"278 



SGIENGE. 



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



and Tertiary Plants of North America,' embra- 

 cing 2,652 species and varieties. In 1876 Pro- 

 fessor Leo Ijesquereux published a catalogue of 

 similar scope, but at that time only 706 species 

 were known, which shows that th.e knowledge 

 of our fossil floras has increased rapidly within 

 the past twenty years. The Catalogue will be 

 published as a Bulletin of the U. S. Geological 

 Survey. 



The Moniteur Induatriel of January 29th 

 states that the objections to wood as a pavement 

 are appearing in very noticeable ways in Paris, 

 and have been observed for a long time. Re- 

 cently, the unhealthy and nauseating surface 

 moisture and deposits have become so objection- 

 able that it has been decided to endeavor to find 

 a remedy. The men repairing the payment 

 have been subject to epidemic illness. Cement 

 will probably be used to cover the surface of 

 the pavement in some cases, experimentally at 

 least. Creoline is used as a disinfectant, mean- 

 time, and is said to have proved quite unsatis- 

 factory. In cases of analysis by Drs. Miquel, 

 Rodet and Nicolas, from 17,000 to 50,000 mi- 

 crobes have been found in a gramme of the de- 

 posit from the surface of the pavement. Asphalt 

 blocks are recommended in substitution, and 

 it is proposed that all wooden pavements within 

 the city limits be removed. 



The Baldwin locomotive works, of Philadel- 

 phia, have received an additional order from 

 the Russian government for fourteen locomo- 

 tives, making in all thirty-four locomotives 

 now in course of construction for the Russian 

 government. 



Trout have been successfully introduced into 

 the streams of Australasia, and the Government 

 of New Zealand is now importing a large num- 

 ber of salmon over from Great Britain. 



The certificate of incorporation of ' The 

 Thomas W. Evans Museum and Institute So- 

 ciety ' has been filed in Philadelphia, the board 

 of trustees consisting of leading citizens. It 

 will be remembered that Dr. Evans left the 

 larger part of his estate for the foundation of a 

 dental institute to be located in West Philadel- 

 phia. Philadelphia is already well supplied 

 with schools of dentistry, and it seems probable 

 that this large sum of money, said to be about 



$4,000,000, will not be used to the best possible 

 advantage, even supposing it be not divided 

 among the lawyers. 



The following resolution was unanimously 

 adopted at a meeting of the New York Academy 

 of Medicine on February 17th : ' ^Resolved, That 

 the Fellows of the New York Academy of 

 Medicine do earnestly recommend the estab- 

 lishment of a Bureau of Health, with the power 

 to administer within constitutional limits the 

 sanitary needs of the United States. The New 

 York Evening Post advocates the measure, de- 

 voting to it an editorial, a column and a-half in 

 length, in the course of which it says: " One of 

 the most urgent needs of this country to-day is 

 the establishment of a National Health Bureau, 

 of which a supervision and harmonizing of 

 quarantine procedures might well be a function, 

 but by no means the most important one. To 

 turn into useful channels, without delay, facts 

 which patient toilers in science are daily bring- 

 ing to light ; to prosecute research in new 

 fields of promise for the physical welfare of the 

 citizens ; to create a standard for public sani- 

 tary measures ; to harmonize, and, when called 

 upon, to direct such measures in different States; 

 to investigate the great and growing problems 

 of public water supplies which touch upon 

 many fields involving the individual rights of as- 

 sociated States of the Union; to secure interna- 

 tional cooperation in guarding or suppressing 

 the centers of distribution of infectious material 

 the world over ; to collect statistics of disease 

 and render available the fruitful lessons which 

 they bear; to hold in readiness the machinery 

 for the suppression of epidemic disease when 

 called upon by stricken communities — these 

 are some of the urgent functions of a National 

 Health Bureau, whose organization cannot too 

 soon be under way." 



Secretary Long has recommended that the 

 corps of naval professors of mathematics be 

 discontined as part of the naval establisment. 

 His recommendation is accompanied by the fol- 

 lowing memorandum: "The reason for the 

 creation of the office has passed away. These 

 professors were, at first, teachers of midship- 

 men on board ship, and were thus exposed to 

 the dangers of service in war and at sea. They 



