JUNE 21, 1901.] 
council to elect each year three additional 
members to serve for a term of three years. 
Those so elected would probably be among 
the most efficient members of the council. 
The council would thus be considerably en- 
larged, but its authority would be greatly 
increased. It is of course understood that 
the real work of legislative bodies is done by 
committees, and the committees of the coun- 
cil should be organized with special care. 
The executive officer of the Association 
is the permanent secretary, and his influ- 
He should 
either be paid a reasonable salary, say $5,- 
000, and devote his whole time to the As- 
sociation and the organization of science in 
ence should be very great. 
America, or should be, as our present sec- 
retary, a man of unusual executive ability, 
having under him one or two assistant sec- 
retaries who should devote themselves to 
the work. The secretaries of the sections 
should be among the most efficient mem- 
bers of the sections, and should be elected 
for a term of three years and reeligible. 
The meetings should be more thoroughly 
organized in advance, more authority being 
vested in the permanent secretary and 
council. As suggested above, public lec- 
tures and discussions on the important ad- 
vances and current problems of general in- 
terest should be arranged. For example, 
this year there should be reports on the re- 
lation of mosquitoes to disease, on the new- 
ly established Bureau of Standards, on the 
conduct of a national observatory, on the 
natural history and resources of the West 
Indies and the Philippines, and, in view of 
the place of meeting, on mining and irriga- 
tion. 
SCIENCE. 
969 
The time of meeting has always interfered 
with success. Men of science will not and 
and can not come together at midsummer. 
If a week can be set aside at the beginning 
of the year, it is probable that the scientific 
character and weight of the meetings will 
be greatly forwarded. The importance of 
obtaining a convocation week in midwinter 
has been emphasized in a recent editorial 
(April 26, 1901), and we are now able to 
report that, of the fourteen universities com- 
prising the Association of American Uni- 
- versities, all but two either already have no 
exercises at the time or have altered their 
calendars in the direction of setting aside the 
week in which New Year’s Day falls for the 
meetings of scientific and learned societies. 
It might, however, be well to have, say once 
in three years, a summer meeting in which 
the social and excursion elements should 
be emphasized. It must be remembered 
that the National Educational Association 
can bring together 10,000 members in this 
way. Or perhaps, it will be found with ex- 
perience that the winter meeting isso advan- 
tageous that the summer meetings can be 
omitted altogether. Meanwhile there might 
be suggested a special meeting at Chicago 
next year at Christmas time in conjunction 
with the Naturalists and affiliated societies, 
the usual meeting at Pittsburg in midsum- 
mer, and a meeting of unusual importance 
at Washington at the end of the year. 
A KINETIC THEORY OF EVOLUTION.* 
In 18957 the opinion was expressed that 
the differentiation existing in certain fami- 
* Read. before the Biological Society of Washing- 
ton, May 4, 1901. 
} Proc. U. S. Nat. Museum, 1895, 18 : 64. 
