.">»><{ Scientific Intelligence. 



in the operations of the Survey, ranging from historic examples 

 of apparatus designed and used by llassler and Bache to the 

 latest forms employed at the present day. Notable features were 

 astronomical, geodetic, tidal, topographic, and hydrographic 

 apparatus which owe their origin to the Survey and were con- 

 structed in its workshops. The manifold experiences of the field 

 parties of the Bureau under the various conditions encountered in 

 the field of operations, extending from the Arctic Ocean to the 

 southern limits of the Philippine Archipelago, were illustrated by 

 prints from photographs made in the field. The progress of the 

 developments that has marked the improvements in surveying 

 results between 1816 and 1916 was graphically shown by com- 

 parison of field sheets and by published charts from various 

 periods." 



2. National Academy of Sciences. — The autumn meeting of 

 the Academy was held on November 13, 14, and 15, in the new 

 buildings of the 'Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cam- 

 bridge. The meeting was presided over by the President, Dr. 

 William H. Welch, and was largely attended. Besides the many 

 papers presented (in part by title only) there were some sixty inter- 

 esting exhibits open on Monday afternoon and evening, each per- 

 sonally explained by the exhibitor. The members of the Academy 

 •were entertained on Monday evening by President and Mrs. Mac- 

 laurin of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Presi- 

 dent and Mrs. Lowell of Harvard University. The general Acad- 

 emy dinner was held on Tuesday evening, and on Wednesday 

 evening the American Academy of Arts and Sciences held a 

 special meeting, when the Rumford medal was presented to 

 Charles 6. Abbot, for his researches on Solar Radiation. 



The titles of papers presented are as follows: 



Baymond Pearl: Some, effects of the continued administration of alcohol 

 to the domestic fowl, with special reference to the progeny. 



Edward S. Morse: Protoconch of Solemya. 



Alfred G. Mater: Further studies of nerve conduction. 



E. G. Conklin: The share of egg and sperm in heredity. 



Jacques Loeb: Diffusion and secretion. 



L. B. Mendel and S. E. Jordan: Some interrelations between diet, growth, 

 and the chemical composition of the body. 



Alessandro Fabbri : Micro-cinematographs of marine and freshwater 

 organisms. 



Henry L. Abbot: Hydrology of the Isthmus of Panama. 



John M. Clarke: The strand and the undertow. 



W. Lindgren: Notes on the deposition of quartz, chalcedony, and opal. 



W. M. Davis : Sublacustrine glacial erosion in Montana. 



Edwin H. Hall: Electric conduction in metals. 



Edward B. Rosa: The silver voltameter as an international standard. 



E. W. Wood: One-dimensional gases and the reflection of molecules. 

 Series in resonance spectra. 



Elihu Thomson: Inferences concerning auroras. 



A. A. Michelson: Eeport of progress in experiments for measuring the 

 rigidity of the earth. The laws of elastico-viscous flow. 



C. G. Abbot: On the preservation of knowledge. 



