238 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLV. No. 1158 



A LETTER received at the Harvard College 

 Observatory from Professor Henry INorris 

 Eussell, director of the Princeton University 

 Observatory, contains the following prelimi- 

 nary values of the parallax of the star of large 

 proper motion in Ophiuchus which have been 

 determined by him from micrometric observa- 

 tions communicated by Professor Barnard. 

 From the differences of the distances of stars 

 a and k, a solution in which the proper motion 

 is eliminated in the usual manner gives a 

 parallax of 0".69 ± 0".06. Measures of posi- 

 tives made from the plates of 1894 and 1904, 

 when compared with the measures of 1916, give 

 a proper motion of 10".38 toward 355°. 8. As- 

 suming this proper motion, the distance meas- 

 ures of the stars a, c and k give parallaxes of 

 0".85, 0".53 and 0".66, and the measures of 

 position angle a mean parallax of 0".75. The 

 mean of these determinations is 0".70 =t: 0".05. 

 The absolute magnitude of this star on Kap- 

 teyn's scale is 13.6, and its real brightness is 

 less than one three-thousandth that of the sun, 

 making it the faintest star so far known. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 NEWS 



The University of California has received 

 through the death of Mrs. Elizabeth Josselyn 

 Boalt an endowment of $200,000 for the 

 maintenance of professorships in law. 



At a meeting of the governors of the South 

 Wales University College, called to consider 

 proposals for providing better science teach- 

 ing after the war, it was reported that Sir W. 

 J. Tatem had promised to provide a chemical 

 laboratory which would cost at least £25,000, 

 and that other promises included 1,000 guineas 

 from the late Mr. Beaiunont Thomas, 1,000 

 guineas from Mr. Dan Radcliffe, 1,000 guineas 

 from Mr. J. Herbert Cory, M.P., 1,000 guineas 

 from Mr. W. Beyron, and 2,000 guineas each 

 from Mr. Morgan Wakely and Mr. Percy 

 Miles. 



Having decided to open its courses to women 

 as soon as proper facilities can be provided, 

 the college of ph.ysicians and surgeons, Colum- 

 bia University, is now appealing for imme- 

 diate contributions of $50,000, so that these 



facilities may be secured and women admitted 

 to the school next September. It is proposed 

 to erect a small addition to the present college 

 buildings, sufficient to provide for the women 

 students, until such time as new quarters are 

 provided for the entire college. 



On February 23 the regents of the Univer- 

 sity of Michigan adopted a resolution confirm- 

 ing the union vtdth the University of De- 

 troit college of medicine and surgery. The 

 terms of the merger are that the latter shall 

 turn over its charter, real estate, equipment 

 and hospital privileges to the university and 

 that a fund of a million dollars will be raised 

 for the development by the university of a 

 graduate school of medicine in Detroit. 



Dr. Theodore Lyman and Dr. George "W. 

 Pierce have been promoted to professorships of 

 physics at Harvard University. 



Dr. George B. Pegram, professor of physics 

 at Coliunbia University, has been appointed 

 to be dean of the school of applied science to 

 succeed Frederick A. Goetze, who is now treas- 

 urer of the university. 



Professor Raymond C. Osburn, professor 

 of biology at the Connecticut College, 'New 

 London, Connecticut, has been elected head of 

 the department of zoology and entomology of 

 the Ohio State University, his appointment 

 to take effect July 1. He vnll assume the 

 duties carried for the last nineteen years by 

 Professor Herbert Osborn, who was last year 

 elected research professor and who will here- 

 after give his entire time to research work, in- 

 cluding the direction of research by graduate 

 students, and, for the present, the directorship 

 of the Lake Laboratory and of the Ohio Bio- 

 logical Survey. 



Professor Dr. O. van der Stricht, professor 

 of histology and embryology, University of 

 Ghent, Belgium, has been reappointed re- 

 search fellow in cytology, school of medicine, 

 Western Reserve University. 



Dr. p. ]Sr. VAN Kampen, university lecturer 

 at Amsterdam, has been appointed professor 

 of zoology and comparative anatomy in the 

 University of Leyden, in succession to the late 

 Professor Vosmaer. 



