NEWS. 
From the January number of the Geographical Magazine we learn 
that the Dutch government has placed at the disposal of the scientific 
men of Holland the newly built warship Szdoga, of 820 tons, for the 
. deep-sea exploration of the East India Archipelago. The vessel is 
fitted out with the Le Blanc sounding apparatus, a Lucas sounding 
machine, and an electric cable drum with a capacity of 10 kilometers 
of steel cable, and a zoological equipment for plankton, littoral, and 
deep-sea investigations, including deep-sea nets of the Chun, Tanner, 
and Fowler types. The cost of the expedition is met partly by the 
government and partly by learned societies and private individuals. 
The scientific leader of the expedition is Professor Max Weber, 
assisted by Dr. J. Versleys, Mr. H. Nierstrasz, and Dr. A. H. Schmidt. 
The object of the expedition is the zoological, botanical, and physical 
investigation of the marine area of the East Indian Archipelago, 
particularly of the deep basins of its eastern portion. The work 
of the expedition is expected to extend over two years. 
The Macmillan Company has begun the publication of a new 
bi-monthly magazine, Aird-Lore, for observers of birds, under the 
above title. Mr. Frank M. Chapman is the editor of the paper, which 
is the official organ of the Audubon societies. Almost all the prin- 
cipal workers on birds out-of-doors will contribute during the year. 
Photographic reproductions of wild birds in their haunts will form a 
prominent feature. 
The Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of 
~ Science has been issued this year with a promptness which is as grati- 
fying as it is novel. 
The German Anatomische Gesellschaft meets this year in Tiibin- 
gen, May 22 to 25. 
The Liverpool Museum is to have an addition measuring 162 by 
190 feet, five stories in height. The three lower floors are for the 
technical schools, the two upper will afford galleries of horseshoe 
shape, the lower for invertebrates, the upper for vertebrates. 
One cannot repress the feeling, as he looks over the reports of the 
various conferences on the bibliography of scientific literature, that 
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