924 



SCIENCE; 



[N. S. Vol. XXIII. No. 598. 



dophyceae from Florida and the Bahama 

 Islands. A dozen good plates, partly photo- 

 graphic, accompany these studies. — Recent 

 papers by Professor F. L. Stevens include 

 ' The Science of Plant Pathology ' (a popular 

 discussion, first published in the- Popular Sci- 

 ence Monthly, September, 1905), ' Oogenesis 

 and Fertilization in Albugo ipomoeae-pan- 

 duranae ' (a cytological study from the 

 Botanical Gazette, October, 1904), 'A Nature- 

 Study Lesson with the Moulds ' and ' A Sim- 

 ple Experiment on Spontaneous Generation ' 

 (both popular articles for teachers and pupils 

 in the public schools, originally published in 

 the Nature-Study Review). — Dr. E. J. Dur- 

 and's recent papers on fungi include ' The 

 Genus Sarcosoma in North America,' ' Three 

 new Species of Discomycetes ' and ' Peziza 

 fusicarpa and Peziza semitosta,' all from the 

 Journal of Mycology. — Professor Halsted's 

 ' Report of the Botanical Department for 

 1905,' published by the New Jersey Agricul- 

 tural Experiment Station, is as usual a marvel 

 in the way of containing the results of an 

 astonishing number of experiments and ob- 

 servations. Many fine half-tone reproductions 

 of photographs add much to the usefulness of 

 this admirable report. 



Charles E. Bessey. 

 The University of Nebraska. 



THE WORCESTER POLTTECHNW INSTITUTE. 



The Worcester Polytechnic Institute has 

 just awarded a contract for the erection of a 

 new building to be used exclusively for elec- 

 trical engineering. It is designed to have this 

 building put up as rapidly as possible so that 

 it may be used during as large a portion of 

 the next school year as possible. The building 

 has been designed by the firm of Peabody & 

 Stearns, Boston, architects. Professor A. W. 

 French, the head of the civil engineering de- 

 partment at the Worcester Institute is to act 

 as consulting engineer and superintendent of 

 construction. 



The plans for this building have been under 

 consideration for some time and it is the in- 

 tention of the trustees to make it the most 

 thoroughly equipped and up to date elec- 



trical engineering laboratory anywhere in this 

 country. 



The large general laboratory will have a 

 length of 200 feet and a width of 55 feet. 

 This with three galleries which form a part 

 of the plan will give a floor area of 19,400 

 square feet and will constitute what is un- 

 doubtedly the largest electrical engineering 

 laboratory in the world. This laboratory will 

 be served by a ten-ton electric controlling 

 crane covering the entire central portion of 

 the laboratory between the galleries. The 

 galleries will be served by two-ton controlling 

 hoists covering their entire length. The usual 

 lecture rooms, recitation rooms, and design 

 rooms and special laboratories and workshops 

 are to be found in the building; but the fea- 

 ture upon which the greatest amount of 

 thought has been expended and the feature 

 which will undoubtedly attract the greatest 

 amount of attention is the electric railway 

 testing laboratories. The Worcester Polytech- 

 nic Institute is a pioneer in this kind of work 

 and is at the present time the only institu- 

 tion in the United States where an inde- 

 pendent chair in electric railway engineering 

 has been established. Connection will be 

 made with the tracks of the Worcester street 

 railway system, so that electric cars can be 

 run directly into the laboratory and the tests 

 conducted there. 



Ample facilities are also to be provided for 

 work in connection with insulation and with 

 high potential transmission. The equipment 

 of the laboratory will permit the use of volt- 

 ages of any desired frequency and potential 

 up to 750,000 volts for the study of the vari- 

 ous problems of long-distance high potential 

 power transmission and the dielectric and 

 electrostatic phenomena of insulating and 

 other material. 



The plans as drawn by Peabody and Stearns 

 provide for an attractive building architec- 

 turally. In its location the building will front 

 on Salisbury Street, directly opposite Institute 

 Park, thus giving it one of the most beautiful 

 locations to be found in the city. 



L. L. CONANT. 



