762 
The second edition of the Catalogue of Scientific and 
Technical Periodicals, 1665-1895, by Dr. H. Carring- 
ton Bolton, is entirely printed, but publication is 
deferred, owing to the preparation of a new Library 
Check List, with which it will be accompanied. 
The new edition contains 8,603 titles. 
CHEMISTRY. 
A Supplement to the Select Bibliography of Chemistry, 
1492-1896, has been completed by Dr. H. Carring- 
ton Bolton, who has presented the MS. to the 
Smithsonian Institution. This Supplement con- 
tains about 9,000 titles, including many chemical 
dissertations, and is brought down to the end of 
the year 1896. 
Dr C. H. Jouet reports his Index to the Literature of 
Thorium ‘nearly finished.’ 
Dr. F. W. Traphagen reports ‘fair progress’ on his 
Index to the Literature of Tantalum. 
Mr. George Wagner reports that he has made progress 
on the Bibliography of Oxygen. 
Mr. H. E. Brown, nnder the direction of Professor A. 
B. Prescott, is preparing a Bibliography of the Con- 
stitution of Morphine and related Alkaloids. 
Professor William Ripley Nichols, of the Massachu- 
setts Institute of Technology, at the time of his 
death left an unfinished Index to the Literature of 
Carbonic Oxid ; the manuscript was taken in hand 
by Professor Augustus A. Gill, of the same institu- 
tion, who has done considerable work upon it; he 
now reports that he is not in a position to finish the 
task and he is perfectly willing to relinquish the 
large amount of material accumulated to anyone 
who would undertake to complete it. 
Professor. Clement W. Andrews, formerly of the 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and now 
Librarian of the John Crerar Library, Chicago, re- 
ports that he is obliged to abandon work on his Jn- 
dex to the Literature of Milk, and will be very glad to 
turn over the material to anyone who cares to 
undertake to complete the bibliography. 
It has always been the aim of the Com- 
mittee on Indexing Chemical Literature to 
prevent duplication of work, but failure to 
inform the Committee of work in progress 
may defeat this undertaking. An an- 
nouncement, in the Fourteenth Annual 
Report, of certain work having been nearly 
completed surprised a chemist in another 
part of the country, and has led to the 
abandonment by the latter of much labori- 
ous indexing. 
SCIENCE. 
[N. S.- Vou. VI. No. 151. 
In conclusion the Committee repeats the 
statement that it labors to encourage indi- 
vidual enterprise in chemical bibliography, 
and to record in the annua! reports works 
issued and works in progress. 
Address correspondence to the Chairman, 
at Cosmos Club, Washington, D. C. 
H. Carrineton Bouton, Chairman, 
F. W. CuarKe, 
A. R. Liens, 
A. B. PREscort, 
ALFRED TUCKERMAN, 
H. W. WIiteEy, 
Committee. 
CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. 
THE STONE AGE OF PHGNICIA. 
THE associations of Phcenicia with both 
sacred and profane history are so numerous 
that a careful investigation of its oldest hu- 
man remains will attract general attention. 
Such an investigation is reported in L’An- 
thropologie, Nos. 8 and 4 of this year, by 
Professor Zumoffen, of Beyrut, Syria. 
He gives a map of the prehistoric sta- 
tions, and divides them into ‘paleolithic’ 
and ‘neolithic,’ according to the French 
canons of archeology. Of the former 
he deseribes six which he has explored, 
Two full-page plates present the objects in 
natural size. The most important finds 
were in a cavern in the valley of Antelias, 
which has also been visited by previous 
students (Fraas, Dawson). , 
Examined by the canons of American 
archeology, the claim for the vast antiquity 
of these remains is open to some doubts. 
Patination, which the author emphasizes, 
is dependent on soil and dampness more 
than age ; one or more of the six stations 
he acknowledges were workshops, and the 
remains, therefore, are to be classed as ‘ re- 
jects.’ This explains the absence of pot- 
tery; but most significant is the fact 
(p. 426) that the fauna of the ‘ paleolithic’ 
