north-central Indian type seems to have extended across the continent and to have branched in all directions, while a similar, but not so extensive branching, northeast and south, seems to have been the course of the Toltecan type." This led up to an expression of his belief that "the American continent has been peopled at different times and from various sources; that in the great lapse of time since the different immigrants reached the continent there has been in many places an admixture of the several stocks and a modification of the arts and customs of all, while natural environment has had a great influence upon the ethnic development of each group." The reasons for this belief were then given in detail, and included a discussion of the "mound builders." Concerning these he showed the universality of such mounds, and said that the earth mounds, like the shell mounds, were made by many peoples and at various times." He then said: That man was on the American continent in Quaternary times, and possibly still earlier, seems to me as certain as that he was in the Old World during the same period. The Calaveras skull, that bone of contention, is not the only evidence of his early occupation of the Pacific coast. On the Atlantic side the recent extensive explorations of the glacial and immediately following deposits at Trenton are confirmatory of the occupation of the Delaware valley during the closing centuries of the glacial period, and possibly also of the interglacial time. The discoveries in Ohio, in Florida, and in various parts of Central and South America all go to prove man's antiquity in America. Admitting the great antiquity of one or more of the early groups of man on the continent, and that he spread widely over it while in the paleolithic and early neolithic stages of culture, I can not see any reason for doubting that there were also later accessions during neolithic times and even when social institutions were well advanced. While these culture epochs mark certain phases in the development of a people, they can not be considered as marking special periods of time. In America we certainly do not find that correlation with the Old-World periods which we are so wont to take for granted." He then paid a deserved tribute to the museums and expeditions through which material was being collected for study. In closing he said: Anthropology is now a well-established science, and with all this wealth of materials and opportunities there can be no doubt that in time the anthropologists will be able to solve that problem which for the past half century has been discussed in this association--the problem of the unity or diversity of prehistoric man in America."

Proceedings of the Sections.-The association is divided into nine sections, each of which is presided over by an officer having the rank of vice-president of the association. Subsequent to the opening proceedings each section meets by itself and effects its organization by electing a fellow to represent it in the council, a sectional committee of three fellows, a fellow or member to the nominating committee, and a committee of three members or fellows to nominate officers of the section for the next meeting. As soon as this organization is effected the secretary of the section reports to the general secretary, who then provides him with a list of papers that, having been considered suitable by the council, may be read and discussed before the section. A press secretary, whose duties are to prepare abstracts of the papers read and to give them to reporters of newspapers, is also commonly chosen.

A. Mathematics and Astronomy.-The presiding officer of this section was Prof. Alexander Macfarlane, of Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa., who presented an address on The Fundamental Principles of Algebra.

In this paper he confined his discussion to the advances made in the present century, and began a description of the results that followed the d the symrecognition of the analogy between dx' bol of differentiation, and the ordinary symbol of algebra. The work of Peacock, who flourished in Cambridge from 1812 on, as well as the advances made by D. F. Gregory, a younger member of the Cambridge school of mathematics, were carefully considered. In chronological order followed references to Augustus de Morgan and to George Boole, both of whom were logicians as well as mathematicians. Much attention was devoted to the famous Sir William R. Hamilton, who did considerable in advancing mathematical science, and to whom we owe the method of quaternions. Grassmann and Hankel followed Hamilton, and their contributions received due consideration. Clifford, of whom so much was hoped, and who died too soon, was the next whose work was analyzed, and then the newer publications of Chrystal were discussed. work of Whitehead, the most recent of writers on algebra, was then taken up. Dr. Macfarlane's conclusions were: "If the elements of a sum or of a product are independent of order, then the written order of the terms is different, and the product of two such sums is the sum of the partial products; but when the elements of a sum or of a product have a real order, then the written order of the elements must be preserved, though the manner of their association may be indifferent, and a power of a binomial is then different from a product. This applies whether the sum or product occurs simply or as the index of a base. Descartes wedded algebra to geometry; formalism tends to divorce them. The progress of mathematics within the century has been from formalism toward realism; and in the coming century, it may be predicted, symbolism will more and more give place to notation, conventions to principles, and loose extensions to rigorous generalizations."

