SEPTEMBER 29, 1899. ] 
PROFESSORS WILLIAM LIBBEY and CHARLES 
McCuureE, members of the Peary Relief Expe- 
dition have returned to Princeton with valua- 
ble collections, both of vertebrates and inver- 
tebrates. 
Mr. W. D. Hunter, special agent of the 
Division of Entomology, Department of Agri- 
culture, has returned to Washington, after hay- 
ing studied the Turtle Mountain region in 
North Dakota and Manitoba, supposed to be a 
permanent breeding ground of the Rocky 
Mountain locust. This he found not to be the 
ease, and he thinks that the probable breeding 
ground is on the Assiniboine River, north and 
east of Regina, a region that will be investi- 
gated next season. 
On the occasion of the centenary of the 
Technical Institute at Charlottenburg, which 
will take place on October 19th, monuments to 
Siemens and Krupp will be unveiled. 
THE death is announced of M. Gaston Tiss- 
andier, well known as eronaut and writer on 
scientific topics, and founder and editor of the 
weekly scientific journal La Nature. He was 
56 years of age. 
WE also regret to record the deaths of Pro- 
fessor Theodore Elbert, the German geologist, 
at the age of 42 years, and of Dr. Max Barth, 
director of the Agricultural Station of Rufach, 
in Alsace, at the age of 44 years. 
THE new institute, free library and Royal 
museum just erected at Canterbury was opened 
on September 11th by the mayor of that city, 
Alderman George Collard. The bulk of the 
cost is covered by a bequest of £10,000 left to 
the city by the late Dr. Beaney, of Melbourne, 
who was a native of Canterbury. The build- 
ing was used as the place of reception on the 
occasion of the visit of the members of the 
British and French Associations. 
Ir will be remembered that sometime since, 
Mr. J. M. Tata, of Bombay, offered a large sum 
for the establishment of a scientific research in- 
stitute in India. It appears that some condi- 
tions regarding a family settlement were at- 
tached, but these have now been withdrawn, 
and it is hoped that the government may be 
able to proceed with the establishment of the 
institute. 
SCIENCE. 
463 
THE building for the German Chemical So- 
ciety of Berlin, to be named Hofmannhaus, in 
memory of the great German chemist, is now in 
course of erection, and it is expected that the 
exterior will be finished before the winter. 
Mr. ANDREW CARNEGIE has given $50,000 
for a free library of Dallas, Texas. 
Tue Texas Agricultural College and Experi- 
ment Station has been provided by the legisla- 
ture with a new building that will cost $31,000, 
and also with a dormitory costing $24,000. 
THE last session of the legislature of Utah 
made an appropriation of $6,000 for a State 
Experiment Station, which will be located in 
Washington county. It is to be supported en- 
tirely by State funds and will not be connected 
with the station at Logan. 
THE Allegemeine Wissenschaftliche Berichte 
learn from Christiana that the Norwegian 
Storthing will appoint a commission to award 
the first Nobel prize for the promotion of peace. 
The award will be made, as we have already 
stated, on December 10, 1901, the anniversary 
of Nobel’s death, and on the same day the cor- 
ner-stone will be laid of the Nobel Institute at 
Christiana. This Institute will have the dis- 
posal of 300,000 crowns and a yearly income of 
50,000 crowns. It will be devoted especially 
to the study of international law, and will aim 
to draw students and lecturers from all nations. 
It appears from letters in the London Times 
that a syndicate bought up all the rooms in 
Dover for the weeks of the meeting of the 
British Association and sold them to members 
at extortionate rates. 
A CIVIL service examination will be held on 
October 17th with a view to filling the position 
of civil and electrical engineer in the engineer- 
ing department-at-large with a salary of $125 
per month. 
In view of the occurrence of cases of the 
plague in the village of Koloboreka in the 
Russian Government of Astrakhan, the Prince 
of Oldenburg has been made President of a 
commission, consisting of members of the med- 
ical council and other experts which will carry 
out an investigation of the subject. An out- 
break of the plague is also reported at Asun- 
cion, Paraguay. 
