540 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIII. No. 1380 



7. The volatile material determination was 

 increased by carbon dioxide treatments, and 

 since tbis increase could not be accounted for 

 in tbe determination of total carbon, the car- 

 bon dioxide gas must have changed the water 

 of constitution of some of the soil silicates. 



8. The composition of the conductivity 

 ■water extracts from the different soils varied 

 as the fertilizer constituents added would 

 theoretically replace substances known to ba 

 present in the soil. 



9. The composition of the conductivity ex- 

 tracts from the carbon dioxide treated samples 

 showed that the increased specific conductivity 

 and acidities due to carbon dioxide treatment 

 were associated with substances with low 

 solubility and ionization constants present 

 under conditions where hydrolysis readily 

 took place. 



The shifting of the acidity, the chemical 

 changes in the soil and the soil extracts were 

 in accordance with the solubilities of salts of 

 metals high in the electromotive series and 

 their tendencies to hydrolyze. The work leads 

 to the conclusion that soil acidity is the re- 

 sultant of hydrolytic mass action phenomena 

 and thus the application of the exact amount 

 of lime shown by any method can not be ex- 

 pected to give exact neutrality. 



H. A. KOYES 



Mellon Institute op Industrial Eeseaech, 

 UNivEBSirY op Pittsbukgh, 



PiTTSBUEGH, PA. 



THE AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL 

 SOCIETY 



The two hundred and sixteenth regular meeting 

 of the American Mathematical Society was held 

 at Columbia University, on Saturday, April 23, 

 1921, extending through the usual morning and 

 afternoon sessions. The attendance included sixty- 

 seven members. Twenty-four new members were 

 elected, and eleven applications for membership 

 in the society were received. 



The council voted to accept the invitation re- 

 ceived at the February meeetiug to hold the next 

 annual meeting of the society at Toronto in con- 

 nection with the meetings of the American Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Science. 



The following papers were read at this meeting : 



On the gyroscope : W. F. Osgood. 



Seven points in space mid the eighth associated 

 point: H. S. White. 



Most general composition of polynomials: L. E. 

 Dickson. 



Number of real roots ly Descartes' rule of 

 signs: L. E. Dickson. 



The Einstein solar field : L. P. Eisenhaet. 



A special Tcind of ruled surface: J. K. Whitte- 



MOBE. 



On the theorems of Green and Gauss: V. C. 



POOK. 



Pressure distribution around a breech-blocTc: J. 

 E. EowE. 



The mathematical theory of proportional repre- 

 sentation. Third paper: E. V. Huntington. 



On the apportionment of representatives. Sec- 

 ond paper: F, W. Owens. 



On the geometry of motion in a curved space 

 of n dimensions: Joseph Lipka. 



Note on an irregular expansion problem: Dun- 

 ham Jackson. 



Hyperspherioal goniometry, with applications to 

 the theory of correlation for n variables: James 

 McMahon. 



On the location of the roots of polynomials: J. 

 L. Walsh. 



The kernel of the Stieltjes integral corresponding 

 to a completely continuums transformation: C. A. 

 Fischer. 



On a simple class of deductive systems: E. L. 

 Post. 



Topics in the theory of divergent series: W. A. 



HUBWTTZ. 



A new vector method in integral equations: 

 NoRBEET Wiener and F. L. Hitchcock. 



On a certain type of system of oo'^ curves: 

 Jesse Douglas. 



Concerning Laguerre's inversion: Jesse Doug- 

 las. 



Closed connected point sets which are discon- 

 nected by the omission of a finite number of 

 points: J. B. Kline. 



The sum of a series as the solution of a differ- 

 ential equation: I. J. Schwatt. 



Method for the summation of a general case of 

 a deranged series: I. J. Schwatt. 



Higher derivatives of functions of functions: 

 I. J. Schwatt. 



A covariamt of three circles: A. B. Coble. 



E. G. D. ElCHABDSON, ' 



Secretary 



