January 24, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



131 



naissances of the tropical American region, 

 which he is undertaking under the auspices of 

 Prof. Alexander Agassiz. He will visit many 

 points of geologic interest concerning which 

 knowledge is much needed. The plan of these 

 researches is to acquire accurate detailed knowl- 

 edge of typical regions in order that the whole 

 of the complicated history may be ultimately 

 interpreted. Mr. Hill' s report upon the geology 

 of the Isthmus of Panama and adjacent regions 

 of Costa Eica, embodying the results of last 

 winter's investigations, is nearly completed, and 

 will deal minutely and thoroughly with the 

 complicated and interesting geology of the re- 

 gion. 



Dr. David Staee Jobdan was elected Presi- 

 dent of the California Academy of Sciences at 

 its recent annual meeting. 



The next annual meeting of the British Med- 

 ical Association will be held in Carlisle. 



The memorial to John Bae, the Arctic ex- 

 plorer, which has been executed in London by 

 Mr. Whitehead, has been placed in St. Magnus 

 Cathedral, Kirkwall. The monument stands 

 opposite that of Baike, the African explorer. 



At the annual meeting of the American 

 Society of Naval Engineers, Chief Engineer 

 E. D. Robie was elected President, and passed 

 Assistant Engineer F. C. Bieg, Secretary and 

 Treasurer. 



Natural Science states that the Geological Sur- 

 vey of India has begun a folio publication en- 

 titled Quarterly Notes, and the Geological Sur- 

 vey of Mexico has begun a Boletin de la Comision 

 Geologica de Mexico. 



At the annual meeting of the American Geo- 

 graphical Society held at Chickering Hall, New 

 York, on .January 13th, Judge Charles P. Daly 

 was elected President. The Society has re- 

 ceived the legacy of $100,000 bequeathed by the 

 late General George W. CuUom, to provide for 

 the construction of a fire-proof building. 



The latest advices from Honolulu state that 

 after a pause of thirteen months Kilauea is in 

 active eruption. 



According to the New York Evening Post 

 preparations are in progress at Glasgow Univer- 

 sity for celebrating Lord Kelvin's fifty years' 

 connection with that body. 



The gold medal of the Royal Astronomical 

 Society of London has been awarded to Dr. 

 Seth C. Chandler for his work on the variation 

 of terrestrial latitude and variable stars. 



Prof. E. Ray Lankester has been appointed 

 'a Vice-President of the Royal Society. 



We learn from Nature that the inhabitants of 

 Ziirich have rejected, by 39,476 votes to 17,297, 

 a proposal submitted to them for the absolute 

 prohibition of vivisection. On the other hand, 

 a counter proposal of the Graud Council in favor 

 of the protection of animals with due satisfaction 

 to the demands of science was adopted by 35,- 

 191 votes to 19,551. 



A cablegram to the daily papers states that 

 Eyvind Astrup, the Norwegian explorer who 

 was with Lieutenant Peary in Greenland, is 

 missing. He started to make an expedition in 

 the mountains during the Christmas holidays, 

 and has not since been heard from. A party 

 has been formed to go in search of him. 



Messrs. Macmillan & Co. have in prepara- 

 tion a Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology, 

 edited by Prof J. Mark Baldwin of Princeton. 



There will be held at Innsbruck, from May 

 to October of the present year, an International 

 Exhibition of Hygiene. 



The late Baron Larrey has left a bequest to 

 the Academy of Sciences for an annual prize of 

 $5,000 for the best treatise by an army doctor 

 on any question of medicine, surgery or sanita- 

 tion. 



It is stated^that $22,500 have been subscribed 

 towards defraying the expenses of the meeting 

 of the British Association in Toronto in 1897: 

 $10,000 by the Dominion government ; $7,500 

 by the Provincial government, and $5,000 by 

 the corporation of the city. 



The Vienna Presse, the London Standard and 

 other daily papers report what purports to be 

 an extraordinary discovery by Prof. Rontgen. 

 It is claimed that he has found that the ultra 

 violet rays from a Crookes' vacuum tube pene- 

 trate wood and other organic substances, 

 whereas metals, bones, etc., are opaque to 

 them. It is said that he has thus photographed 

 the bones in the living body, which would be 

 one of the most important advances that has 

 ever been made in surgery. The photographs 



