August 14, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



205 



on agriculture, " demonstrates clearly that the 

 ■work of the bureau is not a duplication of any 

 being done elsewhere, and that it is of direct 

 and very great value to agriculture " ; and the 

 work of the bureau was accordingly con- 

 tinued with an increase of $10,000 for bio- 

 logical investigations. 



The total appropriation for the Office of 

 Experiment Stations, including $720,000 for 

 the stations under the Hatch Act, is $1,034,- 

 620, an increase of $21,400. This increase in- 

 cludes $3,400 for statutory salaries and $5,000 

 for agricultural education through farmers' 

 institutes and agricultural schools, making 

 $10,000 for the latter purpose. For the gen- 

 eral maintenance of the OiEce and the irriga- 

 tion and drainage investigations the appro- 

 priations of this year, $30,000 and $150,000, 

 respectively, were continued. The appropria- 

 tions for the stations in Alaska, Hawaii and 

 Porto Eico were increased $2,000 in each case 

 to correspond with the increase to the state 

 stations under the Adams Act, and $5,000 was 

 granted for the establishment and mainten- 

 ance of a station in the island of Guam. 

 This island, embracing about 210 square miles, 

 has a population of about 9,000, chiefly en- 

 gaged in agriculture of a primitive sort, and 

 it is planned to extend assistance to its in- 

 habitants who are now experiencing great 

 losses from a cocoanut disease recently intro- 

 duced, which threatens the complete extinc- 

 tion of the industry. 



An appropriation of $7,000 was also made 

 to the office for setting up and completing the 

 apparatus formerly used in the nutrition in- 

 vestigations and the preparation for publica- 

 tion of results already obtained. In accord- 

 ance with the current appropriation act, the 

 respiration calorimeter and accessory appa- 

 ratus belonging to the government have been 

 brought from Middletown, Conn., to Wash- 

 ington, and it is planned to install them in 

 completed form in the basement of one of the 

 new laboratories of the department. 



The Bureau of Statistics received an in- 

 crease in its general fund for the collection of 

 agricultural statistics of $7,000. Reductions 

 on the statutory roll, chiefly through transfer, 

 made a net gain of $1,700. 



To provide for the increase in the general 

 business of the department consequent on 

 that of the several bureaus, additional appro- 

 priations were granted of $13,700 for the ofSce 

 of the secretary, $4,900 for the division of ac- 

 counts, $18,160 for the division of publica- 

 tions, and $5,200 for the library. The chief 

 of the division of accounts was made admin- 

 istrative officer of the fiscal affairs of the 

 department. An increase of $39,200 was also 

 allowed for contingent expenses, of which 

 $25,000 is for the construction of shops, 

 stables, and storage buildings to replace the 

 present structures and $8,000 for rent. 



The work of the Office of Public Eoads was 

 broadened to permit the furnishing of expert 

 advice on road maintenance and administra- 

 tion, as well as on road building, and the ap- 

 propriation was increased $17,340. A pro- 

 vision was inserted forbidding the rent or 

 purchase of road-making machinery. 



Large as is the aggregate appropriation for 

 the department, it represents only about 1.5 

 per cent, of the entire federal appropriation 

 and a per capita expenditure of less than 20 

 cents; and, as has been indicated, much of 

 this sum is in the nature of permanent im- 

 provements upon an investment. 



COMMANDER PEABT'S EXPEDITION 



Commander Peary, from the steamship 

 Roosevelt, at Sydney, N. S., on July 16, ad- 

 dressed to Dr. H. F. Osborn, president of the 

 American Museum of Natural History, the 

 following letter: 



We are leaving Sydney to-day for the North. 

 I shall go north across the Gulf of St. Lawrence 

 through the Strait of Belle Isle; along the 

 southern portion of the Labrador coast; to the 

 west coast of Greenland in the vicinity of God- 

 hab; then follow the west coast through Davis 

 Strait and BaiEn Bay, and across Melville Bay to 

 Cape York, which, if everything goes well, should 

 be reached about the first of August. 



For some ten days I shall be occupied in the 

 region from Cape York (76 degrees north lati- 

 tude) to Etah (about 79 degrees north latitude), 

 taking on board my Eskimos with their dogs, and 

 hunting walrus for my meat supply. 



About the middle of August, after replenishing 

 the coal supply of the Roosevelt from the auxil- 



