374 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIV. No. 1399 



medical profession has hitherto been, ' We 

 can not get enough.' The greatest amount 

 I have so far ever had to work with has been 

 30 milligrams. There will be more ship- 

 ments of radium from Czechoslovakia, but 

 not necessarily to England." 



It was explained that the radium will be 

 lent freely for hospital purposes, and rented 

 out to private practitioners. It will also be 

 used for the production and sale of radio- 

 active water in bottles, for use at radio-sani- 

 toria, the production and sale of radio-active 

 fertilizers, and for its by-products, such as 

 polonium. The company expects to derive its 

 first profits from the renting out of the radium 

 emanations contained in capillary tubes, the 

 price for the use of which at present is six 

 guineas for 24 hours. One gram of radium 

 supplies 4,500 of such tubes. 



The Czecho- Slovak Legation in London 

 has made public the following in regard to 

 the contract entered into by the Czecho- 

 slovak Government, as the owners of the 

 Eadium State Mines in Jachymov (Joa- 

 chimsthal), and the Imperial and Foreign 

 Corporation of London: 



Under this contract the Radium Corporation of 

 Czeeho-Slovakia, a private limited company, has 

 'been established, the Czecho-Slovak state and the 

 Imperial and Foreign Corporation holding equal 

 interests. The Radium Corporation wiU obtain the 

 loan for a period of 15 yearsi of the radium pro- 

 duction of the state mines, less a certain portion 

 which is to be reserved for public use, especially 

 for curative and scientific purposes. The radium 

 so lent to the Corporation, will remain the property 

 of the Czecho-Slovak state. 



The contract does not contain anything relative 

 to the working of the radium mines, which will be. 

 as before, exploited by the Czecho-Slovak state. 



BIOLOGY IN SOUTH CHINA 



Friends of Charles W. Howard, according 

 to a report in The Cornell Alumni News, 

 have lately received an account of the work 

 in biology which he and his associates are 

 doing in the Christian College at Canton, 

 China. The work began in 1917 with a one- 

 year course in introductory botany and zo- 

 ology, taken by eleven students. By 1920-21 



these had increased to 163 in seven courses, 

 including plant physiology, plant pathology, 

 evolution and heredity, economic zoology 

 (entomology and parasitology) sericulture, 

 and bacteriology. 



The students taught are of three classes: 

 those in arts and general science; those in 

 agriculture; and those in medicine. All are 

 required to take a course in general biology, 

 which is popular and suited to the needs of 

 those who will not go on. This is followed 

 by a more technical course in botany, zoology 

 and other branches as a foundation for fur- 

 ther special work. 



It has been the policy of the staff to keep 

 as close as possible to research work and the 

 practical applications of biology, for this is 

 the way to make the students in the highest 

 degree useful to their country. Much is yet 

 to be learned about the insect x>ests and 

 fungus diseases of crops in China. And 

 Chinese farmers will soon be anxious for 

 this information and ways of fighting their 

 pests. 



During the vacation trips the staff have 

 begun a biological survey of the Canton Delta 

 region. About a thousand species of insects 

 have been collected, some of which are of 

 economic importance. A herbarium of South 

 China plants begun in 1916 by students of 

 agriculture has been turned over to the de- 

 partment and is now one of the most import- 

 ant projects under its direction. While the 

 herbarium has already over four thousand 

 specimens, including more than twelve hun- 

 dred species, only a beginning has been made. 

 Expeditions must be made into the interior, 

 and the whole of south China must be covered. 

 Funds are needed for larger equipment. 



Another line of work which has fallen to 

 the department is sericulture. Silk is the 

 largest industry of South China, forming 

 forty per cent, of the export trade. Many 

 things have held back the development of the 

 industry. The filatures did not reel the raw 

 silk in skeins of a size suitable for foreign 

 manufacture. This has now been changed 

 and modern methods have been introduced. 



Later the department hopes to effect im- 



