246 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLVI. No. 1184 



Uplifted and dissected atolls in Fiji (illustrated) : 

 William Morris Davis, Ph.D., emeritus pro- 

 fessor of geology. Harvard University. 

 In the southeastern part of the Fiji group a 

 number of atolls uplifted several hundred feet 

 ahove sea level, are now in various stages of dis- 

 section. In no ease do they reveal a truncated 

 volcanic platform; hence they discredit those 

 theories of atoll formation which explain atolls or 

 upgrowths of moderate thickness around the 

 border of former volcanic islands that were re- 

 duced to submarine platforms by manual abrasion. 



The slides on the Panama Canal: George W. 

 GoETHALS, LL.D., Maj.-Gen. TJ. S. A., late chief 

 engineer, Panama Canal. 



Application of polarised light to study of ores and 

 metals: Frederick E. Wright, Ph.D., of Geo- 

 physical Laboratory of Carnegie Institution of 

 Washington. 



In this paper the principles underlying the 

 application of polarized light to the study of ores 

 and metals are outlined. The possibilities and 

 also the limitations of the different methods, new 

 or old, now available, are indicated and the adapta- 

 tion of these methods to metallographic and min- 

 eralographic work with the microscope is consid- 

 ered briefly. 



Astrapotheria : William B. Scott, Sc.D., LL.D., 

 professor of geology, Princeton University. 



Diatryma, a gigantic Eocene Bird: William Diller 

 Matthew, A.M., Ph.D., curator of vertebrate 

 paleontology, American Museum of Natural 

 History, New York. (Introduced by Professor 

 W. B. Scott.) 



The skeleton of a gigantic extinct bird was 

 found last summer in the Bighorn basin of Wy- 

 oming by an expedition from the American Mu- 

 seum of Natural History. It is of Lower Eocene 

 age, a contemporary of the little four-toed horse 

 whose fossU remains are foimd in the same re- 

 gion. The bird was about as large as the extinct 

 moas of New Zealand, much bulkier than any liv- 

 ing bird, although not so taU as an ostrich. It 

 stood nearly seven feet high. The head was enor- 

 mous, eighteen inches long with huge compressed 

 beak like the extinct Phororhachos of Patagonia, 

 but unlike any living bird. The neck too was very 

 massive and rather short, and it was quite unable 

 to fly, the wings about as large as in the cassowary. 

 Although it resembled the modern ostrich group 

 in some ways, it was not related to them and only 

 remotely related to any other known birds, the 

 nearest perhaps being the Seriema of South 



America. A few fragments of this gigantic bird 

 were found by the late Professor Cope over forty 

 years ago, and named Diatryma, but it remained 

 practically unknown until the discovery of this 

 nearly complete skeleton. A description of this 

 specimen by W. D. Matthew and Walter Granger, 

 vfith photographs and a reconstruction, is now in 

 press for the Bulletin of the American Museum. 



afternoon SESSION 



William W. Keen, M.D., LL.D., President, in the 



chair 

 Presentation of a portrait of I. Minis Hays, M.D., 



dean of the Wistar Association: Joseph G. 



EosENGARTEN, LL.D., On behalf of the Wistar 



Association, on the Centennial Anniversary of 



its organization and in the twenty-first year of 



Dr. Hays's Secretaryship of the Society. 

 Symposium on Aeronautics — 

 Dynamical aspects: Arthur Gordon Webster, 



Ph.D., LL.D., member of Naval Advisory Board. 

 Physical aspects: Brigadier-General George O. 



Squier, Ph.D., chief of Signal Corps, U. S. Army. 



(Introduced by Dr. Keen.) 

 Mechanical aspects: William Frederick Dueand, 



Ph.D., chairman of National Advisory Com- 

 .mittee for Aeronautics. (Introduced by Dr. 



Walcott.) 

 Aerology in aid of aeronautics: W. E. Blair, 



Ph.D., assistant, United States Weather Bureau. 

 Discussion — 

 Mathematical aspects: Edwin Bidwell Wilson, 



Ph.D., professor of mathematics, Massachusetts 



Institute of Technology. (Introduced by Dr. E. 



W. Brown.) 

 Engineering aspects: Jerome G. Hunsaker, 



Eng.D., assistant naval constructor, U. S. Navy. 



(Introduced by Dr. Bauer.) 



On Saturday evening the usual banquet was held 

 at the Bellevue-Stratford, about sixty-five mem- 

 bers and guests being present. 



The following toasts were responded to: 



"The memory of Franklin," by President 

 Hibben, of Princeton. 



' ' Our sister societies, ' ' by Wm. H. Welch, M.D., 

 of Johns Hopkins. 



"Our universities," by Professor T. F. Crane, 

 of CorneU. 



"The American Philosophical Society," by Mr. 

 John Cadwalader, of Philadelphia. 



Arthur W. Goodspeed, 



Secretary 



