SCIENCE. 
1 1 1 
those of us who come from beyond the Hudson can but 
feel that in entering New England we reach the birthplace 
of American institutions. To some of us it is the land of 
our fathers, and we cannot approach the precincts of their 
departed presence without the sentiment of filial venera- 
tion. Here they laid, broad and deep, the foundations of 
American freedom, without which American science would 
have been an infant in leading strings to-day. 
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen : — With a grateful appre- 
ciation of the kindness of the people of Boston, the Asso- 
ciation is now prepared to enter upon the regular work of 
the session. 
GENERAL BUSINESS. 
The association then proceeded to routine business. The 
permanent secretary gave notice that the following mem- 
bers of the assocation had died since the last meeting, viz.: 
George W. Abbe, of New York, died September 25, 1879. 
E. B. Andrews, Lancaster, Ohio. 
Homer C. Blake, New York. 
F. A. Cairns, New York. 
Caleb Cook, Salem, Mass., died June 5, 1880. 
Benjamin F. Mudge, Manhattan, Kansas, died November 21, 
1879. 
Thomas Nicholson, New Orleans, La. 
Louis Franyois de Pourtales, Cambridge, Mass., died July 18, 
1880. 
The financial report, presented by the secretary, showed 
for the first time since he has been in office a balance in 
favor of the sssociation. The total receipts during the year 
were $5430.35, principally from assessments and entrance 
fees. The disbursements were : Expenses of the Saratoga 
meeting, $189.82 ; publication of 1250 copies of proceedings 
of Saratoga meeting, $2142.64; salaries of permanent and 
assistanf secretaries, $1396. The balance in hand was $148.- 
24. The life membership fund amounted to $975.77. 
The standing committee was then completed, and in- 
cludes, besides the officers of the association, the following 
fellows : N. T. Lupton, F. W. Clarke, E. T. Cox, W. Hark- 
ness, O. T. Mason and S. A. Lattimore. 
On motion from the floor, a standing committee was ap- 
pointed by the president to prepare a message of greeting 
to the British Association, to be sent by cable. Professor 
W. B. Rogers, Asa Gray and N. T. Lapton were appointed, 
and sent the following despatch : “The American Associa- 
tion for the Advancement of Science, in session in Boston, 
sends cordial greetings to the British Association at Swan- 
sea, on the occasion of its fiftieth meeting.” 
The president was requested to appoint a committee of 
three to propose suitable resolutions of regret at the death 
of the late General Albert J. Moyer, of the United States 
Signal Service. 
Over four hundred ladies and gentlemen were elected 
members of the association. 
It was voted that, with the exception of Thursday, the 
morning session begin at ten o’clock and close at one 
o’clock ; and that the afternoon session begin at 2:30 
o’clock and close at five o’clock. The general session then 
adjourned. 
The Sections then organized. Section A was called to 
order in Huntington Hall. Professors A. W. Wright, A. 
M. Mayer and John Trowbridge were elected the commit- 
tee to cooperate with the Vice President and Secretary of 
the Section, and the Chairmen and Secretaries of the Sub- 
Sections. F. H. Smith, A. E. Dolbear, J. M. Van Vleck 
and Thomas Hill were chosen on the nominating commit- 
tee, which acts with the standing committee in the selec- 
tion of officers for next year. The Section then adjourned. 
Alexander Agassiz presided at the meeting of Section B. 
G. L. Goodale, E. D. Cope and B. G. Wilder were chosen 
the sectional committee, and C. S. Minot, A. J. Cook, W. 
G. Farlow and Thomas Mahon, nominating committee. 
On motion of Dr. Minot, it was voted to form a Permanent 
Section of Biology. The Section then adjourned to Friday. 
In the afternoon Mr. Asaph Hall gave the Vice President’s 
address of Section A at half-past two ; Professor J. M. Ord- 
way read the Chairman’s address to the Sub-Section of 
Chemistry at four ; at the same time Major J. W. Powell 
pronounced the Chairman’s address before the Anthropo- 
logical Section, while the official address in microscopy 
was admitted. The Entomological Club met at five 
o’clock, Mr. A. R. Grote in the chair. A communication 
from W. H. Edwards was presented; Mr. McCook con- 
cluded his comment on the honey ant ; Mr. A. J. Cook 
offered some comment ; Mr. E. P. Austin exhibited plates ; 
an essay from S. A. Forbes was read, and Dr. G. F. Waters 
discussed it. In the evening the retiring President pro- 
nounced his great oration on life as a problem of chemistry 
and physics. 
