54 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXX. No. 758 



and doctor of medicine were conferred on Dr. 

 Charles W. Eliot, who has been made by the 

 corporation president emeritus of the univer- 

 sity. In conferring these degrees President 

 Lowell said : " Charles William Eliot, teacher, 

 administrator, orator, prophet; forty years the 

 leader and the guide of Harvard, and in the 

 single-minded elevation of his character a 

 model to her sons; the father of the present 

 American university, the brother of all 

 teachers and the friend of every lover of his 

 country: It has not been our custom to confer 

 the degree of doctor of medicine, honoris 

 causa; but an exception is fitting in the case 

 of one who, in the opinion of professors of 

 medicine, has accomplished more for the prog- 

 ress of medical education in this country than 

 any other living man, Charles William Eliot. 

 Not in its buildings alone, but also in the in- 

 struction and research within its walls, he 

 found our medical school brick and left it 

 marble." 



The Eoyal Society of Arts has awarded its 

 Albert medal to Sir Andrew Noble, K.C.B., 

 F.R.S., " in recognition of his long-continued 

 and valuable researches into the nature and 

 action of explosives, which have resulted in 

 the gTcat development and improvement of 

 modern ordnance." 



M. J. Vallot has been elected by the So- 

 ciete des Observatoires du Mont Blanc director 

 of the observatory founded by the late M. 

 Janssen. He is now director of two observa- 

 tories on Mont Blanc. 



Mr. a. F. CRfflER has resigned the director- 

 ship of the State Geological Survey of Miss- 

 . issippi and Dr. E. H. Lowe, formerly profes- 

 sor of geology in the University of Mississ- 

 ippi, has been elected to the position. 



Dr. John H. Musser, professor of clinical 

 medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, 

 is chairman of the American delegation to 

 the International Medical Congress, which 

 will be held this year in Budapest. 



Under the direction of Professor Charles 

 Lane Poor, of Columbia University, an ex- 

 pedition has been fitted out to measure the 

 tidal currents of Point Judith and Block Is- 



land. Professor Poor will supervise the work 

 from his yacht " Weetamoe " — the station 

 boat being the auxiliary power boat " Gracie." 

 The observations will be made by Messrs. 

 Brainin and Ladd. 



Edwin F. Stimpson, assistant professor of 

 physics. University of Kansas, has obtained 

 leave of absence for one year to accept a po- 

 sition as inspector of weights and measures 

 in the Bureau of Standards. At the last ses- 

 sion of Congress, an appropriation of ten 

 thousand dollars was made for an investiga- 

 tion in regard to the efficiency of the inspec- 

 tion service in the different states, to ascertain 

 to what extent fraud is practised in interstate 

 commerce. The bureau proposes to send in- 

 spectors to the different states to advise with 

 the local authorities and to assist them in 

 procuring the proper equipment and in adopt- 

 ing uniform regulations. The appropriation 

 is only for one year and every effort will be 

 made to cover the country, and to be in posi- 

 tion to render a final report to congress by 

 next June. 



Mr. J. W. Jenkinson, demonstrator at the 

 Natural History Museum, Oxford, has been 

 elected a fellow of Exeter College. 



Professor Charles L. Edwards, of Trinity 

 College, expects to spend the next fifteen 

 months in Europe. During the present sum- 

 mer he will work in one or more of the 

 Scandinavian marine biological stations, from 

 October to March with Professor Boveri at 

 Wiirzburg and then in the spring at Naples. 

 In the summer of 1910 he expects to attend 

 the Eighth International Zoological Congress 

 at Gratz. 



The Danish government has sent an expedi- 

 tion under Captain Elmar Mikkelsen to Green- 

 land to search for the bodies of Mylius Erich- 

 sen and the other explorers who perished in 

 November, 1907. 



It is said that Professor Hergesell will have 

 charge of a dirigible airship under the general 

 direction of Count Zeppelin, which will next 

 year undertake explorations in the polar re- 

 gions and if it proves feasible will undertake 

 . to reach the North Pole. 



