218 



SCIENCE 



[N. 8. Vol. XXXVIII. No. 972 



discussion with Section A on mathematical 

 geography, there will be a discussion on the 

 natural regions of the world, to be opened 

 by Professor A. J. Herbertson, of Oxford 

 University. In connection with the former 

 subject the work of the Ordnance Survey, 

 which has lately been submitted to some 

 severe tests, will come under consideration, 

 and a paper of special interest will be one 

 by Captain H. Winterbotham on the ac- 

 curacy of the principal triangulation of 

 Great Britain. Most of the papers at pres- 

 ent promised relate to questions of home 

 geography, but Professor J. W. Gregory 

 will deliver a lecture on Australia and Mr. 

 I. N. Dracopoli will give an account of his 

 recent travels in Jubaland, British East 

 Africa. 



The Eev. P. H. Wicksteed, M.A., who 

 will preside over Section P (Economic Sci- 

 ence and Statistics), intends to deal in his 

 address with the simplifications in the teach- 

 ing of political economy which appear to 

 him to follow naturally from the accept- 

 ance of the Jevonian, or marginal, theory 

 of distribution, and a frank abandonment 

 of the eost-of-production theory of value. 

 He will point out the confusion which has 

 arisen from the ambiguous use of the term 

 " marginal " — sometimes to signify the 

 least favorable conditions under which an 

 industry is pursued or the least efficient in- 

 dividual who pursues it, and sometimes to 

 signify the dependence of the exchange 

 value of any one of a group of indistin- 

 guishable individuals upon the contraction 

 or expansion of their number. An attempt 

 will be made to show that many of the cate- 

 gories and distinctions which still hold a 

 prominent place in the text-books — such 

 as the special laws of rent, interest, and 

 wages, the treatment of buyers and sellers 

 as opposed groups, the conception of in- 

 creasing and diminishing returns as rival 

 principles that divide the field of industry 



between them — should either be abandoned 

 or reduced to a secondary position. No 

 attempt will be made to introduce any new 

 principles, or to defend the ' ' marginal ' ' 

 theory against actual or possible attack; 

 Mr. Wicksteed will simply endeavor to de- 

 velop the modifications in the methods of 

 teaching and systematic exposition which, 

 in his opinion, follow upon adoption of the 

 theory. 



The chief subjects which will come under 

 consideration in the subsequent proceedings 

 of the section are the cost of living, inland 

 waterways, and trade unions in relation to 

 profit-sharing and co-partnership. The 

 discussion on the second of these subjects 

 promises to be specially interesting. Lord 

 Shuttleworth and Sir J. P. Griffith are 

 among those who have promised to read 

 papers, while Mr. Neville Chamberlain and 

 Sir J. Brunner are among those who are 

 expected to speak on the subject. A paper 

 by Professor S. J. Chapman will deal with 

 progressive taxation, and Professor A. W. 

 Xirkaldy will consider the economic effects 

 of the opening of the Panama Canal. Pro- 

 fessor A. L. Bowley will contribute to the 

 discussion on the cost of living a paper on 

 the relation between wholesale and retail 

 prices, with special reference to working- 

 class expenditure, and Mr. Cuthbertson 

 will contribute a paper on working men's 

 budgets. 



ELECTRIC RAILWAYS AND WIRELESS SIGNALS 



In Section G (Engineering) the presi- 

 dential chair will be occupied by Professor 

 Gisbert Kapp. His address wiU deal with 

 the electrification of main lines of railway. 

 The treatment will be non-mathematical, 

 and will be theoretical only in so far as it 

 is necessary to develop certain features on 

 a scientific basis. In the main the address 

 will be a statement of what has actually 

 been accomplished in this country and on 

 the continent, including technical details 



