December 23, 1921] 



SCIENCE 



629 



in. or acoordiiig to the metric system of weights and 

 measures. 



Seo. 6. That rules and regulations for the en- 

 forcement of this Act not inconsistent with the pro- 

 visions hereof shall be made and promulgated by 

 the Secretary of Commerce. The Secretary of Com- 

 merce shall also take such steps as he may deem 

 expedient for giving publicity to the dates of tran- 

 sition .specified herein and for facilitating the tran- 

 sition to the meter-liter-gram or metric system. 



Sec. 7. That all Acts or parts of Acts inconsist- 

 ent herewith are hereby repealed but only in so far 

 as they are inconsistent herewith; otherwise they 

 shall remain and continue in full force and effect. 

 Whenever in any Act, or rules and regulations, or 

 tariff or schedule made, ratified, approved, or re- 

 vised by the Government of the United States of 

 America weights or measures of the system now in 

 customary use are employed or referred to, and to 

 comply with the provisions of this Act weights and 

 measures of the metric system should be employed, 

 then such references in such Act, rules and regiila- 

 tions, tariff, or schedule shall be understood and 

 construed as references to equivalent weights or 

 measures of the metric system ascertained in accord- 

 ance with the required degree of accuracy. 



Sec. 8. That nothing in this Act shall be under- 

 stood or construed as applying to — 



(1) Any contract made before the date at which 

 the provisions of this Act .take effect ; 



(2) The construction or use in the arts, manufac- 

 ture, or industry of any specification or drawing, 

 tool, machine, or other appHanee or implement de- 

 signed, constructed, or graduated in any desired 

 system ; 



(3) Goods, wares, or merchandise intended for 

 sale in any foreign country, but if such goods, 

 wares, or merchandise are eventually sold for 

 domestic use or consumption then this clause shall 

 not exempt them from the application of any of the 

 provisions of this Act. 



Sec. 9. That nothing herein shall be understood 

 or construed as prohibiting the enactment or en- 

 forcement of weights and measures laws or ordi- 

 nances by the various States or cities, and the 

 various States or cities shall have the same powers 

 as though this Act were not in force and effect : 

 Provided, however, That no standard weights or 

 measures shall be established for the uses set out 

 herein which conflict in any way with the standards 

 established herein, and such standards which may 

 already have been established shall be nuU and void 

 for the uses set out herein. 



Seo. 10. That the word " person " as used in 

 this Act shall be construed to import both the 

 plural and singular, as the case demands, and shall 

 include corporations, companies, societies, and asso- 

 ciations. When construing and enforcing the pro- - 

 visions of this Act, the act, omission, or failure of 

 any of&eer, agent, or other person acting for or 

 employed by any corporation, company, society, or 

 association, within the scope of his employment or 

 office, shall in every case be also deemed to the act, 

 omission, or failure of such corporation, company, 

 society, or association as well as that of the person. 



After discussion, the bill was referred to 

 the Committee on Weights, Measures, and 

 Coinage of the Academy for report, with 

 power to act through the President of the 

 Academy. Upon receipt of the report from 

 the Chairman of that Committee, Dr. Thomas 

 C. Mendenhall, the following communication 

 was sent to Senator Ladd: 



December 1, 1921 

 My dear Senator Ladd: Referring again to my 

 recent communications regarding bill S2267 to fix 

 the Metric System of Weights and Measures as the 

 single standard for certain uses, I have received a 

 report from the Committee on Weights, Measures, 

 and Coinage, which was authorized to act for the 

 National Academy of Sciences, approving bill 

 S2267 with the following statement: 



' ' Any measure that might now be passed is toler- 

 ably certain to need modification and amendment 

 before the end of the probationary period. ' ' 

 Very truly yours, 



(Signed) Ch^vbles D. Walcott, 



President 



As Senator Ladd has requested that publi- 

 city be given to tliis action of the Academy, 

 I am. sending you this statement for inclusion 

 in Science. 



Charles D. Walcott, 



President 



STAINS FOR THE MYCELIUM OF MOLDS 

 AND OTHER FUNGI 



To THE Editor of Science : Microscopic ex- 

 aminations to determine the extent to which 

 the mycelium of various fungi has penetrated 

 infected specimens of wood consume an unduly 

 large amount of time. Methods using organic 

 substances, dyes and stains, to obtain a differ- 



