Sept. 2 2, 1881] 



NA rURE 



487 



and of the nominating committee. These alterations 

 make the organisation more like that of the British 

 Association for the Advancement of Science, and became 

 necessary on account of the recent rapid growth of the 

 Association. The membership has doubled within two 

 years, being now about 1800. 



The recommendation of the Standing Committee to 

 meet in 1SS2 at Montreal was adopted with acclamation. 

 The invitation from Minneapolis for 18S3 was referred 

 to the Standing Committee. 



The Association elected Dr. J. W. Dawson of 

 Montreal President for the ensuing year. The time 

 of meeting was fixed for the fourth Wednesday in August, 

 1882. Nearly seventy Fellows were elected by ballot, 

 and the following officers for 1S82, in accordance with 

 the recommendation of the Nominating Committee, were 

 unanimously elected : — 



Officers for 1882. Vice-presidents : Section A, Mathe- 

 matics and Astronomy, Prof William Harkness, U.S.N. ; 

 Section B, Physics, Prof T. C. Mendenhall of Columbus; 

 Section C, Chemistry, Prof. H. Carrington Bolton, Ph.D, 

 of Hartford, Conn. ; Section D, Mechanical Science, 

 Prof W. P. Trowbridge, Ph.D., of Columbia College, 

 New York ; Section E, Geology, Prof E. T. Cox of San 

 Francisco ; Section F, Biology, Capt. W. H. Dall of 

 Washington, D.C. ; Section G, Histology and Micro- 

 scopy, Prof A. H. Tuttle of Columbus, Ohio; Section H, 

 Anthropology, Prof Daniel Wilson of Toronto; Section I, 

 Economic Science and Statistics, E. B. Elliot of Wash- 

 ington, D.C. 



We have already (vol. xxiv. p. 455) referred to the 

 action taken by the Association in reference to science 

 degrees. 



The following are some of the principal papers read at 

 the meeting : — 



In Section A : Magnetic survey of Missouri, by Prof. F. £• 

 Nipber ; on the methods of determining the solar parallax with 

 special reference to the coming transit of Venus, hy Prof. 

 William Harkness; on the wave-lengths of the principal lines of 

 the solar spectrum, by Prof. T. C. Mendenhall ; experiments to 

 determine the comparative strength of globes and cylinders of 

 the same diameter and thickness of sides, by Samuel Marsden ; 

 historic notes on cosmic physiology, by Dr. T. Sterry Hunt ; 

 upon the use of the induction balance as a ireans of determining 

 the location of leaden bullets imbedded in the human body, by 

 Prof. Alex. Graham Bell ; upon a new form of electric probe, by the 

 same ; on a new method of applying water-power of small head 

 to effect the direct compression of air to any required high pres- 

 sure, by Prof. H. T. Eddy ; the needle telephone, a new instru- 

 ment by Dr. Goodman Df Louisvdle, Ky., by Dr. J. Law- 

 rence Smith; an improved sonometer, by W. Le Conte 

 Stevens; on the great outburst in comet /', iSSi, observed 

 at the Cincinnati Observatory, by Prof. Ormond Stone; method 

 of determining the value of the solar parallax from meridian 

 observations of Mars, by Prof. J. R. Eastman; numbers 

 of cometary orbits relative to perihelion distance, by Prof 

 H. A. Newton ; numerical elements of the orbits of the seven 

 electrical voitices to whose motions atmospheric storms are 

 principally due, with the processes by which they have been 

 derived, and examples given of the amplication of the formula 

 by which their positions on the suiface of the earth can be com- 

 puted for any given time, by Thomas Bassnett ; a preliminary 

 investigation of the two causes of lateral deviation of spherical 

 projectiles, based on the kinetic theory of gases, by Prof H. 

 T. Eddy ; n te on the theory of the flight of elong.nted pro- 

 jectiles, by Prof H. T. Eddy ; on the mechanical principles 

 involved in the flight of the boomerang, by Prof. H. T. Eddy ; the 

 electrophore and electric lighting, by Mr. E. B. Elliott ; nodular 

 concretions in meteoric iron, bearing on the origin of same, by 

 Dr. J. Lawrence Smith ; an anomalous magnetic property of a 

 specimen of iron, by Dr. J. Lawrence Smith ; on the errors to 

 which self-registering clinical thermometers are liable, by Dr. 

 Leonard Waldo ; a new radiometer, by Dr. H. Carmichael ; a 

 new difl'erential thermometer, by Dr. H. Carmichael ; nute on 

 an experimental determination of the v.alue of ir, by Prof. T. C. 

 Mendenhall ; ren arks upon, and an exhibition of, lapanese 

 magic mirrors, by the same ; on standard time, by E, B. 



