Mabch 4, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



399 



five years; and of M. A. Laumonier, the 

 French physician and botanist at the age of 

 sixty-four. 



The senate passed the legislative, executive 

 and judicial, and the agricultural appropria- 

 tion biUs on February 25. 



Me. Henry L. Doherty, president of the 

 National Electric Light Association, has of- 

 fered a gold medal for the best paper on 

 underground construction for alternating or 

 direct current plants. 



The foundation of Schnyder von Wartensee 

 offers its prize of about $Y00 for an essay on 

 the climate of Switzerland during the last 

 thirty-seven years. Essays, which may be in 

 English, should be sent before September 30, 

 1906, to the library at Zurich. 



Nature states that the Municipal Council 

 of Paris has adopted a proposal of M. Bussat 

 for the foundation of a laboratory of applied 

 physiology. M. Bussat has himself sketched 

 out a scheme of the work which should be 

 undertaken in such a laboratory, relating to 

 the alimentary value of foodstuffs, muscular 

 work, intoxication, etc., and he suggests that 

 the director should give publicity to the work 

 of the laboratory by means of courses of lec- 

 tures addressed to the pupils of the profes- 

 sional and norraal schools of Paris. 



Nature states that it is proposed to hold a 

 horticultural and gardening exhibition in the 

 month of June next under the auspices of the 

 Eoyal Botanic Society in the new exhibition 

 grounds of the society, situated in the center 

 of the Botanic Gardens in Regent's Park, 

 London. The proposed scheme embraces hor- 

 ticulture, forestry, botany, educational meth- 

 ods, nature-study, and a special section for 

 colonial produce. In addition to the exhibi- 

 tion, lectures and conferences are in course 

 of arrangement. 



According to the London Times the British 

 Board of Agriculture, through Mr. Brook 

 Hunt, has asked the governors of the South- 

 eastern Agricultural College, "Wye, Kent, to 

 consider a scheme for establishing local field 

 stations for experiments and for providing 

 special courses of training in the processes of 

 agriculture. The board has also suggested 



the appointment of an instructor in poultry- 

 rearing for the counties of Kent and Surrey. 

 A scheme for establishing school gardens 

 throughout the county of Kent is already 

 under consideration. This, it is understood, 

 has the approval of the Board of Agriculture, 

 and no difficulty in obtaining their sanction 

 for the expenditure of the necessary money 

 is anticipated. The technical education funds 

 of the coimty will bear the cost of the experi- 

 ment. 



Pennsylvania's commission for the World's 

 Pair has applied for 3,500 square feet of space 

 for its fish exhibit in the Forestry, Fish and 

 Game Building, and has appropriated $10,000 

 for the display. A letter from Mr. W. E. Mee- 

 han, state fish commissioner of Pennsylvania, 

 announces that he is prepared to put in thirty- 

 five aquaria, as many as the United States 

 Fish Commission will have in its exhibit in 

 the Government Fisheries Building. Penn- 

 sylvania's exhibit will also ' include stuffed 

 specimens of mammals, birds and reptiles that 

 prey upon fish life, fishes of abnormal size, 

 legal and illegal devices for taking fish, paint- 

 ings in colors of the principal food and game 

 fish of the state, state literature upon the sub- 

 ject of fish protection and culture, a miniature 

 waterfall and trout stream, and a hatchery in 

 full operation.' 



The United States Department of Agri- 

 culture has just issued 'Farmers' Bulletin 

 No. 189,' ' Information concerning the Mexi- 

 can Cotton Boll Weevil.' It was prepared by 

 W. D. Hunter, special agent in charge of Cot- 

 ton Boll Weevil Investigations, Division of 

 Entomology. The work of the Division of 

 Entomology for several years has demon- 

 strated that there is not even a remote prob- 

 ability that the boll weevil will ever be 

 absolutely exterminated. Although the very 

 large yields of cotton of former years may 

 perhaps no longer be possible, it is neverthe- 

 less entirely feasible to produce cotton at a 

 margin of profit that will compare favorably 

 with that involved in the production of most 

 of the staple crops of the United States by 

 what have become known generally as cul- 

 tural methods. These methods consist of 

 modifications of the system of cotton raising 



