440 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIX. Xo. 480. 



striking northeast to Lake Chad. The objec- 

 tive of the expedition is Kulia, on the shores 

 of Lake Chad, and it is unlikely that this 

 point will be reached before the end of the 

 year. Lieutenant Alexander's movements 

 after reaching that tov^n are uncertain, as it 

 has not been settled whether the explorers 

 shall seek to penetrate the Great Desert or 

 return via the German Cameroons. Some 

 specially constructed steel boats for the navi- 

 gation of the shallow rivers in the Lake Chad 

 region have been made in England. The ex- 

 pedition will probably not return for two years. 



Nature states that some considerable rear- 

 rangements have been made in the museums 

 at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. A new 

 gallery 130 feet long by 16 feet wide at the 

 back of museum No. III. was opened on Feb- 

 ruary 1. To this the entire collection of 

 Gymnosperms (Conifers, Cycads and Gneta- 

 cese, including Welwitschia) has been trans- 

 ferred. The space in museum No. I. thus set 

 free has been utilized in making a more effect- 

 ive display of its contents, which had become 

 very crowded. The well-lighted wall space in 

 the new gallery has enabled the collection of 

 maps and plans of the establishment at various 

 periods to be brought together. Several of 

 these have been contributed by the late Queen 

 and by His Majesty's Office of Works, and are 

 of considerable historical interest. A set of 

 the fine photographs of Kew in its various 

 aspects which were sent by the government 

 to the Paris Exhibition of 1900 are also shown, 

 as well as an extensive series of photographs 

 of coniferous trees in their native countries. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 



Harvard University has received a gift of 

 $250,000 from Mr. David Sears, of Boston, a 

 graduate of the class of '47. 



Mrs. William E. D.odge has offered the 

 University of Virginia $40,000 for a Toung 

 Men's Christian Association building provided 

 other friends of the institution raise an en- 

 dowment of $20,000. 



It is announced that the bequest of James 

 Woolson to Boston University, most of which 



will not be paid for a long time, will amount 

 to $325,000. 



G. H. Myers has given the Forest School 

 of Yale University the library of the late 

 Professor Robert Henry, of Mvmich, contain- 

 ing about 1,500 books and pamphlets on for- 

 estry. 



It is announced that Mr. P. N. Russell, 

 who for many years carried on extensive en- 

 gineering works in Sydney, but has latterly 

 resided in London, has made a further dona- 

 tion of £50,000 for an additional endowment 

 to the School of Engineering at the Univer- 

 sity of Sydney. Mr. Russell originated this 

 school some seven years since by an endow- 

 ment of £50,000. 



The legislature of the state of Ohio has 

 passed an emergency bill for the temporary 

 relief of the departments of chemistry, phar- 

 macy and metallurgy, the building for which 

 was, as we have already announced, burned 

 to the ground on February 19 at a loss of 

 $125,000. 



Denny Hall, a brown stone building be- 

 longing to Dickinson College, was destroyed 

 by fire on March 3. The loss is estimated at 

 $60,000, which is said to be covered by in- 

 surance. 



The University of Toronto has asked the 

 government to provide a new physical labo- 

 ratory. 



King Edward opened the new buildings of 

 the University of Cambridge on March 1. 

 These included a geological museum, a botan- 

 ical institute, new medical buildings, com- 

 prising laboratories and lecture rooms for the 

 departments of medicine, surgery, pharmacol- 

 ogy, and pathology and the Humphry museum 

 of anatomy and pathology. 



Dr. Alexander Smith, B.Sc. (Edinburgh), 

 who has for some years been associate pro- 

 fessor of chemistry in the University of Chi- 

 cago, has been appointed a professor of chem- 

 istry and director of general and physical 

 chemistry in that institution. 



Mr. William Harper Davis, fellow in psy- 

 chology at Columbia University, has been ap- 

 pointed instructor in philosophy in Lehigh 

 University. 



