SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XII. No. 288. 



dent, Professor Woodward, who presided 

 with admirable dignity and tact, is printed 

 below, while last week we were able to pub- 

 lish the address of Mr. Gilbert, the retiring 

 president, which was a model of what such 

 an address should be. Scientific excursions 

 were made to the Botanical Gardens, to the 

 Zoological Park, to the American Museum, 

 to the Marine Laboratory at Coldspring 

 Harbor and elsewhere, but the special feat- 

 ure of the meeting was the number and im- 

 portance of the papers presented before the 

 sections and affiliated societies. 



The scientific pre-eminence of the meeting 

 was due to these special scientific societies 

 holding sessions in conjunction with the 

 Association. The American Chemical So- 

 ciety always has a large attendance and 

 crowded program. It was the first society 

 to become definitely affiliated with the As- 

 sociation, and the result has been to make 

 chemistry the leading science at the meet- 

 ings. The Botanical Society of America, 

 The Society for the Promotion of Agricul- 

 tural Science and the American Forestry 

 Association have given botany a place next 

 to chemistry. But this year, for the first 

 time since the beginning of the movement 

 toward special societies, chemistry and 

 botany were rivalled bj^ the work of sec- 

 tions A and B. The American Mathemat- 

 ical Society and the Astronomical and As- 

 trophysical Society of America met with 

 the section for mathematics and astronomy 

 and the American Physical Society with the 

 section for physics, and these sections held 

 meetings of unusual importance. The Geo- 

 logical Society of America strengthens Sec- 

 tion E, but unfoi-tunately for the Associa- 

 tion the most active geologists are likely to 

 be in the field at the time of the meeting. 

 The work of the Zoological section was un- 

 usually good this year. The Association of 

 Economic Entomologists and the American 

 Microscopical.Societj' met with the Associa- 

 tion, but the American Morphological So- 



'~'ety and the American Ornithologists 

 Union have not hitherto co-operated. An- 

 thropology was strengthened, though only 

 to a limited extent, by the American Psy- 

 chological Association and the American 

 Folk-lore Society. There were no special 

 societies meeting in conjunction with Sec- 

 tion D, Mechanical Science and Engineer- 

 ing, or with Section I, Social and Eco- 

 nomic Science, and these are the two 

 weakest sections of the Association. The 

 Society for the Promotion of Engineering 

 Education, which met after the adjourn- 

 ment of the Association, should join with 

 Section D, and every effort should be made 

 to secure the co-operation of the great en- 

 gineering societies. In like manner the 

 national societies devoted to social and eco- 

 nomic science should be persuaded to meet 

 with Section I, and perhaps special societies 

 should be formed relating to the scientific 

 aspects of commerce and education. There 

 is no question that the special societies are 

 strengthening the Association, the only 

 drawback being that many of the members 

 do not join the parent body. As they take 

 advantage of the reduced railway rates and 

 other arrangements for the meetings there 

 is every reason for them to defray their 

 share of the cost. Indeed it is obviously 

 the duty of all men of science to support 

 the historic and general association, whose 

 influence is proportionate to its member- 

 ship. 



Although the annual dues are very mod- 

 erate — only 13, while they are $5 in 

 the British and French Associations — many 

 members of other scientific societies think 

 that they do not receive an adequate return 

 for membership. It is a fact that owing to 

 the wide dispersion of men of science in 

 America and the difficulties of long journeys 

 in mid-summer fewer than one fourth of the 

 members attend the meetings. There is 

 consequently hesitation in joining the As- 

 sociation and a tendency to let member- 



