Science: Philosophical Convention

In the 141-year-old red brick building of the American Philosophical Society alongside Independence Hall, Philadelphia, gathered last week scores of U. S. erudites, to celebrate the Society's 203rd birthday, to read some twoscore learned papers. Founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1727, the Society's intent was "to promote useful knowledge.'' Last week's "useful knowledge" ranged from papers on The Geography of American Peppers to the Kinetics of Bioluminescent Reactions of Short Duration. High lights:

George Washington Crile, famed chief of the Cleveland Clinic, told the meeting that memory was an electrochemical process....

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