478 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XV. No. 377. 



Southern Eailway good roads special train, 

 carrying twenty-two engineers and road ex- 

 perts and equipped with fifteen car loads of 

 the latest improved road-making machinery, 

 will arrive at Charlottesville on March 24, 

 and begin the construction of the Jefferson 

 Memorial Eoad which will connect the home 

 and tomb of Thomas Jefferson with the Uni- 

 versity of Virginia, which he founded. 



The managers of the New York Botanical 

 Garden have authorized the purchase in Ber- 

 lin for $1,600 a collection of botanical works 

 all dated prior to 1800. 



The Osprey states that an interesting and 

 valuable collection of northeast African birds 

 has been recently received by the U. S. Na- 

 tional Museum from Dr. A. Donaldson- Smith 

 of Philadelphia, the well-known African ex- 

 plorer. 



An anonjrmous gift of $20,000, for the bene- 

 fit of the Harvard College Observatory, has 

 been received from a friend of the director. 

 Professor Edward C. Pickering, who in an- 

 nouncing the gift says : A very urgent need 

 of the observatory will be relieved at once by 

 this gift. The building provided, nine years 

 ago, for the astronomical photographs, has 

 become wholly inadequate to contain them, 

 owing to their continual and rapid growth. 

 It is proposed to expend about one half of 

 this fund in extending the present building, 

 by the erection of a wing to the east, which 

 will provide for the adequate storing of this 

 collection with its probable increase for many 

 years. These photographs furnish a history 

 of the entire stellar universe for the last 

 twelve years, which is not duplicated else- 

 where. Whenever a new object is discovered 

 in any part of the sky, we are therefore able 

 to study its past history during this period. 

 Evidently, provision should be made for ex- 

 tensive use of this collection by large numbers 

 of astronomers. A much larger building, 

 staff and endowment, than our present means 

 permit, would be required for this purpose. 

 Accordingly, the new wing will be so con- 

 structed that when these plans are carried out, 

 it can be used for holding the valuable collec- 

 tion of astronomical books (one of the most 

 complete in the world) belonging to the obser- 



vatory. These books are now contained in a 

 wooden building fifty years old, and are in 

 danger of destruction by fire at any time. 

 The remainder of the fund will be expended 

 from time to time as urgent needs occur. It 

 is proposed to employ a portion of it at once 

 in studying new objects of interest on the 

 photographs, since without it we have hitherto 

 only been able to examine those of special 

 importance. The value of a fund which will 

 provide for such emergencies must be obvi- 

 ous. The larger plans described above, I 

 hope, indicate the healthy and insatiable appe- 

 tite of an institution which is always attempt- 

 ing to reach out into untrodden fields, and in 

 which each accession suggests opportunities 

 of still further extending its work into the 

 unknown. 



The thirteenth session of the Biological 

 Laboratory of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts 

 and Sciences, located at Cold Spring Harbor, 

 Long Island, will be held for six weeks begin- 

 ning July 2, 1902. The following courses of 

 instruction are announced : High School 

 zoology, Drs. C. B. Davenport and S. E. "Wil- 

 liams; comparative anatomy. Professor H. S. 

 Pratt, of Haverford College; invertebrate 

 embryology. Professor C. P. Sigerfoos, Univer- 

 sity of Minnesota; animal bionomics and 

 variation. Dr. Davenport; investigation in 

 zoology, by various instructors; cryptogamic 

 botany. Professor D. S. Johnson, Johns Hop- 

 kins University; plant ecology, Mr. S. M. 

 Coulter, "Washington University, assisted by 

 Louise B. Dunn, of Columbia University; 

 seminar in the same; bacteriology. Professor 

 F. N. Davis, Bucknell University; investiga- 

 tion in botany; microscopic methods, Mrs. 

 Davenport ; natiire study, Mr. Eoy S. Eichard- 

 son. High School, Brooklyn, N. T. Biological 

 discussions, lectures and excursions are ar- 

 ranged for. The tuition is $25 for the use of 

 the laboratory. Board and room cost $6 per 

 week. The director of the laboratory, who may 

 be addressed for further details, is Professor 

 C. B. Davenport, the University of Chicago. 



The Ohio State University announces for 

 the 1902 session of its Lake Laboratory at San- 

 dusky, on Lake Erie, courses in zoology, 

 botany, entomology, ornithology, ichthyology. 



