SCIENCE 



Editorial Committeb : S. Nkwcomb, Mathematics ; E. S. Woodwaed, Mechanics ; E. C. Pickering, 



Astronomy; T. C. Mendknhall, Physics; E. H. Thurston, Engineering; Ira Eemsen, Chemistry; 



J. Le Conte, Geology; "W. M. Davis, Physiography; O. C. Maesh, Paleontology; W. K. Brooks, 



C. Hart Meeeiam, Zoology; S. H. Scuddee, Entomology; C. E. Bessey, N. L. Britton, 



Botany; Heney F. Osboen, General Biology; C. S. MiNOT, Embryology, Histology; 



H. P. Bowditch, Physiology; J. S. Billings, Hygiene; J. McKeen Cattkll, 



Psychology; Daniel G. Beinton, J. W. Powell, Anthropology. 



Friday, August 26, 1898. 



CONTENTS: 



Address of the President lefore the American Associ- 

 ation for the Advancement of Science : Peofes- 

 soR Wolcott Gibes 233 



A Half Century of Evolution, with Special Reference 

 to the Effects of Geological Changes on Animal 

 Life: Professor Alpheds S. Packard 243 



Botanical Notes : — 



Asparagus Bust; Poisonous Plants; Edible and 

 Poisonous Fungi : Peofessoe Chaeles E. 

 Bessey 257 



Current Notes on Meteorology : — 

 Report of the Chief of the Weather Bureau ; Tlie 

 Mauritius Observatory; West Indian Hurricanes: 

 E. Dec. Ward. 259 



Current Notes on Anthropology : — 



Pygmy Tribe in America ; The Turanians Again ; 

 Tlie Influence of Cities in Modern Life : Peofes- 

 soe D. G. Beinton 260 



Scientific Notes and News : — 

 Degrees Conferred by the University of Edinburgh ; 

 General 261 



University and Educational News 265 



Discussion and Correspondence : — 

 An American Blue Grotto : De. H. Caeeing- 

 TON Bolton. The Delusion of Atavism: F. 

 A. L 266 



Scientific Literature: — 



Lafar's Technical Mycology: Peofessor H. L. 

 Eussell. Anderson on Extinct Civilizations of the 

 East : Professor D. G. Beinton. Davies' Nests 

 and Eggs of North American Birds : F. A. L 267 



New Books 268 



MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 

 for review sliould be sent to the responsible editor. Profes- 

 sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrlson-on-Hudson, N. Y. 



ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT BEFORE THE 

 AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE AD- 

 VANCEMENT OF SCIENCE* 



The time-honored custom of our Associa- 

 tion makes it incumbent upon the retiring 

 President to deliver an address upon some 

 subject connected, if possible, with his own 

 work, and not purely elementary or histori- 

 cal, but with at least some fresh ideas and 

 some new facts. The task is a difiBcult one 

 for a chemist, for there is perhaps no branch 

 of science in which, of late years, there has 

 been so much mental activity, and it is hard 

 to find any subject which has not been worn 

 threadbare in discussion. 



Trusting to your indulgence, I will here 

 present some theoretical points connected 

 in part with my own work, and will treat 

 them as briefly as the nature of the subjects 

 will permit. 



All chemists are familiar with the terms 

 atom and molecule. The use of these two 

 words, with a clear conception of their mean- 

 ing, forms an era in the history of the sci- 

 ence. Our modern chemistry is built up of 

 atoms and molecules, as we now define 

 them. Our modern physics deals for the 

 most part and, as I think, too exclusively 

 with atoms, except, perhaps, in the case 

 of what we now term physical chemistry, 

 the new branch of science, which makes it 

 difficult for us to determine where chemistry 



*Delivered before the Boston meeting, August 22, 

 1898. 



