NOVEMBEE 17, 1922] 



SCIENCE 



565 



wavemeter by tJiis means. A tuning fork of 

 known frequency, approximately 1,000 cycles 

 per second, is used as the basis of the stand- 

 ardization. A low-frequency generator is tuned 

 to successive multiples of this frequency by 

 means of the cathode-ray oscillograph and cor- 

 responding settings of the wavemeter are ob- 

 tained. A third generator is similarly tuned 

 to multiples of these frequencies and thus by 

 successive stages the standardization is ex- 

 tended to include frequencies as high as 5,000 

 kilocycles (60 meters). It is intended that this 

 wavemeter be used as the basic standard for 

 the standardization of commercial wavemetera. 



THE DEVONIAN FOREST AT GILBOA, N. Y. 



Continued operations of the New York 

 Board of Water Supply have brought to light 

 20 to thirty additional spedLmens of these 

 earliest trees, all of which, by courtesy of the 

 commissioners, have come to the State Museum, 

 with the exception of one specimen presented 

 !to the American Museum of Natural Histoi^y. 

 These great stumps have now been located at 

 three distinct horizons in the sandstones of 

 late Devonian age, at or near Gilboa, and thus 

 indicate the rising and falling of the shore land 

 on which they grew. The botanical interest 

 attached to this extraordinary occurrence is 

 intensified by the fact that no satisfactory 

 solution has been offered of the relationships 

 of these trees, though they have been known 

 for many years. The character of the stumps 

 themselves and such portions of their tissue as 

 remain have not proved a satisfactory clue 

 to their nature, but Winifred Goldring, paleo- 

 botanist, has found in their foliation and fruc- 

 tification evidence which has led to the belief 

 that they are seed ferns (Pteridospermophyta), 

 partaking of the character of Lyginopteris and 

 allied forms, but of a simpler organization. 

 That trees of such magnitude, rising to heights 

 of 30 to 40 feet, should appear so abruptly 

 in geological history is suffleient to indicate 

 what a long unobserved record lies back of this 

 majestic plant growth, the oldest of known 

 forests. In due time an effort will be made to 

 reproduce in the State Museum the conditions 

 under which these trees gr^w on the sloping 

 shores of the Appalachian. 



THE BOYLSTON MEDICAL PRIZES 



These prizes, which are open to public com- 

 petition, are offered for the best dissertation 

 on questions in medical science proposed by 

 the Boylston Medical Committee. At the an- 

 nual meeting held in Boston in 1920 a prize of 

 $300 was awarded to an essay entitled "Acute 

 Inflammation of the Nose, Pharynx and Ton- 

 sils" by Mr. Stuart Mudd, of iSt. Louis. For 

 1922 there is offered a prize of $500 and the 

 Boyston Prize Medal for the best dissertation 

 on the results of original research in medicine, 

 the subject to be chosen by the writer. The 

 Boylston Prize Medal will be added to the 

 money prize only in case the winning essay 

 shows special originality in the investigations 

 detailed. Dissertations entered for this prize 

 must be in the hands of the secretary on' or 

 before February 1, 1923. 



In awarding these prizes, preference will be 

 given to dissertations which exhibit original 

 work, but if no dissertation is considered 

 worthy of a prize, the award may be withheld. 

 Each dissertation must bear, in place of the 

 author's name, some sentence or device, and 

 must be accompanied by a sealed packet, bear- 

 ing the same sentence or de\€ce, and containing 

 the author's name and residence within. Any 

 clew by which the authorship of a dissertation 

 is made known to the committee will debar 

 such dissertation from comijetition. Disserta- 

 tions must be printed or typewritten, and their 

 pages must be bound in book form. All un- 

 successful dissertations are deposited with the 

 secretary, from whom they may be obtained, 

 with the sealed packet unopened, if called for 

 within one year after they have been received. 



By an order adopted in 1826 the secretary 

 was directed to publish annually the following 

 votes: (1) That the board does not consider 

 itself as approving the doctrines contained in 

 any of the dissertations to which premiums 

 may be adjudged. (2) That, in case of pub- 

 lication of a successful dissertation, the author 

 be considered as bound to print the above vote 

 in connection therewith. 



The Boylston Medical Committee is appoint- 

 ed by the president and fellows of Harvard 

 College, and consists of the following physi- 

 cians; Beid Hunt, M.D., secretary; William T. 



