480 NE WS [juke 



such slides as shall illustrate definite subjects, such as the " Structure and Life- 

 History of Plants and Animals," " Vulcanology," "Geology," "Astronomy," 

 " Physics," " Local Phenomena of Scientific Interest," etc. The loan of negatives 

 to make slides from will be of considerable value. Mr. B. B. Woodward, 120 

 The Grove, Ealing, W., will be glad to hear from any one interested. 



At a meeting of the Geologists' Association on May 5, a paper on " The 

 Drainage of Cuestas," by Professor W. M. Davis, of Harvard, was communicated. 

 The paper dealt with the unsymmetrical longitudinal uplands (such as the 

 Oolites and Chalk give rise to in this country) characterising certain denuded 

 coastal plains, to which the author proposes to apply the distinctive term 

 "cuestas." He discussed (1) the development of these topographical features, 

 (2) the evolution of their drainage, and (3) the significance in this relation of 

 certain details of valley form, especially as exhibited in the Swabian Alp of 

 Wiirtemburg and the Cotswold Hills. 



At the annual session of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, which 

 opened in Washington on April 18, communications were submitted on the 

 Tawner deep sea tow net, by Alexander Agassiz ; on the Acalephae of the 

 East Coast of the United States, by Alexander Agassiz and A. G. Mayer ; on 

 " Palolo," by W. M'M. Wood worth ; on Ophiura brevispina, by W. K. Brooks 

 and C. Grave ; and many others. 



The Canvassing Committee of the Birmingham University has informed 

 Mr. Chamberlain that the conditions attached to the gifts of Mr. Carnegie and 

 the anonymous donor had been fulfilled, the subscriptions having reached 

 £254,580. The anonymous donor, recognising that an endowment of a quarter 

 of a million, although sufficient for a start, must soon be largely augmented, 

 has also offered to contribute the last .£12,500 if the fund were raised to 

 £300,000 by the end of June. It was decided to make an appeal to the people 

 of the city and district for the amount necessary to secure this additional offer. 



Science announces the following gifts : — Mr. W. K. Vanderbilt has given 

 100,000 dollars to Vanderbilt University to build a new dormitory; and Miss 

 C. W. Bruce has given 10,000 dollars to Columbia University for the astro- 

 nomical department. 



Applications for the Jodrell Professorship of Zoology in University College, 

 London, vacant by the appointment of Prof. Weldon to the chair in Oxford, 

 are invited by June 5. 



Among the subjects of lecture and discussion at the annual meeting of the 

 German Zoological Society convened in May at Hamburg, we notice : — The 

 Hamburg Museum (Prof. K. Kraepelin) ; the scope of natural selection (Prof. 

 L. Plate) ; Atolls and their Plankton (Dr. A. Kramer) ; Arctic and Antarctic 

 faunas (Dr. G. Pfeffer) ; the statistical study of variation (Dr. G. Duncker) ; 

 the development of Bdellostoma (Dr. F. Dofiein) • all of them most interesting 

 subjects. 



The American Naturalist notes that nearly forty apjJications were received 

 for a special four weeks' course of instruction on poultry culture, held in January 

 of this year at the R. I. College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts (Kingston). 



The biological laboratory of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences at 

 Cold Spring Harbour, Long Island, will be open for its tenth session during 

 July and August 1899. Courses are offered by Dr. C. B. Davenport, Professor 

 H. S. Pratt, Professor C. P. Sigerfoos, Dr. D. S. Johnson, Professor F. O. 

 Grover, Mr. N. F. Davis, and Mrs. G. C. Davenport. Opportunities wall be 

 afforded for original work, especially on variation. The laboratory is equipped 

 with a naphtha launch, bacteriological apparatus, and a good working library. 



