14 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VIII. No. 183, 



University of Michigan. Commissioner 

 Bowers has allotted a liberal sum for the 

 first season's inquiries, and will undoubtedly 

 provide for a continuance of the work over 

 several years. Professor Eeighard will have 

 associated with him Dr. H. B. Ward, of the 

 University of Nebraska ; Dr. H. S. Jen- 

 nings, of the Montana College of Agriculture 

 and Mechanical Arts ; Dr. Julia Snow, of 

 Ann Arbor; Mr. A. J. Pieters, of the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture, and a number 

 of other assistants. 



An elaborate plan for the study of the 

 lake fauna and flora has been outlined and 

 will be followed as closely as the circum- 

 stances permit. The work will extend over 

 the entire year. Experimental work, sim- 

 ilar to that conducted at agricultural ex- 

 periment stations, will be a prominent fea- 

 ture of the survey, some of the problems 

 to be considered being the rate of growth 

 of fishes ; the food of young fishes reared 

 from the egg and the changes in their regi- 

 men during growth ; the source of food of 

 aquatic rooted plants ; the life histories of 

 food fishes reared in aquaria or ponds, and 

 of certain aquatic insects and other inverte- 

 brates ; the rate of increase of the plankton 

 as a whole and of its individual constitu- 

 ents. There will also be systematic studies 

 of the habits, migrations, distribution and 

 food of the fishes and other organisms of 

 the lake. 



At the beginning of the work Professor 

 Eeighard and Dr. Ward will devote a con- 

 siderable amount of time to plankton prob- 

 lems, especially the perfection of methods 

 and apparatus ; Dr. Snow will carry on ex- 

 perimental work on the algse ; Dr. Jennings 

 will undertake experimental researches on 

 the protozoa, and Mr. Pieters will pursue 

 studies of the aquatic flora. The summer 

 headquarters of the survey will be at the 

 government hatching station at Put-in-Bay, 

 South Bass Island, Ohio. 



Lake Erie affords an excellent field for 



work of this character, on account of its 

 varied fauna, diversified physical features, 

 extensive fishing interests, and the recent 

 serious depletion of the supply of certain 

 valuable food fishes. The investigations 

 may ultimately be extended to some of the 

 other Great Lakes. 



H. M. Smith, 



U. S. Commission" of 

 Fish and Fisheeies. 



EUGENE FL ACHAT. 



The committee on the inauguration of the 

 monument erected to the memory of Eu- 

 gene Flachat, of the Socicte des Ingenieur$ 

 Civils de France, issued invitations to scien- 

 tific and professional colleagues on both 

 sides of the Atlantic. The ceremony took 

 place June 12th, at Paris, at the intersec- 

 tion of the streets named for Bremontier, 

 Alphonse de Neuville and Eugene Flachat. 

 We glean the following from the circular 

 issued by the committee : 



Flachat, one of the most famous, and 

 justly so, of French engineers, was the de- 

 signer of the now familiar I- section of rolled 

 iron or steel beam, universally employed in 

 construction. 



Flachat was born in 1802. He exhibited 

 his genius for construction, and his inclina- 

 tion toward engineering as a profession, in 

 earliest childhood. As a school boy he 

 was called upon to check the mathematical 

 work of his master, and as a youth investi- 

 gated the proportions of parts of structures 

 and machinery with the greatest complete- 

 ness and success. He became particularly 

 interested in metallurgy, constructed the 

 largest blast furnaces and mills of the Ar- 

 dennes, organized the forges at Commentry 

 and, with Barrault and Petiet, produced a 

 great work, now classic, on the metallurgy of 

 iron which is known by their names. He 

 wrote many articles and brochures, some 

 on economics and related subjects. His 

 main occupation was the construction of 

 railways ; but he published descriptions of 



