762 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. V. No. 124. 



rangements for the entertainment and social 

 intercourse of members were a banquet on 

 Tuesday evening at tbe Arlington and a 

 ' Smoker ' given by the Cosmos Club on 

 Thursday evening. 



On Wednesday afternoon a statue of the 

 late eminent surgeon, Samuel D. Gross, was 

 unveiled on the Smithsonian grounds near 

 the Army Medical Museum. The statue 

 was presented to the United States Govern- 

 ment in a speech by Dr. C. IST. Mastin, and 

 was received by Surgeon-General George 

 M. Sternberg. An address was made by 

 Professor W. W. Keen, the successor of 

 Gross at the Jefferson Medical College. It 

 is to be hoped that many statues of men 

 who have contributed to the advancement 

 of science may ultimately find their place in 

 the grounds of the Smithsonian Institution. 



Keports of the proceedings of the Ameri- 

 can Physiological Society and of the Asso- 

 ciation of American Anatomists will be 

 published in this journal. The papers pre- 

 sented before the various medical societies 

 were so numerous that it is not possible to 

 present a report of them, even though 

 many of the contributions were not merely 

 of interest to the medical specialist, but 

 were also valuable contributions to science. 

 The societies taking part in the Congress, 

 their presidents and the numbers of papers 

 offered before each, were as follows : 



The American Otological Society, 



Dr. Arthur Mathewson, Brooklyn, N. Y. 6 papers. 

 The American Neurological Association, 



Dr. M. Allen Starr, New York City. 27 papers. 

 T!w American Gynecological Society, 



Dr. James E. Chadwick, Boston, Mass. 21 papers. 

 The American Dermatological Association, 



Dr. James C. White, Boston, Mass. 26 papers. 

 T}ie American Laryngologieal Association, 



Dr. Charles H. Knight, New York City. 18 papers. 

 37(6 American Surgical Association, 



Dr. John Collins Warren, Boston, Mass. 21 papers, 

 including six subjects, followed by special dis- 

 cussion. 

 The American Climatological Association, 



Dr. E. Fletcher Ingalls, Chicago, Ills. 26 papers. 



Tlie Association of American Physicians, 



Dr. J M. DaCosta, Philadelphia, Pa. 36 papers. 

 Tlie American Association of Genito- Urinary Surgeons, 



Dr. Francis S. Watson, Boston, Mass. 20 papers. 

 The American Orthopedic Association, 



Dr. Samuel Ketch, New York City. 45 papers. 

 The American Physiological Society, 



Dr. Russell H. Chittenden, New Haven, Conn. 22 

 papers. 



Tlie Association of American Anatomists, 

 Dr. Frank Baker, Washington, D. C. 10 papers. 



The American Pediatric Society, 

 Dr. Samuel S. Adams, Washington, D. C. 3a 



The American Ophthalmological Society, 

 Dr. George C. Harlan, Philadelphia, Pa. 3S 

 papers. 



ZOOLOGICAL NOTES. 



COLOR CHANGE IN THE PLUMAGE OF BIRDS 



UNACCOMPANIED BY MOULT. 



Not long ago Science noticed two papers, 

 one by Dr. J. A. Allen and one by Mr. F. 

 M. Chapman, in which the possibility of 

 any change of color taking place in a feather 

 after it was fully developed was emphat- 

 ically denied. Now Dr. Arthur E. Chad- 

 bourne comes forward in the Auk for April,. 

 1897, with facts which seem to make it evi- 

 dent that this alleged impossibility does- 

 take place. The author kept a pet Bobo- 

 link from January until the breeding plum- 

 age was complete, and writes as follows i 

 " The bird always seemed well and strong, 

 and the color change ivas not accompanied by, 

 any increase in feather loss, i. e., not greater 

 than during the winter, and often for sev- 

 eral days in succession there were no cast- 

 off feathers at all to be found. The total 

 during the three weeks that the change 

 was in progress was thirteen — namely, twa 

 broken rectrices and eleven contour feathers^ 

 It is hardly possible that any stray speci- 

 mens were unnoticed, for even had they 

 fallen outside of the cage they would have 

 been found in the room, and a wire netting 

 protected the window. ' Pin-feathers ' could 

 hardly have been overlooked, if present ; 

 for I often held the bird in my hand and 



