January 12, 1900.] 



SCIENCE, 



79 



Institute of Tropical Hygiene, to be opened at 

 Hamburg on October 1st. 



Me. Marshall H. Saville left New York 

 on December 22d for Mexico to conduct archaeo- 

 logical investigations for the department of an- 

 thropology of the American Museum of Natural 

 History. 



Professor Frederick Starr, of the Uni- 

 versity of Chicago, is on an exploring trip in 

 Mexico to continue his anthropological re- 

 searches. 



Reuter's Agency announces that the expe- 

 dition of Baron Toll, organized for the explora- 

 tion of the New Siberia Islands and Sannikofif 

 Land, to which no man has yet penetrated, 

 will set out in June next from a Norwegian 

 port, whence it will proceed to the mouth of the 

 Lena, on the banks of which river, at a point 

 above the town of Yakutsk, it will pass the 

 winter. During the summer of 1901 the expe- 

 dition will begin its explorations towards the 

 north, picking up en rente a detachment which 

 will be sent forward from the main body dur- 

 ing March, with a sufficient supply of dogs. 



The Smithsonian Institution has issued a cata- 

 logue of its publications available for distribu- 

 tion in December, 1899. The catalogue can 

 probably be obtained on application, and should 

 be in the hands of men of science, as many 

 valuable papers, reprints and monographs can 

 be secured at a comparatively small price. 



The publishers, MM. Georges Carre and C. 

 Naud, 3 rue Racine, Paris, propose to issue an 

 Annuaire des MaihimaHciens, containing the 

 names, addresses, etc., of all who are engaged 

 in studying or teaching mathematics. The pub- 

 lishers ask the cooperation of all mathemati- 

 cians, who are requested to forward their names 

 and addresses^ 



Nature reports that the Brussels Academy of 

 Sciences has awarded the prize of six hundred 

 francs, for an important contribution to geom- 

 etry, to M. Leon Autonne, of the University of 

 Lyons. The prize of six hundred francs for ana- 

 tomical and systematic investigations of insects 

 of the group Apterygota (Thysanura and Col- 

 lembola) has been awarded to M. Victor Willem, 

 of the University of Ghent. M. F. Keelhoff, 

 of the same University, has been awarded the 



Prix Charles Lemaire (interest on twenty-five 

 thousand francs) for a work entitled ' Note sur 

 le travail des forces elastiques.' The decennial 

 prize of five thousand francs for botanical sci- 

 ence has been awarded to Professor Alfred Cog- 

 niaux ; and a prize of the same value for chem- 

 istry and physics has been given to Professor 

 Louis Henry. To fill vacancies caused by death, 

 the Academy has elected as foreign associates 

 in the section of mathematics and physics. Sir 

 G. G. Stokes, Professor Moissan and Professor 

 Jordan. In the section of natural sciences, M. 

 C. Vanlair has been elected a membre titnlaire, 

 Professors Pelseneer and Gravis have been elected 

 correspondents, and Sir John Murray and M. 

 Maupas have been elected associates. 



The Berlin correspondent of the London 

 Times states that the plan and details are now 

 published of the vessel which is being built at 

 the Howaldt Shipbuilding Yard at Kiel for the 

 German Antarctic expedition. The ship in 

 question will be built of wood, the only mate- 

 rial strong and elastic enough to resist the pres- 

 sure of the ice. In form she will be somewhat 

 rounder than the Frani, and will not fall away 

 towards the keel in the same manner. It will 

 be remembered that at the Geographical Con- 

 gress in Berlin, Dr. Nansen himself expressed 

 the opinion that the shape of the Fram would 

 not be suitable for the heavy weather of the 

 southern seas. In order to strengthen the ship 

 against the pressure of the ice, the middle deck 

 will be built very nearly on the level of the 

 water-line. Protection against floating ice will 

 be aflTorded by a triple coating of oak, pitch- 

 pine and South American greenwood, and the 

 bow and stern will be especially protected by 

 steel bands. The length of the ship will be 

 about 46 meters, the breadth between 10 and ll 

 meters, and the draught about five meters. She 

 will be constructed to carry coal and other stores 

 sufScient for three years, and will contain ac- 

 commodation for five scientific observers, five 

 officers and a crew of about 20 men. Each of 

 the scientific travelers and each of the officers 

 will have his own cabin. Four rooms will be 

 assigned to the crew. The engine and the 

 boiler will be placed in the stern, between the 

 living rooms. The center of the ship will be 

 occupied by the rooms for scientific work and 



