58 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. Vir. No. 159. 



jects which represent how our near an- 

 cestors worked and played. No recent 

 pablication better illustrates how much of 

 worth there is in such a collection than a 

 descriptive catalogue of objects in the Mu- 

 seum of the Historical Society of Bucks 

 County, Pa., prepared by Mr. Henry C- 

 Mercer. It bears the felicitous title ' Tools 

 of the Nation Maker,' and is handsomely 

 printed and covered. The notes, folk- 

 songs, etc., which the author adds render 

 it much more than a catalogue, and the in- 

 dex is a model of completeness. Copies can 

 be obtained through Mr. Mercer (Doyles- 

 town, Pa.). 



RACIAL GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE. 



On previous occasions attention has been 

 called in these notes to the excellent series 

 of articles on the racial geography of 

 Europe contributed by Professor W. Z. 

 Ripley to the Popular Science Monthly. The 

 eleventh instalment, that in the December 

 number, dealt with the British Isles, and is 

 of special interest to English-speaking peo- 

 ples. In preparing it Professor Eipley was 

 actively aided b}"^ members of the Anthro- 

 pological Institute of Great Britain, and 

 officially by that institution itself. His 

 article, therefore, represents the most re- 

 cent and thorough scientific study of the 

 population of the British Isles. 



D. G. Brinton. 



Univeesity of Pennsylvania. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 



THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



As directed by the American Society of Na- 

 turalists, Professor Henry F. Osboru presented 

 to President McKinley, on January 7th, the 

 resolution passed by the Society at the Ithaca 

 meeting, and published in the last issue of this 

 Journal. As it is desirable to give this resolu- 

 tion the widest possible circulation, it may be 



" Besolved, That the American Society of Natural- 

 ists, as representatives of the principal scientific and 



educational interests of this country, unanimously ex- 

 press to the President and Congress of the United 

 States their sentiment that the Commissioner of Fish 

 and Fisheries should, according to the law of 1888, 

 governing his appointment, be ' a person of proved 

 scientific and practical acquaintance with the fish and 

 fisheries of the coast.' 



^^ Resolved, That it is of the utmost importance 

 that the Fish Commission, as one of the most useful 

 scientific institutious of the government, should be 

 free from political influence and should be adminis- 

 tered with the highest degree of scientific efiiciency 

 by an experienced officer. ' ' 



The President received the resolution very 

 courteously and replied that he recognized it as 

 representing the sentiment of all the institu- 

 tions of the country, and that the United States 

 Fish Commission should cooperate with the col- 

 leges as originally planned by Spencer F. Baird. 

 His decision in the matter of appointment will 

 not be made public at present. 



THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



On September 15, 1897, the Council of the 

 Geological Society of Washington invited the 

 other societies represented in the Joint Commis- 

 sion of the Scientific Societies of Washington to 

 appoint ' a committee of conference, to meet 

 similar committees from other societies,' for the 

 consideration of certain questions relating to 

 the joint organization of the scientific societies. 

 In response to this invitation, the following 

 committees were appointed : From the Anthro- 

 pological Society, Frank Baker, W J McGee, 

 Lester F. Ward ; from the Biological Society, 

 L. O. Howard, C. Hart Merriam, George M. 

 Sternberg ; from the Chemical Society, C. E. 

 Munroe, W. H. Seaman, Wirt Tassin ; from the 

 Entomological Society, W. H. Ashmead, Theo- 

 dore Gill, C , L. Marlatt ; from the National 

 Geographic Society, Henry Gannett, G. K. Gil- 

 bert, Gardiner G. Hubbard ; from the Geolog- 

 ical Society, Whitman Cross, S. F. Emmons, 

 Arnold Hague ; and from the Philosophical 

 Society, Marcus Baker, J. R. Eastman, Bernard 

 R. Green. This Committee of Conference met 

 on December 6 aud organized by the election of 

 J. R. Eastman as Chairman and Whitman 

 Cross as Secretary ; other meetings were held 

 on December 9 and 11. After full discussion, 

 the following resolutions, among others, were 



