490 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 1136 



marble quarries at West Rutland, to which 

 they were taken in automobiles furnished 

 through the courtesy of the Vermont Marble 

 Company. 



The great success of these field meetings was 

 due not only to the region traversed, which is 

 unusually interesting geologically and his- 

 torically, but also to the care with which every 

 detail was planned and executed, and the 

 pains which the director of the New York 

 State Geological Survey and his staff took to 

 provide for the comfort and pleasure of the 

 party. 



This report was written at the request of the 

 busy secretary of the association, Dr. W. O. 

 Hotchkiss, by the undersigned guest of the 

 association. Herdman F. Cleland 



WlLLIAHSTOWN, MASS. 



THE NEWCASTLE MEETING OF THE 

 BRITISH ASSOCIATION 



We learn from the account of the meeting 

 in Nature, that the attendance was 626, the 

 smallest since the first meeting held in York 

 in 1831. It is said, however, that the attend- 

 ance at the meetings of the sections was quite 

 up to the average. 



The general committee adopted a recom- 

 mendation of the council that research com- 

 mittees should have power to report through 

 organizing committees of sections to the 

 council at any time when the association is 

 not in annual session. Hitherto research com- 

 mittees have had to await the annual meet- 

 ing before presenting their reports, even when 

 their conclusions call for early action. Under 

 the new rules this will no longer be necessary 

 if the organizing committee to which a re- 

 search committee presents its report considers 

 it desirable to report direct to the council. 

 Another alteration of the rules of the asso- 

 ciation makes it possible for the council to 

 include upon research committees persons who 

 are not members of the association, but 

 " whose assistance may be regarded as of spe- 

 cial importance to the research undertaken." 



The general treasurer has reported to the 

 council that Mr. M. Deshumbert proposed to 

 leave a legacy of about £5,000 to the associa- 



tion, subject to the condition that his wife 

 and her sister should receive the interest dur- 

 ing their lifetime. 



The new members of council elected by the 

 general committtee are Mr. B. A. Gregory, 

 Dr. S. F. Harmer, Dr. E. J. Eussell, Dr. A. 

 Strahan and Professor W. R. Scott. An in- 

 vitation to meet in Cardiff in 1918 was unan- 

 imously and gratefully accepted by the com- 

 mittee. 



The total grants of money appropriated by 

 the general committee for purposes of research 

 committees proposed by the various sections 

 amounted to £602. The subjects and grants 

 are as follows : 



Section A. — Seismological observations, £100; 

 annual tables of constants, £40; mathematical 

 tables, £20; gravity at sea, £10. 



Section B. — Dynamic isomerism, £15; Eu- 

 calypts, £30; absorption spectra, etc., of organic 

 compounds, £10. 



Section C. — Red Sandstone rocks of Kiltorcan, 

 £4; Paleozoic rocks, £20. 



Section D. — Biology of the Abrolhos Islands, 

 £6; inheritance in silkworms, £20. 



Section F. — Fatigue from an economic point of 

 view, £40; replacement of men by women in in- 

 dustry, £20; effects of war on credit, etc., £10. 



Section G. — Stress distributions, £40. 



Section S. — Artificial islands in the lochs of the 

 Highlands of Scotland, £5; physical characters of 

 ancient Egyptians, £2, 12s. (unexpended balance) ; 

 Paleolithic site in Jersey, £30; excavations in 

 Malta, £20; distribution of Bronze age imple- 

 ments, £1, 14s. (unexpended balance). 



Section I. — Ductless glands, £15; psychological 

 war research, £10. 



Section K. — Physiology of heredity, £45; ecol- 

 ogy of fungi, £8. 



Section L. — School books and eyesight, £5; work 

 of museums in education and research, £15; ef- 

 fects of "free-place" system upon education, £15; 

 science teaching in secondary schools, £10; mental 

 and physical factors involved in education, £10. 



Corresponding Societies' Committee. — Por prep- 

 aration of report, £25. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 



Sir Charles Parsons, the engineer, has 

 been elected president of the British Associa- 

 tion for the meeting to be held at Bourne- 

 mouth in September next. 



