43Q NATURAL SCIENCE. June, 



The Edinburgh Summer Meeting Classes will be held at the Normal School, 

 Johnstone Terrace, Edinburgh, from August 5-31. The courses include all subjects, 

 but those of special interest to our readers are the following :• — Applied Physiology 

 of the Nervous System, by Dr. Irvine ; The Savage Mind, by Professor Haddon ; 

 Biology of the Seasons, by J.Arthur Thompson; Botany Applied to Field and 

 Garden, by R. Turnbull ; The Evolution of Cities, by Geddes, Elisee Reclus, and 

 A. J. Henderson; Field Geology, by J. G. Goodchild. Details can be obtained 

 from Dr. R. Stephens, University Hall, Edinburgh. 



The summer plans for University Extension Courses at Toynbee Hall include 

 the following: Darwinism, by H. de Haviland ; Primitive Man, by F. W. Rudler ; 

 Botany, by G. May ; Biology, by Miss Hall ; Geology, by Miss Raisin ; Physiology, 

 by S. Rowland. The Natural History Society, under the presidency of Dr. J. W. 

 Gregory, still flourishes, ten excursions being arranged for during the present 

 session. 



We have before commended the summer activities of the University of Kansas. 

 The present season will see five different scientific expeditions. Professor Dyche 

 goes to collect and study the birds and mammals of Greenland and adjacent regions ; 

 Professor Williston will have two expeditions for the collection of vertebrate fossils, 

 one in Western Kansas and one in Wyoming ; Chancellor Snow, it is expected, will 

 spend the summer in the south-west with a party collecting entomological specimens ; 

 a fifth party under Professor Hawortb will be in the field during the next six 

 months engaged in mapping the Tertiary outcrops of the State. The cost of the 

 three geological expeditions is, we learn from Science, borne by special appropriations 

 from the State Legislature. 



Dr. R. H. Traquair secured the skin of the Great Auk in summer plumage, 

 which, as the property of Sir Frederick Milner, was bought in at a sale at Stevens' 

 on April 23. The price paid by Dr. Traquair was ^350, and the bird becomes the 

 property of the Edinburgh Museum. The Great Auk egg, which was put up at 

 the same time, realised ^180. The well-known collection of eggs and nests be- 

 longing to Mr. Leopold Field was also dispersed at the beginning of May at 

 Stevens' rooms. 



The Berlin Zoological Gardens have received from Sumatra an orang-utang, 

 locally known as the maroch, and two gibbons from the same place, neither of 

 which have been seen alive in Europe before. They were presented by Dr. 

 Heinrich Dohrn. The orang is the Simla bicolor of Geoffrey St. Hilaire, and, 

 although held in reverence by the inhabitants of Sumatra, but little is known as to 

 its habits. The local name of the gibbons is siamang or imban. 



The State of Indiana is making special efforts to conduct a biological survey 

 of the State, the objects being to ascertain the character and extent of the life, to 

 associate workers that they may labour to one end, to stimulate teachers, and to 

 secure for the Academy a representative collection. 



The Geological Society of South Africa has already issued its Rules and Regu- 

 lations, together with a list of Officers and Council for 1895. The first ordinary 

 meeting of the Society was held in April, when Dr. Exton delivered his presidential 

 address, in which he dealt especially with the " Coal of South Africa." The second 

 meeting was held on May 10, when Mr. David Draper read a paper on " The 

 Primary System of South Africa," with special reference to the conglomerates of 

 the Witwatersrand. 



The German Zoological Society meets at Strassburg from June 4 to 6. 



