June 28, 1900] 



NATURE 



99 



initiative of Dom Santon, a member of the Benedictine Com- 

 munity of Ligugc, who is also a doctor of medicine, for the care 

 cf the lepers in France and the prevention of the spread of the 

 •disease. Dom Santon his for many years past devoted himself 

 to the study of leprosy, travelling for that purpose in many 

 jjarts of the world. After conference with the Council of 

 Hygiene he has acquired a property in the Vosges, where he 

 proposes to establish an asylum for lepers to be called the 

 St. Martin Sanatorium. The plans have been approved by the 

 French Government. 



The National Academy of Sciences of the United States has 

 recommended to the trustees of Columbia University that the 

 Barnard medal be given to Prof. Rontgen for his discovery of 

 the X-rays. The medal, of gold, is awarded quinquennially to 

 the person who shall have made such discovery in physical or 

 astronomical science as, in the judgment of the National 

 Academy of Sciences, shall be esteemed most worthy of the 

 honour. 



A.\ entomological expedition is to be sent into Southern 

 Mexico this summer by the University of the State of Missouri. 

 It will be in charge of Prof. J. M. Stedman, head of the 

 Entomological Department, and will have for its object the 

 making of a biological, largely entomological, survey of the 

 region from Vera Cruz on the Gulf, which is in perpetual 

 tropics, to the top of the volcano Popocatepetl, which is far 

 above the perpetual snow line, and down to Acapulco on the 

 Pacific. This wiU give all the temperature variations from 

 perpetual tropics to perpetual snow, and will allow of the study 

 of life zones under conditions not to be found elsewhere in 

 North America. The collection will become the property of 

 the University, which is to furnish half the expenses, the other 

 half being borne by Prof. Stedman. 



An expedition, consisting of President Jordan and Mr. John 

 O. Snyder, of the Department of Zoology in Stanford University, 

 has sailed for Japan, for the purpose of making a collection of 

 the fishes and insects of that country. Assistance will be given 

 by other graduates of Stanford University at present resident 

 in Japan. 



It is stated in Science that Mr. G. B. Gordon has secured the 

 control of the ruins of Copan, and the lands pertaining thereto, 

 for a period of ten years, with the right to make excavations 

 and to remove to Cambridge, Mass., for preservation, a portion 

 of the objects that may be found.' 



Mr. O. a. Titt.mann has been appointed successor to Dr. 

 II. S. Pritchett as superintendent of the United States Coast 

 nd Geodetic Survey, Dr. Pritchett having been elected president 

 of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 



The American National Geographical Society's prizes for the 

 best essays on Norse discoveries in America have been awarded 

 to Mr. C. B. Dalton, of New York City, and Mr. K. F. Murray, 

 of Norfolk, Va. 



Science announces that a donor, who wishes to be anonymous, 

 has presented to the American Museum of Natural History the 

 collection exhibited by Messrs. Tiffany and Co. at the Paris 

 Exposition, consisting of American and foreign cut and uncut 

 ;iecious stones and other objects. The value of the collecticn 

 1- estimated at over 50,000 dollars. 



During the summer a station will be maintained on Lake 

 >iranac by the New York State Museum, for the study of 

 Hjuatic insects. The work will be under the direction of Dr. 

 Charles Needham. 



The Scientific American states that a new species of petrel 

 lias been discovered on the Island of Kauai (Sandwich Islands) 

 l>y Mr. A. Searle, of the Stanford University. Mr. Searle is 

 NO. 1600. VOL. 62] 



also reported to have found on the same island a new species of 

 seagull. He is about to go to Guam for the purpose of exploring 

 that island, and to make a collection of birds and fishes for the 

 Bishop Museum of Honolulu. 



Excellent results have been obtained by the French 

 Government from experiments made with wireless telegraphy. 

 The Engineer of June 1 5 says that the demonstrations showed that 

 communication could be maintained, between ship and shore, to 

 a distance of about sixty miles with comparative ease, only the 

 height of the masts of the Government ship Utile preventing 

 longer distances being attained. In consequence of these 

 achievements the French Government have decided to equip 

 their Mediterranean Squadron with the necessary apparatus. 



Wireless telegraphy stations are, by the instructions of the 

 Chief Signal Service Officer of the United States, to be esta- 

 blished in the harbour of San Francisco, in Porto Rico and the 

 Philippines. 



Among the numerous congresses arranged to take place in 

 connection with the Paris Exposition, in addition to those 

 to which attention has already been called in these columns, 

 may be mentioned the following, dealing respectively with : — 

 Automobiles, on July 9 ; medical electrology and radiology, 

 from July 27 to August I ; medicine, from August 2 to 9 ; 

 physics, from August 6 to 11, and on the same dates, technical 

 and industrial education ; chemistry, from August 6 to II; 

 hygiene and demography, from August 10 to 17; hypnotism, 

 from August 12 to 15; electricity, from August 18 to 25; 

 prehistoric anthropology and archeology, from August 20 to 25 ; 

 ethnology, from August 26 to September l ; railroads, from 

 September 15 to 23 ; acetylene, from September 23 to 28. 



It is satisfactory to find that the present troubles in South 

 Africa have not interfered with Museum progress in the larger 

 towns of Cape Colony. From the Report of the Committee of 

 the Albany Museum for 1899, we learn that it was expected the 

 new buildings would be ready for opening about July i. 



A severe thunderstorm occurred in London on the 25th inst., 

 accompanied by heavy rain and hail. The weather had been 

 very unsettled for some days, with gales on our exposed coasts. 

 On the evening of the 24th a storm area lay off the north-west 

 coast of Ireland ; this subsequently took a somewhat unusual 

 south-easterly direction. At 8 a.m. on the 25th the centre lay 

 over the Midland Counties, and next morning had traversed the 

 south-eastern part of the English Channel. The rainfall on the 

 24th and 25th amounted to about an inch in several parts of the 

 United Kingdom. The temperature continues low for the 

 season over the whole country. 



Two specimens of the egg of the Great Auk were sold by 

 auction at Stevens's Rooms last week, and realised 315 and 180 

 guineas respectively. The more important of the two eggs is an 

 unrecorded one from a French collection, and is described as the 

 finest specimen known of a special type of marking. The 

 price just obtained for it establishes a record, 300 guineas 

 having, until this sale, been the highest amount ever received. 

 About seventy-five eggs of the Great Auk are known to be in 

 existence. 



According to Science, the Millinery Merchants' Protective 

 Association of America has proposed to the various Audubon 

 Societies of the country to cease killing or buying any North 

 American birds, except such as are edible and killed in season, 

 if the societies will undertake not to interfere with the use of 

 the.se birds or with skins imported from countries not in North 

 America. 



