January 24, 1902 ] 



SCIENCE. 



159 



of the plankton throughout the voyage to Cey- 

 lon, and to launch current -floats at particular 

 parts of the course. 



Eeuter's representative has had an inter- 

 view with Captain J. E. Bernier, the Canadian 

 explorer, who is organizing an arctic ejqpedi- 

 tion. Since his last visit to England, when 

 he lectured before the Colonial Institute, he 

 has been in Canada, where he has secured the 

 active support and cooperation of the Domin- 

 ion Government for his scheme. Captain Ber- 

 nier, who is devoting his services gratuitously, 

 estimates the cost of his expedition at £30,000. 

 Of this he has already secured £20,000, includ- 

 ing a contribution of £1,250 from the Domin- 

 ion Government, and £1,000 from Lord Strath- 

 cona, besides large donations from Canadian 

 ministers, members of Parliament, merchants 

 and others. Captain Bernier is now in Lon- 

 don with the object of procuring from Eng- 

 lish subscribers the balance of £10,000 neces- 

 sary for his scheme. 



Through the kindness of Mr. B. Talbot B. 

 Hyde, there was an exhibition of the weaving 

 of !N"avajo blankets and of beaten silver orna- 

 ments by Navajo Indians from New Mexico 

 in the Educational Museum of Teachers Col- 

 lege, Columbia University, on January 13. 



The Montreal correspondent of the New 

 York Evening Post reports that the Hon. E. 

 H. Monson, of Ottawa, has given a sum of 

 money to the medical faculty for researches 

 into possible cures for tuberculosis. They 

 are to be carried on by Dr. A. G. Nieholls, lec- 

 turer in pathology, under the direction of Dr. 

 J. G. Adami, professor of pathology. 



A BACTERIOLOGICAL institute has been estab- 

 lished at Davos, Switzerland. 



The trustees of the estate of the late Na- 

 than Haskell Dole have given $100,000 for the 

 Boston Public Library. 



The membership of the New York Zoolog- 

 ical Society, according to the report of the 

 executive committee, submitted at the sixth 

 annual meeting on Jan. 14, is now 1,063, and 

 is steadily increasing. The total attendance 

 at the park in the past year was 527,145, the 

 greatest attendance on one day being 20,206, 



on Sunday, August 24. The important work 

 done included the erection of the Primates' 

 House, at a cost of $64,160; the beginning of 

 the Lion House, to cost, when complete, about 

 $150,000 ; the extension of the sewer and water 

 systems of the park, at a cost of $10,406, and 

 the development of Mountain Sheep Hill and 

 enclosures, at a cost of $2,500. Director Horn- 

 aday reported that the Zoological Park now 

 contains 1,674 live exhibits, of which 416 are 

 mammals, 659 birds and 599 reptiles. 



A PETITION has been presented to King Ed- 

 ward for the incorporation of the British Acad- 

 emy for the Promotion of Historical, Philo- 

 sophical and Philological Studies, and has been 

 referred to a committee of Lords in Council. 



Eepresentative Southard, of Ohio, chair- 

 man of the House Committee on Coinage, has 

 sent invitations to a number of the chief man- 

 ufacturers, merchants and others engaged in 

 mercantile pursuits, to appear before the Coin- 

 age Committee on February 6 at a hearing on 

 the bill for the adoption of the metric system 

 of weights and measures. 



The Treasury agents state that during the 

 past season an epidemic has prevailed among 

 the murres, of the Pribilof Islands, and that 

 the birds, which are found there in vast num- 

 bers, have perished by thousands. The first 

 intimation of disease was the presence of birds 

 about the village of St. Paul, close in shore, so 

 weak that they were readily taken by the chil- 

 dren. Later dead birds washed ashore in such 

 numbers that 212 were counted in 150 yards, 

 while steamers from St. Michaels reported 

 passing through large quantities of dead birds. 

 This recalls the epidemic which has twice pre- 

 vailed among the cormorants of the Com- 

 mander Islands, greatly reducing their num- 

 bers. 



The following lectures before the Franklin 

 Institute, of Philadelphia, are announced : 



January 17 — 'The Austrian and Italian Tyrol': 

 Dr. Charles L. Mitchell, Philadelphia. 



January 24 — 'The Aborigines of the Arid Re- 

 gion': Professor W J McGee, Bureau of Ameri- 

 can Ethnology, Washington, D. C. 



January 31 — 'Porto Rico': Major Geo. G. 

 Groff, late Superintendent of Public Instruction 

 in Porto Rico, Lewisburgh, Pa. 



