brara deposits covers an area reaching from western Iowa to the Rocky mountains, while north and south it stretches from Texas to Manitoba, and probably northward to the Arctic Ocean. The Niobrara sediments are unique among the geological formations of the Northwest. Where typically developed, they are wholly calcareous, or nearly so, and yet they are altogether unlike the limestones that are so common and so characteristic a feature of the geology of the upper part of the Mississippi valley. They lie, indeed, in massive strata, varying from 6 inches to more than 2 feet in thickness, as do some of the limestones, but the material is chalky in appearance and correspondingly soft in texture. The color of freshly exposed surfaces varies from white through shades of gray and yellow. In some instances the weathered surfaces become reddish, owing to the final oxidation of the small amount of iron which the beds contain. Allow me to traverse familiar ground long enough to say that the Niobrara chalk is a part of the Missouri Cretaceous series that was long ago made classic by the labors of Meek and Hayden. The work of Hill and others in Texas enables us now to refer the beds in question to the Upper Cretaceous, as distinguished from the Comanche or Lower Cretaceous series of the Southwest. In the region we are considering the Cretaceous begins with the Dakota sandstone. Before the Niobrara age came to an end the upward movement of the region began. Step by step the sea receded from its line of farthest advance, somewhere east of the middle of Iowa. It will be noted that in the Sioux river region the conditions that gave us successively the Dakota, Benton, Niobrara, and Pierre deposits passed one into the other by practically imperceptible gradations. While in the Black Hills the transition from Dakota sands to the Benton shales is very abrupt, along the Sioux river the transition is so gradual that any line of separation would seem to be purely arbitrary. The dead skeletons of successive generations of such organisms, unmixed with the grosser products of land erosion, constituted practically the only sediment that accumulated during the Niobrara phase of the Cretaceous. It is upon the nature of these skeletons and their mode of aggregation that the very unusual characteristics of the rocks belonging to this particular stage depend."

The following-named papers were read and

discussed before the section:

"Water Resources of the United States," by John W. Powell; "Geographic Development of China, Corea, and Japan," by Gardiner G. Hubbard ; " A Miniature Extinet Volcano," by W J MeGee; "A Palæozoic Eruption in Missouri," by Arthur Winslow; "The Zine Mines at Franklin Furnace and Ogdensburg, N. J.," by James F. Kemp: "Notes on the Atlantic Miocene" by William H. Dall; "A New Fossil Liriodendron from the Laramie at Walsenderg, Col., and its Significance," by Arthur Hollick; "The Age of the Galena Limestone," by Nathaniel H. Winchell; "The Carboniferous Strata of Shasta County, Cal.," by James P. Smith; "Quaternary Time, Divisible in Three Periods, the Layette, Glacial, and Recent,"

by Warren Upham; "The Columbia Formation in Northwestern Illinois," by Oscar II. Hershey; "The Later Geological Changes in Cuba," "Progress in the Geological Survey of the Great Lakes," "Duration of Niagara Falls," and "Drainage of the Great Lakes into the Mississippi River by Way of Chicago," by

John W. Spencer; "On Standard Sizes for Trays, Drawers, and Cases for Mineralogical and Microscop ical Cabinets," by Wallace G. Levison and Daniel S. Martin; "A Prehistoric Relic, with Extracts from a Survey of Lands in Monroe and Ontario Counties, New York, which were under the Ancient Lake of Ontario,” by Charles H. Jenner; "Exhibition of a Microscope made of Aluminium for Portability, and modified in Construction to adapt it for searching over the Surface of Large Mineral Specimens" and "Exhibition of Map and Photograph of a Peat Bed in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, N. Y., made in 1867, when the Peat was removed and the Excavation filled," by Wallace G. Levison; "The Geological Atlas Folios issued by United States Geological Survey " and " The National Domain," by Frederick H. Newell; "The_Minerals of Paterson, Upper Montclair, and the Palisades, N. J." (exhibited by the Local Committee in Case in the Press Room), by Joseph H. Hunt; "On the Age of the St. Clair Limestone of Arkansas," by S. H. Williams; "The Report on Progress in Geology from the Centennial to the Columbian Expositions," by Jedediah Hotchkiss; and "Oil and Gas in Kansas," by Erasmus Haworth.

