soning" to displace this very natural inclination to say that whatever is a social product is for that very reason a social phenomenon. Thus to them the deserted cliff dwellings are social phenomena because nature did not produce them and to explain them we must posit human co-operation and considerable social development on the part of those who produced them. Also they would say that the boy swimming alone in the lake away from other humans is engaged in a social activity because he is doing something that is not inborn but is the result of teaching. They would say further that swimming in that instance is a social phenomenon because it is an activity carried on in terms of a social product. And so on for language, customs, fashions, and institutions alike. This is the common-sense view which all but the technical and precise sociologist is likely to revert to when he is "off guard.”

Some consideration should be paid to the antecedents of social phenomena. Do social phenomena always have social antecedents as their cause, or are social activities invariably produced by antecedent social activities? Society exists whenever individuals are influencing one another psychically; social activity is the psychical activity that influences others; social phenomena arise out of and are implicit in the situation. Are the causes of social activities and of association always or only sometimes social?

We may think of several cases as test cases. What kinds of causes do usual, original, and first social activities have?

In the instance of the very first or ultimate social activity that ever took place, wherever or whenever it was, it is evident that the antecedent causal condition could not have been a social activity, since society had never existed before. The cause in this case at least must have been something else. But all else there was consisted of biological equipment and the physical environmental conditions which surrounded the organisms concerned. It is conceivable that the first social situation arose from the stimulation of one such organism by another whenever the nervous organization had evolved up to the requisite point of storing experience and developing meaning. From that point forward such organisms would be expected to continue and multiply these psychical causal contacts.

Then the physical environment also might be expected to func

tion in the direction of throwing organisms into juxtaposition and of affording stimuli which would put a premium on interstimulation. These physical conditions, therefore, would operate as a cause of aggregation, aggregation in its turn acting as a favorable condition of interstimulation and so of association. Thus physical conditions are not in themselves social causes, not immediate causes of social activity, but rather are preconditions or mediated causes of social action.

But after society was well along in its development, the antecedent cause of social activities would almost invariably be other social activities, either immediately or indirectly. Today all social activities are founded on, have grown out of, and presuppose preceding social activities. Even the original activity, or social variation, the invention using the term broadly and sociologically—of exceptional men in whatever line, has for its essential content the experiences and achievements of society thus far, and in its form is stimulated into existence by those accomplishments. They furnish its inspiration, framework, basis of variation, and insure its appreciation and acceptance by society.

The physical environment, then, while of causal significance in producing society, is yet so rather by way of being a precondition of society. It leads to aggregation and propinquity, multiplies the probability of contact between individuals, but certainly is not social either in its origin or nature. It helps to account for aggregation, but unless the individuals have developed to the potentially social point it is powerless to produce social activity.

The biological mechanism also has causal significance, in that it furnishes the brain and other nerve structures which serve as preconditions of organic interstimulation and psychical interaction. In themselves biological organisms are not necessarily social, since they may act relative to one another purely automatically. It is only when sentient awareness develops that they have a chance of being called social; and then of themselves they possess only the ability of interstimulation and response which to onlookers may be taken to be the symptom of psychic interaction. It is not, however, until some meaning of activities is established and this meaning gets passed over from one organism to another, and so affects its activity, that the social is born.

COMMUNICATION FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE

AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL SOCIETY

Custom has imposed upon the president of the Sociological Society the task of formulating the annual program of the Society. One motive for this procedure has been no doubt the desirability of giving to each year's program the unity of a single theme. With the multiplication of special interests and the consequent division of labor in the field of the social sciences, this has come to be, from year to year, a more difficult task.

The theme proposed for the coming annual meeting has been "The City." Since all the tendencies and most of the problems of modern life are more completely reflected in the conditions and changes of urban life than elsewhere, it seems as if the city offers a wide range of topics, and might be made the focus of a wide diversity of points of view.

There are probably more detailed studies of urban problems than in any other field of sociological observation and research. Recent developments in communication and transportation, which have brought rural communities and rural life within the circle of the city's influence, have profoundly changed the conditions of rural life.

