252 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XV. No. 372. 



certain practical difficulties would arise 

 from the meeting at the same time and 

 place of two societies or groups of so- 

 cieties so largely similar in character and 

 scope— meetings of the Botanical Section of 

 the American Association, and of the So- 

 ciety of Plant Morphologists affiliated with 

 the Naturalists' Society; meetings of the 

 Zoological Section of the American Associa- 

 tion, and of the Society of American Mor- 

 phologists; and so on— but I presume that 

 these matters have all been considered and 

 that means of adjustment will readily be 

 found. As to the soundness of the idea, I 

 cannot see that there need be any doubt. 



With respect to the formation of a local 

 society in the central states, to be affiliated 

 in some way with the group of societies in 

 session here at this time, I think the only 

 subject upon which difference of judgment 

 might possibly arise is that of the method 

 of the affiliation. It seems to me that in 

 the nature of the case we shall finally be 

 forced to form sectional societies in most 

 of the branches of science represented by 

 the existing organizations. As the scientific 

 population of the country becomes more 

 equally dispersed over its whole area, we 

 find this area too large to permit general 

 annual meetings of those most inter- 

 ested and most likely to profit by them. 

 The distances are so great as practically 

 to prohibit attendance upon the part of 

 many members, and the number present- 

 ing papers in each society or subdivision is 

 such as to crowd the programs unduly, 

 diminishing the interest and value of the 

 meetings. We need a satisfactory geo- 

 graphical unit of assemblage for scientific 

 meetings, one not so large as to make at- 

 tendance a b^^rden upon those living on 

 the outskirts, and yet large enough to per- 

 mit a satisfactory subdivision of the pro- 

 grams of societies into sections correspond- 

 ing to the subdivisions of the subject mat- 

 ter. From what we have seen during the 



last two years and at the present meeting, 

 it seems to me quite clear that the states 

 of the Mississippi Valley— now coming to 

 be known as the Central States of the 

 Union— should form one such unit of as- 

 semblage. Indeed a society of naturalists 

 has already been formed for this area, and 

 has had two highly successful meetings, 

 definite organization having been delayed 

 merely with a view to the issues of this 

 meeting. Probably other such sectional 

 societies might be organized to advantage 

 (if not now, before many years), all to be 

 associated as divisions of a more general 

 organization for the country as a whole. 



On the supposition that such a society is 

 now to be organized here, the subject of 

 its relations to existing societies will come 

 up for settlement. In this connection it is 

 helpful to notice the difference in organ- 

 ization of the Society of Naturalists and 

 that of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science. In the former 

 there is one general society which serves as 

 a bond of union for special societies, each 

 independent in organization and manage- 

 ment, but associated by affiliation with the 

 general body, the latter being scarcely more 

 than an administrative convenience. In 

 the American Society for the Advancement 

 of Science, on the other hand, there is a 

 more compact general society, with sub- 

 divisions, called sections, formed mainly 

 for program purposes. In the American 

 Society of Naturalists we have had, thus 

 far, no sections in the latter sense, but only 

 affiliated societies, and I am inclined to 

 think that this method of organization 

 should be continued as local societies spring 

 up in response to local requirements. I 

 would rather, in short, see the naturalists 

 of the Central States organized under the 

 form of an independent but affiliated body 

 than in the form of a section of the national 

 society. 



I doubt also the advisability of attempt- 



