May 21, 1886.] 



SCIENCE. 



455 



which the experience of this company has shown 

 to be advantageous from a financial as well as a 

 humanitarian stand-point. 



Dr. Dana discussed the relation of high altitudes 

 to nervous diseases. He had investigated the 

 subject by means of questions addressed to phy- 

 sicians in various elevated stations, and arrived at 

 the following conclusions : choreiform manifesta- 

 tions are increased by high altitudes ; nervousness 

 and irritability are also increased; nervous women 

 especially are rendered more nervous ; the weight 

 of opinion seems to be that old age is not pro- 

 longed by altitude ; epilepsy is not increased, 

 sometimes the patients improve ; insomnia is 

 usually benefited, often cured ; the gouty diathesis 

 is not helped by the change. 



The officers for the coming year are, president, 

 Dr. Frank Donaldson of Baltimore ; 1st vice-presi- 

 dent, Dr. V. I. Bo wd itch of Boston ; 2d vice-pres- 

 ident, Dr. R. G. Curtin of Philadelphia ; secre- 

 tary, Dr. J. R. Walker of Philadelphia. 



PROGRAMME OF THE INTERNATIONAL 

 PHILOMA THIC CONGRESS. 



The International philomathic congress, hav- 

 ing for its object the discussion of commercial 

 and industrial technical instruction, and opening 

 Sept. 20, 1886, has arranged the following pro- 

 gramme of questions for discussion : I. General 

 questions : Present condition of commercial and 

 industrial technical instruction in France and 

 abroad ; domain of this instruction ; importance 

 due it ; its influence on the economic, commercial, 

 and industrial condition of the country ; general 

 view of an organization of technical instruction ; 

 preparation for the various branches of this in- 

 struction ; action of the state, general councils, 

 municipalities, chambers of commerce, consulting 

 chambers, syndic chambers, and private corpora- 

 tions ; on the establishment of schools of technical 

 instruction ; on the elaboration of their methods 

 and courses of instruction ; on their government ; 

 on their financial organization ; to what extent 

 should technical instruction be provided with a 

 general and uniform course? to what extent 

 should it have special courses appropriate to the 

 necessities of each district? what position should 

 be allotted in the different schools of technical in- 

 struction to general instruction? what proportion 

 is to be allotted to theoretical and what to practi- 

 cal instruction? relations among themselves of 

 similar schools of technical instruction, with a 

 view to common action respecting all general 

 measures intended to aid their development, and 

 assure their prosperity ; concerning their represen- 

 tation in the superior council of technical instruc- 



tion ; periodicity of the congress for technical 

 instruction ; place and state of the next congress. 

 II. Special questions : organization of commercial 

 technical instruction, first degree (elementary 

 commercial instruction), second degree (more ad- 

 vanced commercial schools), advanced degree 

 (advanced commercial studies) ; organization of 

 industrial technical instruction, first degree (work- 

 men), second degree (master w T orkmen and fore- 

 men), advanced degree (engineers) ; preparation 

 and admission of the pupils ; instruction by the 

 master workmen ; apprenticeship ; schools ; laws 

 and regulations, courses, and methods ; theoretical 

 instruction and practical instruction ; instruction 

 in drawing ; manual labor ; staff of administra- 

 tion and instruction ; councils of administration 

 and improvement ; buildings and material ; plans 

 and distribution of the buildings ; instruments and 

 material for instruction ; libraries ; commercial 

 museums : industrial museums ; financial organi- 

 zation ; fellowships ; scholastic excursions and 

 expeditions ; travelling fellowships and resident 

 fellowships abroad ; finding places for pupils after 

 graduation ; places and salaries ; complimentary 

 courses of technical instruction ; courses for ap- 

 prentices and adults ; public lecturers. All in- 

 formation relating to the congress may be had of 

 the general secretary of the Philomathic society 

 at Bordeaux, Eugene Buhan. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



We have received a pamphlet of fifty -one pages 

 on the Pennsylvania boroughs, which may interest 

 some of our readers. It is written by William 

 P. Holcomb, and forms one of the studies in 

 historical and political science published by the 

 Johns Hopkins university, the fourth series of 

 which is now under way. The author begins with 

 an account of the introduction of the borough 

 system under William Penn, and then sketches 

 the history of some of the leading boroughs, and 

 concludes with a description of the borough sys- 

 tem as it now exists. This method of local gov- 

 ernment is only found in three American states, — 

 Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Connecticut, — 

 and citizens of other states have some difficulty 

 in understanding what a borough is, and wherein 

 it differs from a city. According to Mr. Holcomb, 

 the difference is mainly one of size, ten thousand 

 inhabitants being required, under Pennsylvania 

 law s, to constitute a city, while a borough need 

 not have more than a few hundred. Then a city 

 in that state has two representative councils, 

 while a borough has only one ; and these two 

 points, with a few differences in names, seem to 

 be the only distinction between the two kinds of 



