SCIENCE— SUPPLEMENT 



drier, cheaper and faster thaii by old methods of 

 drying. 



Wastes from the sugar mills of Culsa and 

 I/ouisiana aie being made into stoek foods and 

 the pineapple juices which heretofore were 

 allowed to run into the ocean from the canning 

 plants in Hawaii, are now being preserved and 

 converted into fine sugars. In the manufacture 

 of powdered milk one of the difficulties encoun- 

 tered has been that of temperature control. The 

 product often has a burnt or "caramel" taste. 

 By the spray drying process this has been elim- 

 inated. 



MAKING THE DESERT SAFER 



U. S. Geological Survey 



To those who have never been on a desert the 

 word "desert" conveys the impression of a 

 barren waste incapable of supporting life, a 

 perilous stretch of waterless, lifeless land that 

 separates areas of fertile land on either side of 

 it. The word ' ' desert, ' ' however, may have 

 diverse meanings, for some deserts are much more 

 inhospitable than others. Travel through ' any 

 wide area of desert is nevertheless fraught with 

 danger, for in such areas springs, wells and 

 water-holes ajre few and far between, and our 

 American deserts have, year after year, taken 

 their toll of human life. The recent work of the 

 United States Geological Survey in mapping cer- 

 tain desert areas in the southwest and in erecting 

 at suitable places signposts giving directions and 

 distances to springs and waterholes is therefore 

 of special interest. In 1917 the Geological 

 Survey, under authority contained in an act of 

 Congress making a small special appropriation, 

 erected signposts in the most dangerous parts of 

 our southwestern deserts, giving directions and 

 distances from watering place to watering place. 

 The results of this life-saving work of the Geo- 

 logical Survey are being published in a series of 

 guidebooks. 



One of these guidebooks, the third of the series, 

 by C. P. Eoss, has just been published. It 

 describes desert watering places in the lower Gila 

 region, Arizona, including approximately the tri- 

 angular area between Phoenix, Yuma and Parker. 

 It contains three large maps of the region, 

 shaded to indicate the relief and showing the 

 location of the roads, the wells, springs and other 

 watering places, and the signposts erected by the 

 Geological Survey. The maps are the most com- 

 plete and accurate yet published for this region. 

 The relief shading brings out strongly the larger 

 features of the topography and makes the maps 



readily understandable, even by those who have 

 no technical training. 



The paper contains detailed logs of the roads 

 in the region, including not only those of the prin- 

 cipal automobile routes but those of branch roads 

 that lead to remote parts of the desert, which are 

 seldom visited and little known. These logs show 

 in heavy type the points at which water can .be 

 obtained. There is also a list of watering places, 

 with brief information as to their location and 

 availability. 



The introductory part of rthe guidebook con- 

 tains detailed information regarding difficulties 

 encountered in traveling through the desert and 

 suggestions for surmounting them. Any one who 

 intends to travel in ithis region should consult one 

 of these . guidebooks. Copies of this publication, 

 which is numbered Water-Supply Paper 490-C, 

 and entitled "Routes to desert watering places 

 in the lower Gila region, Arizona, ' ' have been 

 sent to the post offices, the chambers of com- 

 merce, and the principal hotels and garages in 

 the region and can be consulted at many of these 

 places. ' ' 



SCIENCE ITEMS 



Science Service 

 Denial of a rumor spreading through this 

 country that the International Eeseareh Council, 

 the world organization of science, took action at 

 its Brussels meeting last July' excluding Ger- 

 mans and Austrians from its meetiags and those 

 of the iuternational affiliated unions for twelve 

 years has been made by Dr. Vernon Kellogg, 

 permanent secretary of the National Research 

 Council, which represents the international or- 

 ganization in America. "No such action was 

 proposed or taken," said Dr. Kellogg. "No Ger- 

 man or Austrian organizations have as yet been 

 admitted to the International Research Council, 

 but their admission is probably a matter of the 

 near future. ' ' 



Scots realize that the ladies wiU have their 

 furs and that the trappers can not keep up with 

 the demand. Silver fox raising which was start- 

 ed in Ross-shire two years ago has proved a suc- 

 cess and the new industry wiU be extended. The 

 Highlanders may seem personally partial to bare 

 knees, but their well-known racial thrift convinces 

 them that the fashion for furs should be catered 

 to. The Scottish Board of Agriculture is en- 

 coura^ng the fox breeding. 



In order to prevent the spread of the bubonic 

 and other plagues carried by rat-fleas, 330,000 

 rats have been captured and examined at Sydney. 



