Its meetings are attended by the leading professional men of science and at the same time by large numbers of amateurs. The local members at each meeting are likely to exceed a thousand, and excellent arrangements are made for their instruction and entertainment. The social features are emphasized, so that there is opportunity for forming personal acquaintances and for those who are only interested in science to meet those most actively engaged in its advancement.
The Winnipeg meeting, which opens on August 25, will be presided over by the eminent Cambridge physicist, Professor J. J. Thomson, who succeeds Mr. Francis Darwin. Addresses of general interest will be given by the president and the presidents of the sections, and by Professor Herdman, Professor Tutton, Professor Dixon, Professor Poynting and others, and the sectional meetings are certain to have attractive programs. There will also be the usual extensive arrangements for garden parties, receptions and excursions. A visit to the Pacific coast, including Alaska and the Seattle Exposition, should be of unusual interest.
The Canadian railways offer a single fare, so the return trip from Montreal or Quebec to Winnipeg costs only thirty-six dollars, the council of the British Association has courteously voted to admit all members of the American Association for the Advancement of Science to membership for the meeting, waiving the entrance fee, and the American Association will hold no meeting this summer. A large number of Americans will doubtless take advantage of the generous invitation of their British colleagues and attend the Winnipeg meeting. It is a rare privilege that should be taken advantage of by all who find it possible.
SCIENTIFIC ITEMS
We record with regret the death of Professor J. D. Cunningham, the anatomist of the University of Edinburgh, and of Dr. M. A. Brezina, the mineralogist of Vienna.
Among the honors awarded on the birthday of King Edward are knighthoods to Mr. Francis Galton, Professor J. Larmor, Mr. R. H. I. Palgrave and Professor T. E. Thorpe.—Mr. Orville Wright and Mr. Wilbur Wright were presented on June 19 with the gold medal authorized by congress, a medal on behalf of the state of Ohio and a medal on behalf of the city of Dayton.
Dr. William H. Welch, professor of pathology in the Johns Hopkins University, has been elected president of the American Medical Association.—Professor E. W. Morley has been elected honorary president and Dr. W. H. Nichols acting president of the Seventh International Congress of Applied Chemistry, which has accepted the invitation extended by the congress through the president and the secretary of state, to meet in this country in 1912.
Mr. John D. Rockefeller has made a further gift of $10,000,000 to the General Education Board. Its endowment is now $53,000,000. Mr. Rockefeller has authorized the board to distribute the principal as well as the income for educational purposes, should this at any future time appear to be advisable.
