SCIENCE. 



FRIDAY, AUGUST 22, 1884. 



COMMENT AND CRITICISM. 

 Membership in the American association for 

 the advancement of science is readily attain- 

 able by an}' one willing to pay a small annual 

 fee, and it is largely affected b} T the localities 

 which it visits in its annual peregrination. So 

 man}^ sections of the northern half of the 

 United States have already been visited, that 

 one would suppose the membership would now 

 fairly represent the distribution of interest in 

 science throughout the country ; though for 

 various reasons, and particularly because the 

 association has never, at least in recent } T ears, 

 met there, one would expect a feeble showing 

 from the southern and Pacific states. 



the association met in 1850, finds no represen- 

 tation whatsoever. 



An inspection of the list of present mem- 

 bers shows, however, some curious anomalies. 

 The total number of members is 2,011. The 

 cities having the largest number of members 

 are New York (153) , Boston (142) , Cincinnati 

 and Washington (127 each). The next high- 

 est is Montreal (71), where the meeting was 

 held two 3'ears ago, which distances Philadel- 

 phia (51), which, in its turn, is scarcely ahead 

 of St. Louis (49) and Cambridge (47). New 

 Haven (30), with all its scientific activities, 

 is not so far beyond Hartford (19) as we 

 should expect. Chicago shows a meagre num- 

 ber (26), and is surpassed by Baltimore (28). 

 Salem, as the nominal headquarters of the 

 association, hardly responds with credit (20), 

 while Minneapolis (31) surpasses Chicago 

 and Baltimore. Providence (15), where the 

 association has not met since 1855, makes a 

 better showing than Indianapolis (7), where it 

 met in 1871 ; or Dubuque (1) , 1872 ; or Detroit 

 (G), 1875; or Buffalo (12), 1876. Several 

 of these are surpassed b} r New Orleans (10), 

 near which the association never ventured, and 

 by San Francisco (6), still farther removed 

 from its activities ; while Charleston, where 



No. 81. — 1884. 



More than one-third of the association come 

 from New York (349) and Massachusetts 

 (341). Ohio (208) comes next, followed by 

 the District of Columbia (129), Canada (120), 

 and Pennsylvania (111). No other states fur- 

 nish more than 100 members ; but it is un- 

 expected to see Connecticut (73) neck and 

 neck with Missouri (72) ; Rhode Island (29) 

 far in advance of Vermont (18) and Maine 

 (14) ; Michigan (25) below Minnesota (54) ; 

 Kansas and Nebraska (5 each) following Colo- 

 rado (9), and even New Brunswick, Alabama, 

 Florida, Texas, and West Virginia (7 each). 

 Kentucky (31) surpasses Iowa (25), and 

 Indiana (39) lags far behind Illinois (69). 

 An examination of the list on the basis of 

 population would, no doubt, prove interesting. 



How old ma} r a newspaper be and still be a 

 newspaper? This question has been up for 

 decision before the secretary of the treasury, 

 and it has been decided that a newspaper 

 ceases to be a newspaper when it has another 

 beside it. One newspaper is a newspaper : two 

 or more newspapers sewed together are not 

 newspapers, but form a book, b at least printed 

 matter.' All this means that a New- York 

 importer desired, as his customers most cer- 

 tainty desire, that some bound volumes of 

 periodicals should be admitted free of duty as 

 periodicals, as, according to the last laws, the 

 importer thought they should be. But no : the 

 decision has come down, that "it is fair to 

 hold it was this fresh and concurrent statement 

 [which character it loses k when kept for a year, 

 and then fastened up with its fellows '] that 

 congress meant should go free, and not (so 

 far as news is concerned) the stale sheets, the 

 accumulation of the year." Cannot all who 

 may be affected, as are all readers of foreign 

 journals, bestir themselves to prevent such 

 needless restrictions of their rights! 



