708 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 748 



pointed, and reported later that the accounts were 

 correct. 



Interesting reports in regard to organization 

 and methods of work were presented from the 

 following local societies : The Association of 

 Mathematical Teachers in New England, presented 

 by Mr. W. T. Campbell ; The Association of Teach- 

 ers of Mathematics of the Middle States and 

 Maryland, presented by Mr. Eugene K. Smith; 

 The Physics Club of New York, by Mr. F. B. 

 Spaulding; The Association of Biology Teachers 

 of New York, by Mr. G. W. Hunter; The Asso- 

 ciation of Physics Teachers of Washington, D. C, 

 by Mr. W. A. Hedrick; The New England Asso- 

 ciation of Chemistry Teachers, by Mr. H. P. Tal- 

 bot; The Central Association of Science and 

 Mathematics Teachers, by Mr. C. H. Smith; The 

 Colorado Mathematical Society, by Mr. G. B. 

 Halsted; The Southern California Science Asso- 

 ciation, by Miss T. A. Brookman. All the reports 

 showed active and constructive work under way. 



By unanimous consent the following article 

 was added to the articles of federation as adopted 

 at the Chicago meeting: 



13. These articles may be amended at any an- 

 nual meeting of the council by a two thirds vote 

 of the members present provided notice of the 

 proposed amendment has been sent to all members 

 of the council and to the president and secretary 

 of each federated society at least thirty days prior 

 to the meeting. 



The following resolutions were unanimously 



Resolved, That it is the sense of the American 

 Federation of Teachers of the Mathematical and 

 the Natural Sciences that larger appropriations 

 should be made by Congress for the support of 

 the United States Bureau of Education so as to 

 enable it greatly to increase the scope and impor- 

 tance of its work and to render immediate and 

 effective aid in the promotion of education in the 

 mathematical and the natural sciences; and 



Resolved, That the executive committee of the 

 federation be authorized to take such action as 

 may seem to it desirable to further such action 

 by Congress. 



Three committees of the federation were author- 

 ized as follows: One on a syllabus of propositions 

 in geometry; one on publication and publicity, to 

 report next year on the present needs and facili- 

 ties for publishing material of interest to the 

 federation, and to make recommendations as to 

 ways and means of improving these facilities; 



one to investigate the present conditions of college 

 entrance, to define the attitude of the federation 

 towards college entrance problems, and to recom- 

 mend action that may tend to unify and simplify 

 college entrance requirements. 



The following were elected oflBcers for the 

 coming year: 



President — H. W. Tyler, Massachusetts Insti- 

 tute of Technology. 



Secretary-treasurer — C. R. Mann, University of 

 Chicago. 



Other Members of the Executive Committee — 

 G. W. Hunter, DeWitt Clinton High School, New 

 York; J. T. Rorer, Central High School, Phila- 

 delphia; C. H. Smith, Hyde Park High School, 

 Chicago. 



Professor R. E. Dodge presented a report of 

 progress from the committee on bibliography, 

 showing that the sections on mathematics, phys- 

 ics, biology and geography were nearly com- 

 pleted. 



A letter from Professor D. E. Smith, represent- 

 ing the International Commission on the Teaching 

 of Mathematics, was presented, expressing the 

 hope that the federation would cooperate in its 

 undertaking in due time. 



On Tuesday morning, December 30, the federa- 

 tion held a joint session with Section L, Educa- 

 tion, of the American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science. The topic, " The Problems of 

 Science Teaching," was discussed by President Ira 

 Remsen and Messrs. G. F. Stradling (Philadel- 

 phia), Wm. T. Campbell (Boston), John M. 

 Coulter (Chicago), N. M. Fennemann (Cincin- 

 nati) and Lyman C. Newell (Boston), as follows: 

 President Remsen said: 



" A battle that has long been waging has been 

 won — the battle for the recognition of science in 

 the courses of study in schools and colleges. I 

 remember well my first experience as a teacher 

 of chemistry. I had accepted a position in one 

 of the small New England colleges without having 

 examined the equipment. When I arrived in the 

 fall ready to begin work, I found that the insti- 

 tution did not possess a laboratory. I at once 

 applied to the president for one, and he replied: 

 ' What for ? I have taught chemistry, and I 

 thought successfully, without a laboratoiy; and 

 if I could do it, I think you can. This is not a 

 technical school; what the students want is the 

 broad general principles of chemistry.' So I tried 

 to teach without a laboratory. I vras wholly 

 unsuccessful; the students learned nothing — in 