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The following-named papers were read and discussed before the section: Report on Progress in Non-Euclidean Geometry, by George B. Halsted; Report on Progress in the Theory of Linear Groups, by Leonard E. Dickson; The Aberration Constant from Observations of Polaris, by Asaph Hall, Jr.: Ancient Eclipses and Chronology, by Robert W. McFarland; Some Points in the Design of a Spectroscope, by H. C. Lord; Note on Grassmann's Proof that there can be but Two Kinds of Lineal Multiplication of Two Factors, by Joseph V. Collins: The Theory of Mathematical Inference, by G. J. Stokes; Recent Progress in Positional Astronomy, by John R. Eastman; Practical Astronomy during the First Half of the Present Century, by Truman H. Safford; Internal Forces that generate Stellar Atmospheres, by J. Woodbridge Davis: On the Commutators of a Group, by George A. Miller; and Linear Vector Functions, by S. Kimura.

On Aug. 24 this section met in joint session with Section B to listen to the following papers: Recent Progress in Theoretical Meteorology, by Cleveland Abbe; The Determination of the Nature of Electricity and Magnetism, including a Determination of the Density of the Ether, by Reginald A. Fessenden.

B. Physics. This section was presided over by

Elihu Thomson, who is well known for his electrical inventions, most of which are controlled by the Thomson-Houston and General Electric Companies. His address was on The Field of Experimental Research. He said in part: "Physical research by experimental methods is both a broadening and a narrowing field. There are many gaps yet to be filled, data to be accumulated, measurements to be made with great precision, but the limits within which we must work are becoming at the same time more and more defined. It is but a few months since Prof. Dewar, by the evaporation of liquid hydrogen in a vacuum, closely approached, if he has not reached, our lower limit of possible temperature. We can imagine no limit to possible increase of temperature. While we may actually employ in electric furnaces temperatures which, according to Moissan, have a lower limit of 3,500° C., we can realize the possibility of temperatures existing in the stars measured by tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of degrees of our temperature scale. It has been aptly said that many, and perhaps most, of the important discoveries have been made with comparatively simple and crude apparatus, yet it is probably true also that future advance work is likely to require more and more refined means and greater nicety of construction and adjustment of apparatus. In most fields of research, however, progress in the future will depend in an increasing degree upon the possession by the investigator of an appreciation of small details and magnitudes, together with a refined skill in manipulation or construction of apparatus." After reviewing the work on electric waves by Hertz, and the still more recent advances made by Marconi, he said: "Before leaving the consideration of this most fruitful field of experimental research opened by Hertz, it may be stated that the one gap in the work yet to be filled is the actual production of electric waves of a wave length corresponding to those of the spectrum. Despite the diligent studies which had been made in the invisible rays of the spectrum, both the ultrared and ultraviolet a work far from completion as yet-the peculiar invisible radiation of the Crookes tube remained unknown until the work of Lenard and Röntgen brought it to the knowledge of the world. It is needless to recount the steps in the discovery of Röntgen rays. The diffusion which takes place when Röntgen rays pass through various media is another phenomenon which needs more attention from investigators. Again, our knowledge of the aurora is not as yet much more definite or precise than it is in regard to the obscure forms of lightning. Whether these phenomena will ever be brought within the field of research by experimental methods is an open question. We define our instruments; we render more trustworthy our means of observation; we extend our range of experimental inquiry, and thus lay the foundation for the future work, with the full knowledge that, although our researches can not extend beyond certain limits, the field itself is, even within those limits, inexhaustible."

