February 14, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



265 



Milky Way," and Sigmund Exner on " Aeute- 

 ness of Vision of Various Animals." The 

 new German optical patents and instrumental 

 •designs are reviewed. The optical ateliers 

 and their novelties receive a page of attention. 

 Mention of new books and personal notices 

 •close the number. 



The far-reaching significance of the appear- 

 ance of this international journal on optics 

 should be promptly appreciated. Glancing 

 over the achievements of America's men of 

 science in the field of optics during the last 

 quarter of a century, and calling to mind the 

 present manifold American activity in all 

 kinds of optical enterprise, it seems that many 

 interesting contributions ought to be made to 

 this journal from the land of Alvan Clark, 

 Henry Draper, J. Willard Gibbs, Henry A. 

 Rowland, James Keeler, Samuel P. Langley 

 and D. B. Brace. 



The ArcMv fur Optih will, of necessity, be 

 at the command of every American student 

 and worker in optical fields. And the deeper 

 interest in theoretical and practical optics to 

 be awakened by this special journal will find 

 concrete expression in more powerful optical 

 instruments, largely of American design and 

 manufacture, and in their manifold and ever- 

 multiplying scientific uses. 



M. B. S. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES 

 In the December number of The American 

 Naturalist the editor. Professor Frederic T. 

 Lewis, of the Harvard Medical School, says : 

 ".The American Naturalist now completes its 

 fQrty-first volume. With the development of 

 the natural sciences in this country, in which 

 it has had an important part, many technical 

 journals have appeared; but these have not 

 deprived the Naturalist of its special field. 

 Although dispensing with its early subtitle — 

 A Popular Illustrated Magazine of Natural 

 History — it has always aimed to present in 

 readable form an account of the progress of 

 natural history, together with original articles 

 on such animals, plants, and geological forma- 

 tions as are of general interest. In accom- 

 plishing this without the usual endowment or 

 support of any scientific society, the journal 



has depended upon its owners and the public 

 for financial support, and upon the unpaid 

 work of editors and contributors for its suc- 

 cess. Messrs. Ginn & Company have decided 

 to discontinue as publishers with the com- 

 pletion of this, their tenth volume. It is 

 thought that to justify the work now being 

 expended upon the journal, it should have 

 a wider circulation and more generous sup- 

 port. The means of accomplishing this are 

 being discussed, and the owners will be glad 

 to receive practical suggestions from those 

 interested." It has now been arranged that 

 the Naturalist will in the future be published 

 by The Science Press, and business com- 

 munications should be addressed to Sub-sta- 

 tion 84, New York City. Editorial com- 

 munications should be addressed to the Editor 

 of the American Naturalist, Garrison, N. Y. 



The Museums Journal of Great Britain for 

 December, 1907, contains a brief article by 

 H. C. Bumpus, on " The New Museum at 

 Frankfurt " which is commended, among other 

 things, for the ample provision made for labo- 

 ratories, and for a stafl: to use them. Huntly 

 Carter tells "How to Promote the Use of 

 Mxiseums by an Institute of Museums." In 

 spite of many good points this article strikes 

 one as rather unpractical and to imply a will- 

 ingness on the part of the public to study the 

 workings and uses of museums that the same 

 public is vei-y far from possessing. Among 

 other notes is an item to the effect that work 

 has begun on a new wing for the National 

 Gallery. 



The Zoological Society Bulletin for Jan- 

 uary opens with an article by C. William 

 Beebe on " New Bare Birds in the Zoological 

 Park." Notable among these are the lammer- 

 geier, the hyacinthine macaw and the toura- 

 cous. The park now contains 2,400 birds rep- 

 resenting 520 species, perhaps the largest col- 

 lection of living birds in the world. The 

 principal article is by Elwin E. Sanborn on 

 " The National Bison Herd," an account of 

 the transportation of the herd of fifteen bison, 

 presented by the Zoological Society to the 

 national government, from New York to the 

 Wichita range; the article is admirably illus- 



