236 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIII. Xo. 580. 



THE AMERICAN PHILOmPHWAL SOCIETY. 

 The American Philosophical Society will 

 celebrate, at Philadelphia, from April 17 to 20, 

 the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of 

 Benjamin Franklin. The program is as fol- 

 lows : 



Tuesday, April 17. — 8 p.m.: Meeting for recep- 

 tion of delegates and of addresses. 



Wednesday, April IS. — 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. : Gen- 

 eral meeting for presentation of papers on sub- 

 jects of science. 8 p.m.: Addresses — 'Franklin's 

 Researches in Electricity,' by Edward L. Nichols, 

 Ph.D. ; ' Modern Theories of Electricity and their 

 relation to the Franklinian Theory,' by Ernest 

 Rutherford, D.Sc, F.R.S. 



Thursday, April 19. — 11 A.M.: Conferring of 

 honorary degrees by the University of Pennsyl- 

 vania. 3 P.M.: Ceremonies at the grave of Frank- 

 lin. 9 P.M.: General reception. 



Friday, April 20. — 1 1 A. it. : Addresses on 

 Franklin as — ' Citizen and Philanthropist,' by 

 Horace Howard Furness, Litt.D. ; ' Printer and 

 Philosopher,' by Charles William Eliot, LL.D. ; 

 ' Stateman and Diplomatist,' by Joseph Hodges 

 Choate, LL.D., D.G.L. 7 p.m.: Banquet. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

 Dr. Ewald Hering, professor of physiology 

 at Leipzig, has been made a corresponding- 

 member of the Academy of Sciences at St. 

 Petersburg. 



It is proposed to invite Mr. John Sargent 

 to paint a portrait of President James B. 

 Angell, to be placed in the Michigan Union 

 Olub House, shortly to be erected. The por- 

 trait will be a gift from the faculty, alumni 

 and students of the university. 



Sir Philip Magnus, superintendent of the 

 Department of Technology of the City and 

 Guilds of London Institute, has been elected 

 member of parliament from London Univer- 

 sity, defeating by a small majority Sir Micliael 

 Foster, professor of physiology at Cambridge 

 from 1883 to 1903. 



Baron Guerne has been elected president of 

 the Paris Geographical Society. 



Dr. W. ScriEiBNER, professor of mathemat- 

 ics at Leipzig, celebrated, on Januar.y 8, his 

 eightieth birthday. 



There was an error made in a recent num- 

 ber of Science in regard to the presidency of 

 the Geological Society of America, The offi- 

 cers of the society for the ensuing year are 

 as follows : 



President — Israel C. Russell, Ann Arbor, Mich. 



Vice-Presidents — W. M. Davis, Harvard Univer- 

 sity; E. A. Smith, University, Ala. 



Secretary — H. L. Fairchild, University of 

 Rochester. 



Treasurer — I. C. White, Morgantown, W. Va.. 



Editor — J. Stanley-Brown, New York City. 



Librarian — H. P. Gushing, Western Reserve Uni- 

 versity. 



Councilors — H. M. Ami, Canadian Geological 

 Survey; J. M. Clarke, Albany, N. V.; J. F. Kemp, 

 Columbia University; A. C. Lane, Lansing, Mich.; 

 G. P. Merrill, U. S. National Museum; David 

 White, Washington, D. C. 



Leave of absence for next year has been 

 granted to Professor F. P. Whitman, of the 

 department of physics of Western Reserve 

 University. 



A LETTER has been received at Stanford Uni- 

 versity from Dr. D. H. Campbell, written just 

 as he was leaving Rangoon, Burmah, for Man- 

 dalay. He was to sail shortly from there for 

 the Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradenya, 

 Ceylon. 



Professor Frederick Starr, of the Univer- 

 sity of Chicago, who set out for Central 

 Africa last September to study the Pygmies, 

 has entered the jungles as appears from a 

 letter mailed on December 17, at Leopoldville, 

 which is 1,200 miles inland from the east coast. 



Mr. Walter Wellman has signed a contract 

 with M. Godard, of Paris, for the construction 

 of an airshixj, in which he will try to reach 

 the north pole. It will weigh 750 pounds and 

 have three motors, respectively of 50, 25 and 

 5 horsepower. 



The Duke of Abruzzi (Prince Ajnadeo of 

 Savoy-Aosta), a cousin of King Victor Em- 

 manuel, has almost completed arrangements 

 for a voyage of exploration into the heart of 

 Africa. The duke, who will start early in the 

 spring, has been assured that the British and 

 French government officiala in Africa will as- 

 sist him in every possible manner. 



