234 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. L. No. 1288 



was held in London from October 9 to 11, 

 1918. A further conference was held in Paris 

 from November 26 to 29, 1918, at which 

 organization was advanced, and the designa- 

 tion "International Eesearch Council" was 

 adopted. 



At the Paris conference resolutions were 

 passed by this International Research Council 

 in favor of the establishment of an Interna- 

 tional Geophysical Union, " for the purpose of 

 initiating and promoting researches in geo- 

 physics." The fields in science to be com- 

 prised under this title were not completely 

 specified and only two sections were proposed 

 at that time, viz. : 



(a) A section dealing with geodesy and allied 

 branches of science, such as the study of tides and 

 mathematical ' ' cartography ; " 



(6) A section of meteorology, with which shall 

 be associated terrestrial magnetism, seismology 

 and vulcanology; 



but it was intended that other sections should 

 be provided for. In these resolutions it was 

 provided that " National Committees "^ shall 

 be appointed under the authority of the prin- 

 cipal academy of science in each country, or 

 by its government. 



Following this an informal meeting of the 

 Division of Physical Sciences, and invited 

 guests, was held in Washington, D. C, on 

 February 27, 1919, in response to a call by 

 Mr. George E. Hale, chairman of the National 

 Research Comicil, at which the actions of the 

 London and Paris conferences were reported 

 and discussed, and the general subject and 

 content of the field of geophysics was con- 

 sidered. 



A committee, consisting of Messrs. R. S. 

 Woodward, chairman, L. A. Bauer, Wm. 

 Bowie, Whitman Cross, A. 0. Leuschner and 

 C. F. Marvin, was appointed to consider the 

 organization of an American Section of the 

 proposed International Geophysical Union. 

 Under date of March 4, 1919, this committee 

 submitted the following report : 



1 Following the precedent in astronomy, in the 

 United States the "National Committee" has been 

 designated the "American Section," of the pro- 

 posed International Geophysical Union. 



To THE Chairman of the National Eeseakch 

 Council : 

 Your committee appointed to consider the ques- 

 tion of a logical and practicable organization of 

 the proposed American Section of the Interna- 

 tional Geophysical Union respectfully submits the 

 following report: 



The earth is at once the subject and the object 

 of many sciences. Of these the most important are 

 astronomy, geodesy, geology, meteorology, seis- 

 mology, terrestrial magnetism, terrestrial electric- 

 ity, tides and vulcanology. 



While each of these sciences is more or less dis- 

 tinct in itself, they are closely related to one 

 another, and progress in any one of them may be 

 expected to depend to a great extent on the general 

 progress attained in the others. Each of these sci- 

 ences has its devotees and its experts, and the num- 

 ber of these in the aggregate is now very large. 

 Hence in any scheme of effective organization it is 

 essential to secure groupings of these various sub- 

 divisions of geophysics in order that the number of 

 groups may not be too unwieldy in the transac- 

 tion of business essential to such organizations. 

 But it should be distinctly understood that in rec- 

 ommending a limited number of groups for pur- 

 poses of administration it is not desired to dis- 

 courage relations of closest reciprocity between the 

 devotees to the various sciences included in the 

 groups. On the contrary, it is the opinion of your 

 committee that progress in the future is most 

 likely to result from active cultivation of the 

 borderlands that now serve to diminish, but only 

 indefinitely, the several fields of geophysics. 



It should be understood also that the groupings 

 recommended are to be regarded as provisional and 

 subject to such changes as future experience may 

 suggest. It is recognized also that the groupings 

 here recommended may not be the most appropri- 

 ate for all countries or possibly for an interna- 

 tional organization, since much regard should be 

 given in all such matters to historical precedents 

 and to the circumstances presented at any epoch 

 by individual investigators, and especially by gov- 

 ernmental organizations, of any country. 



With these reservations the committee recom- 

 mends that the following groups of subjects should 

 be recognized in the organization of the American 

 Section of the International Geophysical Union: 



Group 1: Geodesy. This group may be as- 

 sumed to deal with questions concerning the size, 

 the shape and the mechanical properties of the 

 earth. 



Group 2: Seismology and Vulcanology. 



