no 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIV. No. 865 



the social side of the scientific life of the 

 capital. Possessed of unusual charm of per- 

 son and manner, Mrs. Walcott's death is a 

 heavy blow to a large circle of admiring 

 friends and acquaintances." 



The death is announced of Edward P. 

 ISTorth, a civil engineer of New York City, 

 known for his work in municipal engineering. 



Mr. Ealph L. Beoadbent, assistant curator 

 in the geological museum of Canada, died at 

 Ottawa, on July 15, aged fifty-two years. 



Dr. Franz Krahl, professor of bacteriology 

 in the Technical School at Prague, has died 

 at the age of sixty-five years. 



The formal opening of the Panama Na- 

 tional Institute, established by the Eepublic 

 of Panama, took place on June 18 amidst 

 great pomp. The group of buildings forming 

 the institute has been arranged and con- 

 structed after the plans of the University of 

 Paris at a total cost exceeding one million 

 dollars. The statues in bronze and white 

 marble of Carrara and the luxurious display 

 of historical oil paintings and medallions on 

 the ceilings and walls of the main building cost 

 over $150,000. The four scattered buildings 

 previously occupied by the colleges of the in- 

 stitute will be converted into Trade and High 

 Schools. 



The Carnegie left Cape Town on April 26 

 and arrived at Colombo on June 9. Impor- 

 tant errors in the magnetic charts of the In- 

 dian Ocean were found. 



We learn from the Bulletin of the Ameri- 

 can Mathematical Society that a Spanish 

 mathematical society has been organized at 

 Madrid, where its first meeting was held on 

 April 5. J. Echegaray was elected president. 

 The society will publish a Bulletin which will 

 be in charge of C. J. Rudea, L. O. deToledo, 

 A. Krahe and J. R. Pastor. 



The junior class in mining engineering at 

 Case School of Applied Science, Cleveland, 

 O., spent the month of June on an inspection 

 trip through the west. Two weeks each were 

 spent in Colorado and Utah. The instructors 

 in charge of the party were Dr. A. W. Smith, 

 professor of metallurgy; Dr. Frank R. Van 



Horn, professor of geology and mineralogy, 

 and Mr. L. 0. Howard, instructor in mining 

 and milling. 



One of the most lofty mountain regions of 

 the Appalachian system, recently surveyed by 

 the United States Geological Survey, is de- 

 picted in detail in a topographic map which 

 the Survey has just published — the map of 

 the " Abingdon quadrangle." This map is on 

 the scale of approximately two miles to the 

 inch and shows an area of a little over 1,000 

 square miles, embracing portions of south- 

 western Virginia, northeastern Tennessee and 

 northwestern North Carolina, the three states 

 cornering in the southern part of the quad- 

 rangle. The topographic maps of the Geolog- 

 ical Survey portray all the works of man as 

 well as the physical characteristics of the 

 country, and the Abingdon map indicates a 

 region of great diversity. Part of the area is 

 seen to be somewhat thickly dotted with vil- 

 lages, settlements and individual farm houses ; 

 other portions are shown as vast stretches of 

 high mountain ranges with many lofty ridges, 

 peaks and knobs, devoid of habitations. The 

 larger portion of the quadrangle was surveyed 

 by Topographer Duncan Hannegan, but other 

 topographers who worked on the map are J. 

 D. Forster, R. W. Berry, C. C. Gardner, E. A. 

 Kiger and H. W. Peabody. Hundreds of 

 miles of area were tramped over by these 

 surveyors and scores of camps were estab- 

 lished, thousands of sights made and hundreds 

 of miles of level lines run. Thirty-nine in- 

 destructible iron bench marks were estab- 

 lished, showing the elevations above sea level 

 to the nearest foot. The line between Vir- 

 ginia and Tennessee, as shown on the map, 

 was the subject of much controversy for many 

 years. Recently, however, it was resurveyed, 

 and it can now be easily followed by the monu- 

 ments which have been placed at prominent 

 places and by the cutting of the timber along 

 the line. The line between Virginia and 

 North Carolina, according to Mr. Hannegan, 

 is of ancient date and is very difficult to fol- 

 low; many of the inhabitants living close to 

 the boundary are in doubt whether they should 

 pay their taxes in one state or the other, as 



