SCIENCE 



A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 

 OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 

 FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 



Friday, January 20, 1905. 



CONTENTS : 



The American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science: — 

 A Tentative Theory of Thermo-electric 

 Action: Professor Edwin H. Hall 81 



The Alamogordo Desert : Professor Thomas 



H. jMacBride 90 



Fourth Annual Meeting of the American 

 Philosophical Association: Professor H. 

 N. Gardiner 98 



Scientific Books: — 



Cujori's Introduction to the Modern Theory 

 of Equations: Professor James Pierpont. 

 La contagion mentale: Professor C. E. 

 Seashore 101 



Scientific Journals and Articles 102 



Societies and Academies: 



The Annual Meeting of the New York 

 Academy of Sciences: Professor Henry E. 

 Crampton. The Society for Experimental 

 Biology and Medicine: Professor William 

 J. GiES. The North Carolina Section of the 

 American Chemical Society : Professor C. 

 D. Harris. Science Club of the University 

 of Mississippi: Professor Alfred Hume.. 103 



Discussion and Correspondence : — 

 An Example in Nomenclature : Professor 

 Lester F. Ward. Deluc's ' Geological Let- 

 ters ' : Dr. C. R. Eastman. University Reg- 

 istration Statistics: Dr. William B. 

 Schober. Schools of Technology and the 

 University : Tech Gr.-vduate 110 



Special Articles: — 



Proposed International Phonetic Conference 

 to Adopt a Universal Alphabet: Dr. Robert 

 Stein 112 



Aicards to the Collective Exhibit of the Land- 

 grant Colleges and the Experiment Sta- 

 tions: Dr. E. W. Allen 114 



Scientific Notes and News lUi 



University and Educational News li'O 



THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR TEE 



ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 

 A TENTATIVE THEORY OF THERMO-ELEC^ 

 TRIC ACTION.* 



Let the lines (l)-(l) and (2)-(2) in 

 Fig. 1 be the lines representative respect- 

 ively, of two metals and M, in the or- 

 dinary thermo-electric diagram. We may, 

 if we please, think of these metals as copper 

 and iron, respectively. The lowest horizon- 

 tal line is the temperature coordinate and 

 begins at the absolute zero. 



MSS. inteuded for publicallou aud books, etc., intended 

 for review should be sent to the Editor of Science, Garri- 

 son-on-Hndson, N. Y. 



The diagram is so constructed that the 

 area CC'I'IC is equal to the net thermo- 

 electromotive force, E, counterclockwise, 

 in the circuit indicated by Fig. 2, in which 

 the left-hand junction is kept at tempera- 

 ture T and the right-hand junction at tem- 

 perature T'. We will suppose that E is 

 expressed in mechanical units, as the 



* Address of the vice-president and chairman of 

 Section B — Physics, American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science, Philadelphia, December, 

 1904. [The theory here given is certainly incom- 

 plete, and I fear tliat it is not entirely self-con- 

 sistent. It is intended to be sviggestive rather 

 than conclusive or exhavistive. — E. H. H.] 



