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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. L. No. 1285 



two are below. The rates for a number of the 

 larger cities are reported as follows: Chicago, 

 104.3; Philadelphia, 126; Boston, 114.9; Balti- 

 more, 147.8; Pittsburgh, 122.5; Buffalo, 121.5; 

 Milwaukee, 108.2; Cincinnati, 104.1; Newark, 

 N. J., 104.7; New Orleans, 123.3; Washington, 

 D. C, 110.9; Jersey City, 118.7; Louisville, 

 Ky., 117.3; Denver, 107.3; Syracuse, N. Y., 

 117.4; Birmingham, Ala., 133.5; Memphis, 

 Tenn., 145; Scranton, Pa., 144.3; Richmond, 

 Va., 146.3; Fall Eiver, Mass., 161.3; Lowell, 

 Mass., 159.1 ; Albany, New York, 107.4. Only 

 three cities reported baby death rates below 50. 

 These cities are all of the class below 50,000. 

 BrooMine, Mass., has the lowest rate, 35.4; 

 Madison, Wis., is next with 38.1, and Pasa- 

 dena, Calif., third, with 43.8. 



As a result of meetings between the govern- 

 ment and representatives of technical and sci- 

 entific societies, a department of glass tech- 

 nology was opened at Sheffield University. 

 From very small beginnings the department 

 has grovm quickly and to-day it is turning 

 out work equal to anything the Germans have 

 done. As most of the work has been of an 

 experimental nature the cost has been heavy. 

 Much has yet to be done, with this object in 

 view, if the industry is to be commercially 

 sound and able to compete in the world's 

 markets. A Glass Eesearch Association is 

 being formed. The government being asked 

 to provide £75,000 over a period of five years 

 and the manufacturers are expected to con- 

 tribute another £25,000. The Controller of 

 the Glass Ware Department of the Ministry 

 of Munitions has called a meeting of manu- 

 facturers to discuss the scheme. Substantial 

 promises have already been received from 

 manufacturers interested and a provisional 

 committee has been appointed. The Associa- 

 tion will first turn its attention to problems 

 of machinery and labor-saving devices. 



The American Museum Journal states that 

 about twenty miles south of the great fossil 

 quarry at Agate, Nebraska, there is a peculiar 

 fossil deposit of somewhat later geological 

 age, which has been called the Snake Creek 

 beds. They consist of a series of small pockets 

 in the sand and gravel beds near the surface. 



full of fossil teeth and bones, mostly frag- 

 ments, but with many jaws and complete bones 

 and occasional skulls among them. Three-toed 

 horses are the most numerous ; many thousands 

 of teeth have been found, hundreds of jaws, 

 and one fairly complete skeleton. A great 

 number of other animals of the Lower Plio- 

 cene are represented in the American Museum 

 collections' from the pockets, obtained in 1908 

 and 1916. During this last summer Mr. Al- 

 bert Thomson has obtained for the Museum an 

 additional collection which includes a 'few 

 specimens, the best being fine skulls of the 

 long-legged rhinoceros, Aphelops, and the rare 

 rodent, Mylagaulus. The collection which he 

 has brought back to the museum will add ma- 

 terially to our knowledge of the mammalian 

 life of the Lower Pliocene. 



We learn from the Journal of the Amer- 

 ican Medical Association that four measures 

 appropriating funds and authorizing the 

 United State Public Health Service to in- 

 vestigate and combat a recurrence of the in- 

 fluenza epidemic are now before Congress. 

 Senator Warren G. Harding, of Ohio, has 

 introduced a joint resolution appropriating 

 $5,000,000 for an investigation of influenza 

 and pneumonia. His measure cites that the 

 recent influenza epidemic caused 500,000 

 deaths in the United States. The Public 

 Health Service and research institutions are 

 authorized to make this investigation. A bill 

 introduced in the House by Congressman 

 Simeon D. Fess, of Ohio, authorizes the Pub- 

 lic Health Service and the medical depart- 

 ments of both the Army and the Navy to 

 investigate and combat the disease and ap- 

 propriates $1,500,000 for this purpose. Con- 

 gressman William W. Larsen, of Georgia, and 

 Congressman Black, of Texas, have intro- 

 duced similar bills for making an investiga- 

 tion of influenza and allied subjects. The 

 Larsen and Black measures carry an ap- 

 propriation of $500,000 each. All four meas- 

 ures charge the United States Public Health 

 Service with carrying out the provisions of 

 the act, although cooperation with the army 

 and navy medical departments is advised. 



