NOTES. 



639 



three or four years, though supplied with 

 air (filtered through cotton-wool) and suit- 

 able heat, my wonder never ceases. Each 

 one is a new experiment, every day repeat- 

 ed, and multiplied indefinitely ; day after 

 day I ask myself, ' Why does it not germi- 

 nate ? ' I compare it to a field in spring 

 not yet sown, but ready for the reception 

 of the. seed : for if I withdraw the plug of 

 cotton-wool and admit the dust of the air, 

 or introduce a drop of water, all is changed ; 

 in a few hours the stillness of years gives 

 place to life and activity. I repeat, it is 

 the fertile flask, and not the barren flask, 

 that wears the complexion of a failure and 

 of a negative result." 



NOTES. 



The American Association for the Ad- 

 vancement of Science meets this year at 

 Buffalo, the sessions commencing August 

 23d. William B. Rogers, of Boston, is 

 President ; Chai-les A. Young, Dartmouth 

 College, Vice-President Section A; E. S. 

 Morse, Salem, Mass., Vice-President Section 

 B ; Thomas Mendenhall, Columbus, Ohio, 

 General Secretary. 



The Entomological Club of the Ameri- 

 can Association for the Advancement of 

 Science will meet at Buffalo, N. Y., on the 

 22d of August, in quarters provided by the 

 local committee of the Association. All 

 interested in the subject of entomology are 

 invited to attend, and to repair at first to 

 the Tifft House for instructions. 



The French Association for the Ad- 

 vancement of Science will hold its meetings 

 this year at Clermont-Ferrand, commencing 

 August 17th. The President of the Asso- 

 ciation is M. Dumas, of the Academie des 

 Sciences. 



The Agassiz Museum at Cambridge, 

 Mass., has passed from the hands of the 

 special board of trustees, and is now the 

 property of Harvard College. Besides the 

 real and personal property of the museum, 

 the college comes into the possession of 

 $115,000 in money, as also over $310,000 

 constituting the " Agassiz Memorial Fund." 



The General Council of the British As- 

 sociation has fixed Wednesday, September 

 6th, as the date of opening this year's ses- 

 sions. The place of meeting is the city of 

 Glasgow. The authorities of the Glasgow 

 University have tendered to the Associa- 

 tion the free use of the commodious build- 

 ings situated in the western district of the 

 city. A guarantee fund of 4,000 will be 



raised by the citizens of Glasgow ; of this 

 sum the city corporation gives 500. Sir R. 

 Christison, who was elected President last 

 year, has resigned on account of ill-health, 

 and Dr. Andrews, Vice-President of Queen's 

 College, Belfast, has been elected in his 

 place. 



A correspondent sends us an account 

 of the passage of a brilliant meteor, unusual- 

 ly large and bright, over Northern Indiana, 

 Northern Ohio, and Southwestern Michigan, 

 on the evening of July 8th, at precisely 

 nine o'clock. An observer at Elkhart, In- 

 diana, says at that place it seemed almost 

 exactly overhead, and its course began 

 very near 61 Cygni, and ended about 5 

 south of Ursa Minor. The illumination 

 was as bright as that of a full moon, and 

 was of a greenish-yellow light. The whole 

 pathway was visible for fifteen minutes, 

 and for half an hour a bright, hazy spot, 

 about 6 long and 3 wide, could be seen 

 near the middle of the pathway. No 

 sound accompanied the movement of the 

 flaming body, and at last it disappeared in 

 a sort of bluish light, very brilliant at first, 

 but growing hazy, and finally disappearing. 

 Judging from its height, if it descended to 

 earth at all it must have fallen into Lake 

 Michigan. The course of the body was as 

 straight as an arrow, but its fiery trail very 

 soon assumed the serpentine appearance 

 that would naturally be caused by the at- 

 mospheric currents. 



Died, recently, in London, at the age of 

 seventy-five years, Edward Newman, F. L. 

 S., F. Z. S., editor of the Zoologist and the 

 Entomologist, two serial publications which 

 have attained considerable success among 

 amateurs of entomology and natural his- 

 tory in England. 



Three years ago there was founded at 

 Boston a " Society to encourage Studies 

 at Home." The number of students who 

 received encouragement from the Society 

 during the first year of its existence was 

 45, the second year 82, the third year 298. 

 In making choice of studies to be pursued, 

 127 selected history, 118 English literature, 

 44 science, 36 art, 19 German, and 16 

 French. 



Prof. C. Wtville Thomson, director of 

 the scientific staff of the Challenger, has 

 received the honor of knighthood from 

 Queen Victoria. 



A piece of telegraph-cable, the rubber 

 covering of which had been pierced by 

 grass, was exhibited at a meeting of the 

 Bengal Asiatic Society; the efficiency of 

 the cable was thus destroyed. The species 

 of the grass, owing to its dried-up condi- 

 tion, could not be determined. It was sug- 

 gested, as a probable explanation, that the 



