258 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VII. No. 165. 



HODGKINS FUND. 



The Hodgkins medals of award were re- 

 ceived at the Institution on the 13th of 

 July, 1896, and were transmitted on the 

 same day to those competitors for the 

 Hodgkins fund prizes who were recom- 

 mended hy the committee to receive medals. 

 A replica of the medal was sent to each 

 of the members of the Hodgkins advisory 

 committee and to certain specialists who, 

 without compensation, had rendered valu- 

 able aid in connection with the competi- 

 tion. A replica was also sent to the firm 

 of Evarts, Choate & Beaman, the legal 

 counsel of Mr. Hodgkins, and to Dr. 

 Chambers, his medical adviser and long- 

 time friend, as a memento of valued ser- 

 vices rendered in connection with the 

 Hodgkins bequest to the Institution. 



In July, 1896, Mr. E. C. C. Baly, of Uni- 

 versity College, London, a Hodgkins com- 

 petitor, whose memoir received honorable 

 mention, was awarded a grant of $750 to 

 enable him to prosecute further his investi- 

 gations on the decomposition of the atmos- 

 phere by means of the passage of the- elec- 

 tric spark. A report of the research, so far 

 as it has progressed, has been received from 

 Mr. Baly. 



Under an additional grant to Dr. S. Weir 

 Mitchell and Dr. John S. Billings investi- 

 gations have been conducted in the Labora- 

 tory of Hygiene of the University of Penn- 

 sylvania, upon the effect which a pro- 

 longed exposure to vitiated air has upon 

 the power of individuals to resist infectious 

 diseases. Dr. D. H. Bergey, who con- 

 ducted the experiments, reports that he 

 subjected certain animals to an impure at- 

 mosphere, and found that while it appar- 

 ently lowered their vitality he was unable 

 to attenuate the fluids used for inoculating 

 the diseases so that they would kill such a 

 weakened animal while not affecting a vig- 

 orous one. Still, animals inoculated for 

 tuberculosis died much earlier when ex- 



posed to impure air. As these results may 

 doubtless be applied to all warm-blooded 

 animals, including man, it would appear 

 that we have here an important confirma- 

 tion of the clinical observation that tuber- 

 culosis thrives most in vitiated air. 



January 15, 1897, a grant of $500 was 

 made to Mr. A. Lawrence Botch, Director 

 of the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory 

 at Beadville, Mass., to be used in securing 

 automatic kite records of meteorological 

 conditions at an altitude of 10,000 feet or 

 more. An additional grant of $400 was 

 later made to Mr. Botch for continuing his 

 experiments in connection with the explora- 

 tions of the upper air. 



With a view to being prepared to ap- 

 ply most advantageously the accruing in- 

 terest from that portion of the fund devoted 

 to investigations connected with the atmos- 

 phere, the Secretary has conferred, during 

 the year, with specialists in this country 

 and Europe, upon the subject of researches 

 suitable to be aided from the Hodgkins 

 fund. 



The six Hodgkins memoirs which have 

 been published by the Institution were is- 

 sued in February and March, 1897, and a 

 copy of each was sent to all persons who 

 had submitted papers in connection with 

 the competition. 



NAPLES TABLE. 



As stated in my last report, the Institu- 

 tion has renewed the lease of the Smith- 

 sonian table at the Zoological Station of 

 Naples for a second term of three years, 

 this action being in accordance with the 

 urgent solicitation of the faculties of sev- 

 eral colleges and universities and of many 

 of the leading biologists of the country. 



At my earnest request Dr. Billings has 

 continued as Chairman of the Advisory 

 Committee, which has rendered most effi- 

 cient aid in examining testimonials and in 

 recommending action with regard to appli- 



