October 27, 1922] 



SCIENCE 



477 



pedition received mueb courteous help from 

 the administration of the Dutch East Indies. 

 It was accompanied by two Dutch 'biologists, 

 Dr. Siebers, ornithologist of the Buitenzorg 

 Museum, and Dr. Boscbma, who paid special 

 attention to corals. The rich collections made 

 by the espedition are being sent to the Copen- 

 hagen Museum. 



In connection with its studies of the distribu- 

 tion and movements of larval fishes and other 

 pelagic marine organisms, the Bureau of Fish- 

 eries recently has undertaken the investigation 

 of ocean currents of the north Atlantic coast 

 and for that purpose has deposited about 1,500 

 drift bottles. These have been dropped on 

 three lines, running, respectively, for a distance 

 about 75 miles off Cape Elizabeth, 150 miles 

 seaward from Chatham, Mass., and 150 miles 

 seaward from Sandy Hook. The stations are 

 at intervals of about one half mile, two bottles 

 being dropped at each, with drags at different 

 depths, the bottles being weighted so as to 

 float with but a small part of the neek exposed. 

 Each bottle contains a card offering a reward 

 of 25 cents if sent to the bureau with informa- 

 tion concerning the date and location at which 

 it was found. Upwards of 200 of these cards 

 have been received already. This work is being 

 conducted in cooperation with the Interna- 

 tional Committee on Marine Fisheries Investi- 

 gations, on which, in addition to the United 

 States, the Canadian and Newfoundland gov- 

 ernments are represented. 



The Fisheries Service Bulletin reports that 

 after a period of scarcity for about twenty 

 years menhaden have reappeared in the Gulf 

 of Maine in considerable abundance. On the 

 Maine coast this fishery attained its greatest 

 importance about thirty-five years ago, with 

 factories at various points along the coast; 

 that is, Boothbay Hai^bor, Pemaquid and 

 Bound Pond. According to the bureau's local 

 agent at Portland, the main body of fish this 

 year were found between Portland, Me., and 

 Massachusetts Bay, and it is doubtful whether 

 manjf large schools apjjeared farther east than 

 Boothbay Harbor, where about 2,500 barrels 

 were frozen. There were landed at Portland 

 during the month of July 1,584,800 pounds by 

 fishing vessels and many more by smaller craft. 

 The landings at Portland would have been 



much larger had not the freezers refused to 

 accept more. A report from Boston early in 

 August states that about 18 menhaden steam- 

 ers from southern factories were operating in 

 Massachusetts Bay. As the herring fishery this 

 season has been a comparative failure, the 

 stocks of menhaden were welcome to the 

 freezers for bait, bringing nearly as much as 

 the herring for this purpose. For bait pur- 

 poses the menhaden will be used chiefly by the 

 halibut fleet and to a lesser degree by line 

 trawlers, cod and haddock fishermen. Eeports 

 of the presence of schools of menhaden in these 

 waters caused the bureau to send the steamer 

 Halcyon to conduct an investigation under the 

 direction of Dr. H. B. Bigelow. Preliminary 

 reports indicate the presence of larger quan- 

 tities of diatoms, on which the menhaden feeds, 

 than are normally found in Massachusetts Bay 

 at this season, and it is probable that the un- 

 usually good food supply has controlled the 

 movements of the fish into those waters. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 NOTES 



The will of the late Winthrop Cowdin, of 

 Mount Kiseo, N. Y., disposes of an estate esti- 

 mated at more than $1,000,000. After pro- 

 viding for Winthrop Cowdin memorials at 

 Harvard University and at the St. Paul's 

 School, Concord, N. H., Harvard University 

 receives $50,000 and the entire residuary estate, 

 the income to be used for general purposes. 



Propessoe Henrt Gordon Gale, of tlie de- 

 partment of physics of the University of Chi- 

 cago and for ten years dean of the College of 

 Science, has been appointed dean of the Ogden 

 Graduate School of Science, to succeed the late 

 Dean Eollin D. Salisbury, who occupi3d the 

 position for over twenty years. 



Professor Mild S. Ketchum, professor of 

 civil engineering in the University of Pennsyl- 

 vania, has resigned to become dean of the Col- 

 lege of Engineering and director of the Engi- 

 neering Experiment Station of the University 

 of Illinois. He will be succeeded at Pennsyl- 

 vania by Professor H. C. Berry. 



Dr. a. M. Greene, formerly of the Rensse- 

 laer Polytechnic Institute, has been elected dean 

 of the Engineering School of Princeton Uni- 

 versity. 



