Mat 15, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



781 



distribution, seem to represent the fibers 

 ■which, in a spinal nerve, form the ramus dor- 

 salis. The fibers of both sorts which pass 

 anterior to the vagus seem to indicate the 

 remnants of a ventral root to the glosso- 

 pharyngeal nerve. 



Professor Minot in conclusion spoke of the 

 relations of the new department of compara- 

 tive anatomy to the general work of the school. 

 The department was organized through the 

 interest of President Eliot, with the intention 

 of broadening the scope of the scientific work 

 in the new buildings, and of cooperating with 

 investigators in anatomy, physiology and 

 pathology. It is expected that it will eon- 

 tribute an essential part to the advanced 

 teaching and research for which the new labo- 

 ratories are specially designed and endowed. 

 The old department of histology and embry- 

 ology has been merged with comparative anat- 

 omy, to the financial advantage of the school. 

 The chief energy of the new department is 

 devoted to the first-year teaching. The in- 

 struction is designed, not to produce specialists 

 in anatomy, but to meet the needs of practi- 

 tioners in medicine, and to prepare students 

 for their later work in the school. In the 

 fourth year there are courses for specialists 

 both in clinical subjects and in anatomy. 

 The papers read at this meeting indicate the 

 scope and variety of the research work going 

 on in the department. 



THE AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY 



The one hundred and thirty-eighth regular 

 meeting of the society was held at Columbia 

 University on Saturday, April 25, extending 

 through the usual morning and afternoon ses- 

 sions. The attendance included thirty-five 

 members. President H. S. White occupied the 

 chair, being relieved at the afternoon session 

 by Professor C. J. Keyser. The following 

 new members were elected: Professor H. E. 

 Buchanan, Lincoln College, Lincoln, HI.; 

 Mr. E. E. A. Carey, University of California; 

 Professor E. E. Chapman, Southern Univer- 

 sity, Greensboro, Ala.; Professor E. C. Mac- 

 laurin, Columbia University; Mr. E. J. Miles, 

 University of Chicago; Mr. C. A. Stiles, Uni- 

 versity Preparatory School, Ithaca, N. T.; 



Mr. J. S. Thompson, Mutual Life Insurance 

 Company, New York; Mr. 0. A. Turney, 

 Phoenix, Ariz.; Mr. C. B. Walsh, Ethical 

 Culture School, New York; Professor R. T. 

 Wilbur, Christian Brothers College, St. Louis; 

 Miss E. R. Worthington, Yale University. 

 Ten applications for membership were re- 

 ceived. 



Professor E. B. Van Vleck was reelected a 

 member of the editorial committee of the 

 Transactions, to serve until 1911. It was 

 decided to hold the summer meeting and col- 

 loquium of the society in 1909 at Princeton 

 University, and Professors Fine, Osgood, Hol- 

 gate and the secretary were appointed a com- 

 mittee to make appropriate arrangements. A 

 committee consisting of Professors P. E. 

 Smith, Keyser and Bliss was appointed to 

 consider the advisability of holding the annual 

 meeting of the society at Baltimore in affilia- 

 tion with the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science. 



The following papers were read at this 

 meeting : 



S. E. Slocum : " The collapse of tubes under 

 external pressure." 



E. B. Wilson : " On the differential equations 

 of the equilibrium of an inextensible string." 



E. B. WnsoN : " On the principle of relativity." 



E. Swift : " Note on the second variation in an 

 isoperimetrio problem." 



J. I. Hutchinson : " The hypergeometric fimc- 

 tions of n variables." 



E. Kasnek : " Note on Meusnier's theorem." 



B. F. FiNKEL : " Determination of the groups 

 of order 2'"' which contain self-conjugate cyclic 

 subgroups of order 2™-'' and whose generating 

 operations correspond to the partitions [m — 4, 

 4], [ot — 4, 3, 1]." 



J. W. YoTJNG : " Two-dimensional chains and the 

 classification of complex collineations in a plane." 



C. N. Moore : " On certain constants analogous 

 to Fourier's constants." 



P. Satjbel : " On the distance from a point to 

 a surface." 



E. B. Lttle : " Multiple integrals over iterable 

 fields." 



P. A. Lambert : " The fundamental theorem of 

 algebra." 



E. V. Huntington : " On the fluctuations in the 

 speed of a flywheel." 



E. V. Huntington : " On the theory of the gyro- 



