September 15, ]905.] 



SCIENCE. 



349 



The report notes the over-zealous interference 

 of - the Game Commission of Pennsylvania 

 with the collecting- of native birds. It has 

 repeatedly been shown that it is not the scien- 

 tific collector who wreaks havoc among birds, 

 but those who destroy for commercial pur- 

 poses, or for pure love of killing. With some 

 hesitation we question the entire accuracy of 

 the statement that ' This museum was prob- 

 ably the first institution of its kind to put 

 into practical effect the idea of sending out 

 through the schools small collections illustra- 

 ting the truths of natural science.' Our Eng- 

 lish friends may have something to say re- 

 garding this rather sweeping claim. 



The Report of the Museums of the BrooMyn 

 Institute for 1904, is seven months after date, 

 but, being the first of its kind, should not be 

 too severely criticized. It notes the restric- 

 tions on the work of rearrangement due to 

 the delay in receiving the central section of 

 the building, but as noted in Science this re- 

 striction was removed in March and the sec- 

 tion opened in June. There is a somewhat 

 detailed list of the collections of art and 

 ethnology and an accoimt of the libraries of 

 the Central and Children's Museiuns. The 

 latter now contains over 3,500 volumes and is 

 possibly the most complete of its kind, con- 

 taining a very large proportion of popular 

 works on natural history and nature study, 

 history and geography, and many selected 

 with special reference to their use by teachers. 

 The number of readers for 1904 was 26,899, 

 including 105 teachers with their classes. 



To generalize a little it may be said that 

 these reports emphasize the amount of atten- 

 tion that is properly being given to the dis- 

 play of specimens so that they may be both 

 attractive and of ediicational value. To a 

 great extent these things go hand in hand, 

 for if specimens are not attractive, the visitor 

 will not look at them closely and their edu- 

 cational influence is lost. The old museum 

 idea was the exhibition of specimens only, 

 now the specimens are used to aid in the teach- 

 ing of facts. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

 Professor E. Ray Lankester, director of 

 the British Museum of Natural History, was 



elected president of the British Association for 

 1906 at the final meeting of the association 

 held at Johannesburg on September 1. After 

 the adjournment, most of the members of the 

 association left for Kimberly, Bulawayo and 

 Victoria Palis. 



The advisory board of engineers upon plans 

 for the Panama Canal, consisting of American 

 and foreign experts, held their first meeting 

 in Washington on September 1. They will 

 later go to Panama. The members of the 

 board are : Mr. Henry Hunter, nominated by 

 the British government; M. Adolphe Guerard, 

 nominated by the Prench government; Herr 

 Eugene Tincauser, nominated by the German 

 government; ITerr J. W. Welcker, nominated 

 by the government of the Netherlands; M. L. 

 Quellennec, consulting engineer of the Suez 

 Canal; General George W. Davis, U. S. A., 

 retired; Alfred Doble, chief engineer of the 

 Pennsylvania Railroad; William Barclay Par- 

 sons, formerly of the New York Rapid Transit 

 Commission; Professor William H. Burr, of 

 ■Columbia University; Frederick P. Stearns, 

 of Boston ; General Henry L. Abbott, U. S. A., 

 retired; Joseph Ripley, engineer of the Sault 

 Ste. Marie Canal, and Isham Randolph, engi- 

 neer of the Chicago Drainage Canal. 



Dr. D. E. Salmon, for twenty-one years 

 head of the Bureau of Animal Industry of 

 the Department of Agriculture, handed his 

 resignation to Secretary Wilson on September 

 6. The secretary accepted it, to take effect 

 on October 1. Dr. Alonzo D. Melvin, assistant 

 chief of the bureau, will be designated acting 

 chief. 



Professor O. Lummer, director of the phys- 

 ical laboratory at Breslau, has accepted an 

 invitation to lecture at Columbia University 

 during the year 1906-7. 



President David Starr Jordan, of Stan- 

 ford University, has returned from Europe by 

 way of Canada, and was expected to reach 

 home this week. 



It appears that Professor Ronald Ross did 

 not, as has been stated, accompany Professor 

 Rubert Boyce on his visit to ,New Orleans in 

 connection with the outbreak of yellow-fever. 



