SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIII. No. 1110 



reconsider the vote fixing the annual meeting 

 of the society in September. The circum- 

 stances of the case are explained in the follow- 

 ing' letter from the secretary of the society, 

 Dr. Charles L. Parsons, addressed to the mem- 

 bers of the council on March 2 : 



On February 14 a letter was received from Pro- 

 fessor W. A. Noyes moving reconsideration of the 

 recent vote selecting the date of September 25, 

 1916, for the time of our annual meeting rather 

 than Convocation Week in December. Under vote 

 of the council [Proc, 1912, p. 43], it is necessary 

 that the president certify to the urgency of this 

 vote before it can be sent to the council. After 

 some correspondence between Professor Noyes and 

 President Herty, I am this morning in receipt of a 

 letter from President Herty certifying to the 

 urgency of the matter, and Professor Noyes 's mo- 

 tion to reconsider is accordingly submitted to you 

 for your opinion. Professor Noyes 's motion and 

 President Herty 's letter to me regarding the mat- 

 ter follow: 



"February 10, 1916. 

 "Pkopessok C. L. Paksons, 



Washington, D. C 



' ' Dear Professor Parsons : In the recent vote of 

 the council on the date of the fall or winter meet- 

 ing of the American Chemical Society I voted in 

 favor of the September date in order that I might 

 move a reconsideration of the question. I can not 

 believe that the members of the council, in voting 

 as they have, gave due consideration to the follow- 

 ing points which favor the December date : 



"I. A plan has been carefully formed to bring 

 all of the scientific interests of the country together 

 in one city once in five years. The December date 

 •was set in order to carry out this plan for the first 

 time. It seems only fair that the chemists of the 

 country should cooperate in carrying out this im- 

 portant scheme. 



"2. The date in September which is proposed 

 is at a time when practically all of the professors 

 and teachers in our colleges and universities are 

 busy with the opening of the year 's work and very 

 few of this class of our members would find it pos- 

 sible to attend the meeting. 



' ' I move, therefore, that the motion fixing the 

 date of the meeting in September be reconsidered. 



"I also move that in ease the motion to recon- 

 sider carries the fixing of the date of the meeting 

 be left to the directors, or, if they prefer, post- 



poned till the April meeting of the council. 

 "Very respectfully, 



"W. A. Noyes" 



"February 29, 1916. 

 "Dk. Charles D. Pabsons, Secretary, 



American Chemical Society, 

 Box 505, Washington, D. 0. 



"My dear Dr. Parsons: In the recent letter bal- 

 lot of the council, held for the purpose of advis- 

 ing the president and secretary as to the wishes of 

 the council regarding the time for holding the 

 1916 annual meeting. Dr. W. A. Noyes voted in 

 favor of the September date in order to move a 

 reconsideration. He now so moves, with the addi- 

 tion that in case of reconsideration the matter be 

 left to the decision of the directors. 



"Under the action of the council at the 1911 

 Washington meeting it becomes my duty to pass 

 upon the urgency of this motion. 



"While simultaneous action on the two mo- 

 tions is somewhat unparliamentary, nevertheless in 

 view of the desirability of settling this matter as 

 promptly as possible, I beg to certify to the 

 urgency of Dr. Noyes 's motion for reconsidera- 

 tion, and request that you will submit the matter 

 to the council immediately for letter ballot. 



' ' I regret that I can not agree with the author 

 of the motion in his desire that the annual meet- 

 ing this year should be held in December, rather 

 than in September as has been decided by the 

 votes of so large a proportion of the council. 



' ' Under normal conditions I would favor most 

 heartily the policy of meeting quadrennially with 

 the American Association for the Advancement of 

 Science. At the Cincinnati meeting I spoke most 

 earnestly in behalf of this policy, but this is an 

 entirely different world from what it was at that 

 time. 



"As a result of the European war chemistry 

 has received a tremendous impulse in this country; 

 the general public has been aroused to its impor- 

 tance to the welfare of the country; and this year 

 of all others it is extremely desirable that we 

 should have at our annual meeting the largest 

 gathering of chemists that this country has ever 

 known, for there are many problems, the solution 

 of which demands personal conferences by men 

 from every section of the country. There is need 

 for the presence of both the men from the uni- 

 versities and the men of the industries at such con- 

 ferences, and there is need of the greatest legiti- 

 mate publicity of our work and aims. 



