760 



SCIENCE. 



LN. S. Vol. XVI. No. 410. 



of Nebraska, have made observatioBS on a well 

 of this nature in Perkins County, and found 

 that its breathing periods were exactly coin- 

 cident with the barometric changes. The 

 material through which the wells are driven 

 may throw some light on their peculiarities. 

 In southeastern Nebraska a layer of dense 

 limestone about four inches thick lies be- 

 neath 50 to 100 feet of subsoil. Below the 

 limestones is found water-bearing gravel. 

 When the limestone covering the water-bear- 

 ing beds is penetrated water under slight pres- 

 sure rises about one foot. The water-bearing 

 layer is very porous and must always contain 

 more or less air. As the air above and the 

 air inclosed in the gravels below are alike sub- 

 ject to the fluctuations of the barometer, it 

 follows that if the surface air is rendered less 

 dense the air below will pass out through the 

 well openings until equilibrium between the 

 rarer air and denser air is established, and the 

 opposite effect will follow during a period of 

 high pressxire. Still, this explanation, plaus- 

 ible as it is, hardly accounts for the force with 

 which the air is expelled from some of the 

 wells, and a more comprehensive study of the 

 problem is needed to satisfactorily explain all 

 the phenomena. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDVOATIONAL NEWS. 

 It appears that Clark University will re- 

 ceive the sum of $1,577,000 from the estate 

 of the late Jonas G. Clark. This we under- 

 stand is in addition to the $500,000 already 

 paid on account of the collegiate department. 



At a recent meeting of the board of trus- 

 tees of Cornell University plans were author- 

 ized for the purchase of sixteen additional 

 acres of land and for the erection of new 

 buildings. A site was assigned for the Hall 

 of Physics, for which Mr. John D. Eocke- 

 feller gave $250,000, and for a Hall of Arts 

 and Humanities, to cost $250,000. A plan 

 for retiring and pensioning professors was 

 discussed. 



The trustees of the College of the City of 

 New York have authorized the adoption of 



the architect's plans for the new buildings to 

 be erected at a cost of $2,100,000. 



SiE William MacDonald has given the de- 

 partment of physics of McGill University an 

 installation for making liquid air. 



A DEVELOPMENT of the equipment of the 

 University of California's College of Medi- 

 cine, to consist of a clinical hospital that will 

 cost $400,000, has been proposed in a report 

 submitted by a committee. 



The daily papers state that M. Michonis, a 

 French millionaire, has bequeathed $120,000 

 as a fund to enable French students to study 

 philosophy and religious sciences in German 

 universities. 



Dr. T. H. Staekey, of University College 

 Hospital, London, England, has been recom- 

 mended by the Dean of the medical faculty 

 as professor of hygiene at McGill University, 

 in succession to the late Dr. Wyatt Johnston. 



At Prague Dr. F. Vejdovsky, professor of 

 embryology and comparative anatomy, has 

 been appointed professor of zoology, replacing 

 Dr. Anton Fric, recently retired. 



The sixteenth annual meeting of the Asso- 

 ciation of Colleges and Preparatory Schools 

 in the Middle States and Maryland will be 

 held in Baltimore on November 28 and 29 

 next. Among the subjects to be discussed are 

 ' The Educational Value of Examinations as 

 the Culmination of Preparatory Courses ' and 

 ' The Relative Functions and Powers of Presi- 

 dent, Trustees and Faculty.' On the latter 

 subject President Ira Remsen, of the Johns 

 Hopkins University, will speak on the college 

 presidency; Dr. S. J. McPherson, a trustee 

 of Princeton University, will speak on the 

 duties of the trustee, and Professor George 

 S. Fullerton, of the University of Pennsyl- 

 vania, will explain the position of the faculty. 



Me. E. D. Bell, M.S., has been elected tO' 

 the chair of animal biology in the Utah Agri- 

 cultural College, Logan, LTtah. 



Professor Wladislaw Rothert, of Char- 

 kow, has been elected professor of botany irt 

 the University of Odessa. 



