696 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IX. No. 228. 



given a one-mill tax, whioli will, it is estimated, 

 yield about $168,000 yearly. 



At a meeting of the Board of Trustees of 

 Columbia University on May 1st President Low 

 announced that he would reimburse the Univer- 

 sity for the interest paid on money borrowed to 

 complete the library. .This will be about 875,- 

 000, making his total gift for the building 

 §1,200,000. The offer of the Chamber of Com- 

 merce to give $15,000 a year for a course in 

 commerce was accepted. 



Columbia University has recently received 

 a gift of $10,000, to be known as the Dyckman 

 Fund for the Encouragement of Biological Re- 

 search, the interest of which will be granted to 

 post-graduate students. The fund is established 

 by Mr. Isaac M. Dyckman in memory of his 

 two uncles, Jacob and James Dyckman, of the 

 classes of '10 and '11. The former of these, 

 although dying when scarcely over thirty years 

 of age, was a Fellow and Trustee of the College 

 of Physicians and Surgeons, Health Commis- 

 sioner of New York, and author of several 

 works on medical and biological subjects. A 

 second gift to the department of zoology is the' 

 continuance of the John D. Jones Scholarship, 

 which was created by the Wawepex Society 

 and includes a workplace in the Cold Spring 

 Harbor Biological Station. A third gift is the 

 collection of shells of Henry D. van Nostrand, 

 which comes to the University through the 

 generosity of his widow. This collection is 

 well known among malacologists. It is partic- 

 ularly rich in pulmonates. 



In order that the scientific museum of Prince- 

 ton University may have a complete collection 

 of the quails of this country, Mr. W. E. D. 

 Scott, curator of the museum, has sent out 800 

 circulars to members of the alumni, asking for a 

 pair of quail from each locality. From the 

 many favorable replies received it is probable 

 that the entire number desired will be secured 

 by the fall, making a collection especially valu- 

 able for studying the geographical variation of 

 the bird. Excellent progress is being made in 

 mounting representatives of the South Ameri- 

 can birds received from the Patagouian expe- 

 dition. The entire expense of this collection is 

 borne by John W. Garrett, of the class of 1895. 



The current issue of Nature gives an illustra- 

 tion of the proposed new buildings for the 

 Royal College of Science, South Kensington. 

 The British government has followed the ad- 

 vice of men of science and has decided to place 

 the building on the west side of Exhibition 

 Road, originally secured for that purpose from 

 the Exhibition Commissioners of 1851. 



The state of affairs in the Russian univer- 

 sities is not improving, and practically all the in- 

 stitutions for higher education in the Empire have 

 been closed until the end of the present academic 

 year. The expelled students have been scat- 

 tered all over Russia, by which means it may be 

 supposed the police are doing the most in their 

 power to spread discontent and possible revo- 

 lution. 



The following table sent us from the Univer- 

 sity of Michigan shows the ratio of the teaching 

 force to the number of students in ten of the 

 largest universities of the country. The first 

 column gives the number of persons composing 

 the faculty, including instructors of all grades ; 

 the second gives the total number of students 

 enrolled in the institution ; the third the pro- 

 portion of students to teachers. 



Faculty. Students. Ratio 



Johns Hopkins 123 641 5.2 



Cornell 328 2038 6.2 



Columbia 303 2185 7.2 



California 286 2391 8.3 



Northwestern 222 2019 9.1 



Harvard 411 3901 9.4 



Yale 255 2500 9.7 



Chicago 212 2307 10.9 



Pennsylvania 258 2834 10.9 



Michigan 222 3192 14.4 



Total 2620 24008 9.1 



Dr. Franz Boas, lecturer on physical anthro- 

 pology in Columbia University, has been elected 

 professor of anthropology in the same Univer- 

 sity. Dr. J. H. Caufield, President of the Ohio 

 State University, has been elected librarian. 



Dk. Max Wien, of the University of Wiirz- 

 burg, has been appointed associate professor of 

 physics in the Institute of Technology at Aix. 

 Professor Schrepfer, of Cologne, has been ap- 

 pointed professor of mechanical and electrical 

 engineering in the University of Wiirzburg. 



