1896. NOTES AND COMMENTS. 13 



" International " Congresses. 



The provisional programme of the International Congress of 

 Psychology, to be held at Munich from August 4 to 7, has been 

 issued. It gives the titles of 102 papers ; more will follow. Shortly 

 after this congress, the Fourth International Congress of Criminal 

 Anthropology will be held at Geneva, August 25 to 29. Applications 

 for membership should be sent to Mr. Maurice Bedot, Musee d'histoire 

 naturelle, Geneva. 



We have already drawn attention to the " International Congress 

 of Miners and Geologists," to be held at Buda-Pesth at the end of 

 September next. We now find that a congress with the still more 

 imposing title, " The Fourth International Hydrological, Climato- 

 logical, and Geological Congress," is to be held at Clermont-Ferraud 

 about the same time. Needless to remark that neither of these 

 meetings have anything to do with the International Mining Congress, 

 recently held at Aix-la-Chapelle, or with the " Congres geologique 

 Internationale," nor have any geologists of our acquaintance been 

 invited to either of them. An international congress, conducted in 

 the usual manner, is at its best a lop-sided affair, since the indigenous 

 representatives are always in an overwhelming majority, while the 

 people who really care about the' subjects discussed curiously contrive 

 to withhold both their persons and their sympathy, leaving some 

 magniloquent motion intended to revolutionise the universe to be 

 carried by an unintelligible enthusiast in a bare quorum of somnolent 

 sufferers. But when it comes to two international congresses on the 

 same subject, meeting at the same time, we should say the term 

 " international " was about played out, even as an advertisement. 



The Zoological Society's Report. 



The Report presented to the sixty-seventh Anniversary Meeting 

 of the Zoological Society of London is a highly satisfactory document. 

 There is a considerable increase in the number of Fellows, no less 

 than 197 joining the Society in 1895, the largest number elected since 

 1877. Professor Christopher Aurivillius, of Stockholm, and Professor 

 Max Weber, of Amsterdam, have been elected Foreign Members, and 

 Messrs. E. Biichner, J. E. Matcham, R. R. Mole, A. J. North, 

 T. E. C. Remington, F. E. Schulze, and Alfred Sharpe, Corresponding 

 Members. The fine weather and the acquisition of a giraffe increased 

 the receipts for admission to the Gardens by ;^i,333, and a pro- 

 portionate increase is also shown in the riding fees and in the refresh- 

 ment department. Among the more interesting sources of income are 

 admissions, ;^i 5,639 ; rides, ;^762 ; rent for refreshment rooms, £975. 

 Of expenditure the following are of interest : Provisions, ;^3,558 ; 

 animals, /"i,54i ; menagerie expenses, ir3>349' Something like ^^700 

 was saved by the low price of hay and other fodder during the year, 

 and the bulk of this sum was expended in new animals. The extra- 



