March 7, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



391 



evolution from an inner potential which we 

 now call life. He denied that atoms exist in 

 a vacuum, but held that they possess mutual 

 forces in a plenum. The recent views ad- 

 vanced by Lord Kelvin that the ether is im- 

 ponderable or non-gravitational matter, and 

 that action at a distance is the law of atoms, 

 seem like a close return to the theory held by 

 Democritus and Aristotle, and in this respect 

 there is agreement between ancient and recent 

 theories. But the startling theory advanced 

 by Lord Kelvin that atoms and ether can occu- 

 py the same space identically is of course not 

 in agreement with Aristotle. It is very well 

 worth noting that many points of modern 

 physics were anticipated by Aristotle. 



Mr. A. L. Day, physicist of the Geological 

 Survey, began a paper, 'On the Measurement 

 of High Temperature.' An abstract will be 

 deferred till the paper is concluded. 



Charles K. Wead, 



Secretary. 



ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



The 326th regular meeting was held Janu- 

 ary 28. Dr. J. Walter Fewkes exliibited a 

 stone idol from Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, 

 and, commenting on the resemblances of the 

 ruins of northwestern Chihuahua and those 

 of the Gila Valley, said that relief design 

 characterizes the pottery of Casas Grandes, 

 and that while this feature does not prevail 

 in the Gila Valley, the ware is similar to that 

 in the ruins of northwestern Mexico. 



President W. H. Holmes, in discussing this 

 paper, traced the distribution of relief work 

 or life form in the United States and Mexico. 



Major J. W. Powell's paper, 'An American 

 View of Totemism,' was read by Mr. J. D. 

 McGuire and was discussed by Mrs. M. 0. 

 Stevenson, Dr. J. W. Fewkes, and Professor 

 W J McGee. 



'Orenda and a Definition of Religion,' by 

 Mr. J. N. B. Hewett, provoked much discus- 

 sion and the subject was continued for con- 

 sideration at the next meeting. Orenda is an 

 Iroquoian word meaning, mystic potence or 

 magic, and is advanced to supplant the word 

 animism, which seems not adequate to express 

 this elusive belief. Messrs. McGee, Fewkes 



and Pierce spoke in favor of adopting this 

 word, but Miss Alice Fletcher thinks the word 

 will not cover all forms of belief among our 

 tribes, 



Walter Hough. 



the new york academy of scien'ces. 



The annual meeting of the jSTew York Acad- 

 emy of Sciences was held at 108 West 5.5th 

 Street on Monday, February 24, at 8 :15 p. m., 

 President R. S. Woodward presiding. 



The reports of the officers for the last year 

 showed that the affairs of the Academy were 

 in a much more favorable condition than the 

 year previous. The recording secretary re- 

 ported that the Academy had 298 resident 

 members, of which 92 were fellows, and that 

 the principal work of the council during the 

 year had been that of bringing about a revi- 

 sion of the constitution which would enable 

 the Academy to carry on its work in accord- 

 ance with the needs of science in New York 

 City. A bill has just been passed by both 

 houses of the State legislature, allowing a re- 

 vision of the charter, which will enable the 

 Academy to revise its constitution and by- 

 laws, which will very shortly be done. 



The publications of the Academy during the 

 year have been small, owing to restricted 

 appropriations; but through economy the 

 finances have been straightened out, and the 

 Academy opens the new year auspiciously. 

 The principal paper besides short ones pub- 

 lished in the Annals, Volume 14, has been 

 that of Dr. BasMord Dean, entitled 'Paleon- 

 tological Notes,' and printed as a Memoir, 

 Volume 2, Part 3. 



The library of the Academy continues to be 

 housed in Schermerhorn- Hall, Columbia Uni- 

 versity, and is rich in scientific serials, which 

 are kept up to date largely through exchange. 



The following honorary members, selected 

 because of their eminent scientific services, 

 were unanimously elected: James Dewar, 

 M.A., LL.D., F.R.S., Jaeksonian professor of 

 experimental philosophy, University of Cam- 

 bridge, England, 21 Albemarle St., London, 

 England; William James, M.D., LL.D., Ph.D., 

 Litt.D., professor of philosophy, Harvard Uni- 

 versity, Cambridge, Mass.; Wilhelm Wundt, 



