SCIENCE 



A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 



OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 



FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 



Friday, August 25, 1905. 



Address of the President of the British Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science: 

 Professor G. H. Darwin 225 



Address to the Mathematical and Physical 

 Section of the British Association for the 

 Advancement of Science: Professor A. R. 

 Forsyth - 234 



Scientific Books: — 



Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phakence in 

 the British Museum : Dr. Harrison G. 

 Dyar 247 



Scientific Journals and Articles 248 



Societies and Academies: — 



Clemson College Science Cluh : Dr. Haven 

 Metcalf 248 



Special Articles . ■ — 



Assort ative Mating in Man: Dr. Frank E. 

 LuTZ 249 



Current Xotes on Meteorology : — 



Progress of Kite and Balloon Meteorology; 

 Meteorological Activity in England; Trop- 

 ical Cyclones; Climatic Changes in Central 

 Africa; Cotton-growing in Tropical Aus- 

 tralia; Hurricanes, Cocoa Trees and Ex- 

 ports of Guam; Exposure and Crops in 

 Simtzerland : Professor R. DeC. Ward . . . 250 



Acta of the International Convention of the 

 International Catalogue of Scientific Lit- 

 erature 252 



Scientific Notes and News 253 



University and Educational Netvs 256 



MKS. inteudedfor publicatiou aud books, etc., intended 

 for review should be sent to the Editor of Science, Garri- 

 son-on-Hudson, N. Y. 



ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE 



BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE 



ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE.^ 



Bartholomeu Diaz, the discoverer of 

 the Cape of Storms, spent sixteen months 

 on his voyage, and the little flotilla of 

 Vasco da Gama, sailing from Lisbon on 

 July 8, 1497, only reached the Cape in the 

 middle of November. These bold men, 

 sailing in their puny fishing-smacks to 

 unknown lands, met the perils of the sea 

 and the attacks of savages with equal 

 courage. How great was the danger of 

 such a voyage may be gathered from the 

 fact that less than half the men who sailed 

 wdth da Gama lived to return to Lisbon. 

 Four hundred and eight years have passed 

 since that voyage, and a ship of 13,000 tons 

 has just brought us here, in safety and 

 luxury, in but little more than a fortnight. 



How striking are the contrasts presented 

 by these events ! On the one hand compare 

 the courage, the endurance and the persist- 

 ence of the early navigators with the little 

 that has been demanded of us ; on the other 

 hand consider how much man's power over 

 the forces of nature has been augmented 

 during the past four centuries. The ca- 

 pacity for heroism is probably undimin- 

 ished, but certainly the occasions are now 

 rarer when it is demanded of us. If we 

 are heroes, at least but few of us ever find 

 it out, and, when we read stories of ancient 

 feats of courage, it is hard to prevent an 

 uneasy thought that, notwithstanding our 



^ Cape Town, August 15, 1905. 



