SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 1146 



Gamma Alpha Graduates Scientific Frater- 

 nity. — Will meet on dates to be announced. Presi- 

 dent, Professor W. J. Meek, University of Wiscon- 

 sin; recorder, L. C. Johnson, 2018 Madison St., 

 Madison, Wis. 



Society op the Sigma Xi. — December 27. Pres- 

 ident, Dr. Charles S. Howe, Case School of Applied 

 Science; secretary, Professor Henry B. Ward, Uni- 

 versity of Illinois, Urbana, 111. 



American Association op University Pro- 

 fessors. — December 29 and 30. President, Dr. 

 John H. Wigmore, Northwestern University; sec- 

 retary, Dr. H. W. Tyler, Massachusetts Institute of 

 Technology. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 



The following is a list of those recommended 

 by the president and council of the Royal 

 Society for election at the anniversary meet- 

 ing on November 80 : President, Sir J. J. 

 Thomson, O.M, M.A, D.Sc, LL.D.; Treas- 

 urer, Sir A. B. Kempe, SLA., D.C.L.; Secre- 

 taries, Professor A. Schuster, Sc.D, Ph.D., and 

 W. B. Hardy, M.A. ; Foreign Secretary, Pro- 

 fessor W. A. Herdman, D.Sc; Other Members 

 of the Council, Professor J. G. Adami, M.D., 

 H. T. Brown, LL.D., Dugald Clerk, D.Sc, Pro- 

 fessor A. E. Cushny, M.D, Professor A. Dendy, 

 D.Sc, Professor P. P. Prankland, LL.D, Pro- 

 fessor J. W. Gregory, D.Sc, H. Head, M.D, 

 J. H. Jeans, Major H. G. Lyons, Major P. A. 

 McMahon, D.Sc, Professor F. W. Oliver, 

 D.Sc, Professor C. S. Sherrington, M.D, Pro- 

 fessor A. Smithells, B.Sc, Hon. E. J. Strutt, 

 M.A, and E. Threlfall, M.A. 



As has been noted in Science Dr. Wilhelm 

 Waldeyer, professor of anatomy at the Uni- 

 versity of Berlin since 1883, was raised to the 

 hereditary peerage on the occasion of his 

 eightieth birthday on October 6. The Journal 

 of the American Medical Association states 

 that a bronze portrait plaque was presented to 

 him by his present and former pupils, and a 

 duplicate was hung in the headquarters of the 

 Postgraduate Instruction System. He has 

 been chairman of the central committee of 

 this work for many years. The Leopold- 

 Karolinische Akademie of Halle presented 

 him with the gold Cothenius medal, and hon- 

 orary memberships in various scientific and 



other societies poured in on him. He an- 

 nounced that although he was thinking of re- 

 tiring from his teaching chair at the univer- 

 sity at the close of this semester, yet he in- 

 tended to keep up his other work. 



Sir Frank Dyson, astronomer royal, Pro- 

 fessor E. A. Sampson, astronomer royal for 

 Scotland and professor of astronomy in the 

 University of Edinburgh, and Professor H. C. 

 Plummer, astronomer royal of Ireland and 

 Andrews professor in the University of Dublin 

 have been elected honorary members of the 

 British Optical Society. 



Dr. Henry Head, F.E.S, physician to the 

 London Hospital and editor of Brain, has been 

 added to the government committee which, 

 under the chairmanship of Sir J. J. Thomson, 

 president of the Eoyal Society, is inquiring 

 into the position occupied by natural science 

 in the educational system of Great Britain, 

 especially in secondary schools and univer- 

 sities. 



At a recent meeting of the Eoyal Astronom- 

 ical Society, Mrs. E. A. Proctor, widow of the 

 astronomer Eichard A. Proctor, was formally 

 admitted as fellow of the society. Exactly 50 

 years ago, in November, 1866, the late Eichard 

 A. Proctor was elected to fellowship. 



The University of London has awarded 

 the Eogers prize of £100 for 1916, for an essay 

 on " The Nature of Pyrexia and Its Eelation 

 to Microorganisms " to Dr. J. L. Jona. 



The trustees of the Massachusetts Horti- 

 cultural Society have awarded the George 

 Eobert White Medal of Honor for the year 

 1916 to William Eobinson, of Gravetye Manor, 

 Sussex, England. The medal, by John 

 Flanagan, is of coin gold, weighs 8J ounces 

 and was struck at the mint of the United 

 States, Philadelphia. This is the eighth 

 award of this medal made by the society in 

 recognition of eminent service in the advance- 

 ment of horticulture. Previous awards have 

 been made to Professor C. S. Sargent, of the 

 Arnold Arboretum ; Jackson T. Dawson, Victor 

 Lemoine, of Nancy, France ; Michael H. Walsh, 

 the rose specialist of Woods Hole; Sir Harry 

 J. Veiteh, of London, and Ernest H. Wilson. 

 William Eobinson, to whom the medal is now 



