We condemn the present barbarous convict lease law, instituted by the Republican party and continued by its servile imitators, the Democratic party, and demand its immediate repeal.

We suggest that in lieu of the present system a penitentiary farm be provided, upon which a sufficient number of the convicts be employed to make a support for the whole body, and that all surplus labor above the farm needs be used in building State roads. We demand a State reformatory institution for young convicts, who under the present system come out of prison worse than they enter.

We condemn the present unjust road law, under which those least able have to bear all the burden, and demand in its stead a just and equitable system of taxation for road purposes.

We demand an amendment to the State Constitution, making our elections for four-year terms, and forbidding a re-election on the part of any officer to two consecutive terms, and in this connection we demand consolidation of State and national elections.

In the present impoverished condition of our tax payers we think it would be nothing less than a crime for our Legislature to appropriate moneys for luxuries like the World's Fair at Chicago, but we approve the course of those citizens who out of their abundance contribute to that exposition.

We condemn in unmeasured terms the looting of the State treasury by Democratic officials, who now go unwhipped of justice.

We deny that the Democratic party in Arkansas has given us fair elections or believes in them, and we assert that their boasted election law is but a servile imitation of the Lodge force bill, and was devised to enable them to perpetuate their wicked lease of power, despite the will of the electors.

Upon reassembling on July 6, the Republican State Convention nominated candidates for presidential electors and the following State ticket: For Governor, William G. Whipple; for Secretary of State, James Oates; for Auditor, Samuel A. Williams; for Treasurer, Charles N. Rix; for Attorney-General, E. H. Vance; for State Land Commissioner, Jacob H. Donahoo; for Commissioner of Mines, etc.. D. C. Gordon; for Superintendent of Public Instruction, Zadock P. Freeman; for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Wilbur F. Hill. The canvass following these nominations was uneventful. At the election on Sept. 5 the entire Democratic State ticket was elected. For Governor. Fishback received 90,115 votes, Whipple 33,644, Carnahan 31,177, and Nelson 1,310. Half of the State Senate and all the members of the House of Representatives were chosen at the same time. The Legislature of 1893 will be divided politically as follows: Senate-Democrats 29, People's Party 2, Republicans 1; House-Democrats 88, People's Party 7, Republicans 5. A proposed amendment to the State Constitution requiring payment of a poll tax as a prerequisite for voting was submitted to the people at this election, and received 75,848 affirmative and 56,589 negative votes. As it failed to receive the approval of a majority of the total number of persons voting at the election, it seems not to have been adopted.

At the November election the Democrats were again successful, electing their candidates for Congress in every district and their presidential electors. The vote on the electoral ticket was: Cleveland, 87,057; Harrison, 46,359: Weaver, 11,831. Cleveland's plurality, 40,698.

ASSOCIATIONS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. American.-The fortyfirst meeting of the American Association was held in Rochester, N. Y., Aug. 17-23, 1892. The officers of the meeting were: President, Joseph Le Conte, of Berkeley, Cal.; Vice-presidents of sections: A, John R. Eastman, Washington, D. C.; B, Benjamin F. Thomas, Columbus, Ohio; C, Alfred Springer, Cincinnati, Ohio; D, John B. Johnson, St. Louis, Mo.; E, Henry S. Williams, Ithaca, N. Y.; F, Simon H. Gage, Ithaca, N. Y.; H, William H. Holmes, Washington, D. C.; I, Lester F. Ward, Washington, D. C. Per

manent Secretary, Frederick W. Putnam, Cambridge (office, Salem), Mass. General Secretary, Amos W. Butler, Brookville, Ind. Secretary of the Council, Thomas H. Norton, Cincinnati, Ohio. Secretaries of the sections: A, Winslow Upton, Providence, R. I.; B, Brown Ayres, New Orleans, La.; C, James Lewis Howe, Louisville, Ky.; D, Olin H. Landreth, Nashville, Tenn.; E, Rollin D. Salisbury, Madison, Wis.; F. Byron D. Halsted, New Brunswick, N. J.; H, William M. Beauchamp, Baldwinsville, N. Y.; I, Henry Farquhar, Washington, D. C. Treasurer, William Lilly, Mauch Chunk, Pa.

Opening Proceedings.-The meeting began at noon on Aug. 16 with a preliminary meeting of the council, at which the names of 69 new members were passed. These, with the 33 elected on April 20, made 102 new members elected since the meeting a year ago. The first general session was held at 10 A. M. in the chapel of the University of Rochester, where the gathered scientists were called to order by the retiring president, Prof. Albert B. Prescott, who briefly introduced his successor, Prof. Joseph Le Conte, with a fitting tribute to the latter's eminence in geologica lscience. In taking the chair President Le Conte expressed his appreciation of the kind and courteous way in which the mantle had been transferred to him, and thanked the society for the honor conferred upon him. He said:

There were three, and only three, things which passed beyond the material and entered the spiritual. They were fine art, religion, science. Art perfected the ideal of beauty in the mind. Religion perfected

it in the heart and conduct. Science strove to perfect the same image in the realm of abstract truth. Was he not right in saying that it was a great honor to take a leading place in an association which embraced all branches of science that come nearer to the people

than any other scientific association?

