Septembeb 11, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



343 



section; it could arrange, as suggested above, 

 for a program on general biological topics; it 

 could, in its general meetings, take such action 

 as it might see fit to advance any particular 

 biological interest of common import. 



It is not too late for the executive com- 

 mittees of the different technical societies to 

 direct their secretaries to cooperate with the 

 secretary of the Naturalists in arranging a 

 general program for the Baltimore meeting. 

 Chas. B. Davenport 



the highest balloon ascent 

 To THE Editor of Science : I notice that Dr. 

 Chanute in his reviev? of " Airships, Past and 

 Present," Science, July 3, 1908, says, " The 

 greatest authentic height [in a balloon] at- 

 tained by man has been 35,500 feet." In 

 Hill's Chemistry for students of Medicine, 

 Pharmacy and Dentistry (1903) the following 

 occurs : " A balloon may rise to a great height, 

 because of its great volume of gas ligter than 

 air. The highest ascent was that of Glaisher 

 in 1861, who attained an elevation of over 

 36,000 feet." This is found in the chapter 

 on medical physics, page 18. 



G. T. Overstreet 

 LomsviLLE, Kt. 



[M. Glaisher (September 5, 1862) became un- 

 conscious at a height of about 29,000 feet, while 

 still rising at the rate of 1,000 feet per minute. 

 He was again able to mal^e observations after 

 thirteen minutes, at a height of about 26,000 feet 

 and found that he was falling 2,000 feet per 

 minute. From these data and from other cor- 

 roborative circumstances he estimated that, in the 

 interval, he had reached an altitude of 36,000 to 

 37,000 feet, but this has not been accepted as 

 authentic. M. Berson's performance (Jiily 31, 

 1901) is better established. Going up with a pro- 

 vision of compressed oxygen he took an observa- 

 tion at 34,500 feet, while still rising, and then 

 became partly unconscious. He probably rose 

 another 1,000 feet and certainly reached an alti- 

 tude of 35,500 feet, or possibly of 36,000 feet. He 

 had previously judged that human life was im- 

 possible at a height of 36,100 feet and that 

 Glaisher could not have reached it, as " no human 

 being has penetrated to such heights either before 

 or since without taking a supply of oxygen." — 

 Ed.] 



salaries at bryn mawr college 

 To the Editor of Science: In Science for 

 August 14 appears a letter from Professor 

 David Wilbur Horn, of Bryn IMawr College, 

 criticizing certain financial data concerning 

 that college, which had been reprinted in 

 Science from a recent Bulletin of the Car- 

 negie Foundation. 



I venture to call attention again to the fact 

 emphasized on the first page of this Bulletin 

 that the statistical data published by the 

 foundation were obtained in all cases directly 

 from the authorities of the institutions them- 

 selves. In the case of Bryn Mawr, the sta- 

 tistics were furnished by President Thomas 

 and had apparently been prepared with great 

 care, all the items being in her own hand- 

 writing. 



Henry S. Pritchett 



The Caeneqie Foundation for the 

 Advancement of Teaching 



QUOTATIONS 



the triumph of sanitation at PANAMA 



The redemption of the Panama Canal Zone 

 from preventable diseases receives official con- 

 firmation in the report to President Eoosevelt 

 of the special commission appointed last April 

 to investigate the work accomplished. The 

 importance of the hygienic problem involved 

 is emphasized by the commission in review- 

 ing the difficulties under which the French 

 labored in their efforts to construct the canal. 

 The report says : 



The terrible scourge of yellow fever against 

 which the French struggled in vain, the filthy 

 and pest-breeding state of the principal Panama 

 towns, the rough labor camps and other pioneer 

 hardships of the first two eras have been elim- 

 inated through the brilliant and persistent ac- 

 tivity of the department of sanitation, the depart- 

 ment of municipal engineering and the building 

 department. To-day we find yellow fever driven 

 from the isthmus, malaria and pneumonia greatly 

 reduced and a high average of health established. 

 Although the government's immediate object on 

 the isthmus is to dig the canal and to provide 

 living quarters for a temporary enterprise, it has, 

 in fact, created comfortable homes and well-organ- 

 ized social communities for its working force. 



