468 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. V. No. 116. 



changes lie may observe in the seasons, the 

 days and the nights ; the changes in the 

 weather, the dews, the fogs and rain, hail, 

 snow, the rainbow and the lightning flash. 

 All these should be the occasion of in- 

 struction. He should be taught the laws 

 of the action of any machines in the house, 

 on the farm or in the mills of a neighbor- 

 hood. In the later years of the grammar 

 school and in the high school, place should 

 be found for experimental physics in the il- 

 lustration of laws. The demonstration of 

 laws is beyond the power of the pupil of 

 this age. This belongs to the well-equipped 

 student of the University. Measurements 

 adapted to the stage of advancement of the 

 pupil may be made in all parts of such a 

 course, though much that passes for phys- 

 ical-laboratory work is only physical arith- 

 metic or geometry, and should be done 

 in the time devoted to mathematics. 



If such a course should be carried out, 

 the student would early begin to observe, 

 reflect upon and endeavor to explain what 

 he sees before him in daily life, to be 

 ■ intelligent with reference to the course and 

 constancy of nature. Everything will not 

 then to him be shrouded in mystery and 

 weighty with omen. Such knowledge ac- 

 quired in the grammar and high-school 

 years will constitute the surest and best 

 foundation for the course in modern physics, 

 the science of the transformation of energy 

 as taught in the college. 



The other speakers of the afternoon were 

 Principal William M. Bennett, of Canan- 

 daigua ; Principal Henry Pease, of Medina ; 

 Professor Irving P. Bishop, of Buffalo ; 

 Professor H. J. Schmitz, of Genesee ; Pro- 

 fessor Morris Loeb, of New York University; 

 Professor G. C. Caldwell, of Cornell ; Pro- 

 fessor H. C. Coon, of Alfred, and Professor 

 Henry L. Griffis, of New Paltz. 



It was evident that on one point the As- 

 sociation is practically unanimous : that of 

 all the sciences which the colleges might 



require for admission, physics is the one 

 that the preparatory schools are best adapted 

 to handle, and that the student is most in 

 need of. The discussion showed clearly 

 also that, in order to do the work in physics 

 as it should be done, the secondary schools 

 need to devote more time and thought to 

 this work, and in some cases, perhaps, less 

 time and thought to work in the other 

 sciences. The laboratory method is indis- 

 pensable. Several speakers were in favor 

 of leaving all the work in chemistry to be 

 done in college. 



After the discussion, the following resolu- 

 tion, offered by Dr. Hallock, was unani- 

 mously adopted : " Resolved, That this Asso- 

 ciation urges Congress to take such action 

 as will bring into use, by the government 

 and by the people, the metric system of 

 weights and measures at as early a date as 

 is practicable." 



Franklin W. Bareows, 



Secretary. 



Buffalo, N. Y. 



( To he continued. ) 



CUBBENT NOTES ON METEOBOL06Y. 

 BLUE HILL CLOUD OBSERVATIONS. 



Clayton's 'Discussion of the Cloud Obser- 

 vations' made at Blue Hill Observatory(An- 

 nals Astron. Obs'y Harv. Coll., Vol. XXX., 

 Pt. IV.) is a product of which American 

 science has abundant reason to be proud. 

 It represents the results of years of the 

 most careful work at Blue Hill Observatory 

 on the heights, velocities, movements, for- 

 mation and classification of clouds, and is, 

 as it stands, the most complete publication 

 on the subject of clouds yet issued in any 

 country. That the observers at Blue Hill 

 were doing some excellent cloud work has 

 been known for some years, and short arti- 

 cles by the meteorologist of the station 

 (Mr. H. H. Clayton), which have appeared 

 from time to time in scientific journals in 

 Europe and in this country, have given 

 evidence that some interesting results were 



