392 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VIII. No. 200. 



ing the important work of the Association may 

 be obtained. 



We learn from Nature that the banquet of 

 the Chemical Society to those of its past-Presi- 

 dents who have completed fifty years' fellow- 

 ship of the Society, which was postponed last 

 June owing to the lamented death of the senior 

 past-President, Lord Playfair, is now arranged 

 to take place on Friday, November 11th, at the 

 Hotel Metropole. The past-Presidents who 

 will then be entertained are : Sir J. H. Gilbert, 

 F.R.S.; Sir Edward Frankland, F.R.S.; Profes- 

 sor Odling, F.R.S.; Sir F. A. Abel, Bart., 

 F.R.S.; Dr. A. W. Williamson, F.R.S., and Dr. 

 J. H. Gladstone, F.R.S. 



Foreign scientific journals state that Profes- 

 sor P. Knuth, of Kiel, is starting this month on 

 a scientific expedition round the world, extend- 

 ing over from eight to ten months. He pro- 

 poses a considerable stay in Buitenzorg, Java, 

 visiting India on his way, and afterwards China 

 and Japan, Honolulu and North America. Pro- 

 fessor K. Goebel, of Munich, is also starting, 

 this autumn, on a botanical journey to Aus- 

 tralia and New Zealand. 



Mr. N. R. Harrington gave a lecture, on 

 October 24th, at Columbia University on the 

 Senff Zoological Expedition, reported in the 

 last issue of this Journal. 



The University of Pennsylvania and the Acad- 

 emy of National Sciences have received valua- 

 ble collections of specimens from Alaska, secured 

 near Point Barrow, as the result of a scientific 

 expedition under the management of E. A. Mc- 

 Ilhenny, of Lousiana, fitted out and conducted 

 by N. G. Buxton, of Ohio, and W. E. Snyder, 

 of Wisconsin. The Boston Transcript states 

 that there are nearly 13,000 specimens in all. 

 The zoological, botanical and ornithological 

 specimens, which constitute the largest part of 

 the collection, have been disposed of to the 

 Academy of Natural Sciences, while the ethno- 

 logical and anthropological portion will enrich 

 the already large collection in the Museum of 

 Archaeology and Paleontology at the University 

 of Pennsylvania. 



The city of Bombay has provided for the es- 

 tablishment of a laboratory under the Director- 

 ship of Dr. Galeotti, professor of pathology in 



Florence, for the preparation of Professor Lus- 

 tig's curative serum for the plague. 



The California State Board of Health ha& 

 appointed Dr. C. A. Ruggles, President of the 

 Board, to visit the Hawaiian Islands, to learn 

 the extent of the presence of leprosy and re- 

 port measures to prevent its introduction inta 

 California. Since the annexation of Hawaii its 

 inhabitants are free to come to the United 

 States, and it is the intention of the Board of 

 Health to prepare a report for submission to 

 the Legislature which will suggest safeguards 

 against the spread of leprosy in California. 



The following figures regarding the relative 

 cost of the military and educational establish- 

 ments of four leading nations deserve careful 

 consideration at the present time : 



Army and Navy. Education. 



Great Britain .... £40,650,000 £10,140,000 



Germany 32,840,000 12,120,000 



France 36, 570, 000 7, 920, 000 



United States .... 16,700,000 36,890,000 



In round numbers France spends seven times as- 

 much in preparation for war as in preparation 

 for peace. Great Britain four times as much and 

 Germany two and a-half times as much, where- 

 as America has hitherto spent more than twice 

 as much for education as for armaments. If the- 

 military expenditures of the United States must 

 be increased, let the expenditures for education 

 be increased in at least the same ratio. 



Dr. Hermann Nothnagel, professor of 

 pathology in the University of Vienna, has been 

 carrying out in his laboratory experiments on 

 the bacillus of the bubonic plague, which have 

 resulted disastrously. The assistant in the 

 laboratory, Dr. Barisch, contracted the plague 

 and died. The physician, Dr. Miiller, and the 

 two nurses who attended him have also con- 

 tracted the disease and Dr. Miiller has died. 

 The lectures at the pathological institute have 

 been suspended, and all Dr. Nothnagel's assist- 

 ants and attendants have been isolated. The 

 government has appointed a committee, con- 

 taining representatives of national and munici- 

 pal bodies, to devise measures to prevent the 

 spread of the plague. 



Irving W. Fay, professor of chemistry 'va, 

 the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, while show- 



