December "23, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



903 



sity at the celebration of the centenary of the 

 Imperial Military Academy of Bledicine at St. 

 Petersburg on the 30th inst. 



Mr. J. Graham Kerr, of Christ's College, 

 Cambridge, has been awarded the Walsingham 

 medal for his researches on Lepidosiren. 



The Zoological Society of London has sent 

 Mr. John S. Budgett to Western Africa to study 

 the fauna and to make collections for the Gar- 

 dens. 



The American Naturalist states that Mr. C. F. 

 Baker, of the Alabama Experiment Station, is 

 about to start on a collecting trip to South 

 America which will last eighteen months. 



From the American Geologist we learn that 

 Mr. Oscar H. Hershey has returned to his home 

 at Freeport, Illinois, after a scientific expedi- 

 tion to the Isthmus of Panama. 



The United States Civil Service Commission 

 announces that it is desired to establish an 

 eligible register from which a selection may be 

 made to fill an existing vacancy in the grade of 

 assistant engineer, electrically qualified, at a 

 salary of $1,000 per annum, in the custodian 

 service at Baltimore, Md. Eligibility for ap- 

 pointment will be determined from an examina- 

 tion into each applicant's experience, ability 

 and character as a workman, and physical 

 qualifications for the work to be performed. 



A POLAR reflecting photographic telescope, 

 with its building and dome, is being erected for 

 the observatory of Cambridge University and 

 is now nearly ready for use. 



We take from Natural Science the following 

 items : Dr. Jonathan Hutchinson is erecting for 

 Selby, in Yorkshire, an Educational Museum 

 similar to the one established by him in Hazel- 

 mere. A Museum of Natural History has been 

 opened at King Williamstown, Cape Colony. 

 The Shefiield Literary and Philosophical Soci- 

 ety has presented Dr. H. C. Sorby with his por- 

 trait, by Mrs. M. L. Waller, in celebration of 

 his fifty years' connection with the Society 

 (1847-1897). 



The French Academy has received a legacy 

 of 120,000 francs for the establishment of a 

 prize that will appear somewhat curious to 



Anglo-Saxons. It is to be awarded for ' the 

 most beautiful example of love and devotioa 

 between brothers and sisters.' 



The will of the late Edwin F. Knowlton 

 gives $40,000 for the establishment of a library 

 in West Upton, Mass. Mr. G. F. Logan, of 

 Chicago, has given $35,000 for the erection of a 

 library building for the Art Institute of that 

 city. The will of the late John L. Gardner, of 

 Boston, bequeathes $275,000 for public purposes, 

 to take effect on the death of his wife ; $100,000 

 is given to the Boston Society of Fine Arts, and 

 $25,000 to the Brookline public library. 



The Museum of Anatomy and Anthropology 

 at Cambridge has received from Professor 

 Flinders Petrie a collection of skulls and bones 

 secured at Hieraconopolis, representing prehis- 

 toric and the early dynastic races of Egypt. 



Mr. Alfred Jones has subscribed £350 an- 

 nually for the maintenance in Liverpool of a 

 laboratory of tropical diseases. It will be under 

 the direction of Professor Boyce. 



At the nineteenth annual meeting of the Bio- 

 logical Society of Washington for the election 

 of officers, on Saturday, December 17th, the fol- 

 lowing were elected for 1899 : 



President, F. V. Coville ; Vice-Presidents, W. H. 

 Ashmead, B. W. Evermann, F. A. Lucas, C. W. 

 Stiles ; Eecording Secretary, H. J. Webber ; Corre- 

 sponding Secretary, O. F. Cook ; Treasurer, F. H. 

 Knowlton ; Additional Members of the Council : C. 

 L. Marlatt, T. S. Palmer, C. L. Pollard, F. W. True, 

 M. B. Waite. 



Mr. J. Larmor has been elected President 

 of the Cambridge Philosophical Society. The 

 Vice-Presidents are Mr. F. Darwin, Professor 

 Forsyth and Dr. Gaskell ; and members of the 

 Council : Mr. H. Gadow, Mr. D. Sharpe and 

 Professor J. J. Thomson, Mr. A. Berry and Mr. 

 Wilberforce. 



At a special meeting of the American Soci- 

 ety of Civil Engineers on December 14th Mr. 

 Hiram S. Maxim gave an illustrated lecture 

 describing his experiments in artificial flight 

 and the evolution of the automatic gun. 



The New York Society for Child Study will 

 hold its fourth session at Syracuse on Decem- 

 ber 28th. Professor E. F. Buchner, the Secretary 

 of the Society, will give an address upon its 