The following-named papers were read and discussed before the section: Apparatus for the Demonstration of the Varying Currents in the Different Conductors of a Rotary Converter, by Frank C. Caldwell; A New Graphical Method of Constructing the Entropy-temperature Diagram from the Indicator Card of a Gas or Oil Engine, by Henry T. Eddy; Compound Harmonic Vibration of a String, by William Hallock; A New Form of Electrical Condenser having a Ca

pacity capable of Continuous Adjustment, by Lyman J. Briggs; Time of Perception as a Measure of the Intensity of Light and Relations of Time and Space in Vision, by James McK. Cattell; The Musical Scales of the Arabs and Mediæval Organ Pipes and their Bearing on the History of the Scale, by Charles K. Wead; An Absolute Determination of the E. M. F. of a Clark Cell, by Henry S. Carhart and Karl E. Guthe; Quantitative Investigation of the Coherer, by Augustus Trowbridge; Polarization and Polarization Capacity, by Karl E. Guthe and Martin D. Atkins: Current and Voltage Curves in the magnetically Blown Arc and in the Aluminum Electrolytic Cell, Some New Apparatus-Tachometer, Chronograph, Data Collector, Induction Coil, Balance for Standardizing Amperemeters, Standard of Induction, Location of Smokeless Discharge by Means of Colored Screens, Note on the Age of the Earth, and Measurement of Magnetism in Iron and the Relation between Permeability and Hysteresis, by Reginald A. Fessenden; Polarization and Internal Resistance of the Copper Voltameter, by Burton E. Moore; Concerning the Fall of Potential at the Anode in a Geissler Tube, by Clarence A. Skinner; The Equipment and Facilities of the Office of United States Standard Weights and Measures for the Verification of Electrical Standard and Measuring Apparatus and An Experimental Test of the Accuracy of Ohm's Law, by Frank A. Wolff, Jr.; March Weather in the United States, etc., by Oliver L. Fassig; A New Spectrophotometer and a Method of Optically Calibrating the Slit and On Achromatic Polarization in Crystalline Combinations, by D. B. Brace; A Method for the Study of Phosphorescent Sulphides, by Fred E. Kester; Accidental Double Refraction in Colloids and Crystalloids, by Bruce V. Hill; A Bolometric Study of the Radiation of a Black Body between 600° and 1,100° C., by Charles E. Mendenhall; A Bolometric Study of the Radiation of an Absolute Black Body, by Frederick A. Saunders; On Thermodynamic Surfaces of P. V. T. for Solid, Liquid, and Gaseous State, by Francis E. Nipher; Optical Calibration of the Slit of a Spectrometer, by E. V. Capps; On Differential Dispersion_in Double Refracting Media, by E. J. Rendtorff; Relations of Magnetization to the Modulus of Elasticity, by James S. Stevens; On the Escape of Gases from the Planets according to the Kinetic Theory and On Flutings in Kundt's Tube, by S. R. Cook; The Dielectric Strength of Oils and Some Unexpected Errors in Wattmeter Measurements, by Thomas Gray; Note on the Preparation of Reticles, by David P. Todd; Electrical Anæsthesia and The Nature of Spoken Vowels, with Reference to the Theories of Helmholtz and Hermann, by Edward W. Scripture; Pressure and Wave Length, by John F. Mohler; and The Attenuation of Sound and the Constant of Radiation of Air, by A. Wilmer Duff.

On Aug. 24 a joint session of Sections A and B was held, at which the papers mentioned under Section A were read.

