854 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 752 



Professor Taav. Laitinen, M.D., professor 

 of hygiene and director of the Hygienic In- 

 stitute in the University of Helsingfors, and 

 chairman of the Finnish National League of 

 Health, will deliver the third Norman Kerr 

 Memorial lecture on July 20, in the lecture 

 theater of the Victoria and Albert Museum, 

 London. The subject v?ill be " The Influence 

 of Alcohol on Immunity." 



The Harben lectures of the Royal Institute 

 of Public Health, London, vpill be delivered 

 this year by Professor R. Pfeiffer, director of 

 the Hygienic Institute, Breslau, in the lec- 

 ture room of the institute. 



The directorship of the Pathological Insti- 

 tute of the New York State Commission in 

 Lunacy is to be filled by civil service exam- 

 ination. Candidates must meet the following 

 requirements : Pive years' residence in a large 

 public or private hospital for the insane; five 

 years' experience as a successful instructor in 

 neuropathology or psychiatry, or as chief of 

 clinic; familiarity with German, French and 

 English; familiarity with the insanity law of 

 New York State and the administration of 

 the department under the Commission in 

 Lunacy; evidence of original research shown 

 by contributions to clinical psychiatry, patho- 

 logical anatomy of the nervous system, experi- 

 mental psychology, etc. All submitted papers 

 m.ust be properly authenticated and reach the 

 State Civil Service Commission on or before 

 June 19. Candidates should give in their 

 applications detailed information concerning 

 their training and experience, especially in the 

 lines mentioned. Subjects of examination 

 and relative weights: psychiatry and psycho- 

 pathology, 3 ; neurology and neuropathology, 

 3; experience and special training, 4. The 

 salary of the position is $6,500. 



The councilors of the American Geograph- 

 ical Society have accepted Mrs. Collis P. 

 Huntington's gift of a $250,000 site for a new 

 building at Broadway and 153d Street, New 

 York City, overlooking the Hudson River. 

 Mr. Archer M. Huntington, the president of 

 the society, has given $50,000 toward the 

 building fund, which will be increased by 

 further subscriptions and the proceeds of the 



sale of the old building, which should be about 

 $250,000. 



The two-ton iron meteorite found in 1908 

 near Tonopah, Nevada, has recently been pre- 

 sented to the Pield Museum of Natural His- 

 tory through the generosity of Messrs. Stanley 

 Field, Richard T. Crane, Jr., Cyrus H. Mc- 

 Cormiek and George F. Porter. 



The London Times states that Dr. Rendle, 

 keeper of the botanical department of the 

 British Museum (Natural History) at 

 South Kensington, has just completed the re- 

 arrangement of the botanical gallery of that 

 museum. The main series of exhibits repre- 

 sents the great plant groups with their fam- 

 ilies, including flowering plants, ferns, mosses, 

 seaweeds and fungi. The groups are illus- 

 trated by pictures, specimens and models. 

 The series of exhibits illustrating the British 

 flora is rapidly approaching completion. The 

 drawings of the larger British fungi are com- 

 plete. The trustees, it may be mentioned, 

 have just issued a handbook giving descrip- 

 tions of all known British species illustrated 

 by line drawings of the genera. There is a 

 very interesting series of actual specimens of 

 the larger fungi found near London, mostly 

 on Wimbledon-common. These have been 

 prepared in such a way as to show the struc- 

 ture. The British flowering plants, ferns and 

 mosses are displayed in frames in such a way 

 as to be easy of reference. This collection 

 is intended not so much for the expert bota- 

 nist as for the amateur who may wish to 

 identify specimens without being under the 

 necessity of a prolonged search in the great 

 herbarium of the museum. Some volumes of 

 illustrations of British plants are also avail- 

 able for consultation by the public. They are 

 a recent acquisition, having been given by the 

 artist. Miss E. N. Gwatkin. The lichens of 

 Britain have been arranged in two cabinets, 

 with descriptions and original drawings. 

 The collection also contains cases illustrating 

 points in the biology of plants, the fertiliza- 

 tion of flowers, insect-eating flowers, parasitic 

 plants, plants from dry countries, climbing 

 plants and others. A case showing the ab- 

 normalities of leaves, flowers and fruits has 

 also been arranged. 