In view of all this, the committee desires and invites the widest co-operation in making the program for the coming year. Considering the recent emphasis upon research and the large number of studies now in progress in this field, it seems important to give a greater emphasis than heretofore to reports of first-hand studies.

It is proposed, for one thing, as members have already been informed, to repeat the experiment of last year and give one session of the Society to brief reports of research in progress. In connection with this it is proposed to prepare a census of research projects under way.

All members of the Society are cordially invited to co-operate in making this census as complete and as representative as it is possible, considering the limitations under which it is necessarily made. ROBERT E. PARK

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

NEWS AND NOTES

Notes of interest to readers of the Journal should be in the hands of the editor of "News and Notes" not later than the tenth of the month preceding publication.

Research Fellowships in the social sciences.-The Social Science Research Council announces the establishment of research fellowships to be awarded on or about May 1, 1925. These fellowships have been established to promote scientific research in the general field of the social sciences broadly construed.

Substantial stipends conditioned by the requirements of each particular research project and the needs of each particular case will constitute the awards. Evidence of exceptional ability in research must be presented by each applicant, together with a detailed outline of a project giving promise of definite scientific accomplishment. If it is certain that the project will require travel in this country or abroad, the expense of such travel will be taken into account in determining the stipend for that particular case. The terms of the fellowships may range from several months to as much as two years, depending upon the character and requirements of the particular research project concerned.

Those who are appointed on fellowships will be subject to the supervision of the Committee on Social Science Research Council Fellowships, and this committee will be available for constructive counsel and advice. A substantial sum to cover such fellowships has been set aside by the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial.

The secretary of the Committee on Research Fellowships is F. Stuart Chapin, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota. All applications must be in his hands not later than March 1, 1925.

American Sociological Society.-President Robert E. Park announces the appointment of the following as members of the Committee on Nominations: Charles H. Cooley, University of Michigan, chairman; Charles A. Ellwood, University of Missouri, Franklin H. Giddings, Columbia University, Cecil North, Ohio State University, and U. G. Weatherly, Indiana University. In view of the important change in the method of electing officers made at the Annual Meeting whereby the Nominating Committee is required to submit two nominees for each office, members of the Society are requested to send suggestions in regard to nominations to the chairman of the committee.

American Council of Learned Societies.-A Conference of the Secretaries of Constituent Societies was held in New York, Friday, January 3. Secretaries or representatives were present from the American Philosophical Society, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Antiquarian Society, American Oriental Society, American Philological Association, Archeological Institute of America, Modern Language Association of America, American Historical Association, American Economic Association, American Philosophical Association, American Political Association, and American Sociological Society. A brief statement was made by each secretary upon the history, purposes, and present problems of each organization. Discussion then turned to the methods of financing the different associations, the possibility of joint meetings with other societies, the nature and extent of publications, and the present status and possible developments of research programs.

The Annual Meeting of the Council was held Saturday, January 24, in New York. Reports were given by the different committees of the Council, and future projects considered. The executive secretary of the Council, Waldo G. Leland, made a report of the Survey of Learned Societies. This survey includes those national associations in the United States which are devoted to the advancement of learning in the fields of the humanities and social studies (philosophy, philology, linguistics, archeology, history, economics, and the political and social sciences). The complete survey will show in a striking manner the important part played in the history of learning in America by the associations in this field and by the amount of work accomplished with very little money largely through voluntary co-operation. An excellent sign is the tendency which most of the societies seem to show at the present time to self-examination, to systematic planning of activities, and to greater emphasis upon research. The Council voted that this study should be followed by a survey of humanistic research in America. The delegates of the American Sociological Society to the Council are Franklin H. Giddings and William F. Ogburn.

Instituto Internazionale di Sociologia.-The International Institute of Sociology and of Political and Social Reform of Turin has organized during this year sections in Rome and Naples and is proposing to organize also sections in Milan, Genoa, and Palermo. Sessions are being planned for a seven to ten days' conference in each of these cities on themes both in pure sociology and in the special social sciences. The Board of Directors intend, in the near future, to transfer the central seat of the Institute from Turin to