SCIENTIFIC NOTBS AND NEWS 455 



tion (S. J. Res. 91) "conveying the thanks of Congress to Dr. James 

 Harris Rogers, of Hyattsville, Maryland, the discoverer of under- 

 ground and underwater radio." An appropriation of $1,000 is pro- 

 vided for a suitable gold medal. Referred to the Committee on Naval 

 Affairs. 



A message from the President on August 21 (H. Doc. 197) trans- 

 mitted an invitation from the Government of the French Republic to 

 that of the United States to send delegates to a proposed conference at 

 Paris on September 30, 191 9, "to consider questions relating to the re- 

 organization of the service of the exchange of meteorological informa- 

 tion," with a recommendation from the Secretary of Agriculture that 

 appropriation be made for two delegates to the conference. Referred 

 to the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate, and the Committee 

 on Agriculture of the House. 



Hearings have been completed on the Patent Office reform bills. 



NOTES 



An Agricultural History Society has been organized in Washington 

 "to stimulate interest, promote study and facilitate publication of 

 researches in agricultural history." The officers are: President, 

 Rodney H. True, of the Bureau of Plant Industry; Vice-Presi- 

 dent, Wm. J. Trimble, of the North Dakota Agricultural College; 

 Secretary-Treasurer, Lyman Carrier, of the Bureau of Plant Industry; 

 Members of Executive Committee, R. W. Kelsey, of Haverford, Penn- 

 sylvania, and O. C. Stine, of the Office of Farm Management. 



The Chemical Society of Washington (the local section of the Amer- 

 ican Chemical Society) held its summer excursion on August 15, going 

 by boat to the smokeless powder plant and the naval proving grounds 

 at Indian Head, Maryland. 



The Division of Birds of the National Museum has recently ac- 

 quired by exchange from the American Museum of Natural History 

 665 bird skins from Colombia, forming a part of the material upon 

 which Dr. F. M. Chapman based his "Distribution of Bird-hfe in 

 Colombia," published in 19 17. 



Dr. C. G. Abbot, of the Smithsonian Institution, returned from 

 his expedition to South America on July 30. 



Dr. D. G. Byers, of the University of Washington, Seattle, recently 

 a captain in the Chemical Warfare Service in Washington, has been 

 appointed chief of the division of chemistry of the Bureau of Soils. 



The Division of Plants of the National Museum has received a col- 

 lection of about 1300 specimens from Colorado and New England, pre- 

 sented by Dr. S. F. Blake, of the Bureau of Plant Industry. 



Dr. F. G. CoTTRELL has been appointed assistant director of the 

 Bureau of Mines, in charge of the newly organized investigations 



