Febkuary 10, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



215 



matliematical works of the best type. It is 

 quite possible that in some cases direct 

 translation from foreign languages would 

 be liighly beneficial. Many of the most 

 important mathematical works published in 

 Gennan, French or Italian are at once 

 translated so as to be accessible in all three 

 of these languages. Is there no lesson in 

 this for us ? An English translation of the 

 new 'Encyclopedia of Mathematics' would 

 probably do much to spread throughout 

 this land of seventy-five million inhabitants 

 a knowledge of and an interest in advanced 

 mathematics. 



Finally, we must not relax our efforts to 

 increase and improve the opportunities 

 offered those interested in mathematics to 

 meet one another for the purpose of ex- 

 changing their views upon mathematical 

 topics. The society must encourage, even 

 to a greater extent than hitherto, the hold- 

 ing of mathematical colloquiums, sectional 

 meetings, largely attended general meet- 

 ings, and international congresses. 



Thomas S. Fiske. 



THE AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY. 



The eleventh annual meeting of the 

 American ]\Iathematical Society was held 

 at Columbia University on Thursday and 

 Friday, December 29-30. The attendance 

 at the several sessions included forty-nine 

 members. The retiring president. Pro- 

 fessor T. S. Fiske, occupied the chair. 

 The council aianounced the election of the 

 following persons to membership in the 

 society : Mr. G. I. Gavett, Stanford Uni- 

 versity, Mr. M. E. Graber, Heidelberg 

 University, Tiffin, Ohio; Mr. E. B. Lytle, 

 University of Illinois; Professor R. E. 

 Moritz, University of Washington; Dr. B. 

 L. Newkirk, University of California. 

 Fourteen applications for membership 

 were received. A committee was appointed 

 to arrange for the summer meeting. 



At the opening of the afternoon session 



on Thursday, President Fiske delivered 

 his retiring address, the subject being 

 'Mathematical Progress in America.' The 

 address, published in the present issue 

 of Science, dealt with the general devel- 

 opment of mathematics in this country and 

 especially with the powerful influence ex- 

 erted by the society since its organization 

 iu 1888. Professor Fiske was himself one 

 of the founders of the society, which owes 

 much to his initiative and valuable services 

 as secretary, editor of the BuUetiu and the 

 Transactions and in other official capacities 

 culminating in the presidential office. 



At the annual election, which closed on 

 Friday morning, the following officers and 

 members of the council were chosen : 



President — W. F. Osgood. 



Vice-Presidents — E. W. Brown and James Pier- 

 pont. 



Secretary — F. N. Cole. 

 Treasurer — W. S. Dennett. 

 Librarian — D. E. Smith. 



Committee of Pullication — F. N. Cole, Alex- 

 ander Ziwet, D. E. Smith. 



Members of the Council to serve until December, 

 1901— E. R. Hedrick, T. F. Holgate, E. O. Lovett, 

 L. A. Wait. 



An informal dinner on Thursday even- 

 ing, attended by about thirty-five of the 

 members, added much to the pleasure of 

 the meeting. 



The Annual Register of the society, this 

 year a book of 76 pages, including the cata- 

 logue of the library, has just been pub- 

 lished. The total membership is now 473, 

 of Avhom 32 are life members. The num- 

 ber of papers presented during the year 

 1904 was 118. The treasurer's report 

 shows a balance of $3,884.28 on hand De- 

 cember 27, 1904. The library now eon- 

 tains over 2,000 volumes. 



The following papers were read at the 

 annual meeting : 



^Iax Mason: 'The doubly periodic solutions 

 of Poisson's equation in the plane.' 



\'iRc:iL Snyder: ' On the forms of sextic scrolls 

 liaving no rectilinear directrix.' 



