140 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIII. No. 316 



address by the Association of Public Sanitary Inspectors of Eng- 

 land, of which body he is president. 



— The third volume of " Studies from the Laboratory of Physio- 

 logical Chemistry of the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale Uni- 

 versity " has just been published, under the editorship of Professor 

 R. H. Chittenden, Ph.D. It contains the following subjects : 

 " Some Experiments on the Physiological Action of Uranium 

 Salts ; " " Elastin and the Elastose Bodies ; " " The Influence of 

 Urethan,' Paraldehyde, Antipyrin.and Antifebrin on Proteid Metab- 

 olism ; " " The Influence of Several New Therapeutic Agents on 

 Amylolytic and Proteolytic Action ; " " Casesses, Caseine Dyspep- 

 tone, and Caseine Peptone ; " " Some Experiments on the Influence 

 of Arsenic and Antimony on Glycogenic Function and Fatty De- 

 generation of the Liver ; " " The Nature and Chemical Composition 

 of the Myosin of Muscle Tissue: " " Myosinoses, and the Relative 

 Absorption of Nickel and Cobalt." 



— The trustees of the Johns Hopkins Hospital have decided to 

 formally open the hospital on May i, and they have confided its 

 organization to President Oilman of the university. It is said that 

 for one year, at least. President Gilman will reside in the hospital, 

 and exercise a close personal supervision over its executive man- 

 agement. 



— Dr. John Call Dalton, one of the foremost physiologists of the 

 world, and a writer of one of the best text-books on physiology, 

 died in New York City on Feb. 12, at the age of sixty- four years. 



— The French Association for the Advancement of Science will 

 meet in Paris, Aug. 8-15 ; and the Congress of Geography and 

 Ethnography will meet there Aug. 5-12. As the great exposition 

 will also be open during August, extra inducements are offered to 

 American scientists visiting Paris this summer. 



— The fifth volume of the " Transactions of the American Insti- 

 tute of Electrical Engineers " is now in the hands of the binder. 

 Including the index of current electrical literature, it makes a vol- 

 ume of 638 pages, and is fully indexed. Hereafter the monthly 

 numbers will be paged consecutively, and should be carefully pre- 

 served for binding by all who desire to preserve the complete files, 

 as they will not be revised and issued as an annual, as has been 

 done this year in the case of Vol. V. Temporary binders for filing 

 the numbers as received will be furnished by the secretary at 

 seventy-five cents each. 



— We have received from Hon. F. G. Adams, secretary, the 

 " Sixth Biennial Report of the Kansas State Historical Society." 

 The number of volumes in the society's library at the present time is 

 as follows : namely, 9,971 bound volumes, 30.353 unbound volumes, 

 7,981 bound newspaper files and volumes of periodicals ; in all, 48,- 

 305 volumes. Of the newspaper volumes, 5,757 are of Kansas. 

 The list and tables which the report contains show that there is 

 being made up by this society, for the use of the people of Kansas, 

 a library of history and reference, remarkable in its growth, and 

 still more remarkable in the character and value of the materials 

 which it contains. They show that the growth of the library and 

 collections has steadily continued from year to year during the 

 thirteen years of the society's existence, and that in that time 

 there have been placed on the library shelves more than forty-eight 

 thousand volumes of books, newspaper files, and pamphlets ; and. 

 in addition to these, this and former reports show a collection of 

 manuscripts, pictures, statuary, relics, and objects of historical 

 illustration of every kind and description almost countless in num- 

 ber. 



