572 



NATURE 



[April i i, 1895 



greatly that unless additional space i« provided for their proper 

 adroiniftraiion and exhibition, the eflTiciency of the Museum will 

 be grfatly impairfd ; but though the collections are growing 

 rapidly in certain directions, they are not increasing as sym- 

 melrically and consistently as is manifestly desirable — a very 

 common cause of complainL A defect which calls for instant 

 atteniinn, however, relates to the most undesirable and 

 dangerous siorage of c >lleclions in woodi n s'ied< near the 

 Smiths' n'an building, and in the basement ol ihe building itself, 

 where large alcoholic collections in bottles containing, in the 

 bulk, many thousands of gallons of alcohol, have been put away, 

 as space cannot be found for the specimens in the Museum. 

 It appears that a fire communicated to these rooms would 

 sweep ihrtngh the en'.ire length of the building, and although 

 the building itself is fireproof as against any ordinary danger, 

 it may well be doubted whe'her any of the colleclims therein 

 exhibited can be regarded as safe, if the rooms immediately 

 below should be exposed to so peculiarly severe a conflagration 

 as would be caused by the ignition of these large quantities of 

 inflammable material. Such a calamity would affect the whole 

 scientific world, and we trust that the appeal for a change of 

 the present condition of aflTairs will not be disregarded. 



The investigations relating to the ethnology of the Ameri- 

 can Indians were carried forward during the year, under 

 the efficient control of Major J. W. Powell, the director, 

 aided by Mr. W. J. McGee, ethnologist in charge, asexrcutive 

 officers. These researches of the Bureau of American Ethno- 

 logy embrace the subjects of archaeology, descriptive eihnology, 

 sociology, pictographyand sign language, Unguis ics, mythology, 

 psycholog), and bibliography, and the results obtained during 

 the year have never been exceeded in value. 



The Smithsonian Exchange Service was inaugurated nearly 

 half a century ago, with the object of carrying out one of the 

 purposes of the founder of the Institution in the diffusion of 

 that knowledge which the Institution itself helped to create. 

 For this purpose it established correspondence with scientific 

 men all over the woild, until there is no civilised country or 

 people, however remote, upon the surface of our planet, so far 

 as is known, where the Institution is not thus represented. 

 These corre pondents have grown in numbers until at the pre- 

 sent lime those external to the United States alone number 

 nearly ly.oco. More than one hundred tons of books passed 

 through the exchange office during the fiscal year 1893-94, 



It was only five years ago since an appropriation was made 

 for the National Zoological Park at Washington. The park 

 has an area of nearly 167 acres, but there are as yet only four 

 permanent buildings, while the animals number 510, of which 

 200 are of the larger size. Comparing this with .similar establish- 

 ments at other capitals, it is noted that the Gardens of our 

 Zoological Society cover about 36 acres, are crowded with 

 buildings, and that the magnificent collection of animals, some 

 2300 in numi cr, is housed in a fairly comfortable manner. In 

 Pans the portion of the Jardin des Plantes assigned to animals 

 is a plat of ground some 17 acres in extent, crowded with 900 

 animals. In IJerlin the portion of the Thiergarten appropriated 

 for animals occupies about 60 acres. Fifteen hundred animals are 

 accommodated and, necessarily, much overcrowded. In the 

 United Slates the principal collections are in Philadelphia, wheic 

 the grounds occupy about 40 acres, and the collection comprises 

 •881 animals; in Cincinnati, where 36 acres are occupied with 

 about 800 animals ; and in New York, where the city maintains 

 about 700 animals in Central Park, occupying an area of ap- 

 proximately 10 acres. In none of these collections are the 

 grounds of sufficient size 10 give any extensive range for the 

 aoiutals. 



Appended to Mr. Langley's general account of the affairs of 

 the Institution and of its bureaus, are the detailed and statistical 

 reports from the officers in charge of the different branches of 

 woik. The whole shows how very great and valuable is the 

 work done in the United States " lor the increase and diffusion 

 r>f knoA ledge among men." 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



P«op. C. S. SitEKKiNGTON, F.R.S , has been appointed to 

 the George Holt Chair of Physiology in University College, 

 l-ivcrpool. 



