148 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLV. No. 1154 



Van Maanen finds for the planetary nebula N.G.C. 

 7662 a parallax of 0".023, making its distance 140 

 light years, and its diameter about twenty times 

 that of the orbit of Neptune; Newkirk, from a 

 splendid series of Lick photographs, concludes that 

 the ring nebula in Lyra has no sensible parallax or 

 proper motion, and must be of enormously great 

 size; and Wright, with the new Draper quartz 

 spectrograph of the Lick Observatory, finds evi- 

 dence of continuous spectrum in the extreme ultra- 

 violet in the planetary nebulae, and gives good rea- 

 sons for attributing it to hydrogen in the gaseous 

 state. A fourth paper, on the rotation of plane- 

 tary nebulffi, had to be read by title, on account of 

 the regretted illness of its author. Professor Camp- 

 bell. 



Little formal business came before the meeting, 

 as most of this had been attended to at Swarth- 

 more in August. A committee upon observation of 

 variable stars was created, to cooperate with and 

 extend the excellent work which is now being so 

 extensively done by amateurs. A special com- 

 mittee constituted to consider and make a public 

 statement upon the widely discussed "Daylight 

 Saving Plan ' ' reported as follows : 



"1. The chief objects the daylight saving plan 

 hopes to accomplish are: (a) to facilitate earlier 

 rising in summer than in winter; (6) to increase 

 the hours of daylight available after the day's 

 work for recreation or other purposes; and (c) to 

 conserve to the nation as a whole a part of the 

 fuel now being consumed in the production of 

 artificial light. 



"2. The plan which has been proposed for the 

 United States, and which has been adopted as a 

 war measure in England, France and Germany, as 

 well as in Holland, consists in advancing the legal 

 time one hour during part of the summer half of 

 the year. In the United States this amounts to a 

 simple shift of the boundaries of existing stand- 

 ard time zones. 



"3. In order to be of real benefit, the plan must 

 be adopted simultaneously by a large majority 

 throughout an extended area of the United States. 



"4. It is to be noted that the advantages of the 

 plan become less as we approach the extreme south- 

 ern part of the country, because the hours of day- 

 light are more nearly the same throughout the 

 year in lower latitudes. For this reason, this com- 

 mittee suggests that a modification of the proposed 

 plan might be advisable for the extreme southern 

 portion of the United States. 



"5. If daylight saving is adopted, this com- 

 mittee recommends that, in order to obviate the in- 



troduction of terms that may prove confusing, the 

 names now in use to describe standard time be con- 

 tinued with unchanged meaning, thus in Chicago 

 Central Time would be used in winter, as at pres- 

 ent, and eastern time in summer. 



' ' 6. The proposed plan involves no advantages in 

 scientific work, nor does it entaU serious disadvan- 

 tages. Meteorological observers would continue 

 the present practise of making their observations 

 at specified Eastern Standard times throughout the 

 country. The change in time could easily be taken 

 into account in the preparation of tide tables and 

 similar publications. 



"7. The chief objections to the proposed plan 

 that have been brought to the attention of the 

 committee are the following: 



" (a) In all civilized countries the middle of the 

 working day is not noon, but somewhat later. 

 Under the proposed plan it would sometimes come 

 before noon, and usually earlier than the experi- 

 ence of mankind appears to have justified. 



" (i) Artisans who begin work early would have 

 to get up in the dark, thus undergoing serious in- 

 convenience, and at times using more instead of 

 less light, and also at some seasons requiring more 

 fuel. 



"(c) The setting back or forward of all clocks 

 by an hour on two days in each year will involve 

 inconvenience and annoyance. 



"(d) 'Not a single scientific society or other 

 body with expert knowledge has supported it ' 

 (Nature) . 



' ' 8. The committee are unanimous in regard to 

 sections 1 to 6 above, but are not agreed as to the 

 weight that should be attached to the disadvan- 

 tages envmierated under 7. Two members, Jacoby 

 and Schlesinger, favor the adoption of the plan as 

 proposed, and are convinced it would be highly 

 beneficial; a third. Poor, believes that the plan 

 should be put into operation, but for the present as 

 an experiment. The two remaining members, Pick- 

 ering and EusseU, beUeve that the disadvantages 

 distinctly outweigh the advantages, and are op- 

 posed to the adoption of the daylight saving plan. ' ' 



It may be added that a vote at one of the meet- 

 ings of the society showed eight members in favor 

 of the plan, seven opposed to it, and fourteen neu- 

 tral. 



With resolutions of thanks to Columbia Univer- 

 sity for the hospitality extended to the society, the 

 meetings came to a close on Friday afternoon, De- 

 cember 29. 



Henbt Nokris Edssell, 

 Acting Secretary for the Meeting 



