160 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VIII. No. 188. 



governmeut publication. We understaud Dr. 

 Small has in progress a Botany of the South- 

 eastern United States. . A new edition of Chap- 

 man's Manual has lately appeared. Outside of 

 Curtis's well known series of Florida plants 

 but few distributions of the plants of this 

 region have been made, though there has been 

 great demand for them among botanists through- 

 out the world. One of the important functions 

 of the lately organized Alabama Biological Sur- 

 vey is the collection and distribution of the 

 plants of all orders occurring in Alabama. 

 This work prosecuted under the auspices of the 

 Alabama Polytechnic Institute, at Auburn, and 

 carried on for a year and a-half without sup- 

 porting funds from official sources, has already 

 resulted in the formation of a reference her- 

 barium of about 10,000 sheets, and an exchange 

 herbarium of about an equal number. This 

 exchange material contains fine series of many 

 interesting species, varieties and forms, and is 

 at the service of the botanical world for sale or 

 exchange. 



As has already been announced, the autumn 

 meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute will be 

 held in Stockholm on Friday and Saturday, 

 August 26th and 27th. We learn from Nature 

 that an interesting and varied program has 

 beeu prepared by the local committee, and 

 seven papers have been promised, two being by 

 Swedish metallurgists. Mr. Richard Acker- 

 man, Director- General of the Swedish Board of 

 Trade, an honorary member of the Institute 

 and a Bessemer gold medallist, will read a 

 paper on the development of the Swedish iron 

 industry, whilst Professor G. Nordenstrom, of 

 the School of Mines, Stockholm, will submit a 

 communication on the most prominent and char- 

 acteristic features of Swedish iron-ore mining. 

 Mr. C. P. Sandberg will discuss the danger of 

 using rails of too hard a nature, whilst Profes- 

 sor W. C. Roberts- Austen, C.B., F.R.S., will 

 describe the action of explosives on the tubes 

 of steel guns. The chemical side of metallurgy 

 will be represented by three papers. The first 

 will be by Mr. J. E. Stead, on brittleness in 

 steel produced by annealing ; the second by 

 Professor J. O. Arnold, of University College, 

 Sheflfield, on the micro-chemistry of cementa- 

 tion ; whilst the subject of the third paper will 



be the influence of metalloids on cast iron, by 

 Mr. Guy R. Johnson, of Tennessee, U. S. A. 

 An excursion of twentj'' days' duration will fol- 

 low the meeting. 



The following appeal, which should be re- 

 garded in America as well as in Great Britain, 

 has been sent out by the committee of the So- 

 ciety for the Protection of Birds, London. ' ' The 

 committee of the Society for the Protection of 

 Birds are convinced that the objects of the So- 

 ciety would be greatly helped if the assistance 

 of landowners, shooting tenants and farmers 

 could be obtained, as, unless united action be 

 soon taken, many of the country's birds, espe- 

 cially the rare birds of prey, will shortly be- 

 come extinct. This, most people agree, will be 

 a matter of universal regret, as well as a great 

 loss to the avifauna of the United Kingdom. 

 It is only through the cooperation of gentlemen 

 possessing shooting and other rights over land 

 that it is possible to efiect any real improvement 

 in this direction ; and their assistance would, in 

 the opinion of this Society, be best given by 

 their not allowing keepers and other persons on 

 the land a free hand as to what birds may be 

 killed, which is often the case at present, but, 

 on the contrary, by giving strict instructions as 

 to what birds only may be destroyed, which 

 should properly be only those birds that, from 

 their abundance in any particular district, may 

 do real harm. The committee also desire to 

 draw your attention to the use of the pole trap, 

 which ought in no case to be allowed, because, 

 even if a landowner wished to preserve rare birds 

 of prey, this trap could show no such discrimi- 

 nation. It is, besides, a most cruel instrument, 

 because, if it is not examined regularly, any 

 bird caught in it may hang for days in misery, 

 and on this account this trap has been prohib- 

 ited on many estates. The Society would be 

 greatly obliged if you would kindly give these 

 matters your careful consideration, and, if pos- 

 sible, give instructions in the manner indicated, 

 or in any other way that may seem good to you. 

 In order that there should be no misapprehen- 

 sion as to the objects of the Society the follow- 

 ing extract from the rules is added : ' The atti- 

 tude of the Society is strictly neutral on the 

 question of the killing of game birds and legiti- 

 mate sport of that character.' " 



