October 9, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



529 



be made in an arm-chair fastened to a portion of 

 the kite's frame, and will be for the purpose of 

 testing the efficiency of a flying kite for obser- 

 vation purposes, as an adjunct to the balloon 

 service, which for some time has been an im- 

 portant part of the signal corps work. 



Although the 300,000 frs. needed for the Bel- 

 gian expedition to the polar regions has been 

 collected, it was not found possible to make the 

 necessary preparations, and the expedition has 

 been postponed until July of next year. 



The Danish steamship Inglof has returned 

 after two years spent in exploring the coast of 

 Iceland. It is stated that scientific results of 

 importance have been secured. 



Pbesident Jordan, with the British and 

 American commissioners sent to study the con- 

 dition of the seals in Behring Sea, has arrived 

 at Seattle and is reported to have said that 

 there is still a vast body of fur seals on the 

 islands, more than the commissioners were first 

 led to expect, but the number is steadily de- 

 clining. The only cause of this decline is the 

 killing of females through pelagic sealing. The 

 females are never molested on the islands. 

 Pelagic sealing, as an industry, has already cut 

 its own throat, as the fleet this year will not 

 pay expenses. The killing of surplus young 

 males, as provided for by law, has always been 

 a benefit to the herd. The commissioners be- 

 lieve that the way is open to an honorable and 

 amicable settlement of this question in a man- 

 ner highly satisfactory alike to the United States 

 and England and to Canada. There can be no 

 longer any difierence of opinion as to any facts 

 in question. 



A despatch to the daily papers fi*om San 

 Diego, Cal., states that the junk Alta has ar- 

 rived from Lower California with Mr. E. A. 

 Anthony, who went there in the interest of the 

 Smithsonian Institution. He brings back a 

 great quantity of shells, mosses and sea flora 

 and natural history specimens, many of them 

 entirely new to naturalists. 



Dr. Davis Garber, professor of mathemat- 

 ics and astronomy in Muhlenburg College, Al- 

 lentown. Pa., died on September 22d, aged 67 

 years. 



Dr. Theodor Margo, lately professor of 



zoology in the University of Budapest, died on 

 September 6th, at the age of 80 years. 



Yen Men, a commissioner from the Emperor 

 of China, is now in America collecting informa- 

 tion regarding American manufactures and 

 methods of transportation. He will also visit 

 the principal countries of Europe. 



A laboratory built for the Massachusetts 

 General Hospital, Boston, at a cost of o"ver 

 $20,000, will soon be ready for use. The build- 

 ing is ■ 25x97 feet, and includes well fitted 

 laboratories of chemistry, bacteriology and his- 

 tology. It is hoped that an additional sum of 

 $100,000 will be collected for an endowment. 



The International Congress of Criminal An- 

 thropology will next meet in 1901, at The Hague, 

 at the invitation of the Dutch government. 



The Scientific Alliance of New York has 

 issued its first bulletin for the year, giving the 

 programs of the difierent scientific societies in- 

 cluded in the Alliance for the month of October. 

 Most of the societies give opportunities for re- 

 port on work carried out during the summer. 

 Prof. J. A. Allen will report to the Linnaean 

 Society, on October 13th, on a visit to some of 

 the natui'al history museums of Europe. On 

 October 12th, before the Section of Biology of 

 the New York Academy of Sciences, informal 

 reports will be made by Dr. Bashford Dean and 

 Mr. G. N. Calkins, 'On the Columbia University 

 Zoological Laboratory upon Puget Sound;' by 

 Prof. Henry F. Osborn, ' On the American 

 Museum Expedition to the Puerco and Wasatch 

 Beds;' and by Mr. William J. Hornaday, 'On a 

 Tour of Inspection of Foreign Zoological Gar- 

 dens. ' 



The regular October meeting of the Ameri- 

 can Mathematical Society will be replaced by a 

 special meeting to be held at Princeton, on 

 Saturday, October 17th, at 3 p. m. Addresses 

 will be made by Professors Felix Klein and 

 J. J. Thomson. 



The following field meetings have been ar- 

 ranged by the Torrey Botanical Club : Oct. 3, 

 Englewood, N. J.; leave foot W. 130th St., 

 1 : 15 p. m.; guide, Mr. Fay. Oct. 10, Forbell's 

 L. I.; leave Montauk Ave. Station, King's 

 County Elevated R. R., 1 : 30 p. m. ; guide, Mr. 

 Hulst. Oct. 17, Grant City, Staten Island ; 



