JuLy 14, 1899.] 
Science (1889) and of the Anthropological In- 
stitute (1883-85), and was at the time of his 
death President of the Zoological Society of 
London. He was a Knight of the Prussian 
order ‘ Pour le mérite,’ a correspondent of the 
Institute of France, and held honorary degrees 
from a number of learned institutions. 
We learn from Nature that news has been 
received of the death of Mr. John Whitehead 
while on ascientific mission in the Island of 
Hainan. Mr. Whitehead left England in the 
autumn of last year for the purpose of explor- 
ing the less known islands of the Philippine 
group and obtaining a collection of their fauna 
for the British Museum (Natural History). 
‘Tue death is announced of Sir Alexander 
Armstrong, F.R.S., the discoverer of the North- 
west Passage. Sir Alexander spent five succes- 
sive years in the Arctic regions in the search 
for Sir John Franklin. From 1869 to 1880 he 
was Director-General of the Medical Department 
of the British Museum. He was the author of 
“A Personal Narrative of the Discovery of the 
Northwest Passage,’ and ‘Observations on 
Naval Hygiene.’ 
Mr. HENRY WOLLASTON BLAKE, a well known 
engineer, died on June 28th. Mr. Blake had 
been Fellow of the Royal Society for fifty-five 
years. He was an original member of the In- 
stitution of Civil Engineers, of the Institution 
of Mechanical Engineers, and of the British As- 
sociation. 
WE also regret to record the death of Lieu- 
tenant Charles William Baillie, Superintendent 
of the Marine Department of the Meteorological 
Office of Great Britain, and of Dr. Hugo Weidel, 
professor of chemistry in the University of 
Vienna. 
PROFESSOR WILLIAM LIBBEY, of Princeton 
University, has gone to Sidney, Nova Scotia, 
whence he will embark on about the 20th in- 
stant on the steam whaler Diana, of the Peary 
relief expedition, for Inglefield Gulf. Professor 
Libbey is accompanied by Dr. A. E. Ortmann, 
of Princeton University. Among other scien- 
tific work they intend to carry on deep-sea 
dredging. 
Dr. ROBERT STEIN, of the United States 
Geological Survey, accompanied by Dr. Leo- 
SCIENCE. 
63 
pold Kann, has also arranged to embark with 
the expedition, leaving Sidney, Nova Scotia, 
about July 20th, for exploration in Ellesmere 
Land. They plan to spend the autumn in sur- 
veying and collecting along the coast, and to 
winter on the island. 
DuRING the present year field work of the 
Jesup North Pacific expedition of the Ameri- 
can Museum of Natural History is being car- 
ried on in the State of Washington, in British 
Columbia and in southeastern Siberia. It is 
expected that Dr. Berthold Laufer will bring 
his researches on the Island of Saghalin and on 
the Amoor river to a close during the autumn 
of the present year. Mr. Harlan I. Smith is 
conducting an archeological investigation of 
the shell heaps of Puget Sound, and will, later. 
on, continue his work in southern British Co- 
lumbia. Mr. James Teit is carrying on ethno- 
logical researches among the Lillovet Indians. 
Tue Anthropological Department of the 
American Museum of Natural History has sent 
out two investigators to conduct researches 
among the Indian tribes of the West. Mr. 
Roland B. Dixon, assistant in anthropology 
at Harvard University, is visiting the Con. 
cow tribe of California, and Mr. Alfred L. 
Kroeber, fellow in anthropology at Columbia 
University, is visiting the Cheyenne and Ara- 
pahoe Reservation. 
THE Belgian Academy of Sciences an- 
nounces the subjects of its prizes for the year 
1900. Five are set in the physical sciences and 
five in the natural sciences, for each of which 
a gold medal of the value of 600 frs. is offered. 
The papers must be received notlater than the 1st 
of August, 1900, and must be written in French 
or in Dutch. Further details may be obtained 
from the Secretary of the Academy, Brussels. 
THE Science Club medal of the University of 
Wisconsin for the year 1899 has been awarded 
to Mr. Carol Hambuechen, of Milwaukee, for a 
thesis entitled ‘An Experimental Study of the 
Corrosion of Iron under Various Conditions.’ 
It is the first award of this medal, which has 
been designed by Thomas Moring, of London, 
and is to be awarded annually to the member 
of the senior class who presents for his thesis 
the best original investigation. 
