I 



September 13, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



357 



geria; Truth to Seed of Eastern and African 

 Varieties of Yitis mnifera." 



D. W. Mat, Porto Rico : " Temperate Zone 

 Plants in the Tropics." 



D. Morris, Imperial Department of Agriculture 

 for the West Indies : " Acclimatization of Eco- 

 nomic and other Plants in the West Indies." 



H. L. HuTT, Guelph, Canada : " Cooperative 

 Testing to ascertain Hardiness in Fruits." 



T. V. MuNSON, Texas : " Resistance to Cold, 

 Heat, Wet, Drought, Soil, etc., in Grapes." 



Samuel B. Green, Ohio : " Developing Hardy 

 Fruits for the North Mississippi Valley." 



U. P. Hedbick, Geneva, N. Y. : " Hardiness of 

 the Peach." 



O. M. Morris, Oklahoma : " Hardiness of Ap- 

 ples." 



W. S. Thornber, Washington : " Fruits and 

 Trees in the Northwest." 



B. C. BuFFDM, Wyoming: "Hardiness and Ac- 

 climatization of Alfalfa." 



S. Eraser, Geneseo, N. Y. : " Some Work with 

 Timothy and Awnlesa Brome Grasses." 



Anthony U. Morrell, Minnesota : " Hardiness 

 of Ornamental Plants in the Middle Northwest." 



L. H. Pammel, Iowa : " Studies on the Ac- 

 climatization of Plants in the Prairie Regions." 



Jens Jensen, Chicago, 111. : " Observations in 

 the Region at the Head of Lake Michigan." 



Walker H. Evans, U. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture : " Experiments in Plant Acclimatization 

 in Alaska." 



D. P. Feanceschi, Santa Barbara, Cal. : " Fif- 

 teen Years' Experience in Southern California." 



Andrew J. Soule, Blacksburg, Va. : " Some 

 Experiences with Field Crops in Virginia." 



Geo. V. Nash, New York Botanical Garden: 

 " Observations on Hardiness of Plants cultivated 

 at the New York Botanical Garden." 



W. Trelease, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. 

 Xouis, Mo. : " Some Anomalous Observations in 

 St. Louis." 



J. E. HiGGlNS, Hawaii : " Problems of Hawaii." 



THE BRITISH MUSEUM 

 The return giving the accounts of the 

 British Museum, the number of visitors, and 

 the progress made in arranging and adding to 

 the collections for the year ended March 31 

 last, has been issued. Sir E. Maunde Thomp- 

 son, director, is quoted in the London Times. 

 " It is a matter for regret that a further de- 

 -eline in the number of visits to the Museum 



has to be recorded for the year 1906. The 

 total number was 691,950, a falling ofi of 

 nearly 122,000 from the number in 1905. Nor 

 has the decline been confined to week-day 

 visits, as it was in the previous year. The 

 57,738 visits on Sundays were less by 4,269 

 than those in 1905. We must go back to the 

 year. 1900, with its 689,249 visits, before find- 

 ing a total to compare with that of the year 

 1906. At the same time, it is an indication of 

 a steady growth of intelligent interest in the 

 collections that, while the numbers of visits 

 decrease, the sale of guide-books generally 

 tends to increase. The number of visits of 

 students to the reading-room has also been re- 

 duced by 2,000, the total for the year being 

 212,997, as against 214,940 in 1905. The daily 

 average was 702. The average number of 

 persons in the room, counted at the later 

 hours of the afternoon, were : 4 p.m., 349 ; 5 

 P.M., 256; 6 P.M., 172; 6:30 p.m., 119. The 

 number of visits of students to particular de- 

 partments in 1906 was 55,513, as against 57,- 

 557 in 1905. The number of visits to the 

 newspaper-room decreased by 2,000; while, as 

 regards other fluctuations, there were 1,200 

 fewer visits in the sculpure galleries, but 800 

 more in the department of manuscripts and 

 nearly 1,100 more in the department of British 

 and medieval antiquities." 



Sir E. Eay Lankestee, the director of the 

 Natural History Museum, says in his report 

 that the total number of visits recorded as 

 having been made to the museum by the public 

 during the year 1906 was 472,557, compared 

 with 566,313 in 1905. This number included 

 61,151 visitors on Sunday afternoons, as 

 against 70,084 in the previous year. The 

 average daily attendance for all open days was 

 1,301.8; for week-days only, 1,322.8; and for 

 Sunday afternoons, 1,176. He records pres- 

 ents to the number of 2,057, compared with 

 2,092 in 1905, the principal donors being the 

 Government of India (collections of Tibetan 

 insects), the Duke of Bedford (zoological 

 specimens from Japan and JJ^orea), Mr. C. D. 

 Eudd (specimens in continuation of his sys- 

 tematic survey of South African fauna), and 

 Mr. W. E. Balston (natural history specimens 

 from Western Australia). 



