690 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. II. No. 47. 



course in vertebrate or human embryology 

 at the Harvard Medical School. The course 

 will run through two terms and is arranged 

 for morphologists, anatomists and general 

 practitioners who may wish to devote 

 themselves chiefly to the study of these sub- 

 jects for that length of time. The facilities 

 offered by the Embryological Laboratory 

 are unusually favorable both for the pur- 

 poses of general study and of special re- 

 search. Especial stress will be laid on 

 laboratory work. The course will cover 

 the whole field of embryology, " including 

 the genital products, the theories of hered- 

 ity and sex, the formation of the germ- 

 layers, differentiation of the organs, the 

 history of the placenta and the general mor- 

 phology of vertebrates and of man." 



A BUSINESS meeting of the Scientific Asso- 

 ciation of the Johns Hopkins University 

 was held on October 17th, at which the fol- 

 lowing officers were elected for the current 

 academic year: Ira Eemsen, President; 

 Wm. H. Howell, Vice-President; Charles L. 

 Poor, Secretary. 



The Botanical Gardens of the University 

 of Berlin are too small for the present re- 

 quirements and will probably be removed 

 to Dahlem, where some 125 acres will be 

 provided. It is, however, feared that the 

 distance of the Gardens from the other de- 

 partments of the University will prevent 

 their use by those who are not special stu- 

 dents of botany. A Pharmaceutical La- 

 boratory will be built at the Gardens. 



The new Museum of Toi-onto University 

 was opened to the public for the first time 

 on November 15th. 



A RECEPTION was givcu to Lieut. Peary 

 by the American Geographical Society and 

 the American Museum of Natural History 

 on November 14th, in the lecture hall of 

 the Museum. Addresses were made by 

 Lieut. Peary and Judge Daly. 



A CABLEGRAM has been received from Dr. 



Donaldson Smith announcing his safe re. 

 turn from his expedition in eastern Africa, 

 where he has been engaged in explorations 

 during the past eighteen months. 



Prof. George Lawson, a writer on 

 chemistry and botanj% and professor of these 

 subjects in Dalhousie's College for thirty 

 years, died at Halifax on November 10th. 



Climate and Health for August gives the 

 following vital statistics for the five weeks 

 ending August 31st: In a population aver- 

 aging 13,174,361, there were 25,746 deaths 

 representing a death rate of 20.3 per thous- 

 and per annum. The mortality of infant^ 

 under one year of age 33.3 per cent, of the 

 total mortality and that of children between 

 one and five years of age 14.2 per cent. 



Experiments are about to be undertaken 

 by the Agricultural and Electrical Depart- 

 ments of the University of California to de- 

 termine the feasibility of destroying phy- 

 loxera by electricity. It is hoped to suc- 

 ceed in doing this without injuring the 

 vines. 



In addition to the regular courses given 

 at Johns Hopkins University by Prof. Wil- 

 liam B. Clark and Dr. E. B. Matthews and 

 Dr. E. M. Bagg, the following lectures have 

 been arranged : Sir Archibald Geikie, Direc- 

 tor General of the Geological Survey of 

 Great Britain and Ireland, has accepted the 

 invitation of the President and Board of 

 Trustees to inaugurate the George Hunting- 

 ton Williams Memorial Lectureship, and has 

 selected October, 1896, as the time for deliv- 

 ering his lectures. Mr. G. K. Gilbert will 

 begin a course of lectures on Physiographic 

 Geology the second week in January, and 

 will lecture four times weekly until about 

 the end of February. This course embi-aces 

 a discussion of the oi-igin of the forms of 

 the earth's surface, and its treatment will 

 include the systematic presentation of a 

 large body of the principles of dynamic 

 geology, especially those which apply to 



