9 6 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



tion an observation of von Lippmann'a 

 is of interest. On investigating a de- 

 posit in a vacuum apparatus for con- 

 centrating lemon juice, he found quite 

 a quantity of boric acid, and on fur- 

 ther examination discovered that boric 

 acid is present in small quantity in 

 most fruit, as in lemons, apples, etc. 

 As a result it cannot be inferred, be- 

 cause boric acid is found in preserved 

 or dried fruits, that it has been added 

 as a preservative. Altogether it must 

 be said that the whole matter needs 

 further study, and that it must be de- 

 termined to what limit the use of boric 

 acid and borax is permissible without 

 endangering health. 



SCIENTIFIC ITEMS. 



We record with great regret the 

 death of John Wesley Powell, director 

 of the Bureau of American Ethnology 

 and formerly director of the U. S. Geo- 

 logical Survey. His death occurred at 

 his summer home in Maine on Septem- 

 ber 23, he" being in his sixty-ninth year. 

 There was published in the Popular 

 Science Monthly for January, 1882, 

 an article reviewing Major Powell's 

 life and work, illustrated by a portrait, 

 and we hope to publish in the next 

 number a further appreciation of his 

 work. We regret also to record the 

 death of Sir Frederick Abel, known for 

 his important researches on explosives, 

 and of Dr. John Hall Gladstone, 

 known for his researches on chemical 

 combinations. 



Dr. Charles S. Mlnot, professor of 

 histology and embryology in the Har- 

 vard Medical School, was given the 

 degree of Doctor of Science at Oxford 

 University, on the occasion of the ter- 

 centenary of the Bodleian Library. 



Professor W. H. Welch, of the Johns 

 Hopkins University, delivered the Hux- 

 ley lecture before the Charing Cross 

 Hospital on October first. Dr. Andrew 

 D. White, Ambassador to Germany, 

 has presented his letters of recall. His 

 successor, Dr. Charlemagne Tower, is 

 also interested in literary and scientific 

 subjects. An expedition from the 

 Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine 

 under Major Ronald Ross has gone to 

 the Suez Canal to institute preventa- 

 tive measures against malaria. 



A committee has been formed for the 

 erection of a public memorial of the 

 late Professor Virchow in Berlin, with 

 Professor Waldeyer as chairman. A 

 monument, consisting of a pedestal and 

 a bust by the sculptor, Marqueste, is 

 to be erected in the Paris Museum of 

 Natural History, in memory of Al- 

 phonse Milne-Edwards. The eightieth 

 birthday of John Fritz, ironmaster and 

 inventor, of Bethlehem, Pa., will be 

 celebrated by a dinner given in his 

 honor on October 31. The dinner will 

 also signalize the founding of the 

 John Fritz gold medal for achievement 

 in the industrial sciences, the medal to 

 bo awarded annually by a committee of 

 members of the American Society of 

 Civil Engineers, the American Society 

 of Mechanical Engineers, the American 

 Institute of Mining Engineers and the 

 American Institute of Electrical Engi- 

 neers. The organizing committee hav- 

 ing the matter in charge on behalf of 

 these societies has already raised $6,- 

 000, representing the contributions of 

 some 500 members of the engineering 

 professions in this country and in 

 Europe. The medal has been entrusted 

 to the American sculptor, Victor D. 

 Brenner. 



