March 3, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



333 



than begun the scientific investigation of a 

 field which offers the widest opportunities 

 for results. Not only does it seem probable 

 that practically new lines of business are to 

 be created by botany, but the improvement 

 in old methods which have been maintained 

 for centuries simply because 'our fathers' 

 did that way, has already demonstrated to 

 the most conservative that the scientific 

 botanist, true to type, is a man of immense 

 practical value to the farmer, the manu- 

 facturer, the engineer and the world at 

 large. 



May we none of us, by our work or our 

 words, retard the rapid advance now being 

 made, along both pure and practical scien- 

 tific lines, of our chosen science— botany. 



George T. Moore. 



Bureau of Plant Industry. 



AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE AD- 

 VANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 

 SECTION B. PHYSICS. 



The annual meeting of Section B, Phys- 

 ics, of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science, in affiliation with 

 the American Physical Society, was held 

 in Philadelphia on December 28, 29 and 

 30, 1904. The attendance was represen- 

 tative in an unusual degree of the physi- 

 cists of the entire country, including not 

 only those from many important institu- 

 tions of the east, but also from the south, 

 the west, and from California. The av- 

 erage attendance was nearly one hundred. 



The retiring vice-president, Edwin H. 

 Ilall, introduced the presiding officer, Pro- 

 fessor W. F. Magie, of Princeton Univer- 

 sity, the vice-president of Section B. The 

 other officers of the section who were in 

 attendance were Dayton C. IMiller, secre- 

 tary; Henry Crew, councillor; A. W. Good- 

 speed, member of the general conmiittee; 

 and the following members of the sectional 

 committee, W. F. Magie, E. H. Hall, D. C. 



Miller, E. L. Nichols, F. E. Nipher, G. F. 

 , Hull, A. G. Webster, D. B. Brace. 



For the next meeting, to be held in New 

 Orleans, beginning December 29, 1905, the 

 presiding vice-president is Professor Henry 

 Crew, of Northwestern University. The 

 other officers for the New Orleans meeting, 

 so far as now determined, are : 



Retiring Vice-President — W. F. Magie. 



Members of the Sectional Committee — Henry 

 Crew, W. F. Magie, D. C. Miller, E. L. Nichols, 

 F. E. Nipher, G. F. Hull and A. G. Webster. 



Secretary — Dayton C. Miller, Case School of 

 Applied Science, Cleveland, Ohio. 



On Thursday the retiring vice-president,. 

 Professor E. H. Hall, of Harvard Univer- 

 sity, gave an address on 'A Tentative The- 

 ory of Thermoelectric Action.' This im- 

 portant paper, which is printed in full 

 otherwhere in this journal, was listened to 

 by an unusually large audience. 



Twenty-two papers were read before Sec- 

 tion B. all of which were of such impor- 

 tance that it was generally expressed that 

 this meeting was one of the most valuable 

 that Section B has ever enjoyed. The sub- 

 jects may be classified as follows : on light, 

 nine papers; on electricity, five; on meteor- 

 ology, two ; and on general subjects, six 

 papers. Papers on related subjects were 

 grouped together more than had been usual 

 before, and ample time was allowed for 

 discussion. This arrangement added to the 

 value, as well as to the enjoyment, of the 

 sessions. 



Beginning on Friday, December 30, the 

 sessions were in charge of the American 

 Physical Society ; a large number of valu- 

 able papers were read, an account of which 

 is given in the report of the Physical So- 

 ciety. 



The abstracts of the papers read before 

 Section B are given below. 



Note on the Mirror-Telescope-Scale 

 Method: George F. Stradling, Manual 

 Training School, Philadelphia. 



