116 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XII. No. 290. 



waters about Spitzbergen (see Fauna Arctica 

 edited by F. Romer and F. Schaudinn, Vol. 1, 

 Jena, 1900). On the eastern side of the island 

 the fauna is richer, species and individuals more 

 numerous than on the west coast ; in the for- 

 mer tract, moreover, the fauna is markedly 

 benthonic, in the latter planktonic. These con- 

 tracts are referred to the action of currents. 

 While Gulf Stream water occupies the sea west 

 and north of Spitzbergen it is intimately mixed 

 with the cold water of the polar current on 

 the east. In this zone of mixture the steno- 

 thermic and stenohalinic organisms of the plank- 

 ton are killed, and thus furnish an abundant 

 rain of food for the bottom forms. So thickly 

 planted were the hydroids and bryozoa that at 

 times the heavy dredge did not penetrate to 

 the true bottom at all, but came up full of these 

 organisms. A table of hydrographical obser- 

 vations appears in the narrative of the voyage. 

 Reginald A. Daly. 

 Harvard Univeesity. 



A NEW STAB IN AQUILA. 



From an examination of the Draper Memorial 

 photographs, Mrs. Fleming has discovered a 

 new star in the constellation Aquila. Its posi- 

 tion for 1900 is R. A. = 19" IS" 16', Dec. = 

 — 0° 19'. 2. It was too faint to be photographed 

 on 96 plates taken between August 21, 1886, and 

 November 1, 1898, although stars as faint as the 

 thirteenth magnitude are visible on some of 

 them. It appears on 18 photographs taken 

 between April 21, 1899, and October 27, 1899. 

 On April 21st it was of the seventh magnitude, 

 and on October 27, 1899, of the tenth magni- 

 tude. Two photographs taken on July 7, and 

 July 9, 1900, show that the star is still visible, 

 and that its photographic magnitude is about 

 11.5. A photograph taken on July 3, 1899, 

 shows that its spectrum resembled those of 

 other new stars, while a photograph taken on 

 October 27, 1899, shows that the spectrum re- 

 sembled those of gaseous nebulse. 



On July 9, 1900, the object was observed with 

 the 15-ineh Equatorial by Professor Wendell, 

 who estimated its magnitude as 11.5 to 12.0, 

 and confirmed the monochromatic character of 

 its spectrum. E. C. Pickering. 



Harvard College Observatory. 



TEE ESTABLISHMENl OF A BUREAU OF 

 CHEMISTRY. 



The following resolutions have been ap- 

 proved by Council of the American Chemical 

 Society : 



Whereas, the laws of the several states 

 controlling food adulterations are largely inef- 

 fective because of the interference of interstate 

 commerce laws, and can be made effective only 

 through national legislation, 



And whereas, by bills now pending in the 

 Congress of the United States and particularly 

 by bills numbered H. R. 9677 and Senate 2426, 

 it is proposed to establish in the United States 

 Department of Agriculture a bureau of chemis- 

 try, the director of which shall, under the di- 

 rection of the secretary of agriculture, be 

 charged with the chemical investigation of the 

 foods produced and consumed throughout the 

 country. 



Therefore be it resolved by the Council of the 

 American Chemical Society that the Congress 

 of the United States be, and is hereby, urged to 

 promptly enact Into law the said bills, namely 

 H. R. 9677, and Senate 2426, and provide ade- 

 quate facilities for effective prosecution of the 

 provisions of the said bills. 



Resolved, further, that a copy of this reso- 

 lution be forwarded to the president of the 

 United States Senate ; to the speaker of the 

 House of Representatives ; to the chairman of 

 the Committees on Agriculture and on Com- 

 merce and Manufactures of the Senate of the 

 United States ; to the chairman of the Com- 

 mittee on Interstate Commerce of the House of 

 Representatives ; to the secretarjr of agricul- 

 ture, who shall be charged with the enforce- 

 ment of the provisions of said bills, and to the 

 presiding officers of the various sections of the 

 Society, urging their co-operation in the move- 

 ment to secure the establishment of the bureau 

 of chemistry, which shall be charged with the 

 scientiiie and chemical work required in the 

 enforcement of the provisions of the said bills. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 



M. GiAED has been elected a member of the 



Paris Academy of Sciences in the section of 



anatomy and physiology in the room of the late 



Milne-Edwards. He received 30 votes, 16 



