August 5, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



159 



The Hon. John Douglas, C.M.G., the Govern- 

 ment Eesideut, did all in his power, personally 

 and officially, to advance the aims of the expe- 

 dition, as did also the other government officials 

 and many others. The Hon. J. G. Byrnes, 

 Chief Secretary, sent a cordial telegram of wel- 

 come and promise of assistance from Brisbane, 

 on behalf of the government. After a week's 

 delay a start was made for Murray Island in 

 two open luggers, and owing to the unfavorable 

 weather it took another week to traverse the 

 120 miles between the two islands. All the 

 party suffered considerably from heat and 

 exposure in the open boats. The Murray 

 Islanders gave Dr. Haddon a very hearty wel- 

 come, bringing gifts of cocoanuts and bananas 

 as expressions of good will. They appeared to 

 understand the main objects of the expedition. 

 A deserted mission house, in which Dr. Haddon 

 stayed ten years ago, was occupied as a dwell- 

 ing house, and had also been converted into a 

 temporary anthropological and psychological 

 laboratory, photographic studio, surgery and 

 dispensary. All the members of the expedition 

 were in good health, and work has begun in 

 earnest. 



Sir Martin Conway has left England for 

 Bolivia, where he intends to explore the high 

 group of the Andes containing the peaks lUi- 

 mani and lUampu. He is accompanied by the 

 Alpine guides Antoine Mauqignaz and Louis 

 Pellissier, who made the first ascent of Mount 

 St. Elias, in Alaska, last year with the Duke of 

 the Abruzzi. 



At a meeting of the Zoological Society of 

 London, on June 11th, the Secretary read a re- 

 port on the additions that had been made to the 

 Society's menagerie during the month of May, 

 1898, and called special attention to a young 

 female Mountain Zebra {Eqmts zebra) and a 

 young male Leucoryx Antelope, acquired by 

 purchase ; a young male Eeindeer {Bangifer ta- 

 randus), presented by the Hon. M. A. Bourke ; 

 and two Black-necked Swans {Cygnus nigri- 

 collis), hatched in the Gardens. 



It is expected that the new laboratory build- 

 ing of the Johns Hopkins University Medical 

 School, adjacent to the hospital, will be ready 

 for occupation in the autumn. It will accom- 



modate the laboratories of physiology, of phy- 

 siological chemistry and of pharmacology. 



An Institute of Hygifene has been opened in 

 Buenos Ayres. The Director of the Institute 

 is Dr. Ferruccio Mercanti. 



The buildings of the United States Fish Com- 

 mission at Woods HoU were examined with a 

 view to using them for an army hospital. For- 

 tunately, the buildings were found unsatisfac- 

 tory for this purpose, as otherwise the important 

 work now in progress under the Fish Com- 

 mission, as well as that of the Marine Biolog- 

 ical Laboratory, would have been completely 

 stopped for the year. 



It will be remembered that the sum of $650,- 

 000 has been appropriated by the United States 

 government for the representation of the coun- 

 try at the Paris Exposition. Mr. Ferdinand 

 Peck, the newly appointed Commissioner, has 

 had a conference with the President, and it is 

 said that the latter will recommend an appro- 

 priation of $400,000 additional. 



A LARGE part of the session of the British 

 House of Commons on July 19th was devoted to 

 the consideration of the vaccination bill founded 

 by the government upon the recommendation 

 of the Royal Commission. Much opposition was 

 shown to the bill, and Mr. Balfour, on behalf of 

 the government, appeared to favor its modifi- 

 cation in the sense that vaccination would not 

 be required if a parent stated that he believed 

 it to be prejudicial to the health of his child. 



The great activity among students of our 

 Southeastern flora has become a subject of com- 

 mon remark. The results of this work have 

 been appearing in numerous articles in the 

 botanical journals from Messrs. Small, Nash, 

 Bicknell, Beadle, Kearney, Underwood, Earle, 

 Pollard, Ashe and others. Much of this pub- 

 lished work has been the result of personal in- 

 vestigations in the field, which speaks well for 

 the great botanical interest attached to this flora. 

 Several separate works on the subject have 

 been prepared or are in course of preparation. 

 The ' List of Alabama Fungi ' by Messrs. Earle 

 and Underwood was published by the Alabama 

 Polytechnic Institute. Dr. Mohr's monumental 

 work on Alabama plants will soon appear as a 



