76 



NA TURE 



[July 15, 1909 



aiuisance to everybody. An elaborate toilet, at any 

 rate, is not possible during the railway journey, but 

 the railway companies' sleeping cars are provided with 

 .sufficient lavatory accommodation. Everything except 

 the suit-case and hand baggage should be checked 

 iliroiii^h to destination. 



To any American, or indeed to anvone who has 

 ever travelled on the North American continent, such 

 advice may seem quite superfluous, but it is rare that 

 one travels across the country or witnesses the de- 

 parture of trails without noticing some Englishman 

 struggling to convey huge piles of luggage into a 

 railway car; he is usually prevented from so doing by 

 the porter, but if he succeeds his belongings soon 

 ibecome a trouble to himself and a nuisance to his 

 fellow-travellers. 



In regard to clothing, for Winnipeg during the week 

 of the visit travellers should be provided with the 

 •same sort of selection as would be desirable at a meet- 

 ing in Great Britain. The days in the latter part of 

 August are usually hot, and the nights pleasantly cool. 

 Those undertaking the excursion to the Pacific coast 

 should be provided with some warm clothing for the 

 mountains. 



Manitoba College. (For Sections E and F. ) 



Those intending to visit Winnipeg for the meeting 

 have been provided with postcard forms to fill in, 

 giving various particulars of use to the local com- 

 mittee. These may be obtained from the assistant 

 secretary in London, and should, with any other 

 communications with regard to the meeting, be 

 ■addressed to the local secretaries. University of 

 ]M?nitoba, Winnipeg. 



In connection with the meeting, arrangements have 

 been made by Mr. M. B. Cotsworth, of the Natural 

 Historv Societv of British Columbia, A'ictoria, B.C., 

 on behalf of some of the members of the Association, 

 to make a trip northward along the Pacific coast 

 from Victoria or Vancouver to Alaska. The journey 

 to Prince Rupert, Skagway, and back occupies ten 

 davs, costs about 14/., and may be made either before 

 the meeting at \\'innipeg or from September 10 to 19. 

 An extension to Dawson (Klondike) and back brings 

 the total time up to three weeks, and the cost to about 

 32/., while the round trip from Vancouver to Dawson, 

 thence down the Yukon river to Nome and back by 

 the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, occupies about 

 a month, and costs 40/. Climatic considerations, how- 



NO. 2072, VOL. 81] 



ever, make it desirable to carry out such extended 

 trips before the meeting, and it is understood that some 

 members have already arranged to do this. The ex- 

 cursions are not among the official arrangements of 

 the Association, but further p;irticulars mav be ob- 

 tained from the London office, Burlington House, W. 



We are informed that Sir Joseph Thomson, in his 

 presidential address to the Association, will touch 

 on the following subjects : — The importance of ori- 

 ginal research as a means of education ; the advan- 

 tages and disadvantages as a training for work in 

 science of the systems of education now in force in our 

 schools and universities ; the light thrown by recent 

 investigation on the nature of electricity; on the rela- 

 tion between matter and Kther, and the part played 

 by the ajther in modern physics ; and a discussion of 

 some problems raised by the discovery of radium. 



Sectional Pkogram.mes. 



Section A (Mathematical and Physical Science). 

 President, Prof. E. Rutherford, F.R.S. — The arrange- 

 ments for the meetings of this section are at present very 

 provisional. After the address of the president of the 

 sfTiinn, ihi' mn-i important items in the provisional pro- 

 gramme are two discussions, one on 

 positive electricity, to be opened by Sir 

 J. J. Thomson, F.R.S., and the second 

 on earth tides, to be opened by Prof. 

 A. E. H. Love, F.R.S. The papers 

 promised include the following : — photo- 

 graphs of recent comets, Prof. E. 

 Barnard ; new photographs of Jupiter 

 taken at Flagstaff Observatory, Pcrcival 

 Lowell ; on sun-spots and magnetic 

 effects, Dr. L. A. IJauer ; the structure 

 of the stellar system. G. C. Comstock ; 

 the asymptotic expansions of Legendre 

 functions. Dr. J. ^^". Nicholson ; on a 

 continuant expressed as the product of 

 linear factors, W. H. Metzler ; lumin- 

 osity and persistence-of-vision curves. 

 Prof. Frank .Mien : variation of the 

 _^^^ specific heat of mercury at high tem- 



t I^V peraturcs. Prof. H. T. Barnes: the 



' ^^? effect of temperature-variations on the 



luminous discharge in gases for low 

 pressures, R. F. Earhart. This list in- 

 cludes only those papers for which 

 definite titles have been received ; many 

 others are promised. Friday morning, 

 .\ugust 27, will be set aside for papers 

 of interest to chemists, and the section 

 will meet in joint session with Section 

 B (Chemistry). 

 Section B (Chemistry). President, Prof. H. E. Arm- 

 strong, F.R.S. — The provisional programme is as 

 follows : — Joint sitting with the Section of Botany and 

 Subsection of .Afjriculture to discuss " wheat " from 

 several points of view, including requirements of the 

 wheat crop, influence of external conditions, review 

 of the chemical work on strength, the miller's re- 

 quirements, wheat breeding, the history of the wheat 

 plant, and the economics of the subject. (See pro- 

 gramme of the Subsection of Agriculture.) Joint 

 sitting with the Phvsiologv Section to discuss food. 

 Combustion, Prof. W.A. Bone, F.R.S.; chlorophyll. Prof. 

 Willstatter ; papers dealing with the physical chemistry of 

 sulphur. Prof. Alex. Smith ; (i) rotatory dispersion, (2) the 

 cadmium arc. Dr. T. M. Lowry ; (i) mercurous sulphate 

 for standard cells, (2) on the constancy of the hydrogen gas 

 electrode, Dr. C. J. J. Fox. Reports of committees : — 

 (a) hydroaromatic substances ; (b) aromatic nitroamines ; 

 (c) electroanalysis ; (d) dynamic isomerism. This report 

 will be presented in such form as to initiate discus- 

 sion. 



Section C (Geology). President, Dr. .\. Smith Wood- 

 ward, F.R.S. — Dr. Woodward's presidential address will 

 be on the evolution of the vertebrates. There will be 

 reports of research committees on : — the erratic blocks of 



