INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONGRESSES MEETING IN AMERICA
The progress of international cooperation in scientific work is exhibited by the large and growing number of congresses holding migratory meetings in different countries, and the greater share taken by America in the advancement of science is born witness to by the fact that these congresses meet with increasing frequency in the United States. The Eighth International Congress of Applied Chemistry has just closed its meeting in Washington and New York, and the Fifteenth International Congress of Hygiene and Demography will be meeting in Washington when this issue of the Monthly appears. These are among the most important of such gatherings. Chemistry is the science which, owing to its industrial applications, attracts the largest number of workers, and hygiene and demography occupy an equally important place in our modern civilization.
There were enrolled about 4,500 members for the Congress of Applied Chemistry, of whom 2,173, coming from thirty different countries, were in attendance. They presented 724 papers before the twenty-four sections and the joint sessions of these sections. 570 of the papers were printed in advance in 24 volumes and were distributed to members at the time of the meeting. After preliminary meeting and entertainments in New York City, the congress went to Washington by special train, where the members were received by the president of the United States, who acted as patron of the congress. After the return to New York, the sectional meetings were organized and there were many public lectures, receptions, dinners and excursions. The public lectures included the following: M. Gabriel Bertrand, on "Chemical biology"; Dr. Samuel Eyde, on "The oxidation of atmospheric nitrogen, and the resulting industries in Norway"; Dr. Carl Duisberg, on "The synthetic production of rubber"; Dr. Giacomo Ciamician, on "The photo-chemistry of the future"; Professor William Henry Perkin, on "The permanent fireproofing of cotton goods," which is printed in this issue of the Monthly. The entertainments included receptions at the American Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum and the Chemists' Club; afternoon teas at Columbia University and the College of the City of New York; an excursion up the Hudson, and a grand banquet at the Waldorf-Astoria. At the conclusion of the meeting excursions were arranged to Chicago and to the Pacific coast. Dr. Edward W. Morley was honorary president of the congress and Dr. Wm. H. Nichols was the active president, to whom with the other officers the successful organization and conduct of the congress was in large measure due. The ninth congress will be held three years hence at St. Petersburg under the presidency of Professor Paul T. Walden.
The Fifteenth International Congress of Hygiene and Demography, under the presidency of Dr. Henry P. Walcott, of Massachusetts, will undoubtedly be equally notable. An important and interesting scientific program and exhibit have been arranged. Some 300 German physicians have already arrived in New York to attend the meetings. Mention should also be made of the International Otological Congress at Boston under the presidency of Dr. Clarence J. Blake, which though smaller and attracting less attention, has brought to this country a number of distinguished foreign otologists. Two further gatherings of foreign scientific men in this country deserve mention—the transcontinental excursion of the American Geographical Society and the dedication of the Rice Institute. The former is quite unique in character. The American Geographical Society, to celebrate the
