November 18, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



707 



years, is not intended to prepare teaciiers for 

 their profession. The plan is to offer an oppor- 

 tunity to do college work to the 5,000 teachers 

 or more of Chicago. The College will not con- 

 cern itself with methods of instruction, but 

 only with the subject-matter. 



Mt. Holyoke College has received $100,000, 

 bequeathed some time since by the will of the 

 late Charles P. Wilder ; one-half of this sum is 

 to be spent in the support and extension of sci- 

 entific work. 



The new buildings of the medical depart- 

 ment of the University of California, built by 

 the State on land presented by the late Adolf 

 Sutro, were formally opened on October 22d. 

 The site, though somewhat remote from the 

 present center of the city of San Francisco, 

 commands a magnificent view, and the lab- 

 oratories and lecture rooms are excellently 

 equipped. 



We noted last week that eleven architects 

 had been selected in the final competition for 

 plans for the buildings of the University of 

 California instituted by Mrs. Hearst. It ap- 

 pears further that] the [traveling expenses of 

 these architects are to be paid by Mrs. Hearst 

 in order that they may proceed to California 

 and spend six months in adjusting their plans 

 to the magnificent site of the University. 



A CHAIE of physical geography, not yet filled, 

 has been established in the University of Zurich. 



The University of Paris has been given 

 anonymously a fund to allow a French student 

 to study mathematics in Germany. 



At Magdalen College, Oxford, Mr. Horace 

 Middleton and Mr. Harold Hilton have been 

 given fellowships, the former in reference to 

 work in physiology and zoologj', the latter with 

 reference to work in mathematics. 



M. BoiRAC has been appointed professor of 

 philosophy at Dijon. 



The Council of the University of Paris has 

 nominated for lecturer in experimental psy- 

 chology as. its first choice M. Pierre Janet and 

 as its second choice M. Georges Dumas. 



Dr. R. Lorenz, electrochemistry, and Dr. 

 K. Keller, zoology, have been made full pro- 

 fessors in the University of Zurich. 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 

 THE ' BIPOLARITY ' HYPOTHESIS. 



I HAVE read with interest Dr. Ortmann's re- 

 marks in Science for October 14th on Sir John 

 Murray's views as to the distribution of marine 

 faunas. I agree with Dr. Ortmann that in most 

 cases the supposed ' bipolarity ' does not exist, 

 and I may refer him to some remarks of my 

 own published last June, which show very 

 much the same for the Tunicata as he does for 

 the Crustacea. The statements in question ap- 

 pear in a paper on Simple Ascidians from Puget 

 Sound (Trans. Biol. Soc. , Liverpool, Vol. XII., 

 p. 248), in which, while pointing out the close 

 similarity between the Tunicata faunas of the 

 west coast of Europe and North America and 

 their possible relation to a northern circumpolar 

 fauna, I criticised Murray's ' bipolar ' lists and 

 gave as my opinion that "the distribution of 

 Tunicata as a whole does not lend any support 

 to the bipolar hypothesis." I further stated 

 that "this matter must be settled by specialists 

 in each group of animals stating their opinions 

 as to the genetic affinities of the northern and 

 southern faunas in their own groups, quite apart 

 from and uninfluenced by general lists contain- 

 ing other groups." I am glad to see that this is 

 what Dr. Ortmann and others are now doing. 



I would add : There is one thing more we 

 need, and here I am sure Sir John Murray and 

 other naturalists will concur, and that is, more 

 facts, further investigations. There is every 

 prospect now, with the various Antarctic expe- 

 ditions in the field or proposed, that we shall 

 shortly be in possession of more information 

 from the far South. It is to be hoped that 

 American and British naturalists will see to it 

 that our own polar seas are more thoroughly 

 explored in the near future, both by dredge and 

 tow-net. In advocating Antarctic expeditions 

 we must not forget how much still remains to 

 be done within the Arctic Circle. 



W. A. Herdman. 



University College, Liverpool, 

 October 22, 1898. 



peridinium and the ' red water ' in nar- 

 ragansett bay. 

 During the last two months the inhabitants 

 of Rhode Island witnessed the following remark- 



