696 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. LV, No. 14.3 



Eelativity, Levi-Civita (Italy) ; Notations, 

 Stroobant (Belgium) ; Ephemerides, Eiehelberger 

 (U. S. A.) ; Bibliography, B. Baillaud (France) ; 

 Telegrams, Stromgren (Denmark) ; Dynamical 

 Astronomy, Andoyer (France) ; Instruments, 

 Haniy (France); Solar Physics, Hale( U. S. A.); 

 "Wave-lengths, St. John (XT. S. A.); Solar Bota- 

 tion, Newall (Great Britain) ; Physical Observa- 

 tions of Planets, Comets and Satellites, Phillips 

 (Great Britain) ; Lunar Nomenclature, Turner 

 (Great Britain) ; Wireless Determination of 

 Longitude, Ferrie (France) ; Variation of Lati- 

 tude, Kimura (Japan) ; Positions of Planets, 

 Comets and Satellites, Leuschner (U. S. A.); 

 Shooting Stars, Denning (Great Britain) ; Carte 

 du Ciel, Turner (Great Britain) ; Stellar Paral- 

 laxes, Schlesinger (U. S. A.) ; Photometry, Scares 

 (U. S. A.); Double Stars, Aitken (U. S. A.); 

 Variable Stars, Shapley (U. S. A.) ; Nebulae and 

 Clusters, V. M. Slipher (U. S. A.); Spectral 

 Classification, Adams (XT. S. A.) ; Kadial Veloci- 

 ties, Campbell (U. S. A.); Time, Sampson (Great 

 Britain). 



Sir Frank Dyson gave, on behalf of the dele- 

 gates of Great Britain and, more particularly, 

 on behalf of Professor Newall, an invitation to 

 the union to meet in Cambridge in 1925, and 

 also to be present at the celebration of the two 

 hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founda- 

 tion of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. 

 This invitation was seconded by Mr. Stratton, 

 and was accepted after invitations from Poland 

 and eastern center in the United States had 

 been noted for 1928. The following were elect- 

 ed to act as officers and executive of the union 

 for the coming three years : 



President: Professor W. W. Campbell 

 (U. S. A.). 



Vice-presidents: Professor Cerulli (Italy), M. 

 Deslandres (France), Professor Hirayama 

 (Japan), Mr. Hough (Great Britain), Professor 

 de Sitter (Holland). 



Secretary: Professor Fowler (Great Britain). 



HONORARY DEGREES CONFERRED BY 

 Y.ALE UNIVERSITY ON SCIENTIFIC 



MEN 

 At the commencement exercises of Yale Uni- 

 versity on June 21, President James Rowland 

 Angell conferred the honorary doctorate of 

 science upon Dr. John C. Merriam and Mr. J. J. 

 Carty and the doctorate of laws on Dr. Russell 

 H. Chittenden. In presenting the candidates 



for the degrees Professor William Lyon Phelps 

 spoke as follows : 



John Campbell Merriam: President of the 

 Carnegie Institution, paleontologist and educator. 

 Born in Iowa, where he took his first degree at 

 Lenox College in 1887. Doctor of philosophy of 

 the University of Munich. He began his profes- 

 sional career as an instructor in paleontology and 

 historical geology at the University of California 

 in 1894, and since that date he has become a 

 leading authority in fossil reptiles and fossil 

 mammals of western North America, and of gen- 

 eral historical geology of the Pacific coast region. 

 He is a member of many learned societies and his 

 publications are numerous and important. He 

 was for years professor of geology and dean of 

 the faculties at the University of California. He 

 was largely instrumental in establishing the 

 Pacific exploration project which has taken on 

 large dimensions, involved wide ranges of science 

 and large numbers of scientists. During the late 

 stages of the war, he acted as chairman of the 

 National Research Council. He is a member of 

 the National Academy of Sciences and widely 

 regarded by scientific men as one of the half 

 dozen conspicuous representatives of American 

 ' science. He combines to an extraordinary degree 

 ability as an investigator with ability as a teacher. 

 John Joseph Cabty: Vice-president of the 

 American Telephone and Telegraph Company, 

 A pioneer in the development of telephone science 

 since 1879. He designed and constructed the first 

 metallic circuit multiple telephone switchboard. 

 A high authority states that his original re- 

 searches published in 1SS9 demonstrate the pre- 

 ponderating effect of electrostaic induction in 

 producing cross-talk on adjacent telephone cir- 

 cuits. Cross-talk is presumably used only in a 

 technical sense. He invented the method of com- 

 mon battery work now in general use throughout 

 the world. The bridging telephone was designed 

 by him ; this forms the basis of all farmers ' party- 

 lines, thus adding social knowledge and delight 

 to the existence of farmers ' wives. He is a 

 leader in the movement to encourage research in 

 pure science at the universities. During the war 

 he was chairman of the executive board of the 

 Na.tional Eesearch Council. He rendered invalu- 

 able service in preventing the interruption by the 

 enemy of our trans- Atlantic cable communications. 

 He designed the telephone and telegraph system 

 for the American Army in France. He served as 

 colonel in the United States Army as a staff offi- 

 cer, and is now brigadier-general of the Officers ' 

 Eeserve Corps. For his services in establishing 



