106 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 733 



unique. The entire mass as forwarded con- 

 sisted of a crystallized surface, displaying 

 small and large crystals, nestling upon an ore 

 body of considerable size. Tbe value in bul- 

 lion of this aggregate was $640, and it prob- 

 ably was the largest mass of polybasite ever 

 taken from a mine entire. 



The growth of the mineral industries of the 

 United States is graphically exhibited by a 

 chart just issued by the Geological Survey, 

 tabulating for each year of the last decade the 

 quantity and value of the output of our metal- 

 lic and non-metallic mineral products. This 

 chart shows that in 1898 the domestic produc- 

 tion of the metals — ^pig iron, silver, gold, cop- 

 per, lead, zinc, quicksilver, aluminum, anti- 

 mony, nickel and platinimi — had a total value 

 of $305,482,183; in the same year the total 

 value of the other mineral products amounted 

 to $418,790,671; the grand total for the coun- 

 try in 1898 was therefore $724,272,854. Ten 

 years later, at the close of the calendar year 

 1907, the value of the metals had increased to 

 $903,024,005, that of the other products to 

 $1,166,265,191, and the grand total was $2,- 

 069,289,196. The chart has interest in con- 

 nection with a summary of the mineral pro- 

 duction of the country, published by the survey 

 as an advance chapter from " Mineral Re- 

 sources of the United States, Calendar Tear 

 1907," and copies of both the chart and the 

 summary may be obtained by applying to the 

 director of the survey at Washington, D. 0. 

 The survey has also published for free dis- 

 tribution separate chapters of its annual report 

 on the mineral resources of the country, giving 

 detailed statistics of many of the products that 

 make up these totals. 



Nature states that the council of the Eont- 

 gen Society has decided to act upon the advice 

 of the committee appointed in 1906 to con- 

 sider the possibility of preparing a standard 

 for the measurement of radioactivity. This 

 committee recommends that " The 7-ray ion- 

 ization from 1 mg. of pure radium be regarded 

 as a standard, and called a unit of radio- 

 activity." The council has deputed Mr. C. E. 

 S. Phillips to prepare a set of three substan- 

 dards of EaBr^, and these are now maturing. 



By the cooperation of Professor E. Euther- 

 ford, comparison will be made with a speci- 

 men of the purest EaBrj at the Victoria Uni- 

 versity, Manchester. The quantity of radiiun 

 in other specimens will be capable of accurate 

 measurement by comparison with the sub- 

 standards. It is anticipated, therefore, that 

 by this means the exact description of medical, 

 physical or other work with radium will be 

 facilitated, and that the possibility of fraud 

 in the sale of expensive radium preparations 

 will be eliminated. The council proposes to 

 lend the substandards to any competent person 

 desiring to measure the amount of radium in 

 his possession, or to arrange for authoritative 

 tests to be made. Eor further particulars 

 application should be sent to the honorary 

 secretary of the Rontgen Society, at 20 Han- 

 over Square, London, W. 



The following, as we learn from the British 

 Medical Journal, are among the prizes awarded 

 by the Paris Academie de Medecine for 1908 : 

 The Laborde prize (£200) for the most notable 

 advancement of surgery, has been given to 

 Professor Monprofit, of Angers, for his work 

 on the operative surgery of the stomach; the 

 Theodore Herpin prize (£120) has been gained 

 by Dr. Albert Deschamps, of Riom, for an 

 essay on the diseases of energy— general as- 

 thenias; the Amussat prize (£40) has been 

 awarded to Dr. Destot, of Lyons, for a radio- 

 graphic and clinical study. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS 



Iowa College has obtained an additional 

 endowment of $500,000, of which $100,000 is 

 from the general education board and $50,000 

 from Mr. Andrew Carnegie. 



Mr. John W. Gates has given $100,000 to 

 establish a college at Port Arthur, Texas. 



Me. Jacob H. Schiff, of New York City, 

 has given $100,000 towards the construction 

 of a Jewish institute of technology at Haife, 

 Palestine. 



We learn from the London Times that the 

 foundations of the laboratory which is being 

 given to the University of Oxford for electrical 

 work by the Drapers' Company are now being 

 constructed. The laboratory will measure 



