424 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 1134 



beds, and other hygienic inventions for use at 

 the front. A laboratory of antityphoid vacci- 

 nation displays the apparatus, the preparations 

 used, and the graphic records. Painted sculp- 

 tures by M. Jean Larrive illustrate the work- 

 ing of the sanitary service. A series of reliefs 

 shows first aid in the trenches, the transport of 

 a badly wounded man, the arrival at the first 

 line dressing station, and the interior of the 

 station. A room is set apart for surgical in- 

 struments and sterilizing apparatus, with mod- 

 els showing the disinfection of wounds by the 

 Dakin method. 



A valuable collection of foreign and do- 

 mestic woods in panel form is being installed 

 on the second and third floors of the rotunda 

 in the new $250,000 Forestry Building of the 

 State College of Forestry at Syracuse. For 

 the past two years search has been made 

 throughout the country for available commer- 

 cial varieties of wood native to this country, 

 as well as the important commercial woods 

 from South America, Mexico, the West Indies, 

 Africa and the East Indies. Among the rare 

 foreign woods that will be displayed as panels 

 around the rotunda in the College of Forestry 

 building are African gaboon, East India koa, 

 marblewood, East India rosewood, satinwood, 

 camphor wood, teak, Circassian walnut and 

 eight different kinds of mahogany. Among 

 the western woods of this country displayed 

 are Douglas fir, California redwood, sugar 

 pine, western yellow pine, Sitka spruce, Port 

 Oxford cedar, incense cedar and several va- 

 rieties of eucalyptus. The southern forests 

 are represented by cypress, southern hard 

 pine, North Carolina pine, red and black 

 gum, cucumber and persimmon. A great va- 

 riety of native hard and soft woods found in 

 New York are the nucleus around which these 

 rarer woods are gathered. The collection of 

 panels of native and foreign woods built into 

 the rotunda of the College of Forestry build- 

 ing at Syracuse are being finished carefully 

 to bring out the natural grain to best effect 

 and at the same time to detract as little as pos- 

 sible from the native color and natural wood 

 fibers. Each panel is to be labeled with the 

 common and scientific name so that both the 



student body of the college and the many visi- 

 tors who come to the building may study a 

 permanent exhibit of unusual interest and 

 value. Lumber manufacturers' associations 

 and lumbermen throughout the country have 

 been cooperating very cordially with the New 

 York State College of Forestry in supplying 

 these panels. 



A machine for testing the strength of boxes 

 has been devised by engineers of the Forest 

 Service and is in use at the Forest Products 

 Laboratory at Madison, Wisconsin. The ma- 

 chine is the result of experiments made to de- 

 termine a fair test for all types of boxes. A 

 series of tests in cooperation with the Ameri- 

 can Society for Testing Materials and the Na- 

 tional Association of Box Manufacturers has 

 been carried on during the past year to deter- 

 mine the strength of boxes of various woods 

 and of different construction. Over four and 

 a half billion feet of lumber is used for box 

 making every year, and on this account the 

 tests are considered important. Moreover, big 

 losses are caused by the breakage of boxes in 

 transit, and all parties concerned are said to be 

 anxious to determine the best kind of box. 

 The machine consists of a hexagonal drum 

 with 3£-foot sides, which is lined with thin 

 steel sheets. Pieces of scantling bolted to 

 the bottom form what are known as " haz- 

 ards." In making the tests boxes filled with 

 cans containing water are placed in the 

 drum, which is then rotated. For convenience 

 in observing the results of the tests, the sides 

 and ends of the box are numbered with large 

 figures, and in addition other numbers are 

 placed at specified points on each side. The 

 " hazards " cause the boxes to be carried part 

 way round and then dropped back to the lower 

 level of the drum. Each fall of this sort is a 

 pretty fair imitation of the probable treat- 

 ment it would receive in shipment. The boxes 

 are watched carefully, and notes are taken on 

 the manner in which they give way and the 

 number of falls required to break them in 

 pieces. In this way it is possible to determine 

 what kinds of woods are best suited for boxes. 

 The tests showed a decided need for a stand- 

 ard classification of box woods, and three 



