42 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. I. No. 2. 



gi'Oiiping of the subjects was so arranged 

 that the material for each subject was in 

 proper condition when it came before the 

 class. Some of the weekly guides accom- 

 panied the paper, for examination. 



Discussions were presented by Professors 

 H. W. Conn, Marcella O'Grady, E. S. Morse 

 and C. S. Minot, and the additional fact was 

 brought out that a good synoptic collection 

 was a desirable feature of the laboratory 

 equipment, in order that the pupil might 

 not have too narrow a view of each group 

 of organisms, such as he is likely to carry 

 away fi-om the study of a single type. 



After jjassing a vote of thanks to the au- 

 thorities of the University, the citizens of 

 Baltimore and the University Club for the 

 hospitality extended to it, the Society ad- 

 journed. 



The annual dinner of the affiliated So- 

 cieties took place at ' The Stafford ' at 7 :30 

 on Friday evening. No set toasts were 

 given, but informal speeches formed a very 

 pleasurable close to this rexinion. 



W. A. Setchell, Secretary. 



Yale Univeesity. 



THE PRINCETON MEETING OF THE AMERI- 

 CAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION. 



The third annual meeting of The Ameri- 

 can Psychological Association was held at 

 Princeton College on Thursday and Friday, 

 December 27th and 2Stli, under the presi- 

 dency of Professor William James, of Har- 

 vard University. P.sychology is the j'oung- 

 est and likewise one of the most vigorous 

 of the sciences. Although the Association 

 is small, consisting of those only who are 

 actively engaged in psj^chological investi- 

 gation, and the members are widely scat- 

 tered, there were sixteen papers read, ex- 

 clusive of those presented in the absence of 

 their authors. Indeed, the only drawback 

 to the pleasure of the meeting was the fact 

 that the program was so crowded that there 

 was not sufficient time for discussion and 



social intercourse. The short intervals be- 

 tween the meetings were, however, pleas- 

 antly filled, owing to the hospitality of 

 President Patton and Professor Baldwin, 

 and the excellent accommodations of the 

 Princeton Inn. 



The Association was welcomed to Prince- 

 ton by President Patton in a fitting address 

 in which he alluded to the importance of 

 such meetings, not only for the advance- 

 ment of science, but also for the cultivation 

 of inter-university friendliness, to the death 

 and life-work of President McCosh, and to 

 the prominent place always given to philo- 

 sophy and psychology at Princeton. 



The palmers presented covered a wide 

 range of psychological topics. Experimen- 

 tal psj'chology proper was not so fullj^ rep- 

 resented as in the Philadelphia and New 

 York meetings, owing to the detention of 

 several members, but all the communica- 

 tions were strictly scientific in method. 



The fii'st paper. Minor Studies and Appa- 

 ratus, by Professor Sanford, was, indeed, of 

 purely experimental character, coming from. 

 Clark University, where President Hall has 

 given such a prominent place to experi- 

 mental psj^chology. Professor Sanford first 

 showed charts demonstrating that the reti- 

 nal fields for color are relatively smaller in 

 the case of children than in the case of 

 adults. In the second study he reported 

 experiments on the accuracj^ with which an 

 observer can distinguish bj^ different senses 

 which of two stimuli is first presented. A 

 flash of light is perceived relative^ earlier 

 than a sound — contrary to results formerly 

 published by Exner. In a third study pri- 

 mary memory was investigated. In a fourth 

 study questions were asked students con- 

 cerning the confusion of related ideas, for 

 example : — How do you distinguish your 

 right from j'our left hand ? How do you call 

 up a forgotten name ? How do you collect 

 the attention '? AVhat were yonr favorite 

 games when a child '? What is the earliest 



