SCIENCE 



A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 



OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 



FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE . 



Friday, March 22, 1907 



CONTENTS 



The American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science: — 

 Clocks — Ancient and Modern: Professob 



W. S. ElCHELBERGER 441 



Section C and the American Chemical So- 

 ciety: C. E. Waters 452 



Scientific Books: — 



Davenport on Inheritance in Poultry: Pro- 

 fessor T. H. Morgan 464 



Societies and Academies: — ■ 



The Philosophical Society of Washington: 

 R. L. Faris. The Chemical Society of 

 Washington: J. A. LeClerc. The Elisha 

 Mitchell Scientific Society: Professor Al- 

 viN S. Wheeler . . 466 



Discussion and Correspondence: — 



The ' First Species ' and the ' First Re- 

 viser ' : PRESiDr.NT David Starr Jordan. 

 Spencer F. Baird: T. D. A. C. Monument 

 to Mendel: Dr. W. J. Spillman. Associ- 

 ated Press Fakes: C. A 467 



Special Articles : — . . 



Recent Discussions of the Origin of Oym- 

 nosperms : Edward W. Berry 470 



Botanical Notes: — 



The Collection and Study of Vegetable 

 Galls; More Philippine Botany; Effects of 

 Shading on Soil Conditions: Professor 

 Chaeles E. Besset 472 



Benri Moissan: Professor Charles G. Dore- 

 Mus 473 



John Krom Rees: Professor Harold Jacobt 475 



Commission on Agricultural Research 477 



Seventh International Congress of Physiolo- 

 gists 477 



The Central Branch of the American Society 

 of Naturalists 477 



Scientific Notes and News 477 



University and Educational News 480 



MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., Intended for 

 review should be sent to the Editor of Science, Garrison-on- 

 Hudson. N. Y. 



THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE 



ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE 



CLOCKS— ANCIENT AND MODERN^ 



Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: 



To those who have never had an oppor- 

 tunity to acquaint themselves with the 

 history of the development of the modern 

 clock, I wish to say that no attempt will be 

 made to trace out that development. Time 

 will not permit, as those familiar with the 

 subject well know. I only wish to call to 

 your attention a few points that I hope 

 may be of general interest. 



In Nepal, a small independent state 

 situated on the northeastern frontier of 

 Hindustan, there is still practised what 

 is one of the crudest and probably earliest 

 methods of measuring time. A copper 

 vessel with a small hole in the bottom floats 

 on water, sinks and fills sixty times a day. 

 Each time it fills a gong, or ghari, is struck, 

 in progressive numbers from dawn to noon ; 

 after noon the first gong struck indicates 

 the number of gharis which remain of the 

 day until sunset. Day is considered to 

 begin when the tiles of a house can be 

 counted or when the hairs on the back of 

 a man's hand can be discerned against the 

 sky. The day is divided into 60 gharis 

 of 24 minutes each, each ghari into 60 palas 

 and each pala into 60 bipalas. 



Leaving India for Sumatra and stepping 

 aboard a Malay proa we should there find, 

 floating in a bucket of water, a cocoanut 

 shell having a small perforation, through 



' Address of tlie retiring vice-president of Sec- 

 tion A, American Association for the Advancement 

 of Science. 



