398 



SCIEJSrCE. 



[Vol. VI , No. 144. 



congruous that it should be in the hands of army 

 officers. 



We notice with much pleasure the election 

 of Prof. E. S. Holden to be president of the uni- 

 versity of Cahfomia, and director of the Lick 

 observatory. Professor Holden's resignation as 

 director of the Washburn observatory at Madison, 

 Wis., takes effect on the 1st of January next. His 

 appointment as director of the Lick observatory 

 wiU hardly be a matter of surprise to those who 

 are aware that, as consulting astronomer, he has 

 virtually had the direction of the work as it has 

 progressed, visiting the site on Mount Hamilton 

 in 1881, and again in 1883 and 1884. Very happily 

 the choice both of the Lick trustees and of the 

 regents of the university has fallen upon Pro- 

 fessor Holden. It is understood that in his letter 

 of resignation to the regents of the university of 

 Wisconsin, he strongly urges the name of Prof. 

 W. A. Rogers, of Harvard college observatory, as 

 his successor. 



The creation of a new chair of psychology 

 at the Sorbonne, and the instalment therein of M. 

 Th. Ribot, editor of the Revue philosophtque, as 

 professor, marks a new eiDOch in the relation of 

 the university to philosophy in France, and is a 

 most gratifying proof of the way in which the 

 world moves. Safe opinions and literary smooth- 

 ness have, for almost as long as any one now 

 can remember, been stronger passports to French 

 philosophic professorsliips than either learning or 

 originality. But the renewal of the science of 

 human nature by the physiologists, pathologists, 

 and evolutionary antlu-opologists of this day and 

 generation, has brought too great a mass of new 

 facts with it, and of new conjectures, for any 

 barriers to stand. They must be let in somehow, 

 and officially taught and discussed, if the official 

 teaching is not to appear ignorant and antiquated. 

 The Ministry of pubhc instruction has wisely seen 

 this, and has had the sagacity to choose for the 

 new professor the man who has done most to 

 introduce the new ideas to his countrymen. M. 

 Ribot's place at the head of the Revue philoso- 

 phique is, to be sure, more important than any 

 professorship ; and a professorship would be but a 

 faint reward for the service he has done to French 

 philosophy by his admirable management of that 

 periodical. But the two functions do not exclude 

 each other, and we wish M. Ribot health and 

 strength for a long career in both. 



There is no geographer, biologist, or ethnolo- 

 gist, probably no statesman, on the other side of 

 the Atlantic, to whom the name of Justus Perthes 

 is not full of meaning. It is not merely that the 

 house has helped, by its publications, each in his 

 profession. It is not only because, of all geo- 

 graphical chart-work, theirs is pre-eminently the 

 most delicate, the most reliable, the most artistic 

 in the taste with which colors are used. It is 

 rather because to the operations of a firm of 

 means, business ability, and pride in furtheruig 

 geographical science, have been added the efforts 

 of a succession of geographers who stood second 

 to none in their specialties, and whose ambition 

 was not merely pecuniary or personal. The founder 

 of this house, Johann Georg Justus Perthes, was 

 the son of the physician to the Prince of Rudol- 

 stadt, and was born September 11, 1749. He en- 

 gaged in a commercial enterprise, out of which, in 

 September, 1785, the establishment at Gotha origi- 

 nated. Since then, after the death of the founder, 

 the business has been carried on by Wilhelm 

 (1816-1853), Bernhardt (1853-1857), and by Adolf 

 MuUer and Rudolf Besser, on behalf of a posthu- 

 mous son of Bernhardt Perthes and others interest- 

 ed, nearly to the present time. In September last the 

 centenary of the establishment was celebrated, 

 and a jubilee- volume, elegantly printed, and illus- 

 trated with portraits of the firm and its chief 

 collaborators, has been distributed to its associates 

 and friends. This volume contains a brief history 

 of the firm, of its connection with geographical 

 hterature, with geographers, and with explorers. 

 The part it has played in these matters redounds 

 to the honor of all concerned. A table showing 

 the present organization is appended. It is un- 

 necessary to go into details with which most of 

 our readers are more or less familiar already. It 

 is sufficient to say that a house to which we owe 

 the works of Berghaus, Stieler, Petermann, Spru- 

 ner, Behm, and their associates, must be counted 

 among the ornaments of the German fatherland 

 and the efficient forces of civihzation. 



PASTEUR AND HYDROPHOBIA. 



The recent communication of M. Pasteur to 

 the Academy of sciences, upon the prevention of 

 hydrophobia by inoculation, has naturally aroused 

 great interest among the general public as well as 

 in the scientific world. The methods and results 

 of his experiments upon this subject have not yet 

 been pubhshed with sufficient detail to justify any 



