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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LII. No. 1343 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 



The First Pan-Pacific Scientific Confer- 

 ence closed its three weeks session at Hono- 

 lulu on August 20. Delegates were present 

 from Australia, Canada, Cliina, Japan, New 

 Zealand, Peru, the Philippines, Samoa and 

 from several scientific organizations and Fed- 

 eral Bureaus of the United States. The 

 proceedings of the conference are to be pub- 

 lished by the Bishop Museum under the 

 direction of a committee consisting of Dr. 

 Arthur L. Dean, president of the University 

 of Hawaii, Dr. Herbert E. Gregory, Tale 

 University, Dr. T. Wayland Vaughan, United 

 States Geological Survey and Dr. Henry S. 

 Washington, Geophysical Laboratory. This 

 committee announces that the daily proceed- 

 ings of the conference, including the dis- 

 cussions and the resolutions adopted, will be 

 issued shortly and that the detailed programs 

 of research in various branches of science will 

 appear early in 1921. 



Dr. Charles MacFie Campbell, assistant 

 director of the Henry Phipps Psychiatric 

 Clinic, Johns Hopkins Hospital, has resigned 

 to become professor of psychiatry at Harvard 

 Medical School and director of the Boston 

 Psychopathic Hospital. Dr. Campbell will 

 assume his new work on October 1. 



Db. Oliver Kamm, of the chemistry depart- 

 ment of the University of Illinois, has been 

 appointed director of the Chemical Research 

 Department of Parke, Davis & Co. 



Dr. C. D. Sherbakoff, hitherto truck 

 pathologist at the Florida Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station, Gainesville, has accepted 

 the position of station pathologist at the 

 Tennessee AgTicultural Experiment Station, 

 Knoxville. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 



NEWS 

 Dr. Harry Beal Torret has resigned from 

 the faculty of Reed College to become pro- 

 fessor of zoology and director of fundamental 

 education in medical science in the University 

 of Oregon. He will divide his time between 



Eugene and the School of Medicine in Port- 

 land. An attempt will be made to bring to- 

 gether in one course the premedical and med- 

 ical years and to obliterate the divisions com- 

 monly existing between premedical, preclin- 

 ical and clinical studies. 



At Tulane University the following ap- 

 pointments have been made: Dr. D. S. Elliott, 

 head of the department of physics in the 

 Georgia Institute of Technology, professor of 

 physics; Dr. S. A. Mahood, chemist of the 

 Forest Products Laboratory of the University 

 of Wisconsin, associate professor of chemis- 

 try, and Dr. Herbert E. Buchanan, professor 

 of mathematics in the University of Ten- 

 nessee, professor of mathematics. 



Dr. Lane has been appointed clinical pro- 

 fessor of dermatology in the Tale Medical 

 School and Dr. Alfred G. Nadler has accepted 

 a similar position These two physicians will 

 divide between them the work heretofore car- 

 ried on by Dr. Ralph A. McDonnell, resigned. 



Dr. C. McLean Freaser has been appointed 

 professor .of zoology in the University of Brit- 

 ish Columbia, at Vancouver. 



The chair of chemistry in Berlin Univer- 

 sity, rendered vacant by the death of Emil 

 Fischer, will be filled by Professor Fritz Haber, 

 who will retain also his present position of di- 

 rector of the Emperor William Institute for 

 Physical and Electro-Chemistry. 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE 



MIRAGES? 



To the Editor of Science : I have frequently 

 observed the phenomenon described by F. W. 

 McNair in Science for August 27. Contrary 

 to the assumption of Mr. McliTair, however, it 

 may be observed under any conditions of 

 weather and temperature. I have seen it ahead 

 many times while driving an automobile over 

 concrete and tar-surfaced roads. There can be 

 little doubt that it is a phenomenon of simple 

 reflection and is therefore entirely independ- 

 ent of atmospheric conditions. Any compara- 



