Makch 16, 1917] 



SCIENCE 



271 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 

 THE AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY 

 The one hundred and eighty-ninth regular meet- 

 ing of the society was held at Columbia University 

 on Saturday, Tebruary 24. The morning session 

 sufficed for the presentation of the brief list of 

 papers. The attendance included twenty-six mem- 

 bers. Professor H. S. White occupied the chair, 

 being relieved by Professor Kasner. The council 

 announced the election of the following persons to 

 membership in the society: Professor H. P. Kean, 

 McHenry College; Mr. Ealph Keffer, Harvard Uni- 

 versity; Mr. H. C. M. Morse, Harvard University; 

 Dr. F. D. Murnaghan, Eiee Institute; Mr. G. E. 

 Eaynor, University of Washington; Dr. S. P. 

 Shugert, University of Pennsylvania; Mr. G. W. 

 Smith, University of Illinois; Mr. J. S. Taylor, 

 University of California; Dr. L. E. Wear, Univer- 

 sity of Washington; Dr. H. N. Wright, University 

 of California. Pour applications for admission to 

 membership were received. 



It was decided to hold the next summer meeting 

 of the society at Cleveland, Ohio, on September 

 4-5. The Mathematical Association of America 

 will meet at Cleveland on September 6-7. 



By the will of the late Professor L. L. Conant, 

 of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, who was a 

 member of the society from 1892 to his death in 

 1916, the sum of $10,000 is left to the society, 

 subject to Mrs. Conant 's life interest. The will 

 provides that the income of this bequest "shall be 

 offered once in five years as a prize for original 

 work in pure mathematics. ' ' This generous gift, 

 a noble monument to the donor, should do much 

 for the promotion of higher mathematical aims in 

 this country. Eor many years the society has con- 

 sistently pursued these aims, with a success far 

 outrunning what might have been expected from 

 its modest financial resources. With greater means 

 in the way of general or special funds, it could ac- 

 complish still more. To anyone who is able to give 

 for science, the society presents itself as an ex- 

 perienced and beneficent administrator. 



At the annual meeting, the council placed itself 

 on record as desiring to cooperate with the Na- 

 tional Eesearch Council in forwarding the inter- 

 ests of research. At the Pebruary meeting a com- 

 mittee was appointed to confer with the chairman 

 of the Mathematics Committee of the Research 

 Council, Professor E. H. Moore, in regard to the 

 selection of the members of that committee. 



The following papers were read at this meeting: 



A. E. Schweitzer : ' ' The iterative compositions of 



a function of n + 1 variables (7i = l, 2, 3 ... )." 



A. E. Schweitzer: "Functional equations based 

 on iterative compositions. ' ' 



D. F. Barrow: "An application of Fourier's 

 series to probability." 



Edward Kasner: "Degenerate cases in the 

 theory of the conduction of heat. ' ' 



J. E. Eowe: "The equation of a rational plane 

 cubic derived from its parametric equations (sec- 

 ond paper)." 



E. L. Moore and J. E. Kline: "The most gen- 

 eral closed plane point set through which it is 

 possible to pass a simple continuous plane arc." 



H. S. White: "New proof of a theorem of von 

 Staudt and Hurwitz. " 



Henry Taber : ' ' On the structure of finite con- 

 tinuous groups. ' ' 



The next meeting of the society will be held at 

 the University of Chicago on April 6-7. The San 

 Francisco Section will meet at Stanford Univer- 

 sity on April 7. P. N. Cole, 



Secretary 



OKLAHOMA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 

 The Oklahoma Academy of Science held its 

 eighth annual meeting in Oklahoma City, Decem- 

 ber first and second, with President C. N. Gould 

 in the chair. The following papers were pre- 

 sented : 



AGRICULTURE 



"Effects of Soil Types on the Eoot Develop- 

 ment of Cotton and Kaffir," by Wallace MacFar- 

 lane. 



ARCHEOLOGY 



"Types of Stone Implements," by J. B. Tho- 

 burn. 



CHEMISTRY 



"Errors in the Determination of the Coefficient 

 of Viscosity Gases by the Capillary Method," by 

 I. M. Eapp. 



"Sulfur in Petroleum," by Chas. K. Francis. 



"Effect of Para Substituents in the Acylation of 

 Aromatic Amines, " by L. Chas. Eaif ord and A. F. 

 Whipple. 



"Oxidation of Ethyl Alcohol to Acetaldehyde, " 

 by Wm. J. Becker. 



"Infra-red Absorption of Naphthalene," by 

 A. H. Stang. 



"Visibility Curves of the Green Mercury Line 

 and Its Satellites," by A. F. Eeiter. 



ECONOMICS 



"Setting the Clock Ahead," by Joseph M. 

 Perkins. 



"The Lumber Industry of Oklahoma," by 

 John Cullen. 



