434 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIV. No. 1401 



are now allowed to enter the United States 

 if certain restrictions regarding feeding and 

 care are observed. 



The 158tli meeting of the Washington Acad- 

 emy of Sciences was held at the Public Library, 

 October 20. The meeting was devoted to a dis- 

 cussion of popular and readable books in 

 science. After informal talks by Dr. G. F. 

 Bowerman, librarian of the Public Library, and 

 by several members of the committee appointed 

 to select the list of " one hundred popular books 

 in science," an opportunity was given to ex- 

 amine the books themselves and to discuss 

 them informally. In addition to the selected 

 list of 100, there was a second exhibit consist- 

 ing of books suggested for the popular list, but 

 not used, and the members of the committee 

 were invited to criticize their choice and sug- 

 gest substitutions or additions, in order that 

 the best possible list might be prepared for dis- 

 tribution by the librarian. A third exhibit con- 

 sists of readable manuals or information-books 

 which workers in one branch of science can 

 recommend to workers in other branches or to 

 readers seeking general information on a given 

 subject. Suggestions as to improvements and 

 additions to this list were also invited. 



The department of botany of the State Col- 

 lege of Washington has increased its herbarium 

 by the acquisition of the recent collections of 

 Mr. James R. Anderson, the veteran Canadian 

 botanist of Victoria, B. C His herbarium 

 comprises 2,600 mounted sheets of the higher 

 plants, coming from all over British Columbia. 

 The majority of the specimens are from Van- 

 couver Island, but there are also considerable 

 numbers from the humid coastal strip of the 

 mainland, others from the dry belt east of the 

 Cascades, and others from the high Rockies. 



The Iowa Child- Welfare Research Station 

 at the State University has organized a Lab- 

 oratory in Child Psychology for experimental 

 work with children from two to four years of 

 age. A new four-room building has been 

 constructed, and 24 children are now in attend- 

 ance daily, in two sections from 9 to 12 o'clock. 

 The laboratory is under the immediate direc- 

 tion of Dr. Bird T. Baldwin, research profes- 



sor in psychology, and Dr. Lorle I. Stecher, 

 research assistant professor, with graduate stu- 

 dent assistants. 



The Polish National Museum of Natural 

 History has been formed by a union of the 

 Branicki Zoological Museum and the Zoolog- 

 ical Museum of the University of Warsaw. 



The New York Zoological Park has made a 

 presentation of a number of reptiles to replace 

 those in the Jardin des Plantes, Paris, which 

 had to be destroyed during the war. The gift 

 includes two boa constrictors, six alligators, 

 and sixteen turtles. 



A prize of £20,000 is being offered by the 

 French Aeronautic Propaganda Committee to 

 the constructor of a motor for commercial avia- 

 tion which shall best satisfy the tests of a 

 special competition, including durability, regu- 

 larity and simplicity. 



A SPECIAL faculty research committee has 

 been organized at Oberlin College to cooperate 

 with the " National Research Council." Dr. S. 

 R. Williams, head of the department of physics, 

 is chairman, while other members of the com- 

 mittee include members of the departments of 

 mathematics, sociology, psychology, chemistry 

 and geology. 



Dr. Wm. Curtis Farabee, president of the 

 American Anthropological Association, has re- 

 turned to his work at the University of Penn- 

 sylvania. During the summer he attended the 

 Centennial Celebration at Lima, Peru, as one 

 of the special mission appointed by President 

 Harding. The Lima Scientific Society held a 

 special meeting in Dr. Farabee's honor and 

 elected him a corresponding member. All 

 members of the Mission were elected to the 

 ancient order " El Sol de Peru." The commis- 

 sion, composed of the Honorable Albert Doug- 

 las, General Hunter Liggett, Admiral Hugh 

 Rodman, Colonel Wm. Boyce Thompson, Hon- 

 orable Wm. Heimke and Dr. Wm. Curtis Fara- 

 bee, sailed from New York on three U. S. bat- 

 tleships, the Arizona, Ohlahoma and Nevada, 

 under command of Admiral John McDonald. 



Mr. George D. Hubbard, professor of geol- 

 ogy at Oberlin College, has returned from a 



