Apeil 28, 1899.] 



SCmNCE. 



621 



thyleue sulphonic acid and its derivatives. 

 ' A Serviceable Generator for Hydrogen Sul- 

 phide :' By W. P. Bradley. This generator is 

 so arranged that all the acid is used, and it only 

 needs filling several times a year. The iron 

 salt formed does not mix with the acid, but is 

 drawn off and thrown away. 



J. Elliott Gilpin. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADE3IIES. 

 THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



The annual stated meeting of the National 

 Academy of Sciences was held at Columbian 

 University beginning Tuesday, April 18th, and 

 ending Thursday, April 20th. The members 

 missed the rooms to which they were so long 

 accustomed in the National Museum, but the 

 growth of this institution has been so marked 

 that there is no longer any room available for 

 such purposes. A committee has been ap- 

 pointed to secure, if possible, permanent quar- 

 ters, and it is hoped that, in view of the relations 

 of the Academy to the United States govern- 

 ment, rooms may be set aside in some public 

 building for the use of the Academy. 



The papers presented at the public sessions 

 were as follows : 



1. Ophiura Brevispina, W. K. Brooks and Caswell 

 Grave. 



2. The Shadow of a Plant, A. Hall. 



3. On the Tanner Deep Sea Tow Net, A. Agassiz. 



4. On the Acalephs of the East Coast of the United 

 States, A. Agassiz and A. G. Mayer. 



5. On the Limestones of Fiji, E. C. Andrews ; com- 

 municated by A. Agassiz. 



6. On the Bololo of Fiji and Samoa, W. McM. 

 Woodworth ; communicated by A. Agassiz. 



7. On the Diamond and Gold Mines of South Africa, 

 A. Agassiz. 



8. Progress in Surveying and Protection of the 

 U. S. Forest Reserves, Chas. D. Walcott. 



9. The Resulting Differences between the Astro- 

 nomic and Geodetic Latitudes and Longitudes in^the 

 Triangulation along the Thirty-ninth Parallel, H. S. 

 Pritchett ; introduced by Chas. D. Walcott. 



10. The "Work of the Division of Forestry, Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, Gifford Pinchot ; introduced by 

 Chas. D. "Walcott. 



11. On the Development by Selection of Super- 

 numerary Mammte in Sheep, A. Graham Bell. 



12. On Kites with Radial "Wings, A. Graham Bell. 



13. Remarks on the Work of the Nautical Almanac 

 During the Years 1877-98 in the Field of Theoretical 

 Astronomy, S. Newcomb. 



14. Exhibition of Specimens of Nautilus pompilms, 

 W. K. Brooks and L. E. Griffin. 



The new members elected are : Professor C. 

 E. Beecher, Yale University ; Professor George 

 C. Comstock, University of Wisconsin; Professor 

 Theodore W. Richards, Harvard University ; 

 Professor Edgar F. Smith, University of Penn- 

 sylvania, and Professor E. B. "VVilson, Columbia 

 University. 



The Academy adjourned to meet in New 

 York next November. 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



The 499th meeting of the Society was held at 

 8 p. m., April 1st, in the assembly room of the 

 Cosmos Club. The first paper was by Mr. G. 

 W. Littlehales on ' The Prospective Place of. 

 the Solar Azimuth Tables in the Problem of 

 Accelerating Ocean Transit.' A brief abstract 

 of this paper will appear later in Science. 

 The second paper was by Mr. E. G. Fisher on 

 ' Data Relating to Nickel Iron Alloy. ' The 

 third paper was by Mr. H. A. Hazen on ' Elec- 

 tric and Magnetic "Weather.' Mr. Hazen said 

 in part : 



One of the earliest coincidences between the 

 weather and magnetism was published in a set 

 of curves in the Annual Report of the C. S. O. 

 for 188;^, showing the exact correspondence be- 

 tween the curves of diurnal range of magnetic 

 declination and pressure of the air. In April, 



1898, a period of 2.5.912 days was found from 

 temperatures for 20 years at Omaha, Neb., and 

 this period applied to the annual observations 

 in the United States from 1870 to 1898 (about 

 400 occurrences) showed a marked maximum 

 point on one day throughout. The largest 

 number of auroras observed in any one day in 

 the United States fell upon this same day (not 

 included, however, in the count). In February, 



1899, Dr. Ekholm sent a paper in which he had 

 established a period of 2.5.92876 days from ob- 

 servations of the auroras in Sweden for 175 

 years. This period, applied to the above obser- 

 vations, gave almost a straight line. The great 

 danger of using the twenty-four-hour change in 

 any element was pointed out. It was shown 



