SCIENCE 



FRroAY, September 16, 1921 



/ 



Address of the President of the British As- 

 sociation for the Advancement of Science: 

 SiK T. Edwaed Thokpb 2S1 



Life in Other Worlds: Dn. W. D. MATTHE-s\r. 239 



George Trumhull Ladd: Professor C. E. 

 Seashore 242 



Scientific Events: 



The British Imperial Bureau of Mycology ; 

 Ceramic Investigations iy the United States 

 Bureau of Mines; The Biology Club of the 

 Ohio State University ; Br. Carl L. Alsberg 

 and the Bureau of Chemistry . 242 



Scientifio Notes and News 244 



University and Educational News 247 



Discussion and Correspondence : 



Secular Perturbations of the Inner Planets: 

 Harold Jeffreys. Sporozoan Infection: 

 Prank G. Haugh-wout. Scientifio Litera- 

 ture and Apparatus for Eoumania: Profes- 

 sor B. G. Eacovitza. American Scientifio 

 Literature for Foreign Countries : Dr. H. D. 

 Barker. The Truth about Vivisection: 

 Dr. W. W. Keen 248 



Quotations : 



Chemistry and the Public 251 



Special Articles: 



Triploid Intersexes in Drosophila melano- 

 gaster: Dr. Calvin B. Bridges 252 



The American Chemical Society: Dr. 

 Charles L. Parsons 254 



MSS. intended for 'publication and booka, etc., intended for 

 review should be sent to The Editor of Science, Garrison-on- 

 Hudson, N. Y. 



ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE 



BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE 



ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE i 



The British Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science owes its origin, and, in great 

 measure, its specific aims and functions, to the 

 public spirit and zeal for the interests of sci- 

 ence of Scotsmen. Its virtual founder was 

 Sir David Brewster; its scope and character 

 were defined by Principal Forbes. In consti- 

 tution it differed from the migratory scientific 

 associations esisting on the Continent, which 

 mainly served to promote the social intercourse 

 of their members by annual gatherings, in 

 that it was to be a permanent organization, 

 with a settled establishment and headquarters, 

 which should have not merely its yearly re- 

 unions, but which, "by methods and by in- 

 fluence peculiarly its own, should continue to 

 operate during the intervals of these public 

 assemblies, and should aspire to give an im- 

 pulse to every part of the scientific system; to 

 mature scientific enterprise; and to direct the 

 labors requisite for discovery." 



Although, for reasons of policy, it was de- 

 cided that its first meeting of September 27, 

 1831, should be held at York, as the most 

 central city for the three kingdoms, and its 

 second and third meetings at the ancient Uni- 

 versities of Oxford and Cambridge respec- 

 tively, it was inevitable that the association 

 should seize the earliest opportunity to visit 

 the metropolis of Scotland where, as an his- 

 torical fact, it may be said to have had its 

 origin. 



The meeting in this city of September 8, 

 1834, was noteworthy for many reasons. It 

 afforded the first direct proof that the associa- 

 tion was fulfilling its purpose. This was 

 shown by the popular appreciation which at- 

 tended its activities, by the range and charac- 



1 Bead at the Edinburgh meeting, September 7, 



