May 12, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



757 



southern grasses, red-top, orchard grass, brome 

 grass, grasses of minor importance and those 

 for special conditions. The book will be es- 

 pecially useful to farmers. 



THE USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 



In a thick pamphlet of about four hundred 

 pages issued by the United States National 

 Herbarium (' Contrib.,' Vol. IX.) William E. 

 Safford tells what is known as to the vegeta- 

 tion of the island of Guam, nearly 145 degrees 

 east of Greenwich, and a little less than 14 

 degrees north of the equator. It is illustrated 

 by 70 plates mostly from photographs, includ- 

 ing one map of the island. It will be very 

 useful to American botanists who wish to 

 know more about the vegetation of this newly 

 acquired territory, as well as those who wish 

 to learn something as to tropical vegetation in 

 general. The chapters relating to the geog- 

 raphy, climate, animals and the people are 

 also full of interest for the general reader, as 

 well as the student of science. 



Charles E. Bessey. 



The Uni\tersity of Nebraska. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 



Professor Charles S. Minot has been re- 

 elected president of the Boston Society of 

 Natural History. 



Dr. E. F. Nichols, professor of physics at 

 Columbia University, has been awarded the 

 Ernest Kempton Adams research fellowship, 

 recently established at Columbia University by 

 Mr. E. D. Adams in memory of his son. Pro- 

 fessor Nichols has at present leave of absence 

 and is working at Cambridge University. 



About five hundred physicians of the United 

 States and Canada were present at the dinner 

 given in honor of Dr. William Osier, which 

 was held in New York on May 2. The toast- 

 master was Dr. James Tyson, of Philadelphia, 

 and the list of speakers and of the toasts to 

 which they responded was : Dr. Osier in Mont- 

 real, ' Student and Teacher,' Dr. F. J. Shep- 

 herd, of Montreal; Dr. Osier in Philadelphia, 

 ' Teacher and Clinician,' Dr. J. C. Wilson, 

 Philadelphia ; Dr. Osier in Baltimore, ' Teach- 

 er and Consultant,' Dr. W. H. Welch, of 



Baltimore; Dr. Osier, 'The Author and 

 Physician,' Dr. A. Jacobi, of New York City; 

 presentation of ' Cicero de Senectute,' by Dr. 

 S. Weir Mitchell, of Philadelphia. To these 

 speeches Dr. Osier replied. 



The expedition to the Delta of the Colorado 

 river and the Cucopa mountains organized by 

 Dr. D. T. MacDougal, of the New York Botan- 

 ical Garden, and Mr. E. A. Goldman, of the 

 U. S. Biological Survey, has returned. The 

 river was found in flood, the water reaching 

 the highest level since 1891 and overflowing 

 through various channels into the Salton 

 Basin. Some important geographical details 

 were brought to light and material additions 

 were made to the knowledge of the natural 

 history of the entire region, part of which 

 had never before been visited by collectors. 



The Alexandre de la Eoquette gold medal 

 of the French Geographical Society has been 

 awarded to Professor Erich von Drygalski. 



The Societe de Topographic de France has 

 awarded a medal to Dr. William Hunter 

 Workman for topographical research among 

 the high peaks and glaciers of the Himalayas. 



Professor Leon Labbe, the eminent French 

 surgeon, has been presented by his former 

 students with a medal struck in his honor by 

 Patey. 



The Senckenberg Scientific Society of 

 Frankfort has awarded its Sommering prize 

 for the most valuable work of a German in- 

 vestigator in physiology during the last four 

 years to Professor Haberlandt, of Graz, for a 

 work on ' The Sense Organs of Plants for the 

 Perception of Mechanical Stimuli.' 



At the annual meeting of the Boston So- 

 ciety of Natural History, on May 3, the first 

 Walker prize, of $75, was given to Dr. W. B. 

 McCallum, department of botany. University 

 of Chicago; the second, of $50, to Mr. M. L. 

 Fuller, United States Geological Survey, 

 Washington, D. C. Their respective papers 

 were ' Physiological Analysis of the Phenom- 

 ena of Kegeneration of Plants ' and ' Quater- 

 nary Correlations around New York and on 

 the Long Island Shore.' 



