598 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVI. No. 406. 



to experience and results of examination. We 

 may again call attention to the examination 

 to be lield on the same day for the position of 

 aid in the Coast and Geodetic Survey, where 

 fourteen vacancies are to be filled. Aids are 

 appointed at a salary of $720 per year. The 

 next step in the line of promotion is to the 

 salary of $900 as aid, and thence to assistant 

 at $1,200 and then upward by steps of $200 

 each. These statements of salary are mislead- 

 ing unless taken in connection with the fact 

 that necessary traveling expenses incurred in 

 the line of duty are paid by the government, 

 and that in addition to his salary he is paid an 

 allowance for subsistence to cover the ordinary 

 living expenses while on field duty. 



Nature gives the following comparison of 

 the attendance at the Belfast meetings of the 

 British Association in 1874 and 1902 : 



1874. 1902. 



Old Life Members 162 243 



New Life Member.s 13 21 



Old Annual Members 232 314 



New Annual Members 85 84 



Associates 817 647 



Ladies 630 305 



Foreign Members 12 6 



1951 1620 

 It will be noticed that there were more men of 

 science in attendance this year than twenty- 

 eight years ago, but fewer tickets were pur- 

 chased by local citizens. Nature remarks, " It 

 has been questioned whether this falling off, 

 especially in the number of ladies' tickets, may 

 not be ascribed in a considerable degree to the 

 educational methods of Ireland and their effect 

 on the tastes of those brought up under their 

 influence within the last thirty years." The 

 fact, however, probably is that in Great Brit- 

 ain, as in America, a meeting of the Associa- 

 tion, as it becomes more important scientif- 

 ically, becomes less interesting socially. It is 

 becoming increasingly diificult to bridge the 

 gap between the professional man of science 

 and the amateur scientist. 



The Bureau of Forestry has established a 

 dendro-chemical laboratory in cooperation 

 with the Bureau of Chemistry. The plans for 

 the organization of the new laboratory were 

 prepared by Dr. II. W. Wiley, chief of the 



Bureau of Chemistry, of the U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, and were approved by 

 Secretary Wilson and Mr. Pinchot, chief of 

 the Bureau of Forestry. Mr. Wm. IT. Krug 

 has been put in charge of this laboratory, 

 which is the first of its kind in the United 

 States, if not in the world. 



A VALUABLE work of reference to the publi- 

 cations on North American geography, geol- 

 ogy, paleontology, petrology and mineralogy 

 covering the last nine years of the century, 

 from 1892 to 1900, inclusive, has recently been 

 issued by the United States Geological Survey 

 as Bulletins Nos. 188 and 189. These books 

 of reference contain a full list of the papers, 

 numbering over 6,500, on the above subjects 

 which have appeared during the period; they 

 are taken from nearly 200 different American 

 and foreign publications. The papers cover 

 a wide range of subjects, and for convenience 

 are classified both by topics and by the names 

 of the authors. The compilation is the work 

 of F. B. Weeks, of the Geological Survey. 



A COURSE of nine lectures on science and 

 travel has been arranged by the Field Colum- 

 bian Museum, Chicago, for Saturday after- 

 noons in October and November at 3 o'clock. 

 The subjects, dates and lecturers are : 



October 4, ' Past and Future of the South 

 Appalachian Mountains,' Dr. J. A. Holmes, State 

 Geologist,, North Carolina. 



October 11, 'The Salmon and Salmon Fisheries 

 of Alaska,' Dr. Tarleton H. Bean, Chief of the De- 

 partment of Fish and Fisheries, St. Louis Exposi- 

 tion, 1904. 



October 18, ' Flying Reptiles,' Dr. S. W. Willis- 

 ton, Professor of Paleontology, University of Chi- 

 cago. 



October 25, ' Invisible Stars,' Professor Edwin 



B. Frost, Yerkes Observatory, University of Chi- 

 cago. 



November 1, ' The Insect Life of Ponds and 

 Streams,' Dr. Jas. G. Needham, Lake Forest Col- 

 lege. 



November 8, ' A Naturalist's Visit to Cuba,' Dr. 



C. H. Eigenniann, Director, Biological Station, 

 Bloomington, Indiana. 



November 15, ' The Mythologie Age — The In- 

 dian and the Buffalo,' Dr. George A. Dorsey, 

 Curator of Anthropology, Field Columbian Mu- 

 seum. 



