528 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIII. No. 1111 



of Medicine and other scientific bodies, including 

 chemical societies in Paris and Berlin. 



Dr. Witthaus was a man of broad culture and 

 had many interests outside of his profession. He 

 was an ardent disciple of Izaak Walton. His love 

 of books amounted to a passion. At several dif- 

 ferent periods of his life he collected libraries of 

 first and other rare editions. During his last 

 years his chief interest lay in the collection and 

 cataloguing of books and original manuscripts. 



His fortune and medical library were be- 

 queathed to the New York Academy of Medicine. 



The faculty of Cornell University Medical 

 College records with sorrow the death of their col- 

 league, Dr. Charles C. Barrows, assistant pro- 

 fessor of gynecology, which occurred on January 

 2, 1916, after an illness of two months. 



Dr. Barrows 's association with the Cornell Uni- 

 versity Medical College dates from the foundation 

 of the college in 1898, when he was appointed 

 clinical instructor in gynecology. He occupied 

 this position until his promotion to the assistant 

 professorship of gynecology in 1912. At the time 

 of his death he had been nominated for the pro- 

 fessorship of gynecology and he had already as- 

 sumed charge of the department. The greater 

 portion of Dr. Barrows 's teaching consisted of 

 clinical demonstrations and operations in Bellevue 

 Hospital. Following the recent trend in medical 

 education he introduced the system of clinical 

 clerkships into the teaching of gynecology. Dr. 

 Barrows was a successful as well as a popular 

 teacher. Through his ability he excited the ad- 

 miration of his students and stimulated them to 

 put forth their best efforts; through his kindliness 

 he made them his friends. 



Except for a brief period while serving in the 

 army. Dr. Barrows has been connected with 

 Bellevue Hospital since 1880, when he won his ap- 

 pointment as interne. After his return to New 

 York he was appointed assistant visiting gynecol- 

 ogist, holding this position until he became visit- 

 ™g gynecologist in 1915. Many of the finest 

 traits of his character appeared in his hos- 

 pital relations. He was renowned not only 

 for his skill as diagnostician and surgeon but for 

 his patience and poise under the most difficult cir- 

 cumstances. He was considerate of his subordi- 

 nates at all times. No patient was too poor to 

 claim his attention. He carried hope and encour- 

 agement to every bedside and through his skill re- 

 stored many a sufferer to health and usefulness. 

 A recent graduate of the hospital, when asked to 



voice the strongest impression which Dr. Barrows 

 had made upon him, replied, "his heart was as 

 big as the man." The loyalty of the internes 

 serving under him was especially notable. They 

 never speak of him except in terms of affection, 

 and friendships formed during their hospital days 

 grew stronger as the years advanced. 



Dr. Barrows was widely known as one of New 

 York's most skillful surgeons, and for years 

 he enjoyed a large and successful practise. He 

 was a member of many medical societies, was 

 a frequent contributor to medical literature on 

 subjects pertaining to his specialty, and devised 

 important new surgical procedures. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 



On the seventietli birthday of the distin- 

 guished Swedish mathematician. Professor M. 

 G. Mittag-Leffler, he and his wife set aside 

 their entire fortune for the foundation of an 

 International Institute for pure mathematics. 



The Willard Gibbs Medal, founded by "Wil- 

 liam A. Converse, of Chicago, has been 

 awarded to Dr. Willis R. Whitney, director of 

 the research laboratories of the General Elec- 

 tric Company, Schenectady, N. T. The pres- 

 entation will be made on May 19, in connec- 

 tion with the meeting of the Chicago Section 

 of the American Chemical Society, when Dr. 

 Whitney will make an address on "Incidents 

 of Applied Eesearch." 



Students of pharmacy in the University of 

 Pittsburgh have given a dinner in honor of 

 Dean J. A. Koch, who has been in his present 

 position for twenty-five years. 



Mr. Henry W. Fowler has been elected 

 president of the Delaware Valley Ornitholog- 

 ical Club. 



Sir Eichard A. S. Eedmayne has been 

 elected president of the British Institution of 

 Mining and Metallurgy in succession to Sir 

 Thomas K. Eose. 



At the twenty-first annual meeting of the 

 Michigan Academy of Science held in Ann 

 Arbor on March 28, 29 and 30, ofiicers were 

 elected as follows: President, Wm. H. Hobbs; 

 Vice-presidents, Zoology, E. W. Hegner, Uni- 

 versity of Michigan; Botany, G. H. Coons, 

 Michigan Agricultural College ; Geology, L. P. 



