OCTOBEK 18, 1895.] 



SGIENGE. 



517 



on Wednesday, September 16, 1896, under 

 the presidency of Sir Joseph Lister. To- 

 ronto was selected for the place of meeting 

 in 1897. An invitation from Bournemouth 

 has been received for the year 1898, and an 

 invitation from Dublin is expected for the 

 same year. 



THE BEOOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND 

 SCIENCES. 



The prospectus of the Brooklyn Academy 

 of Ai-ts and Sciences for 1895-96 has been 

 recently issued. It gives preliminary an- 

 nouncements of the courses of instruction, 

 lectures, exhibitions and entertainments 

 planned for the ensuing year. A number 

 of well known specialists from other insti- 

 tutions have been invited to lecture during 

 the year, and many of these have already 

 consented. 



Six illustrated lectures in astronomy may 

 be mentioned as of special interest. Mr. 

 Percival Lowell has been invited to lecture 

 on ' The Planet Mars,' Professor Henrj' 

 A. Newton on ' Meteors,' Professor Ed- 

 ward E. Frost on ' Stellar Spectroscopy,' 

 Professor James E. Keeler on ' The 

 Methods of Astro-Physical Eesearch with 

 Special Reference to Saturn's Rings,' Mr. 

 Wallace Gould Levison on ' Radiant Mat- 

 ter,' and Mr. John A. Brashear on ' The 

 Evolution of a Telescope, or the Story of 

 an Astronomical Object Glass.' In the 

 department of Domestic Science Professor 

 John S. Billings will lecture on ' The Dis- 

 eases of Occupations,' and Professor R. H. 

 Chittenden on ' The Value of Meats as 

 Food.' The names of Mr. William Kent, 

 Professor R. H. Thurston and Professor 

 Frederick R. Hutton appear in the list of 

 lecturers in the department of Engineering. 

 The Geological department is particularly 

 strong, lectures being announced on the first 

 Monday evening of each month by Presi- 

 dent T. C. Mendenhall, Professor R. S. 

 Woodward, Dr. Charles D. Walcott, Dr. 



Joseph F. James, Professor Charles S. 

 Prosser, Dr. W J McGee, Professor W. 

 M. Davis and Professor D. S. Martin. 

 Professor Woodward will also deliver a 

 course of lectures in the Mathematical de- 

 partment. Professor William O. Crosby, 

 Professor Samuel L. Penfield, Dr. W J 

 McGee and Professor A. J. Moses are an- 

 nounced to lecture in the Mineralogical 

 department. In psychology Professor Wil- 

 liam James will deliver a course of six 

 lectures on ' Recent Researches into Excep- 

 tional Mental Phenomena,' and Professor 

 G. T. Ladd a course of six lectures on 

 hypnotism from the physiological and 

 psychological points of view. It is hoped 

 that Professor E. D. Cope and Professor E. 

 B. Wilson will lecture in the Zoological 

 department. 



Further information concerning the In- 

 stitute and the terms of membership may 

 be obtained from the Director, Professor 

 Franklin W. Hooper, 502 Fulton Street, 

 Brooklyn. 



Professoe Ramsay writes to Nature that 

 he has received a letter from Prof. Ols- 

 zewski, of Krakau, in which he informs him 

 that having exposed a sample of helium 

 which he sent him to the same treatment 

 as was successful in liquefying hydrogen — 

 namely, compressing with a pressure of 140 

 atmospheres, cooling to the temperature of 

 air boiling at low pressure, and then ex- 

 panding suddenlj^ — he has been unable to 

 detect any sign of liquefaction. The 

 density of helium being, roughly speaking, 

 twice that of hydrogen, it is very striking 

 that its liquefying point should lie below 

 that of hydrogen. It may be remembered 

 that argon, which has a higher density 

 than oxygen, liquefies at a lower tempera- 

 ture than oxygen; and it was pointed out 

 by Prof Olszewski that this behavior was 

 not improbably connected with its appar- 



