624 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVI. No. 932 



"Boundary problems in one dimension," Pro- 

 fessor M. Bocher. 



"The dynamics of radiation," Sir J. Larmor. 



The lecture by Sir W. H. "White will no 

 doubt cause a discussion with followers of 

 Professor John Perry for the speaker preferred 

 " pure mathematics taught by a mathematician 

 to the so-called practical mathematics." 



From a social standpoint the members were 

 well taken care of. On Wednesday evening, 

 August 21, they were received in the Combina- 

 tion Eoom and Hall of St. John's College by 

 Sir George Darwin as president of the Cam- 

 bridge Philosophical Society, and Mr. E. F. 

 Scott, vice-chancellor of the university. On 

 Friday evening they attended a reception at 

 Fitzwilliam Museum given by Lord Eayleigh, 

 the chancellor of the university. Sunday 

 afternoon was given up to a reception by the 

 committee on organization in the gardens of 

 Christ's College. An organ recital was given 

 in King's College chapel on Sunday night. 

 On Monday night the master and fellows of 

 Trinity College received the members in the 

 college. One afternoon was devoted to an ex- 

 cursion to Ely and its cathedi-al. An excur- 

 sion to Oxford was arranged for the day after 

 the breaking up of the congress. On this day 

 many accepted the invitation of the Marquis 

 of Salisbury to visit Hatfield House. Facili- 

 ties were given for visits to the works of the 

 Cambridge Scientific Instrument Making 

 Company, the visitors being entertained by 

 Mrs. Horace Darwin. Visitors to the univer- 

 sity observatory were entertained by Mrs. 

 Newall. Besides these, there were many little 

 gatherings and excursions for the ladies who 

 did not care to attend the mathematical meet- 

 ings. The feature of this congress was the 

 hospitality of the Cambridge colleges. A ma- 

 jority of the members of the congress lived in 

 the colleges and for those of us who were so 

 fortunate, this part of the week's entertain- 

 ment was one we shall long remember. 



On Tuesday a procession was formed and 

 a wreath of laurel and white flowers was car- 

 ried to and placed on the grave of the Cam- 

 bridge mathematician, Arthur Cayley, in Mill- 

 road Cemetery. Professor S. Dickstein, of 



Warsaw, delivered an appreciation of Cay- 

 ley's work. From the money left over from 

 the subscription for the wreath a memorial of 

 the occasion is to be made in silver and pre- 

 sented to the university. 



The congress was well attended, the total 

 number of members registering being 706 from 

 27 countries. This is somewhat larger than 

 the attendance at Eome in 1904 and much 

 larger than at any other congress. About 85 

 Americans were present. With the exception 

 of the United Kingdom the United States was 

 represented by the largest number of mem- 

 bers, Germany and France coming next in 

 order. At the last meeting the invitation of 

 Professor Mittag-Leffler to hold the next meet- 

 ing at Stockholm in 1916 was accepted. Invi- 

 tations to hold the 1920 meeting in Buda- 

 pesth and in Athens were received, but no ac- 

 tion was taken. 



A. E. Crathorne 



THE NEW ENGLAND GEOLOGICAL 

 EXCURSION 



The twelfth annual Geological Excursion 

 of the New England colleges and universities 

 was held in the vicinity of Meriden, Connecti- 

 cut, October 18 and 19, under the direction of 

 Professor William North Eice, of Wesleyan 

 University, and was attended by representa- 

 tives from Amherst, Connecticut Agricultural 

 College, Harvard, Mount Holyoke, Massachu- 

 setts Agricultural College, Massachusetts In- 

 stitute of Technology, Smith, Trinity, Tufts, 

 University of Vermont, Wesleyan, Williams, 

 and Yale, teachers of geography from a num- 

 ber of the high schools of Connecticut, about 

 fifty men and women participating. 



After a collation at Fisk Hall in Middle- 

 town, given by Wesleyan University, the party 

 listened to an illustrated lecture by Professor 

 Barrell, of Yale University, on " Central Con- 

 necticut in the Geologic Past " and a brief 

 statement by Professor Eice on the localities 

 to be studied on the following day. After the 

 meeting the party went to Meriden by trolley, 

 where they spent the night. On Saturday 

 morning the party went by special car on the 



