November 24, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



683 



Spanish, were still in the stage when red and 

 yellow were the only colors clearly perceived.^ 

 William A. Kepner. 

 University of Virginia. 



TEE NATIONAL ACADEBIY OF SCIENCES. 



The academy held its autumn meeting at 

 the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale Uni- 

 versity, on November 14 and 15. The scien- 

 tific program was as follows : 



John Trowbridge : ' Slow movements of elec- 

 trical discharges.' 



E. B. Wilson : ' Sex-determination and the 

 chromosomes.' 



L. B. Mendel : ' Studies on the chemical physiol- 

 ogy of development and growth.' (Introduced by 

 R. H. Chittenden.) 



W. M. Davis : ' The Dwyka glacial conglomerate 

 of South Africa.' (Illustrated by lantern slides.) 



B. B. BoLTWOOD : ' The disintegration products 

 of thorium as indicated by the proportions of lead 

 and helium in minerals.' (Introduced by H. L. 

 Wells.) 



A. Hall : ' Relation of the true anomalies in a 

 parabola and a very eccentric ellipse having the 

 same perihelion distance.' 



S. L. Penfield : ' On a new mineral from Borax 

 Lake, California.' 



F. E. Beach : ' On errors of excentricity and 

 collimation in the human eye.' (Introduced by 

 C. S. Hastings.) 



C. S. Peirce : ' The relation of betweenness and 

 Eoyce's 0-collections.' 



L. P. Wheeler : ' Some problems in metallic 

 reflection.' (Introduced by C. S. Hastings.) 



Franz Boas : ' On Pearson's formulas of skew 

 distribution of variates.' 



A. Agassiz : ' On the variation in the spines of 

 sea urchins.' 



W. H. Brewer : ' Further observations on sedi- 

 mentation.' 



H. A. Bumstead : ' The effect of Rontgen rays 

 on certain metals.' (Introduced by C. S. Hast- 

 ings. ) 



THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA. 

 The eighteenth annual meeting of the Geo- 

 logical Society of America will be held on 

 ^ I am indebted to Professor R. S. Woodworth, 

 of Columbia University, for valuable suggestions 

 and references to literature. He is not, however, 

 responsible for the conclusions advocated. 



December 27, 28 and 29, in Ottawa City, the 

 Canadian capital. The circular of informa- 

 tion issued by Secretary Fairchild gives the 

 details of arrangements for the meeting there, 

 and facilities regarding customs as well as 

 railway and hotel accommodation usually 

 given to the fellows of the society. 



Ottawa is easily reached from all railway 

 centers and is one of the most progressive 

 cities of the Dominion, being the seat of gov- 

 ernment and the headquarters of the Geological 

 Survey Department. This official survey, 

 which began in 1842, has continued its opera- 

 tions uninterruptedly and there is now at- 

 tached to the department a Museum of Geol- 

 ogy, for petrography, general geology and his- 

 torical geology, as well as for paleontology. 

 Type specimens of Canadian fossils, described 

 by Billings, by Whiteaves, Sir William Daw- 

 son, by Iiui)ert Jones and by various other well- 

 known authors, are deposited in the collections 

 and can be seen to advantage. 



A large attendance is expected at this meet- 

 ing, many having already signified their in- 

 tention of being present. A local committee 

 has charge of the details of the meeting, and 

 the evening sessions promise to be of an inter- 

 esting nature. The annual dinner of the 

 society will be followed by a reception at which 

 the governor general will be present. The 

 Kussell House will be the headquarters. Rates 

 are very reasonable, and every comfort will be 

 provided for the guests attending the meeting. 

 All parcels serving to illustrate papers to be 

 presented at the meeting will be admitted 

 free of duty by the commissioner of customs if 

 addressed to Dr. H. M. Ami, Headquarters of 

 the Geological Society of America, Kussell 

 House, Ottawa, Canada. 



The society met at Ottawa in 1892 under 

 the presidency of Professor B. K. Emerson. 

 This year Professor Eaphael Pumpelly is the 

 president. 



TEE ROYAL SOCIETY'S MEDALS. 



The following is a list of those to whom the 

 RoyaT Society has this year awarded medals : 



The Copley medal to Professor Dmitri 

 Ivanovitch Mendeleef, of St. Petersburg, for 



