ApEIL 25, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



675 



treeless regions of Alaska have been sug- 

 gested, but have never been put to practical 

 test. During the months of June and July, 

 1900, extensive fires swept through much of 

 the treeless region of Nome and other portions 

 of the Seward Peninsula. The moss and 

 grass, when dry, were found to burn rapidly 

 with considerable flame, and fires ran over 

 nearly the entire region visited by prosijec- 

 tors during the dry months. This fact makes 

 it evident that the surface growth of the 

 tundra could be used for fuel, provided it 

 were properly dried. This material has in 

 many cases been accumulated to considerable 

 thickness in peat bogs. With regard to the 

 third source of fuel supply, petroleum, we 

 have no definite knowledge of its existence in 

 commercial quantities. It is reported to have 

 been found in southeastern Alaska, between 

 Yakutat and Controller bays, south of Mount 

 St. Elias, and also on the east side of Cook 

 Inlet near Kachemak Bay. 



CRUISE OF THE ALBATB088. 



The Fish Commission steamer Albatross, 

 which sailed from San Prancisco on March 11, 

 arrived at Honolulu on March 24, as noted in 

 Science of April 11. Heavy weather was en- 

 countered almost immediately after leaving 

 port, and on the 12th the quartermaster of the 

 watch was lost overboard while taking the 

 reading of the patent log. Much interesting 

 pelagic material was obtained with surface and 

 intermediate nets on the outward voyage. An 

 attempt, extending over two days, to determine 

 the nature of the life on Erben Banlv was un- 

 successful, as the peculiar laval formation of 

 the bottom resulted in the loss of all the trawls 

 and other appliances used and subjected the 

 dredging cable to an unprecedented strain. 



The surface collecting off Waikili;i on March 

 27 by the aid of electric light is reported by 

 Dr. Gilbert to have been probably the most suc- 

 cessful work of the kind ever done. Among the 

 creatures thus obtained is a remarkable ani- 

 mal, first identified as a crustacean, afterwards 

 called a worm, and finally considered a verte- 

 brate; its eyes are on stalks half an inch long. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 



Dr. D.vniel Coit Gilman, president of the 

 Carnegie Institution, sailed for Europe on 

 April 17, with a view to studying foreign sci- 

 entific institutions. 



Professoe William James is at present 

 abroad, in order to give his second course of 

 Gifford lectures at Edinburgh. Dr. Gwatkin, 

 professor of ecclesiastical history in the Uni- 

 versity of Cambridge, has been appointed to 

 succeed Professor James as Gifford lecturer. 



Professor Solon I. Bailey, of the Harvard 

 Astronomical Observatory, is about to leave 

 for the observatory's branch at Arequipa, 

 Peru, where he will especially study the planet 

 Eros. 



Dr. W. H. E. Rivers, of Cambridge Uni- 

 versity, will shortly start on an expedition for 

 the psychological study of the Todas of south- 

 ern India on the lines of his work in Torres 

 Straits. 



M. T. Obalski has been sent by the Erench 

 Government and the Paris Museum of Natural 

 History to Canada to make collections and 

 study the natural history and industries of 

 the country. 



Professor Eranz Soxhlet, of the Munich 

 technical school and director of the agricul- 

 tural experimental station, has been made 

 chevalier of the Order of Merit of the Bavarian 

 Crown. 



A volume has been published commemora- 

 ting the jubilee celebration in honor of M. 

 Berthelot, held on the twenty-fourth of Novem- 

 ber last. Copies of the plaque struck in his 

 honor have been presented to all members of 

 the Erench parliament. 



We noted in our last issue that Professor 

 Keen, of Philadelphia, had been made an hon- 

 orary member of the German Surgical Associa- 

 tion at its thirty-first Congress. The other 

 honorary members were Professors Bergmann 

 and Konig, of Berlin, Professor Guyon, of 

 Paris, Professor Durante, of Rome, and Pro- 

 fessor MacEwen, of Glasgow. 



Joseph J. Ejnyoun, M.D., Ph.D., late sur- 

 geon of the IMarine Hospital Service and di- 

 rector of the Hygienic Laboratory at Wash- 



