616 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IV. No. 95. 



We regret to record the following deaths : 

 Gustav Kieseritski, professor of mathematics 

 at the Polytechnic Institute in Eiga, aged 67 

 years; C. J. Boone, professor of geometry and 

 higher elocution at Georgetown College, D. C, 

 at the age of 80 years, and Dr. J. P. E. Lies- 

 gang, the writer on photography. 



A COMMITTEE has been formed in London to 

 arrange an international memorial commemor- 

 ating the connection of Mr. Cyrus Field, Sir 

 John Pender and Sir James Anderson with sub- 

 marine telegraphy. 



The Botanical Museum in Berlin, says Die 

 Natur, will be enlarged by leasing seven rooms 

 in a neighboring building. There is no longer 

 room in the museum for research work, as the 

 collections have recently grown rapidly and the 

 exhibits from the recent industrial exposition 

 have now been added. 



We learn from Nature that the newly formed 

 Society of Sicilian Naturalists will publish a jour- 

 nal of natural history entitled II Naturalista 

 Siciliana. The first number contains articles in 

 Italian and in French on entomology, mala- 

 cology, botany and crustacese. The Society, of 

 which Prof. E. Eagusa is president, proposes to 

 meet monthly in Palermo, and once a year in 

 some other city of Sicily. 



The Progressive American is the title of a new 

 monthly journal devoted to the progress of 

 science and invention, published by Hern & Co., 

 New York, and edited by Mr. G. H. Hern. 

 The first issue is largely made up of short items, 

 some new and some old, some good and some 

 bad. All signs of interest in science are encour- 

 aging and, though the ground of the new jour- 

 nal seems to be amply covered by The Scientific 

 American, we hope that The Progressive Ameri- 

 can will make a place for itself and fill it with 

 credit. 



There have just been issued two works do- 

 ing great credit to science in America. One of 

 these is An American Text-hook of Physiology, 

 published by W .B. Saunders, Philadelphia. It 

 is edited by Prof. W. H. Howell, who had the 

 cooperation of the leading American physiolo- 

 gists. The other is the first volume of a System 

 of Diseases of the Eye, published by the J. B. 

 Lippincott Co. , Philadelphia ; and edited by 



Prof. W. F. Norris and Dr. C. A. Oliver. We 

 hope to give adequate reviews of these works, 

 but in the meanwhile it is pleasant to call atten- 

 tion to such admirable results of scientific col- 

 laboration. 



A COMMITTEE, with the Prince of Oldenburg 

 as honorary president, has been formed to col- 

 lect subscriptions for a monument to Pasteur 

 in Eussia. 



The Croonian Lectures before the Eoyal Col- 

 lege of Physicians of London will be delivered 

 in 1897 by Dr. Hale White. Dr. Sidney Mar- 

 tin will give the course in 1898. 



There has been published at Paris, in com- 

 memoration of the 100th anniversary of the 

 faculty of medicine, a work giving the history 

 of the school. It is written by Dr. A. Corlien 

 with the cooperation of a committee, and en- 

 titled Le CentSnaire de la Faculte de Medecine 

 de Paris (1794-1894). 



The general treasurer of the British Associa- 

 tion, Prof. Eiicker, has reported that the treas- 

 urer's receipts for last year were £3,773 2s. 3d. 

 The payments included : expenses of Ipswich 

 meeting, £148 10s. 5d. ; rent and office expenses, 

 £50 5s. 2d. ; salaries, £505 ; printing, binding, 

 etc., £1,007 5s. 4d. ; payment of grants made at 

 Ipswich, £1,104 6s. Id. The investment account 

 had remained unaltered, and stood thus on June 

 30, 1896 : Consols, £7,537 ; India Three per 

 cents., £3,600. 



We learn from La Vie Scientifique that M. 

 Etienne will shortly present in the French 

 Chamber a bill introducing the decimal sub- 

 division of time. The subject seems to be con- 

 sidered seriously in France, as a maker of 

 watches has patented a double-faced watch, 

 giving on one side the present sub-divisions and 

 on the other the proposed decimal system. 



The Auk states that Mr. James M. South- 

 wick, well known as a commercial naturalist, 

 has recently been appointed curator of the 

 Museum of Natural History, lately established 

 by the authorities of the city of Providence, 

 E. I. , in Eoger Williams Park. A building has 

 been erected at a cost of $40,000, a portion of 

 which will be devoted to museum purposes, as 

 required. Mr. Southwick will devote special 

 efforts to securing representative collections of 



