SEPTEMBER 10, 1897. ] 
of the late Miss Julia Lockwood for the founda- 
tion of a scholarship. 
FunpDs given by friends of Smith College fora 
new dormitory will, it is said, be used for a 
chemical laboratory. It is hoped to secure 
some $30,000 for the building. 
WE regret that the announcement made to 
the effect that Mr. S. B. Brownell had pre- 
sented Barnard College with a building for a 
dormitory is incorrect. It had its origin prob- 
ably in the fact that plans have been filed for 
the west wing of the new buildings of Barnard 
College, given by Mrs. Fiske, which will be tem- 
porarily used as a dormitory. 
THE sixth annual summer school held at the 
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, has just 
closed one of the most successful sessions of 
its history. The school is organized in two sec- 
tions, an elementary section and a university 
section. The enrollment of the university sec- 
tion in the several scientific subjects was as 
follows: 
General Chemistry; Professor Frankforter....... 40 
Entomology; Mr. Oestlund .................... 14 
General Geology; Professor Hall................ 38 
Physiology; Professor Nachtrieb................ 18 
Plant Physiology; Mr. Ramaley................ 12 
Physics; Professor Jiones...........--0+eee+ees 30 
Ar the recent Zionist conference for the coloni- 
zation of Palestine by the Jews at Bale, a com- 
mission was appointed to report upon the 
establishment of a university at Jerusalem. 
A SPECIAL commission will meet shortly at St. 
Petersburg to discuss the introduction of uni- 
versal and compulsory education in Russia. 
DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
OBSERVATIONS OF THE PASSAGE OF MIGRATING 
BIRDS ACROSS THE LUNAR DISK ON THE 
NIGHTS OF SEPTEMBER 23 AND 24, 1896, 
THE time is at hand when records of the tran- 
sit of migrating birds across the moon’s face 
may be secured, and I desire to put on record 
the following measurements, made last year, 
which may be of assistance to observers. All 
records show that the migration takes place at 
night, at least in the case of the smaller birds, 
and the dates immediately preceding and follow- 
ing the full of the Moon, with probably a cer- 
SCIENCE. 
409 
tain amount of latitude for weather and tem- 
perature, are the ones chosen. 
The instrument used in these observations 
was the finder of the equatorial of the Ladd 
Observatory. Its aperture is 4 inches, and the 
magnifying power was 40 diameters. When 
focussed on the Moon, the eye-piece had to be 
pulled out 1.74 inches, and the principal focal 
length was 4 ft. 9.59 ins. 
The observations may be divided into three 
groups: 
a. 7:45 to 8:15 Eastern M. T., Sept. 23d. 
b. 8:15 t09:15 “ te HGR 
e. 7:45 to8:15 ‘ a 24th. 
The apparent altitudes and azimuths of the 
Moon were : 
Sept. 23, 7: 45, altitude = 19°.0, azimuth N. 88°.0 E. 
a 6 Baik 9 OG BG Brel TB. 
Ci UO ens 66 aA BE IS SOLE) IB 
Sept. 24, 7:45, “ 449.6, * N.79°.9 E. 
GG Baie aig, EG) asy, Ge.6) 151. 
The mean altitudes were : 
Period a ( $ hour ) 21°.8 above the true horizon. 
b(1hour)30°.0 “ & % ¢€ 
e(fiompyiveg 6 6 & ue 
Journal of Observations. 
The flights were so rapid that it was thought 
best to attempt nothing more than hasty com- 
parisons with prominent lunar features in order 
to get estimates of the apparent size of the 
birds. Three points were selected for this pur- 
pose: 
Aristarchus (longer inside diam. ) approximately 0/.3 
Copernicus fs ee A eS 0/.6 
Mare Crisium ‘‘ Ff ss a BAC: 
Times were estimated by a chronometer audi- 
bly beating half seconds. 
First night, September 23d. From 7: 45 to 
8:15 scarcely a minute passed without the pas- 
sage of several birds, in groups numbering from 
one to five or six in immediate succession. It 
was obvious that the birds traveled in little 
companies. After perhaps a minute without 
any, one would appear, followed by four or five 
more in the next ten seconds—perhaps mem- 
bers of one family keeping near each other to 
relieve the loneliness of the long journey. The 
great majority traveled from north to south. 
Few deviated more than 20° or 30° from this 
