October 30, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



605 



the metal has been converted into troostite. 

 This conception of tlie changes which take 

 place in the gradual conversion of martensite 

 into troostite offers a simple and rational ex- 

 planation of the progressive darkening of 

 martensite veith rising temperature from 0° C. 

 to 200° 0., and for the increase of vehat Heyn 

 and Bauer term free carbon, but which is 

 probably a condensation product of defines of 

 high molecular weight. It is suggested that 

 there does not seem to be any inherent reason 

 why the complete substitution of hydrogen by 

 iron should prevent carbon atoms from as- 

 suming relations to each other similar to 

 those which they hold in hydrocarbons. The 

 conception of the carbon compounds of iron 

 as metallic derivatives of hydrocarbons sug- 

 gests a possible explanation of many unsolved 

 problems in the metallurgy of steel, as, for 

 instance, how other elements, too small in 

 amount in themselves to affect profoundly the 

 properties of the steel, may enter into the 

 carbon compounds and, by altering their con- 

 stitution, bring about effects on the steel as 

 a whole entirely out of proportion to the 

 amount of the element present. 



At a convention at the University of 

 Illinois to consider means of combatting 

 tuberculosis in cattle, in session on October 13 

 and 14, the methods followed successfully by 

 the college of agriculture of the University of 

 Wisconsin will be discussed with a view to 

 adopting them in the state of Illinois. The 

 prevalence of the disease in Illinois is be- 

 lieved to be as great as it was in Wisconsin 

 several years ago when the present plan of 

 testing all dairy herds and segi-egating or de- 

 stroying the tuberculous was adopted. Dean 

 H. L. Eussell, of the Wisconsin Agricultural 

 College, delivered a lecture and post-mortem 

 demonstration of the effects of the disease 

 upon cattle. 



We learn from the London Times that with 

 the view of increasing the public utility of the 

 collection of specimens contained in the 

 museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, 

 the council of the college has arranged for a 

 series of demonstrations to be given in the 

 theater of the college during the present 



session. The demonstrations will be given by 

 the conservator. Professor Keith, and by the 

 pathological curator. Professor Shattock. 

 Specimens from the museum will be shown, 

 and their bearings on general and surgical 

 pathology discussed. The demonstrations, be- 

 sides being of practical value to medical prac- 

 titioners and advanced students, should also 

 be of assistance to visitors of the college 

 museum. The first demonstration of the 

 series was to be given by Professor Keith on 

 October IG, which is the one hundred and 

 fifteenth anniversary of the death of John 

 Hunter, the founder of the museum. 



The program of the Harvey Society for its 

 course of lectures during the winter of 1908-9 

 is as follows: 



October 24 — " Intestinal Infection and Immunity 

 in Tuberculosis " ; Professor A. Calmette, di- 

 rector of the Pasteur Institute of Lille, France. 

 November 7 — " Fever " : Professor W. G. MacCal- 



lum, Johns Hopkins University. 

 November 21 — "Metabolism in Diabetes": Pro- 

 fessor Graham Lusk, University and Bellevue 

 Medical College. 

 November 28—" Therapeutics of Diabetes " : Dr. 



Wilhelm Falta, University of Vienna. 

 December 5 — " Anaphylaxis " : Dr. M. J. Rosenau 

 and Dr. John F. Anderson, United States Public 

 Health and Marine Hospital Service. 

 December 19 — " Osmosis " : Professor A. B. Macal- 



lum, University of Toronto. 

 January 9 — " The Relation of the Liver to the 

 Metabolism of Fat " : Professor J. B. Leathes, 

 Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, London. 

 February 6 — " Some Problems in Immunity and 

 the Treatment of Infectious Diseases " : Pro- 

 fessor Philip Hanson Hiss, Columbia University. 

 March 6 — " Heredity in Man " : Dr. C. B. Daven- 

 port, Station for Experimental Evolution, Cold 

 Spring Harbor, N. Y. 



The lectures are given under the patronage of 

 the New York Academy of Medicine, on 

 Saturday evenings at 8 :30, at the Academy of 

 Medicine, 17 West Forty-third Street. 



According to a notice in the Journal of the 

 American Medical Association, the second 

 meeting of the International Association of 

 Medical Museums was held in Washington, 

 October 1 and 2. Dr. William G. MacCallum, 

 Baltimore, was elected president; Dr. Sims 



