SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VIII. No. 207. 



M. BiscHOFFSHEiM has undertaken to con- 

 struct and endow an observatory to be placed 

 on Monte Cinto, in the Island of Corsica. Sur- 

 veys are at present being made, with a view to 

 finding the most suitable site for the observa- 

 tory. 



M. Chauchaed, who gives annually large 

 sums for public purposes, has this year set aside 

 130,000 fr. for various Paris institutions and 

 charities, 10,000 fr. being for the Pasteur In- 

 stitute. 



The late William E. Hale, of Chicago, has 

 bequeathed $300,000, to be held in trust, the 

 income to be used for public purposes at the 

 discretion of the trustees. 



Mb. T. B. Blackstone, of Chicago, who 

 gave more than S500,000 for the erection and 

 endowment of a library at Brandford, Conn., 

 has now added $100,000 to its endowment. 



A BIOLOGICAL station has been established on 

 Lake Bologoy by the Society of Naturalists of 

 St. Petersburg. 



A GEANT of £25 from the Craven University 

 Fund, Cambridge University, has been awarded 

 for the purpose of assisting George B. Grundy, 

 M.A., Brasenose College, to complete surveys 

 and explorations, mainly in northern Greece. 



Natural Science states that Mr. Alan Owston, 

 of Yokohama, has recently sent to England a 

 magnificent collection of hexactinellid sponges 

 from the seas of Japan. Most of these have 

 been purchased by the Trustees of the British 

 Museum, but a fair number have gone to Ox- 

 ford. Among the specimens are many studied 

 by Professor Ijima for the monograph that he 

 is writing on the group. 



An expedition has been sent from France to 

 explore the upper course of the Cavally River, 

 which separates the Republic of Liberia from 

 the French possessions. The French govern- 

 ment is also about to send a hydrographic expe- 

 dition to make surveys of the coast of Mada- 

 gascar. 



Peofessoe McMueeich, of the department 

 of anatomy of the University of Michigan, has 

 recently been asked by the authorities of the 

 Bremen Museum to investigate a collection of 

 actinia, commonly known as animal flowers or 



sea-anemones, obtained from the south Pacific 

 islands. This offer he was regretfully com- 

 pelled to decline, as he is at the present time 

 engaged in the study of a similar collection from 

 the coast of Chili, made by the authorities of 

 the Royal Museum of Natural Sciences of Ber- 

 lin. 



The committee of the Royal Society appointed 

 to investigate the Tsetze-fiy disease, consisting 

 of Professor Kanthack, Mr. H. E. Durham and 

 Mr. W. H. Blandford, have made a report 

 showing that the parasite is capable of in- 

 fecting a larger variety of animals than was 

 previously supposed, and giving some details in 

 regard to methods of infection, but they have 

 not been able to discover a preventative or cure. 



The arrangements for providing a school of 

 tropical medicine at the branch hospital of the 

 Seaman's Hospital Society, Victoria and Albert 

 Dock, Loudon, E., are, says the British Medical 

 Journal, making satisfactory progress. A sub- 

 committee, consisting of Mr. Nairne, Chairman; 

 Sir C. Gage Brown, K.C.M.G.; Mr. Maenamara, 

 Dr. Lauder Brunton, Dr. Stephen Mackenzie, 

 Dr. Manson, Dr. James L. Maxwell, Mr. John- 

 son Smith, F.R.C.S.; Mr. William Turner, F. 

 R.C.S., and Mr. James Cantlie, F.R.C.S., is 

 now engaged in drawing up a constitution for 

 the school and defining the curriculum. The 

 new buildings will, it is expected, be completed 

 by. October 1, 1899, and it is announced that Mr. 

 Chamberlain intends to preside at a festival 

 dinner to be held during the coming Parlia- 

 mentary session. A valuable collection of paint- 

 ings of skin diseases and ulcers, common in 

 British Guiana, has been presented to the school 

 by Dr. D. Palmer Ross. 



A COEEESPONDENT of the London Times tele- 

 graphs from Bombay that the hearing of evi- 

 dence before the Plague Commissioners began 

 on November 29th. The first witness was Mr. 

 A. Wingate, Acting Chief Secretary. He gave 

 a history of the plague in the Bombay Presi- 

 dency. Segregation in the small towns had de- 

 stroyed the plague, but it was impossible in the 

 big towns on account of the requirements of 

 trade, though it had been advantageous in cer- 

 tain wards of some towns. The shortest time 

 during which evacuation of villages had beea 



