SCIENCK 



[Vol. XVIII. No. 460 



majority of Italian practitioners would suggest as the most conveni- 

 ent time for all parties, and this will most probably be the decision 

 of tbeOrganizingCummittee. Meanwhile, that com Qiittee has jast 

 been formed. Dr. Baccelli, at a meeting of the heads of the pro- 

 fess^ion, was nominated president by acclamation. On his declin- 

 ing the honor, the question was put to the vote, when, out of a 

 ballot of twenty-six, he obtained twenty-five " si," as against one 

 " no," which was himself. He had, therefore, to bow to the 

 overwhelming importunity of his colleagues. The post of general 

 secretary fell, almost unanimously, to Professor Maragliaiio of 

 Genoa. Presidents of the various sections were next elected. 

 These seclions are twelve in number, and, as the results of the va- 

 rious ballots, the following gentlemen were appointed: anatomy. 

 Professor Antonelli; physiology, Pi'ofessors Albini and Albertoni; 

 pathology, Professors Bizzozero and Foa; pharmacology. Profes- 

 sor Cervello; clinical medicine. Professors Baccelli, Jlaragliano, 

 Murri, and Bozzolo; surgery, Professor Botlini; obstetrics, Pro- 

 fessor Morisani; psychiatry. Professors Morsel li and Tamburini; 

 ophthalmology. Professors Devincenzi and Secondi; deimo-syph- 

 ilopathy, Professors Campana and Barduzzi; forensic medicine. 

 Professor Tamapia; hygiene. Professors Pagliani, CeOi, and Ca- 

 nalis. The importance attached to this great medical parliament 

 is already apparent in the number of physicians and surgeons 

 who have intimated their intention to assist. 



— The Volcano Islands have been annexed by Japan. The 

 group lies 135 miles to the south-east (south-west?) of the Bonins 

 and about 1,700 mile-, from Yokohama. It consists of Sulphur 

 Island, situated in 24° 46' north latitude, and 141" 19' east longi- 

 tude; St. Alexander, 40 miles to the north of Sulphur Island; and 

 St. August, at the same distance to the south. The area of the 

 middle island, which is the largest of the three, is onlj^ five square 

 miles. The only natural firoduct of any importance is sulphur, 

 which is found in a very pure state ready for shipment. The 

 natives of the Bonins also visit these islands for the sake of the 

 fishing. 



— An extended (our of a representative of Tiffany & Co., New 

 York, durii g the past summer, through Ireland, England, France, 

 Germany, Auslro Hungary, Bohemia, Russia in Europe, and 

 Asia, where he visited all the cut!ing centres where stones are 

 mined, the collections and museums, enables them to show a finer 

 collection of gems, precious and semi-precious stones, and art 

 objects in stone, jade, crystal, etc., than has ever been brought 

 together at one time in this country. Notable, from the Ural 

 Mountains, is a collection of Alexandrites, topazes of blue, green, 

 and sherry colors, demantoids or green garnets, royal purple ame- 

 thys-ts, changing color by artificial light, the finest and largest 

 that have been seen in modern times; from the Ural gold wash- 

 ings, sapphu-es; pale, yellow, and blue rubies; beryls of golden 

 yellow and green, of which two aie the finest that have come 

 from Russia in the last decade ; and lapidary work peculiar to the 

 Urals, in rock crystal, garnet, amethyst, topaz, sard, jade, and 

 rhodonite; from the Hungarian opal mines, the finest specimen 

 of noble opal that has been obtained for many years ; from France, 

 lapidai-y work equal to that famous in the periods of Louis XIV., 

 XV., and XVI.; from Italy, Bosnia, Greece, Bactria, Assyria, and 

 Egypt, antique intagli, stone scarabie and cylinders, incised sard 

 cornelian, chalcedouj', plasma, sardonyx, essonite, hematite, etc., 

 some dating as early as the fifth century B.C.; from Ireland, 

 Mounie Mountain, deep blue aqua-marines, and one very fine 

 amethyst. 



