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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXX. No. 774 



and set sail on October 2, with Dr. Bauer 

 aboard, for Falmouth, England. The vessel 

 will then continue, under the command of Mr. 

 Wm. J. Peters, to Madeira and return to New 

 York, via Bermuda, some time next March. 

 Dr. Bauer returns from Falmouth to Wash- 

 ington early in November. Every possible 

 courtesy was extended the Carnegie at St. 

 John's by the Newfoundland authorities, the 

 governor, the premier and other prominent 

 officials making special visits to the vessel. 

 Mr. Carl Smith, expert on gas engines in the 

 technologic branch of the U. S. Geological 

 Survey, accompanied her as far as St. John's, 

 as consulting expert. 



Professor Arthur H. Blanchard, of the 

 department of civil engineering of Brown 

 University and deputy engineer under the 

 State Board of Public Eoads of Rhode Island, 

 sailed on October 1.3 for a tour of eight 

 months Which will be devoted to an investiga- 

 tion of the construction and maintenance of 

 bituminovis macadam roads in France, Eng- 

 land and Scotland. 



Professor H. H. Stoek, in charge of min- 

 ing engineering at the University of Illinois, 

 has been appointed by Governor Deneen as a 

 member of the State Mining Commission, 

 which has been constituted to formulate de- 

 sirable legislation with reference to the min- 

 ing industry, and to recommend the same to 

 the governor in anticipation of the next regu- 

 lar session of that body. 



Mr. Charles T. Ripley, who graduated last 

 June from the course in railway electrical 

 engineering of the University of Illinois, has 

 been awarded the first prize in the car design 

 contest recently held under the direction of 

 the John G. Brill Company, of Philadelphia. 

 The prize consists of the John G. Brill 

 Memorial Medal and $250. This contest 

 ■was instituted by the John G. Brill Com- 

 pany and by them announced last fall to all 

 schools giving instruction in electrical engi- 

 neering or railway electrical engineering. 

 The contest consisted in competitive designs 

 for electric railway cars for city service and 

 it was open to seniors in all schools of the 



country. Its purpose, as stated in the formal 

 announcement, was to " awaken the intelli- 

 gent interest of technical students in a field 

 which oifers great opportunities for personal 

 endeavor, scientific research and a substantial 

 reward." 



Dr. Hugh Blackburn, emeritus professor 

 of mathematics at Glasgow University, where 

 he was appointed in 1849 the successor of 

 Professor James Thomson, Lord Kelvin's 

 father, and retired from active service in 18Y9, 

 died on October 9, at the age of eighty-six 

 years. 



Mr. Richard Bannister, for many years 

 chemist in the British government laboratory 

 and known for his work on the chemistry of 

 foods, died on September 7, at the age of 

 seventy-four years. 



Professor Cesare Lombroso, the eminent 

 criminologist and author, died at Turin on 

 October 18, of heart disease, at the age of 

 seventy-three years. 



The surgeon-general of the army an- 

 nounces that the war department has ap- 

 pointed permanent boards for the preliminary 

 examination of applicants for appointment in 

 the medical corps of the army to meet at 

 Washington, D. C, Fort Sheridan (near 

 Chicago), Illinois, and San Francisco, Cali- 

 fornia, in addition to the usual preliminary 

 examination boards that are assembled at 

 various army posts throughout the United 

 States from time to time. The permanent 

 boards will hold sessions on the second Mon- 

 day of each month. A limited number of suc- 

 cessful candidates will be appointed first 

 lieutenants in the medical reserve corps (sal- 

 ary $2,000 per annum) and assigned to army 

 posts until the next session of the Army Med- 

 ical School, when they will be ordered to at- 

 tend the School as " student candidates." Ap- 

 plicants must be citizens of the United States, 

 between twenty-two and thirty years of age, 

 graduates of reputable medical schools, of 

 good moral character and habits, and shall 

 have had a year's hospital training after 

 graduation, or its equivalent. Full informa- 

 tion concerning the examination can be pro- 



