New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-08-21
STUDENTS OF SCIENCE.
Many PAPERS READ BEFORE THE AMERICAN
ASSOCIATION.
LARGE ATTENDANCE IN THE SEVERAL SEC
TONS - NEW DISCOVERIES AND NEW
THEORIES SET FORTH IN WASHINGTON.
my rrr rc nLrH 10 THE rrrpIrNE.I

washington. Aug. 2O.-The unusually large attend
= - members OF the American Association for the
Advancement Of Science al this years meeting is due
a, the numerous membership resident here. about one
,tirs Of the Jtal registration far being to Wash
..son members. Tie hot weather. however prevents
snv from coming who would otherwise do so, 50
,,st despite the crowd, many familiar faces are
r,ssef and some members are already returning 70
III cooler spots. II was, in fact the probability OF
,,ch spell OK weather that long deferred the as
soeiatn from meeting here, since tine meetings must
>, asiuse6 to the leisure time Of teachers. At the
cnrtion BY the Board Of Trade held at the Arlington
uotel last evening It appeared that person cOuo
,, found who had attended tho last previous wash
in y+on meeting IN 1851 Professor Brewer. OF faic
Celere was rallied upon TO address the gathering d"
,Ne person most likely to have been here but ne 10
,ed that the nearest he came to It that nc n''u
hoped to come lie brought greetings, however lio"
Professor James D. Dana, who was here at tnst uhe
end is perhaps The only surviving member Oh 'he "S
ISOLATION who did attend.
The programme Of the day included papers II q"
except te mechanical sect n. Iolu ar intFss -
10 cluster more and more about The economic se''
though at IS the youngest Of all; but Professor
enuncated a proposition in u paper rea4 DeiOo '"S
Agricultural Society few days ago, on The Foaso
witch NAV be applied also 10 section l. lie ss'U -
vas biological principal that the terminal puu' u
ewes. being the youngest, are also the most NltoH
ammeda tey after the adjournment OF the geue.'i
don this morning almost everybody started 1ol "a ~
whore Professor Billings exhibited and eApi@N'N 1''
-s,c f,r co,n,,lipp and tabulat.Dc the last census
DR. Billings said that the data collected by INC 'r
,,- each living person might he recorded on sn'e.0
rad or slip by punching small holes in olheIon' P
a. IT, and thai these cards might then De aSsOIu "i"
counted by mechanical means accoidlns '
,sc,ed grouping of these perfoI7ttons, as was hrsV
,nrg.sted by him III 1850 This Suggestion vas
iaScn up by Herman Hollorth ana " nm
has been elaborated into practical shape-1Ae system
which is now IN use in the population ana Ni''N so
,nos division OF the Eleventh United states census
and which has been adopted for the cONP''N'o ''
n the recent Australian and Canadian oe"suSeS'
For each individual taken note OF by inc census
schedule the statistical facts have oecl 'No"" "
rnnchng holes IN a card DISKS II n'OH0s ." SiN0,
The number Of Subdivisions which GaA Dc ostlsisneu
a. tbis way Is very great, as each card gives room
for twelve groups Of tweny-four holes Inc plnc"eu
cards are passed through the machine ana a. e%oh
casd Is placed in position. metal roo oIOPS ""ousH
each hole into bath OF mercury, ana Ihs COmpe"9
an electric circuit, which registers lhe IdcV upon
dial About forty Of these diais are USED az once
- %. v.ttrb recoras a single class of facts. The
cbtce Not onlv records these groups OF facts, but
has series Of assertingb0Xes which also nave eIec-
treal connections bY means Of which the cards aiter
nasslpe through the machine, can be assorted mo
groups on any 81 stem required, such as age brth-
MAJ. residence etc. IL the population DIVISION
rha
operator was 766
A technical paper on a Measure Of the Reliability
Of Census Enumeration read by Alexander ;.
