1012 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XV. No. 391. 



eal species found on tlie Restigouclie River 

 in close proximity to those of a more south- 

 ern or New England type found along that 

 river and on the upper St. Jolm. 



Dr. A. H. MacKay, Superintendent of 

 Education for Nova Scotia, gave the re- 

 sults of a series of phenological observa- 

 tions carried on by the teachers and pupils 

 of the schools in that province, one impor- 

 tant object of which is the encouragement 

 and stimulus given to 'nature study.' 



The results of a series of interesting ex- 

 periments, noting the behavior of blind 

 animals, were given by Professor Wesley 

 MiUs, of McGill University; and Professor 

 B. J. Harrington, of the same University, 

 read an appreciative sketch of the life and 

 work of the late Dr. Geo. M. Dawson. 



The officers of the Royal Society for the 

 current year are : 



President, Sir James Grant, Ottawa; Vice- 

 President, Lt.-Col. G. T. Dennison, Toronto; 

 Secretary, Sir John Bourinot, Ottawa; Treasurer, 

 Dr. Jas. Fletcher, Ottawa. 



An excursion to Niagara Falls, of which 

 about thirty members of the Society— 

 chiefly scientists — availed themselves, was 

 given by the citizens of Toronto. The 

 party visited the works of the Canadian 

 Power Company, whose guests they were 

 for a da J' ; and also were allowed to inspect 

 the plant of the Niagara Falls Power Com- 

 pany on the American side, a favor which 

 was greatly appreciated. G. U. Hat. 

 St. John, N. B. 



SECTION OF THE MATEEMATIOAL, PHYS- 

 ICAL AND CHEMICAL SCIENCES. 



By special invitation the annual meet- 

 ing of the Royal Society of Canada was 

 held at Toronto, in the buildings of the 

 University, on May 26-29. The sessions 

 were largely attended, and the cool 

 weather contributed to the success of the 

 excursion to Niagara Falls (where the 

 members were guests of the Canadian 

 Niagara Power Co.) and of the trip along 



the lake shore to examine the interglacial 

 deposits east of Scarborough. 



The third Section (Mathematical, Phys- 

 ical and Chemical Sciences) met in the 

 large physical lecture room, the President, 

 Professor R. F. Ruttan, M.D., CM., in the 

 chair. 'Dalton and the Theory of Atoms' 

 formed the subject of the President's ad- 

 dress, and the reading of papers was diver- 

 sified by a debate on the 'Existence of 

 Particles Smaller than Atoms.' Professor 

 Rutherford gave an account of the 

 growth of the electron theory, and 

 showed how the masses and velocities as- 

 signed to the hypothetical 'carriers' had 

 been arrived at. Dr. J. C. McLennan ex- 

 hibited a number of experiments illustra- 

 tive of the facts on which the theory is 

 based. Professor Lash Miller discussed 

 the advantages and disadvantages of cor- 

 puscular theories in general, showing that 

 they were impossible to prove and nearly 

 as impossible to disprove, and Professor 

 Cox spoke of the recent extension of 

 the theory to cosmical phenomena. Pro- 

 fessors Goodwin, Baker, Walker and Rut- 

 tan also took part in an animated discus- 

 sion. 



At the close of the sessions, Dr. J. C. 

 Glashan, of Ottawa, and Professor H. T. 

 Barnes, of Montreal, were elected members 

 of the Section, and Professor M. Berthe- 

 lot, of Paris, a corresponding member of 

 the Society. 



The following papers were read before 

 Section 3: 



MATHEMATICS. 



On the Correlation of the Curve of the 

 Second Order and the Sheaf of Bays of 

 the Second Order in Geometry of Posi- 

 tion: Professor A. Baker. 

 Beginning with the curve of the second 

 order, which may be considered to be de- 

 fined by five points, tangents are con- 

 structed at these five points; and viewing 



