May 7, 1886.] 



SCIEXCE. 



415 



— The summer course in entomology and gen- 

 eral invertebrate zoology, of Cornell university, 

 will begin Monday, June 21, next, and continue 

 ten weeks. After completing an elementary 

 course in either general zoolcgy or entomology, 

 the student may select some subject in systematic 

 -zoology, economic entomology, or insect anatomy, 

 for special investigation. It is planned to have 

 the work of each student, as far as possible, an 

 original investigation. Members of this class will 

 have free use of the library, and all other privi- 

 leges of students of the university. Those desir- 

 ing to join the class should make application to 

 Prof. J. H. Comstock, Ithaca, N.Y., before 

 June 10. 



— From the returns of the German quin- 

 quennial census, in December last, it was foimd 

 that Prussia has a population of 27,279,111, an 

 increase of 3.79 per cent; Bavaria, 5,284,778, an 

 increase of 2.49 per cent ; Saxony, 2,972,805, an 

 increase of 6.94 per cent, the largest of any of 

 the states, the returns of which are so far availa- 

 ble. In only a few provinces has there been a 

 decrease ; Pomerania, with 2.22, being the most 

 important. 



— The cold weather during the past winter in 

 Florida, has, Dr. Riley finds, destroyed the in- 

 jurious orange scale insects wherever it was 

 severe enough to cause the shedding of the leaves. 

 The eggs, however, were uninjured. 



— The journal of the Society for psychical 

 research for April contains a second instalment 

 of Mr. Myers's ' Notes on the unconscious self,' 

 which is principally devoted to answering the 

 criticisms of Hon. Roden Noel on Mr. Myers's 

 previous papers. Some interesting anecdotes on 

 the general subject of mesmerism are given by 

 €. Kegan Paul, the well-known publisher, and 

 his sister. At a general meeting of the society, 

 announced for the evening of May 3, Mrs. Henry 

 Sidgwick was to read a paper on spiritualism, 

 which was looked forward to with great interest. 



— In tables just published by the U. S. geologi- 

 cal survey, Mr. J. D. Weeks gives the total pro- 

 duction of manganese ores in the United States 

 during 1885 at 23,258 tons, with over seven thou- 

 sand additional tons of manganiferous iron and 

 argentiferous manganese ores. For the year 1884 

 there were 10,180, for 1882 only 4,532 tons. This 

 includes only those ores containing over 44 per 

 cent of metallic manganese. 



— The small island Juan Fernandez, where 

 Alexander Selkirk passed his four years of soli- 

 tude, has been leased by the Chilian government 

 to a Swiss named Rodt, who has established there 



a flourishing colony. M. Rodt exercises the pow- 

 ers of a viceroy, and has the fullest administrative 

 authority. The chief occupation of the inhabit- 

 ants is agriculture, but some branches of manu- 

 facturing industry are also practised. M. Rodt 

 encourages immigration, and among the new 

 Crusoes are to be found Austrians, Englishmen, 

 Frenchmen, North and South Americans, South 

 Germans, Swiss, and Spaniards. There are no 

 Prussians, the governor having a rooted antipathy 

 to Prussia. 



— The tenth anniversary of Johns Hopkins 

 university was celebrated April 26. The statis- 

 tics show that the whole number of students 

 admitted since its foundation is 923, of whom 19 

 have died. Addresses were made by Profs. W. 

 H. Welch, and H. A. Rowland, and others. 



— The Smithsonian has received the first evi- 

 dence of the successful introduction of salmon in 

 the head waters of the Potomac. Last week Mr. 

 R. A. Golden, a fish-dealer in the Washington 

 market, presented a fine specimen of the Sebago 

 salmon to the institution, measuring over one 

 foot in length. It was caught in a trap-net at 

 Ragety Point ; and the presence of this well- 

 grown specimen in the Potomac waters is an 

 earnest of what may be looked for in the future. 

 The introduction of land-locked salmon in this 

 river marks an important era in the progress of 

 fish-culture and the success of the U. S. fish com- 

 mission. 



— The proposition to establish a national mili- 

 tary and naval museum in Washington appears 

 to be regarded with general favor. The plan 

 proposed is to erect a building on the Smithsonian 

 grounds for this purpose, the museum to be under 

 the supervision of the Smithsonian. This plan 

 would doubtless commend itself to congress more 

 forcibly than would the proposition to erect a 

 large separate building in another part of the city. 

 The army and navy museum would be quite dis- 

 tinct from the other departments of the national 

 museum, and would be placed under the control 

 of representatives of the two services upon which 

 it must depend for growth and development. 



— The vessels belonging to the U. S. coast sur- 

 vey were assigned to duty last week. The Pal- 

 inurus, Lieut. D. D. V. Stuart commanding, is 

 stationed in Long Island Sound ; the Eagre, Lieut. 

 C. P. Perkins, in company with the Daisy, will 

 proceed in a few days to the North River, to com- 

 plete the work begun last year by the Palinurus. 

 This work will take until the middle of July, 

 when the Daisy will be employed along the shores 

 of Staten Island. The Eagre will then begin 

 operations in the East River at a point midway 



