August 31, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



335 



meeting and his place was taken by Profes- 

 sor Williamson. Among some of the well- 

 know representatives of science who were 

 present at the Bradford in 1873, and who 

 are now no more, we may mention the 

 names of Cayley, Clifford, H. J. S. Smith, 

 W. Spottiswoode, Clerk-Maxwell, Balfour 

 Stewart, W. B. Carpenter, John Phillips, 

 Gwyn JeiBfreys, Rutherford Alcock and Dr. 

 Beke. The economic section was presided 

 over by W. E. Forster, and it is of some 

 interest to note that the present popular 

 assistant general secretary, Mr. George 

 Griffith, occupied the same position in 1873 

 that he does now, although for several 

 years in the interval he ceased to be an of- 

 ficer of the Association. The first Brad- 

 ford meeting had an attendance of close on 

 two thousand, and the grants made for 

 scientific research reached the considerable 

 sum of £1685. 



The second Bradford meeting will be pre- 

 sided over by Professor Sir William Turner, 

 who for so long has filled with such distinc- 

 tion the anatomical chair of Edinburgh 

 University. His address will consist of a 

 general review of the progress of Biology, 

 with special reference to our knowledge of 

 the structure and function of cells. The 

 program of work in the different sections 

 leads one to expect that the proceedings will 

 be of considerable scientific interest. 



The president of Section A (Mathematical 

 and Physical Science) will be Dr. Joseph 

 Larmor, F.E.S. In opening the business 

 of the section Dr. Larmor will review the 

 change of ideas which has recently become 

 current regarding the scope and method of 

 physical explanation. The acceptance on 

 the Continent, in consequence of the bril- 

 liant work of Hertz, of the views originated 

 in England regarding the nature of electric 

 actions and their dependence on the ether 

 has been largely accompanied by an elimi- 

 nation of the dynamical explanations which 

 formed a main feature of Clerk-Maxwell's 



theory. This makes it a matter of funda- 

 mental importance to determine, if possible, 

 how far purely descriptive methods can 

 avail without appeal to a dynamical founda- 

 tion ; it involves consideration of the mode 

 of representation of the physical activities 

 of the material atoms ; and it raises the 

 question whether denial of direct action at 

 a distance necessarily implies transmission 

 by simple stress such as occurs in a material 

 elastic frame. As chairman for the depart- 

 ment of Astronomy, Dr. A. A. Common will 

 give an address on Friday morning. Mon- 

 day will be devoted to Meteorology and 

 Pure Mathematics, while a discussion on 

 ions will be introduced by Professor Fitz- 

 gerald on Tuesday. 



Section B (Chemistry) will be presided 

 over by the distinguished chemist Professor 

 H. W. Per kin. The subject of his address 

 will be ' The Modern System of Teaching 

 Practical Inorganic Chemistry, and its De- 

 velopment '; and, after discussing the prog- 

 ress which has been made in the teaching 

 of practical chemistry in schools, he will 

 point out that during the last thirty years 

 very little similar progress has been made 

 in teaching inorganic chemistry in univer- 

 sities and colleges. Having shown that the 

 system adopted at the present day is prac- 

 tically the same as that taught thirty years 

 ago, Professor Perkin will next proceed to 

 give a historical sketch of the development 

 of this system, and will conclude his ad- 

 dress with a discussion of the question 

 whether the present system is the best and 

 most suitable for teaching practical inor- 

 ganic chemistry, or whether it might not 

 with advantage be considerably modified. 

 The greater part of the time of the Section 

 will be devoted to discussions on (1) the 

 chemistry of camphor, to be opened by Dr. 

 Lap worth ; (2) the questions raised by re- 

 cent work on metals and alloys, to be 

 opened by Mr. W. H. Neville, F.R.S., of 

 Cambridge, in the course of which it is 



