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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXI. No. 786 



The estate of the late Dr. Thomas W. 

 Evans has been settled after tedious litigation, 

 and it is said that about $6,000,000 is now 

 available for a museum and dental college in 

 Philadelphia. 



The annual message of Governor Hughes, 

 of New York, announces the gift by Mrs. 

 Harriman, in accordance with the plans of the 

 late E. H. Harriman, of 10,000 acres of land 

 and a million dollars for a state park in the 

 Highlands on the west side of the river. 

 Gifts for this purpose are also announced, 

 amounting to $1,626,000 from Mr. J. Pier- 

 pont Morgan, Mr. John D. Rockefeller and 

 others. These gifts are conditional on the 

 sum of $2,500,000 being appropriated by the 

 state, and are subject to certain other reser- 

 vations. 



Through the bequest of Miss Phoebe Anna 

 Thome, the American Museum of Natural 

 History receives ten thousand dollars for its 

 permanent endowment. The income of the 

 fund is to be used in such a manner as to per- 

 petuate the memory of her father. 



The United States Pharmacopeal Conven- 

 tion will be held in Washington on May 10, 

 1910, for the first time as a corporate body. 

 The chairman of the committee on credentials 

 and arrangements is D. Oliver T. Osborne, of 

 New Haven, Conn., and the secretary is Dr. 

 Murray Gait Motter, 1841 Summit Place, 

 N. W., Washington, D. C. 



A JOINT committee of the Mathematical 

 Association, London, and the Association of 

 Public School Science Masters have been con- 

 sidering the possibility of correlating the 

 teaching of mathematics and science, and 

 have prepared a report on the subject. A joint 

 meeting of the two associations was held at 

 Westminster School on January 12, under the 

 chairmanship of Professor Forsyth, E.R.S., to 

 consider the report. 



The fifth International Ornithological Con- 

 gress will be held in Berlin May 30 to June 4, 

 1910, under the presidency of Dr. Anton 

 Eeichenow. The Congress will be organized 

 in six sections : I., Anatomy and Paleontology ; 

 II., Systematic Ornithology and Geographical 



Distribution; III., Biology and Oology; IV., 

 Bird Protection; V., Introduction and Ac- 

 climatization; VI., Aviculture. 



The Auh states that in the alterations and 

 additions to the Academy of Natural Sciences 

 at Philadelphia that have just been completed, 

 the ornithological department has been allotted 

 half of the top floor of the main museum 

 building, directly over the exhibition bird gal- 

 lery. There is an abundance of light in the 

 new quarters and the collection of skins is 

 arranged to better advantage than ever before. 

 The specimens, numbering upwards of 50,000, 

 are arranged in 200 metal cases carrying trays 

 16 X 18 inches, and 50 large eases with trays 

 3X6 feet, while at the west end is a spacious 

 work room and meeting room where the Dela- 

 ware Valley Ornithological Club now holds its 

 sessions. The exhibition series of mounted 

 birds numbers about 10,000, besides which is 

 a large collection of osteological material, nests 

 and eggs. 



The British government has promised 

 £20,000 for the Antarctic expedition under 

 Captain Scott, and about £12,000 has been 

 subscribed from other sources. Eeuter's 

 agency states that progress is being made 

 with the preparations. Dr. Wilson, chief 

 of the scientific staff, will also be the zo- 

 ologist and artist. It is anticipated that 

 three geologists will accompany the expedi- 

 tion, and that one of these will be Mr. Mackin- 

 tosh Bell, director of the Geological Survey of 

 New Zealand, who has volunteered his services. 

 Mr. R. Simpson, of the Indian Survey De- 

 partment, will be the physicist. He is now on 

 his way to England from Simla. A second 

 physicist will be taken. There will be two, or 

 possibly three, biologists. With Dr. Wilson 

 will be associated a second medical man, who 

 will study botany and bacteriology, giving par- 

 ticular attention to the investigation of blood 

 parasites. The services of Mr. C. R. Meares, 

 who lately completed a journey on the Chino- 

 Tibetan border, have also been secured. He 

 will leave England almost at once for eastern 

 Siberia to obtain the ponies and dogs. He 

 will collect the animals at Vladivostock, from 



