454 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XII. No. 299. 



The fine colored plates, however, being in the 

 hands of another firm, were uninjured. Other 

 drawings have been made to take the place of 

 the more important of those destroyed and the 

 work will be issued as soon as possible. 



At the recent meeting of the British Associ- 

 ation a committee was appointed to consider 

 the following resolutions: "That in view 

 of the opportunities of ethnographical inquiry 

 which will be presented by the Indian census, 

 the council -of the Association be requested to 

 urge the Government of India to make use of 

 the census ofiicers for the purposes enumerated 

 below, and to place photographers at the ser- 

 vice of the census officers : (1) to establish a 

 survey of the jungle races, Bhils, Gonds, and 

 other tribes of the central mountain districts ; 

 (2) to establish a further survey of the Naga, 

 Kuki, and other cognate races of the Assam 

 and Burmese frontiers ; (3) to collect further 

 information about the vagrant and criminal 

 tribes, Haburas, Beriyas, Sansiyas, etc., in 

 North and Central India ; (4) to collect phys- 

 ical measurements, particularly of the various 

 Dravidian tribes, in order to determine their 

 origin ; and of the Eajputs and Jats of Eajpu- 

 tana and the Eastern Punjab, to determine 

 their relation with the Yu-echi and other Indo- 

 Scythian races ; (5) to furnish a series of pho- 

 tographs of typical specimens in the various 

 races, of views of archaic industries, and of 

 other facts interesting to ethnologists." 



The great meteor of August 25th is reported 

 to have fallen near Eangeley Lake, Me., ex- 

 ploding within a few feet of the hotel and dis- 

 appearing, not a fragment having been discov- 

 ered by a prolonged search. 



The question of admitting women as mem- 

 bers of the general and sectional committees of 

 the British Association was brought up at the 

 recent meeting and carried by a considerable 

 majority. 



We are glad to note articles in the New York 

 Evening Post and the Boston Evening Transcript 

 urging the Importance of a bureau of standards. 

 The item establishing the bureau submitted by 

 Secretary Gage was generally favored by mem- 

 bers of Congress and would doubtless have been 

 passed had it not been for the wish to prevent 



a further increase in expenditures. If the meas- 

 ure is adequately discussed there is every rea- 

 son to believe that it will be passed next winter. 



A MEETING of Government officials and me- 

 teorological and agricultural authorities is soon, 

 to take place at Hamburg, to discuss the Intro- 

 duction of a telegraphic service for German agri- 

 culture. 



The Windward was expected to reach St. 

 Johns at about the middle of the present month, 

 but a short delay will not be surprising as it 

 started late, owing to some difficulty with the 

 machinery, and was subsequently delayed by 

 ice along the coast of Labrador. The arrival of 

 the steamship is awaited with interest and some 

 anxiety as it will bring news not only of the re- 

 turn of Peary, but also of Captain Sverdrup and 

 Dr. Stein. The former has the Fram provis- 

 ioned for five years, with a crew of twelve men. 

 He planned to round the northern boundary of 

 Greenland and to make his way down its un- 

 known east coast to Cape Bismarck. It is said 

 that the expedition under Dr. Eobert Stein of 

 the U. S. Geological Survey, who is accom- 

 panied by Mr. Leopold Kann of Cornell Univer- 

 sity and Mr. Samuel Warmbath of Harvard 

 University was poorly equipped and left in a 

 dangerous position. Lieutenant Peary himself 

 expected to establish his last depot at Cape 

 Hecla, the most northerly point of Grinnell 

 Land just beyond the 82d parallel, whence he 

 intended to advance with Eskimo and sleds as 

 far north as possible. 



It is reported in the daily papers that Captain 

 Bernier, who has lately returned to Quebec 

 from Newfoundland, states that when there 

 he examined all the vessels engaged in the 

 whaling business to select one for his proposed 

 North Pole expedition. He says that none 

 were considered by him strong enough to resist 

 the pressure of the Polar ice. He has, there- 

 fore, proposed that the Canadian government 

 build a suitable vessel out of the grant that has 

 been promised. Captain Bernier says that his 

 offers of assistance, exclusive of the govern- 

 ment grant, now aggregate $25,000, and that 

 the merchants of Quebec will donate supplies 

 worth $6000 or $7000. 



News has been received from the Liverpool 



