376 NEWS [NOVEMBER 
blossom lasting only a day, and that on the third or fourth day it has the ends 
of the fine anthers tipped with glistening diamond-like specks—the seeds. The 
seeds, parbleu / And this is called “‘ Easy Science.” 
We learn from the very excellent September number of the Journal of 
Applied Microscopy that the Marine Biological Laboratory at Wood’s Holl has 
just closed its twelfth annual session. The year has been a very successful one, 
additional courses were offered, attendance considerably increased, and a deep 
interest manifested. It is the purpose of the management to further broaden 
the scope of work. A thorough course in nature-study will be introduced next 
year. An addition to the botanical building and a new building for research 
laboratories are also expected. 
The Natural History Society of Montreal has issued an appeal for financial 
aid. This has been rendered necessary by the discontinuance of the grant from 
the Quebec Government, which used to defray the cost of publishing Zhe 
Canadian Record of Science. The Society does good work in maintaining a 
library and museum, the latter open free on Saturdays and on Wednesday after- 
noons and visited by 4000 people during the past year. Under the auspices 
of the Society, Saturday half-hour lectures to young people are delivered, as well 
as the Somerville lectures to grown-ups. The number of members is only about 
170. We hope the Society will receive the support it deserves. 
At the annual meeting of the Hull Scientific and Field Naturalists’ Club, held 
on 20th September, it was stated that 54 new members had been elected during 
the past year, raising the membership to 165. At the fortnightly meetings 
during the year lectures were delivered, several dealing with local natural history. 
Sectional meetings were also held, and at them practical demonstrations were 
given by the recorders and other officers of the club. During the summer 
months field meetings were held as usual, and excursions made to places in the 
neighbourhood. By the publication of Zansactions (previously noticed by us) 
the Society has been able to add to its library. A microscope club has been 
started to enable members to buy microscopes at reduced rates. The President 
for the ensuing year is Mr. R. H. Philip. The Secretaryship remains in the able 
hands of Mr. Thos. Sheppard, 78 Sherburn Street, Hull. 
In Science for 29th September there are some interesting notes by “F. A. L.” on 
“The Work of Foreign Museums.” The Australian Museum leads the list in ex- 
penditure, though this only amounts to $35,000; the Colombo Museum, the 
official museum of Ceylon, had 111,000 visitors in 1898, and yet suffers for lack 
of funds and paint ; the activity of the museum at Prag is shown by the numerous 
meetings of the association by which it is controlled and by its important publica- 
tions, e.g. Fric’s Fauna der Gaskohle; the West Prussian Provincial Museum 
is very strictly regional; the Norwich Museum likewise; the Manchester 
Museum is ‘‘a very live museum,” but this is hardly ‘ news.” 
From the Report of the Australian Museum for 1898 we glean the following 
information :—Few purchases were made, owing to want of funds; on the 
other hand, a circular appeal for objects illustrating Australian ethnology has 
met with a gratifying response. A large collection of miscellaneous objects 
from Pacific islands has been presented by Rev. 8. Ella. The Rev. H. A. 
Robertson of Erromanga, New Hebrides, has presented a cooking-pot and two 
large stone rings, known as Navilah or moon-rings, of great rarity and value. 
There have been purchased a remarkable inlaid skull from the Solomon Islands, 
and a valuable series of objects from Thio, New Caledonia, including two 
funeral masks, shell money, and a doigtier or spear-thrower. In this depart- 
ment all the unexhibited specimens have been arranged systematically, and the 
phallic specimens, of which the Museum possesses a fine series, have been 
arranged in a private room and labelled. The zoological collections have been 
enriched by many specimens from the Zoological Society of New South Wales, 
