622 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIX. No. 485. 



members are discussing the policy of the as- 

 sociation more or less in the dark, as to the 

 manner iji which any changes would or might 

 affect the finances and administration of the 

 association. It would seem as if the dis- 

 cussion ought to include some words from the 

 standpoint of the administration in order that 

 all sides may have a hearing. 



Arthur Hollick. 

 New York Botanical Garden. 



The American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science accomplishes a great work in 

 making it possible for large numbers of sci- 

 entific men to come together from year to 

 year, and in this way alone does much for 

 the promotion of science. The association 

 can well afford to make generous concessions 

 to affiliated and other scientific societies, even 

 though they do not contribute directly to the 

 financial support of the larger organization. 

 We can not help feeling that these other so- 

 cieties are important to the welfare of the 

 general association, and we are decidedly in 

 favor, if possible, of making conditions such 

 that the various societies will see material ad- 

 vantages in affiliating or coming into even 

 closer relations with the older organization, 

 and it would, therefore, seem to us wise to 

 give the affiliated societies a larger representa- 

 tion in the council. We are not afraid of their 

 exercising too much power in that body. They 

 have come into existence to supply a need. 

 Specialists have increased so rapidly that the 

 original sections are not adequate for present 

 conditions. We do not believe that special 

 papers should be read before the sections, but 

 they should either be referred to subsections or 

 special societies. 



It is much easier to suggest than to carry 

 out, yet the last two meetings have emphasized 

 the advisability of a more general classifica- 

 tion of meetings and papers than has hereto- 

 fore obtained. This is possible only through 

 the cooperation of all societies meeting at the 

 same time, and one of the great gains from a 

 closer connection between affiliated and other 

 societies and the association, would be the 

 possibility of harmonizing programs. The 

 many branches of science and the multiplicity 



of interests, renders this extremely difficult, 

 still there are ways in which the matter could 

 be simplified. It seems to us that two general 

 sessions ought to meet every demand; one to 

 mark the opening of the meetings and to per- 

 mit of addresses of welcome, etc., and another 

 in the evening to give the president an oppor- 

 tunity to deliver' his address. The other gen- 

 eral sessions amount to little more than a 

 formal confirmation of the action of the coun- 

 cil, and it would seem that this body might 

 well be intrusted with all the governing pow- 

 ers, including the election of officers, since 

 its members are elected at various times by 

 the different sections and affiliated societies. 

 Notices for each day could appear upon the 

 program and thus do away with any excuse for 

 a short daily general session every morning. 

 This would allow unbroken forenoons for gen- 

 eral meetings, and it would seem as though 

 all the papers in related sciences could be 

 classified. The general and special should 

 receive equal consideration, and we would 

 suggest that morning meetings be devoted to 

 general papers, and afternoon sessions to spe- 

 cial papers, which latter should be read before 

 subsections or special societies. Some papers 

 are of general interest to more than one group, 

 and these would naturally have precedence in 

 the morning and could be delivered before a 

 joint session of one or more sections. Some 

 arrangement of special meetings would be 

 necessary for afternoons, so as to avoid con- 

 flicts likely to be produced by related sub- 

 sections or societies holding sessions at the 

 same time. Evenings not already occupied, 

 as stated above, might be devoted to sessions 

 for members of the association, at which two 

 short addresses on topics of general interest 

 could be delivered. Two such meetings might 

 easily be held in different halls, and with 

 proper grouping of subjects, there would be 

 comparatively few who would wish to attend 

 both. In addition to these short, general ses- 

 sions, which should last an hour or a little 

 over, we wotild favor continuing the popular 

 complimentary lectures to the people of the 

 city where the meetings are held and for such 

 members of the association as eared to at- 

 tend. These latter would be longer and more 



