Junes, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



917 



seum of Natural History the collection ex- 

 hibited by Messrs. Tiffany & Co. at the Paris 

 Exposition, consisting of American and foreign 

 cut and uncut precious stones and other objects. 

 The value of the gift is over $50,000. 



We learn from Nature that by the will of the 

 late Mr. G. J. Symons, F.R.S., a valuable be- 

 quest is made to the Royal Meteorological So- 

 ciety. He bequeathed to the Society all his 

 books, pamphlets, maps and photographs, a copy 

 of which is not already in its library. He also 

 bequeathed the testimonial album presented to 

 hira by the Fellows of the Society in 1879 and 

 the sum of 200Z. 



The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences 

 has received from an anonymous friend $5000, 

 to be added to the endowment fund of the 

 Institute. 



Walters. Dickson, of Salem, Mass., has 

 bequeathed $10,000 and a fifth of his residuary 

 estate to the public library of that city and 

 $10,000 conditionally to the Essex Institute. 

 John Curtis has bequeathed $15,000 for a public 

 library building at Hanover, Mass. The Hon. 

 E. J. Lawrence has offered to give $8000 for a 

 library building at Fairfield, Me. 



The British Iron and Steel Institute held its 

 annual meeting at London on May 9th and 10th. 

 Mr. Carnegie announced his intention of found- 

 ing a scholarship in connection with the Insti- 

 tute for the advancement of research in con- 

 nection with iron and steel. 



The anniversary meeting of the Royal Geo- 

 graphical Society was held on May 21st. In 

 accordance with the arrangements we have 

 already in part announced, the Founder's medal 

 was awarded to Captain H. H. P. Deasy, for 

 the exploring and survey work which he has 

 accomplished in Central Asia during two ex- 

 peditions lasting three years altogether. The 

 Patron's medal was awarded to Mr. James Mc- 

 Carthy, for his great services to geographical 

 science in exploring all parts of the kingdom of 

 Siam, for his laborious work during 12 years in 

 collecting materials for a map to form the basis 

 of a survey system, and for his admirable map 

 of Siam just completed. The Blurchison award 

 for 1900 was made to M. H. Ar^towski, for his 

 work on the Belgian Antarctic expedition. The 



Gill memorial for 1900 was awarded to Mr. 

 Vaughan Cornish, for his researches on sea- 

 beaches, sand-dunes, and on wave-forms in 

 water. The Back grant for 1900 was awarded 

 to Mr. Robert Codrington, for his journeys in 

 the region between Lakes Nyasa and Tangan- 

 yika, during which he removed a section con- 

 taining the inscription from the tree under 

 which Livingstone's heart was buried. The 

 Cuthbert Peek grant for 1900 was awarded to 

 Mr. T. J. Alldridge, for his journeys in the in- 

 terior of Sierra Leone. The president. Sir 

 Clements Markham, said in the course of his 

 address that £30,000 was still required for the 

 Antarctic Expedition, but that the keel of their 

 exploring ship had been lain at Dundee. 



The New York State Museum will conduct 

 during the summer a station on Lake Saranac 

 for the study of aquatic insects. It will be 

 under the direction of Dr. Charles Needham. 



The University of the State of Missouri is to 

 send an entomological expedition into south- 

 ern Mexico this summer. It will be in charge 

 of Professor J. M. Stedman, head of the Ento- 

 mological Department, and will have for its 

 object the making of a biological, largely ento- 

 mological, survey of the region from Vera Cruz 

 on the Gulf, which is in perpetual tropics, to 

 the top of the volcano Popocatepetl, which is 

 far above the perpetual snow line, and down to 

 Acapulco on the Pacific. This will give all the 

 temperature variations from perpetual tropics 

 to perpetual snow, and will allow of the study 

 of life zones under conditions not to be found 

 elsewhere in North America. The collection 

 will become the property of the University, 

 which is to furnish half the expenses, the other 

 half to be borne by Professor Stedman. 



M. A. Carleton, of the Division of Vegetable 

 Physiology and Pathology, U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture, is now in Paris installing the 

 exhibit illustrating cereal production in the 

 United States. Early in June Mr. Carleton will 

 visit Russia for the purpose of collecting new 

 varieties of cereals for introduction into the 

 United States. 



Mr. Albert F. Woods, of the Division of 

 Vegetable Physiology and Pathology, U. S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture, has prepared an ex- 



