822 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVI. No. 937 



nar of a series conducted by the department of 

 biology, Trinity College, on the evening of 

 December 5. 



Professor A. P. Carman, head of the de- 

 partment of physics of the University of Illi- 

 nois, lectured on November 19, before the 

 Central Association of Science Teachers at 

 their meeting at Northwestern University. 



At the first meeting for the year of the 

 Oregon Academy of Sciences on November 30, 

 Dr. William T. Foster, president of the acad- 

 emy, gave a brief opening address on " The 

 Scope of the Academy and the Exact Sciences 

 in Daily Life." Dr. Frank L. Griffin, pro- 

 fessor of mathematics in Eeed College, spoke 

 on " The Ever-present Limit Concept," a dis- 

 cussion of higher mathematics in the conmion 

 thought of to-day. 



The Minnesota chapter of the Sigma Xi 

 held the first of its scientific meetings on No- 

 vember 25. Tv70 researches vrere presented: 

 " The Enrichment of Sulphide Ores," by Pro- 

 fessor William H. Emmons, and " The Scat- 

 tering of Cathode Rays," by Dr. Louis W. Mc- 



The Eoyal Geographical Society is taking 

 steps to celebrate the Livingstone centenary 

 on March 17, when Sir Harry Johnston is to 

 give an address, and it is expected that Sir 

 John Kirk, the only surviving companion of 

 Livingstone on his expedition of 1858-64, will 

 be present. The society is also arranging an 

 exhibition of Livingstone relics, including 

 autograph maps, Livingstone's sextant, com- 

 pass, etc., with portraits and views and a sec- 

 tion of the tree under which Livingstone's 

 heart was buried, with the rude inscription 

 carved by his native followers. 



Edwin Smith, connected with the U. S. 

 Coast and Geodetic Survey since 1870, known 

 especially for his work on determinations of 

 the force of gravity, died at Washington on 

 December 2, aged sixty-one years. 



Eben Jenks Loomis, for a half century 

 (1850-1900) in the Nautical Almanac Office 

 of the U. S. Navy Department, died on De- 

 cember 2 at Observatory House, Amherst, 

 Mass., aged eighty-five years. Besides his 



technical work, he was a close student and ob- 

 server of nature, discovering in 1877 a very 

 remarkable flexing frond-movement of one of 

 the lesser ferns growing about Washington, 

 which at the time excited the keen interest of 

 both Gray and Darwin. 



Dr. William A. Buckhout, professor of 

 botany and the senior professor at the Penn- 

 sylvania State College, died of heart disease 

 on Tuesday, December 3, 1912. Dr. Buck- 

 hout was born in December, 1846, and was 

 graduated from the Pennsylvania State Col- 

 lege, in 1868. In 1871 he became professor of 

 botany and horticulture in this college. In 

 the changes brought about in agricultural sci- 

 ences during recent years he became professor 

 of botany. For many years he was botanist 

 of the Pennsylvania State Board of Agricul-" 

 ture. In 1888 he was appointed to the Penn- 

 sylvania State Forestry Commission and was 

 a prime mover in the state in creating and 

 taking an active interest in forestry. He was 

 a fellow of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science. He was author of 

 papers such as " The Chestnut as a Fruit and 

 Food," "The Efiect of Smoke and Gas on 

 Vegetation," " A Microscopic Examination of 

 State College Water Supply," " Forest Fires," 

 and others, with annual reports as state 

 botanist. 



Dr. Edward Curtis, of New York, emeritus 

 professor of materia medica and therapeutics 

 in the College of Physicians and Surgeons of 

 Columbia University, died on November 28, 

 aged seventy-four years. 



Dr. Elie de Cyon, formerly professor at the 

 Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg and 

 the author of important contributions to physi- 

 ology, has died, aged seventy years. He left 

 Russia for political reasons and settled in 

 Paris, where he devoted himself to literary 

 work. 



Mr. William Forsell Kirbt, for many 

 years a member of the zoological department 

 of the British Museum (Natural History), 

 the author of many publications on entomol- 

 ogy, died on November 20, aged sixty-eight 

 years. 



