414 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



chemical section Professor Armstrong 

 covered a wide range of topics. He 

 charges Ostwald with filling his test 

 tubes with ink; but he himself writes 

 some 35,000 words, going at times con- 

 siderably beyond the ascertained facts 

 of science, as in discussing " the revolt 

 of women against their womanhood." 

 Dr. A. S. Woodward before the geolog- 

 ical section treated paleontologieal 

 topics and the old age of races largely 

 in the light of American discoveries. 

 Professor A. E. Shipley opened with 

 some references to Charles Darwin, 

 discussed methods of organizing zool- 

 ogy, with its 600,000 known species, 

 and concluded with a discussion of in- 

 ternational oceanic research. Sir W. 

 H. White treated the engineering en- 

 terprises and commerce of Canada and 

 Great Britain. Professor E. H. Star- 

 ling applied physiology and biology to 

 sociological questions. Addresses of 

 equal interest were given before the 

 other sections and at four general 

 meetings, the speakers in practically 

 all cases emphasizing those aspects of 

 science which are likely to hold the 

 attention and affect the conduct of 

 those who are not professionally en- 

 gaged in scientific work. 



As always, the excursions and social 

 events were arranged in a way that it 

 does not seem possible to rival in this 

 country. The Canadian government 

 appropriated $25,000 and the city of 

 Winnipeg $5,000 toward the expenses. 

 It is only necessary to mention the 

 excursion to the Rocky Mountains and 

 the Pacific coast with 150 invited 

 guests. When the association met at 

 Montreal 300 English members attend- 

 ed the Boston meeting of the American 

 Association, but there does not appear 

 to have been this year any concerted 

 effort to bring the foreign men of sci- 

 ence south of the Canadian border. 



The Rev. T. G. Bonney, the eminent 

 geologist, professor emeritus in Uni- 

 versity College, London, was elected 

 president of the association for the 

 meeting to be held next year at Shef- 

 field. 



I SCIENCE AND ADVENTURE 



Reaching the North Pole and flying 

 across the British Channel are sporting 

 events of the first magnitude. They 

 stir the imagination and unite the 

 whole world in healthy interests and 

 generous enthusiasms. They may also 

 be regarded as achievements of applied 

 science. Thousands of workers in the 



i laboratory and in the field have made 

 possible the adventures whose culmina- 

 tion fills the daily papers. To " nail 

 the stars and stripes to the pole," as 

 Commander Peary cabled, or to win 

 for France " imperishable glory " by a 

 flight from Calais to Dover is not in 

 itself a serious contribution to science. 

 But these achievements exhibit in 

 dramatic form the conquest of nature 



j by man which science has accom- 

 plished. Perhaps the only facts of 

 considerable scientific interest so far 

 announced in the case of the " dashes " 

 to the pole are Dr. Cook's statement 

 that he discovered land in the extreme 

 north and Commander Peary's sound- 

 ing which proved that the sea at the 

 pole is over 1,500 fathoms deep. In 

 the main the appeal is to the imagina- 

 tion and it is unfortunate that patri- 

 otic enthusiasm has been checked by a 

 certain amount of skepticism in regard 

 to Dr. Cook's exploit. It is certainly 

 unfortunate that Commander Peary 

 should have so expressed himself. 

 From the time of Herodotus it has 

 been the fate of travelers to have their 

 stories questioned. It is to be hoped 

 that Dr. Cook's records may prove 

 entirely definite, so that all doubts 

 may be cleared up. In any case the 

 pole has been reached, and the way has 

 been cleared for scientific exploration 

 in the arctic and antarctic regions. 



THE POSSIBLE POPULATION OF 

 THE UNITED STATES 



In the last issue of the Monthly 

 Professor A. P. Brigham discusses the 

 capacity of the United States for pop- 

 ulation and places the maximum num- 

 ber of people that can be supported by 

 our resources at 305,000,000. In an 



