240 
botany had no professional representative in 
the expedition; but considerable collecting and 
field work done by Mr. Willis Nutting: A 
fine series of two species of bats were secured 
at Antigua. 
As already indicated, Mr. John B. Hender- 
son will report on the Mollusca. The reef 
fishes will be reported on by Dr. Barton W. 
Evermann, Professor W. K. Fisher will attend 
to the Asteroidea and Holothuroidea, while 
the writer will probably report on the Hydroida 
and Aleyonaria. The other groups have not 
as yet been assigned. 
A large series of excellent photographs, in- 
cluding moving picture films, was secured by 
Mr. Maurice Ricker, official photographer of 
the expedition. 
C. C. Nuttine 
Strate Untversity or Iowa, 
August 30, 1918 
« SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 
THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CERAMIC 
SOCIETY 
A souRNAL that is a pioneer in its field is al- 
ways the subject of most careful scrutiny. 
When that field is representative of one of the 
oldest phases of human endeavor the cause for 
attention to the new publication is multiplied 
many fold. There has now appeared the first 
issue of the Journal of the American Ceramic 
Society, a monthly journal devoted to science 
and technique of the ceramic industries. 
The American Ceramic Society belongs to 
the older family of scientific societies in the 
United States. The first meeting of the so- 
ciety, which was in reality a little family gath- 
ering of a small group of ceramic enthusiasts, 
was held in Columbus, Ohio, in February, 
1899, and from that meeting grew the present 
organization due largely to the guiding genius 
of Professor Edward Orton, Jr., of Ohio State 
University. The society is, therefore, in its 
twentieth year of vigorous and active life. The 
membership has increased from that early day 
untill at present there are over 1,000 enrolled 
in the society. 
In the American Ceramic Society, the term 
ceramic is synonymous with “silicate indus- 
SCIENCE 
[N. 8S. Von. XLVITI. No. 1236 
tries” and the interests and activities of the 
society include all branches of the clayware, 
glass and cement industries as well as enameled 
wares of all kinds and in addition other closely 
allied products are included, chief among 
which are abrasives, gypsum and lime. Few 
people realize the gigantic proportions of these 
ceramic industries. The products of the three 
major divisions alone (clayware, glass and ce- 
ment) aggregate over $400,000,000 per annum. 
In the earlier days the society consisted of 
one main organization only. With increased 
activities and with enlargement in its scope of 
usefulness it became necessary to organize lo- 
cal sections and student branches as shown in 
the following list. 
LOCAL SECTIONS 
St. Louis Section 
Chicago Section 
Central Ohio Section 
Northern Ohio Section 
West Virginia Section 
Beaver Section 
New England Section 
New York State Section 
New Jersey Section 
Pacifie Coast Section 
STUDENT BRANCHES 
Ohio State University Student Branch 
New York Student Branch 
University of Illinois Student Branch 
Towa State College Student Branch 
The publication work of the society has, up 
to the present time, been confined to the issuing 
of our annual volume of T'ransactions. Twenty 
years ago this was a small feeble effort, very 
creditable for the then-existing state of our 
knowledge of the science of the silicate indus- 
tries. This annual volume has shown continu- 
ous growth and the 1917 volume comprises 707 
pages of well-edited contributions. The 
American Ceramic Society’s Transactions 
have, for many years, been known throughout 
the world as the standard reference books on 
the silicate industriés. 
This remarkable growth in strength and in- 
fluence of the society has made it essential 
that periodical publication of the researches 
and other activities of the society members be 
