October 14, 1921] 



SCIENCE 



351 



or whether they are held there in colloidal 

 form. The material is so inert in its chemi- 

 cal affinities that we have not yet been able 

 to kill it or to control it in any material 

 way except by heating. This is a matter of 

 the greatest importance in the cultivation of 

 the soil and is a matter of profound impor- 

 tance in road building as it appears to be 

 the main cause of the deterioration and the 

 breaking down of the modern road surfaces. 



Milton Whitney 

 Bureau of Soils, 



XJ. S. Department or Agriculturk 



SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 



THE COUNCIL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN 

 CHEMICAL SOCIETY 



From the report in the Journal of Indus- 

 trial and Engineering Chemistry we learn 

 that Eumford Hall, Chemists' Club, was the 

 gathering place on September 6, of the largest 

 Council Meeting in the history of the society. 

 President Edgar F. Smith was in the chair, 

 and one hundred and sixteen councilors were 

 present in person or by proxy. The business 

 of the day consisted in large part of matters 

 concerning the internal policies of the society, 

 a complete report of which will appear in the 

 proceedings in the October issue of the Jour- 

 nal of the American Chemical Society. 



Two matters of national policy were dis- 

 cussed at length. The society's committee 

 on patents and related legislation submitted 

 a report on the Stanley Bill, now before the 

 congress. The following resolution was un- 

 animously passed : 



While the council is disposed to accept the views 

 of its committee on patents, nevertheless it is felt 

 that a constructive suggestion should be made by 

 the committee as to legislation which would prevent 

 the ntilizatiou of our Patent OfBee by foreigners 

 for the suppression of the development of indus- 

 tries such as was so clearly apparent in the organic 

 chemical industry upon our entrance into the war 

 in 1917. The committee is therefore urged to con- 

 sider this problem immediately and to report to the 

 committee on national policies. 



President Smith outlined the present legis- 

 lative situation with regard to the organic 



chemical industry, whereupon it was moved 

 that resolutions urging the passage of a 

 limited embargo on synthetic organic chemi- 

 cals be prepared for presentation to the gen- 

 eral meeting on the following day. 



It was decided to hold the annual meeting 

 in September, 1922, at Pittsburgh, Pa. It 

 will be remembered that this section relin- 

 quished its lien upon the September, 1921, 

 date to permit the international gathering to 

 be held in New York City. The spring meet- 

 ing will be held in Birmingham, Ala., early 

 in April, 1922. 



The secretary presented an ad interim re- 

 port of the finance committee and gave statis- 

 tics regarding the paid and unpaid member- 

 ship. It is estimated by the directors that the 

 actual expenditures for the year 1921 will ex- 

 ceed the receipts by approximately $10,000. 



The president of the Chemists' Club, John 

 E. Teeple, presented a suggestion that the 

 society take over the Bureau of Employment 

 now run by the club, or establish a bureau 

 to replace this organization. In accordance 

 with the Council vote, the President ap- 

 pointed a committee consisting of H. P. Tal- 

 bot, Edward Bartow, and A. C. Fieldner, to 

 consider this question and report at the spring 

 meeting. 



Dr. Smith told of the work of the Priestley 

 Memorial Committee, describing the Priest- 

 ley portrait, and outlining the plans of the 

 committee to establish a Priestley Medal fund. 

 Plans are also under way for the restoration 

 of the Priestley home at Northumberland, 

 Pa., and President Smith spoke of his wish 

 that the society might celebrate its fiftieth 

 anniversary with a meeting at Northumber- 

 land in 1925. 



THE OPTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 



The fourth annual meeting of the Optical 

 Society of America will be held in Eochester, 

 New York, on October 24, 25, and 26. A 

 large number of important papers dealing 

 with all branches of optics will be presented. 

 Several of the papers on the program will 

 deal with the various phases of physiological 

 optics. At this meeting a section on vision 



