September 27, 1901.] 



SCIENCE. 



501 



The gold medal of the Italian Science So- 

 ciety has been presented to Mr. Marconi for 

 his services in the invention of vi^ireless teleg- 

 raphy. 



The Rontgen Society has awarded a gold 

 medal to Mr. C. H. F. Mliller, of Germany, for 

 the most practical X-ray tube for general 

 purposes. There were in all twenty-eight 

 entries. 



Db. William Patten, professor of zoology 

 at Dartmouth College, has leave of absence for 

 the present term and is engaged in zoological 

 work in Russia. 



Mr. John A, Fleming, of the U. S. Coast and 

 Geodetic Survey, has arrived in 'Honolulu for 

 the purpose of erecting and conducting a sta- 

 tion for the study of terrestrial magnetism. 



Dr. Carl Ltjmholtz, of the American 

 Museum of Natural History, lectured on the 

 Indians of Mexico before the Royal Geograph- 

 ical Society on September 14. 



On the occasion of the seventieth birthday 

 of the great zoologist Leuckart, a portrait-bust 

 was made by the sculptor, SefFner. He has 

 undertaken to supply Professor Charles L. 

 Edwards, of Trinity College, with a plaster cast. 

 If others wish to secure copies of the bust, Pro- 

 fessor Edwards is willing to forward the orders. 

 The cost in Leipzig would be from 40 to 50 

 Marks. 



The death is announced of Dr. Philip S. 

 Baker, who for many years held the chair of 

 chemisty in the medical department of De Pauw 

 University. 



The death is announced at the age of seventy- 

 three years of Dr. Ferdinand Arnold, a German 

 botanist, known for his researches on lichens. 



Dr. J. L. W. Thudichum died in London on 

 September 7. He was born in Germany and 

 graduated from the University of Giessen about 

 fifty years ago, but soon came to London and 

 engaged in medical practice. He conducted 

 researches on physiological chemistry and was 

 also the author of a volume on the ' Chemistry 

 of Wine Production.' 



The Tufts College laboratory of biology, at 

 South Harpswell, Maine, was closed for the 



year on September 6. During the summer 

 every table was occupied. Among those who 

 availed themselves of its facilities for varying 

 lengths of time were Professor Alvin Davison, 

 of Lafayette College, Dr. Emily Ray Gregory, 

 of Wells College, Professor Albert F. Matthews, 

 of the University of Chicago, Professor M. A. 

 Wilcox, of Wellesley College, Dr. C. B. Wilson, 

 of the Westfield Normal School and Dr. F. A. 

 Woods, of Harvard University. During the 

 winter the laboratory will be enlarged, provid- 

 ing a number of private rooms for investigators. 



An International OflBce of Weights and Meas- 

 ures is to be established in Sevres for the pres- 

 ervation of standards and the supplyi;]g of 

 copies. 



An annex to the Astronomical Observatory, 

 at Cambridge, England, is being constructed 

 on the north side of the dome to be used as a 

 laboratory. 



The daily papers report that Mr. S. J. Hoi- 

 singer, a special agent of the Department of 

 the Interior, has presented a report stating that 

 pottery and other remains have been taken in 

 an unauthoi'ized manner from the ruins in Ari- 

 zona and New Mexico, and that the govern- 

 ment may claim the collections deposited in 

 several museums. 



The Vallauri Prize, of the value of about 

 16,000, will be awarded in 1903 for the most 

 important scientific work accomplished whether 

 by a foreigner or an Italian during the preced- 

 ing four years. 



We learn from the London Times that, follow- 

 ing their acceptance of the proposal of the 

 British Association for an ethnographic survey 

 of India, Lord Curzon's Government has 

 adopted the suggestion of the Royal Society for 

 the carrying out of a magnetic survey. Sun 

 spots are believed to be closely connected with 

 the perturbations of the magnetic needle, and, 

 as Sir Norman Lockyer's inquiries are held by 

 him to establish some association between sun 

 spots and Indian droughts, the survey, besides 

 subserving the cause of science, may prove to 

 be of some practical utility from the admin- 

 istrative standpoint. The existing magnetic 

 observatories at Bombay and Calcutta being 



