August 24, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



319 



was granted during the last session of Congress 

 at tlie instance of Honorable Ernest W. Rob- 

 erts, of Massachusetts, for the purpose of af- 

 fording suitable means of printing and distrib- 

 uting the large collections of rare technical 

 ethnologic matter now in the archives of the 

 bureau or within its reach — of which the Trum- 

 bull vocabulary is a typical example. The 

 greater part of this vocabulary, which will in- 

 clude an introduction by Dr. Edward Everett 

 Hale, is already in type. 



Here Gael Maehold, of Halle, announces 

 a book by Professor Schenk under the title 

 ' Aus meinem Universitatsleben.' It is a reply 

 to the professors of the University at Vienna, 

 whose memorial to the Austrian Government 

 led to his dismissal from the university. 



Me. James G. Cannon, who has been en- 

 gaged in the reorganization of the business of 

 Messrs. D. Appleton & Company, has issued a 

 statement to the effect that the plans have been 

 perfected, and, though the Company will re- 

 main for the present in the hands of the re- 

 ceiver, all authors' accounts will be paid in 

 full. This will naturally be of interest to sci- 

 entific men, as Messrs. D. Appleton & Com- 

 pany publish a long list of scientific books. 

 The relations of an author to a publisher who 

 is unable to carry out his contracts is a some- 

 what perplexing question. Messrs. Harpers 

 Brothers have sold certain of their publications 

 without the consent of the authors, and it 

 seems doubtful whether they have a legal right 

 to do this. There should probably be in Amer- 

 ica, as there is in England, a society of authors 

 which could give advice, and, if necessary, 

 take legal proceedings. Perhaps a committee 

 of the American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science could perform this function for 

 scientific men. 



A DECISION has been rendered by the British 

 House of Lords which somewhat concerns 

 scientific teachers and lecturers, and has prob- 

 ably never been befoi-e the Courts in the United 

 States. Certain speeches of Lord Roseberry's 

 were reported verbatim in the London Times 

 and these were republished without the per- 

 mission of the proprietors of the newspaper in 

 question. Suit was brought to restrain the 

 publication, and this was granted in the first 



Court. The decision was reversed in the Court 

 of Appeal, but has now been re-aflfirmed by 

 the highest court. This court holds that the 

 verbatim reporter of a speech is the 'author' in 

 the meaning of the copyright act. Perhaps the 

 lectures given to a class of students or a paper 

 read before a scientific society are not made 

 public. But if so, according to this decision, 

 thej' could be reported and published by any- 

 one, and the report copyrighted, so that not 

 even the author himself could use it. 



Nature states that the Botanical Museum of 

 Florence has recently received a donation of 

 considerable interest in connection with the 

 history of botany in Italy, viz, the collections 

 made by Micheli, by Bruno Tozzi, and by G. 

 Targioni-Tozzetti in the 18th century, including 

 the type-specimens of species named by these 

 and other eminent botanists. The donation 

 includes also Micheli's and Targioni-Tozzetti's 

 collections of seaweeds. 



The Commercial Cable Company's new cable 

 from the Azores to New York, via Novia Scotia, 

 has been successfully laid by the cable steamers 

 Faraday and Silvertown and is now completed 

 and in working order. This line, which forms 

 the Commercial Company's fourth Atlantic 

 cable, connects at the Azores with the system 

 of the Europe and Azores Telegraph Company 

 and was opened for business on August 1st. 



The 'Two-Penny Tube,' as the Central Elec- 

 tric Underground System of London has been 

 named, as constructed and equipped by Amer- 

 ican contractors, is making a great impression 

 with its bright, porcelain-lined, electric-lighted, 

 cleanly stations, brightly illuminated carriages 

 and smooth and rapid service. The indications 

 are that suburban transportation in Great Britain 

 and on the Continent will be revolutionized by 

 American methods. 



We take from Nature the following items : 

 Mr. Leonard S. Loat, who is investigating the 

 fishes of Egypt for the British Museum and the 

 Egyptian Government, was last heard of at 

 Korti, where he reports (on May 18th) a hot 

 wind and a temperature of 115° in the shade. 

 He had sent home upwards of 2200 specimens of 

 Nile-fishes to the Natural History Museum, and 

 as soon as the river had risen suflficiently would 



