Decembee 17, 1909] 



iSCIENCE 



875 



investigators have not always attended the Amer- 

 ican Association for the Advancement of Science 

 meetings and have, in fact, been known to speak 

 disparagingly of them. However, it should be 

 remembered that it lies within our own power to 

 make the meetings just what we want them to be. 

 I, for one, believe that we have sufficient talent 

 on this continent to make our gatherings as suc- 

 cessful as the recent one of the British Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Science at Winnipeg. 



If you have an important contribution to make 

 let me urge you to forward immediately the title 

 and abstract to one of the secretaries and above 

 all to lend encouragement by your presence. It is 

 hoped that our meeting will be truly one of " gen- 

 eral consultation, a focal point for condensed 

 opinions, for authoritative statements, for criti- 

 cism from varied standpoints," as also of friendly 

 intercourse among sympathetic workers. 



If you are not already a member of the Amer- 

 ican Association for the Advancement of Science 

 it behooves you to become so at the earliest pos- 

 sible date. 



" I hold every man a debtor to his profession ; 

 from the which as men of course do seek to receive 

 countenance and profit, so ought they of duty to 

 endeavor themselves by way of amends to be a 

 help and ornament thereunto." — Francis Bacon. 



The department of plant pathology of the 

 New York State College of Agriculture, at 

 Cornell University, announces the establish- 

 ment of a second temporary industrial fel- 

 lowship. This fellowship, which is known as 

 the C. W. Stuart & Company Fellowship has 

 been established by C. W. Stuart & Com- 

 pany, nurserymen, of Newark, N. Y. The pur- 

 pose of this fellowship is the investigation of 

 the diseases of nursery stock with particular 

 reference to the fire blight or pear blight dis- 

 ease. This fellowship carries an annual sal- 

 ary of $500 per year and $250 per year for 

 carrying on the work and is to continue for 

 two years. Mr. V. B. Stewart, A.B. (Wa- 

 bash, '09), has been appointed fellow. He 

 spent the summer of 1909 in one of the nurser- 

 ies of this company. 



Mr. Zaccheus Daniel, Thaw fellow in as- 

 tronomy at Princeton TJniversity, discovered 

 a new comet on December 6, while working 

 in the Prospect Avenue Observatory. It is of 

 about the ninth magnitude, the nucleus being 

 of about the thirteenth magnitude. The posi- 



tion was Dec. Y.8Y59 Greenwich meantime, 

 E. A. 6" 16'" 44'.0, Dec. + 34° 55' 15". 



The Astronomical and Astrophysical So- 

 ciety of America through its Comet Com- 

 mittee is soliciting cooperation in the obser- 

 vation of Halley's comet at its approaching 

 return, and has prepared a circular letter of 

 advice with regard to such observations that 

 has been widely distributed among observa- 

 tories. A copy of this circular will be mailed 

 to any astronomer who may desire to use it, 

 upon request being made to the chairman of 

 the committee. Professor G. C. Comstock, 

 Washburn Observatory, Madison, Wisconsin. 

 Among the matters treated in the circular are : 

 Photographing Comets by Professor Barnard, 

 Spectroscopic Observations by Professor 

 Frost, Photometric Observations by Professor 

 E. C. Pickering, etc. It is the purpose of the 

 Comet Committee to collate as far as possible 

 the photographic results obtained and for that 

 purpose it would be pleased to receive copies 

 (positives on glass) of photographs of the 

 comet from all parts of the world. This wide 

 distribution of photographic observations is 

 regarded as a matter of prime importance 

 and in order to obtain them where they would 

 otherwise be lacking, in the broad expanse 

 covered by the Pacific Ocean, the committee, 

 aided by a grant from the National Academy 

 of Science, at Washington, is preparing to 

 send out to the Hawaiian Islands an expedi- 

 tion that will have as its sole purpose the 

 photographing of the comet during the months 

 of its greatest brilliancy, March to June, 

 1910. 



The following scientific papers have been 

 given during the months of October and No- 

 vember at the meetings of the University of 

 Colorado Scientific Society : " The Darwin 

 Celebration, Cambridge," Professor T. D. A. 

 Cockerell ; " Comets ; with special reference 

 to Halley's Comet and its approaching re- 

 turn," Professor Oliver C. Lester ; " Forests 

 and Stream Flow," Professor Clement C. Wil- 

 liams ; " Rabies," Dr. A. E. Peebles ; " The 

 Conservation of Human Life — More impor- 

 tant than that of Forests, Waters, Soil or 

 Minerals," Professor Francis Eamaley. 



