■ February 7, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



2815 



.demonstrated that this method of entertainment, 

 by bringing all of the members together under 

 .conditions permitting of informal discussion and 

 exchange of ideas, adds greatly to the pleasure 

 and value of the meeting. 



Joseph. Erlangek, 

 Acting Secretary 

 Washington University Medical School 



TEE ASSOCIATION OF AMEBIC AN 

 GEOGBAFEEBS 



The Association of American Geographers held 

 its ninth annual meeting at New Haven, Connecti- 

 cut, December 27-28, 1912. The sessions were 

 held in Lampson Hall, Yale University, and an 

 informal meeting took place Friday evening at 

 the Graduates ' Club. In the absence of the presi- 

 dent (Professor Salisbury), Mr. M. B. Campbell, 

 the first vice-president, presided. About thirty 

 members attended. 



. It is gratifying to the members to see the in- 

 creasing number of papers on anthropogeography, 

 regional geography, and climatology that deal with 

 human relations, a feature less prominent in the 

 earlier programs of the association. Seven purely 

 physiographic papers were presented out of a total 

 of sixteen. Great interest is manifested in the 

 Annals of the association since the appearance of 

 the first :\'olume during the past year. The pub- 

 lication committee has performed a distinct service 

 to geographic science in securing papers of high 

 quality and a volume of excellent appearance. 



The newly-elected officers for 1913 are as fol- 

 lows: 



President — Henry G. Bryant. 



First Vice-president — Ellsworth Huntington. 



Second Vice-president — Charles C. Adams. 



Secretary — A. P. Brigham. 



Treasurer — F. E. Matthes. 



Councillor (for three years) — E. DeC. Ward. 



The publication committee appointed for two 

 years (1913 and 1914) consists of E. E. Dodge, 

 editor, and Alfred H. Brooks, H. E. Gregory and 

 H. H. Barrows. Isaiah Bowman, 



Acting Secretary, Session 

 of December, 1912 



TEE CONVENTION OF TEE AMEBICAN 



SOCIETY OF AGBICULTUBAL 



ENGINEEBS 



The sixth annual convention of the American 



Society of Agricultural Engineers was held at the 



Great Northern Hotel, Chicago, December 26, 27 



and 28. The attendance of members 'was Very 

 good, but the noticeable feature this year was the 

 unusually large number present of manufacturers, 

 designers, etc. This is very encouraging to the 

 officers and shows that the work of the society 

 is being kept practical enough to interest the 

 commercial man. 



Thursday afternoon was devoted' largely to gen- 

 eral agricultural machinery interests. Mr. Sjo- 

 gren, of the University of Nebraska, presented a 

 paper on ' ' Tests of Corn Planters, ' ' which gave 

 the results of a series of tests run on accuracy 

 of drop. Professor C. A. Ocock, of the University 

 of Wisconsin, in his paper on "Draft of the 

 Plow," showed by tables and curves, the varia- 

 tions in the draft of a plow as affected by width, 

 depth, type of moldboard and condition of soil. 

 In the paper on ' ' Isolated Gas-lighting Plants ' ' 

 Mr. Eugene Becker, of the Atlantic Blau-Gas 

 Company, described the different systems using 

 gasoline gas, acetylene and Blaugas, with the 

 advantages and disadvantages of each. Admix- 

 ture of a certain proportion of air made either 

 of these gases explosive, either a richer or leaner 

 mixture being non-explosive: gasoline — -2 per cent, 

 to 5 per cent, by volume of gasoline vapor — 98 

 per cent, to 9.5 per cent, air; acetylene — 2 per 

 cent, to 49 per cent, by volume acetylene — 98 per 

 ■cent, to 51 per cent, air; Blaugas^ — 4 per' cient. to 

 8 per cent, by volume Blaugas — 96 per cent, to 

 92 per cent. air. Thus acetylene has a vfery wide 

 explosive range, Blaugas next, and gasoline least. 

 Oh the point of quality of light, acetylene is the 

 best, but for convenience and safety Blaugas was 

 probably most satisfactory. 



Friday was devoted to the tractor and" standard- 

 ization questions. In his paper on ''Testing of 

 Gas Tractors " L. W. Chase, of the University of 

 Nebraska, reviewed the results secured through 

 the Winnipeg Motor Contests. C. F. Hirsehfeld, 

 of Cornell University, in a paper on .."Principles 

 of Fuel Oil Engines ' ' explained the matter of 

 carburetion of various fuel oils, the principles and 

 chemistry of their combustion and the difficulties 

 met in adapting them as fuels for internal com- 

 bustion engines. E. H. Ehrman, of the Chicago 

 Screw Company, in his paper on ' ' The Standard- 

 ization Work of the Society of Automobile Engi 

 neers," gave the society an account of the meth- 

 ods and guiding principles for the standardization 

 work of his society. The influence of standard- 

 ization in cheapening production and repairs and 

 in keeping down monopoly was brought out in 



