838 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIV. No. 885 



In memory of Mungo Park and Eichard 

 Lander, who explored the course of the river 

 Niger, it is proposed to erect an obelisk of 

 similar design and dimensions to Cleopatra's 

 Needle, on a projecting point of land at For- 

 cados. 



Professoe Stohe, director of the Anatom- 

 ical Institute at Wiirzburg, died on November 

 4, aged sixty-two years. 



The death is announced of Dr. F. Bente, 

 director for many years of the control station 

 for fertilizers, feeding stuffs, foods and seeds 

 at Ebstorf, Prussia. 



Professor Alfred Cole, secretary of Sec- 

 tion B, writes that at the annual meeting of 

 the American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science, at Washington, December 

 27-30, 1911, Section B (physics), will, as 

 usual, hold joint sessions with the American 

 Physical Society. The place of meeting will 

 be at the Bureau of Standards. The ordinary 

 program of papers will be in charge of the 

 officers of the Physical Society, but the two 

 sessions on Thursday, December 28, will be 

 devoted to papers of more general scientific 

 interest and will be in charge of Section B. 

 At the forenoon session of that day the ad- 

 dress of the president of the Physical Society, 

 Professor W. F. Magie, will be given, the 

 subject being " Primary Concepts of Physics." 

 This will be followed by a symposium on 

 " The Ether," led by Professor A. A. Michel- 

 son, who will be followed by Professor A. G. 

 Webster, C. E. Mendenhall and others. At 

 the afternoon session there wiU be the ad- 

 dress by the retiring chairman of Section B, 

 Professor E. B. Rosa, on " The Work of the 

 Electrical Division of the Bureau of Stand- 

 ards " ; a paper by Professor H. A. Wilson, of 

 Montreal, on the " Structure of the Atom " 

 and (probably) one by Dr. S. W. Stratton, on 

 " Physical Work at the Bureau of Stand- 

 ards." Other addresses of special interest to 

 physicists will be that of Professor A. L. 

 Eotch before Section D on " Aerial Engineer- 

 ing" (unfortunately set for Thursday after- 

 noon) and that of the retiring president of 

 the American Association, Professor A. A. 



Michelson, on " Recent Progress in Spectro- 

 scopic Methods," on Wednesday evening, De- 

 cember 27, at 8 P.M. The New Ebbitt House 

 is selected as hotel headquarters for physicists. 

 It is located at 14th and F Streets. Rates, 

 European plan, $1.50 without bath, $2.00- 

 $2.50 with bath. At recent meetings the plan 

 of getting together at one hotel has added 

 much to the pleasure and profit of the meet- 

 ing. It would be well to reserve hotel accom- 

 modation at once. Abstracts of papers to be 

 presented should be sent as soon as possible to 

 the secretary of the Physical Society, Pro- 

 fessor Ernest Merritt, Cornell University, 

 Ithaca, N. Y. The program of the meeting 

 wUl be mailed on December 15. Except by 

 special action of the program committee, no 

 more than ten minutes can be allowed for the 

 presentation of each paper. Attention is also 

 directed to the council rule which forbids the 

 secretary to place a title upon the program 

 until an abstract (not necessarily for publica- 

 tion) is in his hands. 



The thirteenth meeting of the Astronom- 

 ical and Astrophysieal Society of America will 

 be held at the Carnegie Institution, Washing- 

 ton, D. C, on Wednesday, Thursday and Fri- 

 day, December 27-29, 1911. This particular 

 time and place have been chosen for an extra 

 meeting for the purpose of bringing the so- 

 ciety both as individuals and as an organiza- 

 tion into closer touch with the American Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science. A 

 joint session with Section A of the American 

 Association for the Advancement of Science 

 has been arranged for Friday morning. The 

 program of this session will include the ad- 

 dress by the retiring chairman of Section A, 

 Professor E. H. Moore ; a paper on the " As- 

 teroid Problem," by Reverend J. H. Metcalf, 

 and probably, also, a paper by Professor Lewis 

 Boss on his recent stellar researches. On 

 Wednesday evening there will be a reception 

 at the Naval Observatory tendered by the 

 superintendent and staff to the officers and 

 members of the society. On Thursday after- 

 noon the members will visit the Astrophysieal 

 Observatory of the Smithsonian Institution. 