Christie Of Washington. A National University, lis
Character and Purposes and The Science and Art Of
Government were titles Of papers by Lester F. WARD,
Of Washington Nlr. Ward strongly favored tie estab-
Isbmeat Of National university as an aid TO the
Dread Of Intelligence and the education Of experts Tor
lie work of public administration. The grand Ma
,,nal university recommended by Washington, JeIcr-
son Madison ard many later Presidents aid statesmen
was almost certain 70 be realized IN the near iute
W. J. McGee read paper on The southern Ola
rieasa followed by one BY Colonel Hinton on "Agri-
clirTre by Irrigation, Some Social Economic Po'sipm-
Ties Tie importance OF irrigatng the arid region OF
-. Vest and the almost incredible results OF such
system were dwelt uDon Professor Fern0w m tho
asZt PAPER ON ~Water Management the Problem cI
tie FUTURE gave additional proof OF the vae Oh LII
eaton AMI drainage, though he favored the iuneF u|l
cation OF the humid regions Of the East rather tlah
tie expenditure Of vast sums of public motley III
gigantic engineering schemes for the opening Of new
,egous 20 draw of population from present centres.
G. r. Dodge read paper on The Needs OF the Amer
loan Flax Fibre Industry" AID exhibited samples OF
fax.
At the conclusion Of The reading Of papers in the
economic section, Dr. William II. Hale, OF Brooklyn,
offered the following resolution, which VIII be con
s.dered next saturday morning tn connection with
several papers on the silver question: Resolved That
the free coinage Of silver IS incompatible with sound
financial policy and that the possibility Of legislation
authorizing such coinage is standing menace 10 our
National prosperity" one Of The papers 10 be read
that day is Free s!lyer-why not!' BY Edward
Atkinson, IN advance Of liz publication Ia The
Forum Dir. Atkinson replies 10 his question IN ire
negative.
The biological section much interested In An
oher chapter in the history Of the nv trap by
Dr J. NJ MacFarane, Of Edinburgh. fine collection
Il SAMPLES from North Carolina was exhibited and
tots were applied which confirmed the analogy here
tofoe noted between the action Of these leaves, and
that OF animal muscular fibre. Among other pagers
road IN this we're Notes on the physiological
and structural changes in Cayusa Lake ampreys and
The Transformation of the vermiron spotted newt.
simon II. Gage; @On the kinds Of motion Of the
ultimate units Of contractilc living natter John A.
Ryder; a new nectria.' Byron d. Halstead The
Cora Of Carmen Island" Joseph n. Rose Uses Of the
fermentation tube in bacte1ology, VITA demonsTa
toas7 Tneobad smith; and " TIE fo.amiuiiers, witt
device for the exhibition of specimens" James
NJ. Flint.
Vice President stevenson Of the geological section
remarked that all the papers read before mat secuol
we're valuable and drew out interesting discussions
The 1st Of topics follows Source Of supply TO lateral
ed medal mor4ines,7 By John T. Campbell; " New
aeteOac iron from Arizona containing diamonds,
A. T. FOote; POstg acal antc!inal ridges near Ripley
sud Caledonia New YORK. g.. K. Gilbert; Purposes
Of mountain building and their relationship % the
earth's construction Warren Cpham; Notes on an
extinct volcano az Montreal, CANADA Henry Lsmpard
on new horizon Of fossil fishes +. D. Cope " on
The age Of the Mount Pleasant Ohio, beds Joseph F.
James; Preliminary report Of observation 40 tho
deep well near Wheeling. W. Va William HaEock,
ADD @The Eureka slale Of NotIcra Arkansas T. C..
Hopkins.
In the astronomical section most Of the morning
was occupied with the consideration Of question,
which may be expressed in popular way Does
the earth wobbleG' The scientific way Of stating the
topic was, Latitude Of the SayTe Observatory" the
tile Of paper by c. L. DOOlttle, and The secular
variation Of terrestrial attitudes than Of BY
George c. COmst0ck. The approximate answer - this
question seems be that tae North Pole has secular
motion Of about four and fourffths seconds In GEN.
tuFy. Among other In f1ie serflan VEN