June 12, 1913] 



NATURE 375 



Svante Arrhenius, of Stockholm ; Prof. Reinke, 

 the veteran botanist of Kiel ; Prof. Pringsheim, of 

 Breslau, German)' ; Prof. Keibel, the embryologist 

 of Freiburg- ; and M. Lallemand, the geodetic 

 expert from Paris. The list is, however, at 

 present incomplete. 



Programme of the Meeting. 



The meeting will formally open on Wednesday, 

 September 10, with the presidential address by 

 Sir Oliver Lodge, at 8.30 p.m., in the Central 

 Hall, Corporation Street. The retiring president, 

 Sir Albert Schafer, is unable to be present owing 

 to an engagement in America. On Thursday, 

 September 11, the work of the thirteen sections 

 opens with the delivery of the several presidential 

 addresses, beginning in most cases at 10 or 11 

 o'clock. On Thursday afternoon there will be a 

 reception and degree ceremony at the new Uni- 

 versity buildings, Bournbrook. The Vice-Chancellor 

 will preside, and an opportunity will be given 

 for an inspection of the various University 

 departments (mining, metallurgy, engineering, 

 chemistry, geology, and physics.) 



On Thursday evening the Lord Mayor will 

 hold a reception at the New Art Gallery, the 

 Council House, beginning at 8.30. This will 

 give visitors an early opportunity of* realising 

 the advance which Birmingham has made in 

 housing and exhibiting its art collections. Also 

 it is hoped that the new Natural History Museum 

 will be available during the evening. 



On Friday afternoon, following upon the usual 

 spell of scientific work during the morning, there 

 will be a garden party at Bournville, by the in- 

 vitation of Messrs. Cadbury Brothers. This, and 

 any other garden parties that may be offered to 

 members, will naturally be limited to a specified 

 number. Applications will be received at the 

 reception room. 



On Friday evening the first of the two evening 

 discourses will be given by Sir Henry H. 

 Cunynghame, K.C. B. , of the Home Office, on 

 explosions in mines and the means of preventing 

 them, at 8.30 p.m., in the Central Hall, Corpora- 

 tion Street. 



On Sunday special services will be arranged 

 at most of the places of worship in Birmingham. 

 The Lord Bishop has consented to preach in the 

 Cathedral Church. 



On Monday morning the work of the sections 

 will be resumed, but on Monday evening the local 

 committee will entertain the association to grand 

 opera and to other entertainments mentioned 

 below. On Tuesday, and probably also on the 

 preceding Thursday, there will be a meeting 

 of the Conference of Corresponding Societies in 

 t he Midland Institute, at 3 p.m. ; and on Tuesday 

 evening the second evening discourse will be 

 given in the Central Hall, at 8.30, by Dr. Smith 

 Woodward, F.R.S., of the British Museum, on 

 missing links among extinct animals, a subject 

 upon which he is one of the foremost authorities. 

 On Wednesday morning the closing meeting will 

 NO. 2276, VOL. 91] 



lie held in the large theatre of the Midland 

 Institute. 



The Handbook. 



The custom of the association is to induce the 

 local committee of the place of meeting to publish 

 two handbooks, one for the enlightenment of the 

 visiting member, enlarging upon the history, topo- 

 graphy, organisation, and scientific interests of 

 the locality ; the other for the enlightenment of 

 the local member, who, in nine cases out of ten, 

 knows little of his or her neighbourhood. The 

 first is the handbook. The second is the excur- 

 sion guide-book. The handbook is a work of 

 reference, a volume of some 500 pages, laborious 

 and expensive to produce. The guide-book is a 

 small pocket affair that can be easily carried and 

 consulted. Both these books are given free 

 to every member or associate on presentation of 

 their tickets at the reception room. 



The handbook, under the editorship of Dr. 

 Auden, this year reflects most aspects of municipal 

 activity. The history of local enterprise, and of 

 the chief Birmingham institutions, is dealt with 

 by competent authorities. The existing state of 

 these several bodies is described by others, and if 

 the contributors had enough collective insight the 

 future to which the city is tending, or striving for, 

 might well be prophesied by those who had a 

 sufficiently clear vision of what they wish to 

 attain. In town planning this is more possible 

 than in most other subjects, and as Mr. Neville 

 Chamberlain has undertaken this section we may 

 hope for an important forecast in that direction. 

 Perhaps the sections of the work dealt with most 

 fully will be those treating of economics and of 

 geology; whilst, without any doubt at all, the 

 most novel thing in the handbook will be the 

 geological and topographical maps. These, under 

 the guidance and help of Prof. Lapworth, mark an 

 epoch in map-making. 



Sectional Excursions. 



The work of the association is not limited to 

 that done in the meeting rooms. Most of the 

 sections devote some time to excursions or visits. 

 The geologists, as a rule, spend a considerable part 

 of their time in field work, and an organised 

 programme for this purpose has been prepared by 

 Dr. T. T. Groom, with the supervision of Prof. 

 Lapworth. The date of the meeting coincides 

 with Prof. Lapworth's retirement from active 

 university service, but it is hoped that both he 

 | and his successor, Prof. Boulton, will be able to 

 take part in showing geologists those features of 

 interest in the district which have been made 

 famous by the classic investigations of the 

 University geological staff. 



The economic section, probably, will survey 

 some part of the Midland waterways ; the agri- 

 culturists have many opportunities of interesting 

 their members in the application or the results of 

 agricultural practice ; and the engineers, geo- 

 graphers, and those interested in education will 

 find much of historical or of present-day interest 



