110 
items required by the army and navy in war 
times are technical in nature and would ordi- 
narily not be thought of by the casual ob- 
server. Such an item is optical glass, which is 
used in telescopes and instruments that serve 
in the direction and control of firing large and 
small guns and in engineering and surveying 
operations. The artilleryman without fire- 
control instruments can accomplish little; the 
submarine without its periscope is of small 
value; the airplane without a camera can make 
no maps of the enemy’s country. Therefore, 
optical glass is very essential in military in- 
struments of different types. 
The optical glass problem in this country 
has been solved and there is now available 
manufacturing capacity for optical glass suffi- 
cient to supply the Army and Navy; but the 
skilled labor necessary to work up this glass 
into lenses and prisms, and to assemble these 
into finished instruments is not adequate. 
This situation is so serious that unless steps 
are taken to provide this labor the soldiers 
and sailors will be only partially equipped with 
necessary fire-control instruments. 
To meet this situation the Ordnance De- 
partment of the Army is establishing in Roch- 
ester, N. Y., a training school for operatives 
on precision optics. The school is to be lo- 
cated at the Mechanics Institute, in Rochester, 
and the large optical manufacturing firms in 
Rochester are providing instructors and aiding 
in the installation of the necessary grinding, 
polishing, and centering apparatus. 
Courses in the different branches of this 
industry will be given and extended over a 
period of six weeks. A living wage will be 
paid to those who take these courses. On com- 
pletion of the course the student will be in a 
position to enter one of the optical munition 
factories and be competent to perform certain 
of the operations required. 
Work of this kind on the grinding, polish- 
ing, centering, assembly, and inspection of 
lenses and prisms for optical systems is not 
heavy, and is well suited for young women who 
desire to do their share on war-munitions 
work. Many young women in this country 
have been knitting and doing such other work 
SCIENCE 
[N. S. Vou. XLVIII. No, 1231 
as they are able to do to aid our soldiers and 
sailors, but have desired an opportunity for 
more responsible work. Not every woman can 
become a nurse, and there are still great num- 
bers of young women whose energies are not 
fully utilized and who are not doing their bit 
toward winning the war. A good opportunity 
to do this is afforded by the optical training 
school at Rochester. Work in optical muni- 
tions is most urgent and is of highly respon- 
sible character. Optical munition workers are 
well paid and are contributing directly to 
American success in this war. 
In England two training schools of this 
nature were established some time ago and 
have proved most successful. As a result, the 
manufacture of optical munitions in England 
is well in hand, and many of the responsible 
positions are held by young women, not form- 
erly employed, who are serving their ecuniry 
most effectively in this capacity. 
Details regarding the courses of instruc- 
tion can be obtained from Dr. Barker, presi- 
dent of the Mechanics Institute, Rochester, 
N. Y. The largest factories are located in 
Rochester, Buffalo, and New York, N. Y.; Bos- 
ton and Southbridge, Mass.; Pittsburgh, Pa., 
and Dayton, Ohio. 
SUMMER WORK AT THE LABORATORIES OF 
THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
Work at the Fairport laboratory is proceed- 
ing with the least possible interruption this 
summer. Through the cooperation of the per- 
manent employees of the station arrangements 
for working quarters and living accommoda- 
tions for a limited number of investigators 
have been made. Professors C. B. Wilson, 
Emmeline Moore, and H. S. Davis continue 
investigations of aquatic insects, plants, and 
protozoan parasites of fishes, respectively, in 
relation to fish culture in ponds. 
Dr. Albert Mann, of the Bureau of Plant 
Industry, has been detailed by the Secretary 
of Agriculture, at the request of the Secretary 
of Commerce, for special work on the diatom 
flora of the Woods Hole region. Portions of 
the laboratory of the Woods Hole station are 
in the possession of the Navy Department, but 
laboratory facilities are available for a limited 
