July 28, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



127 



Dr. Johann Hermenek, professor of hydro- 

 mechanics at the Vienna School of Technol- 

 ogy, died on June 15, at the age of forty-one 

 years. 



The U. S. cruiser Minneapolis, conveying 

 Rear-Admiral Chester, superintendent of the 

 Naval Observatory, and the other mem- 

 bers of the American expedition which vpill 

 observe the eclipse of the sun at Bona, Al- 

 geria, and Valencia, Spain, on August 29, 

 which sailed from New York on July 3, ar- 

 rived at Gibraltar on July 15. The auxiliary 

 cruiser Dixie and the supply steamer Ocesar, 

 having on board the instruments and ma- 

 terials for the observation stations, have also 

 reached Gibraltar. 



The French Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science will meet during next week 

 at Cherbourg. 



The Royal Institute of Public Health an- 

 nounces that a congress on that subject will 

 be held in London from July 19 to 23, and 

 that papers will be read on discussion held 

 under the various sections of (A) preventive 

 medicine, (B) municipal administration of 

 the Education Acts, (C) child study and 

 school hygiene, (D) engineering and building 

 construction, (E) bacteriology and chemistry, 

 (F) veterinary hygiene, (G) tropical hygiene, 

 and (H) naval and military hygiene. 



The American Medical Association, at its 

 recent Portland meeting, adopted a resolution 

 drawn up by Dr. Listen H. Montgomery, of 

 Chicago, advocating the creation of a new 

 cabinet position to be known as the Depart- 

 ment of Public Health, the secretary of which 

 is to rank with other cabinet officers. 



The French minister of public instruction 

 has proposed a grant of 35,000 francs to en- 

 large the meteorological observatory on Puy 

 de Dome. 



Nature states that it learns from the Royal 

 Society that as an adjunct to the Literna- 

 tional Laboratory of Physiology on Monte 

 Rosa a lower laboratory, with a hostel, has 

 been established at Col d'Olen. This lower 

 laboratory is mainly intended for biological 

 research, but it is understood that provision 



has also been made for the study of terrestrial 

 physics and meteorology. The Royal Society 

 has the permanent nomination to two posts, 

 each of which includes a living room in the 

 hostel, a bench in the laboratory and the use 

 of apparatus; but the expenses of living and 

 of special researches must be borne by the 

 investigators. The laboratory is especially 

 connected with the University of Turin, but 

 is under the immediate direction of a com- 

 mittee. 



In connection with the International Ex- 

 position to be held this year at Liege, Belgium, 

 under the patronage of the Belgian govern- 

 ment, there will be a second session of the 

 International Congress of Agricultural Educa- 

 tion on July 28 and 29. 



A Reuter telegram from Paris says: The 

 International Congress on Colonial Agricul- 

 ture was opened on June 22, Great Britain, 

 Holland, Germany, Italy, Portugal, the United 

 States, Mexico and Brazil being represented. 

 Various papers were read, including one by 

 Mr. Webster, one of the British delegates, on 

 the cultivation of tea in Ceylon. The mem- 

 bers of the congress decided to form an inter- 

 national committee for the study of all ques- 

 tions relating to agricultural science and 

 colonial industries. An organizing committee, 

 with headquarters in Paris, under the chair- 

 manship of M. de Lanessan, has been formed. 

 In the afternoon the foreign delegates were 

 received by the municipality at the Hotel de 

 Ville, where a luncheon was given in their 

 honor. 



The Journal of the American Medical Asso- 

 ciation says : At a banquet in aid of the funds 

 of the London School of Tropical Medicine, 

 at which $50,000 was subscribed. Sir Patrick 

 Manson gave a lucid accoimt of the work of 

 the school and sketched a plan for systematic 

 and coordinated research in tropical disease 

 centers. This consists in the establishment 

 of colonial research laboratories in places 

 where they are likely to achieve profitable re- 

 sults. Already three such laboratories have 

 been established — in Ceylon, at Kuala Lum- 

 pur, in the federated Malay states, and in 

 Hongkong. Sir Patrick Manson suggested 



