Miscellaneous Intelligence. 513 



other things, in a careful study of the chemistry of soils. The 

 result has been a large number of valuable quantitative determina- 

 tions that have cleared up many points concerning soil fertility, 

 and have indicated the lines which many of the later investigations 

 should follow. The main results of these Government studies 

 have been organized in an attractive manner and presented by 

 the chemist in charge in the form of a book as above. A few 

 chapters, such as " The Mineral Constituents of the Soil Solution," 

 and " The Organic Constituents of the Soil Solution," are here 

 presented practically as they appeared in Government Bulletins, 

 except that a large number of relatively unimportant citations 

 have been omitted. The organization of these and other chap- 

 ters with reference to each other has been carefully done, so that 

 the work is a unit. In addition, a preliminary chapter on The 

 Soil, others on Soil Management, Soil Water, Fertilizers and 

 Alkali, make the book a well-rounded treatise on soils from the 

 chemical standpoint. i. b. 



III. Miscellaneous Scientific Intelligence. 



]. National Academy of Sciences. — The annual spring meeting 

 of the National Academy of Sciences was held in Washington on 

 April 16-18 ; some forty-iive members were present. 



The following gentlemen were elected to membership in the 

 Academy : John Jacob Abel, Johns Hopkins University; Charles 

 Benedict Davenport, Station for Experimental Evolution, Cold 

 Spring Harbor, N. Y. ; Samuel James Meltzer, Rockefeller Insti- 

 tute for Medical Research, New York; Harry Fielding Reid, 

 Johns Hopkins University ; Roland Thaxter, Harvard Univer- 

 sity ; William Morton Wheeler, Harvard University ; David 

 White, U. S. Geological Survey, Washington, D. C, and Robert 

 Williams Wood, Johns Hopkins University. 



Sir John Murray was elected a foreign associate of the 

 Academy. 



The following is a list of the papers presented at the meeting : 



George E. Hale : The new tower telescope of the Mount Wilson Solar 

 Observatory. 



W. W. Campbell : Eadial velocities of 213 brighter Class A stars. Eadial 

 velocities of 190 brighter Class F stars. Some characteristics of stellar 

 motions. 



W. J. Humphreys : Holes in the air. 



E. A. Harper : The organization of the cell colony in Pediastrum. 



D. H. Campbell : On the morphology and systematic position of Calycu- 

 laria radiculosa (Sande Lac) Stephens. 



Wlliam Trelease : A revision of Phoradendron. 



H. F. Osborn : Biological Foundation of Bergson's "Creative Evolution." 



Harvey Gushing : Some observations on the functions of the pituitary 

 body. 



Jacques Loeb : The activation of the animal egg from the physico-chemical 

 standpoint. 



J. A. Holmes : The national phases of the mining industry. 



C. G. Abbot : The solar radiation. 



E. S. Morse : Biographical memoir of C. O. Whitman. 



G. L. Good ale : Biographical memoir of Alexander Agassi z. 



