December 10, 1920] 



SCIENCE 



555 



his training is highly qualified to deal with the 

 subjects of colloids from its theoretical stand- 

 point, as well as its practical side. 



Arrangements will be made for holding a 

 series of discussions during the conference on 

 the subjects treated in the lectures. 



The conference will be opened by Sir Robert 

 Falconer, LL.D., president of the University 

 of Toronto, on Wednesday, January 5, at five 

 o'clock, when Professor McLennan will deliver 

 the opening lecture on " Molecules and atoms." 

 J. C. McLennan, 

 Professor of Physics 



University op Toronto, 

 November 22, 1920 



MEETING OF THE AMERICAN ORNITHOLO- 

 GISTS' UNION 



The meeting of the American Ornitholo- 

 gists' Union in Washington, D. C, November 

 8-11, 1920, was one of the largest in the his- 

 tory of the union. One half of the Fellows 

 and about ten per cent, of the entire member- 

 ship were in attendance. The business meet- 

 ings on Monday were held at the Cosmos Club 

 and the other sessions at the U. S. National 

 Museum. The election of Fellows and Mem- 

 bers included Eobert Cushman Murphy, of 

 Brooklyn, N. Y., as Fellow; E. C. Stuart 

 Baker and Dr. Percy Lowe, of London, Hon- 

 orary Fellows; 13 Foreign Corresponding 

 Fellows; 5 Members and 307 Associates. The 

 election of ofiicers for 1921 resulted as fol- 

 lows: President, Dr. Witmer Stone, Philadel- 

 phia; Vice-president, Dr. George Bird Grin- 

 nell and Dr. Jonathan D wight. New York; 

 Secretary, Dr. T. S. Palmer, 1939 Biltmore 

 St., Washington, D. C. ; Treasurer, W. L.Mc- 

 Atee, Biological Survey, Washington, D. C. 

 The single vacancy in the council was filled 

 by the selection of Dr. W. H. Osgood, of 

 Chicago, and the other six members were re- 

 elected. The program of nearly 40 papers, 

 five of which were illustrated by motion pic- 

 tures, covered a wide range of subjects re- 

 lating to North American birds and also in- 

 cluded papers on the birds of Argentina, 

 Nicaragua, Peru, Europe and Madagascar. 

 In connection with the meeting an exhibition 



of drawings, paintings and photographs of 



birds by American artists, supplemented by a 



series of prints showing the development of 



zoological illustration as applied to birds from 



the earliest times down to date, was arranged 



in the Division of Prints in the Library of 



Congress. 



T. S. Palmer, 



Secretary 



THE BULAWAYO MEETING OF THE SOUTH 

 AFRICAN ASSOCIATION 



The eighteenth annual session of the South 

 African Association for the Advancement of 

 Science was held in Bulawayo, Southern Rho- 

 desia, on July 14^17, with Dr. I. B. Pole 

 Evans, as president. From the report in 

 Nature we learn that there were the usual 

 receptions and functions, together with visits 

 to the Khami ruins, the Matoppos, the Vic- 

 toria Falls and Livingstone. A party, after 

 the conclusion of the official meeting, visited 

 the Great Zimbabwe. More than sixty papers 

 were read in the various sections, and the 

 attendance was a large one more than 130 

 members proceeding by special train from the 

 Transvaal, as well as some from the Cape 

 Peninsula and Natal. 



The president Dr. I. B. Pole Evans, chief 

 of the Division of Botany and director of the 

 Botanical Survey of the Union, gave a most 

 interesting address on " The veld : its re- 

 sources and dangers," the address being illus- 

 trated by a series of beautiful lantern-slides. 

 He reviewed recent progress in botanical 

 knowledge, and outlined the notable advance 

 that had been made by the members of the 

 Botanical Survey in respect to systematic 

 ecology, indigenous grasses, fungi and poison- 

 ous plants. Mr. H. E. Wood, of the Union 

 Observatory, Johannesburg, as president of 

 Section A, gave an address on " Recent prog- 

 ress in astronomy," noting that the present 

 year was the centenary of the foundation of 

 the Royal Observatory at the Cape. " Geol- 

 ogy in relation to mining" was the subject 

 of the presidential address to Section B, given 

 by Mr. F. P. Mennell, who has seen all the 

 later developments in the mining industry of 

 Rhodesia. Dr. T. R. Sim, late government 



