RECORDS OF MEETINGS 279 



Summary of Papers 



Mr. Hyde said in a])stract : Prolonged and extensive breeding of 

 Drosophila has afforded evidence for the view that fertility and sterility 

 are independent hereditary factors which conform to the Mendelian law. 

 Longevity and other physiological characters behave in a similar manner. 



The paper was illustrated by a number of charts and diagrams and was 

 discussed by Professor Morgan. 



Dr. Packard 's paper was a conclusion of the communication presented 

 at the previous meeting. It is to be published in the Journal of Experi- 

 mental Zoology. 



The Section then adjourned. 



William K. Gregory, 



Secretary. 



SECTION OF ASTROlSrOMY, PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY 



21 April, 1913 



In accordance with a plan proposed by the Council of the Academy, 

 this meeting of the Section was devoted to a lecture on recent progress iii 

 physics and a general reception to the members of the Academy and the 

 Affiliated Societies. 



The meeting was opened by Vice-President Charles Lane Poor at 8 :15 

 p. M., about three hundred persons being present, and after a few words 

 explaining the proposed plan of general meetings, the lecture of the 

 evening was presented as follows : 



Bergen Davis, Electricity as Revealed by its Passage through 



Gases. 



Summary of Paper 



Professor Davis's lecture was a summary of recent advances along 

 most interesting lines. It proceeded according to the following synopsis : 



Electric phenomena in gases at various pressures ; 



Discharge with external electrodes and the electrodeless ring discharge ; 



Electrical nature of matter, cathode rays and the electron ; 



Mass and electrical charge of the electron ; 



Positive rays, or so-called canal rays ; 



Sir Joseph Thomson's experiments with positive rays, the most sensi- 

 tive method of chemical analysis ; 



Structure of the atom and possibility of transmutation of elements. 



The address was illustrated with many beautiful experiments. 



