JANUARY 18, 1901.] 
In accordance with the recommendation of 
Governor Odell, a bill has been introduced in 
the New York Assembly abolishing the present 
Forest Preserve Board and transferring its du- 
ties to a Forest, Fish and Game Commission. 
This Commission would have a president with 
a salary of $5,000 and two other members ap- 
pointed from the commissioners of the Land 
Office without extra salary. 
As a part of the work of the Geological Sur- 
vey in Alaska this year, an arctic party will 
proceed from Bergman on the Koyukuk River 
by the Allen Kakat River to the divide, then 
down some stream to the arctic coast and along 
the coast southward and westward. Another 
party will go westward from Bergman down 
the Kowak River to Kotzebue Sound. Another 
party will continue investigation of the Copper 
River region. 
WE learn from the Irish Naturalist{that Pro- 
fessor A. C. Haddon, and Messrs. H. J. Sey- 
mour, R. L. Praeger and Halbert, have been 
investigating the Cave of Dunmore in County 
Kilkenny, Ireland, both as regards its geology 
and its past and present fauna, and have taken 
a number of the small animals which render 
the Mitchelstown cave so interesting. 
A COLLECTION of marine, fresh-water and 
Jand shells, made by the late Sir}James Emer- 
son Tennent, Governor of Ceylon, has been 
presented to the Municipal Museum of Belfast, 
Ireland, by the executors of the late George 
Horner, who had purchased it from a previous 
owner. 
THE Hon. E.S. Converse has given,$125,000 
for an endowment fund for the Malden Public 
Library, established by him. 
THE daily papers report that the Finlay 
theory of the propagation of yellow fever by 
mosquitoes has been further confirmed by the 
commission now studying the subject in Cuba. 
Cable dispatches state that a monkey which 
had been bitten by an infected mosquito de- 
veloped on the fourth day well-marked symp- 
toms; that of six non-immunes bitten by mos- 
quitoes which had previously bitten yellow 
fever patients, five developed yellow fever, 
while subjects who slept in infected clothing 
SCIENCE. 
119 
and bedding, but were guarded from mosqui- 
toes, were untouched. 
THE plague has broken out at Vladivostock 
with nineteen cases of which fifteen have been 
fatal. 
On the afternoon of December 7, 1900, there 
passed over northern Colorado and southern 
Wyoming a magnificent fireball, which was so 
brilliant that some observers described it as 
rivaling the sun. It exploded when passing 
over North Park, Colorado, its detonations in- 
spiring animals with terror and startling people. 
Some reports state that the earth was shaken 
and windows in houses broken. The Chamber- 
lin Observatory has sent circulars broadcast 
over the State and has utilized the newspapers 
thoroughly in an endeavor to gather informa- 
tion. The data obtained have been placed in 
the hands of Miss Lela L. Stingley, of the Uni- 
versity of Denver, for discussion and publica- 
tion. 
Mr. A. G. S. JosEPHson, of the John Crerar 
Library, submitted, at a recent meeting of the 
Bibliographical Society, of Chicago, a plan for 
a complete bibliography of American literature 
on cards, thus making it possible to issue to 
subscribers, during the course ofits preparation, 
cards for either the whole work or for any 
part thereof. The plan provides for the or- 
ganization of a Bibliographical Institute, either 
specially endowed or supported by contribu- 
tions from scientific societies and institutions. 
The Society voted that a committee of three 
be appointed to consider ways and means for 
carrying out the plan, and the President, Pro- 
fessor Camillo von Kleuze, appointed as mem- 
bers of the committee Messrs. Clement W. An- 
drews, Frederick H. Hild and Carl B. Roden. 
In the spring of last year the London Times 
published a series of articles on American en- 
gineering competition that attracted much at- 
tention. The articles are now beitg continued, 
and it is sought to explain the growing place 
taken by American manufactures throughout 
the world, including Great Britain. Apart 
from the natural resources, the chief factors are 
said to be the placing of young men in charge 
of important enterprises and the educational 
methods. The technical schools, though highly 
