160 



SCIENCE. 



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



forded by radium. He described liow, in addi- 

 tion to three kinds of rays, it gave off a self- 

 luminous gas or emanation, whioh contracted 

 very quickly — so quickly indeed that in a 

 month it contracted itself out of existence, 

 leaving only a purple discoloration in the glass 

 of its tube. He told how in trying to get the 

 spectrum of this emanation he found one of 

 the helium lines, and a few days later discov- 

 ered that the tube yielded the complete spec- 

 trum of helium, his inference being that the 

 emanation was continually changing into 

 helium which perhaps disappeared in the glass. 

 The speculation was suggested that there was 

 a limit to the size of atoms, as of stars, and 

 that some atoms were too heavy to be stable 

 and threw off electrons, just as the planets, on 

 the nebular hypothesis, were tkrown off by the 

 original nebula. The atoms of bodies like 

 uranium or radium might be supposed to have 

 reached this limit of stability, and conceivably 

 the electrons they shot off formed matter with 

 simple atoms which in turn polymerized into 

 heavier ones. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

 Syracuse University has received $160,000 

 from the estate of the late James J. Belden. 

 $50,000 goes to the Medical College and $100,- 

 000 to the College of Liberal Arts. Syracuse 

 University also receives the residue of the 

 estate of the late Jolui Lyman. The value of 

 the estate is not stated; but special bequests 

 to charitable institutions were made by Mr. 

 Lyman, amounting to over $150,000. 



The new library building of Clark Univer- 

 sity was dedicated on January 14. The build- 

 ing has been erected at a cost of $125,000 

 provided by the will of the founder of the 

 university. President Hall announced a gift 

 of $100,000 from Mr. Andrew Carnegie for 

 the library, this gift being made in honor of 

 Senator Hoar, president of the board of 

 trustees. 



The Catholic University of America has 

 received $50,000 from the Knights of Colum- 

 bus for the endowment of a chair of secular 

 history. 



Princeton University has received a be- 

 quest of $25,000 from the late Louis C. Van- 

 uxem, of Philadelphia. 



E. W. D. HoLWAY, banker of Decorah, Iowa, 

 has given his private library and collection of 

 fungi to the University of Minnesota. The 

 library numbers about 1,000 volumes, in- 

 cluding many rare and valuable works, and 

 the collection, with some 85,000 specimens, 

 is especially rich in illustrative material of 

 the smuts and rusts, a group in which Mr. 

 Holway is a well-known specialist. 



Sir William H. Wills and Sir Frederick 

 Wills have each contributed $5,000 to liqui- 

 date the debt of $25,000 at University College, 

 Bristol. The whole sum has now been col- 

 lected. 



The Eev. Dr. William E. Huntington has 

 been elected president of Boston University. 

 He has been since 1882 dean of the university, 

 and since the resignation of Dr. Warren last 

 year, acting president. The trustees decided 

 that the university should equip laboratories 

 for chemistry, physiology, biology, geology and 

 botany, but that the courses in physics be con- 

 tinued as heretofore at Massachusetts Insti- 

 tute of Technology. 



J. H. Baie, Ph.D., Carnegie research as- 

 sistant working in the psychological labora- 

 tory of Columbia University, has been ap- 

 pointed professor of psychology and education 

 in the University of Colorado. 



At Edinburgh University, Mr. E. M. Hors- 

 burgh has been appointed lecturer on practical 

 mathematics; Dr. Jacob Halm, lecturer on 

 astronomy, and Dr. H. J. Stiles, lecturer in 

 applied anatomy. 



Mr. Herbert Tomlinson, F.E.S., known for 

 his contribution to physics, has resigned the 

 principalship of the Southwestern Polytechnic 

 at Chelsea, London. 



Mr. E. H. Yapp, of Cambridge, has been 

 appointed professor of botany in the Univer- 

 sity College of Aberystwyth. 



Professor E. C. M. Stormer has been ap- 

 pointed professor of pure mathematics at the 

 University of Christiania. 



