Mat 28, 1909] 



SCIENCE 



853 



sense of the service he has rendered by his ad- 

 mirable executive ability, his power of initiative, 

 his untiring labor, his unfailing tact and his con- 

 tagious enthusiasm. Under his skilful manage- 

 ment a period which might easily have been one 

 of discouragement and detriment has been marked 

 by distinct and constant advance in the affairs of 

 the school, and by the inception and progress of 

 new and excellent measures in its administration. 

 They also wish to declare their admiration for 

 the unselfishness with which he has laid aside for 

 the time being the original work in which he has 

 gained such distinction, in order to devote his 

 energy to the interests of the institute as a 

 whole; and they thank him for the kindly and 

 helpful spirit which has marked all his relations 

 toward them, both official and personal. 



The students have presented Dr. Noyes with 

 a loving cup bearing an inscription as fol- 

 lows: 



Presented to Dr. Arthur A. Noyes by the under- 

 graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- 

 nology in gratitude for his faithful and efficient 

 service, his warm-hearted sympathy and his un- 

 selfish devotion as acting president, 1907-1909. 



We are glad to learn that Dr. Edgar E. 

 Smith, head of the department of chemistry 

 and vice-provost of the University of Penn- 

 sylvania, has resumed academic duties after a 

 long illness. 



Professor Julius Wiesner has been elected 

 a corresponding member of the Paris Acad- 

 emy of Sciences in the section of botany. 



The Eoyal Scottish Geographical Society 

 has decided to award its Livingstone gold 

 medal for the current year to Lieutenant 

 Shackleton for his exploration in the Ant- 

 arctic. 



Liverpool UNnrERSiTT has conferred its doc- 

 torate of science on llr. Francis Darwin and 

 Professor J. L. Todd; its doctorate of engi- 

 neering on the Hon. 0. A. Parsons, and its 

 doctorate of laws on Sir Donald Macalister 

 and Mr. William Marconi. 



Dr. Charles W. Eliot wiU give the com- 

 mencement address at the University of Mis- 

 souri on June 2, at the same time the doc- 

 torate of laws will be conferred on him. 



McGiLL Universitt, of Montreal, intends 

 to confer the honorary degree of LL.D. on 

 Dr. George A. Gibson, of Edinburgh, at the 

 medical convocations on June 9. Dr. Gibson 

 gave the inaugural address before the medical 

 faculty of the university on September 22, 

 1908, his subject being " The Limits of 

 KJnowledge." 



For the superintendence of the investiga- 

 tions at the National Physical Laboratory and 

 for general advice on the scientific problems 

 arising in connection with the work of the 

 British Admiralty and War Office in aerial 

 construction and navigation, a special com- 

 mittee has been appointed, which includes the 

 following: President, the Eight Hon. Lord 

 Eayleigh, O.M., F.E.S.; chairman. Dr. H. T. 

 Glazebrook, F.E-S. (director, National Phys- 

 ical Laboratory) ; Major-General Sir Charles 

 Hadden, K.C.B. (representing the army), 

 Captain E. H. S. Bacon, E.N., C.V.O., D.S.O. 

 (representing the navy). Sir Alfred G. Green- 

 hill, r.E.S., Dr. W. N. Shaw, E.E.S. (director, 

 the Meteorological Office), Mr. Horace Dar- 

 win, F.E.S., Mr. H. E. A. Mallock, F.E.S., 

 Professor J. E. Petavel, F.E.S., and Mr. F. 

 W. Lanchester. 



Dr. L. O. Howard, chief of the bureau of 

 entomology and permanent secretary of the 

 American Association for the Advancement 

 of Science, is in Europe to continue his study 

 of parasites with which the ravages of the 

 gypsy moth may be checked. 



Professor N. E. Gilbert, of Dartmouth 

 College, will spend a large part of the next 

 year in study and investigation at the Caven- 

 dish Laboratory, Cambridge, England. 



The Senckenberg Natural History Society 

 has awarded the Sommerring prize to Dr. Paul 

 Kramer, of Vienna, for his work on the in- 

 heritance of artificially produced reproduc- 

 tive adaptations. 



Professor E. M. Yerkes, of Harvard Uni- 

 versity, addressed the Scientific Association of 

 the Johns Hopkins University on May 12 upon 

 the " Scientific Method in the Study of Com- 

 parative Psychology," showing the importance 

 of applying quantitative methods in the in- 

 vestigation of its phenomena. 



