November 2, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



695 



United States pavilion at the exliibition on Sep- 

 tember 14th. Mr. Bryce, M.P., vice-president of 

 the British group, was in the chair. The officials 

 and various members of the French, Eussian, 

 and German groups of the Association were also 

 present. A report prepared by the secretaries 

 of the work of the first year was read by Pro- 

 fessor Patrick Geddes. He described the work 

 in Paris, which has been to provide, on the one 

 hand, a rendezvous and center for scientific men 

 and others attending the congresses of the ex- 

 hibition ; and, on the other, to provide for the 

 public interested in various sections expert 

 guidance to these. He further stated that a 

 series of brief reports were being prepared by 

 members of the assembly on special phases of 

 the exhibition, and that it was proposed to or- 

 ganize assemblies at the Glasgow Exhibition of 

 1901 and the St. Louis Exhibition of 1903. 

 Resolutions commending the work of the Associ- 

 ation in all its branches and approving the pro- 

 posals for future activities were proposed and 

 carried unanimously. The chairman, in sup- 

 porting the resolutions, said that he hoped all 

 present would endeavor to bring the aims of the 

 organization to the knowledge of those who 

 would be able to give it financial help. He 

 wished to dwell for a moment on the excellent 

 evidence of international cooperation which was 

 to be seen in this Association. Lately there had 

 been a meeting of Chambers of Commerce in 

 Paris, and much had been said of the advantages 

 to be gained from peace and harmony among the 

 nations. But commerce, much as they desired 

 it to be means of peace, sometimes led to 

 strife. He thought there was something which 

 made far more strongly for peace, and that was 

 science and learning, which did not depend for 

 their growth on competition and rivalry. For 

 this reason he felt that their association should 

 be a great factor towards international under- 

 standing. He felt the exhibition had made an 

 opportunity for the coming together of the 

 savants of the world, and the International As- 

 sociation gave the means to continue the 

 friendly relations there begun. 



A KEPORT on the plague in Egypt, covering 

 the period from May, 1899, to July, 1900, 

 which has been issued from the Sanitary De- 

 partment of the Ministry of the Interior at 



Cairo, according to the London Times, contains 

 a very full and clear account of the outbreak at 

 Alexandria which commenced in the first named 

 month, and the last case of which occurred on 

 the 5th of the following November. In all 

 96 cases became known to the authorities ; 

 and it was estimated that 27 more, of mild 

 character and followed by recovery, might pos- 

 sibly have escaped notification. The 96 were 

 made up of 66 natives and 30 foreigners, the 

 latter mostly Greeks, Frenchmen or Italians 

 employed in groceries, bakeries, wine shops 

 or at restaurateurs. The mortality among re. 

 ported cases was 48 per cent., and there was 

 reason to believe that no death from plague es- 

 caped notice. The precautions taken for ar- 

 resting the course of the disease appear to have 

 been admirably devised and conducted, and are 

 set forth under the three heads of — (1) measures 

 to assure prompt discovery of each case of 

 plague and of all suspicious cases ; (2) direct 

 measures to prevent the propagation of the dis- 

 ease from individual cases ; and (3) indirect 

 measures, such as general cleansing of dirty 

 quarters, with a view to eliminate all condi- 

 tions favorable to the existence or propagation 

 of the disease. A sum of £E. 30, 000 was granted 

 by the Caisse de la Dette to defray the extra ex- 

 penses, and was placed at the disposal of the 

 Director-General of the Sanitary Department ; 

 but the total outlay exceeded this sum by 

 £E.4000 ; and the whole of the work required 

 seems to have been carried out with great dis- 

 cretion and tact, and with the minimum of of- 

 fence to religious or other susceptibilities. The 

 description of the administration, which is in 

 English, is followed by a report in French on 

 the clinical histories of the more important 

 cases, a history from which it appears that, 

 without bacteriological examination, the di- 

 agnosis of plague is beset by great difficulties 

 and must often be extremely uncertain. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 



The daily papers report that a trustee of 

 Beloit College has offered to contribute $200,- 

 000 in case the further sum of $150,000 is col- 

 lected for the College. 



Me. Holbeook Gaskell has given $5,000 



