July 14, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



53 



ics at Clark University for the academic year 

 1916-17. 



The geologist and geographer T. A. Ben- 

 drat is about to start on an expedition to the 

 headwaters of the Orinoco River in Vene- 

 zuela to explore its sources and the surround- 

 ing region. 



Dr. Julius Hayden Woodward, of New 

 York, professor of diseases of the eye at the 

 New York Post-graduate Medical School since 

 1908, and director of instruction in ophthalm- 

 ology since 1913, died at his home on July 2, 

 aged fifty-eight years. 



The Kansas State Board is endeavoring to 

 get the state universities to cooperate in an 

 effort to induce the government to establish 

 a health experiment and research laboratory 

 in connection with each university school of 

 medicine under the United States Public 

 Health Service. 



"We learn from Nature that the formation 

 by the British Advisory Council for Scientific 

 and Industrial Research of a standing com- 

 mittee on mining, constituted so as to repre- 

 sent both the scientific and industrial sides, 

 has now been completed. The standing com- 

 mittee includes the following members nomi- 

 nated by professional associations: Institution 

 of Mining Engineers: Sir William Garforth, 

 Dr. John Haldane, Dr. R. T. Moore, Mr. Wal- 

 lace Thorneycrof t ; Institution of Mining and 

 Metallurgy: Mr. Edward Hooper, Mr. Edgar 

 Taylor; Iron and Steel Institute: Professor 

 H. Louis; the South Wales Institute of Engi- 

 neers: Mr. W. Gascoyne Dalziel; and the fol- 

 lowing members appointed directly by the ad- 

 visory council : Sir Hugh Bell, Bart., Mr. Hugh 

 Bramwell, Lieutenant-Colonel W. C. Blaekett, 

 Professor Cadman, Professor Erecheville, Mr. 

 Bedford McNeill, Mr. Hugh F. Marriott, Sir 

 Boverton Redwood, Bart., Mr. C. E. Rhodes. 

 The advisory council has appointed Sir Wil- 

 liam Garforth to be chairman. 



The California State Board of Health, in 

 cooperation with the University of California, 

 is conducting a state-wide malaria mosquito 

 survey under the supervision of Professor W. 

 B. Herms, consulting parasitologist for the 



state board and associate professor of parasitol- 

 ogy in the University of California, who is 

 assisted by Mr. S. B. Freeborn, instructor in 

 entomology. The work began on May 10, and 

 will continue through the summer. Probably 

 three summers will be required to complete the 

 survey of the entire state. The party travels 

 by automobile, collecting mosquitoes, locating 

 their breeding places, determining the pres- 

 ence or absence of malaria, distributing litera- 

 ture, lecturing and giving information on way3 

 and means for the control of the insects. The 

 Sacramento Valley and the northeastern por- 

 tions of the state to the Oregon and Nevada 

 state lines have already been covered. Thus 

 far endemic malaria has been found at a maxi- 

 mum elevation of 5,500 feet and the Anophe- 

 line carriers have been located. Two or three 

 new specias of mosquitoes have been found. 



The second Interstate Cereal Conference 

 was held at the University of Minnesota, Uni- 

 versity Farm, St. Paul, on July 11, 12 and 13. 

 At this conference there was a discussion of 

 the various phases of cereal research relating 

 to the region of which St. Paul may be con- 

 sidered the center. The program included 

 papers on problems of wheat, oat, barley and 

 flax production in the northwest; the grading 

 of barley and corn ; breeding winter wheats for 

 Minnesota; ergot for rye; methods for the 

 eradication of bunt or stinking smut; prob- 

 lems in flax diseases, and a symposium on mill- 

 ing and baking. Two days were devoted to the 

 presentation and discussion of papers. The 

 third day was used in an inspection of the 

 plat work of the Minnesota Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station and of one of the local flour 

 mills. 



On August 24, 25 and 26, the third annual 

 conference of the Society for Practical Astron- 

 omy will be held at the Bausch and Lomb Ob- 

 servatory in Rochester, N. Y. The president 

 of the society, Mr. Latimer J. Wilson, urges 

 all the members to attend these sessions and 

 extends the invitation to any one interested in 

 astronomy. Papers will be read showing the 

 important work of the society and addresses on 

 optical matters and their relation to astronom- 

 ical research will be given. The Bausch and 