F. Zoology. At the Madison meeting last year, Samuel H. Scudder, of Cambridge, Mass., distinguished for his researches in fossil entomology, was elected to preside over this section, but he resigned this honor; and as there was no opportunity to fill the vacancy no address was delivered. Subsequently the place was filled by the election of Joseph A. Lintner, of Albany, N. Y., State Entomologist of New York. secretary of the section William Libbey, Jr., of Princeton, N. J., had been chosen, but as he was not present, John B. Smith, of New Brunswick, N. J., was elected.

As

The following-named papers were read and discussed before the section:

"A Migration of Cockroaches" and "The Question of Spider Bites," by Lemuel O. Howard; "The Pulmonary Structures of the Ophidia (Snakes),” by Edward D. Cope; "Photographing Fishes and other Aquatic Animals under Water by Means of a Vertical Camera" and The Transformations of the Lake and of the Sea Lamprey," by Simon H. Gage: "Sexual Characters in Scolytidæ," by A. D. Hopkins; Notes on the Genus Perigoninus, Sars," by Charles W. Hargett; "On the Above-ground Buildings of the Seventeen-year Cicada," by Joseph A. Lintner; and, in joint session with Section G,

"The Struggle for Existence under Cultivation" and "Relation of Age of Type to Variability," by Liberty II. Bailey; and "Limits of Biological Experiments," by Manly Miles.

G. Botany. The presiding officer of this section was Prof. Lucien M. Underwood, of De Pauw University, Greencastle, Ind., who chose as the subject of his address "The Evolution of the Hepaticæ." He said there was a natural tendency among specialists to magnify the importance of their specialty, hence his desire to set forth in something of a reasonable way the characters of a group and to correct some misunderstandings that have resulted from our imperfect appreciation of its relations. Known since the time of Adanson as the Hepatica, this group stands in a unique place on the boundary is not only intermediate from the structural line of thallose and leafy plants, and its position standpoint, but in its relation to the evolution of the higher plants it stands as a key or link between the lower and simpler and the higher

and more complex. They possess almost absoIntely no utilitarian aspect, yet there is no single group of plants that occupies such a unique position in the plant world. What the comprehensive and heterogeneous group Vermes is to the animal kingdom the Hepatica are to plants, only they are less complicated. The Hepatica have undergone a triple differentiation. Beginning with a simple thallose plant with its unmodified sporogone, it is evident that there are three possible lines of specialization: (1) The development of the thallus as such; (2) the transformation of the thallus into a leafy axis combined with the modification from creeping to ascending or erect habit; and (3) the specialization of the sporogone at the expense of the thallus. Even a cursory acquaintance with the diverse structures that are developed in the group will make it evident that the Hepatica have improved their opportunity in each of these three possible lines, and have carried the differentiation of each line to a high degree of perfection. These three lines of development were discussed in detail. In conclusion he pointed out that the relations of the Hepaticæ might be summarized as follows: (1) The group is not of recent origin. This is shown by the widespread geographic distribution of its major group, its extensive modification into diverse genera, and its relations to higher groups which have a great antiquity. (2) The group is not a compact one, nor is it entirely circumscribed. The present grouping is unsatisfactory and artificial. (3) In such a triple development as exists among the Hepatica no single plant can stand as a type which will fairly represent the entire group. (4) We must recognize at least five families among the Hepatica. (5) The Hepatica are especially interesting as constituting the connecting link in the evolution from thallophytes (alga) to the higher plants.

The following-named papers were then read and discussed before the section:

