240 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXI. No. 789 



who disappeared at the advent of the Indians and 

 the coyote man. The myths quoted referred to the 

 acquisition of fire. 



In the discussion Drs. Fewkes, Swanton and 

 Hewitt quoted parallels from the Casa Grande, the 

 Northern Pacific and the Iroquois, respectively. 



Dr. Walter Hough followed with a paper on 

 " Incense and Incense Burners." The use of in- 

 cense in America for religious ceremonies has 

 never been very thoroughly studied. The paper 

 treated in a general way of the diffusion of the 

 materials employed and especially of the appa- 

 ratus in which incense is burned. The discussion 

 was therefore confined largely to the apparatus 

 found among the cultured tribes of Central Amer- 

 ica, Mexico and the southwest United States. In 

 the latter area occur forms which are possibly 

 connected with those in Mexico. The paper also 

 discussed the pipe as an incensario. 



In the discussion Dr. Casanowicz dwelt on the 

 use of incense, in domestic and social life as well 

 as in the cult and magic, among the ancient 

 nations and quoted passages which hint at a 

 dsemonifuge background of its use. Mr. Hewitt 

 pointed out that among the Iroquois incense is 

 sometimes employed to emphasize a petition. Dr. 

 Fewkes referred to the fact that among the Hopi 

 Indians all ceremonies opened and closed with a 

 smoke. Its object is to obtain rain; the smoke is 

 to make a cloud, and the rain-god seeing the 

 cloud would send rain. 



I. M. Casanowicz, 



Secretary 



National Museum 



the amekican chemical society 

 noetheasteen section 



The ninety-sixth regular meeting of the section 

 was held on January 21, 1910, at the Twentieth 

 Century Club, Boston. 



A motion was passed in favor of holding alter- 

 nated bi-monthly meetings jointly with the New 

 England Section of the Society of Chemical In- 

 dustry. 



Professor Louis Derr, of the Massachusetts 

 Institute of Technology, presented a paper en- 

 titled " Color Photography at the Present Time." 

 After a brief statement of the underlying prin- 

 ciples of color photography, the speaker pointed 

 out the advantages of the process depending upon 

 the use of finely ruled screens, and showed why 

 it had failed commercially. He then described the 

 French single plate process involving the use of 



dyed starch grains, and he showed how some of 

 the very recent English single plates were pre- 

 pared and used. The lecture was profusely illus- 

 trated with very beautiful and striking examples 

 of color photography, including some most remark- 

 able results with brilliant micro-photographs. 



There were about one hundred members and 

 guests present. 



K. L. Maek, 

 Secretary 



ehode island section 



The regular meeting of the section was held 

 January 20, 1910, at the University Club, pre- 

 ceded by the usual informal dinner. 



The paper for the evening was given by Dr. 

 John E. Bucher, of Brown University, on the sub- 

 ject " The Structure of Eetene and its Relation 

 to some Natural Resins." The presentation of 

 Dr. Bucher's work, which was illustrated by 

 charts, showed conclusively that the correct struc- 

 ture of retene is 8-methyl-2-isopropylphenanthrene 

 and not the formula ordinarily published in the 

 literature. 



Several new and valuable methods of oxidation 

 were developed during the work, notably the use 

 of pyridine as a solvent for the potassium per- 

 manganate oxidation of substances insoluble in 

 water; and also, oxidation by nitric acid in the 

 presence of manganese nitrate as a catalytic agent. 



As a continuation of the work the relation of 

 retene to common rosin and abietic acid is now 

 being studied. 



The paper will soon be published in the Journal 

 of the American Chemical Society. 



Albeet W. Glaplin, 



Peovidence, K. I. 



CLEVELAND SECTION 



The third regular meeting of the session of 

 1909-10 was held in the Main Building of Case 

 School of Applied Science, December 13. 



The following papers were presented: Charles 

 F. Brush, " The Commercial Manufacture of Oxy- 

 gen from the Atmosphere " ; F. R. Van Horn, 

 " The Brick Industry of Cleveland." 



This meeting marked the end of the first year 

 of the existence of the Cleveland Section and was 

 certainly the most interesting and successful meet- 

 ing since the section was organized. 



N. A. Dubois, 



Seoretart- 



