January 14, 1898. ] 



SCIENCE. 



59 



adopted aud recommended to the governing 

 boards of the several scientific societies : 



" Besolved, That in the judgment of this Committee, 

 the autonomy of the several scientific societies should 

 he maintained. 



" Resolved, That in the judgmentof this Committee 

 the Joint Commission should be modified in the fol- 

 lowing particulars : 



1st, That its name be changed to the "Washington 

 Academy of Sciences ; 2d, That it assume indepen- 

 dent scientific functions ; 3d, That it have power to 

 add to its members. 



" Eesoloed, That the Committee therefore recom- 

 mends to the several societies that they instruct the 

 Joint Commission to take such action as may be 

 necessary to carry the above recommendations into 

 effect." 



The conferees subsequently reported their 

 action to the governing boards of the several so- 

 cieties, and all of these have adopted the resolu- 

 tions substantially as voted by the Committee 

 of Conference. The matter comes up for action 

 at a special meeting of the Joint Commission on 

 January 11th. 



THE SWEDISH ARCTIC EXPEDITION OF 1898. 



The preparations for this expedition are de- 

 scribed in a recent issue of the London Times. 

 It will be under the leadership of Dr. A. G. 

 Nathorst, who accompanied Nordenskjold in 

 his Greenland expedition of 1883. Its main ob- 

 ject is to examine the eastern side of Spitz- 

 bergen, Wiche's Land and New Island — in short, 

 the region between Spitzbergen and Franz 

 Josef Land. But, as this area will probably 

 not be accessible in the beginning of next sum- 

 mer. Dr. Nathorst intends to carrj' on investi- 

 gations in western Spitzbergen, Northeast Land, 

 Bear Island, etc. He has bought the ' Antarctic,' 

 which in 1895 carried the whaling expedition to 

 the South Polar Sea; it is now being overhauled 

 and equipped for the expedition. The captain 

 will be Emil Nilsson, who has been several 

 times to the Yenisei and who commanded 

 the 'Sofia' during Nordenskjold's Greenland 

 expedition in 1883. Dr. Nathorst himself 

 will have special charge of the geological work. 

 The zoologist will be Mr. G. Kolthoff, of Up- 

 sala, curator of the fine biological museum at 

 Stockholm. He also was in the 1883 expedi- 

 tion, and has made ornithological expeditions 



to Iceland and the Faros. Dr Axel Ohlen, of 

 Lund, will also look after the zoology. He has 

 dredged off the east coast of Greenland, has 

 visited Baffin's Bay and Melville Bay, and was 

 in the recent Swedish expedition to Tierra del 

 Fuego. Dr. Gruner Andersen will be the bot- 

 anist. He has studied the Arctic flora on the 

 mountains of Sweden and Norway. The hydrog- 

 rapher will probably be Dr. Axel Humberg, 

 also a well-known geologist ; he also was in the 

 1883 expedition. The hydrographical work 

 will form a very important part of the researches 

 of the expedition. The cartographical work 

 will be under the charge of Lieutenant Otto 

 Kjellstrom ; in this department photographic 

 methods will be utilized as an aid to the ordi- 

 nary methods. Special attention will be given 

 to glaciers wherever found, and the surgeon. 

 Dr. E. T. Levin, will investigate the occurrence 

 of bacteria in the Arctic regions. 



GENERAL. 



There were in attendance at the Ithaca meet- 

 ing of the American Society of Naturalists and 

 Afliliated Societies 166 members coming from 47 

 institutions. 



Among those who have accepted nominations 

 as Vice-Presidents of the General Committee of 

 the Fourth International Congress of Zoology 

 are the following: Professor R. J. Anderson, 

 of Belfast ; Professor Bridge, of Birmingham ; 

 Professor D. J. Cunningham, of Dublin ; Pro- 

 fessor Herdman, F.R.S., of Liverpool; Profes- 

 sor M'Intosh, F.R.S., of St. Andrews ; Mr. J. 

 Cosmo Melvill, of Manchester ; Professor Lloyd 

 Morgan, of Bristol ; Professor Alleyne Nichol- 

 son, F.R.S., of Aberdeen; Dr. Scharfl', of Dub- 

 lin ; Dr. Traquair, F.R.S. , of Edinburgh; 

 Canon Tristram, F.R.S., of Durham; Lieuten- 

 ant-Colonel R. G. Wardlaw Ramsay, and Pro- 

 fessor Percival Wright, of Dublin. 



As we learn from Nature, the Council of the 

 London Chemical Society have recommended 

 the following as foreign members to be balloted 

 for at the next meeting, January 20th : Pro- 

 fessor Remsen, Baltimore; Professor Troost, 

 Paris ; Professor Moissan, Paris ; Professor 

 Raoult, Grenoble; Professor Oswald, Leipzig; 

 Professor Curtius, Bonn; Professor Mensutkin, 

 St. Petersburg; Professor Markownikow, St. 



