October 30, 1903.] 



SCIENCE. 



573 



A coi'RSE of lectures on tropical inecliciiio 

 will be given at the Jefferson iledical College 

 by Capt. Charles F. Kieffer, assistant surgeon, 

 U. S. Army. The lectures will be given at 4 

 I'.M. each ^lonilay in the amphitheater of the 

 hospital. 



AccoRnixii to a cablegram to the daily 

 papers, Mr. L. A. Fischer, of the National 

 Bureau of Standards, has compared the Ameri- 

 can meter with the international standard and 

 has found it accurate. Mr. Fischer is investi- 

 gating the systems of weights and measures of 

 European countries with the view of drawing 

 up a report upon which Secretary Cortelyou, 

 of the Department of Commerce and Labor, 

 will make reconnnendations to Congress. 



The Stockholm correspondent of the Lon- 

 don Morning Advertiser says that the Acad- 

 emy of Science proposes to confer the Nobel 

 prize for physics on Mr. William Marconi. 



A sio-NTMEXT is to be erected at Brussels as 

 a memorial to Zenobe Gramme, known for his 

 work in electricity. M. Leon Janssen is chair- 

 man of the committee in charge. 



An obelisk of unpolished grey granite has 

 been placed over Virchow's grave in the old 

 Matthiii graveyard, Berlin. It bears on one 

 side a black marble tablet, on which is in- 

 scribed ' Rudolph Virehow,' and the date of his 

 birth and death. A statue of Virehow will 

 also be erected near the place where his scien- 

 tific work was conducted. 



Profe.ssou Alexander Rollett, of Graz, 

 known for his researches in the physiologj' of 

 blood and -muscles, died on October 1, in his 

 seventieth year. The death is also announced 

 of M. G. R. Dahlander, professor in the Poly- 

 technic Institute at Stockholm. 



The Bulletin of the American Mathemat- 

 ical Society states that the Carnegie Institution 

 has in preparation, under charge of the li- 

 brarian of Congress, a handbook of learned 

 societies and institutions, which is to contain 

 various information of inipoi'tance to scholars, 

 but not hitherto published in convenient form. 



The ilarconi system of wireless telegraphy 

 has been put in operation between Peking and 

 the coast. 



It is said that Dr. August Grctli of San 

 Francisco, who had put his small savings into 

 an airship of crude construction, sailed about 

 over that city on October 18, apparently hav- 

 ing full control of his machine. While sail- 

 ing to the Presido his power, furnished by a 

 si.x horsepower gasoline engine, failed him, 

 and lie descended into the water of the bay. 

 Money has now been offered liim to build a 

 better machine. 



The third annual intereollegiiite geological 

 excursion in New England was held at Meri- 

 den, Conn., on Saturday, October 17, under 

 the guidance of Professor Gregory of Yale 

 University. The geological profit of the ex- 

 cursion vi^as unfortunately interfered with 

 by fog on West Peak of the Hanging Hills, 

 and by several heavy showers in the valley; 

 nevertheless the general structure of the re- 

 gion was pointed out, the double lava flow in 

 the Meriden quarry was well seen and sev- 

 eral of the faults by which the district is 

 divided into long, narrow blocks were demon- 

 strated. The largest delegations of students 

 were from Yale University, under Professors 

 Gregory, Pirsson and Barrell, and from Wes- 

 leyan University under Professor Rice. Har- 

 vard, Wellesley, Amherst, Smith and Wil- 

 liams were also represented, as well a? a num- 

 ber of secondary schools. Over one hundred 

 persons took part in the excursion. 



The Zoological Society Bulletin states that 

 the end of the next twelve months will reveal 

 an important advance in the development of 

 the New York Zoological Park. The Antelope 

 House and its twenty-two yards outside will 

 lie ready for use about November 1. The 

 building of an Ostrich and Cassowary House, 

 170 feet long, has been begun and also the 

 erection of a Small ^Mammals' House, 170 

 feet long. A contract for the large Bird 

 House was awarded on September 14. Plans 

 for a large Deer House are now in course of 

 preparation. The Llama House is ready for 

 use and the entire collection of animals ar- 

 rived about October 1 as the gift of Mr. 

 Robert S. Brewster. The visitors to the Park 

 during the month of August numbered 155,- 

 01)0, an increase of 29,000 over the records of 



