160 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XV. No. 369. 



Febriiary 7 — 'The Gases of the Atmosphere': 

 Dr. H. F. Kellek, Central High School, Phila- 

 delphia. 



February 14 — 'The Canyons and Sierras of the 

 Great Southwest': Mk. Robeet T. Hill, U. S. 

 Geological Survey, Washington, D. C. 



We have already noted the bequest to the 

 Natural History Museum, London, by Mr. 

 Philip Crowley, of the valuable collection of 

 birds' eggs. In accordance with the terms of 

 the will the trustees were permitted to take 

 four clutches of eggs of each species, or more, 

 should any species be useful or interesting by 

 reason of variety or locality. The selection, 

 the London Times states, has recently been 

 completed, with the result that 15,200 eggs of 

 birds have been added to the series of eggs 

 preserved in the zoological department of the 

 museum. The Crowley bequest falls, only a 

 few specimens short of the series of Indian 

 birds' eggs presented to the nation by Mr. 

 Allan Hume in 1885. Mr. Crowley began to 

 form his collection more than forty years ago, 

 one of his great acquisitions being Canon 

 Tristram's fine collection, which contained an 

 egg of the great auk and one of the Labrador 

 duck. These two rare eggs now pass into the 

 possession of the national museum — a matter 

 of some satisfaction, as hitherto the great 

 auk has been represented in Cromwell Eoad 

 by two very poor and broken specimens. The 

 Crowley great auk's egg was bought in 1853 

 for £35. A very fine specimen which came 

 into the market last year realized 315 guineas. 

 One of the most interesting features of the 

 Crowley collection is the remarkable series of 

 cuckoo's eggs with those of the foster-parents. 

 Of these there are as many as 87 different 

 clutches, while 37 species are represented. As 

 regards Australian birds the museum series 

 has hitherto been markedly deficient, and as 

 the Crowley collection was particularly rich 

 in the eggs of that continent the increase in 

 this respect is very appreciable. From a rough 

 estimate it appears that the series of eggs in 

 the Natural History Museum has been in- 

 creased by nearly a third in respect of num- 

 bers, and as regards the species represented, by 

 at least 15 per cent. Mr. Crowley also left 

 the museum the pick of his valuable collection 



of exotic butterflies. The number of speci- 

 mens retained for the museum was nearly 

 27,000, representing about 9,900 species. The 

 selection made will enable the museum 

 authorities to fill important gaps in the col- 

 lection, which was most deficient in examples 

 from the localities in which the Crowley col- 

 lection was especially rich — namely. West 

 Africa, the Moluccas, and Central and South- 

 ern America. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

 Among the gifts recently received by the 

 University of Pennsylvania are: Mr. William 

 Ivins, $2,500 for the new Medical Laboratories; 

 Mr. James Hay, $2,500 for the Engineering De- 

 partments; Mr. Ralph C. Stewart, '99 C. and 

 '02 L., $5,000 towards the new building of the 

 Department of Law. 



General Isaac J. Wistar has paid $12,000 

 for a triangular lot of ground at Thirty-seventh 

 Street and Woodland Avenue, on which a city 

 police station now stands. The land will be 

 presented to the University of Pennsylvania, 

 so that the Wistar Institute of Anatomy and 

 Biology, which adjoins on the east, and which 

 is also a gift of General Wistar to the Uni- 

 versity, may be enlarged. 



Mr. John D. Rockefeller has promised to 

 double all sums of money given to Vassar Col- 

 lege up to $200,000, between this time and 

 June, 1902. 



Dr. Henry Hopkins, a congregational 

 clergyman, has been elected president of Wil- 

 liams College. He is the son of Mark Hop- 

 kins, who was president of the college from 

 1836 to 1872. 



Dr. Samuel Weir, formerly of New York 

 University, has accepted a lectureship in 

 pedagogy at the University of Cincinnati, for 

 the remainder of this year. 



Dr. Hansdoeff, decent in astronomy and 

 mathematics in the University at Leipzig, has 

 been appointed to an assistant professorship. 

 Dr. K. Zeissig has been appointed assistant 

 professor of physics at the Technical Institute 

 at Darmstadt, and Dr. Parmentier assistant 

 professor of botany . at the University of 

 Besangon. 



