NoveMBer 15, 1918] 
which are always a source of admiration to those 
who belong to less active institutions. There was 
a special collection of historical photographs ar- 
ranged for the occasion; and other interesting fea- 
tures selected from the hundreds of thousands of 
plates now stored and making a permanent record 
of the sky. 
A session was held at the Whitin Observatory, 
Wellesley College, and also at the Students’ Astro- 
nomical Laboratory in Cambridge. On the day 
after the meeting some of the members visited the 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and others 
made a short cruise on Mr. W. V. Moot’s yacht 
Adventuress, which is being used for instruction 
in navigation. 
The society adopted with practically a unanimous 
vote a committee’s recommendation that the as- 
tronomical day begin at midnight, and that after 
January 1, 1925, all astronomical dates should be 
reckoned in this way. This change will cause much 
trouble and confusion in astronomical work, but 
was recommended for the convenience of mariners. 
In view of the uncertainty of what conditions 
would prevail in another year, the council took no 
definite action in regard to the time and place of 
the next meeting. 
Officers were elected for the ensuing year: 
President—Edward C. Pickering. 
First Vice-president—Frank Schlesinger. 
Second Vice-president—W. W. Campbell. 
Secretary—Joel Stebbins. 
Treasurer—Annie J. Cannon. 
Councilors—E. B. Frost, 1918-20; Otto Klotz, 
1918-20; E. W. Brown, 1917-19; S. A. Mitchell, 
1918-19. 
The program of papers was as follows: 
C. G. Abbot: The Smithsonian solar constant ob- 
servatory at Calama, Chile. 
W. S. Adams and A. H. Joy: Spectroseopie ob- 
servations of W Urse Majoris. 
W. S. Adams and C. E. St. John: The green 
corona line at the 1918 eclipse. 
Robert G. Aitken: The orbit of Sirius. 
Robert G. Aitken: The spectral classification of 
3919 visual binary stars. 
Sebastian Albrecht: Personality in the estima- 
tion of tenths. 
S. I. Bailey: Note on the magnitudes of the 
variables in Messier 15. 
E. E. Barnard: Nova Aquile No. 3. 
E. E. Barnard: The prominences of the total 
solar eclipse of 1918, June 8, 
E. E. Barnard: Some remarkable small black 
spots in the milky way. 
SCIENCE 
551 
Benjamin Boss: Systematic corrections to and 
weights of stellar parallax. 
Benjamin Boss: Real stellar motions. 
Benjamin Boss: Stellar luminosities and abso- 
lute magnitudes. 
Leon Campbell: The light-curve of Nova Aquile 
No. 3. 
Annie J. Cannon: The spectrum of Nova Aquile 
No. 3. 
J. B. Cannon: The spectroscopic binary Boss 
1275. 
Wm. A. Conrad: A short method of mean place 
reduction with natural numbers. 
J. J. Crane: The reduction of Schinfeld’s ob- 
servations to the Harvard photometric standard of 
magnitudes. 
Ralph E. De Lury: Simultaneous variations in 
solar radiation and spectroscopic determinations of 
the solar rotation. 
Ralph E. De Lury: Spectroscopic measurements 
of the sun’s rotation. 
Ralph E. De Lury: The nature of a supposed 
eyclie variation in the solar rotation. 
Ralph E. De Lury: A possible relationship be- 
tween numbers of meteors and quantities of nitro- 
gen compounds in freshly fallen rain and snow. 
A. E. Douglass: The Steward Observatory of the 
University of Arizona. 
A. E. Douglass: Atmospheric haze causing twi- 
light effects. 
Alice H. Farnsworth: The color-index of Nova 
Aquile No. 8. 
Edwin B. Frost: Usefulness of ‘‘movie’’ camera 
for photographing phenomena of solar eclipses. 
Edwin B. Frost and J. A. Parkhurst: The spec- 
trum of Nova Aquile on June 8, 9 and 10, 1918. 
Asaph Hall: A brief description of the 26-inch 
equatorial instrument of the Naval Observatory, 
and accessories, ete. 
Asaph Hall: Account of some of the series of 
satellite observations made with the 26-inch equa- 
torial. 
W. E. Harper: The orbit of the spectroscopic 
binary 19 Lyncis. 
W. E. Harper: The orbits of the spectroscopic 
eomponents of Boss 5173. 
W. E. Harper: The spectrum and velocity of 
Nova Aquile No. 8. . 
Margaret Harwood: The variability of Bros in 
1900-1901. 
F. Henroteau: Note on the spectroscopic binary 
55 Urse Majoris. 
Frank C. Jordan: Notes on the light curves of 
XX Cygni and U Pegasi. 
