698 



SCIENCE 



[N". S. Vol. XXXI. No. 801 



dren's diseases and a well-known authority on 

 this subject. 



The Congress of American Physicians and 

 Surgeons is meeting in Washington this 

 week. Meeting in affiliation with it are the 

 American Association of Genito-Urinary 

 Surgeons, American Association of Patholo- 

 gists and Bacteriologists, American Climato- 

 logical Association, American Dermatological 

 Association, American Gynecological So- 

 ciety, American Laryngological Association, 

 American Medico-Psychological Association, 

 American Neurological Association, American 

 Ophthaknological Society, American Ortho- 

 pedic Association, American Otological So- 

 ciety, American Pediatric Society, Association 

 of American Physicians, and American Surg- 

 ical Association. 



The British Medical Journal states that 

 Professor Lannelongue, of Paris, has written 

 to the Societe de Chirurgie announcing his 

 intention of founding a prize consisting of a 

 gold medal carrying with it a sum of £250, to 

 be awarded to the candidate who has con- 

 tributed most to the progress of surgery dur- 

 ing the ten years before the date of award. 

 The prize is open to surgeons of all nations, 

 and will be awarded every five years during 

 the annual meeting of the Paris Societe de 

 Chirurgie. The judges wiU be a committee of 

 surgeons of various nationalities, grouped as 

 follows: The United Kingdom; Germany; 

 Austria-Hungary and the Balkan States; 

 Belgium, Holland and Scandinavia; Spain, 

 Portugal and Mexico; United States and 

 Canada; South America; Japan and China. 



The Naples Table Association for Promo- 

 ting Laboratory Research by Women an- 

 nounces the offer of a fifth prize of one thou- 

 sand dollars for the best thesis written by a 

 woman, on a scientific subject, embodying 

 new observations and new conclusions based 

 on an independent laboratory research in bio- 

 logical, chemical or physical science. The 

 theses offered in competition are to be pre- 

 sented to the executive committee of the as- 

 sociation and must be in the hands of Mrs. 

 Ellen H. Richards, Massachusetts Institute 

 of Technology, Boston, Mass., before Feb- 



ruary 25, 1911. The papers will be judged by 

 a board of examiners, or by such specialists as 

 they may choose. The Board of Examiners 

 consists of Dr. William H. Howell, Dr. Theo- 

 dore W. Richards and Dr. Albert A. Michel- 

 son. The first prize was awarded to Florence 

 Sabin, B.S., Smith, '93, M.D., Johns Hopkins 

 University, '00, for a thesis on the " Origin 

 of the Ljmiphatic System." The second 

 prize was awarded to Nettie M. Stevens, B.A., 

 M.A., Leland Stanford University, '99, '00, 

 Ph.D., Bryn Mawr, '03, for a thesis on a 

 " Study of the Germ Cells of Aphis rosea 

 and of Aphis cenotherw." The third prize of- 

 fered was not awarded. The fourth prize was 

 awarded to Florence Buchanan, D.Sc, Fellow 

 of University College, London, for a thesis on 

 the " Time Taken in the Transmission of 

 Reflex Impulses in the Spinal Cord of the 

 Frog." 



A LETTER has been received at the Harvard 

 College Observatory from Professor Robert 

 W. Willson, of Harvard University, stating 

 that Halley's comet was photographed by Dr. 

 J. C. Duncan at the Students' Astronomical 

 Laboratory of Harvard University, April 21" 

 3" 51"" A.M. eastern standard time. " Ex- 

 posure 15m., considerably fogged by dawn. 

 Comet brighter, photographically, than B.D. 

 + 6".5227, mag. 4.4. Tail faintly seen to a 

 distance of one degree; leaves read between 

 two short, well-defined streamers whose posi- 

 tion angles are 66 and 142 degrees. Pos. Ang. 

 of axis of main tail, 100 degrees." A photo- 

 metric measurement of the light of the 

 nucleus of Halley's comet was made by Pro- 

 fessor Wendell at the Harvard College Ob- 

 servatory on April 27. The comparison star 

 was B.D. -f-7".5101, phot. magn. 6.74. The 

 measured brightness of the nucleus was 6.01 

 magn. The comet was visible to the naked 

 eye. Its total brightness was estimated as 

 3.0 magn., or brighter, and the tail as over 

 3° long. The comet was observed visually on 

 April 27 by Mr. Leon Campbell, who saw it 

 easily with the naked eye and estimated its 

 total brightness, by the Argelander method, as 

 2.5 magn. He estimated the tail as 4° in 

 length. A photograph of the comet was ob- 



