AvGUST 25, 1899. ] 
tribute to the comfort of the members, especially 
the ladies of the party, it has been arranged 
that evening dress will not be required during 
any portion of the visit. 
THE opening meeting of the Sixth Inter- 
national Otological Congress took place in Lon- 
don on August 8th, under the presidency of 
Professor Urban Pritchard, who delivered an 
-address on the ‘ Birth and Growth of Otological 
Science.’ 
RICHARD ANDRE, in an editorial note in a 
recent issue of Globus deprecates the term 
‘Amerind’ that has been proposed by the 
Anthropological Society of Washington in place 
of the current terms ‘American Race,’ ‘In- 
dians’ and ‘Red Men.’ He doubts the neces- 
sity of introducing a new term and considers 
the change as arbitrary and as ‘ unhistorical.’ 
AN extensive series of experiments has been 
in progress during the summer, in the neighbor- 
hood of Shelter Island, by Mr. John P. Hol- 
land, the inventor of the Holland Torpedo 
Boat, in the investigation of the various prob- 
lems of submarine navigation and warfare. 
The Holland submarine boat has been kept 
busy in these experiments, and it is said has 
performed remarkably well. This is the craft 
lately built at Mr. Nixon’s shipyard at 
Elizabethport. 
Nature quotes from the special number of the 
Atti, containing the report of the anniversary 
meeting of the Reale Accademia dei Lincei, 
announcing the annual awards of prizes. The 
Royal prize for astronomy for 1896 remains un- 
awarded. The Royal prize for philology and 
languages is divided equally between Professor 
Pio Rajna, for his critical edition of Dante’s 
‘De Vulgari Eloquentia,’ and Professor Claudio 
Giacomino, for his studies on the Basque lan- 
guage. The prize for history and geography is 
unawarded, and the same is true of a prize of- 
fered for 1898 for perfecting the theory of mo- 
tion of a rigid body. The Ministerial prize of 
3,400 lire for history for 1898 is divided, a prize 
of 1,700 lire being awarded to Professor Gaétano 
Salvemini, and smaller awards being made to 
Professors Alberto Birro, Niccold Rodolico and 
Michele Rosi. Of the Ministerial prize of 3,400 
lire for mathematics for 1898, a prize of 2,000 
SCIENCE. 261 
lire is awarded to Professor Ettore Bortolotti, 
and awards of 700 lire each are made to Pro- 
fessors Federico Amodeo and Francesco Pala- 
tini. The adjudicators state that the works of 
Professor Pirondini would have gained an 
award had not some of them received recogni- 
tion on a previous occasion. The adjudicators 
of the Ministerial prize for philosophical and 
social sciences for 1897 award 500 lire each to 
Professors Albino Nagy, Luigi Ambrosi and 
Tarozzi. The Mantellini prize is unawarded. 
Of the Santoro prize for electro-technics, one- 
half is awarded to Signor R. Arno, for his share 
in the joint invention with the late Professor 
G. Ferraris of a new transformer. The San- 
toro prize for chemistry as applied to agricul- 
ture is unawarded, and from the Carpi prize for 
mathematical physics for 1897-8 a sum of 500 
lire is awarded to Signor C. Canovetti, for his 
papers on the direction of aérostats and on the 
the resistance of the air. i 
Tue London Times reports that the city and 
environs of Rome were visited on July 19th by 
a prolonged and relatively severe shock of 
earthquake, which, while damaging various 
edifices in Rome itself and doing considerable 
harm at Frascati, Rocca di Papa and other 
towns on the Alban Hills, fortunately passed 
without causing loss of human life. The shock 
occurred between 2:19 and 2:20 p.m., lasting 
with minor intensity for twenty-five and with 
major intensity for about six seconds. A dull 
noise like the sound of a heavy dray being 
driven rapidly under an archway accompanied 
the phenomenon, which was mainly undulatory 
in character. In many parts of the city the 
terror-stricken inhabitants rushed into the 
streets and public gardens, where they were 
soon drenched by a deluge of torrential rain 
from light gray clouds which gathered almost 
instantaneously in what had previously been a 
perfectly clear sky. The city did not regain its 
normal aspect until 5 p. m. Several minor 
casualties are reported. A workman was in- 
jured by a falling brick; a horse was killed 
by the collapse of a stable; a fragment of ma- 
sonry fell from a church, smashing four paving- 
stones and narrowly missing a passer-by. The 
Palazzo Sciara and the Palazzo Chigo in the 
Corso were slightly damaged ; a large stone fell 
