April 8, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



597 



of future and supplementary investigations 

 will be suggested. While, however, this will 

 constitute at first the chief work of the de- 

 partment, it is likewise proposed to embrace 

 favorable opportunities for supplementing, by 

 observation, the existing data and to cooperate 

 with others in the observing of such of the 

 earth's magnetic and electric phenomena as 

 are of momentary occurrence, and the investi- 

 gation of which is of great importance. 



Details as to the method of work to be fol- 

 lowed by the department and the investiga- 

 tions undertaken will be made known later. 

 It is proposed that whenever feasible, those 

 having certain pieces of work already in hand 

 will be invited to associate themselves with 

 the department. 



A word of explanation as to the ' inter- 

 national ' character of the undertaking. As 

 all of the funds are supplied by the Carnegie 

 Institution, it will not be possible to organize 

 this department in accordance with the cus- 

 toms governing organizations the funds of 

 which are contributed by various nations in 

 concert, such, for example, as the Interna- 

 tional Geodetic Association, the International 

 Catalogue of Scientific Literature, etc. 

 While, however, the basis of organization can 

 not be ' international' in the sense usually de- 

 fined by such bodies, it is the intention to con- 

 duct the work with the counsel of an Advisory 

 Board composed of representative persons, 

 irrespective of country, and in this sense, the 

 department is to be truly ' international.' 



That an important step has been taken by 

 the Carnegie Institution, will be patent to 

 all who are interested in the development of 

 our knowledge of the earth's mag-netism and 

 electricity. Professor JSTeumayer, one of the 

 representative investigators who endorsed the 

 undertaking and promised support, expressed 

 himself thus when the project was submitted 

 to the Carnegie Institution: 



" I am of opinion that if this plan reaches 

 its fulfilment, it is the most important step 

 ever taken for the development of our knowl- 

 edge of the earth's magnetism. The thought 

 which underlies it must appeal to every one 

 who has ever been engaged in geomagnetic 

 investigations. In no other branch of geo- 



physics is it more essential to extend the in- 

 quiries over the entire earth. Magnetic re- 

 search, to be successful, requires the coopera- 

 tion of the most competent investigators of 

 all countries." 



All mail intended for the department should 

 be addressed as below. L. A. Bauer. 



Department Terkestrial Magnetism, 

 Caenegie Institution, 

 Washington, D. C. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 



Professor W. W. Campbell has been elected 

 one of the thirty foreign members of the 

 Italian Society of Spectroscopists. 



Dr. W. J. Holland, director of the Car- 

 negie Museum, Pittsburg, has been made a 

 corresponding member of the Swedish Society 

 of Anthropology and Geography. 



Professor Eugen Warming, of Copenhagen, 

 has been elected a member of the Paris Aca- 

 demy of Sciences in the section of botany. 



Professor L. Luciani, of Eome, and Pro- 

 fessor A. Mosso, of Turin, the eminent phys- 

 iologists, have been appointed senators of the 

 realm in Italy. 



MM. Afpel, Lenfant and Lebaume-Pluvinet 

 have been elected members of the council of 

 the Prench Astronomical Society. 



Dr. W. C. Parabee, instructor in anthropol- 

 ogy at Harvard University, is to conduct a 

 party on an anthropological trip through the 

 west, starting immediately after commence- 

 ment. 



Professor P. S. Earle, assistant curator at 

 the New York Botanical Garden, has gone to 

 Cuba, on leave of absence, at the request of 

 the Cuban Government, for the purpose of aid- 

 ing that government in the establishment of 

 a Department of Agriculture. 



Professor Egbert Koch will return to Ber- 

 lin at the end of June. He is at present at 

 Dar-es-salaam, South Africa, studying malaria 

 and the prevalent cattle disease. 



A CHAPTER of the Scientific Society of the 

 Sigma Xi has been established at the Univer- 

 sity of Illinois with Professor S. A. Porbes as 

 president. 



The staff of the Henry Phipps Institute of 

 Philadelphia, gave a dinner on March 28, at 



