September 6, 1901.] 



SCIENCE. 



Til 



tember 11, and a comparison of its work with 

 that of our own Association may be of use. 

 As a rule the addresses of the president and of 

 the presidents of the sections are better suited 

 to their purpose than those of our own officers, 

 although this year there is no reason to avoid a 

 comparison. Indeed it seems evident that in 

 recent years the general addresses before our 

 Association have improved both in substance 

 and in form, being addressed to a wide audience 

 rather than to a few specialists. In regard to 

 the proceedings of the sections, the American 

 Association is on the whole the leader. There 

 are usually at the British Association several 

 eminent men of science, who take a prominent 

 part in the proceedings, but the average num- 

 ber and average importance of the papers pre- 

 sented are probably less than in the case of the 

 American Association. Thus at Denver over 

 two hundred papers were presented ; and their 

 . quality will compare favorably with those that 

 will be presented at Glasgow. The social enter- 

 tainments and excursions of the British Associa- 

 tion are usually superior to ours. Owing to 

 the interest taken in science by the upper 

 classes in Great Britain, it receives a more 

 marked social recognition than is the case in 

 this country. This, however, is not a matter 

 of great importance ; and the British As- 

 sociation has doubtless never been entertained 

 more generously than was the American As- 

 sociation at Denver. The British' Association is 

 certainly fortunate in securing the support of a 

 large body of members, especially of annual 

 members. Thus three previous meetings have 

 been held at Glasgow. In 1840, there were in 

 attendance 1,393 members ; in 1855, 2,159, and 

 in 1876, 2,800. These members were, how- 

 ever, chiefly local citizens who took an interest 

 in science, attended the meetings and sub- 

 scribed $5 to support the Association. On the 

 other hand, the American Association has a 

 much larger proportion of scientific men in at- 

 tendance ; and the British Association has cer- 

 tainly never had an accession of nearly 1,200 

 permanent members, chiefly scientific men, in 

 the course of a year, as has occurred with the 

 American Association during the past year. 



At the meeting of the British Association 

 that opens next week, Professor A. W. Riicker, 



the eminent physicist, recentlj^ elected to the 

 presidency of the University of London, will 

 preside and will deliver the inaugural address. 

 The public lectures will be by Professor W. 

 Ramsay, who has chosen as his subject ' The 

 Inert Constituents of the Atmosphere,' and by 

 Professor Francis Darwin on the ' Movements 

 of Plants.' 



The addresses of the presidents of the sec- 

 tions, for the preliminary announcement of 

 which we are indebted to a forecast printed in 

 the London Times, are as follows : In Section 

 A (Mathematical and Physical Science), the 

 president. Major P. A. MacMahon, will first 

 give an account of the Mathematical Society of 

 Spitalfields, 1717-1845; and, after some remarks 

 upon the present state of mathematics and 

 physics in Great Britain and the teaching of 

 those subjects, will conclude by considering the 

 work of a specialist in science and especially 

 of a mathematical specialist, in relation to the 

 general advance of scientific knowledge. The 

 title of the address which will be delivered 

 by Professor Percy Frankland, F.R.S., presi- 

 dent of Section B (Chemistry), is 'The position 

 of British chemistry at the dawn of the twentieth 

 century.' He proposes drawing attention to 

 the factors which have been instrumental in 

 promoting the growing activity in original 

 investigation during the past 20 years. Com- 

 ing to the present time he will point out the 

 disadvantages uiider which students of chem- 

 istry labor at the universities, and will indi- 

 cate some of the more important reforms which 

 he considers desirable in the immediate future. 

 The president of Section C (Geology) is Mr. 

 John Home, of the Geological Survey Ofiice, 

 Edinburgh, who has chosen as the subject of 

 his address, ' Recent advances in Scottish geol- 

 ogy.' He proposes to review the progress of 

 Scottish geological work since the last meeting 

 of the Association in Glasgow. In Section D 

 (Zoology), Professor J. Cossar Ewart will prob- 

 ably take the opportunity afforded him in his 

 presidential address of summarizing the results 

 of the long series of experiments he has been 

 carrying out at Pennycuik in connection with 

 the subject of inheritance and telegony. Dr. 

 Hugh Robert Mill is the president of Section 

 E (Geography), and in his address will deal 



