DECEMBER 27, 1918] 
A pinner to celebrate the quartercentenary 
of the granting of its charter to the Royal 
College of Physicians of London by King 
Henry VIII was, as we learn from the British 
Medical Journal, held in France on September 
23, and was attended by almost all of the 
Fellows of the College now serving in that 
country, to the number of something less than 
a score. The toast to the College was pro- 
posed by the chairman, Major-General Sir 
Wilmot Herringham, O.B., A.M.S., and a con- 
gratulatory address to the College was signed 
by those present. 
Tue American Public Health Association 
held its postponed annual meeting in Chicago, 
December 9 to 12. The program was designed 
to bring out all available information con- 
cerning the management of epidemic influenza, 
though other aspects of public health were not 
neglected. Among the papers on the program 
were: “ Etiology of Influenza,” by Major Wil- 
liam H. Welch; “ Mobilization of Medical and 
Nursing Forces,” by Assistant Surgeon-Gen- 
eral J. W. Schereschewsky; “ Influenza and 
Pneumonia Vaccines,” by Dr. E. C. Rosenow; 
“The Use of Sera in Influenza,” by Drs. Mc- 
Guire and Redden; “The Face Mask,” by 
Colonel Charles Lynch and Dr. George 
Weaver; “ Organization of State and Federal 
Forees in Epidemics,” by Assistant Surgeon- 
General A. W. McLaughlin and Dr. E. R. 
Kelley; “History and Statistics of the Epi- 
demic,” by Assistant Surgeon-General B. S. 
Warren. 
Tue U. S. Civil Service Commission an- 
nounces an open competitive examination for 
specialist in animal husbandry and dairying 
at an entrance salary ranging from $1,800 to 
$2,500 per year. This examination is scheduled 
to fill a vacancy on the editorial staff of The 
Experiment Station Record, States Relations 
Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, and 
the duties of the appointee will consist mainly 
of the preparation of technical abstracts of 
the current scientific literature in animal hus- 
bandry (including animal breeding and feed- 
ing) and dairying (including dairy farming). 
SCIENCE 
645 
Competitors will not be required to report for 
examination, but must submit applications and 
other material on or before January 7, 1919. 
Tue Bureau of Standards has published a 
“Metric Manual for Soldiers,” the aim of 
which is to give to the American soldiers the 
grasp of the metric system which will enable 
them to think and work in metric units. As 
recommended no tables of equivalents need be 
memorized. Brief tables and a vocabulary are 
given for reference. The units are described 
by actual examples likely to be encountered in 
military work. 
THE comet discovered by Professor Schorr, 
of Hamburg Observatory, on November 23, was 
observed on November 30 from the Naval Ob- 
servatory at Washington, and the Yerkes Ob- 
servatory in Wisconsin, according to tele- 
grams received at the Harvard Observatory. 
The comet is very faint, being of the fourteenth 
magnitude, and is visible only in large tele- 
scopes. It is in the constellation Taurus, not 
far from the bright star Aldebaran. 
ANNOUNCEMENTS have been made in the 
Journal of the American Medical Association 
of a Spanish edition, the initial number of 
which will appear early in January. For the 
time being it will be issued semi-monthly. It 
is proposed to include in it practically all the 
scientific matter that appears in the Journal. 
Original articles and editorials that are of local 
or ephemeral interest will not be included. 
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
NEWS 
THE sum of £20,000 has been given to the 
George Watson’s College, Edinburgh, by Mr. 
James Glass, of London, in aid of the estab- 
lishment of a school of chemistry at that insti- 
tution. 
Tue faculty of medicine of Western Uni- 
versity, London, Ont., is planning the erection 
of a new medical college building at an esti- 
mated cost of $100,000. 
A researcH fellowship of the annual value 
of £150 has been founded at Guy’s Hospital in 
