214 SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 



compiled or to be compiled in the various bureaus and offices of the 

 Government, with a special view to the avoidance of unnecessary duplica- 

 tion of work ; and for the unification and improvement of the scales of 

 maps, of the symbols and conventions used upon them, and of the 

 methods of representing relief. 



The representatives of the Federal organizations mentioned above 

 met early in January to perfect an organization, and adopted by-laws 

 and methods of procedure on January i6, 1920. The officers elected 

 for 1920 are: Chairman, O. C. Merrill, Chief Engineer of the Forest 

 Service; Vice-Chairman, William Bowie, Chief of the Division of 

 Geodesy, U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey; Secretary, C. H. Birdseye, 

 Chief Geographer, U. S. Geological Survey. 



The by-laws provide for a number of standing committees, whose 

 duties are to care for the various phases of the problem of surveying and 

 map-making. These committees, with their chairmen, are as follows: 

 (i) Executive, O. C. Merrill; (2) Coordination, C. O. Sherrill; 

 (3) Cooperation, Frank Bond; (4) Technical Standards, W. M. Reed; 

 (5) Topographic Maps, E. C Bebb; (6) Highway Maps, C. D. Curtis; 

 (7) General Maps, J. H. Robinson; (8) Hydrographic Charts, R. L. 

 Faris; (9) Control, William Bowie; (10) Photographic Surveying, 

 E. H. Marks; (ii) Information, C. H. Birdseye. 



Each committee is composed of five members who are representatives 

 on the Board of Surveys and Maps or are other officials of the organiza- 

 tions having representation on the Board. There will be appointed 

 representatives of organizations interested in surveying and mapping 

 which are outside of the Federal Government, on each of the com- 

 mittees except the Executive Committee and the Photographic Sur- 

 veying Committee. 



The Map Information Office was organized, with headquarters at 

 the U. S. Geological Survey, as directed by the Executive order. The 

 Office is in charge of J. H. Wheat, of the Geological Survey. 



The first stated public meeting of the Board of Surveys and Maps was 

 held on March 9, 1920, at the auditorium of the Interior Department. 

 Stated public meetings will be held on the second Tuesday of January, 

 March, May, September and November of each year. There will be 

 held executive meetings immediately after the stated public meetings 

 and also on the second Tuesday of February, April, October and De- 

 cember. No regular meetings will be held during the months of June, 

 July and August. W. B. 



NOTES 



As the result of a conference held on February 24, the Bureau of 

 Public Roads has begun the standardization of tests and specifications 

 under which highway testing engineers in most of the States will work. 

 Confusion and difficulties have arisen in the past from the use in different 

 States of varying tests of the materials used in road construction. 



A new outline base map of the United States on the Lambert zenithal 

 equal-area projection, scale i : 7,500,000, has been issued by the U. S. 



