342 
tured in this country since 1848 by Messrs. 
Chance Bros., and Co., Birmingham. When 
the supply of German glass was cut off in 
1914, the experience gained by this firm be- 
came an important national asset, and through 
it an acute situation was saved. Messrs. 
Chance have supplied nearly the whole of the 
optical glass required for instruments used by 
British forces.during the war, and also much 
of the requirements of the Allies, without any 
assistance from the formula determined by the 
Glass Research Committee of the Institute of 
Chemistry. This committee rendered invalu- 
able aid to the manufacture of scientific and 
heat-resisting glassware, but the needs of 
optical-instrument makers were met independ- 
ently by Messrs. Chance, whose output since 
the outbreak of hostilities has increased 
twenty-fold. Without their seventy years’ ex- 
perience it would have been very difficult to 
have produced the supply of optical glass im- 
peratively demanded by conditions of war. 
Present Winson has issued a proclama- 
tion establishing three new national forests 
in the Hast—the White Mountain, in Maine 
and New Hampshire, the Shenandoah, in Vir- 
ginia and West Virginia, and the Natural 
Bridge, in Virginia. The White Mountain 
National Forest is located in Grafton, Carroll 
and Coos counties, N. H., and Oxford county, 
Me. The Government has actually taken title 
to about 267,000 acres, and in addition about 
124,000 acres more have been approved for 
purchase, making a total of about 391,000 
acres under Federal protection. This forest 
protects in part the watersheds of the Andros- 
coggin, Saco, Connecticut and Ammonoosuc 
rivers. The Shenandoah National Forest is 
situated in Rockingham, Augusta, Bath and 
Highland counties, Va., and Pendleton county, 
W. Va. The government has acquired to date 
slightly in excess of 100,000 acres and an ad- 
ditional area of approximately 65,000 acres 
has been approved for purchase, making a 
total of approximately 165,000 acres under 
Federal protection. The forest is for the most 
part on the watershed of the Shenandoah 
river and it also protects a portion of the 
watersheds of the Potomac and the James. 
SCIENCE 
[N. S. Vou. XLVIII. No. 1240 
The Natural Bridge National Forest is situ- 
ated in Rockingham, Nelson, Amherst, Bote- 
tourt and Bedford counties, Va. The federal 
government has actually acquired title to a 
little over 78,000 acres, and an additional 
area of approximately 29,000 acres has been 
approved for purchase. The forest, which pro- 
tects a portion of the watershed of the James 
river, does not include the Natural Bridge, 
but this scenic feature is within three or four 
miles of the boundary. 
As a means of combating tuberculosis and 
other communicable diseases besides elevating 
the general health conditions throughout the 
state, the Oklahoma Association for the Pre- 
vention of Tuberculosis is conducting a series 
of general surveys of cities throughout the 
state. The surveys are in charge of Mr. P. 
Horowitz, of the department of biology and 
public health, Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology, and Dr. Gayfree Ellison, pro- © 
fessor of bacteriology and hygiene of the Uni- 
versity of Oklahoma. The investigators are 
assisted by members of the executive and nurs- 
ing staff of the State Association, as well as 
by the staff of the State Board of Health and 
the Board of Argiculture. The surveys, which 
began on April 1, are continued through 
the month of September. The following 
towns are included in the study: Oklahoma 
City, Tulsa, Muskogee, Enid, Shawnee, Bart- 
lesville, Ardmore, Chickasha and McAlester. 
Tur United States Bureau of Education 
has recently issued a Union List of Mathe- 
matical Periodicals prepared by Professor 
David Eugene Smith and Dr. Caroline Eustis 
Seely. This list contains the leading mathe- 
matical periodicals needed by research stu- 
dents and to be found in-a number of the 
larger libraries in various parts of the coun- 
try. Copies may be secured by addressing the 
United States Commissioner of Education, 
Washington, D. C. 
A wistortcaL sketch of the observatory of 
the University of Cincinnati has recently 
been written by Dr. J. G. Porter, director of 
the observatory. The Cincinnati Observatory 
has been in operation since 1843, when it was 
