618 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. LVI, No. 1457 



not allow a day in advance of tlie meeting for 

 preparatory meetings of couneils and com- 

 mittees. When Christmas occurs on Tuesday, 

 as it does next year, the halance of the week 

 is too short for the meetings of the different 

 societies, for it is desirable that to a certain 

 extent they meet successively rather than simul- 

 taneously in order to avoid conflicts in the 

 programs. 



Our committee has decided to recommend 

 that when New Year's d^y falls on Thursday, 

 Friday or Saturday, convocation week shall 

 begin on Monday of that week and extend 

 tihrough the week ; when it falls on Sunday, con- 

 vocation week shall begin on Tuesday of Christ- 

 mas week and shaU continue five days; when 

 Christmas day falls on Monday, Tuesday or 

 Wednesday, convocation week shall begin two 

 days later, namely, on Wednesday, Thursday 

 or Friday, the meetings ibeing continued to 

 include, respectively, Tuesday, Wednesday or 

 Thursday of New Year's week. 



It is suggested that meetings acceptable to 

 scientific men and to the community might oc- 

 cur on Sunday. Such would be meetings of 

 councils and committees held at headquai'ter 

 hotels, and perhaps public lectures. Indeed 

 lectures might be given in the churches as is 

 the custom at meetings of the British Associa- 

 tion which always includes Sunday in its week 

 of meeting. It may also be suggested that 

 one of tihe main objects of scientific meetiugs 

 is to ibring scientific men together for acquaint- 

 ance and conversation, and thalt Sunday could 

 be utilized for such personal meetings, as also 

 for smaller excursions, for informal dinners 

 and the like. 



The situation in which there appears to be 

 most occasion for difference of opinion is when 

 Christmas day falls on Monday or Wednesday. 

 It might in these cases .be desirable to meet the 

 day after 'Christmas, so that in the first case 

 the meeting could be completed in Christmas 

 week and iu the second case not extend beyond 

 Wednesday of New Year's week. The com- 

 mittee, however, recommends that the official 

 opening dates be two days after Christmas, 

 though of course any society could place its 

 first meetings on the day after Christmas and 



the council of the association and other councils 

 and committees must meet on that day. 



In addition to the convocation-Tveek meet- 

 ings during the Christmas holidays, it seems 

 desirable that the association should resume 

 regular summer meetings. The sections need 

 not ibe fully organized, and it would not be ex- 

 pected that most of the affiiliated societies 

 would meet. The four summer meetings that 

 have been held since the establishment of the 

 winter convocations — in Ithaca, Hanover, Sam 

 Francisco and this year in Salt Lake City — 

 have been enjoyable to those able to be present 

 and useful to the communities, to science and 

 to the association. 



The country is large ; scientific men are many 

 and have diverse interests. The association 

 should aim to be of service to all in so far as 

 this is possible without sacrifice of other inter- 

 ests. A meeting in summer, smaller and more 

 infonnal than the winter meetings, more sec- 

 tional in character, enables the association to 

 visit universities and places not suited to a 

 large winter meeting or impossible when there 

 is only one meeting a. year. Excursions and 

 social features may be arranged for a sujpmer 

 meeting, which give it an individual character. 



The -committee proposes that in addition to 

 migratory convocation-week meetings during 

 the Christmas holidays and meetings in sum- 

 mer, it may be desirable to standardize other 

 times and places for scientific meetings, more 

 especially for meetings of committees, boards 

 and the like. In many such groups, for exam- 

 ple, in practically all the committees of the 

 National Research Council, there are men work- 

 ing iu different sciences, and the cost and time 

 of travel could be economized if several meet- 

 ings were held on the same or consecutive days. 



We consequently suggest that it would be 

 an advantage to scientific organization and 

 research if committee and similar meetings were 

 called in Washington in the fourth week in 

 April; in New York City in the latter part of 

 Thanksgiving week; in Chicago albout the first 

 of February, and in Wood's Hole in August. 

 This would give a convenient distribution both 

 in time -and place for such meetings. 



The committee does not regard convocation 



