Januaet 26, 1917] 



SCIENCE 



95 



G. D. Birkhoff: "A class of series allied to 

 IPourier 's series. ' ' 



G. D. BirkhofE : ' ' Note on linear difference equa- 

 tions. ' ' 



G. A. Miller: "Groups generated by two opera- 

 tors of the same prime order such that the con- 

 jugates of the one under the other are commuta- 

 tive. ' ' 



H. S. Vandiver: "On the power characters of 

 units in a eyelotomic field. ' ' 



Henry Taber: "On the structure of finite con- 

 tinuous groups." 



The San Francisco Section of the society held its 

 twenty-eighth regular meeting at the University 

 of California on November 25. The Southwestern 

 Section held its tenth regular meeting at the Uni- 

 versity of Kansas on December 2. The seventh 

 regular meeting of the society at Chicago was 

 held on December 22-23. The next meeting of the 

 society will be held at Columbia University on 

 February 24. F. N. Cole, 



Secretary 



THE AMERICAN GENETIC ASSOCIA- 

 TION 



The thirteenth annual meeting of the associa- 

 tion was held at Columbia University, December 

 26-28, with an attendance of about 200. In the 

 presidential address on "The Importance of 

 Photographs in Presenting Genetic Discoveries," 

 Dr. David Fairchild insisted that men of science 

 should take more pains properly to record the 

 results of their investigations by photographs; 

 that such photographs as are commonly published 

 are too small and also fail to make the desired im- 

 pression because too little allowance is made for 

 the reader's point of view. He showed lantern 

 slides to illustrate his remarks. 



Professor E. E. Barker, of Cornell University, 

 presented the results of a questionnaire sent to 

 American colleges, which showed great diversity 

 in the amount of attention given to genetics, and 

 the side from which it is approached. 



In discussing ' ' The Biological Significance of 

 Death" Professor F. H. Pike, of the College of 

 Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, 

 referred to the independence of the environment 

 which higher forms of life have attained, mainly 

 through the property of regulation. This inde- 

 pendence has made differentiation possible, but 

 the individual has also become incapable of any 

 great change. If evolution is to take place, it 

 must then depend on the variations accompanying 

 the production of new individuals. The immortal- 



ity of the older forms would produce a congestion 

 of the earth which would seriously interfere with 

 the development of the newer. Death is therefore 

 to be regarded as an adaptation, as Weismann 

 supposed, which furthers evolution. 



"The Constructive Aspect of Birth- Control" 

 was discussed by Professor Eobert J. Sprague, of 

 Massachusetts Agricultural College. He observed 

 that birth-control is only a part of the larger 

 problem of population; that the poorer classes 

 need to practise more birth-control but the more 

 efficient classes need to practise distinctly less 

 than they do at present, if the race is to evolve 

 progressively. A constructive program of eco- 

 nomic and social changes, which would help to 

 make fecundity correlated with eugenic value, was 

 outlined. 



Professor W. S. Anderson, of the University of 

 Kentucky, spoke on "Some Difficulties in Breed- 

 ing Blooded Stock. ' ' The production of blooded 

 horses is particularly hindered by the infertility 

 of brood mares, which in different parts of Ken- 

 tucky runs from 35 per cent, to 65 per cent. In- 

 vestigation has proved that the difficulty usually 

 is to be found in the mare, rarely in the stallion, 

 and by hygienic measures the fertility of mares on 

 the Patchen Wilkes stock farm has been doubled. 

 Selection of fecund strains is believed, however, 

 to be necessary for complete removal of the diffi- 

 culty of infertility. 



As chairman of the committee on research in 

 eugenics. Dr. Frederick Adams Woods, of the 

 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, presided 

 at the second meeting and read a paper on "Sig- 

 nificant Evidence for Mental Heredity. ' ' Much of 

 the evidence commonly cited he believes to be 

 worthless, but by measurements of differences it is 

 possible to get acceptable proof. Studies of twins 

 by Galton and Thorndike, and those of the royal 

 families of Europe by the speaker himself, were 

 cited. Princes who inherited thrones were not 

 found to be more conspicuous mentally than their 

 younger brothers, despite the greater chance which 

 a monarch has for displaying any valuable traits 

 he may possess. Moreover, eminent men are found 

 to be as much interrelated iu America as in Eu- 

 rope, although it is popularly supposed that su- 

 perior opportunities and free competition in a 

 newer country make family connections of less 

 value. The fact that eminent men are found, de- 

 spite this, to be much interrelated indicates that 

 their mental differences are germinal and not solely 

 the result of educational and social influences. 



Mary L. Eead, director of the School of Mother- 

 craft, New York City, had the topic "Eugenics 