"The Numerical Intensity of Faunas," by Louis P. Gratacap; "The Growth of Radishes as affected by the Size and Weight of the Seed," by Benjamin T. Galloway; "The Work of the Indiana Biological Survey," by Amos W. Butler; "The Movement of Gases in Rhizomes," by Katherine E. Golden; "Some Interesting Conditions in Wood resulting from the Attacks of Insects and Woodpeckers," by A. D. Hopkins: The Sugar Maples of Central Michigan," by William J. Beal; "Sonie Affinities among Cactacea," by John M. Coulter: "Regulatory Growth of Mechanical Tissue," by Frederick C. Newcombe; "Simplification and Degeneration" and "Further Studies in the Relationship and Arrangement of the Flowering Plants," by Charles E. Bessey: "The Watermelon Discase of the South," by Erwin F. Smith; "On the Swarm Spores of Pythium and Ceratiomyra” and "Relation between the Functions of the Vegetative and Reproductive Leaves of Onoclea," by George F. Atkinson; Lophopappus, a New Genus of Mutisiaceous Compositæ, and Fluckigeria, a New Genus of Gesneriaceae," by Henry H. Rusby; " Products of Metamorphosis and Monstrosities," by Albert Mann; A Hybrid among the Mosses," "Some Notes on the Genus Eucalypta," and "A Revision of the Genus Scouleria," by Elizabeth G. Britton; "Evidence as to the Former Existence of Large Trees on Nantucket Island." by Burt G. Wilder; "On Torreya as a Generic Name" and "Notes on the Primary Foliage and the Leaf Scars in Pinus Rigida," by Nathaniel L. Britton; "Notes upon Chalara Paradoxa" and Notes

upon a Root Rot of Beets," by Byron D. Halsted: and "Species of Taphrina parastic on Populus," by Mrs. F. W. Patterson.

H. Anthropology.-Franz Boaz, of New York, presided over this section, and he spoke on Human Faculty as determined by Race." At the beginning he said: Proud of his wonderful achievements, civilized man looks down upon the humbler members of mankind. He has conquered the forces of Nature and compelled them to serve him. He has transformed inhospitable forests into fertile fields. The mountain fastnesses are yielding their treasures to his demands. The fierce animals which were obstructing his progress are being exterminated, while others which are useful to him are made to increase a thousandfold. The waves of the ocean carry him from land to land, and towering mountain ranges set him no bounds. His genius has modeled inert matters into powerful machines, which wait a touch of his hand to serve his manifold demands. What wonder that he pities a people who have not succeeded in subduing Nature; who labor to eke an existence out of the products of the wilderness; who hear with trembling the roar of the wild animals; who remain restricted by ocean, river, or mountains; and who strive to secure the necessaries of life with the help of few and simple instruments! What wonder if civilized man considers himself a being of higher order than primitive man, if it is claimed that the white race represents a higher type than all others!" Then, tracing the history of civilization from its dawn in the far East until now, and showing how ideas and in

ventions were carried from one nation to another, he took up the civilizations in ancient Peru and Central America, and showed that the general advancement was the same as in Asia and Europe. The various physical character

istics of different races were discussed from the point of view of their mental ability. The psychological characteristics of primitive people were reviewed, and in conclusion he said: "The average faculty of the white race is found to the same degree in a large proportion of individuals of all other races: and although it is probable that some of these races may not produce as large a proportion of great men as our own race, there is no reason to suppose that they are unable to reach the level of civilization represented by the bulk of our own people."

The following-named papers were then read and discussed before the section:

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"Primitive Trephining in Peru," by W J McGee; "On Certain Morphologie Traits of American Languages" and Variations in the Human Skeleton,” by Daniel G. Brinton; "Southern Visits of the Eskimo" and "Iroquois Migrations," by William M. Beauchamp; "Anthropological Matters in Michigan," by Harlan I. Smith; The Value of Games in Ethnology" and "Corean Children's Games," by Stewart Culin; "The Seat of Conseimaners," by Paul Carus ; "Notes on Child Study," by J. Edward Warren; "Shell Mounds of Nicaragua" and " Prehistoric Man in Nicaragua," by John Crawford; "Ancient Occupa tion of the Mississippi Valley," by Asa S. Tiffany; "Notes on the Customs and Traditions of the Micand "Legends of the Magic Wooing and the Piasa," by Stansbury Hagar; "The Child of the Future," by Laura O. Talbott ; “ On the History of the Meander Pattern and its Connection with the Swastika," by William H. Goodyear; "Modern and Pre

