Septembeh 16, 1921] 



SCIENCE 



243 



the empire caused by fungoid diseases of 



A Canadian estimate places the loss in the 

 year 1917, in the prairie region of Canada 

 alone, at 100,000,000 bushels, worth from 

 £25,000,000 to £50,000,000. For the same 

 year, the loss in the five chief cereals of the 

 United States due to this fungus was placed 

 at 400,000,000 bushels. The annual loss on 

 Indian wheat is estimated in millions of 

 rupees. 



A proposal was adopted for the establishment 

 of a central organization to encourage and 

 coordinate work throughout the Empire on 

 fungi in relation to agriculture. The Colonial 

 Office has brought the necessary negotations 

 to a successful issue, and has now formed a 

 myeological bureau supported by contribu- 

 tions from the various self-governing Domin- 

 ions, India, Egypt, the Sudan, and the non- 

 self-governing Colonies and Protectorates. 

 The precedent of the Imperial Bureau of 

 Entomology has been followed, and the new 

 institution is to be managed by a committee 

 of experts under the chairmanship of Lord 

 Harcourt. The headquarters of the bureau 

 are to be at Kew, and it is to work in close 

 association with the Eoyal Botanic Gardens, 

 where there are already a magnificent library, 

 laboratories, and a department for fungi in 

 the. museum. 



CERAMIC INVESTIGATIONS BY THE UNITED 

 STATES BUREAU OF MINES 



A NEW ceramic laboratory, in which investi- 

 gative work regarding the clays of the North- 

 west will be conducted, is to be installed at 

 the Northwest Experiment Station of the 

 United States Bureau of Mines on the campus 

 of the University of Washington at Seattle. 



The laboratory work in connection with a 

 general study of the clays of Washington has 

 been completed, and a bulletin on the subject 

 of Washington clays is now in course of 

 preparation. 



At the Northwest Experiment Station an 

 attempt is being made to remove iron and 

 silicon from kaolin to produce either sil- 

 limanite or the oxide of aluminum. Clay was 



melted in an arcing furnace in presence of 

 carbon ; some silicon and iron were volatilized 

 and some reduced to metal. The products 

 contained less iron oxide and silica and more 

 alumina than previously, but not in suf&cient 

 amounts to be sillimanite. The refractori- 

 ness of these products is to be determined 

 by the ordinary tests. 



A cooperative agreement has been effected 

 between the United States Bureau of Mines 

 and the Central of Georgia Railway for an 

 investigation by the Ceramic Experiment 

 Station, Columbus, Ohio, of the white clay 

 and bauxites through central Georgia along 

 the railroad right-of-way. E. B. Gilmore, 

 formerly ceramic chemist with the Vesuvius 

 Crucible Co., Swissvale, Pa., and H. M. 

 Kraner, formerly ceramic assistant of the 

 Bureau of Mines, have been assigned to this 

 work. Preliminary tests on the effects of low 

 calcination temperatures on the colloidal con- 

 tent of Georgia white clays have been made. 

 By calcining Georgia clay to from 500° to 

 600° C. the adsorptive properties were reduced 

 to those of the English china clay, without 

 materially reducing its plasticity. 



A microscopic examination of the mineral 

 constituent of kaolins is being conducted at 

 the Ceramic Experiment Station at Columbus. 



THE BIOLOGY CLUB OF THE OHIO STATE 

 UNIVERSITY 



During the academic year of 1920-21, the 

 Biology Club of the Ohio State University held 

 monthly meetings from October to May, inclusive. 

 The club, organized in 1891, is one of the oldest 

 organizations of the university. It is composed 

 of members of the science faculties, graduate stu- 

 dents, and those interested in scientific research. 

 Opportunity has been given the past year for 

 discussions of scientific experimentation and in- 

 vestigation by members of the faculties, and re- 

 ports of research by graduate students. The fol- 

 lowing papers were presented: 



Oct. 11. Eeports on a survey of Ohio fishes. 



1. "Distribution of Ohio fishes," Professor K. 

 C. Osburn. 



2. "Food of the large mouth bass," E. L. 

 Wiekliff. 



3. "Algal food of the gizzard shad," L. H. 

 Tiffany. 



Nov. 2. "The Hessian fly in Ohio," Professor T. 

 H. Parks. 



