JIAKCH 31, 1899.] 



SCIENCE. 



495 



copying that picture lie could produce a better 

 representation of Dr. Hopkinson as he was 

 shortly before his death by painting an original 

 portrait based on a recent excellent photograph 

 and following the coloring of the previous por- 

 trait. Subscriptions are limited to two guineas, 

 in the expectation that a considerable number 

 of Dr. Hopkinson's friends not resident in the 

 Univei'sity, as well as residents, will wish to 

 contribute. Among those who have already 

 subscribed are the Vice-chancellor, the Master 

 of Peterhouse, the Master of Trinity, Sir 

 Benjamin Baker, Sir J. Wolfe Barry, Sir Fred- 

 erick Bramvvell, Sir Douglas Fox, Sir James 

 Kitson, Sir G. G. Stokes, Sir William White, 

 Lord Kelvin, Lord Bayleigh and Lord Lister. 

 Professor Ewing i^ treasurer of the fund, and 

 he will receive subscriptions, or they may be 

 paid to the Hopkinson portrait account at Bar- 

 clay & Co., Cambridge. 



The statement sent from Washington to the 

 press to the effect that Dr. Thomas J. See had 

 been designated Chief of the Nautical Almanac 

 is incorrect. Dr. See has been assigned to duty 

 as Assistant in the Naval Observatory, but has 

 nothing whatever to do with the Nautical 

 Almanac office. 



The funeral services of the late Professor 

 Marsh were held in Battell Chapel, Yale Uni- 

 versity, on March 22d. President Dwight con- 

 ducted the ceremonies, and Professor George 

 F. Fisher, of the Theological School, read the 

 commemorative address. The pall-bearers were 

 Charles D. Walcott and Arnold Hague, of 

 Washington ; Professor Asaph Hal), Cambridge; 

 Professor H. A. Barker, University of Penn- 

 sylvania ; and Professors William H. Brewer, 

 Addison van Name, Edward S. Dana and Mr. 

 George F. Eaton, of Yale. 



Dr. Philipp J. J. Valentini, a student in 

 ancient Mexican and Central American history, 

 and author of numerous publications, died 

 March 16th, at St. Luke's Hospital, New York. 

 Dr. Valentini's interpretation of the Mexican 

 Calendar Stone placed him among the foremost 

 American archasologists. He was born in Ber- 

 lin in 1828, and received a careful training in 

 philology from his father, an Italian teacher of 

 languages and author of the first German- 



Italian dictionary. In 1854 Dr. Valentini went 

 to Costa Rica, and there founded the seaport of 

 Puerto Limon under government auspices. 

 Learning of the obscurity of the Spanish coloni- 

 zation of Costa Rica, he returned to Ger- 

 many to search for manuscript historical evi- 

 dence. His first results in this line brought 

 for him the recognition of Ph.D. from Jena. 

 Later Dr. Valentini returned to Central Amer- 

 ica, where, continuing his investigations, he 

 made many expeditions to Guatemala and 

 other parts of Central America. In this work 

 he received government encouragement, but 

 political disturbances prevented his Spanish 

 and German texts from being published by the 

 government. Recognizing that to thoroughly 

 understand Spanish conquests the pre-Colum- 

 bian peoples must be studied, he began work 

 upon the glyphs of the stone monuments and 

 codices. Thirty years ago he came to New 

 York to make use of the greater libraiy facili- 

 ties here, and since that time has been promi- 

 nent among students of Americana. The 

 American Antiquarian Society of Worcester 

 has published many of his papers. His most 

 recent publication is ' A Study of the Voyage of 

 Pinzon,' printed in German in 1898. The 

 major part of his notes and MSS. remain un- 

 published. 



Harlan I. Smith. 



Dr. Oliver Marcy, professor of natural 

 history in Northwestern University, and dean, 

 died at Evanston, 111., on March 19th. He was 

 a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a 

 member of the American Ornithologists' Union, 

 and of other scientific societies. 



Professor Gustav Wiedemann, professor 

 of physics and chemistry in the University of 

 Leipzig, well known for his contributions to 

 electricity and magnetism, has died. 



Major J. Evans, professor of pathology in 

 the Calcutta Medical College, died on March 

 13th from the plague. He is believed to have 

 contracted the disease while engaged upon the 

 post-mortem examination of a plague patient. 



American men of science should see that the 

 decimal system of weights and measures is 

 maintained in Cuba, Porto Rico and the Philip- 

 pines. It is the first principle of colonial gov- 



