102 
3. That in the logarithmic subdivision of 
the spectrum the sections be called ‘regions.’ 
The visible region to include the part be- 
tween 0.4 » and 0.8 » and bear the index 0, 
the infra-red regions having positive, and 
the ultra-violet, negative indices (thus, R, 
from 3.2 » to 1.6 », R, from 1.6 » to 0.8 p, 
R, from 0.8 » to 0.4 », R=, from 0.4 » to 0.2 
f4, ete). 
4. It is desirable to reserve the word den- 
sity to designate the quotient of mass by 
volume. 
The titles of the papers read were as 
follows : 
‘On anomalous propagation of electric waves,’ by 
M. I. Pupin. 
“A search after a new source of electromotive force,’ 
by H. A. Rowland. 
‘The theory of certain magneto-optical phenomena,’ 
by H. A. Rowland. 
“On the heat of Arcturus, Vega, Jupiter and Sat- 
urn,’ by E. F. Nichols. : 
“On cyanine prisms and a new method of exhibiting 
anomalous dispersion,’ by R. W. Wood. 
“On the propagation of cusped waves and their re- 
lation to the primary and secondary focal lines,’ by 
R. W. Wood. 
WILLIAM HALLockr. 
AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY. 
Tue American Mathematical Society held 
its seventh annual meeting at Columbia 
University, New York City, on Friday, 
December 28, 1900. About forty persons, 
including thirty-three members of the So- 
ciety, were in attendance during the two 
sessions. Vice-President Thomas S. Fiske 
occupied the chair. A special feature of 
the meeting was the election of officers and 
other members of the Council. Under re- 
cent amendment of the Constitution, taking 
effect at this meeting, the president of the 
Society is elected for a term of two years 
and is ineligible for immediate reelection. 
The number of members of the Council 
elected annually is increased from three to 
four. This provision with the recent in- 
clusion of ex-presidents as permanent mem- 
SCIENCE. 
[N. S. Vou. XIII. No. 316. 
bers brings the present membership of the 
Council up to twenty-four. The newly 
elected officers are: President, Eliakim 
Hastings Moore; Vice-Presidents, Thomas 
8. Fiske and Henry §. White; Secretary, 
¥F. N. Cole; Treasurer, W.S. Dennett; Li- 
brarian, Pomeroy Ladue; Committee of 
Publication, F. N. Cole, Alexander Ziwet, 
Frank Morley ; Members of the Council to 
serve for three years, E. W. Brown, H. B. 
Fine, T. F. Holgate, W. F. Osgood ; Mem- 
ber of the Council to serve for two years, 
H. W. Hyde. 
During the six years since its reorganiza- 
tion as a national body, the history of the 
Society has been one of constant and rapid 
development. The membership has grown 
from 244 in 1894 to 357 at present. In 1894 
the number of papers read at the meetings 
was 24; in 1900 it was 115. Since 1894 
summer meetings have been regularly held, 
supplemented on two occasions by coiloquia 
or special courses of lectures. These have 
done much to bring the mémbers together 
and to create a more general interest. The 
rapid expansion of the Society led in 1898 
to the formation of the Chicago Section, 
which fosters the interest of the Society in 
the West. By the founding of the Trans- 
actions, which has just completed a very suc- 
cessful first year, improved facilities have 
been provided for the publication of im- 
portant papers read before the Society. A 
gratifying recognition of the Society’s use- 
fulness and efficiency is found in the liberal 
financial cooperation of ten leading univer- 
sities in the publication of the Transactions. 
The Bulletin, which was founded in 1891 as 
a historical and critical review, has been 
greatly enlarged, although confining itself 
more strictly than before to its special field. 
The administration of the business of the 
Society has been wisely left from the begin- 
ning in the hands of the Council, the time 
of the meetings being thus economized 
for the purely scientific proceedings. The 
