398 SCIENCE. 
having 387 in 1898, while Russia had 315, 
Austria 158, England 83, Switzerland 83, 
United States 68, Sweden 68, France 66, 
Holland 48, Norway 42, Denmark 39, Spain 
36, Italy 35, and 60 from nine other coun- 
tries. With regard to the American mem- 
bership, it may be noted that it numbered 
6 in 1895; 25 in 1896; 60 in 1897; 68 in 
1898, prior to the organization of the Ameri- 
can Section; 106 in February, 1899, and 
that it is now nearly or quite 125. 
There are two peculiarities regarding 
membership in this Association that de- 
serve notice. First, there is no nomination 
or election of members, but any person de- 
siring to be a member may do so on sign- 
ing a statement that he assumes member- 
ship and will be governed by the laws of 
the Association ; in so doing he further as- 
sumes the obligation, stated in Art. 5, of the 
statutes, that he will advance its interests 
to the best of his ability. Membership is 
“hence a voluntary act assumed by an indi- 
vidual in order to promote the knowledge 
of the properties of materials and to en- 
deavor to secure uniformity in methods of 
testing them. Withdrawal from member- 
ship may be made at any time by mere an- 
nouncement to the proper officer of the 
Association. 
The second noteworthy feature regarding 
membership is that it may be assumed bya 
corporation or society as well as by a per- 
son. For example, in the list of members 
of the American Section, published in 
February last, will be found the Franklin 
Institute, the American Society of Me- 
chanical Engineers, the American Foundry- 
men’s Association, and five local engineer- 
ing clubs, as also several steel companies, 
engineering journals, and firms engaged in 
inspecting and testing. In Europe this fea- 
ture is carried much further, the member- 
ship of the German Section including the 
bureau of public works of several cities, 
provinces and states, the police bureau of 
(N.S. Von. X. No. 247. 
Berlin, the Prussian war department and 
the boards of direction of numerous rail- 
ways, as also a large number of manufac- 
turing corporations and engineering so- 
cieties. Under this arrangement it is 
possible for a corporation to exert a greater 
influence than through the indirect indi- 
vidual membership of its president or 
‘superintendent, both manufacturers and 
consumers can make their wishes more 
directly known, and thus differences in 
regard to methods of inspection and testing 
can be more quickly harmonized than under 
the usual plan of strict individual member- 
ship. However, fully three-fourths of the 
total members are individuals, and these 
include engineers in all branches, archi- 
tects, chemists, professors of mechanics and 
engineering, and superintendents and fore- 
men of works. 
At the Zurich Congress the dues of mem- 
bers were fixed at $1.00 per year, and while 
no change was made at the Stockholm Con- 
gress, the Council recommended early in 
1898, in view of the heavy expenses, that 
each member should pay $1.50 per year. 
Accordingly, at the first annual meeting of 
this Section, when our present by-laws 
were adopted, the provision was inserted 
that each member should pay $2.50 per 
year, of which $1.50 should be transmitted 
to the International Association and the 
remainder be used to defray the expenses of — 
the American Section. This by-law went 
into effect on January 1, 1899, and accord- 
ingly no dues were collected by this Section 
for the year 1898, the $1.50 payable for 
that year being forwarded to the Interna- 
tional Council directly by each member or 
through the American member of that 
Council. During the present year dues 
have been paid directly to our secretary, 
and his report, together with that of our 
treasurer, will be laid before this meeting. 
The dues of $1.50 per year per member, 
transmitted to the International Council, 
if a ee a 
