PROCEEDINGS

OF

THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION

FOR THE

ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE,

THIRTY-FIFTH MEETING,

HELD AT

BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

AUGUST, 1886.

SALEM:

PUBLISHED BY THE PERMANENT SECRETARY.

JANUARY, 1887.

EDITED BY

FREDERICK W. PUTNAM, Permanent Secretary.

PRINTED AT

THE SALEM PRESS,

SALEM, MASS.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Officers of the Buffalo Meeting

Standing Committee of the Buffalo Meeting

Local Committee of the Buffalo Meeting

Special Committees of the Association

Meetings and Officers of the Association of American Geologists and Natural-
ists

·

Meetings and Officers of the Association

Act of Incorporation

Constitution of the Association

Patrons

Members

Order of Proceedings in Organizing a Meeting

Members of the Association:

Honorary Fellows

Fellows

IN GENERAL SESSIONS.

ADDRESS OF THE RETIRING PRESIDENT H. A. NEWTON

Report of the committee on indexing chemical literature

Appendix to the report of committee on indexing chemical literature. A

problem in chemical bibliography

Fourth report of the committee on standards of stellar magnitudes

Report of the committee on "physics teaching"

Report of progress of committee on deaths, births and marriages

Report of committee on international scientific congress

Report of the American committee of the international congress of geologists

SECTION A. MATHEMATICS AND ASTRONOMY.

ADDRESS OF VICE PRESIDENT J. WILLARD GIBBS

The hirundo. By THOMAS HILL

Second differentials and equicrescent variables. By J. BURKITT WEBB

Some properties of the torus. By C. M. WOODWARD

A new demonstration of Cayley's theorem on the intersections of curves. By

H. B. FINE

Any point or plane (tangential) singularity in an element of a curve of double

curvature can be completely defined by aid of three singularity indices

K1KK. By H. B. FINE

Photographic determinations of stellar positions. By B. A. GOULD

Some account of a new catalogue of the magnitude of southern stars. By

EDWIN F. SAWYER

A comparative estimate of methods and results in stellar photometry. By S.

C. CHANDLER, jr.

Comparison of the Boss and Auwers declination standard. By HENRY

FARQUHAR

A neglected correction in the use of refraction tables. By CLEVELAND ABBE.
On certain discontinuous and indeterminate functions, with applications. By
CHARLES K. WEAD (Title)

On the limitations in the use of Taylor's theorem for the computation of the
precessions of close polar stars. By Wм. A. ROGERS and ANNA WIN-
LOCK (Title)

On a method of determining the constants of precession, which is partially

independent of the variations of the proper motion of the stars employed.

By WM. A. ROGERS (Title)

On the degree of accuracy which may be expected from chronograph records.
By WM. A. ROGERS (Title)

Comparison of the places of the pleiades as determined by the Königsberg

and Yale College heliometers. By W. L. ELKIN (Title)

On some mechanical attachments (partly novel, and partly not) for facilitating

the astronomer's work with the equatorial. By DAVID P. TODD (Title)

Change in latitude of the Sayre observatory. By C. L. DOOLITTLE (Title)

On the use of the zenith telescope for latitude. By S. C. CHANDLER, jr. (Title)

Magnifying power of telescopes. By HENRY M. PARKHURST (Title)

Telescopic observations of meteor trains. By E. E. BARNARD (Title)

A new theory of gravitation. By JOHN H. KEDZIE (Title)

.

On a method of obtaining the mean apparent diameter of the sun. By SAMUEL

MARSDEN (Title)

·

The tangent index: an instrument to exhibit the direction of a tangent to

the earth's orbit, and the direction of the earth's motion in space at any

time. By JOHN HAYWOOD (Title)

.

SECTION B. PHYSICS.

