Febeuaey 11, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



205 



sphere of intellect or of other gratification. 

 But the numerical increase of the race is 

 and must be inversely to the efibrt of the 

 individual to develop himself personally. 

 Kepublican civilization, he claims, contains 

 a toxic principle. The more intense and 

 general it becomes in a community, the 

 more acute becomes individualism, and this 

 will finally destroy the race and its culture. 

 There may, however, be a democracy di- 

 rected by science which can escape this 

 poison. "With this cheering but vague inti- 

 mation the article closes. 



D. G. Brinton. 

 Univeesity of Pennsylvania. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

 President McKinley has, as had been 

 feared, nominated the person from Martins- 

 burg, W. Va., named Bowers for United States 

 Fish Commissioner. Efforts should still be 

 made to prevent confirmation by the Senate, 

 but that talkative body has no time to listen, 

 and only irrelevant accidents are likely to 

 intervene. It is within the limits of possibility 

 that a man chosen by lot from a penitentiary 

 would make a better chief executive than the 

 present ' incumbrance,' and it is quite possible 

 that Mr. Bowers may become a competent Fish 

 Commissioner. His record should not be pre- 

 judged and he should be given all possible as- 

 sistance by men of science. No subsequent 

 events can, however, excuse Mr. McKinley. 

 Those having knowledge of his flabby character 

 will not be surprised when he does a weak and 

 foolish thing, but it is humiliating to know that 

 the President of the United States can deliber- 

 ately and with full knowledge perform an 

 illegal act. 



At the annual public meeting of the Paris 

 Academy of Sciences held on January 10th the 

 numerous prizes in the gift of the Academy 

 were awarded. Among these we may mention, 

 in addition to the Cuvier prize of 1,500 francs 

 awarded to Professor Marsh, and the Lalande 

 prize of 540 francs awarded to Professor Per- 

 rine, previously announced in Science, the 

 Poucelet prize of 2,000 francs awarded to M. R. 



Liouville for his work in mathematics and me- 

 chanics, the three La Caze prizes of 10,000 francs 

 each, in physics, to Professor P. Lenard for 

 his researches on the cathode rays, in chemis- 

 try to M. Paul Sabatier for his chemical re- 

 searches, and in physiology to Professor Ront- 

 gen for his researches on the properties of X- 

 rays and their application in therapeutics ; 

 the Parkin prize of 3,400 francs to Professor 

 Augustus Waller for his researches on the effects 

 produced by certain gases and vapors on the 

 nerves, the Grand prix des sciences physiques 

 of 3,000 francs to M. Joseph Vallot, founder of 

 the observatory near the summit of Mt. Blanc, 

 for his researches on the conditions of animal 

 and vegetable life in high altitudes ; and the 

 Petit d'Ormoy prize to the late M. Tisserand 

 for his researches, and especially for the Traite 

 de mecanique celeste. 



It is stated in Nature that the Council of the 

 Royal Astronomical Society have awarded the 

 gold medal of the Society for this year to Mr. 

 W. F. Denning, ' for his meteoric observations, 

 his cometary discoveries and other astronom- 

 ical work. ' 



It is reported that a prize of $10,000 is oflPered 

 by the Belgian governmentfor the discovery of a 

 chemical that will take the place of phosphorus 

 in the manufacture of matches. 



The U. S. National Museum has recently re- 

 ceived, by bequest, the ' I. H. Harris Collec- 

 tion,' composed of fossils and archseological 

 material. Mr. Harris, a graduate of Yale in 

 1846, was born in Waynesville, Ohio. This 

 village, like many other settlements in south- 

 western Ohio, is situated upon the Cincinnati 

 formation, widely known for its abundant and 

 well preserved Lower Silurian fossils. These 

 attracted his attention about 1846, and up to his 

 death, last October, Mr. Harris was constantly 

 in search of new or better preserved material. 

 The collection has more than 20,000 specimens, 

 of which about one-third are prehistoric stone 

 implements. Many of the latter are from the 

 vicinity of the interesting locality. Fort Ancient, 

 a short distance south of Waynesville. Crinoids, 

 trilobites and starfishes are the distinguishing 

 characteristics of this collection. Other Cincin- 

 nati'group fossils are also well represented, par- 