Thursday, August 27TH. 
The second day of the meeting was spent by the Ameri- 
can Association in Cambridge. At eleven o’clock an au- 
dience of nine hundred assembled in the Sanders Theatre 
to listen to the eulogy by Professor Alfred M. Mayer upon 
the late Joseph Henry, and to the annual address by Pro- 
fessor A. Agassiz before the natural history section. The 
audience included nearly all the members of the Association 
registered this year, with the addition of a large number 
from Cambridge. The Harvard professors are usually 
absent during the summer vacation, but on this occasion 
nearly the entire scientific faculty were present to receive 
and honor their friends and guests. At the short business 
meeting of the general session twenty new members were 
admitted to the ’Association, and the following resolution, 
offered by Dr. L. C. Le Conte, referred to a standing com- 
mittee- “ Resolved, that the constitution and by-laws be so 
amended as to establish a Section C of biology, with an or- 
ganization similar to that of the two existing sections.” 
After the addresses at the theatre dinner was served in 
Memorial hall, Mr. Martin Brimmer presiding, but made 
no remarks and gave no toasts. After dinner the ladies 
and gentlemen visited the scientific collections, especially 
the two museums, the mineralogical cabinet, the physical 
laboratory, the library and the historic points of Cambridge. 
At four o’clock the visitors gathered in about equal num- 
bers at the botanic garden, the observatory and the house 
of Mrs. T. P. James. At the garden Professor Asa Gray 
spoke on the characteristics and distribution of the Rocky 
Mountain vegetation. Professor E. C. Pickering, the di- 
rector, offered an opportunity for inspecting the observa- 
tory, while Mrs. James entertained those interested in 
keramics. In the evening there was a reception at Mr. 
and Mrs. A. Graham Bell’s residence. 
Friday, August 28th. 
Little routine was required to be transacted, and the sections and 
sub-sections settled down to steady work. It was announced that 
so far nine hundred ladies and gentlemen had entered their names 
for membership, and that the attendance was a hundred-fold more 
than was usually present on former occasions. 
Among the more important papers read were : 
“ Determination of the routine time of Jupiter, from observa- 
tions of the red spot in 1879-80 ; together with the physical char- 
acter and changes of the spot,” by H. S. Pritchett. 
“ Determination of the comparative dimensions of the ultimate 
molecules, and deduction of the specific properties of substances," 
W. N. Norton. 
“ Friction of lubricating oils,’ 1 C. J. Woodbury. 
“ Steady and vortex motions in vis-cous incompressible fluids," 
Thomas Craig. 
“ Spectroscopic notes," C. A. Young. 
“ Discussion of the phenomena observed in comparing the spec- 
trum of the light from the limbs with that from the centre of the 
solar disk," C. S. Hastings. 
“ Maxima and minima tide predicting machine,” W. Ferrel. 
“ Methods in use at the Observatory at Yale for the verification 
of .thermometers and testing of time pieces,” Leonard Waldo. 
" Heat produced by magnetizing and demagnetizing iron and 
steel,” John Trowbridge. 
“ Lecture experiments for the direct determination of the veloc- 
ity of sound," W. A. Anthony. 
“ On the refractive index of metallic silver," Arthur W. Wright. 
“On a form of vacuum tube for spectroscopic works,” Arthur 
W. Wright. 
“ Progress made at the Observatory of Harvard College in the 
determination of the absolu e coordinates of 109 fundumental 
stars;” "A simple and expeditious method of investigating all 
the division errors of a meridian circle;" “ The systematic errors 
of the Greenwich right ascensions of southern stars observed be- 
tween 1816 and 1831 ; “ Prehminany determination of the equation 
between the British imperial standard yard and the metre of the 
archives;” " The probable error of a single observation at sea, 