ADDRESS OF VICE PRESIDENT C. F. BRACKETT

Entropy as a physical quantity. By J. BURKITT WEBB
Rankine's thermodynamic function 4. By J. BURKITT WEBB
Polarization of resistance coils. By T. C. MENDENHALL
Electric thermometry. By T. C. MENDENHALL

Report of progress in the study of atmospheric electricity. By T. C. MEN-

DENHALL

Early telephonic apparatus. By A. E. DOLBEAR

A new determination of the relative lengths of the imperial yard and of the

metre des archives. By WM. A. ROGERS

Description of a combined yard and metre which will be used by the de-

partment of standards of the British board of trade in a definitive deter-

mination of the relative lengths of the imperial yard and of the metre des

archives. By WM. A. ROGERS

A study of the idiosyncrasies of mercurial and metal thermometers. By

WM. A. ROGERS

Observations on the formation of dew, at Houghton Farm, Mountainville,

Orange Co., New York, summer of A. D. 1884. Read by HENRY E. AL-

VORD

·

Determination of capillary constants. By W. F. MAGIE

On, a method of counteracting the effect of change of level of the torsion bal-

ance. By WM. KENT

On the application of a mirror to the multiplication of the indications of a

torsion balance. By WM. KENT

On the time of contact between the hammer and string in a piano. By C. K.

WEAD

Upon the increase of torsional elasticity of metallic wires. By WILLIAM A.

ANTHONY

·

·

·

On a method of registering small variations of speed, and determining the

absolute number of evolutions of an engine or other running machinery.

By WM. A. ANTHONY

Relation of dew to soil moisture. By J. W. SANBORN

.

The effect of wind and exposure upon barometric readings. By CLEVELAND

ABBE

.

A gravity parallelometer. By J. A. BRASHEAR

On some new applications in electricity of the graphical method. By CHAS.

K. WEAD (Title)

·

Illustrations of Minnesota tornadoes. By HORACE C. HOVEY (Title)

Note on variation in resistance with temperature of certain alloys. By BENJ.

F. THOMAS (Title)

Some notes upon subjective after-color (complementary color). BY CHAS.

A. OLIVER (Title)

The field-magnets of a self-exciting dynamo may be too soft. By W. L.

HOOPER (Title)

•

•

On a name for the C. G. S. unit of momentum. By C. K. WEAD (Title)

On a simple, accurate method of reproducing etched surfaces of meteoric

irons for illustration. By GEORGE F. KUNZ (Title)

On a singular case of double refraction. By DEWITT B. BRACE (Title)

SECTION C. CHEMISTRY.

ADDRESS OF VICE PRESIDENT HARVEY W. WILEY

Preliminary analysis of a Honduras plant named chichipate." By HELEN

DE S. ABBOTT (Title)

A problem in chemical bibliography. By H. CARRINGTON BOLTON (Title).

Action of heat on ethylene. By L. M. NORTON (Title)

Reports on methods of stating water analyses. WASHINGTON CHEMICAL SO-

CIETY (Title).

The torsion analytical balance. By ALFRED SPRINGER (Title)

Determination of nitrogen in commercial fertilizers. By B. B. Ross and L.

W. WILKINSON (Title)

On the melting point of fats. By H. W. WILEY (Title)

On some laws of chemical union. By C. F. DE LAUDERO and PAUL PRIETO

(Title)

On the areometric method of estimating fat in milk.

.

.

.

.

(Title)
Notes on the composition of soiling-rye. By WILLIAM FREAR (Title)
Preliminary analysis of the leaves of Juglans nigra. By LILLIE J. MARTIN
(Title)
Tyrotoxicon (cheese poison), its occurrence in milk, and its products and the

.

methods of detecting it. By V. C. VAUGHAN (Title)

Pneumatic process converting sodium chloride and sulphate, into sodium car-
bonate by means of the oxides of carbon. Presented by ALBERT B.
YOUNG (Title)

The composition of certain well waters containing lithium in Cleveland. By

C. F. MABERY (Title)

On certain substituted acrylic and propionic acids. By C. F. MABERY

(Title)

By H. W. WILEY

On the composition of certain products from the Cowles electrical furnace.

By C. F. MABERY (Title)

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