842 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. II. No. 51. 



off the end of the bent arm, and the water 

 rushes into the tube to an amount depend- 

 ing upon the completeness of the vacuum 

 and the pressure of the water where the 

 sample is taken. Usually the tube is found 

 to be almost, but not entirely full. 



After being drawn to the surface the 

 vacuum tube containing the collected sam- 

 ple is removed from the frame and its end 

 plugged with cotton or sealed with a bit of 

 was. Even if the end is left open there 

 will probably be little danger of contami- 

 nation on account of the shape of the tube 

 and the small diameter of the bent arm. 



The vacuum tubes may be conveniently 

 transported in an ordinary ' cabin topped ' 

 leather bag, which has a tin box inside 

 divided into two compartments, the lower 

 one for ice and the upper one for the tubes 

 which are placed in a suitable rack. 



When a tube is to be opened a scratch 

 is made near the bend of the tube with a 

 file or glass cutter and the end knocked off, 

 allowing the admission of a pipette. Both 

 the glass cutter and the outside of the tube 

 should first be sterilized by flaming. It is 

 perhaps needless to say that the sample 

 should be planted immediately after open- 

 ing the tube. 



This apparatus for collecting samples 

 possesses several advantages. It is lowered 

 and operated by a single cord. The whole 

 apparatus may be easily sterilized by dry 

 heat, or the vacuum tubes may be sterilized 

 separately and inserted one after another 

 in the collecting frame. The vacuum tubes 

 are cheap and easily made; they may be 

 transported without fear of breakage. There 

 is practicalljr no danger of contamination 

 of the sample either in collecting, trans- 

 porting or opening. The apparatus, if 

 properly adjusted, is absolutely sure to 

 operate at the right time and in the manner 

 desired. 



In conclusion, it maj^ be said that the 

 method has been used for some time at the 



biological laboratory of the Boston Water 

 Works and its results have been uniformly 

 satisfactory. A somewhat similar appa- 

 ratus, in which a spring and flexible cord 

 were used to open a small valve in the stop- 

 per of a bottle, was recently used by the 

 writer at Lake Champlain to obtain sam- 

 ples at a depth of 370 feet. Even at that 

 depth no trouble whatever was experienced. 

 Geoege ChajSdler Whipple. 

 Newton Centee, JIass. 



THE LOBACHEVSKI PRIZE. 



On May 1, 1895, the Lobachevski Fund 

 had reached, beyond all expenses, 8,840 

 roubles, 95 kopeks. 



This sum permits the accomplishment of 

 the double aimof the committee : to found 

 an international prize for research in geome- 

 try, especially non-Euclidean geometrj^, and 

 to erect a bust of the celebrated scientist. 

 The prize, 500 roubles, will be adjudged 

 every three years to the best works or 

 memoirs on geometry, especially non-Eu- 

 clidean geometry. 



The prize will be given for works printed 

 in Russian, French, German, English, 

 Italian or Latin, sent to the Phj'sico-math- 

 ematical Society of Kazan by the authors, 

 published during the six years which pre- 

 cede the adjudication of the prize. Works 

 to compete must be sent to the Society at 

 the latest one year before the day of award, 

 October 22, old stj-le (November 3). 



The first prize will be adjudged October 

 22 (November 3), 1897. 



To award the prize, the Society will form 

 a commission to choose judges among Rus- 

 sian or foreign scientists. 



The work of the judges (reporters) will 

 be recompensed by medals of gold, bearing 

 the name of Lobachevski. 



As a fixed cajjital to found this prize, 

 6,000 roubles were invested. 



Of the sum collected, an additional 2,000 

 roubles goes to share the expense of erect- 



