796 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIII. No. 594. 



world, has done very little for astronomy, and 

 it is with profound satisfaction we learn that 

 commerce and navigation, on which the su- 

 premacy of New York largely depends, is to 

 be aided by the founding of the ' New York 

 Observatory and Nautical Museum.' 



This institution will consist of two distinct 

 departments : 



1. A Nautical Museum, where will be col- 

 lected and exhibited models of all types of 

 vessels, safety and signal devices, nautical 

 instruments and methods of determining posi- 

 tion, charts, marine engines and motors, and 

 historic instruments and relics. The museum 

 and collections will be open to the public and 

 will be arranged so that properly qualified per- 

 sons can avail themselves of the facilities there 

 offered for investigation and research. 



2. An Astronomical Ohservatory , where will 

 be made scientific investigations in the field of 

 astronomy, navigation and kindred subjects, 

 and for this purpose the observatory will be 

 provided with a great telescope, for photo- 

 graphic and visual work, astrophysical instru- 

 ments for the investigations of interesting 

 problems of the sun, magnetometers, seismo- 

 graphs, etc. A time service will be instituted 

 so that chronometers may be rated, all kinds 

 of marine instruments will be tested, and tidal 

 investigations will be taken up. 



The institution is to have an endowment of 

 not less than $500,000, and in addition to this 

 it is expected that the city of New York will 

 provide a site in Bronx Park adjacent to the 

 Botanical Garden and Zoological Park, and 

 will also erect the museum building and the 

 domes and smaller buildings for the observ- 

 atory. 



The organization committee consists of 

 such well-known New Yorkers as Frederick 

 G. Bourne, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Edward S. 

 Isham, George A. Cormack, J. D. Jerrold 

 Kelley and Charles Lane Poor, and their back- 

 ing means success. Dr. Poor, professor of 

 astronomy at Columbia University, has made 

 an enviable record for himself through his 

 cometary researches, and by his recent dis- 

 covery that the sun is a vibrating body con- 

 tinually changing its shape. Further re- 



searches carried out through a series of years 

 will probably make clear the meaning of this 

 change; and this will go a long way towards 

 solving some of the outstanding problems of 

 astronomy. 



There is every reason to believe that the new 

 observatory will be founded and will at once 

 take its place among the great observatories 

 of the world. 



BILLS OF SCIENTIFIC INTEREST PASSED 

 BY THE NEW YORK LEGISLATURE. 



The New York legislature has passed a bill 

 providing for a new building for the State 

 Museum, State Library and the Education 

 Department, to cost not more than four mil- 

 lion dollars. The bill carries an appropria- 

 tion for the acquisition of a site and the pre- 

 paring of plans. For these plans twenty 

 thousand dollars in prizes are to be awarded 

 to the first, second and third choice of plans 

 submitted to the commission having the erec- 

 tion of the building in charge. 



The legislature also passed a biU to acquire 

 Watkins Glen, one of the many ravines run- 

 ning into the Finger Lakes of western New 

 York, for a state reservation. 



The following legislation was passed in re- 

 gard to the protection of Niagara Falls: Four 

 inactive charters were repealed, leaving four 

 others still outstanding, two of which are 

 actively engaged in diverting water. The 

 legislature also passed the Foelker bill to pre- 

 vent any abstraction of water beyond the 

 present chartered limits of abstraction. 



A referendum for a constitutional amend- 

 ment to permit the flooding of parts of the 

 state reservation in the Adirondaeks for the 

 manufacture of power by private corporations 

 was also passed. 



AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE AD- 

 VANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 

 The work of the local committee in ar- 

 ranging for the Ithaca meeting is approaching 

 completion. In addition to the usual sessions 

 for the reading of papers the program will in- 

 clude the following events: 



Thursday evening, June 28, an informal 

 smoker at the Town and Gown Club. 



