37 6 NEWS [NOVEMBER 



blossom lasting only a clay, and that on the third or fourth day it has the ends 

 of the fine anthers tipped with glistening diamond-like specks — the seeds. The 

 seeds, parbleu ! And this is called " Easy Science." 



We learn from the very excellent September number of the Journal of 

 Applied Microscopy that the Marine Biological Laboratory at Wood's Holl has 

 just closed its twelfth annual session. The year has been a very successful one, 

 additional courses were offered, attendance considerably increased, and a deep 

 interest manifested. It is the purpose of the management to further broaden 

 the scope of work. A thorough course in nature-study will be introduced next 

 year. An addition to the botanical building and a new building for research 

 laboratories are also expected. 



The Natural History Society of Montreal has issued an appeal for financial 

 aid. This has been rendered necessary by the discontinuance of the grant from 

 the Quebec Government, which used to defray the cost of publishing The 

 Canadian Record of Science. The Society does good work in maintaining a 

 library and museum, the latter open free on Saturdays and on Wednesday after- 

 noons and visited by 4000 people during the past year. Under the auspices 

 of the Society, Saturday half -hour lectures to young people are delivered, as well 

 as the Somerville lectures to grown-ups. The number of members is only about 

 170. We hope the Society will receive the support it deserves. 



At the annual meeting of the Hull Scientific and Field Naturalists' Club, held 

 on 20th September, it was stated that 54 new members had been elected during 

 the past year, raising the membership to 165. At the fortnightly meetings 

 during the year lectures were delivered, several dealing with local natural history. 

 Sectional meetings were also held, and at them practical demonstrations were 

 given by the recorders and other officers of the club. During the summer 

 months field meetings were held as usual, and excursions made to places in the 

 neighbourhood. By the publication of Transactions (previously noticed by us) 

 the Society has been able to add to its library. A microscope club has been 

 started to enable members to buy microscopes at reduced rates. The President 

 for the ensuing year is Mr. R. H. Philip. The Secretaryship remains in the able 

 hands of Mr. Thos. Sheppard, 78 Sherburn Street, Hull. 



In Science for 29th September there are some interesting notes by "F. A. L." on 

 " The Work of Foreign Museums." The Australian Museum leads the list in ex- 

 penditure, though this only amounts to $35,000 ; the Colombo Museum, the 

 official museum of Ceylon, had 111,000 visitors in 1898, and yet suffers for lack 

 of funds and paint ; the activitj' of the museum at Prag is shown by the numerous 

 meetings of the association by which it is controlled and by its important publica- 

 tions, e.g. Fric's Fauna der Gaskohle ; the West Prussian Provincial Museum 

 is very strictly regional ; the Norwich Museum likewise ; the Manchester 

 Museum is " a very live museum," but this is hardly " news." 



From the Report of the Australian Museum for 1898 we glean the following 

 information : — Few purchases were made, owing to want of funds ; on the 

 other hand, a circular appeal for objects illustrating Australian ethnology has 

 met with a gratifying response. A large collection of miscellaneous objects 

 from Pacific islands has been presented by Eev. S. Ella. The Rev. H. A. 

 Robertson of Erromanga, New Hebrides, has presented a cooking-pot and. two 

 large stone rings, known as Navilah or moon-rings, of great rarity and value. 

 There have been purchased a remarkable inlaid skull from the Solomon Islands, 

 and a valuable series of objects from Thio, New Caledonia, including two 

 funeral masks, shell money, and a doigtier or spear-thrower. In this depart- 

 ment all the unexhibited specimens have been arranged systematically, and the 

 phallic specimens, of which the Museum possesses a fine series, have been 

 arranged in a private room and labelled. The zoological collections have been 

 enriched by many specimens from the Zoological Society of New South Wales, 



