October 28, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



593 



ing an experiment to his class, it is said, with 

 liquid air and red phosphorus, met with an 

 accident, through a violent explosion, which 

 may cause the loss of his eyesight. One of the 

 students was also injured. 



An inquest has been held in London in regard 

 to the cause of the death of Harold Frederick, 

 the well-known novelist and newspaper writer, 

 owing to the fact that he was attended in his 

 illness by a 'Christian Scientist. ' The physicians 

 who had been dismissed testified that he had 

 suffered from rheumatic fever and paralysis and 

 ■declared their belief that he would have recov- 

 ered with proper treatment. According to 

 English law the ' Christian Scientist ' may be 

 prosecuted for manslaughter. 



The report of the principal chemist upon the 

 work of the Inland Revenue Branch of the 

 Government Laboratory of Great Britain for 

 the year ended March 31, 1898, shows that the 

 number of analyses and examinations made 

 during the year amounted to 65,313, this being 

 a slight increase over the previous year. 



The Navy Department is issuing to volun- 

 teers who passed examination for admission to 

 the United States Navy during the late war 

 with Spain, but who are not given commissions 

 because of the early termination of the war, 

 certificates stating the facts and the reason for 

 their non-acceptance. The document, which is 

 nicely got up, will be a helpful certificate for 

 many of its recipients and a pleasant souvenir 

 for all. 



The Museums and Lecture-rooms Syndi- 

 cate, of Cambridge University, in their an- 

 nual report for the past academical year, 

 says the London Times, alludes to the loss 

 the Science Schools sustained by the death of 

 Professor Roy, the first professor of pathology. 

 To his energy is due the establishment of one of 

 the most successful of the departments con- 

 nected with medical studies. He possessed the 

 power of attracting workers to Cambridge, and 

 many of his pupils now hold important posts, 

 not only in Great Britain and the colonies, but 

 also in the United States of America. The re- 

 ports of the Woodwardian professor of geology, 

 of the professor of botany, and of the Super- 

 intendent of the Museum of Zoology, draw at- 



tention to the overcrowded state of their re- 

 spective departments and the need, which is 

 becoming increasingly urgent, for new and 

 more spacious accommodation both for the stu- 

 dents and the collections under their charge. 

 The recently erected buildings for the depart- 

 ment of mechanism have proved insuflBcient 

 for the growth of the school, and the need for 

 another lecture-room and more laboratory space 

 has become pressing. The buildings devoted 

 to medicine and surgery are not only in a bad 

 state of repair, but are also inadequate and in- 

 convenient. During the past year very consid- 

 erable additions to the collections have been 

 made. Numerous expeditions which have left 

 Cambridge to prosecute researches in far-dis- 

 tant lands have returned, and the collections 

 they have brought home are both valuable and 

 extensive. Especial mention may be made of a 

 series of lepidosiren and its embryos and a valu- 

 able collection of other specimens from South 

 America, which have been presented to the Mu- 

 seum of Zoology by J. Graham Ker, B.A., 

 Christ's College, and J. S. Budgett, Trinity Col- 

 lege; of the large collections illustrating the 

 fauna of the South Pacific coral reefs collected by 

 J. Stanley Gardiner, M.A., Gonville and Caius 

 College, during his recent visit in the coral- 

 boring expedition to Funafuti, and presented 

 by him to the same museum ; and of the varied 

 and valuable collections made by Dr. Willey 

 (Balfour student) in New Britain and the neigh- 

 boring islands. The collection of crania which 

 Dr. Willey has presented to the Museum of 

 Human Anatomy is mentioned by the professor, 

 who also draws attention to the valuable dona- 

 tion of Egyptian skulls made by Professor 

 Flinders Petrie. Part of the collections made 

 by Dr. Haddon in Torres Straits in 1888-89 

 has been presented to the Museum of Zoology, 

 which has been further enriched by a skeleton 

 of the elephant seal presented by Sir W. L. 

 Buller, K.C.M.G. , and many other donations 

 mentioned in the report of the Superintendent. 

 The Rev. Professor Wiltshire has presented a 

 very valuable and extensive collection of miner- 

 als to the Mineralogical Museum, and H. H. W. 

 Pearson, B. A. , Christ's College, has added to the 

 Botanical Museum a collection of plants which 

 he made during his recent journey to Ceylon. 



