Febeuaey 11, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



207 



technical photography ; (4) apparatus and ma- 

 terial ; (5) photo-mechanical processes ; (6) sci- 

 entific aj)plications of photography (including 

 medical photography and the application of the 

 X-rays) ; (7) photography in color ; (8) photogra- 

 phy as a science. With such an excellent and 

 comprehensive program in view, the success of 

 the enterprise should be guaranteed. Further 

 particulars can be obtained from the Secretary 

 of the Royal Photogi-aphic Society at 12 Han- 

 over Square, London, W. 



At the annual meeting of the Indiana Acad- 

 emy of Sciences, held on December 29th and 

 30th, the President, Professor Thomas Gray, of 

 Rose Polytechnic Institute, delivered an ad- 

 dress on ' The Development of Electrical 

 Science.' A full program of 80 papers was 

 presented. These were distributed as follows: 

 General subjects, 9; mathematical and physical, 

 17 ; botanical, including bacteriological, 15 ; 

 chemical, 8 ; zoological, 20 ; geological, 11. 

 The following officers were elected for the year 

 1898: President, C. A. Waldo, Purdue Univer- 

 sity; Vice-President, C. H. Eigenmann, Indiana 

 University; Secretaries, John S. Wright, In- 

 dianapolis; A. J. Bigney, Moore's Hill College; 

 Geo. W. Benton, Indianapolis; Treasurer, J. 

 T. Scovell, Terre Haute. The volume of the 

 Proceedings of the Academy is a public docu- 

 ment, a limited number being printed by the 

 State. Copies are distributed under the direc- 

 tion of the Academy. 



The first annual meeting of the Audubon 

 Society of the District of Columbia was held 

 at the Columbian University, Washington, on 

 January 31st, under the presidency of Surgeon- 

 General George M. Sternberg. 



Professor W. B. Scott, of Princeton Uni- 

 versity, read before the American Philosophical 

 Society, of Philadelphia, on February 4th, a 

 paper on 'The Exploration of Patagonia,' 

 giving the results of the Princeton expedition 

 of 1896-97, under the direction of Mr. J. B. 

 Hatcher. 



At the meeting of the Council of the British 

 Medical Association on January 19th, Dr. Daw- 

 son Williams, assistant editor of the British 

 Medical Journal, who has been connected with 

 the editorial department of the Journal for seven- 



teen years, was unanimously appointed editor. 

 At the same time Mr. C. Louis Taylor, who 

 has been sub-editor for the last eleven years, 

 was appointed assistant editor. 



Dr. H. C. Wood, of Philadelphia, has ac- 

 cepted the editorship of the American Medico- 

 Surgical Bulletin. 



The bill advocated by the State Medical So- 

 ciety regarding expert testimony was introduced 

 in the Assembly at Albany, on January 31st, by 

 Mr. Kelsey. According to the reports given in 

 the daily papers the bill provides that upon the 

 trial of all indictments for felonies, whenever 

 it is made to appear to the Court that the trial 

 of issues will probably require the introduction 

 of medical expert testimony, the Court may, 

 upon application of either party, appoint such 

 number of experts as the Court shall deem 

 proper, not less than three nor more than five. 

 Such experts shall be persons skilled in medical 

 or surgical science, or in both, and shall be 

 duly admittted to the practice of medicine in 

 the State of New York ; but in special and ex- 

 traordinary cases the Court may appoint ex- 

 perts living in other States. Such expert wit- 

 nesses shall receive such compensation as the 

 Court shall prescribe, which shall not be less 

 than $10 nor more than $100 a day, while in 

 actual attendance upon the trial, which shall 

 be paid by the county. The expert witnesses 

 may be examined and cross-examined in the 

 same manner and subject to the same rules as 

 other expert witnesses ; and if, on preliminary 

 cross-examination at the trial with reference to 

 his qualifications, it shall appear that any such 

 witness has, either before or after his appoint- 

 ment, expressed an opinion as to the merits of 

 the action, his appointment shall be revoked 

 and he shall receive no compensation as an ex- 

 pert, but he shall not, therefore, be prevented 

 from testifying as a witness. The party apply- 

 ing for the appointment of expert witnesses is 

 not to be bound by the testimony of such wit- 

 nesses, but may rebut the same by counter 

 testimony. The act is not to be construed to 

 limit or affect the right of either party to sum- 

 mon other expert witnesses. 



Senator Vest, from the Senate Committee 

 on Public Health, has made a report on the 



