286 NATURAL SCIENCE [October 



geography, and pointed out directions for further work. Sir William Turner's 

 paper dealt with distinctive characters of human structure, and was largely 

 concerned with the erect attitude. Prof. Michael Foster reviewed the progress 

 of Physiology since the Association last met in Canada, in 1884, and Dr Marshall 

 Ward gave a long and interesting paper on the economics of Fungi. 



" The Globe " of Toronto provided a good account of the proceedings of the 

 Association, and illustrated it with amusing portraits and interesting informa- 

 tion ; one of the series of pictures gave the coats of arms of past presidents. The 

 Honorary LL.D. of Toronto University was conferred on Lords Kelvin, Rayleigh 

 and Lister, and on Sir John Evans ; the D.C.L. of Trinity on Lords Kelvin and 

 Lister, Sir John Evans, Sir Wm. Turner, and Sir George Scott Robertson. The 

 following grants were made to Committees of Biology and Geology : — Seismo- 

 logical Observations, £75 ; Erratic Blocks, £5 ; Investigation of Coral Reefs, 

 £40 ; Geological Photographs, £10 ; Age of rocks near Moreseat, £10 ; Pleistocene 

 fauna and flora of Canada, £20 ; Table at Naples Zoological Station, £100 ; 

 Table at Plymouth, £20 ; Index generum et specierum Animalium, £100 ; 

 Biology of Ontario Lakes, £75 ; Oysters, £30 ; Climatology of Tropical Africa, 

 £30 ; North- Western Tribes of Canada, £75 ; Glastonbury Lake Village, £37, 10s. ; 

 Ethnography, £25 ; Silchester excavations, £7, 10s. ; Ethnology of Canada, £75 ; 

 Torres Straits Expedition, £125 ; Changes of nerve cells, £100 ; Fertilization in 

 Phaeophyceae, £15. The total amount granted was £1350. The total attend- 

 ance numbered 1362. 



We understand that, after various delays, the fitting and arrangement of the 

 new Paris Museum of Natural History are now making good progress. It is 

 hoped that the public galleries will be ready for opening early next year. 



We hear from Science that plans have been submitted to the Department of 

 Buildings, New York, for two additions to the American Museum of Natural 

 History — one, a lecture hall at the north end of the Museum ; the other, a six- 

 story building attached to the west wing. 



The Report of the Trustees of the South African Museum, Cape Town, for 



1896, received this month, records the re-organisation of the staff and the com- 

 pletion of the new buildings, to which we have previously referred. The Museum 

 now has the services of Mr W. L. Sclater as director ; Mr L. Peringuey as 

 assistant-director, with special charge of the insects ; Dr W. F. Purcell as keeper 

 of land invertebrates ; Dr G. S. Corstorphine as keeper of geology and miner- 

 alogy ; and Dr J. D. F. Gilchrist as honorary keeper of marine invertebrates. 

 During the year 1896 a special grant was expended upon the purchase of a series 

 of large mammals for the collection, while an exchange with the La Plata Museum 

 furnished an important series of South American mammals and birds. Large 

 acquisitions of European rocks and fossils were also purchased for comparison 

 with the South African specimens. 



We have received from Dr J. W. B. Gunning, Director of the Museum of the 

 South African Republic, Pretoria, a list of acquisitions for the month of July 



1897. The Zoological Department is being especially enriched with examples of 

 the South African fauna. 



The trustees of the Albany Museum, Grahamston, have decided to erect a new 

 and more commodious building. The necessary funds are already in hand, and 

 the work is to be proceeded with at once. The plans have been prepared by Mr 

 Viesebosse, architect of the Cape Town Museum. The new museum will be a 

 two-storied building, 150 feet long by about 60 feet deep. 



We have received the first annual report of the Geological Survey of Cape 

 Colony, under the direction of Prof. G. S. Corstorphine. The new department 

 seems to be much hampered by a clamour for immediate economic results. We 