maes

historic Village Sites in Ohio compared," by Warren K. Moorhead; "Some Indian Fishing Stations upon Long Island" and "The Discovery of Chaunis Temoatan of 1586," by William W. Tooker; The Salt of Savagery," by Frank H. Cushing; "Survivals of Early Dwarf Races in the New World," by R. G. Haliburton; "The Ideal Museum," by Thomas Wilson; Crania of the Necropolis of Ancon, Peru" and The Valley of the Yucay, or the Garden of the Incas," by George A. Dorsey; "A Comparative Study of the Glyphs of Copan and Quirigua," "The Ceremonial Year of the Maya Codex Cortesians," and "Exhibition of an Aboriginal Mexican Manuscript of Magucy Paper," by Marshall H. Saville; The Origin of Numeral Words," by Levi L. Conant; "Notes on the Mummy Corn' of Peru," by E. Lewis Sturtevant; "Brief Remarks upon an Attempt to interpret Plates 25 and 40 of the Dresden Codex," by Hilborne T. Cresson; "Primitive Anthropometry and its Folklore," "Incorporation in the Kootenay Language," and "Translation into Primitive Languages; Errors and Pitfalls; with Illustrations from Algonkian Dialects," by Alexander F. Chamberlain: "Armor of the North American Aborigines," by Walter Hough; "Light from Recent Science upon Man's Religious Belief," by George V. Reichel; "Mexican Cooking and Mexican Foods," by John G. Bourke; "New and Improved Tests for the Determination of Visual Acuteness in Railway Employees," by Charles A. Oliver; and “ An Illinois Drift Implement," by J. F. Snyder.

I. Economic Science and Statistics.—The presiding officer of this section was Henry Farquhar, of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, Washington, D. C., who discussed the topic of "A Stable Monetary Standard" for his address. The essence of his remarks was as follows: "A monetary standard is constant when the same amount of money does the same work-as nearly as possible supplies the same want and compensates the same effort. These ends should both be attained if practicable; if not, neither should be exclusively preferred. The selection of centuries of civilization having fixed upon silver and gold as expressions of values to be taken as constant, the inquiry is, which of the two more nearly meets these ends, or whether a combina

tion of the two would be better than either. The answer appears to be that by the ideally best standard the prices of average merchandise ought to have been slightly diminishing, and the wages of labor to have been slightly increasing within the last twenty years, a requirement more satisfactorily met by gold; and that any attempt to work the two metals on equal terms into a composite whole is of very doubtful practicability, and of very doubtful merit if its practicability were assured. The alleged scarcity of gold seems little more than a myth. The most important conclusion suggested is the needlessness of active interference in the matter by the governing power. Allowing entire freedom of contracts in money; construing the terms of such contracts in all doubtful cases according to prevalent usage, and enforcing them accordingly; granting to the people needed facilities for immediate decision as to values in metallic form by marks certifying to weight and fineness-this being the true function of coinage: when the government has done these it has done its part. The usurped power of passing legal-tender' acts should be surrendered, and legal definitions of value should cover only contracts made by the government itself. Were this course followed men might treat as money anything they agreed so to treat,

accepting the government's stamp as evidence that their agreement was kept, and not fearing or hoping that any meddlesome enactment would step in to declare that, though one metal was agreed on, the agreement might be completely discharged by paying 15 times its weight of some other. If the result of this policy should be that the economic forces now working to bring all nations to a gold unit should prevail in practical business, the standard to which we should thus be brought, as amply shown above, is no bad one. If the contracting parties preferred silver, however, they might make their agreement in terms of silver and have it so enforced; or if they decided on giving the debtor an option to pay one metal or 'put' another and so declared, the law might help them in that also. But it would not infer the 'put' unless the contract explicitly provided for it. The question of the ideal standard would remain as now, interesting and altogether suitable for scientific bodies, but active business would never have occasion to wait for our verdict upon it.

"In a total abandonment by the government of its power to declare a legal tender for private debts is to be found the true practical solution of this problem, a stable monetary standard."

The following-named papers were then read and discussed before the section:

"A Forecast of the Future Commercial Union of the English-speaking People" and "The Evil Effect of raising Prices by depressing the Standard of Value,” by Edward Atkinson; "Has Gold appreciated or depreciated?" and "Rate of Interest in the United States considered Geographically," by Henry Farricultural College," by Mrs. Nellie S. Kedzie; "Lim"The Teaching of Domestic Science in an Agquhar; its of Biological Experiments," by Manly Miles; The British Land Difficulty-Poultry and Eggs," by James V. R. Swann; "Weeds as related to Civilization," by Byron D. Halsted; "The Providential Function of Government," by Bernhard E. Fernow; "Coxey's Army and the Russian Thistle," by Liberty II. Bàiley; "Radical Defects in Municipal Fire Departments," Evolution of a Cooking School in Washington, D. C.," and "A Study in Social Economy," by Laura O. Talbott; "A New Plan for Proportional Representation in Legislative Bodies," by William H. Goodyear; "The Suffrage Question " and " Some Suggestions as to Single Tax," by Stillman F. Kneeland;

66

The Science of Society," by James A. Skilton: “A Misleading Statement of Gresham's Law" and "Tests of Stability in the Value of Money," by Edward T. Peters; and "On Suicide," by W. Lane O'Neill.

