1896. NEWS OF UNIVERSITIES, ETC. 69 



which time the Society of Natural History of Zurich will celebrate its 150th 

 anniversary ; the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Buffalo, 

 N.Y , from August 24 to 28 ; and at the same place the Botanical Society of America, 

 on August 21 and 22. 



In December, 1894, we gave an account of the work in connection with high- 

 roads being accomplished by the U.S. Geological Survey (vol. v., p. 406). We now 

 learn that a bill is now before the American House of Representatives to create a 

 Special Commission on Highways, consisting of the Chief of Engineers of the Army, 

 the Director of the Geological Survey, and the Chief of Road Inquiry of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. It is to undertake the scientific location of highways on the 

 public domain ; the employment of the Geological Survey in the discovery of road 

 materials ; the free testing of all road materials offered ; the construction of model 

 roads, and instruction in road-making at agricultural colleges and experimental 

 stations. 



Mr. T. D. a. Cockerell, of the New Mexico College of Agriculture at Las 

 Cruces, finds himself, like so many enthusiastic scientific men in America, forced to 

 leave his post for political reasons, on June 30. He intends, however, to stay in the 

 country and to go on with his work, especially the agitation for educational reform, 

 and he invites his brother naturalists to join him in founding a biological station in 

 New Me.xico. Three years' experience have convinced him of the great value of the 

 climate of that part of New Mexico in the earlier stages of phthisis, and he has 

 himself largely profited by its curative effects. Notwithstanding the abundant 

 energy of the American workers, there is still much to be done in this distant 

 quarter of the Southern States, where the exuberance of interesting forms of life, 

 especially among the insects, is remarkable. 



Professor D'Arcy Thompson and Mr. G. E. Barrett Hamilton have been sent 

 by the Government to Alaska to study the causes of mortality among seals in the 

 N. Pacific and Behring Sea. The commission appointed for the same purpose by 

 President Cleveland consists of Dr. D. S. Jordan, Lieut. -Commander Moser, Dr. L. 

 Stejneger, Mr. F. A. Lucas, and Mr. C. H. Townsend. 



Dr. Bashford Dean is to conduct an expedition of students from Columbia 

 College, N.Y., including one botanist and three zoologists, to explore Puget Sound, 

 south of Vancouver Island. The party will have the use of the U.S. Fish Com- 

 mission ss. " Albatross." 



To the numerous proposed Antarctic expeditions that we have lately mentioned 

 must be added the one which it is proposed should be undertaken by the German 

 nation. A plan and estimates for this have been published in the Verhandlungen of 

 the Geographical Society of Berlin. 



Leou Digdet, who has recently returned from a scientific exploration in Mexico, 

 is being sent out again by the French Minister of Public Instruction. He proposes 

 to study the Indians of Guadalajara, Sinaloa, and Sonora, as well as the Cahuila 

 Indians of S. California. Dr. M. Raciborski, of Munich, has been sent to the 

 Buitenzorg Botanical Gardens. Professor V. F. Brotherus, of Helsingfors, has 

 gone to Central Asia to work out the bryological mountain flora of Issikul. A party 

 of four, under the direction of Mr. T. H. Mobley, will start from Lacomb, Alberta, 

 to explore Northern Canada from Edmonton to the Arctic Sea. The trip is to 

 occupy two years. 



The Fort Pitt Street Railway Company, of Pittsburg, has, says Science, given 

 |ioo,ooo for a zoological garden at Highland Park. 



A section of seismology has been created at the meteorological observatory at 

 Athens, under the direction of Mr. Papavasiliou. Its labours will be recorded in a 

 monthly Bulletin. 



