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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



some sources of error, like those due to 

 magnitude and color, would thus be 

 eliminated. The variation in latitude 

 should be studied at a series of southern 

 stations like those now in operation in 

 the northern hemisphere. The sys- 

 tematic search for double stars of the 

 ninth magnitude and brighter, under- 

 taken at the Lick Observatory, should 

 be extended to the south pole. Pho- 

 tometric measures of faint stars, of 

 comparison stars for faint variables, of 

 the components of clusters, and of 

 nebulae, are much needed. It is not 

 known whether the spectra of nine 

 tenths of the nebula? are gaseous or 

 continuous. A wide field is opened in 

 the study of the spectra of bright 

 variables when faint, and of faint 

 variables when bright, of the distribu- 

 tion of faint spectra and of the com- 

 ponents of clusters. 



SCIENTIFIC ITEMS 



We record with regret the deaths of 

 the following men of science: Professor 

 Dimitri Ivanovitch Mendeleef, the emi- 

 nent chemist, director of the Russian 

 Bureau of Weights and Measures; 

 M. Henri Moissan, professor of general 

 chemistry at the Sorbonne and director 

 of the Institute of Applied Chemistry; 

 Sir Michael Foster, professor of physi- 

 ology in the University of Cambridge, 

 secretary of the Royal Society from 1881 

 to 1903, president of the British Asso- 

 ciation in 1899, and member of parlia- 

 ment for London University; Professor 

 Wilhelm von Bezold, director of the 

 Royal Prussian Meteorological Insti- 



1 tute; Professor Nicholas Menschutkin, 

 professor of chemistry at St. Petersburg; 



; Mr. William Wells Newell, of Cam- 

 bridge, Mass., known for his researches 

 in folk-lore, especially in connection 

 with the Arthurian tales, secretary of 

 the American Folk-lore Society; Pro- 

 fessor Wilbur Samuel Jackman, who 

 held the chair of the teaching of nat- 

 ural science in the School of Education 

 of the University of Chicago; Dr. David 

 Irons, professor of philosophy at Bryn 

 Mawr College; Charles B. Simpson, 

 entomologist of the Department of 

 Agriculture of the Transvaal, and for- 

 merly of the U. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture, and Dr. John Krom Rees, since 

 1881 professor of geodesy and astron- 

 omy and director of the Observatory of 

 Columbia University. 



By special act of Congress Dr. James 

 Carroll has been made a major in the 

 medical department of the army, in 

 recognition of his important work in 

 yellow fever. — Colonel W. C. Gorgas, 

 chief sanitary officer of tne Isthmian 

 Canal Commission, has been appointed 

 by President Roosevelt a member of the 

 commission. 



M. Daniel Osiris has left by his will 

 a sum of $5,000,000 to the Pasteur 

 Institute of Paris. — Rensselaer Poly- 

 technic Institute has received a gift of 

 $1,000,000 from Mrs. Russell Sage. 

 The money will be used for the School 

 of Mechanical and Electrical Engineer- 

 ing. Mrs. Sage has also given $1,000,- 

 000 to the Emma Willard School of 

 Troy. 



