July 1, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



21 



cognition of scientific work : Mrs. Henrietta 

 Anne Huxley, widow of Rigiit Honorable Pro- 

 essor Thomas H. Huxley, scientist, £200. Dr. 

 John Thomas, Arlidge, hygienist, £150. James 

 Hammond, mathematician, 120. Oliver Heavi- 

 side, electrician, 120. Miss Anne Walbank 

 Buckland, anthropologist, 80. Mrs. Fanny 

 Hind, widow of Dr. John R. Hind, F.R.S., as- 

 tronomer, 70. Mrs. Margaret Anne Houghton, 

 widow of Kev. William Houghton, scientific 

 writer, 50. Samuel Alfred Varley, electrician, 

 additional, 50. Aug. Henry Keane, F.R.G.S., 

 ethnologist, 50. Misses Frances Elizabeth, 

 Mary and Julia Dobson, sisters of the late Sur- 

 geon-Major George E. Dobson, F.R.S., zoolo- 

 gist, each 25. 



Surgeon-General Sternberg has written 

 as follows to the Army and Navy Journal regard- 

 ing the danger of yellow fever in Cuba : "In 

 your issue of April 23d, page 642, the statement 

 is made that General Sternberg ' expresses con- 

 fidence in the excellent sanitary provisions of 

 the military service, and does not fear that yel- 

 low fever will prove more harmful to the troops 

 than diseases which are common in the North- 

 ern latitudes,' etc. I have not expressed any 

 such optimistic opinion, and regret to say that 

 it is not justified either by my studies relating 

 to yellow fever or by my personal experience. 

 History teaches that when a considerable num- 

 ber of unprotected persons are exposed in a yel- 

 low-fever-infected locality during the months 

 when this disease is most prevalent (May 1st to 

 November 1st, in the latitude of Havana) an 

 epidemic almost infallibly results. In the last 

 week of April of last year there were 17 deaths 

 and 70 new cases of yellow fever in the city of 

 Havana. Now, suppose that we had a similar 

 number of cases at the same season in New Or- 

 leans and that 20,000 strangers from the North 

 should go there to spend the summer, what 

 would be the result? All past experience sup- 

 ports the belief that a majority of them would 

 have yellow fever, and that from 20 to 40 per 

 cent, of those taken sick would die. This is 

 what I anticipate would happen if we should 

 send an army to occupy Havana, or any other 

 infected seaport on the coast of Cuba during the 

 summer months. If, however, these troops 

 could be camped upon high land in the interior, 



and circumstances were such as to enable them, 

 to comply with all of the exactions of modern 

 sanitary science, I am of the opinion that our 

 loss from yellow fever would not be serious. 

 But in time of war military commanders are 

 expected to take their troops to the points oc- 

 cupied by the enemy, and a picnic in the interior 

 with frequent changes of camp, etc. , is perhaps 

 not exactly what we may expect. I am not an 

 alarmist, but I believe in looking facts fairly in 

 the face and cannot allow your statement of my 

 opinion to have currency at such an important 

 moment in our country's history without a pro- 

 test. " 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 



Two of the conditional gifts of $50,000 offered 

 by Dr. D. K. Pearsons have been secured by 

 the colleges collecting the additional sums re- 

 quired. The endowment of Beloit College is 

 thus increased by $200,000 and that of Mt. 

 Holyoke College by $150,000. 



The sum of $50,000 has been given from a 

 source not named to Amherst College for an 

 academic hall, to be built in honor of President 

 Seelye. The class of '95 of Amherst has col- 

 lected $24,000, with which a laboratory building^ 

 will be erected. 



The University of Virginia has received 

 $20,000 from Henry L. Higginson, Treasurer of 

 the J. W. and Belinda Randall Charities Cor- 

 poration of Monson, Mass., to be used for the 

 erection of a building or as a permanent fund. 



A BENEFACTOR of Edinburgh University, who 

 desires for the present that his name should 

 be withheld, has given the University such a sum 

 as may be necessary, but not exceeding £10,000, 

 to build and equip a laboratory and class-room 

 to be used for the teaching of public health. 



Dr. Merrill E. Gates has resigned the 

 presidency of Amherst College. 



Dr. Charles Harrington has been ap- 

 pointed assistant professor of hygiene, and Dr. 

 Franz PfafF instructor in pharmacology and 

 physiological chemistry, in Harvard University. 



Rollins A. Emerson, of the Department of 

 Agriculture, and a graduate of the University 

 of Nebraska, has been elected to the assistant 

 professorship of horticulture in his alma mater. 



