(90 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VIII. No. 205. 



Normal School. D. Physics and Chemistry : Chair- 

 man, Professor Albert L. Arey, Rochester. 11:30 A. 

 M. — Paper by Dr. C. F. Hodge, Clark University, on 

 'The Active Method in Nature Study.' 2:00 P. M. 

 — Paper by Mr. Arthur G. Clement, of Regents' 

 Office, on ' The use of the ^Microscope in Secondary 

 Schools.' 2 45 P. M. — General Discussion of the 

 Report of the Committee of Nine. 8:00 P. 51. — 

 Meeting, with lecture, in the American Museum. 



The Chemical Society gave a banquet on 

 November lltb at the Hotel Metropole in 

 honor of the past Presidents who have been 

 Fellows for half a century — namely, Sir Joseph 

 Henry Gilbert, 1841 ; Sir Edward Frankland, 

 1847; Professor William Oding, 1848; Sir 

 Frederick Augustus Abel, 1848; Dr. Alexander 

 William Williamson, 1848 ; and Dr. John Hall 

 Gladstone, 1848. Professor Dewar, LL.D., 

 F.R.S., the President of the Society, was in the 

 chair, and a company of 260 guests were pres- 

 ent. Congratulations were presented from the 

 Russian Chemical Society and the German 

 Chemical Society. The President, Professor 

 Dewar, made an address to which each of the 

 past Presidents replied. Speeches were also 

 made by Sir William Crookes, Professor Ost- 

 wald, Lord Reay, Lord Lister, Professor Foster, 

 Dr. Thorne, Mr. Haldane and Dr. Bottinger. 



The opening meeting of the present session 

 of the Royal Geographical Society, London, 

 was held on November 14th, and was devoted 

 to the subject of Antarctic exploration. The 

 address of the President, Sir Clements Mark- 

 ham, reviewed the progress of geographical 

 work during the year, but was chiefly directed 

 to the subject of Antarctic exploration. He 

 spoke of the expeditions under M. Gerlache 

 and Mr. Borchgreviuk as not likely to secure 

 important results, but the German expedition 

 of 1900 under Dr. Erich von Drygalski would 

 . be admirably organized under the auspices of 

 the German government, and Great Britain 

 would be left in the rear if it were not prepared 

 to send an expedition to cooperate with that 

 from Germany. He announced that the Coun- 

 cil of the Society would subscribe $5,000 towards 

 the expedition. Further addresses were made 

 by Professor Foster, Professor Riicker, Sir 

 Joseph Hooker, Sir Erasmus Ommanuey, Sir 

 Leopold McClintock and Admiral Sir W. Whar- 



ton. Since the meeting Mr. Alfred Harms- 

 worth, the publisher, whose interest in arctic 

 exploration has been shown by the Jackson- 

 Harmsworth expedition, has subscribed £5,000 

 towards the fund. 



At the monthly general meeting of the Zo- 

 ological Society of London, held on November 

 17th, at the office, in Hanover-square, Dr. 

 Giinther, F.R.S., Vice-President, in the chair, it 

 was stated that there were 409 additions to the 

 Society's collection of living animals during the 

 months of August, September and October, of 

 which 210 were acquired by presentation, 44 by 

 purchase, 128 received on deposit, 24 had been 

 born in the garden and three received in ex- 

 change for other animals. It was further stated 

 that the number of visitors to the Society's 

 gardens during the months of August, Septem- 

 ber and October had amounted to 267,799. 



The annual meeting of the Michigan State 

 Horticultural Society will be held in Ann Arbor, 

 December 6th, 7th and 8th. The program in- 

 cludes papers by Professor Albert B. Prescott, 

 'Fruit Acids;' Professor Frederick G. Novy, 'Pre- 

 serving Fruits ; ' Professor Paul C. Freer, ' Beet 

 Sugar and Sugar Beets ;' Dr. James B. Pollock, 

 ' The Ripening of Fruits ;' Professor Frederick 

 C. Newcombe, 'What are Fruits ?' 



There will be, under the auspices of the 

 government, an exposition of arts and manu- 

 factures in Venezuela, opening on January 1, 

 1900. 



The Massachusetts Horticultural Society of- 

 fered a large number of prizes for the herbarium 

 exhibition, on November 25th and 26th, at 

 the Horticultural Hall, Boston. The pre- 

 miums were given for school gardens, school 

 herbariums and children's herbariums, the 

 latter competition being open to all children in 

 the State not over eighteen years old. 



The plague returns for the week ended the 

 11th inst show a slight increase in Bombay 

 city. Dharwar district shows a large increase, 

 over 2,200 deaths being reported. 



Dr. Hayden, a medical officer who visited 

 India during the plague, arrived in Victoria in 

 July, bringing with him plague microbes. The 

 government, fearing a repetition of the Vienna 

 outbreak, demanded the surrender of the mi- 