C. Chemistry.-Prof. Frank P. Venable, who fills the chair of Chemistry in the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N. C., presided over this section, and delivered an address on The Definition of the Element. He began by saying that "the conception of an element among the Greek philosophers and the earlier alchemists was very different from the modern idea." Then he followed with a historical outline of the development of the idea of the element. Closing that portion of his address with: "Thus the elements were recognized as simple bodies because there

were no simpler. They were not complex or compound. The distinction was clearly drawn between bodies simple and bodies compound, and the name simple body has been frequently used as a synonym for element through a large part of this century." Then, discussing the significance of the idea of atom, he made the following statement: It is not possible for me, in the limits of this address, to array before you all of the various evidence which leads to the belief that our so-called elementary atoms are after all but compounds of an intimate, peculiar nature whose dissociation we have as yet been unable to accomplish. When properly marshalled, it gives a very staggering blow to the old faith. What would be attained if any one should succeed in decomposing an element by one of the usual methods? Successful decomposition should mean the discovery of a method which will decompose not one, but many or, indeed, all of the elements, and the decomposition of these must not yield a larger number of supposedly simple bodies, but a small group of one or two or three which are common constituents of all." His argument led to this conclusion: 'Either these imagined simple bodies are after all compounds, built up of two or more common constituents, or they are but varying forms of one and the same kind of matter subjected to different influences and conditions." The closing portion of his address leaned toward the hypothesis that the elements are built up of two or more common constituents, which, he said, "has a larger number of supporters and would seem plausible."

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The following-named papers were presented before the section, the meetings of which were also attended by the members of the American Chemical Society: The Relation of Physical Chemistry to Technical Chemistry, by Wilder D. Bancroft; On the Constitution of Oxy azo-compounds, by William McPherson; The Nature of the Change from Violet to Green in Solutions of Chromium Salts, by Willis R. Whitney; Microstructure of Antimony-tin Alloys, by J. J. Kessler, Jr.; The Electrolytic Deposition of Metals from Non-aqueous Solutions, by Louis Kahlenberg; Some Experimental Illustrations of the Electrolytic Dissociation Theory, by Arthur A. Noyes; Methods of Analysis of Sulphite Solutions as used in Paper Making, by Rudolf De Roode; Improvement in the Chemical Composition of the Corn Kernel, by Cyril G. Hopkins; Some New Products of Maize Stalks, by Harvey W. Wiley and William H. Krug; Soil Humus, by E. F. Ladd; The Relation of Fertilizers to Soil Moistures, by Julius T. Willard; Secondary Heptylamine, by Thomas Clarke; Propane Trisulphonic Acid, by William B. Shober; On the Derivatives of Isnoctive of Formhydroxamic Acid, and their Relation to Fulminic Acid, by H. C. Biddle; The Reichert Figure of Butter, by James H. Stebbins, Jr.; The Determination of Nickel in Nickel Steel, by George W. Sargent; Camphoric Acid, Alphahydroxy-dihydrocis-campholytic Acid, and the Synthesis of Dimethyl-cyan-carbon-ethyl-cyclopentanone, by William A. Noyes and J. W. Shepherd; Diazo-Caffeine and The Preparation of the Tri-phenyl-chlor-methane and Tri-phenyl-carbinol, by M. Gomberg; The Action of Sodium Methylate upon the Dibromides of Pro-penyl Compounds and Unsaturated Ketones, by F. J. Pond; Some Secondary Cyclic Amines, by Curtis C. Howard; On Naphthalene-azo-alpha-naphthol and its Derivatives, by William McPherson and Robert Fischer; Esterification Experiments with Hexahydro- and Tetra-hydroxylic Acids, by William A.

