June 22, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



999 



Reuter's Agency has received a letter from 

 Major St. H. Gibbons, wlio is engaged on a 

 trans- African expedition, dated ' North Moera 

 Lake, January 21st,' in which the explorer 

 says : "I reached the neighborhood of Nana- 

 kundundu with native canoes early in October, 

 but failed to procure carriers to follow the 

 route I intended to take — viz, to the Zambesi 

 source and thence along the watershed into the 

 Congo eastwards. Thus I was compelled to 

 make the journey with four boys and five 

 donkeys. After traveling thus for 420 miles, 

 during which I lost two donkeys, who were 

 killed by lions, I caught up the Lemaire- 

 Katanga Scientific Expedition. I overtook 

 Captain Lemaire near the Mumbeje river and 

 travelled with him east to the Luflra system, 

 and thence northeast to the Congo State station 

 on the Lukafu river. I have been treated with 

 the greatest cordiality by Captain Lemaire and 

 by all the State ofiicig,ls with whom I have come 

 in contact. The objects of the expedition have 

 so far been carried out in toto, and I am now 

 on my way home by forced marches via Lado 

 and Khartum. From where I now am this 

 route will probably prove as quick as via either 

 the east or west coast. The main reason why, 

 after abandoning the northern route in favor of 

 the west on the paralyzation of the main sup- 

 plies with the steamers occasioned by Mr. 

 Muller's death and Mr. Weller's loss of health, 

 I have again returned to the original plans laid 

 dowjn is that I wish to examine the country be- 

 tween here and the Nile for the purpose of 

 giving Mr. Rhodes such information as may be 

 helpful to him in connection with his railway 

 and telegraph schemes in Africa. I continue 

 my journey north to-morrow, and expect to 

 reach Lado in April. Thence I shall descend 

 the Nile as best I can." 



It is stated in the British Medical Journal that 

 next autumn with the co-operation of the Medi- 

 terranean, Adriatic, and Sicilian Railway Com- 

 panies, the Societa per gli Studi della Malaria 

 will make experiments on a lai'ge scale as to 

 the prevention of malarial fever among railway 

 servants in malarious districts in Italy. At all 

 the stations which bear the worst name in re- 

 gard to this scourge the huts in which the men 

 and the families live will be protected with 



mosquito netting in the way which proved so 

 successful last year in the Prenestina-Cervara 

 and Magliana-Pontegalera lines. Similar ex- 

 periments will be made on the Foggia-Barletta 

 and Battipaglia-Reggio lines, on the Pontine 

 Marshes, and in Sicily. Systematic examina- 

 tions of the blood of suflferers from malaria will 

 also be made in the hospitals of Milan and 

 Crema, with the object of studying the course 

 of the fever in Lombardy. Research stations 

 will be established at Cumigcano on the Navig- 

 lio in the province of Cremona for the study of 

 malaria in its relation to rice fields, and in the 

 province of Ferrara for the study of the disease 

 in its relation to brackish waters and the macer- 

 ation of textile plants. Another station will be 

 established at Trinitapolis in the province of 

 Foggia for the study of malaria in the south of 

 Italy, and probably one in the Venetian dis- 

 trict. Similar investigations will be pursued in 

 Sicily and Sardinia. By this combination of 

 research it is hoped to gain an accurate idea of 

 the regional distribution and local characteris- 

 tics of malaria in Italy, and to find means of 

 prevention adopted to the condition of the 

 difl:erent parts of the country. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 



By the will of Edmund Dwight $125,000 has 

 been left to Harvard University after the death 

 of persons who receive the income during life. 



It is said that over $900,000 have now been 

 subscribed towards the endowment fund of 

 Brown University, and the completion of the 

 million dollars will probably be announced at 

 the commencement exercises. 



Some months ago Mr. Rockefeller oflFered 

 $100,000 to Denison University upon the con- 

 dition that $150,000 additional be raised before 

 July 1st, of this year. At the commencement 

 exercises, June lith, it was announced that 

 the required amount has been subscribed, and, 

 in addition, enough more to bring the total of 

 the present increase in the productive endow- 

 ment up to $300,000. It was announced, at the 

 same time, that Shepardson College for Women, 

 also located at Granville, O., has been formally 

 incorporated into Denison University, making 

 the latter practically co-educational. As thus 



