800 



SCIENCE. 



[X. S. Vol. XXI. Xo. 542. 



chrysotile asbestos have created a demand for 

 it that is now in excess of the supply. The 

 high price which can be obtained for the 

 chrysotile asbestos when it is in fibers of suf- 

 ficent length for spinning permits the mining 

 of this mineral in some places where the cost 

 of mining would become prohibitory with any 

 material decrease in price. One of the most 

 interesting features of Dr. Pratt's report this 

 year is a description of the results of certain 

 experiments that have been made on asbestos 

 building board by Mr. George F. Sever, of 

 Xew York City, for the Keasbey and Matti- 

 son Company, of the same city. The tests 

 were made on asbestos building lumber and 

 magnesia building lumber and show conclu- 

 sively that both these materials are superior 

 to wood for the jaurposes for which they are 

 manufactured, but that the asbestos lumber 

 is much better than the magnesia. Such as- 

 bestos lumber, when employed in the construc- 

 tion of street railway and standard railway 

 cars, for covering the end framing, should 

 prevent the cars from taking fire by any de- 

 rangement of the electrical apparatus. An- 

 other type of asbestos building material that 

 is beginning to be extensively used is asbestos 

 board or sheathing, for roofing and for side 

 walls. An asbestos shingle recently patented 

 by Messrs. Keasbey and Mattison is composed 

 of asbestos fiber and hydraulic cement. These 

 shingles are much stronger than slate and 

 lighter in weight. They are made in three 

 colors, gray, slate and tile red, in squares 4J 

 inches on a side, with two corners of the 

 square truncated. The use of asbestos ma- 

 terials in building has been considered chiefly 

 from the standpoint of fireproofing; yet there 

 is another and perhaps as important a reason 

 for their employment, and that is for pre- 

 serving an even temperature in the building 

 erected. Houses so built as to be surrounded 

 by asbestos should be cooler in summer and 

 warmer in winter than other houses. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

 The McCormick family have added $1,000,- 

 000 to the endowment of the McCormick 

 Theological Seminary of Chicago. 



Mr. Andrew Carxegie has offered to give 

 Kadclifl'e College $75,000 for a library build- 

 ing on condition that an equal sum be col- 

 lected for its endowment. 



Lord Curzox has laid the foundation stone 

 of the Agricultural College at Pusa. This 

 college and experiment station were made 

 possible by a gift of $150,000 which Mr. Henry 

 Phipps gave Lord Curzon to use for the good 

 of the people of India. 



Birmingham University has received £20,- 

 000 under the will of the late Mr. Thomas 

 Best. 



The Boston Transcript reports that the 

 faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of 

 Technology has adopted by a vote of fifty- 

 seven to six a report adverse to the proposed 

 alliance with Harvard L'niversity. 



Dr. Julius Stieglitz, of the department of 

 chemistry of the University of Chicago, has 

 been appointed to a professorship of chemistry 

 in that institution. 



At the University of Colorado, Dr. M. E. 

 Miles, who has been demonstrator of anatomy, 

 has been appointed professor of anatomy; Dr. 

 E. H. Robertson, professor of bacteriology and 

 pathology, has resigned to engage in other 

 work ; and Mr. G. S. Dodds has been appointed 

 instructor in zoology. 



Mr. William E. Brooke has been promoted 

 to an assistant professorship of engineering 

 mathematics in the University of Minnesota. 



Dr. J. Carlton Bell has been appointed in- 

 structor in experimental psychology in Wel- 

 lesley College. 



Mr. Stanley Dunkerley, M.Sc, head of 

 the department of applied mathematics in the 

 Royal Naval College, Greenwich, has been ap- 

 pointed professor of engineering in the Uni- 

 versity of Manchester. 



At King's College, London, Mr. Peter 

 Thompson, M.D., has been elected professor of 

 anatomy; and Professor Arthur Dendy, D.Sc, 

 South African College, Cape Town, has been 

 elected professor of zoology. 



