University, Cambridge, Mass.; William Morton Wheeler, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.; David White, United States Geological Survey, Washington, D. C.; and Robert Williams Wood, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. ELECTION OF FOREIGN ASSOCIATE. Sir John Murray was elected a foreign associate of the academy. DELEGATES. The president announced the appointment of the following delegates: George F. Becker to the meeting of the American Philosophical Society, April 18-20. Arnold Hague to the 250th anniversary of the Royal Society of London. President Remsen was named to represent the academy at the inauguration of President Hibben at Princeton University, May 11, 1912. SCIENTIFIC SESSIONS. The scientific sessions were held in the United States National Museum, Washington, D. C., April 16-18, 1912. APRIL 16. George E. Hale: The new tower telescope of the Mount Wilson Solar Observatory. (20 minutes.) Lantern. W. W. Campbell: Radial velocities of 213 brighter Class A stars. (5 minutes.) Some characteristics of stellar motions. (10 minutes.) Lantern. W. J. Humphreys (introduced by Cleveland Abbe): Holes in the air. (15 minutes.) R. A. Harper: The organization of the cell colony in Pediastrum. (15 minutes.) Lantern. D. H. Campbell: On the morphology and systematic position of Calycularia radiculosa (Sande Lac), Stephens. (10 minutes.) William Trelease: A revision of Phoradendron. (5 minutes.) H. F. Osborn: Biological foundation of Bergson's "Creative Evolution." E. S. Morse: Biographical memoir of C. O. Whitman. (5 minutes.) G. L. Goodale: Biographical memoir of Alexander Agassiz. (5 minutes.) APRIL 17. 10.30 a. m.: The following address was given by invitation of the council. Harvey Cushing: Some observations on the functions of the pituitary body. (Illustrated by lantern slides.) 2.30 p. m.: The following addresses were given by invitation of the council: J. A. Holmes: The national phases of the mining industry. C. G. Abbot: The solar radiation. (Illustrated by lantern slides.) 76502°-13-2 AUTUMN MEETING. The autumn meeting was held at Yale University, New Haven, Conn., November 12 and 13, 1912. Forty-two members were in attendance, as follows: Messrs. Becker, Boas, Boltwood, Cattell, Chandler (C. F.), Chittenden, Clark (W. B.), Clarke (J. M.), Conklin, Councilman, Cross, Dana, Davis, Gooch, Hague, Harper, Hastings, Iddings, Kemp, Meltzer, Morley, Morse (E. S.), Nichols (E. L.), Noyes (A. A.), Osborn (H. F.), Osborne (T. B.), Peirce (B. O.), Reid, Remsen, Schuchert, Scott, Smith (Theobald), Story, Thaxter, Thomson, Verrill, Walcott, Webster, Wells, Wheeler (W. M.), Wood (R. W.), and Wright. BUSINESS SESSIONS. The business sessions were held in Sloane Physical Laboratory of Yale University November 12 and 13, 1912. REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON THE HENRY DRAPER FUND. Your committee respectfully recommends that the Henry Draper medal be awarded to M. Henri Deslandres, director of the Astrophysical Observatory at Meudon, France, for his researches in solar and stellar physics. M. Deslandres's investigations cover a wide range of subjects, and have contributed in a most important way to the advancement of astrophysics. In 1891 he began a study of the ultra-violet spectrum of the chromosphere, in which he photographed numerous lines in the series spectrum of hydrogen and others belonging to various elements. Subsequently, with the aid of a spectrograph which was given a discontinuous motion, so as to photograph the H or K line of calcium in narrow successive sections of the solar surface, he studied these lines in the regions now known as the flocculi, distributed irregularly over the sun's disk. This method, which gives the velocities of the ascending and descending vapors through the displacements of the H and K lines, has proved of great value in a long series of observations begun at the Paris Observatory and now being continued at Meudon. The photographs also show the same lines in the spectrum of the chromosphere and prominence at the limb. In 1893 M. Deslandres began an important series of investigations with the spectroheliograph, an instrument which has received many additions and improvements in his hands. His earlier work with low dispersion on the calcium lines was subseqeuntly supplemented by the use of spectroheliographs of high dispersion, which made it possible to photograph the sun with different portions of the calcium and hydrogen lines and also with some of the narrower lines of other elements. In this way M. Deslandres has obtained photographs showing the structure of the solar atmosphere at different levels, permitting many valuable studies of the motion and physical nature of these vapors to be made. The most remarkable results are those obtained with the center of the Ha line of hydrogen and with the K, line of calcium. These show most interesting and important phenomena in the upper solar atmosphere, including the dark "filaments" and long alignments. The latter were discovered by M: Deslandres in this way, and the "filaments," though they had previously been photographed with lower dispersion, are far better shown on these magnificent photographs. Within the brief limits of this report it will not be possible to mention all of the researches which we owe to M. Deslandres. They include observations made at total solar eclipses; investigations on the electric and magnetic phenomena of the solar atmosphere; important contributions to the theories of the aurora, new stars, and nebula; studies of the distribution of lines in spectra and the laws of special series; observations of stellar spectra and spectra of comets; photographs of the spectra of planets for the determination of their rotation, etc. All of these investigations indicate great originality on the part of their author, who has also demonstrated his executive ability in the organization of the work of the Meudon Observatory. Your committee is unanimous in its opinion that the Henry Draper medal should be awarded to M. Deslandres at the next annual meeting of the National Academy, and trusts that action confirming this recommendation will be taken at the autumn meeting. Respectfully submitted. GEORGE E. HALE, Chairman. The