Noyes; On the Condensation of Chloral with Ortho-, Meta-, and Para-nitranilines, Note on the Occurrence of Chromium, Titanium, and Vanadium in Peats, and On the Universal Distribution of Titanium, by Charles Baskerville; The Atomic Weight of Calcium, by Theodore W. Richards; Preliminary Report on a New Method for the Determination of Carbon Dioxide, by M. E. Hiltner; Analysis of Oils, by Augustus H. Gill; Examination of Lemon-flavoring Extracts, by A. S. Mitchell; The Composition of American and Foreign Dairy Salt, by Fritz W. Woll; Notes on Testing Soils for Application of Commercial Fertilizers, by Henry A. Weber; The Persulphates of Rubidium, Cesium, and Thallium, by Arnett R. Foster and Edgar F. Smith; The Chemical Composition of Butter Fat and The Chemistry of Rancidity in Butter Fat, by C. A. Browne, Jr.; Halides and Perhalides of the Picolines, by Paul Murrill; A Determination of the Transformation Point of Sodium Sulphate, by Arthur P. Saunders; Notes on the Estimation of Total Carbon in Iron and Steel, by Francis P. Dunnington; Electrolysis of Metallic Phosphate Solutions, by Harry M. Fernberger and Edgar F. Smith; The Action of Sodium Methylate upon the Dibromides of Propenyl Compounds and Unsaturated Ketones, by F. J. Pond, O. P. Maxwell, and G. M. Norman; On the Determination of Volatile Combustible Matter in Coke and Anthracite Coal, by Richard K. Meade and James C. Atkins; Observations upon Tungsten, by Edgar F. Smith; The Atomic Mass of Tungsten, by Willett L. Hardin; Notes on the Determination of Sulphur in Pig Iron, by M. J. Moore; An Electrolytic Study of Benzoin and Benzil, by Joseph H. James; The Quantitative Estimation of Boric Acid in Tourmaline, by George W. Sargent; Some Boiling-point Curves, by John K. Haywood; Electrolytic Determinations and Separations, by Lily G. Kollack; The Precipitation of Copper by Zine, by John G. Shengle and Edgar F. Smith; Derivatives and Atomic Mass of Palladium, by Willett L. Hardin; Action of Hydrochloric-acid Gas upon Sulphates, Selenates, Tellurates, and Phosphates, by Raymund W. Tunnell and Edgar F. Smith; and The Electrolytic Oxidation of Succinic Acid, by Charles H. Clarke and Edgar F. Smith.

D. Mechanical Science and Engineering.—The presiding officer of this section was Prof. Storm Bull, who fills the chair of Steam Engineering in the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis. He addressed the section on Engineering Education as a Preliminary Training for Scientific-research Work. He said in part: "The object of scientific-research work is, as I understand it, to ascertain the facts of Nature, to correlate these facts, and, finally, to deduce the laws of Nature as illustrated by the facts discovered. It will be noticed that I divide scientific-research work into three parts, and I am sure that everybody will agree when I say that most of the scientific work done to-day is along the first line." These qualifications were discussed somewhat at length. He then said: It is my contention that a man who has received a thorough engineering education, and perhaps has added a few years of professional work to scholastic training, is as well prepared to take up scientific-research work as any one coming from our universities and colleges." The education of an engineer was discussed by him, and he contended that “the ideal engineering education is first an academic course, followed by two or three years' work in the engineering college. A man educated as just indicated would certainly be better fitted for sci

entific-research work than any other college grad uate who had an equal amount of time for preparation, but had taken no engineering work." In conclusion he said: "I desire to repeat that we engineers, or semi-engineers, need to feel that our work is very often scientific-research work of the highest character, and that, although we are very often told that because of its practical nature it does not belong to pure science, yet we should insist that, whether it be pure science or not, it is scientific work."

The following-named papers were then presented before the section: Crystallization in Bronze Test Pieces, Support of Beams in Tests of Transverse Strength, and The Fracture of Spheres, by William T. Magruder; A New Exact Geographical Method for Designing Cone Pulleys, by Walter K. Palmer; Some Experiments on Combustion in Locomotive Boilers, by J. W. Shepherd; Some Engineering Experiences with Spanish Wrecks and Electric Mining of Bituminous Coal, by William S. Aldrich; The Illustration of Critical Speeds of Shafts, The Friction of Balls in Thrust Bearings, and The Fuel Value of Cereals, by Thomas Gray; and A Novel Method of Testing a Locomotive Boiler, by Frank C. Wagner.

On Aug. 23 a joint session was held with Section I, when a paper on Some Thermal Determinations in Heating and Ventilating Buildings, by Gilbert B. Morrison, was read and discussed.

