March 16, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



421 



substitiating one eoil for another in the per- 

 centage bridge, which is less complicated 

 than the Carey Foster commutator. 



The most serious disadvantage of the 

 percentage method is pointed out and a 

 remedy suggested. 



The percentage bridge is an instrument 

 of great simplicity, great sensitiveness and 

 relatively great range; and one in which 

 the standard resistances are automatically 

 protected from heavy currents. It is not 

 only a very superior instrument for the 

 comparison of standard resistances, but one 

 which lends itself admirably to a variety 

 of special purposes, such as calibrating 

 rheostats, determining temperature coeffi- 

 cients, etc. 



Priming Caused hy Poor Circulation in a 

 Boiler: D. S. Jacobus, Stevens Institute 

 of Technology. Section D. 



Dual Degree for Engineering Courses: 

 P. C. Nugent, University of Syracuse. 

 Section D. 



Panama: Discussion of Present Conditions 

 and the Prospect: F. L. Waldo. Sec- 

 tion D. 



Panama: A Sea-Level Canal: W. 

 Waknee, Cleveland. Section D. 



Dayton C. Millee, 



Secretary. 



R. 



TBE SOCIETY FOB PLANT MORPHOLOGY 

 AND PHYSIOLOGY. 



The ninth annual meeting of this so- 

 ciety was held, in conjunction with the 

 meetings of the Western Branch of the 

 American Society of Naturalists and the 

 Affiliated Scientific Societies, at the Uni- 

 versity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich., 

 December 27, 28, 29, 1905, under the presi- 

 dency of Professor E. C. Jeffrey. Though 

 small in point of numbers, the meeting was 

 otherwise one of great profit and enjoyment. 



In effect it was a joint meeting with the 

 Botanists of the Central States, for this so- 

 ciety held sessions only in the mornings 

 and the Botanists of the Central States 

 only in the afternoons, each society attend- 

 ing the sessions of the other. The new 

 members elected were Messrs. Mel. T. Cook, 

 of the Agricultural Experiment Station of 

 Cuba, Raymond H. Pond, of Northwestern 

 University, and W. W. Stockberger, of the 

 United States Department of Agriculture. 

 The society voted to accept the constitution 

 recommended by its committee on union of 

 botanical societies in ease it is accepted by 

 the Botanical Society of America and the 

 American Mycological Society, and on this 

 basis to unite with those societies into a 

 single new society to be called the Botanial 

 Society of America. Pending the action 

 of the other societies no new officers were 

 elected, but the officers of this meeting were 

 continued until the union of societies should 

 be effected, or until the next annual meet- 

 ing, with authority to perfect all details of 

 the union. The address of the president, 

 entitled 'Morphology and Phylogeny' has 

 appeared in full in Science. The society 

 expressed by a special vote its great ap- 

 preciation and thanks for the gracious 

 hospitality of the viniversity, and for the 

 admirable arrangements of the local com- 

 mittee, which contributed so much to the 

 interest and success of the meeting. 



Since the Ann Arbor meeting the Botan- 

 ical Society of America and the American 

 Mycological Society, at their meetings at 

 New Orleans, have taken action with re- 

 spect to a union of botanical societies sim- 

 ilar to that taken by this society at Ann 

 Arbor. Accordingly a union of these three 

 societies into a single society of the widest 

 scope has been agreed upon and is expected 

 to be brought into effect during the present 

 year. The Ann Arbor meeting, therefore, 

 was the last to be held by this society 