NO. 1328, VOL. 51] 



Pr. a. W. Crossi EY, Berkeley Fellow, and Demonstrator 

 of Organic Chemistry, in theO«ens College, Manchester, has 

 been elected Demonstrator of Chemistry in the Medical SchooV 

 of St. Thomas's Ho.^pital, in succe-sion to Dr. \V. H. Ince, 

 who has been appointed Government Chemist at Trinidad. 



Sir Dinshaw Manockjiu-: Petit, Bart., h.is, through 

 the Principal, Mr. S. Cooke, offered to the Indian Government 

 the sum of 50CO rupees towards the cost of provi ling residential 

 quarters for Parsee students attending the College of Science at 

 Poona. 



The Governors of Colfe's Found.\lion have selected Mr. 

 F. W. Lucas to be Head .Master of Colfe's Grammar School, 

 Lewishim, from September next. Mr. Licas is at present 

 Head Master of Hipperholme Grammar School, Yorks, and 

 was formerly Senior Assistant and Science Master at Roan 

 School, Greenwich. 



We learn from the Lancct,\\}!\3X in accordance with the 

 will of the late Dr. G. Y. Heath, Professor ol Surgery in the 

 University of Durham, and President of the University of 

 Durham College of Medicine, the trustees of the Heath 

 Scholarship, Prof. \V. C. Arnison and Mr. Frederick P-ige, 

 will award and pay to the writer of the best essay on Surgical 

 Diseases of the Jaws the sum of £200. All graduates in 

 medicine or in surgery of the University of Durham are 

 eligible to compete lor this prize. The essay must be type- 

 written or printed, and delivered to the trustees not later 

 than March 31, 1S96. The essay, together with any 

 specimens, drawings, casts, microscopical preparations, or 

 other means of illustration accompanying it, will become the 

 property of the College of Medicine, Newcastle-upon Tync, 

 but by permission the essay may be piinted for general circu- 

 lation by Ihe Heath Sch'vlar. Mr. Stephen Scott, of Hairogale, 

 has generously prestnted to the College of Medicine the sum of 

 /■looo, which has been devoted, in accordance with Mr. Scott's 

 wish, to founding a scholarship to promote the study of hernia 

 and allied subjects. .\ny graduate in medicine or surgery of 

 the University of Durham, or any student of the University of 

 Durham College of Medicine is eligible to compete lor the 

 scholarship, provided that such student shall have had at least 

 one academical year in attendance at the College, and that in 

 any case his age does not exceed thirty years at the time when 

 the essay is sent in. The competition takes place every year- 

 Essays for this year's competition must be sent not later thaa 

 July 31, 1S95, '° Prof. Arnison, University of Durham College 

 of Medicine, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 



On Friday last, Mr. Acland received a deputation at Ihe 

 Education Office, from the representatives of the Association 

 of Head Masters, respecting the recent regulations which have 

 been issued by the Science and Art Department with icference 

 to organised science schools. After hearing the views of the 

 deputation, Mr. Acland, in reply, said it was not desired to 

 make an upheaval of the arrangements for these schools, but 

 to j >in together in improving the method and ihc system on 

 which the leaching was carried on. They were all agreed that 

 to lessen too frequent examination, and to introduce the element 

 of inspection, il reasonably carried on in a friendly spirit, 

 would be of great value to these schools. One of ihe object* 

 of the Department had been to make it clear that, besides the 

 teaching of science, which was the primary object of these 

 schools, they also desired fully to recognise the element of 

 literature and the leaching ol special sutijecls. In order Vy ' 

 meet a point which had been raised, as to the change from 

 the old system of organised science schools to the new, the 

 closing words of the syllabus would be: — " ReasonaWe lati- 

 tude will be allowed for two yeais in any departures which may 

 be made frcm ilie prescribed course while the changes from the 

 present to the new sy.stem are being brought about." Taking 

 these word>, together with the words in the earlier part ol the ' 

 s)llabus, as to leasonnble latitude being allowed to teachers as | 

 to the nattre of Ihc course which they might pursue, provided 

 that the instiuclion was sound, satisfactory in amount, »nd i 

 combined with proper jiiactical work, it would be seen that . 

 the Depaitnent had no ihleiition of being too despotic, and ' 

 that if really good and reasonable work was done under some 

 more clastic !.)stem, the.se organised science schools would be 

 found of even more benefit in the luluie than they had been W I 

 the past. I 



