SCIENCE 



A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHINC5 THE 



OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 



FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 



Friday, January 1, 1909 



CONTENTS 



Address of the President of the Americwn 

 Association for the Advancement of 

 Science: — 

 Science and the Practical Problems of the 

 Future: Professor Edward L. Nichols .. 1 

 University Registration Statistics, II.: Pro- 

 fessor RUDOtF TOMBO, Jr 10 



The National Geographic Society 21 



A Bibliography on Science Teaching 21 



Soientifio Notes and News 22 



The Morley Chemical Laboratory of Western 



University 25 



and Educational News 25 



Discussion and Correspondence: — 



The " Pinch Effect " in Undirectional Elec- 

 tric Sparks: Professor Andrew H. Pat- 

 terson. Mr. Manson's Theory of Geological 

 Climates: Dr. Harbt Fieujino Reid. On 

 Misleading Statements: Dr. C. C. Guthbib. 

 William Keith Brooks: Professor E. A. 



Andrews 26 



Scientifio Books: — 



A Key for the Determination of Rock- 

 . forming Minerals: L. McI. L. Earle's 

 Southern Agriculture: Professor R. J. H. 

 DeLoach. Bermuda in Periodical Litera- 

 ture: Professor CnABtES L. Bristol .... 32 



Scientific Journals and Articles 34 



The Newest Ancient Man : Professor Vernon 



L. Kellogg 35 



The Indiana University Expedition to British 



Guiana 35 



Special Articles: — 

 Spectrum of Comet Morehouse: Professor 

 Edwin B. Frost, J. A. Parkhubst. Sim- 

 plified Apparatus for Drawing with the 

 Aid of the Projection Microscope: Dr. Wm. 



A. RiLET 36 



Societies and Academies: — 



The Philosophical Society of Washington: 

 Dr. R. L. Faris. Section of ji.stronomy. 

 Physics and Chemistry of the New York 

 Academy of Sciences: Professor William 

 Campbell. The Society for Experimental 

 Biology and Medicine: Dr. William J. 

 GiES. The Biological Section of the Acad- 

 emy of Science and Art of Pittsburg: 

 Percy E. Raymond. The Elisha Mitchell 

 Scientific Society: Professor Alvin S. 

 Wheeler 38 



THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOB THE 



ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE 



SCIENCE AND THE PRACTICAL PROBLEMS 



OF THE FUTURE^ 



The end of the world has long been a 

 favorite subject of speculation. The an- 

 cients and our forefathers of the middle 

 ages were pleased to imagine some sudden 

 final disaster; as by fire. Science in our 

 own day furnishes a basis for a more 

 definite forecast. Sudden catastrophe is 

 still by no means precluded, for astrono- 

 mers have occasionally witnessed outbursts 

 in other regions of the universe which may 

 have produced profound changes through- 

 out neighborhoods like our solar system 

 and have brought to some tragic end life 

 on planets like the earth. 



With the development of the doctrine of 

 energy has come the conviction of an end 

 of the world; inevitable, as the death of 

 the individual is inevitable. In neither 

 case, however, is longevity to be regarded 

 as necessarily beyond human control. 

 Biologists are beginning to intimate, and 

 it would seem with growing confidence, the 

 possibility, remote but thinkable, of a con- 

 siderable extension of the term of bodily 

 life. Equally conceivable is it that the 

 race, if it become sufficiently wise before 

 old age overtakes it, may so modify and 

 control 'the conditions of life as to greatly 

 prolong its career. 



We do not need to consider a conceivable 

 end by cosmic catastrophe any more than 



"Address of the retiring president of the Amer- 

 ican Association for the Advancement of Science, 

 Baltimore, 1908. 



