194 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IV. No. 85. 



the work issued by Dr. Gill on the determina- 

 tion of the Solar Parallax by Heliometer meas- 

 ures of Asteroids. 



' ' Dr. Chase has passed through the press his 

 work on the relative places of the principal 

 stars in the cluster in Comu Berenices, and it 

 is ready for issue as Part V. of our Transactions. 



' ' I regret to say that we were not successful 

 in the past season in securing photographic rec- 

 ords of meteor trails. The apparatus was put 

 in use during several nights of the August 

 showers, but no meteors appeared of sufficient 

 brilliancy to impress themselves on the plates, 

 which had necessarily become somewhat fogged 

 by the strong moonlight. We were equally un- 

 fortunate in ou^r attempts on the Leonids and 

 Geminids in November and December, respec- 

 tively. During this year we have had only two 

 lenses in use, as no further ones of sufficient 

 size and quality were to be found in the mar- 

 ket.. It seems wise, however, in view of the 

 favorable chances for the Perseids this year and 

 the approaching maximum of the Leonids, to 

 make an especial effort to secure a complete 

 battery for our mounting, as originally planned. ' ' 



GENERAL. 



The National Forestry Commission, which, 

 as has already been stated in this Journal, 

 is composed of Prof. Charles S. Sargent, chair- 

 man. Prof. Arnold Hague, Prof. William H. 

 Brewer, General Henry L. Abbott, Giffbrd 

 Pinchot and E. H. Shuster, has now inspected 

 the forestry of North and South Dakota, Mon- 

 tana, Idaho and eastern AVashington. About 

 two weeks will now be spent in traversing 

 western Washington forests and exploring the 

 Olympic Mountains. The Commission will then 

 proceed to California, thence to Arizona and 

 Nevada, concluding its labors in Colorado 

 in September. 



The German Geological Society held its 42d 

 general meeting in Stuttgart, from the 9th to 

 the 12th of August. In addition to the scientific 

 sessions a number of excursions had been ar- 

 ranged. The German Anthropological Society 

 held its 27th general meeting at Spires, from the 

 3d to the 6th of August, under the presidency 

 of Prof. Virchow. 



There has been erected this year at the 



Marine Biological Laboratory, Wood's Holl, a 

 new building containing a lecture hall and a 

 number of rooms for investigators. Like the 

 other buildings, it is of wood, and finished in 

 the simplest possible manner. The total cost, 

 which has been defrayed by the Marine Asso- 

 ciation, was $2,900, exclusive of $500 for furni- 

 ture. There are this year seventy-two investi- 

 gators engaged in original research at the 

 laboratory. 



We learn from Nature that by means of a 

 rearrangement of existing scholarships at the 

 Charing Cross Hospital Medical School, and by 

 the establishment of a special fund, memorials 

 have been founded to Dr. Livingstone and Prof. 

 Huxley, both old students of the school. The 

 memorial to Livingstone takes the form of an 

 entrance scholarship of 100 guineas per annum, 

 and that to Huxley of (1) an entrance scholar- 

 ship of £55, open to the sons of medical men ; 

 (2) a second year's prize in anatomy and physi- 

 ology, and (3) a lectureship dealing with recent 

 advances in science and their bearing on medi- 

 cine and surgery. The first of these Huxley 

 lectures will be delivered in the anatomical 

 theatre of the Medical School on Monday, Octo- 

 ber 5th, by Dr. Michael Foster. 



The death is reported by cablegram of Sir 

 William Grove at the age of 85. He studied 

 for the bar, and during the latter part of his 

 life Avas Judge of the High Court of Justice. 

 From 1840 to 1847, however, he was professor 

 of experimental philosophy at the London In- 

 stitution and made important contributions to 

 physical science especially in the departments 

 of electricity and optics, including the voltaic 

 battery which bears his name. He was Presi- 

 dent of the British Association in 1856, and was 

 one of the most influential members of the 

 Royal Society. 



Dr. J. M. Toner, of Washington, died on 

 July 30th at the age of 71. He had made many 

 contributions to various departments of medical 

 science. In 1871 he founded the Toner Lec- 

 tures, now endowed with $5,000, the income of 

 which is spent annually on two lectures con- 

 taining some important contribution to med- 

 ical science. In 1882 he gave his library, con- 

 sisting of 28,000 books and 18,000 pamphlets, 



