June, 1896. NEWS OF UNIVERSITIES, ETC. 421 



finds always in view is strong in the Transvaal and did not exist in the Orange 

 Free State. 



The great age of Dr. James Hall, of Albany, does not prevent the Committee of 

 the New York Legislature from recommending that the State Geological Survey be 

 placed entirely under his direction. 



The Royal Belgian Academy of Sciences has elected Professors E. Strasburger, 

 E. D. Cope, E. J. Marey, and Sir A. Geikie as honorary members, and Professor 

 J.J. Fraipont as corresponding member. 



The Zoological Society of New York has elected as its first honorary members 

 Sir William Flower, Professor Alexander Agassiz, and Professor J. A. Allen. 



Mr. W. James Hornaday, to whose work we alluded in our supplement on 

 Taxidermy as a Fine Art, August, 1894, has been appointed director of the proposed 

 Zoological Park at New York, whither he will carry the experience gained in con- 

 nection with the establishment of the National Zoological Park at Washington. 

 The question he will be called upon to decide is : Where is the park to be placed ? 



The vacation class under the direction of Mr. Garstang, at the Plymouth 

 Marine Biological Laboratory, to which we called attention on p. 148, proved a 

 great success. Fifteen students from Cambridge, Oxford, Owens College, and 

 University College, London, attended. It is proposed to hold a similar class next 

 August. We regret to hear that no students availed themselves of Mr. Church's 

 proffered instruction in Marine Botany ; it is a subject that does not pay in 

 examinations. 



The first session of the Bahama Biological Station under the direction of Professor 

 Charles L. Edwards, of Cincinnati, was held during the summer of 1893, at Bimini 

 Islands, Bahamas. " For the coming season," says Science, " it has been decided to 

 locate the laboratory at Biscayne Bay, Florida," which is in the same latitude as 

 the Bimini Islands, and has the same climate, clear water, and subtropical fauna 

 and flora. The course, which consists of lectures, practical work in the laboratory, 

 and observation of the organisms in their natural surroundings, will begin on 

 June 22. A collecting department has also been established to supply outside 

 students and institutions with material. 



The Museum of Practical Geology, Jermyn Street, was opened on a Sunday for 

 the first time on May 10. The number of visitors was 511, which is by no means 

 unsatisfactory considering the technical nature of the museum. The British 

 Museum, and its branch, the Natural History Museum, were first opened on a 

 Sunday on May 17, from 2.30 to 7 p.m. The hours of opening will vary at different 

 times of the year. The British Museum was visited by 1,790, and the Natural 

 History Museum by 2,398. At the latter building guides were sold, and to 

 counteract their natural dryness the refreshment bar was permitted to be open. 

 The hours of opening of the South Kensington and Bethnal Green Museums have 

 been extended to 7 p.m. We may complete our list by mentioning that the National 

 Gallery was opened on Sunday, May 3, from 3 to 5 p.m., and will continue so to be 

 open on Sunday until September 15. We notice that Dr. Farquharson has been 

 enquiring in the House of Commons whether it is the case that some of the officers 

 at the National Gallery are employed more than six days in the week in consequence 

 of Sunday opening. How this can be, when the omniscient Mr. Stead tells us in 

 the Review of Reviews that " no ofticer shall be employed more than six days a 

 week," we fail to understand. Such action was certainly not contemplated by those 

 who passed the resolution in favour of Sunday opening, and we can hardly suppose 

 that there is any foundation for those rumours concerning the National Gallery 

 and other national institutions. The Westminster Review for May contains an article 

 by Stoddard Dewey, entitled "The Triumph of Sunday Opening," as well as 



