The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-05-02
n. c. ACADEMY OF
SCIENTISTS MEET
Number OF Papers Read
at First Session
ADDRESS Of PRESIDENT

DR.. Pcgram Discussed Learnedl,
Latest Theories as to lhe Structure
of Matter-Prcsident d. III. Hill
Made -AddI css of WeicOme-Election
al Officers Today-OIlef Particulars
Concerning the Meeting.
The tenth annual meeting Of the
North Carolina Academy Of Sciences,
which opened it's two day sessions at
the A. & NJ. College yesterday after
noon, is one of the greatest gatherings
OF scientists ever held in this city. The
reading of paper was followed by
mark ed attention, and the discussions
ensuing were highly interesting. The
election of officers takes place this
morning at S:45 o'clock. and the read
ing of the remainder of the papers on
the rOgra will conclude the session
There was a large gathering Of peo-
PIE last night to hear the addresses
President D. III. Hill, Of the A. & NJ.
College, made a pleasing address OF
welcome. He called attention to the
fact that the A. & NJ. College was
teaching the students the practical APP
plication of the results obtained by
working out scientific theories. He
welcomed the visitors to Raleigh and
wished them a pleasant and profitable
session.
The scholarly, clear, scientific ad-
dress of the president of the society,
Or. w. H. Pegram, of Trinity College,
was highly complimented by the mem
bers. DR.. Pegram has a wonderful
faculty for clearness. and his treat
ment Of so difficult a topic as THE
Problem of. the Constitution of Mat
ter upon which he spoke, was re-
garded as a splendid exposition of the
theories. To make such a
digest of various scientific researches
was indeed a difficult task.
He reviewed the numerous theories
held as to the constitution of matter
from the early ages down to the pres
ent moment. The more recent idea
has prevailed that the atom was the
basis of all matter, and that this in
visible. lndestructible particle was in
divisible. However. he showed that
the latest Investigations by the radio
activity experts. notably DIR. Nichol-
son, of Chicago. and DR.. Rutherford,
OF Cambridge University, had proven
that even the atom was a divisible
particle. This is what Is known as
the sub-atom theory, which was de-
Veloped to some extent by Sir J. J.
Thompson. These sub-atoms behave
like electric charges and tend to the
theory or belief that matter is not
matter, but energy of some form. The
properties of these sub-atoms have not
been fully determined.
The lecture of Prof. John f. Ian
neau. Of Wake Forest College. on
Sirius, the Bright and Morning STAR
was heard with much interest. DR..
Lanneau treated his subject in a pleas
ing manner. He discoursed learnedly
upon the heavens, the location of the
Vo 4 11c bn1fo~ ,no-
Sirius and its immense distance from
the earth. He stated that Sirius was
not stationary, but was moving
through space as the earth and other
bodies He called attention to the ap-
parent thinness Of the bodies towards
the north and the apparent congestion
towards the south, and illustrated it
with the statement that as one tray
els towards a forest the trees seem to
separate, n as one goes away from
1t the trees appear to close in.
AT the afternoon session Curator
{. s. Brimley. who is regarded as one
OF the foremost naturalists of the
South. presented a paper on "Catch-
ing Hawk Moths on Flowers at Dusk
DIR. f. w. Gudger. Of the State Nor
NAL College. presented two interesting
scientific papers on An Interesting
Case of S~ynbiosiS' n some Plant
Abnormalities." The subject of DR..
w. c. Cocker. of the University OF
North Carolina. was "Conjugatine
Yeasts."
DR.. +. L. Stevens. of the A. & NJ
College, discussed a subject of much
interest to truckers. in that he has
probably found a method for control
ling disease in lettuce. His papers was
entitled Results of a Practical At
tempt to Control Lettuce SchIeroti-
nose
Sow -
Acoustics was the title of a paper BY
Prof. Andrew H. Patterson, of the
University. A preliminary report or
the regeneration of Nemerteans and
Anphitrite was discussed by J. D
Ives.
Or. T. l.. Stevens and G.. w. Wilson