PROCEEDINGS 
OF THE 
PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 
From the 510th Meeting, January 6, 1900, to the 593d 
Meeting, December 24, 1904. 
FROM THE MINUTES.* 
510th Meeting. January 6, 1900. 
President Sternberg in the chair. 
Twenty-eight persons present. 
Mr. Bigelow described informally A new apparatus for the 
measurement of the force of gravity. 
Mr. Egbert Fletcher read a biographical sketch of Dr. W. W. 
Godding. [Published in the Bulletin of the Philosophical So¬ 
ciety, vol. xiii, p. 390.] 
Mr. L. J. Briggs presented a paper on A new form of elec¬ 
trical condenser having a capacity capable of continuous adjust¬ 
ment. [Published in the Physical Review, vol. xi, p. 14 (1900).] 
Mr. J. H. Gore read a paper on The discovery of universal 
gravitation. [Not published.] 
* Abstracts of most of the papers presented to the Society, made by 
the authors or the Secretary, and usually longer than the following 
abstracts, will be found in Science, in accordance with the vote of the 
General Committee announced November 23, 1895. See Bulletin, vol. 
xiii, p. 443. The other references to places of publication are from 
data furnished where practicable by the authors. 
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