918 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIII. No. 598. 



Various othei- lines of evidence all point to 

 the same conclusion — that every type of 

 earthquake phenomena was more pronounced 

 in the earlier than in either of the more recent 

 shocks. The destructiveness, owing to geo- 

 logic conditions, was somewhat greater at San 

 Francisco than at Charleston, although the 

 actual intensity of the Charleston shock was 

 greater. 



The New Madrid earthquake is believed to 

 have been due to faulting produced by local 

 overloading of the crust by the Mississippi 

 embayment deposits. Evidences of prehistoric 

 shocks have been found and it is known that 

 the readjustment is still in progress. Shocks 

 are to be expected in the future which may be 

 disastrous to the small towns near the Mis- 

 souri-Arkansas line, if not to the cities of 

 Memphis and Cairo, and possibly to St. Louis. 

 The cause of the Charleston shock was prob- • 

 ably similar to that at New Madrid, but 

 there are no indications of earlier disturb- 

 ances, and none of importance have occurred 

 since 1886. The conditions at that point are 

 not threatening. The San Francisco shock 

 was due to the readjustment of one or more 

 faults due to mountain-building forces which 

 have long been in operation. Evidences may 

 be seen of past disturbances far greater than 

 the present, and, while possibly the present 

 generation may have little to fear owing to 

 the temijorary equilibrium which has been 

 established, there will almost certainly be as 

 great or greater disturbances in the future as 

 in the past. Arthur C. Spencer, 



Secretary. 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



The 619th meeting was held May 19, 1906, 

 Vice-president Bauer in the chair. 



Announcement was made of the election of 

 ten new members. 



Memorial papers were read on three de- 

 ceased members, all connected with the Coast 

 and Geodetic Survey: On Mr. H. G. Ogden 

 and Mr. E. D. Preston, prepared by invitation 

 by Mr. W. B. Chilton, and on Mr. E. M. 

 Little, by Mr. L. P. Shidy. Further remarks 

 and personal tributes were added by Messrs. 

 Bauer, ITayford and Gore. s_ 



Several informal communications were then 

 made : 



Mr. Burbank had investigated the radio- 

 active substance in the atmosphere and finds 

 about twenty-five per cent, of it to be thorium. 



Mr. Wead pointed out the similarity be- 

 tween the increase in wave-length of spectral 

 lines in dense gases, found in Humphries's 

 experiments, and that indicated by the or- 

 dinary formula for vibration with high damp- 

 ing, and suggested new experiments. 



Mr. Hayford read a letter from M. Guil- 

 leaume, of the International Bureau, describ- 

 ing the recent measurement in the Simplon 

 tunnel of a twenty-kilometer base-line in three 

 days and nights, using his nickel-steel bars. 



Mr. Eosa called attention to the two illog- 

 ical terms in the table of lengths — the tenth- 

 meter and fi /x ; the logical series with ratio 

 1,000:1 would be: 



km, m, mm, fj., mfi, /xju. 



The society then adjourned till October 13. 

 Charles K. Wead, 



Secretary. 



the ST. LOUIS chemical SOCIETY. 



At the meeting of the society on May 14, 

 Mr. J. J. Kessler presented a paper entitled 

 ' The Physical Structure of Metals and Al- 

 loys.' The speaker dwelt on the light shed 

 on the mystery of alloys by physical chem- 

 istry and by microscopic examinations. The 

 minute structure of a material can not be re- 

 vealed by purely chemical examination, but it 

 is revealed in the microscope. The speaker 

 then explained the preparation of the surface 

 for microscopic examination by polishing and 

 etching. The paper was profusely illustrated 

 by excellent slides made from microphoto- 

 graphs of all phases of structure of both pure 

 metals and alloys. C. J. Borgmeyer, 



Corresponding Secretary. 



COLORADO CONFERENCE OF SCIENCE WORKERS. 



A STATE conference of science workers was 

 held in Boulder at the University of Colorado 

 on May 4 and 5, 1906. The program of the 

 conference was as follows and all papers were 

 presented by the authors. 



