640 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XV. No. 381. 



Termini, near Eome, the cases having probably 

 originated from the mosquitoes conveyed by 

 the Terracina train, which crosses the most 

 deadly part of the Pontine marshes. There 

 is a special aniline dye which when diluted 

 even to the extent of 0.00031 per mil., is said 

 to kill the larvas. The well-known pastilles 

 and powder, similar to ordinary insect-powder, 

 which can either be burnt or distributed by 

 means of bellows, are also mentioned. This 

 powder is made of the flowers of the pyrethrum 

 roseum, a, herb extensively grown on the 

 Dalmatian coast, the cultivation of which 

 is being tried near Ceprano, a town about 

 half-way between Naples and Rome. It is 

 found that valerian root, powered and mixed 

 with the other, renders it more efEcacious. 

 Experiments were made during last summer 

 by Professor Grassi to combat the malady 

 by the use of drugs. In this he has obtained 

 a great measure of success, but the expense of 

 the drugs and the difficulty of getting the 

 large quantity necessai-y taken at regular 

 times will form an insuperable diificulty in 

 the case of the peasantry. Having selected 

 one of the most malarious places in Italy, 

 Ostia, at the mouth of the Tiber, Professor 

 Grassi and his staff have administered six pills 

 a day to adults, and a proportionate dose to 

 children, the pills being composed of a com- 

 pound called 'esanofele,' a harmless drug com- 

 posed of quinine, arsenic, iron and bitter 

 herbs. Dr. Grassi speaks highly of the results, 

 and the tabulated statistics of the Ostia treat- 

 ment appear very favorable. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 



The litigation over the will of the late 

 Thomas Armstrong, of Plattsburgh, N. Y., 

 in which he bequeathed his entire estate, 

 valued at $250,000, to Union College, has been 

 terminated by amicable settlement otitside of 

 court. The college officials agreed to give the 

 son of the testator one half of the estate. 



Columbia Unweesity has received a bequest 

 of $50,000 from Mrs. Lena Currier, subject to 

 a life interest. The money is to form a fund 

 for the purchase of books. 



Washington University has let the con- 



tracts for building three additional buildings, 

 a library, a dormitory, and a gymnasium, the 

 approximate cost of which will be $550,000. 



At the annual meeting of the board of re- 

 gents of the University of Nebraska, the 

 Omaha Medical College was affiliated. Two 

 years of the medical work will be given in Lin- 

 coln and the clinical years at Omaha. ' The 

 work will be strengthened at all points, and it 

 is believed that the combination will result 

 in better opportunities for medical education 

 in this region. Dr. Henry B. Ward of the 

 university was elected dean of the school. 



At a meeting of the board of directors of 

 the Agricultural and Mechanical College of 

 Texas, held in Waco, April 7, 1902, David E. 

 Houston, M.A., professor of political science 

 in the University of Texas, was elected 

 president. The newly elected president is 

 thirty-six years of age, a graduate of South 

 Carolina College in 1887, and a M.A. of Har- 

 vard University in 1892. In 1894 he was 

 elected adjunct professor of political science in 

 the University of Texas; advanced to asso- 

 ciate professor in 1897; promoted to the full 

 title in 1899, and at the same time made dean 

 of the academic faculty. That his reputation 

 is more than local is shown by the fact that he 

 has already given a course of lectures before 

 the officers and students of the Johns Hopkins 

 University and further that his literary pro- 

 ductions have been sought by the" leading 

 publications of our country. 



Mr. J. Stuart Horner has been appointed 

 by the corporation of McGill University its 

 honorary representative in England. It is 

 planned to hold an entrance examination in 

 London next June. 



At Harvard University, Dr. Charles Palache 

 has been appointed assistant professor of 

 mineralogy, and Dr. E. B. Dixon instructor in 

 anthropology. 



Me. George P. Bacon, instructor in mathe- 

 matics and astronomy in Beloit College has 

 been appointed professor of physics in 

 Wooster University. 



Dr. Albert E. Sweetser has been appointed 

 professor of biology in the State University of 

 Oregon. 



