574 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVIII. No. 461. 



the previous year. The largest attendance 

 so far was on Sunday, September 16, amount- 

 ing to 35,667 persons. 



The director-in-chief and other members of 

 the staff of the New York Botanical Garden 

 will be pleased to receive members and their 

 friends at the grounds in Bronx Park on every 

 Saturday in October and November. Train 

 leaves Grand Central Station, Harlem Divis- 

 ion, N. Y. C. E.- E., at 2 :35 p.m., for Bronx 

 Park. Eeturning train leaves Bronx Park at 

 5 :32 P.M. Opportunity will be given for in- 

 spection of the museums, laboratories, library 

 and herbarium, the large conservatories, the 

 herbaceous collection, the hemlock forest and 

 parts of the arboretum site. The walk planned 

 will be a little over a mile. Lectures will be 

 given in the museum building at 4:30 o'clock, 

 as follows : 



October 3, ' The Botanical Exploration of the 

 West Indies,' by Dr. N. L. Britton. 



October 10, ' Some Aspects of Tropical Agricul- 

 ture,' by Professor F. S. Earle. 



October 17, ' Some Features of Jamaican Vege- 

 tation,' by Professor L. M. Underwood. 



October 24, ' Features of the Land and Marine 

 Flora of Porto Rico,' by Dr. M. A. Howe. 



October 31, ' Explorations in Hayti, the Negro 

 Republic,' by Mr. G. V. Nash. 



November 7, ' Mountains and Forests of 

 Dominica,' by Professor F. E. Lloyd. 



November 14, ' Beverages of Vegetable Origin,' 

 by Professor H. H. Rusby. 



Among the lectures to be given this season 

 before the Eoyal Institution, London, are the 

 following : 



' The Present Position of English Commerce, 

 by Lord Avebury, F.R.S. 



' The Work and Aims of the London University, 

 by Sir Arthur W. Rucker, F.R.S. 



' The Brains and Minds of Animals,' by Alex. 

 Hill, Esq. 



' Persia and the Persian Gulf,' by J. D. Rees, 

 Esq. 



' Radium and the Periodic Law in connection 

 with Recently Discovered Elements,' by Sir Wil 

 liam Ramsay, F.R.S. 



' Volcanoes, with special reference to the re 

 cent eruptions,' by Professor E. J. Garwood. 



' Balloons and Flying Machines,' by J. M. Bacon, 

 Esq. 



' The Ice-Breaker Ermaclc,' by Arthur Gulston, 

 Esq. 



" Mars and its ' Canals,' " by E. Walter Maun- 

 der, Esq. 



' 1. Ice, 2. Water, 3. Steam,' by Dr. William 

 Hampson, M.A. 



' Mexico and its Natural History,' H. F. Gadow, 

 Esq. F.R.S. 



' The Food of the People,' by Robert Hutchinson, 

 Esq. 



' The Crustacean Question,' by Professor G. B. 

 Howes, F.R.S. 



' The Measurement of the Heavens,' by J. D. 

 MeClure, Esq. 



According to the latest bulletin of the 

 Health Department of Chicago, the remarkable 

 decrease in the mortality of children less than 

 one year old that has taken place since 1891 

 — a decrease of 60.1 per cent. — is due not so 

 much to an improved milk supply, the anti- 

 toxin treatment of diphtheria and other causes 

 often cited to account for it, as to the work 

 of woman's clubs and similar organizations 

 in the education of mothers in the hygiene of 

 the young. This, it is believed, is the prin- 

 cipal factor in giving the baby a better chance 

 for life. 



The New York Times states that the board 

 recently organized to consider and report upon 

 the subject of engineering instruction and 

 training for officers of the line of the navy, 

 of which Captain George A. Converse is the 

 senior member, recently held its first session 

 in New York. The recommendations con- 

 tained in the order convening the board were 

 taUced over, and, while no definite outline was 

 determined upon, it was concluded that the 

 subject is one of large scope, which will re- 

 quire careful study and preparation. Un- 

 doubtedly there will be established an engineer- 

 ing school for officers, and this may, perhaps, 

 be located at the Naval Academy at Annapolis, 

 using the engineering experimental station re- 

 cently established at that place. Congress at 

 its last session created this experimental sta- 

 tion upon the recommendation of Eear Ad- 

 miral George W. Melville, head of the Bureau 

 of Steam Engineering of the Navy Depart- 

 ment, who advocated the idea for several years 

 before his efforts were successful. The board 

 expects that it will take at least six months for 

 it to prepare and outline a proper course of 



