240 Scientific Intelligence. 



6. Prize for Researches in Physics. — For the year 1894 a 

 prize is offered by"Schnyder von Wartensee's Foundation for 

 Science and Arts "at Zurich, for the solution of the following 

 problems in the domain of physics : " As the numbers which 

 represent the atomic heats of the elements still show very con- 

 siderable divergences, the researches conducted by Professor H. 

 F. Weber on boron, silicon and carbon, regarding the dependence 

 of the specific heats upon the temperature, are to be extended to 

 several other elements, prepared as pure as possible, and also to 

 combinations or alloys of them. Further, the densities and the 

 thermic coefficients of expansion of the substances investigated 

 are to be ascertained as carefully as possible." 



The treatises handed in by competitors for the prizes may be 

 in German, French or English, and must be sent in by September 

 30, 1894, to the address given below. They will become the 

 property of the Foundation. Every treatise must have a motto 

 on the title page, and be accompanied by a sealed envelope 

 bearing the same motto outside and containing the author's name. 

 The Prize Committee is empowered to award a first prize of two 

 thousand francs, and minor prizes at its discretion to the amount 

 of one thousand francs. Address: "An das Praesidium des 

 Conventes der Stadtbibliothek Zurich (betreffend Preisaufgabe 

 der Stiftung von Schnyder von Wartensee fur das Jahr, 1894)." 



7. Astronomical Expeditions to Peru. — In the annual report 

 for 1891 of the Director of the Astronomical Observatory of 

 Harvard College, an account is given of the expeditions sent to 

 Peru in 1889 and again in 1890, at the expense of the Boydeti 

 Fund, as follows : " The expedition sent to Peru in 1889 under 

 the direction of Mr. S. I. Bailey, having successfully completed 

 the observations with the meridian photometer, returned to Cam- 

 bridge with that instrument, which has been remounted here and 

 will be used for a revision of the Harvard Photometry and for 

 other photomeric work. During the two years ending May J, 

 1891, Mr. Bailey took 217 series of observations and made 98,756 

 photometric comparisons of about eight thousand southern stars. 

 These include all the stars of the sixth magnitude and brighter 

 south of — 30°, and all known catalogue stars in a series of zones 

 20' wide at intervals of 5° in declination from — 25° to — 80°; 

 also all known stars south of — 80° and a miscellaneous list of 

 variables, stars having peculiar spectra, etc. The reduction of 

 these observations is nearly completed and their publication will 

 be begun shortly. A large part of the work assigned to the 

 Bache telescope has also been completed, and the instrument has 

 been remounted at Arequipa where its work will be continued. 



" An expedition under the direction of Professor William H. 

 Pickering left Cambridge in December, 1890, and established a 

 station about three miles northwest of Arequipa, where the 

 thirteen-inch equatorial has been mounted. This station has an 

 elevation of a little over 8000 feet and has a nearly cloudless sky 

 during a large part of the year. The air is remarkably steady, 