Popular Features of the Proceedings.Subsequent to the delivery of the presidential address on the evening of Aug. 16, the usual reception to the association was given by the Ladies' Reception Committee of Brooklyn in the Assembly Rooms and Art Galleries adjacent to the Academy of Music. On the evening of Aug. 17 a public lecture on "The Vikings, their Civilization and Expeditions," complimentary to the citizens of Brooklyn, was given by Paul Du Chaillu. Saturday, Aug. 18, as usual, was devoted to excursions. A choice of two was given: one to Long Branch, by boat down the bay and the Shrewsbury river to Pleasure Bay, thence by stage, was complimentary to the members of the association, and was presented by Mrs. Esther Hermann, patron of the association, who received the members at her summer home and grounds at Long Branch, and all who took the excursion

were invited to lunch with Mrs. Hermann and were presented with a silver souvenir pin as a memento of the trip. The other excursion was to Cold Spring Harbor by way of East river, Navy Yard, Hell Gate, Long Island Sound to Laurelton Grove, on the west bank of Cold Spring Harbor. Geologists who took this excursion were enabled to visit the Cretaceous clays of the north coast of Long Island folded by glacial action, while the biologists visited the Biological Laboratory of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences and the New York Fish Commission station.

On Monday, Aug. 20, an excursion to points of interest in New York harbor, presented by the Union Ferry Company through the courtesy of Mrs. J. S. T. Stranahan, was taken up the East river as far as the Navy Yard, then past Governor's Island, Bay Ridge, Fort Hamilton, the Narrows, Fort Wadsworth, Sailors' Snug Harbor, Bartholdi Statue, thence up the North river on the Hoboken side.

On the evening of Aug. 20 a second complimentary lecture to the citizens of Brooklyn was given by Edward D. Cope on The Relation of Human Structure and Physiognomy to those of the other Mammalia"; while on the evening of Aug. 21 a third lecture, on The Battle of the Forest," was delivered by Bernhard E. Fernow. On Aug. 23, the day following the final session of the association, an excursion was made up the Hudson river. through the Highlands to West Point, affording opportunity to visit the West Point Military Academy.

Besides the foregoing, the United States steamer "Fishhawk" was placed by the United States Fish Commission at the disposal of the members for dredging excursions. Also special excursions for the botanists, chemists, engineers, geologists, mineralogists, and zoologists were arranged for. Affiliated Organizations. — Various other scientific societies, taking advantage of the gathering of so many of their members at the meeting of the American Association, have in recent years adopted the practice of holding meetings at the same place and contemporaneous with the American Association, but at such hours as not to interfere with the regular sessions of the larger body. The American Microscopical Society met on Aug. 13, 14, and 15. Its president was Dr. Lester Curtis, of Chicago, Ill., and its secretary Dr. William H. Seaman, of Washington, D. C. The sixth summer meeting of the Geological Society of America was held on Aug. 13, 14, and 15. Owing to the absence of its president, Thomas C. Chamberlain, of Chicago, Ill., the vice-president, Nathaniel S. Shaler, of Cambridge, Mass., occupied the chair, and Herman I Fairchild, of Rochester, N. Y., was secretary. The Society for Promotion of Agricultural Science held sessions on Aug. 14, 15, and 16. Its officers were Lemuel O. Howard, of Washington. D. C.. president, and William Frear, of Center County, Pa., secretary. The Association of Economic Entomologists held sessions on Aug. 14 and 15, under the presidency of Lemuel 0. Howard, of Washington, D. C., and with C. P. Gillette, of Fort Collins, Col., as secretary. The ninth general meeting of the American Chemical Society was held on Aug. 15 and 16, with Harvey W. Wiley, of Washington, D. C.,

