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SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXII. No. 561. 



Almost every country was represented. 

 Switzerland itself contributed more than 100 

 members, France 66, Germany and Austria 

 36, Great Britain and Colonies 23, Italy 11, 

 America 3, and other countries 16. The 

 largest contributors to the proceedings of the 

 congress, however, were the Germans; out of 

 a total of 117 communications, 32 were made 

 by them, 31 by the French, 18 by the British, 

 15 by the Swiss, 8 by Italians, 5 by Swedes, 

 and 2 by Americans. 



From every point of view the congress 

 was a success. Anatomy is peculiarly sus- 

 ceptible of international treatment, the sub- 

 jects for description and discussion being con- 

 crete and capable of direct demonstration. 

 The language difficulty certainly hindered a 

 free discussion on more than one occasion; 

 for instance, on the second day, a speaker, 

 after giving his communication in French, 

 listened most attentively to a vigorous criti- 

 cism in German, and, bowing profoundly, re- 

 plied, * Je ne comprends pas I'allemand.' With 

 an agenda list overloaded with 117 communi- 

 cations, there was a -grave risk of disorganiza- 

 tion. Thanks to the complete arrangements 

 made by the committee of organization, pre- 

 sided over by Professor A. Eternod, of Geneva, 

 and to the perfect arrangement of business by 

 the president of the secretariat. Professor von 

 Bardeleben, the proceedings of the congress 

 made an even and steady progress. The suc- 

 cess of the congress must also be ascribed to 

 Professor Nicholas, of Nancy, secretary of the 

 French society; English members were in- 

 debted to Professor Symington, president of 

 the British society, and to Dr. Christopher 

 Addison, its secretary. Each day's work was 

 divided into two parts ; the morning was de- 

 voted to papers, ten minutes being allowed for 

 each conununication, and three minutes to 

 any member who wished to criticize ; the after- 

 noon was set aside for exhibition of new 

 specimens and demonstrations of the raaterial 

 on which the communications of the morning 

 were based, and this was by far the most 

 instructive and profitable part of the day's 

 work. The Swiss cow-bell employed by the 

 president of each day's proceedings (for the 



president of each society acted in turn as 

 chairman) to warn the speaker that he had 

 reached the limit of his allotted time, bound 

 the members of the congress by a common 

 sense of humor and materially aided the suc- 

 cess of the meeting. In spite of the entente 

 cordiale, the British anatomists associated 

 more closely with the German than with the 

 French members of the congress — an associa- 

 tion determined, for the greater part, by the 

 fact that the Germans were the superior 

 linguists. 



The members of the congress took part in 

 the dedication of a monument to the memory 

 of Professor Hermann Fol, who set sail from 

 Havre in his yacht, VAster, in the spring of 

 1892 to investigate the fauna of the Mediter- 

 ranean. From the day he sailed until now 

 not a single trace has been discovered of ship 

 or crew. The members of the congress were 

 lavishly entertained by Madame Fol. The 

 congress placed a wreath on the bust of the 

 Swiss physiologist Servetus, who discovered 

 the pulmonary circulation in the sixteenth 

 century, and was burned at the stake by 

 Calvin because, so it is said, he denied the 

 existence of the Trinity. A wreath was placed 

 by the British section of the congress on the 

 spot where he was burned, this gracious act 

 being prompted by Professor Dixon, of Trin- 

 ity College, Dublin. 



The congress was a social as well as a scien- 

 tific success. An invitation from American 

 anatomists to meet at Boston in 1907 was de- 

 clined, as it was felt that at least a space of 

 five years should intervene between each con- 

 gress. A permanent committee for the organ- 

 ization of the next congress was formed by 

 the nomination of five men, one from each of 

 the five affiliated societies. It is intended to 

 bring out a bulletin containing the proceed- 

 ings and transactions of the congress, to which 

 purpose part of the sum (11,000 francs) 

 raised by subscription in Geneva to meet the 

 expenses of the congress will be devoted. 

 When it becomes the turn of London to enter- 

 tain this congress, it will not be found an easy 

 matter to attain the standard of hospitality 

 which has been set by Geneva. 



