296 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIX. No. 477. 



and mercantile activities are grouped in 

 propinquity. The street railways make 

 possible the centralization of the retail 

 trade, and widen the range of recreation 

 and amusement of most people. Tet they 

 have not reached their limits of usefulness 

 to the artisan and the well-to-do. Too 

 much of the time of these users is consumed 

 on street railways and the charge is as yet 

 too high, the average cost of carrying a 

 passenger in the United States being 2.9 

 cents, not counting profits. 



Discussions. The following participated 

 in the discussion of one or more of the 

 above papers: Lee Meriwether, St. Louis; 

 W. M. Bryant, St. Louis High School; J. 

 H. Scarborough, Warrensburg (Mo.) Nor- 

 mal School; Joseph A. Wright, St. Louis; 

 Frederick N. Crunden, St. Louis; Carroll 

 D. Wright, Washington, D. C. ; William H. 

 Lynch, Mountain Grove, Mo. 



John Feanklin Cbowell,, 

 Secretary. 



Washington. D. C. 



THE ASTBONOMICAL AND ASTROPHYSICAL 

 SOCIETY OF AMERICA . 



The fifth meeting of this society was 

 held in St. Louis, Mo., during convocation 

 week, in affiliation with the American As- 

 sociation for the Advancement of Science. 

 All the sessions were held at the Central 

 High School, where rooms were occupied 

 conjointly with Section A. 



The first session of the society was held 

 on Tuesday afternoon, December 29, at 

 which officers were nominated to be voted 

 for at the annual election the next day. 



On Wednesday morning a joint session 

 was held with Section A, for the reading 

 of papers, and on Wednesday afternoon 

 the reading of papers was finished and the 

 annual election of officers held. 



The members of the society were served 

 lunch at the High School by the local com- 



mittee on both Tuesday and Wednesday at 

 noon. 



The meeting was the smallest ever held 

 by the society, there being less than twenty 

 members present. Ten new members were 

 elected. 



The officers elected were : 



For 1904. 



President — Simon Newcomb. 



First Vice-President — Geo. E. Hale. 



Second Vice-President — W. W. Campbell. 



Treasurer — C. L. Doolittle. 

 For 1904-5. 



Councilors — E. C. Pickering, R. S. Woodward. 



Geo. C. Comstook and W. S. Eicbelberger were 

 elected members of the Council of the American 

 Association for the Advancement of Science from 

 the Astronomical and Astrophysical Society of 

 America. 



PAPERS PRESENTED. 



G. W. Hough : ' The Prediction of Occultations 

 of Stars by the Moon.' 



W. W. Campbell : ' The D. 0. Mills Expedition.' 



G. C. Comstook : ' Tlie Sun's Motion Relative 

 to a Group of Faint Stars.' 



F. W. Very : ' The Absorption of Solar Radia- 

 tion by the Sun's Atmosphere.' 



Sebastian Albrecht : ' Borelly's Comet.' 



W. S. EiOHELBERGER : ' The Pivots of the nine- 

 inch Transit Circle of the U. S. Naval Observa- 

 tory.' 



M. S. Brennan : ' A Short Sketch of the Prog- 

 ress of Astronomy in the United States.' 



H. C. Wilson : ' The Eros Parallax Photographs 

 at the Goodsell Observatory.' 



ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS. 



The D. 0. Mills, Expedition: W. W. Camp- 

 bell. 



The observing station of the D. 0. Mills 

 expedition from the Lick Observatory to 

 the Southern Hemisphere was completed in 

 October. It is located on the summit of 

 San Cristobal in the northeastern suburbs 

 of Santiago, Chile. Its elevation above the 

 city is about 950 feet, the altitude of San- 

 tiago above sea level being 1,800 feet. The 

 distauce from the center of the city is about 

 two miles. 



The expedition is in charge of acting as- 



