320 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVUI. Xo. 453. 



yearly. • Dr. Henry Woodward and Mr. Old- 

 field Thomas explained the nature of the work, 

 which can only be done by men of considerable 

 scientific attainments and linguistic skill. 

 Professor Cunningham suggested that the ap- 

 pointment of recorders in the diilerent sub- 

 jects should rest with the editor, and not with 

 the council, to which the reply was that, as 

 the editor was paid a merely nominal sum 

 for his services, it would be unfair to impose 

 this additional labor on him. The motion 

 was carried without a dissentient, and the 

 meeting adjourned to November 19. 



The Geographical Journal states that a 

 preliminary report has been received from the 

 leader of the second expedition sent out to 

 Brazil by the Eoyal Academy of Sciences of 

 Vienna. After landing at Pernambuco, two 

 excursions were made by rail to the neighbor- 

 hood of Berberibe and Pas d'Alho, which gave 

 a foretaste of the enormous wealth of bird-life 

 in those tropical regions. A similar impres- 

 sion was made by excursions round Bahia, to 

 Cabula, Eio Vermelho, the neighborhood of 

 Barra near the Bahia lighthouse, and even on 

 the outermost slopes, covered with vegetation, 

 between the east of the town and the sea. Here 

 was first seen the Wistiti {Hapale Jacchus), 

 which is peculiar to Bahia and Pernambuco. 

 On the journey to the Rio Sao' Francisco ex- 

 tensive ornithological collections were made; 

 a week was spent at Joazeiro, on the right 

 bank of the great river. An imposing repre- 

 sentative of the bird world here is the Nandu, 

 or Ema {Rhea macrorhyncha) . The char- 

 acteristic mammals of this region are the 

 armadillo (Dasypus), pouched rat and ant- 

 eater. Fish are abundant in the river, but 

 there are not many species. The Pira 

 (Conarhynchus conirastris) , with a long 

 curved tube-shaped snout, and Pacri (Myletes), 

 with a shark's mouth, are remarkable, being of 

 larger size than most of the others. Hofrath 

 Steindachner expects a particularly rich 

 yield of fishes characteristic of the region 

 from the stay at Barra, where the Eio Grande 

 flows into the Sao Francisco. Lacertilians 

 are represented in the neighborhood of Joazeiro 

 by eight or nine species, including a very 



delicate dark-striped Scincoid with a blood- 

 red tail. Most of the small variegated or dark- 

 colored snakes of this region are said to be 

 poisonous. The Ema mentioned above is 

 greatly valued as a destroyer of snakes, and 

 is kept on the haciendas. The kites do their 

 utmost in destroying animal 'undesirables,' 

 and enjoy the greatest favor all over the coun- 

 try. The whole bird-life of the Joazeiro dis- 

 trict resembles that of the Amazon region 

 more closely than that of southern Brazil. In 

 the middle of March the desolate solitudes 

 of the bush were explored, starting from the 

 railway at Carnahyba, and a nearly complete 

 collection of the birds, consisting of some fifty 

 specimens, was made. The most characteristic 

 representatives are five species of pigeons and 

 two of parrots. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

 Mrs. Cyrus H. McCormick and her three 

 sons, of Chicago, have given $10,000 to Wash- 

 ington and Lee University, the interest of 

 which is to be devoted to the development of 

 the department of physics. A new laboratory 

 of engineering and physics, the gift of another 

 friend in Chicago, whose name is for the 

 present withheld, is expected to be ready for 

 occupation next summer. 



Dr. Johann Hjort and others offer courses 

 of instruction on marine investigations at 

 Bergen during the months of September, Oc- 

 tober and November. There is no charge foi 

 the courses which include lectures, laboratory 

 work and field work. 



Mr. C. F. Baker has been appointed assist- 

 ant professor of biology in Pomona College, 

 Claremont, Cal. 



Dr. O. Schmidt and Dr. Julius Meyer have 

 qualified as docents in chemistry in the uni- 

 versities of Bonn and Breslau, and Dr. R. 

 Gans and Dr. Kohl as docents in physics in 

 the universities of Tiibingen and Vienna, 

 respectively. 



Dr. R. Brauns, professor of mineralogy at 

 Giessen, has been elected rector for the coming 

 year. 



* 



