jANtlARY 29, 1897.] 



SCIENCE. 



181 



We have received the Annuaire du Bureau 

 des Longitudes for 1897. It contains the 

 usual mass of interesting statistical matter 

 and a series of ' Notices ' of more than usual 

 interest. Three of the latter are by the late 

 Professor Tisserand. They are entitled : 



1. On the proper motion of the Solar 

 System. 



2. On the fourth meeting of the Interna- 

 tional Committee for the photographic chart 

 of the heavens. 



3. On the meeting of the International 

 Committee for fundamental stars. 



These notices by Tisserand have a sad as 

 well as scientific interest, for thej^ are fol- 

 lowed by the orations delivered at his grave 

 by Poincare, Janssen and Loewy. 



There is also a notice by Poincare on the 

 Eontgen rays, and one by Janssen on 

 ' Epochs in the Astronomical History of the 

 Planets.' These notices are not technical in 

 character, and all are very interesting. The 

 volume can be obtained for 30 cents, and 

 should be in the hands of all persons inter- 

 ested in any department of astronomy. 



We note the appearance of the British 

 Nautical Almanac for the year 1900. It is 

 in all respects similar to the volume for the 

 preceding year. In glancing over the 

 preface of the work one cannot help no- 

 ticing how small has been the use made 

 ■of the theoretical researches of British as- 

 tronomers. Probably not one formula or 

 constant of importance is taken from a 

 published research of English origin. And 

 -where results depend on observational series 

 made in England these results are generally 

 taken from discussions of the English obser- 

 vations by foreign astronomers. It is a 

 truism that science is international, but 

 truisms do not always penetrate govern- 

 ment offices. The course of the British 

 authoi-ities must be highly commended, for 

 they have used what they thought was best 

 for science, without regard to the nationality 

 ■of its origin. H. J. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

 Peofessor Simon Newcomb and Lord Kel- 

 vin have been elected honorary members of the 

 St. Petersburg Academy of Science. Lord Ray- 

 leigh and M. Callandreau have been elected 

 corresponding members. 



Dr. Arthur Auwers, the Berlin astronomer, 

 has been awarded a gold medal by the German 

 Emperor. 



' Professor Joseph Le Conte, after attending 

 the meetings of the American and British Asso- 

 ciations for the Advancement of Science, and the 

 autumn meeting of the National Academy of 

 Sciences, and presiding over the annual meet- 

 ing of the Geological Society of America, went 

 to Milledgeville, Ga., and, at the place where 

 he was married fifty years ago, surrounded by 

 friends and relatives, including Professor "W. Le 

 Conte Stevens, he celebrated, on January 14th, 

 his golden wedding. Professor Le Conte has now 

 returned to the University of California. Al- 

 though seventy-four years of age, Professor Le 

 Conte retains all the energy and originality in 

 research, publication and teaching which, during 

 the past fifty years, have accomplished so much 

 for the advancement of science. 



Heinrich Gatke, the veteran ornithologist, 

 of Heligoland, died on January 1st, at the ripe 

 age of 83. He is best known from his great 

 work on Bird Migration, which contains the 

 results of more than half a century of close ob- 

 servation at a single point — the rocky islet of 

 Heligoland, in the North Sea. This small island 

 is situated at a point where two great lines of 

 migration meet, and is the most favorable spot 

 known in the world for studying the periodic 

 movements of a very large number of birds. 

 Giitke's work is chiefly valuable as a record of 

 facts of observation ; his deductions are not ac- 

 cepted by most American students of migration. 



The deaths are announced of Isidore Strauss, 

 professor of experimental pathology, at Paris, 

 and known for his important contributions to 

 our knowledge of contagious diseases and bac- 

 teriology ; of Jean Hubert Thiry, formerly pro- 

 fessor of surgical pathology in the University 

 of Brussels ; of Dr. George Weyer, professor of 

 mathematics and astronomy at the University 



