266 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIX. No. 476. 



To THE Editor of Science: I cordially sym- 

 pathize in your desire to have the scientific 

 men of the country come together in the ses- 

 sions of the Ajuerican Association for the Ad- 

 vancement of Science. I learned to love the 

 society in the ante-bellum days, when the 

 greatest scientific minds of the vchole country 

 made it their business to attend and to par- 

 ticipate in the discussions. Every year new 

 members joined us, and we used to say, Mr. 

 X was one of the number who came to us at 

 the Providence or Montreal meeting, and has 

 been a constant attendant ever since. It 

 was more convenient then for the association 

 to meet in the summer — and perhaps one may 

 be excused for believing the warm season to 

 be the best for these gatherings, because of 

 the great success of those early meetings. I 

 like your suggestion of having two meetings 

 annually, one in the summer and the other 

 in the winter, and I should say the localities 

 might be chosen to fit the season — the far 

 south in the winter, and the far north in the 

 summer ; or there might be a contrast between 

 the east and the west. 



With provisions for two meetings, some of 

 the affiliated societies could arrange to meet 

 by themselves, say in the winter, and in the 

 summer to throw all their energies into their 

 sections. It would be an important point 

 gained if more interest was taken in the sec- 

 tions of the general association at one of the 

 meetings. 



Publication holds the first place in the 

 thoughts of many. The question arises. 

 Shall I present my subject before the section 

 or before my special society; and the con- 

 clusion reached is usually in favor of the 

 latter, because the paper may be published. 

 If one has something important to present he 

 wishes to have it printed. Of late years the 

 American Association for the Advancement 

 of Science has printed only the presidential 

 addresses, and, therefore, the tendency is to 

 slight the sections. If there were two annual 

 meetings there could be two volumes printed, 

 ■with some of the more important papers. 



Then there is no opportunity for amateurs 

 or new recruits to be represented in type un- 

 less there be some provision for the printing 



of papers. Perhaps I overlook the great serv- 

 ice Science is doing for us, which prints 

 some of the papers that do not appear in the 

 Proceedings. 



Section E has instructed its committee to 

 arrange for a summer meeting this year. All 

 will be interested to see the outcome of. this 

 move. The meeting will probably be held at 

 St. Louis, and thus two questions will be 

 answered by the results. Can there be an 

 enthusiastic meeting of a single section in the 

 summer, and can the section hold the attention 

 of its members in the midst of the distractions 

 of a world's fair? C. H. Hitchcock. 



SPECIAL ARTICLES. 



THE TOURMALINE LOCALITIES OF SOUTHERN 

 CALIFORNIA. 



The tourmaline deposits of southern Cali- 

 fornia have attracted much attention recently, 

 owing to the development of these mines for 

 their gem stones. A recent discovery of lilac- 

 colored spodumene has added considerably to 

 the interest. Eor the purpose of acquiring a 

 knowledge of the character of these tourmaline 

 deposits and of studying the associated min- 

 erals, the writer spent several weeks among 

 these mines last summer and collected some 

 very interesting material. In this note is 

 given a brief account of the principal locali- 

 ties and of the minerals that have been found 

 there. The writer intends to make a complete 

 study of this remarkable field, and especially 

 of the minerals occurring in it, many of which 

 are of more than ordinary interest. Some of 

 the work has already been completed * and 

 the remainder is well under way. 



The gem tourmalines occur in rather large 

 quantities, but are inferior to the Maine 

 tourmalines both in color and in the brilliancy 

 of the cut gems. The localities at which they 

 have been found are comprised in an area less 

 than thirty miles across in northern west- 

 central San Diego County, extending into 

 Riverside County and including portions of 

 Smith's Mountain and the western part of the 



* ' Spodumene from San Diego Co., California,' 

 by W. T. Schaller, Bull. Dept. Geol. Univ. of Cal., 

 Vol. 3, No. 13. 



