May 32, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



771 



do not live to grow up in the same way as they 

 do when they are hatched on the glass. 



RECENT CHEMICAL PEOGEESS. 



Peof. Dewae lectured before the Royal In- 

 stitution on April 16th, on Recent Chemical 

 Progress. According to the report in the Lon- 

 don Times Prof. Dewar dwelt especially on the 

 great future opened out to synthetical chemis- 

 try by the employment of the temperature of 

 the electric arc. Some of the most interesting 

 results had been obtained from the electric fur- 

 nace by the French chemist, M. Moissan, in the 

 shape of carbides, stable bodies produced by the 

 combination at high temperatures of carbon 

 with various metals. Many of the carbides 

 were decomposed by water, the hydrogen of the 

 water combining with the carbon to form hy- 

 drocarbons. Thus with water some carbides, 

 such as that of calcium, gave acetylene ; 

 others, like that of aluminium, gave marsh 

 gas, while others again gave these and 

 other gases, and what was most wonderful, 

 liquid petroleums. It was a curions fact that 

 many years ago Professor Mendeleef speculated 

 that the only reason for the immense localiza- 

 tion of petroleum at Baku was that it was being 

 generated there by the action of water on 

 carbides. His idea was rather smiled at then, 

 but now it is his turn to smile. When acety- 

 lene was heated to a dull red heat it was 

 polymerized to benzene. Benzene was the 

 basis of all the new modern colors, and thus 

 by three direct stages we were able to reach 

 the nucleus of all the colors hitherto manufac- 

 tured from coal-tar products. First there was 

 the combination of lime and coke iu the electric 

 furnace; second, the decomposition of the car- 

 bide thus formed by tvater; and third, the 

 transformation into benzene of the resulting 

 acetylene by means of heat. Professor Dewar 

 concluded by briefly discussing some of the 

 properties of acetylene, explaining, among 

 other things, the cause of its extraordinarily 

 great luminosity as due to its peculiar endo- 

 thermic structure. 



THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABOEATOEY. 



The announcement of the Laboratory of 

 Woodsholl for 1896 shows that several changes 



have been made. Prof. Bumpus has resigned 

 the position of assistant director, which has 

 been filled by the appointment of Prof James 

 I. Peck, of Williams College, who also has 

 charge of the instruction in zoology. Dr. 

 Setchell, owing to his removal to the University 

 of California, has given up charge of the botan- 

 ical department, which has been undertaken by 

 Prof. Macfarlane, of the University of Penn- 

 sylvania. The officers having charge of original 

 research in zoology include Profs. Howard 

 Ayers, University of the State of Missouri; E. 

 G. Conklin, University of Pennsylvania; W. 

 A. Locy, Northwestern University; and M. M. 

 Metcalf, the Woman's College of Baltimore. 

 Prof Whitman has charge of the work in em- 

 bryology with the assistance of Dr. Lillie, of 

 the University of Michigan, and Dr. Strong, of 

 Columbia College. 



The session of 1895 was unusually successful, 

 the membership of the laboratory being 199, 

 which was 65 in excess of the number in 1894, 

 a regular increase having been maintained 

 since the foundation of the laboratory in 1888. 

 In 1895 there were 42 independent investiga- 

 tors at work and 21 carrying on research under 

 supervision. In addition to the regular courses 

 nineteen public lectures were given in 1895. 

 The Marine Biological Laboratory is perhaps 

 open to the criticism that the work is too 

 much that of the laboratory and too little that 

 of the naturalist, but this is only following the 

 trend of biological science throughout the 

 world. It is certain that nowhere else in Amer- 

 ica can biological research be undertaken with 

 such pleasant and stimulating surroundings. 



THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. 



AccoEDiNG to the London Times, the sixty- 

 seventh anniversary meeting of the Society was 

 held on April 29th. The report of the Council 

 stated that the number of Fellows on January 

 1, 1896, was 3,027, showing a net increase 

 of 55 members during the year. The num- 

 ber of new Fellows that joined the Society 

 in 1895 was 197, which was the largest num- 

 ber of elections that had taken place in any 

 year since 1877. The total receipts of the 

 Society for 1895 amounted to £26,958 9s. Id., 

 showing an increase of £1,851 8s. 6d., as com- 



