888 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVI. No. 412. 



ANOTHER 30DGKINS GOLD MEDAL 

 AWARDED. 

 In March last, Secretary Langley, of the 

 Smithsonian Institution, appointed a com- 

 mittee to consider whether any discovery had 

 been made since the award of the first Hodg- 

 kins Gold Medal in 1899, under the general 

 terms of the gift, ' the increase and diffusion 

 of more exact knowledge in regard to the 

 nature and properties of atmospheric air in 

 connection with the welfare of man,' which 

 would render it proper that such a medal 

 should be again awarded. This committee 

 consisted of the following distinguished men 

 of science: Mr. Richard Rathbun, assistant 

 secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 

 Chairman; Doctor A. Graham Bell, for elec- 

 tricity; Doctor Ira Remsen, for chemistry; 

 Doctor Charles D. Walcott, for geology; Pro- 

 fessor E. C. Pickering, for astronomy; Doctor 

 Theodore JST. Gill, for biology; Professor 

 Cleveland Abbe, for meteorology ; Mr. William 

 H. Holmes, for anthropology, and Mr. S. W. 

 Stratton, for physics. 



Owing to the absence of Mr. Rathbun, 

 Doctor Remsen served as chairman at a meet- 

 ing of the committee held at the Smithsonian 

 Institution in "Washington, April 15, 1902. 

 At this meeting the following resolution was 

 unanimously adopted: 



That the committee recommend to the Secre- 

 tary of the Smithsonian Institution that it is 

 desirable that one of the Hodgkins gold medals 

 be struck, and that it be awarded to J. J. Thom- 

 son, of Cambridge, England, for his investigations 

 on the conductivity of gases, especially on the 

 gases that compose the atmospheric air. 



The finding of the committee being ap- 

 proved by the secretary, steps were at once 

 taken to have the second Hodgkins gold medal 

 struck under the personal supervision of its 

 designer. Monsieur J. C. Chaplain, of Paris. 

 The medal has recently been received by the 

 Institution and has been despatched to Pro- 

 fessor Thomson through the Department of 

 State. 



November 11 and 12. The scientific program 

 was as follows: 



' A Possible Explanation of tlie Difficult Solu- 

 bility of Certain Compounds Containing Fluorine 

 and Hydroxyl,' S. L. Penfield. 



' The Spectra of Stars of Secchi's Fourt.i Type,' 

 George E. Hale. 



' Biographical Memoir of Henry A. Rowland,' 

 T. C. Mendeniiall. 



' The Embryology of Salpa Cordiformis,' W. K. 

 Bkooks. 



' The Occurrence of Reef Corals near Beaufort, 

 X. C.,' Cas'O'Ell Grave (introduced by W. K. 

 Brooks ) . 



' The Treniatode Parasites of the Oyster,' D. 

 H. Tennent (introduced by W. K. Brooks). 



' The Preparation of Cells for the ileasurement 

 of Osmotic Pressure,' H. N. Morse (introduced 

 by Ira Remsen ) . 



' A Substance with Remarkable Optical Prop- 

 erties, and Screens Transparent only to Ultra- 

 violet Light,' R. W. Wood (introduced by Ira 

 Remsen ) . 



' On Displacement Currents,' J. B. Whitehead 

 ( introduced by Ira Remsen ) . 



' On the Spectrum of Hydrogen,' L. A. Par- 

 sons (introduced by Ira Remsen). 



' A New System of Positions for Standard 

 Stars, with Notes relative to its bearing upon 

 Sidereal Astronomy,' Lewis Boss. 



' Complete Skeleton and Restoration of the 

 Cretaceous Fish Portheus ilolossus Cope,' H. F. 



OSBORN. 



' A New Small Dinosaur from the Jurassic or 

 Como Beds of Wyoming, apparentlj' a Bird- 

 catcher,' H. F. OSBORN. 



' New or little-known Elephants and Mastodons 

 of North America,' H. F. Osborn. 



' On Elevated Oceanic Islands in the Pacific,' 

 A. Agassiz. 



THE NATIOXAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 

 The Academy held its autumn meeting at 

 the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, on 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

 We regret to announce the death of Pro- 

 fessor Ogden Nicholas Rood which occurred 

 from pleuropneumonia at his home in New 

 York City on November 12. He was born in 

 Danbury, Conn., in 1831, graduated from 

 Princeton College in 1852, spent four years in 

 study in Germany, from 1858 to 1863 was pro- 

 fessor of chemistry and physics at Troy Uni- 

 versity and has for the past thirty-nine years 

 been professor of physics in Columbia Uni- 

 versity. Professor Rood had been vice-presi- 

 dent of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science and was a member qi 

 the National Academy of Sciences. He was 

 eminent for his researches in experimental 



