586 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXX. No. 774 



plenty of interesting and useful matter to 

 occupy their attention during that small 

 part of their school cour.se which can be 

 devoted to this subject? And would not 

 college teachers of physics prefer to have 

 boys come to them from the schools well 

 grounded in the elements of static mechan- 

 ics, without kinetics, than to have them 

 come with a very uncertain knowledge of 

 both? Edwin H. Hall 



Camhridge, Mass., 

 September 23, 1909 



THE INTERNATIONAL OONOREfiS OF RADI- 

 OLOGY AND ELECTRICITY 



An international Congress of Eadiology 

 and Electricity is to be held in Brussels from 

 September 13 to 15, 1910, under the patronage 

 of the Belgian government and the French 

 Physical Society. This is the second confer- 

 ence on the subject, the first having been held 

 in Liege, in the autumn of 1905. The second 

 conference, like the first, has on the honorary 

 committee some of the leading scientists in 

 Europe and America who are working along 

 the lines included in the subjects of the con- 

 ference. The list includes among others 

 Madame Curie, Lord Rayleigh, Sir W. Ram- 

 say, Sir J. J. Thomson, Sir O. Lodge, Sir 

 Wm. Crookes, Professors Lorentz, Rutherford 

 Langevin, Arrhenius, Lenard, Goldstein, H. 

 Poincare, Planck, Righi, Schuster, Zeeman 

 and certain eminent physicians. 



The congress has for its chief purpose the 

 bringing together of a number of scientists 

 capable of discussing the fundamental prob- 

 lems arising out of the phenomena of radio- 

 activity and ionization ; of agreeing upon a 

 standard terminology; of presenting reports 

 embodying a summary of our knowledge on 

 the various divisions of the .subject; and of 

 showing the medical and therapeutic applica- 

 tions of the phenomena. The conference is 

 therefore of concern to physicists, chemists, 

 biologists and medical practitioners. 



The officers of the American committee are 

 at present Professor Carl Barus, Brown Uni- 

 versity, Providence, R. I., chairman, and Pro- 

 fessor G. P. Hull, Dartmouth College, Han- 



over, N. H., secretary, to whom inquiries may 

 be addressed. 



The provisional program of the conference 

 is as follows: 



FIEST SECTION TEBMINOLOGY AND BADIOMETBY 



Terminology. — Fundamental notions; Ions, elec- 

 trons, corpuscles, etc. Unification of notations. 



Radiometry. — General methods of measurement; 

 apparatus, units. 



Meas-ureraent of radioactivity; supports of the 

 radioactive body; its influences, standardization. 

 The establishment of a unit of radiation. Ap- 

 plied radiometry. 



SECOND SECTION PHYSICAL SCIENCES 



A. Theories and Fundamental Hypotheses. — The 

 ether, its manifestations, its properties, its rela- 

 tions to ma„ter. The electric and magnetic field, 

 electrons and ions; formation and properties. 

 Magnetic and electric properties of bodies; metal- 

 lic conductivity, electrolysis; dielectric phenom- 

 ena; magnetism. Contact electricity. Thermo- 

 electricity. Electro-capillary phenomena. 



B. Radiation. — Generation. Emission, absorp- 

 tion; phenomena of radiation. Observation and 

 analysis of radiation. Spectroscopy. Physical and 

 chemical eftects of radiation, phosphorescence. 

 Electro-optics and magneto-optics, the Zeeman 

 efJ'ect. Applied radiology, apparatus. 



C. Radioactivity. — Radioactive bodies; enumera- 

 tion and distinctive characters of the methods of 

 separation. Radioactivity of matter in general. 

 Properties of radioactive substances. Radioactive 

 transformation; emanation, induced activity, etc. 

 Atomic disaggregation. Radioactive constants. 



D. Atomistics. — Number, charge, mass and ve- 

 locity of particles. Molecular and atomic struc- 

 ture; valency. Colloids; Brownian movements. 



E. Cosmieal Phenomena. — The atmospheric elec- 

 tric field; its origin, variations of electrical poten- 

 tial of the atmosphere; ionization of the atmo- 

 sphere. Observatories for atmospheric electricity; 

 organization. Systematic registry of atmospheric 

 electricity. Atmospheric radioactivity; atmo- 

 spheric precipitation. Distribution of radioactive 

 substances on the surface and in the interior of 

 the earth. Terre.strial magnetism. The aurora 

 borealis and magnetic storms. Solar radiation; 

 variability of the field of this radiation, its 

 heterogeneity and influence on terrestrial phenom- 

 ena. Solar magnetic fields. 



THIRD SECTION — BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES 



A. Biology Proper. — Under this schedule are to 

 be included all communications relative to the 



