iSgy. NEWS OF UNIVERSITIES, ETC. 139 



The late Dr. H. F. Antells left to the University of Helsingfors the sum of 

 ^'40,000, the income from which will be applied to travelling scholarships and 

 scientific expeditions. 



Alfred Nobel, the discoverer of dynamite, has, after making a few personal 

 bequests, left to Science as his residuary legatee, a fortune of some ;^2, 000,000. We 

 give a translation of the passage in his will relating to this : — " This is set apart as a 

 prize for those who, during each preceding year, have done the greatest service to 

 mankind. The income is to be divided into five equal parts as follows : — a part to 

 him who made the most important discovery or invention in physics ; a part to him 

 who made the most important chemical discovery or improvement ; a part to 

 him who made the most important discovery in the domains of physiology or 

 medicine ; a part to him who produced the most remarkable work in the field of 

 imaginative literature ; and a part to him who worked most or best in uniting the 

 nations and in doing away with or diminishing standing armies, as well as in found- 

 ing or spreading peace congresses. The prizes for physics and chemistry are to be 

 awarded by the Swedish Academy of Science ; for physiological or medical works by 

 the Carolinska Institut of Stockholm ; for literature by the Academy of Stockholm ; 

 and for the pioneers of peace by the Norwegian parliament. It is my express will 

 that in the award of the prizes no regard shall be paid to nationality, so that the 

 most worthy shall receive the prize, whether he is a Scandinavian or not." To 

 •criticise this more than princely gift is ungracious, but we cannot help thinking that 

 prizes of this nature do not encourage honest and profitable work so much as do the 

 endowment of institutions or the foundation of research-scholarships. 



Baron Hirsch bequeathed 2,000,000 francs to the Pasteur Institute, which will 

 be enlarged by chemical and biological laboratories. 



The Sedgwick Memorial Museum of Geology at Cambridge is to be built on he 

 ground lately belonging to Downing College. We understand that the plans (pub- 

 lished in Natural Science, vol. iii., p. 451, Dec, 1893) will, in consequence, have 

 to be altered. 



A new departure has been made this winter at the Science and Art Museum, 

 Dublin, in a series of Museum demonstrations, undertaken by members of the staff 

 and other helpers. Two demonstrations a week have been given through December 

 and January, natural history alternating with art subjects. The difficulty of exhibit- 

 ing small museum-specimens to a large audience led to a restriction of the number 

 of tickets issued for each occasion to thirty, or at most fifty. It is satisfactory to 

 record that there was a large demand for tickets, and that the audiences seemed 

 thoroughly interested with the explanations of the objects. 



On January 11 a gas explosion in the Public Buildings at Penzance considerably 

 shattered the Geological Museum. Dunipace House, near Larbert, the residence of 

 Mr. J. A. Harvie Brown, has been destroyed by fire, including the museum, which 

 contained one of the finest private collections of stuffed birds, skins, and eggs in the 

 country. 



The Report of the now municipal Museum of Bristol, presented in December, 

 1896, shows that the repair of the premises has been continued, and that a number of 

 the cases on the ground floor have been renovated and their contents better displayed. 

 In this way the anthropological department has been set in order, to the gratification 

 of the public ; the rock collection has been rearranged and newly labelled. A nearly- 

 perfect skeleton of the moa, presented by Mrs. Tuckett, has been set up in the 

 geological department. We have already noticed the students' geological collection 

 of about 1,000 named specimens that has been fitted up. An herbarium of 

 European plants, with accompanying literature, has been presented by Mr. W. G. 



