February 10, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



237 



M. Paul Henry, the French astronomer, 

 died on January 4, as a result, it is said, of 

 cold in the Alpine Observatory on Grand- 

 Montrouge. This was also the cause of the 

 death of his brother, Prosper, who died in 

 1903. The brothers are well known for the 

 work that they carried on together in astro- 

 nomical photography especially in connection 

 with the great international chart of the 

 heavens. 



Pkofessor Ernst Abbe, of Jena, well known 

 for his important improvements in the micro- 

 scope and other optical instruments, which he 

 constructed in partnership with Karl Zeiss, 

 died on January 16, at the age of sixty-four 

 years. 



Mr. Thomas W. Shore, a British geologist 

 and archeologist, died on January 15. 



Mr. J. M. Bacon, known for work in astron- 

 omy, acoustics and meteorology, and espe- 

 cially for his balloon ascents, died on De- 

 cember 25, at the age of fifty-eight years. 



The Department of Health of New York 

 City has decided to establish a research labo- 

 ratory in the new laboratory building which is 

 being erected. 



The budget of the ministry of the interior 

 of the German empire includes an item of 

 $37,500 for research work on tuberculosis. 



The restored pterodactyl, with a spread of 

 wings of twelve feet, firet exhibited at the St. 

 Louis exposition, has been set up for exhibi- 

 tion in Peabody Museum of Yale University. 



Bird-Lore for February contains the an- 

 nual report of the National Committee of 

 Audubon Societies, a document of some eighty 

 pages. The report summarizes the history of 

 the Audubon movement and gives most en- 

 couraging details of the year's progress. So- 

 cieties are now established in thirty-five states, 

 and a model bird law has been passed in 

 twenty-eight states. Thirty-four wardens to 

 guard colonies of nesting birds are employed, 

 and the societies cooperate with national and 

 state game officials. President Roosevelt, who 

 is in hearty sympathy with Audubon work, 

 has set aside certain government lands as per- 

 petual breeding places for birds, and the 

 Lighthouse Board has lent its powerful aid in 



protecting sea-birds along the coast. The 

 National Committee, which acts as an execu- 

 tive body for all the state societies, has re- 

 cently become incorporated and proposes to 

 attempt to raise an endowment fund of one 

 million dollars, of which one hundred thou- 

 sand dollars has already been promised. 



Bulletin No. 79 of the New York State 

 Museum gives a comprehensive account of the 

 mosquitoes occurring in New York State, with 

 special reference to methods of control. Some 

 55 species are treated, the larvse or wrigglers 

 of 43 being described, with accounts of their 

 habits and life history. Tables for the sepa- 

 ration of adults and larva3 are given, and the 

 value of the work is enhanced by over 100 

 original line drawings and 57 process plates 

 reproduced from the author's photomicro- 

 graphs. The keys and illustrations should 

 enable physicians, and in fact almost any 

 person having a fair microscope at his dis- 

 posal to identify most of the common forms 

 either in the adult or larval stage. This bul- 

 letin should also appeal to teachers interested 

 in nature study since no group of inserts lends 

 itself more readily to class room conditions. 



According to the British Medical Journal 

 the medical profession is fairly well repre- 

 sented in the senate of Canada as well as in 

 the Canadian House of Commons. There are 

 nine in the former and fifteen in the latter 

 body. Li the United States Senate there are 

 only two, while there are none in the House 

 of Representatives. France is still the coun- 

 try where medical men are most prominent in 

 politics ; in the Senate there are thirty-nine, 

 and in the Chamber of Deputies fifty-one. 



The Geographical Journal states that an 

 important expedition for the purpose of ex- 

 ploring the interior of Dutch New Guinea, 

 organized under the auspices of the Nether- 

 lands Geographical Society, started early in 

 1904. The leader is Mr. E. Posthumus Mey- 

 jcs, who has with him various assistants, in- 

 cluding Dr. Koch as natural history collector. 

 On the way out to the East, Mr. Meyjes 

 stopped at Florence, where he met and con- 

 sulted with Sir W. MacGregor, the naturalist ; 

 travelers Beccari and Loria, and Professor 

 Giglioli. After the arrival at Batavia, some 



