462 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 1135 



manently within the borders of any state or 

 territory, shall be deemed to be within the 

 custody and protection of the government of 

 the United States and shall not be destroyed 

 or taken contrary to regulations provided for 

 by that government. The act which was 

 passed in 1913 has been amended and the 

 regulations drawn up by the Department of 

 Agriculture for the enactment of the provi- 

 sions went into final effect on August 21, 1916, 

 when President Wilson publicly proclaimed 

 the regulation. According to Mr. Quarles, 

 the treaty will secure protection all over the 

 North American continent for some 1,022 

 species and sub-species of birds, and the law is 

 of prime importance to farmers, for it means 

 that insectivorous birds will get the protec- 

 tion they deserve. All migratory birds, game 

 and insectivorous, will be completely pro- 

 tected in the spring flights, during the breed- 

 ing season, and the open season on the winter 

 migration south will be curtailed in a great 

 many species. The rulings as to open and 

 closed season in each state have been made 

 with due regard to the state's relative posi- 

 tion in the great sweep of migration, north and 

 south, and with provisions for the special pro- 

 tection of certain species in those localities 

 where they have suffered under the old law, or 

 where the farmer needs, for example, the 

 presence of certain insectivorous birds. 



The following series of Saturday afternoon 

 lectures are being given in the Museum build- 

 ing of the New York Botanical Garden, at 

 four o'clock: 



September 2 — "Plants of the Danish Islands, 

 St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John," by Dr. N. L. 

 Britton. 



September 9 — "Across Mexico from Vera Cruz 

 to Colima," by Dr. W. A. Murrill. 



September 16 — "Farming in the Middle West," 

 by Dr. G. C. Fisher. 



September 23 — "Through the Mountains of 

 Utah and Colorado," by Dr. F. W. Pennell. 



September 30 — "Flowers for Fall Planting," 

 by G. V. Nash. 



October 7 — "Botanical Cruises in the Ba- 

 hamas," by Dr. M. A. Howe. 



October 14 — "Destructive Fungi," by Dr. F. J. 

 Seaver. 



October 21 — "Autumn Coloration," by Dr. A. 

 B. Stout. 



October 28 — "The Potato Family," by Dr. H. 

 H. Eusby. 



November 4 — "The New York Botanical Gar- 

 den," by Dr. Britton. 



November 11 — "Planning Next Year's Flower 

 Garden," by Mr. Nash. 



The value of tar, ammonia and benzol prod- 

 ucts recovered in the manufacture of artificial 

 gas in municipal plants and at by-product 

 coke ovens in 1915 was nearly $25,000,000. 

 Statistics recently compiled by C. E. Lesher, 

 of the United States Geological Survey, De- 

 partment of the Interior, show that more than 

 51,340,000 gallons of tar were obtained in con- 

 nection with the manufacture of oil and water 

 gas, that nearly 48,000,000 gallons of tar was 

 recovered at coal-gas plants, 138,400,000 gal- 

 lons of tar was obtained in connection with the 

 manufacture of by-product coke, and that the 

 total quantity of tar produced in the United 

 States in 1915 was more than 237,400,000 gal- 

 lons, valued at $6,260,000. The oil and water 

 gas tar had an average value of 2.2 cents a 

 gallon, the coal-gas tar a value of 2.03 cents a 

 gallon and the by-product tar a value of 2.6 

 cents a gallon. Approximately 50,700 tons of 

 ammonium sulphate was obtained from the 

 coal-gas plants and about 197,000 tons from 

 by-product coke plants, a total of about 198,- 

 000 tons. The value of this ammonia was more 

 than $11,175,000. The coal-gas plants pro- 

 duced and sold 336,213 gallons of benzol, drip 

 oil and holder oil, valued at $28,281, an aver- 

 age value of 8.4 cents a gallon. Benzol prod- 

 ucts recovered in connection with the manu- 

 facture of by-product coke amounted to 

 16,600,857 gallons, valued at $7,337,371, an 

 average of 44.2 cents a gallon. It is thus seen 

 that coal-gas plants are negligible as a source 

 of supply of benzol products. Nearly 223,000 

 pounds of naphthalene, valued at $3,565, was 

 obtained and sold from the coal-gas plants as 

 compared with 465,865 pounds, valued at $46,- 

 959, from the by-product plants. More than 

 27,000 tons of retort carbon, valued at $183,- 

 170, an average of $6.73 a ton was obtained 

 from the oil and water-gas plants and 1,696,- 

 366 tons of gas coke, valued at $7,222,744, or 



