JuLy 30, 1897.] 
man made a survey of the Huerfano Tertiary 
Lake Basin, in southern Colorado, discovered in 
1888 by Professor R. C. Hills, of Denver. The 
main Museum party has been stationed in the 
Equus Beds of northwestern Nebraska, where 
a very complete Pleistocene collection has al- 
ready been obtained. This department of the 
American Museum has prepared an exhibit of 
enlarged photographs of eight mounted fossil 
skeletons in the Museum, and of twelve resto- 
rations designed by Charles Knight, for the In- 
ternational Exposition at Brussels. A similar 
series will be exhibited at the Geological Con- 
gress at Moscow, and at the meetings of the 
American and British Associations in Detroit 
and Toronto. 
WE learn from Nature that the Sydney expe- 
dition to Funafuti, to make borings in the coral, 
projected and led by Professor David, started 
on June 2d, going by steamer to Fiji, and thence 
by sailing vessel to Funafuti. This expedition 
has been made possible by the liberality of the 
mining department of the government of New 
South Wales, which has supplied all the boring 
plant free of cost, and by the munificent gift from 
Miss Walker, of Sydney, of £500, and from the 
Hon. Ralph Abercrombie of £100, towards the 
expense of the expedition. 
TuE Park Board of New York City have 
finally adopted the plans of the managers of 
the Botanical Society for the Botanical Gardens 
in Bronx Park. R. W. Gibson and the Lord 
& Burnham Company have been appointed ar- 
chitects. The Board of Estimate has been re- 
quested to issue bonds to the amount of $500,- 
000 to defray the cost of erecting the buildings. 
Durine a lecture by M. Lacaze-Duthiers, 
professor of zoology at the Sorbonne, the oxy- 
hydrogen generating apparatus exploded and 
two of the assistants, MM. Brumpt and Lan- 
cepaline were injured, the latter somewhat 
seriously. 
THE Council of the Zoological Society of Lon- 
don have conferred the silver medal of the So- 
ciety on Mr. Alexander White for his contribu- 
tions to our knowledge of the fauna of Nyassa- 
land. 
On the occasion of his retirement from the 
chair of practical chemistry in the School of 
SCIENCE. 
167 
the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, 
Professor John Attfield, F.R.S., has been the 
recipient of a testimonial consisting of an auto- 
graph album and silver plate. The former con- 
tained the names of eminent scientific men of 
England and the Continent. 
Mr. JAmEs F. BABcocKk died at Dorchester, 
Mass., on July 19th, at the age of fifty-three 
years. He was formerly professor of chemistry 
in Boston University. During his terms of 
office as State Assayer and Inspector of Milk 
he made great improvements in methods of 
testing. He was the inventor of the fire extin- 
guisher which bears his name, and was well 
known as a lecturer on popular scientific 
subjects. 
Mr. CHARLES F. CROCKER, whose death in 
San Francisco has been announced, was a regent 
of the University of California and had made 
many gifts to public and scientific institutions, 
including Lick Observatory. His will does not 
contain public bequests. \ 
THE death is announced of Professor W. 
Preyer, the eminent physiologist, at Wiesbaden, 
at the age of 56 years. 
Weregret to record the following deaths: 
M. Chudzinski, professor in the Paris School of 
Anthropology; Dr. E. Le Gros, professor of 
physiology at the new University of Brussels, 
known for his contributions to ophthalmology, 
aged 36 years; Professor W. Marmé, director of 
the Pharmacological Institute of Gottingen ; Dr. 
Giuseppe Fissore, sometime professor of pa- 
thology in the University of Turin, aged 82 
years, and Dr. M. Josef Oertel, professor of 
medicine at Munich. 
THE United States Civil Service Commission 
announces a competitive examination to fill the 
vacancy in the position of Supervising Archi- 
tect of the Treasury. The salary of this posi- 
tion, which is one of the most important and 
responsible under the government, is $4,000 
per annum, and it is hoped that architects of 
high attainments and reputation may be induc- 
ed by these considerations to enter the compe- 
tition. It is the desire of the Department to 
secure a practical architect of high administra- 
tive abillty to direct and supervise the work of 
the office force as well as the contract work 
