198 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XII. No. 292. 



The Eev. Dr. John A. Kumler, of Springfield, 

 111., has offered to provide for the cases to con- 

 tain the above collection. 



A Society for School Hygiene has been 

 established in Germany and will hold its first 

 meeting at Aix la Chapelle, in connection 

 with the meeting of German Men of Science 

 and Physicians beginning on September 17th. 



The position of physicist in the Geological 

 Survey will be filled by a civil service exami- 

 nation on August 21st and 22d. The salary of 

 the ofiice is $1800 per annum. The subject of 

 examinations and the weights are as follows : 



1. English (essay) 8 



2. German 8 



3. French 8 



4. Laboratory training 28 



5. Mathematics 20 



6. General physics 28 



Total 100 



A TELEGRAM was received on July 24th at 

 the Hai-vard College Observatory from Professor 

 W. R. Brooks at Geneva, N. Y., stating that a 

 bright comet was discovered by him July 23d 

 at IS*" (premsumably Eastern time), in R. A. 

 2M3°'40''andDec. + 12° SO'. Motion northerly. 

 Stellar nucleus and tail. A subsequent letter 

 from Professor Brooks states that he found the 

 position of his new comet July 26, 13'' 25°" 

 Eastern time (IS"" 25"' Greenwich Mean Time) 

 to be in R. A. 2'' 46" 30» and Dec. + 21° 1'. 



The Conference Scientia, an informal society 

 organized at Paris for social purposes, held its 

 sixth meeting on June 28th, the occasion being a 

 banquet in honor of M. Darboux, the eminent 

 mathematician. An address was made by M. 

 Ch. Eichet to which M. Darboux replied. 



More than 300 papers have already been 

 offered for the meeting of German Men of Sci- 

 ence and Physicians which takes place at Aix 

 la Chapelle beginning on September 17th. 

 General addresses will be made by Professor 

 Yan't Hoff, Berlin, on the ' Development of 

 Chemistry ' ; by Professor Oscar Hertwig, Ber- 

 lin, on the ' Development of Biology ' ; by Pro- 

 fessor Naunyn, Strasburg, on ' Internal Medi- 

 cine including Bacteriology and Hygiene,' and 

 by Professor Chiari, Prague, on ' Pathological 

 Anatomy and External Medicine.' 



At a recent meeting of the Museums Asso- 

 ciation at Canterbury, Professor W. M. Flinders 

 Petrie advocated his plan of building large but 

 inexpensive sheds to house ethnological and 

 archasological material. The plan is to acquire 

 about a square mile of land within an hour's 

 ride of London and to begin to build large gal- 

 leries uniformly on what might be called a 

 gridiron plan. The proposed galleries should 

 be about 54 feet wide and 400 feet apart, so that 

 after completion there would be room for addi- 

 tions six times as large on the intermediate 

 ground. The plan would involve the construc- 

 tion of about 400 feet of gallery per year, or 

 eight miles in the century, leaving six times 

 the space to be covered by irregular additions 

 as required. The financial demands of the 

 scheme for land, building and staff might be 

 met by a fixed charge of £10,000 per year. 



The report of Commissioner of Patents Duell 

 for the fiscal year ended June 30th last shows a 

 total of 25,540 patents granted, including re- 

 issues and designs. The receipts of the office 

 were $1,358,228, and a surplus of $110,402 

 was turned into the treasury. 



Foe the past two months an installation of 

 wireless telegraphy has been in operation at 

 the lighthouse at Borkum and the light ship 

 20 miles away. Communication is established 

 with the North German Lloyd Steamship 

 Kaiser Wilhehn der Orosse in its voyage into 

 and out of Bremenhaven and other shipping 

 news is transmitted. This is the only wireless 

 telegraphy installation transmitting ordinary 

 intelligence on a commerical fooling. 



The Chancellor of the German Empire has 

 issued an ordinance to the effect that the 

 Reaumur thermometer will not be admitted to 

 oflicial control after January 1, 1901. This 

 will lead to the exclusive use of the centigrade 

 thermometer in Germany. 



Lieutenant Peaey's relief steamer Wind- 

 ward, has entered the harbor at Port au Bas- 

 ques, at the southwest extremity of the island, 

 with part of her machinery disabled. Pieces 

 to replace the broken sections have arrived, 

 but it will probably require a few days to 

 make the necessary repairs. The delay may 



