July 19, 1901.] 



SCIENCE. 



Ill 



fibers on the left side were reduced, but the 

 nuclei pontia were larger on the left side ; the 

 longitudinal pontile fibers were deficient on the 

 right, as shown by the smaller crus cerebri of 

 this side ; the left lemniscus was the smaller, 

 and the left superior cei"ebellar peduncle was 

 reduced. Other deficiencies were noted, which, 

 however, require further study. Full discus- 

 sion of the case was postponed, as the re- 

 search is as yet uncompleted, 



Henry E. Crampton, 



Secretary. 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 

 THE WASHINGTON MEMORIAL INSTITUTION. 



To THE Editor of Science : 



A curious incongruity appears in the plan 

 for the Washington Memorial Institution as 

 outlined in the report on * A National Univer- 

 sity' in the cvirrent number of Science, as well 

 as elsewhere. The first paragraph in the plat- 

 form of the new institution provides that ' it 

 will be independent of government support or 

 control ' (p. 51). Yet the seventh paragraph 

 assumes that the institution will depend on the 

 governmental dej)artments (including the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, the Library of Congress, etc.) 

 for its facilities, or in other words for the essen- 

 tial part of its support ; and it also provides 

 that ' students working in government labora- 

 tories or collections will be subject to the rules 

 and regulations there prevailing,' i. e., will 

 be under governmental control. It should be 

 pointed out that this unfortunate incongruity 

 is much more glaring in statement than in 

 thought ; the projectors of the enterprise 

 merely desired to emphasize the independence 

 of the prospective institution from direct federal 

 appropriation. Nevertheless, the incongruity 

 has given rise to criticism in various influential 

 quarters ; it would seem, indeed, to have been 

 one of the factors leading to the rejection of the 

 report made by the committee of the National 

 Educational Association. 



As a matter of fact, the publications hitherto 

 made concerning the Washiugton Memorial 

 Institution have been of preliminary character, 

 and have emanated from committees and indi- 

 viduals rather than fi'om the Institution. 

 Accordingly, criticism might well be withheld 



pending the issue of ofiicial statements by the 

 Institution itself. W J McGee. 



Washington, D. C, 

 July 13, 1901. 



ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA. SUPPLEMENTARY* 



NOTE. 



In the account given of the twentieth meet- 

 ing of the Royal Society of Canada held in May, 

 1901, and published in the June 28 issue of 

 Science, the writer inadvertently omitted to 

 mention Professor T. Wesley Mills's paper pre- 

 sented to Section IV. (geological and biological 

 sciences). The title of the paper was : ' The 

 Anatomy and Physiology of the Brain of the 

 Bird.' It was a continuation of a former one pre- 

 sented to the Society two years ago. The author 

 outlined his plan of investigation which was 

 somewhat extensive and which, for its execution, 

 would require much time yet. He showed that 

 the anatomical results would probably modify 

 the views of conduction in the nervous centers 

 until recently prevailing, and that the entire 

 subject would require reconsideration in view 

 of his own and other researches in various direc- 

 tions. The effects of ablation of portions of the 

 brain on the psychic condition of birds were 

 traced in brief outline with their general im- 

 plications. This part of the subject had already 

 been worked out by the author pretty fully, but 

 was also being continued at the present time. 

 Remarks were made by Professor R. Ramsay 

 Wright, of Toronto University, by Professor E. 

 E. Prince, Commissioner of Fisheries for 

 Canada, Dr. F. Slater Jackson, and Dr. A. M. 

 Mackay. H. M. Ami. 



Ottawa, July 9, 1901. 



A HORNED LIZARD AT A HIGH ALTITUDE. 



On June 30, at the head of John's Canon, 

 Las Vegas Range, N. M., I was somewhat sur- 

 prised to find a horned lizard in the uppermost 

 part of the Canadian Zone, above 10,000 feet 

 (the aneroid indicated 10,500, but is not quite 

 reliable at that altitude). The species is Phry^ 

 nosoma hernandes (Girard), and the specimen 

 is dark gray, beneath white mottled with gray. 

 The top of the range is Hudsoniau, and no lizards 

 are found there. T. D. A. Cockerell. 



E. Las Vegas, N. M., 

 July 2, 1901. 



