SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS . 425 



terest of economy. The members of the Geological Survey are entirely 

 willing to bear their due share of any burdens imposed by a program of 

 national economy, but they protest that the proposed reduction in 

 floor space and the resulting crowding will not be an economy but will 

 actually cause a loss in efficiency exceeding the saving. 



"We respectfully request that the Public Buildings Commission re- 

 consider the allottment of space as it affects the Geological Survey." 



NOTES 



Messrs. H. A. Edson and W. W. Stockberger, of the Bureau of 

 Plant Industry; W. I. SwanTon, of the Reclamation Service; C. O. 

 Johns, of the Bureau of Chemistry; J. F. Meyer, of the Bureau of 

 Standards; O. S. AdAm, of the Coast and Geodetic Survey; and vSidney 

 F. Smith of the Patent Office are assisting the Congressional Joint Re- 

 classification Commission in the classification of the employees in the 

 Federal scientific bureaus. 



The Bureau of Mines is to be divided into an Investigations Branch 

 and an Operations Branch, each with an assistant director in charge. 

 Under the Investigations Branch will come mineral technology, fuels, 

 mining, petroleum, and experiment stations. Under the Operations 

 Branch will be a chief clerk, a division of education and information, 

 the mine rescue work, and the Government fuel yards. 



Dr. C. G. Abbot, of the Smithsonian Institution, reports successful 

 observations of the solar eclipse on June 5 at La Paz, Bolivia. 



Dr. Samuel Avery, formerly major in the Chemical Warfare Service 

 in Washington, has returned to the University of Nebraska. 



Miss Eleanor F. Bliss, of the Geological Survey, and Miss A. F. 

 Jonas are spending three months surveying the crystalline rock area 

 of northeastern Maryland for the Maryland Geological Survey, correlat- 

 ing the Maryland classification and map units with those recognized 

 by these geologists and Miss Florence Bascom, in adjacent portions of 

 Pennsylvania. 



Dr. William Bowie, chief of the Division of Geodesy of the Coast 

 and Geodetic vSurvey, received the honorary degree of Doctor of Science 

 from Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, on June 23. 



Mr. Stephen C. Brown, registrar of the National Museum for over 

 forty years, died on July 11, 1919. 



Mr. W. A. English, formerly a geologist of the Geological Survey 

 and now engaged in professional work in the oil and gas fields of Cal- 

 ifornia, has returned temporarily to Washington to complete a report for 

 the Survey. 



Mr. Samuel W. Epstein, formerly in charge of the rubber laboratory 

 of the Bureau of Standards at Akron, Ohio, has been transferred to 

 Washington and placed in charge of chemical rubber investigations at 

 the Bureau. 



