494 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IX. No. 222 



relays to close call-bell circuits. They are of 

 iridio-platinum wire, 3 mils diameter and 2 by 4 

 cm. dimensions ; they have a frequency of 16 

 per second, and with a clearance of 2 mils 

 .001 erg. per second is required to bring them 

 into contact. This can be used at a distance of 

 10 kilometers with J ton of copper and would 

 be little affected by the absorption ; it has not, 

 however, been adapted to the transmission of 

 Morse signals. The power used by the tele- 

 phone is more than 600 times the power used 

 by the rectangle in this case. F. C. C. 



THE BEQUESTS OF THE LATE PROFESSOR 

 MABSH. 

 The will of the late Professor Marsh leaves 

 his entire estate to Yale University, with the 

 exception of $10,000 to the National Academy 

 of Sciences. Its provisions are as follows : 1. 

 The library which he had collected is to be 

 placed in the Yale library, and all duplicates 

 are to be given to the library of the Peabody 

 Museum. 2. His home and the land surround- 

 ing it, nearly three acres on Prospect Hill, is 

 given to the University to be used exclusively 

 as a botanical garden ' and for no other pur- 

 pose.' The garden is to be under the custody 

 of a regularly appointed curator at a salary of 

 .$2,000. The house is either to be used as the 

 residence of the curator or as a botanical lab- 

 oratory, as his executors may see fit. In case 

 the corporation does not wish to accept the 

 house and grounds for this purpose Professor 

 Marsh orders that they be sold and the pro- 

 ceeds added to the residuary estate. 3. His 

 executors are ordered to sell all his pictures, 

 paintings, furniture, bric-a-brac, silver and 

 Oriental collections, the proceeds to be turned 

 over to the University. 4. The gift is made 

 to the University of a collection of 2,000 orchids 

 and of all of his greenhouse plants. If not needed 

 by the University these may be sold for the bene- 

 fit of the estate. 5. The bequest is made of all 

 of his scientific collections in paleontology, geol- 

 ogy, zoology and archeology, to be kept in Pea- 

 body Museum. 6. He gives to the National 

 Academy of Sciences of Washington $10,000 as 

 a trust fund, 'the income to be used and expended 

 for promoting original research in the natural 

 sciences.' 7. The sum of $30,000 which, by the 



terms of the will of George Peabody, Professor 

 Marsh was authorized to dispose of in his will, 

 is left to the corporation of Yale ' to be expended 

 by the trustees of Peabody Museum in preparing 

 for publication and publishing the results of my 

 explorationsin the West.' 8. All the rest, resi- 

 due and remainder of the property and estate 

 real and personal, is given to Yale University 

 to be used and expended by it for ' promoting 

 original research in the natural sciences.' 



The value of Professor Marsh's estate is said 

 to be about $100,000, but may not prove to be 

 as much. It will be remembered that some- 

 what more than a year ago Professor Marsh gave 

 his extremely valuable collections in paleon- 

 tology and other sciences to the University. It 

 is estimated that these were secured at a cost 

 of about $250,000. The Peabody Museum was 

 given by Mr. George Peabody, Professor 

 Marsh's uncle, through his influence. It should 

 also be remembered that Professor Marsh never 

 accepted any salary from Yale University. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 



The first Hodgkins gold medal given hy the 

 Smithsonian Institution has been conferred on 

 Professor James Dewar, F.R.S., for his work on 

 the liquefaction of air. 



Pkofessoe Helmert, of Berlin, has been 

 elected a foreign correspondent of the Paris 

 Academy of Sciences for the Section of Geog- 

 raphy and Navigation. In the same section 

 Pere Colin, founder and director of the observa- 

 tory at Tananarivo, Madagascar, was elected a 

 corresponding member. 



The Paris Academy of Medicine has awarded 

 its Lecaze prize (10,000 fr.) to Dr. Widal for his 

 serum method of diagnosing typhoid fever. 



It is proposed, says the London Times, that a 

 portrait of the late Dr. John Hopkinson should 

 be placed in the Hopkinson Memorial Wing of 

 the Engineering Laboratory at Cambridge Uni- 

 versity, the cost to be defrayed by subscription. 

 A chimney piece which Mrs. Hopkinson has 

 presented for use in one of the principal rooms 

 contains a panel in which such a portrait could 

 appropriately be placed. Mr. T. B. Kennington, 

 who painted a portrait of Dr. Hopkinson some 

 years ago, has suggested that instead of simply 



