JUNE 28, 1912] 
of two sessions: the first in Washington, 
D. C., and the second at La Paz, Bolivia. 
Tue Paris correspondent of the Journal of 
the American Medical Association writes 
that the Journal Officiel has recently pub- 
lished very discouraging statistics on the 
French population in 1911. In 1911, there 
was an excess of 34,869 deaths while the 
year before there was an excess of 71,418 
births. This difference is due, on one side, to 
the diminution of births (742,114 infants re- 
ported living in 1911 against 774,390 in 
1910) and, on the other side, to the increase 
in the number of deaths (74,011 greater in 
1911 than in 1910). The deaths have been 
more numerous in 1911 than in 1910 in al- 
most all the departments. In proportion to 
the population, the Norman departments, as 
in the preceding years, furnished the greatest 
mortality. The notable increase in the pro- 
portional number of deaths in France as com- 
pared with many other countries is because 
France is one of the countries in which there 
are the greatest number of aged people and 
chiefly because of the small birth-rate of re- 
cent years. Although the birth-rate is low, 
France is among the countries in which the 
number of marriages is relatively large. In 
1911, 307,788 marriages were registered. 
The constantly increasing number of di- 
vorces reached 13,058, slightly more than in 
1910. The birth-rate is low in many countries 
at the present time, but in no country is it so 
low as in France. Among the many meas- 
ures suggested to check this increasing de- 
population, the most recent is the proposal 
which M. Messimy, former minister of war, 
has made to the bureau of the chamber of 
deputies. M. Messimy believes that a prem- 
jum at the birth of every child born of the 
same mother, reckoning from the fourth, 
would increase the number of births. This 
premium would be $100 (500 frances), of which 
one half would be paid to the mother at the 
birth of the child and the other half deposited 
in the national pay-office for pensions, in 
order to insure her an income from it during 
life. The mother could, however, collect the 
sum at once, or devote it to assure herself a 
SCIENCE 
983 
subsequent pension, which, in this case, would 
naturally be much greater. In order to meet 
the expenses which the premium of 500 francs 
or subsequent annual income would involve, 
M. Messimy proposes either to resort, entirely 
or partially, to the regular budget-resources or 
to place a special tax on bachelors as well as 
on heads of families without children or hay- 
ing only one child. 
A circuLarR by the National Bureau of 
Standards, Department of Commerce and 
Labor, on the measurements of length and 
area, including thermal expansion, is in press. 
It supersedes a similar circular issued July 1, 
1909. The new regulations and fees will go 
into effect May 1. The bureau gives notice 
that it will be glad to cooperate with investi- 
gators, manufacturers and others, not only in 
executing tests of the highest precision, but 
also, on request, in furnishing any informa- 
tion at its disposal concerning methods of 
measurement, the relations among and the 
legal status of units, the requirements that 
accurate standards should fulfill, and the. 
design and construction of special apparatus. 
The bureau will not accept for tests standards. 
and apparatus likely to change excessively or 
that can be checked with ordinary facilities, 
such as poorly divided seales or scales gradu- 
ated on wood, celluloid or paper. A certain 
minimum of quality will be insisted upon to 
admit to test. The circular defines the con- 
ditions influencing the dimensions of bodies 
and also describes the fundamental unit of 
length. It refers to the interrelation of sec- 
ondary and special units of length and area, 
with tables of equivalents added, and also 
devotes some space to a description of national 
prototype meters, of which it has accurate 
copies. For the routine work of testing use 
is made of secondary or working standards 
whose values are carefully determined by com- 
parison with the bureau’s prototype meter 
from time to time to detect any possible 
changes. These working standards include 
multiples and submultiples of the meter and 
of the yard. Methods of comparison of length: 
standards are outlined and the classification 
