his training is highly qualified to deal with the subjects of colloids from its theoretical standpoint, as well as its practical side.

Arrangements will be made for holding a series of discussions during the conference on the subjects treated in the lectures.

The conference will be opened by Sir Robert Falconer, LL.D., president of the University of Toronto, on Wednesday, January 5, at five o'clock, when Professor McLennan will deliver the opening lecture on "Molecules and atoms." J. C. MCLENNAN, Professor of Physics

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, November 22, 1920

MEETING OF THE AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION

THE meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union in Washington, D. C., November 8--11, 1920, was one of the largest in the history of the union. One half of the Fellows and about ten per cent. of the entire membership were in attendance. The business meetings on Monday were held at the Cosmos Club and the other sessions at the U. S. National Museum. The election of Fellows and Members included Robert Cushman Murphy, of Brooklyn, N. Y., as Fellow; E. C. Stuart Baker and Dr. Percy Lowe, of London, Honorary Fellows; 13 Foreign Corresponding Fellows; 5 Members and 307 Associates. The election of officers for 1921 resulted as follows: President, Dr. Witmer Stone, Philadelphia; Vice-president, Dr. George Bird Grinnell and Dr. Jonathan Dwight, New York; Secretary, Dr. T. S. Palmer, 1939 Biltmore St., Washington, D. C.; Treasurer, W. L.McAtee, Biological Survey, Washington, D. C. The single vacancy in the council was filled by the selection of Dr. W. H. Osgood, of Chicago, and the other six members were reelected. The program of nearly 40 papers, five of which were illustrated by motion pictures, covered a wide range of subjects relating to North American birds and also included papers on the birds of Argentina, Nicaragua, Peru, Europe and Madagascar. In connection with the meeting an exhibition

of drawings, paintings and photographs of birds by American artists, supplemented by a series of prints showing the development of zoological illustration as applied to birds from the earliest times down to date, was arranged in the Division of Prints in the Library of Congress. T. S. PALMER,

Secretary

THE BULAWAYO MEETING OF THE SOUTH
AFRICAN ASSOCIATION

THE eighteenth annual session of the South African Association for the Advancement of Science was held in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia, on July 14-17, with Dr. I. B. Pole Evans, as president. From the report in Nature we learn that there were the usual receptions and functions, together with visits to the Khami ruins, the Matoppos, the Victoria Falls and Livingstone. A party, after the conclusion of the official meeting, visited the Great Zimbabwe. More than sixty papers were read in the various sections, and the attendance was a large one more than 130 members proceeding by special train from the Transvaal, as well as some from the Cape Peninsula and Natal.

The president Dr. I. B. Pole Evans, chief of the Division of Botany and director of the Botanical Survey of the Union, gave a most interesting address on "The veld: its resources and dangers," the address being illustrated by a series of beautiful lantern-slides. He reviewed recent progress in botanical knowledge, and outlined the notable advance that had been made by the members of the Botanical Survey in respect to systematic ecology, indigenous grasses, fungi and poisonous plants. Mr. H. E. Wood, of the Union Observatory, Johannesburg, as president of Section A, gave an address on Recent progress in astronomy," noting that the present year was the centenary of the foundation of the Royal Observatory at the Cape. "Geology in relation to mining" was the subject of the presidential address to Section B, given by Mr. F. P. Mennell, who has seen all the later developments in the mining industry of Rhodesia. Dr. T. R. Sim, late government

66

forester in Natal, delivered the presidential address to Section C on "Causes leading towards progressive evolution of the flora of South Africa." In Section D the presidential address was delivered by Mr. C. W. Mally, Cape Entomologist, whose subject was "Some zoological factors in the economic development of South Africa." The Rev. H. A. Junod, president of Section E, gave a most interesting address on "The magic conception of nature among Bantus." "Labor conditions in South Africa" was the subject of Professor R. Lehfeldt's presidential address to Section F. An evening lecture was delivered by Professor J. A. Wilkinson on The nitrogen problem."

The South African medal and grant were awarded to Professor E. Warren. Johannesburg is now the seat of the headquarters of the association, and the next meeting will be held at Durban in July, 1921.

SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS

Ar the anniversary meeting of the Royal Society on November 30 the following medals were conferred by the retiring president, Sir Joseph Thomson: A Royal medal to Mr. W. Bateson, for his contributions to biological science, especially his studies in genetics, and a Royal medal to Professor G. H. Hardy, for his researches in pure mathematics, particularly in the analytic theory of numbers; the Copley medal to Mr. H. T. Brown, for his work on the chemistry of carbohydrates, on the assimilation of atmospheric carbon dioxide by leaves, and on gaseous diffusion through small apertures; the Rumford medal to Lord Rayleigh, for researches into the properties of gases at high vacua; the Davy medal to Mr. C. T. Heycock, for his work in physical chemistry, especially on the composition and constitution of alloys; the Darwin medal to Professor R. H. Biffen, for his work on scientific principles applied to the breeding of plants; and the Hughes medal to Professor O. W. Richardson, for his work in experimental physics, especially thermionics.

AT the meeting of the Geographical Society of Philadelphia, held on December 1, the

Elisha Kent Kane gold medal of the society was conferred on Dr. A. Hamilton Rice in recognition of his pioneer exploratory work in South America.

THE Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania acting through its committee on science and the arts, at its meeting on November 17, 1920, awarded to Dr. W. L. R. Emmet, of Schenectady, its Elliott Cresson Gold Medal. The wording of the award is as follows: "After a careful consideration and study of Dr. Emmet's work relating to ship propulsion, the institute is of the opinion that it deserves the highest award in its gift for the recognition of inventions of signal importance and awards to Dr. W. L. R. Emmet the Elliott Cresson Medal in recognition of his notable contributions to the art of ship propulsion!"

THE gold medal of the British Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, has been awarded to Sir Thomas Kirke Rose "in recognition of his eminent services in the advancement of

metallurgical scince, with special reference to the metallurgy of gold."

SIR WILLIAM BEALE has been elected president of the Mineralogical Society, London. DR. JAMES M. TAYLOR, since 1873 professor of mathematics at Colgate University, has retired from active service.

DR. JOHN B. WATSON has resigned from the professorship of psychology which he has held since 1908 at the Johns Hopkins University.

DR. D. R. HOOKER has resigned his position as associate professor of physiology in the Johns Hopkins Medical School, to engage entirely in research.

PROFESSOR C.-E. A. WINSLOW, of the Yale University School of Medicine, has been granted leave of absence for the spring term in order that he may assume the directorship of the public health activities of the League of Red Cross Societies at Geneva. Professor Winslow will return to New Haven for the opening of the fall term, October 1 next.

DR. ROBERT K. NABOURS, professor of zool>gy and experiment station zoologist in the

Kansas Agricultural College, has resumed his work, after a year's leave of absence, during which time he made a journey around the world pursuing investigations of the fur industry in various countries for Funsten Bros. and Company.

W. ARMSTRONG PRICE has resigned his position of paleontologist with the West Virginia Geological Survey and is now in Tampico as geologist with the Transcontinental Petroleum Company. He is accompanied by Lloyd C. Gibson, formerly geologist with the Seneca Hill Oil Company of West Virginia.

DR. HEBER D. CURTIS, director of the Allegheny Observatory, University of Pittsburgh, delivered the annual Sigma Xi lectures at the Universities of Kansas and Missouri, November 16 to 19. His general subject was, "Modern views of our sidereal universe." The first lecture was "The data of stellar evolution," and the second "The size of our universe."

DR. CARL J. WIGGERS, of the Western Reserve University, will deliver the fourth Harvey Society lecture at the New York Academy of Medicine, Saturday evening, December 11. His subject will be "The present status of cardio-dynamic studies on normal and pathological hearts."

DR. IVEY F. LEWIS, Miller professor of biology at the University of Virginia, made the address at the first public meeting of the newly formed Naturalists' Club of the University of Richmond, Va.

THE Huxley lecture was delivered in the Mason College, Birmingham, on November 26, by Professor C. S. Sherrington, whose subject was "The gateways of sense."

OWING to the continued ill-health of Mr. Spencer U. Pickering, which renders him unable to continue his experimental work at the Woburn Fruit Farm, which was carried on from 1894 to 1918 by the Duke of Bedford, and since then by means of a grant from the Development Fund administered by the committee of the Rothamsted Experimental Station, it is to be closed.

