January 30, 1908J 



NA TURE 



303 



W. C. Sabine, of Harvard University, under the title of 

 "The Origin of the Musical Scale." The address before 

 Section C (chemistry) was given by Mr. Clifford Richard- 

 son, of the New York Testing Laboratories, on " A 

 Plea for the Broader Education of the Chemical 

 Engineer." There was no address before Section D 

 (mechanical science and engineering). The address of the 

 retiring vice-president of Section E (geology) was delivered 

 by Dr. A. C. Lane, State Geologist of Michigan, at the 

 summer meeting of the section held at Lake George. The 

 address of the retiring vice-president of Section F, Dr. 



E. G. Conklin, of the University of Pennsylvania, was 

 entitled "The Mechanism of Heredity." The retiring 

 vice-president of Section G (botany). Dr. D. T. 

 MacDougal, of the Carnegie Institution, Washington. 

 D.C., discoursed on " Heredity and Environic Forces." 

 The retiring vice-president of Section H (anthropology and 

 psychology). Prof. .'\. L. Kroeber, of San Francisco, spoke 

 on " The .^nthropologv of California." The address before 

 Section K (physiology and experimental medicine) was 

 given by retiring vice-president Simon Flexner, of the 

 Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, New York, 

 on the subject " Recent .Advances and Present Tendencies 

 in Pathology." An address was given before the newly 

 established Section L (education) by the Hon. Elmer 

 Brown, United States Commissioner of Education, on 

 " The Future of the Section of Education." 



The character of the papers read before the different 

 sections and the affiliated societies was of a very high 

 order. A prominent feature of the meeting was the hold- 

 ing of joint sessions and symposiums on subjects of allied 

 interest. The section on mathematics and astronomy, 

 that on mechanical science and engineering, and the 

 Chicago branch of the .American Mathematical Society, 

 for example, held an important joint session to consider 

 the teaching of mathematics to engineering students, in 

 which the present status in the United States was discussed 

 by Prof. Edgar J. Townsend, of the University of Illinois, 

 and in other countries by Prof. Alexander Ziwet, of the 

 I'niversity of Michigan. 



Section K held an important symposium on January i 

 on the subject of immunity, in which the following papers 

 \\-cre presented after introductory remarks by the vice- 

 president of the section. Dr. Ludwig Hektoen, of the 

 University of Chicago : — anaphylaxis and its relation to 

 immunity, by Dr. M. J. Rosenau and Dr. John F. Ander- 

 son, of the United States Public Health and Marine- 

 Hospital Service (paper read by Dr. .Anderson) ; hyper- 

 susceptibility and immunity, by Dr. Victor C. Vaughan, 

 of the University of Michigan ; the hseraolysins of animal 

 toxins, by Dr. Preston Kyes ; artificial immunity to gluco- 

 sides, by Dr. W. W. Ford ; the differentiation of homo- 

 logous proteids by serum reactions, by Dr. S. P. Beebe ; 

 immunity in spirochietal infections, by Dr. F. D. Novey ; 

 immunity in Rocky Mountain spotted fever, by Dr. H. T. 

 Ricketts and Dr. L. Gomez ; virulence of pneumococci in 

 relation to phagocytosis, by Dr. E. C. Rosonow ; tin- 

 mechanism of streptococcus immunity, by Dr. G. F. 

 Ruediger ; immunity in tuberculosis, by Dr. M. P. 

 Ravenel ; chemical aspects of immunity, by Dr. H. Gideon 

 Wells. 



The .American Society of Naturalists, in the afternoon 

 of January i, held an important discussion on the topic 

 of cooperation in biological research, in which Prof. F. P. 

 Lillie, of the LTniversity of Chicago, Dr. W. Trelease, of 

 the Missouri Botanical Garden, Dr. H. H. Donaldson, of 

 the Wistar Institute, Dr. Simon Flexner, of the Rocke- 

 feller Institute, Prof. W. H. Howell, of Johns Hopkins 

 University, and Prof. J. R. .Angel!, of the I'niversity of 

 Chicago, took part. 



Under the auspices of Section I an important symposium 

 was held on the subject of federal regulation of public 

 health. This session was held jointly with the National 

 Legislative Conference of the American Medical .Associa- 

 tion and other interested organisations. Addresses were 

 given by Dr. W. H. Welch. Hon. George L. Shiras, Dr. 

 Charles A. Reed (president of the National Legislative 

 Council of the American Medical Association), and Dr. 



