96 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIII. No. 1099 



feet in height. This Harrison dome cost 

 $300,000, and will house some of the most im- 

 portant exhibits of the museum. It was 

 named in honor of Dr. Harrison because its 

 construction was largely due to his efforts. 



The collection of gem-stones formed by the 

 late Sir Arthur H. Church has, in accordance 

 with a wish expressed in his will, been pre- 

 sented by his widow to the trustees of the 

 British Museum, and is now on exhibition in 

 the recent addition case in the Mineral Gal- 

 lery of the l^atural History Museum at South 

 Kensington. It comprises about two hundred 

 selected and choice faceted stones, most of 

 them mounted in gold rings. 



Mr. M. p. Skinner, a member of the Ameri- 

 can Museum, has presented to the institution 

 some valuable motion-picture films and photo- 

 graphs of animals of the Yellowstone Park, 

 obtained during his twenty years' experience 

 in that region. 



Loaned temporarily to the Archeological 

 Museum of the Ohio State University for use 

 during the convention of the American Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science were 

 three private archeological collections. The 

 owners are Henry P. Buck and F. P. Hills, of 

 Sandusky, and D. 0. Matthews, of Cleveland. 

 Many interesting and valuable specimens were 

 included in these collections, and they were of 

 especial importance from a collector's stand- 

 point. " The university museum attracted 

 great interest during the convention," said 

 Curator W. C. Mills. " Collectors from all 

 over the country keenly enjoyed the displays 

 set forth, and displayed interest in the lec- 

 tures and talks." The Hyde collection, which 

 was donated to the museum some time ago, is 

 now installed and on exhibition. 



The annual report of the committee on li- 

 brary of the New York Academy of Medicine, 

 issued on January 1, shows a great decrease 

 in the average of medical books published in 

 Europe during 1915. During 1913 the acad- 

 emy received 704 French and German publi- 

 cations but during 1915 only 435. 



At the ninety-seventh convocation recently 

 held at the University of Chicago twenty-five 



students, nominated by the departments of 

 science for evidence of ability in research 

 work, were elected to the honorary scientific 

 society of Sigma Xi. 



On January 7, twenty-nine members of the 

 faculty of the University of Missouri, belong- 

 ing to the departments of history, sociology, 

 anthropology, philosophy, psychology, educa- 

 tion, economics, political science, law, etc., 

 met and organized a new professional frater- 

 nity. Alpha Zeta Pi (Anthropos Zoon Poli- 

 tikon), for the promotion of the social sci- 

 ences. While the present organization is a 

 purely local one, the organizers have had in 

 mind the possibility of similar societies in 

 various institutions of the country getting to- 

 gether and forming a national organization 

 with the same purpose. Alpha Zeta Pi will at- 

 tempt to do for the social sciences what Sigma 

 Xi is doing for the natural sciences. Stu- 

 dents who have distinguished themselves in 

 the university by giving special promise of 

 future achievement in the social sciences, will 

 be stimulated by being elected student mem- 

 bers of the fraternity, and may later be elected 

 permanent members. Both student members 

 and permanent members will have equal rights 

 in the fraternity. The fraternity will meet 

 every month for the discussion of scientific 

 problems. At the next meeting, in February, 

 the first election of students (both graduate 

 and undergraduate) to membership in the 

 fraternity will take place. The officers for the 

 present academic year are: President, M. F. 

 Meyer; Vice-president, C. A. EUwood; Secre- 

 tary-Treasurer, J. E. Wrench. 



Dr. John G. Bowman, of Chicago, director 

 of the American College of Surgeons, states 

 that the college begins the new year with the 

 announcement that it has obtained from its 

 fellows an endowment fund of $500,000, to be 

 held in perpetuity, the income of which only 

 is to be used in advancing the purposes of the 

 college. The college has been in the process 

 of formation for the last three years. It has 

 a temporary office in Chicago and it is prob- 

 able that permanent headquarters will be de- 

 cided upon within a few days. The president 