A NEW station for experimental biology has been founded at Schederlohe in the Isar val

ley, Bavaria, by Dr. Curt B. Haniel, with the collaboration of Dr. Jacob Seiler, formerly assistant of Dr. Goldschmidt, at the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institute für Biologie, Berlin-Dahlem.

THE American Mathematical Society will, as usual, hold two meetings in the Christmas holidays. At the annual meeting in New York on December 28-29 the election of officers will take place and President Frank Morley will deliver his retiring address, the subject of which is "Pleasant questions and wonderful effects." The regular western meeting, which is also the meeting of the Chicago Section, will be held at Chicago, on December 29-30, in affiliation with that of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Professor Arnold Dresden, of the University of Wisconsin, is secretary of the western meeting.

PROFESSOR JAMES F. NORRIS has been elected to the chairmanship of the committee in charge of the C. M. Warren Fund of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, in place of Professor H. P. Talbot, resigned. The income from the fund is available for the encouragement and advancement of research in the science or field of chemistry," and may be used to provide the materials required for such investigations or assistance in their execution. The committee will be glad to receive and consider requests for grants from this fund. They should be addressed to Professor James F. Norris, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

WE learn from Nature that a meeting of the International Commission for Weather Telegraphy, which was appointed by the International Meteorological Conference at Paris in October, 1919, was held at the Air Ministry, London, during the week November 22-27. The following delegates were expected to attend the meeting: Lieutenant-Colonel E. Gold (president), Meteorological Office, Air Ministry; M. A. Angot, Bureau Central Météorologique, Paris; Colonel L. F. Blandy, controller of communications, Air Ministry; Dr. van Bemmelen, Meteorological Observatory, Batavia; Colonel Delcambre, Service

Météorologique Militaire, Paris; Professor F. Eredia, Ufficio Central di Meteorologia, Rome; Professor E. van Everdingen, Meteorologisch Institut, De Bilt, Holland; General Ferrié, Minister of War, Paris; Captain Franck, Service de la Navigation Aérienne, Paris; Señor José Galbis, Sericio Meteorologico Español, Madrid; Lieutenant H. D. Grant, Meteorological Office, Aor Ministry; Dr. Hesselberg, Meteorologiske Instituut, Christiana; Colonel Matteuzzi, Servizio Aerologico, Rome; Professor A. de Quervain, Central Meteorological Office, Zurich; M. Rey, Ministère de l'Agriculture, Paris; Captain C. Ryder, Meteorologische Institut, Copenhagen; Mr. T. Thorkelsson, Meteorological Service, Reykjavik; and Dr. A. Wallén, Meteorologiske Hydrografiske Anstalt, Stockholm. Since the war much progress has been made in different countries in the development of codes for telegraphic reports of the meteorological information which experience in the war and the needs of aerial navigation indicated as necessary. The main object of the commission is to coordinate these devlopments in the revision and extension of the codes prepared at the last meeting of the commission, which was held in London in September, 1912.

THE Civil Service Commission announces an examination for ordnance research engineer at $2,000 to $5,000 a year, or higher or lower salaries. It also announces an examination for junior physicist in the Bureau of Mines, at $1,500 to $1,800 a year.

AT the recent Chicago meeting of the. American Mathematical Society the following resolution was passed: "The Society recommends for favorable consideration by the council applications for membership from advanced students and others interested in mathematics, whether engaged in teaching or not, when properly proposed by members of the Society."

DR. JONATHAN DWIGHT contributes the following note to the Journal of the New York Botanical Garden on the Linnaean Botanical Garden, at Upsala, Sweden: In the lower end of Svartbacksgatan at Upsala is the old botanical garden of Carl von Linné which has been

nearly abandoned for about a century. This was the spot where the Flower-King spent most of his time among the plants, etc., where the grass throve and trees grew tall. The Egyptian Antiquities from the Victorian Museum have reposed there for some time in part in his hothouse and part in the Museum for Northern Antiquities. A change has of late taken place in the old garden. Some of the old trees have been cut down, the well cultivated lawns are elevated, and Linné's lily ponds (which are seen in old copperplate engravings of his "Hortus Upsaliensis ") have been rebuilt in their location. The young men of the old Linnean Society have accomplished this change and renovation. Linné's greenhouse and the foreground have as yet not been restored. This fall, however, the Museum of Northern Antiquities will be moved to "Gustavianum" and then the house will be arranged for a Linnean Museum. Professor Svedelius informs the public that a large donation has been received by the Linnean Society for a new home for the director. As soon as it is ready the Linnean Society will take possession, and also of the Linné House, where the extensive collections of furniture, books, bric-a-brac, etc., which were the belongings of Linné will then be moved. The greater portion of these have been heretofore kept in the Linné house in Svartbacksgatan.

