( 560 ) [Oct. 



THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT 

 OF SCIENCE. 



MEETING AT DUNDEE, September, 1867. 



The meeting which has just closed has rivalled in interest and 

 numher of visitors any of the previous northern gatherings, with 

 the exception of the Aberdeen meeting, which was perhaps excep- 

 tionally large, owing to the Presidency of the late Prince Consort. 

 Last year it was our duty to draw attention to the very high 

 charges for lodgings made by the inhabitants of Nottingham : we 

 are glad to say that no complaints of this character can fairly be 

 made against Dundee. The attendance in the Sections has been 

 better than usual, and the earnestness of those who went for strictly 

 scientific purposes was shown by the number of papers announced 

 in each morning's journal, and by the length and interest of the 

 discussions which the more important of these papers elicited. 



The value of these autumnal meetings of the Parliament of 

 Science becomes every year more and more apparent. The chief 

 advantage, however, does not arise from a diligent attendance at 

 the Sections, but from those impalpable influences which result from 

 a lounge in the reception room — a picnic or excursion to some place 

 of note in the neighbourhood — a look-in at the B.'s, the JKed Lions, 

 or the Eastern Club. Men, who before ouly knew each other in 

 the pages of a scientific journal, here meet in friendly companion- 

 ship, and the keen scientific antagonist becomes a personal friend for 

 life. A controversy which has been dragging on for years is settled 

 by ten minutes' personal explanation ; and opponents who were 

 rapidly approaching the orthodox scientific intensity of hatred, 

 carry away from such a meeting mutual forbearance and respect. 

 These are precious results, and if the Sections are of no other use, 

 they have the inestimable advantage of drawing men of kindred 

 pursuits together from all parts of the kingdom, and giving them 

 an excuse for a week's holiday under the convenient pretext of 

 attending a scientific meeting. 



At the General Meeting which took place on Wednesday, the 

 4th of September, the usual reports were read. One of these, the 

 report of the committee appointed by the Council of the Association 

 to consider the best means for promoting scientific education in 

 schools, deserves more than a passing notice. The report, after 

 pointing out that there is already a general recognition of science 

 as an element in liberal education, and stating that general educa- 



