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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIX. No. 1004 



The University of Cambridge proposes to 

 confer on the occasion of the opening of the 

 new physiological laboratory on June 9 the 

 degree of doctor of science on Sir William 

 Osier, Sir David Terrier, Sir E. A. Schafer 

 and Professor E. H. Starling. 



The opening ceremonies of the Institute for 

 Medical Research, founded with an endow- 

 ment of $1,000,000 by Mrs. George William 

 Hooper in memory of her husband, were held 

 on March 7 at the University of California 

 Hospital, San Francisco. Addresses were made 

 by Dr. Henry S. Pritchett, of the Carnegie 

 Foundation, on " The Value of Medical Ee- 

 search to a Great City," and by Dr. Richard 

 Mills Pearce, Philadelphia, on " The Opportu- 

 nity of the University in Medical Research." 



The Vienna Prehistoric Society was re- 

 cently founded with Professor Moritz Hoernes, 

 of the University of Vienna, as its president. 



On the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary 

 of the Cireolo Matematico of Palermo a gold 

 medal will be presented to Dr. Giovanni B. 

 Guccia, founder of the society and editor of 

 its publications. 



The Hon. Bertrand Russell, of the Univer- 

 sity of Cambridge, has taken up his duties at 

 Harvard University during the second half- 

 year. 



Professor Charles E. Besset, of the Uni- 

 versity of Nebraska, is spending the month of 

 March at the Desert Botanical Laboratory of 

 the Carnegie Institution near Tucson, Ari- 

 zona. Professor Bessey plans to study and 

 collect material of numerous species of the 

 desert flora. While he is away Dr. R. J. Pool 

 is in charge of the department of botany at 

 the University of Nebraska. 



Professor William T. Sedgwick, head of 

 the department of biology and public health 

 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 

 has been given leave of absence for the present 

 term, on account of a recent illness. He will 

 pass the time in southern Europe. 



Mr. Frank Alvord Perrett, the American 

 volcanologist, has been slightly burned on the 

 hands and legs by an explosion of molten lava 

 while studying the volcano of Sakura-Jima. 



A testimonial dinner was tendered to Dr. 

 Samuel Sheldon at the Hotel Astor on March 

 21 to celebrate a quarter of a century of serv- 

 ice as professor at the Polytechnic Institute 

 of Brooklyn. 



The members of the Chemists' Club, New 

 York, gave a complimentary dinner to Dr. 

 Wolfgang Ostwald, of the University of Leip- 

 zig, on March 19. 



Mr. Emil Huber-Stockar, engineer in 

 charge for the Swiss government of the electri- 

 fication of the Gothard tunnel and president 

 of the Swiss national committee of the Inter- 

 national Electrotechnical Commission, was a 

 guest of honor at a dinner given at the Engi- 

 neers' Club, New York City, on March 13, by 

 Mr. C. O. Mailloux, president of the American 

 Institute of Electrical Engineers. 



Professor George Grant MacCurdy, of 

 Yale University, has been elected a correspond- 

 ing member of the Numismatic and Antiquar- 

 ian Society of Philadelphia. 



Mr. Francois E. Matthes, associate geolo- 

 gist of the U. S. Geological Survey, has been 

 elected a corresponding member of the Inter- 

 national Glacier Commission. 



Professor H. H. Norris, until last year 

 professor of electrical engineering in Cornell 

 University, has accepted an appointment as 

 associate editor of the Electric Bailway 

 Journal, and, beginning on July 1, when his 

 term as secretary of the Society for the Pro- 

 motion of Engineering Education expires, he 

 will devote his entire time to that publication. 



Carl Spencer Milliken has been appointed 

 assistant superintendent of Agricultural Ex- 

 tension in the University of California, with 

 headquarters at the Graduate School of Trop- 

 ical Agriculture at Riverside. 



Dr. Henry Norris Russell, professor of 

 astronomy in Princeton University, lectured 

 before the Columbia Chapter of Sigma Xi on 

 March 24, the subject being " Eclipsing Vari- 

 able Stars." 



Professor Eoswell H. Johnson, of the 

 University of Pittsburgh, lectured before the 

 department of geology of Columbia Univer- 