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
NEWS

THE University of Cincinnati has received from the General Education Board of New York, an offer to contribute $700,000 to the Medical College. The gift is conditioned upon the raising of an additional $1,300,000 to complete the $2,000,000 endowment fund of the college; $900,000 of this amount has been subscribed.

WE learn from Nature that Professor James Mark Baldwin, formerly professor of psychology in the Johns Hopkins University, has offered to pay for the present, in honor of his friend, Professor Poulton, an annual sum of £100 into a fund to be called "The Edward

Bagnall Poulton Fund," to be applied at the discretion of the Hope professor of zoology at the University of Oxford, in the promotion of the study of evolution, organic and social. Professor Baldwin has also announced his intention of leaving by will money for the sustentation of such a fund.

DR. D. A. ROTHROCK, professor of mathematics, has been elected dean of the college of liberal arts of Indiana University.

PROFESSOR H. E. HAYDEN, JR., formerly associate professor of biology in the A. & M. College of Texas, is now professor of biology in the University of Richmond, Va. Mr. Paul R. Merriman has recently been added to the staff as associate professor of botany.

DR. JOHN STEPHENSON, until recently professor of zoology in Government College, Lahore, has been appointed lecturer in zoology in the University of Edinburgh.

DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE POSITIVE RAY ANALYSIS OF MAGNESIUM

USING the apparatus for positive ray analysis described in The Physical Review for April, 1918, I have recently succeeded in analyzing the element magnesium (atomic weight 24.36) into three isotopes of atomic weights 24, 25 and 26. The method is an adaptation to positive rays of a method previously used for measuring the ratio of charge to mass for electrons. The three components of magnesium appear suddenly together as the magnesium anode is heated to vaporize slightly. Their masses may be compared accurately with the molecule of mass 28 due either to occluded nitrogen or carbon monoxide, which is driven off at lower temperatures. The method also gives the relative amounts of the rays; the components at 25 and 26 are of about equal intensity, and that at 24 approximately six times as strong as the others. The average atomic weight 24.375 agrees as closely as is to be expected in these first experiments with the chemical atomic weight.

A. G. DEMPSTER RYERSON PHYSICAL LABORATORY, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

ON RECORDING APPARATUS FOR METEOROLOGICAL RESEARCH WITH ROCKETS

MR. S. P. FERGUSSON of the Weather Bureau has recently published several ingenious suggestions regarding the development of recording apparatus free from pivots, and hence useful in devices that are subject to jar. These suggestions are described in the Monthly Weather Review for June, 1920, pp. 321-322.

In this connection it is worth while remarking that tests with the model at present being made, using a mass carrying a recording pencil and held by a spring, show that the jar need at no time during the ascent be greater than would be experienced by a body striking the ground from a fall of 31 inches. This figure may be considered as representative of practical working conditons, but it is the jar, however, without any springs or shock-absorbing devices to protect the instru

ments.

Recording instruments for this particular work may be divided into two classes: First, instruments recording temperature, pressure and humidity by means other than the use of pivots, as already mentioned, the recording taking place both during ascent and descent. If records are to be had during the ascent, however, care must be taken so to support the various masses that there is no tendency to vibrate in a vertical plane. In general, this will not be a simple matter.

To the second class of instruments belong those involving the use of pivots which are kept separated from the bearings until automatically brought into contact when the descent begins, or at least after the propelling impulses have ceased. Instruments of this type need not differ fundamentally from devices at present in use, except that any considerable moments of force on delicate parts should be avoided.

CLARK COLLEGE

R. H. GODDARD

THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE SECTION AND THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE

TO THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: In view of the approaching meeting of the American Asso