402 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIV. No. 1400 



married Susan Augusta Taft, who with his son 

 Cleveland survives him. Dr. Allen's home life 

 was idyllic and to this inspiration he was wont 

 to attribute the achievements of his later life 

 and the activity of his older years. 



With the passing of Dr. Joel Asaph Allen 

 the world has lost an earnest and sincere stu- 

 dent, natural science has lost the power of an 

 able pen backed by the searching analysis of 

 level judgment, while his personal friends will 

 mourn the loss of all this and more, for they 

 have known him as a man. 



H. E. Anthony 



American Museum op Natural History 



SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 



THE DANISH DEEP-SEA EXPEDITION 



We find in Nature an account of the Dan- 

 ish Deep-Sea Expedition, which left Copen- 

 hagen on August 30 on board the new research 

 steamer Dana. It plans to spend about ten 

 months in the temperate and tropical parts 

 of the North Atlantic. The object of the ex- 

 pedition is to carry out deep-sea investiga- 

 tions in accordance with a scheme which was 

 su' mitted by the leader of the expedition, 

 Dr. Jobs. Schmidt, to the International Coun- 

 cil for the Exploration of the Sea during 

 their meeting at Copenhagen in July last. 



The Dana, of the Lord Mersey trawler type, 

 was bought in England by the Danish Govern- 

 ment to replace the old research steamer 

 Tlior, which was sold some years ago. The 

 Dana has been equipped for marine research 

 woi-k at the Royal Dockyard, Copenhagen. 

 She has a length of about 140 ft. between per- 

 pendiculars, and is 325 tons gross register. 

 She carries a 600-li.p. triple expansion engine, 

 giving her a speed of 9 knots. A large deck- 

 house has been constructed, which contains 

 two laboratories — a larger biological labora- 

 tory with accommodation for five workers, 

 and a smaller one for hydrographical work 

 with room for two — together with a mess- 

 room for the scientific staff, and a cabin for 

 the leader of the expedition. Below deck are. 

 the cabins of the scientific staff, and store- 

 rooms for the various instruments, fishing 

 gears, collections, etc. The winches are 



worked by steam. A big trawl-winch placed 

 forward has two drums, the smaller carrying 

 4000 meters of steel wire 14 mm. in diameter 

 for trawling at moderate depths, and the 

 larger, carrying 10,000 meters of steel wire 

 tapering from 14 mm. to 7 mm. in diameter, 

 to be used for greater depths. The three 

 winches for vertical hauls (water-bottles, 

 plankton nets, and sounding) are placed on 

 the port side of the ship; one works the Lucas 

 sounding machine and a drum carrying 6,000 

 meters of phosophor-bronze wire; another is 

 a small hand-winch to be used for the surface 

 layers; and the third works a big drum carry- 

 ing 10,000 meters of steel wire 4 mm. in diam- 

 eter. The steel-wire ropes have been sup- 

 plied by Messrs. Craven and Speeding Bros., 

 Sunderland, and the hydrographical instru- 

 ments by the Laboratoire Hydrographique, 

 Copenhagen, of which Professor Martin 

 Knudsen is director. 



The personnel of the expedition is as fol- 

 lows: — Dr. Jobs. Schmidt, leader of the ex- 

 pedition; Dr. J. N". Nielsen (Meteorological 

 Institute, Copenhagen), hydrographer ; P. 

 Jespersen and A. V. Taaning (Danish Com- 

 mittee for the Study of the Sea) ; K. Stephen- 

 sen (Zoological Museum, Copenhagen) ; J. 

 Olsen (Polytechnic College, Copenhagen), as- 

 sistant hydrographer. N". C. Anderson, ship's 

 doctor, will also take part in the investiga- 

 tions. Professor C. H. Ostenfeld expects to 

 join the expedition later on during its stay in 

 West Indian waters. 



THE FIFTH AVENUE HOSPITAL OF 

 NEW YORK 



The Fifth Avenue Hospital Association is 

 making an urgent plea for contributions to 

 complete the construction of the new building 

 at 105th Street and Fifth Avenue. The insti- 

 tution will combine the present Hahnemann 

 Hospital and the Laura Franklin Free Hos- 

 pital for Children. Dr. Wiley E. Woodbury, 

 director of the hospital, has made a statement 

 for the New York Evening Post in which he 

 says: 



There is an enormous waste in the administra- 

 tion of the free ward, which is not realized by any 



