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, Decembee 27, 1907 



CONTENTS 



The Chicago Meeting 889 



History of the Former State Natural History 

 Societies of Illinois : Professor S. A. Forbes 892 



Medals of the Royal Society: Lord Ratleigh. 898 



Scientific Books: — 



Research in China, Petrography : Professor 

 J. P. Iddings. The Progress of Chemistry: 

 Professor W. A. Noyes 902 



Scientific Journals and Articles 904 



Societies and Academies : — 



The Convocation Week Meetings of Scien- 

 tific Societies 904 



Discussion and Correspondence : — 



Badges and Expenses of the American Asso- 

 ciation: Db. L. 0. Howard. Quarts after 

 Prochlorite at Cranston and Worcester and 

 Coal Plants at Worcester: Professor B. K. 

 Emerson. A Salamander-Snake Fight: 

 Dr. J. S. DiLLEK. Trotting and Pacing: 

 Dominant and Recessive? W. Bateson .... 906 



Quotations: 



Popular Science 909 



Astronomical Notes: — 



The Planet Mars: Professor S. I. Bailey. 910 



Botanical Notes: — 



The Coming Botanical Meetings in Chicago; 

 Short Notes on Recent Papers: Professor 

 Charles E. Bessey 912 



The Biological Survey 914 



Field Museum of Natural History 914 



Northwestern University 917 



The University of Chicago: David A. Robert- 

 son 918 



Local Arrangements for the Chicago Meeting. 921 



Scientific Notes and News 921 



University and Educational News 928 



MSS. lutended for publication and books, etc., intended for 

 review should be sent to the Editor of Science, Gairison-on- 

 Iluasou, N. Y. 



THE CHICAGO MEETING 

 The meeting of the American Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Science and 

 its affiliated national scientific societies, to 

 be held in Chicago during the convocation 

 week that begins on Monday next, will be 

 an event of consequence for the history of 

 science in America. It will be by far 

 larger and more important than any pre- 

 vious gathering of scientific men west of 

 the Atlantic seaboard. Since the estab- 

 lishment of convocation week and the affili- 

 ation of the scientific societies, there have 

 been three large meetings, those of Wash- 

 ington five years ago, of Philadelphia three 

 years ago and of New York a year ago. At 

 each of these meetings the attendance ex- 

 ceeded 1,500, and the proceedings repre- 

 sented a considerable part of the scientific 

 work accomplished during the year. In 

 the Christmas holidays of 1901 — the year 

 before the first of the convocation-week 

 meetings — the American Society of Nat- 

 uralists met at Chicago, and this meeting 

 was the largest in its history. It was sur- 

 prising as well as gratifying to note the 

 large number of active scientific workers 

 from Illinois and the neighboring states, as 

 well as the number willing to make the trip 

 from the Atlantic states and even from the 

 Pacific seaboard. 



It is now nearly forty years since the 

 American Association last met in Chicago. 



