588 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXI. No. 798 



the details of the third metamorphosis. Some 

 of the specimens were given to the local seri- 

 cultural school for experimental breeding, and 

 by it distributed so that a number of silk 

 growers in the vicinity are now rearing the 

 trivoltine form. 



The cave is described as lying in the south 

 side of a mountain leading downward about 

 350 yards. The interior is moist and drip- 

 ping. The temperature as mentioned before 

 is 60°. 



The larvas were placed in a corner of the 

 cave on the top of a " coal oil box " and en- 

 closed in a double packing box (such as is 

 used for storing treasures in go-downs) . This 

 box measured externally two feet square by 

 one and a half feet high. The inner wall, one 

 foot two inches square by about one foot high. 

 The space between was filled with sawdust. 

 (Apparently no record was made of the tem- 

 perature of the interior of the box.) 



In concluding, Mr. Tsukai remarks that 

 some successful results have been recently re- 

 ported in changing a trivoltine race into a 

 quadrivoltine, presumably by the same method. 

 He attributes the change to an inhibition of 

 development through a lowering of the tem- 

 peratxire. If so, it should be easy to repro- 

 duce the results described. 



If it is true that the bivoltine races can be 

 converted into trivoltine so easily, it would 

 seem unlikely that the condition of bivoltism 

 can be explained as a case of reversion. 



J. F. Abbott 

 Washington Univeesity 



THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE 

 ADVANCEMENT OP SCIENCE 

 SECTION B-PHYSICS 

 The annual meeting of the American Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Science, Section B, 

 was held in Boston, beginning Tuesday morning, 

 December 28, and closing Friday noon, December 

 31, with two sessions daily. All sessions except 

 that on the closing day were joint sessions with 

 the American Physical Society. That on Tuesday 

 afternoon was participated in also by Section A, 

 and that on Friday was a joint session with Sec- 

 tion L. The presiding officers were Vice-president 

 Bauer, of Section B, and President Crew, of the 



American Physical Society. All the meetings were 

 held in the physics lecture room of Walker Build- 

 ing, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, except 

 on Wednesday, when both sessions were held in 

 Cambridge at the Jefferson Laboratory of Harvard 

 University. The attendance was uniformly good, 

 varying from one hundred to two hundred. Fifty- 

 nine papers and addresses were presented at the 

 meeting. 



On Wednesday evening there was an informal 

 dinner for physicists at the Hotel Vendome and on 

 Thursday afternoon a reception was given to all 

 visiting physicists and their ladies by President 

 and Mrs. Maolaurin of the Massachusetts Insti- 

 tute of Technology, at their home. Both of these 

 were well attended and greatly enjoyed. An in- 

 formal dinner and conference of the officers of 

 Section B and of the American Physical Society 

 on Tuesday evening led to a satisfactory plan for 

 a more complete cooperation of the two organiza- 

 tions and a better agreement with respect to the 

 range of activity of each. 



A short business session on Tuesday resulted in 

 the selection of the following officers for the meet- 

 ing next Christmas at Minneapolis: 



Vice-president and Chairman of Section — E. B. 

 Rosa, Washington, D. C. 



Secretary — A. D. Cole, Columbus, O. 



Member of Council— "W . S. Franklin. 



Sectional Committee— h. A. Bauer, E. B. Rosa, 

 A. D. Cole, A. Trowbridge, A. P. Carman, G. F. 

 Hull and E. L. Nichols. 



Member of General Committee — P. P. Whitman. 



Several new members were added to the section 

 and fifty members were made fellows of the 

 association. 



At the joint sessions on Tuesday afternoon and 

 Friday morning an effort was made to provide 

 programs that would be of interest to others than 

 physicists. The papers presented were wholly by 

 invitation. The large audiences — approximately 

 two hundred in each case — and the interest shown 

 demonstrated the success of this effort and led to 

 a decision to adopt the " general-interest session " ' 

 as a permanent policy. The program on Tuesday 

 was presented by Sections A and B jointly and 

 that on Friday by Section B. These programs 

 follow. 



TUESDAY AFTEENOON, DECEMBER 28 



Some Reforms needed in the Teaching of Physics 

 (vice-presidential address of Section B) : Pro- 

 fessor Karl E. Guthe, of the University of 

 Michigan. 



