April 2, 1897.] 



SCIENCE. 



547 



called microscopes? Mr. Dingley has stated 

 for publication that his objection to exceptions 

 in the tariff is the trovible they cause custom 

 house officials, but he appears now to propose 

 exceptions that can only be defined by the 

 Courts. 



We asked the leading makers of scientific in- 

 struments in the United States whether they 

 regarded a tax on instruments imported for 

 educational institutions as likely to be bene- 

 ficial or harmful to them. The answers were 

 about equally divided. One maker writes : 

 "We know that putting these on the free list 

 ruined our business in that line. ' ' Consequently 

 his business must have been ruined in the 

 eighteenth century. Half of those who favor the 

 duty had not heard of its proposal, and it thus 

 seems that it was not planned in consultation 

 with those interested. If Mr. Dingley had con- 

 sulted makers of instruments he would have 

 found opposition to his plan. Thus Messrs. 

 Warner and Swasey write us : "We believe that 

 all institutions of learning should be able to 

 purchase their instrumental equipment in the 

 cheapest market, and that thereby the good of 

 all will best be secured. We would, therefore, 

 be loathe to have any duty imposed that would 

 interfere with the best results of our schools 

 and colleges, as we fear would be the case 

 should the proposed duty come into effect." 

 Mr. John A. Brashear states that he is making 

 more instruments for fox'eign than for home 

 universities. 



We feel sure that our legislators at Washing- 

 ton wish to do the best they can for the country 

 and for themselves. If it be brought to their 

 attention that books and instruments are the 

 raw materials of science, education and civiliza- 

 tion they will not wish to tax these. When 

 they see that the leading Republican papers, 

 such as the New York Tribune, the Boston 

 Transcript and the New York Independent, op- 

 pose such legislation, they will not wish to 

 carry its burden through the elections of 1898 

 and 1900. 



GENERAL. 



Peofessoe W. W. Hendriceson, head of 

 the department of mathematics at the Naval 

 Academy at Annapolis, has been appointed 

 Superintendent of the American Ephemeris 



and Nautical Almanac, in succession to Profes- 

 sor Simon Newcomb. The retirement of Pro- 

 fessor Newcomb, on reaching the age limit fixed 

 by the naval authorities, has called forth many 

 notices in appreciation of his great contribu- 

 tions to science. 



The American Mathematical Society will 

 hold its summer meeting at Toronto on Mon- 

 day and Tuesday, August 16th and 17th. It 

 will thus follow the meeting of the American 

 Association for the Advancement of Science at 

 Detroit, and precede the meeting of the British 

 Association at Toronto. 



As we have already announced, the Fourth 

 Triennial Congress of American Physicians and 

 Surgeons will be held at Washington on May 

 4th, 5th and 6th. The sessions of the societies 

 will be held in various places, the American 

 Physiological Society and the American An- 

 atomists having been assigned rooms in the 

 Columbian University. The President of the 

 Congress, Professor William H. Welch, of 

 Johns Hopkins University, will deliver an ad- 

 dress on Wednesday evening. May 5th, at 8.15 

 o'clock, in the Columbia Theatre. The exer- 

 cises attending the unveiling of the statue of 

 Professor Gross, under the auspices of the Sur- 

 gical Association, will be held on Wednesday, 

 May 5th, at 5 o'clock. The Executive Com- 

 mittee has decided that the Congress shall give 

 a dinner on Tuesday evening. May 4th, at the 

 Arlington, to which guests will be invited. 

 On Wednesday evening, at 9.30 o'clock, the 

 President of the Congress will receive the mem- 

 bers, the invited guests and the accredited 

 visitors, with the ladies accompanying them, at 

 the Arlington. On Thursday evening the Cos- 

 mos Club will give a complimentary ' smoker ' 

 to the Congress. 



The Sinking Fund Commissioners of the 

 City of New York upon March 25th unani- 

 mously adopted a resolution setting aside the 

 entire southern portion of Bronx Park, com- 

 prising 261 acres, for the establishment of a 

 Zoological Park. The tract is directly in the 

 geographical center of the great ' annexed 

 district. ' The conditions are that the Society 

 shall raise $100,000 before entering the tract, 

 and an additional $150,000 within three years 



