902 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXI. No. 545. 



and lead, the handling of which has been as- 

 certained to produce injurious effects, i. e., 

 lead-poisoning, the government of the Nether- 

 lands has decided to open a competition under 

 the following conditions. 



The government desires a medium for the 

 setting and resetting of diamonds to be cut 

 — which needs not necessarily be an alloy — 

 the use of which can not produce effects detri- 

 mental to the health of those handling the 

 same, or an elaborate project of altering the 

 method now in use, in such a manner that no 

 such injurious effects can be produced. 



The following requirements have further to 

 be fulfilled : 



1. The medium or the method must be 

 practicable for all sizes and shapes of dia- 

 monds in the following branches of the dia- 

 mond industry, viz., brilliants, roses and so- 

 called non-recoupcs, now being cut in the 

 Netherlands. 



2. The application must be such as to be 

 learned by the workmen, used to the present 

 method of work, without any great difficulty, 

 while the setting and resetting must not re- 

 quire more time, or considerably more time 

 than is usual now. 



3. The application and use must not entail 

 considerable pecuniary outlay. 



The Minister of the Interior has appointed 

 a committee of experts to consider the an- 

 swers submitted, and to award the prize. The 

 answers must be written in either the Dutch, 

 French, English or German languages, and 

 must be accompanied by samples or objects to 

 enabJe the committee to form an opinion 

 about the practical value of the invention, as 

 also of a legibly written address of the com- 

 petitor. 



The answers, and the samples or objects 

 pertaining thereto, must be sent carriage paid, 

 and if sent from foreign countries duty paid, 

 before January 1, 1906, to Professor Dr. L. 

 Aronstein, chairman of the committee, Chem- 

 ical Laboratory of the Polytechnic School, 

 Delft, Holland. 



The prize to be awarded for a complete 

 solution of the problem is six thousand florins. 

 The committee is empowered to divide the 

 prize among different competitors, or to par- 



tially award the prize in case of a partial 

 solution of the problem, for instance if it is 

 applicable to one of the above-named branches 

 of the diamond industry. The committee is 

 also empowered to prescribe certain condi- 

 tions, to be fulfilled by the competitor, before 

 awarding the prize. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 



At the annual anniversary meeting of the 

 Eoyal Geographical Society, on May 22, Sir 

 Clements Markham resigned the presidency 

 of the society which he has held during the 

 past twelve years. Sir George Goldie, founder 

 of Nigeria, was elected to the presidency. Sir 

 Clements Markham and Colonel D. A. Johns- 

 ton were elected vice-presidents. 



Dr. Henry S. Pritchett, president of the 

 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will 

 give the commencement address at the Uni- 

 versity of Michigan, on June 22. 



Dr. Lewellys F. Barker, who is giving up 

 the headship of the department of anatomy 

 at the University of Chicago to accept the 

 chair of medicine at the Johns Hopkins Uni- 

 versity, was given a dinner by his colleagues 

 at the University of Chicago, on May 27. 



M. Sebillot has succeeded M. Deniker as 

 president of the Anthropological Society of 

 Paris. 



Lafayette College will confer the degree 

 of Doctor of Laws on Professor Henry M. 

 Howe, of Columbia University. 



Dr. William James, professor of philosophy 

 at Harvard L^niversity, will give a course of 

 lectures at the University of Chicago during 

 the summer session. 



Major E. C. Carter, U. S. A., commissioner 

 of public health for the Philippines, has been 

 relieved and will return to Washington. Dr. 

 Victor G. Heiser, of the U. S. Public Health 

 and Marine Hospital Service, has been ap- 

 pointed cormnissioner of public health. 



Mr. H. E. Barnhard, state chemist of New 

 Hampshire, has been selected as the chemist 

 for the new Indiana Laboratory of Hygiene at 

 Indianapolis, provided for by the last legisla- 

 ture. 



