302 SCIENCE. 
THE Upper Italian Council of Health has 
awarded a fund to Professor Grassi to aid him 
in continuing his investigations on malaria. 
In the last report of the Potsdam astrophys- 
ical observatory it is stated that the position of 
assistant, vacant by the removal of Miss Alice 
Everett to Vassar College, has been filled by the 
appointment of Dr. Ludendorf, of the Hamburg 
observatory. Dr. Eberhard has also been ap- 
pointed an assistant in the place of Dr. Clem- 
ens, who has removed to the Bamberg obsery- 
atory. Professors Wilsig and Scheiner have 
been promoted to be observers. 
Dr. L. A. BAUER will leave Washington for 
Europe early in September, on business for the 
Coast and Geodetic Survey, and is to be away 
about three months. He will inspect various 
magnetic observatories, and compare the Coast 
and Geodetic Survey instruments with observa- 
tory standards. He will also attend the Sev- 
enth International Geographical Congress, to 
be held in Berlin, as delegate from the National 
Geographic Society of Washington. 
Messrs. J. A. FLEMING and H. W. Vehren- 
kamp, who graduated this year at the Univer- 
sity of Cincinnati, having successfully passed the 
civil service examination for Aid in the Coast 
and Geodetic Survey, have been assigned to 
the Division of Terrestrial Magnetism. 
THE death is announced of Alph. de Marbaix, 
professor of zoology and anatomy in the Agri- 
cultural Institute at Loewen. 
WE regret also to record the death of Dr. N. 
Grote, professor of psychology and philosophy 
at the University of Moscow and editor of the 
only Russian journal devoted to these subjects. 
Dr. J. B. HAtTcueErR, of the department of 
zoology and paleontology of Princeton Univer- 
sity, has returned from his expedition to Pata- 
gonia. ‘We hope to be able to publish shortly 
an account of the important scientific work ac- 
complished. 
THROUGH a chance meeting with a fishing 
boat a letter has been received from the steam- 
ship Diana dated July 24th and stating that all 
were well and that they were expecting to reach 
Disco and meet Lieutenant Peary on July 30th. 
Mr. 8. E. CAssino, Boston, announces that 
he will publish during the present year a new 
edition of the Naturalists’ Directory. 
[N.S. Vou. X. No. 244. 
THE Iron and Steel Institute of Great Britain 
met at Manchester, beginning on August 16th, 
Sir William Roberts-Austen occupying the 
chair. 
THE American Pharmaceutical Association 
will meet on September 4th, and the following 
days at Put-in Bay, Ohio. 
THE fifth meeting of the French Congress of 
Medicine opened at Lille on July 28th under 
the presidency of Professor Grasset, of Mont- 
pellier, who delivered an address on medical 
progress in France in the nineteenth century. 
THE12th International Congressof Orientalists 
will be held this year from October 3d to October 
15th, at Rome, under the patronage of the King 
of Italy. The meetings of the Congress will be 
held in the buildings of the University of Rome, 
but the inaugural and closing ceremonies will 
take place in the Capitol. Members, who may 
secure tickets from the Treasurer of the Univer- 
sity of Rome, can obtain a reduction of fifty 
per cent. while traveling through France and 
Italy. 
As we have already stated, an International 
Commercial congress will be held in connection 
with the Philadelphia Commercial Exposition. 
It will open on about October 10th, and will 
include delegates from at least thirty-one for- 
eign governments and 126 foreign chambers of 
commerce and similar bodies. Many of the 
topics proposed for discussion are of direct or 
indirect interest to men of science. 
THE plague has been so long prevalent in 
India that it has ceased to attract a considerable 
share of public attention. The occurrence of 
cases in Mauritius and Oporto and the suspicion 
of their presence in Naples and in other cities 
should, however, not be disregarded. The death 
of Dr. Miller at Vienna shows that the disease 
may be highly contagious in spite of the most 
careful scientific precautions. An epidemic, 
such as the ‘black death’ of earlier centuries 
may be very improbable, but it cannot be re- 
garded as entirely impossible. 
A REUTER’s telegram announces that the ex- 
pedition of the Liverpool School of Tropical 
Diseases, under the direction of Major Ronald 
Ross, I. M. S., has arrived safely at Freetown, 
Sierra Leone, all well. Major Nathan, the 
Acting Governor of the Colony, has written to 
