NovEMBER 29, 1918] 
allow the use of that system merely as optical. 
Any uniform system of classifying merchan- 
dise, however, will require on the part of the 
United States thoroughgoing and complete ad- 
herence to the metric system. 
Of more importance than statistical and ad- 
ministrative questions is the use of the metric 
system in trade. Now that the United States 
is obviously being drawn into closer and more 
vital commercial relations by the rest of the 
world, and particularly with Latin-America, 
our .manufacturers and exporters will be 
obliged to meet the demands of their pros- 
nective customers in a somewhat more accom- 
modating frame of mind than hitherto. Only 
the English-speaking nations still have to 
adopt the metric system of weights and meas- 
ures, and among them the British Empire, or 
at least Great Britain, seems to be giving 
serious consideration to the necessity of mak- 
ing a change. Those who read the Commerce 
Reports of the United States Department of 
Commerce know how numerous are the op- 
portunities necessarily allowed to pass by be- 
cause of our inability to supply goods and ma- 
chinery constructed in accordance with the 
metrie system. The subject has now assumed 
a most practical character in the minds of 
those who are planning for post-war trade ex- 
pansion. 
The resolution adopted by the commission 
is as follows: 
The United States section of the International 
High Commission, having in view the present 
efforts to bring about the exclusive use of the 
metrie system of weights and measures within the 
jurisdiction of the United States, resolves: 
I. That in the opinion of the section the adop- 
tion of that system would be productive of great 
advantage in the commercial relations of the 
United States with the other American republics. 
II. That the secretary of the section be directed 
to communicate a copy of this resolution to the 
chairman of the proper committees of the Senate 
and the House of Representatives. 
AN ECOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE PALISADES 
INTERSTATE PARK 
Last spring a cooperative ecological survey 
of the Palisades Interstate Park was estab- 
SCIENCE 
541 
lished by the commissioners of the Park and 
the department of forest zoology of The New 
York State College of Forestry at Syracuse. 
The park is a large area of about 30,000 acres 
under the management of joint commissioners 
representing the states of New York and New 
Jersey. The park lies along the lower Hud- 
son, including most of the scenic portion of 
the Palisades, on the west bank of the Hudson, 
and a relatively large area (the Harriman sec- 
tion) south and west of West Point, in the 
low wooded mountains of the Hudson High- 
lands. 
This survey is intended to relate the wild 
life of the park to its numerous visitors, of 
which during the season just closed there have 
been about 48,000 campers, who averaged ten 
days each. Investigations of the birds have 
been made by Professor P. M. Silloway; 
the plankton organisms by Dr. Gilbert M. 
Smith and the fish by Dr. Chas. C. Adams 
and Professor T. L. Hankinson, assisted by 
A. E. Fivaz. The first season’s field work has 
been completed and publications on the survey 
are in preparation from the standpoint of park 
utilization. The birds have been studied from 
an educational and recreational, as well as an 
ecological, point of view. The plankton for 
its bearing upon the problem of drinking 
water needed in the park, the fish, and the 
bathing facilities. The fish have been studied 
from the standpoint of food, education and 
recreation. The water storage area has been 
greatly increased by dams, creating and en- 
larging ponds and reservoirs. A system of 
management for these waters and the streams 
is to be worked out in harmony with the aims 
of the park. 
Those in immediate charge of the work are 
Mr. Edward F. Brown, manager of the camp 
department of the park, and Dr. Charles C. 
Adams, forest zoologist of the college. This 
is the first comprehensive ecological survey 
systematically conducted and intended to re- 
late primarily the wild life forest resources of 
a large public park to the educational, recre- 
ational, scientific and economic activities of 
the park. Many of the problems are the same 
