A.A.A.S.

It was at the end of a year in the flood tide of science that the American Association for the Advancement of Science held its annual meeting last week in Philadelphia. It had been the year in which:

Experimenters in Belgium, Germany and California had failed to corroborate the ether drift findings of Dr. Miller of Cleveland, thus tending to substantiate the Einstein theory of time-space relativity.

Dr. Millikan of California had verified the existence of cosmic rays of great penetration, Dr. Kolhoerster of Germany tracing their source to the constellations Orion, Hercules and Andromeda, where new stars are forming.

Dr. Michelson of Chicago had remeasured the speed of light, setting it at 186,284 mi. per sec.

Dr. Keeson of Holland had solidified helium.

Dr. Hopkins of Illinois had isolated a new chemical element, No. 61 in Mendeleev's table, and named it Illinium.

Dr. Sumner of Manhattan had isolated the first enzyme.

Dr. Coolidge of Schenectady had produced powerful cathode rays outside a vacuum tube; his colleague, Dr. Langmuir, had perfected a hydrogen-hydrogen welding flame, the hottest ever; another colleague, Dr. Alexanderson, had nearly perfected radio television.

Mars had come closer to Earth than it would be for another 13 years.

There had been a total solar eclipse, new comets, unusual sunspots and the only perfect lunar appulse in four centuries.

Dr. Streeter of Washington had studied the youngest human embryo yet available (eleven days).

A European fly taken to New England to fight two insect pests had proved itself the enemy of 92 other insects.

Tetraethyl lead (antiknock) gasoline had been declared safe for general use and been put on sale throughout the country.

The National Academy of Sciences, with aid from college presidents, foundations, manufacturers and Secretary Hoover, had launched a campaign for 20 millions to devote to independent scientific research.

These and many more events of 1926 were in the minds of scientific gentlemen who thronged, about 1,000 strong, in 15 sections and 43 allied societies, to Drexel Institute, Philadelphia. There their retiring president, Professor Michael Idvorsky Pupin, onetime Serbian shepherd, now oft-honored electro-physicist of Columbia University, greeted them with poetic discourse upon the progress of electrical communication, beginning with James Clerk Maxwell's monograph on magnetism in 1873 and Heinrich Rudolf Hertz's experiments with pulsations in the ether in 1889, through Marconi's practical application of Hertz's discoveries, to modern radio and radiotelephony. Himself the author of great advances in electrical communication, Dr. Pupin predicted the ultimate translation of cosmic messages from the surrounding universe, especially those emissions of the sun which are now looked upon as nuisances to earthly radio since they cause "static" and "fading."

The scientists (and many a layman, for the meetings were public) attended further discourses, papers, demonstrations, including:

Reversible Pigeons. Male pigeons, after sitting on eggs in place of their mates, gave female blood tests. Females allowed to live actively instead of passively, gave male blood tests. Conclusion: sex is affected, perhaps in part determined, by the speed of bodily metabolism:--Dr. Oscar' Riddle and Dr. Warren H. Reinhart, Carnegie Institution.

Errata. Subsequent examination of the fossil discovered last autumn at Trinil, Java (TIME, Oct. 11), and reported everywhere as another skull of Pithecanthropus erectus, the Java apeman, showed the relic to be an elephant's knee cap. The "Southwestern Colorado Man," lately deduced from a set of Eocene teeth, was a myth, the teeth having proved to be those of an antique horse.--Dr. Ales Hrdlicka, Smithsonian Institution.

Drinkers' Sons. Ten generations of rats were daily intoxicated with alcohol fumes. The eleventh generation was put in a cage with descendants of nonalcoholic rats. The two strains got drunk at the same rate. Conclusion: a drinker's sons cannot inherit from him a steady head for drinking; acquired characteristics are not demonstrably inheritable.--Frank Blair Hanson and Florence. Hays, Washington University, St. Louis.

Pure Science. Much Federal and State money is spent on applied science. But the raw material of applied science is pure science--research. The burden of pure science research is borne chiefly by colleges and universities. They need help. They will get help. The present ratios of ten to one in men and twenty to one in dollars for applied science compared to pure science constitutes a "challenge."--Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover.

Bose Exposed. Sir Jagadis Chandra Bose of India has been causing scientific excitement with his assertions that plants have nervous systems, souls. A book giving a sympathetic account of the Hindu, his work and methods, sets forth: "The mysteries of nature are probed in Sir J. C. Bose's institute not by study of libraries or mechanical experiments, but primarily by communion with the unseen and unknown. Inspiration, imagination, intuition, vision--this is even a more romantic touch." All of which is ridiculous. "The passage from pseudo-research to the infantile fancies is an easy one."--Dr. Daniel T. MacDougal, Carnegie Institution.

Stirring Sleepers. To the beds of 18 young men was attached mechanism to record their every movement while sleeping. The most nervous subject stirred once every eight minutes. The most inert, once every 25 minutes. The average: 13 minutes between stirs. Purpose of the experiment: to discover the efficiency of beds, springs, mattresses, pillows.--H. M. Johnson and G. 'E. Weigand, Mellon Institute, Pittsburgh.

