Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 75.djvu/415

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British Association has in recent years taken seriously its imperial duties. Twenty-five years ago it first met outside the British Islands. The step was not taken without long consideration and considerable opposition, but the meeting in Montreal in 1884 proved remarkably successful, no fewer than 910 members crossing the sea. In 1897 the association met in Toronto, and after an intervening meeting in South Africa in 1905, it has now for the third time visited Canada. The registration of members at Winnipeg was about 1,400, of whom about 500 crossed the Atlantic and about 150 came from the United States. The attendance at meetings of the British Association is always greatly increased by local and visiting associate members who join for the year from interest in the general and social events or from public spirit. The meetings of the British and American associations are of about the same size, but there is a noticeable difference in the composition of the membership. In the case of the British Association there are a large number of amateurs dominated by a few leaders, whereas at the annual meeting of our association and the affiliated societies the average working man of science is the main factor. This appears to represent a typical difference between an aristocracy and a democracy, for though Great Britain may be in its government more democratic than the United States it retains its social aristocracy.