Notes

Abstract

THE recent meeting of the American Association at Boston was one of the largest and most successful in the history of the Association, the attendance numbering nearly one thousand members, representing almost every State in the Union. More than four hundred papers were read and discussed in the various sections, and a large proportion of them were of a very high order. The address of the retiring president, upon some points in theoretical chemistry, was referred to in last week's NATURE. Prof. Putnam, the new president, also delivered an address, and the following addresses were given by the sectional presidents:—Section A (Mathematics and Astronomy), development of astronomical photography, Prof. E. E. Barnard. Section B (Physics), on the perception of light and colour, Prof. F. P. Whitman. Section C (Chemistry), the electric current in organic chemistry, Prof. Smith. Section E (Geology and Geography), glacial geology in America, Prof. H. L. Fairchild. Section F (Zoology), a half-century of evolution with special reference to the effects of geological changes on animal life, Prof. A. S. Packard. Section G (Botany), the conception of species as affected by recent investigations on fungi, Prof. W. G. Farlow. Section H (Anthropology), the advance of psychology, Prof. Cattell. Section I (Economic Science and Statistics), the historic method in economics, Mr. Archibald Blue. The following officers were elected for the ensuing year:—President: Mr. Edward Orton, President of