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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVIII. No. 715 



workers on the same topics because they are 

 working on different species. 



What is the remedy? Seek an association 

 of workers on general biological topics (of in- 

 terest to more than one of the " sciences ") 

 for the presentation and discussion of the 

 results of investigations on such topics. Such 

 an association is already organized. The 

 American Society of Naturalists is dignified 

 by years of service and a membership that 

 includes the most eminent of American 

 biologists. Except in its early years it has 

 been, as it now is, almost exclusively a hio- 

 logical society. For some years one of its 

 principal functions has been to arrange for a 

 discussion on some general biological topic. 

 Matters of common interest to biological in- 

 vestigators would seem, therefore, to be its 

 peculiar province. Consequently it can pro- 

 vide the required machinery for bringing 

 together workers on general biological topics. 



To meet the need the Society of Naturalists 

 must extend somewhat its work and to do this 

 the cooperation of the other scientific societies 

 is essential. The society has been told for so 

 long that its function is only to provide a dis- 

 cussion, an address and a dinner, that we 

 have come to believe it. But, if it is neces- 

 sary for the advancement of biological science 

 that the naturalists should expand, recent 

 tradition raust not be permitted to stand in 

 the way. Will the societies of anatomy, 

 anthropology, bacteriology, botany, palentol- 

 ogy, physiology, psychology and zoology 

 authorize their respective secretaries to consti- 

 tute, together with the secretary of the Nat- 

 uralists, a general biological executive com- 

 mittee to select a program for one day of the 

 meeting period, which shall replace that of 

 their individual societies? This dajr's pro- 

 gram might consist entirely of " papers " or in 

 part of " papers " and in part of a symposium. 

 Time should be left for discussion. If the 

 respective societies will do this then, I be- 

 lieve, " general biology " will receive a great 

 impetus in this country. 



One more point of great importance and 

 difficulty is the relation of the American 

 Society of Naturalists to the American As- 

 sociation for the Advancement of Science ; for 



if the Society of Naturalists has a role then 

 it must not be crushed out, but fitted into a 

 scheme. I suggest that it should seek to 

 affiliate itself with the association on some 

 such terms as these: The Society of Natural- 

 ists to be accepted as the Biological Division 

 of the American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science, and to have certain privi- 

 leges on the council — its president to be first 

 vice-president of the association, or something 

 of the kind — to have general charge of the 

 matters of common interest to Sections F, G, 

 H and K, so that such matters shall be acted 

 on by the executive committee of the Society 

 of Naturalists before being adoptfsi by the 

 council of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science. The Naturalists 

 should continue its affiliation with the tech- 

 nical biological societies; thus it could serve 

 as a needed medium between the technical 

 biological societies and the biological sections 

 of the American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science, on the one hand, and the 

 council of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science, on the other. The 

 proposed relation may be graphically expressed 

 in the following scheme: 



AMER. ASSOC. FOR THE 

 ADV. OP SCIENCE 



Sect. A (American Society of Naturalists) 

 Sect. C Sect. F Amer. Anthropological Sec. 

 Sect. B Sect. G Amer. Physiological See. 

 Sect. D Sect. H Amer. Psychological Assoc. 

 Sect. E Sect. K Amer. Soc. Vertebrate Pale- 

 Sect. I ontologists. 



Amer. Soe. of Zoologists. 



Assoc, of Amer. Anatomists. 



Botanical Soc. of America. 



Soe. of Amer. Bacteriolo- 

 gists. 



Occupying the suggested position and man- 

 aged by a committee of all the secretaries of 

 the sections and independent societies listed 

 above, the Naturalists could fulfill a number 

 of important functions. It could arrange for 

 joint meetings of the independent societies so 

 as to secure a special rate; it could seek to 

 minimize conflicts of programs when a tech- 

 nical society meets with the corresponding 



