Maech 4, 1898.] 



SGIENGE. 



317 



Railroad, as is well known, the University has 

 lost an income of $150,000 from funds invested 

 in the railroad by the late Johns Hopkins. 

 The sum of $250,000, $50,000 per annum, has 

 been subscribed by friends of the University, 

 but in spite of this the University is seriously 

 hampered by the loss of its former income. 



The new building erected for the Ohio Uni- 

 versity at Athens has just been completed. It 

 is a T-shaped structure, having a front of 156 

 feet and a depth of 131 feet. It contains an 

 auditorium capable of seating about nine hun- 

 dred persons ; a gymnasium having a floor 

 space of three thousand feet ; a physical and 

 electrical laboratory, a number of recitation 

 rooms, oflBces, music-rooms, etc. The Ohio 

 University is the oldest institution for higher 

 education in the Northwest Territory, having 

 been chartered in 1804. The main building, 

 which is still in use, was erected in 1817. Ohio 

 has now four universities, all of which have 

 been provided by the Legislature with a per- 

 manent income. 



Colby University will begin at once the erec- 

 tion of a chemical laboratory to cost not less 

 than $30,000. 



The Alumnse Association of Bryn Mawr Col- 

 lege has presented the College with $8,000 for 

 a scholarship as a memorial to the first Presi- 

 dent of the College, the late Dr. James E. 

 Rhodes. 



Dr. Charles de Gaemo, President of Swarth- 

 more College, has been elected professor of the 

 science and art of education at Cornell Univer- 

 sity. At the same University Professor H. W. 

 Hibberd, of the University of Minnesota, has 

 been elected assistant professor of railway en- 

 gineering. 



Dr. H. Ebert, of Kiel, has been appointed 

 professor of physics at Munich. 



M. Jenveessb has been appointed professor 

 of industrial and agricultual chemistry in Be- 

 sanyon, M. Dubois associate professor of chem- 

 istry at Claremont, and M. Matignon lecturer 

 in mineralogical chemistry at Lille, filling 

 temporarily the chair vacant by the death of 

 M. Joli. 



An anonymous donor has offered £10,000 

 for the extension of the buildings of Aberdeen 



University on condition that the government 

 grant £20,000 for this purpose. It is expected 

 that the town will also assist. 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 



BREVITY IN CITATIONS. 



To THE Editor of Science: In one small mat- 

 ter, at least, the bibliographical reform which is 

 making great strides has as yet failed to produce 

 any improvement over past conditions. And 

 it is not in the spirit of criticism, but in the 

 hope that needed relief may be afforded, that 

 public attention is hereby called to this item. 



All authors who devote that care to biblio- 

 graphical citations which is desirable give an 

 exact statement of the volume, pages, plates, 

 etc., for each paper or work to which reference 

 is made ; and one might well wish that this 

 were at times more general, especially where 

 an entire half day has been devoted to the 

 search of a loosely quoted passage which hap- 

 pens to be essential to the point in mind. No 

 one would desire to limit or in any way dis- 

 courage this practice, but there is one feature 

 that seems to be a waste of space, time and en- 

 ergy — namely, the endless repetition of the 

 words volume, number, part and page, or their 

 equivalent in some other language. Even in the 

 usual abbreviated form in which such words ap- 

 pear they mean, in the aggregate, not a little 

 space and time to both author and publisher. 

 I am aware that individuals have endeavored 

 more or less consistently and sometimes suc- 

 cessfully to abandon them, but despite this the 

 words continue to be generally used. Is this 

 not largely because there has been no agreement 

 as to the form a citation shall take, and, con- 

 sequently, some uncertainty as to the interpre- 

 tation of the reference, which causes the care- 

 ful student to hesitate in introducing a system 

 that may trouble or mislead his readers. 



Our botanical confreres adopted in 1895, at 

 the Madison Botanical Congress, a set of rules 

 for citation which appear in every way admi- 

 rable. They are clear, concise and seemingly 

 complete, and the saving in their use is evident 

 from the examples given. I have no means of 

 knowing how generally they have been adopted 

 by botanists, even in this country, and it is, of 

 course, questionable whether they would be in- 



