February 24, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



319 



certification to fill a vacancy in the position of 

 botanist (male) at $75 per month, in the 

 National Museum, and vacancies as they may 

 occur in any branch of the service requiring 

 similar qualificatioi^s. The commission also 

 invites attention to the examination for sci- 

 entific aid, applications for which may be 

 filed at any time. Eligibles are particularly 

 desired at this time to fill a vacancy in the 

 position of scientific aid (male) qualified in 

 animal husbandry; in the Bureau of Animal 

 Industry, Department of Agriculture, at $480 

 per annum, and other similar vacancies as 

 they may occur in that department. For the 

 specific vacancy mentioned, only such applica- 

 tions will be considered as are filed with the 

 Commission at Washington prior to the hour 

 of closing business on March 8, 1905. 



The N. Y. State Civil Service Commission 

 will hold an examination on March 1, to fill 

 the position of geologist in the State Museum 

 at a salary of $1,500, and of taxidermist in 

 the Museum at a salary of $900. 



The Court of Appeals of Maryland has just 

 rendered a decision which establishes the con- 

 stitutionality of the State Aid Highway Law 

 of the last legislature, the administration of 

 which has been by law placed under the con- 

 trol of the Maryland Geological Survey. The 

 state survey has maintained a highway divi- 

 sion during the past eight years, but has now 

 placed at its disposal $400,000 annually, de- 

 rived half from the state and half from the 

 counties, for the construction of improved 

 highways. The law becomes operative at once 

 and surveys on a large scale will begin imme- 

 diately. 



The Argentine gunvessel Uruguay has re- 

 turned to Buenos Ayres after her long voyage 

 in the Antarctic seas, having failed to obtain 

 any news of the French Antarctic expedition 

 under Dr. Charcot. 



Mr. David Syme, of Melbourne, has given 

 $15,000 to found a prize for the encourage- 

 ment of original research in science. A prize 

 of $500 and a medal will be annually awarded 

 by the University of Melbourne. 



The London Times states that it received 

 the following letter for publication from a 



correspondent who is a graduate of an Eng- 

 lish university, but presumably did not spe- 

 cialize in scientific subjects : " The Amount 

 of Coal. — To the Editor of The Times. — Sir, 

 — The amount of coal which has been dug out 

 of the earth must be now so considerable as 

 to make an appreciable diminution of the 

 weight of our globe. Is it conceivable that 

 in time this might cause an interference with 

 the working of the solar system. All of the 

 coal that remains behind is a small proportion, 

 in ashes; the only addition that is made to 

 the weight of the earth is by increase of popu- 

 lation, and is infinitesimal. I am. Sir, yours 

 faithfully, W. C. B." 



Mr. Antoxio Olyntho, Brazilian commis- 

 sioner to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, 

 has, by order of his government, investigated 

 the organization and work of the division of 

 hydrology of the U. S. Geological Survey. 

 The underground water resources of Brazil, 

 which are as yet almost entirely undevel- 

 oped, are said to be immense. It is the 

 wish of the Brazilian government to encour- 

 age their development, and to this end it is 

 proposed to organize a division of hydrology 

 similar to that maintained by the U. S. Geo- 

 logical Survey. The investigation and de- 

 velopment of artesian waters is of particular 

 interest to the Brazilians. As compared with 

 the work of bureaus in other countries, the 

 investigations carried on by the U. S. Geo- 

 l6gical Survey of both surface and under- 

 ground waters takes high rank, as is attested 

 by the frequent calls from other governments 

 for information and assistance. During the 

 past year, the Colonial Oflice of Bermuda has 

 sought advice from our Survey in regard to a 

 water supply for that island, and the govern- 

 ment of Peru has borrowed a hydrologist, who 

 is organizing a bureau which is investigating 

 the underground waters of that country in the 

 special hope of obtaining supplies for the 

 nearly rainless coast. The bureau which 

 Brazil proposes to establish will be modeled 

 after the survey's division of hydrology, the 

 plan of which was furnished the commissioner 

 from Brazil by Mr. Myron L. Fuller chief of 

 the eastern section. The vi'ork in Brazil will 

 diffeiv however, in one important particular 



