G. GENERAL NATURAL HISTORY AND ZOOLOGY. 293 



prise of much magnitude, initiated some time since, was com- 

 pleted, namely, the connecting of the Chicago River with a 

 tributary of the Mississippi, by which its stagnant waters 

 were carried southward toward the Gulf of Mexico, and their 

 place supplied by a continuous stream of pure water from 

 the lake. 



One desired effect of this enterprise, namely, an improved 

 sanitary condition of Chicago, was speedily accomplished ; 

 and not only did the effluvium from the river measurably 

 diminish, but the hydrant water has been greatly improved 

 in purity. The shaft through which water is admitted to 

 the tunnel from the water-works is situated in the lake, some 

 two miles from the shore, and, although so far removed from 

 the drainage of the city, more or less of impurity continually 

 found its way into its mouth. This was proved both by 

 chemical and microscopical examinations, numerous forms of 

 infusorial objects, such as _diatoms, vegetable and animal 

 germs, etc., being readily discernible. Somewhat to the in- 

 convenience of microscopists, the new arrangement has tended 

 to reduce the number of such objects very materially, so that 

 the water sometimes scarcely repays the labor of searching 

 for microscopical material. 



Mr. Babcock is inclined to believe that, so long as a mod- 

 erately rapid current is kept up in the Chicago River from 

 the lake, the city will be provided with water nearly equal 

 in purity to that at Mackinaw, which has become proverbial 

 for its excellence. Lens, April, 1872, 103. 



INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF ANTHROPOLOGY. 



The International Congress of Anthropology and Prehis- 

 toric Archa3ology met at Brussels on the 22d of August and 

 closed on the 30th, with an attendance of six hundred men 

 of science from various parts of the world. The sessions 

 were held in the Ducal Palace, under the presidency of M. 

 D'Omalius d'Halloy, the eminent Belgian geologist, and prob- 

 ably the dean of living naturalists, as he has nearly attained 

 his ninetieth year. 



The vice-presidents for other countries were M. Virchow, 

 for Germany ; M. De Quatrefrages, for France ; Mr. A. W. 

 Franks, of the Christy collection of the British Museum, for 

 England ; M. Nilsson, for Sweden ; M. Steenstrup, for Den- 



