January 27, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



159 



originally started by them in the summer of 

 1897-8 at their own expense. Since then 

 grants have been received from various sources 

 and assistance has been rendered by various 

 organizations and persons. The work has been 

 zealously prosecuted so that there are now 

 362 stations distributed over Cape Colony, 

 Transvaal, Orange Kiver Colony, Natal and 

 Rhodesia. There still remained, however, the 

 northwest of Cape Colony and for the com- 

 pletion of this work the Cape government 

 voted for the current year £200 and the Royal 

 Society of London £250. 



The library of the American Museum of 

 Natural History has been given the private 

 scientific library of Professor H. C. Bumpus, 

 the director of the museum, amounting to 

 more than three hundred volumes and twenty- 

 seven hundred pamphlets. This collection is 

 especially rich in works in comparative anat- 

 omy and brings to the library many valuable 

 works and rare reprints not heretofore owned 

 by the museum. 



Medical papers state that with the advance 

 of the cold weather, plague is again growing 

 worse in Upper India. For the week ending 

 December 3 the United Provinces had 4,425 

 deaths, an increase of 1,000 on the total of the 

 previous week; the Punjaub, 2,446, an increase 

 of 400; Mysore, 1,157, an increase of nearly 

 600; Hyderabad State, 768, an increase of 200. 

 In the Bombay Presidency there were 6,770 

 deaths, an increase of 300. Elsewhere 

 throughout India the disease remains about as 

 before. 



At Cornell University, January 17, before 

 the conference or seminary of the department 

 of neurology and vertebrate zoology, Mr. A. 

 H. Wright, '04, gave an account of his collec- 

 tions and observations as to the fish fauna of 

 Monroe County during the past two summers. 

 Notwithstanding a previous survey, Mr. 

 Wright has added eight species to the seventy- 

 four already known from the Ontario basin, 

 and thirty-two to the forty-two previously re- 

 corded for Munroe County. There was shown 

 a combined table and diagram exhibiting, for 

 a single creek eleven miles long, the varying 

 conditions, mile by mile, as to the depth of 



the water, the contour and nature of the bot- 

 tom, the rapidity of the current, and the range 

 of the twenty-six species found in it. It ap- 

 peared that in a given stream the lower, more 

 sluggish and muddy portions are frequented 

 by the larger and less active fish, while the 

 smaller and more active live in the upper por- 

 tions where the current is swifter and the 

 bottom gravel or sand. 



Mr. Morris K. Jesup, president of the 

 Peary Arctic Club, by order of the board of 

 directors, has issued the following appeal for 

 funds to aid in the equipment of the new 

 expedition which is to start under command 

 of Commander Peary next summer: 



There is an opportunity, offering strong prob- 

 abilities of success, of securing for the country 

 and this city, the honor and enduring fame of 

 accomplishing a work of large and world-wide 

 interest and value. 



The Peary Arctic Club has been incorporated 

 under the laws of the State of New York, for the 

 purpose of aiding Commander Jfeary in his per- 

 sistent efforts to complete the geographical con- 

 quest of the large unknown area of the North 

 Polar basin, and secure for this country, if pos- 

 sible, the honor of attaining the extreme top of 

 the earth. 



The club has had subscribed, principallj- from 

 its own membership, about $55,000, and, in order 

 to avoid delay which would be fatal, has assumed 

 the responsibility of contracting for, and is now 

 building, a special ship of exceptional strength 

 and powerful engines, to be completed about 

 March 1, 1905. 



This ship is the first ever constructed in this 

 country for Arctic discovery. 



Additional funds to the amount of $100,000 

 are necessary for the completion of the ship and 

 equipment of the expedition, and it is not believed 

 that the public-spirited men of means in this 

 great country, and particularly this city, from 

 which the expedition will start, will permit so 

 broad and laudable an enterprise to fail for 

 lack of so comparatively small an amount of 

 money. Tlie club cordially invites your coopera- 

 tion in this enterprise, and hopes that you will 

 contribute to the funds needed. Subscriptions for 

 any amount will be gladly received. 

 Very respectfully, 



Morris K. Jesup, 

 President Peary Arctic Club. 



