SCIENCE 



Friday, February 7, 1913 



CONTENTS 



The American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science: — 



Section F — Is it Worth While? Professor 

 ■ Henry F. Nachtrieb 199 



Extracts from the Thirty-third Annual Re- 

 port of the Director of the United States 

 Geological Survey: Dr. George Otis Smith 205 



The Transcontinental Excursion of the Amer- 

 ican Geographical Society : Professor Al- 

 bert Perry Brigham 210 



Scientific Notes and News 214 



University and Educational Neivs 218 



Discussion and Correspondence : — 



Conn's Biology: Dr. Frederick H. Blod- 

 GETT, Professor T. D. A. Cockerell. On 

 the keform of the Calendar: J. M. Clif- 

 ford, Jr 218 



Scientific Books : — 



Sanderson and Jaclcson 's Elementary Ento- 

 mology : Professor C. E. Crosby. Bjerk- 

 nes and Sandstrom 's Dynamic Meteorology 

 and Hydrography: Dr. F. E. Sharpe. 

 Whetham's Experimental Electricity: Pro- 

 fessor 0. W. ElCHARDSON 220 



Special Articles: — 

 . Belationship of the Indian Languages of 

 California: Professors E. B. Dixon and 

 A. L. Kroeber. Critical Criteria on Basin- 

 range Structure: Dr. Charles E. Keyes. 

 The Belation of Age to Fecundity: Dr. 

 Eaymond Pearl. The Induction of Non- 

 astringency in Fersimmons at Supranormal 

 Pressures of Carljon Dioxide: Professor 

 Francis E. Lloyd 225 



The American Physiological Society: Pro- 

 fessor Joseph Erlanger 232 



Tlie Association of American Geographers: 

 Professor Isaiah Bowman 235 



The Convention of the American Society of 

 Agricultural Engineers: Professor I. W. 

 DiCKERSON 235 



Societies and Academies: — 



The Anthropological Society of Washing- 

 ton : W. H. Babcock 236 



MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 

 review should be sent to Professor J. McKeen Cattell, Ga 

 «n-HudsOD, N. Y. 



TSE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOB THE 



ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE 



SECTION F—IS IT WOBTE WHILE'i^ 



The first meeting of the American As- 

 sociation for the Advancement of Science 

 was held in September, 1848. The society 

 was not then organized into sections, but a 

 committee on organization was empowered 

 to "divide up sections" or "combine sec- 

 tions" as it deemed advisable. 



The Proceedings of the Association indi- 

 cate that for many years this committee 

 was at least an active one, for the particular 

 organization into sections and subsections 

 of any one meeting rarely survived for 

 another meeting. 



At the sixth meeting, held in Aug-ust, 

 1851, the following sections were recog- 

 nized: A — Mathematics and Physics, B — 

 Chemistry and Mineralogy, C — Geology 

 and Physical Geography, D — Natural His- 

 tory, including Physiology, E — Ethnology 

 and Geography, and F — Mechanical Sci- 

 ence. 



At the seventh meeting held in July, 

 1853, botany and zoology were recognized 

 as .subsections of Section B, which had been 

 changed from "Natural History including 

 Physiology" to "Chemistry and Natural 

 History. ' ' The next year zoology was con- 

 spicuous by its absence, but two zoological 

 papers were read in the subdivision desig- 

 nated " Physiology. " The year following 

 "Physiology" was omitted and "Zoology" 

 was reinstated. Thus zoology, now promi- 

 nent and now not in evidence, drifted in 



' Address of the vice-president and chairman of 

 Section F — Zoology — American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science, Cleveland, . December, 

 1912." 



