January 15, 1897.] 



SCIENCE. 



103 



of statistics, Superintendent of the Census and 

 Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Gen. Walker 

 made numerous and valuable contributions to 

 statistics, sociology and political economy. 



We regret also to announce the deaths of Dr. 

 Joseph V. Gerlach, formerly professor of anat- 

 omy in the University at Erlangen ; of Dr. 

 Charles Heitzmann, the distinguished New 

 York histologist ; of Prof. Wm. H. Pancoast, 

 an eminent Philadelphia surgeon ; of the Count 

 de Mas-Latre, the author of numerous contribu- 

 tions to paleography ; of Mr. W. H. Ward, of 

 Newark, N. J., a student of horticulture; of 

 Mr. Vivian S. Martin, the geographer, and of 

 Sir John Brown, who made important improve- 

 ments in the manufacture of armor plates and 

 railway supplies. 



Queen Victoeia has conferred an honor on 

 the English peerage by making Sir Joseph Lis- 

 ter a lord. 



Peof. Feancis Daewin is preparing to pub- 

 lish a supplementary series of Charles Darwin's 

 letters. His projected volume will include a 

 full selection from those letters of a purely sci- 

 entific interest which he was unable to print in 

 the 'Life and Letters,' as well as from any fresh 

 material that may now be intrusted to him. 

 Those of Darwin's correspondents who have not 

 already done so are requested to allow him to 

 make copies of any letters of his which they 

 possess, even though they are apparently of only 

 slight or restricted interest. 



Mb. Heebeet Spencee has consented, in re- 

 sponse to a letter signed by a large number of 

 eminent Englishmen, to allow his portrait to 

 .be painted and presented to the nation. Mr. 

 Hubert Herkomer has been selected as the 

 artist. 



The Arago medal, so seldom given by the 

 Academy, was this year awarded both to Lord 

 Kelvin and to M. Antoine d'Abbadie. 



The public meeting of the Paris Academy of 

 Sciences on December 21st was of special im- 

 portance. An address was made by the Presi- 

 dent, M. A. Cornu, and the prizes of the 

 Academy were awarded. These prizes are very 

 numerous and valuable, and the issue of the 

 Comptes Bendiis containing the account of their 

 award is of much interest. The grounds of 



each award is given in detail by an eminent 

 authority, and the hundred pages of the number 

 thus give a valuable summary of the advances 

 in certain departments of science. 



The Royal Geographical Society of London 

 has awarded a special gold medal to Dr. Pr. 

 Nansen and special silver medals to Cap- 

 tain Sverdrup, Lieutenants Scott-Hansen and 

 Johannsen and to Dr. Blessing. The other 

 members of the recent Polar expedition were 

 each awarded bronze medals. 



It is now reported that the large fortune left 

 by Alfred Nobel will be used to endow five in- 

 ternational prizes to be awarded annually, one 

 of these for the most important advance in 

 physics, one in chemistry, one in physiology or 

 medicine, one for the best compilation in physi- 

 ology or medicine, and one for the most impor- 

 tant contribution towards the promotion of 

 peace. 



Me. John Leighton will present to the 

 Royal Institution, London, his collection of 

 letters and papers by Faraday, which consist 

 chiefly of letters written to Frederick Magrath. 

 Faraday left his personal papers to the Royal 

 Institution, and they now are contained in a 

 special cabinet. 



The trustees of the British Museum have 

 secured the important collection of woodpeckers 

 and other birds formed by the late Mr. Edward 

 Hargitt. The number of specimens of wood- 

 pecker alone is nearly 3,600, including all the 

 valuable types described by Mr. Hargitt in 

 his 'Catalogue of the Woodpeckers,' and 

 there are also 2,000 miscellaneous birds. 



Mes. Coxe has presented the scientific 

 library of the late Eckley B. Coxe to Lehigh 

 University. The collection is rich in complete 

 sets of scientific periodicals and in the transac- 

 tions of learned societies. 



The foreign papers contain detailed accounts 

 of the interment of Pasteur at the Pasteur In- 

 stitute on December 26th. His remains had 

 for fifteen months been lying at Notre Dame, 

 where a religious ceremony was held before 

 removing them to the Institute. The crypt, 

 planned by M. Giraud, following the tomb of 

 Galla Placadia at Ravenna, is inscribed with 

 a sentence from Pasteur's reception speech- at 



