Febrxjabt 21, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



309 



is noted tliat a patrol boat has been placed on 

 Lake Klamath, Oregon. 



The American Museum Journal for Feb- 

 ruary records the receipt of two specimens of 

 the rare Haitian Solenodon, heretofore known 

 from a single specimen sent to St. Petersburg 

 in 1833. It is stated that only five specimens 

 of the Cuban Solenodon have found their way 

 to museums, but are there not more than this ? 

 There are notes on " An Archeological Eecon- 

 naissance in Wyoming " and on new or rare 

 minerals added to the collection. 



The Bulletin, of the Charleston Museum 

 for January contains the report of the director 

 for 1907, which states that the main changes 

 in the new museum building are nearly com- 

 pleted. An appeal is made for more funds, 

 which are very much needed, not merely for 

 the extension of work, but for the proper care 

 and exhibition of material already in hand. 



The Museum News of the Brooklyn Insti- 

 tute for February has articles on " Insects and 

 Arachnids as Carriers of Disease," " Zuni 

 Weapons and Hunting the Matamata." 

 It notes the acquisition of the collection of 

 shells made by the late Charles A. Dayton, 

 which comprises 3,700 species. This with 

 collections already received gives this museum 

 an unusually fine series of mollusks. It is 

 noted that the library has been moved to 

 larger quarters in the new wing recently 

 opened. 



The Plant World for February opens with 

 an article by Dr. G. H. Shull on the aims 

 and methods of pedigree-cultiires, in which a 

 detailed description is given of the tech- 

 nique of pure-bred and sterilized cultures. 

 The authors of various criticisms upon this 

 method of study of heredity will be surprised 

 to learn that such cultures not only do not 

 isolate the species being tested, but bring 

 numbers of nearly related forms into close 

 proximity under conditions which permit their 

 inter-reactions to be exactly estimated. Dr. 

 D. T. MacDougal discusses the principal 

 features of the problems in genetics and 

 botany which may be attacked with greatest 

 hope of success in the desert and the use of 



xerophytic forms. The structural and phys- 

 iological relations of forms known as adapta- 

 tions are being taken up basally at the Desert 

 Laboratory and its mountain stations. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



The 643d meeting of the society was held 

 at Hubbard Memorial Hall on January 18, 

 1908, President Bauer in the chair. The 

 meeting was devoted exclusively to hearing 

 addresses conunemorative of the life and 

 labors of the late Lord Kelvin. 



The first paper of the evening was entitled 

 " Lord Kelvin, His Life and Works," delivered 

 by invitation, by Professor Arthur G. Webster, 

 of Worcester, Mass. 



Dr. R. S. Woodward spoke of " Lord Kel- 

 vin's Contributions to Geophysics." 



Professor Simon Newcomb told of " Lord 

 Kelvin's Character and Personality." 



By invitation, his excellency the British 

 ambassador, Mr. James Bryce, favored the 

 meeting with an interesting slietch of Lord 

 Kelvin's life, bearing testimony to the sim- 

 plicity of Lord Kelvin's character and the 

 greatness of his wonderful mind. 



The full text of the foregoing addresses are 

 soon to be published as a part of Bulletin XV. 

 of the Philosophical Society of Washington. 



The 644th meeting was held on February 1, 

 1908. 



Professor 0. F. Marvin gave a description 

 of " A Universal Seismograph for Horizontal 

 Motion," recently designed by him at the IT. 

 S. Weather Bureau. A full description of 

 this instrument, prepared by Professor Mar- 

 vin, is soon to appear in the Monthly Weather 

 Review. 



The second paper of the evening was pre- 

 sented by Professor Franlv LI. Bigelow upon 

 " Relations of the Temperatures of the United 

 States to Solar Radiation." 



The natural synchronism between tlie vari- 

 able action of the solar radiation and the ter- 

 restrial temperatures may be missed in an 

 investigation in three ways: (1) The use of 

 non-homogeneous data at the sun and at the 



