944 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IV. No. 104. 



Problems of Arctic Geology;' Prof. W. Boyd 

 Dawkins, three lectures on ' The Eelation of 

 Geology to History ;' Mr. Walter Frewen Lord, 

 three lectures on ' The Growth of the Mediter- 

 ranean Eoute to the East,' and Lord Rayleigh, 

 six lectures on ' Electricity and Electrical Vi- 

 brations.' The Friday evening meetings will 

 begin on January 22d, when a lecture will be 

 given by Prof. Dewar. 



AccoEDiNG to a note in Natural Science the 

 report of the trustees of the Australian Mu- 

 seum, Sydney, is chiefly remarkable for the 

 record of 2,231 mollusca added to the collec- 

 tions in 1895. Among the donors, the chief 

 was Mr. W. A. Horn. A large collection of 

 fossil Bryozoa was presented by Mr. R. Ether- 

 idge, jr. The usual want of funds has pre- 

 vented the trustees from acquiring many speci- 

 mens of great value, and this same want has 

 seriously stopped collecting work, from which 

 alone one can acquire duplicates to exchange 

 with other institutions. One of the most im- 

 portant acquisitions during the year was one of 

 Captain Cook's original MS. journals, the Log 

 of the 'Endeavor,' presented by Mr. F. H. 

 Danger. A curious and unfortunate event was 

 the destruction of the entire roof over the cen- 

 tral part of the main building by white ants. 

 This had to be shored up immediately on dis- 

 covery, and the erection of a new roof will at 

 once be proceeded with. 



In a recent issue Nature gives a detailed 

 account of the report of the royal commis- 

 sion on vaccination. As to the effect of vac- 

 cination in reducing the prevalence of, and 

 mortality from, small-pox, they conclude : (1) 

 that it diminishes the liability to be attacked by 

 the disease ; (2) that it modifies the character 

 of the disease, and renders it (a) less fatal, and 

 (6) of a milder or less severe type ; (S) that the 

 protection it affords against attacks of the 

 disease is greatest during the years immediately 

 succeeding the operation of vaccination. It is 

 impossible to fix with precision the length of 

 this period of highest protection. Though not 

 in all cases the same, if a period is to be fixed, 

 it might, we think, fairly be said to cover in 

 general a period of nine or ten years ; (4) that 

 after the lapse of the period of highest protec- 



tive potency the eflScacy of vaccination to pro- 

 tect against attack rapidly diminishes, but that 

 it is still considerable in the next quinquen- 

 nium, and probably never altogether ceases ; 

 (5) that its power to modify the character of the 

 disease is also gi'eatest in the period in which 

 its power to protect from attack is greatest, but 

 that its power thus to modify the disease does 

 not diminish as rapidly as its protective influ- 

 ence against attacks, and its eflBcacy during the 

 later periods of life to modify the disease is 

 still very considerable ; (6) that re- vaccina- 

 tion restores the protection which lapse of 

 time has diminished, but the evidence shows 

 that this protection again diminishes, and 

 that, to ensure the highest degree of pro- 

 tection which vaccination can give, the oper- 

 ation should be at intervals repeated ; (7) 

 that the beneficial effects of vaccination are 

 most experienced by those in whose case it has 

 been most thorough. We think it may fairly 

 be concluded that where the vaccine matter is 

 inserted in three or four places it is more eflfec- 

 tual than when introduced into one or two 

 places only, and that if the vaccination marks 

 are of an area of half a square inch they indi- 

 cate a better state of protection than if their 

 area be at all considerably below this. ' ' 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 



Dr. E. N. Potter has resigned from the presi- 

 dency of Hobart College. 



Dr. W. E. Castle has been appointed instruc- 

 tor in biology in Knox College, Galesburg, 111. 



Dr. F. B. Peck has been made associate pro- 

 fessor of geology and paleontology at Lafayette 

 College. 



Dr. G. a. Tawney, assistant in Princeton 

 University, has been appointed to the chair of 

 philosophy in Beloit College, vacant by the 

 death of Prof. Blaisdell. 



At Cornell University an Oliver Graduate 

 Scholarship in Mathematics, of the annual value 

 of $300, has been founded in memory of James 

 Edward Oliver. 



The number of students registered in the 

 College of Physicians and Surgeons, Co- 

 lumbia University, up to November 1st, 

 were 625, of whom there are in the first 



