Mat 30, 1919] 



SCIENCE 



509 



after the proposed conference in Paris in July, 

 1919. 



The section voted that the chair appoint a 

 committee on committees, to act temporarily 

 as an executive committee, which should con- 

 sider the general matter of business, appoint 

 all committees, and add six additional mem- 

 bers to the section. Appointed: W. W. Camp- 

 bell, chairman; C. G. Abbot, E. W. Brown, 

 Frank Schlesinger, Joel Stebbins, secretary. 

 The committee added the following to the 

 membership of the section: W. S. Adams, R. 

 G. Aitken, E. E. Barnard, L. A. Bauer, Benja- 

 min Boss, W. S. Eichelberger, W. J. Hussey, 

 V. ir. Slipher. 



In regard to membership of enemy nations 

 in the union, the section voted to adopt as rep- 

 resenting the sentiments of the meeting the 

 declaration of the Interallied Conference on 

 International Scientific Relations, held at the 

 Royal Society in London on October 9 to 11, 

 1918. 



In regard to the admission of neutral na- 

 tions to the union, the section voted that it be 

 the sense of the meeting that nations which 

 had been neutral in the war should be admitted 

 into the International Astronomical Union on 

 the conclusion of peace. 



ilr. Schlesinger outlined the kind of astro- 

 nomical work that requires international co- 

 operation : 



1. Work too extensive to be undertaken ex- 

 cept by international cooperation; the Carte 

 du Ciel, for example, or the plan of selected 

 areas. 



2. Undertakings in which there is a geo- 

 graphical necessity for international cooi)era- 

 tion. Variation of latitude, longitudes, vari- 

 able stars, continuous observation of solar phe- 

 nomena, etc. 



3. Matters of convention. Uniformity of 

 nomenclature, notation and units. Examples, 

 unit for stellar distances (four now in use), 

 classification of spectra, use of probable or 

 mean error or of average deviation, notation 

 for celestial mechanics, notation for the re- 

 duction of photographic plates, etc. 



4. The avoidance of duplication. Calcula- 

 tions for the national almanacs and for special 



ephemerides, such as comets, asteroids and 

 variable stars. Astronomical abstracts, and 

 news of new comets, variable stars, novje, aste- 

 roids and the like. 



The section discussed the various fields in 

 astronomy in which committees should be 

 formed to make report at another meeting of 

 the section, which would give instructions to 

 the delegates to the proposed Paris conference. 

 The following committees were authorized by 

 the section. The executive committee later 

 made the appointments: 



Committee on the Variation of Latitude: E. B. 

 Littell, chairman; A. O. Leuschner, Frank Schles- 

 inger. It was voted to ask the American Section 

 of the International Geophysical Union to appoint 

 a similar committee to confer and make a joint 

 recommendation on the organization and method 

 of handling the variation of latitude. 



Committee on Standards of Wave-Length: Henry 

 Crew, chairman ; H. D. Babcock, Keivin Burns, W. 

 W. Campbell, C. E. St. John. 



Committee on Solar Rotation: C. E. St. John, 

 chairman; W. S. Adams, Frank Schlesinger. 



Committee on Eclipses: S. A. Mitchell, chairman; 

 E. E. Barnard, H. D. Curtis. 



Committee on Stellar Classification: H. N. Rus- 

 sell, chairman; Miss Annie J. Cannon, R. H. Cur- 

 tiss. 



Committee on Asteroids and Comets: A. O. 

 Leuschner, chairman; E. W. Brown, G. H. Peters. 



Committee on Almanacs: W. S. Eichelberger, 

 chairman; E. W. Brown, R. H. Tucker. 



Committee on Badial Velocities: W. W. Camp- 

 bell, chairman; W. S. Adams, J. S. Plaskett. 



Committee on Double Stars: R. G. Aitken, chair- 

 man; Eric Doolittle, W. J. Hussey. 



Committee on Notation, Units and Economy of 

 Publication: W. J. Humphreys, chairman; E. B. 

 Frost, A. O. Leuschner. 



Committee on Meridian Astronomy: Benjamin 

 Boss, chairman; F. B. Littell, Frank Schlesinger. 



Committee on Abstracts and Bibliographies: P. 

 E. Fowle, chairman ; H. D. Curtis, G. 8. Fulcher. 



Committee on Research Surveys: G. E. Hale, 

 chairman; F. R. Moulton, Harlow Shapley. 



Committee on Stellar Photometry : F. H. Scares, 

 chairman; S. I. Bailey, F. C. Jordan, J. A. Park- 

 hurst, Joel Stebbins. 



Committee on Wireless Determination of Longi- 

 tude: J. A. HoogewerfF, chairman; W. W. Camp- 

 bell, J. J. Carty. This committee was requested to 



