April 1, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



461 



the study of practical botany. According to 

 the London Times, reports have been presented 

 to the committee on the educational side of the 

 question by Dr. Garnett and Dr. Kimmins. 

 The following suggestions were contained in 

 these reports : 1. That a very valuable ex- 

 periment could be conducted on a scale suffi- 

 ciently wide if, in each of three parks, about 

 20 rods of ground were devoted to the cultiva- 

 tion, for school purposes, of hardy typical plants 

 belonging to 20 natural orders. 2. The beds 

 should be arranged near the paths, one bed 

 being devoted to each order. They should dif- 

 fer in size, the largest being a little under 500 

 feet square, and the smallest about 100 feet 

 square in area, so that the average of the 20 

 beds would be approximately one rod. 3. The 

 specimens selected should be such as are suitable 

 for growth, and each should be labelled with its 

 common name and its Latin, or systematic 

 name. 4. Labels giving the names and natural 

 orders should be attached to the more important 

 trees, shrubs and plants throughout the parks 

 selected. 5. A botanical guide to the parks 

 selected should be published under the super- 

 intendence of the Technical Education Board 

 and the Parks Committee jointly. 6. Teachers 

 holding printed orders from the Technical Edu- 

 cation Board should be able to obtain from the 

 superintendent in each park such specimens as 

 might be required for botanical study in the 

 schools, so far as they could be applied without 

 detriment to the specimens. In a report upon 

 the matter the Parks and Open Spaces Com- 

 mittee adopt these suggestions, and, putting 

 them in the form of recommendations, will 

 shortly submit them to the County Council for 

 approval. They point out that some further 

 suggestions were made, but they thought it 

 would be better in the first instance to deal 

 with the subject quite in the sense of an experi- 

 ment, and if, later on, it should prove to be 

 resulting advantageously to the schools, possi- 

 bly the arrangements might be extended to the 

 cultivation of important types of the lower 

 orders of plants, such as fungi, mosses, ferns, 

 etc., and facilities might be afforded for the 

 study of aquatic plants. The chief officer of 

 the Parks Department reported that the pro- 

 ed arrangements were quite practicable at 



any of the larger parks, but that some expendi- 

 ture would be necessary. Upon that point the- 

 chief officer has been instructed to submit a re- 

 port. It is proposed that the experimental 

 beds shall be formed at Battersea-park, Eavens- 

 court-park and Pinsbury-park. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 



The will of the late Jacob Tome gives the 

 residue of his estate, estimated at $3,000,000, to 

 the Jacob Tome Institute of Port Deposit, Md., 

 which during his lifetime he had founded and 

 richly endowed. 



The Maryland Senate has passed a bill 

 appropriating $50,000 a year for two years to 

 Johns Hopkins University. It is to be hoped 

 that the bill will be passed by the House, which, 

 as we stated last week, rejected the bill appro- 

 priating $100,000 to the University. 



Hon. Chester W. Kingsley has given the 

 "Worcester Academy $25,000 to complete the 

 sum needed to defray the expenses of the new 

 Kingsley Laboratory, to the dedication of which 

 we referred recently. 



In a letter to the Board of Visitors of the Uni- 

 versity of Virginia, Charles B. Kouss, of New 

 York, says : "I hereby send you my check for 

 $10,000. Having been informed that the' $25,- 

 000 previously donated by me was not sufficient 

 to complete the physical laboratory building 

 which bears my name, and being unwilling to 

 permit anyone else to have part in a work 

 which I consider to be my special privilege, I 

 desire so much of the sum sent as may be 

 needed to be used in liquidating the balance 

 due on the cost of the building, the remainder 

 to be added to the equipment fund. ' ' 



The Trustees of the Teachers' College, Co- 

 lumbia University, announce the foundation of 

 five fellowships of the value of $500 yearly ; and 

 carrying the privilege of free tuition, and ten 

 scholarships of $150 a year, each to be awarded 

 annually ; to be tenable for one year, and to be 

 designated respectively as Trustees' Fellowships 

 and Trustees' Scholarships. These fellowships 

 and scholarships will be awarded to applicants 

 who give evidence of special fitness to under- 

 take courses of higher study and original in- 

 vestigation in education. Two new scholarships 



