November 11, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



669 



M. Henri Leconte made an address before 

 the Paris Society of Commercial Geography on 

 October 20th, on the colonial botanical gardens 

 of France, in which he called attention to their 

 inadequate support by the State. The total 

 amount spent on these gardens is said to be only 

 half as much as that given to the Dutch garden 

 at Buitenzorg, and the results are small in pro- 

 portion. M. Guy, representing the Minister of 

 the Colonies, stated after the address that a 

 commission would shortly be formed to study 

 the administration of the experimental botanical 

 gardens in the colonies. 



The Imperial Russian Geographical Society 

 has decided to establish a Seismological Station 

 at Irkutsk. 



A CABLEGRAM to the London Times states 

 that Sir John Forrest, Premier of Western 

 Australia, has received a report from Sir Fred- 

 erick McCoy, professor of natural science in 

 the University of Melbourne, stating that his 

 examination of fossils from the seams of the 

 Collie coalfield, in Western Australia, shows 

 that the deposit is of exactly the same geolog- 

 ical age as the Newcastle coalfield, in New 

 South Wales. .He adds that the specimens of 

 coal examined are equal to the best Newcastle 

 coal. Professor McCoy congratulates the Pre- 

 mier on the discovery of this magnificent addi- 

 tion to the natural wealth of the colony. 



Carnegie Library, at Homestead, Pa., was 

 dedicated on November 6th by the founder, 

 Mr. Andrew Carnegie, who spent $300,000 in 

 its erection. 



The National Educational Association will 

 meet next year at Los Angeles, if favorable 

 railway rates can be secured. 



The New England Association of Chemistry 

 Teachers meets at the United States Hotel, Bos- 

 ton, to- morrow evening. Dr. H. M. Goodwin is 

 the guest of the Association and will give ' An 

 Address on Some Aspects of Physical Chem- 

 istry.' The President of the Association, Dr. 

 Lyman C. Newell, will make a preliminary 

 report on the progress of the movement insti- 

 tuted by the Association to promote eflSciency 

 in the teaching of chemistry. 



The fifth International Congress of Hydrol- 

 ogy, Climatology and Geology met at Liege 



from the 25th of September to the 3d of Oc- 

 tober. 



The Royal Geographical Society, London, 

 will open its session on November 14th, when 

 the meeting will be devoted mainly to a na- 

 tional Antarctic expedition. The President, Sir 

 Clements Markham, will introduce the subject, 

 and will be followed by other distinguished 

 scientific men. The Society has just issued au 

 appeal for funds for a national expedition. At 

 the second meeting, on November 28th, Mr. 

 C. W. Andrews will give an account of the in- 

 teresting results of his year's investigations on 

 lonely Christmas Island. Other papers that 

 are expected are ' Explorations on the Caro- 

 line Islands,' by Mr. F. W. Christian; 'Ex- 

 plorations among the Canadian Rockies,' by 

 Dr. Norman Colley, F.R.S.; 'Explorations in 

 Sokotra,' by Dr. H. O. Forbes; ' Lake Rukwa 

 and Central Africa,' by Mr. L. A. Wallace; 

 and papers by Dr. J. W. Gregory and Professor 

 W. M. Davis, of Harvard University. 



On October 25th an international monument 

 in honor of Dr. Hans Wilhelm Meyer, the dis- 

 coverer of adenoid growths, was unveiled in 

 Copenhagen. The British Medical Journal 

 states that the memorial, which is a bronze 

 bust of more than life-size resting upon a gran- 

 ite base, stands in the Gefion Square, in East 

 Copenhagen. It is the work of the Danish 

 artists, Bissen and Runeberg. The Mayor of 

 Copenhagen, several high officers of state and 

 a number of professors of the medical faculty, 

 of medical men and of the general public were 

 present at the ceremony. The memorial was 

 formally handed over to the municipality of 

 Copenhagen by Sir Felix Semen, who delivered 

 an address in which he pointed out the impor- 

 tance of Meyer's discovery, which had already 

 saved thousands of people from life-long deaf- 

 ness and the lasting results of obstructed uasal 

 respiration, and in future times would be sim- 

 ilarly beneficial to hundreds of thousands and 

 even to millions. He described Wilhelm Meyer 

 as one of the greatest benefactors to mankind 

 that the profession of medicine had ever 

 known. After the monument was unveiled, 

 M. Ollgaard accepted it on behalf of the City of 

 Copenhagen. 