E. Geology and Geography.-This section was presided over by Mr. Joseph F. Whiteaves, of the Geological Survey of Canada, who presented an address on The Devonian System in Canada. He showed at the outset that the existence of the Devonian as a distinct geological system was first indicated by Lonsdale, in 1837, on purely palæontological evidence, and subsequently confirmed by Sedgwick and Murchison, in 1839, on stratigraphical considerations. Having thus established the origin of the word Devonian, he passed to Canada, and said that "rocks of Devonian age have been discovered at various times in almost every province and district of the Dominion, and it is thought that a brief summary of the history of these discoveries and of the present state of our knowledge of the Devonian rocks of Canada, from a paleontologist's point of view, may be of interest on this occasion. In accordance with long usage in Canada, the line of demarcation between the Silurian and Devonian systems in this address will be drawn at the base of the Oriskany sandstone. It will also be convenient to consider the information that has so far been gained about the Devonian rocks of Canada in geographical order, from east to west, under the three following heads-namely, (1) the Maritime Provinces and Quebec, (2) Ontario and Keewatin, and (3) Manitoba and the Northwest Territories." Each of these geographical divisions was then taken up, and under subdivisions of the smaller provinces a summary of the descriptions of the formation in a chronological order was given, as well as a summary of the paleontological features of the formation. The following-named papers were read and discussed before the section: The Geology of Columbus and Vicinity, by Edward Orton; Glacial Phenomena of Central Ohio, by Frank Leverett; Glacial and Modified Drift in Minneapolis, Minn., by Warren Upham; Lateral Erosion at the Mouth of Niagara Gorge, by G. Frederick Wright; The Geology of Oahu. Hawaiian Islands, by Charles H. Hitchcock: Random: A Pre-Cambrian Upper-Algonkian Terrane, by Charles D. Walcott; The Petrographic Province of Fox

River Valley, Wisconsin, by William H. Hobbs and C. K. Leith, with analyses by William W. Daniels; Age and Development of the Cincinnati Anticline, by August F. Foerste; The Lower Devonian Aspect of the Lower Helderberg and Oriskany Formations, by Charles Schuchert; The Silurian-Devonian Boundary in North America, by Henry S. Williams; The Section at Schoharie, N. Y., by John J. Stevenson; The Ozarkian and its Significance in Theoretic Geology, by Joseph Le Conte; The Geological Results of the Indiana Coal Survey, by George H. Ashley; The Cape Fear Section in the Coastal Plain, by Joseph A. Holmes; The Occurrences of Corundum, by J. H. Pratt; Triassic Coal and Coke of Sonora, Mexico, by Edward T. Dumble; Some Geological Conditions favoring Water-power Developments in the South Atlantic Region, by Joseph A. Holmes; Paropsonema: A Peculiar Echinoderm from the Intumescens Fauna, New York, Remarkable Occurrences of Orthoceros in the Oneonta Sandstones of New York, and The Squaw Island" Water Biscuit," Canandaigua Lake, New York, by John M. Clarke; The Pre-Lafayette (Tennessean) Base Level, by W J McGee; The Relative Ages of the Maumee Glacial Lake and the Niagara Gorge, by Charles E. Slocum; The Galt Moraine and Associated Drainage, by Frank B. Taylor; Discovery of New Invertebrates in the Dinosaur Beds of Wyoming, by Erwin H. Barbour and Wilbur C. Knight; The Rapid Decline of Geyser Activity, by Erwin H. Barbour; The Pot Holes of Foster's Flats (now called Niagara Glen) on the Niagara River, by Miss Mary A. Fleming; and A Consideration of the Interpretation of Unusual Events in Geological Records, illustrated by Recent Examples, by Frederick W. Simonds.

On Aug. 22 the section met in joint session with the Geological Society of America. On Aug. 24 the entire section visited the gas fields near Lancaster, Ohio, where a display of natural gas was made under the direction of the Central Ohio Natural Gas and Fuel Company.

