352 



tiCIENCE. 



[X. S. Vol. XVIII. Xo. 454. 



the throat could be inflated, for it is distended 

 whenever the animal is excited. Late last 

 year the scale-footed lizard {Pygopus lepi- 

 dopus) was represented for the first time in 

 the collection. Other specimens have re- 

 cently been put out. In some respects these 

 limbless lizards from the Australian region 

 have a general resemblance to the British 

 slow-worm, but the tail is exceedingly long 

 and tapering, and the hind limbs are repre- 

 sented by two scale-lilie flaps of skin, closely 

 adpressed to' the side. These can be moved 

 at will and contain the vestiges of the toe 

 bones, which can be felt between the finger 

 and thumb. In the sloths' house is an ex- 

 ample of the Australian spiny anteater 

 (Echidna aculeata), with the exception of the 

 duck-billed platypus the lowliest of all mam- 

 mals. It may be compared in appearance to a 

 hedgehog, with long, strong spines and a beak- 

 like snout about as long as that of the 

 platypus, but tubular in shape. Its popular 

 name is correct, so far as regards its food, 

 which is obtained by the protrusion of the 

 worm-like tongue, as is the case with the 

 great anteater {Myrmecophaga juhata) of 

 South America, examples of which are in the 

 same house. There is, however, no close re- 

 lationship, the former laying eggs, and having 

 traces' of a marsupial pouch, while the latter 

 is a true mammal. Many authors reckon 

 three species of spiny anteaters, according as 

 there is more or less hair mixed with the 

 spines, while others attribute this difference 

 to the effect of the climate of Tasmania and 

 New Guinea (where the more hairy forms 

 occur) and claim that the examination of a 

 large series of skins shows that the extremes 

 grade into each other. 



English papers state that steps have been 

 taken to begin immediately the construction 

 of the section of the Cape-to-Cairo Railway 

 between Wankie and the Zambesi at Victoria 

 Falls and that 2,500 laborers will at once' 

 conunence work on this section. Railhead 

 will be at Wankie, about 200 miles northwest 

 of Bulawayo, very shortly. With regard to 

 other railways in Rhodesia, on the branch line 

 between Bulawayo and Gwanda 31J miles of 

 rail have been laid of a total length of 104 



miles. The Selukwe line will be finished at 

 an early date, as the rails have already reached 

 a point 16 miles from Gwelo and suificient 

 material is now on the spot for the completion 

 of the branch. The removal of the light rails 

 on the Vryburg-Mafeking section is rapidly 

 proceeding, and, according to the latest ad- 

 vices, 42 miles out of the total 96 had been 

 relaid with 60-pound rails. 



VXIVEKSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 



The Imperial Chinese University at Pekin 

 which abandoned its attempt to introduce Eu- 

 ropean learning under the retrogTade policy of 

 the Dowager Empress has now been closed. 



Professor J. Mark Baldwin, of Princeton 

 University, has been called to a new chair in 

 philosophy and psychology in the Johns Hop- 

 kins University, where it is proposed to organ- 

 ize a university department in these subjects. 

 Professor Baldwin will immediately enter 

 upon his new duties, but it is expected that he 

 will also give during the coming term certain 

 senior and graduate courses at Princeton, 

 where he may be addressed. 



Dr. E. W. Scripture, assistant professor of 

 experimental psychology at Yale University, 

 has resigned and is succeeded by Dr. Charles 

 H. Judd, A.B. (Wesleyan), Ph.D. (Leipzig). 

 Dr. Scripture is spending the year at Leipzig, 

 where he is carrying on researches on the anal- 

 ysis of speech by means of gramophone rec- 

 ords under the auspices of the Carnegie Insti- 

 tution. 



Dr. John G. Curtis, professor of physiology 

 at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of 

 Columbia University, has been elected acting- 

 dean of the college. 



Dr. Augustus Pohlman has been appointed 

 assistant professor of anatomy at the Johns 

 Hopkins University. 



At Leland Stanford Junior University, Dr. 

 Edward C. Franklin, of the University of 

 Kansas, has been appointed associate professor 

 of organic chemistry, and Dr. J. R. Slonaker, 

 of the University of Chicago, has been ap- 

 pointed assistant professor of physiology. 



M. Leboeuf has been appointed professor of 

 astronomy at the University of Besangon. 



