June 25, 1897.] 



SCIENCE. 



991 



The General Secretary of the Italian Geo- 

 graphical Society asks us to contradict the re- 

 port that Dr. Nansen did not lecture at Rome 

 because the Society was unable to pay the ex- 

 penses. The Society conferred upon Dr. Nan- 

 sen its great gold medal, a silver medal ou each 

 of the officers and a bronze medal on each of 

 the men. Dr. Nansen, in a letter from Christi- 

 ania (April 21st), expressed his thanks for the 

 honor, and his regrets for being unable to go to 

 Rome to receive them, as he should have liked 

 very much to do had his time allowed, as he 

 hopes it will on some later occasion. 



The plans of operation for the United States 

 Geographical Survey for the ensuing year, 

 which were formulated by Director Walcott as 

 soon as the Sundry Civil and Indian Appropria- 

 tion Bills became laws, have been approved by 

 the Secretary of the Interior, and the Survey's 

 work in the several branches for the field season 

 of 1897 and the fiscal year is now under way. 

 Following is a synopsis of the sums appro- 

 propriated for the Survey in the bills named 

 and the purposes for which they are used : For 

 topographic surveys in various portions of the 

 United States the Sundry Civil Bill carries 

 $175,000 ; for geologic surveys and researches 

 pertaining to the geology of the country, $100,- 

 000 ; for the continuation of the investigation 

 of the gold and coal resources of Alaska, $.5,000 ; 

 for paleontologic researches, $10,000 ; for chem- 

 ical researches, $7,000 ; for gauging streams 

 and determining the water supply of the United 

 States, $50,000, and for the annual report of 

 the mineral resources of the United States, 

 $20,000. There are also in this bill the usual 

 allowances for engraving and printing, prepar- 

 ing illustrations, etc. In addition to these 

 items, which relate to lines of work already 

 under way and carry the same sums as 

 are carried in the bill for the present year, 

 there are in the Sundry Civil Service bill just 

 passed provisions for new or special work as 

 follows : For surveying the public lauds desig- 

 nated by Executive order as forest reserves, 

 $150,000, and for surveying the boundary line 

 between the States of Idaho and Montana, 

 $7,650. In the Indian bill there is an item for 

 completing the topographic and subdivision sur- 

 veys of the Indian Territory, $100,000. This 



has reference to the survey of the lands of the 

 Choctaw, Creek and Cherokee Nations, which 

 was begun in April, 1895. There is also in the 

 same connection provision for the resurvey of 

 the lands of the Chickasaw Nation, in the same 

 Territory, $141,500, or in all for the Indian 

 Territory surveys, $241,500. Of the provisions 

 for new work above mentioned, the only one 

 that is of special importance is that relating to 

 the survey of the public lands designated by the 

 President as forest reserves. This provision 

 grows out of the prolonged contest in Congress 

 on the subject of the disposition of the forest 

 areas of the West, and the question of abroga- 

 ting or modifying President Cleveland's order 

 of February 22, 1897, setting aside a number of 

 forest reserves. Congress suspended certain of 

 these great reserves and the work is to be con- 

 fined to these. There is to be a topographic 

 and subdivision survey, followed by a survey 

 of the forest areas. The appropriation for this 

 work, like the appropriation for most of the Sur- 

 vey work, was made immediately available, and 

 the work will not have to wait until July 1st. 

 The delay in the passage of the appropriation 

 bills will have the eflfect of shortening the field 

 season of the Geological Survey a month or two 

 and, it is presumed, will somewhat curtail the 

 output of work, at least in some directions. 

 The Indian Territory survey, which has been 

 going on in'the field and in the office all the year 

 round since it was commenced, has suffered 

 quite appreciably, it is understood, owing to 

 the peculiar conditions governing it. The 

 appropriation for this work for the year 

 1896-97 was practically exhausted in April, 

 and for two months the work was under sus- 

 pension. 



Peofessoe Edwaed L. Nichols, President 

 of the New York State Science Teachers' As- 

 sociation, has, in accordance with the vote of 

 the Association at its last meeting, appointed a 

 committee of nine to consider and report at the 

 next annual meeting on the following topics : 

 (1) Science as an Entrance Requirement to Col- 

 leges ; (2) Science Teaching in the Secondary 

 Schools ; (3) Nature Study in Primary Schools. 

 The following are the members appointed : 

 Leroy C. Cooley, Chairman; Albert L. Arey, 

 George F. Atkinson, Anna B. Comstock, Rich- 



