Apbil 16, 1909] 



SCIENCE 



611 



and are awaiting eagerly publication of the re- 

 sults arrived at by Professor Amalitzky. 

 The kinship which these remarkable animals 

 bear to those of the Permian of North Amer- 

 ica and of South America renders the prob- 

 lem one of international importance. The 

 only figures which have been published are 

 those which appeared through the courtesy of 

 Professor Amalitzky in a popular work by Sir 

 EdVin Eay Lankester. All the collections 

 have now been transferred to the Museum of 

 the Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg, 

 which will be their permanent home. Pro- 

 fessor Amalitzy is, however, the director of 

 the Polytechnic Institute of Warsaw. 



Illustrated lectures will be delivered in the 

 lecture hall of the museum building of the 

 New York Botanical Garden, Bronx Park, on 

 Saturday afternoons, at four o'clock, as fol- 

 lows: 



April 24 — " A Winter in Jamaica," by Dr. Will- 

 iam A. Murrill. 



May 1 — " Spring Flowers," by Dr. Nathaniel L. 

 Britton. 



May 8 — " How Plants Grow," by Dr. Herbert 

 M. Kiehards. 



May 15 — "Evergreens: How to Know and Cul- 

 tivate Them," by Mr. George V. Nash. 



May 22 — " Collecting Seaweeds in Tropical 

 Waters," by Dr. Marshall H. Howe. 



May 29 — "Vanilla and Its Substitutes," by Dr. 

 Henry H. Rusby. 



June 5 — " The Selection and Care of Shade 

 Trees," by Dr. William A. Murrill. 



June 12 — " The Ice Age and Its Influence on the 

 Vegetation of the World," by Dr. Arthur HoUick. 



June 19 — " Haiti, the Negro Republic, as seen 

 by a Botanist," by Mr. George V. Nash. 



June 26 — " Some American Botanists of D'ormer 

 Days," by Dr. John H. Barnhart. 



July 3 — " An Expedition up the Peribonca 

 Eiver, Canada," by Dr. Carlton C. Curtis. 



July 10 — " Collecting Experiences in the West 

 Indies," by Dr. Nathaniel L. Britton. 



According to the New York Evening Post 

 a valuable archeological collection has recently 

 been installed in the museum at Vanderbilt 

 University as the gift of General Gates P. 

 Thruston. The relics include specimens from 

 Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas and other 

 southern states and Indian relics from Peru. 



A number of specimens were taken from 

 mounds near Nashville, Tenn., and show such 

 skill as to point to some higher civilization 

 than that of the Indians who dwelt there in 

 historic times. The Peruvian relics show so 

 close a resemblance to these remains that the 

 theory of kinship between the makers of this 

 pottery and the people of Peru has been ad- 

 vanced. In addition to the Indian relics, 

 there are many minerals, gems and semi- 

 precious stones. The collection is arranged in 

 a room of University Hall to be known as the 

 " General G. P. Thruston Room." 



A NEW index map of Alaska, showing areas 

 covered by topographic surveys, has been is- 

 sued by the U. S. Geological Survey. On the 

 back of this map is printed a list of the sur- 

 vey's publications on Alaska, arranged geo- 

 graphically. These publications comprise 28 

 maps and 119 reports. The work of the 

 Geological Survey in Alaska, begun in 1898, 

 has been indispensable to the development of 

 the mineral resources of the territory. The 

 value of the mineral output of Alaska to date 

 is approximately $148,000,000, including the 

 values of gold, silver, copper, coal, tin, marble 

 and other minerals. The cost of the survey's 

 explorations in the territory has been less than 

 three tenths of 1 per cent, of the total value 

 of the mineral productions. Since 1898 areas 

 in Alaska amounting to 121,2.52 square miles 

 have been topographically surveyed on a scale 

 of four miles to the inch and 2,Y32 square 

 miles on a scale of one mile to the inch. These 

 surveys cover, respectively, 20.85 and 0.47 per 

 cent, of the total area of Alaska, which is 

 586,400 square miles. During the same period 

 geologic reconnaissance maps have been made 

 of 99,350 square miles and detailed geologic 

 maps of 2,304 square miles. In addition to 

 this work, practically every mining district in 

 Alaska has been examined, and some have been 

 mapped in great detail. The water resources 

 of some of the important placer districts have 

 also been studied and the results published. 



On the invitation of President Edmund J. 

 James, a conference was held at the Univer- 

 sity of Illinois on March 31. The conference 

 considered the needs of the state in out-of-door 

 improvement, both for the home and the 



