Jandaby 24, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



143 



in the true sense; such naturalists becoming 

 fewer as the years pass. 



The eaptains and the kings depart. 



FoRDYCE Grinnell, Jr. 

 Pasadena, California 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 

 Sir Henry Eoscoe celebrated his eightieth 

 birthday on January 7 at Woodcote Lodge, 

 West Horsley. His former pupils and 

 friends have resolved to commemorate the oc- 

 casion by presenting his bust to the Chemical 

 Society of London. A deputation headed by 

 Sir Edward Thorpe went to Woodcote and 

 presented an address of congratulation. 



The twenty-fifth anniversary of Professor 

 Charles Richet's appointment to the chair of 

 physiology at the Faculte de medecine de 

 Paris was celebrated on December 22. He 

 was presented with a Festschrift containing 

 some eighty contributions from distinguished 

 physiologists, and addresses of congratulation 

 were made. 



Captain Eoald Amundsen received the gold 

 medal of the American Geographical Society 

 on January 14, when he addressed in Car- 

 negie Hall an audience of 3,000 persons. He 

 win receive the gold medal of the Geographical 

 Society of Chicago on Febriiary 3. He will 

 be the first to receive this medal, as he was the 

 first to receive the Culver Gold medal in 1907. 



Professor George C. Comstock, director of 

 Washburn Observatory, University of Wiscon- 

 sin, has been elected a fellow of the American 

 Academy of Arts and Sciences. 



Dr. Georg Cantor, professor of mathematics 

 at Halle, has been made an honorary doctor 

 of the University of St. Andrews. 



Major Sir Eonald Eoss, F.E.S., has been 

 appointed physician for tropical diseases to 

 King's College Hospital, and will take up his 

 duties in the autumn, after the removal of the 

 hospital to Denmark Hill. Sir Eonald Eoss 

 is now professor of tropical sanitation in the 

 University of Liverpool. 



Professor Pranz Boas, of Columbia Uni- 

 versity, has been appointed lecturer in anthro- 



pology at Harvard University for the second 

 half year. 



At the recent meeting of the American 

 Phytopathological Society at Cleveland the 

 following officers were elected for 1913 : 



President — F. C. Stewart, New York Agricul- 

 tural Experiment Station, Geneva, N. Y. 



Vice-president — Haven Metealf, U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 



Secretary-treasurer — C. L. Shear, U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, Washington, D. G. 



Cmmcillor — ^W. J. Morse, Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station, Orono, Me. 



The society decided to hold its nest annual 

 meeting at Atlanta, Georgia, in conjunction 

 with the American Association for the Ad- 

 vancement of Science. 



Professor A. S. Hitchcock, systematic 

 agrostologist, U. S. Department of Agricul- 

 ture, has returned from the West Indies. He 

 visited Jamaica, Trinidad, Tobago and, inci- 

 dentally, Cartigena and Puerto de Colombia. 

 In Jamaica 643 numbers of grasses were ob- 

 tained, representing about 168 species, and 

 including all except four of the species known 

 from this island, and many species not hith- 

 erto recorded. From Trinidad 337 numbers 

 were collected, representing 140 species, and 

 from Tobago 90 numbers representing 65 

 species. Mr. Hitchcock was successful in 

 recollecting nearly all the species whose type 

 localities are in these islands. 



Professor William J. G. Land, of the de- 

 partment of botany of the University of Chi- 

 cago, has returned with a large collection of 

 botanical specimens from Australia and the 

 islands of the Pacific. 



Mr. a. C. Veatch, formerly chairman of 

 the Land Classification Board of the United 

 States Geological Survey, has arrived at the 

 Cosmos Club, Washington, D. C, from Lon- 

 don. He expects to spend a short time in the 

 United States looking for men to assist him 

 in his geological investigations, which have 

 extended to many parts of the world. 



Professor J. E. Duerden, Ehodes Univer- 

 sity College, Grahamstown, South Africa, has 

 been invited by the government of British 



