906 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIV. No. 363. 



can be expected to listen with patience or 

 with profit to the technical discussions of 

 other specialists. But at the same time, as 

 all biologists, at least, must recognize, 

 differentiation with its inherent drawbacks 

 must be corrected by some sort of careful 

 cooperation of dissimilars, and it would 

 appear that here, as in the bodies of living 

 organisms coordination, though perhaps 

 less conspicuous than the work of the spe- 

 cialized parts, is even more important. 



The ' discussion/ which has become one 

 of the two important features of the work 

 of the Naturalists, has in the past generally 

 proved useful and interesting. The subject 

 chosen for this year is in no wise inferior to 

 those of earlier years, namely, ' The Re- 

 lation of the American Society of Natural- 

 ists to other Scientific Societies,' and it is 

 likely that the whole subject of convoca- 

 tion week, winter meetings versus summer 

 meetings, the proper function of the Ameri- 

 can Association for the Advancement of 

 Science, and similar subjects of vital im- 

 portance to the organization of American 

 science in the future, will be thoroughly 

 threshed out. 



Hardly less important than the discussion 

 is the ' dinner,' at which all members of 

 all the affiliated societies should have an 

 opportunity of becoming acquainted. It 

 is greatly to be hoped that the menu 

 this year will be made simple and short 

 and the service prompt, in order to allow 

 time afterwards for making acquaintances, 

 'talking shop,' comparing notes, and the 

 like. By fortunate custom all ordinary 

 after-dinner speaking has been done away 

 with, and in its stead with the sole accom- 



paniment of coffee and cigars the president's 

 address is given. This perhaps should be 

 accounted the third feature of importance 

 of the meeting of the Naturalists, and it 

 ought to be distinctly understood that the 

 president's address should not deal with 

 technicalities within his own specialty but 

 with some large subject of general interest 

 or importance, if possible, to all naturalists 

 and men of science. We are glad to observe 

 that the address of the President for the 

 current year seems likely to be of this 

 character, the topic announced being the 

 ' Modern Subjection of Science and Educa- 

 tion to Propaganda.' 



There is a strong feeling on the part of 

 many men of science in America that sum- 

 mer scientific meetings ought to be given up, 

 or at all events subordinated to a great 

 winter meeting. It is argued that it is too 

 much to expect of anyone who is comfort- 

 ably resting or working in the mountains 

 or by the sea that he shall expose himself 

 to the fatigues and depression of tropical 

 railroading, and the sometimes blistering 

 heat of cities, in order to read or listen to 

 scientific papers. A wise adaptation to the 

 environment — when we cannot modify it — 

 is a fundamental law of life, and it is urged 

 with much force that the rapid growth in 

 favor of winter meetings is simply a natural 

 and inevitable adaptation of this kind to the 

 environment. As our readers know, a large 

 majority of the leading American univer- 

 sities and colleges have, at the instance of 

 the American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science, decided to set aside for the 

 meetings of scientific and learned societies 

 the week in which the first of January 



