April 16, 1897.] 



SCIENCE. 



617 



papers were presented covering a wide range 

 of scientific subjects. 



We regret to record the death of Dr. Edson 

 S. Bastin, professor of materia medica and 

 botany at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, 

 from cerebral hemorrhage, at the age of fifty- 

 four years. ProfesssrBastin's text-books, 'Ele- 

 ments of Botany' and 'College Botany,' are 

 extensively used, and he was the author of 

 numerous researches in pharmaceutical botany. 



The biological laboratory of Cold Spring 

 Harbor, L. I., conducted under the auspices of 

 the Brooklyn Academy of Arts and Sciences, 

 will again this year be under the direction of 

 Professor H. W. Conn, of We'sleyan University. 

 The laboratory will be open for research work 

 after the middle of June, and the regular courses 

 will begin on July 7th and continue for six 

 weeks. 



Peofessoe John M. Macfaeland, of the 

 University of Pennsylvania, has arranged an 

 Easter botanical excursion for his students, who 

 will camp in the neighborhood of Savannah, Ga. 



Me. E. p. Sheldon, lately instructor in bot- 

 any at the University of Minnesota, has accept- 

 ed a commission from the National Herbarium 

 to organize a field party for the exploration of 

 the Blue Mountains in Oregon. He expects to 

 devote at least six months to the field work. 



Peofessoe A. F. VON "Waldheim, of Warsaw, 

 has been appointed Director of the St. Peters- 

 burg Botanical Garden. 



The Scientific Society of Danzig has oflfered a 

 prize for a research on fungus epidemics in in- 

 sects which are harmful to the forests. The 

 thesis must be presented before the end of the 

 present year. 



The State subsidy to the fresh-water Biolog- 

 ical Laboratory at Plon, under the Directorship 

 of Dr. Otto Zacharias, may be withdrawn next 

 year. Several German societies are, however, 

 urging the Ministry to continue the subsidy, and 

 special subscriptions for the laboratory have 

 been opened. 



The public meeting, which we have already 

 announced, for the purpose of raising a fund for 

 a national memorial to Edward Jenner in cele- 

 bration of the centenary of his discovery of 



vaccination was held in the theater of the 

 University of London, on March 31st. The 

 chair was taken by the Duke of Westminster, 

 who made some introductory remarks. Lord 

 Herschell, the Chancellor of the University, pro- 

 posed the first resolution, which was : " That 

 the present is an appropriate time to inaugu- 

 rate a work of national utility in honor of Ed- 

 ward Jenner." Lord Lister proposed: " That 

 a subscription be set on foot with a view of pro- 

 moting, in connection with the British In- 

 stitute of Preventive Medicine, but in a manner 

 distinguished by Jenner' s name, researches on 

 the lines which he initiated. ' ' Lord Lister inti- 

 mated that the name of the Institute of Preven- 

 tative Medicine might be altered to that of the 

 Jenner Institute. 



The annual dinner of the Chemical Society, 

 London, was held on March 31st, with Mr. A. G. 

 Vernon Harcourt, the retiring President in the 

 chair. Speeches were made by Lord Lister, Sir 

 John Evans, Prof. Michael Foster and others. 

 Professor Dewar is President-elect of the Society. 



The annual dinner of the Institution of Civil 

 Engineers, London, was also held on March 

 31st. Mr. J. Wolf Barry presided and addresses 

 were made by Sir F. Bedford, Mr. St. John 

 Brodrick, Lord George Hamilton, the Lord 

 Chancellor, and the Speaker of the House of 

 Commons. According to the report in the 

 London Times, the president stated that 

 the institution was only about 70 years old, 

 and even the name civil engineer was not 

 very much more than 100 years old. The 

 institution now numbered about 6,000 mem- 

 bers, associate members and associates, and 

 about 1,000 students, making in all an in- 

 dustrial army of about 7,000 persons. Their 

 members labored in all parts of the world, and 

 some of them were doing excellent pioneer 

 work in the colonies. By a unanimous vote of 

 the general meeting of the Institution held on 

 the previous day a new departure had been 

 taken. From the present time forward admis- 

 sion to the institution would be gained either 

 by scientific examination or by the submission 

 of some valuable paper or thesis. He thought 

 that would be found of great value to the out- 

 side world, since it would be a guarantee that 



