504 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. I. No. 11. 



historical exhibition intended to bring un- 

 der view the social and industrial condition 

 -of the country at the beginning of the cen- 

 tury. 



Aerangembnts have been made that will 

 probably ensure the union of the Astor 

 Library, the Lenox Library and the Tilden 

 Endowment. This would supply New York 

 with a Library whose property is valued at 

 $8,000,000. 



A Committee of the English House of 

 Commons has been appointed to consider 

 changes in the system of weights and meas- 

 ui-es. 



Me. Chakles D. Waloott has been 

 awarded the Bigsby Medal of the Geologic- 

 al Society of London. 



Lord Eatlbigh is delivering a course of 

 six lectures on Waves and Vibrations at the 

 Eoj'al Institution of London. On April 5th 

 he will lecture on 'Argon.' 



The Massachusetts Horticultural Society 

 invites subscriptions for the erection of a- 

 monument in honor of the late Francis 

 Parkman. 



De. Kossell, of Berlin, has accepted a 

 •call to the Professorship of Physiology at 

 Marburg. 



Peofessoe C. L. Doolittlb, of Leliigh 

 University, has been called to the chair of 

 Mathematics in the University of Pennsyl- 

 vania, and Mr. A. P. Brown has been ap- 

 jpointed Assistant Professor of Geology and 

 Mineralogj'. 



Peofessoe John B. Clarke, of Amherst 

 College, has accepted a call to a professor- 

 ship of Political Economy iu Columbia 

 CoUege. 



Dr. D. Hack Tuke, editor of the Journal 

 of Mental Science, and well known for his 

 writings on insanity, died in London, on 

 March 5th, at the age of sixty-eight. 



Mr. J. W. Hulke, President of the Royal 

 •College of Surgeons of England, died re- 



cently at the age of sixty-five. He was 

 eminent as a surgeon and especially as an 

 ophthalmologist. 



Mr. Hymajst Montague, known for his 

 writiugs on numismatics, died in London 

 on the 18th of February, at the age of fifty- 

 one. 



Professor Lauth, the eminent Egyptol- 

 ogist, died at Munich, on February 11th, 

 at the age of seventy-three. 



The death is announced, at the age of 

 eighty-five, of Sir Hem'y Eawltuson, the 

 eminent Assyriologist. 



Macmillan & Co. announce two woi-ks 

 on Physical Geogi-aphy, by Prof. Tarr, of 

 Cornell University — one an elementary 

 and the other an advanced text-book. The 

 same publishers announce : Loids Agasdz, 

 his Life, Letters and Works, by Jules Marcou. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON, FEB. 23. 



Mr. F. E. L. Beal read a paper on the 

 food habits of woodpeckers, based on the 

 examination of more than 600 stomachs. 

 He found that the Haii-y and Downy wood- 

 peckers {Dryohates villosus and jiubescens) 

 feed chieflj^ on insects, most of which are 

 harmful species. They also eat wild fi'uits 

 and seeds. The food of the flicker ( Colaptes 

 auratus) consists largelj^ of ants. Two 

 stomachs contained each more than three 

 thousand ants, and these insects formed 45 

 per cent, of aU the stomach contents ex- 

 amined. The Flicker also ate other noxious 

 insects and some wild fruit, such as dog- 

 wood berries and wild grapes. The Red- 

 headed woodpecker {Malanerpes erythroceph- 

 alus) feeds largely on insects, all of which 

 are harmful species except a few predacious 

 beetles. The vegetable food of the Redhead 

 comprises wild fruits and some corn and 

 cultivated fruit. The Yellow Bellied wood- 

 pecker, or Sapsucker (Sphyrapicusvarius), is 



