JANUARY 18, 1901. ] 
ordered placed on file. President McMurtrie 
made a few remarks regarding the thorough 
work which had been accomplished by the 
Librarian during the past year, and on 
motion of Dr. Hart the thanks of the So- 
ciety were voted to the Librarian for his 
successful and faithful services. 
The editor presented a brief oral report 
of his work. 
Reports received by the Secretary from 
F. W. Clarke, chairman of the Committee 
on Atomic Weights and also chairman of 
the International Committee on Atomic 
Weights, were presented by the Secretary 
in the absence of Mr. Clarke, and were 
read by title and referred to the Committee 
on Papers and Publications. 
The Secretary reported from the Council 
that that body had considered the question 
referred to it by the Society at the New 
York meeting with reference to the passage 
of H. R. Bill 104, looking to the adoption 
and use of the metric system, and had 
decided to recommend that the Society 
lay the question on the table. By a vote 
of the Society the recommendation of the 
Council was adopted and the question*was 
laid on the table. 
The Committee on Standards for Instru- 
ments of Measure reported progress through 
Messrs. Munroe and Linebarger, who urged 
immediate action on the part of the mem- 
bership with reference to the bill now pend- 
ing in Congress to establish a National 
Standards Bureau. 
The Secretary presented a motion urging 
the appointment of a committee to consider 
the adoption of a permanent badge or pin 
by the Society. The motion being seconded, 
it was moved and carried that the whole 
matter be laid upon the table. 
After some announcements W. A. Noyes 
presented a paper on ‘Synthesis of Deriva- 
tives of Dimethyl-cylopentanone] and of 
Beta Beta Adipic Acid and of Alpha Beta 
Beta Tri Methyl Adipic Acid.’ Dr. Noyes 
SCIENCE. 
105 
also presented a paper by himself and W. 
M. Blanchard on ‘A New Hydroxy Di- 
hydro-campholytic Acid.’ 
After some other announcements Pro- 
fessor A. B. Prescott presented a paper by 
B. F. Trowbridge, entitled ‘ Notes on Sugar 
Beet Analysis.’ This was followed by a 
paper ‘On Hematite Crystals,’ by Charles 
EH. Munroe. 
The remaining papers on the program 
were read by titles. 
On motion of Dr. Alfred Springer, the 
thanks of the Society were extended unan- 
imously to the Chicago Local Section; the 
Local Committee of Arrangements for the 
meeting, the authorities of the various in- 
stitutions which had extended courtesies 
to the Society during its meeting, and the 
proprietors of the various works which had 
been thrown open to inspection by the visit- 
ing chemists. 
The Local Committee made some an- 
nouncements with reference to a proposed 
excursion to South Chicago on Saturday 
morning, and the meeting of the Society 
was then adjourned. In the afternoon the 
chemists enjoyed an excursion and visit to 
the Stock Yards Industries, and at 7 p.m. 
a subscription dinner was given in the 
banquet hall of the Auditorium Hotel. 
ALBERT C. HALE, 
Secretary. 
SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. ) 
The Mammals of South Africa. By W. L. 
ScLATER, M.A., F.Z.S., Director of the South 
African Museum, Cape Town. Vol. I. Pri- 
mates, Carnivora and Ungulata. With a 
map and illustrations. London, R. H. Porter. 
1900. Medium 8vo, pp. i-xxx+1-324, with 
map and 80 text cuts. i 
Smuts’s ‘Mammalium Capensium,’ published 
in 1832, a small quarto in Latin, is the first and 
only attempt to present an account of the mam- 
mals of South Africa prior to the work here 
under notice, of which the first volume has 
just appeared. Hence the desirability of a good 
