August 18, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



235 



There is still much, to be learned concerning 

 the period of incubation, accurate methods of 

 early diagnosis in non-paralytic cases, modes 

 of transmission and the length of time persons 

 continue to carry the infection, and, in view 

 of these factors, a scientifically adequate 

 method of control is impossible at the present 

 time. 



The committee recommends the closest co- 

 operation possible among the different labora- 

 tories and investigators that may enter upon 

 investigation of problems connected with epi- 

 demic poliomyelitis. 



The committee would suggest the following 

 problems as especially desirable for investiga- 

 tion at this time. 



1. Methods of culture of the virus of polio- 

 myelitis, with especial reference to corrobora- 

 tion of previous work, to simplification of 

 methods, and to the distribution of the virus 

 in the body of patients. 



2. The immunologic reactions of patients, 

 supposed carriers of the virus, and others. 



3. The virulence for animals, of the crude 

 virus, in order to determine if possible whether 

 there are any differences in the virus causing 

 outbreaks in different parts of the country as 

 well as to discover, perchance, more susceptible 

 animals for experimental purposes than are 

 now available. 



4. The microscopic study of the secretions 

 of the nose and throat and of the intestinal 

 contents of patients suffering from poliomye- 

 litis, persons who have come in close contact 

 with such patients, and others. 



5. The transmission of the disease by insects 

 and domestic animals and other possible modes 

 of transmission. 



6. The study of practical methods of disin- 

 fection. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 



Dr. William H. Welch sailed from New 

 York on August 6 for England to make studies 

 in connection with the organization of the 

 school of hygiene and public health estab- 

 lished by the Eockefeller Foundation at the 

 Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Welch will 

 also study, as president of the National Aca- 



demy of Sciences, the manner in which Eng- 

 land has been organized in scientific lines for 

 the war. He is accompanied by Dr. George 

 Ellery Hale, chairman of the committee of the 

 academy on scientific organization. 



The Cartwright Lectures for 1916 of the As- 

 sociation of the Alumni of the College of 

 Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia Uni- 

 versity, will be given by Dr. Eichard M. 

 Pearce, professor of research medicine, Uni- 

 versity of Pennsylvania, on October 24 and 

 25. Professor Pearce's subject will be : " The 

 Spleen in its relation to blood destruction and 

 regeneration." 



Dr. J. Howard Beard, Urbana, has been ap- 

 pointed health officer of the University of 

 Illinois. 



Dr. Gustavus Mann, until last year pro- 

 fessor of physiology in Tulane University, has 

 been appointed consulting chemist for the 

 Freeport Oil Company of Texas. 



Dr. Donald B. Armstrong has resigned as 

 director of the department of social welfare 

 of the New York Association for Improving 

 the Condition of the Poor, to become assistant 

 secretary and director of the community tuber- 

 culosis experiment of the National Association 

 for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis. 



Dr. Herbert J. Spinden, of the American 

 Museum of Natural History, has been given 

 charge of the archeological survey of Porto 

 Bico undertaken by the New York Academy 

 of Sciences, and has been in the field. In the 

 early part of the season he visited Venezuela 

 for a preliminary archeological recon- 

 naissance. 



Professor A. L. Kroeber, of the University 

 of California, has returned to Zufii for further 

 investigation of their social and ceremonial 

 organization. 



Dr. James J. Mills, .instructor of ophthal- 

 mology at the Johns Hopkins Medical School, 

 has sailed for France, where at Biarritz he 

 will assist in the treatment of injuries to the 

 eyes of the soldiers. 



The Antarctic relief ship Discovery, which 

 has been placed at the disposal of the British 

 Admiralty for use in the effort to rescue the 



