December 11, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



875 



According to The British Medical Journal, on 

 the suggestion of Dr. Nicholson, professor of 

 natural history at the University, the Town 

 Council of Aberdeen agreed some time ago to 

 utilize part of the buildings of the old bathing 

 station as a marine aquarium. The tanks have 

 been made, and the further necessary fittings 

 are in hand. In view of the great importance 

 of the fishing trade at Aberdeen further de- 

 velopments have been contemplated with re- 

 gard to combining a department for fish hatch- 

 ing and culture on a scientific basis with the 

 aquarium. It is to be expected that the in- 

 vestigations carried on in such an institution 

 should prove of great interest and importance 

 to the students of zoology at the University. 



Garden and Forest states that the crown for- 

 ests of Sweden compi'ise more than one-quarter 

 of the entire wooded area of the country and 

 are managed with scrupulous care. The in- 

 crease alone is cut, so that a productive forest 

 is to stand forever on all crown lands that are 

 unsuitable for cultivation. More than this, the 

 government has entered upon an extensive sys- 

 tem of planting trees on desolate and unculti- 

 vated areas, and these object-lessons have in- 

 duced owners of private forests, especially the 

 larger proprietors, to manage their timber lands 

 so that they will become permanent sources of 

 income. These facts were communicated to our 

 Department of State by Hon. H. W. Thomas, 

 United States Minister to Sweden, and they are 

 of particular interest, not only to Sweden, but 

 also to the United States and to Canada, whose 

 lumber meets the Swedish product as its great- 

 est competitor in the markets of the world. 

 Since the forests in Sweden grow slowly, it has 

 generally been supposed that the immense 

 quantities exported would gradually exhaust 

 this most important source of the nation's 

 wealth, but from the facts stated it appears 

 probable that the forty-seven million acres of 

 forests in the country will continue to be a 

 source of income for all future time. The prod- 

 ucts of the forest now comprise nearly one- 

 half of the total exports of the country in value. 



The British Medical Journal states that the 

 German Medical Press Association held its 

 annual meeting recently at Frankfort-on-Main, 



under the presidency of Dr. Adler, of Vienna. 

 The following medical journalists were elected 

 members of the committee for the ensuing year : 

 Dr. Adler, of the Wiener medizinische Wochen- 

 schrift; Prof. Ewald, of the Berliner Uinische 

 Wochenschrift ; Dr. Honigmann, of the Zeitschrift 

 fiir praktische Aerzte, and Docent Dr. Mendel- 

 sohn, of the Zeitschrift fiir Krankenpflege. The 

 number of members of the Association is now 

 39, representing 37 journals. Prof. Virchow 

 was elected an honorary member of the Associa- 

 tion, and in acknowledging the honor conferred 

 on him recalled the fact that he had been a 

 member of the German Association of Scien- 

 tists for 50 years, and during all that time he 

 had been editor of its Archives. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 



The will of the late Willard B. Perkins 

 leaves, among other public bequests, $24,000 

 to Colorado College, and $6,000 each to Colum- 

 bia University and the Massachusetts' Institute 

 of Technology, for travelling scholarships in 

 architecture. 



The University of Helsiugfors has received 

 by the will of the late Dr. H. F. Antells 800,- 

 000 M. , the interest of Which is to be used for 

 travelling scholarships and scientific expedi- 

 tions. 



Dr. Willis Green Craig has been elected 

 President of Center College, at Danville, Ky. 



Dr. Peithner v. Lichtenfels, of the Poly- 

 technic Institute at Graz, has been promoted to 

 a full professorship of mathematics. Dr. Edler, 

 of Gottingen, has been called to an associate 

 professorship of agriculture at the University 

 of Jena; Dr. E. Pringsheim, docent in physics, 

 and Dr. Karl Friedheim, docent in chemistry, 

 have been appointed to professorships in the 

 University at Berlin. 



DISCUSSION AND COBBESPONDENCE. 

 AGE OF THE POTOMAC FORMATION. 



To THE Editor of Science : In the last 

 number of Science, Prof. Marsh tells us that 

 the vertebrate fossils of the Potomac formation 

 demonstrate its Jurassic age. This is a matter 

 of much interest, because the evidence from 

 fossil plants has been thought to place the for- 



