98 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIX. No. 994 



On the eastern edge of the campua of the 

 Ohio State University rises a new building of 

 •white stone, the new museum of the Ohio 

 State Archeological and Historical Society, 

 which ia to house the Indian relics and treaa- 

 nrea of the mound builders which make Ohio 

 the richest field of pre-historie remains in the 

 United States. With the first week of the 

 New Tear the collections will be moved from 

 their old home in Page Hall to their beautiful 

 new building. The structure itself is as nearly 

 fireproof as man can make it, utilizing stone, 

 steel and concrete, with no wood used in its 

 construction. Almost all the furniture is 

 made of steel and the entire library and offices 

 are similarly built. The exhibition rooms are 

 entirely of mahogany as steel cases are im- 

 practicable. It is planned to have a formal 

 opening in January, with appropriate exer- 

 cises and public inspection of the rare collec- 

 tions housed in the building, appropriations 

 for which were authorized at a recent session 

 of the Legislature. Professor G. Frederick 

 Wright, of Oberlin, is president of the society 

 and Professor W. C. Mills, of Columbus, its 

 eurator. 



At the recent meeting of the American 

 Ornithologists' Union in New York City, as 

 we learn from The Auk, the advisability of 

 changing the time of meetings from fall to 

 spring was considered. This innovation was 

 favored for two principal reasons: First, to 

 make it possible for those members to attend 

 who, for business or other restsons, were unable 

 to leave home in the autumn. Second, mem- 

 bers residing on the Pacific Coast are very 

 anxious that the stated meeting in 1915 be 

 held in San Francisco while the World's 

 Panama-Pacific Exposition is in progress. It 

 was the consensus of opinion that spring was 

 the most favorable time to hold this meeting 

 and to successfully carry out the plan, it was 

 thought advisable to allow at least a year to 

 intervene between the Washington and San 

 Francisco meetings. This would give mem- 

 bers throughout the country ample time to 

 plan in advance for the journey acrosa the 

 continent. In this connection it is to be re- 

 membered that the expense of the transconti- 



nental trip will be greatly reduced if a con- 

 siderable number of members and their friends 

 attend. With the above plan in mind, the 

 Committee of Arrangements has decided to 

 name Easter week, beginning with April 6, 

 1914, as the best time for the Washington 

 meeting. 



VNIVESSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS 



The late Eight Hon. G. W. Palmer be- 

 queathed £10,000 to University College, Read- 

 ing, and it is now announced that Mr. Alfred 

 Palmer has suggested that this legacy should 

 be devoted to building a university library, 

 and on behalf of Mrs. G. W. Palmer, his 

 sisters, and himself, has oifered to supplement 

 it to such extent as will be necessary to enable 

 a suitable library to be built on the site re- 

 served for the purpose, and also to provide an 

 endowment fund for maintenance. 



Gold Hall, a dormitory of the group of 

 original buildings at the Connecticut Agri- 

 cultural College, was burned to the ground on 

 January 4, with a loss of $10,000. 



The Stevens Institute of Technology an- 

 nounces that, beginning with the year 1914, 

 admission to its freshman class will be either 

 by certificate or examination. Students will 

 be admitted to the freshman class on certifi- 

 cates from secondary schools which have been 

 placed upon the accepted list by the faculty. 



The civil engineering department of the 

 engineering college of the University of Illi- 

 nois offers a two weeks' course, January 19-31, 

 to aid the newly appointed county superinten- 

 dents of highways in preparing for their du- 

 ties. In this the university will be aided by 

 the state highway commission, whose engineer 

 will be one of the leading speakers. The work 

 is in charge of Professor Ira O. Baker, head 

 of the department of civil engineering. The 

 ceramics department offers a course, January 

 12-24. It is open to all who are engaged in 

 factory operations. The process of clay test- 

 ing, preparation, molding, drying, burning 

 and decorating are to be treated. The work 

 will be under the direction of R. T. StuU, 

 acting director of the department, and Pro- 

 fessor A. V. Bleininger, ceramic chemist, Bu- 



