April 22, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



567 



plaster busts was made. Collections of dress, 

 implements and weapons were secured. The 

 work will be continued next winter among the 

 tribes of Oasaca and Chiapas, the southernmost 

 States of the Republic. The results so far 

 gained will probably be presented at the next 

 meeting of the A. A. A. S. A somewhat care- 

 ful examination was also made of the ruins of 

 La Quemada, in the State of Zacatecas. The 

 curious and ancient picture record of the Con- 

 quest preserved at Cuablhtlautzineo was pho- 

 tographed and will soon be published. A large 

 collection of objects illustrating the folk-lore of 

 the half-breed Mexicans was secured ; this is to 

 belong to the English Folk-Lore Society. The 

 catalogue of this collection, with descriptive 

 notes, is to be printed as one of the Society's 

 regular publications. Lastly, some investiga- 

 tion was made of hexdactyly and other abnormal 

 conditions," some interesting molds and data 

 being gathered. 



Professor Lawrence Bruner, of the Uni- 

 versity of Nebraska, returned, on April 6th, 

 from the Argentine Republic, where he had 

 been engaged for year in studying the habits 

 of a devastating locust. His report is now in 

 press and is expected to appear soon. 



The Royal Society will hold its first Conver- 

 sazione this year on Wednesday, May 11th. 



A ' Jardin de Kbw ' is to be established in 

 the neighborhood of Nantes by a rich citizen of 

 that town. The new botanical garden will be 

 planned on the same lines as the Royal Gardens 

 at Kew, and special attention will be given to 

 the cultivation of plants useful in French col- 

 onies. It is hoped that the garden will event- 

 ually do for French colonial possessions what 

 Kew does for British colonies. 



A course of ten popular lectures on Amphib- 

 ians and Reptiles will be delivered in the lec- 

 ture room in the Zoological Society of London 

 Gardens, Regent's Park, on Thursdays, at 5 p. 

 m., commencing April 21st, by Mr. F. E. Bed- 

 dard, M.A., F.R.S., Prosector to the Society. 



A SECTION of ornithology has been formed 

 in the California Academy of Sciences, with Mr. 

 L. M. Loomis as President. 



The late Mr. G. C. Dennis has bequeathed 



his entomological collection to the Yorkshire 

 Philosophical Society. 



The United States Civil Service Commission 

 calls attention to the examination which will 

 be held on May 6, 1898, at any place where the 

 Commission has a competent board of exam- 

 iners, for establishing a register from which 

 the position of Chief of Division of Library 

 and Archives, United States Coast and Geodetic 

 Survey, Treasury Department, at a salary of 

 $1,800 per annum, may be filled. This is a 

 very important and responsible position, and 

 the Commission is anxious that the competition 

 shall be as extensive as possible. On April 

 25th an examination will be held for a teacher 

 of manual training in the Indian service, with 

 a salary of $720. 



The executors of the late Baron Ferdinand 

 von Miiller, Government Botanist of Victoria, 

 are collecting money to erect a monument over 

 his grave in the St. Kildare Cemetery at Mel- 

 bourne. Over one hundred subscriptions have 

 already been received, including donations 

 from the London Royal Geographical Society 

 and other scientific associations. We do not 

 notice in the list any subscriptions from America, 

 and it is to be hoped that these will be supplied 

 before the subscription is closed. Letters should 

 be addressed to Rev. W. Potter, ' Vonmueller,' 

 Arnold street, South Yarra, Melbourne, Aus- 

 tralia. 



We are also informed that Baron von Miil- 

 ler's supplemental volume on the Flora Austra- 

 liensis, upon which he had worked for years 

 and was preparing for the press at the time of 

 his death, together with two volumes on his 

 administration as Director of the Botanical 

 Gardens, embracing a biography and complete 

 bibliography of his writings, are to be pub- 

 lished. His executors will feel favored by the 

 loan of any of his letters, or the communication 

 of incidents in the Baron's life which his friends 

 deem to be worthy of notice in his biography. 

 Communications on this subject should also be 

 addressed to the Rev. W. Potter. 



To commemorate the dedication of the new 

 laboratory of chemistry of the University at 

 Leipzig, its Director, Professor Ostwald, has col- 

 lected the researches carried out in the old 



