968 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXII. No. 835 



its length. The discrepancies heretofore found 

 with thermo-couples were shown to be avoidable 

 when suitable precautions are taken. The sul- 

 phur boiling point, therefore, under readily real- 

 izable and reproducible experimental conditions, 

 appears to be the best defined and most repro- 

 ducible of all the fixed points, melting or boiling 

 temperatures, furnished hitherto by any of the 

 chemical elements. 



R. L. Faeis, 



Secretary 



THE AMERICAN CHEinCAL SOCIETY 

 NEW YOEK SECTION 



The third regular meeting of the session of 

 1910-11 was held at the Chemists' Club on De- 

 cember 9 in conjunction with the American Insti- 

 tute of Chemical Engineers, who were holding a 

 general meeting in New York at the time. 



The evening was devoted to a symposium on 

 sewage disposal, in which the following addresses 

 were made: 



" The Principles of Sewage Disposal," Geo. C. 

 Whipple. 



" Sewage Disposal in Europe," Rudolph Hering. 



" Sewage Disposal in New York and Vicinity," 

 Geo. A. Soper. 



" Sanitary Conditions in their Relation to the 

 Water Supplies in the Vicinity of New York," 

 Nicholas S. Hill, Jr. 



" The Unsolved Problems of Sewage Disposal," 

 Chas. E.-A. Winslow. 



C. M. Joyce, 



Secretary 



THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



The 10th annual business meeting of the so- 

 ciety was held on Saturday, November 12, 1910. 

 OfBcers were elected as follows: President, W. J. 

 Spillman; Vice-president, R. H. True; Recording 

 Secretary, W. A. Orton; Corresponding Secretary, 

 W. W. Stockberger; Treasurer, F. L. Lewton. 

 The executive committee announced an active 

 membership of ninety, there having been fourteen 

 accessions during the year. 



The 67th regular meeting of the society was 

 held at the Cosmos Club on Friday, December 2, 

 1910, at eight o'clock p.m., with President Spill- 

 man in the chair. Thirty-nine members were 

 present. Dr. C. F. Clark, W. W. Eggleston, Paul 

 Standley and G. T. Harrington were admitted to 

 membership. 



The following papers were read: 



Effect of Variation in Light on Sugar Production 



in Beets: H. B. Shaw. 



Identical strains of high-grade sugar beets were 

 observed to yield widely varying percentages of 

 sugar in diflferent localities. Variations in meth- 

 ods of cultivation, fertilization and in soil do not 

 appear sufficient to account for this. Therefore 

 experiments were carried on to determine the in- 

 fluence of variation in the intensity of sunlight. 



During 1909 and 1910 sugar beets in the open 

 field in Utah were treated as follows : a portion of 

 a long row was left under ordinary field condi- 

 tions, a portion of the same row was shaded with 

 one thickness of white bunting, another part with 

 two-fold bunting and the remainder of the row 

 with three-fold bunting, during the entire season. 



The more striking results are tabulated below: 



Relative Light Intensities 



(Based on the actual duration of bright sunshine 



and diffused light for the entire season.) 



Single 2-£old 3-fold 

 Open bunt- bunt- bunt- 

 row ing ing ing 

 100 32.2 16.7 9.7 



Relative Temperatures 

 Shade 



82°F. 112°F. lOO^F. 96°F. 94°F. 

 Analyses of the Beets 

 Weight (av.) in oz. .. 27.76 11.08 3.84 1.75 

 Total sugar in beet 



(oz.) 3.80 1.33 0.32 0.15 



Average per cent, sugar 



in beet 13.70 12.00 8.30 6.00 



Purity 76.70 81.00 66.00 61.00 



Relative proportion of 



sugar 25.33 8.86 2.10 I.OO 



Smelter Injury to Forests: Dr. Geo. G. Hedgcock. 

 The full paper will be published later as a 

 Bulletin of the Bureau of Plant Industry. 

 Cultivation of Tobacco in Cuba: Dr. H. Hassel- 



BEING. 



In this paper, which was illustrated by photo- 

 graphs, the general methods practised in tobacco 

 culture were described. The peculiar methods of 

 obtaining seed and handling seedlings were em- 

 phasized. Seed is collected from suckers and is 

 usually sent to the mountains where the seedlings 

 are grown in fresh soil. At planting time the 

 seedlings are packed in bales and shipped to the 

 various parts of the island where they are needed 

 and frequently many days elapse before they are 

 set in the fields. W. W. Stockbekgeb, 



Corresponding Secretary 



