934 



SCIENCE. 



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



The American Chemical Society will meet at 

 the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 

 (December 30 and 31). 



The Society for Plant Morphology and Phys- 

 iology will hold its fifth annual meeting at 

 Columbia University, New York City (Decem- 

 ber 31 and January 1 and 2). 



SECTION OF ASTRONOMY, PHYSICS AND CHEM- 

 ISTRY OF THE NEW YORK ACAD- 

 EMY OF SCIENCES. 



The Section met on the evening of Novem- 

 ber 4. 



Dr. S. A, Mitchell gave a very interesting re- 

 port of the recent Eclipse Expedition to Suma- 

 tra. Numerous lantern slides were exhibited, 

 showing the arrangement of the apparatus at 

 the different stations. The paper is given in full 

 in Science. 



Professor William Hallock gave a report of 

 some recent work on underground temperatures. 



Dr. L. Boroschek gave an account of some 

 work he had undertaken in connection with Dr. 

 Tufts on the absorption of light by some dyes of 

 the fluorescein group. The dyes studied were 

 fluorescein and a number of its nitro-derivatives. 

 It was stated that Hewitt and Perkins {Journal 

 Chem. Soc, 1900, page 1324) claim that a double 

 symmetrical tautomerism furnishes a satisfac- 

 tory explanation for the fluorescence of fluores- 

 cein, and that in the case of dinitro- and tetra- 

 nitro fluorescein this tautomerism is inhibited 

 by a secondary tautomerism between the nitro 

 and hydroxyl groups when in ortho position to 

 each other. It was found that the mononitro- 

 fluoresceins, obtained by condensing the 3- 

 nitro- and the 4-nitro-phthalic anhydrides with 

 resorcin, in which the nitro group is on a differ- 

 ent benzol nucleus from the hydroxyl groups, 

 show no fluorescence in alkaline solutions. Ac- 

 cording to the theory of Hewitt and Perkins al- 

 kaline solutions of such dyes should fluoresce. 

 Photographs of the absorption spectra of alka- 

 line solutions of the dyes were taken, and it was 

 found that the substitution of nitro groups dis- 

 places the prominent absorption band of fluo- 

 rescein towards the red end of the spectrum and 

 increases the absorption in the ultra-violet. The 

 absorption of light in the visible spectrum was 

 studied by means of the flicker photometer. 



The amount of light transmitted by equal thick- 

 nesses of solutions of different concentrations 

 was measured for the different dyes. A relation 

 was thus obtained between the absorption of 

 light and the concentration of the dye. The 

 work is still in progress. F. L. Tufts, 



Secretary. 



SECTION OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY 

 OF THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



The first sectional meeting of the season was 

 held on October 28, Professor Farrand in the 

 chair. The names of Robert MacDougall and 

 J. E. Lough were proposed for membership. 



Professor J. McK. Cattell made a brief report 

 regarding psychology at the Denver meeting of 

 the A. A. A. S. ; and Professor Gr. G. MacCurdy, 

 of Yale University, reported on anthropology 

 at that meeting, and in addition described the 

 explorations that are being carried on in the 

 Mesa Verde of southwestern Colorado by the 

 Colorado Cliff* Dwellings Association. 



Professor Franz Boas described the facilities 

 for anthropological study in Berlin, as observed 

 by him in a recent visit. Within the last 20 or 

 30 years, the anthropological equipment of 

 Berlin has progressed enormously. The mu- 

 seum now contains better East Indian collec- 

 tions than can be found in England ; and it is 

 strong in nearly all departments, notably so in 

 American and especially South and Central 

 American anthropology. Fifty scientific work- 

 ers are engaged on these collections, and 16 of 

 these are at work on American subjects. Be- 

 sides the museum, there are several other 

 institutes in Berlin, such as the Anatomical In- 

 stitute of Waldeyer and the Pathological Insti- 

 tute of Virchow, in which anthropological 

 work is done. 



The leader of German anthropology is Vir- 

 chow. He disbelieves in the study of the vari- 

 ation of the whole body, and insists that only 

 the study of the variation in the individual cells 

 of the body can lead to fruitful results. 



Reports of summer field work were presented 

 by H. H. St. Clair, 2d, on his work in Wyoming 

 and Oregon, and by William Jones, on his work 

 in Iowa and Oklahoma. The work of Mr. Jones 

 was carried on among the Sauks and Foxes, a 

 people of Algonquin stock. One band of this 



