412 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. I., No. 15. 



the deepest regret, that 3'oiing men who are 

 soon to be in places in the world where they 

 have no books, and where the keenest exercise 

 of the powers of observation, and the judg- 

 ment of facts are demanded, should in so 

 manj' cases have no opportunity-, or next to 

 none, either in school or college, for the acqui- 

 sition of a training upon which the success of 

 their life-work, in the larger number of pro- 

 fessions and occupations, is dependent. 



It is to be hoped that one needs only to 

 mention such objects as these, to bespeak for 

 this new association the sympathj- and sup- 

 port of all naturalists and earnest workers in 

 science. 



At the concluding session of the meeting 

 just held, the society elected the following 

 officers : president, Professor Alpheus Hyatt, 

 curator of the Boston society natural history ; 

 vice-presidents. Prof. H. Newell Martin, Johns 

 Hopkins university. Prof. A. S. Packard, 

 jun.. Brown university; treasurer. Prof. Wil- 

 liam B. Scott, Princeton college ; secretary*, 

 Prof. Samuel F. Clarke, Williams college. 



At the same session, a constitution, which 

 had been drawn up by a committee of three, 

 was read and adopted. In it the object of this 

 society is stated to be "the association of work- 

 ing naturalists, for the discussion of methods 

 of investigation and instruction, laboratory 

 technique and museum administration, and 

 other topics of interest to investigators and 

 teachers of natural history, and for the adop- 

 tion of such measures as shall tend to the ad- 

 vancement and diffusion of the knowledge of 

 natural history in the communitj'." 



Membership in the society- is limited to 

 instructors in natural historj^ officers of 

 museums and other scientific institutions, 

 physicians, and other persons professionally 

 engaged in some branch of natural historj'. 

 Any member may i^resent to the executive 

 committee names of candidates for member- 

 ship, but onlj' those candidates who are ap- 

 proved by the executive committee may be 

 elected to membership hy a majority of the 

 members present at Any meeting of the societ}'. 

 The annual fee for membership is two dollars. 



The officers are elected by ballot at the an- 

 nual meeting of the society, their official term 

 commencing at the close of the meeting. 



The five officers of the society constitute the 

 executive committee, who are to recommend 

 to the society, from time to time, such measures 

 as they may deem expedient for the purposes 

 of the societ3^ 



The proposed meetings of the association 

 are to be held only in the New England and 

 Atlantic states north of Virginia. They are 

 not fixed to one localit}'-, but are peripatetic ; 

 and it is intended to have them held in difl'er- 

 ent college and university towns, to facilitate 

 means of illustration. 



The annual meeting is to be held on the 

 second Wednesday of March in each year, 

 unless otherwise ordered by the executive 

 committee ; and special meetings may be ap- 

 pointed at anj- time by a vote of the society 

 or of the executive committee. The second 

 meeting, for instance, is to be held in New 

 York during the next Christmas holidays. 



It is also declared to be the policj- of the 

 society, hy correspondence and otherwise, to 

 encourage the formation, and co-operate in the 

 work, of societies of similar name and object 

 in other parts of the country. We are in- 

 formed, indeed, that a request for the forma- 

 tion of such an organization in the west has 

 already been received, and favorablj' reported 

 on. 



We understand that some objections have 

 been raised to the formation of a society dis- 

 tinct from the American association ; but it 

 will be evident from this sketch of its plan, 

 that at present it is neither general enough in 

 its object, nor broad enough in its geographi- 

 cal field, to permit of' working in connection 

 with the larger organization. 



THE MATHEMATICAL TRIPOS IN THE 

 UNIVESRITY OF CAMBRIDGE. 



In January of this year the list of success- 

 ful candidates for mathematical honors at the 

 University of Cambridge was published under 

 new rules, which provide, among other things, 

 that the names shall be finally arranged alpha- 



