May 14, 1897.] 



SCIENCE. 



765 



1. Is it desirable and practicable to preserve from 

 fire and to maintain permanently as forested lands 

 those portions of the public domain now bearing 

 ■wood growth for the supply of timber? 



2. How far does the influence of forest upon cli- 

 mate, soil and water conditions make desirable a 

 policy of forest conservation in regions where the 

 public domain is principally situated ? 



3. "^Tiat specific legislation should he enacted to 

 remedy the evils now confessedly existing? 



It came within the province of the committee 

 to recommend the setting aside of additional 

 forestry reservations, but its primary object was 

 to suggest an intelligent policy for the preser- 

 vation of the reserves previously made. The 

 Academy was especially asked for an opinion 

 on the legislation recommended by the Ameri- 

 can Forestry Association and by the American 

 Association for the Advancement of Science, in 

 the hope that the weight of the Academy's in- 

 fluence would induce Congress to enact the 

 needed legislation. Recommendations to this 

 eflect will doubtless be in the report now pre- 

 pared by the committee of the Academy, and 

 will guide the President and the Secretary of 

 the Interior in the administration of the reserves 

 in accordance with the powers given them by 

 Senator Pettigrew's amendment. 



THE BEQUESTS OF THE LATE PROFESSOR COPE. 



The will of Edward D. Cope, signed October 

 1, 1895, in accord with the guiding principles 

 of his life, leaves, after making ample provision 

 for his family, his collections for the benefit of 

 science. His scientific books, his osteological 

 collection, and his collection of fresh-water mol- 

 lusca are given to the School of Biology of the 

 University of Pennsylvania, and his collection 

 of minerals to the University. Duplicates of 

 the collection of fresh- water mollusca are to go 

 to the Cincinnati Society of Natural History 

 and to the American Museum of Natural His- 

 tory. The collections preserved as wet prepa- 

 rations and the skins of animals are given to 

 the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. 

 The paleological collections are divided into 

 three parts : First. The North American col- 

 lection. Second. The South American, i. e., 

 the Pampean collection which was purchased 

 of the Buenos Ayrean exhibitors at the Paris 

 Exposition of 1878, and small collections from 



the West Indies and Mexico. Third. European 

 collections chiefly from the Neocene of Alber of 

 France. It is directed that these collections be 

 sold, and after the payment of private bequests, 

 including $2,500 to each of his assistants, Mr. 

 Jacob Geismar and Miss Anna M. Brown, that 

 the balance, estimated at $40,000, be given to 

 the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadel- 

 phia, as an endowment for a professorship or 

 curatorship of vertebrate paleontology. The 

 incumbent must be an original investigator 

 elected by the Council of the Academy and ap- 

 proved by the National Academy of Sciences, 

 $400 of the income of this endowment to be 

 used for the procurement, either by collection 

 or purchase, of vertebrate fossils. The execu- 

 tors of the will are Mr. John B. Garrett and 

 Professor Henry F. Osborn. 



GENERAL. 



A MEMORIAL meeting in honor of the late 

 Professor Sylvester was held under the auspices 

 of the Johns Hopkins University on May 1st. 

 Addresses were made by Dr. Fabian Franklin 

 and others. 



The Flower Astronomical Observatory of the 

 University of Pennsylvania was dedicated on 

 the afternoon of May 12th. An address was 

 made by Professor Simon Newcomb. 



Prince Luigi with a large party will shortly 

 arrive in this country, with a view to making 

 explorations in Alaska and ascending to the 

 summit of Mt. St. Elias. Professor I. C. Rus- 

 sell has made thorough explorations of the 

 mountain, attaining a height of 12,000 feet, but 

 the summit, some 18,000 feet in height, has 

 never been reached. 



The Literary and Philosophical Society of 

 SheflBeld proposes to have painted for the So- 

 ciety a picture of Dr. H. C. Sorley in celebra- 

 tion of the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning 

 of his scientific work. 



The degree of LL.D. has been conferred by 

 the University of Edinburgh on Professor James 

 Dewar and Dr. John Willie. 



The Royal Geographical Society has elected 

 the following as honorary corresponding mem- 

 bers: Professor G. Delia Vedova, Baron Toll 

 and Captain Otto Irminger. 



