SCIENCE 



A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 



OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 



FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE 



Friday, October 25, 1907 



GO'NTE'l!}TS 



Address of the President of the Mathematical 

 and Physical Section of the British Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science: 

 Peoi-bssoe a. E. H. Love 529 



Plant Pathology : Db. A. F. Woods 541 



Scientific Books: — 



Stevenson on the Carboniferous of the Ap- 

 palachian Basin: I. C. W. Burnham's 

 Catalogue of Double Stars: Pkofessob W. 

 J. HussEY. Dickerson's The Frog Book: 

 E. A. A. Jennings on the Behavior of 

 Lower Organisms : G. H. P 543 



Scientifio Journals and Articles 548 



Discussion and Correspondence: — 



As to Holothuria: Db. Hubebt Ltman 

 Claek. Tower's Investigation of Evolution 

 in Chrysomolid Beetles: A. Aes^ne Gie- 

 AULT. Even Perfect Measuring Impotent: 

 Pbofessoe Geoeqe Bbuce Haisted 549 



Special Articles: — 



Plankton Fishing off the Isle of Ma/ii: 

 PEorESSOE W. A. Heedman. a Simple 

 Electric Thermoregulator : S. O. Mast. 

 Seismographs in Utah: Peofessoe J. E. 

 Talmage. Ma^s and Energy: Dk. Dantel 

 P. COMSTOOK 551 



Notes on Entomology: De. Nathan Banks 558 



Diet and Endurance at Brussels: Peofessoe 



lEVING FiSHEE 561 



A New National Buffalo Herd 563 



The Wisconsin Geological and Natural His- 

 tory Survey 564 



Soientifie Notes and News 565 



University and Educational News 567 



MBS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 

 reTiew should be sent to the Editor of Soibhob, Gairison-on- 

 Iludson, N. Y. 



ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE 

 MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL SEC- 

 TION OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION 

 FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF 

 SCIENCE ^ 



I PROPOSE to use the opportunity af- 

 forded by this address to explain a dynam- 

 ical theory of the shape of the earth, or, 

 in other words, of the origin of continents 

 and oceans. 



The theoiy whieli has for more than a 

 century been associated with the phrase 

 "the figure of the earth" is the theory of 

 the shape of the surface of the ocean. 

 Apart from waves and cui-rents, this sur- 

 face is determined by the condition that 

 there is no up and do^vn upon it. This 

 condition does not mean that the surface is 

 everywhere at the same distance from the 

 center of the earth, or even that it is every- 

 where convex, but that a body moving upon 

 it neither rises against, nor falls in the 

 direction of, gravity (modified by the rota- 

 tion). A surface which has this character 

 is called an equipotential surface, and the 

 surface of the ocean coincides with part of 

 an equipotential surface under gravity 

 modified by the rotation. This particular 

 equipotential surface runs underground 

 beneath the continents. It is named the 

 ' ' geoid. ' ' The height of a place above sea- 

 level means its height above the geoid. If 

 we knew the distribution of density of the 

 matter within the earth it would be a math- 

 ematical problem to determine the form of 

 the geoid. As we do not know this distri- 



^ Leicester, 1907. 