as president, and Albert C. Hale, of Brooklyn, N. Y., as secretary. The American Mathematical Society held sessions on Aug. 13. 14, and 15, with Emory McClintock, of New York city, as president, and Thomas S. Fisk, of New York city, as secretary. The Society for Promoting Engineering Education met during Aug. 15-24, under the presidency of De Volsen Wood, of Hoboken, N. J., as president, and John B. Johnson, of St. Louis, Mo., as secretary. The Association of State Weather Service, of which Henry H. C. Dunwoody, of Washington, D. C., and James Berry, of Washington, D. C., were respectively president and secretary, held its third annual meeting on Aug. 17; and the American Forestry Association held sessions on Aug. 2124, with J. Sterling Morton, of Washington, D. C., as president, and J. D. W. French, of Boston, Mass., as secretary. As usual during the meeting, regular sessions of the Botanical Club, with William P. Wilson, of Philadelphia, Pa., as president, and Thomas H. McBride, of Iowa City, Iowa, as secretary, and the Entomological Club, with C. J. S. Bethune, of Port Hope, Ontario, Canada, as president and Charles L. Marlatt. of Washington, D. C., as secretary, were held.

Final Sessions.-The final sessions of the association were held on Aug. 22, and at the morning gathering, on recommendation of the council, the names of Thomas T. Bouré, of Boston, Mass.; James D. Dana, of New Haven, Conn.: Epes D. Dixwell, of Cambridge, Mass.; Traill Green, of Easton, Pa.; James H. Redfield, of Philadelphia, Pa.; and Charles E. West, of Brooklyn, N. Y., all of whom were present, in 1849, at the first meeting of the American Association, were added to the list of life members. Also the names of 48 members, in consideration of their contributions to science, were advanced to the grade of fellows. Notice was given of contemplated changes in the constitution-one to admit libraries to membership on the plane of individuals, and the other to separate the division now devoted to geography and geology. The president of the council has authorized the Committee on Grants to give $100 to the biological laboratory at Wood's Holl, Mass., for the founding of an association table; also a grant of $100 was made to Franklin W. Hooper, of Brooklyn, N. Y., for the purpose of promoting certain original researches in the biological laboratory in Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. The same committee by the same authority was authorized to give to William A. Rogers and Edward W. Morley, of the department of physics, $100, with which to pursue their studies on inferential comparison, and to Franz Boas, of the anthropological department, $200, to continue his anthropometric measurements of American Indians. There were 202 papers entered, of which 175 were read: 218 new members were elected to the association, and an attendance of 488 members and fellows. The Brooklyn meeting, while not a great meeting, like the Boston (1880) or Washington (1891) meetings, was a most successful one, and perhaps just a little above the average.

Next Meeting.-The exact place for the next meeting was not definitely decided upon, but it was agreed that it should be held in California,

somewhere not far from San Francisco, and probably earlier in the summer. The following officers were chosen: President, Edward W. Morley, Cleveland, Ohio. Vice-presidents of Sections: A, E. S. Holden, Mount Hamilton, Cal.; B, W. LeConte Stevens, Troy, N. Y.; C, William McMurtrie, Brooklyn, N. Y.; D, William Kent, Passaic, N. J.; E, Jedediah Hotchkiss, Staunton, Va.; F, David S. Jordan, Palo Alto, Cal.; G, John C. Arthur, Lafayette, Ind.: H, Frank H. Cushing, Washington, D. C.; I, B. E. Fernow, Washington, D. C. Permanent Secretary, Frederick W. Putnam, Cambridge, Mass. General Secretary, James Lewis Howe, Louisville, Ky. Secretary of the Council, Charles R. Barnes, Madison, Wis. Secretaries of the Sections: A, Eliakim H. Moore, Chicago, Ill.; B, Ernest Merritt, Ithaca, N. Y.; C, William P. Mason, Troy, N. Y.; D, Henry S. Jacoby, Ithaca, N. Y.; E, James Perrin Smith, Palo Alto, Cal.; F. S. A. Forbes, Champaign, Ill.; G, Benjamin T. Galloway, Washington, D. C.; H. Anita Newcombe McGee, Washington, D. C.; I, Edward A. Ross, Palo Alto, Cal. Treasurer, R. S. Woodward, New York.

