May 26, 1899. J 



SCIENCE. 



r57 



The Council of the American Chemical So- 

 ciety has authorized the establishment of a sec- 

 tion to be known as the Philadelphia Section, 

 with headquarters in Philadelphia, Pa., having 

 a territory with a radius of sixty miles from the 

 Philadelphia City Hall. 



The foundation-stone of the extension of 

 South Kensington Museum, henceforward to 

 be known as the Victoria and Albert Museum, 

 was laid by Queen Victoria on Maj' 17th. 

 Several members of the royal family, foreign 

 diplomatists and members of both Houses of 

 Parliament were among those attending. The 

 Duke of Devonshire, the Home Secretary, and 

 Mr. Akers Douglas took a prominent part in 

 the proceedings. The Prince of Wales assisted 

 the Queen in the actual laying of the founda- 

 tion-stone. 



A BILL has been introduced into the British 

 Parliament for establishing a Department of 

 Agriculture and other Industries and Technical 

 Instruction in Ireland, and for other purposes 

 conected therewith. 



The United States Civil Service Commission 

 announces that applicants for the position of 

 Inspector of Standards (Office of Standard 

 Weights and Measures), TJ. S. Coast and Geo- 

 detic Survey (Treasury Department), at a salary 

 of $3,000 per annum, will be permitted to file 

 their applications as late as July 15, 1899, in- 

 stead of June 1, 1899, as previously announced. 



The Examiners of the U. S. Civil Service 

 Examination for a " Sloyd Teacher" in the 

 Indian Service (Dept. Interior) failed to find 

 candidates, April 11th. The examination will 

 now be held June 6th-7th and the successful 

 applicant will receive $600 per annum for teach- 

 ing " basket Sloyd" and carving. 



Mayor Van Wyck, of New York, has signed 

 the resolution of the Municipal Assembly pro- 

 viding for the issue of $500,000 bonds to defray 

 the expenses of removing the old reservoir from 

 Bryant Park and building the foundations for 

 the new library. The contract for the work 

 will be let immediately by the Board of Esti- 

 mate, and the work of tearing down the reser- 

 voir will be begun as soon as practicable. 



An anonymous gift of $25,000 has been made 

 •to Long Island College Hospital for the endow- 



ment of a fellowship in the department of pa 

 thology. The gift is to be known as the Van 

 Cott Fellowship, in honor of Dr. Joshua Van 

 Cott, the director of the laboratory. 



The French ("hamber of Deputies has voted 

 an annual appropriation of 92,000 fr. for the 

 publication of the Photographic Atlas of the 

 Stars. 



The French Association for the Advancement 

 of Science will meet at Boulogne on the 14th of 

 September, 1899. As we have already stated, 

 the British Association will meet at the same 

 time at Dover, the meetings of the two Associa- 

 tions having been arranged so as to provide for 

 an exchange of hospitalities. 



The Indian Plague Commission has returned 

 to London and is continuing its meetings in that 

 city. 



The daily papers report that a letter from 

 Andree has been found on the northeast coast 

 of Iceland and has been forwarded, as addressed, 

 to Gothenburg, Sweden. 



An exhibition is being arranged at The 

 Hague to illustrate what was accomplished by 

 the Netherlands prior to the present century in 

 navigation, discoveries, trade and fisheries. 

 Those in America who possess objects that might 

 be useful for exhibition are requested to com- 

 municate with the Honorary Secretary, Mr. G. 

 P. Van Hecking Colenbrander, The Hague. 



We learn from the London Times that the two 

 royal gold medals of the Royal Geographical 

 Society have this year been awarded to two 

 Frenchmen, both of them distinguished explo- 

 rers. Only one French explorer, Francis Gar- 

 nier, has hitherto figured on the Society's list 

 of honors, and only one other Frenchman, 

 Elisee Reclus. The founder's medal has this 

 year been awarded to Captain Binger, who in 

 the years 1887-89 carried out an extensive 

 series of explorations in the vast area included 

 in the bend of the Niger. During these jour- 

 neys Captain Binger explored much country 

 previously unknown, took numerous astro- 

 nomical observations on which to base a map of 

 the region, and in other departments of geog- 

 raphy did a great amount of work of high 

 scientific value. The results of Captain Bin- 

 ger's explorations were published in 1892 in 



