OcroBEK 8. moil] 



SCIENCE 



477 



in rats and in ground squirrels. Tlie infec- 

 tion in ground squirrels has so far appeared 

 in Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, Cali- 

 fornia, chiefly the former, where, up to Sep- 

 tember 10, 1909, 220 plague-infected squirrels 

 had been found. The Public Health and Ma- 

 rine-Hospital Service is attempting to de- 

 stroy all the ground squirrels in the involved 

 area, or at least to so reduce them in number 

 that the plague infection among them will die 

 out of its own accord. This article gives a de- 

 tailed account of plague infection among 

 the ground squirrels in Contra Costa County, 

 and the relation of squirrel plague to plague 

 in man. It also describes the means employed 

 for the destruction of the squirrels, and gives 

 a serial list of infected squirrels with the lo- 

 cation where found. The article has been re- 

 printed, and a limited edition is available for 

 distribution to those interested. Requests for 

 copies should be made to the Surgeon-General, 

 Public Health and ilarine-Hospital Service, 

 Washington, D. C. 



A BILL to promote the economic development 

 of the United Kingdom and the improvement 

 of the roads was introduced in the House of 

 Commons on August 26 by the chancellor of 

 the exchequer. In the explanatoi-y memoran- 

 dum, as summarized in Nature, it is stated 

 that the bill enables the treasury to make free 

 grants and loans for the purpose of aiding 

 and developing forestry, agriculture and rural 

 industries, the reclamation and drainage of 

 land, the improvement of rural transport 

 (other than roads), the construction and im- 

 provement of harbors and canals, and the 

 development and improvement of fisheries, and 

 for many other purposes calculated to pro- 

 mote the economic development of the United 

 Kingdom. A grant or loan must be made 

 either to or through a government department, 

 and all applications for grants or loans have 

 to be referred to an advisory committee, and 

 the recommendations of the committee con- 

 sidered before the grant or loan is made; but 

 the responsibility of making the grant or loan 

 will rest with the treasury, who will not be 

 bound by the recommendations of the com- 

 mittee. All grants and loans will be made 



out of a separate fund, which will be fed by 

 (1) sums annually voted by parliament; (2) 

 a sum of £2,500,000 charged on the consoli- 

 dated fund and payable in five annual instal- 

 ments of £500,000 each in 1911, 1912, 1913, 

 1914 and 1915; (3) sums received by way of 

 interest on and repayment of loans and the 

 profits made as the result of a grant or loan in 

 cases where the repayment of such profits is 

 made a condition of the grant or loan. 

 Power is given to the Board of Agriculture 

 and Fisheries and the Department of Agri- 

 culture and Technical Instruction for Ireland 

 to acquire land (compulsoi-y if necessary) for 

 any purpose for which a grant is. made to 

 them. The biU will permit the expenditure of 

 money on scientific research and experimental 

 work of a kind likely to be beneficial to agri- 

 culture. The bill further constitutes a Eoad 

 Board for the purpose of improving the facili- 

 ties for motor trafiic. In addition to the 

 power of acquiring land for the purposes of 

 new roads proposed to be constructed by the 

 Eoad Board, the board is given power to ac- 

 quire land in rural districts on either side of 

 any such proposed road to the extent of 220 

 yards in depth. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS 



Harvard University has received $15,000 

 from Mrs. James Augustus Eumrill, to estab- 

 lish three scholarships. 



The alumni fund of Yale University was 

 increased last year by $73,000, the total fund 

 now being $361,000. 



An anonjTnous gift of $250,000 has been 

 made toward providing a pension fund for 

 teachers in the public schools of Pittsburgh. 



Ex-governor James D. Porter, LL.D., has 

 resigned the presidency of Peabody College 

 for Teachers at Nashville, Tennessee, which 

 office he has held for seven years. The duties 

 of the office have been assigned to Dr. J. I. D. 

 Hinds, professor of chemistry, and for several 

 years dean of the college faculty. Dr. Hinds 

 will hold this position until a president is 

 elected by the trustees of the New George 

 Peabody College for Teachers, which is now 

 in the process of organization. Governor Por- 



