510 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. III. No. 66. 



marked contrasts were observed. The 

 Normans were generally prominent in 

 science, and little so in poetry or works of 

 imagination ; while this was reversed for the 

 south of France. Dr. CoUignon, therefore, 

 comes to the conclusion : " To the difference 

 of race, a purely anatomical fact shown bj' 

 the shape of the head and the color of the 

 Lair, corresponds a difference in the brain, 

 which reveals itself by a special tendency 

 of the thoughts and particular aptitudes." 

 D. G. Beinton. 

 University of Pennsylvania. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 



The annual stated session of the National 

 Academy of Sciences will be held in Washing- 

 ton, D. C, beginning Tuesday, April 21, 1896, 

 at 11 A. M. The place of meeting will be at 

 the National Museum. In accordance with the 

 new rule adopted October 30, 1895, the business 

 meetings of the Academy will continue until 

 one o'clock P. M. The scientific meetings will 

 begin at half-past one P. M. 



A BILL has been passed by the Legislature of 

 Maryland and signed by the Governor, entitled 

 ' ' An Act to establish a State Geological and 

 Economic Survey and to make provision for 

 the preparation and publication of reports and 

 maps to illustrate the natural resources of the 

 State, together with the necessary investigations 

 preparatory thereto." $10,000 annually is ap- 

 propriated for carrying out the provisions of 

 the act, and a commission has been established 

 composed of the Governor of the State, the 

 Comptroller, the President of the Johns Hop- 

 kins University and the President of the Mary- 

 land Agricultural College. At a meeting of the 

 commission, on March 2.5th, Prof. William Bul- 

 lock Clark was appointed State Geologist. He 

 will at once begin work in the field. 



Beigadiek-Genbral Thos. Lincoln Casey 

 died suddenly at Washington on March 26th. 

 He was born on May 10, 1831, and had super- 

 vised many important engineering works and 

 public buildings. At the time of his death he 

 had charge of the new Congressional Library, 



one of the most notable buildings of the world. 

 General Casey was appointed Chief of Engineers 

 in 1888 and was retired in May, 1895. He was 

 a member of the National Academy of Sciences, 

 an officer of the Legion of Honor, of France, and 

 author of many important articles and reports. 



The privileges of the laboratories of the In- 

 ternational Zoological Station at Naples have 

 been extended to seven American students for 

 the spring of 1896. At the present moment, 

 however, there are only two American Tables, 

 so that most of these men are accepted at the 

 station through the courtesy of the director, 

 Geheimrath Dohrn. The Smithsonian table has 

 not remained unoccupied a single day since it 

 was established, nearly three years ago, while 

 Prof. Agassiz's table has also been in great de- 

 mand. This country should have at least three 

 tables at Naples. Who will assume the respon- 

 sibility of raising the money for the support of 

 a third table "? 



A MARBLE bust in memory of the philosopher 

 Luigi Perri was placed, on March 16th, the 

 anniversary of his death, in the hall of the 

 University of Eome, where Ferri taught for 

 twenty-four years. For this memorial about 

 .$200 had been collected by subscription. 



Frank Weir & Co., New York, announce 

 the publication of an Index to the medical press, 

 to be published monthly, beginning the 15th of 

 the present month. It is proposed to give a 

 complete bibliography of papers published in 

 the medical magazines and transactions of the 

 United States and Canada. 



Icones Plantarum, which has been edited by 

 Prof. Daniel Oliver since 1891, will hereafter 

 be edited by the director of Kew Gardens. 



The French government has decided to con- 

 tinue to Mme. Pasteur the pension of 25, 000 fr. 

 which her husband had received for thirteen 

 years. 



Peof. Francis R. Fava, who held the chair 

 of civil engineering at the Columbian Univer- 

 sity, Washington, died at that place on March 

 26th, aged about thirty-six j'ears. 



M. Berthelot, the eminent French chem- 

 ist, has resigned from the Ministry of Foreign 

 affairs of France. 



