476 
NATURE 
[ Oct. 13, 1870 
ARTISTS, manufacturers, and others who have not expressed 
their desire to be admitted as exhibitors at the International Ex- 
hibition of 1871, are requested to do so before the 1oth of 
November next. Her Mayesty’s Commissioners, as already 
notified to the public, do not intend to award prizes to exhibitors. 
They will, however, afford every facility to societies and indi- 
viduals desirous of offering prizes for the encouragement of Art 
or industry in connection with the Annual International Exhibi- 
tions ; and are prepared to receive such offers, and to publish the 
conditions of competition which the donors may wish to prescribe. 
The conditions are announced of a competition of prizes for the 
best fan, the first prize of 4o/. being offered by Her Majesty the 
Queen. The painters and decorators are completing their work 
in the fine art galleries. We understand that it is the intention 
of Her Majesty’s Commissioners to invite artists and exhibitors 
of all fine art works to inspect these ga leries shortly. 
Tur American Association for the Advancement of Science 
closed its nineteenth meeting on the 25th of August, at Troy, 
N.Y. Owing to the illness of President William Chauvenet, of 
St. Louis, the Vice-President, Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, of Mont- 
real, presided. The meeting was largely attended, there being 
about 300 names enrolled on the treasurer’s books. The next 
meeting is to be held in Indianapolis, and the meeting in 1872 
will probably be held in San Francisco, upon the invitation of 
the California Academy of Sciences. The president-elect for 
the next meeting is Prof. Asa Gray, of Cambridge; general 
secretary, Prof. F. W. Putnam, of Salem, Mass. ; treasurer, 
Mr. William S. Vaux, of Philadelphia. 
WE learn that the building for the New York Industrial 
Exhibition will be commenced on the 15th of December. 
Twenty-ihree acres have been purchased between 98th and 
ro2znd Streets, the purchase money amounting to 2,658,000 
dollars. It is intended to make this one of the finest, or per- 
haps we should rather say //e finest permanent institution of the 
kind in the world. The building will probably cost not less 
than 8,000,000 dollars, and it is the intention of the managers to 
advertise for designs at an early day. The importance of such 
an enterprise to New York can hardly be over-estimated. The 
benefits that have been conferred by the Ceniral Park in opening 
up a place of resort uncontaminated by beer-saloons and other 
demoralising agencies has been very great, and the present 
effort to extend facilities for instructive pleasure and innocent 
amusement deserves well of all who desire the good of the city. 
WE understand that the following are candidates for the 
Regius Professorship of Natural History in Edinburgh, va- 
cant ly the resignation of Professor Allman :— William N. 
McIntosh, M.D. Edin., F.L.S. : H. Alleyne Nicholson, M.D., 
D.Sc. Edin., F.R.S.E. ; and Wyville Thomson, LL.D. St. 
Andrew’s, F.R.S. We believe we are correct in stating that 
there is no truth in the rumours that either Pro!. Flower, of the 
Royal College of Surgeons, or Prof. E. Perceval Wright, of 
Dublin, is a candidate for the chair. 
TuE authorities of King’s College, London, have arranged 
that the Cuties of the chair of chemistry, vacant by the death of 
Prof. Miller, shall be performed, pending the appointment of a 
successcr, by Prof. Odling. 
Tue First Commissioner of Works intends to have distributed 
this autumn, among the working-classes and the poor inhabitants 
of London, the surplus bedding-out plants in Battersea, Hyde, 
the Regent’s, and Victoria Parks, and in the Royal Gardens, 
Kew. If the clergy, school committees, and others interested, 
will make application to the Superintendents of the Parks nearest 
to their respective parishes, or to the Director of the Royal 
Gardens, Kew, in the cases of persons residing in that neighbour- 
hood, they will receive early intimation of the number of plants 
that can be allotted to each applicant, and of the time and 
manner of their distribution. 
Tne Horticultural Society held a Fungus-show on the 5th 
inst. for competition for prizes offered by Mr. W. W. Saunders, 
F.R.S., for the best collection of Edible and Poisonous Fungi. 
Several exceedingly good collections were shown, which attracted 
a great deal of attention, many of the visitors being evidently 
astonished at the large number of common fungi which are war- 
ranted by experts to be not only innocuous, but wholesome 
articles of diet. 
ON the 4th inst. a large public meeting was held in the 
Mechanics’ Hall, Dewsbury, for the promotion of Technical 
Education in Yorkshire. Classes for instruction in drawing and 
elementary science are to be opened under certified teachers. 
The inaugural address was delivered by Mr. J. Buckmaster, of the 
Science and Art Department. After explaining the aid rendered 
by the Government, he pointed out at some length the industrial 
and moral advantages derived from the acquisition of scientific 
knowledge. 
THERE has just been started in the city of Baltimore, U.S.A., 
a society of fifty members, called “The Maryland Academy of 
Sciences.” It is intended to pay special attention to microscopy. 
The principal officers are Philip T. Tyson, President ; John G. 
Morris, Vice-president ; Edwin A. Dalrymple, Corresponding 
Secretary. 
THE annual examinations for degrees in the Queen’s Univer- 
sity, in Ireland, commenced last week, and will be continued 
during the greater part of the present week. The examining 
body of the University consists for the most part of the profes- 
sors in the different faculties in the three Queen’s Colleges. We 
regret to learn that Prof. Wyville Thomson is unable to take his 
part in these examinations owing to continued ill-health. 
PROF. VERRILL, of New Haven, has just returned from an 
expedition to the Bay of Fundy. The greatest depth encountered 
in dredging even as far as fifty miles from the coast, was not 
beyond 120 fathoms. Very large collections were made, many 
rare and about sixty new species were discovered, the number 
of species in Prof. Stimpson’s list being more than doubled. We 
hope soon to have a catalogue of the fauna of the bay from 
Prof. Verrill. 
Str WALTER ELLIOT is compiling arecord of what has been 
done by local societies in Great Britain and Ireland, towards 
elucidating the natural history of the districts in which the 
societies meet. Any information, as when such societies were 
established and by whom, and details generally as to their pro- 
ceedings, will, we hope, be forwarded to Wolfelee, Hawick, 
N.B. 
Mr. JAMES BrI?TTEN, of the Royal Herbarium, Kew, and 
Mr. Robert Holland, of Mobberly, Knutsford, Cheshire, have in 
preparation a work on the folk-lore connected with plants. 
Any assistance will be gladly received by either of these gen- 
tlemen at the addresses given above. - 
A work is announced on the land and fresh water shel's of 
British India, ‘* Testacea indica, terrestria et fluviatilia,” by 
Sylvanus Hanley, F.L.S., and William Theobald, of the Geo- 
logical Survey of India. It will be issued by Messrs. L. Reeve 
and Co., in monthly parts, and will contain sixty to eighty 4to 
plates. 
In another column we give an abstract of Capt. Carmichael’s 
paper read to the Geographical Section of the British Association, 
relating to the aboriginal Indians of Central America. Since 
then, the following interesting information has come to hand. A 
correspondent, writing from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to the ew 
