630 



SCIENCE. 



FN. S. Vol. IX. No. 226. 



from the bottom by means of a hose-pipe were 

 tried on the steamer. On the afternoon of 

 Saturday, April 1st, two of the workers in the 

 Biological Station went out to collect surface 

 plankton in a small boat. While hauling in the 

 tow-net when returning, the boat capsized, and 

 both were thrown into the water. One of them 

 (Mr. E. J. W. Harvey, of Liverpool) was picked 

 up by another boat from the Biological Station, 

 but his companion (Mr. Eric T. Townsend, of 

 Manchester) was unfortunately drowned before 

 assistance could reach him. The body was 

 eventually recovered. Mr. Townsend was a 

 student at the Owens College, and was occupy- 

 ing the College work-table at the Port Erin 

 Biological Station. 



De. L. Buscalioni is making collections in 

 Brazil for the Botanical Museum at Rome. 



The French government is sending an expe- 

 dition to the Congo to make a topographical 

 survey of the colony. 



M. Adrien de Gerlach, the chief of the 

 Belgian Antarctic expedition, will return with 

 the Belgica without further explorations after 

 repairs have been made at Buenos Ayres. M. 

 Artowski, the naturalist of the expedition is 

 already on his way home. Lieutenant Danco, 

 who had charge of the magnetic observations, 

 died in June, 1898. 



A RusBO-SwEDiSH scientific expedition will 

 start for the Spitzbergen Archipelago in May. 

 The Russians will be represented by Staff 

 Captain Sergiebsky, the zoologist Vinitsky, Dr. 

 Bunge and the geologist and mining engineer 

 Chernysheff. They will go in the Libau ice- 

 breaker No. 2, and the Bakan, and join the 

 Swedish party at Stockholm. The expedition 

 intends to winter in Spitzbergen, the Russians 

 at Edge Island and the Swedes at Parry Island. 



As we have already stated, the next annual 

 meeting of the British Association will be held 

 at Dover under the presidency of Professor 

 Michael Foster, commencing on Wednesday, 

 September 13th. For the benefit of Americans 

 who may propose attending the meeting, it 

 may be added that notice of papers pro- 

 posed to be read should be sent before July 1st 

 to the Assistant General Secretary, Mr. G. 



Griffith, at the office of the Association, Burling- 

 ton House, London. 



An electrical exposition will be held in Madi- 

 son Square Garden, New York, during the 

 month of May. 



The King of the Belgians, as Sovereign of 

 the Congo Free State, has contributed £200 to- 

 ward the establishment of the London School 

 of Tropical Medicine, and the Secretary of State 

 for India has subscribed £1,000. The Arch- 

 bishop of Canterbury has also contributed £50 

 to the same object. Lord Lister, President of 

 the Royal Society, was the principal guest 

 on the occasion of the inaugural dinner in con- 

 nection with the Liverpool School for the Study 

 of Tropical Diseases on the 22d inst. A sum of 

 £1,700 has been promised towards the expenses 

 of the Liverpool School. 



The Kansas State Legislature has appro- 

 priated $25,000 for a dairy building at the Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station and $6,000 for its 

 equipment. The Oklahoma Legislature has ap- 

 propriated $30,000 for buildings and equipment 

 for its Agricultural Station. 



It is said that the estate left by the late 

 Baroness de Hirsch has been valued at $125,- 

 000,000, of which $100,000,000 will be ex- 

 pended in carrying out the various charities 

 founded or fostered by the Baron and Baroness. 

 The Hirsch Foundation in New York City re- 

 ceives $1,200,000. 



Mr. Andrew Carnegie has increased his 

 donation for the Washington Free Library 

 from $250,000 to $300,000, in order that the 

 building may be of more artistic construction. 



We learn from The Auk that the Philadel- 

 phia Academy of Natural Sciences has acquired 

 the collection of bird skins made by Mr. Joseph 

 Hoopes, of West Chester, Pa. It contains more 

 than 7,000 specimens, nearly all being North 

 American land birds. 



The following are the lecture arrange- 

 ments after Easter at the Royal Institution : 

 Professor J. Cossar Ewart, three lectures on 

 zebras and zebra hybrids ; Professor Silvanus 

 P. Thompson, two lectures on electric eddy-cur- 

 rents (the Tyndall Lectures) ; Professor W. J. 

 Sollas, three lectures on geology ; Professor 



