78 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXV. No. 628 



department, bearing the title of curator of 

 museum from 1878 to 18Y9, and that of in- 

 structor of botany from 1879 to 1886. After 

 a period of study in Ziirich, Miss Oummings 

 returned to the college as associate professor 

 of cryptogamic botany. In 1905 she became 

 Hunnewell professor of botany, with tempo- 

 rary charge of the department. In 1906 her 

 title was changed to that of Hunnewell pro- 

 fessor of cryptogamic botany, in recognition 

 of the closely specialized work in which she 

 had reached distinction. 



The death is announced, at the age of sixty- 

 eight years, of Mr. Jeremiah Ourtin, known 

 for his works on anthropology and travel and 

 to the general public for his translations of 

 the novels of Henryk Sienkiewicz. 



Mr. John Ward, a well-known Staffordshire 

 geologist, fellow of the Geological Society of 

 Great Britain since 1874, has died at the age 

 of seventy. 



Dr. Arthur William Panton, fellow of 

 Trinity College, Dublin, well known as a 

 teacher of mathematics and a writer on this 

 subject, died on December 18, at the age of 

 about sLsty years. 



Dr. Thaer, formerly professor of agricul- 

 ture at Giessen, died on December 14, at the 

 age of eighty-seven years. 



Dr. Oohsenius, a geologist at Marburg, has 

 died at the age of seventy-seven years. 



The deaths are also announced of Dr. K. O. 

 Harz, professor of botany and pharmacology 

 in the Veterinary Institute at Munich, and 

 of Dr. Antonio Mascari, assistant in the ob- 

 servatory at Catania. 



The U. S. Civil Service Commission an- 

 nounces an examination on February 6-7, 

 1907, to fill a vacancy in the position of scien- 

 tific assistant in plant pathology, $1,000 per 

 annum, Bureau of Plant Industry; a vacancy 

 in the position of scientific assistant in animal 

 bacteriology, $840 per annum. Bureau of 

 Chemistry; and vacancies as they may occur 

 in the Department of Agriculture requiring 

 similar qualifications. 



It is expected that the National Education 

 Association will hold its fiftieth anniversary 



in Philadelphia, where it was organized in 

 1858. The department of superintendence of 

 the National Education Association will meet 

 in Chicago on February 26, 27 and 28. With 

 it will meet the National Society for the Sci- 

 entific Study of Education, the Society of 

 College Teachers and the Educational Press 

 Association of America. 



A MEETING was held on January 2 at the 

 physiological building of the Johns Hopkins 

 Medical School for the formal presentation 

 and acceptance of two noteworthy collections 

 of medical works given to the library by 

 Mr. W. A. Marburg and Mr. Francis M. 

 Jencks. The works given by Mr. Marburg are 

 the old Warrington Dispensary Library of 

 Liverpool, which is particularly valuable in 

 the history of medicine. The library consists 

 of about 944 volumes. The collection given 

 by Mr. Jencks consists of 936 volumes, and is 

 the Friedrieh Ahlfelb library, of Marburg, 

 Germany. It is a specialized library, consist- 

 ing of writings on ' monsters.' Dr. Ira Eem- 

 sen, president of the university, presided, and 

 addresses were made by Dr. William Osier, 

 regius professor of medicine at Oxford, and 

 by Dr. William H. Welch. 



Mr. Andrew Carnegie has given $750,000 

 for the construction of a building to be used 

 by the Bureau of American Republics. Pro- 

 vision for the site already has been made by 

 the United States and the South American 

 republics. 



At a special general meeting of the Eoyal 

 Society of Edinburgh, held on December 21, 

 the council presented a report on the new 

 accommodation to be provided for the society 

 in consequence of its proposed removal from 

 the Eoyal Institution. It appears from this 

 report, as quoted in Nature, that in March last 

 a memorial was presented to the secretary for 

 Scotland directing attention to the needs of 

 the society, and asking for a free grant of 

 £600 a year. In a semi-ofiicial reply to this 

 memorial the general secretary of the society 

 was informed that a proposal was being en- 

 tertained by the government to devote the 

 whole of the Eoyal Institution to the purposes 

 of art, and that the Eoyal Society must con- 



