546 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXI. No. 797 



ing, both as regards the numbers in attendance 

 and the quality of the papers presented. The 

 president of the society, Professor J. J. Kinyoiin, 

 occupied the chair at all of the sessions. The 

 reports of the secretary and treasurer showed 

 that the affairs of the society were in a healthful 

 condition. 



The nominating committee placed before the 

 society the names of the following for election to 

 the offices for the ensuing year, and they were 

 unanimously declared elected: 



President — Professor V. A. Moore, Cornell 

 University. 



Vice-president — Professor F. P. Gorham, Brown 

 University. 



Secretary and Treasurer — Professor C. E. Mar- 

 shall, Michigan Agricultural College. 



Councillors — ^Messrs. Prescott, Amyot, Stevens 

 and Harris. 



Delegate to the Council of the American Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science — Professor 

 Erwin F. Smith. 



The report of the committee on the identifica- 

 tion of bacterial species was presented and 

 adopted. As it is of an important nature, it is 

 given here in full: (1) The standard card for 

 the description of species has proved highly satis- 

 factory in the hands of those who have given it 

 a thorough trial. The maximum benefit from the 

 card can only be realized, however, as its use 

 becomes still more general. The committee, there- 

 fore, wishes again to urge upon the members of 

 the society the great value of this method of 

 recording bacterial characters. Advantage will 

 accrue not only to the individual investigator, 

 but in still higher degree to other workers on 

 account of the comparability of the data thus 

 obtained. (2) The numerical system of recording 

 bacterial characters, while valuable for cata- 

 loguing cultures, must necessarily fail to approxi- 

 mate the natural classification of species. The 

 method which at present seems most promising 

 for determining the true relationships of these 

 microorganisms is the statistical or biometrio 

 method. Bacterial species may most satisfac- 

 torily be defined by the quantitative study of 

 measurable characters in a considerable series of 

 cultures, the modal points or centers of frequency 

 being given specific names, and larger groups 

 having a number of common characters receiving 

 the rank of genera or families. The committee 

 urges upon the members of the society the im- 

 portance of further systematic investigation along 

 this general line. (3) In view of the great value 



of biometric classification to all workers in bac- 

 teriology the committee suggests the following 

 resolution : 



Resolved, That the Society of American Bac- 

 teriologists, recognizing the importance of a sys- 

 tematic study of bacterial species by the statis- 

 tical method and the necessity for financial as- 

 sistance in carrying out work which involves so 

 large a proportion of routine, authorizes the 

 committee on identification of bacterial species to 

 present this need to any persons or institutions 

 having charge of the distribution of funds for 

 assisting scientific research. 



(4) Finally, the committee believes that it 

 would be of great advantage if descriptions and 

 cultures of all new species or varieties could be 

 submitted to some central bureau where they 

 might be studied and compared and kept in such 

 condition that bacteriologists could at any time 

 obtain duplicate descriptions and subcultures for 

 their own use. The committee therefore recom- 

 mends the following resolution: 



Resolved, That the Society of American Bac- 

 teriologists believes that the establishment of a 

 central bureau for the preservation and distribu- 

 tion of descriptions and tj^e specimens of the 

 bacteria would be of great value to all workers 

 in science. F. P. Gobham 



C.-E. A. WiNSLOW 



The council declared four vacancies to exist in 

 the membership of the society and the following 

 were elected to fill those vacancies: Dr. G. W. 

 Stiles, Department of Agriculture, Washington, 

 D. C; Professor W. E. King, Kansas State Col- 

 lege of Agriculture, Manhattan, Kans. ; Professor 

 R. E. Buchanan, Iowa State College of Agricul- 

 ture, Ames, Iowa; Professor Oscar Klotz. depart- 

 ment of pathology. University of Pittsburgh, Pitts- 

 burgh, Pa. The council also recommended that 

 inasmuch as by the election of the foregoing per- 

 sons the active list of membership was filled up, 

 the wording of the constitution be altered to 

 admit of an active membership of 150 instead of 

 the present number of 125. This recommendation 

 was favorably received and will be acted upon 

 by the society at the next annual meeting. 



On the evening of the twenty-ninth the society 

 was the guest of the Boston Bacteriological Club 

 at a " smoker " held in the rooms of the Tech- 

 nology Union, where the members thoroughly 

 enjoyed themselves in an informal manner. 



The program, as shown by the following titles 

 and abstracts, was carried out and evoked much 



