German physicist, of Dr. William Bradley Rising, professor of chemistry in the University of California, and of Dr. William George light, formerly professor of geology at Denison University and the University of New Mexico.
A national testimonial to Commander Robert Peary was held at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York City, on February 8. Governor Hughes presided and a telegram was read from President Taft which expressed the hope that congress would take some substantial notice of Commander Peary's great achievement. Governor Hughes presented Commander Peary with a purse containing $10,000, which he immediately contributed toward fitting out an Antarctic expedition.—The Langley medal of the Smithsonian Institution, created in 1908 in commemoration of Professor Langley and his work in aerodromics, was presented to Messrs. Orville and Wilbur Wright on February 10. Dr. Alexander Graham Bell and Senator Lodge made addresses and Chief Justice Fuller presented the medals.
A statue of the late Morris K. Jesup, for many years president of the American Museum of Natural History, was unveiled in the foyer of the museum on February 9. Addresses at the unveiling were made by Dr. Henry Fairfield Osborn, who has succeeded Mr. Jesup as president of the museum, and Mr. Joseph H. Choate, one of the founders of the museum.
A department of experimental biology has been organized in the Rockefeller Institute. Professor Jacques Loeb, of the University of California, has been elected head of the department.—The Geological Society of London has awarded the Wollaston medal to Professor W. B. Scott, of Princeton University.—The French Academy of Moral and Political Sciences has elected Professor William James, of Harvard University, a foreign member of the society, in the room of the late M. de Martens, of St. Petersburg. Professor James has been a corresponding member of the academy since 1898.
The late Darius Ogden Mills, of New York City, has bequeathed $100,000 to the American Museum of Natural History, $50,000 to the New York Botanical Garden and $25,000 to the American Geographical Society of New York City.—The Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University has received from Messrs. George G. Mason and William S. Mason $250,000 for a laboratory of mechanical engineering.
