282 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IV. No. 88. 



true although it has not been publicly mentioned, that 

 this movement is in the direction of the coordination 

 of scientific work under the general government, it 

 seems to your Committee that the American Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Science can unhesita- 

 tingly approve. 



Your Committee, therefore, recommends that the 

 Council recommend to the Association the adoption 

 of the following resolution : 



Besolved, That the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science heartily approves the proposi- 

 tion to create the ofSice of Director-in-Chief of Scien- 

 tific Bureaus and Investigations in the Department of 

 Agriculture, to be filled by a broadly educated and 

 experienced scientific man, provided that such ap- 

 pointment shall be made only on the nomination of 

 the National Academy of Science, the legally consti- 

 tuted adviser of the Government in matters relating 

 to science. L. O. Howaed, 



Committee. 



A communication with reference to the 

 proposed vivisection laws was referred to a 

 committee which presented the following 

 report, which was unanimously adopted: 



The American Association for the Advancement of 

 Science, at its annual meeting held at Buiialo, August 

 24th to 28th, 1896, desires to present to the Congress 

 of the United States its protest against legislation on 

 the subject of vivisection. The membership of this 

 Association is composed of experts and authorities 

 and persons interested in different branches of science, 

 in all numbering nearly two thousand. These mem- 

 bers come from all parts of the country and represent 

 many diverse interests. 



Whereas, This Association was organized for the 

 purpose of advancing science, of diffusing scientific 

 information and exciting widespread interest on the 

 part of the public in scientific progress; therefore, be it 



Resolved, That this Association deprecates any 

 legislation on the part of the government which 

 would tend in the slightest degree to discourage the 

 advancement of science, more especially biological, 

 chemical and medical science, at this time when- 

 greater results are promised than ever before in the 

 history of the world. And 



Wheeeas, The health and welfare of men and 

 animals are vitally affected by the results of animal 

 experiments, and such experiments have effected a 

 saving of many millions of dollars in animal property, 

 and are the basis of our knowledge of hygiene and 

 preventive medicine, and, in part, of surgery ; there- 

 fore, be it 



Besolved, That while deprecating cruelty and 

 needless vivisection experiments in the public schools 



this Association believes that those who are trained 

 in biological research are the ones who are best able 

 to decide as to the wisdom and utility of animal experi- 

 mentation and deems that the legislation contemplated 

 by Senate Bill 1552 would be unwise and would tend 

 to retard the increase of knowledge of the means of 

 mitigation of the sufferings of men and animals. 

 Edwaed D. Cope, 

 L. O. Howaed, 



Committee. 



A communication asking that some steps 

 be taken by the Association to secure the 

 study of the white race in America was re- 

 ferred to Section H, with a request that a 

 committee be nominated to consider the 

 matter. The section reported the following 

 names and the committee was so consti- 

 tuted: D. G. Brinton, J. McK. Cattell, 

 W. W. Newell, W J McGee, Franz Boas. 



A resolution regarding the proper desig- 

 nation of the vice-presidents was referred 

 to a committee consisting of T. C. Menden- 

 hall, F. P. Whitman and L. O. Howard, 

 and upon their recommendation the Council 

 instructed the permanent secretary to use 

 the term vice-president in official publications 

 in expressing the relation of the presiding 

 officer of any section to the Association, 

 and the term chairman in expressing his re- 

 lation to the section, the term vice-presi- 

 dent preceding the name and chairman fol- 

 lowing it when both relations are to be ex- 

 pressed. When referred to they are to be 

 called vice-presidents for the sections, not 

 o/the sections. 



The Committee on Grants recommended 

 the following which were authorized by the 

 Council: To the Marine Biological Labora- 

 tory, Woods Holl, Mass., for a table (ap- 

 pointment to be made by the vice-presi- 

 dents for Sections F and G and the director 

 of the laboratory), $100; to Francis E. 

 Phillips for investigations on the properties 

 of natural gas, $50 ; to L. A. Bauer for in- 

 vestigations on terrestrial magnetism in 

 connection with the magnetic survey of 

 Maryland, $50. 



