244 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIV. No. 1394 



Dee. 6. "Some new factor relations in barley,' 

 Professor J. B. Park. 

 "Effect of environment on expression of char- 

 acters in hybrid oats," D. M. Lutz. 



Jan. 10. "The vegetation of the Lake Okoboj 

 (Iowa) region" (lantern slides), Professor A, 

 E. Waller. 



Feb. 14. "The inferior vena cava of man and 

 mammals — its abnormalities and their inter- 

 pretation from the standpoint of their devel 

 opment," Professor C. P. McClure, Princeton 

 University. (Joint meeting with the Omega 

 Chapter of the Society of the Sigma Xi.) 



Mar. 7. ' ' The origin and development of the 

 prairie, ' ' Professor H. C. Sampson. 



Apr. 11. "Some measurements of emotional 

 states," Professor H. E. Burtt. 

 "Parasites on aphids, " E. A. Hartley. 



May 2. "Some recent applications of physics to 

 biological problems, ' ' Professor Alphaeus "W. 

 Smith. 

 "Experimental work with mealy bugs," W. S. 

 Hough. 



The president of the club for the year was Dr. 

 C. H. Kennedy, of the department of zoology and 

 entomology; the vice-president. Dr. J. W. Bridges, 

 of the department of psychology, and the secre- 

 tary, Dr. L. H. Tiffany, of the department of 

 botany. 



DR. CARL L. ALSBERG AND THE BUREAU OF 

 CHEMISTRY 



In formally accepting the resignation of 

 Dr. Carl L. Alsberg as Chief of the Bureau 

 of Chemistry, Secretary Wallace wrote him 

 as follows: 



Permit me, in formally accepting your resigna- 

 tion, once more to express my sincere regret that 

 the government and this department will no longer 

 have the benefit of your services. 



Your nine years in the department have been 

 fruitful years. You have attained a leadership 

 in scientific work not alone in this department, but 

 in the larger field seldom reached by men of 

 your years. The tender of the important position 

 which you have accepted is evidence of this. 



Your administration of the food and drugs act 

 has been characterized by tactfulness, fearlessness, 

 justice, and common sense, and you have, there- 

 fore, commanded the confidence and respect both 

 of those who have come under the law and of 

 the great public whose health you have so zeal- 

 ously protected. Your work in this field has been 

 an inspiration which I hope will continue with us. 



It is not often that one attains such outstanding 

 eminence in both research and administrative work. 



We shall all miss you here; especially I shall 



miss your wise and sane counsel from which I 

 have profited very much in the rather trying task 

 of undertaking to qualify for a difiicult and im- 

 portant work. I -wish that you might still be 

 wdthin call. 



Notwithstanding our regret that you are leaving 

 the department, all of us here rejoice in the op- 

 portunity that has opened for you to pursue im- 

 portant research in a field in which you have such 

 a great heart interest. We are expecting much of 

 you; we are confident that you will make large 

 and valuable contributions to the national wel- 

 fare. 



I know that I express the feelings of every one 

 in this department when I say that our very best 

 wishes go with you, and if at times you find that 

 we can be of help in the work you are now 

 undertaking, we shall expect you to call upon us 

 with full assurance of a prompt and sympathetic 

 response. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 



The American Chemical Society held last 

 week its sixty-second meeting at Coliimbia 

 University, New York City, under the presi- 

 dency of Dr. Edgar Fahs Smith, provost 

 emeritus of the University of Pennsylvania. 

 The principal events of the program have 

 already been recorded in Science and we hope 

 to print in subsequent numbers accounts of 

 the business transacted and abstracts of the 

 papers before the sections. 



The Second International Eugenics Con- 

 gress meets at the American Museum of His- 

 tory, New York City, next week under the 

 presidency of Dr. Henry Fairfield Osborn, 

 with Dr. Alexander Graham Bell as honorary 

 president. The opening meeting will be held 

 in the Hall of the Age of Man on September 

 22, when addresses will be made by Dr. Osborn, 

 Dr. Charles B. Davenport and Major Leonard 

 Darwin. 



At the meeting of the British Association 

 for the Advancement of Soience, held at 

 Edinburgh from September 7 to 14, a joint 

 discussion before the sections of mathematical 

 and physical science and of chemistry on " The 

 structure of molecules " was opened by Dr. 

 Irving Langmuir, of the research laboratory 

 of the General Electric Company. Others 

 taking part in the discussion were Profes- 



