Febeuaey 17, 1899. ] 



SCIENCE. 



271 



couragement and promotion of the science of 

 natural history.' It was incorporated February 

 25, 1831, and has long been one of the eminent 

 and essentially public institutions of the com- 

 munity. The Society contributes at present to 

 the promotion of science and of public educa- 

 tion by the following means : (1) Meetings held 

 ou the evenings of the first and third Wednes- 

 days of each month from November to May. 

 These meetings are devoted to the presenta- 

 tion of the results of scientific investigations 

 and to the popular expositions of such 

 studies as are of general jjublic interest. 



(2) Publication of Memoirs, Proceedings and 

 Occasional Papers, which all record the discov- 

 eries of members and others. These publica- 

 tions are widely distributed in all parts of the 

 world, more than four hundred copies being 

 sent to academies, learned societies and other 

 correspondents, as well as to such members of 

 the Society as express a wish to receive them. 



(3) The Library, which contains upwards of 

 25,000 volumes and 12,000 pamphlets, includes 

 numerous extensive sets and rare works, many 

 of them not accessible elsewhere in this vicinity. 

 Members are allowed eight volumes at a time 

 for home use, and each volume may be retained 

 a month without renewal. The library priv- 

 ileges are granted without reference to resi- 

 dence. Books are sent by express at the bor- 

 rower's expense. (4) The Museum contains 

 the collections of the Society and is open to the 

 public on two days of each week. The number 

 of visitors is large on those days. The Museum 

 is open to members on other days. Special 

 efforts have been made to display the fauna, 

 flora and geology of New England. To increase 

 the educational value of the collections, printed 

 guides have been placed on sale. (5) Lectures 

 to teachers and other^, which at present are 

 largely maintained by the Trustees of the 

 Lowell Institute. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 



It is announced that a donor, whose name is 

 withheld, has endowed in Harvard University 

 a chair of hygiene. 



Maxey Hall, Brown University, has been 

 injured by fire, the damage being estimated at 

 $25,000. 



De. James Moneoe Tayloe has been elected 

 President of Brown University. Dr. Taylor 

 has been, since 1886, President of Vassar Col- 

 lege, where his administration has been very 

 successful. 



Dk. Thomas J. See, well known for his im- 

 portant researches in astronomy, has been 

 nominated for a professorship of mathematics at 

 the Naval Academy, Annapolis. 



Mr. W. L. Cascaet has been appointed ad- 

 junct professor of mechanical engineering in 

 Columbia University. At the same meeting of 

 the Trustees the title of Professor R. S. Wood- 

 ward was changed from professor of mechanics 

 to professor of mechanics and mathematical 

 physics. 



Professor Feitz Eegel, of Jena, and Br. 

 Erich V. Drygalski, of Berlin, have been ap- 

 pointed to professorships of geography in the 

 Universities at Wiirzburg and Tiibingen respect- 

 ively. 



Dr. Robert Otto, professor of chemistry in 

 the Institute of Technology at Braunschweig, has 

 retired. Dr. Voswiuckel has qualified as decent 

 in chemistry in the Institute of Technology at 

 Berlin. 



According to the new catalogue of Brown 

 University 925 students are enrolled, an in" 

 crease of 65 over last year. The increase of 

 the Freshman class, from 168 last year to 216 

 this, is especially noticeable. There are 99 

 graduate students. 



In a recent number of the Harvard Graduates^ 

 Magazine, Professor A. B. Hart publishes a 

 comparative statement of the attendance at the 

 leading American universities. According to 

 his figures the institutions rank in numbers as 

 follows : 



Undergraduates in arts and sciences : Harvard, 

 2,260; Yale, 1,755; Michigan, 1,429; Wisconsin, 

 1,097 ; Columbia, 802 ; Chicago, 783 ; Pennsylvania, 

 653 ; Johns Hopkins, 187. 



Graduate students : Chicago, 370 ; Harvard, 319 ; 

 Columbia, 313 ; Yale, 270 ; Johns Hopkins, 192 ; 

 Pennsylvania, 151; Wisconsin, 87; Michigan, 73. 



The medical department : Pennsylvania, 793 ; Co- 

 lumbia, 695 ; Harvard, S46 ; Michigan, 408 ; Johns 

 Hopkins, 201 ; Yale, 112. 



The law department : Michigan, 720 ; Harvardj 

 543 ; Columbia, 341 ; Pennsylvania, 312; Y'ale, 195. 



