400 SCIENCE. 
six are on iron and steel, one on stone 
and slate, eight on cements and mortars, 
one on tile pipes, one on paints, one on lu- 
bricants, and one on the dry rot of wood. 
The fact that there are eight committees on 
cements and mortars and only six on iron 
and steel may seem abnormal, but it should 
be remembered) that in the testing of hy- 
draulic cement the personal equation of the 
observer enters to a far greater degree than 
in the case of metals, and that its rapidly 
increasing use demands the immediate per- 
fection of methods which will render com- 
parable the work of different laboratories. 
At the session to-morrow morning prelim- 
inary reports from some of our sub-commit- 
tees on these questions will be presented. 
While the main object of the Association 
is to establish standard rules for testing, 
it is recognized that this cannot be done 
until a thorough knowledge is obtained of 
the properties of materials under varying 
conditions. Accordingly the work of some 
of the committees is to collect and digest 
the information now on record, or to make 
scientific investigations that will render 
present knowledge more complete and defi- 
nite. Thus, there is a committee on the 
properties of steel at abnormally low tem- 
peratures, one on the relation of the chem- 
ical composition of stone to its weathering 
qualities, one to digest the work of previous 
conferences and conventions on the adhesion 
of hydraulic cement, one on the causes of 
the abnormal behavior of cements as to 
time of setting, and one on the protection of 
wood against the action of dry rot. Some 
of these subjects have already been discussed 
at the Congresses of Zurich and Stockholm, 
and accordingly the reports to be presented 
to the Paris Congress should contain posi- 
tive additions to present knowledge. 
At the annual meeting of this Section, 
held last year, the desire was expressed to 
discuss the subject of impact tests, and a 
special committee was appointed whose re- 
[N. S. Vou. X. No. 247. 
port will be presented at this meeting. 
Later, other members requested that other 
problems should be taken up by the Section, 
and accordingly three other American com- 
mittees have been organized on special 
problems connected with the manufacture 
of iron and steel. While these committees 
have no connection with the international 
ones, it is believed that their work will add 
to the interest of our annual meetings, and 
further the general objects of the Associa- 
tion. 
There are advantages and disadvantages 
in doing technical work by committees. 
One advantage accrues through the har- 
monization of the different views held by 
individuals, whereby non-essentials are re- 
jected and only fundamental methods re- 
tained. One of the disadvantages is that 
this process of harmonizing views takes 
time, causing reports to be long delayed, 
particularly with international committees. 
Some technical societies appoint commit- 
tees with great reluctance, fearing that 
their reports may be regarded as official 
action. In the case of our international 
organization, no such fear is felt, and the 
report of a committee is to be considered 
from the same point of view as the paper 
of an individual member. Through the 
formation of the national sections, the work 
of the international committees can cer- 
tainly be made more valuable and effective 
than ever before, for each national sub- 
committee, after having eliminated dis- 
agreements of its individual members, can 
work as a body to impress its views upon 
the other national sub-committees. In 
many cases an international agreement may 
be found difficult to make, but if made after 
such full discussion it will be sure to be au- 
thoritative and valuable. 
The subject of the chemical analysis of 
iron and steel has been discussed in pre- 
vious conferences and congresses, and at 
the Stockholm meeting of 1897 it was for- 
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