790 
Some Considerations Bearing upon the Origin of 
Lava (Illustrated): WILLIAM H. Hopes. 
The ideas which are generally held concerning 
the origin of lava have all gone out from the idea 
of a liquid interior to the earth. It has, however, 
been shown in recent years that the earth can not 
have a fluid interior, but on the other hand must 
be as rigid as a ball of glass of the same size. 
Within the earth the temperatures of the rock 
would easily melt it under surface conditions, but 
the pressure from the super-incumbent load ele- 
vates the point of fusion and so keeps the rock 
rigid, or as we might say ‘‘solid,’’ though real- 
izing that the condition may in many respects be 
quite unlike that of bodies at the surface of the 
earth. There must, however, be local and prob- 
ably temporary reservoirs which supply the lava 
which exudes or is rejected from volcanoes. It is 
shown in the paper that the position of active 
voleanoes, particularly about the Pacific, suggests 
that the lava reservoirs which supply their lava 
have been due to local reliefs from pressure be- 
neath arches of strong formations developed in the 
process of mountain making. The relative 
strengths of different sedimentary formations lead 
inevitably to the conclusion that the type of for- 
mation which thus fuses and produces lava, is 
what is known as shale or slate. Studies of the 
chemical composition of igneous rocks, which com- 
positions are limited in range, support this view; 
and the study of the gases which lavas give off 
affords some further striking confirmations of the 
theory. 
Recent Archeological Discoveries in Peru (Illus- 
trated): Hiram BrneHaM. Introduced by Mr. 
Henry G. Bryant. 
The Discovery of the Continent of Antarctica by 
Americans—An Historical Vindication: General 
ADOLPHUS W. GREELY. 
The speaker spoke of the unfamiliarity of the 
people of the United States with early American 
explorations of the South-polar regions, historical 
importance of vindicating America’s title to the 
earliest discovery of the Antarctic continent, and to 
the first explorations that discovered and recognized 
its continental extent; discovery in 1821 of the 
northernmost lands of Antarctica, by Captain N. B. 
Palmer, a Connecticut sealer. Palmer Land was 
charted by George Powell with South Shetlands in 
1822, and recognized by France in 1824. A voyage 
in 1831 of Master (retired) John Biscoe, R.N., was 
referred to, whereby Palmer Land was replaced on 
SCIENCE 
[N. 8. Vou. XXXV. No. 907 
British charts by Graham Land, named after the 
first lord of the admiralty. Palmer Land, ignored 
in the British Antarctic Manual, 1901, is recog- 
nized by only two lines in the Americanized En- 
eyclopedia Britannica, 1911, which gives a column 
to Biscoe and Graham Land. 
Emphasis was laid on Wilkes’s discovery of 
extended and widely separated lands in 1840, with 
their recognition as forming the Antarctic conti- 
nent, ignored by Capt. J. C. Ross in 1843, dis- 
credited by Encyclopedia Britannica in 1875, and 
declared non-existent by Capt. R. E. Scott, R.N., 
in 1905. Meanwhile Sir Clements Markham 
claimed in 1889 the honor of discovering the con- 
tinent for Ross. British Antarctic Manual, 1901, 
admits the existence of one point (Knox Land). 
Mill in 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica admits in 
general that Wilkes’s discoveries are to be indefi- 
nitely accepted. Occupation in 1912 by Mawson’s 
Australian expedition of Adelie Land and Ter-- 
mination Land, vindicates Wilkes. Importance of 
incorporating these facts in appropriate American 
text-books was urged as a patriotic and educative 
duty. 
The Interrelations of Eight Fundamental Proper- 
ties of Classes of Functions: ArtHuR D. 
PitcHER. Introduced by Professor Eliakim H. 
Moore. 
On Friday evening Professor R. W. Wood, of 
Johns Hopkins University, delivered a lecture be- 
fore the society and guests at the College of 
Physicians on ‘‘The Study of Nature by Invisible 
Light, with Especial Reference to Astronomy and 
Physics. ’? 
The lecture was followed by an informal recep- 
tion. 
On Saturday morning at 9:30 o’clock an ex- 
ecutive session was held in the hall of the society 
at which candidates for membership were balloted 
for. As a result of the election the following new 
members were announced: Albert T. Clay, B.A., 
Ph.D., New Haven; George W. Crile, M.D., Ph.D., 
Cleveland; Arthur Louis Day, Ph.D., Washington; 
Edward Curtis Franklin, Ph.D., Washington; John 
Grier Hibben, Ph.D., LL.D., Princeton; G. Carl 
Huber, M.D., Ann Arbor; James Furman Kemp, 
SeD., New York; Arthur Henry Lea, B.A., Phila- 
delphia; John Matthews Manly, Ph.D., Chicago; 
Edward Bennett Rosa, Se.D., Ph.D., Washington; 
Frank Schlesinger, M.A., Ph.D., Allegheny, Pa.; 
George E. de Schweinitz, M.D., Philadelphia; 
Frederick Winslow Taylor, M.E., Philadelphia; 
Roland Thaxter, A.M., Ph.D., Cambridge, Mass.; 
