598 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XI. No. 276. 



Colorado, Moody of Oregon, and Jones of 

 Washington. The members of the two socie- 

 ties, and citizens interested with them, may 

 materially assist in securing some affirmative 

 action if they will signify their desire in person 

 or by letter to any Member of Congress with 

 whom they may be acquainted. 



The appropriation bill for the U. S. Agricul- 

 tural Department, reported to the House, April 

 7th, carries §4,116,400, being $390,778 more 

 than was allowed for the current year. Two 

 additional scientific appointments (one biolo- 

 gist and one botanist) have been allowed. An 

 additional allowance of |40,000 for seed distri- 

 bution is granted upon the petition of 225 mem- 

 bers of the House ; §60,000 is appropriated for 

 iron warning towers for the weather bureau in 

 place of the present wooden structures ; 838,000 

 for an animal quarantine station at New York ; 

 $47,000 additional for meat inspection and 

 $200,000 for a laboratory building on the 

 grounds of the Agricultural Department in 

 Washington. This building is for the labora- 

 tories necessary to carry on the work of the 

 scientific divisions of the department which are 

 now occupying rented quarters. The bill has 

 been placed on the calendar of the Plouse, and 

 will be called up some time next week. 



The House Committee on Appropriations has 

 received an estimate from the Secretary of the 

 Treasury of an appropriation of $15,000 for 

 expenses of procuring and transporting to the 

 National Zoological Park, Washington, D. C, 

 specimens of the indigenous animals of Alaska, 

 and of constructing the necessary paddocks and 

 houses. 



The Council of the province of Brabant in 

 Belgium has decided to establish an Institute of 

 Bacteriology. About $30,000 will be spent on 

 the building and about $9000 annually for 

 maintenance. 



A COLONIAL institute is to be opened in Mar- 

 seilles to prepare young men to fill positions in 

 the French colonies. Expeditions of students 

 will be sent out at the expense of the State, and 

 commercial houses will receive the information 

 thus obtained in the form of detailed reports. 

 Instruction will be given in botany, zoology, 

 natural histoi'y, colonial geography and history. 



etc. There will be a museum of plants, min- 

 erals, etc., so that the student may become 

 acquainted with the actual products of the 

 colonies ; also, a school of medicine to familiar- 

 ize him with diseases peculiar to tropical coun- 

 tries. It is probable that arrangements will be 

 made for teaching oriental languages. For 

 grounds and building, the city of Marseilles has 

 donated $193,000. 



Consul- General Gubnther, of Frankfort, 

 writes to the Department of State that the 

 negotiations between the city of Hamburg and 

 the Imperial German Foreign Office for the es- 

 tablishment of a tropical hygienic institute at 

 Hamburg have been completed. According to 

 agreement, an institute for ship and tropical 

 diseases is to be opened on October 1st. Its 

 purpose is to investigate these diseases, to serve 

 as a preparatory school for physicians to go to 

 German colonies in tropical climates, and for 

 the study of hygienic questions. The head 

 physician and his scientific assistants will be 

 selected at Hamburg with the consent of the 

 colonial department of the Foreign Office. The 

 general government will contribute to its sup- 

 port, while the city of Hamburg will have to 

 furnish at all times as many beds as the colonial 

 department may require. Dangerously con- 

 tagious diseases, as pest, cholera, and smallpox, 

 will not be treated in the institute. The Senate 

 of Hamburg has submitted the project to the 

 city for approval and has also recommended an 

 appropriation of about $31,500 for remodeling 

 the hospital for snilors. 



The London Times gives the following details 

 in regards to the late Dr. William Marcet, 

 whose death we were recently compelled to 

 record. He was the eldest son of Professor 

 Francis Marcet, of Geneva, and grandson of 

 Dr. Alexander Marcet, of Guy's Hospital, and 

 Jane Marcet, the authoress. He was born and 

 educated in Geneva. At the age of 18 he com- 

 menced the study of medicine at the University 

 of Edinburgh, where he was the champion and 

 friend of Murchison, Burden Sanderson, Wil- 

 liam Priestley, and others since distinguished 

 in medicine and science. After graduating 

 with honors, in 1850, Dr. Marcet came to Lon- 

 don and devoted himself to the practice of his 



