820 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVI. No. 937 



given by the minister of public instruction, 

 without being slavishly bound to the text- 

 books that are used in their schools; and sec- 

 ond, the problems for the " Abiturientenexa- 

 men " (our finishing examination at second- 

 ary schools) are not prescribed by a central 

 board or by the ministry, but are set by the 

 teachers themselves, subject only to the ap- 

 proval of the authorities. 



The reform in mathematical teaching is 

 only one step in the reorganization of second- 

 ary education. This reorganization aims at 

 making the youth of our country sympathetic 

 with labor as well as appreciative of the best 

 that is in modern culture. From this point 

 of view the teaching of mathematics and sci- 

 ence assumes a position equivalent to that in 

 history and languages. It has been felt to be 

 an important problem to reorganize the teach- 

 ing of mathematics and science, and you are 

 doubtless aware that the " Unterrichtskom- 

 mission " of the German Association for the 

 Advancement of Science, now enlarged to the 

 " Deutscher Ausschuss f iir den mathema- 

 tischen und naturwissenschaftlichen TJnter- 

 richt," has prepared special outlines for the 

 teaching of mathematics and physics as well 

 as for that of biology. In presenting the Ger- 

 man reports of the International Commission 

 on the teaching of mathematics, I beg to be 

 allowed to place here upon the table the pub- 

 lications of the Unterrichtskommission^ and 

 of the Deutscher Ausschuss* as far as they 

 have been published until now. 



a. gutzmer 



University op Halle 



TEE NINETEENTH INTERNATIONAL 

 CONGBESS OF AMERICANISTS, 19U 



In the faU of 1911 a number of delegates 

 to the past congresses of the Americanists 

 met in Washington, under the auspices of the 



' A. Gutzmer, ' ' Die Tatigkeit der Unterriehts- 

 kommission der Gesellschaft Deutscher Natur- 

 forscher und Aerzte, " Leipzig, 1908, B. G-. 

 Teubner. 



* ' ' Schrif ten des Deutschen Ausschusses f iir den 

 mathematisolien und naturwissenschaftlichen Un- 

 terricht, " Leipzig, Heft 1-14, B. G. Teubner. 



Smithsonian Institution and the Anthropolog- 

 ical Society of Washington, for the purpose of 

 taking preliminary steps toward extending an 

 invitation to the congress at its London meet- 

 ing, to hold its nineteenth session in 1914 at 

 Washington. A temporary organizing com- 

 mittee was selected, consisting of Professor W. 

 H. Holmes, chairman; Mr. F. W. Hodge; and 

 Dr. A. Hrdlicka, secretary. This committee 

 entered into communication with the prin- 

 cipal local institutions and organizations which 

 are interested in the work of the Americanists, 

 and by May 1, 1912, a formal invitation to 

 the congress was agreed upon by the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, the Anthropological So- 

 ciety of Washington, the George Washington, 

 Georgetown and Catholic universities, and the 

 Washington Society of the Archeological In- 

 stitute of America. A list of names of per- 

 sons to form the permanent organizing com- 

 mittee was agreed upon and Dr. Hrdlicka was 

 instructed to present the joint invitation with 

 the list just mentioned to the council of the 

 London meeting of the Americanists, which 

 was done, and both were accepted without 

 objection. In addition an official invitation 

 from the Bolivian government was accepted 

 for a second session, to be held at La Paz 

 following that in Washington. 



On October 11, 1912, the permanent com- 

 mittee for the Washington session met in the 

 U. S. National Museum for organization. Its 

 membership is as follows : Messrs. Franklin 

 Adams, Frank Baker, Chas. H. Butler, Mitch- 

 ell Carroll, Charles W. Currier, A. J. Donlon, 

 J. Walter Fewkes, Alice C. Fletcher, Gilbert 

 H. Grosvenor, F. W. Hodge, H. L. Hodgkins, 

 William H. Holmes, Walter Hough, Ales 

 Hrdlicka, Gaillard Hunt, J. F. Jameson, 

 George M. Kober, D. S. Lamb, Chas. H. 

 McCarthy, James Mooney, J. Dudley Morgan, 

 Clarence F. Norment, Thomas J. Shahan, H. 

 J. Shandelle, George R. Stetson, Chas. H. 

 Stockton, J. R. Swanton, Harry Van Dyke, 

 Charles D. Walcott and M. I. Weller. 



The elections of officers resulted, in the 

 main, as follows: 



For Patron of the Congress: The President of 

 the United States. 