— A bulletin has been issued by the Bureau of Education, 

 Washington, for the purpose of giving information respecting the 

 appointment of a chief cf the Department of Liberal Arts, known 

 as Department L, and respecting the organization for holding edu- 

 cational congresses in connection with the World's Columbian 

 Exposition of 1393. Since Bulletin No. 3 was i-sued Dr. Selim 

 H. Peabody of Illinois bas been appointed chief of the Depart- 

 ment of Liberal .Arts. Dr. Peabody was for many years the 

 president of the University of Illinois, at Champaign, 111. The 

 World's Congress Auxiliary of the World's Columbian Exposition 

 is a body authorized and supported by the exposition. It has 

 been organized to provide for the holding of such congresses in 



connection with the Columbian Exposition in 1893 as will best 

 show the intellectual and moral progress of the world. The in- 

 tention is to provide proper committees to secure the attendance 

 of leaders in all branches of human knowledge, to provide con- 

 venient meeting places, to arrange and superintend the meetings, 

 and to publish the proceedings of all the congresses. The organi- 

 zation is composed in the first place of two branches, the men's 

 and the women's, and each of these is again subdivided into two 

 classes, resident and non-resident. The resident class of each 

 branch is the part from which the members of committees are to 

 he chosen. Certain non-resident persons who may be especially 

 invited to co-operate with local committees are to be made mem- 

 bers of advisory councils of departments, divisions, chapters, or 

 sections, and they are expected to aid the local committees by 

 corresponding freely and by personal conference as opportunity 

 may offer. Other eminent non-resident persons are to be known 

 as general, honorary, and corresponding members of the auxiliary. 

 The general officers of the auxiliary are Charles C. Bonney, presi- 

 dent; Thomas B. Bryan, vice-president; Lyman J. Gage, treas- 

 urer; and Benjamin Butlerworth, secretary. The address is 

 Rand Building, Chicago, 111. Congresses are proposed for each 

 one of the six months that the exposition is to be open. Those 

 proposed for July are science, philosophy, invention, and educa- 

 tion, including congresses of colleges, universities, teachers, superin- 

 tendents of schools, astronomers, archseologisis, botanists, chemists, 

 electricians, geologists, ethnologists, geographers, mineralogists, 

 metallurgists, zoologists, etc. The arrangement for the educational 

 congress has been entrusted to a committee appointed for the purpose 

 by the National Educational Association. Now that a chief of the 

 Department of Liberal Arts has been appointed, the Commissioner 

 of Education calls the attention of all educational exhibitors to the 

 fact that the Bureau of EJucation has a position quite similar to 

 their own, and can not be expected to give any information re- 

 garding the plans and scope of the educational exhibit, excepting 

 in so far as it may be requested to do so by Dr. Peabody. All 

 such information should be obtained directly from Dr. Selim H. 

 Peabody, whose address is Rand Building, Chicago. The Com- 

 missioner of Education is desirous of aiding in the preparation of 

 this work in any way that does not conflict with the authority of 

 the regularly appointed officers of the World's Columbian Exposi- 

 tion. 



— The King of the Belgians has offered a prize of 25,000 francs 

 (£1,000) to be awarded in 1897 for the work giving the most satis- 

 factory replies to the following questions: Describe, from the 

 sanitary point of view, the meteorological, hydrological, and 

 geological conditions of the territories of Equatorial Africa. De- 

 duce from the present state of our knowledge concerning these 

 matters the hygienic principles suitable for these regions, and lay 

 down, with observations in support of Ihe conclusions arrived at, 

 the best scheme of life, diet, and work, as well as the system of 

 clothing and form of dwelling best adapted for the preservation of 

 health and vigor. Describe the symptomatology, etiology, and 

 pathology of the diseases which characterize the regions of equa- 

 torial Africa, and indicate the treatment, both prophylactic and 

 therapeutic. Define the principles to be followed in the choice 

 and use of medicaments and in the establishment of hospitals and 

 sanatoria. In their scientific researches, as well as in their prac- 

 tical conclusions, competitors should particulajly take into account 

 the conditions of existence of Europeans in the different parts of 

 the Congo basin. The prize is open to foreigners as well as to 

 Belgian subjects. Competitors must send in their works to the 

 Minister of the Interior and of Public Listruction at Brussels be- 

 fore Jan. 1, 1897. 



— The World's Fair .Archi=eological survey, under the field as- 

 sistants, Warren K. Moorehead and Dr. H. G. Cresson, located at 

 Anderson Station, Ross County, Ohio, made a remarkable discov- 

 ery upon Mr. C. Hopewell's farm, Nov. 14. The tumulus exam- 

 ined is oOO feet long, 200 feet wide, and 28 feet high. It lies in 

 the centre of a .group of twenty-six mounds, all of which were 

 opened in September and October with good results. On account 

 of its great size the mound was divided into five sections of forty 

 feet each for convenience in excavating. In the first cu made in 



