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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. L. No. 1286 



on whicli they are eacli engaged, and the con- 

 trast between the astronomy of to-day and of 

 sixty years ago is apparent. The absolute mag- 

 nitude of a star or its actual luminosity inde- 

 pendent of its distance is now a commonplace 

 and forms the subject of many investigations. 

 Certain peculiarities of spectrum have been 

 correlated with the absolute magnitude in cases 

 in which the latter is known, and, generalizing 

 from this, a method has been devised for find- 

 ing from the spectrum the absolute magnitude, 

 and therefore the parallax, of stars. Professor 

 W. S. Adams, to whom this conception is due, 

 was constrained to say that the data on which 

 his first list of parallaxes was based are capable 

 of improvement, but this research is as yet in 

 its early stages. Dr. Scares, also of Mount 

 Wilson, has devised new photographic methods 

 for determining the colors of stars, and a 

 correlation between color, spectral type and 

 absolute magnitude is being established. Pro- 

 fessor Benjamin Boss, of the Dudley Observa- 

 tory, whose name is associated more with geo- 

 metrical astronomy than with physical, had 

 some interesting facts to tell about the differ- 

 ence in direction of motion of the classes of 

 stars known as the Giant and Dwarf, which is 

 a distinction depending on luminosity. 



Dr. Schlesinger, of Allegheny, and Pro- 

 fessor Joel Stebbins gave details of their work 

 in determining the variation of brightness of 

 variable stars, the method of the photo-electric 

 cell used by the latter being a very recent 

 adaptation of physics to astronomy not un- 

 known in England; whilst Professor Campbell, 

 director of Lick Observatory and president of 

 the delegation, refrained from speaking of his 

 well-known observations of radial velocity, but 

 told his audience of the observations of the 

 Lick Observatory party on the occasion of the 

 eclipse of June 8, 1918. An attempt was made 

 to detect the Einstein effect, or a light-dis- 

 placement effect from any cause, by compari- 

 son of a photograph of the stars round the 

 sun with a photograph of the same field in the 

 night sky, but the comparison failed to show 

 any displacement of this nature. It is regret- 

 table that the Harvard Observatory was not 

 represented owing to the recent death of Pro- 

 fessor E. C. Pickering. 



This brief sketch of the proceedings at this 

 meeting is sufficient to show the trend of mod- 

 ern astronomy. It was im.pressing to see so 

 many men, comparatively young, who are de- 

 voting themselves to abstract science. That 

 there is similar progress on this side of the At- 

 lantic reference to recent volumes of the 

 Monthly Notices will show. Here, as counter- 

 part to the brilliant invention of new methods 

 of attack by observation above recorded, we 

 have development by mathematical theory and 

 the statistical discussion of results. 



ORGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN METEORO- 

 LOGICAL SOCIETY 



An American meteorological society is being 

 formed and will be definitely organized at the 

 A. A. A. S. meeting in St. Louis next 

 December. 



The purpose of this society is to fiU the need 

 for an easy interchange of ideas among those 

 interested in atmospheric phenomena and their 

 effects on man, and thereby to promote in- 

 struction and research in these important sub- 

 jects. There never has been a national asso- 

 ciation in this large field in America. 



The accomplishment of these objects may 

 be brought about (1) by general meetings with 

 the A. A. A. S., and local meetings at other 

 times; (2) by using the Monthly Weather 

 Review, the only meteorological magazine of 

 the United States, as a medium for publish- 

 ing meteorological and climatological articles, 

 and (3) by issuing a monthly leaflet contain- 

 ing news, announcements, notes, and queries. 



The principal sources of membership will be, 

 teachers of meteorology (about 200), Weather 

 Bureau employees (around 300), former Signal 

 Corps and Navy meteorologists (nearly 600), 

 and the numerous corps of amateur meteorol- 

 ogists. Dues of $1 a year should be sufficient 

 to cover all expenses of the monthly leaflet 

 and arrangements for meetings. 



The need for considerable meteorological 

 work in connection with military and naval 

 operations during the war and our present ex- 

 panding demands for weather forecasts not 

 only at the surface but also at various levels 

 in the free air makes the present the oppor- 

 tune time to capitalize the war-time interest 