report of the committee was adopted, and the academy voted to award the Henry Draper medal to Henri Deslandres at the annual meeting of the academy to be held in April, 1913. DELEGATES. The president announced that in response to invitations received. by the academy he had appointed the following delegates: Mr. Welch to the International Congress on Hygiene and Demography at Washington, September 23-28, 1912; and Mr. II. F. Osborn to the dedication of the New York State Educational Building at Albany, October 15-17, 1912. AMENDMENTS TO RULES. Rule VIII was amended by vote of the academy to read as follows: At each meeting the president shall announce the death of any members who may have died since the preceding meeting. As soon as practicable thereafter he shall designate a member to write, or with the approval of the president to secure from some other source, a biographical notice of each deceased member. Rule IX (first paragraph) was amended by vote of the academy to read as follows: The secretaries will receive memoirs at any time, and report the date of their reception at the next session; but no memoir shall be published unless it has been read or presented by title before the academy. SEMICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. The president announced that in accordance with the terms of a resolution adopted at the last annual meeting, authorizing him to appoint a committee with full power to carry out the provisions of the preliminary report of the committee to arrange for the celebration of the semicentennial anniversary of the academy, he has appointed a general committee consisting of Messrs. Walcott (chairman), Chittenden, Conklin, Coulter, Day, Hague, Hale, Noyes (A. A.), Osborn (H. F.), Pickering, Pupin, Thomson, Trelease, Webster, and Woodward, and that various subcommittees had been appointed. CHAIRMAN OF THE WATSON FUND. The academy authorized the president to appoint as temporary chairman of the committee on the Watson fund whomever the section of mathematics and astronomy should nominate for the position. AGASSIZ MEDAL. The following resolution was adopted: Resolved, That the president be empowered to select a committee of three to name the recipient of the Agassiz medal. AWARD OF MEDALS IN 1913. The academy adopted the following resolution: Resolved, That the council be authorized to approve the recommendations of all committees regarding the award of medals for the year 1913. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE COMSTOCK PRIZE. The committee recommends: (1) That the first award of the Comstock prize be made at the semicentennial celebration of the academy in April, 1913. (2) That the amount of the prize be $1,500. (3) That the prize be awarded to Prof. R. A. Millikan, of the University of Chicago, for his researches on the charge of the electron, on the exact value of the ratio of electric charge to mass, and on valency in gaseous ionization. (4) That since there is no medal provided for in connection with this prize, the academy present to the recipient a suitably engrossed certificate of the award. EDW. L. NICHOLS, Chairman. The report of the committee was approved by vote of the academy, and Prof. R. A. Millikan, of the University of Chicago, was designated as the recipient of the first Comstock prize of $1,500 to be awarded at the semicentennial celebration of the academy in April, 1913. SCIENTIFIC SESSIONS. NOVEMBER 12. Charles D. Walcott: Cambrian formations of Mount Robson District, British Columbia. Illustrated. 15 minutes. William M. Davis: Physiographic evidence in favor of the subsidence theory of coral reefs. 15 minutes. William B. Scott: Restorations of Tertiary mammals. Illustrated. 20 minutes. Henry F. Osborn: Geologic correlation of upper paleolithic faunas of Europe and America (preliminary report). John M. Clarke: (1) The Devonian faunas of Western Argentina; (2) Probable Devonian glacial bowlder beds in Argentina. 20 minutes. Charles Schuchert: Climates of geologic time. Illustrated. 20 minutes. William M. Davis: The transcontinental excursion of the American Geographical Society. NOVEMBER 13 (10.30 a. m.) PUBLIC SCIENTIFIC SESSION. Jacques Loeb: On the fertilization of the egg of invertebrates with blood. 20 minutes. Thomas B. Osborne: The nutritive value of the proteins of maize. 15 minutes. PUBLIC SCIENTIFIC SESSION. S. J. Meltzer: Theory and fact as illustrated by an instructive experiment on the splanchnic nerve. 12 minutes. Franz Boas: New data on the influence of heredity and environment upon the bodily form of man. 20 minutes. Ernest W. Brown (introduced by Edward S. Dana): The problem of the asteroids. 20 minutes. Robert W. Wood: (1) Some results obtained with the most powerful spectograph in the world. Illustrated. 20 minutes. (2) On the possibility of photographing molecules. 10 minutes. (3) On a new method of finding regularities in band spectra. Illustrated. 10 minutes. READ BY TITLE. Arnold Hague: Biographical memoir of Samuel Franklin Emmors. Charles C. Adams (introduced by William H. Dall): The variations and ecological distribution of the snails of the genus Io. DEATHS DURING 1912. CLARENCE EDWARD DUTTON. Clarence Edward Dutton, born at Wallingford, Conn., May 15, 1841, died at his home in Englewood, N. J., January 4, 1912. Though most widely known through his contributions to geology, he was by profession a soldier. Entering the Army as an officer in 1862, he was transferred to the regular service before the close of the Civil War, becoming an officer of ordnance. He served in that capacity until his retirement, but by detail was connected for considerable periods, first with the Powell Survey and then with the United States Geological Survey. Under the auspices of these organizations he made geologic field studies in Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, California, and the Hawaiian Islands, and published a series of important reports. He made also the principal scientific study of the Charleston earthquake, and in later years wrote a general treatise on seismology. His work was characterized by breadth of view, and its prime motive was to discover the principles underlying phenomena. He was specially interested in the dynamics of the greater factors in |