156 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIX. No. 473. 



Observatory has been greatly handicapped by 

 the conditions briefly outlined above, I com- 

 mend to the department the zeal of the staff as 

 worthy of more consideration than seems to 

 have been accorded it in the past. The mem- 

 bers of the staff have vied with each other dur- 

 ing the past year in doing more than was re- 

 quired of them, and thus have been enabled to 

 maintain a good average of records; but such 

 conditions can not be expected to continue. 

 In one instance a member of the Nautical 

 Almanac Department, Mr. H. B. Evans, in 

 addition to a full-time service in that depart- 

 ment, has devoted a good part of three nights 

 in the week to observational astronomy, giving 

 to the records data of much value. Also, Mr. 

 Hammond, a member of the computing divis- 

 ion of the observatory, has contributed over- 

 time work in the search for and location of 

 asteroids, a work that has been much appre- 

 ciated by outside astronomers. 



Such observations have been published in 

 astronomical periodicals and the authors given 

 credit for their work, thus making an incen- 

 tive for additional labor. 



While such work may be only incidental to 

 naval purposes, it helps to maintain the inter- 

 est of observers in a class of astronomy that 

 is more or less a drudgery and carries out the 

 precept of the observatory to contribute to 

 astronomical science. It also produces better 

 results in routine observations. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

 The French minister of public instruction 

 and fine arts has conferred the degree of 

 officer of public instruction upon Dr. Lester 

 F. Ward for his scientific and sociological 

 works. This highest degree of the academic 

 order is usually only conferred on persons 

 who have for five years held the degree of 

 officer of the academy. 



Dr. W. Roux, professor of anatomy at Halle, 

 has been elected a foreign member of the 

 Brussels Academy of Sciences. 



Professor H. De Vries, of Amsterdam, and 

 Professor R. von Wettstein, of Vienna, have 

 been elected honorary members of the Berlin 

 Botanical Society. 



Grants in aid of research have, recently been 

 made from the Rumford Fund of the Amer- 

 ican Academy of Arts and Sciences as fol- 

 lows : to Professor Edward W. Morley, for his 

 research on the nature and effects of ether 

 drift, $500; to Professor Carl Barus, for his 

 research on the study by an optical method 

 of radio-actively produced condensation, $200 ; 

 to Mr. J. A. Dunne, for his research on fluc- 

 tuations in solar activity as evinced by changes 

 in the difference between maximum and mini- 

 mum temperature, $200. 



President Roosevelt has appointed the 

 assay commission for 1904, which will test 

 the weight and fineness of coins produced at 

 the mints of the United States during the 

 year. The members include Dr. S. W. Strat- 

 ton, chief of the Bureau of Standards; Mr. 

 Marcus Benjamin, of the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution; Professor Edgar F. Smith, of the 

 University of Pennsylvania, and Professor 

 William Hallock, of Columbia University. 



Me. J. A. EwiNG, F.R.S., lately professor 

 of mechanism and applied mechanics, Cam- 

 bridge, and Mr. Karl Pearson, F.R.S., pro- 

 fessor of applied mathematics in University 

 College, London, and formerly fellow, have 

 been elected to honorary fellowships at King's 

 College, Cambridge. 



The silver medal of the Munich Academy 

 of Sciences has been conferred on Professor 

 Rudel, of Nuremberg, for his researches in 

 climatology. 



Dr. W. T. Blanford, F.R.S., who was on 

 the staff of the Geological Survey of India 

 from 1855 to 1872, has been made a Com- 

 panion of the Order of the Indian Empire. 



Mr. R. G. Caeruthers and Mr. G. W. Grab- 

 ham have been appointed geologists on the 

 British Geological Survey. 



Brigadier-General A. W. Geeely, chief 

 signal officer of the U. S. Army, has refused 

 to go on the retired list with the rank of 

 major-general, preferring to remain in active 

 service. 



Dr. T. D. Wood, professor of physical edu- 

 cation in Teachers College, Columbia Uni- 

 versity, has been given leave of absence for 

 the rest of the year on account of his health. 



