112 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIII. No. 1362 



medical school in Shanghai was planned by 

 the foundation, the Harvard Medical School 

 of China was purchased by the Chinese Med- 

 ical Board, and the Pennsylvania Medical 

 School at Shanghai consented to step aside in 

 favor of the larger institution. A few months 

 ago, however, after the foundation withdrew 

 from the field, the Pennsylvania Medical 

 School began pushing forward its plans to en- 

 large its plant. The erection of a science lab- 

 oratory building, to cost $100,000, was promptly 

 begun. This will house departments of phys- 

 ics, chemistry and biology and, temporarily, 

 the medical laboratories also, but the latter 

 will be removed to other buildings which will 

 be erected later. The institution will provide 

 a premedical course covering three years, and 

 a medical course of four years similar to those 

 established by the Peking Union Medical Col- 



THE FOREST SERVICE 



According to the annual report of Chief 

 Forester W. B. Greeley, the receipts of the 

 National Forests have increased 93 per cent, 

 from 1915 to 1920, while the total appropria- 

 tions for the Forest Service, exclusive of defi- 

 ciency fire-fighting funds, has increased only 

 8 per cent. The receipts for 1920 were 10 per 

 cent, greater than for 1919, and an equal in- 

 crease for the current fiscal year may be ex- 

 pected, unless too much new business has to be 

 rejected on account of lack of funds and 

 trained employees. The appropriations for the 

 current fiscal year were increased only 3 per 

 cent. 



In addition to the actual revenue, accord- 

 ing to the report, there is an enormous return 

 to the public through the protection of the 

 500,000,000,000-odd feet of timber for future 

 use, the protection of the headwaters of in- 

 numerable feeders of navigation, irrigation 

 and hydroelectric power and the recreational 

 facilities made available to hundreds of thou- 

 sands of x>eople. " There will always be na- 

 tional resources not measurable in dollars 

 which in public benefit exceed the receipts 

 paid into the Treasury," the rexKirt says. 



The purchases aggregated at the close of the 



fiscal year 1,420,208 acres in the White Moun- 

 tains and the Southern Appalachians and 

 12,094 acres in the Ozark Mountains of 

 Arkansas. The original program of acquisi- 

 tion contemplated the purchase of about 

 1,000,000 acres in the White Mountains and 

 not less than 5,0000,000 acres in the Southern 

 Appalachians. INearly one half the proposed 

 White Mountain area has been acquired, but 

 slower progress has been made in the southern 

 areas. 



Further appropriations to carry on the pur- 

 chase work within the areas have been recom- 

 mended by the ^National Forest Eeservation 

 Commission. " To leave these Eastern forests 

 in their present half finished condition would 

 subject them to formidable fire hazards and 

 other difficulties of management." 



There is need also for some action to reduce 

 the danger to the National Forests from the 

 24,267,723 acres of private lands that are 

 intermingled with land belonging to the gov- 

 ernment. Most of this land is forested and its 

 misuse, mismanagement and neglect jeopardize 

 the government's holdings. General legisla- 

 tion is urged to acquire the private land by 

 purchase or exchange. 



The 1919 fire season was unusually severe 

 and long drawn out, the report states. It was 

 the third successive year of severe drought in 

 the northwest, and the worst of the three. 

 Fires began to occur before much of the cus- 

 tomary work of preparation had been done, 

 and this imposed a further handicap upon the 

 forest force, which had been depleted by the 

 loss of many experienced men. The total 

 number of forest fires in the National Forests 

 was 6,800, or 1,227 greater than in the pre- 

 vious year. The area of National Forest 

 lands burned over was 2,000,034 acres, the 

 estimated damage was $4,919,769, and the total 

 cost of fire fighting was $3,039,615. 



I 



GYPSUM FELLOWSHIPS 



. At the recent annual meeting of the Gyp- 

 sum Industries Association, they provided for 

 six to eight fellowships, each bearing a stipend 

 of $1,000 to $1,500 a year, depending on the 

 training and ability of the holder. 



