558 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXI. No. 536. 



the gift of the splendid series brought together 

 by Mr. W. Eadcliff Saunders, of High Bank, 

 Tonbridge. This collection comprises close 

 on ten thousand specimens of the eggs of 

 Palearctic species, together with one hundred 

 and sixty-five nests. 



The Crosby Brown collection of musical in- 

 struments, in the Metropolitan Museum of 

 New York, to which we have several times re- 

 ferred in recent years, continues to grow. The 

 recently published new edition of the cata- 

 logue of European instruments is increased 

 over the previous edition by more than fifty 

 pages and three plates. The total number of 

 instruments is given as about 3,200, besides 

 hundreds of parts illustrating elements and de- 

 tails of construction. 



Eeuter's Agency reports some details of an 

 expedition which went to British New Guinea 

 in September, 1903, and has lately returned to 

 England. The expedition was organized by 

 Major W. Cooke-Daniels, an American 

 traveler, and it also included Dr. C. G. Selig- 

 mann. Dr. W. M. Strong and Mr. A. H. Dun- 

 ning. The objects were primarily ethnog-raph- 

 ical, but studies were also made in other 

 branches of science, and a number of general 

 pathological observations were made. 



The annual dinner of the British Institu- 

 tion of civil engineers took place on March 22, 

 with Sir Guilford Molesworth in the chair. 



The sixth International Congress of Ap- 

 plied Chemistry will be held at Rome next 

 year, probably during the week following 

 Easter. 



At the last International Ornithological 

 Congress, which was held in Paris in 1900, it 

 was decided that the next session of the con- 

 gress should take place in London after an 

 interval of five years, and, as we have already 

 announced, arrangements have been made for 

 holding the fourth congress from June 12 to 

 17, under the pi-esidency of Dr. Bowdler 

 Sharpe, of the British Museum. The London 

 Times states that it has been decided by the 

 organizing committee to divide the congress 

 into general meetings and meetings of sec- 

 tions, of which there will be five, as follows : 

 (1) Systematic Ornithology; Geographical 



Distribution, Anatomy and Paleontology; (2) 

 Migration; (3) Biology, Nidification, Oology; 

 (4) Economic Ornithology and Bird Protec- 

 tion ; and (5) Aviculture. It is expected that 

 many interesting papers on these various sub- 

 jects will be forthcoming. The social side 

 of the program is not being neglected. Thus 

 it is proposed to devote one day to an excursion 

 to Tring to inspect the collection of birds be- 

 longing to Mr. Walter Rothschild. On this 

 occasion there will be lectures, and the mem- 

 bers will be the guests of the owner of the 

 Tring Museum. On the 16th of June the 

 congress will be received by the Lord Mayor 

 of London at the Mansion-house, and the 

 visitors will be shown over the Guildhall by 

 Alderman Treloar. At the close of the pro- 

 ceedings in London, on the invitation of the 

 Duke of Bedford, an excursion will be made 

 to Woburn to view the collection of live ani- 

 mals in Woburn Park, and the following day 

 will be spent at Cambridge, where Professor 

 Newton will welcome the members at Magda- 

 lene College. Finally, a journey has been 

 planned to Elamborough Head, in Yorkshire, 

 of special interest to continental ornithol- 

 ogists, as affording them an opportunity of 

 seeing the breeding place of so many sea birds, 

 while the season of the year may also allow of 

 their watching the operations of the collectors 

 of the eggs of the guillemats. 



An international exhibit of hygiene will, by 

 request of the Italian general health depart- 

 ment, be added to the exhibition at Milan, 

 1906. Many countries will assist in the dis- 

 play, which will have for its object the pre- 

 sentation in a practical manner to the public 

 of the advances made in the field of sanitation 

 during recent years. 



Medical journals state that the Hamburg- 

 American line has placed the Hamhurg at the 

 disposal of the German physicians and their 

 families who wish to attend the International 

 Medical Congi-ess at Lisbon next year. The 

 vessel will be moored at some convenient wharf 

 and will serve as a hotel for the passengers 

 during the congress. After a brief trip to 

 Gibraltar and Madeira the vessel will return 

 to Hamburg. Messrs. Cook & Son have offered 

 to cliarter a passenger ship for the English 



