Feb. i;, 1887] 



NA TURE 



375 



If there shall in the future result the concentration here at 

 the national capital of the extensive entomological material 

 which naturally comes here, and which in the past has 

 been scattered among specialists in all parts of the countr)', 

 so that in the future the student may tind valuable material 

 to further his work in any order, I shall feel amply 

 rewarded for the action I have taken." 



The Curators of .all the Departments complain that 

 in the new Museum building there is not nearly room 

 enough for the display of the treasures placed under 

 their care, and Prof Baird presses upon the atten- 

 tion of the Board of Regents the urgent necessity 

 for " additional quarters." One of the arguments used 

 by him may, perhaps, not be without eftcct on public 

 opinion. Efforts are being made to secure that in 1892 — 

 the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of 

 America by Columbus — there shall be an exposition, 

 presenting a complete illustration of the New World at 

 that date, and of its progress in the arts and industries in 

 the 400 years intervening. Prof. Baird points out that 

 the collections of the National Museum for the most part 

 tend towards such a display, and expresses his belief that 

 if the new building for which he asks were erected it 

 would be a very easy matter to organise and arrange it 

 with this object in view, without unnecessary labour or 

 great expense, and by the date mentioned, as the result of 

 the current work of the Museum, without any spasmodic 

 or unusual effort. 



Of the Bureau of Ethnology we need only say that, 

 during the fiscal year 1885 86, it continued its ethno- 

 logic researches among the North American Indians. 

 Enthusiastic investigators carried on mound-explorations, 

 explorations in ancient and modern stone villages, and 

 general field studies. Much good office work was also 

 done. This was, as usual, to a large extent the supplement 

 to, and discussion of, the results obtained by exploration, 

 and was executed by the same officers who had previously 

 sought for materials and information in the field. 



We have not space for further details, but probably we 

 have said enough fas far as possible in the words of the 

 Report itself) to indicate the very flourishing condition of 

 the Smithsonian Institution and the establishments asso- 

 ciated with it. The Institution is one of which .Americans 

 have good reason to be proud, and we cannot doubt that 

 the claim for a new building, advanced by Prof. Baird on 

 behalf of the National Museum, will be promptly and 

 very carefully considered by Congress. 



NOTES 

 Prof. Bfici-ARD, Dean of the Medical School of Paris, died 

 a. few days ago of pneumonia. He was buried with great cere- 

 mony on the I2lh inst. A large number of professors and 

 students attended the funeral. His best work is on the 

 thermic phenomena accompanying muscular contr.iction. He 

 was a pleasant man, of fluent and happy eloquence, and a 

 good writer. His place will: probably be filled by Ch. Richet, 

 the editor of the Kevtte Scientifique. 



The Academy of Vienna intends to have a special meeting 

 for the celebrniion of the centenary of the death of Father 

 Boscovich, the astronomer. A similar ceremony will take place 

 at Ragusa, bis native place. 



We have received a proof copy of the annual adilress to the 

 Asiatic Society, Calcutta, delivered by Mr. E. T. Atkinson, the 

 President, on the and inst. It is an able and very intere.-ting 

 sur\'ey of the work done by the Society in the past year, and 

 of the progress made outside the Society in the subjects to 

 which the attention of its members is directed. 



The sixth annual meeting of the Sanitary Assurance Associa- 

 tion was held at the offices, 5 Argyll Place, \V., on Monday 



l.ist. .Mr. Joseph Hadley, Sccrotaiy, re.id the .innual Report, 

 from which it appeared tliat the business of the .\ssociation 

 during 18S6 was much greater than in any previous year. The 

 Report said that, of all the properties inspected, in only two 

 cases of lirst inspection had the arrangements been such that the 

 Council could certify the sanitary condition of the property 

 without alteration. The Executive Council reported having 

 held sevor.il meetings for the purpose of revising the Sanitary 

 Kegistiation of Buildings Bill of 1SS6, and a new Bill had been 

 prepared for presentation to the House of Commons. In the 

 ne^Y Bill, the principle of compulsory registration would be 

 restricted to schools, colleges, hospitals, asylums, hotels, and 

 lodging-houses. On the motion of Mr. Mark H. Judge, 

 seconded by Mr. H. Rutherfurd, the following resolution was 

 unanimously passed: — "That, as soon as the Sanitary Regis- 

 tration of Buildings Bill, 1887, is in the hands of members of 

 the House of Commons, the President of the L0c.1l Government 

 Board be asked to receive a deputation in support of the Bill." 



On Tuesday last the forty-first session of the Genera! Medical 

 Council was opened, and an address was delivered, as usual on 

 such occasions, by the President, Dr. Acland, F. R. S. Starting 

 with a reference to the Jubilee, he traced some of the changes 

 which have taken place during the last fifty years in medicine 

 and in the methods of medical education. 



Lord Rayleigh will begin a course of six lectures on 

 " Sound" on Saturday, February 26, at the Royal Institution. 



In the latest of his annual reports. President Eliot, of Harvard 

 University, refers to the present position of science in the 

 secondary schools of America. " A serious difficulty," he says, 

 "in the way of getting science well taught in secondary schoals 

 has been the lack of teachers who knew anything of inductive 

 reasoning and experimental methoJ5. This he attributes in part 

 to the fact that "good school methods of te.iching the sciences 

 have not yet been elaborated and demonstrated," and he urges 

 that " it is the first duty of University departments of science to 

 remove at least this obstacle to the introduction of science into 

 schools." 



We have received the third part of the first volume of " The 

 Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales," 

 second series. It contains the papers read at the meetings held 

 in July, .\ugust, and September 1886, and there are four plates. 

 Among the contents are the fifth part of a " Catalogue of the 

 described Coleoptera of Australia," by Mr. George M.asters, an 

 elaborate paper on the " Revision of Australian Lepidopter.a," 

 by Mr. E. Meyrick, and " Miscellanea F.ntomologica : No II. 

 The Genus Liparetrus," by Mr. Willi.am M.aclcay. 



In the United States there is a very much larger number of 

 female than of male teachers. According to the Woiitan's 

 yountal, men are hardly ever employed in elementary schools 

 in cities, save as principals or as teachers of some special branch. 

 In the ten cities of Baltimore, Boston, Brooklyn, Chicago, Cin- 

 cinnati, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, 

 and St. Louis together, there are 12,719 public-school teachers, 

 of whom 11,540 are women. The average percentage of male 

 teachers in these cities is 9. 



Dr. M. Treub, Director of the Botanical Gardens in 

 Buitenzorg (Jav,i), will be on furlough in Holland from the 

 beginning of March till the end of November. In Dr. Treub's 

 absence Dr. W. Burck will serve as Acting Director of the 

 Gardens. Only the correspondence about the Aniialcs dn Jardirt 

 Botaniqm de Buitenzoro^ together with private corresi'ondence, 

 is to be addressed to Dr. Treub himself (Voorschoten, near 

 Leyden, Holland). 



