590 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVII. No. 432 



'Notes on the Washington Meeting,' Pro- 

 fessor E. H. Sneath. The Washington meet- 

 ing, if compared with a possible meeting of 

 psychologists twenty-five years ago, shows the 

 lines along which progress has been made. 

 Such a comparison demonstrates clearly (1) 

 the special training required of the psychol- 

 ogists of to-day; (2) the position of psychol- 

 ogy among the sciences; (3) the growth of 

 productive scholarship; (4) the differentiation 

 of the work into experimental, genetic, com- 

 parative, abnormal, educational, etc.; (5) the 

 development of new methods of approach. 



' Grades for Mental Traits,' Professor J. 

 McKeen Cattell. This paper treated the ac- 

 curacy with which grades can be assigned for 

 college studies, and the methods to be em- 

 ployed in assigning grades. Those who do 

 well in one study or have one trait in excess 

 are likely to do well in other studies and to 

 have other traits in excess, and they are more 

 likely to succeed in after life. It was shown, 

 however, that the grades assigned to students 

 have not very great validity. It was recom- 

 mended that grades be assigned in a scale of 

 ten and that a probable error be attached to 

 the grade. The grades should represent 

 groups of equal size rather than equal differ- 

 ences in merit. The paper also discussed the 

 grade assigned to large groups for mental, 

 moral and physical traits, and gave some of 

 the results that the writer had obtained. 



' A Preliminary Report on Tests of One 

 Hundred Men of Science,' W. H. Davis. 

 (Read by title.) 



James E. Lough, 



Secretary. 



THE TEXAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



At the regular meeting of the Texas Acad- 

 emy of Science held in the chemical lecture 

 room of the University of Texas on Friday 

 evening, November 28, 1902, the following 

 papers were presented by title: 



' Contribution to a Knowledge of the Cole- 

 opterous Fauna of the Lower Rio Grande 

 Valley in Texas and Tamaulipas, with Biolog- 

 ical Notes and Special Reference to Geo- 

 graphical Distribution,' by C. H. T. Tovsoi- 

 send. El Paso. 



' Poisonous Snakes of Texas,' by J. D. 

 Mitchell, Victoria. 



Mr. E. C. H. Bantel, instructor in engineer- 

 ing. University of Texas, gave an illustrated 

 lecture on ' Iron Smelting.' 



At the formal meeting held in the univer- 

 sity auditorium on Monday evening, Decem- 

 ber 29, 1902, Dr. William L. Bray, professor 

 of botany, delivered an illustrated lecture on 

 ' The Evolution of the Flower and its Rela- 

 tions to Insects and other Pollenizing Agents.' 



The following papers appeared by title on 

 the program of this meeting: 



' The Effect of Weeds and Moss upon the 

 Coefficients of Discharge in Small Irrigating 

 Canals,' by J. C. Nagle, professor of civil 

 engineering in the Agricultural and Mechan- 

 ical College of Texas, College Station. 



' The Decomposition of Potassium Chlorate 

 at Fixed Temperatures,' by Eugene P. 

 Schoch, Ph.D., and J. S. Brown, B.S. 



' The Kinetics of Oxidation Reactions. 

 Example I. The Equilibrium between Potas- 

 sium Ferrocyanide, Potassium Ferricyanide, 

 Iodine and Potassium Iodide,' by Eugene P. 

 Schoch, Ph.D., instructor in chemistry, Uni- 

 versity of Texas. 



' Contribution to the Chemistry of Fatigue,' 

 by Dr. Henry Winston Harper, professor of 

 chemistry in the University of Texas, and 

 Margaret HoUiday, M.S. 



At the regular meeting held in the zoological 

 lecture room of the university, on Saturday 

 evening, March 14, 1903, the following papers 

 were presented, both of which were illustrated 

 with stereopticon views: 



' Some Wholesome Educational Statistics,' 

 by W. S. Sutton, M.A., professor of the sci- 

 ence and art of education in the university. 



' Steel Making,' by E. C. H. Bantel, C.E., 

 instructor in engineering. 



Feedeeic W. Simonds, 



Secretary. 



CLEMSON COLLEGE SCIENCE CLUB. 



At the regular monthly meeting of the club 

 on Friday evening, February 27, Professor 

 J. V. Lewis presented an illustrated paper on 

 ' The Occurrence and Origin of Corundum 

 in the Eastern United States.' 



