November 27, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



753 



The National Conservation Commission 

 •will hold its first full meeting at Washington 

 on December 1. At that meeting the first 

 steps will be taken toward putting into tan- 

 gible shape the results of the six months' in- 

 ventory of the country's waters, forests, lands 

 and minerals. One week later, after the com- 

 mission has gone over the inventory, it will 

 hold a joint meeting in Washington with the 

 governors of the states and territories, or 

 their representatives. At this meeting the ini 

 ventory will be further discussed and the 

 report which the president has requested the 

 commission to make to him by January 1, will 

 be formulated. 



AocoEDiNG to a press despatch, the Inter- 

 national Institiite of Agriculture, which was 

 proposed by Mr. David Lubin, of San Fran- 

 cisco, to King Victor Emmanuel, inaugurated 

 its labors in Rome, on November 16, by a 

 meeting attended by delegates from forty-six 

 of the countries that have signified their par- 

 ticipation. A plan of organization has been 

 prepared, and this, together with a budget, 

 was submitted to a general meeting on No- 

 vember 26. The United States is represented 

 by Ambassador Griscom, Mr. David Lubin, 

 Dr. C. C. Clark, Mr. W. F. Hill, Mr. G. K 

 Holms and Mr. William Stuart. After the 

 speech by the president. Senator Faina, Mr. 

 Lubin delivered an address in which he out- 

 lined the constitution of the institute. 



The daily papers state that Dr. Alexander 

 Graham Bell has completed the frame of his 

 new aerodrome. The Cygnet^ which made a 

 successful ascent last year with the late Lieu- 

 tenant Selfridge as aviator, was composed of 

 3,393 tetrahedrons, while the new aerodrome, 

 constructed on practically the same lines, will 

 have 5,000 tetrahedral cells. It is said to be 

 the intention of Dr. Bell to make a trial flight 

 the first week in December. It is planned to 

 place the machine on a platform holding 

 between two motor boats. They will run up 

 into the outer Bras d'or Lake, and when a 

 speed of eighteen knots has been attained, 

 the aerodrome will be released. Mr. W. F. 

 Baldwin, chief of laboratories for Dr. Bell, 

 is reported to have said that the experimental 

 bureau at Hammondsport, N. T., is about to 

 make experiments on Lake Keuka, where an 



airship will be propelled by its own motors 

 over the surface of the water to get sufficient 

 speed to expand its wings. The machine will 

 be attached to light canoes, which will be 

 carried by the airship as it leaves the water 

 on its flight. 



Foreign papers state that M. Barthou, the 

 French minister of public works, announced 

 in the senate on November 5 that the sum of 

 £4,000 is to be devoted by his department to 

 the encouragement of aerial locomotion. The 

 International Sporting Club, of Monaco, has 

 offered the sum of £4,000 to be competed for 

 at an international aeronautical meeting to be 

 held at Monaco from January 24 to March 

 24, 1909. The length of the course will be 

 about six miles. The first prize will be £3,000. 

 On November 6 an inaugural meeting of the 

 new Aeroplane Club was held in London, when 

 it was decided to form a club devoted to the 

 development of aerial navigation by machines 

 heavier than air. 



Public lectures in the department of chem- 

 istry. College of the City of New York, have 

 been arranged for the current session as fol- 

 lows: 



November 20 — Professor Bradley Stougliton. 



December 4 — Dr. Wm. McMurtrie. 



December 11 — Dr. A. von Isakovies. 



January 8 — Professor V. Coblentz. 



January 15 — Professor M. Loeb. 



February 19 — Dr. R. W. Moore. 



February 26 — Mr. M. Tech. 



March 5— Dr. A. P. Hallock. 



March 12 — Professor A. B. Lamb. 



March 19 — Dr. Harvey W. Wiley. 



March 26— Dr. H. S. Miner. 



April 2— Dr. Wm. J. Schieifelin. 



April 23 — Dr. M. Wallerstein. 



The department of archeology, Phillips 

 Academy, announces the following free lec- 

 tures to be delivered in the lecture hall of the 

 archeology building at 8 o'clock. 



October 27 — " Games of the American Indians," 

 Warren K. Moorehead. 



November 17 — " Five American Nations; Con- 

 querors of the Snow, Forest, Mist, Desert and 

 Plains," Professor Harlan I. Smith. 



December 8 — " The White Races," Charles Pea- 

 body. 



January 12 — " The Metal Ages," Charles Pea- 

 body. 



