860 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLI. No. 1067 



tral and eastern Africa; and Captain Maurice 

 Cortier, an eminent topographer, active in 

 archeology in the territory of Sahara. 



SiE Arthur Herbert Church, formerly pro- 

 fessor of chemistry at the Eoyal Academy of 

 Arts, London, known for his contributions to 

 chemistry and mineralogy, has died at the age 

 -of eighty-one years. 



Dr. Ernst Meumann, professor of psychol- 

 ogy at Hamburg, known for his contributions 

 to experimental and educational psychology, 

 has died at the age of fifty-three years. 



The death is also announced of Dr. Stefan 

 Witasek, director of the psychological labo- 

 ratory at Gratz, at the age of forty-five years. 



Dr. Oskar Simony, emeritus professor of 

 mathematics and physics in the Agricultural 

 School at Vienna, has died at the age of sixty- 

 three years. 



The Brooklyn Botanic Garden was opened 

 on June 5 for inspection by its members and 

 invited friends and, on the following day, it 

 was opened to the general public, and will re- 

 main open, free to all, daily hereafter. 



The third annual meeting of the American 

 Association of Anesthetists will be held in the 

 New Auditorium, San Francisco, on June 21, 

 under the presidency of Dr. Charles K. Teter, 

 of Cleveland. There will be two scientific ses- 

 sions, the first item on the program being the 

 address of the president, who will speak on 

 the subject " Nitrous Oxide Oxygen Anesthesia 

 in Obstetrics." 



There has been founded by the graduate 

 and undergradute students of the department 

 of geology and mining of the University of 

 Kansas a professional fraternity, Sigma 

 Gamma Epsilon. It is proposed to establish 

 chapters of the organization in the leading 

 educational institutions of the United States 

 and Canada. At present there does not ap- 

 pear to be any such fraternity and it is hoped 

 that its organization wiU promote an increased 

 interest in geological science. 



At the election of members to the Society 

 of the Sigma Xi held recently by the Omega 

 Chapter of the Ohio State University the 

 following candidates were chosen : Professor J. 



Warren Smith, professor of meteorology from 

 the faculty; seventeen young men and two 

 young women from the graduate school and 

 fourteen young men from the fourth year or 

 senior class. This is the largest number ever 

 elected by the Omega chapter. The greater 

 increaise is from the graduate school, as candi- 

 dates from this class are not eligible unless 

 they have done creditable research work as 

 well as shown an inclination and ability to 

 continue such work. 



The newly established chapter of Sigma Xi 

 was installed at the University of Texas on the 

 evening of May 17. The installation exercises 

 were conducted by Professor S. W. WiUiston 

 of the University of Chicago. Professor 

 "WiUiston gave an interesting public lecture on 

 " The Contribution of Texas to our Knowledge 

 of Early Land Life." Following the lecture 

 the installation proper took place at the uni- 

 versity club house in the presence of the 

 charter members, initiates and invited guests. 

 The chapter consists of twenty-one charter 

 members and eleven newly elected members. 

 The following are charter members: 0. L. 

 Baker, E. C. H. Bantel, S. L. Brown, J. M. 

 Bryant, H. P. Bybee, D. B. Casteel, E. L. 

 Dodd, W. S. Hunter, D. J. Jones, T. L. Kelley, 

 J. M. Kuehne, L M. Lewis, F. McAllister, 

 J. T. Patterson, M. B. Porter, A. Eichards, 

 E. P. Sehoch, F. W. Simonds, F. L. Whitney, 

 C. S. Yoakum and M. S. Young. The newly 

 elected members are : F. D. Barrow, Mrs. L. T. 

 Binkley, A. Deussen, W. A. Felsing, 0. G. 

 Hartman, Miss Goldie Horton, W. T. Bead, 

 E. W. Schuhmann, B. C. Tharp, T. U. Taylor 

 and J. A. Udden. The following officers have 

 been elected for the coming year: : 



President: Professor J. T. Patterson. 

 Vice-president : Professor F. W. Simonds. 

 Becording Secretary: Professor E. L. Dodd. 

 Corresponding Secretary: Professor I. M. Lewis. 

 Treasurer: Professor S. L. Brown. 



Mt. Lassen, California, whose violent erup- 

 tion of May 19 places it in the first rank of 

 volcanoes now dangerously active, has be- 

 come the subject of an informal cooperative 

 study by the geological survey and the forest 

 service. At the request of the survey, a tele- 



