382 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIV. No. 612. 



essay on ' The training of the medical officer 

 of the state forces to best qualify him for local 

 service and for mobilization with national 

 troops.' 



Professor Chas. N. Gould is preparing a 

 preliminary report on the oil, gas and coal 

 deposits of the new state of Oklahoma. The 

 field work was accomplished during July and 

 August. 



The Journal of the American Medical As- 

 sociation states that a memorial tablet was 

 recently unveiled at Pavia, Italy, to the mem- 

 ory of the late surgeon, E. Bottini. Behind 

 the tablet were immured a gold medal with 

 the portrait of the deceased and an elab- 

 orate souvenir volume containing works by 

 his pupils and friends, with an address on 

 parchment — all of which had been prepared 

 to present to the master on the occasion of the 

 twenty-fifth anniversary of his assuming the 

 chair of surgery at Pavia. The plans for the 

 ceremonies were annulled by the unexpected 

 death of the great surgeon not long before the 

 arrival of the anniversary. The tablet stands 

 between one erected to the memory of Scarpa 

 and another to Porta, and the inscription on 

 the marble is merely a few words of tribute 

 to the man ' who by his genius in the science 

 and the art renewed the glorious traditions of 

 the Pavia school of surgery.' 



M. Joseph FRANgois Bossert, astronomer 

 at the Paris Observatory, has died at the age 

 of fifty-four years. 



Dr. Max von Eyth, known as an engineer 

 and author, died on August 21 at Ulm, at the 

 age of seventy years. 



Dr. John Cameron, consulting physician to 

 the Eoyal Southern Hospital, and formerly 

 lecturer on medicine at the Liverpool Royal 

 Infirmary, has died at the age of eighty-eight. 



There will be on October 17 a civil service 

 examination for the position of scientific as- 

 sistant in the Department of Agriculture, at 

 salaries ranging from $840 to $1,200 per an- 

 num, depending upon the qualifications and 

 experience of the appointees. Attention is 

 invited to the fact that it is especially desired 

 to secure application for the major optional 



subjects — analytical chemistry (methods for 

 the detection of food adulteration), plant 

 pathology and soil physics. 



The Illinois Civil Service Commission an- 

 nounces examinations for a pathologist at 

 Kankakee ($2,500 a year and maintenance), 

 and pathologists in six other hospitals for the 

 insane. 



The Mexican government offers three prizes, 

 each of the value of $20,000, for (1) the dis- 

 covery of the typhus fever germ; (2) the mode 

 of its transmission to man; (3) a successful 

 preventive or curative serum or other effectual 

 remedy. 



Professor A. D. F. Hamlin, of Columbia 

 University, has been authorized to offer a 

 prize of $500 in behalf of the American So- 

 ciety for the Prevention of Cruelty to Ani- 

 mals for the best design for a bronze drinking 

 fountain for dogs, horses and men. It is to 

 be set on the edge of the sidewalk. Each 

 fountain is to be limited in cost to $250. 



An association for the study of microbiol- 

 ogy has recently held its first session at Berlin. 



The first international congress for the 

 study of the polar regions opened on Sep- 

 tember 1 at the Palais des Academies, Brus- 

 sels, under the presidency of M. Beernaert. 

 As the London Times states, the idea of the 

 systematic study of this portion of the globe 

 originated in the international congress on 

 ' expansion mondiale ' held last year at Mons, 

 when a committee was formed to carry the 

 idea into practise on a basis of international 

 cooperation. At the meeting representatives 

 were present from the institutions and learned 

 societies of almost every quarter of the globe. 

 Among those present were Dr. Nordenskjold, 

 M. Arctowski, M. de Gerlache, Captain Scott, 

 Prince Buonaparte, and many leading men of 

 science. Baron de Favereau, the Belgian 

 minister for foreign affairs, welcomed the 

 delegates. It was decided to form a commit- 

 tee to study the best means of creating an 

 international polar association for the purpose 

 of organizing explorations and otherwise as- 

 sisting the object in view. Dr. Jean Charcot 

 announced that he was organizing an expedi- 



