August 20, 1920] 



SCIENCE 



173 



by Dr. E. W. ISTelson, chief of the Biological 

 Survey, United States Department of Agri- 

 culture, and several specialists belonging to 

 the staff of the bureau. Dr. iN'elson will 

 spend from two to three months in Alaska, 

 while the other specialists will be in Alaska 

 under permanent appointment acquiring in- 

 formation which will be valuable in the ad- 

 ministration of new duties assigned to the 

 Department of Agi-iculture by recent acts of 

 Congress, namely, the improvement of rein- 

 deer herds as a source of meat in the Terri- 

 tory, fox farming, and the protection of land 

 fur-bearing animals. One of the men accom- 

 panying Dr. Kelson — Dr. Seymour Hadwen — • 

 was formerly connected with the health of 

 animals branch of the Canadian department 

 of agriculture. He and a new member of the 

 the staff, formerly connected with the Alaska 

 Reindeer Service of the Department of the 

 Interior, are devoting their attention to dis- 

 eases among the reindeer. Two other mem- 

 bers of the party, formerly grazing examiners 

 with the Forest Service, are investigating the 

 grazing areas of Alaska to determine the 

 regions best suited to the reindeer. 



The timber on the Tongass N^ational Forest 

 in Alaska is said in a report issued by the 

 United States Forest Service to be of partic- 

 ular importance in connection with the paper 

 situation. It is estimated that there are 

 about seventy billion board feet in Sitka, 

 spruce and western hemlock well suited for 

 paper making. The timber is located in a 

 comparatively narrow belt along some 1,200 

 miles of coast line. Water power is avail- 

 able, as is also deep water transportation from 

 numerous mill sites. It is estimated that the 

 cut from this region alone would insure a 

 perpetual supply large enough to meet one 

 half of the present newsprint requirements of 

 the United States. Alaska is one of the 

 centers to which the newsprint industry of the 

 United States should look for a large future 

 development, says the report. The same is 

 true of centers in the west where immense 

 resources of pulp wood supply are now almost 

 wholly undeveloped. Much of this timber is 

 in the national forests. To bring about 



properly the development of the pulp and 

 paper industry in new regions of abundant 

 timber supplies the report recommends a com- 

 prehensive survey to furnish exact informa- 

 tion upon the stand and location of suitable 

 timber and other needed data. 



In connection with the meeting of the 

 American Ornithologists' Union in "Washing- 

 ton, D. C, this year, the local committee plans 

 to hold an exhibit showing the history and 

 development of zoological illustration as ap- 

 plied to birds, including original drawings, 

 paintings and photographs. The pictures, 

 which may he mounted on cards, but not 

 framed, will be exhibited under glass in the 

 Library of Congress where the exhibit will 

 be held together a month or more. So far 

 the consensus of opinion is that to keep the 

 exhibit within bounds, each artist shall be 

 limited to original drawings or paintings and 

 each photographer to 2 prints. 



An advisory coimcil for the Board of Sur- 

 veys and Maps was organized, at a meeting 

 held in Washington, Monday, July 12, to serve 

 as an agency through which the Board can 

 reach the map-using public and the public 

 offer suggestions or criticisms regarding the 

 work of the various bureaus of the Federal 

 Government engaged in making surveys and 

 maps. The Board of Surveys and Maps has 

 greatly increased the cooperation between the 

 different government bureaus and has estab- 

 lished a central office from which information 

 may be obtained regarding any map published 

 by any government bureau. It remains for 

 the public to utilize the facilities offered in 

 the same spirit of cooperation. The advisory 

 council consists of twenty or more representa- 

 tives of the various national engineering, sci- 

 entific, and map-issuing associations of the 

 country who are interested in improving the 

 efficiency of the government map-making 

 agencies and the character and usefulness of 

 the maps produced. It is hoped that sug- 

 gestions of unmet needs, improvements in 

 technique, or ways in which the government 

 maps and engineering information can be 

 made more useful to the map-using citizens 



