722 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIX. No.< 



dium carbonate, the work on this last speci- 

 men not having been completed. If a ton 

 had been used in the solution and the ra- 

 dium concentrated it would yield a gram 

 of barium chloride of an approximate ac- 

 tivity of 11,300. Thus showing that while 

 the radium is dissolved to a large extent in 

 concentrated acids from the ores, even the 

 dilute nitric acid dissolves it in consider- 

 able quantity, and undoubtedly, in the 

 preparation of uranium salts, this radium 

 would be carried by the uranium, which to 

 a certain extent would explain the varied 

 activity of some uranium salts. 



It was thought that the above results 

 were sufficient to prove that carnotite was 

 a carrier of radium to a considerable ex- 

 tent, and would prove a valuable source of 

 radium. 



At the executive session which followed 

 the preceding program the committee ap- 

 pointed at the last general meeting to pre- 

 pare a plan for the appropriate celebration 

 of the two hundredth anniversary of the 

 birth of Benjamin Franklin reported the 

 following plan: 



For the evening of the first day, a meet- 

 ing of the society with a reception of dele- 

 gates and representatives accredited to the 

 society ; presentation of addresses ; adjourn- 

 ment, followed by a general reception. 



For the succeeding day in the morning, 

 commemorative addresses on Franklin, cov- 

 ering his services— as citizen and philan- 

 thropist; as printer and philosopher, and 

 as statesman and diplomatist; these exer- 

 cises to be followed by a banquet in the 

 evening. 



That the society ask congress to strike a 

 medal in honor of the occasion, of which 

 a gold impression shall be presented by the 

 president of the United States to the 

 French Republic, and a number of bronze 

 impressions shall be distributed under the 

 direction of the president of the United 

 States and that a certain number be placed 



at the disposal of this society for presen- 

 tation to institutions and societies of learn- 

 ing, including those with which Franklin 

 was connected. 



That the following guests be invited to 

 participate in the celebration: the presi- 

 dent of the United States; the vice-presi- 

 dent and other high officers of state; the 

 governors of the states of which Franklin 

 was the colonial agent; foreign ambassa- 

 dors accredited to the United States; a 

 special representative from the republic of 

 France; special representatives from socie- 

 ties and institutions with which Franklin 

 was connected; representatives from home 

 and foreig-n scientific societies and institu- 

 tions of learning with which the American 

 Philosophical Society is in correspondence. 



The report of the committee was ap- 

 proved and the committee continued with 

 instructions to carry out the plan as pro- 

 posed, with authority to make such modi- 

 fications as may seem to it desirable, to fix 

 the time and place for the celebration and 

 with full power to do all things necessary 

 or desirable for the appropriate celebration 

 of the anniversary. 



At the annual election the following per- 

 sons were chosen members: 



Maurice Bloomfield, Ph.D., LL.D., Balti- 

 more. 



Professor of Sanskrit and comparative philology 

 at the Johns Hopkins University; editor of the 

 ' Kashmirian Atharra-Veda,' 3 vols., 1901 ; trans- 

 lator of the Hymns of the Atharra-Veda in Max 

 Mtiller's edition of the ' Sacred Books of the East ' 

 (Vol. 42) ; author of numerous papers in the 

 JouriKil of the American Oriental Society, etc. 



Henry Pickering Bowditch, M.D., LL.D. 

 (Edin.), Sc.D. (Cantab.), Jamaica Plains, 

 Mass. 



Professor of physiology in Harvard University; 

 one of the authors of the ' American Text-Book of 

 Physiology ' ; author of numerous important con- 

 tributions to physiology. 



Edward Potts Clieyney, Philadelphia. 

 Professor of history at the University of Penn- 

 sylvania ; author of ' Introduction to the Industrial 