British. -The sixty-fourth annual meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science was held in Oxford during Aug. 815. The officers of the association were: President, the Marquis of Salisbury. Section Presidents: A, Mathematics and Physics, Arthur W. Rücker; B, Chemistry, Harold B. Dixon; C, Geology, Lazarus Fletcher; D, Biology, Isaac B. Balfour; E, Geography, W. J. L. Wharton; F, Economic Science and Statistics, C. F. Bastable; G, Mechanical Science, A. B. W. Kennedy H, Anthropology, William H. Flower; I, Physiology, Edward D. Schaefer. General Secretaries, Sir Douglas Galton and Vernon Harcourt. Assistant Secretary, G. Griffith. General Treasurer, Arthur W. Rücker. For a portrait of the Marquis of Salisbury, see the Annual Cyclopædia" for 1885, page 448.

General Meeting.-The association began its proceedings with a meeting of the general committee on Aug. 8, when the report of the council was received and other business transacted. It was presided over by the retiring president, Dr. J. S. Burdon Sanderson. The report of the council showed that they had received and adopted the following report from their committees: 1. That it is not desirable that the invested funds of the association be increased, and that the floating balance in the hands of the treasurer might be diminished if the bill for printing was paid out of the capital. The committee recommend that this be done. 2. That the treasurer continue the practice, which he began at Nottingham, of presenting an estimate of the receipts and expenses of the association for the current year. 3. That it is not advisable to lay down any rules as to the amount to be expended in grants, but that as far as circumstances permit the following regulations should be adhered to: (a) That £1,000 be at present regarded as the normal annual grant in aid of research: (b) that this sum be annually granted, unless the estimated floating balance in the hands of the treasurer at the end of the current financial year is less than £500 or greater than £1,000; (c) if the estimated balance falls short of £500, it is de

sirable that the grant should be reduced. If it exceeds £1,000, the excess may be regarded as available for increasing the grant above £1,000; (d) in the case of a sudden increase of the floating balance above £1,000, due to an exceptionally large meeting, it is not desirable that the whole of the surplus should be spent at one meeting. 4. That, in view of the large annual expenditure on printing, the committee recommend that the attention of committees to whom grants of money are made be drawn to the importance of economy. The following foreign scientists were elected corresponding members: Prof. Christian Bohr, Copenhagen, Denmark; Prof. W. C. Brögger, Christiania, Sweden; Prof. W. Einthoven, Leyden, Holland; Prof. Paul Heger, Brussels, Belgium; Dr. R. Hertwig, Munich, Germany; Dr. Hans Hildebrand, Stockholm, Sweden; and M. Henri Moissan, Paris, France. It was also recommended that, instead of Section D and Section I as at present constituted, there be three sections-namely, Section D, zoology; Section 1, physiology; and Section K, botany. The council propose that the word "mineralogy" be omitted from the title of Section B, as papers on mineralogy are read not only in this section, but also in the physical section and in the geological section. The treasurer's report showed receipts amounting to £4,600, including the sale of £970 worth of consols and the transfer of £500 in Exchequer bills from investments account. The expenditure included £133 for the Nottingham meeting, £2,182 for the printing of two years and the printing of the index 1861-'90, £633 for grants made at Nottingham, and the balance in hand (including the £500 of Exchequer bills) was £1,094.

The usual vote of thanks to the retiring president was offered by Sir Frederick Bramhall and seconded by Sir Archibald Geikie. The first general gathering of the association was held in the evening in the Sheldonian Theater, when the retiring president performed his last official duty by introducing his successor, who then addressed the association on "Scientific Enigmas."

The President's Address.-The Marquis of Salisbury said, in opening his address: My functions are of a more complicated character than usually is assigned to the occupants of this chair. As chancellor of the university it is my duty to tender to the British Association a hearty welcome, which it is my duty as president of the association to accept. As president of the association I convey, most unworthily, the voice of English science; but in representing the university I represent far more fittingly the learners who are longing to hear the lessons which the first teachers of English science have come as visitors to teach." Briefly reviewing the relations of the association and the university, he mentioned the previous visits of the association to Oxford in 1832, 1847, and 1860, and showed the differences between the old learning and the new. Few men are now influenced by the strange idea that questions of religious belief depend on the issues of physical research. Few men, whatever their creed, would now seek their geology in the books of their religion, or, on the other hand, would fancy that the laboratory or the microscope could help them to penetrate the mysteries which hang over