December 11, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



855 



The plates for the intra-mercurial planet search 

 recorded more than 300 stars, including some of 

 the ninth magnitude. All were identified as well- 

 known stars. It is felt that the Lick Observatory 

 observations of 1901, 1905 and 1908 bring defi- 

 nitely to a conclusion the observational side of 

 this problem, famous for half a century. It is 

 not contended thai no planets exist in the intra- 

 mercurial region, but it is believed that undis- 

 covered planets do not exist in sufiicient numbers 

 to provide the mass necessary to explain the 

 anomalies in the motion of Mercury and the other 

 minor planets. 

 Value of the Solar Parallax from Photographs 



of Eros taken in 1900 loith the Crosley Re- 

 flector: C. D. Pebrine. 



The following determination of the values of 

 the solar parallax is based on 823 images of Eros 

 and the images of surrounding groups of stars 

 contained on 281 photographs. These photographs 

 were secured on eighteen nights from October 6 

 to December 24 inclusive. 



The value of the solar parallax obtained is 

 8".8054 ± 0".0025. 



The measurements and reductions were made 

 under a grant from the Carnegie Institution by 

 Mrs. Moore and Miss Hobe. 



The general results will be published in a Lick 

 Observatory Bulletin, and a full account of the 

 work by the Carnegie Institution. 



Harold Jacoby 

 F. H. Sears 



THE CONVOCATION WEEK MEETINGS OF 

 SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES 



The American Association for the Advancement 

 of Science and the national scientific societies 

 named below will meet at the Johns Hopkins 

 University, at Baltimore, during convocation week, 

 beginning on December 28, 1908. 



American, Association for the Advancement of 

 Science. — Retiring president. Professor E. L. 

 Nichols, Cornell University; president-elect. Pro- 

 fessor T. C. Chamberlin, University of Chicago; 

 permanent secretary. Dr. L. 0. Howard, Cosmos 

 Club, Washington, D. C; general secretary. 

 Dr. J. Paul Goode, University of Chicago. 



Local Executive Committee. — William H. 

 Welch, M.D., chairman local committee; Henry 

 Barton Jacobs, M.D., chairman executive com- 

 mittee; William J. A. Bliss, secretary, Joseph S. 

 Ames, William B. Clark, B.. Brent Keyser, Eugene 

 A. Noble, Ira Remsen, John E. Semmes, Francis 

 A. Soper, Hugh H. Young. 



Section A, Mathematics and Astronomy. — Vice- 

 president, C. J. Keyser, Columbia University; 

 secretary. Professor G. A. Miller, University of 

 Illinois, Urbana, Illinois. 



Section B, Physics. — Vice-president, Professor 

 Carl E. Guthe, State University of Iowa; secre- 

 tary. Professor A. D. Cole, Vassar College, Pough- 

 keepsie, N. Y. 



Section G, Chemistry. — Vice-president, Professor 

 Louis Kahlenberg, University of Wisconsin; sec- 

 retary, C. H. Herty, University of North Carolina, 

 Chapel Hill, N. C. 



Section D, Mechanical Science and Engineering. 

 — Vice-president, Professor Geo. F. Swain, Massa- 

 chusetts Institute of Technology; secretary, G. W. 

 Bissell, Michigan Agricultural College, East Lan- 

 sing, Mich. 



Section E, Geology and Geography. — Vice-presi- 

 dent, Bailey Willis, U. S. Geological Survey; 

 secretary, F. P. Gulliver, Norwich, Conn. 



Section F, Zoology. — Vice-president, Professor 

 C. Judson Herrick, University of Chicago; secre- 

 tary. Professor Morris A. Bigelow, Columbia Uni- 

 versity, New York City. 



Section G, Botany. — ^Vice-president, Professor 

 H. M. Richards, Columbia University; secretary, 

 Professor H. C. Cowles, University of Chicago, 

 Chicago, 111. 



Section H, Anthropology. — Vice-president, Pro- 

 fessor R. S. Woodworth, Columbia University; 

 secretary, George H. Pepper, American Museum 

 of Natural History, New York City. 



Section I, Social and Economic Science. — Vice- 

 president, Professor G. Sumner, Yale University; 

 secretary, Professor J. P. Norton, Yale University, 

 New Haven, Conn. 



Section K, Physiology and Experimental Medi- 

 cine. — Vice-president, Professor Wm. H. Howell, 

 Johns Hopkins University; secretary. Dr. Wm. J. 

 Gies, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia 

 University, New York City. 



Section L, Education. — Vice-president, Professor 

 John Dewey, Columbia University; secretary. 

 Professor C. R. Mann, University of Chicago, 

 Chicago, 111. 



The American Society of Naturalists. — Decem- 

 ber 31. President, Professor D. P. Penhallow, 

 McGill University; secretary. Dr. H. McE. 

 Knower, The Johns Hopkins Medical School, Bal- 

 timore, Md. Central Branch. President, Professor 

 R. A. Harper, University of Wisconsin; secretary. 

 Professor Thomas G. Lee, University of Minnesota, 

 Minneapolis, Minn. 



The American Mathematical Society. — December 



