320 Scientific Intelligence. 



Thaxenite. A new yttrium silicate, having the composition 

 H 2 Y 4 Si 4 35 . It occurs in tabular monoclinic crystals of a flesh- 

 red color. Hardness = 6'5 ; specific gravity = 4*229. Found in 

 Osterby in Dalecarlia, Sweden, and named by Benedicks after 

 Prof. R. Thalen.— G. For. Fork., xx, 308, 1898. 



Ktypeite. A name given by Lacroix to the calcium carbonate 

 in the form of pisolites from Carlsbad and Hammam-Meskoutine in 

 Algeria, which has formerly been referred to aragonite. The spe- 

 cific gravity varies from 2*58 to 2'70, or less than that of calcite. 

 Optically the birefringence is 0*020. In parallel polarized light 

 a distorted black cross is noted, while portions give a positive 

 black cross in converging light. Heated to low redness, the 

 pisolites decrepitate and are finally transformed into calcite ; the 

 name given refers to this fact. — Comptes Hendus, cxxvi, 602, 1898. 



III. Miscellaneous Scientific Intelligence. 



1. The Benjamin Apthorp Gould Fund. — A circular has 

 recently been issued by the Directors of the Gould Fund, Pro- 

 fessors Lewis Boss, Seth C. Chandler and Asaph Hall, stating 

 that a sufficient available income has now accrued to warrant 

 beginning its distribution, and that they are prepared to receive 

 and consider applications for appropriations. It will be remem- 

 bered that the fund was established in November, 1897, when the 

 sum of twenty thousand dollars was given to the National 

 Academy of Sciences, as trustee, in memory of the father of the 

 donor, Miss Alice Bache Gould, the income to be used to assist 

 the prosecution of researches in astronomy. 



In order to guide those desiring to secure appropriations from 

 the fund, the directors make the following statement : 



The objects of the institution are, first, to advance the science 

 of Astronomy ; secondly, to honor the memory of Dr. Gould by 

 ensuring that his power to accomplish scientific work shall not 

 end with his death. In recognition of the fact that during Dr. 

 Gould's lifetime his patriotic feeling and ambition to promote the 

 progress of his chosen science were closely associated, it is pre- 

 ferred that the fund should be used primarily for the benefit of 

 investigators in his own country or of his own nationality. But 

 it is further recognized both by the donor and the directors that 

 sometimes the best possible service to American science is the 

 maintenance of close communion between the scientific men of 

 Europe and of America, and that, therefore, even while acting in 

 the spirit of the above restriction, it may occasionally be best to 

 apply the money to the aid of a foreign investigator working 

 abroad. The wish was also expressed by the donor that in all 

 cases work in the astronomy of precision should be given the 

 preference over any work in astrophysics, both because of Dr. 

 Gould's especial predilection and because of the present existence 

 of generous endowments for astrophysics. 



Finally, the Benjamin Apthorp Gould Fund is intended for the 



