304 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIII. No. 582. 



their Relation to the^Question of Changes in the 

 Atom.' 



W. J. HuMPHEETS : ' An Attempt to Explain 

 the Cause of the Pressure Shift and the Broad- 

 ening of Spectrum Lines.' 



E. H. Hall : ' Thermoelectric Heterogeneity in 

 Certain Alloys.' 



F. L. Tufts : ' The Relative Conductivities im- 

 parted to a Flame of Illuminating Gas by the 

 Vapors of the Salts of the Alkali Metals.' 



C. B. Thwinq : ' On the Specific Electrical Po- 

 tentials of Metals in a Chemically Inert Atmos- 

 phere.' 



H. A. Claek: 'The Optical Properties of 

 Carbon.' 



H. L. Blackwell : ' Dispersion in Electric 

 Double Refraction.' 



Wm. B. Cabtmel: 'The Optical Properties of 

 Extremely Thin Films.' 



Edgae Buckingham: 'The Thermodynamic 

 Temperature Scale.' 



C. H. McLeod and H. T. Baenes : ' Differential 

 Temperature Records in Meteorological Work.' 



S. R. Cook : ' On the Velocity of Sound in Gases 

 at Low Temperatures and the Ratio of the 

 Specific Heats.' 



K. E. GuTHE : ' A New Determination of the 

 E.M.F. of the Clark and Cadmium Standard Cells 

 by means of an Absolute Electro-dynamometer.' 



G. W. PiEECE : ' Experiments on Resonance in 

 Wireless Telegraph Circuits.' 



Edgae Buckingham : ' Methods of Soil Hygrom- 

 etry.' 



H. N. Davis : ' Longitudinal Vibrations Analo- 

 gous to those of a Violin String.' 



A. D. Cole : ' On the Use of the Wehmet Inter- 

 rupter with the Righi Exciter for Electric Waves.' 

 (Read by title.) 



E. F. Nichols : ' Notes on the Possible Separa- 

 tion of Electric Charges by Centrifugal Accelera- 

 tions.' (Read by title.) 



Feank Wenneb: 'The Adjustment of the d'Ar- 

 sonval Galvanometer for Ballistic Work.' 



W. J. Humpiieeys : ' The Purpose and the Pres- 

 ent Condition of the Mount Weather Research 

 Observatory.' 



Lyman J. Bbiggs : ' An Electrically Controlled 

 Thermostat operable ■ at Room Temperatures.' 



Lyman J. Beiggs : ' On the Use of Centrifugal 

 Force in Soil Investigations.' 



On Saturday morning, tellers being duly 

 appointed, the ballots received in the annual 

 election of officers and members of the council 

 vcere counted, and the following named were 



declared elected: President, Carl Barus; vice- 

 presideni, Edward L. Nichols; secretary, 

 Ernest Merritt; treasurer, William Hallock; 

 members of the council, E. A. Millikan and 

 A. Trowbridge. Ernest Merritt, 



Secretary. 



the TEXAS academy OP SCIENCE. 



At the formal meeting of the Texas Acad- 

 emy of Science held June 14, 1905, the elec- 

 tion of the following officers for the year 

 1905-6 was announced: 



President — Dr. Thos. H. Montgomery, Jr., 

 Austin. 



Yioe-'president — Dr. James E. Thompson, Gal- 

 veston. 



Treasurer — ^Mr. R. A. Thompson, Austin. 



Secretary— Dr. Frederic W. Simonds, Austin. 



Librarian— M.T. P. L. Windsor, Austin. 



Memiers of the Council — Hon. A. Lefevre, Vic- 

 toria; Professor J. C. Nagle, College Station; Dr. 

 Eugene P. Schoch, Austin. 



At the regular meeting of the academy held 

 in the chemical lecture room of the Univer- 

 sity of Texas, October 27, 1905, Dr. Mont- 

 gomery delivered the annual address of the 

 president. He chose for his subject ' The 

 Esthetic Element in Scientific Thought.' 



The point was made that the key-note of the 

 enthusiasm of the scientist, therefore of his 

 wish to work, is the attraction he finds in the 

 formal beauty of the objects of study. This 

 generally arises in early years, and probably 

 continues as long as his enthusiasm lasts, 

 though in maturer years the scientist finds a 

 greater beauty in the interpretation and rela- 

 tions of phenomena. The scientist is distin- 

 guished by this love of the formally beautiful, 

 the well-spring of his enthusiasm, and thereby 

 shows a close community with the artist and 

 poet. On the other hand, there is nothing in 

 common between the scientist and the tech- 

 nical expert, for they have entirely different 

 aims; the scientist is to be trained like 

 an artist, not like a technician. From this 

 love of the natural phenomenon arises a rev- 

 erence for nature, which brings it about that 

 no true scientist can be without a religion. 

 The great naturalists and great poets have all 

 recognized this kinship. 