F. F. Westbrook. of the University of Minnesota. There 

 was also a lengthy prepared discussion by representatives 

 of the various organisations concerned. 



NO. 1996. VOL. 'J']'^ 



Section G and the Botanical Society of America held 

 a symposium on the species question, in which the taxo- 

 nomic aspect was discussed by Prof. C. E. Bessey and 

 Dr. N. L. Britton, the physiologic aspect by Dr. J. C. 

 Arthur and Dr. D. T. MacDougal, and the ecologic aspect 

 by Prof. F. E. Clements and Prof. H. C. Cowles. 



The American Chemical Society, as usual, held a very 

 important meeting with a lengthy programme in joint 

 session with section C of the .American .Association for the 

 .Advancement of Science. 



As the result of a letter from the President of the United 

 States, -Mr. Roosevelt, to the president of the association, 

 Dr. Nichols, concerning the necessity for active measures 

 to conserve the natural resources of the United States, 

 resolutions were adopted announcing the importance of 

 such an effort, and appointing a standing committee of 

 the association to .consider plans and to forward the 

 general movement. Resolutions were also adopted favour- 

 ing an increase in the facilities given by Congress to the 

 United States Bureau of Education. Further resolutions 

 were passed urging the establishment of a research labora- 

 tory in tropical medicine in the Isthmian Canal zone ; 

 favouring the efforts to preserve from extinction the great 

 sea animals of the waters adjoining the United States ; 

 and urging upon Congress the establishment of an 

 Appalachian Forest Reserve, reiterating a recommendation 

 urged at the last meeting of the association. 



At the meeting of the general committee on the night 

 of January 2 it was decided that the next regular meet- 

 ing of the association be held in Baltimore during convo- 

 cation week, 1908-9, and that a summer meeting be held 

 in the week beginning June 29 at Dartmouth College, 

 Hanover, N.H. A resolution was also adopted recommend- 

 ing that arrangements be made, if possible, for a meeting 

 in the summer of 1910 in the Hawaiian Islands. 



Officers for the present year were elected as follows : — 

 president. Prof. T. C. Chamberlin, of the University of 

 Chicago ; vice-presidents. A, no election ; B, Prof. K. E. 

 Guthe, State University of Iowa ; C, Prof. L. Kahlenburg, 

 University of Wisconsin ; D, Prof. G. F. Swain, Massa- 

 chusetts Institute of Technology ; E, Prof. Bailey Willis, 

 U.S. Geological Survey; F, Prof. C. J. Herrick, University 

 of Chicago ; G, Prof. H. M. Richards, Columbia Uni- 

 versity ; H, Prof. R. S. Woodworth, Columbia University ; 

 I, no election ; K, Prof. W. H. Howell, Johns Hopkins 

 University ; L, Prof. G. Stanley Hall, Clark LTniversity ; 

 general secretary, Prof. F. W. McNair, president Michigan 

 School of Mines ; secretary of the council. Prof. D. C. 

 MjUer, Case School of Applied Science : treasurer. Prof. 

 R. S. Woodward, Carnegie Institution, Washington, D.C. 

 (as before) ; permanent secretary. Dr. L. O. Howard, 

 Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (as before). 



STRESSES IN ^[ASONRY DAMS. 

 nnHE stresses in masonry dams, to which much attention 

 -'• has recently been devoted in our correspondence 

 columns, formed the subject of three papers read before 

 the Institution of Civil Engineers on January 21. In the 

 first, Sir John W. Ottley, K.C.I.E., and Dr. A. W. 

 Brightmore described some experiments, occupying about 

 fourteen months, made with plasticine models of a dam of 

 typical triangular section under perfect conditions. The 

 height of the model was 30 inches, and the length of the 

 dam 12 inches. From the results of the experiments the 

 following conclusions were drawn : — (i) If a masonry dam 

 be designed on the assumption that the stresses on the base 

 are uniformly varying, and that these stresses are parallel 

 to the resulting force acting on the base, the actual normal 

 and shearing stresses, on both horizontal and vertical 

 planes, would (In the absence of stresses due to such 

 factors as changes in temperature, unequal settlement, 

 &c.) be less than those provided for. There can be no 

 tension on any plane at points near the outer toe. There 

 will be tension on planes other than the horizontal plane 

 near the inner toe, the maximum intensity of such tension 

 being generally equal to the average intensity of shearing 

 stress on the base, and the inclination of its plane of 

 action being about 45°. 



In the second paper Mr. J. S. Wilson and Mr. W. Gore 



