March -ii, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



333 



therefore, to depend, as in the case of rege- 

 hvtion in ice, upon this critical condition, 

 wliich exists over a limited range of tem- 

 peratnre between tlie molten and the plastic 

 state. An interesting discussion followed, 

 in which Lord Kelvin, Professor Eoberts- 

 Austen, Professor Silvanus Thompson and 

 othei"S joined. 



THE .lOtXT COMMISSION OF THE SCIENTIFIC 

 SOCIETIES OF WASHINGTON. 



At a meeting of the Joint Commission of 

 the Scientific Societies of Washington, on 

 January "iSth, recommendations were made 

 which have since been adopted by the 

 Societies represented on the Commission, 

 which are : The Anthropological, the Bio- 

 logical, the Chemical, the Entomological, 

 tlie Geological, the National Geographic, 

 and the Philosophical Societies. 



The resolutions adopted are as follows : 



The .lointi Commission of the Scientific Societies of 

 Wiushiugton, Ijelievinj; that fuller cooperation of the 

 Societies is desirable, and that it can advantageously 

 be provide*! for by enlarging the powers of the Joint 

 Commission, recommend to the Socities the adoption 

 of the following: 



The Joint Commission shall be composed of the 

 otficers and administrative boards of the several com- 

 ponent Societies 



The Commission shall liave power: 



a. To provide for joint meetings of the Societies ; 

 h. To conduct courses of popular lectures ; c. To pre- 

 mre a joint directory of the members of the Societies; 

 d. To distribute to all membere of the Societies peri- 

 odic a<lvance notices of tlie meetings of the several 

 Societies ; c. And to act in the interest of the com- 

 ponent Societies at the instance of any of them. 



The following ofhcers have been elected : 

 President, Gardiner G. Hubbard ; Vice- 

 President, G. Brown Goode ; Secretary, J. 

 S. Diller; Treasurer. P. B. Pierce; Mem- 

 bers at Large of the Executive Committee, 

 J. W. Powell, William H. Ashmead, 

 George M. Sternberg, G. K. Gilbert, W. H. 

 Ball. Ciiarles E. Munroe and C. D. Walcott. 



GENERAL. 



The Educational Ki'vicw for March should 

 be read by all who are interested in elemen- 



tary and secondary education . The numl)er 

 consists of the report of ' The Committee of 

 Fifteen " appointed bj' the Department of 

 Superintendence of the National Educa- 

 tional Association and submitted at Cleve- 

 land, February 19-21. The three sub-com- 

 mittees report respectively, ' On the training 

 of teachers,' ' On the correlation of studies 

 in elementary education,' and ' On the or- 

 ganization of citj' school systems. 



Mr. T. C. Martin contributes to the 

 March number of The Century Magazine an 

 article on Hermann von Helmholtz well 

 calculated to impress the general reader 

 with the magnitude of Helmholtz' genius. 

 The article is accompanied by a portrait of 

 Helmholtz, as he appeared during his visit 

 to America in 1893, which should be pre- 

 served by all men of science. 



The American Book Company has just 

 published a fourth edition of Dana's Manual 

 of Geology, the work being enlarged by 150 

 pages. The entire manuscript, extending 

 to 1000 pages of printed matter, is in Pro- 

 fessor Dana's own band-writing, which is 

 remarkable in the case of an author in his 

 eighty-third year. 



A TELESCOPE is being constructed ibr the 

 Berlin Industrial Exposition, to be held 

 next j'ear, in which the lenses, made by 

 Steinheil of Munich, will be 110 cm. in 

 diameter. 



Helmholtz' library has been bought bj^ 

 the German Government for the Physico- 

 Technical Institute. 



The anntial appropriation for the Univer- 

 sitj' of North Carolina has been made by 

 the Legislature. It had been feared that 

 this might not be done. The recent Legis- 

 lature has reorganized the Board of Regents 

 of the West Virginia I'niversity and has 

 reduced it from thirteen to nine, requiring 

 all the membei-s to be appointed from the 

 two leading political parties, as nearly 

 ecjually divided between them as practi- 



