SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVIII. No. 990 



or authors of the best original work of em- 

 bryology or cytology written or published dur- 

 ing the three years preceding the date on 

 which competing theses must be received. For 

 the first competition this date is December 31, 

 1915. The manuscript works may be signed 

 or anonymous, and the French, German, or 

 English language may be employed. Authors 

 should send their contributions to the perma- 

 nent secretary of the academy, Palais des 

 Academies, Brussels, inscribed " Concours 

 pour le Prix Pierre-J. et Edouard Van Bene- 

 den." 



President Wilson, in his annual address to 

 members of Congress, referred to the United 

 States Bureau of Mines in the following 

 manner : " Our Bureau of Mines ought to be 

 equipped and empowered to render even more 

 effectual service than it renders now in im- 

 proving the conditions of mine labor and mak- 

 ing the mines more economically productive 

 •as well as more safe. This is an all-important 

 part of the work of conservation; and the 

 ■conservation of human life and energy lies 

 ■even nearer to our interest than the preserva- 

 tion from waste of our material resources." 



The British home secretary has appointed 

 a committee to inquire what action has been 

 taken under the Wild Birds Protection Acts 

 for the protection of wild birds and to consider 

 whether any amendments of the law or im- 

 provements in its administration are required. 

 The members of the committee are : The Hon. 

 E. S. Montagu, M.P., under-secretary of state 

 for India (chairman) ; Lord Lucas, parlia- 

 mentary secretary to the board of agriculture ; 

 Mr. Frank Elliott, of the home office; Mr. E. 

 G. B. Meade-Waldo, Mr. W. K. Ogilive Grant 

 and Mr. Hugh S. Gladstone. The secretary 

 to the committee is Mr. H. E. Scott, of the 

 home office. 



The annual inspection trip of the depart- 

 ment of electrical engineering of the Univer- 

 sity of Illinois took place November 23-26. 

 The trip was under the charge of Professors 

 E. B. Paine, Morgan Brooks, E. H. Waldo 

 and J. M. Bryant. The party was divided 

 into two sections. One section visited the 



Keokuk water power plant, while the other 

 visited the industries around Joliet, Illinois. 

 The sections met in Chicago, where the trip 

 was concluded. Features of the trip were the 

 inspection of the parts of the Commonwealth 

 Edison system in Chicago, the Hawthorne 

 works of the Western Electric Company and 

 the Illinois Steel Works. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS 

 Announcement is made at Yale University 

 that the new biological laboratories are to be 

 called the " Osborn Memorial Laboratories." 

 The funds, amounting to half a million 

 dollars, were provided for in the will of the 

 late Mrs. Miriam A. Osborn. The laboratories 

 accommodate the departments of zoology, com- 

 parative anatomy and botany. 



Regulations for admission to the military 

 academy at West Point have been modified so 

 that without lowering the entrance require- 

 ments prospective cadets may be matriculated 

 by substituting equivalents for some of the 

 units of study hitherto insisted upon. Here- 

 after a candidate for admission may be ex- 

 cused from mental examination upon pre- 

 sentation of certificate that he is a regularly 

 enrolled student in good standing in a uni- 

 versity, college or technological school, the 

 entrance requirements of which include pro- 

 ficiency in mathematics and English as out- 

 lined by the college entrance examination 

 board, or a certificate that he has graduated 

 from a preparatory school meeting the require- 

 ments of that board, or a certificate that he 

 has passed fourteen units of the entrance 

 examinations required by the board requiring 

 mathematics, English and history. 



Recommendation has been made to the Ar- 

 gentine Congress to send to America for two 

 years' study at government expense two pro- 

 fessors from each faculty of each national 

 university. 



Mrs. Ella Flagg Young has resigned as 

 superintendent of Schools of the City of Chi- 

 cago because certain members of the board 

 voted against her re-election. It is now said 



