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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



the end of his life from the semi- 

 annual meetings of the National Acad- 

 emy of Sciences. 



SCIENTIFIC ITEMS 

 We record with regret the deaths of 

 David Pearce Penhallow, professor of 

 botany in McGill University, and of 

 Professor Melchior Treub, for twenty- 

 nine years director of the Buitenzorg 

 Botanical Garden in Java. 



The Nobel Prize in medicine for 

 1910 has been awarded to Dr. Albrecht 

 Kossel, professor of physiology at 

 Heidelberg. — For his researches on the 

 determination of atomic weights the 

 Royal Society has awarded the Davy 

 medal to Dr. Theodore W. Richards, 

 professor of chemistry at Harvard 

 University. — The Harben Lectures of 

 the Royal Institute of Public Health, 

 of London, for 1912, will be given by 

 Dr. Simon Flexner, of the Rockefeller 

 Institute for Medical Research, New 

 York. 



On the occasion of the recent cele- 

 bration of the Mexican centenary a 

 statue of Friedrich Heinrich Alexander 

 von Humboldt, who more than one 

 hundred years ago made his journey of 

 research through Mexico, was unveiled. 

 — It is proposed to erect in the new 

 chemical building of the University of 

 Michigan a bronze tablet in memory of 

 Dr. Albert B. Prescott, for many years 

 director of the chemical laboratory. — 

 A drinking fountain has been erected 

 at the Central Experiment Farm, Can- 



ada, in memory of Dr. James Fletcher, 

 former Dominion entomologist and bot- 

 anist. — The classification and catalogu- 

 ing of the Simon Newcomb Library, 

 the acquirement of which by the Col- 

 lege of the City of New York has been 

 announced, has been completed. This 

 collection of 4,000 volumes and 6,000 

 pamphlets, was presented by Mr. John 

 Claflin. 



The hospital of the Rockefeller In- 

 stitute for Medical Research was 

 opened on October 17. There were no 

 special ceremonies, but a number of 

 guests were present to inspect the hos- 

 pital. At the same time it was an- 

 nounced that Mr. Rockefeller had given 

 securities valued at $3,820,000 for the 

 endowment of the institute, and that 

 its organization had been completed. — 

 At the celebration of the centenary of 

 the University of Berlin Emperor 

 William made an address, in the course 

 of which he said that the occasion 

 seemed to be peculiarly appropriate 

 for a fresh movement towards the com- 

 pletion of Humboldt's aims. Hum- 

 boldt's scheme required, in addition to 

 the Academy of Sciences and the Uni- 

 versity, independent institutions for 

 research. The plan had been com- 

 municated only to a small circle, but 

 already sums amounting to between 

 nine and ten millions of Marks, had 

 been forthcoming. It would be the 

 care of his government to see that the 

 new foundations did not lack state 

 assistance. 