F. Zoology.-Prof. Simon H. Gage, of the biological department of Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y., was the presiding officer of this section, and he chose as the subject of his address The Importance and the Promise in the Study of the Domestic Animals. After citing a number of pertinent illustrations, he said: "I have tried to show a few ways in which the study of domestic animals has thrown light on the problems confronting mankind in his social ideals, in preventive medicines, in physiology and hygiene, in embryology and comparative anatomy, and in the doctrine of the evolution of organic forms. The attempt has been made to show that, with the higher forms at least-that is, the forms most closely related to man, and with whose destiny his own economic, hygienic, and social relations are most closely interwoven-the domestic animals have in the past and promise in the future to serve the best purpose because of the abundance of the material in quite widely separated groups of animals which long have been and still are under greatly differing conditions and surroundings; and, finally, because this material is plentiful and under control, and thus may be studied throughout the entire life cycle." He also called attention to the fact that "there has been and still is too great a tendency in biology to study forms remote and inaccessible." As a final word he said: "However necessary and desirable it may have been in the past that the main energy of zoologists should be employed in the description of new species and in the mak

ing of fragmentary observations upon the habits, structure, and embryology of a multitude of forms, I firmly believe that necessity or even desirability has long since passed away, and that for the advancement of zoological science the work of surpassing importance confronting us is the thorough investigation of a few forms from the ovum to youth, maturity, and old age. And I also firmly believe that, whenever available, the greatest good to science, and thus to mankind, will result from a selection of domesticated forms for these thorough investigations." The following-named papers were read and discussed before the section: On the Utility of Phosphorescence in Deep-sea Animals, by Charles C. Nutting; The Course of the Fibers in the Optic Chiasma of the Common American Toad (Bufo lentiginosus), by B. B. Myers; On Reigh ardia, a New Genus of Linguatulida, by Henry B. Ward; The Histogenesis of Muscle in the Metamorphosis of the Toad (Bufo lentiginosus americanus), by Benjamin F. Kingsbury; The Progenitors of Batrachians, by Theodore Gill; Observations on the Variation, Life History, and Habits of a Minute Locust (Edipoda maritima Uhl. (?), by Herbert Osborn; A Chart for illustrating the Origin and Evolution of Animal and Vegetable Life, by A. D. Hopkins; Geographical Variations as illustrated by the Horned Larks of North America, by Harry C. Oberholser; On Some Piratine Bugs, which may be Responsible for So-called "Spider-bite" Cases, by Leland O. Howard; Cave Animals: Their Character, Origin, and their Evidence for or against the Transmission of Acquired Characters, by Carl H. Eigenmann; Have we more than a Single Species of Blissus in North America? by Francis M. Webster; Estivation of Epiphragmophora traskii (Newcomb) in Southern California, by M. Burton Williamson; Natural Taxonomy of the Class Aves, by Robert W. Shufeldt; Notes on the Morphology of the Chick's Brain, by Susanna P. Gage; Further Notes on the Brook Lamprey (Lampetra wilderi), Respiration in Tadpoles of the Toad (Bufo lentiginosus), and Photographing Natural-history Specimens under Water other Liquids with a Vertical Camera, by Simon H. Gage; A Discussion of Aspidiotus cydoniæ and its Allies, by Charles L. Marlatt; and Effects of Hydrocyanic-acid Gas upon Animal Life and its Common Use, by Willis G. Johnson.

