334 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VIII. No. 193. 



ties. The protest against the measures taken 

 by the Prussian police authorities has been 

 signed by most men of science in Cracow and 

 Lemberg, and forwarded to the Polish mem- 

 bers of the Austrian Parliament. 



Nature states that efforts are being made to 

 secure for the Maidstone Museum and Public 

 Library the collection of prehistoric flint im- 

 plements formed during the past thirty- four 

 years by Mr. Benjamin Harrison, and illustra- 

 ting important periods in the early history of 

 man in Great Britain and elsewhere. It is pro- 

 posed to select, from the specimens in Mr. Har- 

 rison's collection, the type series chosen from 

 the chalk plateau implements by Sir Joseph 

 Prestwich to illustrate his monographs upon 

 the subject of plateau or eolithic implements, 

 and other type implements which have been 

 iigured and described by other writers ; a series 

 to show variety of form and the probable uses to 

 which these implements have been put ; a col- 

 lection of paleolithic implements from gravels 

 in the West Kent district ; and type series of 

 neolithic implements found in Kent. The Maid- 

 stone Museum is situated in the immediate 

 vicinity of the district in which they were dis- 

 covered. An appeal for subscriptions to pur- 

 chase the collection, signed by the Mayor of 

 Maidstone, has been issued by the Museum 

 Committee and nearly £100 have been sub- 

 scribed. 



The British Medical Journal states that dur- 

 ing the first few years after the foundation of 

 the Anticharbon Institute at Turin the number 

 of tubes of anticharbon vaccine sent out was 

 only 4,000 to 5,000 a year. Professor Pagliani, 

 then Director of the Public Health, decided 

 that the Laboratory, which had been founded 

 at Turin by Perroucito, should be removed to 

 Rome. Immediately after this the production 

 of vaccine greatly increased, as it was found 

 possible to reduce its price. In the disorganiza- 

 tion which overtook the Department of Public 

 Health two years ago this laboratory came to 

 grief; fortunately, however, its work was taken 

 up by the Sero-therapeutic Institute of Milan, 

 from which the vaccine continues to be sent 

 out under the supervision of Professor Airoldi, 

 a former assistant of Perroncito. Now the 



yearly output of anticharbon vaccine amounts 

 to 165,000 tubes. From May 1, 1897, to April 

 30, 1898, sufficient vaccine was sent out to in- 

 oculate 33,734 bovine and 98,792 ovine animals. 

 Anthrax has greatly diminished in Italy in re- 

 cent years ; but, in spite of the large amount of 

 anticharbon serum supplied, a good many cases 

 still occur, both among animals and among 

 men, in different parts of the country. 



The Committee appointed by the Board of 

 Trade, a year ago, to consider and advise upon 

 the means of obtaining and publishing infor- 

 mation as to opportunities for the introduction 

 and development of British home trades in the 

 various districts in which we have official repre- 

 sentatives have adopted their reports. Accord- 

 ing to Nature it is suggested that the most 

 economical course would be to send out experts 

 periodically to make inquiries and to report 

 upon the progress and the direction of trade. 

 The Committee recommend the establishment 

 of an office whose function it shall be to meet 

 the constantly-increasing demand for prompt 

 and accurate information on commercial mat- 

 ters, so far as it can be met by government 

 action. Amongst the duties of this new office 

 would be : (1) To collect and focus existing 

 information upon any subjects of commercial 

 interest, whether derived from official or from 

 unofficial sources, and whether relating to 

 British colonies or dependencies or to foreign 

 countries. (2) To reply to inquiries which can 

 be answered by a short note or by word of 

 mouth, or by reference to published commercial 

 data and statistics. (3) To direct inquirers who 

 want special information to the proper quarter, 

 e. g., to the Commercial Department of the 

 Foreign Office, the office of a particular colony. 

 Chamber of Commerce, the Imperial Institute, 

 and so forth. The proposed office would also 

 bring together all the information contained in 

 the diplomatic and consular reports bearing 

 upon particular industries and the state of the 

 market for particular classes of goods. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 



De. William P. Geaham has been appointed 

 associate professor of electrical engineering in 

 Syracuse University. 



