June 16, 1899.] 



SCIENCE. 



853 



brationnerveuse,' and ou Monday evening Pro- 

 fessor Fleming will lecture on the ' Centenary of 

 the Electric Current.' Members of the Asso- 

 ciation Franjaise pour I'Avancement des Sci- 

 ences will visit Dover on Saturday, September 

 16th. Members of the British Association 

 are invited to visit Boulogne on Thursday, 

 September 21st. The Vice-Presidents for the 

 meeting are the Lord Archbishop of Canter- 

 bury, the Marquis of Salisbury, the Mayor 

 of Dover, the Major- General Commanding the 

 Southeastern District, the Right Hon. A. Akers- 

 Douglas, M.P., the Rev. F. W. Farrar, Dean 

 of Canterburj', Sir J. Norman Lockyer and 

 Professor G. H. Darwin. 



The Swiss Society of Natural Sciences will 

 hold its S2d annual meeting at Neuchfitel from 

 the 31st of July to the 2d of August. In ad- 

 dition to a number of special lectures the 

 Society meets in seven sections as follows ; 

 (1) Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy ; (2) 

 Chemistry, Pharmacology and Hygiene ; (3) 

 Zoology and Anthropology ; (4) Botany ; (5) Ge- 

 ology, Paleontology and Mineralogy ; (6) Med- 

 icine, and (7) Agriculture. At the same time 

 the Swiss Societies of Geology, Botany and Zo- 

 ology hold their annual sessions. A number of 

 Interesting excursions have been arranged and 

 foreign men of science are assured of a cordial 

 welcome. 



The position of superintendent of tree plant- 

 ing in the Division of Forestry, Department of 

 Agriculture, salary SI, 800 per annum, will be 

 filled by Civil Service examination on July 11th. 

 The subjects and weights are as follows : 



1. Forestry and Tree-planting, 60 



2. Botany, 10 



3. English, 10 



4. Training and Experience, 20 



The position of instrument maker at the 

 Naval Observatory, Washington (salary, $1,500 

 per annum), will be filled by an examination on 

 the same day. The examination will be al- 

 most exclusively confined to practical ques- 

 tions relating to the construction and mechan- 

 ical operation of telescopes of large size. 



The recent action of President McKinley 

 providing for the exemption of the higher 

 scientific positions in the Smithsonian Institu- 



tion from Civil Service examinations was taken 

 at the recommendation of the Board of Regents, 

 who find that leading men of science will not 

 take these examinations. 



The annual convention of the Association of 

 Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations 

 will be held in the hall of the California 

 Academy of Sciences, from the 5th to the 7th 

 of July. In addition to the ordinary meetings, 

 which are always of much interest, arrange- 

 ments have been made for an excursion of the 

 delegates on a special train for a study of the 

 agricultural industries of California. It will be 

 possible for delegates to make the trip to Cali- 

 fornia by paying about a single fare. Further 

 information may be obtained from the Secretary, 

 Professor Edward B. Vorhees, New Brunswick, 

 New Jersey. 



The Association of Ofiicial Agricultural 

 Chemists will hold its sixteenth annual meeting 

 at the same time and place as the Association 

 of American Agricultural Colleges and Experi- 

 ment Stations. Information concerning this 

 meeting can be secured by addressing the Sec- 

 tary, Dr. H. W. Wiley, Department of Agri- 

 culture, Washington, D. C. 



The American Medical Association held its 

 fiftieth annual meeting at Columbus, Ohio, last 

 week. The President, Dr. Joseph M. Matthews, 

 in his address, recommended that the society 

 be permanently located in Washington, and 

 that its journal be published in that city. Pro- 

 fessor W. W. Keen, of Philadelphia, was elected 

 President of the Association, and it was decided 

 that the next meeting should be at Atlantic 

 City, New Jersey. 



The Congress of the Royal Institute of Pub- 

 lic Health of Great Britain will be held in 

 Blackpool from September 21st to September 

 26th, under the presidency of the Marquis of 

 Lome. There will be four Sections : (a) Pre- 

 ventive Medicine and Vital Statistics ; (ft) 

 Chemistry and Meteorology ; (c) Engineering 

 and Building Construction ; {d) Municipal and 

 Parliamentary. 



The City of Bristol is now arranging for the 

 establishment of a reference scientific librarj^, 

 made possible by a bequest of £50,000 from the 

 late Mr. Stuckey Lean. 



