Mabcb 1, 1918] 



SCIENCE 



213 



insignificant compared with the value of the cereal 

 crops, especially since the immune Japanese va- 

 riety (Berberis thunbergii) is displacing the com- 

 mon variety in popular favor, 



Therefore, be it Sesolved, that the War Emerg- 

 ency Board of American Plant Pathologists do 

 hereby endorse and support the efforts to eradi- 

 cate the common barberry in that region. 



G. R. Lymax, 



Secretary 



SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 

 THE YALE MEDICAL SCHOOL 



President Akthur Hadley, of Yale Uni- 

 versity, announced on February 22 to Yale 

 men who had returned for alumni university 

 day that the Yale Medical School, for the first 

 time in the 104 years of its existence, pos- 

 sessed an endowment sufficient to insure its 

 perpetuation and establish it in the fore rank 

 of American medical schools. 



Since June, 1914, as reported in the New 

 York Tribune, the resources of the school of 

 medicine have been increased by $2,568,812.55. 

 This sum is exclusive of $266,075 donated for 

 the exclusive use of the Yale Mobile Military 

 Hospital in France. 



The gifts to the school of medicine include 

 $125,000 for the Anthony N. Brady Memorial 

 Laboratory and an additional pledge of $500,- 

 000 for endowment from the Brady family, 

 provided a total of $2,000,000 more was ob- 

 tained. 



Toward this $2,000,000 the General Educa- 

 tion Board had promised the last $500,000. 

 The Lauder family have given $400,000, the 

 late Charles W. Harkness $100,000, and nu- 

 merous other contributions had brought the 

 total sum above the amount needed. 



Five years ago it seemed probable that the 

 Yale medical school would cease to exist. 

 Despite the fact that it was then just ready 

 to celebrate its centennial, its total endow- 

 ment was less than $400,000, a sum insufficient 

 to provide income to pay the salaries of pro- 

 fessors. 



The question of the continuance or discon- 

 tinuance of the medical school was placed in 

 the hands of men interested in Yale Uni- 

 versity. A committee consisting of the late 



Dr. Lewis A. Stimson, Dr. D. Bryson Dela- 

 van. Dr. William B. Coley, Dr. Joseph A. 

 Blake and Dr. Walter James was asked to 

 confer on ways and means with President 

 Hadley, Dean Blimier, of the medical school, 

 and three members of the Yale corporation. 

 The status of the school itself was first taken 

 into consideration. In the face of many diffi- 

 culties it had maintained so high a standard 

 that it was ranked " Plus A," the highest class, 

 by the American Medical Association. If the 

 school was to continue, the conferees decided, 

 first, it must maintain the same standards it 

 had set. Most imiwrtant, if this was to be 

 done, was an affiliation with a hospital for 

 teaching purposes. A second consideration 

 insisted upon by the Yale corporation was that 

 the mere question of pride on behalf of the 

 university should not impel the continuance 

 of the school. There must be a real need for 

 it, recognized by the medical profession at 

 large, or else it would be discontinued. This 

 need was found to exist. The generosity of 

 the family of Anthony N. Brady made the 

 affiliation with the New Haven Hospital pos- 

 sible. 



FARM PRODUCTS OF THE tJNITED STATES 



The following statement pertaining to the 

 crop achievements of 1917 and indicating what 

 is possible in 1918 is authorized by Secretary 

 of Agriculture Houston : 



Tlie production of food crops and of ani- 

 mal products is alwa.ys a matter of great in- 

 terest to all the people of the nation. At this 

 particular time it is of especial interest and 

 concern. Statistics regarding the acreages 

 and yields of important food crops planted 

 during the year 1917 have been available in 

 the Department of Agriculture for some time 

 and have been made public. The recent re- 

 port of the Bureau of Crop Estimates on the 

 number of live stock on farms and ranges, 

 however, makes it jwssible now to exhibit a 

 summary of tbe principal results of the farm- 

 ers' operations for the year. 



Naturally, when the nation entered the war 

 on April 6, 1917, there was much confusion 

 and apprehension as to the possibility of in- 



