160 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXII. No. 553. 



to be below former estimates, and as there are 

 aloout thirty-six kauri mills clearing 144 mil- 

 lion superficial feet per annum, in eight years 

 the colony's supply of kauri would be ex- 

 hausted. However, the timber of the rimu, 

 matai and totara forests in the north is now 

 found far in excess of previous computations. 

 The output of all the mills in the colony is 

 estimated at 372 million superficial feet per 

 aiinum, a rate which would clear away all 

 the colony's timber in seventy years. On 

 the other hand, over 6| million trees were 

 raised in the nurseries and plantations in 

 1903-4 as against 4 million in 1902-3. 

 The total number of trees raised between 

 1896 and 1904, on an area now measuring 

 1,040| acres, was 18,293,682. The prison- 

 labor applied to tree-planting has proved 

 every way profitable, notably in a moral sense, 

 to the prisoners. The weight allowed to the 

 claims of natural beauty may be gathered from 

 the assignment of ample areas as scenic re- 

 serves. More particularly, in the highly 

 picturesque south land it is proposed to pre- 

 serve in native immunity no less than 2,772,440 

 acres, including the Sounds National Park of 

 2,500,000 acres. During 1903-4 triangulation 

 continued more or less in abeyance owing to 

 settlement requirements, but the surveyor-gen- 

 eral urges the resumption of triangulation on 

 a large scale. A full report of the magnetic 

 work of the year is furnished by Mr. Skey. 

 Particularly interesting is the reference to the 

 joint work of the Hagley Park observatory and 

 the Antarctic Expedition, Eight photographs 

 of the most marked seismograms of the year 

 are appended. In the northern part of the 

 South Island magnetic work has been sus- 

 pended since February, 1904. A further three 

 months' work by one ofiicer is all that is now 

 needed to complete the magnetic survey of the 

 colony, the results of which would be of so 

 great value as well to navigation as to pure 

 science. The comprehensive report deals also 

 with temperature, rainfall, sanctuaries for ani- 

 mals and birds, etc. Besides maps and plans, 

 there are numerous illustrations of scenery, 

 flora, fauna, etc. The report of the minister 



of railways shows the railway mileage of New 

 Zealand as 2,328. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

 The cornerstone has been laid of the new 

 engineering building of the University of 

 Iowa, which is to be erected at a cost of 

 $600,000. 



The contract has been awarded for a new 

 bacteriological building at the University of 

 Minnesota. It will be built at once and will 

 cost $100,000. 



Mr. Simon Guggenheim has given $75,000 

 to the Colorado School of Mines at Denver. 

 It will be used for the erection of an admin- 

 istration building. 



The university benefaction fund for Cam- 

 bridge University now amounts to about $400,- 

 000. The largest gift during the past year 

 is one of $25,000 from Lord Rayleigh. 



The Bates College corporation will ask 

 from the Maine legislature a repeal of the 

 charter which provides that the president of 

 Bates College and a majority of the board of 

 fellows and of the board of overseers shall be 

 members of some church in the Free Baptist 

 denomination. It is understood that this 

 action is taken in order that the college may 

 take advantage of the pensions of the Car- 

 negie Foundation. 



Two new fellowships have been created in 

 the department of chemistry, Ohio State Uni- 

 versity, Columbus, Ohio. The holders of the 

 fellowships will receive free tuition and $300. 

 Applicants should apply at once to Professor 

 William McPherson, Columbus, Ohio. 



The council of the University of Liverpool 

 has instituted a lectureship in experimental 

 psychology. The work in psychology will, for 

 the present, be carried on in the physiological 

 laboratory. 



Professor H. S. White, of Northwestern 

 University, has been appointed professor of 

 mathematics at Vassar College. 



Mr. W. H. Watkinson, of the Glasgow and 

 West of Scotland Technical College, has been 

 appointed professor of engineering at the Uni- 

 versity of Liverpool. 



