March 28, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



481 



mendation, it is proposed that a vessel should 

 be stationed off the east coast of North Amer- 

 ica to the north of the steamship routes dur- 

 ing the coming spring to watch the break-up 

 of the ice and to report its movement on the 

 way to the routes. The Scotia, a whaler, form- 

 erly employed in the Scottish Antarctic Ex- 

 pedition, has been chartered to carry out this 

 work, and it is anticipated that she will 

 be ready to leave Dundee, where she is at 

 present lying, about the end of this month. 

 The vessel is being fitted with a Marconi wire- 

 less installation having a long range, so that 

 she will be able to keep in touch with the 

 wireless stations in Newfoundland and Lab- 

 rador. The cost of the expedition will be 

 shared between his majesty's government and 

 the principal Atlantic steamship lines. In 

 order to make the necessary observations in 

 connection with the movement of the ice, 

 there will be three scientific observers in the 

 Scotia. As the vessel will from time to time 

 be stationary, it is expected that these observ- 

 ers will be able to make oceanographical and 

 meteorological observations as to currents, etc., 

 which will be of general scientific interest, as 

 well as of direct value to the work in hand. 

 The Scotia is a wooden barque of 35Y tons, 

 built at Drammen in 1872, and is fitted with 

 an auxiliary steam engine. 



Eight trains sent out to all parts of Wis- 

 consin by the College of Agriculture of the 

 University of Wisconsin to demonstrate bet- 

 ter farming methods reached 32,275 people, 

 according to the report of the men in charge 

 of the trains. These trains traveled about the 

 state for thirteen weeks stopping every little 

 way to give farmers an opportunity to visit 

 them, and learn how their crops and livestock 

 could be improved. Men from the agricul- 

 tural college accompanied each train and lec- 

 tured wherever stops were made. The trains 

 were of three kinds. One kind was devoted 

 to livestock, another to grains, and the third 

 to potatoes. In the livestock trains prize 

 animals were shown together with exhibits 

 illustrating the care and feed of them. Lec- 

 tures and informal talks on the value of using 



pure-bred animals and kindred subjects, sup- 

 plemented the various exhibits. Exhibits il- 

 lustrating the good results attending the use 

 of high-grade seed grains, how to improve the 

 quality and yield of potatoes, etc., were shown 

 in the grain and potato demonstration trains. 



With Admirals Bradford and Chester in 

 attendance. Captain J. L. Jayne, superinten- 

 dent of the U. S. Naval Observatory, inaugu- 

 rated Monday afternoon, February 10, a sys- 

 tem of fortnightly meetings of the scientific 

 staff for the discussion of topics relating to 

 the work of the observatory. Professors 

 Skinner and Frisby, now retired, but formerly 

 for many years actively engaged in the work 

 of the observatory, also took part in the pro- 

 ceedings. The paper of the afternoon, by 

 Dr. W. D. Horigan, librarian, on "The Found- 

 ing of the Observatory," detailed the meager 

 progress of astronomy in this country during 

 the eighteenth and the early part of the nine- 

 teenth centuries, and traced the efforts of 

 various learned men and statesmen to estab- 

 lish a national astronomical observatory, up 

 to the crowning of their efforts in the found- 

 ing of the U. S. Naval Observatory in 1842. 

 For the bringing about of this event the 

 scientific world is directly indebted to Lieu- 

 tenant J. M. Gilliss, U. S. Navy. In the dis- 

 cussion following the paper. Admiral Chester, 

 formerly head of the observatory, stated that 

 the paper should be printed in order that 

 astronomers the country over should benefit 

 by the thorough researches of the author. 



According to the Journal of the American 

 Medical Association the American Telephone 

 and Telegraph Company, the Western Union 

 Telegraph Company and the Western Electric 

 Company have made public a comprehensive 

 plan for the payment of sick benefits and life 

 insurance for their 175,000 employees. It is 

 said that $10,000,000 is available for this pur- 

 pose. In connection with this pension plan 

 there is to be gradually established a system 

 of medical supervision and preventive sanita- 

 tion designed to preserve the health of em- 

 ployees. The preventive measures will not 

 only include early detection of disease among 



