December 8, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



813 



An expedition in the interests of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution will leave shortly for the 

 French Congo and certain of the neighboring 

 parts of West Africa. It will be known as the 

 " Collins-Garner Congo Expedition, in the In- 

 terests of the Smithsonian Institution," and 

 will be headed by Mr. Alfred M. Collins, of 

 Philadelphia, a well-known explorer and sports- 

 man, who has made several trips to Africa and 

 other regions in search of big game. Richard 

 L. Garner, of New York, who has already made 

 extensive investigations concerning the apes 

 and monkeys of Central Africa, is manager of 

 the expedition. The other members of the 

 party are : Professor Charles W. Furlong, of 

 Boston, scientist, artist and explorer, and Mr. 

 Charles R. W. Aschemeier, of Washington, 

 who represents the Smithsonian Institution 

 as collector of natural history specimens for 

 the United States National Museum. It is 

 expected that Mr. Garner and Mr. Aschemeier 

 will start for Bordeaux as soon as the outfit 

 is ready, probably on December 9, and that Mr. 

 Collins and Professor Furlong will follow 

 about March 1, 1917. 



The London Times states that a survey 

 party, led by the geologists Messrs. Talbot and 

 Clarke, has been attacked by blacks between 

 Laverton and Warburton ranges, western 

 Australia. Mr. Johnstone, a member of the 

 party, received a severe spear wound in the 

 thigh, and Mr. Talbot was speared through 

 the arm. 



Dr. R. Ruggles Gates, who had planned to 

 spend the winter in research work at the New 

 York Botanical Garden, has decided to return 

 shortly to England to enlist in the British 

 army. 



Mr. F. A. McLaughlin, instructor in botany 

 at the Massachusetts Agricultural College, has 

 been granted a year's leave of absence for grad- 

 uate study at the University of Chicago. 



The Botanical Society of Washington has 

 elected the following officers for the ensuing 

 year: President, Mr. T. H. Kearney; Vice- 

 president, Mr. Edgar L. Brown; Recording 

 Secretary, Mr. Charles E. Chambliss; Corre- 

 sponding Secretary, Dr. H. L. Shantz; Treas- 

 urer, Mr. F. R. Farrell. Mr. A. S. Hitchcock 



was nominated by the society for the position 

 of vice-president of the Washington Academy 

 of Sciences. 



The Anthropological Society of Philadel- 

 phia has resumed its regular meetings for its 

 fourth year, with Dr. W. Max Miiller as presi- 

 dent and Mr. E. P. Wilkins as secretary. The 

 society now has twenty members, as follows: 

 R. T. Aitken, G. Annear, B. S. Brumbaugh, D. 

 W. Berkey, E. Chiera, Wm. Churchill, M. M. 

 Dorizas, F. Edgerton, R. H. Ferris, E. W. 

 Hawkes, W. W. Hyde, H. D. Jones, J. E. 

 Mason, W. Max Miiller, L. E. Sabary, W. H. 

 Schoff, F. G. Speck, R. J. Weitlaner, E. P. 

 Wilkins, S. Williams. The first meeting of 

 the year was held on November 18, Dr. Miiller 

 presenting a paper on " The Humorous Ex- 

 periences of an Africanist." 



Professor John M. Coulter, of the Univer- 

 sity of Chicago, lectured in the Sigma Xi cir- 

 cuit, including the universities of Kansas and 

 Missouri, from November 13-16. Two lectures 

 were given at each university, the titles being 

 " The Ideals of Science," and " Inheritance 

 and Response." 



Dr. Richard C. Cabot, of Boston, is giving 

 a series of lectures under the auspices of the 

 Social Service Corporation of Baltimore, on 

 " The Social Aspects of Public Health Work 

 in the United States," including industrial, 

 educational, moral and religious and govern- 

 mental aspects. 



Professor Heinrich Rees, of the department 

 of geology, Cornell University, is giving a 

 course of ten lectures on non-metallic products 

 in the course on economic geology at Colum- 

 bia University. 



The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences of 

 the University of Illinois has announced a 

 series of assemblies for 1916-17 that will con- 

 sider recent developments in science. On last 

 Thursday evening the first of these was held, 

 at which Professor Joel Stebbins spoke on 

 " Measuring the Light of Stars." The second 

 will be held on December 14, the speaker of the 

 occasion being Professor Jacob Kunz, who will 

 speak on " Recent Light on the Ultimate Con- 

 stitution of Matter." The third, January 11, 



