June 9, 1899.] 



SCIENCE. 



823' 



knowledge of the facts of the case, and have control 

 of the situation, thus engendering a sense of security 

 and dispelling alarm. 



Second. The policy of concealment prevents those 

 living in the immediate neighborhood of infected 

 houses, or who may desire to visit such neighbor- 

 hoods, from taking necessary precautions for their 

 own protection, and in this way facilitates the spread 

 of the infection. 



Third. This course would vitiate the vital statis- 

 tics of the city and State, impairing their accuracy 

 and value, and destroying the confidence of the na- 

 tional health authorities and of those of other States 

 and cities in the trustworthiness of our returns. The 

 latter will, therefore, hesitate to advise their citizens 

 to visit a community which adopts the ostrich-like 

 policy of burying its head in the sand in the presence 

 of a danger, instead of frankly acknowledging and 

 bravely facing it. 



Eesoh^ed, That the Board, however, desires to ex- 

 press its belief that the danger at present existing is 

 not of a character to excite serious apprehension, its 

 entire confidence in the ability and intelligence of the 

 Health Department of the city, and its assurance 

 that the efficient measures which have been inaugu- 

 rated will speedily terminate this merely localized 

 outbreak. 



According to the London Times the commit- 

 tee which is organizing the German Antarctic 

 expedition has decided that the expedition is 

 to be composed of one ship only, any possible 

 disadvantages being compensated for by greater 

 independence and mobility. The vessel is to 

 be built entirely of wood. The committee are 

 confirmed in this decision by Nansen's expe- 

 rience with the Fram, and by their desire to 

 eliminate all possible causes of error in their 

 magnetic observations. The ship is to be laid 

 down this autumn, and the expedition is to be 

 ready to start in the autumn of 1901. It is to 

 be away two years altogether. After touching 

 at the Cape the expedition is to make for the 

 Antarctic Continent south of the Kerguelen 

 Islands, and there establish a scieutiflo station 

 at some point suitable for wintering. A pack 

 of Siberian dogs is to be taken, and dashes will 

 be made on sledges towards the South Pole and 

 the south magnetic pole. Meteorological ob- 

 servations will also be made from a captive 

 balloon. After the breaking-up of their winter 

 quarters the expedition will attempt to make 

 as complete a survey as possible of the coast 



line of the Antarctic Continent. The leader of 

 the expedition is to be Dr. von Drygalski, who 

 conducted the German exploration of Greenland 

 in the years 1891-9.3. The committee expresses 

 great satisfaction that the English Antarctic 

 expedition has at last been definitely decided 

 on, and points out that the value of the two 

 sets of meteorological observations will be 

 greatly enhanced by their being carried on si- 

 multaneously. According to their information, 

 the English expedition is to make the attempt 

 to penetrate southward from the South Pacific. 

 The meeting of the International Geographical 

 Congress in Berlin in October will give an op- 

 portunity for deciding on the details of the 

 scheme of cooperation. 



Owing to the public improvements in the 

 neighborhood of Parliament-street the Koyal 

 Meteorological Society has been obliged to va- 

 cate its oflBces in Great George- street, and find 

 accommodation elsewhere. The Council ulti- 

 mately took rooms at Prince's Mansions, 10, 

 Victoria Street, which have been fitted up to 

 meet the requirements of the Society. On the 

 evening of May 16th the President, Mr. F. C. 

 Bayard, held an ' at home ' in these new rooms, 

 which was largely attended by the Fellows. 

 An exhibition of instruments, photographs, etc., 

 was arranged in the various rooms, and there 

 were also several demonstrations by the lantern. 



A BLUE book has been issued by the British 

 government, giving a report prepared by Pro- 

 fessors Thorpe and Oliver and Dr. Cunning- 

 ham on the use of phosphorus in lucifer matches. 

 According to an abstract in Nature Professor 

 Thorpe deals with the questions from the 

 chemical standpoint, and enters into such mat- 

 ters as the differences between the allotropic 

 forms of phosphorus, the composition of phos- 

 phorus fumes, their solvent action on teeth, and 

 the composition of the various pastes, etc. , used 

 in the manufacture of matches. Full and illus- 

 trated accounts of the process of manufacture 

 are given, both in Great Britain and in other 

 countries, and the precautions taken to mini- 

 mize the danger of the workpeople. Dr. 

 Oliver, whose work in connection with other 

 dangerous trades is so well known, approaches 

 the question from the medical standpoint, and 



