O. MISCELLANEOUS. 587 



Congress to the great importance of a library building for 

 the accommodation of the constantly increasing collections, 

 which have already grown far beyond the bounds of the 

 present library halls. 



ADDITIONAL PAY TO THE SURVIVORS OF THE " POLARIS." 



An act was passed by the recent Congress providing for 

 the payment to the survivors of the Polaris in the arctic ex- 

 pedition under command of Captain Hall, their widows or 

 minor children, of a sum of money, in addition to that al- 

 ready paid, equal to one year's pay which each WDuld have 

 been entitled to respectively, if continued in the service, un- 

 der rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the 

 Navy for the said exploring expedition, and that the sum 

 of $360 each be paid to the Esquimaux Joe and Hans. 



The act further provides that if any sale, assignment, or 

 transfer shall be made of any interest in the gratuity pro- 

 vided by this act, the amount so assigned shall revert to the 

 government of the United States. 



The act does not include Mrs. Hall in its provisions, as 

 she has received the sum of $15,000 from the government 

 for the manuscripts of Captain Hall. 



THE LYELL MEDAL. 



Sir Charles Lyell has left to the Geological Society of 

 London the sum of $10,000, one third of thfc interest of which 

 is to be applied annually to furnish a medal in bronze, called 

 the Lyell medal, as a recognition on the part of the society 

 of merit on the part of the medalist. The remainder of the 

 interest is to be given in one or more portions, at the dis- 

 cretion of the Council, for the encouragement of geology or 

 any of its allied sciences, either for traveling expenses or for 

 a memoir or paper published. It is to be given without ref- 

 erence to the sex or nationality of the author, or the lan- 

 guage in which it is written. 12 A, April 1, 1875, 434. 



ANNUAL RECORD OF PUBLICATIONS IN GEOLOGY, MINERAL- 

 OGY, AND PALEONTOLOGY. 



An annual record of publications in geology, mineralogy, 

 and paleontology has been undertaken, to correspond in 

 plan with the Zoological Record, so serviceable to natural- 



