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SCIENCE 



N. S. Vol. XXX. No. 762 



crease of population) was greater in 1907 

 than in any previous year except 1906 and 

 1902 (902,243). The decline in the birth-rate, 

 which stood at 41.64 in 1877, 38.33 in 1887 and 

 37.17 in 1897, as compared with 33.2 in 1907, 

 is now attributable to a falling off in the num- 

 ber of births in every part of the empire ex- 

 cept Westphalia, and in Westphalia the num- 

 ber of births is not quite keeping pace with the 

 total growth of population. The decrease in 

 number of births in the whole empire in 1907 

 was 23,766 or 1.1 per cent. In Saxony the 

 decrease was 3 per cent., and East Prussia, 

 West Prussia and Pomerania show about the 

 same percentage. As regards the death-rate, 

 which stood at 28.05 in 1877, 25.62 in 1887 

 and 22.52 in 1897, as compared with 18.98 in 

 1907, there is a steady decline in the infant 

 mortality rate in all parts of the empire, but 

 especially in large towns. 



All the Alaskan field parties of the Geolog- 

 ical Survey are now at work or on their way 

 to the interior. The surveys and investiga- 

 tions of 1909 include fourteen parties, which 

 are widely distributed over Alaska. These 

 parties comprise twelve geologists, seven topo- 

 graphers and three engineers. Two parties 

 will be at work in southeastern Alaska, one in 

 the Copper River region, two in the Mata- 

 nuska coal region, one in the eastern part of 

 the Kenai Peninsula, two in the Iliamna Lake 

 region, two in the Tukon-Tanana region, one 

 in the Koyukuk and Chandalar districts, one 

 in the Norton Bay region, and one in Seward 

 Peninsula. These surveys and investigations 

 are carried on under the direction of Alfred 

 H. Brooks, who left Seattle for Cordova 

 on the first of July. From Cordova he will pro- 

 ceed up Copper Eiver and make a brief visit 

 to the Nizina district. Circumstances per- 

 mitting, he will then go by overland trail to 

 Fairbanks and later will pay a visit to the 

 Berners Bay and Eagle River districts, in 

 southeastern Alaska. 



How long will timber remain commercially 

 valuable after it has been swept over by a 

 forest fire ? Timber land owners as well as the 

 federal government are much interested in 

 obtaining this information, and the govern- 



ment has just begun an investigation of a 

 large number of fire areas in Oregon and 

 Washington in order to determine, if possible, 

 the length of time which will elapse after a 

 forest fire before the timber deteriorates to 

 such a condition as to decrease its commercial 

 value. The agencies which cause timber to 

 decay and encourage the attack of wood borers 

 are undoubtedly influenced to a greater or less 

 degree by the intensity of the original fire and 

 the climatic conditions and altitude of the 

 burned areas. All the information in connec- 

 tion with this investigation will be obtained 

 first hand by the Forest Service, either from 

 government timber land, or from private hold- 

 ings where logging operations are under way. 

 In this connection the Forest Service has also 

 undertaken an investigation to determine the 

 relative strength of green and fire-killed tim- 

 ber. The material which is to be tested is 

 being sawed at the mill of the Eastern and 

 Western Lumber Company of Portland, Ore- 

 gon, where it will be surfaced to exact sizes 

 and then transported to Seattle, where tests 

 will be made in connection with the Forest 

 Service exhibit at the exposition. The fire- 

 killed trees which are to yield material for 

 these tests were selected by representatives of 

 the Forest Service on the holdings of the 

 Clarke County Timber Company of Portland, 

 Oregon, near Tacolt, Washington. This tim- 

 ber was burned over seven years ago and rep- 

 resents fairly well the average of burned tim- 

 ber found in the Pacific northwest. The logs 

 which vary from three to four feet in diameter, 

 were sawed into thirty-two foot lengths. These 

 are being manufactured into sixteen-foot floor 

 joists and bridge stringers. The results of 

 these tests are expected to disapprove the 

 opinion generally held regarding the strength 

 of fire-killed timber. 



Tropical Life announces a prize of fifty 

 pounds sterling for an essay embodying re- 

 search work directed towards ascertaining ex- 

 actly what changes (together with their causes 

 and whether these changes occur during the 

 fermentation process only or while being 

 dried) take place in the cacao bean between 

 the time that it leaves the pod until it is 



