118 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXI. No. 786 



fresh carcinomata. " A Note on the Estima- 

 tion of Purin Nitrogen in Urine," by Stanley 

 E. Benedict and Tadasu Saiki. Preliminary 

 addition of acetic acid to urine makes the 

 Kriiger-Schmid method more accurate. " On 

 the Neutrality Equilibrium in Blood and Pro- 

 toplasm," by Lawrence J. Henderson. An 

 answer to Eobertson {Journ. Biol. Chem., VI., 

 p. 313, 1909). "Observations on the Influ- 

 ence of Lactic Acid Ferments upon Intestinal 

 Putrefaction in a Healthy Individual," by 

 Helen Baldwin. Addition of laetobacilline, 

 bacillac or zoolak to diet did not diminish 

 urinary evidence of intestinal putrefaction. 

 " The Catalytic Action of Amino-acids, Pep- 

 tones and Proteins in Effecting Certain Syn- 

 theses," by H. D. Dakin. Condensation (mi 

 vitro) of furfurol and malonic acid to fur- 

 furacrylic acid may be accomplished by the 

 catalytic action of glycoeoll. A number of 

 similar reactions are described. " Note on the 

 IJrorosein Eeaction," by H. D. Dakin. Criti- 

 cism of work of Ciusa and Terni. " Notes on 

 the Action of Sodium Benzoate on the Mul- 

 tiplication and Gas Production of Various 

 Bacteria," by C. A. Herter. Sodium benzoate 

 in a concentration of 0.1 per cent, only slightly 

 or moderately inhibits intestinal bacteria. 

 Gas-production may be considerably dimin- 

 ished. Inhibition of the B. coli group is 

 greater than that of coccal forms. 



THE AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY 

 The sixteenth annual meeting of the society 

 was held at Boston on Tuesday, Wednesday and 

 Thursday, December 28-30, 1909, in affiliation 

 with the American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science. Tuesday afternoon was devoted 

 to a joint session with Sections A and B of the 

 association. A joint session was held with Sec- 

 tion A on Wednesday morning, the program con- 

 sisting of Professor Keyser's vice-presidential ad- 

 dress " On the Thesis of Modern Logistic," a report 

 by Professor D. E. Smith on "The Work of the 

 International Commission on the Teaching of 

 Mathematics," and the first two papers in the list 

 below. Separate sessions of the society were held 

 on Wednesday afternoon and on Thursday morning 

 and afternoon. On Tuesday evening several mem- 

 bers took advantage of an invitation to attend 

 the dinner and smoker of the Association of Math- 



ematics Teachers in New England. The annual 

 dinner of the society took place on Wednesday 

 evening, forty-seven members gathering for this 

 agreeable occasion. Much credit for the success 

 of the meeting must be given to the local com- 

 mittee on arrangements. Professors Tyler, Bartlett 

 and Bouton. 



The total attendance at the annual meeting in- 

 cluded sixty-one members of the society. Ex- 

 president H. S. White and Professor E. W. Brown 

 occupied the chair alternately during the several 

 sessions. The following persons were elected to 

 membership: Professor R. M. Barton, Dartmouth 

 College; Dr. J. R. Conner, Johns Hopkins Uni- 

 versity; Miss Eva M. Smith, London, England. 

 Nine applications for membership were received. 



The reports of the treasurer, auditing com- 

 mittee and librarian will be published in the 

 Annual Register, now in press. The membership 

 of the society has increased during the past year 

 from 601 to 618, including at present 58 life 

 members. The number of papers presented at all 

 meetings during the year was 149. The total 

 attendance of members at the meetings was 311. 

 The treasurer's report shows a balance of 

 $8,003.78, of which $3,581.70 is credited to the 

 life-membership fund. Sales of the society's pub- 

 lications during the year amounted to $1,748.90. 

 The library has increased to nearly 3,300 volumes. 

 A separate catalogue of the library, corrected to 

 January 1, 1910, will soon be issued. 



At the annual election, which closed on Thurs- 

 day morning, the following officers and other 

 members of the council were chosen: 



Vice-Presidents — L. E. Dickson, J. I. Hutchin- 

 son. 



Secretary — F. N. Cole. 



Treasurer — J. H. Tanner. 



Librarian — D. E. Smith. 



Committee of Publication— 'P. N. Cole, E. W. 

 Brown, Virgil Snyder. 



Members of the Council (to serve until Decem- 

 ber, 1912) — D. R. Curtiss, L. P. Eisenhart, J. C. 

 Fields, P. F. Smith. 



The following papers were lead at this meeting: 



F. L. Griffin: "Certain tests comparing areas 

 and other geometrical magnitudes." 



G. A. Miller : " Groups generated by two op- 

 erators Si, Sj satisfying the equation SiSa" = s^Si^." 



H. M. Shefifer : " Total determinations of de- 

 ductive systems with special reference to the 

 algebra of logic." 



R. G. D. Richardson: "The Jacobi criterion in 



