570 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XX. No. 513. 



furic acid by repeated recrystallization it loses 

 its water of crystallization readily, becoming 

 much darker, but when a trace of sulfuric 

 acid is still present the salt is very stable, 

 hardly changing at 100°. 



A NEW CARBID OP MOLYBDENUM. 



In his book upon the electric furnace 

 Moissan describes a carbid of molybdenum of 

 the formula Mo,C. This is formed at the 

 highest temperature of the electric furnace, 

 from a mixture of the oxid of molybdenum 

 and carbon. If an excess of carbon is used, 

 it is found in the mass as graphite. Now by 

 working at a somewhat lower temperature, 

 and having in the furnace the metal molyb- 

 denum with a little carbon and an excess of 

 aluminum, a new carbid is formed, of the 

 formula MoC. It is obtained as a gray crys- 

 talline powder, harder than quartz but less 

 hard than the ruby. It is not attacked by 

 water even at 600° and hardly by acids except 

 nitric. It is analogous to the carbid of 

 tungsten, WC, and Moissan considers that it 

 is present as a double carbid in molybdenum 

 steel. J. L. H. 



AMJERICAN ASSOCIATION FOB THE AD~ 



VANCEMISNT OF SCIENCE. 



MINUTES OF SPECIAL MEETING OF COMMITTEE ON 

 POLICY OF THE ASSOCIATION. 



The committee met at Philadelphia, on Oc- 

 tober 21, at 2 P.M., Messrs. E. S. Woodward, 

 IT. L. Fairchild, J. McK. Cattell, Edgar F. 

 Smith and L. O. Howard being present. In 

 the absence of the president, Mr. Woodward 

 took the chair. 



The matters referred to the committee by 

 the council at the St. Louis meeting were 

 taken up in order with the following actions : 



1. In regard to the disposal of back volumes 

 it was 



Recommended^ That the permanent secre- 

 tary be authorized to offer sets of the back 

 volumes of the proceedings to libraries which 

 shall be approved by a committee of the asso- 

 ciation appointed by the president. 



2. The amendment to article 34, of the con- 

 stitution, relating to the abolition of the $2 

 fee for fellowship was considered and it was 



Becommended, That the amendment be 

 adopted. 



3. The amendment to article 4 line 2, to 

 read ' The members of at least one year's stand- 

 ing who are professionally engaged in science 

 and have by their labors aided in advancing 

 science,' was considered, and it was unani- 

 mously 



Becommended, That the amendment be not 

 passed. 



4. The subject of a possible amendment to 

 article 17 of the constitution was considered 

 and action' was postponed. 



5. The question of trimming the edges of 

 the journal Science, which had been referred 

 to the committee was considered and it was 



Becommended, That the publishers of Sci- 

 ence be requested to announce prominently 

 that cut copies will be sent to members who 

 request it. 



The following new matters were then 

 brought up and the following actions taken : 



1. The committee on the policy of the asso- 

 ciation recommends that two or three ad- 

 dresses of the vice-presidents be given on each 

 afternoon of the week of the meeting and that 

 the addresses be followed by a discussion or 

 series of papers that will be of interest to 

 students of other sciences and to the intel- 

 ligent public. It is recommended that the 

 addresses before Sections A, E and F be given 

 on Wednesday; before Sections B, G and I, 

 on Thursday, and before Sections C, D and 

 H on Friday. The secretaries and sectional 

 committees are requested to prepare suitable 

 programs to follow the addresses of the vice- 

 presidents. 



2. The committee on policy of the associa- 

 tion requests the permanent secretary to write 

 a letter to each member of the sectional com- 

 mittees calling attention to the fact that the 

 alteration of the constitution making the term 

 of office five years creates a council for each 

 section. It is hoped that each member will 

 if possible be present at the Philadelphia meet- 

 ing and before, during and after the meeting 

 endeavor to promote the interests of the sec- 

 tion and of the sciences included in it. The 

 sectional committees are expected to make the 

 program as strong as possible, inviting mem- 



