January 26, 1900. ] 



SCIENCE. 



135 



Thus fusion and indeed all phenomena of 

 color- vision seem to be cerebral rather than 

 retinal. 



Professor E. B. Delabarre spoke on ' Con- 

 ditions affecting the judgment of the direc- 

 tion of lines.' In the judgment of the 

 vertical, besides the factors usually recog- 

 nized, the following are of especial impor- 

 tance: (1) Attention — fixation does not 

 usually coincide with eye fixation; the latter 

 •wanders much though unconsciously, and 

 causes supposedly fixated line to appear 

 constantly changing in degree and direc- 

 tion of inclination; (2) muscle-strains in 

 eye and head also influence the apparent 

 inclination. These same influences affect 

 also other judgments of direction as well 

 as of length and distance. Certain condi- 

 tions as of illumination, etc., produce defi- 

 nite strains and tendencies to fixation of 

 particular kinds ^hich furnish a funda- 

 mental explanation for many forms of geo- 

 metrical optical illusions. 



Professor E. C. Sanford reported briefly 

 upon ' Recent studies in the Clark labora- 

 tory,' with the following titles : (1) ' The 

 development in school children of the ability 

 to reproduce rhythms '; (2) ' The rhythm 

 of nursery rhymes '; (3) ' The mental prop- 

 erties of the white rat as tested with the 

 maze.' The first and last of these are 

 portions of more extended studies of the 

 general topics of rhythm and comparative 

 psychology, and all are expected to appear 

 in the American Journal of Psychology during 

 the coming year. 



Professor Joseph Jastrow discussed ' Pend- 

 ing problems at the Wisconsin laboratory,' 

 and demonstrated various pieces of appara- 

 tus, many of them connected with the study 

 of problems in visual perception. The Wood 

 pseudoseope and the reflecting stereoscope 

 were exhibited and explained, and a device 

 for simplifying the demonstration of retinal 

 shadows was shown. The demonstration 

 further included a brief account of experi- 



ments in progress on the power of distin- 

 guishing in a shadowless light between con- 

 vex forms varying slightly and regularly in 

 degree of convexity. The sorting apparatus 

 (see Psychological Revieiv, May, 1898), was 

 exhibited in its perfected and portable 

 form . 



Dr. E. W. Scripture demonstrated several 

 devices in use in the laboratory where this 

 meeting was held, and after some informal 

 contributions and discussion the section 

 adjourned. 



In the philosophical section papers were 

 read as follows : ' On practical procedure 

 in inference,' by Professor J. G. Hibben ; 

 ' Elements of consciousness,' by Professor 

 Mary Whiton Calkins ; ' Choice and nature,' 

 by Dr. E. A. Singer, Jr.; ' Methodology and 

 truth,' by Professor J. E. Creighton ; 'The 

 spiritual principle in T. H. Green's phi- 

 losophy,' by Professor E. B. McGilvary ; 

 ' The relation between the moral order and 

 the natural order of the universe,' by Dr. 

 David Irons ; ' The development of content 

 in moral judgments,' by Miss Ellen Bliss 

 Talbot ; ' The relation of ethics to religion,' 

 by Professor W. G. Everett; ' The contents 

 of religious consciousness,' by Dr. J. H. 

 Leuba ; ' Causes of scepticism,' by Professor 

 E. H. Sneath. 



At the business meeting Professor Joseph 

 Jastrow, of Wisconsin, was elected Presi- 

 dent for the ensuing year, and Professors 

 Ladd, of Yale, and Bryan, of Indiana, 

 members of the Council ; Professors James 

 and Ladd were elected delegates of the As- 

 sociation to the International Psychological 

 Congress to be held in Paris in 1900, and 

 the Council was empowered to call a meet- 

 ing of the Association in June in connec- 

 tion with the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science which will meet 

 at that time at Columbia University. 

 Livingston Faeeand, 



Secretary. 



COLUJIBIA TJNIVEESITY. 



