November S, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



625 



ice sheets, interrupted along the cost by 

 high basaltic cliffs. The journey revealed 

 many inaccuracies in the charts. The 

 farthest point reached was latitude 81 de- 

 grees 20 miniites north, where two boats 

 were left for use later in the summer. 

 Many specimens were taken, which show 

 that the geological formation of the land is 

 mainly basaltic. A second journey began 

 in April and ended in the middle of Maj^ 

 It was attended with stormy weather, and 

 frequently the temperature was 50 degrees 

 below zero. Jackson considers horses the 

 best means of reaching a high latitude up 

 to the end of April. 



The Times states that a series of archae- 

 ological discoveries have been made at 

 Monkswood, near Bath, where a reservoir 

 is being constructed to supplement the 

 water supply of the city. The latest dis- 

 covery was unearthed on Thursday from a 

 mass of peaty deposit. It is an iron hatchet 

 with a handle formed of a human leg 

 bone. Round the socket is a rough ferrule 

 of lead . The metal head was kept firm by 

 means of wooden plugs, traces of which 

 were found clinging to the iron. This is 

 the only relic of the iron age discovered, 

 but oolitic flint hammer heads and an in- 

 teresting collection of bronze weapons and 

 articles of personal adornment have been 

 brought to light. These discoveries have 

 been inspected by Professor Boyd Dawkins 

 and other paleontologists. The bones of 

 extinct mammalia have also been met with. 

 The discoveries are in the charge of Charles 

 Gilby, city engineer of Bath. 



UNIVEBSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 



The corner stone of the new dormitory 

 buildings of the University of Pennsylvania 

 was laid on November 5th, Judge Robert 

 M. Willson, Provost Charles C. Harrison 

 and Bishop O. W. Whi taker taking part in 

 the ceremonies. The dormitories are due 

 to the initiative of Vice-Provost George 



Stuart Fullerton and are planned on an 

 elaborate scale, it being estimated that .$1,- 

 000,000 will be required to complete the 

 buildings. They will include a dining hall 

 and a chapel in addition to forty-four houses, 

 forming one continuous building. Each 

 house will have a separate staircase and 

 will accommodate twelve to fourteen stu- 

 dents with bedrooms, sittingrooms and 

 bathrooms. There will be two courts, one 

 triangular and one rectangular, separated 

 by cloisters. The sixteen houses forming 

 the triangle are already in course of erec- 

 tion and will be ready for occupation at the 

 opening of the next academic year. 



The Public Hall of the University of Vir- 

 ginia, and the Rotunda, which contained 

 the library, were completely destroyed by 

 fire on October 27th. The loss is estimated 

 at from $150,000 to $250,000, with an insur- 

 ance of $25,000. Efforts are already being 

 made to collect money to restore the build- 

 ings, as they were before their destruction, 

 and had been planned by Jefferson. A 

 large part of the books in the library were 

 saved, but many valuable papers and rare 

 books that can never be replaced were de- 

 stroyed. 



The trustees of Cornell University have 

 voted $2800 to build a small working ob- 

 servatory for the College of Civil Engineer- 

 ing. 



The Bulletin of the American Mathematical 

 Society announces the following appoint, 

 ments: Prof. Samuel L. Barton, recently 

 of the Virginia Agricultural and Mechan- 

 ical College, to be professor of mathemat- 

 ics in the University of the South, See- 

 wanee, Tenn.; Dr. Alex. Macfarland, for- 

 merly professor of physics at the University 

 of Texas, to be lecturer in Lehigh University ; 

 Dr. E. B. Van Vleck, formerly of the Univer- 

 sity of Wisconsin, to be associate professor 

 of mathematics in Wesleyan University, 

 and Prof. C. A. Waldo, of De Paviw Univer- 



