206 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIV. No. 



Perkins and W. J. Pope a paper on " Optic- 

 ally Active Systems containing no Asym- 

 metric Atom," and Dr. W. Lewis a paper on 

 the " Compressibility of Mercury." There 

 will also be presented reports on " Electric 

 Steel Furnaces," by Professor McWilliam, 

 and " Solubility " by Dr. J. B. Eyre, as well 

 as the reports of the research committees. 



The president of Section C (Geology), Mr. 

 A. Harker, proposes to deal in his presiden- 

 tial address with some aspects of the distribu- 

 tion of igneous rocks in " petrographical 

 provinces " and the relations of these to the 

 larger structure features of the globe. It is 

 hoped to arrange for joint meetings with the 

 Geographical Section, both for the considera- 

 tion of the former connection between the 

 South Coast of England and the Isle of 

 Wight and for the consideration jointly with 

 the Botanical Section of the plant life of the 

 British Isles in relation to the glacial epoch. 



In his presidential address to Section D 

 (Zoology), Professor D'Arcy W. Thompson 

 will deal with some of the new developments 

 and problems of biology that have come into 

 prominence during the past quarter of a cen- 

 tury. 



The debt which geography owes to the 

 army and navy has been illustrated at several 

 of the British Association meetings in re- 

 cent years by the presence of a military or 

 naval officer at the head of Section E. This 

 year the geographers will meet under the 

 presidency of Colonel C. F. Close, E.E. In 

 the first part of his address he will discuss the 

 purpose and position of geography, with 

 special reference to its relations to other sub- 

 jects. In order to ascertain the content of the 

 subject, the last five years' work of the Royal 

 Geographical Society will be examined and 

 analyzed. The general eifect of the work of 

 geographical societies, schools and congresses 

 will be indicated and an attempt made to 

 determine the actual position of geography 

 in the world of science. In the latter part of 

 his address Major Close will give an account 

 of the various ways in which the government 

 departments have assisted the cause of geog- 

 raphy, notably in the matter of mapping the 



empire. He will indicate the very large 

 amount of this work which is being carried 

 out all over the world, and will briefiy describe 

 some of the most important surveys. As re- 

 gards the work of the section generally, an 

 attempt has been made to arrange mainly for 

 the discussion of a few subjects illustrating 

 the advancement of geographical science, 

 rather than for a multitude of separate 

 papers. The way in which geography enters 

 into every sphere of expanding activity will 

 be demonstrated in a discussion on The Air- 

 man's Eequirements, which it is hoped will 

 be opened by Captain Bertram Dickson. 

 Others expected to take part in this discus- 

 sion are Captain Broke-Smith, of the Army 

 Air Battalion; Mr. Eric H. Clift, Captain H. 

 E. Wood, Captain Archibald E. Low, and 

 Captain E. A. Sykes. A number of papers 

 will relate to the sea. Mr. A. E. Hinks has 

 promised a paper on the " Shape of the Sea 

 Surface " ; M. Ed. Henrici another on " Mean 

 Sea Level " ; Professor C. Pettersson will re- 

 port the results of some " Eecent Experi- 

 ments on the Tidal Movements of the Deep 

 Water of the Kattegat," and Dr. Gustav Ek- 

 man will describe some " Experiments with 

 Automatic Current Measurements in the 

 Open Sea." There will be a joint meeting 

 with the geologists and botanists for the con- 

 sideration of the relation of the present plant 

 population of the British Isles to the Glacial 

 Period, and probably another joint meeting 

 with the geologists to discuss the former con- 

 nection of the Isle of Wight with the main- 

 land. Among various other contributions 

 will be a lecture by Captain C. G. Eawling, 

 of the British expedition to Dutch New 

 Guinea, and a paper on " Mapping of 

 Thermal Eegions " by Professor A. J. Her- 

 bertson. 



Section F (Economic Science and Statis- 

 tics) will have as its president the Hon. W. 

 Pember Eeeves, formerly High Commissioner 

 for New Zealand, and now Director of the 

 London School of Economics. His opening 

 address will deal with the subject of land 

 taxation. In the later proceedings of the sec- 

 tion, a discussion on land value taxes will be 