Astute Crooks. People say crooks are mentally deficient. Never believe it. Convicts of the "lowest" criminal type were given the Army intelligence tests and they passed far above average. Crime is a business for shrewd men. To stop it, make crime unprofitable and shrewd men will stay honest. --Manager James H. Hepbron, Baltimore Criminal Justice Commission.

Domesticated Insects. Practical entomology will some day provide the farmer with insects as useful to him as his other domesticated creatures.--Dr. Leland Ossion Howard, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

Judges. A good judge of himself is a man mentally alert, socially inclined, cheerful, optimistic, moderately popular. A good judge of others is slow mentally, shallow, emotionally unstable, a physical and moral coward, independent, unsociable.--Psychologist Henry S. Adams, University of Michigan.

Super-Oysters. A. bivalve in a symmetrical shell, lacking the tough muscle necessary to attach itself to rocks; hardy, fast-growing, large, sweet and tender on the tongue, was evolved by selective breeding. The difficulty of changing the water in the breeding pans without losing the oyster eggs was overcome by using a modified "cream separator." The new species can take care of itself in natural beds after attaining a certain growth; it can be grown by the million.--Biologist William F. Wells, New York State Conservation Commission.

Diabetes Virus? Rabbits inoculated with urine from a diabetic patient contracted diabetes. The fluid was filtered through porous porcelain. Then it did not induce diabetes. Conclusion: diabetes is a communicable disease, caused not by a bacterium but by a virus or poison which may be isolated and for which a prophylaxis may be discovered.--Dr. David H. Bergey, University of Pennsylvania.

War of 1929. The earth is one organism, comprising atmosphere (air), hydrosphere (water), lithosphere (rocks), biosphere (life). This organism lies in the vast magnetic field of the sun, which fluctuates in regular cycles. Solar irruptions of the coming two years, the maxima of cycles large and small, will agitate the solar magnetic field and produce upheavals on earth, including the biosphere. Study of physicochemical history ("historiometry") shows large human wars occurring at times of maximum sunspots. Conclusion: a solar agitation of the human race during 1927-29 "of the highest historical importance," greatest since 1870.--Archaeologist A. Tchijovsky, University of Moscow.

"No More Work." If the hydrogen contained in two teaspoonsful of water were converted into helium, 200,000 kilowatt hours of energy would be liberated. In perhaps two centuries this and other feats will be performed with atoms, whose energy will then do all mankind's labor.--Dr. Carl Frederick Schlissel, of Germany.

Amazons. Archaeological evidence is now complete that the female warriors mentioned by King Priam in Homer's Iliad--the Amazons against whom he fought as a boy at the headwaters of the Sangarius River--were actually men of the Hittite tribe, whose practice of shaving earned them the scorn of the bearded Phrygians. Hittite sculpture found up the Sangarius shows the fashion of shaving coming to an abrupt end about 1250 B. C. (some 50 years before Priam spoke). Perhaps the razor was blamed for the Hittite reverses.--General Secretary John Linton Myres, British Association for the Advancement of Science.

Resolution. At its sectional meeting, the American Association of University Professors resolved to "take initiative in bringing about a more effective co-operation between all groups or organizations interested in opposing legislative restriction on freedom of teaching in state-supported institutions," i.e. to fight the organized minority of anti-Evolutionists lest a measure similar to Prohibition become the law of the land.

Officers. As its new president, the A. A. A. S. elected Director Arthur Amos Noyes of the Gates Chemical Laboratory (California Institute of Technology), onetime chairman of the National Research Council. Fifteen new vice presidents :

Mathematics -- Dunham Jackson, University of Minnesota.

Physics -- A. H. Compton, University of Chicago.

Chemistry -- Roger Adams, University of Illinois.

Astronomy -- W. S. Adams, Mount Wilson Observatory.

Geology & Geography -- Charles Schuchert, Yale University.

Zoology -- C. E. McClung, University of Pennsylvania.

Botany -- William Crocker, Thompson Institution for Plant Research.

Anthropology -- R. J. Terry, Washington University.

Psychology -- Knight Dunlap, Johns Hopkins University.

Social & Economic Science -- W. S. Leathers, Vanderbilt University.

History & Philosophy -- Harry Elmer Barnes, Smith College.

Engineering -- A. N. Talbot, University of Illinois.

Medicine -- G. Canby Robinson, Medical School of Vanderbilt University.

Agriculture -- L. E. Call, Kansas State Agricultural College.

Education -- A. T. Gates, Teachers College, Columbia University.

Award. To Professor George David Birkhoff of Harvard University went the Association's annual prize of $1,000 for the "most notable contribution to the advancement of science." Professor Birkhoff had offered "A Mathematical Critique of Some Physical Theories," a paper submitting new equations to clarify the Einstein theory, and to lead away from the quantum theory, of the nature of matter.