876 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIII. No. 597. 



a Eowland concave grating with photographic 

 appliances; the work was comparatively rapid 

 and the results highly accurate. Nearly all 

 the metals had been used. The displacement 

 of the lines toward the red as the pressure in- 

 creased came out very clearly in the lantern 

 slides and the magnitude of the shift was 

 stated to be related to the periodic law. 



Mr. N. E. Dorsey discussed 'A Possible 

 Eelation connecting Surface Tension, Mol- 

 ecidar Weight and Dielectric Constant.' He 

 pointed out that KM'T/D'' is of the same 

 order of magnitude for all the liquids for 

 which sufficient data are obtainable, and gave 

 reasons for suspecting that such should be the 

 case. Here K = dielectric constant, T = sur- 

 face tension, M = molecular weight and D = 

 density. 



the president presented informally the un- 

 solved physical problem of the formation of 

 hailstones. Chaeles K. Wead, 



Secretary. 



THE ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY OF 

 THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



The 164th meeting was held on Tuesday 

 evening, March 13, at 1 :30 o'clock. Dr. F. P. 

 Venable, president of the university, addressed 

 the society on ' The Progress of Chemical 

 Research in the United States.' Dr. Venable 

 gave this address recently in New Orleans 

 before the American Chemical Society as its 

 retiring president. 



The 165th meeting was held on Tuesday 

 evening, April 10, at 7:30 o'clock. Professor 

 William Cain, professor of mathematics and 

 a civil engineer, gave the society a most in- 

 teresting account of ' The Panama Canal.' 



The 166th meeting was held on Tuesday 

 evening, May 8, at 7:30 o'clock. The follow- 

 ing papers were given: 



Mr. N. C. Curtis : ' An Architectural Scheme 

 for the University Buildings.' 



Professor C. H. Hebtt : ' Recent Work in 

 Osmosis.' A. S. Wheeler, 



Recording Secretary. 



THE MISSOURI SOCIETY OF TEACHERS OP 

 MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE. 



The second annual meeting of the Missouri 

 Society of Teachers of Mathematics was held 



in Columbia, Mo., May 5, 1906. This society 

 was organized a little over a year ago exclu- 

 sively for teachers of mathematics. In re- 

 sponse to the request of many teachers of 

 science steps were taken which resulted in 

 the adoption at the last meeting of amend- 

 ments to the constitution, enlarging the scope 

 of the society so as to include teachers of 

 science, and providing for meetings of a divi- 

 sion of mathematics and a division of science 

 in addition to joint meetings. Provision was 

 made to send delegates to cooperate in the 

 completion of the organization of a national 

 society. A committee was appointed to coop- 

 erate with committees from similar societies 

 to discuss matters relating to instruction in 

 elementary physics. 



The program of the day consisted of a 

 business meeting and a forenoon and after- 

 noon meeting of each of the two divisions. 

 Mr. H. C. Harvey, of Kirksville, presided at 

 the business meeting and at the division of 

 mathematics. Mr. F. N. Peters presided at 

 the division of science. Mr. J. W. Withers 

 was elected president for the coming year. 

 In addition to individual papers in each divi- 

 sion, a round-table discussion of the teaching 

 of elementary algebra was held which was 

 participated in also by a number of teachers 

 of physics. On the whole, a very encouraging 

 interest was manifested in the work of the 

 society. 



A complete program and abstracts of the 

 papers presented will be published in School 

 Science and Mathematics, the official organ of 

 the society. 



L. D. Ames, 

 Secretary. 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 



A PliEA TO MAKE THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 

 A NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF RESEARCH. 



There is great need in this country to-day 

 of a place where advanced investigators can 

 go, as they can to the great German universi- 

 ties, and carry out researches in an atmosphere 

 of investigation, such as is only created by 

 the friction of young and vigorous but trained 

 intellects. 



In our universities the pedagogic element is 



