December 20, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



849 



In spite of the anti-toxin treatment, tlie epi- 

 demic of diphtheria in London continues ; the 

 number of deaths during the week ending No- 

 vember 30th was 63, which is 24 more than the 

 average for the previous ten years. 



De. Donaldson Smith, who left England in 

 the Summer of 1893, with the object of explor- 

 ing Lakes Budolph and Stephanie, has just 

 reached Plymouth, England. Since February 

 nothing had been heard of him, until a tele- 

 gram from Aden, at the beginning of Novem. 

 ber, announced the success of the expedition, 

 and the arrival of Dr. Smith at that place. 

 Dr. Smith will read a paper before the Roj'al 

 Geographical Society next' month, and in .Jan- 

 uary will return to America, where an account 

 of his travels will be published. 



The late Professor Verneuil is svicceeded in 

 the Paris Academy of Sciences by M. Laune- 

 longue (who received 36 votes, while M. Oilier 

 received 22), and in the Paris Academy of Medi- 

 cine by M. C. H. Monod. 



The new anatomical and physiological labo- 

 ratories of the University of Glasgow were 

 opened on November 18th. 



The Lancet states that the Royal College of 

 Physicians of Edinburgh has purchased, at a cost 

 exceeding $35,000, property on which a labora- 

 tory will be erected. 



Sib Henry Acland was presented, on De- 

 cember 4th, with a testimonial to commemorate 

 his services during the forty years for which he 

 has held the office of Regius professorship of 

 medicine in the University of Oxford. A bust 

 will be placed in the University Musevim and 

 over $15,000 will be given-to the Sarah Acland 

 home for nurses. 



We announced last week the death of Henry 

 Seebohm, one of the most eminent and best 

 known of British ornithologists. Mr. Seebohm 

 was an explorer as well as an ornithol6gist, and 

 his delightful volumes ' Siberia in Asia ' and 

 ' Siberia in Europe ' brought him a wide circle 

 of readers. Among the best known of his bird 

 books are ' A History of British Birds ' (3 vols.), 

 ' Monograph of the Plovers, Snipes and Sandpipers^ 

 and ' Birds of the Japanese Empire. ' Several of 

 his works are richly illustrated by colored 



plates. Seebohm followed no leader, and his 

 numerous writings are always vigorous, interest- 

 ing and original. Personally he was genial and 

 generous, and his death will be sadly felt on 

 both sides of the Atlantic. 



We regret to record the death of the Rev. 

 Timothy O. Paine, a well known Egyptian 

 scholar, on December 6th ; of Professor W. N. 

 Popoflf, lecturer on physiology in the Univer- 

 sity of Dorpat, and of Dr. G. Krabbe, of the Uni- 

 versity of Berlin, on November 3rd, at the age 

 of 80 years. 



Lord Kelvin in his anniversary address be- 

 fore the Royal Society described the steps that 

 have been taken towards the publication of an 

 index of scientific literature. Through a gift 

 from Mr. Ludwig Mond, F. R. S., $10,000 is 

 available for the expenses of cataloguing, and 

 there are now twelve copyists engaged in the 

 work. About 140,000 slips have been mounted 

 and classified. Lord Kelvin referred to the In- 

 ternational Institute of Bibliography established 

 in Brussels, but says that this will not interfere 

 with the International Conference to which invi- 

 tations have been issued for July of next year. 



In view of the approaching quinquenial cen- 

 sus to be taken in 1896 in both France and 

 England, it is interesting to compare the popu- 

 lation of the two countries. In 1801 France 

 possessed a population more then eleven mil- 

 lions greater than Great Britain and Ireland, 

 whereas in 1891 the excess of population in 

 France was less than one-half million. It is 

 probable that the population of the United 

 Kingdom is now the greater. In the two years 

 1892 and 1893 the deaths outnumbered the 

 births in France, whereas in the United King- 

 dom there were nearly a million more births 

 than deaths. 



EDUCATIONAL NOTES AND NEWS. 

 Miss Helen Culver signed papers on De- 

 cember 14th giving $1,000,000 to the University 

 of Chicago to be used for the biological de- 

 partments. This gift carries with it $1,000,000 

 conditionally pledged by Mr. John D. Rock- 

 feller on November 2d. It is probable that a 

 school of medicine will be established. 



