510 
will be put to an experimental test. If found 
correct, the suggestion will offer itself that a 
causal relationship may possibly exist be- 
tween the little steps taken under selection, 
and the longer one appearing as a mutation. 
The variation described in this paper made 
America on a collecting expedition. My as- 
sociate, Mr. C. C. Little, was then in charge 
its appearance during my absence in South 
of the experiments. He at once recognized 
the importance of the variation from a theo- 
retical standpoint and has given especial care 
to its preservation. For this I wish both to 
thank and to congratulate him. A less dis- 
criminating observer might easily have mis- 
taken this animal for an albino with soiled 
fur. 
W. E. Castie 
LABORATORY OF GENETICS, 
Bussty INSTITUTION, 
Forest Hits, Mass., 
February 8, 1912 
THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE 
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE 
SECTION B—PHYSICS 
THE annual meeting of Section B of the Amer- 
ican Association for the Advancement of Science 
was held with the American Physical Society at 
the Bureau of Standards, Washington, December 
27-30, 1911. Four forenoon sessions and three 
afternoon sessions were held. Of these, two were 
‘¢general interest’’ sessions in charge of the 
officers of Section B and five were occupied with 
research papers, in charge of the American Phys- 
ical Society. In all seventy-four papers were pre- 
sented and one symposium held. Eight papers 
were presented by title only. 
The presiding officers were Professor R. A. 
Millikan, vice-president of Section B, and Professor 
W. F. Magie, president of the Physical Society. 
At a short business session of the section Professor 
Theodore Lyman was elected to represent the sec- 
tion on the council, Professor C. E. Mendenhall 
a member of the sectional committee (for five 
years) and Professor F. A. Saunders a member of 
the general committee. 
All sessions were held in a large laboratory of 
the Bureau of Standards. The attendance at sev- 
eral was about two hundred and for most others 
exceeded one hundred. It was probably the largest 
and most representative gathering of physicists 
SCIENCE 
[N.S. Vou. XXXV. No. 900 
ever held in America. In each of the three days 
when two sessions were held the scientific staff 
of the bureau generously provided a fine lunch for 
all in attendance. 
The address of the retiring president of the 
association was of special interest to physicists 
this year. It was given on Wednesday evening in 
the assembly hall of the new National Museum 
by Professor A. A. Michelson on the subject 
“*Recent Progress in Spectroscopic Methods.’’ 
On Friday evening a subscription dinner was 
given by the Philosophical Society of Washington 
in honor of Section B and the American Physical 
Society at the Shoreham Hotel. This was attended 
by about one hundred and was a most delightful 
oceasion. Dr. EK. B. Rosa, the retiring vice-presi- 
dent, acted as toastmaster and Professor A. A. 
Michelson, the retiring president of the associa- 
tion, was among the guests of honor. 
Among the members of the association who were 
elected fellows by action of the council at this 
meeting are the following members of Section B: 
H. A. Wilson, Frank Wenner, Fay C. Brown, E. 
A, Harrington and W. J. Fisher. 
The officers for the next annual meeting, to be 
held in Cleveland during the convocation week of 
1912-13, are as follows: 
Vice-president and Chairman of Section B— 
Professor A. G. Webster, Clark University. 
Retiring Vice-president—Professor Robert A. 
Millikan, University of Chicago. 
Secretary—Dr. W. J. Humphreys, 
Weather Bureau, Washington. 
Member of Council—Professor Theodore Lyman, 
Harvard University. 
Sectional Committee—R. A. Millikan, A. G. 
Webster, W. J. Humphreys, A. P. Carman, G. F. 
Hull, E. L. Nichols, A. Zeleny, C. E. Mendenhall 
and the president and secretary of the American 
Physical Society. 
The two general-interest sessions in charge of 
Section B were held on Thursday, December 28. 
At the morning session Professor W. F. Magie, of 
Princeton, delivered the presidential address of 
the American Physical Society on ‘‘The Primary 
Concepts of Physics.’’ This is given in full in the 
February 23 issue of ScieNcr. The remainder of 
the morning session was devoted to a symposium 
on ‘‘The Ether,’’ led by Professor A. A. Michel- 
son. Professors A. G. Webster, E. W. Morley, 
W.S. Franklin, D. F. Comstock and G. N. Lewis 
took part in the discussion. The significance and 
place of the principle of relativity was of course 
given principal attention and some difficulty was 
U. Sz 
