Vol.. 6, 1920 INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL 
341 
Geology 
H. S. Washington, Chairman 
Geography 
Major Douglas W. Johnson, Chairman 
^' Physics 
C. E. MendknhaIvIv, Chairman 
Patents 
John C. Penny, Chairman 
All sessions of the Council and of the affiliated unions and all of the re- 
lated committee meetings were held in the splendid Palais des Academies, 
under the patronage of the Royal Belgian Academy of Sciences. The 
Palais, spacious in plan and sumptuous in appointments, occupies an iso- 
lated and commanding position vis a vis the Palais-Royal and the great 
Pare of the city. 
Illness prevented the attendance of Professor Picard, Chairman of the 
Executive Committee of the Council. This position was filled for the oc- 
casion by Professor Lacroix, who presided admirably over the sessions 
of the Council and of the Executive Committee. Professor Hale, member 
of the Committee, was unable to attend the Conference, and Mr. Camp- 
bell served in his stead. Professor Schuster, Secretary of the Royal 
Society and General Secretary of the Executive Committee, served ably 
as the secretary of the Council. Other members of the Executive Com- 
mittee were M. Lecointe, Director of the Royal Observatory of Belgium, 
and Professor Volterra, of the University of Rome. 
The opening session of the Conference was honored by the presence of 
His Majesty, Albert, King of the Belgians, who occupied the royal box 
in the great assembly room. He had previously received the members 
of the Executive Committee in an adjoining room. An address of con- 
gratulation to the King was read by M. Hermignie, Belgian Minister of 
Sciences and Arts, and a cordial welcome to the delegates was pronounced 
by the Vice-President of the Class of Sciences of the Royal Belgian Acad- 
emy. Upon the motion of the President of the Belgian Academy, the 
Executive Committee, as described above, served as the administrative 
Bureau of the Research Council throughout the Conference. 
The several plenary sessions of the Research Council were devoted largely 
to the formulation of a Constitution which should define the purposes 
and govern the proceedings of the Council. The Executive Committee 
in special session at Paris in May had drawn up a proposed constitution, 
and this, in printed form, served as the basis for our deliberations. The 
modifications were accomplished by general consent, or by oral ballot in 
which each country had one vote, and final adoptions rested also upon this 
form of ballot. 
The Conference was able to complete the structure of the Constitution, 
to the satisfaction of all the delegations, except in one particular: that 
