Febbuabt 26, 1909] 



SCIENCE 



331 



one hundredth anniversary of Darwin's birth 

 and the fiftieth anniversary of the publication 

 of the " Origin of Species," the following ad- 

 dresses were delivered : " Biographical Sketch 

 of Darwin," by Professor W. 0. Curtis; 

 " Darwin's Contribution to Evolution," by 

 Professor 0. Stuart Gager; " Pre-Darwinian 

 Evolution," by Professor A. O. Lovejoy; 

 " Post-Darwinian Evolution," by Professor 

 Greorge Lefevre; " The Influence of Darwin's 

 Work on Ethics," by President A. Eoss Hill; 

 " The Influence of Darwin's Work on Sociol- 

 ogy," by Professor C. A. EUwood; " The Influ- 

 ence of Darwin's Work on Psychology," by 

 Professor Max Meyer ; " The Influence of Dar- 

 win's Work on Theology," by Eev. Dr. W. W. 

 Elwang. Mr. F. A. Sampson, secretary of the 

 State Historical Society of Missouri, read a 

 most interesting series of letters written by 

 Darwin about 1878 to Mr. E. A. Blair, of 

 Sedalia, Missouri, concerning what was at 

 first supposed to be a case of the inheritance 

 of a mutilation in a flock of geese. 



On Thursday evening, February 11, Dr. J. 

 M. Eeade, of the University of Georgia, de- 

 livered a lecture on " Charles Darwin," before 

 the University Club. Commemoration exer- 

 cises were held at the home of Professor H. 0. 

 White, of the University of Georgia, on Fri- 

 day, Feb. 12, in honor of Darwin. The pro- 

 gram consisted of: "Biographical Sketch," 

 by Dr. H. C. White; "Organic Evolution," by 

 Dr. J. P. Campbell ; " Evolution in History," 

 by Dr. J. H. T. McPherson; "The Church 

 and Evolution," by Eev. Troy Beatty. 



A SPECIAL meeting of the Boston Society of 

 Natural History was held on the evening of 

 February 12, in commemoration of the centen- 

 ary of Charles Darwin's birth and of the 

 fiftieth anniversary of the publication of his 

 " Origin of Species." After introductory re- 

 marks by Vice-president E. T. Jackson, the 

 following brief addresses were made: By Pro- 

 fesor W. H. Niles on the " Early Life of Dar- 

 win and his Contributions to Geology" ; by 

 Professor E. S. Morse on " The Factors of 

 Darwinism " ; by Professor G. H. Parker on 

 " A Mechanism for Correlated Characters," 

 and by Professor W. M. Wheeler on "Pre- 

 Darwinian and Post-Darwinian Biology." 



At the general meeting of the American 

 Philosophical Society on the evening of Fri- 

 day, April 23, a Darwin celebration will be 

 held. Charles Darwin and his grandfather, 

 Erasmus Darwin, were members of the so- 

 ciety, and his son. Sir George Darwin, is at 

 present a member. On this occasion there 

 will be three special addresses by members of 

 the society: The first by the Eight Hon. 

 James Bryce, the British ambassador, who 

 will give some personal reminiscences of Dar- 

 win and of the impression made by the 

 apjiearanee of the " Origin of Species " in 

 1859; the second by Professor Goodale, of 

 Harvard University, on " The Influence of 

 Darwin on the Natural Sciences," and the 

 third by Professor James Mark Baldwin, of 

 Johns Hopkins University, on " The Influence 

 of Darwin on the Mental and Moral Sciences." 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 



Peofessor Charles B. Eichards, professor 

 of mechanical engineering at Tale University 

 since 1884, and Dr. W. G. Sumner, professor 

 of political and social science since 1872, will 

 retire from active service at the close of the 

 present academic year. 



The Eumford Committee of the American 

 Academy of Arts and Sciences has recently 

 made the following grants : To Director W. W. 

 Campbell, of the Lick Observatory, $250, for 

 the purchase of a Hartmann photometer; to 

 Professor E. W. Wood, of the Johns Hopkins 

 University, $150, in aid of his research on the 

 optical properties of mercury vapor. 



Mr. O. J. E. Howaeth has been appointed 

 assistant secretary of the British Association 

 in succession to Mr. A. Silva White. 



Sib Daniel Morris, K.C.M.G., late British 

 commissioner of agriculture for the West In- 

 dies, has been selected for the newly-created 

 office of scientific adviser to the secretary of 

 state for the colonies on matters relating to 

 tropical agriculture. 



Dr. E. Pilger has been appointed custodian 

 of the Botanical Garden in Dahlem, Berlin. 



The committee of the Athenjeum Club has 

 elected, under the provisions which empowers 

 the annual election by the committee of nine 



