842 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XX. No. 520. 



In discussing the foregoing paper Professor 

 E. H. Miller pointed out the results obtained at 

 Columbia University on the three samples sen-^ 

 out by the committee, which showed a very 

 good agreement with the standard adopted 

 by the committee, considering that they 

 were done, as requested by the committee, by 

 the method usually employed and without 

 special precautions. Method 8, description of 

 which appeared in the Journal of the Ameri- 

 can Chemical Society, for December, 1903, 

 was discussed at considerable length by Pro- 

 fessor Miller. The more important points 

 brought out were : (1) That Waring's state- 

 ment that the silica should be removed before 

 the precipitation of ferric hydroxide was en- 

 tirely correct, and the failure to observe this 

 precaution might give rise to an error of 1 

 per cent, as shown by experiments made by 

 Mr. Talk. (2) That Waring's method for the 

 precipitation of zinc sulphide under pressure 

 is excellent. (3) That the statement that 

 zinc and cadmium can not be separated by 

 hydrogen sulphide is absolutely wrong. The 

 separation can be effected in a hot solution 

 (90° C.) containing one cubic centimeter of 

 concentrated HCl in each fifty cubic centi- 

 meters of solution, exactly the conditions given 

 by Presenius on page 457 of the Nacher's 

 translation. That these conditions must be 

 carefully maintained was shown by a series 

 of experiments made by Mr. Talk to test the 

 separation. (4) That a three per cent, 

 uranium nitrate solution is preferable to 

 uranium acetate as an indicator. (5) That 

 the precipitation of zinc as zinc ammonium 

 phosphate is excellent and was confirmed by 

 the experience of fifteen years in the labora- 

 tory. (6) That the separation of zinc and 

 manganese by oxidizing agents requires care- 

 ful investigation and is not free from error as 

 carried out at present. 



The remainder of the evening was devoted 

 to ' A Discussion of Eadioactivity,' by Messrs. 

 Wm. Hallock, Hugo Lieber, Jerome Alexander, 

 G. B. Pegram and Charles Baskerville. 



r 



F. H. POUGH, 



Secretary. 



DISCD88I0N AjYZ) COBRESPONDENGE. 



CONVOCATION WEEK. 



To THE Editor of Science: The writer has 

 been interested in the series of letters in 

 Science relating to the affairs of the Amer- 

 ican Association for the Advancement of 

 Science, and he has an idea that the editor 

 is encouraging these communications as a 

 study in psychology. It is evident that the 

 opinions and suggestions are so very diverse 

 that no plan will be satisfactory to the whole 

 membership. In response to the request for 

 a contribution to the discussion the writer 

 will briefly speak of the general outlook and 

 policy of the association, which is the vital 

 matter that involves all the minor questions 

 of meetings and conduct. 



During its earlier life, say from 1840 to 

 1880, the ' advancement ' of science through 

 popular summer meetings was doubtless a 

 useful and successful function of the associa- 

 tion ; but now the diffusion of scientific educa- 

 tion and the great volume of scientific litera- 

 ture have supplanted the association for this 

 work of popularization. Por ten years the 

 country at large has paid practically no atten- 

 tion to its meetings. The- large cities in 

 which the meetings are held are equally in- 

 different. The leading citizens will allow 

 their names to be used on local .committee 

 lists and will subscribe funds to bring visitors 

 to the town, but not one in ten, probably not 

 one in fifty, go to any session or pay the 

 slightest attention to the meeting, although a 

 few may join the society for a time, and thus 

 give financial aid. The advancement of sci- 

 ence through publicity of meetings has become 

 an inconsequential element of the associa- 

 tion's work. The reasons for this state of 

 affairs are more or less obvious and are not 

 the fault of the society. 



The publication of scientific literature was 

 never an important part of the work of the 

 association, and it has become practically 

 nothing, except as indirectly aided through 

 the columns of Science. 



While the sections of the society are still 

 active it must be admitted that in the case 

 of several sections this is only through the 



