Apeil 1, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



457 



In addition to its very full and illustrated 

 description of various forms of platinum 

 apparatus, it has notes on the care and 

 cleaning of platinum ware, and a series of 

 valuable tables which include the current 

 required to fuse platinum wire of diiferent 

 sizes, weight of platinum wire of different 

 sizes and foil of different thicknesses from 

 0.00045 to 0.1 inch, length of platinum 

 wire per troy ounce, and many others. It 

 is a useful book for the laboratory. The 

 same firm has issued a little booklet — 

 ' Platinum : sources of supply, identification 

 and separation of the ore ; facts of inter- 

 est to prospectors and miners.' It is 

 printed in the hope of stimulating a search 

 for platinum in mineral localities and in- 

 creasing the American supply. From it 

 we take the following : " There are few, if 

 any, of the gold-bearing beds of the world 

 that have failed to yield platinum, and it 

 is more than likely that large quantities of 

 platinum ore have been thrown away with 

 the black sand washings from gold placer 

 deposits." In the list of localities where 

 platinum has been found we note a perpet- 

 uation of the old error which includes 

 North Carolina. This, which was based 

 upon a supposed single specimen, was sev- 

 eral years ago shown by Professor F. C. 

 Venable, of the University of North Caro- 

 lina, to be a mistake. In view of the in- 

 creasing use of platinum, the discovery of 

 further pay deposits of platinum in this 

 country would be of great value. 



J. L. H. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

 Dh. W. K. Brooks, professor of zoology at 

 the Johns Hopkins University, was presented 

 with his portrait on the evening of March 25th, 

 on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of 

 his birth. The presentation was made at Pro- 

 fessor Brooks' home at Brightside, by Professor 

 W. H. Howell, in the presence of twenty-two 

 of the subscribers. The painting by Mr. Thos. 

 C. Corner is regarded as an excellent likeness. 



A reproduction will be sent to each of the 

 subscribers, who are for the most part former 

 students of Professor Brooks, and include 

 many of the leading zoologists of the United 

 States. The committee which had the matter 

 in charge consisted of Professor H. H. Donald- 

 son, of the University of Chicago, chairman ; 

 Professors W. H. Howell and E. A. Andrews, 

 of the Johns Hopkins University; Professor E. 

 B. Wilson, of Columbia University; Professor 

 H. V. Wilson, of the University of North Caro- 

 lina; Professor S. Watas6, of the University of 

 Chicago, and Professor T. H. Morgan, of Bryn 

 Mawr College. 



De. Taeleton H. Bean, Director of the 

 New York Aquarium, has been asked to resign 

 his office by the President of the Park Board, 

 The conduct of the Aquarium under Dr. Bean 

 has met with universal approval, and no reason 

 is assigned for requesting his resignation. 

 There is, in fact, probably none except the 

 wish to secure an oflEice with a salary of $4,000 

 for an adherent of Tammany Hall. 



Mayor Van Wyck, of New York, has re- 

 fused to sanction an appropriation for prepar- 

 ing the site in Bryant Park for the New York 

 Public Library, and there is reason to fear that 

 the new building may be long delayed. 



Reference was made in this Journal some 

 eighteen months ago to a subscription to defray 

 the cost of a portrait of Mr. Herbert Spencer to 

 commemorate the completion of his ' Synthetia 

 Philosophy.' The portrait has now been com- 

 pleted by Professor Herbert Herkomer and will 

 be sent to the Royal Academy this year. Dur- 

 ing Mr. Spencer's life-time it will hang in the 

 Tate Gallery ; afterwards, with the approval of 

 the trustees, it will find its permanent home in 

 the National Portrait Gallery. 



It is planned to secure a portrait of Lord 

 Kelvin for the rooms of the Royal Society. 

 Lord Kelvin was, it will be remembered. Presi- 

 dent of the Society from 1890 to 1895. 



We called attention, in the last issue of Sci- 

 ence, to the memorial in memory of Buys 

 Ballot, the eminent meteorologist. It may 

 be added that Professor Willis L. Moore, Chief 

 of the Weather Bureau, Washington ; Dr. 

 A. Lawrence Rotch, of Blue Hill Observatory, 



