126 



SCIENCE. 



LN. S, Vol.. Xr. No. 369. 



the sake of distinguishing between the two, 

 let us call the figure of intersecting lines a 

 thwart, and reserve the word cross for its 

 original significance, viz., a martyr instru- 

 ment. The old cross, the Roman martyr in- 

 strument for capital punisliment by ex- 

 posure to the inclemency of the weather, 

 Latin crux, Greek staurus, had sometimes 

 the form of an irregular thwart, but not 

 necessarily so. Whether or not Christ's 

 cross was a thwart is doubtful; it is pos- 

 sible, however, since he is reported to have 

 borne his cross, which obviously means the 

 patibulum. Christianity adopted the 

 thwart as the form of Christ's cross be- 

 cause the thwart was an old religious sym- 

 bol of deep significance. Thwarts were 

 used in aU countries— Egypt, Assyria, In- 

 dia, among the Teutons, the Indians, etc. 

 Their significance varies, and is frequently 

 obliterated. By promiscuously calling all 

 thwarts crosses, we are surprised at find- 

 ing the Christian symbol universally 

 adopted by pre-Christian religions. The 

 fact is the reverse. Thwarts were used in 

 different meanings by almost all the na- 

 tions of the world, and then the thwart was 

 identified with the cross to such an extent 

 that, at present, cross has come to mean 

 any figure of intersecting lines. How mis- 

 leading this identification may be we can 

 see in the Dakota story of the Susbeca, 

 which is a thwart and like the Latin cross 

 in shape, but which means dragon-fly. A 

 missionary mistook the word in the Chris- 

 tian sense, so he gloried in his sermons 

 with St. Paul in the susbeca of Christ. 

 Translations of the New Testament and 

 the Creed in the Dakota language, accord- 

 ing to which Christ was crucified on a 

 dragon-fly, are still extant. To the Dakotas 

 the susbeca is a sacred religious symbol, 

 and the missionary's mistake may have 

 helped to recommend to them the Christian 

 faith; but undoubtedly the confusion 

 served to render more mysterious to them 



the mystery of the cross. The two papers 

 by Dr. Carus were both fully illustrated, 

 and will be published in The Open Court. 

 On Wednesday and Thursday mornings, 

 the Section met with the American Folk- 

 Lore Society, which, like Section H, is one- 

 of the Societies affiliated with the Ameri- 

 can Society of Naturalists. 



George Grant Mac Curdy, 

 Secretary. 



TEE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 



The annual winter meeting of the Amer- 

 ican Chemical Society, the twenty-fifth gen- 

 eral meeting of the Society, was held in 

 Philadelphia on the thirtieth and thirty- 

 first of December, the assembly place being 

 the University of Pennsylvania. The open- 

 ing session was in Houston Hall at half 

 past nine on Monday morning, when the 

 usual felicitous words of welcome on behalf 

 of the city, the university and the Philadel- 

 pliia Section of the Society were spoken and 

 duly responded to. The reports of the offi- 

 cers of the Society were read, those of the 

 secretary and treasurer being particularly 

 gratifying, showing large increase in mem- 

 bership and a considerable balance in the 

 treasury. Including the members elected 

 at the present meeting, the membership of 

 the Society has passed the two thousand 

 mark; with a very few exceptions, all the 

 prominent chemists of the country are, en- 

 rolled, and no inconsiderable number of 

 foreigners as well. The value of the 

 Journal of the Society is being more and 

 more appreciated. Thirteen Sections of the 

 Society are already established, and a 

 fourteenth is now being formed on the Pa- 

 cific slope. 



Owing to the fact that most of the busi- 

 ness is transacted through the Council, lit- 

 tle came before the general meeting, but a 

 resolution was passed memorializing the 

 United States Government to pass a law 

 making compulsory the use of the metric 



