176 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



The next International Geological Congress will 

 be held at Paris in 1900, during the time of the 

 exhibition. 



On Tuesday, September 28th, an anniversary 

 service was held at the Pasteur Institute in 

 honour of the great investigator. 



Professor G. H. Darwin, F.R.S., and the Right 

 Hon. G. J. Goschen, M.P., have been elected 

 foreign members of the Academea dei Lincei. 



Dr. Charles Smart Roy, F.R.S., of Trinity 

 College, Professor of Pathology in the University 

 of Cambridge, died on October 4th. He was forty- 

 three years of age. 



A monument in bronze, erected to the memory 

 of Marcello Malpighi, the eminent Italian anatomist 

 and botanist of the seventeeth century, was unveiled 

 at Crevacore, near Bologna, on September Sth. 



It is reported that an important advance has 

 been made in colour photography, by Dr. Adrieu 

 Michel Dausac and M. Villedieu Chassagne. The 

 process is said to be simple and inexpensive. 



We have to announce the death of M. Moj- 

 sisovics von Mojsvar, Professor of Zoology at the 

 University of Gratz. This author, amongst other 

 works of an important nature, wrote one on 

 Zootomy. 



The X rays are now being used in French 

 custom-houses, for the detection of fraud ; but 

 photographers carrying plates among their luggage 

 are complaining of their being spoilt in con- 

 sequence. 



A line of electric tramways has been recently 

 opened in Alexandria. This line, which has been 

 constructed by a French firm, runs through the 

 town of Alexandria as far as the last village before 

 the desert. 



The Greek Archaeological Society has secured 

 possession of a quarter of Athens lying immediately 

 under the Acropolis. The inhabitants will remove 

 to the suburbs, and excavations, promising im- 

 portant discoveries, will begin shortly. 



The third edition of the Catalogue of the Tate 

 Public Library at Streatham has been sent to us, 

 and shows a marked interest in scientific books, 

 which are now well represented in that excellent 

 institution. 



It will be remembered we took exception in the 

 first volume of the new series of Science-Gossip 

 to the class of science books in some of our free 

 libraries as being largely out of date. Since then 

 there has been a steady improvement in some of 

 them, though in many there is still much to be 

 desired. 



On paying a recent visit to look over the immense 

 stock of scientific books at Wheldon's, in Great 

 Queen Street, London, we wondered that this 

 should be so, for Mr. Edwards, the proprietor of 

 the business, would readily assist in filling up the 

 gaps in some departments which are at present 

 hardly represented. 



The Smithsonian Institution, Washington, has 

 undertaken an important work in bringing together 

 all possible material bearing on the medicinal use 

 of plants in the United States. Dr. V. Harvard is 

 Chairman of the Commission for this purpose. 



The new Government Laboratory in London, 

 attached to the Inland Revenue and Crown Con- 

 tracts Departments, was opened on 1st October 

 last. It is in Clement's Passage, off the Strand, 

 and has been erected and equipped in the most 

 perfect manner at a cost of nearly ^30,000, under 

 the supervision of Professor Thorpe. 



A remarkable discovery has been made near 

 Perm of an extensive burial place of the supposed 

 old inhabitants of Russia, the Chuds, in which 

 exceedingly rich collections of implements have 

 been discovered. Among them are a number of 

 broken pieces of earthenware ornamented with all 

 sorts of figures illustrating the life of the people. 



The handsome gifts to Owens College, Man- 

 chester, of ^50,000 from Mr. R. C. Christie, and 

 the ^10,000 from two anonymous donors, will be 

 expended, the first upon a college hall, and half 

 the latter sum upon a building for a physical 

 laboratory, the remainder to be invested towards 

 its maintenance. 



We regret to hear of the discontinuance of the 

 " International Journal of Microscopy and Natural 

 Science." After producing that excellent magazine 

 for some sixteen years, Mr. Alfred Allen is obliged 

 to abandon its publication for want of support. 

 This makes no difference in the arrangements of 

 the Postal Microscopical Society. 



The Marine Biological Association of the United 

 Kingdom, in its Journal, prints a list of periodicals 

 and monographs urgently required for the library 

 of the Plymouth Laboratory. Anyone assisting in 

 furnishing some of these papers will be aiding 

 valuable work. A list may be obtained from E. J. 

 Allen, Esq., the Biological Laboratory, Plymouth, 

 England. They are chiefly by foreign writers. 



The Commission du Musee d'Histoire Naturelle, 

 at Geneva, has formed itself into a committee with 

 the object of erecting a statue to the memory of 

 Francois Jules Piclet de la Rive. A site has been 

 granted in front of the museum. Old students 

 and all who are interested in the work which he 

 accomplished are invited to send subscriptions to 

 the memorial fund to MM. Lombard, Odier and 

 Cie, Geneva. 



The " Russian thistle" (Salsola kali), concerning 

 the introduction and spread of which in the 

 United States and Canada much alarm was 

 expressed, appears from reports lately received 

 from the Western States to be a comparatively 

 harmless pest after all. It does not thrive so well 

 as appeared likely, but declines somewhat after a 

 year or two. The dried weed has been chopped 

 up in some districts and given as food to cattle. It 

 has also been used for fuel and is said to be 

 marketable for that purpose. 



By the death of the Rev. Andrew Matthews, we 

 are reminded of much important entomological 

 work executed by him, especially in connection 

 with the Trichopterygia of both Europe and 

 America. The late Mr. Matthews was of a retiring 

 temperament, and spent most of his time quietly 

 attending to his parish duties at Gumley, near 

 Market Harborough, where he died on September 

 14th last, aged seventy-two years. 



