362 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. LVI, No. 1448 



apparatus ever designed for the explanation of a 

 highly complex phenomenon. 



In 1869 Professor Lyman, accompanied by his 

 colleague, the eminent astronomer, Professor 

 Newton, went to Europe to purchase physical and 

 mechanical apparatus from a fund given for that 

 purpose by Peter Collier, of the class of 1861, 

 Yale College. Aside from the requisite and 

 familiar instruments of the physical cabinet not 

 already at command, a remarkably full collection 

 of acoustic apparatus was included. The recent 

 discoveries of Helmholtz in the field of sound 

 sensations had enormously enhanced the interest 

 of physicists in that of acoustics, and Professor 

 Lyman utilized this portion of the equipment not 

 only in the classroom but also in a number of 

 public lectures. It was in these lectures that he 

 first made public his ingenious apparatus for com- 

 pounding pendulum motions at right angles to 

 each other. The enthusiasm with which his audi- 

 ences received his clear expositions and admirably 

 chosen illustrative experiments left an enduring 

 impression on the memory of his assistant. 



A mind so richty stored with the experiences of 

 a singularly varied life could not be otherwise 

 than stimulating in the highest degree to his more 

 thoughtful students, but more than any other 

 teacher known to the writer he awakened a per- 

 sonal affection among all of them which was as 

 freely expressed as it was unusual. 



EFFECTS OF FOREST FIRES ON FOOD AND 

 GAME FISHES 

 The Fisheries Service Bulletin calls attention 

 to the fact that everyone is ■more or less familiar 

 with the loss of valuable timber sustained each 

 year from forest fires, but there are other seri- 

 ous losses of valuable natural resources from 

 this cause that have received 'but comparatively 

 little attention. We refer to the wild life of 

 the woods and sta-eams, and particularly to the 

 game and food fishes. Based on a monetary 

 valuation the loss of wild life from forest fii-es 

 may appear insignificant compared with the 

 loss of timber, but when we consider that the 

 U. S. Forest Service estimates that some 

 6,000,000 people annually visit our natural for- 

 ests, many or most of them interested in the 

 fish and game, we become aware to some extent 

 of the importance of the wild life of our for- 

 ests. Any game and fish commission or con- 

 servation commission will be able to vouch for 

 the real value of good fishing to a community. 



In line wit)h- the growing tendency to place a 

 large portion of the responsibility of conserv- 

 ing our natural resources on those who reap 

 the greatest .benefits therefrom, it seems 

 proper to invite the attention of those persons 

 who find pleasure and healthful recreation in 

 fishing in the waters of our forests to the 

 destructive effects of forest fires on the fish. 

 There is a deplorable lack of reliable informa- 

 tion and very few recorded observations on the 

 subject. A few of the most immediate effects 

 detrimental to fish life that may he expected to 

 follow forest fires are a sudden rise in the tem- 

 peratiu-e of the water, a lowering of its oxygen 

 content, a change in its chemical properties, 

 and destruction of shade. The slightly acid 

 condition natural to most forest streams, and 

 recognized as suitable for trout, is changed to 

 alkaline from the ash deposited therein. A 

 large amount of ash in the water may be ex- 

 pected to have a deleterious mechanical effect 

 on the fish aside from the chemical changes. 



These are but a few of the more obvious and 

 immediate results of fires, and they take no 

 cognizance of the most far-reaching though not 

 immediately apparent effects that probably 

 occur — the destruction of food, increased tur- 

 bidity, decreased protection against floods and 

 drought, etc. Reliable information on the sub- 

 ject is meager, though an appreciation of the 

 loss of fish from this cause and a record of 

 intelligent obsei'vations thereon are of im- 

 portance. It will be appreciated if persons 

 having knowledge of such occurrences will com- 

 municate it to the Bureau of Fisheries. 



CONFERENCE ON WORLD METRIC 

 STANDARDIZATION 



No less than twenty-seven national scientific 

 societies were represented in the Conference on 

 World Metric Standardization which was held 

 at the Carnegie Institute of Technology on 

 September 6, simultaneously with the Pitts- 

 burgh meeting of the American Chemical 

 Society. Dr. E. C. Bingham, of Lafayette 

 College, presided, and opened the discussion. 



The conference was called because it was 

 deemed advisable to take cognizance of the 

 organized opposition to the spread of the 

 metric system which has developed in certain 



