May 14, 1909] 



SCIENCE 



797 



by the respiration of a hundred active lungs, 

 even when the closeness of the air becomes 

 oppressive. The possibility of recognizing 

 spore production, however minute, from cul- 

 tures made in dust-free air, may not be with- 

 out interest. Laura C. Bkant 

 Beown University, 

 Providence, R. I. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



THE AMEEICAJST MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY 



The one hundred and forty-third regular meet- 

 ing of the society was held at Columbia Univer- 

 sity on Saturday, April 24, 1909, extending 

 through a morning and an afternoon session. The 

 attendance was about thirty- five persons, including 

 twenty-six members of the society. President 

 BScher occupied the chair, being relieved at the 

 afternoon session by Vice-President Kasner. The 

 council announced the election of the following 

 persons to membership in the society: Miss W. B. 

 Bauer, High School, Topeka, Kan.; Mr. W. W. 

 Denton, University of Illinois; Mr. Meyer Gaba, 

 University of Kansas; Professor W. H. Garrett, 

 Baker University; Miss 8. E. Graham, High 

 School, Topeka, Kan.; Mr. 6. F. Gundelfinger, 

 Sheffield Scientific School; Professor W. A. Harsh- 

 barger, Washburn College; Mr. L. T. W. Hogrefe, 

 Milwaukee, Wis.; Professor L. A. Howland, Wes- 

 leyan University; Mr. George Melcher, State 

 Normal School, Springfield, Mo. Three applica- 

 tions for membership in the society were received. 



Professor H. S. White was reelected a member 

 of the editorial committee of the Transactions for 

 a term of three years beginning October 1, 1909. 



The following papers were read at this meeting: 



R. D. Carmichael : " On certain functional equa- 

 tions." 



R. D. Carmichael : " Note on some polynomials 

 related to Legendre's coefficients." 



W. H. Jackson : " A theorem concerning simple 

 continued fractions." 



W. H. Jackson : " Shadow rails." 



L. P. Eisenhart : " The twelve surfaces of Dar- 

 boux and the transformations of Moutard." 



W. P. Osgood : " On Cantor's theorem concern- 

 ing the coefficients of a convergent trigonometric 

 series, with generalizations." 



L. S. Dederiek : " Certain singularities of trans- 

 formations of two real variables." 



Paul Saurel : " On Fredholm's equation." 



J. E. Wright : " On abelian functions oi genus 

 3." 



J. C. Morehead : " A simplification of La- 

 grange's method for the solution of numerical 

 equations (second paper) ." 



A. S. Chessin : " On gyroscopic couples." 



Edward Kasner: "The interpretation of differ- 

 ential equations in line coordinates." 



E. D. Eoe, Jr. : " On the extension of the ex- 

 ponential theorem." 



Mr. Dederick's paper was presented to the so- 

 ciety through Professor Bouton. In the absence 

 of the authors Mr. Dederick's paper was read by 

 Professor Bocher, and the papers of Professors 

 Carmichael, Saurel, Chessin, Kasner and Roe, and 

 Dr. Morehead were read by title. 



The Chicago section of the society held its 

 spring meeting at the University of Chicago on 

 Friday and Saturday, April 9-10. The summer 

 meeting and colloquium of the society will be 

 held at Princeton University in the week Sep- 

 tember 13-18. 



F. N. Cole, 

 Secretary 



THE UTAH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



The second annual meeting of the Utah Aca- 

 demy of Sciences was held in the auditorium of 

 the Packard Library, Salt Lake City, on Friday 

 evening, April 9, and Saturday afternoon, April 

 10. 



The Friday evening meeting was a " Darwin 

 Centennial " memorial, as indicated by the pro- 

 gram: 



" Darwin the Man," by Professor W. W. 

 Henderson. 



" Factors in Zoological Evolution," by Dr. John 

 Sundwall. 



" Factors in Botanical Evolution," by Dr. C. T. 

 Vorhies. 



Discussion, led by Dr. E. D. Ball. 



The Saturday afternoon program consisted of 

 the following papers: 



" The Adaptation of Insects, with Special Refer- 

 ence to Arid Conditions," by Dr. E. D. Ball. 



" The Alfalfa Leaf Weevil," by Professor E. G. 

 Titus. 



" The Honey Ants of Utah," by A. O. Garrett. 



" Orbital Glands of Amphibians," by P. G. 

 Snow. 



"Note on Geological Survey Bulletin No. 371," 

 by J. B. Forrester. 



" High Temperature Measurement," by Dr. L. 

 W. Hartman. 



" Pottery Glaze Coloring," by A. F. Greaves- 

 Walker. 



