278 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XV. No. 372. 



physical history of the, Lake Eyre basin and 

 the collection of fossils, especially the extinct 

 giant vertebrates. The camel caravan starts 

 from Hergott Springs, a station 440 miles 

 north of Adelaide. It is hoped that the col- 

 lections will throw light on some unexplained 

 native traditions as to former giant animals 

 that inhabited the Lake Eyre basin. 



A BUST of Sir Frederick Bramwell has been 

 presented to the Eoyal Institution, of which 

 he was formerly honorary secretary. 



At the celebration of University Day at the 

 University of Pennsylvania on February 22, a 

 portrait of Benjamin Franklin, by Gainsbor- 

 ough, will be presented by the class of 1852. 



Dr. Paul F. Munde, the weU-knowm New 

 York gynecologist, at one time professor at 

 Dartmouth College, died on February 7, aged 

 fifty-five years. 



Alfred Brashear Miller, D.D., LL.D, presi- 

 dent emeritus of Waynesburg College, Waynes- 

 burg, Pa., died on January 30, aged 72 years. 

 He had been identified with the college from 

 its foundation in 1851, having been president 

 for 40 years and president emeritus three 

 years. 



Commissary-General G. D. Lardner, an 

 Englislunan who contributed to the advance- 

 ment and popularization of astronomy, has 

 died at the age of eighty- four years. 



The British National Physical Laboratory 

 at Bushy House will be officially opened on 

 March 19. 



At the annual meeting of the Association of 

 American Universities which opens at Chi- 

 cago on February 24, the following four main 

 questions will form the basis for discussion : 



(1) 'The scope and character of the disserta- 

 tion required for the degree of Doctor of Phi- 

 losophy'; (2) 'The membership and policy of the 

 Association of American Universities: Should it 

 be enlarged, and, if so, under what principle of 

 selection? Should the Association devote its at- 

 tention to questions of graduate work in the arts 

 and sciences exclusively, or shall it also consider 

 and include law, medicine, theology, and political 

 science?'; (3) 'What is research in a university 

 sense, and how is it best promoted?' and (4) 'The 

 degree of Master of Arts: Shall the granting of 



this degree be encouraged, and, if so, what should 

 it mean, and under what conditions shall it be 

 given ? ' 



These four topics have been assigned re- 

 spectively to the University of Chicago, the 

 University of California, Clark University, 

 and Cornell University. 



The annual congress of the British Sanitary 

 Institute will be held in Manchester on Sep- 

 tember 9-13. The section of sanitary science 

 and preventive medicine will be presided over 

 by Sir J. Crichton Brovsme; that of engineer- 

 ing and architecture by Sir Alexander Binnie ; 

 and that of physics, chemistry and biology by 

 Professor A. Sheridan Delpeine. 



The board of directors of the American 

 Academy of Political and Social Science, at 

 its annual meeting in Philadelphia, elected 

 the following officers : Professor Leo S. Kowe, 

 President; Samuel McCune Lindsay, Frank- 

 lin H. Giddings and Woodrow Wilson, Vice- 

 Presidents; James T. Young, Secretary. 



At the annual meeting of the Peary Arctic 

 Club, the present officers were reelected : M. K. 

 Jesup, President; H. W. Cannon, Treasurer; 

 and H. L. Bridgman, Secretary. Resolutions 

 were adopted congratulating Lieutenant Peary 

 on rounding in 1901 the northern end of the 

 Greenland Archipelago. 



A CIVIL service examination will be held on 

 March 25 to fill the position of computer in 

 the Bureau of Forestry, at a salary of $1,000 

 k year. On the same day an examination will 

 be held for the position of piece-work com- 

 puter in the Naval Observatory and also for a 

 similar position in the Nautical Almanac Of- 

 fice. On March 4 there will be an examination 

 for the position of seed laboratory assistant in 

 the Bureau of Plant Industry, at a salary of 

 $720. 



The feasibility and advisability of adopting 

 the metric system of weights and measures in 

 the United States will be the subject of dis- 

 cussion at a stated meeting of the Franklin 

 Institute of Philadelphia on February 19. The 

 basis of the discussion will be the report of a 

 special committee, which is as follows : 



Whereas, It is desirable to obtain an inter- 

 national Standard of Weights and Measures, also 



