THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE 



615 



THE PEOGKESS OF SCIENCE 



MEETINGS OF SCIENTIFIC 

 SOCIETIES 



Apart from the Christmas holidays, 

 the month of April is the favorite sea- 

 son for scientific meetings. It would 

 be the best time in the year, if it were 

 only possible for educational institu- 

 tions to agree on a week 's holiday. 

 At present some of them have a vaca- 

 tion at a regular time, some follow 

 Easter and some have none. There is 

 now active discussion on the reform 

 of the calendar. One month with 

 twenty-eight days is certainly unde- 

 sirable, and it would be convenient if 

 each month began on the same day of 1 

 the week. A radical reform is no more 

 unlikely than any other, and the sug- 

 gestion made by Professor T. C. 

 Chamberlin (Science, November 25, 1 

 1910) is alluring. It is to have twelve 

 months of 28 days with an extra week 

 at the close of each quarter, Christmas I 

 week having an added day with an- 

 other extra day on leap year. Southern 

 nations may be over-fond of holidays, 

 but life is almost too monotonous in 

 the sober north. It might be well if 

 each quarter were followed by a week 

 in which the routine business of life 

 were interrupted — Christmas week for 

 family reunions, Easter week for re- 

 ligious and scientific gatherings, Julien 

 week for national and international 

 celebrations, the autumn week for har- 

 vest and labor festivals. While we 

 wait, probably in vain, for such a re- 

 form, educational institutions might, 

 and to a certain extent have adopted 

 the plan of four quarters with a 

 week's intermission. Concentrated ef- 

 fort might give us a week in the spring 

 for scientific meetings. 



The National Academy of Sciences 

 holds its annual stated meeting in 

 Washington, beginning on the third 



Tuesday in April, and almost justifies 

 its existence by the time of meeting, 

 as members from further north are 

 likely then to come into the fullness of 

 the spring. The academy is in the 

 main of interest to its limited member- 

 ship. It is possible that the honor of 

 election stimulates to scientific re- 

 search, though it can scarcely be so 

 effective in this direction as would be 

 the case if the work of the academy 

 were better known and if there were 

 some more tangible advantage in mem- 

 bership, as is the ease in some of the 

 continental academies, where the mem- 

 bers receive salaries from the govern- 

 ment. If research is to be accom- 

 plished it must be paid for in some 

 way, and there is much to be said for 

 the endowment of individuals through 

 an institution such as the National 

 Academy of Sciences. 



At present the official function of 

 the academy as the scientific adviser of 

 the government is hardly exercised. 

 Indeed it is not clear how it could be 

 to advantage when the government has 

 in its own employment hundreds of 

 scientific men. Nor can it be said that 

 the programs of scientific papers are 

 of great interest. Important research 

 work is presented each year, but prob- 

 ably not more important than before 

 the special scientific societies, and it 

 has now become very difficult for sci- 

 entific work in all directions to be pre- 

 sented before a single group of indi- 

 viduals. 



Following the meeting of the Na- 

 tional Academy in Washington, the 

 American Philosophical Society of 

 Philadelphia has in recent years ar- 

 ranged a meeting which has assumed 

 national importance. The program of 

 scientific papers is larger than at 

 Washington, the society is fortunate in 



