Februaky 9, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



231 



Sutton, of the School of Pedagogy, read a timely 

 and exceedingly interesting paper upon the 

 ' Bachelor of Arts Degree,' in which he showed 

 the origin of this ancient honor and its evolu- 

 tion until at the present time it stands for cul- 

 ture, and, in several prominent American in- 

 stitutions, has even become the sole mark of 

 academic training. 



The program for the December meeting was 

 of two parts. The first, representing original 

 investigation, consisted of two papers by Mr. 

 E. T. Dumble, formerly State Geologist, en- 

 titled ' Cretaceous of Obispo Carion, Sonora,' 

 and ' Occurrence of Oyster Shells in Volcanic 

 Deposits in Sonora, Mexico.' 



Part second was of the nature of a symposium, 

 in which the advancement of science during the 

 past year occupied a conspicuous place. Dr. 

 William L. Bray, discussed the ' Modern Trend 

 of Botanical Studies,' showing clearly and forci- 

 bly the enormous strides made within the last 

 few years ; he pointed out the differentiation 

 of the science of botany — how it had outgrown 

 the grasp of any one man — and spoke briefly of 

 its economic relations to many important in- 

 dustries. 



Dr. Henry Winston Harper discussed the 

 ' Recent Advances of Chemistry.' The solidi- 

 fication of hydrogen was, in his opinion, the 

 most important chemical contribution to science 

 during the past year. From a thermo-dynamic 

 standpoint it is one of the greatest accomplish- 

 ments of the nineteenth century, as it requires 

 a temperature within 15° C. of the absolute 

 zero. The study of the properties of matter 

 at such extremely low temperatures is a virgin 

 field for original investigation and phenomena 

 of a most startling character may be looked for 

 here. Some of the results of the latest research 

 along this line were brought before the Academy. 

 The advances of chemistry along many other 

 lines were also discussed, especial stress being 

 given to the recent utilization of the Indian 

 corn plant, or maize, not only of the grain, but 

 of the entire plant — pith, stalk and leaves. Pro- 

 fessor Harper closed his discussion by reference 

 to some recent developments of chemical theory, 

 devoting particular attention to ' Werner's 

 Theory of Coordinated Types.' 



At a meeting of the Council, following this 



public session, Drs. Hilgartner, Bray and Bailey, 

 were elected a Committee on Publication. 



F. W. 8. 



University of Texas. 



DISCUSSION AND COBBESPONDENCE. 

 FALSE BIBLIOGRAPHIC INDICATIONS. 



To THE Editor of Science : For some 

 years past a few scientific Hamlets have been 

 trying to set the time right in the matter of 

 'authors reprints,' ' Separat-abdriicke', or 

 ' tirages a-part.' The most essential of their 

 demands is that such separate copies should be 

 furnished with correct bibliographic indications, 

 and should retain the original page-numbers. 

 They recognize with gratitude that the last ten 

 years have witnessed a vast improvement in 

 this respect. But a new terror has arisen, and 

 appears so frequently and in so many quarters 

 that it seems time to raise a vigorous protest. 



It is not uncommon to be favored by an 

 author with a copy of his latest work giving the 

 desired bibliographic indications — -name of peri- 

 odical, volume, page, and plate numbers, and 

 date of publication — and apparently with the 

 type undisturbed. But should some chance 

 lead one to the original, one finds that one or 

 more, perhaps all, of these indications are in- 

 correct ; or else that the type has been shifted, 

 so that matter appears on a page other than 

 that which it originally occupied. Direct mis- 

 statements of this specious nature are worse 

 than no statement at all. 



It is not gracious to look a gift horse in the 

 mouth, but some instances will make the point 

 clearer and may serve as a warning. Be it 

 understood that this is no question of mere in- 

 completeness of information, simple repaging, 

 or even incorrect dating, for examples of these 

 offences are familiar to every serious worker 

 and are remedied by him in due course. But 

 take such a case as this : " Studier ofver den 

 baltiske Yngre kritans bildningshistoria. Af 

 Anders Hennig. Aftryck ur Geol. Foren i Stock- 

 holm Forhandl. Bd. 21, Haft 1., 1899." The 

 pagination runs from 19-82, and appears to be, 

 as indeed it is, the original pagination. Then 

 comes ' Haft 2 ' and the paper is said to be 

 continued from the preceding 'Haft.' The 

 pagination also continues, 83-138. There is 