— The American Institute of Electrical Engineers (5 Beekman 

 Street, New York), in addition to the letters from the Institution of 

 Civil Engineers and the Society of Arts, has received one from the 

 Institution of Electrical Engineers of London, to the effect that the 

 president and council of that institution, having been informed by 

 Mr. W. H. Preece, one of its past presidents, that many of the 

 members of the American Institute will be visiting the Paris Uni- 

 versal Exhibition this year, and will probably also visit London, 

 will take pleasure in welcoming those gentlemen, and in doing all 

 that is in their power to render their visit to England agreeable 

 and instructive. Communications of the same tenor, addressed to 



the American societies of civil engineers, mechanical engineers, and 

 mining engineers, led to the organization of an excursion, by which 

 the members of those bodies were enabled to secure two special 

 steamers, at the reduced rate of one hundred and ten dollars for 

 the round trip to Liverpool. On account of the uncertainty as to 

 proper accommodation in those steamers, and the early date of 

 their departure (about June I), the council of the American Insti- 

 tute does not deem it expedient for the electrical engineers to unite 

 in the same arrangement, as the date fixed for the electrical confer- 

 ence at Paris (the latter part of August), together with the proba- 

 bility of the exhibition being in an incomplete condition, points to 

 the desirability of fixing the date of departure about Aug. I. Mem- 

 bers who propose making the trip are, however, requested to notify 

 the secretary as to the date of departure and return which would 

 be most convenient for them ; and, should it be found that a suffi- 

 cient number agree approximately upon a date, an effort will be 

 made to secure special rates. The regular excursion fare for first- 

 class accommodations is one hundred and eighty dollars. 



— In The Microscope for February, 1889, A. Clifford Mercer, 

 M.D., describes a method of using with ease objectives of shortest 

 working distance in the clinical study of bacteria. The working 

 distance of homogeneous immersion objectives of short focus and 

 great numerical aperture is little. In the clinical study of bac- 

 teria, sputa and other more or less fluid material are generally 

 prepared on the under surface of cover-glasses, commonly, when 

 not measured and assorted, so thick as to make examination with 

 the above most suitable objectives impossible. To avoid this diffi- 

 culty. Dr. Mercer dries and stains the material on the slide, drops 

 homogeneous immersion fluid upon the preparation, and lowers the 

 objective into the drop. Homogeneous fluid replaces both the bal- 

 sam and the cover-glass with optical propriety. A twenty-fifth, 

 which has been nearly useless over ordinary cover-glass prepara- 

 tions, is now used with gratifying freedom in manipulation over 

 uncovered, but homogeneously immersed, slide preparations. 



— The following is the list of the oflScers of the Kent Scientific 

 Institute of Grand Rapids, Mich., for 1889 : president, E. S. 

 Holmes ; vice-president, W. A. Gruson ; recording secretary, C. W. 

 Carman ; corresponding secretary, E. S. Holmes ; treasurer, C. A. 

 Whittemore; director of the museum, W. A. Gruson; curator, C. 

 W. Carman ; librarian, E. L. Mosely ; board of directors, Wright 

 L. Coffinberry, W. A. Gruson, Samuel L. Fuller, E. S. Holmes, J. 

 W. Jones, C. A. Whittemore ; officers of the board, W. A. Gruson 

 (chairman), E. S. Holmes (secretary), C. A. Whittemore (treasurer). 



— The art schools of the Metropolitan Museum of Art have been 

 established by the trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in 

 order to furnish superior opportunities for thorough instruction in 

 design, modelling, color, freehand, architectural, cabinet, and per- 

 spective drawing, chasing and hammered-metal work, carving in 

 wood, painting on china, etc., especially to those who desire to ac- 

 quire an artistic education applicable to industrial and commercial 

 uses. Large, new, well lighted and ventilated rooms have been 

 provided in a central position, with superior art material and in- 

 struction, and a liberal basis of admission. In order to offer all 

 genuine students every facility in their work, a series of lectures 

 have been added, the privilege of visiting the museum free of ex- 

 pense, prizes, diplomas, and opportunities for the sale of meritorious 

 work ; so that all may measure their progress by the degree of their 

 industry and application. All payments are to be made in advance. 

 Applicants for admission to the school must bring a letter of intro- 

 duction from some resident of good standing. It is desirable that 

 intending students should bring samples of their work to determine 

 the degree of their proficiency. Those who follow the full course 

 in each department receive diplomas upon passing a satisfactory 

 examination at the close of the final term. The full courses 

 are: — Drawing and painting, three seasons: ist. Introductory 

 class ; 2d, " Antique " class ; 3d, Life class. Sculpture, three sea- 

 sons : 1st, In one of the drawing classes ; 2d and 3d, In the model- 

 ling-room, with attendance at the anatomy lectures. Architecture, 

 three seasons, the course to include architectural drawing, history 

 and mathematics. It is intended that those who follow this course 

 should be sufficiently advanced to pass the examinations of the 



