December 3, 1920] 



SCIENCE 



541 



light Bmut attack. The seed was harvester 

 thrashed and showed considerable injury to 

 the seed coats permitting maximum bluestone 

 injury. The tests were replicated from 2 to 

 9 times and the average tabulated. 



The results compiled from repeated tests 

 demonstrate the effectiveness of copjwr sul- 

 phate dust when mixed with equal parts of 

 calcium carbonate dust in the control of bunt 

 attack due to seed-borne spores. No damage 

 to seed germination occurred. Copper car- 

 bonate dust was equally effective. These 

 dusts, especially the copper sulphate adhered 

 tightly and completely covered all parts of 

 the seed wheat. The process of shaking the 

 wheat in dusting removed a large portion of 

 the bunt spores. Two ounces of the dusts 

 per bushel are considered ample. Copper sul- 

 phate and lime are available everywhere at 

 low cost. Further experimentation in repre- 

 sentative areas in the wheat belt of the United 

 States is desirable before the dust methods 

 are put into practise among farmers. 



W. W. Mackie, 

 Fred N". Briggs 

 College or Agriculture and 

 TJ.S.D.A. Cooperating, 

 Berkeley, Calif. 



THE AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL 

 SOCIETY 



The twenty-fourth meeting of the society 

 was held on September 1 to 4, 1920, at Smith 

 College, Northampton and Mt. Holyoke Col- 

 lege, South Hadley, Massachusetts. The mem- 

 bers lived at the Gillett House, one of the 

 residence halls at Northampton. This was 

 the first occasion on which the society had met 

 regularly at a woman's college, and it was 

 a double pleasure to visit two such institu- 

 tions, and especially to find in what flourish- 

 ing condition are their observatories and 

 astronomical departments. 



There were five sessions for papers at 

 Smith, and two at Mt. Holyoke, where the 

 society went on the second day. A special 

 feature of the meeting was the conversazione 

 at which various exhibits were shown, in- 



cluding the latest work of the 100-inch tele- 

 scope at Mt. Wilson. 



Sir F. "W. Dyson, Astronomer Royal, Green- 

 wich, was elected as an honorary member of 

 the society. 



The officers for the ensuing year are: 



President — Frank Sehlesinger. 



Vice-presidents — Walter S. Adams, Otto 

 Klotz. 



Secretary — Joel Stebbins. 



Treasurer — Benjamin Boss. 



Councilors — S. I. Bailey, W. J. Hussey, 

 H. N. Russell, V. M. Slipher, Caroline E. 

 Furness and John A. Miller. 



The representatives of the society on the 

 National Research Council will hereafter be 

 elected in the same manner as the officers of 

 the society. The present members on the 

 Division of Physical Sciences are: W. W. 

 Campbell, H. N. Russell and Joel Stebbins; 

 and these three together with the president 

 of the society, Frank Sehlesinger, and W. S. 

 Eichelberger form the executive committee 

 of the American Section of the International 

 Astronomical Union. The committee will or- 

 ganize the American preparation for the tri- 

 ennial meeting of the union in 1922. 



About seventy members of the society were 

 in attendance at the meeting, and fifteen new 

 members were elected. The list of papers, 

 abstracts of which are printed in Popular 

 Astronomy, was as follows : 



Tlie spectra of some variable stars: W. S. Adams 



and A. H. JoT. 

 Note on the spectrum of T Pyxidis: W. S. Adams 



and A. H. Jot. 

 Personality in the estimation of tenths: Sebastian 



Albrecht. 

 Observations of variable stars at the MoCormiclc 



Observatory : Harold L. Alden. 

 Parallax determinations of bright stars: Harold 



L. Alden and S. A. Mitchell. 

 Variable stars in Messier S2: S. I. Bailey. 

 Concerning results of observed gravitational light 



deflections: Louis A. Bauer. 

 Ghosts and oculars: Louis Bell. 

 On telegraphing the position of a celestial object: 



Ernest Clare Bower. 

 Notes on the classification of long period variables: 



Leon Campbell. 



