December 31^ 1915] 



SCIENCE 



933 



Dr. E. T. Craije, editor of Chemical Ah- 

 stracis, writes to members of the American 

 Chemical Society that Chemical Abstracts has 

 reached a critical stage in its development, a 

 coUeetive index being needed. The foreign 

 chemical abstract journals publish either 

 five-year or ten-year indexes. The adoption 

 of a similar policy by Chemical Abstracts is 

 essential if its value as a permanent record is 

 not to be gradually lost. The completion of 

 the tenth volume is the logical occasion for 

 the appearance of the first collective index. 

 Since the resources of the society are not suffi- 

 cient to meet the needs of this expensive 

 undertaking, it is necessary that at least a 

 large part of the cost be guaranteed by advance 

 subscriptions. 



The publication is announced of a quar- 

 terly Journal of Cancer Research, the official 

 organ of the American Association for Can- 

 cer Research, to be edited by Richard Weil, 

 Cornell University Medical School. The other 

 members of the editorial committee are: 

 Joseph C. Bloodgood, The Johns Hopkins 

 University; Leo Loeb, "Washington Univer- 

 sity; Ernest E. Tyzzer, Harvard University; 

 H. Gideon "Wells, University of Chicago, and 

 "William H. "Woglom, Columbia University. 



VmVEBSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS 



It is now said that the estate left by Amoa 

 E. Eno is likely to amount to $15,000,000. 

 Provided the will filed for probate on October 

 28 stands, in the face of the contest being 

 made by Mr. Eno's next of kin, Columbia 

 University's share of the estate will be about 

 $7,000,000. 



Grinnell College has received $50,000 from 

 an anonymous donor in the east. The college 

 is conducting a campaign for new endowment 

 and buildings. Recently a parcel of land in 

 Kansas City, valued at $150,000, was turned 

 over to the college for the purpose of financing 

 the start of a new men's dormitory system. 

 The alumni of the college are raising funds 

 for a new recitation building, the construction 

 of which vsdll be commenced next spring, 

 which will cost in the neighborhood of $250,000. 



A 550-TON locomotive has been presented 

 by the Hlinois Central Railroad Company to 



the University of lUinois. The university 

 will use its new possession for instructional 

 purposes and also for research work in its 

 locomotive testing laboratory. 



The staff of the departments of physiology 

 and biochemistry of the Fordham University 

 School of Medicine has been reorganized and 

 is now made up as follows : Lewis William 

 Fetzer, Ph.D., M.S., professor of physiology 

 and biochemistry; George F. Sheedy, Ph.B., 

 M.S., assistant professor of physiology; Carl P. 

 Sherwin, M.S., Ph.S., assistant professor of 

 biochemistry; John Allen Killian, A.B., A.M., 

 instructor in physiology and biochemistry. 



At a recent meeting the trustees of the 

 University of Illinois promoted Dr. Trygve D. 

 Yensen, in recognition of his work on the 

 magnetic properties of iron and iron alloys. 



DISCUSSION AND COBBESPONDENCE 



A GALAPAGOS TORTOISE 



A FEW facts of interest in regard to the 

 Galapagos tortoise Testudo vicina Gunther, 

 are hereby submitted as they have a bearing 

 on the growth of a family which heretofore was 

 believed to progress very slowly. 



On April 20, 1914, we received by express 

 from Riverside, Cal., a dead tortoise weighing 

 450 pounds. This specimen was brought from 

 the Galapagos Islands in 1900 by Edmund 

 Heller, who later accompanied Colonel Roose- 

 velt on his African trip, and weighed at time 

 of its capture in 1899 only 29 pounds. 



It was taken to the home ranch at Riverside, 

 Cal., where it died April 18, 1914. 



Its death was reported to Edmund HeUer, at 

 "Washington, who immediately donated it to 

 the Museum of History, Science and Art, 

 Exposition Park, Los Angeles, Cal. 



The specimen itself was not only mounted 

 but the entire skeleton was installed as a sepa- 

 rate exhibit, the two forming a striking addi- 

 tion to the science wing of the museum. 



The following extracts from Edmund 

 Heller's letter in regard to the tortoise are of 

 especial interest: 



It is a real pleasure to learn from you that the 

 Galapagos tortoise which you have recently re- 



