November 10, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



673 



nesday to Saturday, December 27 to 30, in 

 New York City. By invitation of the psychol- 

 ogists of Columbia University the sessions will 

 be held at that institution. It is proposed to 

 hold the regular meetings in Teachers College, 

 120th Street, between Broadway and Amster- 

 dam Avenue. As headquarters the Hotel Mar- 

 seilles at 103d Street and Broadway has been 

 selected. This meeting marks the twenty-fifth 

 anniversary of the association's foundation. 

 An appropriate program commemorating the 

 event will be held on Thursday afternoon, 

 December 28. The annual banquet will also 

 take place on Thursday, at 7 p.m., in the Hotel 

 Marseilles. The program of after-dinner 

 speakers for this occasion is in the hands of 

 the anniversary committee. The president's 

 address on " The Laws of Belative Fatigue " 

 will be given by Professor Raymond Dodge, of 

 "Wesleyan University, at 8 p.m. on December 

 27, in Schermerhorn Hall. It will be followed 

 by the annual business meeting of the asso- 

 ciation, and a smoker in the Psychological 

 Laboratory. A joint session with Section L 

 (Education) of the American Association for 

 the Advancement of Science is planned for 

 Friday morning, December 29. The program 

 with additional notes on the meetings will be 

 distributed to members early in December. 



The formation of the Association of Brit- 

 ish Chemical Manufacturers has been noted 

 in Science. The association, which has been 

 joined by the leading chemical firms of Great 

 Britain, is now installed in offices at 166, 

 Piccadilly. Sir Charles Bedford has been ap- 

 pointed general secretary, and Sir William 

 Pearce, M.P., honorary treasurer. The chief 

 objects of the association are: (1) To promote 

 cooperation between British chemical manu- 

 facturers. (2) To place before government 

 the views of the association upon matters 

 affecting the industry. (3) To develop tech- 

 nical organization and promote industrial re- 

 search and efficiency. (4) To facilitate the 

 development of new British industries and 

 the extension of existing ones. (5) To im- 

 prove the methods of education in chemistry. 

 (6) To finance researches undertaken in the 

 interest of the industry. (7) To found scholar- 



ships or lectureships for the promotion of its 

 objects. The financial strength of the asso- 

 ciation is guaranteed by the fixing of the mini- 

 mum subscription at 25 guineas and the maxi- 

 mum at 250 guineas. The affairs of the asso- 

 ciation are to be managed by a council of 20, 

 16 elected and 4 coopted. 



The New York Medical Journal gives the 

 following statistics in regard to the death rate 

 in Germany which, after reaching the low 

 record of 14 per mille in 1913, has followed a 

 steadily ascending curve during the war. The 

 figures for 1914 were 16.1 per mille, in 1915 

 there was an increase to 19.7, and the record 

 for the first seven months of 1916 is 16. These 

 statistics include civilians and soldiers. In- 

 fant mortality, however, continues to follow 

 a descending curve. The number of deaths 

 per centum new births, after showing a slight 

 increase from 14.1 in 1912 and 1913, to 15.6 

 in 1914, dropped to 14.5 in the first year of the 

 war. For the last year the percentage has 

 been 12.9. 



The rate of growth of trees in woodlots and 

 in plantations in Central New York is being 

 studied by the junior class of the New York 

 State College of Forestry under the direction 

 of Professor J. Fred Baker, director of forest 

 investigations. Soil and climatic conditions 

 in central New York are unexcelled for main- 

 tenance and rapid forest growth. In fact, 

 trees grow like weeds in New York and there 

 is not a square foot in the state where there is 

 any soil at all which will not maintain a good 

 forest growth. The so-called virgin forests of 

 the Adirondacks are growing to-day at the 

 rate of about 200 board feet per acre per year. 

 Properly managed forests, such as those of the 

 Black Forests of southwestern Germany, are 

 growing at the rate of from a 1,000 to 1,200 

 board feet per acre per year. Reasonable use 

 of farm woodlots and the planting of the right 

 kinds of forest trees on forest soils means the 

 production of excellent crops of timber and 

 that within a comparatively short period of 

 time. The planting of trees along the high- 

 ways of the state is being studied by Professor 

 H. R. Francis, of the Landscape Extension 

 Service of the College of Forestry at Syra- 



