120 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIX. No. 472. 



standard weight of 50 pounds will be so satis- 

 factory that before long the old-fashioned 

 ' hundredweight ' of 112 pounds will be en- 

 tirely abolished along with the stone, and that 

 a decimal fractional system of 5 pounds, 10 

 pounds, and 25 pounds will come into general 

 use. 



We learn from the London Times that the 

 first meeting for the session of the Geologists' 

 Association, held recently, took the form of 

 a conversazione, held in the library of Uni- 

 versity College, London. The most important 

 geological exhibits were the erratics from 

 Hertfordshire, and the facetted pebbles from 

 Berkshire and Oxfordshire, shown by Dr. 

 Salter; the Hertfordshire pudding-stones by 

 Mr. Green, and the iron, flint and lime con- 

 cretions, closely resembling animal forms, 

 sent by Dr. Abbitt. The small erratics are of 

 great interest, as it is not easy to account for 

 the presence of rhomboid porphyry of Nor- 

 wegian origin on the uplands of Hertfordshire. 

 On this subject Dr. Salter intends to publish 

 a paper, advancing another theory than that 

 generally accepted — the transportation by ice 

 across the North Sea. The facetted pebbles 

 of banded quartzite were probably worn down 

 by a natural sand-blast. Anthropology was 

 well represented. The Eev. E. Ashington 

 Bullen showed prehistoric implements; as did 

 Mr. Elliott, whose exhibits included photo- 

 graphs of and implements from the Mentone 

 caves. Among the other exhibits were worked 

 Chinese jade, collections of fodsil moUusca, 

 photographs and maps, and other objects of 

 interest to students of geology. 



The following books have recently been sold 

 at auction in London : ' Catalogue of the Birds 

 in the British Museum,' from Vol. 1 to Vol. 

 27, 1874-95, with numerous beautifully-colored 

 plates, £32; the Ihis, from 1859 to 1903, with 

 numerous colored plates and the general 

 index, 1877-94, £60; 'Colored Figures of 

 the Birds of the British Islands,' 1891-97, 

 second edition, £63; H. E. Dresser, ' Plistory 

 of the Birds of Europe,' published by the 

 author, 1871-96, with numerous colored plates, 

 £61 ; two by John Gould, ' The Birds of Great 

 Britain,' 1873, £58; 'Birds of Asia,' 1850-83, 

 £75; 'English Botany,' 1790-94, 36 volumes. 



£18 15s.; W. C. Hewitson, ' Exotic Butterflies,' 

 1876, £19. 



ONIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

 Cornell University will receive more than 

 $200,000 from the estate of the late Frederick 

 W. Guiteau of Irvington-on-the-Hudson, 

 which is nearly $50,000 more than was an- 

 nounced at the time of Mr. Guiteau's death 

 last year. The money will be used as a fund 

 for the assistance of needy students, and will 

 be lent them without interest. 



By the will of George Sykes, of Eockville, 

 Conn., a fund of $100,000 is provided for a 

 manual training school. 



A NEW science hall, to cost $100,000 is to be 

 erected at Colgate University. A sum of 

 about $30,000 has been subscribed for the 

 purpose. 



The French minister of public instruction 

 has recommended the establishment of a chair 

 of physics at the University of Paris, to which 

 M. Curie will be called. 



In the report of the registration of the uni- 

 versities, recently published in Science, the 

 number of students in the graduate school of 

 the "University of Michigan was given as 69. 

 We are informed that it was at that time at 

 least 85, and is now nearly 100. 



Dr. Charles W. Dabney has' accepted the 

 presidency of the University of Cincinnati. 

 Dr. George Stuart Fulleeton, professor of 

 philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania 

 and formerly dean and vice-provost, has been 

 elected professor of philosophy at Columbia 

 University. 



At Teachers College, Columbia University, 

 Dr. Edward L. Thorndike was promoted from 

 an adjunct professorship to a professorship 

 of psychology; Dr. J. H. MacVannell from 

 an instructorship to an adjunct professorship 

 in education, and Dr. Herman Vulte from a 

 lectureship to an adjunct professorship of do- 

 mestic science. 



Mr. Gilbert Van Ingen has been appointed 

 assistant in geology and curator in inverte- 

 brate paleontology at Princeton University. 



Mr. Howard D. Minchin, of the University 

 of Michigan, has been appointed instructor 

 in physics at Eochester University. 



