518 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XI. No. 274. 



ciety, and the Paris Academy of Sciences, tlie 

 income to be used for prizes for original dis- 

 coveries in pliysical sciences, particularly in 

 electricity and magnetism. He also left SIO,- 

 000 each to the London Institute of Electrical 

 Engineers and the Paris Societe International 

 des Electriciens for scholarships and §5,000 to 

 the Royal Institute for general purposes. 



The Royal Academy of Sciences at Berlin 

 began on March 19th, the celebration of its 

 200th anniversary. The Academy was founded 

 by Frederick I. in 1700, according to the plans of 

 Leibnitz, who was its first president, but it was 

 not opened until 1711. According to cable- 

 grams to the daily papers, the Academy was 

 addressed by the German Emperor, and among 

 those present were Professors Moissan, De 

 Pranqueville and Cenart, from France ; Profes- 

 sors MahafTy and Ramsay, and Mr. Thomas 

 E. Thorpe, from Great Britain. Ambassador 

 White represented the Smithsonian Institution, 

 and Professor E. J. Wolff, of Harvard Univer- 

 sity, the American Academy of Arts and Sci- 

 ences. 



It is said that the litigation over the estate 

 of the late Dr. Thomas W. Evans has been 

 compromised, leaving about $2,000,000 for a 

 Museum and Dental School at Philadelphia. 



The War Department has given orders to 

 have the transport Hancock prepared for the use 

 of the new Philippine Commission, which will 

 sail from San Francisco on April 15th. It is of 

 some interest to note that three members of the 

 commission are college professors. Judge Taft, 

 who succeeds President Schurman, of Cornell 

 University, as chairman, is professor and dean 

 in the Law School of the Univei'sity of Cincin- 

 nati. 



Mr. M. H. Saville, of the American Museum 

 of Natural History, has returned from a very 

 successful trip to Mexico. Archaeological ex- 

 plorations at and near the noted ruins of Mitla 

 were prosecuted to such an extent that but lit- 

 tle if any archaeological work is left to be done 

 there. 



Sir William MacCoemac, after having 

 visited Kimberly and Ladysmith in the interest 

 of the sick and wounded, is returning to Great 

 Britain. 



Mr. W. E. D. Scott, curator of the orni- 

 thological collections at Princeton University, 

 has sailed for England to study in the British 

 Museum its collections in connection with the 

 monograph he is preparing on the birds brought 

 from Patagonia by Mr. J. B. Hatcher. 



McGiLL University will, on April 30th, con- 

 fer the degree ofLL.D. on Captain Alfred J. 

 Mahon. 



The council of the Iron and Steel Institute, 

 London, has decided to award the Bessemer 

 gold medal to M. Henri de Wendel, of Joeuf, 

 Meurthe-et-Moselle, France. The presentation 

 will take place at the annual meeting to be 

 held in London on May 9th. 



The Smith's Prizes at Cambridge University 

 are awarded to Mr. J. F. Cameron, of Caius 

 College, for an essay ' On molecules considered 

 as electric oscillators,' and to Mr. R. W. H. T. 

 Hudson, of St. John's College, for an essay on 

 ' Ordinary differential equations of the second 

 order and their singular solutions.' 



The Paris Academy of Sciences has elected 

 as corresponding member Dr. Simon Schwen- 

 dener, professor of botany in the University of 

 Berlin. 



The Geographical Society of Paris has 

 awarded its great gold medal to MajorMarchand. 



The eminent British meteorologist, Mr. G. J. 

 Symons, F.R.S., died at London on March 10th, 

 at the age of 62 years. 



Professor Thomas Preston, F.R.S., died 

 at Dublin on March 7th, at the age of 40 years. 

 He had been since 1891 professor of natural 

 philosophy in University College, Dublin, and 

 was also science and art inspector for Ireland. 

 He was the author of well-known works on 

 ' Light ' and ' Heat. ' 



Admiral Sir Henry Fairfax, K.C.B., 

 died at Naples on March 20th, at the age of 63 

 years. Admiral Fairfax had made two voyages 

 to the Arctic regions in the interests of science. 



The deaths are announced of Professor 

 Georg Rvimker, director of the Hamburg Ob- 

 servatory, at the age of 68 years, and of Dr. C. 

 T. R. Luther, director of the Diisseldorf Obser- 

 vatorj'. 



Mr. Andrew Bolter, of Chicago, died on 



