SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. L. No. 1300 



ciety. An invitational program lias been ar- 

 ranged for Wednesday afternoon as follows: 



C. E. MeClung: "The work of the National Re- 

 search Council in relation to zoology. ' ' 



J. T. Patterson: "Studies in Polyembryony. " 



C. H. Eigenmann: "Eaunal areas on the Pacific 

 slope of South America. ' ' 



V. E. Shelf ord: "Physiological life histories of 

 terrestrial animals." 



The entire program is in conjunction with 

 Section F of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science. The address of Pro- 

 fessor William Patten, of Dartmouth College, 

 the retiring vice-president of Section F, will 

 be given following a zoology dinner on Wed- 

 nesday evening, December 31. The subject is : 

 "The Message of the Biologist." Following the 

 address, moving pictures taken on his recent 

 Baribadoes-Antigua Expedition will be shown 

 and explained by C. C. Nutting. 



The Statler Hotel will be headquarters for 

 the zoologists. W. C. Allee, 



Secretary-Treasurer 



THE SECTION OF GEOLOGY OF THE AMERICAN 

 ASSOCIATION 



Section E — Geology and Geography — of the 

 American Association for the Advancement of 

 Science will hold its meetings at St. Louis, 

 Mo., on Tuesday and Wednesday, December 

 30 and 31, with the possibility of an extra ses- 

 sion on New Tear's Day if enough papers are 

 offered to make such a session desirable. The 

 address of the retiring vice-president of Sec- 

 tion E, Dr. David White, of the U. S. Geolog- 

 ical Survey, will be upon the topic " Geology 

 as it is taught in the United States." One 

 joint session with the Association of American 

 Geographers is being planned. The meetings 

 of Section E will be presided over by Dr. 

 Charles Kenneth Leith, of the University of 

 Wisconsin. Titles of papers to be read before 

 the Section should be in the hands of the secre- 

 tary. Dr. Eoilin T. Chamberlin, University of 

 Chicago, before December 12. 



THE SECRETARYSHIP OF THE AMERICAN 



ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT 



OF SCIENCE 



At a meeting of the committee on policy of 

 the American Association for the Advance- 



ment of Science, held in New York City on 

 November 13, Dr. L. O. Howard, who has 

 served the association for twenty-two years as 

 permanent secretary, stated that in view of 

 the great enlargement in the work of the Bu- 

 reau of Entomology, of which he is the chief, 

 and the increasing responsibilities of the office 

 of the permanent secretary of the association, 

 he felt unable to hold much longer the two 

 offices. He proposed that efforts be made to 

 find an executive officer who would devote his 

 entire time to the work of the association and 

 the national organization of scientific work 

 and scientific men for the promotion and the 

 diffusion of science. There was consequently 

 appointed a committee on the permanent sec- 

 retaryship, consisting of Dr. Simon Flexner, 

 president of the association. Professor A. A. 

 Noyes, and Dr. J. McKeen Cattell. 



It is believed that the secretaryship of the 

 Smithsonian Institution, the presidency of the 

 Carnegie Institution of Washington, the chair- 

 manship of the National Besearch Council and 

 the permanent secretaryship of the American 

 Association for the Advancement of Science, 

 are offices of coordinate importance, and that 

 the secretary of the association, directly re- 

 sponsible to the scientific men of the country, 

 should hold a position and exert an influence 

 not inferior to that of any scientific man in 

 the United States. 



The filling of these offices is difficult, for it 

 is undesirable to divert able scientific men 

 from their work. But in the existing state of 

 society there are needed those who will sacri- 

 fice their research work in order that others 

 may have better opportunity, as in war men 

 are ready to sacrifice their lives to enable 

 others to live in freedom. It is possible that 

 the secretary of the American Association 

 by proper organization of scientific societies, 

 scientific institutions and scientific men and 

 by securing the interest and support of the 

 public might increase by ten per cent, the pro- 

 ductivity of science in America; only a New- 

 ton or a Darwin could do so much by his in- 

 dividual research. 



The conduct of research under modern con- 

 ditions requires executive ability, and men of 



