950 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 754 



The discovery of the planet Eros in 1898 gave 

 astronomers an opportunity to make a more accu- 

 rate determination of the solar parallax, as the 

 new asteroid approached nearer the earth than 

 any other heavenly body except the moon. Accord- 

 ingly a campaign was planned for the winter of 

 1900-1, nearly fifty observatories taking part in 

 the work of observing the planet. The reduction 

 of the observations made at Washington has re- 

 cently been completed, and the resulting value of 

 the solar parallax is 7r=:8".808 with a probable 

 error of ± 0".012. This indicates a value greater 

 than 8". 800, which is contrary to the expectation 

 of astronomers. 



R. L. Faeis, 

 Secretary 



THE AMEBICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 

 NEW YOBK SECTION 



The last regular meeting of the session of 

 1908-9 was held on May 14. 



The following papers were read: 



" The Synthesis of 1, 3, 7, 9 Naphthotetrazines," 

 by A. H. Kroppf. 



" Peptic Digestion in Aqueous Solutions of Pure 

 Acid Salts," by R. A. Gortner and A. H. Kroppf. 



" The Change in Refractive Index with Tempera- 

 ture," by K. Geo. Falk. 



■' Investigations on the Relative Value of Sev- 

 eral Nitrogenous Materials as a Source of Nitro- 

 gen to Crops," E. B. Voorhees and J. G. Lipman. 



" The Solubility of Salts in Concentrated Acids," 

 by A. E. Hill and J. P. Simmons. 



" Congo Blue — Is it a Free Base or a Salt ? 

 Congo White — an Aniline Salt of Congo Blue," 

 by I. W. Fay. 



" Soluble and Fusible Resinous Condensation 

 Products of Formaldehyde and Phenol," by L. H. 

 Baekeland. 



The Rules for the award of the Nichols medal 



adopted by the New York Section, June 10, 1904, 



were amended to read as follows: 



Rules for the Award of the Nichols Medal 



(adopted by the New York Section, June 10, 



1904; amended. May 14, 1909). 



1. A Nichols medal or medals shall be awarded 

 annually for the best paper presented to the New 

 York Section during the previous season, provided 

 the paper is of sufiicient merit. The award may 

 be made to any one, whether a member of the 

 society or not, if the paper is eligible under the 

 following conditions: 



{a) The paper must embody the results of orig- 

 inal research in chemistry, which results shall not 



have been made public before their presentation to 

 the New York Section. 



(b) The paper must be presented at a stated 

 meeting of the New York Section between the first 

 aay of October and the fifteenth Jay of June. 



(o) The paper must be presented in its com- 

 pleted form, unless otherwise specially authorized 

 by the executive committee. 



{d) Within thirty days after being read before 

 the New York Section, the completed manuscript 

 shall be transmitted to the editor of that one of 

 the society's journals for which the paper seems 

 most appropriate. 



2. The jury to determine the best paper among 

 those eligible for the award under the above con- 

 ditions, shall consist of the editors of the society's 

 publications together with such of the associate 

 editors as they may invite to act with them. The 

 editor of the Journal of the American Chemical 

 Society shall be the chairman of this jury, Should 

 the jury thus authorized decline to serve, the 

 executive committee of the New York Section 

 shall designate another jury. The jury shall re- 

 port their decision to the executive committee of 

 the New York Section, who shall have power to 

 decide whether the paper selected is worthy of the 

 award. 



3. The secretary of the New York Section shall 

 send to the editor of the Journal of the American 

 Chemical Society, as chairman of the above jury, 

 on or before July 1 of every year, a list of the 

 papers which are eligible under the above condi- 

 tions, with the request that said jury report to 

 the executive committee of the New York Section 

 by the fifteenth of September next following. 



4. In case the paper selected for the award is 

 the work of more than one author, the executive 

 committee may present a medal to every author, 

 the names of all the authors being engraved on 

 each medal. 



5. The medal or medals shall be presented at 

 the regular October meeting of the section, or as 

 soon thereafter as may be possible. 



6. The executive committee shall have power to 

 decide any question not specifically covered by 

 these rules. 



7. Any motion to change or amend these rules 

 must be submitted to the section in writing at 

 least one month before being put to a vote, and 

 notice of the proposed change must be made public 

 at the same time and in the same manner as 

 announcement of the meeting at which the motion 

 is to be put. C. M. Joyce, 



Secretary 