Elliott ; note on a comparison of Newcomb's tables of Uranus 

 and Neptune, with those of the same planets by Leveirier, by 

 D. P. Todd ; univer.-al energy of light, by Pliny Earle Chase ; 

 electricity, magnetism, gravitation — their phenomena considered 

 as the manifestations of one force, by S. S. P.irsons. 



In Section B : On the influence of the structxire of the nerve- 

 fibres upon the production and conduction of nerve-force, by 

 H. D. Schmidt ; on the action of pilocarpin in changing the 

 colour of the human hair, by Dr. D. W. Prentiss ; the unification 

 of geological nomenclature, by Dr. R. Owen ; the life-unit in 

 plants, by Prof B. D. Halsted ; recent discoveries, measure- 

 ments, and temperature observations made in Mammoth Cave, 

 Ky., by Rev. H. C. Hovey ; influence of forests upon streams, 

 by David D. Thompson ; note on the segmentation of the verte- 

 brate body, by Charles Sedgwick Minct ; phenomena of growth 

 in plants, Ijy D. P. Penhallow ; the recurrence of faunas in the 

 Devonian rocks of New York, by H. S. Wdliams ; a contribu- 

 tion to CroU's theory of secular climatal changes, by W. J. 

 McGee ; the evidence from the drift of Ohio in regard to the 

 origin of Lake Erie, by E. W. Claypole ; on some relations of 

 birds and insects, by S. A. Forbes ; Niagara River, its carion, 

 depth, and wear, by \Vm. Hosea Ballon ; evolution and its place 

 in geology, by Edward S. Edmunds. 



In Section C : Is the law of repetition the dynamic haw under- 

 lying the science of chemistry? by Miss V. K. IJowers ; evidences 

 of atomic motion within molecules in liquids, as based upon the 

 speed of chemical action, by Prof R. B. Warder ; the con titu- 

 tion of the "atom" of science, by Mrs. A. B. Blackwell; the 

 sources of nitrogen in plants, by Prof. W. O. Atwater ; notes in 

 experimental chemistry, by i'rof. A. B. Prescott ; determination 

 of phosphorus in iron, by Dr. J. Lawrence Smith ; the liquefac- 

 tion of glass in contact with water at 250° C, by Prof. 11. Car- 

 michael ; the chemistry of fish and invertebrates, by Prof. W. 

 O. Atwater ; notes in experimental chemistry, by Prof Albert 

 B. Prescott ; the quantitative estimation of nitrogen, by Prof. 

 W. O. Atw.-iter ; the quantitative estimation of chlorine, by 

 Prof. W. O. Atwater ; the nitrogenous constituents of grasses, 

 by Cliflord Richardson. 



In Section D (Anthropology) : Animal myths of the Iroquois, 

 by Mrs. Erminnie A. Smith ; antiquity of man in America, by 

 W. de Haas ; progress of archaeological research, by W. de 

 Haas ; the mound builders : an inquiry into their assumed 

 southern origin, by W. de Haas. 



In Section E (Microscopy) : On a convenient method of 

 expressing micrometrically the relation between English and 

 metric units of length on the .=ame scale, by William A. Rogers 

 and George F. Ballou. 



In Section F (Entomology) ; On the length of life of butter- 

 flies, by Prof. W. H. Edwards; on the life duration of the 

 Heterocera (moth-), by Prof. J. A. Lintner; how does the bee 

 extend its tongue ? by A. J. Cook ; the egg-case of Hydro- 

 philus triangularis, by Dr. C. V. Riley ; on the ovipositicn of 

 Prodo.x us decipiciis, by the same ; the cocoon of Gyrinus, by 

 the same ; suggestions of co operation in furthering the study of 

 entomolo^'y, by Prof B. P. Mann. 



THE BRITISH ASSOC! A TION 

 REPORTS 



Retort of the Con, mil tee on Tuial Obsei-oations in the English 

 Channel and the North Sea, by J. N. Shoolbred.— In the 

 report it was stated that no official reply had been received by 

 the Committee .as to having an international datum for observa- 

 tions, or as to maritime governments giving facilities for detailed 

 observations. The Committee urged the desirability of carrying 

 out a series of observations on the Azores. The Portuguese 

 Government had established a station for registering tides, as 

 had also our own Government at Dover. The Committee hoped 

 before long to have a series of observations giving most impor- 

 tant results. 



A'eiort of the Committee for Underground Temperature, by 

 Prof. Everett. — In the report it was stated that the temperatuie 

 varied from one degree for 30 feet te one degree for ico feet in 

 going down beneath the surface of the earth in different places. 

 During the past year observations have been made in the East 

 Manchester coal field, the Talavgoeh lead mine, Flintshire, and 

 at the Radstock collieries, Bath. With regard to the obser\'a- 

 t.ons in the East Manchester coal-field, these were respectively 



