October 8, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



473 



The scientific sessions were chiefly held 

 in the University of California, the presi- 

 dent and faculty uniting in cordial hospi- 

 tality throughout the week. Half days 

 and evenings were partly given to visits to 

 the Exposition. The general evening re- 

 ception in the California State Building 

 was delightfully arranged. One of the 

 very enjoyable features of the meeting was 

 Stanford University Day, Wednesday, 

 August sixth, during which Ex-president 

 Jordan, President Branner and the faculty 

 of the university acted as hosts at Palo 

 Alto. 



The excursions were admirably arranged, 

 extending to every part of California, and 

 it may be said that no other state is so 

 crowded with scientific interest. In the 

 presence of living volcanoes, living glaciers 

 and great recent earthquakes one finds geo- 

 logic history still being written. The state 

 is absolutely unique also in many of the 

 features of its present abounding animal 

 and vegetable life, especially perhaps in 

 its forest and desert floras, and is no less 

 unique in many features of its coastal 

 Pacific life. 



The central subject of the natural history 

 of California, of the Pacific coast, and of 

 the Pacific ocean naturally dominated the 

 meetings, especially those in geology, 

 paleontology, seismology, botany, zoology 

 and anthropology. Thus the programs of 

 all of the sessions, which were throughout 

 of exceptional interest, were chiefly devoted 

 to what may be called the science of the 

 coast, with a lesser amount of time assigned 

 for general papers. For the public of San 

 Francisco three evening public addresses, 

 also on Pacific problems, were delivered by 

 Professor Daly of Harvard, Professor 

 Scott of Princeton and Professor Reinseh, 

 U. S. Ambassador to China. The geol- 

 ogists and paleontologists united in a series 

 of spirited discussions on the means of 



determining the time relations of great 

 events in the past history of the state of 

 California and events in other parts of 

 the United States and the Old World. 

 These two societies seldom have had more 

 important programs or a more valuable 

 series of contributions than those presented 

 by the leading geologists of California and 

 by the invited geologists and paleontologists 

 from the east. Especially noteworthy was 

 the contribution on the correlation of the 

 Triassie by James Perrin Smith of Stan- 

 ford University. The Astronomical Soci- 

 ety also had a full and influential meeting 

 in joint session with Section A of the asso- 

 ciation, concluding with enjoyable excur- 

 sions to the Lick Observatory and to the 

 Mt. Wilson Observatory near Pasadena. 



Taken altogether the entire program 

 proved to be very stimulating to all those 

 who came from other sections of the coun- 

 try. The broad conception of the original 

 purposes of the association, which distin- 

 guishes our sister associations of Great 

 Britain and the continent, was manifest 

 throughout and rendered the Pacific Coast 

 meeting one of the most notable and mem- 

 orable in our history. 



Henry Fairfield Osbobn 



PEOCEEDINGS OF THE MEETING 

 The opening session of the Pacific Coast 

 meeting of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science and of affiliated so- 

 cieties was held on Monday morning, August 

 2, in the Scottish Rite Auditorium, San Fran- 

 cisco. At this session the following addresses 

 were given : 



Address of welcome on behalf of the Panama- 

 Paeifie International Exposition, William Henry 

 Crocker, first vice-president of the Panama-Pacific 

 International Exposition. 



Address of welcome on behalf of the Pacific Di- 

 vision of the American Association for the Ad- 

 vancement of Science, Benjamin Ide Wheeler, 

 president of the University of California. 



