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SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIX. No. 47G. 



ceived a letter from one of liis constituents a 

 few months ago asking for a piano for his 

 daughter. Mr. Cochran wrote back that he 

 was very sorry that he could not gratify him, 

 but he was in the minority and could not get 

 any allowance of pianos. However, he said, 

 Mr. Bartholdt, being the only republican from 

 the state, could get all the pianos he wanted. 

 He had just received twelve as his allowance. 

 In a few days Mr. Bartholdt got several letters 

 asking for pianos, and now he is receiving 

 four or five letters every day from Missouri 

 making the same request. 



A CORRESPONDENT Writes as follows to the 

 London Times with reference to Mr. J. S. 

 Budgett, of Trinity College, Cambridge : By 

 the death of Mr. Budgett Cambridge has lost 

 one of the most promising of her biologists 

 and one of the most active of those who take 

 an interest in volunteering in the university. 

 Mr. Budgett was educated at Clifton College 

 and came up to Trinity College about ten 

 years ago. From early childhood he showed 

 a keen interest in all matters of zoological 

 interest; and these tastes whilst he lived in 

 his father's house at Stoke Bishop, near 

 Clifton, were fostered by the friendship and 

 sympathy of Professor Lloyd Morgan and of 

 Professor S. H. Reynolds, of University Col- 

 lege, Bristol. During his third year at Cam- 

 bridge Mr. Budgett accompanied his friend 

 Professor Graham Kerr to the Gran Chaco 

 of Paraguay, where he made large collections 

 of the local fauna, especially of amphibians 

 and birds. Eeturning to Cambridge, he took 

 his degree in 1898, and almost immediately 

 started for the Gambia. Here he remained 

 the best part of a year endeavoring to secure 

 material for the study of the development of 

 the archaic fish Polypterus. He revisited the 

 Gambia in the rainy season of 1-900 with the 

 same object; and although in these trips he 

 did not absolutely succeed in his object he 

 collected a vast quantity of valuable material, 

 notably a complete series of the eggs and 

 larvaj of the African lung-fish, Protopterus, 

 and of several other fresh-water fishes and 

 amphibians. In 1902 Mr. Budgett was ap- 

 pointed Balfour student in the university, and 

 with indomitable courage he renewed his ef- 



forts to solve the riddle of the development 

 of Polypterus. He set out in June for 

 Uganda, and proceeding from Mombasa by 

 the Lakes Victoria and Albert, his cai'avan 

 reached the head waters of the Nile, and he 

 finally returned home by the Sudan and 

 Egypt. Last June he started on his fourth 

 and at last successful expedition to Africa. 

 On the delta of the Niger he found what he 

 had so long and courageously sought, and he 

 returned home last November with a complete 

 series of eggs and larvae of Polypterus, and 

 immediately began to work up the material 

 he had collected. On his return it was evi- 

 dent that his health had been affected by the 

 climate. Mr. Budgett was a man gifted in 

 many ways. His power with the pen and 

 pencil were a great help to his scientific work. 

 In 1901 he raised a detachment of mounted 

 infantry in connection with the Cambridge 

 volunteers, and has continued to command 

 that body till his death. He was a man of 

 strong personality, and of a high and sensitive 

 personal honor. 



The fifth International Congress of Zoology, 

 held at Berlin in 1901, selected Switzerland 

 as the place of meeting for the sixth session, 

 and elected Professor T. Studer president. 

 Nature states that in accordance with this 

 resolution, the congress will meet at Bern 

 from August 14-19 of this year. Professor 

 Studer, Bern, is president of the general com- 

 mittee, and the vice-presidents are : Professor 



E. Beraneck, Neuchatel; Professor H. Blanc, 

 Lausanne ; Dr. V. Fatio, Geneva ; Professor L. 

 Kathariner, Fribourg; Professor A. Lang, 

 Ziirich; Professor E. Yung, Geneva, Professor 



F. Zschokke, Basel; and Professor R. Blanch- 

 ard, Paris. The secretaries are Professor M. 

 Bedot, Geneva; Dr. J. Carl, Geneva; and Dr. 

 W. Volz, Bern. The general meetings will be 

 held in the Palace of Parliament, at Bern, 

 and the sectional sittings in the new univer- 

 sity. During the congress there will be an 

 excursion to Neuchatel and to the Jura lakes, 

 in order to visit the lake-dwellers' settlements. 

 The closing meeting of the congress will be 

 held at Interlaken. Afterwards members will 

 be invited to visit other Swiss cities. Com- 

 munications or inquiries referring to the con- 



