130 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VII. No. 161, 



ing meetiDgs of the members were to be resumed 

 on January 21st, when Sir John Lubbock, Bart., 

 M.P., delivered a discourse on 'Buds and 

 Stipules.' 



The subjects and dates of the lectures to be 

 given at the Teachers' College, New York, by 

 Professors James and Shaler, of Harvard Uni- 

 versity, have now been arranged as follows : 

 Professor James will lecture on ' The Gospel of 

 Relaxation,' at 3:30 p. m., on January 28th, and 

 Professor Shaler on ' The Use of the Environ- 

 ment in Education,' at noon on February 19th. 



The Scientific Society of Bridgeport, Conn. , 

 has been given a large collection of birds and cells 

 gathered some time ago by Rev. Mr. Ijinsley. 



It is stated in the Atlienxum that MM. H. 

 Lachambre and A. Machuron are going to issue 

 an illustrated account of the making and equip- 

 ping of M. Andree's balloon and of his first 

 attempt to start in 1896, which was frustrated 

 by bad weather, as well as of his actual disap- 

 pearance into the unknown in 1897. The 

 authors accompanied M. Andr6e to Spitzbergen, 

 the one in the former year, the other on the 

 later occasion. The book, which contains a 

 brief biography of M. Andree, is to be published 

 in England by Messrs. Constable. The same 

 firm is to bring out Mr. Trevor Battye's new 

 book, 'A Northern Highway of the Czar.' 



Messes. A. & C. Black will publish the lec- 

 tures given by Dr. D. H. Scott at University 

 College, London, last year, under the title 

 ' Studies in Fossil Botany.' 



The American Journal of Pharmacy has issued 

 an appeal for subscriptions in the United States 

 towards a fund for the erection of statues in 

 Paris to M. Pelletier and M. Caventon, the dis- 

 coverers of quinine and strychnine. 



De. Elliott Coues has been offered a posi- 

 tion on one of the committees of the forthcom- 

 ing International Zoological Congress, and in- 

 tends being present at Cambridge. 



The U. S. Civil Service Commission announces 

 that an examination will be held on February 

 23, 1898, at Washington, D. C, and other 

 places throughout the United States for the 

 position of assistant microscopist in the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. This examination will 

 consist of a very light educational test, together 



with practical questions on the use of the micro- 

 scope. The microscopical inspection service 

 under the Department of Agriculture has been 

 greatly extended, and vacancies are to be filled 

 in sixteen diflferent cities. Only women are 

 eligible for this position. 



The American Geographical Society held its 

 annual meeting on January 17th, at Chickering 

 Hall, New York, when the following officers 

 were elected by unanimous vote : Ex-Judge 

 Charles P. Daly, President, to act for one year ; 

 Egbert L. Viele, Vice-President, to act until 

 1901 ; W. B. Jones, Treasurer, to act until 

 1899 ; Anton A. Raven, Recording Secretary, 

 to act until 1901 ; L. Holbrook, M. K. Jessup, 

 Gustav A. Kissell, John A. Haddon and Henry 

 Paush. Rev. Dr. C. C. Tiffany presided over 

 the meeting. Forty-eight new members were 

 elected, bringing the membership up to 

 1,187. The committee appointed to consider 

 the erection of a new building reported that, 

 while the present building at No. 11 West 29th 

 Street is too small, the funds of the Society 

 would not permit of the erection of a new 

 building at the present time. 



Unsuccessful attempts have been made in 

 St. Louis and in Milwaukee to repeat the opera- 

 tion of total exsection of the stomach, success- 

 fully carried out by Dr. Schlatter. 



The bubonic plague continues unabated in 

 India ; influenza is epidemic in London, and 

 there has been a serious outbreak of typhoid 

 fever in Philadelphia, due, it is thought, to the 

 breaking of a sewer and the emptying of its- 

 contents into the water supply of the city. 



The St. Petersburg Institute of Experimental 

 Medicine held its annual meeting on December 

 20th, at which an address on the bubonic plague 

 was delivered by M. Wladimiroff, and a report 

 was presented by the Director of the Institute, 

 Dr. Lukjanoff. It was stated that 120 persons- 

 had been engaged in research at the Institute, 

 and that sixty-five investigations had been pub- 

 lished. Three hundred and sixty-three persons 

 had been treated for hydrophobia by antirabie 

 inoculations, with a mortality of 0.7 per cent. 

 g,nd 25,000 tubes of anti-diphtheria serum had 

 been supplied. 



As we have already announced, the ninth 



