KOTEHBEB 26, 1909] 



SCIENCE 



753 



producer of yellow pine lumber, supplying 

 nearly one fifth of the total production. 

 Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas and Alabama 

 followed in the order named. The state of 

 Washington, alone, supplied more than 

 three fifths of the Douglas fir cut, while the 

 bulk of the remainder came from Oregon. 

 Minnesota produced about a third of the 

 white pine, followed by Wisconsin with about 

 fifteen per cent, and Xew Hampshire with ten 

 per cent. An interesting feature of the report 

 is that two Xew England states, Maine and 

 Massachusetts, produced more white pine than 

 Michigan, which for many years led the coun- 

 try in producing this valuable timber. Oak 

 lumber manufacture now centers in Ken- 

 tucky, West Virginia and Tennessee. Wis- 

 consin comes first in the production of hem- 

 lock, taking the position held by Pennsyl- 

 vania for so many years. 



The London Times reports that a novel 

 method of killing moths and other insects 

 which are harmful to grape-vines has been 

 adopted near Rheim.s. Posts supporting 5- 

 candle-power electric lamps were placed in the 

 vineyards, from each of which a dish, contain- 

 ing water with a top layer of petroleum, was 

 suspended. During the first night these traps 

 were placed in three parallel rows at distances 

 of about 200 feet from each other, the distance 

 between each lamp being about 75 feet. On 

 the first clear evening late in July the current 

 was turned on about eight o'clock, and the 

 lamps remained burning until an hour or so 

 after midnight. Soon after the lamps were 

 lighted the insects swarmed towards them and 

 were rapidly killed, either by the fumes of the 

 petroleum or by the petroleum itself. The 

 same operation was resumed the next clear 

 night, but the lamps of the two outside rows 

 were placed about 2.o feet closer to those of 

 the center row, and this was repeated in each 

 of five subsequent clear nights, so as finally 

 to bring the three rows within about 50 feet 

 of each other. During the succeeding six or 

 seven clear nights the movement was reversed 

 in the same manner, so as to return the lamp.= 

 to their position of the first night. As to the 

 position of the lamps, numerous exjjeriments 



were made during these trials, and it was 

 proved that the greatest number of insects were 

 killed when the petroleum dish was elevated 

 only a few inches above the ground. These 

 experiments were witnessed by representatives 

 from a number of leading champagne makers, 

 and this method was recommended to all wine 

 growers who can avail themselves of the serv- 

 ices of electricity. 



The Norwegian government has placed the 

 steamship Michael Sars at the disposal of Sir 

 John Murray and Dr. Hjort, the Norwegian 

 Fishery director, for deep-sea exploration in 

 the Atlantic Ocean from the Canary Islands 

 to the Faroes. According to the London 

 Times the purpose of the cruise is to try in 

 the great ocean the new methods and instru- 

 ments which have been developed within the 

 past few years, especially during the Liter- 

 national Fishery Explorations. It is believed 

 that the great fishery nets and trawls which 

 are now used for economic purposes in shal- 

 lower waters can be used with success in great 

 depths, down even to three and a half miles. 

 On one occasion the Challenger, from a depth 

 of nearly two miles, with a ten-foot trawl, 

 brought up 27 fish belonging to seven species, 

 but recently the Michael Sars, by means of a 

 trawl with fifty-foot headrope, brought up 

 from a depth of over half a mile 225 fish, 100 

 of which belonged to new species. If these 

 larger catching appliances can be used with 

 success in the greatest depths of the Atlantic, 

 some important and interesting zoological re- 

 sults may be obtained. Special interest will 

 be attached to observations with Ekman's new 

 current-meter. This has been used with suc- 

 cess by the Michael Sars down to depths of 

 200 fathoms. An attempt will be made by 

 means of this current-meter to measure the 

 rate of currents over oceanic shoals, Buchanan 

 having shown that tidal and other currents are 

 well marked over the Dacia bank in mid- 

 ocean, off the coast of Africa. It may even 

 be possible to have records by this instrument 

 in very deep water, where our knowledge of 

 currents is at present almost nil. Attempts 

 will be made to force long tubes into the 

 oceanic deposits, with the view of getting sec- 



