December 4, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



825 



of antiquity was less strong than elsewhere. 

 " In spite of this constant growth," he con- 

 tinued, "there have appeared few great 

 generalizations in botany, and so it is not 

 absolutely correct to speak either of a bot- 

 anical philosophy or of a philosophical 

 botany. In common with all branches of 

 biological science, botany must rest content 

 with details and small excursions into 

 neighboring fields of common interests. 

 This is the fate of all modern investigation." 



Dr. Bessey responded to ' How I man- 

 age the Boys.' He said that the fact was 

 the boys managed him. He was like the 

 prudent driver of a team, who, when he 

 saw it was about to stop, pulled the reins 

 and cried ' whoa,' or like the man who 

 ' manages ' his household, or like the mete- 

 orologist who manages the weather. As 

 to the relation of the Seminar to his de- 

 partment, he said it must be remembered 

 that the Seminar had grown up as an inde- 

 pendent society and was not a part of the 

 department. It was an ally — a close friend. 

 Its help was like the help that a good wife 

 is to a man, and the same kind of ' manage- 

 ment ' existed in each case. He had always 

 adhered to Joseph Henry's rule ; he let the 

 boys work, and let them take up any line 

 they would without restraint. 



Eesponses were made by Dean Sherman, 

 of the chair of English literature, who 

 commented favorably upon the fraterniza- 

 tion of scientific savants and literary schol- 

 ars, who aforetime were too much inclined 

 to fall upon each other by the way, and by 

 the Chancellor of the University, who saw 

 in the present occasion the beginning of a 

 closer union of the workers in the different 

 fields of science in the University, as well 

 as the promise of higher and broader work 

 such as should be found among scholars ; 

 " the work of the Seminar is true univer- 

 sity work, and the spirit it fosters is that 

 which is the peculiar feature of the gen- 

 uine university." 



FOURTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COM- 

 MITTEE ON INDEXING CHEMICAL 

 LITERATURE.* 



The Committee on Indexing Chemical 

 Literature presents to the Chemical Section 

 its fourteenth annual report. During the 

 year ending August, 1896, there has been 

 exhibited much activity in chemical bibli- 

 ography and indexing ; several valuable 

 works have been completed and many im- 

 portant undertakings have been begun. 



WORKS PUBLISHED. 



A Dictionary of Chemical Solubilities. Inor- 

 ganic. By Arthur Messinger Comey. 

 New York and London. 1896. pp. xx-f- 

 515. 8vo. 



Prof. Comey is to be complimented on 

 the completion of the first part of his exten- 

 sive undertaking, and chemists are to be 

 congratulated on the publication in such 

 good form of so important an aid to re- 

 search. It is to be hoped that this volume 

 will be so well received as to encourage the 

 author to follow promptly with the organic 

 section. 



Index to the Literature of the Detection and 



Estimation of Fusel Oil in Spirits, by W. D. 



BiGELOW. J. Amer. Chem. Soc, Vol. 



xviii., No. 4, p. 397. 



This was announced in our report for 

 1895. 



Bibliography of Embalming, in a Thesis en- 

 titled : ' Embalming and Embalming 

 Fluids,' by Charles W. McCurdy (of the 

 University of Idaho). Post-graduate and 

 Wooster Quarterly, April, 1896. 

 A very full bibliography of this unique 

 subject, which has its chemical aspects as 

 well as its grave ones. It comprises about 

 500 entries, in several modern languages, 

 arranged alphabetically by authors. 



* Presented at the Buffalo Meeting of the American 

 Association for the Advancement of Science. 



