258 



NA TURE 



[July 12, 1900 



It was decided at the Berlin meeting that Prof. 

 Kovesligethy, of Budapest, should be secretary, and Prof. 

 Palazzo, of Rome, the vice-president, of the International 

 Seismic Association. Prof. Gerland had already previously 

 been designated as director of the Central Bureau. The 

 office of president of the association was left vacant until 

 ihe final decision of Great Britain as to its adhesion 

 had been settled. There the matter stands for the 

 present. 



The disastrous results of recent earthquakes and volcanic 

 eruptions have directed increased attention to the subject, 

 lis thorough investigation is indeed litcely to yield important 

 information on the interior constitution of the earth. A 

 hearty cooperation to obtain and circulate the material for 

 a detailed discussion cannot fail to bear fruit, and, even 

 though there may be legitimate grounds for dissatisfaction 

 at the manner in which a particular scheme has been 

 organised, I must express my own opinion that at the 

 present moment the permanent interests of this country 

 would be best secured by our joining the association and 

 helping to direct its worii in a manner which would assis' 

 rather than hamper the present organisation of the British 

 .Association. 



.Although time is running short, I am perhaps in private 

 duty bound not altogether to pass over in silence an 

 organisation which has its central bureau in my own labor- 

 atory at the University of iVlanchester. This is a union for 

 the observation of solar phenomena. Called into being 

 ihiefly by the energy of Prof. Hale, this association is 

 perhaps unique in two respects. It aims more directly at 

 conducting research work than is the case with other 

 unions, and in so far may run the danger of hampering 

 private efforts. This danger has, I believe, been well 

 guarded against by the constitution adopted at the first 

 meeting of the conference held last September at Oxford. 

 The second peculiarity referred to is that it works a central 

 bureau, a computing bureau (under the direction of Prof. 

 Turner), and is going to publish Transactions without any 

 funds beyond those doled out to it by charity. Its vitality 

 will, I hope, help it to overcome its initial troubles. Its 

 ambitious programme includes a definite agreement on 

 I he standard of wave-length and investigations on the 

 permanence or variability of solar radiation. 



This latter question is of considerable interest to meteor- 

 ologists, and comes, therefore, within the purview of the 

 directors of meteorological observatories, who have also, 

 under the presidency of Sir Norman Lockyer, established 

 u commission charged with its discussion. An arrange- 

 ment has been made securing cooperation between the two 

 bodies, the Solar Union leaving out of its programme the 

 difficult question of the relationship between sun-spot 

 variability and meteorological phenomena. 



-Although an unnecessary overlapping of two separate 

 enterprises has in this instance been avoided, such over- 

 lapping constitutes a certain danger for the future, as the 

 problems of geo-physics — for the investigation of which 

 international associations are specially marked out — are so 

 intimately connected with each other that a homogeneous 

 treatment would seem to require a central bodv supervising 

 to some extent the separate associations. Such a central 

 body mav be found in the International Association of 

 .Academies, which promises to play so important a part in 

 scientific history that a short account of its early historv 

 may be of interest. The Kartell of some of the German 

 academies and that of Vienna has already been referred to. 

 In discussing the utility of its deliberations. Prof. Felix 

 Klein, of Gottingen, first mentioned to me the idea that 

 an association of a similar nature would be likely to prove 

 of still greater value, if formed between the scientific and 

 literary academies all over the world. In consequence of 

 this conversation I tried to interest the Royal Societv in the 

 subject ; and in order to obtain further information Prof. 

 .Armstrong and inyself attended privately, though with the 

 knowledge and consent of the council of the Roval 

 Society, the meeting of the Kartell which was held ' at 

 Leipzig in the year iSq;. In the following year the two 

 secretaries of the Royal Society, Sir Micliae'l Foster and 

 Sir Arthur Rucker, together with Prof. Armstrong and 

 myself, attended the Kartell which then met at Gottingen. 



NO. 191 5, VOL. 74] 



The secretaries were impressed by the great possibilities ol 

 the scheme, and tlie council then took the initiative and 

 approached the academies of Paris and St. Petersburg, 

 which both returned favourable answers. 



In consequence of the correspondence between these 

 learned societies, the Royal Academy of Berlin, in con- 

 junction w-ith the Royal Society of London, issued invita- 

 tions for a general conference to be held at Wiesbaden on 

 October q and lo, in the year 1899. 



The following were represented at this meeting, at which 

 the statutes of the new association were agreed upon ; — 



The Royal Prussian Academy of .Sciences of Berlin. 



The Royal Academy of Sciences of Gottingen. 



The Royal Saxon Academy of Sciences of Leipzig. 



The Royal Society of London. 



The Royal Bavarian Academy of Science of Munich. 



The Academy of Sciences of Paris. 



The Imperial Academy of Science of St. Petersburg. 



The National Academy of Science of Washington. 



The Imperial Academy of Sciences of Vienna. 



The unanimity of the meeting may be judged from thp 

 fact that a working constitution, which subsequent experi- 

 ence proved to be eminently effective, was finally arrived at 

 on the second day. Many distinguished men took part in 

 the discussions ; amongst them Prof. Simon Newcomb and 

 the late Prof. Virchow may be specially mentioned. 



Although the Berlin Academy had never joined the 

 German Kartell, the first idea of a wider association seems 

 to be due to a distinguished member of that body, the 

 historian Mommsen, who, though of advanced age, was 

 able to be present at the first regular meeting of the associ- 

 ation, which was held at Paris on April 16-20, 1901. In 

 addition to the societies which took part in its foundation, 

 the following form part of the association, and were re- 

 presented at Paris : — 



The Royal Academy of Sciences of Amsterdam. 



The Royal Belgian Academy of Sciences, Arts and 

 Letters. 



The Hungarian Academy of Sciences. 



The Academy of Sciences of Christiania. 



The Academy of Sciences of Copenhagen. 



The Academy " des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres " of 

 the Institut de France. 



The Academy of " Sciences, Morales et Politiques " of 

 the Institut de France. 



The Royal Society " dei Lincei " of Rome. 



The Royal Swedish .Academy of Sciences. 



This meeting is not likely to pass out of the memory of 

 those who took part in it. Its importance was enhanced 

 by the social functions which were held in connection with 

 it, and which included a luncheon given by President 

 Loubet at the Elys^e, a banquet given by the Conseil 

 Municipal, and a special performance at the Theatre 

 Frangais. The subsequent triennial meeting of the 

 academy, which was held in London in 1904, passed off not 

 less brilliantly. The representatives of the learned societies 

 were received by their Majesties at Windsor, and the Lord 

 Mayor invited them to dinner at the Mansion House. 

 Social entertainments, though welcome as marking the 

 importance of the occasion, are not allowed to interfere 

 with the very substantial work which is being done at 

 these meetings. The list of subjects which were included 

 in the discussion of the London assembly may give an 

 idea of the range of activity of the association. A per- 

 manent committee is charged with the investigation of the 

 functions of the brain, others deal with questions of atmo- 

 spheric electricity, and of the measurement of magnetic 

 elements at sea. An important proposal to carry out an 

 exact magnetic survey along a complete circle of latitude 

 is under discussion. The section of letters dealt with the 

 mutual arrangements between libraries regarding the inter- 

 change of manuscripts, approved the intended edition of the 

 Mahabharata, and considered a proposal to construct a 

 new Thesaurus of Ancient Greek. The association also 

 took cognisance of and received reports on independent 



