370 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VIII. No. 194. 



the mines with the Atlantic Ocean, the ore can 

 be delivered in England as cheaply as any sup- 

 plies now available on a large scale. Another 

 important subject to be discussed is the action 

 of explosives on the tubes of steel guns, as to 

 which Professor Roberts- Austen, C.B., of the 

 Mint, will read a paper based on important re- 

 cent experiments, while the proper composition 

 of steel rails, which will also be debated, will 

 be of unusual importance, in view of the in- 

 quiry by the departmental committee of the 

 Board of Trade. Several other papers of a more 

 highly technical character will be considered, 

 while the hospitality to be offered to the visi- 

 tors will include a reception by King Oscar at 

 his summer palace, and a banquet by the Asso- 

 ciation of Swedish Ironmasters. Dr. H. S. Lunn 

 has specially fitted up the steam yacht Argo- 

 naut to convey the members to Sweden, and she 

 will serve as a floating hotel during their 

 stay. 



In introducing an article on ' The Species, 

 the Sex and the Individual,' by Mr. J. T. Cun- 

 ningham, the editor of Natural Science makes 

 the following remarks : "With reference to this 

 paper Mr. Cunningham has given us the fol- 

 lowing information, which we have verified. 

 The paper was written at the beginning of 1897, 

 and after some time was submitted to the 

 Zoological Society, but not accepted, even for 

 reading, on the ground that the Society did not 

 usually publish papers of a theoretical and con- 

 troversial character. The manuscript was then 

 sent to the Linnaaan Society, where it was read 

 on May 6th of the present year, and a brief de- 

 scription of it was published in the report of 

 the meeting in the Aihenieum and in Nature. 

 But this Society also refused to publish the 

 complete paper, the alleged reason being the 

 pressure of other papers and illustrations. It 

 is due to Mr. Cunningham that these facts 

 should be known, for on June 7, 1898, there 

 was read before the Zoological Society a paper 

 by Mr. L. W. Wiglesworth, containing conclu- 

 sions as to sexual dimorphism very similar to 

 those of the present paper. In particular, as 

 published abstracts show, the author maintained 

 that secondary sexual characters in birds were 

 due to the stimulation of parts through use, or 

 external violence, or irritation. So much for 



Mr. Cunningham's title to priority. As for the 

 refusal to publish his paper we understand that 

 the Zoological Society has equally refused that 

 favor to Mr. Wiglesworth, although he was 

 more fortunate in having his views placed be- 

 fore a meeting and published in abstract. There 

 is a general feeling among those who hold views 

 opposed to the current strictly Darwinian no- 

 tions that they cannot get fair play from our 

 learned societies. It is a pity that they should 

 be able to adduce so many facts in support of 

 this opinion, however erroneous the opinion 

 itself may be." 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 



The corporation of Brown University has ac- 

 cepted the resignation of Dr. E. Benjamin An- 

 drews as President, passing resolutions express- 

 ing appreciation of his services, and has elected 

 a committee of six to choose his successor. 

 Professor Benjamin F. Clark, A.M., has been 

 made Acting President. 



De. W. Waldeyek, professor of anatomy, 

 has been appointed Rector of the University of 

 Berlin, for the coming year ; Dr. von Lonmel, 

 professor of physics, Rector at Munich, and 

 Professor Luigi Luciani, the physiologist. Rector 

 of the University of Rome. 



The vacancies in the fellowships of the Teach- 

 ers College caused by the resignation of Dr. 

 Cleveland Abbe, Jr., and Mr. E. B. Bryan, 

 have been filled by the appointment of David 

 R. Major, Ph. D. (Cornell), and B. B. Breeze, 

 A. M. (Harvard). Mr. Breeze has been for the 

 past two years assistant in the Harvard Psy- 

 chological Laboratoy. 



Miss Katheeine von Tusschenbeock has 

 been appointed to a chair of gynjecology in the 

 University of Utrecht. The University of 

 Genoa has given its M.D. to Miss E. Bonomi, 

 which is said to be the first time the degree has 

 been given to a woman by an Italian University. 



De. Geoeg Klebs, professor of botany at 

 Basle, has been called to Halle and is succeeded 

 at Basle by Dr. Wilhelm Schimper, associate 

 professor at Bonn. 



The position of instructor in histology at the 

 Harvard Medical School is vacant. The ap- 

 pointment is an annual one with a salary of 



