352 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XX. No. 500. 



that the passage of the rivers would be quite 

 out of the question. A second point of con- 

 siderable value is the demonstration of the 

 fact that the Boure heights forming the ascent 

 of the Abyssinian highlands, which have al- 

 ways been held to be inaccessible for loaded 

 animals, were successfully climbed by the 

 expedition, and that of all the caravan mules 

 and donlseys not a single one was unloaded 

 during the climb. The expedition, consisting 

 of Sir John Harrington, Mr. and Mrs. Mac- 

 millan, Mr. Bulpit, Dr. Charles Singer, med- 

 ical officer, Mr. Jessen, engineer and surveyor 

 (in charge of the launches), a taxidermist, 

 and the usual servants, left Elartum in 

 January in a government steamer for Nasser, 

 the two expeditionary launches, Sobat and 

 Adis Aheha, being towed behind. On leaving 

 the government steamer, the party embarked 

 in the smaller vessels, by which they steamed 

 without mishap of any kind to the foot of the 

 Abyssinian Hills, where they were stopped by 

 the Gambela Rapids of the Baro River, where 

 navigation ceased, and all the travelers landed. 

 A base camp was formed at Pokum, in the 

 heart of the Annak Country, at the base of the 

 Abyssinian Hills, amid delightful scenery. 

 The expedition was to leave Pokum on April 

 20, via Mela, for the western coast of Lake 

 Rudolf, in which region the travelers would 

 remain until November, afterwards returning 

 ■ to the coast, via Adis Abeba and Jibutil. 



In addition to its force engaged in forest- 

 reserve work, the Bureau of Forestry has this 

 summer 116 skilled men in the field. Of 

 these 68, scattered in 26 states, are studying 

 commercial trees, making working plans for 

 woodlots and forests, and gathering data in- 

 valuable for the proper management of wood- 

 ed areas. The remaining 48 experts, divided 

 among 10 other states, are studying means of 

 replacing the forest on lands from which it 

 has been denuded, making planting plans for 

 tracts to be forested, and planting in the 

 western forest reserves. The data they will 

 gather will be worked over and condensed by 

 the office force this winter, and put into shape 

 for practical use. Reports from the field 

 which are coming in daily show that the year 



is to be one of distinct achievement and that 

 the work is progressing everywhere with im- 

 portant advance in American forestry. These 

 experts, in covering their various territories, 

 are zealous missionaries in the cause they 

 serve, for wherever their work carries them 

 the purpose of forestry, its methods, and its 

 incalculable importance to the general wel- 

 fare are understood, appreciated and applied 

 as never before. 



We learn from the Experiment Station 

 Record that there has been recently established 

 by the National Society of Agriculture of 

 France, a committee for the purpose of secur- 

 ing and erecting a monument to the memory 

 of the late Louis de Vilmorin. The list em- 

 braces the names of many individuals who are 

 prominent in agriculture and allied objects 

 in France and elsewhere. , The American 

 membership consists of Professor C. S. Sar- 

 gent, director of the Arnold Arboretum, Bos- 

 ton, Mass. ; Dr. William McMurtrie, president 

 of the Chemical Society of New York and D. 

 M. Ferry, seed dealer, Detroit, Mich. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

 The Iowa State College has established a 

 chair of forestry with Mr. Hugh P. Baker as 

 professor. He will lecture at the college half 

 of each year on general forestry in its applica- 

 tion to Iowa conditions. The other half of 

 the year he will devote to bureau work, for 

 the most part investigating forest problems 

 as they concern the state of Iowa. 



At University College, London, Professor 

 Oliver has been reappointed to the Quain 

 chair of botany. 



At Cambridge University Mr. H. E. Dur- 

 ham, M.A., M.B., King's College, has been 

 elected to a John Lucas Walker studentship 

 for original research in pathology, and a sec- 

 ond studentship on the same foundation has 

 been adjudged to G. S. Graham-Smith, M.A., 

 M.B., Pembroke College. 



Professor von Eiselsberg, Vienna, has de- 

 clined a call to the chair of surgery at the 

 University of Berlin. 



