58 
A DISPATCH to the London Times states that 
Lieutenant Eldred Pottinger and Mr. Lawrence, 
who, with a small party of Gurkhas, have 
been engaged for some months past in explor- 
ing the sources of the Irawadi, were attacked 
by Black Mairus on the night of May 22d. A 
native surveyor and one Gurkha were killed, 
and two Gurkhas were wounded. Lieutenant 
Pottinger and Mr. Lawrence escaped with the 
rest of the party, bringing the wounded men 
with them, and after great hardships arrived in 
Chinese territory. 
THE death is announced of Dr. Japetus 
Steenstrup, formerly professor of zoology at the 
University of Copenhagen, and known for his 
contributions to natural history and paleon- 
tology, at the age of eight-four. 
THE trustees of the National Portrait Gal- 
lery, London, have purchased a portrait of 
Sir Joseph Richardson, sometime British Secre- 
tary of State and the second President of the 
Royal Society. The Gallery has received by 
presentation a portrait of Francis Ronalds, one 
of the inventors of the electric telegraph, and a 
bust of Richard Jeffries, naturalist and author. 
A BRONZE statue of Benjamin Franklin, 
representing Franklin seated in heroic propor- 
tions, will be presented to the City of Philadel- 
phia by Mr. Justice C. Strawbridge and erected 
on the spot where Franklin laid the corner- 
stone of the first building of the University of 
Pennsylvania. 
THE committee on an international memorial 
to the late Sir John Pender, whose appointment 
we announced some time since, has already 
received subscriptions amounting to about £6,- 
000. It is proposed to place a bust of Sir John 
Pender in some suitable institution, to endow 
with £5,000 a Pender chair of electrical engi- 
neering in University College, London, and to 
establish a Pender scholarship and a gold medal 
at Glasgow University. 
Mr. JoHN RussELL YOUNG, a newspaper cor- 
respondent, not known to have made any study 
of library management or methods, has been 
appointed by President McKinley head of 
the new Congressional Library. Mr. A. R. 
Spofford will remain connected with the li- 
brary as First Assistant Librarian. Mr. Bernard 
SCIENCE. 
[N.S. Vou. VI. No. 132. 
R. Green, who, with the late General Thomas 
L. Casey, supervised the construction of the 
library building, has been appointed Superin- 
tendent of the Buildings and Grounds. 
SECRETARY SHERMAN has, under an authori- 
zation in the recent sundry civil appropriation 
bill, changed the title of the Bureau of Statis- 
tics of the State Department to that of Bureau 
of Foreign Commerce. The old title tended to 
confusion with other bureaus and did not prop- 
erly describe the work of the bureau, which 
deals with the collection of reports of consular 
officers on foreign commerce and their distribu- 
tion to the business community. 
A COMMITTEE has been appointed by the 
Treasury Department to make an investigation 
of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, with a 
view to learning whether the efficiency of the 
department, especially its field work, can be im- 
proved. Professor W. G. Reymond, of the 
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Mr. Oc- 
tave Chanute, of Chicago, have been appointed 
members of the committee, one place remaining 
to be filled. 
THE New York Zoological Society has begun 
the publication of a News Bulletin, intended to 
increase interest in the work of the Society. 
The first number contains, in addition to items of 
news, an illustrated articles on the Zoological 
Park, reprinted from Harper’s Weekly. TheSo- 
ciety proposes to hold, next winter, an exhibi- 
tion of paintings and sculptures of American 
wild animals. The plan for the grounds and 
buildings of the park will soon be completed. 
THE specifications for the new wing of the 
American Museum of Natural History, New 
York, have been approved by the Park Board, 
and bids for the building will soon be opened. 
THE Natural History Building of the Uni- 
versity of Illinois was struck by lightning on the 
morning of June 17th, and partially destroyed. 
The collections, apparatus and libraries of the 
Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History, 
the Biological Station and the Agricultural Ex- 
periment Station were saved, with slight dam- 
ages by water. The damage to the building is 
estimated at $3,000. The loss in apparatus, 
principally in geological and botanical depart- 
ments, is nearly $5,000. 
