170 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVII. No. 422. 



appropriations will be made for this pur- 

 pose, especially for the printing of papers 

 of aclmowledged importance, so abstruse, 

 so extended or so costly that withotit the 

 aid of this fund they may .not see the light. 



With respect to certain large underta- 

 kings involving much expense, which have 

 been or may be suggested, careful prelim- 

 inary inquiries have been and will be made. 



In order to secure the counsel of experts 

 in various departments of knowledge, spe- 

 cial advisers have been and will be invited 

 from time to time for consultation. Val- 

 uable suggestions and counsel have already 

 been received from such advisers. 



Daniel C. Gilman, 

 President of the Carnegie 

 Institution. 



Washington, 



November 25, 1902. 



AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE AD- 

 VANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 



SECTION B, PHYSICS. 

 The sessions of Section B, in affiliation 

 with the American Physical Society, at 

 Washington, were very successful; the at- 

 tendance was much larger than has been 

 usual, and it was characterized by the 

 presence of many leading physicists rep- 

 resenting a wide territory. Forty-five 

 papers of a high average quality were 

 given ; twenty-six of these were presented 

 before Section B, and nineteen before the 

 Physical Society. The number of papers 

 would undoubtedly have been much larger 

 had not this meeting followed so closely 

 upon the Pittsburgh meeting. Nearly 

 every paper drew forth some discussion, 

 though it would seem that this feature of 

 the sessions might be extended with profit. 

 A rough classification of subjects shows 

 that fourteen were on optics, twelve on 

 electricity and magnetism, eight on gen- 

 eral subjects, six on heat, three on sound 

 and two on meteorology. 



Ernest F. Nichols, vice-president of Sec- 

 tion B, and Arthur G. Webster, vice-presi- 

 dent of the American Physical Society, 

 were the presiding officers. 



In accordance with the revised constitu- 

 -tion, several officers were elected to serve 

 at the Washington meeting and also at 

 future meetings, the object being to secure 

 a more consistent and efficient policy of 

 administration. Those officers which serve 

 for several meetings, including the Wash- 

 ington meeting, are Dayton C. Miller, 

 secretary for five years; and the following 

 members of the sectional committee, Gor- 

 don F. Hull, five years; Arthtir G. Web- 

 ster, four years ; D. B. Brace, three years ; 

 Ernest Merritt, two years; Ernest F. 

 Nichols, ex officio, two years. The other 

 officers for the Washington meeting, in 

 addition to those mentioned above, were 

 Henry S. Carhart, member of the council; 

 W. S. Franklin, ex officio member of the 

 sectional committee; Charles E. Menden- 

 hall, member of the sectional committee; 

 George F. Stradling, member of the gen- 

 eral committee, and Lyman J. Briggs, 

 press secretary. 



The vice-president for the next, the St. 

 Louis, meeting is Edwin H. Hall, of Har- 

 vard University. 



On Monday the retiring vice-president, 

 W. S. Franklin, gave an address on 'Pop- 

 ular Science,' which was listened to with 

 great interest, and which drew out some 

 spirited and valuable discussion. The 

 paper has been given in full in a previous 

 issue of Science. The abstracts of the 

 other papers presented before Section B 

 are given below': 



The Semidiurnal Periods in the Earth's 

 Atmosphere: Frank H. Bigelow, U. S. 

 Weather Bureau. 



There occur at the surface of the earth 

 two types of diurnal periods in the 

 meteorological elements. The temperature. 