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G. Botany. The presiding officer of this section was Prof. Charles R. Barnes, who fills the chair of Plant Physiology in the University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill. The subject of his address was The Progress and Problems of Plant Physiology. He said in part: "It is only in comparatively recent years that plant physiology has become established upon a firm experimental basis, and thus fitted to take its proper place among the sciences offered in university curricula. Its real and vigorous growth has been measured by scarcely four decades." Prof. Barnes then discussed the chief features of plant physiology in which notable progress had been made during the last decade, under the headings of physical chemistry, physiological morphology, irritability, ecology, and cytology. This treatment he summarized in closing as follows: "The great advances in plant chemics and physics, the progress in the investigation of causes of plant form, the widening ideas of the property of irritability, the investigation of the social relations of plants, and the minute study of cell action in spite of their diversity have one great end in view. This is nothing less than the solution of the great problem-the fundamental problem-of plant

physiology, as of animal physiology. The secret which we must discover, the dark recesses toward which we must focus all the light that can be obtained from every source, is the constitution of living matter. Intrenched within the apparently impregnable fortress of molecular structure this secret lies hid. The attacks upon it from the direction of physical chemistry and physiological morphology, of irritability, of ecology, and of cytology, are the concentrating attacks of various divisions of an army upon a citadel, some of whose outer defenses have already been captured. The innumerable observations are devised along parallel lines of approach, and each division of the army is creeping closer and closer to the inner defenses, which yet resist all attacks and hide the long-sought truth. We see yet no breach in the citadel. Here and there we seem to approach more closely, and at certain points are getting glimpses, through this loophole or that, of inner truths hidden before. It is not possible to prove to-day that life and death are only a difference in the chemical and physical behavior of certain compounds. It is safe to say that the future is likely to justify such an assertion. In the meanwhile we press forward along the whole line. Botany is more than ever full of meaning, because with its sister sciences it is no longer seeking things, but the reasons for things."

The following-named papers were read and discussed before the section: The Geotropism of the Hypocotyl of Cucurbits, by Edwin B. Copeland; The Destruction of Chlorophyll by Oxidizing Enzymes, by Albert F. Woods; The Effect of Hydrocyanic-acid Gas upon the Germination of Seeds, by Charles O. Townsend; Some Physiological Effects of Hydrocyanic-acid Gas upon Plants, by Willis G. Johnson; Etiolative Reactions of Sarracenia and Oxalis, by William B. Stewart; The Mycorhiza of Tipularia, by Julia B. Clifford; The Cultures of Uredineæ in 1899, by Joseph C. Arthur; The Embryology of Vaillantia hispida, by Francis E. Lloyd; Division of the Megaspore of Erythronium, by John H. Schaffner; The Tamarack Swamp in Ohio and The Flora of Franklin County, Ohio, by Augustin D. Selby; The Fungous Infestations of Agricultural Soils in the United States, by Erwin F. Smith; The Occurrence of Calcium Oxalate and Lignin during the Differentiation of the Buds of Prunus americana, by Henry L. Bolley and L. R. Waldron; Two Diseases of Juniperus, by Hermann von Schrenk; The Crystals in Datura stramonium L., by Henry Kraener; The Fertilization of Albugo bliti, by Frank L. Stevens; The Embryo Sac of Leucocrinum montanum, by Francis Ramaley; Notes on Subterranean Organs, by A. S. Hitchcock; Some Monstrosities in Spikelets of Eragostis and Setaria, with their Meaning, by William J. Beal; Are the Trees advancing or retreating upon the Nebraska Plains? One Thousand Miles for a Fern, and Studies of Vegetation of the High Nebraska Plains, by Charles E. Bessey; Useful Trees and Shrubs for the Northwest Plains of Canada and The Breeding of Apples for the Northwest Plains, by William Saunders; Field Experiments with Nitragin and other Germ Fertilizers, by Byron D. Halsted; The Duration of Bacterial Existence under Trial Environments, by Henry L. Bolley; Suggestions for a more Satisfactory Classification of the Pleurocarpous Mosses, by Abel J. Grout; Notes concerning the Study of Lichen Distribution in the Mississippi Valley, by Bruce Fink; Botanical Teaching in the Secondary Schools, by William C. Stevens; Botanical Teaching in the Secondary Schools, by Ida Clendenin; On the Occurrence of