1897] NEWS 355 



the British Association with regard to the establishment of a Bureau of Eth- 

 nology for Greater Britain. If this arrangement can be come to there is no doubt 

 that the information obtained would be of great service to science and utility to 

 the Government. Sir John Evans, Sir John Lubbock, Mr C. H. Read, and Prof. 

 E. B. Tylor made the report which was placed before the British Association. 



Sir Joseph Hooker has finished the " Flora of British India," begun twenty 

 years ago, and has received, according to the Kew Bulletin, a despatch from the 

 Government of India, through Sir George Hamilton, recognising his services to 

 India in cordial and sympathetic terms. Sir J. Hooker has, we are also glad to 

 learn, offered to undertake the preparation of the remaining volumes of the late 

 Dr Trimen's " Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon," and the necessary material and 

 specimens have already arrived at Kew from Peradeniya. 



Among the Russian geologists who took part in the Oural excursion, none 

 endeared himself more to his fellow-travellers than the young candidate in 

 Natural Science, L. Spendiarow. He died suddenly of heart disease almost 

 immediately after the return to St Petersburg. His father has given to the 

 International Geological Congress the sum of 4000 roubles, the triennial interest 

 of which is to be awarded by the President of each Congress as a prize for the 

 best geological work done during the preceding three years. 



We learn that the Government have presented a set of the ' Challenger ' 

 reports to certain local scientific societies. This is a very excellent stimulus, no 

 doubt, but we hope the familiar notice that is to be found inside the Record 

 Office publications deposited in our Free Libraries is to be found also in these 

 scientific reports. Local societies exist by the enthusiasm of the few, and when 

 they fall into decay such volumes might well be taken from them and passed on 

 to another centre where they will be more appreciated. 



The Bulgarian Government has received by bequest from Eulogius Georgieff, 

 the founder of the Sofia University, the sum of 20,000,000 francs for public 

 purposes. This includes 6,000,000 francs for a technical school for Sofia. The 

 University of Lyons will devote 42,000 francs to complete the biological labora- 

 tory of Tamaris, near Toulon, and will probably endow it to a moderate extent. 

 Indianapolis will receive fifty-six acres of land for a botanical garden and ornitho- 

 logical preserve from Mr W. W. Woolen. Yale University has received $5000 by 

 the will of Miss Julia Lockwood for the foundation of a scholarship. 



The University Extension Lectures in London for the coming session were 

 listed by The Echo on October 5. The following may interest some of our 

 readers : — The Geography of Britain and the British Seas, by H. J. Mackinder, 

 at Gresham College ; the World's Great Explorers, by H. Yule, Oldham, at 

 Toynbee Hall ; Evolution and Darwinism, by E. O. Paskyn, at Lewisham ; 

 Physiology of Plants, by E. O. Paskyn,' at Morley College ; the Earth, by F. W. 

 Rudler, at Croyden and Toynbee Hall ; Our Common Minerals, by F. W. Rudler, 

 at West Ham ; and Human Anatomy, by Chalmers Mitchell, at Toynbee Hall. 



Miss Kate M. Hall, Curator of the Whitechapel Museum, has made arrange- 

 ments to co-operate with the teachers of the elementary schools in the district in 

 demonstrations to their classes when they visit the Museum. As is well-known, 

 the Code of 1895 allows visits to be paid during school hours under proper guid- 

 ance to museums, art galleries, and other institutions of educational value, such 

 visits being counted as "attendances." At Whitechapel each headmaster or mis- 

 tress is invited to bring one assistant and forty-five pupils on each occasion. The 

 pupils are divided into three groups, the teachers and Miss Hall each taking one. 

 Such specimens as may be removed from the cases are arranged on three tables. 