After an invocation by the Rev. Corliss B. Gardiner, addresses of welcome were made by Dr. Edward M. Moore, President of the Local Committee, Hon. Richard Curran, Mayor of the city, and Dr. David J. Hill, President of the University of Rochester; to which a suitable reply was made by President Le Conte, who, in the course of his remarks, said:

I will not dwell too long on the utilitarian feature of the subject. We must love science for its own sake. Truth is its own chief reward. It has been mercifully ordered for our encouragement that every step in the higher walks of life shall be attended with material benefit. While astronomy opens the doors of heaven, it also directs our commerce and guides our ships; geology, besides opening the gates of infinite time, also discovers beds of coal and veins of metals; streams, rushing down mountains or reflecting the blue skies on their placid bosoms, also turn our mills and float our vessels. Science-truth-is its own exceeding great reward. There is an indissoluble connection between truth and good, between truth and utility. It may not be to-day, it may not be in this decade, this century, this millennium, but sooner or later it must bless mankind. Every community honors itself in honoring

science.

The permanent secretary, Prof. Frederick W. Putnam, then made his annual report, in which he announced the decease of some twenty members, including Edward Burgess, Henry I. Bowditch, William Ferrell, T. Sterry Hunt, and Joseph Lovering.

A statement of the funds of the association was read. The Research fund contains $5,657.22, and the general fund $2,394.53, making a total of $7.932.85.

Address of the Retiring President. The subject of President Prescott's retiring address was "The Immediate Work in Chemical Science," and in the course of it he said:

"It is well known that chemical labor has not been barren of returns. The products of chemical action, numbering thousands of thousands, have been sifted and measured and weighed. If you ask what happens in a common chemical change, you can obtain direct answers. When coal burns in the air, how much oxygen is used up can be stated with a degree of exactness true to the first decimal of mass, perhaps to the second, but questionable in the third. How much carbonic acid is made can be told in weight and in volume with approaching exactness. How much heat this chemical action is worth, how much light, how much electro-motive force, what train-load of cars it can carry, how long it can make certain wheels go round-for these questions chemists and physicists are ready.

"Chemists are concerned mainly with what can be made out of atoms, not with what atoms can be made of. Whatever they are, and by whatever force or motion it is that they unite with each other, we define them by their effects. Through their effects they are classified in the rank and file of the periodic system.

"Knowledge of molecular structure makes chemistry a science, nourishing to the reason, giving dominion over matter, for beneficence to

life. Studies of structure were never before so inviting. In this direction and in that especial opportunities appear. Moreover, the actual worker here and there breaks into unexpected paths of promise. Certainly the sugar group is presenting to the chemist an open way from simple alcohols on through to the cell substances of the vegetable world.

"I have spoken of the century of beginning chemical labor, and have referred to the divis ions and specialties of chemical study. What can I say of the means of uniting the earlier and later years of the past, as well as the separated pursuits of the present, in one mobile working force? Societies of science are among these means, and it becomes us to magnify their office. Most necessary of all the means of unification in science is the use of its literature. To every solitary investigator I should desire to say: Get to a library of your subject, learn how to use its literature, and possess yourself of what there is on the theme of your choice, or else determine to give it up altogether.

"A great deal of indexing is wanted. Systematic bibliography, both of previous and of current literature, would add a third to the productive power of a large number of workers. Topical bibliographies are of great service.

"Allied to the much needed service in bibliography is the service in compilation of the constants of nature."

In closing, he made an appeal for an endowment fund, as follows:

If it be

"There are men and women who have been so far rewarded that great means of progress are in their hands. It is inevitable to wealth that it shall be put to some sort of use, for without investment it dies. The American Association, in the conservative interests of learning, proposes certain effective investments in science. not given to every plodding worker to be a promoter of discovery, such, at all events, is the privilege of wealth, under the authority of this association. If it be not the good fortune of every investigator to reach knowledge that is new, there are in every section of this body workers of whom it is clear that they would reach some discovery of merit if only the means of work could be granted them. Whosoever supplies the means fairly deserves and will receive a share in the results."

Proceedings of the Sections.-There are eight sections, over each of which a vice-president presides. Subsequent to the first general session the sections are called to order by their officers and proceed to effect their organization by the election of a sectional committee, whose duty it is to arrange the business for the subsequent meetings of the section. Also, each section elects a member of the nominating committee who shall later meet to select officers for the future meeting; and each section likewise elects a sub-committee to nominate officers of the section for the future meeting. Subsequent to these duties, the section adjoins to hear its vice-presidential address, after which papers are taken up and read.

