Januaby 8, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



Octave Chanute, an eminent American engi- 

 neer, whose enthusiasm and great knowledge 

 have stimulated the work of Herring, Huf aker, 

 the Wrights and many others, and whose ad- 

 vice and supervision was freely given in per- 

 fecting the machine which has finally suc- 

 ceeded. 



H. H. Clayton. 



TBE EDITORIAL COMMITTEE OF SCIENCE. 

 At the recent meeting of the American Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science, the 

 council resolved to add the vice-presidents of 

 the association and the permanent secretary to 

 the editorial co m mittee of Science. The vice- 

 presidents of the association, each of whom is 

 chairman of one of the ten sections, repre- 

 sent the sciences covered by the journal, and 

 are always among the most efficient and active 

 men of science of the country. Their cooper- 

 ation during their term of office will greatly 

 promote the interests of the association and of 

 the journal. We also hope to secure the 

 cooperation of several other men of science in 

 order that all branches of science and all parts 

 of the country may be adequately represented. 

 The members of the committee who have had 

 control of the journal during the nine years 

 of the new series will of course remain as 

 heretofore. Science is now so well established 

 as the representative organ of American men 

 of science that it seems unnecessary to print 

 each week the names of the editorial committee 

 and of the responsible editor. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

 We hope to publish next week the official 

 report of the St. Louis meeting of the Ameri- 

 can Association for the Advancement of Sci- 

 ence, and as soon as possible the reports of the 

 societies meeting in affiliation with it and 

 of the other societies that met during convo- 

 cation week at Philadelphia and elsewhere. 

 Professor Farlow, of Harvard University, the 

 eminent botanist, was elected president of the 

 association, and vice-presidents were elected as 

 follows: Professor Alexander Ziwet, of the 

 University of Michigan, Section of Mathe- 



matics and Astronomy; Professor W. F. 

 Magie, Princeton University, Section of 

 Physics; Professor C. P. Kinnicutt, Worcester 

 Polytechnic Institiite, Section of Chemistry; 

 Professor D. S. Jacobus, Stevens Institute of 

 Technology, Section of Mechanical Science 

 and Engineering; Professor E. A. Smith, Uni- 

 versity of Alabama, Section of Geology and 

 Geography; Dr. C. Hart Merriam, U. S. 

 Biological Survey, Section of Zoology; Pro- 

 fessor B. L. Robinson, Harvard University, 

 Section of Botany; Dr. Walter Hough, U. S. 

 National Museum, Section of Anthropology; 

 Martin A. Knapp, Interstate Commission of 

 Commerce, Section of Social and Economic 

 Science. President C. S. Howe, Case School 

 of Applied Science, was elected secretary of 

 the council, and Professor C. A. Waldo, Pur- 

 due University, general secretary. The asso- 

 ciation will meet next year at Philadelphia and 

 the following year at New Orleans. 



The American Society of Naturalists at the 

 annual meeting in St. Louis last week elected 

 officers as follows : President j E. L. Mark, Har- 

 vard University ; vice-president for the Eastern 

 Section, Franklin P. Mall, the Johns Hopkins 

 University; vice-president for the Central Sec- 

 tion, John M. Coulter, of the University of 

 Chicago; secretary, Chas. B. Davenport, Uni- 

 versity of Chicago; treasurer, Hermann von 

 Schrenk, Missouri Botanical Garden and the 

 Bureau of Forestry; additional members of the 

 executive committee. Professor J. McKeen 

 Cattell, Columbia University, and Professor 

 William Trelease, Missouri Botanical Gar- 

 den. The program of the Naturalists at 

 St. Louis was similar to that of recent 

 years. On Tuesday evening President David 

 Starr Jordan, Stanford University, gave 

 an illustrated lecture on ' The Eesources of 

 the Sea,' which was followed by a smoker at 

 the University Club. On Wednesday after- 

 noon the annual discussion was held, the sub- 

 ject being ' What kind of degrees should be 

 conferred for scientific work ? ' the open- 

 ing speakers being President Jordan, Presi- 

 dent Van Hise, Professor Cattell and Pro- 

 fessor Coulter. The annual dinner was held 

 on Tuesday evening at the Mercantile Club, 

 and was followed by the address of the presi- 



