December 7, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



749 



mold public opinion, to advise wisely, to set 

 forth the truth and to provide funds for re- 

 search and investigation. It is expected that 

 such a society will be able, with the funds 

 entrusted to its care, to publish from time to 

 time the best information obtainable concern- 

 ing earthquakes, and in every way work for 

 the benefit and welfare of not only our own 

 community but all mankind, so far as the 

 effects of earth movements are concerned." 



The second meeting of the Southern So- 

 ciety for Philosophy and Psychology will be 

 held in Montgomery, Alabama, in connection 

 with the Southern Educational Association, 

 December 27-29. Further particulars will be 

 given later. 



Mr. Lester F. Ward would be glad to be 

 informed of as many as possible of the native 

 plants, especially trees and shrubs, of the 

 country which possess the sympodial type of 

 branching, either complete or partial. Names, 

 lists, notes, etc., may be sent to him at Brown 

 University, Providence, R. I. Observations 

 of sufficient importance might be sent to Sci- 

 ence for publication. Any estimates of the 

 proportion of sympodial to monopodial plants 

 would be of interest. The subject is a neg- 

 lected one, and references to the best treat- 

 ment of it would be useful. 



In an interesting and well-written article 

 on * The Lure of the Pearl ' in the November 

 Geniury, Mr. Frederick Courtland Penfield 

 has this amusing bit of zoology : " It should 

 be known that the pearl-bearing oyster of the 

 Indian Ocean is only remotely related to the 

 edible variety of America and Europe. It is 

 the Margariiifera vulgaris, said to belong to 

 the animal kingdom, and not to the fish fam- 

 ily, and is never eaten." 



We learn from The Journal of Experi- 

 ment Stations that the Chinese government 

 has approved a request made by the native 

 board of commerce at Peking for the use of 

 the Loshan garden, which is situated on the 

 Imperial Eoad outside of the Hsichih Gate 

 of Peking, with an area of 166§ acres, as a 

 field for agricultural experiments. In 1905 

 the board was authorized to take measures 

 for the encouragement of agriculture, but up 



to the present, with the exception of the few 

 experimental fields and agricultural schools 

 established in Chihli, Shantung, Shansi, Ho- 

 nan and Fukien, little has been done along 

 this line. 



The Journal of the American Medical As- 

 sociation states that the Berlin Academy of 

 Sciences has been examining the rich material 

 of ancient medical MSS. in its library, and 

 has just published the first volume of a de- 

 scriptive catalogue, devoted to works dealing 

 with Hippocrates and Galen. The work has 

 been in charge of Professors H. Diels and G. 

 Schone. After the complete catalogu.e is is- 

 sued it is proposed to publish all the MSS. in 

 full. Professor Heiberg, of Copenhagen, is 

 to help in this task, especially with the Egyp- 

 tian papyri. 



The Medical Relief Committee, represent- 

 ing the New York Academy of Medicine, and 

 the Medical Societies of the counties of New 

 York and Richmond, announces that the total 

 sum transmitted to the Medical Relief Com- 

 mittee at San Francisco amounted to $7,701.10. 



The daily papers state that ' broadly speak- 

 ing, the northern hemisphere will after No- 

 vember 1 report daily on its weather condi- 

 tions to the Weather Bureau in Washington.' 

 An arrangement made with the Central 

 Physical Observatory at St. Petersburg en- 

 ables reports to be received from the great 

 land area lying between the Russian capital 

 and the Pacific, while the opening of cable 

 communication with Iceland will render pos- 

 sible telegraphic reports of the area of low 

 winter barometer of the North Atlantic. As 

 a consequence of these additional services, it 

 is hoped that the bureau will be in a position 

 to deal with world conditions and to make 

 accurate forecasts for a longer time than ever 

 before. 



We learn from Nature that the board of 

 directors of the great manufacturing firm of 

 Kynoch (Ltd.) has decided to introduce the 

 metric system of weights and measures into 

 all their works. A small committee has been 

 appointed to consider the details of the change 

 and to provide the necessary instruments, and 



