Febkuaey 13, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



247 



Sesolved, That the council of the American As- 

 •Boeiation for the Advancement of Science author- 

 izes the establishment of local branches of the 

 association in places where the members are pre- 

 pared to conduct branches which will forward the 

 objects of the association. 



Besolved, That the standing committee on or- 

 ganization and membership be instructed to pro- 

 mote the establishment of such local branches. 



The plan of regional division and local 

 branches has heen under consideration for some 

 time. Last year a Pacific Coast division was 

 established and an associate secretary for the 

 south was appointed. At the Atlanta meet- 

 ing a Brazilian division was authorized. 

 There is every reason to believe that a for- 

 ward step in the advancement and diffusion 

 of science can be taken by the establishment 

 of local branches, especially in places where 

 there are no chapters of the Society of the 

 Sigma Xi, academies of science, or similar 

 organizations. Even where such agencies al- 

 ready exist, a union of the members of the 

 American Association might cooperate with 

 them for their common interests. A local 

 branch can arrange for lectures, scientific 

 programs, dinners and social meetings, which 

 will bring together those interested in the 

 progress of science, will encourage them in 

 their work and improve the conditions under 

 which it is done, and will increase the interest 

 of the community in science. If a number of 

 local branches are formed in a state or a 

 region it will be possible to arrange for joint 

 meetings or for a lecturer to address meetings 

 in the different places. 



The great increase in the number of scien- 

 tific men, their scattering in this country over 

 a vast area and the differentiation of their 

 work have made it diiScult or impossible for 

 them to come together at national meetings 

 and discuss their common objects. The ad- 

 vance and necessary specialization of science 

 tend to divorce it from the interests of the 

 people on whom in a democracy it must de- 

 pend for recruits and for support. Local 

 societies or clubs, especially in smaller centers 

 where there are not enough scientific men to 

 form groups of specialists and where lectures 

 and scientific programs are not common, can 



accomplish a great deal to maintain interest 

 in research and to impress its importance on 

 the general public. They will be aided by the 

 prestige of the history and the national scope 

 of the American Association with its eight 

 thousand members and will in turn strengthen 

 the work and infiuence of the association. 



The standing committee of the association 

 on organization and membership, of which 

 Dr. W. H. Welch, of the Johns Hopkins Uni- 

 versity is chairman, the permanent secretary. 

 Dr. L. O. Howard, is a member, and Professor 

 J. McK. Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson, N. T., 

 is secretary, has been authorized to promote 

 the formation of such local branches and the 

 secretary of the committee will be glad to 

 correspond with members of the association 

 who may be interested in the formation of 

 local branches which will promote the objects 

 of the association in their neighborhoods. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 



The Senate has confirmed the nomination 

 of Col. William C. Gorgas as surgeon-general 

 of the United States Army. 



Dr. Walter P. Bradley has resigned as 

 professor of chemistry after twenty-five years 

 of service at Wesleyan University to take 

 charge of the investigations of the United 

 States Rubber Company in whose employ he 

 recently spent a year's leave of absence. 



Dr. Edwin G. Conklin, profesor of biology 

 in Princeton University, has been elected a 

 foreign member of the Royal Bohemian Acad- 

 emy of Sciences. 



Dr. Samuel Amberg, of The Otho S. A. 

 Sprague Memorial Institute Laboratory, of 

 Chicago, has been elected a corresponding 

 member of the Society of Internal Medicine 

 and Pediatrics in Vienna. 



Dr. Adolf Frank, known for his important 

 contributions to agricultural chemistry, cele- 

 brated at Charlottenburg, on January 20, hia 

 eightieth birthday. 



Professor W. M. Davis, of Harvard Univer- 

 sity, plans to carry out an exploration of some 

 of the coral islands in the Pacific. He is so 

 arranging his tour as to be able to attend the 



