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SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VII., No. 1G0 



strenuous effort will be made by those interested 

 in this service, to prevent a consolidation, or any 

 curtailment of its powers. The temper of the 

 commission is decidedly in favor of consolidating 

 some of the scientific bureaus, and a recommenda- 

 tion to this effect may confidently be looked for. 



— It is proposed to establish a permanent ex- 

 position in Washington, preparatory to a world's 

 exposition in 1892 to celebrate the fourth centen- 

 nial of the discovery of America. 



— A bill is now before congress to extend the 

 reports of the signal service for the relief of 

 farmers. It is proposed to forecast " cold waves, 

 rains, storms, and marked inclemencies " of the 

 weather, by establishing danger-signals at tele- 

 graph-stations all over the country. 



— The exploration of the ancient mounds 

 in Manitoba promises interesting results. It ap- 

 pears from surveys made during the past sum- 

 mer that the northern limits of the mound-build- 

 ers lie beyond the Red River of the North. Along 

 this river and Lake Winnipeg, mounds were found 

 identical in structure with the famous ones of the 

 Ohio and Mississippi valleys. 



— An act of incorporation, establishing a zoo- 

 logical society in Washington, was passed in 1870; 

 but nothing, so far, has been accomplished toward 

 carrying into effect the provisions of its charter. 

 Mr. P. T. Barnum now proposes to establish a 

 zoological garden there, if congress will grant the 

 use of thirty acres of the reclaimed lands on the 

 flats for the purpose, and the privileges vested in 

 this society. He offers to expend $200,000 in im- 

 proving and beautifying the garden. 



— The mincralogical collection of Mr. C. S. 

 BgOMBt Of Philadelphia is said, by Professor Rath 

 of Germany, to be undoubtedly the most remark- 

 able private one in existence. It is- especially 

 valuable for the richness and perfection of its 

 rarer forms, and for its completeness of authentic 

 species. It includes, according to Mr. Kunz, over 

 10,500 specimens. 



— It appears that Columbia college was not the 

 first to act upon the Tyndall scholarship (not 

 * fellowship '), as stated in the last issue of Science. 

 Harvard college took action in regard to the mat- 

 ter nearly three months ago, and at that time 

 appointed Mr. H. H. Brogan, of the class of 1885, 

 as the first incumbent. He was in Europe at the 

 time, and began his studies immediately. 



— Jacob v. Tschudi, the well-known South 

 American traveller, archeologist, and naturalist, 

 died Jan. 25, at St. Gall, Switzerland, aged sixty- 

 eight. 



— Preparations for the international horticul- 

 tural exposition at Dresden, Germany, which will 

 be held next May, are progressing rapidly. The 

 chief exhibition-hall will comprise nearly 24,000 

 square feet of space ; and there will be, in addi- 

 tion, another building, with more than double 

 the superficial area, to contain the more delicate 

 plants. 



— An interesting fact in connection with the 

 trephining of an Inca skull, recently described in 

 the Proceedings of the national museum, is re- 

 called by Mr. J. W. Taylor of Roxbury, Mass., 

 who states that Dr. Rink, during his travels in 

 Labrador, recorded the story of an Eskimo family 

 that lived near a people who built their houses of 

 bowlders. The latter were hostile to the Eskimo, 

 and, when they took them prisoners, they put 

 them to death by boring a hole in their foreheads 

 with these stones. 



— The importance of bacteriological studies has 

 been recognized by the U. S. army and medical 

 museum by the institution of extended laboratory 

 work in the cultivation of the various forms and 

 varieties of these microscopic organisms. Especial 

 pains have been taken by Dr. Billings, the curator, 

 to introduce all the latest methods and apparatus, 

 so that the facilities are now quite equal to those 

 of foreign laboratories. Solid culture media only 

 are employed, as gelatine, blood-serum, potato, 

 bread, and agar agar ; and excellent results have 

 been attained in the culture of the principal patho- 

 genic forms. Many specimens are on exhibition, 

 illustrating the germs of various diseases. The 

 chromogenic forms are seen growing upon slices 

 of potato, and represent almost every tint of the 

 rainbow. The value of such laboratory work at 

 the present time is unquestionably great. 



— The entire number of books published in the 

 United States during 1885, as compiled by the 

 Publishers' iceekly, amounts to 4,030, a decrease of 

 about 50 from that of 1884. In education and 

 language there were 225, a decrease of 2 ; medical 

 science and hygiene, 188, a decrease of 21 ; social 

 and political science, 163, a decrease of 5 ; physi- 

 cal and mathematical science, 92, a decrease of 

 42 ; mental and moral philosophy, 25, an increase 

 of 6. The loss has been greatest in works on 

 science and the useful arts, and the greatest gains 

 were on religious, theological, and juvenile works. 

 The largest number of works, 934, as usual, were 

 of fiction, with theological, law, and juvenile 

 books coming next, each with about 400. 



— The Museum of hygiene at Washington con- 

 tains a metallic burial-casket similar to that sent 

 to Siberia to receive the body of Captain De Long, 

 who perished at the Lena in October, 1881. These 



