SEPTE3IBEE 11, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



357 



derstanding in certain quarters, and M. de 

 Fonvielle, a distinguished scientific journalist, 

 has written to Lord Kelvin, congratulating him, 

 upon the ' failure of the atomic theories.' In 

 reply Lord Kelvin expressed his regret at the 

 misunderstanding, and goes on to say : " I do 

 not allude in this passage to anything which I 

 am in the habit of teaching either in my classes 

 or in my published works. I am as much con- 

 vinced as ever I was of the absolute truth of 

 the kinetic theory of gases. All I know is I 

 have not succeeded, in spite of fifty years of 

 effort, in understanding more about the lumin- 

 iferous ether or the manner in which it operates 

 in regard to the electrical and magnetic forces. 

 It is on this point I remain as ignorant as I was 

 fifty-five years ago, when I first became con- 

 vinced that the ether operated essentially in all 

 these actions." 



Prop. H. F. Osborn has contributed to the 

 September number of The Century an account 

 of ' Prehistoric Quadrupeds of the Rockies, ' 

 well calculated to impress on the reader the 

 interest and importance of paleontological re- 

 search. The American Museum of Natural 

 History has collections of great value, gathered 

 by Prof. Osborn, Dr. Wortman and others, 

 and under their direction Mr. Charles Knight 

 has prepared a series of water-color drawings 

 designed to give an idea of the appearance 

 of the extinct animals in their natural sur- 

 roundings. These were exhibited last winter 

 at the reception of the New York Academy of 

 Sciences and are undoubtedly the most life-like 

 reproductions hitherto executed. Nine of the 

 drawings have been reproduced on a large scale, 

 and accompany Prof. Osborn' s article in The 

 Century. 



M. Delebecque has communicated to the 

 Paris Academy a description and explanation, 

 by M. Forel of Lausanne, of the phenomena 

 known as the Fata Morgana. These have long 

 been observed at the Straits of Messina and 

 have been described by Humboldt and others. 

 The phenomena consist in an apparently great 

 enlargement, in a vertical direction, of the rocks, 

 buildings, etc., on the opposite side of a lake 

 or strait. M. Forel finds that it is not a real 

 enlargement, but a number of different images, 



some erect and some reversed, and attributes it 

 to complex mirage. 



^E regret having printed a note in the last 

 issue of this Journal in which it was assumed 

 that an article by President Jordan in the Sep- 

 tember number of Appleton's Popular Science 

 Monthly might have been intended seriously. 

 It is a satire on ' impressionist physics, ' and 

 ought to be so recognized by every one, even 

 apart from the signature of President Jordan. 

 It is, however, impossible to parody, other than 

 by republication, much that has been written on 

 this subject, and President Jordan will probably 

 receive letters asking for admission to the ' Al- 

 cade Camera Club. ' 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 



By the will of the late Martin Brimmer, of 

 Boston, Harvard University will receive $50,- 

 000 on the death of his widow. 



The six buildings of the New York State 

 Veterinary College of Cornell University have 

 been completed and the laboratories and mu- 

 seums are being fitted up. 



By private gifts, a Japanese fellowship in 

 economics has been established at the University 

 of Wisconsin, and Mr. M. Shiozawa, of Tokyo, 

 Japan, has been elected to the fellowship for 

 the coming year. A second fellowship in eco- 

 nomics has been arranged for 1896-97 only, to 

 be held by a graduate of Bockford College, and 

 Miss Mary A. Salvin has been elected to the 

 fellowship. 



The forty-third report of the Department of 

 Science and Art of the Committee of Council of 

 Education of Great Britain shows that the ex- 

 penditure of the Department was £745,470 for 

 the year 1895. Of this amount over £150,000 

 was in direct payments to encourage instruction 

 in science. The number of visitors during 1895 

 was 1,040,628 at South Kensington and 355,248 

 at Bethnal-green, a decrease of more than a 

 quarter of a million from the year before. 



George T. Winston, President of the Uni- 

 versity of North Carolina, has been elcteed 

 President of the Univei'sity of Texas. 



Prof. Nathaniel Schmidt, of Colgate Uni- 

 versity, has been appointed to the new chair of 

 Semitic language and literature, recently en- 



