June io, 1909J 



NATURE 



44: 



will enable the reader to judge of the state of the work 

 generally : — 



There was throughout the meeting an earnestness of 

 purpose of a very marked kind, a feeling that decisions 

 having an important influence on the future of astronomy 

 were being taken. Every resolution had been so fully dis- 

 cussed in one or other of the five commissions that in 

 the end they were all adopted with unanimity, not only in 

 the commissions, but at the general conference. 



Perhaps the most important of these are the resolutions 

 dealing with the methods to be adopted in connection with 

 the organisation of a united series of meridian observa- 

 tions, and the establishment by international effort of a 

 system of intermediate stars, as originally suggested by 

 Sir David Gill in his presidential address to the British 

 Association at Leicester. Hardly less important are the 

 resolutions in regard to the adjustment of the scale of 

 photographic magnitudes to an absolute and uniform system 

 for the whole sky. Indeed, it is hardly possible to over- 

 estimate the resulting importance of these resolutions to 

 sidereal astronomy if due effect is given to these resolutions. 



The plans for the observation of Eros show a still 

 further extension of the work of the committee, for thev 

 carry us into another field of astronomv by providing the 

 most refined determinations of the positions of that re- 

 markable planet. If due effect is given to these resolu- 

 tions, the gravitational astronomer will be provided with 

 means of research on the masses of the moon and of the 

 earth and other planets of a kind never before available. 

 The meeting will also be memorable for the communica- 

 tion made to it by Mr. Hinks as to the result of his eight 

 years of labour in deriving the solar parallax from the 

 international observations of Eros. 



Widely indeed has the permanent committee of the Astro- 

 graphic Congress of 1S87 extended the field of its labours, 

 and with the best results. 



Paris was, as usual, profuse in kindly hospitality. 

 Prince Roland Bonaparte gave a reception to the members 

 of the conference and their wives and families at his charm- 

 ing house in the .\venue d'l^na. On the Thursdav Baron 

 Rothschild entertained some of the members to dinner, and 

 on the same evening there was a delightful reception at 

 the Paris Observatory, at which was given a little comedy 

 by members of the Theatre Fran^ais. and a little operetta 

 by members of the Opera Comique, the evening concluding 

 with a tour de valse. 



Many private entertainments to members were given at 

 the hospitable homes of the Paris members of the confer- 

 ence, and the whole concluded with a banquet at the 

 observatory on the .Saturday evening, at which covers were 

 laid for eighty-two guests. 



1 The zones - 17" to 

 work has not been dnni 

 part, to Santiago and I 



?re originally allotted to La Plata, bii 

 1,-e assigned, if not entirely, at lea«t 

 observatory of Hyderabad (Deccan). 



chief 



THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 

 T^'HE general meeting of the American Philosophical 

 Society was held on .\pril 22, 23, and 24. The even- 

 ing of Friday, April 23, was devoted to a Darwin celebra- 

 tion commemorative of the centenary of Charles Darwin's 

 birth and of the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of 

 the '■ Origin of Species," at which addresses were given by 

 the Right Hon. James Bryce, the British Ambassador, on 

 personal reminiscences of Darwin and of the reception of 

 the "Origin of Species"; by Prof. G. L. Goodale, of 

 Harvard University, on the influence of Darwin on natural 

 science; and by Prof. G. S. Fullerton, of Columbia Uni- 

 versity, on the influence of Darwin on the mental and 

 moral sciences. 



On the afternoon of April 24 there was a symposium on 

 earthquakes, at which papers were presented by Prof. 

 E. O. Hovey, Prof. W. H. Hobbs, and Prof. H. F. 

 Reid. In addition to the three papers presented at the 

 Darwin celebration on .April 23, forty-four papers were read 

 at the morning and afternoon sessions. We have been 

 favoured with a list of these papers and summaries of 

 their contents, but limitations of space prevent us from 

 giving more than an abridged statement of the proceedings. 

 .\bstracts of a few of the papers read are subjoined. 



The brains of two white philosophers and of two obscure 

 negroes. Prof. B. G. Wilder. The brains of Chauncey 

 Wright and of James Edward Oliver were compared with 

 the brains of two obscure negroes, one a mulatto, the 

 other black, and a remarkable resemblance in the form 

 of Wright's brain with that of the negro brains was 

 pointed out, from which Prof. Wilder drew the inference 

 that the negro is capable of as high development as the 

 Caucasian. Some conditions modifying the interpretation 

 of human brain-weight records. Dr. H. H. Donaldson. 

 .An account of the brain-weight records that have been 

 collected at the Wistar Institute of Anatomy. .After the 

 fifteenth year, up to the fifty-fifth, the human brain loses 

 slightly in weight, and then more rapidly after that period. 

 This slight loss in weight between the fifteenth and fifty- 

 fifth years is attributed to the influence of those diseases 

 which ultimately end in death. 



Some notes on the modifications of colour in plants. 

 Prof. H. Kraemer. .After reviewing the previous work on 

 the control of colour in plants, and enumerating the factors 

 which influence the colour in flowers, the author gave the 

 results of his own experiments, which were begun in the 

 autumn of 1904, and have been continued up to the present 

 time. Various soils were experimented with, including an 

 artificial soil, and sand to which a special nutrient was 

 added. The chemicals used to modify the colour principles 

 were supplied to the plants in the form of solutions of 

 varying strength, or added to the soil in the solid form, 

 soliition gradually taking place. Probably the most 

 striking result obtained by the use of chemicals was the 

 production of a red colour' in the petals of the white rose, 

 Kaiserine. The red pigment occurred in the basal portion 

 of the petals, and was produced in the flowers of plants 

 which were supplied with potassium hydrate, potassium 

 carbonate, calcium hydrate, and lead acetate. Blue flowers 

 were produced by the red-flowering form Hydrangea 

 (H. Otaksa). grow-ing in both sand and garden soil, when 

 supplied with potassium and aluminium sulphate, 

 aluminium sulphate and calcium hydrate. 



Recent work on the phvsics of the sther, P. R. Heyl. 

 Considerable interest has been taken of late in the ques- 

 tion as to whether the sther is or is not a dispersive 

 medium with regard to light. The work of the author, 

 published about a year and a half ago, leads to the con- 

 clusion that any dispersion in the aether must be less 

 than I part in 250,000. Since that time others have arrived 

 at the conclusion that there exists a dispersive effect of 

 much smaller magnitude, about one part in a miUioin. 

 There seems to be no doubt of the correctness of their 

 observations, but it is not clear that it is to be attributed 

 to a real dispersive effect in the a-ther. It is more likely 

 that it is due to tidal phenomena in the atmosphere of the 

 variable stars used, as sources of light in the experiments. 



The detonation of gun-cotton. Prof. C. E. Munroe. In 

 the use of gun-cotton in mines and torpedoes advantage 

 is taken of the discovery of .Mr. E. O. Brown that gun- 



KO. 2067, VOL. 80] 