Sections.-A. Mathematics and Astronomy.The presiding officer of this section was Prof. John R. Eastman, of the United States Naval Observatory in Washington, D. C. The subject of the vice-presidential address was concerning The Neglected Field of Fundamental Astron

who would harmonize the party. The Radical element was not disposed to fall in with the Roca-Mitre coalition. A cry was raised against their financial conservatism and their desire to please the foreign creditors and the English investors and speculators, or perhaps to join with them in drawing profits out of the land. Dr. Alem was the head of the new patriotic movement, and Dr. Yrigoyen was put up as the Radical candidate for President. The contest was carried on with bitterness for some months, and, just as before, a considerable section of the military were on the side of the Radicals, who were unable to cope with the political organization of their opponents, and placed their hopes in popular demonstrations, or, as the last resort, in insurrection. Dr. Saenz Peña was placed in nomination on March 6, 1892. In his speech of acceptance he promised to give the minority a fair representation in the Administration; to propose a reform of the electoral laws, and to punish electoral frauds; to preserve the autonomy of the provinces; to foster desirable immigration and concede land to colonists, while putting an end to the purchase of tracts in the country by speculators; to create a Council of State to assist the Executive, like that in Chili; to advocate the establishment of the right of habeas corpus; to reorganize the army and navy, and to cultivate international friendships, especially with the United States and other American nations. The reciprocity proposals of the United States Government were rejected about this time by the Argentine Government. The Radicals, as soon as they began to agitate against the coalition candidate, were met by repressive measures. Their meetings were broken up, and some active men were arrested. They prepared for a violent conflict such as had occurred many times in the past electoral contests in Argentina. On April 2, the eve of the day set for a great Radical mass meeting in Buenos Ayres, the authorities scented, or pretended to have discovered, a gigantic conspiracy not only to start an insurrection, but to murder the President and Gens. Roca and Mitre, and proclaim Dr. Alem Dictator. All the troops were gathered in the central part of the city.

A state of siege was proclaimed, the troops were confined to the camps of Zarate and Maldonado, the sentinels were doubled, the officers were forhidden to pass the lines, the guns were kept ready horsed, and for two successive nights the Minister of War slept in camp. In the early morning of April 3 Dr. Alem, Gen. Garcia, and the rest of the Radical leaders, civil and military, were arrested and taken on board a manof-war. The Government issued a proclamation charging them with plotting the wholesale destruction of the chief of the republic, the leaders of the army, and prominent citizens, by means of dynamite, and claiming to have discovered a great number of explosive bombs in a Radical club, as well as cloaks and canes by which the conspirators were to recognize each other, and documents implicating Dr. Alem and others, and unfolding the details of the plot. Many Radical chiefs who escaped arrest fled to Montevideo, and others were banished to that city by order of a court of justice. The prisoners were held in custody till after the popular election of the

presidential electors on April 10. The Radicals abstained generally from voting, and consequently Dr. Saenz Peña was declared the choice of the people by a great majority. Most of the prisoners were then released, yet Dr. Alem was still held, in spite of an order for his release that was obtained from the Federal court. In the provinces, likewise, Radical clubs were shut up, some arrests were made, and on election day no opposition was made to the return of the coalition candidate, who had the united support of the Catholic conservative element, the Nationalist party, and the greater part of the Union Civica. On the meeting of Congress President Pellegrini received an act of immunity justifying his proceedings. Dr. Alem was finally released without a trial, after many weeks of detention. The casting of the electoral votes took place on June 12. By an almost unanimous vote Luis Saenz Peña was elected President and Señor Uriburu Vice-President for the term beginning Oct. 12, 1892. The banished Radicals refused to return from Montevideo unless the state of siege was terminated, and in the beginning of July it was ended by proclamation. Riotous demonstrations against Peña took place in August in the streets of Buenos Ayres, and the tumults recurred until after his inauguration.

ARCHEOLOGY. American. Civilization of the Ohio Mound-Builders.-Warren K. Moorehead, in his book on "Primitive Man in Ohio." presents the results of four seasons' exploration of ancient remains in that State. He draws the conclusions that the tribes did not occupy the northern parts of the State for any considerable length of time, but were settled chiefly in the larger river valleys; that both the brachycephalic and the dolicocephalic races mingled largely in all the valleys save the Muskingum; and that nothing more than the upper status of savagery was attained by any race or tribe living in the present State of Ohio. If the field testimony alone is considered, primitive man can be accredited with high attainments in only a few things, and these indicating neither civilization nor an approach to it. First, he excelled in building fortifications and in the interment of his dead; second, he made surprisingly long journeys for mica, copper, lead, shells, and other foreign substances, to be used as tools and ornaments; third, he was an adept in the chase and in war; fourth, he chipped flint and made carvings on bone, stone, and slate exceedingly well when we consider the primitive tools he employed; fifth, a few of the more skillful men of his tribe made fairly good representations of animals, birds, and human figures in stone. . . . On the other hand, he failed to grasp the idea of communication by written characters, the use of metal (except in the cold state), the cutting of stone, or the making of brick for building purposes, and the construction of permanent homes. Ideas of transportation other than upon his own back or in frail canoes, or the use of coal, which was so abundant about him, and which he frequently made into pendants and ornaments, and a thousand other things which civilized beings enjoy, were utterly beyond his comprehension."

Age of the Central American Monuments. From his studies of the monuments of Central