932 



SCIENCE. 



[N. s. Vol. XX. No. 522. 



Vienna Academy of Sciences.— Hann, Weiss, 

 von Lang, Exner, committee; Boltzmann, delegate. 



St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. — Baelclund, 

 and others not yet named, committee; Backlund, 

 delegate. 



Suh-committee of International Meteorological 

 Committee. — Eoteh, delegate. 



Stockholm Academy of /Sciejices.— Arrlienius,''' 

 delegate. 



Astronomical and Astrophysical Society of 

 America. — Frost, Abbot, Bauer, Jewell, Perrine, 

 committee; Frost, Abbott, Bauer, Jewell, Perrine, 

 delegates. 



Amei-ican Physical Society. — Ames, Crew, 

 Lewis, Mendenhall, E. F. Nichols, committee; 

 Crew, Mendenhall, delegates. 



Natiofial Academy of Sciences. — Hale, Camp- 

 bell, Langley, Michelson, Young, committee; Hale, 

 Campbell, delegates. 



George E. Hale, 



President. 

 C. D. Perrine, 

 Recording Secretary. 



THE FRAl^KLIN FUND. 

 The Boston Transcript gives further details 

 in regard to Mr. Andrew Carnegie's gift to 

 the Franlslin Fund. It appears that he has 

 offered to duplicate the amount of the fund 

 as it stood last September— $408,396.48. His 

 gift is to be used as an endov^ment for the 

 Franklin Union or Franklin Institute, which- 

 ever name it may finally bear, on the follow- 

 ing conditions : 



1. That the Franklin Fund be devoted to 

 the establishment of a school for the industrial 

 training of men and women along the lines 

 of the Mechanics' and Tradesmen's School of 

 New Tork and the Cooper Union. 



2. That the city of Boston shall furnish a 

 site. 



The information was imparted to the man- 

 agers of the fund by a letter recently written 

 to Mayor Collins, chairman of the fund, by 

 President Henry S. Pritchett of the Institute 

 of Technology. In the letter Dr. Pritchett 

 said: 



" In September last I had some talk with 

 Mr. Andrew Carnegie concerning the history 

 of Franklin's bequest to the city of Boston. 

 Mr. Carnegie took great interest in the out- 



* Acting informally. 



come of Franlflin's effort, both from his ad- 

 miration of the character of Franlilin, and 

 from the desire to see the gift a helpful one. 

 The outcome of this talk was his suggestion 

 that he would furnish an endowment equal in 

 amount to the sum available from Franklin's 

 bequest. Upon my return to Boston, I sent 

 to Mr. Carnegie a copy of Franklin's will, to- 

 gether with a statement of the treasurer of 

 Boston showing that the amount available at 

 that time was $408,396.48. Eecently Mr. Car- 

 negie has written me, saying that after look- 

 ing over these papers, he saw no reason to 

 modify his original suggestion, and formally 

 renewing his offer to duplicate the amount 

 mentioned as an endowment for the Franklin 

 Union or the Franklin Institute, whichever 

 name it may finally bear." 



Dr. Pritchett then quotes the conditions Mr. 

 Carnegie imposes, as stated above. In con- 

 clusion the letter says, Mr. Carnegie's thought 

 is, perhaps, best shown by the following extract 

 from his letter: 



" I am a trustee of both the schools men- 

 tioned and do not hesitate to say that to the 

 best of my knowledge no money has produced 

 more valuable results. I think it is from the 

 class who not only spend laborious days, but 

 who also spend laborious nights fitting them- 

 selves for hard work, that the most valuable 

 citizens are to come. We are here helping 

 only those who show an intense desire and 

 strong determination to help themselves — the 

 only class worth helping,\ the only class that it 

 is possible to help to any great extent." 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

 The new series of Science completes with 

 the present issue its tenth year and twentieth 

 volume. 



At the time we go to press all indications 

 point to a most successful meeting of the 

 American Association for the Advancement 

 of Science and the affiliated societies at Phila- 

 delphia during convocation week. Full re- 

 ports of the meetings will be published in the 

 next and subsequent issues of this journal. 



The Paris Academy of Sciences has be- 

 stowed upon Sir James Dewar its Lavoisier 

 gold medal. 



