546 



SCIENCE, 



[Vol. VII., No. 176 



settles, where cholera was then prevalent, for the 

 purpose of investigating the results obtained by 

 Dr. R. Koch and the other members of the German 

 cholera commission in Egypt and India ; and he 

 arrived at the conclusion, which is now widely 

 accepted, that the selection of the comma-shaped 

 bacilli as the materies morbi of cholera appears 

 to be entirely arbitrary, for he found that these 

 comma-shaped bacilli are ordinarily present in the 

 mouths of perfectly healthy persons. 



The value of Professor Lewis's biological work 

 was recognized by the council of the Royal society 

 when they selected him, in April last, as one of 

 the fifteen candidates to be recommended to the 

 society for election in June : and his death thus 

 leaves a vacancy in the list, which it is said the 

 council will now fill up by the selection of Mr. 

 A.Sedgwick, M.A., of Trinity college, Cambridge. 



Mr. W. H. Caldwell of Cambridge, who has spent 

 some time in Australia for the purpose of obtain- 

 ing the material required for investigating the 

 embryology of marsupials, monctremes, and Cera- 

 todus, exhibited some of the results of his work at 

 the recent Royal society soiree. It will be re- 

 membered that a telegram was sent to the Mon- 

 treal meeting of the British association to an- 

 nounce his discovery of the fact that the eggs laid 

 by the monotreme mammals developed in a man- 

 ner closely similar to those of the Reptilia. Series 

 of these mammalian eggs were exhibited by Mr. 

 Caldwell, some taken a few hours after fertiliza- 

 tion, with others at various stages up to hatching, 

 and likewise different stages of the young after 

 hatching, up to five inches long. He also showed 

 a complete series of eggs of Ceratodus, the air- 

 breathing fish of Queensland, from the unseg- 

 mented egg up to hatching, together with stages 

 of the young fish after hatching. All this material 

 is of the highest value, and Mr. Caldwell's re- 

 searches are sure to throw much light upon many 

 obscure problems of vertebrate morphology. He 

 will also be able to supply Prof. W. K. Parker 

 with the specimens necessary for investigating the 

 development of the skull in Ceratodus, Echidna, 

 and many marsupials. W. 

 London, May SO. 



NOTES AM) SEWS. 



The first circular of the local committee at 

 Buffalo, of the American association, announces 

 that the meetings will be held in the recently 

 enlarged high-school building. Reduced rates 

 have been obtained over many of the railroads, 

 most of which will allow a return ticket at one- 

 third of the usual fare, upon certificate from the 

 local secretary at Buffalo. The Chicago and north- 



western railway system will return members 

 attending the Buffalo meeting, from Chicago, at 

 one-third of the regular fare, upon presenting at 

 the Chicago ticket-office a certificate from the 

 local secretary at Buffalo : hence members resid- 

 ing in the north-west must see that they are in 

 possession of two certificates when the meeting 

 adjourns, — one to be used in Buffalo, and the 

 other in Chicago. The "Western union telegraph 

 company, with its usual courtesy, will place its 

 lines and district telegraph system at the service 

 of members. The Botanical club of Buffalo is 

 arranging an excursion and reception for the 

 Botanical club of the association, as is also the 

 Entomological club of that city for the Entomo- 

 logical club of the association. The address of 

 the local secretary is Dr. Julius Pohlman, Buf- 

 falo, N.Y. 



— The Appalachian mountain club propose issu- 

 ing advance sheets of the forthcoming White 

 Mountain map on a scale of 1:50000 by tracing the 

 work now done, lettering the tracing roughly, add- 

 ing the streams approximately, and copying by the 

 k blue print ' process. Two sheets, a northern and 

 a southern, will together cover the most important 

 areas. It is hoped to have them ready by the first 

 of July, and the cost is not likely to exceed seven- 

 ty-five cents per sheet. Members may thus obtain 

 maps of the accurately located points (including 

 nearly all marked summits), on which they may 

 fill in the lesser details, and mark corrections of 

 the streams. Artistic appearance will not be at- 

 tempted for these sheets; but their practical value 

 will lie in the large scale, which is twice (linear) 

 that on which the finished map is to be published. 

 A field -meeting will be held on the summit of 

 Mount Washington from July 1 to 8. Papers may 

 be expected from Profs. E C. Pickering and N. S. 

 Shaler, Dr. W. G. Farlow, Messrs. J. Rayner Ed- 

 mands, Rose well B Lawrence, and others. The 

 papers will be arranged for stormy weather and 

 the evenings. 



— Yale college, induced by the success of the 

 Columbia college school of political science, and 

 by the work in progress at Johns Hopkins, Cornell, 

 and the University of Michigan, is making special 

 arrangements for courses in political and social 

 science, to begin in the autumn. Professor Sum- 

 ner is announced to lecture on finance and the 

 science and art of politics in the history of the Uni- 

 ted States ; Professor Farnam, on the principles of 

 public finance; Professor Hadley, on railroad ad- 

 ministration ; Mr. Wheeler, on Roman law : Mr. 

 Terry, on the doctrine of rights ; Mr. Raynolds, on 

 comparative constitutional law; Mr. H. C. White, 

 on local government in the United States : and Mr. 



