32 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XI. No. 262. 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF THE TTNI- 

 VBESITY OF VIEGINIA. 



The regular monthly meetings of this society 

 have begun. At the first meeting of the pres- 

 ent session the following officers were elected 

 for the current year : 



President, Dr. C. W. Kent ; Vice-president, 

 Professor W. H. Echols ; Secretary, Dr. W. J. 

 Humphreys. 



After the election of officers. Professor Or- 

 mond Stone delivered the customary address 

 of the retiring president. His subject was The 

 Moon. His address, supplemented by many 

 excellent photographs, was a clear presentation 

 of the more recent theories in regard to the 

 markings on the moon's surface, and probable 

 past and future history of the moon's relation 

 to the earth. 



The second meeting, December 8th, was de- 

 voted to meteors. Professor Ormond Stone gave 

 a brief outline of the preparations made under 

 the auspices of the Leander McCormick observa- 

 tory for studying the Leonid meteors. These 

 included, among other things, six photographic 

 stations on a north and south line about forty 

 miles in length. 



Dr. M. W. Humphreys explained his methods 

 of making and recording eye-observations of 

 meteors, and called attention to several very 

 singular meteors— about half a dozen in all— seen 

 on the nights of November 14th and 15th. 

 These were all red and moved in wavy lines, 

 the amplitudes being approximately one degree. 

 It was admitted that this might be an optical 

 illusion, but if so, not peculiar to the observer, 

 as in the case of the most conspicuous meteor of 

 this type the same phenomenon was noted by 

 at least one other member — a young lady — of 

 the party. 



Dr. W. A. Lambeth gave an account of a 

 shower of meteors he saw in November, 1892, 

 in North Carolina. He said it was about eleven 

 o'clock at night and that they appeared far too 

 rapidly to allow even a guess at the number- 

 that they presented the appearance of a verit- 

 able rain of fire, so much so that for a time the 

 engineer of the train he was on refused to run 

 his engine, and that the negroes, as in 1833, 

 indulged in song and supplication, believing 

 firmly that the end of the world had come. 



Mr. J. A. Lyon gave a short history of the 

 Leonid meteors, covering a period of about one 

 thousand years. 



Dr. W. J. Humphreys, described the photo- 

 graphs obtained, all of which, with possibly one 

 exception, failed to show meteor trails. Several 

 practical points were learned, however, and 

 these were stated in view of the fact that re- 

 newed efforts will be made next year to photo- 

 graphically determine the radiant and the height 

 of the atmosphere. 



At the close of the meeting Professor F. L. 

 O. Wadsworth, director of the Allegheny Ob- 

 servatory, showed to those interested a curved 

 star negative of Orion and adjacent regions 

 which he had recently taken. This remarkable 

 negative, due to the combined skill of Wads- 

 worth and Brashear, has, in excellent definition, 

 more than one thousand square degrees, and 

 shows, according to their estimation, more than 

 50,000 measurable stars. 



W. J. Humphreys, 



Secretary. 



ALABAMA INDUSTRIAL AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 



The regular autumn meeting of the society 

 was held in the rooms of the Commercial Club, 

 in Birmingham, on the afternoon of November 

 16, 1899. 



Mr. T. H. Aldrich, ex-president of the so- 

 ciety, in the chair. Present, Messrs. J. A. 

 Montgomery, B. B. Ross, Col. Horn, E. A. 

 Smith and representatives of the press. The 

 reading of the minutes of the last meeting 

 (annual) was dispensed with, as the proceed- 

 ings of this meeting had already been printed 

 and distributed. The Secretary made the state- 

 ment that on the occasion of the spring meet- 

 ing so few members and officers were present 

 that it was decided not to have a meeting, not- 

 withstanding the fact that Dr. Ross was present 

 with a paper and Mr. James Bowron had con- 

 sented to talk to the Society about Cuba. 



After the regular routine, Dr. Ross gave an ab- 

 stract of his paper on ' The Fertilizer Resources 

 and Fertilizer Industries in Alabama.' This 

 valuable paper will be printed in full in the Pro- 

 ceedings. Dr. Ross also exhibited to the mem- 

 bers a number of samples of phosphate rock col- 

 lected recently by him in the vicinity of Athens, 



