628 
a reception by the American Philosophical So- 
ciety, a reception at Princeton and a luncheon 
at Columbia University. 
Dr. JOHN GUITERAS, of the University of Penn- 
sylvania and the U.S. Marine Hospital Service, 
has returned to Philadelphia, after having made 
a thorough study of the yellow fever in the 
South, and will present an exhaustive report of 
his inspection to Surgeon-General Wyman. 
Mr. W. G. MAcMILLAN, lately lecturer in 
Mason College, Birminghom, has been appointed 
Secretary of the British Institution of Electrical 
Engineers. 
PROFESSOR GUNDELFINGER, of the Botanical 
Institute of Darmstadt, has been awarded the 
gold medal for merit of the Munich Academy 
of Sciences. 
WE note with much regret the death of 
Charles E. Colby, since 1889 professor of organic 
chemistry in Columbia University. He was 
born in Lawrence, Mass., in 1855, and gradu- 
ated from the School of Mines of Columbia Col- 
lege in 1877. Professor Colby’s work was 
hampered by deafness and ill-health, but he 
was a chemist of unusual ability, and his death 
is a serious loss to Columbia University. 
Dr R. P. H. HAIDENHAIN, since 1859 pro- 
fessor of physiology at Breslau, died on October 
13th, aged sixty-three years. He is the author 
of important contributions to experimental 
physiology, his work on secretion being per- 
haps the most valuable. 
WE also regret to record the deaths of Dr. Ed- 
mund Drechsel, professor of medical chemistry 
in the University of Berne, aged fifty-six years, 
and of Dr, Stoll, formerly director of the Pomo- 
logical Institute at Proskau, aged eighty-four 
years. 
A DISPATCH to the daily papers stated that 
during an ascent of Mount Ararat, Armenia, 
by members of the recent Geological Congress, 
Dr. Stoeber, a professor of medicine, was frozen 
to death. 
KireEs sent up on October 15th, from the Blue 
Hill Observatory, surpassed the record of Sep- 
tember 19th, recorded by the director, Dr. 
Roteh, in a recent issue of the JOURNAL, by 
more than 1,500 feet. They carried the meteor- 
SCIENCE. 
[N. S. Vou. VI. No. 147. 
ological instruments to a height of 10,900 feet 
above the hill top, or 11,500 feet above sea 
level. The kites were sent up at 3:50 o’clock 
in the afternoon and reached the highest point 
by six o’clock. At that altitude the tempera- 
ture was 43°, while it was 73° at the ground. 
DurinG the course of a lecture at Monte- 
video, on October 15th, Dr. Sanarelli stated that 
the serum he has obtained from the animals 
with which he has been experimenting is effect- 
ive against yellow fever, and that it will very 
probably cure yellow fever in human beings. 
Ir is reported that the Cavendish Sporting 
Expedition through Africa arrived safely at 
Kikuiu on August 5th, and started for Zanzi- 
bar on August 15th. The expedition has 
crossed from the Gulf of Aden by somewhat the 
same route as that of Dr. Dondaldson Smith, 
and is said to have made valuable geographical 
explorations. 
Ir is doubtless known to all our readers, from 
the daily press, that the British Foreign Office 
has agreed to a scientific conference on the seal 
fisheries by delegates from the United States, 
Great Britain and Canada. Professor d’Arcy 
Thompson will, it is reported, leave at once for 
the United States. 
A BERLIN despatch to the New York Sun states 
that the International Leprosy Conference, 
which has been in session for a week, expects 
to conclude its deliberations on Saturday. Com- 
paratively little has been added to the knowl- 
edge of the disease, except what was contained 
in a statement by Dr. Babes, of Bucharest, that 
leprosy bacilli were found in great abundance in 
mucus, which, accordingly, was a dangerous 
channel of infection. Another debate resulted 
in a concurrence of opinion that leprosy was 
not specifically a skin but a general disease. 
There was much discussion as to the treat- 
ment of the disease, especially of experi- 
ments with serum. All the experimenis 
had been without result, except in one case, 
where the outcome is in doubt. The conference 
appointed a commission to prepare plans for 
the formation of an international leprosy society. 
Professor Virchow is the president of the com- 
mission, and Dr. Dyer, of New Orleans, is a 
member. 
