340 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLVII. No. 1214 



system had been forced 'by tbe necessities aris- 

 ing during tlie Boer "War; so, he said, the 

 United States Military Medical Service is be- 

 ing developed by the exigencies now confront- 

 ing us and would continue after the war. He 

 said he gained from the British service ideas 

 of value for his administration. 



Dr. William H. "Welch read a statement 

 showing that in February there was an ex- 

 ceedingly satisfactory decline in the admission 

 rates for communicable diseases, as well as for 

 all causes. In the force afloat, the situation as 

 to pneumonia and cerebrospinal fever is very 

 satisfactory. Scarlet fever has been slightly 

 more prevalent than usual but in no sense epi- 

 demic; a very satisfactory decrease in measles; 

 mumps continues as heretofore. 



For the committee on surgery. Dr. Charles 

 H. Mayo told how data on 21,000 physicians 

 had been gathered and placed on cards con- 

 venient for the ready selection of individuals 

 and groups suited for any given task, a dupli- 

 cate set of which cards has been prepared for 

 the use of the Surgeon General's office in 

 France. Dr. Mayo emphasized the need of 

 reconstructing wounded men, not only for field 

 service but also for labor after the war, inas- 

 much as the usual tide of immigration has 

 ceased. Citing the many government activi- 

 ties in which medicine enters, he said these re- 

 lations, he believed, could be coordinated in no 

 way except by having a medical man as a Cabi- 

 net officer. 



Lieutenant Colonel Victor C. Vaughan, re- 

 porting for the committee on legislation, told 

 of the request of the Army medical officers for 

 higher rank and greater authority, and of the 

 Owen-Dyer bill (S. 3748 and H. R. 9563) now 

 pending in Congress. He cited instances 

 which he said indicated need for greater rank, 

 and then read the following letter from Presi- 

 dent Wilson to Dr. Franklin Martin, indorsing 

 the bill: 



I read very carefully your memorandum of Feb- 

 ruary 27 about the rank accorded members of the 

 Medical Corps of the Army, and have taken 

 pleasure in writing letters to the chairman of the 

 Military Committees of the House and Senate, ex- 

 pressing the hope that the bill and resolution may 

 be passed. 



LECTURES ON AGRICULTURE 



It has been arranged that a group of promi- 

 nent agricultural speakers shall travel through 

 the northern and western states, after confer- 

 ences in Washington with Secretary of Agri- 

 culture Houston and Food Administrator 

 Hoover to impress on the farmers the necessity 

 of producing large crops during the coming 

 season. A similar campaign already has been 

 conducted in the southern states. The follow- 

 ing have consented to take part in the cam- 

 paign : 



Dr. W. O. Thompson, president Ohio State Uni- 

 versity, speaking in Idaho and Wyoming. 



Alva Agee, secretary of the New Jersey board of 

 agriculture, speaking in Ohio. 



Dr. A. H. Jordan, director of the New York 

 Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, N. T., 

 speaking in Pennsylvania and Connecticut. 



Dr. J. L. Hills, dean of the College of Agricul- 

 ture, University of Vermont, speaking in New 

 Hampshire. 



Dr. C. F. Curtiss, director of the Iowa Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station and dean of the Iowa 

 Agricidtural College, speaking in Kansas and Ne- 

 braska. 



Dr. Eugene Davenport, dean of the College of 

 Agriculture, University of Illinois, speaking in 

 Wisconsin. 



Dr. W. J. Kerr, president of the Oregon Agricul- 

 tural College, speaking in Oregon and in Idaho. 



Professor William M. Jardine, president of the 

 Kansas Agricultural College, speaking in Mis- 

 souri. 



Dr. C. A. Lory, president of the Colorado Agri- 

 cultural College, speaking in Colorado. 



Dr. S. C. Mitchell, president of Delaware Col- 

 lege, speaking in New Jersey and Rhode Island. 



Dr. E. C. Perisho, president of the South Da- 

 kota Agricultural College, speaking in South Da- 

 kota and Montana. 



A. J. Glover, editor of Hoard 's Dairyman, speak- 

 ing in Minnesota. 



Dean Alfred Vivian, of the College of Agricul- 

 ture, Ohio State University, speaking in Iowa. 



Dr. T. F. Hunt, dean of the College of Agricul- 

 ture, University of California, will go direct from 

 California for speeches in the state of Washing- 

 ton early in April. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 



The annual meeting of the National Acad- 

 emy of Sciences will be held at the Smithson- 



