June 22, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



955 



and sold at the practically nominal price of 

 one penny each. 



The Hull (England) Museum Puhlications 

 30 and 31 are mainly devoted to a description 

 of recently acquired whaling relics and con- 

 tain much information as to whaling between 

 1598 and 1868. The whaling fleet of Hull at 

 one time numbered 60 vessels, averaging per- 

 haps 325 tons each; the average number of 

 whales taken in 1821 was 14' to a ship, which 

 gives a good idea of the former abundance 

 of the right whale. It is interesting to specu- 

 late on the effect produced on the balance of 

 life by the wiping out of these great animals, 

 and the consequent sparing of billions of the 

 minute invertebrates on which they fed. 



Notes on Some Recent Additions to the 

 Exhibition Series of Vertebrate Fossils in the 

 U. S. National Museum figures and briefly 

 describes several important specimens, in- 

 cluding crania of Triceratops calicornis and 

 Diceratops hatcheri, both types. The sugges- 

 tion, made by Professor Lull, that the lateral 

 vacuities in the frill of this last species, were 

 the result of injuries does not seem tenable. 

 The skeleton of the female mastodon from 

 Michigan is most admirably mounted and the 

 measurements given show the animal to have 

 been about two feet lower than the adult male. 



The Preservation of Antiquities/ by Dr. 

 Friedrich Eathgen, issued by the Cambridge 

 University Press, while not a museum publi- 

 cation, is of very general interest. The 

 chapters of special value relate to the develop- 

 ment, so to speak, and subsequent preservation, 

 of objects of bronze and iron, and the figures 

 show some very striking results that have 

 been obtained by the processes described. It 

 is to be noted that, as in other branches of 

 museum work, care, and above all, patience 

 are necessary adjuncts. Zapon, so often al- 

 luded to, is the subject of an article in the 

 Scientific American for June 2. 



P. A. L. 



TEE PRESERVATION OF AMERICAN 

 ANTIQUITIES. 

 We print below the bill passed by congress 

 and signed by the President in the preserva- 

 tion of American antiquities. Regulations, 



in accordance with the provision of Section 4, 

 are now being formulated. 



Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Repre- 

 sentatives of the United States of America in Conr 

 gress assembled, That any person who ahall 

 appropriate, excaVate, injure, or destroy any 

 historic or prehistoric ruin or monument, or any 

 object of antiquity situated on laJids owned or 

 controlled by the Government of the United 

 States, without the permission of the Secretary 

 of the Department of Government liaving jurisdic- 

 tion over the lands on which said antiquities are 

 situated shall, upon conviction, be fined in a sum 

 not more than fi\'e hundred dollars or be im- 

 prisoned for a period of not more than ninety 

 days, or shall suffer both fine and imprisonment 

 in the discretion of the court. 



Sec. 2. That the President of the United States 

 ia hereTjy authorized, in his discretion, to declare 

 by public proclamation historic landmarks, his- 

 toric and prehistoric structures, and other ob- 

 jects of historic or scientific interest that are 

 situated upon the lands owned or controlled by 

 the Government of the United States to be na- 

 tional monuments, and may reserve as a part 

 thereof parcels of land, the limits of which in all 

 cases shall be confined to the smallest area com- 

 patible with the proper care and management of 

 the objects to be protected: Pro-inded, That when 

 such objects are situated upon a tract covered 

 by a bona fide unperfected claim or held in private 

 ownership, the tract, or so much thereof as may 

 be necessary for the proper care and manage- 

 ment of the object, may be relinquished to the 

 Government, and the Secretary of the Interior is 

 hereby authorized to accept the relinquishment 

 of such tracts in behalf of the Government of 

 the United States. 



Sec. 3. That permits for the examination of 

 ruins, the excavation of archeological sites, and 

 the gathering of objects of antiquity upon the 

 lands under their respective jurisdictions, may be 

 granted by the Secretaries of the Interior, Agri- 

 culture, and War, to institutions which they may 

 deem properly qualiiied to conduct such examina- 

 tion, excavation, or gathering, subject to such 

 rules and regulations as they may prescribe: 

 Provided, That the examinations, excavations, and 

 gatherings are undertaken for the benefit of repu- 

 table museums, universities, colleges, or other 

 recognized scientific or educational institutions, 

 with a view to increasing the knowledge of such 

 objects, and that the gatherings shall be made 

 for permanent preservation in public museums. 



