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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLII. No. 1083 



January 5, 1909, a Second Pan-American 

 Scientific Congress will meet in Washington 

 next December under the auspices of the gov- 

 ernment of the United States. The congress 

 will open on Monday, December 27, 1915, and 

 adjourn on Saturday, January 8, 1916. 



The executive committee of the congress is 

 as follows : 



William PhilUps, A.B., third assistant secretary 

 of state, chairman ex-officio. 



James Brown Scott, J.TJ.D., secretary, Carnegie 

 Endowment for International Peace, vice chairman. 



William H. Welch, M.D., LL.D., president, Na- 

 tional Academy of Sciences, honorary vice chair- 

 man. 



John Barrett, LL.D., director general, Pan-Amer- 

 ican Union. 



W. H. Bixby, Brigadier General, U. S. A., re- 

 tired. 



Philander P. Claxton, LL.D., commissioner of 

 education. 



William C. Gorgas, M.D., Sc.D., surgeon general, 

 V. S. A. 



William H. Holmes, B.S., head curator, Smith- 

 sonian Institution. 



Hennen Jennings, C.E., former president, Lon- 

 don Institution Mining and Metallurgy. 



George M. Rommel, B.-S., chief. Animal Hus- 

 bandry Division, Bureau of Animal Industry, De- 

 partment of Agriculture. 



L. 8. Rowe, Ph.D., president, American Academy 

 of Political and Social Science. 



Robert S. Woodward, Ph.D., president, Carnegie 

 Institution of Washington. 



The organization officers are: 



John Barrett, LL.D., secretary general 



Glen Levin Swiggett, Ph.D., assistant secretary 



The headquarters are at the Pan-American 

 Union, Washington, D. C. 



The Pan-American Scientific Congress had 

 its origin in the scientific congresses that had 

 been held by the republics of Latin America 

 prior to the congress in Santiago, and was 

 established with the generous conviction that 

 the United States should share in their under- 

 taking. This conviction was splendidly shown 

 in the unsolicited and voluntary action of the 

 first congress in the selection of Washington 

 as the place of meeting of the second congress, 

 the main purpose of which will be to increase 



the exchange of knowledge and bring about a 

 better understanding of the ways in which the 

 several republics can work to the advancement 

 of science, the increase of culture and the pro- 

 motion of trade, commerce and mutual help- 

 fulness. In view of the fact that this second 

 congress is to be held under the auspices of the 

 government of the United States, it is earn- 

 estly hoped that our foremost scientists, 

 learned societies and educational institutions 

 will cooperate in every way possible in order 

 to insure the success of the congress. 



The nine main sections of the program of 

 the congress, with the name of the chairman in 

 charge of each section, are as follows: 

 I. Anthropology, Mr. William H. Holmes. 



II. Astronomy, Meteorology and Seismology, 

 Mr. Robert S. Woodward. 



III. Conservation of Natural Resources, Agricul- 



ture, Irrigation and Forestry, Mr. George 

 M. Rommel. 



IV. Education, Mr. P. P. Claxton. 



V. Engineering, General W. H. Bixby. 

 VI. International Law, Public Law and Juris- 

 prudence, Mr. James Brown Scott. 

 VII. Mining and Metallurgy, Economic Geology 

 and Applied Chemistry, Mr. Hennen Jen- 

 nings. 

 VIII. Public Health and Medical Science, General 

 Wm. C. Gorgas. 

 IX. Transportation, Commerce, Finance and Tax- 

 ation, Mr. L. S. Rowe. 



Each section is divided further into sub- 

 sections. There are forty-five of the latter in 

 aU, each with a special committee and pro- 

 gram. The deliberations of the congress wiU 

 be based, in consequence, according to the 

 subject-matter to be discussed in the various 

 sub-sections. In addition to the general ses- 

 sions of the congress, there will be joint ses- 

 sions between the different sections and sub- 

 sections. Several of the leading national asso- 

 ciations of the United States, concerned with 

 the investigation of subjects of pertinent in- 

 terest to some of the sections of the congress, 

 have received and accepted invitations from 

 the executive committee of the Second Pan- 

 American Scientific Congress to meet in Wash- 

 ington at the same time and hold one or more 



