148 
Terrestrial Magnetism for September, which 
has just appeared, contains a portrait and bio- 
graphical sketch of Professor Arthur Schuster. 
Among other articles in the number are ‘The 
Present Status of our Knowledge of the Earth’s 
Magnetism,’ by A. Nippoldt; and ‘Note sur 
une cause d’erreur dans la détermination de la 
déclinaison magnétique,’ by H. Morize. 
THE first number of the Journal of Hygiene, 
published by the Cambridge University Press 
and edited by George H. F. Nuttall, lecturer 
in bacteriology and preventive medicine in the 
University of Cambridge, late associate in hy- 
giene in the Johns Hopkins University, Balti- 
more, is announced for immediate issue. The 
provisional table of contents is as follows: 
‘Introductory’ by Sir John Simon, Professor Wil- 
liam Osler and the Editor. 
‘Studies in Relation to Malaria.’ 
I. ‘The Geographical Distribution of Anopheles 
in Relation to the Former Distribution of Ague in 
England,’ by G. H. F. Nuttall, Louis Corbett and T. 
S. Pigg. 
II. ‘ The Structure and Biology of Anopheles,’ by G. 
H. F. Nuttall and Arthur E. Shipley. 
‘Pathogenic Microbes in Milk,’ by E. Klein. 
‘Industrial Lead Poisoning,’ by T. M. Legge. 
‘A Rapid Method of determining Carbonic Acid in 
Air,’ by John Haldane. 
‘The Cause of the Red Color in Salted Meat,’ by 
John Haldane. 
‘ Artificial Modifications of Toxines, with Special 
Reference to Immunity,’ by James Ritchie. 
La ewille des jeunes naturalistes, edited by 
Mr. Adrien Dollfus, 35 Rue Pierre-Charron, 
Paris, having existed thirty years, has taken the 
opportunity of improving its appearance and 
intends to concentrate its efforts mainly on the 
natural history of western and central Europe 
with the adjacent regions around the Mediter- 
ranean. The library at the disposal of sub- 
seribers to La Feuille now contains about 42,000 
memoirs and 300 scientific journals. The 
November, December and January numbers, 
which are those that have as yet appeared of 
this new series, amply fulfill the promise made. 
The most notable article is ‘ Revision des espéces 
de Tritons du genre Huproctus Gené, suivi d’un 
apercu des Urodéles de la région paléarctique 
du sud-ouest,’ by Dr. W. Wottersdorff. 
SCIENCE. 
[N.S. Vou. XIII. No. 317. 
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 
SECTION OF ASTRONOMY, PHYSICS AND 
CHEMISTRY. 
A REGULAR meeting of the Section was held 
at 12 West 31st St., New York, on the evening 
of January 7, 1901. Professor Harold Jacoby, 
of Columbia University, gave an account of a 
“New Telescope for Photographing the Pole of 
the Heavens.’ He announced that this plan 
of photographing the close polar stars had 
made material progress. A special instrument 
has been constructed and mounted at the Ob- 
servatory at MHelsingfors, Finland. Photo- 
graphs of the actual instrument in position for 
use were exhibited. It is planned to make 
photographs with this instrument in which the 
close polar stars will trace out ‘trails’ on the 
plate corresponding to their diurnal motion. 
The effects of refraction, etc., having been 
eliminated by computation, it is possible to ob- 
tain from such photographs the exact position 
of the celestial pole among the stars and on the 
date of observation. The intercomparison of 
results taken on dates six months apart should 
furnish a new determination of the constant of 
aberration, and photographs taken annually 
throughout a series of years should determine 
the constant of nutation and ultimately perhaps 
even that of precession. 
The actual observing with the instrument 
will commence in the spring, as soon as the 
Helsingfors astronomers have finished with the 
observations of Eros now in progress, and the 
plates will be sent to Columbia University, 
New York, for measurements and reductions. 
An outline of the method to be used, together 
witha preliminary trial of the same, has already 
been published by Professor Jacoby, under the 
title ‘ Photographic Researches near the Pole of 
the Heavens,’ Bulletin of the Imperial Academy 
of Sciences of St. Petersburg, 5th Series, Vol. 9, 
p. 41, June, 1898. 
Mr. George B. Pegram, of Columbia Univer- 
sity, read a paper on the ‘ Reflection of Light 
from White Surfaces.’ This was an experi- 
mental study of some white surfaces with re- 
gard to the relation between the intensity of 
the reflected ray and the angles of incidence 
