 industry in war-time. Before the Association of 

 American Geographers Prof. G. A. Condra read a 

 paper entitled " Potash a Factor in Winning the 

 War," and Prof. R. DeC. Ward on "Weather Controls 

 over the Fighting during the Autumn of 1918." 



Section F, in a joint meeting of the American 

 Society of Naturalists, held an important symposium 

 on the subject of "The Need of Securing Better Co- 

 operation between Government and University Labora- 

 tory Zoologists in the Solution of Problems of National 

 Importance." This symposium is the direct outcome 

 of the war, the university men having become con- 

 NO. 2576, VOL. 103] 



vinced that they can help the Government more than 

 they have in the past. 



Dr. R. A. Harper, of Section G, discussed "The 

 Stimulation of Botanical Research after the War," 

 and Dr. G. T. Moore " Botanical Participation in 

 War-work." The programme of the American Phyto- 

 pathological Society contained several discussions of 

 war emergency projects in regaM to crop diseases. 



The programme of Section H and of the American 

 Anthropological Association dealt almost entirely with 

 questions relating to the war. Some of the titles mav 

 be mentioned :—" A Unified Blank of Measurement 

 to be Used in Recruiting in Allied Countries : A Plea 

 for the Unification of Anthropological Methods," by 

 Prof. Fabio Frasetto, of the Royal Italian Embassy, 

 and also of the University of Bologna; "The War 

 Museum and its Place in the National Museum 

 Group," by Dr. W. H. Holmes; "Race Origin and 

 History as Factors in World-Politics," by Dr. J. C. 

 Merriam; "The Effect of the War upon the American 

 Child," by Ruth Mclntire, of the National Child 

 Labour Committee; "The War and the Race," bv 

 Dr. A. Hrdli^ka, U.S. National Museum; and 

 " Examinations of Emotional Fitness for Warfare," bv 

 Dr. R. W. Woodworth, of Columbia University. 

 There were also several papers before Section U. 

 relating to the psychological examination of the 

 American troops by officers of the Reserve Army. 



Section I (Social and Economic Science), as usual, 

 presented a varied programme, but on the last day of 

 the meeting held a reconstruction symposium, in which 

 several very important papers were read. Dr. David J. 

 Hill, formerly United States Ambassador to Germany, 

 gave an address on "Germany after the War"; 

 M. Edouard de Billy, of the French High Commission, 

 spoke of France after the war; Dr. William H. Welch, 

 of the Johns Hopkins University, spoke of the health 

 problems of reconstruction ; Mr. Charles Pergler, Com- 

 missioner in the United States of the Czecho-Slovak 

 National Council, gave an address on the future of 

 the Czecho-Slovak State; Sir H. Babington Smith, 

 of the British Embassy, spoke on the reconstruction 

 of Great Britain following the war; and Mr. J. W. 

 Bain, of Canada, on the reconstruction after the war 

 in Canada. Mr. John Barrett, Director-General of the 

 Pan-Amerigan Union, who presided at this session, 

 gave an address on the subject of " Pan-Americanism 

 after the War." 



The retiring president of the association. Prof. 

 Theodore W. Richards, of Harvard University, 

 was to have given his address at the opening 

 meeting of the session on the subject "The Problem 

 of Radio-active Lead." Most unfortunately. Prof. 

 Richards was seized with "Spanish" influenza when 

 on the point of leaving Boston, and was unable to be 

 present at the Baltimore meeting. The proceedings at 

 the general session were, therefore, brief, and con- 

 sisted of an address of welcome by Dr. F. J. Goodnow, 

 president of the Johns Hopkins University, and a reply 

 by President-elect Coulter. 



The titles of the addresses of the retiring vice- 

 presidents of the sections which met at Baltimore 

 were :^Section A, Prof. Henry N. Russell, of Prince- 

 ton, "Variable Stars"; Section B, Dr. W. J. 

 Humphrevs, of the U.S. Weather Bureau, "Some 

 Recent Contributions to the Physics of the Air"; 

 Section C, Prof. W. A. Noyes, of the Universitv of 

 Illinois, "Valency"; Section D, Dr. H. S. Drinker, 

 president of Lehigh University, "The Need of Con- 

 servation of our Vital and Natural Resources as 

 Emphasised by the Lessons of the War"; Section E, 

 Prof. G. H. Perkins, of the University of Vermont, 

 "Vermont Physiographv " ; Section F.'Prof. Herbert, 

 Osborn, of the University of Ohio, "Zoological Aims 

 and Opportunities " ; Section G, Prof. Burton E. 



