Apkil 6, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



559 



voyages to the Arctic regions. It is intended 

 that the expedition should return in 1903, but 

 if funds hold out, a year later. 



The annual Field Meeting or long distance 

 excursion of the National Geographic Society 

 has been arranged so that the members of the 

 Society may have an opportunity to observe the 

 total eclipse of the sun, which takes place on 

 Monday, May 28th. As the center of the 

 belt of totality will pass near Norfolk, Virginia, 

 the board of managers of the Society have 

 made a conditional contract with the Norfolk 

 and Washington Steamboat Company for an 

 excursion to that city and vicinity. The party 

 •will leave Washington by the Norfolk and 

 Washington steamer at 7 o'clock, p. m., Sun- 

 day, May 27th. Returning, leave Norfolk at 

 6 o'clock Monday afternoon, reaching Washing- 

 ton on Tuesday morning in time for breakfast 

 at home. The total duration of the eclipse 

 will be 2 hours, 34 minutes and 6 seconds, of 

 which 1 minute and 26 seconds will be total. 

 The eclipse will be entirely over at 10:15.6 

 a.m., and from that hour until 6 o'clock the 

 steamer will be at the disposal of the party for 

 a cruise around the harbor and visits to the 

 many points of interest around Norfolk, such 

 as the Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Newport News, 

 Fortress Monroe, the Indian Industrial School 

 at Hampton, etc. 



The first volume of the scientific results of 

 the Norwegian Polar Expedition, edited by Dr. 

 Fridjof Nansen, is about to be issued by 

 Messrs. Longmans, Green & Co. In addition 

 to an account of the Fram by Mr. Collin Archer, 

 the builder, the volume contains memoirs on 

 the geology of Cape Flora in .Franz Josef Land 

 by Dr. Pompeckj and Dr. Nansen ; the fossil 

 plants from Franz Josef Land, by Dr. A. G. 

 Nathorst ; the birds collected during the expe- 

 dition, by Mr. CoUett and Dr. Nansen ; and the 

 Crustacea, by Professor G. O. Sars. It is ex- 

 pected that five or six volumes in all will be 

 published. 



The Croonian Lecture before the Royal So- 

 ciety v/ill be delivered on March 22d by Profes- 

 sor Paul Ehrlich. The subject of the lecture 

 will be Immunity, with special reference to cell 

 life. 



The lustitutioQ of Civil Engineers, London 

 held its annual dinner on March 21st. Sir Wil- 

 liam Preece presided, and speeches were made 

 by Lord Ashbourne, Lieutenant General Geary, 

 Lord Welby and Lord Balfour of Burleigh. 

 Sir William Preece stated that arrangements 

 had been made to entertain American visitors 

 at the Guildhall on July 5th. 



The Annual Report of the Director of the Field 

 Columbian Museum for the year 1898-99 shows 

 a steady increase of the material in its various 

 departments, most noticeable perhaps, in the 

 way of fossil vertebrates, some fine specimens 

 of the large Dinosaurs having been obtained in 

 Wyoming. Good progress has been made in 

 the Department of Anthropology, while the 

 herbarium is now considered the best in the 

 Central United States. While there has been a 

 slight falling off in the total attendance, yet 

 many more school children have visited the 

 museum than ever before, and the courses of 

 lectures have been deservedly popular. The 

 report is illustrated by a number of plates show- 

 ing some of Mr. Akeley's fine mammal groups 

 and some of the anthropological exhibits, as 

 well as a view of a remarkably fine skull of 

 Tilanoiherium, considered as T. ingens. 



The following letter has been addressed to 

 Sir Michael Foster on the occasion of his enter- 

 ing Parliament by a number of his former 

 pupils at Cambridge. 



We, a tew of your Cambridge friends, take the op- 

 portunity given by your entering Parliament to ex- 

 press our loyalty, respect, and cordial friendship to- 

 wards you. Though we regret anything which takes 

 you from among us, yet we cannot but rejoice that the 

 cause of learning has gained so strong an advocate in 

 Parliament. The work you have done in Cambridge 

 during the last 30 years seems to us of unique value. 

 You have taught us to recognize what is worth learn- 

 ing, and you have taught us how to learn. If we in 

 Cambridge now value and seek after the advancement 

 of natural knowledge, we owe it to you more than to 

 any man living. We beg you to believe that we are 

 grateful, and we shall rejoice if we can in any way 

 prove our sincerity. We can ill afiord to lose either 

 the weight of your name or your guidance at our 

 councils ; we Ciin, indeed, hardly imagine a greater 

 misfortune than the breaking of the bond between 

 you and us. But we cannnot complain if, after many 

 years of service, you have found it necessary to loosen 



