Septembee 11, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



339 



Nature states that some interesting experi- 

 ments on coal-dust explosions have heen 

 started under the direction of Mr. W. E. 

 Garforth, at the Altofts Colliery, Yorkshire. 

 An experimental explosion was witnessed on 

 August 14 by Mr. E. Eeumaux (Lens), Dr. 

 J. A. Holmes (United States Geological Sur- 

 vey), Captain Desborough, H.M., inspector of 

 explosives, and a number of experts from 

 France and the United States. The cost of 

 the experiments is borne from a special fund 

 of £10,000 contributed by colliery proprietors. 



The president of the British local gov- 

 ernment board has authorized, as we learn 

 from the Journal of the American Medical 

 Association, the following researches in con- 

 nection with the annual parliamentary grant 

 in aid of scientific investigations, concerning 

 disease: (1) A further inquiry by Dr. H. M. 

 Gordon into the character and differential 

 tints for the microbes in the throats of 

 patients sufiering from scarlet fever. (2) 

 An investigation of protracted and recurrent 

 infection in diphtheria by Dr. Theodore 

 Thomson and Dr. C. J. Thomas. (3) An 

 investigation of protracted and recurrent in- 

 fection in typhoid fever by Dr. Theodore 

 Thomson, in conjunction with Dr. Heding- 

 ham. (4) Investigations by Dr. V. G. Sav- 

 age into the presence of paratyphoid bacilli 

 in men, the differentiation of streptococci in 

 goats and the bacteriologic measurement of 

 pollutions in milk. (5) A statement of the 

 results of bacteriologic examination of over 

 Y,000 samples of milk from different parts of 

 the country by Professor Delepine. (6) An 

 investigation of the role played by flies as 

 carriers of disease, by Dr. Copeman and Pro- 

 fessor Nuttall. (7) An inquiry into the con- 

 dition of flock bedding by Dr. Farrar. The 

 bacteriology and biology of bedding will be 

 undertaken by Professor Nuttall. (8) A sta- 

 tistical inquiry into the social incidence of 

 disease will also be begun. 



Petermann's Mitteilungen, as quoted in 

 the Bulletin of the American Geographical 

 Society, gives further particulars concerning 

 the expedition which the Swedish government 

 has despatched to Spitzbergen in charge of 



this well-known geologist. The purpose is 

 geographical and geological research. It is 

 expected to make a more exact survey of the 

 coasts of Ice Fiord and to map the glaciers 

 tributary to it. Excursions inland will be 

 made to ascertain what changes the glaciers 

 have undergone since they were last studied. 

 Many photographs of the glaciers will be 

 taken. The party includes the geologists, C. 

 Wiman, B. Hogbom and S. de Geer, the 

 brother of the leader; the zoologist, N. von 

 Hofsten; the photographer, 0. Halldin, and 

 the cartographer, E. Jansson. The expedi- 

 tion was taken to Spitzbergen by the gunboat 

 Svensksund, whose ofiicers were instructed to 

 make soundings and engage in other hydro- 

 graphic work. 



Mr. Harlan I. Smith has returned from an 

 archeological reconnoissance of northeastern 

 Wyoming, made in continuation of the work 

 which he started last year for the American 

 Museum of Natural History. The work al- 

 ready accomplished is only the beginning of 

 an investigation into the archeology of a vast 

 region, including the Great Plains, the Barren 

 Lands and the Plateaus of America — a region 

 larger than the entire remaining portion of 

 the continent and regarding which there is 

 practically no archeological knowledge or 

 available specimens from which to secure such 

 knowledge. Among the general problems 

 which are awaiting elucidation may be men- 

 tioned the following: (1) When the region 

 came to be first inhabited; (2) what the ma- 

 terial culture of the people was; (3) whether 

 people were living in the region before the 

 introduction of the horse, and, if so, how the 

 coming of this valuable animal affected their 

 culture; (4) whether there was more than one 

 culture in the region, and, in this event, where 

 the boundaries of these culture areas may be 

 found. While, on the whole, the results of 

 the two archeological trips to Wyoming would 

 suggest that that particular region was not 

 inhabited until after the advent of the horse, 

 yet such a conclusion can not be definitely 

 reached without an accumulation of such 

 negative archeological evidence, or without 

 making sure that mythological, ethnological 



