NOTES. 99 



ereil by Prof. R. Ilertwig. of Munich, on Xciicrc Prohlciiic dcr ZcUfor.scliiiiH/, 

 Sir John Murray, of the Challenger Expedition, and Prof. W. K. Brooks, of 

 Johns Hopkins University, on Are Heredity and Variation Facts? Nearly 300 

 papers and addi'esses were offered in the various sections. Following the sci- 

 entific session excursions were conducted during the following two weeks to 

 various scientific and educational institutions in Boston, New York, Philadel- 

 ]iliia, Washington, and other points of interest. 



International Institute of Agriculture. — According to a recent note in *S'c/c?/cc, 

 forty-four nations, including nearly all of agricultural importance, have now 

 ratified the convention for the creation of this institution. The palace which is 

 being erected for the Institute in the gardens of the Villa Borghese in Rome is 

 rapidly approaching completion. Invitations for the meeting of the permanent 

 committee in charge and for the inauguration of the Institute will probably be 

 issued in November, and with the first meeting of the committee next spring the 

 Institute will enter upon active work. 



In the meantime, the Italian Royal Commission has appointed Professor Panta- 

 leoni to superintend an inipiiry as to the exact extent of the information which 

 the different countries which have adhered to the convention can supply with 

 regard to their agricultural production. This information will be catalogued 

 and classified in tabular form, and a report, which will also contain comments 

 on the various statistical methods employed, will be ready for the use of the 

 permanent committee, whose first duty will be to discover the amount and 

 reliable character of the statistics already available and to suggest new means 

 of obtaining information where necessary. A great mass of material bearing 

 on this subject has already been received by the (UuiKiilfa from the countries 

 interested. 



The Royal Commission has also intrusted Professor Bodio, of the General 

 Bureau of Statistics, with a mission to Germany and Avistria in order to study 

 on the spot the systems pursued by those countries for the collection of agri- 

 cultural reports, and has taken other steps as well in order to extend and 

 impi-ove the statistics furnished in Italy. 



New journals. — A Russian journal, entitled ZJnirnal Bohjcziil Rastenii, has 

 been begun under the editorship of A. A. Elenkin. assisted by a corps of collabo- 

 rators. It is to be the official organ of the central station of plant pathology 

 at the Imperial Botanical Gardens at St. Petersburg and will appear quarterly. 

 German summaries of original contributions will be given. The first number 

 contains articles oia the occurrence of the mildew tipharothcca 'mors-uvw on the 

 fruit of gooseberries, the Russian species of dodder, symbiosis, a mite disease 

 of onions due to Tyroglyphiis allii n. sp., a gall of Pyrethrum, and the first 

 portion of a monograph on the edible and poisonous mushrooms of Russia. 



According to Garilcncr's Chronicle, Fiiiskc Trudf/ordsohtrc, a horticultural 

 journal in the Swedish language, has recently been established at Ilelsingfors, 

 Finland, by a local nurseryman. 



Miscellaneous. — The new barns of the Macdonald Agricultural College were 

 struck by lightning September 5 and totally destroyed. The loss is said to be 

 about $50,000. 



The Secondary and Agricultural School at Bigods Hall, Dunmow, established 

 by Lady Warwick about ten years ago, is to be closed. A lack of cordial support 

 from the local educational committee and the resignation of the head master 

 are among the reasons assigned. 



I'rof. W. O. Atwater died at Middletown, Conn., September. 22, after several 

 years of failing health. An account of his life will be given in the next issue. 



Dr. C. A. Browne, jr., in charge of the sugar laboratory in the Bureau of 

 Chemistry, of this Department, has resigned to become chief of the New York 



