1170 The American Naturalist. [December, 
books placed on the free list, Mr. Morrison himself opposing 
the proposition. Efforts were employed to have Senator Allison 
to incorporate it in the Senate bill prepared by his com- 
mittee; but like the Morrison bill, this one failed to become a 
law. The Committee of Ways and Means of the present House, 
of which Mr. McKinley is chairman, were interviewed sev- 
eral times, and the desired provision was inserted in their bill, 
which is now the law of the land, having passed both House and 
Senate and received the signature of the President. 
It was thought best by the committee of the American Associ- 
ation to confine its efforts to the free importation of books, and 
to postpone for the present the question of the free importation 
of scientific apparatus. The endeavor to have all scientific books 
placed on the free list was not successful, since a duty of twenty- 
five per cent. is still levied on books printed in the English lan- 
guage. The committee asked that books issued by the English 
Government, or by English scientific societies, be placed on the 
free list, but this was refused. It is to be hoped that this propo- 
sition will meet with more favorable consideration at the hands of 
. the next Congress, which is not likely to favor high protective 
measures. 
Our fellow-students have, we hope, already in many instances 
experienced the benefit of this change in the law, and we shall 
hope for still greater facilities in future, such as the nature 
of the case, as well as our reputation as a people, renders abso- 
lutely necessary. 
—A CIRCULAR has been issued asking naturalists interested in 
organic morphology to meet in Boston, on December 29th, to 
orm an Association of Morphologists, in connection with the 
American Society of Naturalists. Morphology is, of course, the 
raison d etre of scientific anatomy, and a society of morphologists 
has a comprehensive field, which will include anatomists and 
naturalists of all kinds, We are heartily in favor of the existence 
... of such a society, to correspond to the Physiological Society, etc., 
. and to meet at the time of the American Society of Naturalists, 
the Geological Society, and so to form a winter American Scien- 
cm | tific Association of experts. At present, however, we have an 
