April 1, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



537 



and the efforts of the general secretary, 

 Mr. G. M. Thomson and his committee re- 

 sulted in a highly successfiil gathering. 

 The arrangements were satisfactory to the 

 visitors, who were well entertained by the 

 resident members and other citizens. 



The generous action of the New Zealand 

 government in granting free railway passes 

 to all visiting members was probably in 

 part responsible for the large attendance. 



The address of the president. Professor 

 T. W. Edgeworth David, was delivered on 

 Wednesday, January 6, and the meeting 

 was not concluded until January 13. In 

 his address the president reviewed before 

 a large audience the general advance of all 

 branches of science in southern lands. He 

 strongly encouraged those who are at pres- 

 ent engaged in scientific work to redouble 

 their efforts and pleaded that the minds of 

 the young might be so trained in the col- 

 onial schools that they may be capable and 

 eager to take up research work in their 

 turn. 



On the following day the members were 

 divided into the folloAving sections: A, 

 Astronomy, Mathematics and Physics; B, 

 Chemistry; C, Geology; D, Biology; E, 

 Geography; F, Anthropology; Gl, Social 

 Science; G2, Agricultui-e ; H, Architecture 

 and Mining ; I, Sanitary Science ; J, Mental 

 Science and Education. 



The president 's address in Section A was 

 an able summary of some recent advances 

 in the theory of the ionization of gases. 

 Professor Brogy, of Adelaide, dealt with 

 his subject in such a manner as to keep 

 his large audience thorotighly interested 

 throughout. On the following day an in- 

 teresting discussion took place on tidal ob- 

 servation and it was pointed out that New 

 Zealand occupied a very favorable position 

 for such observations. Many other papers 

 were contributed, including one from Pro- 

 fessor Eutherford, of Montreal, on the 

 heating effect of radium emanations. 



In Section B the president, Mr. Hender- 

 son, gave an address on 'Chemistry and 

 Pood,' dealing particularly with the adul- 

 teration most frequently found in ordinary 

 food substances. Amongst the papers was 

 an interesting research on the acids con- 

 tained in the resins of some of the New 

 Zealand coniferse by Professor Easterfield. 



Mr. Twelvetrees in his presidential ad- 

 dress to Section C dealt with 'Some As- 

 pects of Modern Petrology.' The present 

 confused state of petrological classification 

 was particularly discussed and the presi- 

 dent stated that though all systems hitherto 

 proposed had glaring defects he could not 

 believe that the new classification lately 

 proposed in America would be the one 

 finally adopted. Mr. Andrews described 

 some of the glacial features of southern 

 New Zealand, dealing with them in the 

 manner so ably initiated by Professor 

 Davis. Dr. Marshall read a paper on 

 some of the highly interesting alkaline 

 rocks near Dunedin. Some committees' 

 reports were read on 'Glacial Phenomena 

 in Australasia' and important structural 

 features in Australasia and on the possi- 

 bility of a uniform system of nomenclature 

 in petrology. In the last there were as 

 many divergent views as members. 



In Section D the president dealt with 

 the avifauna of Australasia, Polynesia and 

 Austro-Malaya. Amongst many interest- 

 ing papers were Dr. Chilton's on 'Subter- 

 ranean Crustacea of New Zealand'; Dr. 

 Fulton's on the habits of the long-tailed 

 cuckoo and Mr. Steads 's studies of New 

 Zealand bird life. The nesting habits of 

 these were dealt with in many beautiful 

 photographs. 



Anthropology in Section E opened with 

 an address by Professor Baldwin Spencer 

 on 'Totemism in the Central Australasian 

 Tribes. ' This was listened to with marked 

 attention even by members who were not 

 otherwise specially interested in anthro- 



