658 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. LVI, No. 1458 



French students at the University of Paris 

 increased by 9'59, "while the number of for- 

 eigners decreased Iby 332. 



The annual report of the general progress of 

 the British Museum and of the Natural His- 

 tory Museum during 1921 has been issued. 

 Notes by Sir F. G. Kenj'on and Sir Sidney 

 F. Harmer describe the additions made to the 

 collections and the rearrangement of rooms. 

 During the year 901,209' persons vis.ited the 

 British Museum, of whom 159,177 were read- 

 ing room students. Visitors to the Natural 

 History collections in Cromwell Koad numbered 

 479,476. 



Preliminary announcements by the Austra- 

 lian Research Council indicate the scope of the 

 Pan-Pacific Scientific Congress to be held in 

 Australia in August, 1923. The program calls 

 for organized conferences on fundamental 

 topics in anthropology, agriculture, botany, en- 

 tomology, geography, geology, geodesy and 

 zoology. Among the discussions in geology 

 formulated by E. C. Andrews are "Relation of 

 coral reefs to glaciation," "Sti'ueture of the 

 Pacific," "Mountain building and igneous 

 intrusion," "Carboniferous and Permian strat- 

 igraphy" and "Mineral resources of the 

 Pacific." Arrangements are being made for 

 excursions to the desert, to the tropical jungles 

 and to living coral reefs. By request of the 

 Australian committee, headed by Sir T. Edg- 

 worth David, the National Research Council, 

 which organized the First Pan-Pacific Scientific 

 Conference at Honolulu in 1920, is cooperating 

 to insure a profitable meeting for 1923. 



'Reports from Commander J. C. Thompson 

 and Hans G. Hornbostel, representing the 

 Bishop Museum, indicate successful outcome of 

 the explorations in Guam and in the southern 

 Marianne Islands. Much information has been 

 obtained regarding the culture of vanished 

 Chamorros, a fiourishing race, at the time of 

 Magellan's visit in 1521. Under the direction 

 of M. F. Malcolm, assisted by the governor of 

 Saipan, the remarkable ruins on the Japanese 

 island of Tinian, visited by Anson (1749), 

 Mortimer (1791) and Freyeinel (1817), are 

 being studied with a view to enlarging the 

 knowledge of migration routes and inter-rela- 

 tions of Pacific peoples. 



Harvard University has come into posses- 

 sion of the Farlow totanical library, one of the 

 most valuable collections of books dealing with 

 cryptogamic botany in the world, quarters 

 having been provided for it which meet satis- 

 factorily the conditions o£ gift contained in 

 the will of Professor William G. Farlow, who 

 died in 1919'. Under Prorfessor Farlow's will, 

 this collection, comprising 11,000 volumes, was 

 given to Harvard on condition that, within 

 three years after (the testator's death, suitable 

 arrangements should be made for placing it in 

 fireproof quarters in proximity to the Farlow 

 heribarium of cryptogamic plants, already 

 owned by the university. These conditions 

 have been met by the decision of the Han'ard 

 Corporation to house both the Farlow library 

 and the herbarium in the Divinity Library 

 building. 



The expedition sent last July by the Amer- 

 ican Museum of Natural History to the island 

 of Santo Domingo to secure, if possible, speci- 

 mens of the rhinoceros iguana and the giant 

 tree frog, has returned to New York with a 

 large collection, including over 'two hundred 

 living specimens in addiition to the preserved 

 material. The expedition was financed by the 

 Angelo Heilprin Fund and the materials which 

 it collected will be installed in the museum's 

 new Hall of Reptiles, at present under con- 

 struction. Under the leadership of Dr. and 

 Mrs. G. Kingsley Noble, both of the museum 

 staff, the party crossed the entire length of 

 the Dominican Republic while pursuing its in- 

 vestigations. After exploring the Quita 

 Espuela, an outlying mountain range in the 

 northeastern part of the island, the expedition 

 crossed to Constanza, in the heart of the cen- 

 tral Cordillera. From there it pushed on to 

 Barahona, and finally to Los Lajas on the 

 Haitian border. 



The Sigma Xi Club of Southern California 

 he'ld its first regular meeting in Los Angeles 

 o.n the evening of October 28. About eighty- 

 six persons ■were present including members 

 from nrunerous Southern California towns. 

 Dr. W. L. Hardin, presidenit of the club, pre- 

 sided. Pa-ofessoi-s R. A. Millikan, C. G. Dar- 

 win and Paul Epstein, of the California Insti- 

 tute of Technology, were guests of the cluib and 



