DECEMBER 3, 1897. ] 
known head of the Indian Survey Department, 
whose services were lent to the Ceylon govern- 
ment last winter by the government of India, 
a new survey is to be made of the island. The 
London Times states that the cadastral survey 
will be on a scale of 10 in. to the mile and the 
topographical on one of onejin. to the mile. The 
triangulation and topographical survey will be 
completed in five or six years, but considera- 
tions of expense will cause the cadastral survey 
to be spread over a period of 25 years and to 
be restricted to crown lands and lands of 
doubtful ownership. The existing maps of 
Ceylon are full of errors, and for every grant 
made out of crown lands a special and expen- 
sive cadastral survey of the locality had ‘to be 
executed. 
THE Pirogof Museum of Surgery and Anat- 
omy, in St. Petersburg, the plans for which we 
have already noted, was opened at the begin- 
ning of the present month. The building will 
serve not only as a museum, but also as the 
place of meeting of all the St. Petersburg med- 
ical societies. The $30,000 bequeathed for the 
purpose by Mme. Musin-Pushkin has been 
doubled by subscriptions, and some endowment 
remains after the cost of the building has been 
defrayed. 
THE International Congress on the Protection 
of Birds, to which we have already called atten- 
tion, opened at Aix-en-Provence on November 
9th. The London Times states that the protec- 
tion of insectivorous birds useful to agriculture 
was the chief matter discussed, and it was de- 
cided to forward to the governments of Europe, 
through the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
the resolutions that were formulated. Public 
educational bodies are also to be approached in 
order to obtain, if possible, the serious consid- 
eration of this important subject by school- 
masters and government school inspectors. 
Numerous French and Italian agricultural, 
horticultural and sporting societies were repre- 
sented at the Congress, and delegates from the 
Selborne Society and the Society for the Pro- 
tection of Birds were also present. 
Tue Civil Service Commission announces that 
on January 8, 1898, an examination will be 
held at Washington, D. C., and other places 
SCIENCE. 
841 
throughout the United States, for the position 
of Computer in the Nautical Almanac Office. 
Three vacancies are to be filled and only men 
are eligible. 
THE University of Cambridge has after a long 
delay received $5,000 bequeathed by the late 
Dr. Joseph Gedge, who died in 1870 while with 
Sir Samuel Baker at Khartoum. The fund is 
for the establishment of a biennial prize for 
original research in physiology. It is open 
only to graduates of the University of more 
than five and less than seven years’ standing. 
Dr. HuGHLINGS-JACKSON will give, on De- 
cember 8th, the first lecture under the Jack- 
sonian lectureship, established by the Neuro- 
logical Society of London in his honor. 
PROFESSOR OLIVER LopGE will deliver a 
course of six Christmas lectures (specially 
adapted to young people) on ‘The Principles 
of the Electric Telegraph’ at the Royal Insti- 
tution, beginning on December 28th. 
PROFESSOR Royce, of Harvard University, 
will deliver, at Cambridge, during the present 
year, six public lectures on ‘Social Psychology.’ 
AT the meeting of the Botanical Club of the 
University of Chicago on November 23d Pro- 
fessor C. F. Millspaugh, Curator in Botany at 
the Field Columbian Museum, gave an account 
of his explorations in Yucatan, made on behalf 
of the Museum. 
Dr. H. C. PARKER gave, on November 29th, 
the first lecture in the course given annually by 
the New York Academy of Sciences. His sub- 
ject was ‘Recent Explorations in the Rocky 
Mountains of Canada,’ including an account of 
the first ascent of Mount Lefroy, made by him 
last summer. 
THE first of the Columbia University lectures 
in cooperation with the American Museum of 
Natural History will be given by Professor 
Kemp on Saturday, December 4th, and the two 
following Saturdays. The subject of his course 
is ‘The Formation and Structures of the Crys- 
talline Rocks.’ 
PROFESSOR GEORGE H. DARWIN, of Cam- 
bridge University, will lecture at Columbia 
University on the afternoon of December 10th, 
